#many others in my situation have been swamped with so much more

[comradeolivia]

my professor just described debt as getting what you want now even though you can't afford it and it is not an absolute need, and my dearest bitch, i did not want five thousand dollars in medical debt, but my organs were shutting down so i didn't really have any other choice other than taking the debt

#and the fact it is only five thousand dollars of debt is due to charity #many others in my situation have been swamped with so much more #omg i'm so selfish for getting medical attention #i can't believe the world some people live in where they think debt is a choice when most people's debt in america is medical related #health care #health care is a human right #free healthcare

[steveyoungjokes]

Discworld Pushed Me Left

by Steven Young

Thanks to the marvelous editor, Lyta Gold.

[Originally published in Current Affairs, (before the purge)]

It took Hannah Arendt two books and 800 or so pages to describe the origins of totalitarianism and the banality of evil. Terry Pratchett did it in 326 words when describing the workplace culture of the religious torture chambers in his book Small Gods. Karl Marx spent many chapters in Capital describing how the rich fleece the poor; Pratchett boiled much of that down into the 169-word “‘Boots’ Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness” in Men At Arms. By using humor to poke fun at the world that he created, Terry Pratchett made many progressive and leftist ideas accessible, explainable, and shareable. And his Discworld series helped move my political outlook leftward in a way that not many other things could.

I grew up conservative in the way that many middle-class suburban religious white kids are conservative. (“We’re fine, right? Everyone else must be fine, then. If not, it’s their fault.”) My father was a career Army officer and my mother had been in the Army during Vietnam. As adults, they both joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). That’s why I served a mission for two years in Brazil (for my Church), and why I joined the Marine Corps, serving my country (I thought, lol) for 12 years. You would think that being a religious colonizer, and a veteran in the “War on Terror” would have cemented my conservativeness, but the most important thing I inherited from my parents is silliness. I am a very silly person, and am more strongly influenced by funny things (comedy, light-hearted fiction) than serious things (pundits, war). Conservative comedy, I realized as I matured, wasn’t particularly funny or clever, since it consisted mostly of racism and bullying. In watching, listening to, and reading comedians who critiqued society and its institutions, rather than just mocking people, I began to see the weak points in my inherited conservative views. Then I found the Discworld, and was changed forever.

Terry Pratchett’s 41-novel Discworld series describes a place of barbarian heroes and hapless academics, brave witches and cowardly Wizards, silly kings and evil fairy godmothers. There are magical flying dragons, and domesticated swamp dragons with a propensity for inadvertent self-immolation. You’ll also find plenty of politics, as well as war, inventions, grifting, intrigue, love, danger, and DEATH. (On the Disc, Death is no mere abstraction, but an anthropomorphic personification with a voice like “the lid of a sarcophagus slamming,” who is really quite likeable.) Perhaps more than anything else, the Discworld has humor. Every page is full of puns and other wordplay, clever rejoinders, and silly situations. Pratchett’s stories are often laugh-out-loud funny and at the same time incredibly insightful, often by using a silly situation to show the inherent silliness of many things in our world. 

In his book The Truth, about the invention of the newspaper, Pratchett writes that “People like to be told what they already know… They get uncomfortable when you tell them new things… They like to know that, say, a dog will bite a man. That is what dogs do. They don’t want to know that a man bites a dog, because the world is not supposed to happen like that. In short, what people think they want is news, but what they really crave is olds.” Pratchett often gets the reader to think about “the news” by referencing “the olds,” re-telling classic stories from a different perspective to challenge their established values. For example, in Witches Abroad (Discworld #12, Witches #3), the young witch Magrat Garlick is given a magic wand, and told that she is to act as fairy godmother for a young woman named Emberella, an obvious play on Cinderella (both in name and, as we find out, in the story). After many adventures on the way to find Emberella, Magrat discovers that there is another fairy godmother who is “helping” Emberella by trying to force her into marrying a handsome “Prince” (who had until very recently been a frog, and still thinks he is one). The book hinges on Magrat and her fellow witches competing with this other fairy godmother by trying to help Emberella figure out if marrying the handsome prince is what she really wants. The entire story, in fact, is premised on what happens when powerful people (in this case, powerful magic users) try to impose their idealistic stories onto the lives of others.

Pratchett’s 41 novels are dense with literary references, and are hilariously critical of just about anything one could be critical of. I do not have enough space to give the incredibly broad scope of the characters and places of the Discworld the discussion they deserve, so I will focus for now on the biggest city on the Disc: Ankh-Morpork. That’s right, “Ankh-Morpork! Pearl of cities! This is not a completely accurate description, of course—it was not round and shiny—but even its worst enemies would agree that if you had to liken Ankh-Morpork to anything, then it might as well be a piece of rubbish covered with the diseased secretions of a dying mollusc.” Ankh-Morpork can be likened to immediately-pre-industrialization New York City and London, and many of the problems in the stories arise from the growing industrialization of the Discworld—such as urban blight, policing, corruption, organized crime, innovation, monopolies, and lack of funding for public services. 

The government of Ankh-Morpork can be described as libertarian, more or less. The city of millions is ruled over by the Patrician, whose role is, as he understands it, to ensure that everything works. “Ankh-Morpork had dallied with many forms of government and had ended up with that form of democracy known as One Man, One Vote,” Pratchett writes in Mort. “The Patrician was the Man; he had the Vote.” The Patrician, Havelock Vetinari, doesn’t rule Ankh-Morpork with an iron fist: he just lets everyone go about their business, and then rigidly holds them accountable. That said, his real power comes from his ability to influence people by sheer foresight and incredibly detailed planning. In fact it was Vetinari himself who instituted a new type of “justice” system. He legalized the Guild of Thieves: 

“Crime was always with us, he reasoned, and therefore, if you were going to have crime, it at least should be organized crime...[I]n exchange for the winding down of the Watch, the [Thieves Guild] agreed, while trying to keep their faces straight, to keep crime levels to a level to be determined annually. That way, everyone could plan ahead… and part of the uncertainty had been removed from the chaos that is life.”

I can imagine certain libertarians trying to explain how paying a predetermined amount to the Thieves Guild in exchange for a receipt and future protection is different from paying taxes, but you and I both recognize that that argument would be nonsense. By taking the concept of “organized crime” literally, Pratchett exposes the baselessness of the libertarian idea that freedom can be found through just legalizing everything and resolving all conflicts through contracts. Arrangements like these don’t make people any safer, and no matter what, they still result in powerful entities charging citizens money for protection. 

The societies in Discworld are pre-industrial, as I said, with some later going through industrialization, and for that reason there is little governmental regulation of housing, industry, commerce, and the environment. The water in Ankh-Morpork is described as having a “thick texture,” “too stiff to drink, too runny to plough” and smelling like “several armies had used it first as a urinal and then as a sepulcher.” Any urban planner will tell you that environmental degradation, among other things, leads to urban blight: Ankh-Morpork is squalid and dangerous. As Pratchett writes in Pyramids, there “was not a lot that could be done to make Morpork a worse place. A direct hit by a meteorite would count as gentrification.” For all the danger and organized crime, “murder was in fact a fairly uncommon event in Ankh-Morpork, but there were a lot of suicides. Walking in the night-time alleyways of The Shades was suicide. Asking for a short in a dwarf bar was suicide. Saying 'Got rocks in your head?' to a troll was suicide. You could commit suicide very easily, if you weren't careful.” There’s a sly joke in here about crime statistics, and how technical terminology can be used and misused to tell a certain story. Relatedly, the Assassins Guild in Ankh-Morpork doesn’t commit “murder”; instead they merely “inhume” their victims, but they keep detailed records of their work and come down very hard on unlicensed inhumations. The state of policing in the United States is so horrible that perhaps, if we had a strong Assassins Guild, it would be an improvement; sure, murder would be officially legal, but in the guild system it’s costly to hire an assassin and costly to be an unlicensed assassin, whereas in the United States the police often do the assassinating themselves. At least in Ankh-Morpork the Assassins Guild school provides one of the best and well-rounded educations on the Disc, with scholarships for need-based students. This is partly out of noblesse oblige, but mostly because the experienced assassins know how important it is to keep an eye on youngsters with an aptitude for the profession. (Yes, to some degree this sounds like the current school bully-to-cop pipeline, but at least Pratchett’s assassins are held accountable.)

Criminals in Ankh-Morpork are often just referred to as ‘entrepreneurs,’ and at the start of the Discworld series, the city doesn’t have much in the way of a law enforcement system. Due to Vetinari’s re-organization of the Guilds into self-enforcing crime causing and prevention, an official law enforcement body was seen as superfluous. For that reason, early in the Discworld series the Night Watch has only three very ineffective police officers. To leftists like me this may sound great, but  as discussed above, Ankh-Morpork’s methods of criminal self-enforcement coupled with unregulated markets makes for a pretty terrible place to live.  The three officers of the Night Watch—Captain Sam Vimes, Sergeant Fred Colon, and Corporal Nobby Nobbs—have three different takes on policing (all of which might be called a sort of “anti-policing.”) In Making Money, Pratchett writes that “Colon and Nobby had lived a long time in a dangerous occupation and they knew how not to be dead. To wit, by arriving when the bad guys had got away.” Sergeant Colon was the type of policeman who would say that “trying to keep down crime in Ankh-Morpork was like trying to keep down salt in the sea…” and would avoid having to interact with criminals by proactively guarding very notable city locations because “[o]ne day someone was bound to try to steal the Brass Bridge, and then they’d find Sergeant Colon right there waiting for them. In the meantime, it offered a quiet place out of the wind where he could have a relaxing smoke and probably not see anything that would upset him.” Corporal Nobbs, however, is the kind of person who joins armies to loot corpses. He’s often the main suspect in any unlicensed minor theft around town, stemming from his preferred method of police work (testing doorknobs to see if houses are locked, and going into the unlocked homes to make sure no thieves are there.) Slightly less risk-averse than Sergeant Colon, Corporal Nobbs would never fight fair:

“Corporal Nobbs,” [Vimes] rasped, “why are you kicking people when they’re down?”

“Safest way, sir,” said Nobby.

When we meet Captain Vimes in Guards! Guards! (Discworld #8, City Watch #1), he’s a somewhat functional alcoholic who stumbles through the city avoiding crime as much as possible, and trying to keep Colon and Nobbs from getting into dangerous situations. Over the course of his arc, we learn that Vimes is driven to drink because of past trauma, plus the ongoing and somewhat banal trauma caused by the internal tension that he experiences as an ersatz peace officer who is constantly confronted with the fact that he is mostly powerless to protect those who need protecting and that most of the harm caused to the city and its inhabitants is technically “legal.” In short, to the extent that Vimes can be considered a “good cop,” it’s because he comes to the realization that the status quo of organized and legalized criminal syndicates fueled by unregulated libertarian capitalism doesn’t help people, and he pushes back somewhat significantly against that status quo. 

That being said, in later books the Night Watch is expanded (as one of the more prominent efforts in Ankh-Morpork to officially reflect the diverse social makeup of the city). It becomes the City Watch, and Vimes is promoted, becoming a part of the aristocracy. This is all a bit neat—it just so happens that Ankh-Morpork’s libertarian problems can be solved by more policing, and Vimes is rewarded for his efforts. However, despite Vimes’ increased station, and the increased power of the City Watch he commands, he remains mostly grounded and functions as a traitor to his new class. This is likely because of the lessons he learned during his years of living on the lower rungs of society, probably the most famous of which is:

Captain Samuel Vimes’ “Boots” theory of socioeconomic unfairness.

“The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.

Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.

But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.”

Though there are flaws to Vimes’ theory (mostly because there are many additional reasons why the rich are so much richer than the poor), his theory is very understandable, and can lead readers to ask deeper economic questions about labor, value, and planned obsolescence. It doesn’t seem like many leftist academics have incorporated Vimes’ Boots theory into their writings, but the internet is full of people who read the Boots theory and immediately find that it describes their lived experience. As many of us have seen, the internecine online leftist debate over “reading theory” vs. “not being a fucking nerd” often does not lead to much progress when it comes to spreading awareness of left ideas. It is my opinion that a very readable, understandable, and funny version of “theory,” like the one Pratchett wrote, allows for more people to understand—or become interested in or familiar with—leftist theories than would otherwise be the case. I know that during my post-Marine Corps life, Pratchett’s humor was integral for my discovery of progressive ideals.

There are subtler left touches in Pratchett’s work as well: while many stories do focus on high-level political actors or those on the front lines of conflict, his writing also considers the lives of ordinary working people. The personification of Death, rarely dealing with kings and potentates, spends time working as a farm hand, interacting with children (who, like magic users, can see him because they “can see what’s really there”), playing rock and roll, and trying to discover the meaning of life… and death. The witches, as powerful magic users, do interact with various political leaders, but it’s very clear that they gain their power and experience from helping farmers and shepherds deal with the everyday, practical issues that are part of life in a pre-industrial society. Another subseries focuses on the senior faculty of Unseen University—a bunch of old wizards with tenure—but every story illustrates the blinkered stupidity of these senior faculty members, and how useless they are without the help of their support staff. 

Though Pratchett often writes stories about the inherent goodness of most people, he is also interested in the ways in which anybody can become a collaborator with evil. Perhaps the best example of this comes in Small Gods, in which the country of Omnia launches a “Quisition” [inquisition] complete with torture pits. The cellar of the Quisition is not, at first glance, a wildly evil workplace: “There were no jolly little signs saying: You Don’t Have To Be Pitilessly Sadistic To Work Here But It Helps!!!” But take a look at their coffee breaks: “The inquisitors stopped work twice a day for coffee. Their mugs, which each man had brought from home, were grouped around the kettle on the hearth of the central furnace which incidentally heated the irons and knives.” This is such a small, perfect image of evil: the inquisitors heating their coffee and their torture tools on the same hearth. Pratchett further describes their environment:

“...there were the postcards on the wall. It was traditional that, when an inquisitor went on holiday, he'd send back a crudely coloured woodcut of the local view with some suitably jolly and risque message on the back. And there was the pinned-up tearful letter from Inquisitor First Class Ishmale "Pop" Quoom, thanking all the lads for collecting no fewer than seventy-eight obols for his retirement present and the lovely bunch of flowers for Mrs. Quoom, indicating that he'd always remember his days in No. 3 pit, and was looking forward to coming in and helping out any time they were short-handed.”

Pratchett could, of course, be describing any office break room. The casual and friendly quality stands in horrid contrast to the actual work of the inquisitors. On this point, Pratchett is unsparing:  “...there are hardly any excesses of the most crazed psychopath that cannot easily be duplicated by a normal, kindly family man who just comes in to work every day and has a job to do.”

Reading this, as a former soldier in the U.S.’s imperial military, and as a member of a generally conservative religion with a strict hierarchy, this passage (and Small Gods in total) helped me recognize the part I had played in evil. I am still a member of my church, but do my best to push back against the banal and even friendly aspects that push people to accept evil results without question. Recently, I led the teenage boys in our local congregation in reading Small Gods together, with profound results: these fellows understood the underlying themes perfectly. It was very heartening to witness young people realize how humor can be a part of discussing serious topics, and how easily one can be co-opted to do harm by a seemingly inevitable and even friendly-seeming organization. It should be noted, that this experience did not (from what I could tell) cause these young men to question their faith, or to immediately start sinning (hormones will likely do most of that work), but it allowed them the space to question the parts of our organized religion that merit questioning. 

*

Teasing out all the thematic complexity of Pratchett would take an entire magazine by itself, but it’s worth looking at his approach to gender. There’s Monstrous Regiment, in which (spoiler) nearly every seemingly-male soldier in the army turns out to be a woman in disguise, and a very competent woman at that. (Incidentally, Pratchett does a surprisingly good job of describing the nitty-gritty specifics faced by a frontline soldier that are otherwise almost never mentioned in literature.) Other novels revolve around the experiences of Tiffany Aching, a young witch who must navigate adolescence, gender roles, feminism, rural life, and incursions by very nasty creatures; and she does it all while subverting traditional fantasy stories’ treatment of women and sexuality. 

Tiffany’s stories—and that of the other witches— are presented in sharp contrast to those of the wizards. These tenured academics live in a gender-segregated university that admits only men (with one eventual exception); they are celibate, and show no interest in the women who clean up after them. For example, in Unseen Academicals, the Archchancellor Ridcully realizes he “had never thought of the maids in the singular. They were all…servants. He was polite to them, and smiled when appropriate. He assumed they sometimes did other things than fetch and carry, and sometimes went off to get married and sometimes just...went off. Up until now though, he’d never really thought that they might think, let alone what they thought about.” Women’s labor may go unseen in the Unseen University, but the narrative ensures that you see it. Additionally, the absurdity of the university and the relative impotence of the wizards’ magic is constantly contrasted against the witch-style of magic that is largely about creating life and being useful. For example, while the witch Nanny Ogg is the matriarch of a large family, has had a host of husbands (which is not seen as particularly scandalous), loves singing dirty songs, and has published an adult-themed cookbook, the wizards of Unseen University have to keep the magical tome Ge Fordge’s Compenydym of Sex Majick “in a vat of ice in a room all by itself and there’s a strict rule that it can only be read by wizards who are over eighty and, if possible, dead.” There are multiple interactions between the wizards with their supposedly-high minded form of academic magic and the witches with their supposedly-homespun form of rural magic, which end up as pointed critiques both of gender and the hierarchical forms of educational systems. In most of the Discworld books, both wizards and witches believe that magic should be gendered; in Equal Rites (Discworld #3, Witches #1), the wizard Treatle states that “Witchcraft is Nature’s way of allowing women access to the magical fluxes, but you must remember that it is not high magic...High magic requires clarity of thought, you see, and women’s talents do not lie in that direction.” At the same time, Granny Weatherwax agrees, saying “if women were meant to be wizards, they’d be able to grow long white beards...wizardry is not the way to use magic, do you hear, it’s nothing but lights and fire and meddling with power.” 

That said, the witches do a much better job of questioning the existing hierarchy and challenging their social status than the wizards. In A Hat Full of Sky (Discworld #32, Tiffany Aching #2), Pratchett describes the nature of the witches’ non-hierarchy (while also illustrating the power of a determined individual) when he writes that “witches are equal. [They] don’t have things like head witches. That’s quite against the spirit of witchcraft...Besides, Mistress Weatherwax would never allow that sort of thing.” Though Granny Weatherwax is likely powerful enough to run roughshod over the Disc, she seems to be of the same mind as Tiffany Aching’s grandmother, who said “Them as can do has to do for them as can’t. And someone has to speak up for them as has no voices,” a rather different ethic than that exhibited by the wizards, who gain rank by killing older wizards. In “‘Change the Story, Change the World’: Gendered Magic and Educational Ideology in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld” L. Kaitlin Williams points out that “the witches’ subversive educational ideology not only undermines the wizard’ repressive educational ideology, but also...takes on a threateningly rebellious quality capable of toppling the hegemonic and hierarchical structures of Discworld.”

This is well-illustrated in The Wee Free Men (Discworld #30, Tiffany Aching #1), where Tiffany Aching seeks out more formal witch training and is told to “go to a high place near here, climb to the top, open your eyes...and then open your eyes again,” the lesson being that witches learn from experiencing the world as it really is, rather than taking tests and attending lectures. This self-education, based in lived experience and self-knowledge, helps her defeat her enemy, the more logic and reason-based Queen of Fairyland who tries to tempt and trick her with realistic dreams. Tiffany’s less-than-formal education also makes her a natural ally of the mysterious and magical Nac Mac Feegle “pictsies” with their anti-authoritarian rallying cry (in a Scottish-ish accent) of “Nae king! Nae quin! Nae laird! Nae Master! We willna be fooled again!” 

But the most subversive part of Discworld—or possibly the least, depending on your perspective—may be the Industrial Revolution Series, featuring the novels Moving Pictures, The Truth, Monstrous Regiment, Going Postal, Making Money, and Raising Steam, which cover issues such as the free press, minority rights, support groups, industrialization, mechanization, government services, trains, recycling, and telecommunication. Three of the books center around Moist von Lipwig, a former conman who changes his stars (somewhat reluctantly) and helps found or resurrect some of Ankh-Morpork’s public institutions. In Going Postal, Lipwig is tasked with saving the city post office when Reacher Gilt (a brutal steampunk pirate who clearly inspired Jeffrey Bezos) tries to drive it into ruins (via murder and monopoly) in order to force everyone to use his new visual telegraph system. Moist manages to save the post office while working through civil rights issues and confronting the complexities of incorporating new technology and automation into a changing world. He also gives us a glimpse as to why he’s an ideal person to usher in a new style of banking when he stops to think about the concept of money: 

“Money is not even a thing, it is not even a process. It is a kind of a shared dream. We dream that a small disc of common metal is worth the price of a substantial meal. Once you wake up from that dream, you can swim in a sea of money.”

If this sounds a bit like the principles underlying Modern Monetary Theory, you’ll love the sequel Making Money, in which Moist is tasked with saving the city bank. Specifically, he is tasked with taking the bank over from the people who had previously been running it, and who, among other class warfare tactics, wouldn’t let poor people bank because they felt that “a brigand for a father was something to keep quiet about, but a slave-taking pirate for a great-great-great-grandfather was something to boast of.” In addition, they had come to understand that “the best way to make money out of poor people is by keeping them poor.” Moist saves the bank, and likely the city, when he comes to two important realizations. First, that many people of Ankh-Morpork do not trust the banks (likely because of the dismissive attitude bankers held [hold?] toward the poor), but they do believe in the overall progress of their city. Second, he notices that many people of Ankh-Morpork have begun using postage stamps (which Moist invented in Going Postal) as currency. Combining these two insights, he realizes that the city’s money does not need to be backed by gold, and begins making new money that is backed by the city itself (and further determined by the value of the bodies of the city’s inactive golem slaves/workers, which is just a whole other mess). If this doesn’t sound like an especially profound reform, you would be right. Ankh-Morpork remains a city with terrible living conditions, terrible water, and extreme inequality. Making Money is the only Discworld book with an economist in it, and it has predictable results. 

The neoliberal blindness at the end of Making Money is not the only flaw in Pratchett’s Discworld. Despite its breadth of subjects, it is very much a product of a Briton (Pratchett’s full name is actually Sir Terence David John Pratchett OBE), a fact which is reflected in the way that he writes about Fourecks, the Discworld stand-in for Australia, not being a finished continent. Pratchett often uses physical caricature to make great plays on words, and for the most part he makes jokes about everyone, but sometimes it can dip into the realm of body-shaming; for example, there’s quite a lot in Making Money about the villainess being fat and ugly.  Sometimes, Pratchett’s love stories can be a bit rote, as if it is the woman’s duty to let the man woo her, and although many of Pratchett’s women characters are quite empowered, this can sometimes take a form similar to the CIA’s new ad promoting case officers who refuse to “internalize misguided patriarchal ideas of what a woman can, or should, be” while shaking hands with Gina Haspel. And because Pratchett’s books are humorous, they are sometimes seen as low brow or “light reading” that justifies “robbing readers of the true delights of ambitious fiction.” That may be true, but it should be noted that light or humorous reading can often be used to tell stories that don’t otherwise get told. That said, the effectiveness of Pratchett’s prose may be limited by the fact that oftentimes the people least likely to want to read a silly story are the people who most likely need to experience something from a different perspective.

Reading Pratchett is a delight, and not just because he uses minute details of the lived experiences of working people and incredible humor to turn accepted stories on their heads. Fun is important for its own sake. I’ve read most of the Discworld books several times and am constantly astounded that nearly every single page has jokes and puns on it. You’ll laugh, but you may also shed tears of melancholic camaraderie, as I did when reading Night Watch which features much of Vimes’ heartbreaking backstory. But don’t take my word for it; as Terry Pratchett’s Moist von Lipwig would say “I wouldn’t trust me if I was you. But I would if I was me.” 

#discworld #terry pratchett #comedy #silly

[karniss-bg3]

Salute, Larian Studios

Heya folks! It’s been a while, I hope everyone is doing well. I’m breaking my hiatus to discuss the recent announcement made by Larian Studios on their steam development blog. I will add the link here for those who wish to read the blog in its entirety but be warned, there are patch seven spoilers within. I wish to focus on a particular section in the final three paragraphs of the document, which reads as follows:

“Being given the chance to develop a game set in the Dungeons & Dragons universe has been a dream come true for all of us. But as Swen recently confirmed, we won't be introducing any major new narrative content to the story of Baldur's Gate 3 or its origin characters and companions, nor will we be making expansions or Baldur’s Gate 4. As an independent studio since 1996, we value the freedom to follow our creativity wherever it leads. In this case, after six years in the Forgotten Realms and much discussion and rumination, we’ve decided to seize this opportunity to develop our own IPs. We’re currently working on two new projects and we couldn’t be more excited about what the future has in store. It’s still early days - we’ll tell you more about those later down the line. But know that even as our focus turns to these new games, the sensibilities that brought you Baldur’s Gate 3 are alive and well here at the Larian castle. We’re fueled by the very same fire in our bellies, one that drives us to create immersive experiences shaped by your choices, and we can’t wait for you to join us on this next adventure.”

I will admit, when I first read this I felt a tinge of disappointment. As someone who had a lot of hope in seeing some stories continued, Kar’niss especially, this feels like the once open door is now sealed shut permanently. To be entirely fair, I always looked at an expanded Kar’niss story with skeptical optimism; hope for the best but expect the worst. After all, Kar’niss was designed as a throw away plot device that had no real bearing on the over-all narrative. Most of what has been derived of the character is entirely fan driven and not based on anything confirmed by Larian as a whole. Furthermore, there were many fan favorites that had a larger base than our dear drider and chances are even if Larian did decide to do an expansion, Kar’niss still wouldn’t make the cut.

With that said, I respect Larian in their choice. To expand on other characters would cost a lot of money and time. To juggle that alongside making new games would be unrealistic, and I understand their point of view completely. We also don’t know what is going on behind the scenes which could’ve influenced their choices all the more. Over all this situation mirrors the old saying, “Don’t cry because it’s over, be happy that it happened.” I am happy, and grateful. Without Baldur’s Gate 3 this blog wouldn’t exist. All of the amazing interactions I’ve had over several months would’ve never occurred, nor would I have found the courage to publicly publish stories to the internet. While I don’t consider myself an awful writer, I never believed my work was good enough for those outside of my personal circle. To say that my confidence has blossomed over the last few months is an understatement, and I owe that to the fantastic support of those in the fandom as well as those close to me. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you.

With Larian closing up the BG3 shop after the next few patches the question becomes, what’s next? For me, I don’t know. Sadly I’ve been swamped lately and it’s not destined to slow down until the middle of May. By then I hope to have a sufficient breather so I can return to projects I’ve left on the back burner in the interim. The Kar’niss blog will remain in place along with all of the archived stories, theories, and miscellaneous posts that are present. I still have a few writing requests that have waited a lot longer than I anticipated, so forgive me for the delay. I may also make a new blog that is dedicated solely to writing and other fandoms of interest. When the time comes I’ll post it here and folks can follow it if they wish but I’ll understand if not. Regardless of what the future holds, I am very stoked with the experiences I’ve had within the Baldur’s Gate 3 fandom. I’m a painfully shy individual and I am not a spotlight seeker by any stretch of the imagination. This section of the internet allowed me to expand my horizons a bit proving that you can indeed teach an old writer new tricks.

I look forward to seeing what is in store for Larian Studios. So long as they stick to their passion for making good games and treating their customers like people instead of money cows to be milked, then I will support every game release that comes in the future. While I’m sad that the many questions I had about Kar’niss will go unanswered, at least the drider will live on through the stories, art and other creative works made by his fans. In that way he is eternal, as are all of the other characters we’ve grown to love over this journey.

I hope to return on a more regular basis soon. Until then drider army, take care of yourselves and thank you for your continued support.

#baldur's gate 3 #kar'niss #bg3 #karniss #drider #baldurs gate 3 #larian studios #steam #essay #writing #I've missed posting here #the chaos on my end should be over soon #I hope

[butterfrogmantis]

I'VE BEEN PROMISING THESE FUCKERS SINCE AUGUST AND I'VE FINALLY DONE IT HERE'S THE VILLAIN NYMPH I'VE HAD IN MY HEAD FOR LIKE 4-5 MONTHS NOW

Nymph kingdoms tend to be segregated via area and species – nymphs themselves are a complex and intricate species, and there’s no true way to classify them all since flying, water, flower, sand and ground nymphs all exist, as well as many other species. But for the purposes of these character’s we’re looking at the kingdom of the water nymphs situated in the cursed land aka home and surrounding forest of the smurfs, also including the forbidden forest and a little beyond.

Whilst Merfolk of the ocean also operate within seperate kingdoms including Atlantica, nymphs have their own territories and laws. Queen Kailani of the ocean nymphs was bethroathed to a forest nymph at a young age in order to settle a dispute between the territories inbetween the sea and land. Their union was a fairly happy one as far as royal engagements go, and after some years they produced their first heir - a beautiful lake nymph they named Laguna, destined to be the future queen. As far as peace between the forest and ocean kingdoms was going, everything was peaceful, and after some time the Queen was pregnant again.

The king died during her pregnancy. And whilst there was a period of mourning, the entire kingdom was eager and excited for the birth of his surviving heir, with rumours and bets on her potential beauty and whether it would match that of her sister's. So when the royal announcer proclaimed that the younger princess has been born with dominian as a swamp nymph … there was a lot of silence over the kingdom that day. Swamp nymphs are … grungy, and common and … totally not fitting the aesthetic of the beautiful ocean, lake and forest kingdoms that blossomed with bright colours and wonderful scents. Never the less, she was their princess and the nymphs had to accept that.

Years passed. Kailani attempted to include both of her daughters in regular princess duties but however much her family treated with her existence with a sort of grim reluctance, Helodia was no fool to the whispers and taunts behind her back from the servants and kingdom folk. "Who is the queen kidding, that beautiful ballgown has no place on a swamp nymph" and so forth. It was perhaps a flaw in Kailani to pretend these comments weren't being made and refused to acknowledge or address them ever, instead just trying to shove her youngest into the lime light over and over again despite her protests.

Laguna was marginally better. She at least would try and approach the issues with Helodia after the facts, but any sort of push back and Laguna would give up, even call her sister selfish and ungrateful. Perhaps if they'd tried harder Helodia's fate would not have been so sealed.

Helodia did have one friend she trusted. A young Smurfling she had met whilst hiding on her birthday from the castle seamstress after deliberately ripping her new gown. The young Smurfling Sorcerer sympathised with her issues, being already groomed in a way to become the next leader of his own village, and having the weight of expecatation to be 'perfect' as a leader felt very similar to Helodia, and she thought him on her side. When the pressures of leadership got too much for them, they'd both sneak out and meet up. Sorcerer would show off the powerful magic he was only just learning to control. Helodia would demonstrate her control over water, and the swamp specific powers she had which includes an ability to connect better with Bog Goblins - an otherwise fierce and terrifying cousin species of the sapient goblins.

Years pass some more, talk of Laguna's coronation is coming up and whether the queen will pass over the crown during her lifetime or not. During this time Helodia and Laguna fight again, with Laguna once again accusing her sister of selfishness for always staying out of the spotlight and hiding from her responsibilities as a royal and leaving 100% of the stress and hard work onto her. Helodia accuses her sister of never caring about the bullying and bigotry she faces and flees to find Sorcerer again.

To her surprise, Sorcerer sides with her sister - Sorcerer has been through rigorous training to control his unstable magic as well as being constantly trained to become the next Smurf leader. He knows the stresses, and knows how much Helodia used to shut everyone out as a kid even on the few times she admitted Laguna had tried to reach out (but gave up when Helodia put up walls) he feels Helodia is too harsh and is in the wrong here and doesn't understand the pressure of leadership because it's never been assumed she'll get any.

Helodia is PISSED. The ONE person she thought she trusted has, in her mind, sided with the enemy. She thought she and Sorcerer were alike all these years but now she thinks he's more like her sister, Sorcerer has the pressure of needing to be perfect sure, but he's loved and appreciated by his village all the same.

Helodia won't ever be loved by her people. And if she can't be loved by them, she might as well be feared.

That's the turning point.

In truth, Helodia's main conflict is with her own people. With her mother and sister, and especially every stupid citizen that ever judged her for things outside of her control like her god damn BIRTH. If Laguna is so stressed about becoming queen then why not just … take that responsibility off her, huh? Why not take the crown by force and force the people to love or fear her, as long as she has the power over them Helodia no longer cares.

Smurf Village was never Helodia's issue before. But she does hold a grudge against her once friend Sorcerer.

And when he and the others try and stand against her on the side of Laguna.

Well. Then they're just in the way.

Kailani, Laguna and Helodia are mine

Baby/Sorcerer originally belongs to The Smurfs, adapted by me

#the smurfs #smurfs #my art #BFM oc: Kailani #BFM oc: Laguna #BFM oc: Helodia

[cupidlovemail]

( genshin impact ) tighnari x reader

reader :: gender-neutral, trainee doctor

genre :: angst, fluff

word count :: 2.9k

warnings :: tighnari gets struck by lightning, severe injuries, burns, blood, scars, mentions of being unconscious

characters :: tighnari, dehya, lumine, collei

Living in the rainforest had its ups and downs. It was fascinating to get first-hand experience and witness all of the flora and fungi it had to offer, however it was also possible that something would go wrong and you would get a very stern lecture from your boss. As a trainee forest watcher specializing in medicinal herbs and remedies, excelling at your job was critical. If something went wrong it was up to you to ensure the safety of the group and keep the situation under control. That is why today, after accidentally spilling a bottle of medicine you had been working on into the river, Tighnari sat you down to discuss the problems you were having.

"Do you have to be so clumsy? What if someone's life was on the line and you dropped all of the available medicine?"

"I wouldn't! It was an accident, the ground was just softer than I thought it would be and-"

Tighnari's sigh interrupted you, causing you to look at your feet in shame. He was a great boss but sometimes you felt like he was harder on you than the others. If Collei accidentally leaves something in camp it's because she is swamped with work, if you do it it's because you're scatterbrained. If another forest ranger trips and drops their food rations it's because the vines were dense in that area, if you do it it's because you're clumsy. Even if you think you are improving Tighnari always manages to find something to nitpick about your performance.

"Well, I guess it'll have to be fine. The medicine didn't contain anything that isn't native to this area so it shouldn't pose any environmental concerns. Just don't do it again." He makes quick notes in his pocketbook, likely documenting everything you did wrong today.

"I'll do better next time!"

"You always say that."

"I really, really mean it this time!"

"You always say that, too. Look, being a doctor is a hard discipline. These negative traits are not going to help you, institutions in the city won't accept it. You can't spill things, you can't panic under pressure, you can't-"

"Do you not trust me, Tighnari?" You ask quietly, cutting him off mid-sentence. You had listened to this speech many times before and did not want to hear it to completion. "I have helped people, I haven't harmed anyone in the entire time I've been here! You make it sound like I can't do anything right!"

"I'm not saying you're useless, I'm just saying you have a long way to go before you can become a real doctor."

"But I am a real doctor! I'm helping people, I'm making my own medicine, and I'm learning so much by being in the forest!"

"You're going to need a lot more experience, but that's why you're here. The other forest watchers are learning too, you're not the only one who needs to improve before they can succeed."

"Sometimes it feels like you don't want me to succeed at all." You mumble, low enough that any normal human would not have been able to pick up on it. Upon noticing Tighnari's ear twitch, however, you sense you've made a mistake and he lets out a long sigh.

"Look, I'm sorry. Why don't you take tomorrow off? Come back feeling refreshed, we all deserve a break now and then."

You decide to take Tighnari up on his offer, slowly trudging back to your house in Gandharva Ville. This time you wait to grumble under your breath until you are a safe distance away from his ears that pick up everything you don't want them to. With your back turned you don't notice the way Tighnari watches you leave, his tail swishing behind him and a worried expression on his face.

You collapse onto your bed, not realizing how tired you really were after a long day of getting in trouble. It takes all of your willpower to unpack your medicine bag onto your desk and change out of your adventuring outfit before falling asleep as soon as you get under the covers.

You wake up at the crack of dawn out of habit, ready to head into the forest on patrol as usual. You yawn, noticing a note left on the nightstand beside your bed.

"I'm going to Pardis Dhyai for the day, I've left Collei in charge. If you need anything, ask her.

Don't forget you have the day off.

- Tighnari"

You have to reread the note twice in order to comprehend what it was actually saying. It was rare for Tighnari to suddenly leave on such short notice, he liked to create a schedule and stick to it so you imagined something urgent must have come up. This, however, was your excuse to fall back asleep without being bothered. If Tighnari was being so insistent that you get some rest, why not take him up on his kind offer? You quickly fall back asleep, excited to have the rest of the day to yourself.

The curtain on the front of your home was frantically pushed aside, a flustered and panting Dehya leaning against your door frame. The commotion caused your eyes to snap open and you sat up, rising instantly from the bed to meet her where she stood. Forest watcher training taught you to be quick on your feet in an emergency, something that was paying off now.

"You," She paused, gasping for air. "You need to come now."

"What happened? Who's hurt?" You ask, watching as Dehya hunched over to rest her hands on her knees. "Did you run here? Where were you?"

"Pardis Dhyai. It's Tighnari." As soon as his name left her lips you were already hurriedly shoving herbs and other medicinal materials into your knapsack. Trying to be gentle with them was out of the question, the mere thought that Tighnari might be in any sort of danger left you to throw all rationality out the window. Just as you swung one strap of the bag over your shoulder Dehya grabbed your wrist, pulling you behind her and insisting that there was no time to waste.

The two of you sprinted as fast as you could down the dirt path that led from Gandharva Ville to Pardis Dhyai, the dust gradually turning into heavy mud at your feet. Dark storm clouds billowed above your heads and the crackling of thunder grew louder the closer you got. Despite not being as athletic as Dehya due to your different lines of work, the anxiety welling up in your heart caused you to keep a steady pace with her the entire journey. When the large arch marking the entrance to the research facility finally came into view the hair on your arms was standing up due to the electric charge in the air. Leading you to the main building, Dehya stepped aside to catch her breath as you were greeted by a worried Lumine.

"You're here!" She exclaimed, motioning toward an injured Tighnari on the ground.

Rushing over, you instantly dropped to your knees beside him. His breathing was ragged and he was struggling to keep his eyes open. His hair was frizzier than you had ever seen it but his ears still flicked toward the sound of your footsteps.

"He was fighting the Fatui with Dehya when..." Lumine trails off behind you, sighing quietly. "Lightning."

"Oh, thank the Archons that you're conscious." You breathe out a sigh of relief, digging around in your bag. "Where was he struck? Did he walk here? Did someone carry him?"

"He walked, Dehya only helped steady him. Why?"

"I'm checking for broken bones, if he can walk his lower body should only be fractured at the worst." You run your hands along Tighnari's arms, feeling for anything out of place. Moving up his body, you take his face in your hands and slightly move his head back and forth to test his neck. "Does this hurt?"

He quickly averts his gaze and shakes his head. You pull both of his pant legs up to see blood already scabbing from his knees down, likely due to the impact of hitting the ground after the initial shock. Tighnari shook in pain slightly as you cleaned the numerous cuts along his legs and applied medicinal bandages to stop the bleeding before you began working on the rest of his injured form. Lumine watched silently from behind you and Dehya stood near the doorway, seemingly keeping her eye out for anything else that could go wrong.

You could feel Tighnari's eyes watching you as you worked, expert hands moving their way up his body to search for any imperfections that needed to be addressed. Your normal nervousness had completely faded away and you acted like a professional. If he didn't know better Tignari would have assumed you were a licensed doctor and not still in the middle of your training. Each time you glanced up to make sure he was still conscious he looked away, refusing to meet your gaze for even a second.

By the time you got to his chest you requested that he remove his top to ensure you were not leaving any part of him left untreated. As soon as he shrugged it off, however, you could not stop the gasp from escaping your mouth. Starting from his right shoulder was a large, burning lighting strike pattern carved into his skin. The top of his shoulder was the worst, his skin was charred and peeling heavily due to the friction from his shirt. The lines trailing onto his back and chest got less severe the further down they stretched, but they were still a horrid color and smelled of burnt flesh. Tighnari tipped his head backwards and screwed his eyes shut, giving you full access to begin applying the medicinal poultice to his burns.

Lumine had stepped out of the building at this point, whether it be from the smell of burning flesh or because she was unsure how to help was unclear. The storm began to settle, the sound of thunder fading into obscurity in the background. Dehya took Lumine's place, kneeling beside you and occasionally passing more sterilized gauze when the ones in your hand became too dirty to use. Tighnari squirmed each time you touched the medicine to his wounds and you almost felt bad for him. Between the reassurance that he was still alive and your rigorous training taking over you had no time to focus on how either of you was feeling, the anxiety in your chest had long since faded and your job was the only thing on your mind. You silently thanked yourself for pulling so many all-nighters in the Akademiya reading textbooks and taking practice quizzes. While nothing could come close to hands-on experience, being able to recall specific information just when you needed was proving to be very useful. Once the final dressing was applied to his chest, you wiped your hands on your pants and let out a long sigh.

"That should be okay, the bleeding has stopped and I've looked at every part of the burn I could see. I'll have to change the bandages later but for now... for now, he's okay."

"Do you think it would be alright for us to take him back to Gandharva Ville?" Dehya asked, standing up and stretching her arms above her head.

"I think so, as long as we're careful. I don't want him walking alone though, can you help me Dehya?"

"I'm injured, not dead. I can walk." Tighnari says, speaking up for the first time. He stubbornly rises to his feet, leaning against the wall to steady himself as he catches his breath.

"You could be dead." You say, frowning at him. "Dehya and I will help you."

Still not meeting your gaze, Tighnari latches himself solely onto Dehya as she wraps her arm around him to hold him upright. You pause, quickly packing any unused materials into your bag and safely discarding what you didn't need. With the sun almost peaking through the clouds now, it was hard to imagine that such a terrible storm had occurred just brief moments ago. Or had it been hours? You reach up to rub your eyes, feeling as if you were waking up from a long nap. Being focused for so long in such a tense situation drained much of your energy and the trip back to Gandharva Ville was long and arduous.

Tighnari lay in his bed with a light blanket pulled up to his chin. His ears were flattened against the pillow and his normally soft hair was sticking out in all different directions. His breathing, while still ragged and uneven, had calmed down significantly since being in Pardis Dhyai and he was less restless overall. You had stepped out of the room to fetch clean water in order to change his bandages that had already been soaked through with blood. As you re-entered, his head turned away and he began to stare blankly at the wall. Sinking into the chair next to his bed with a sigh, you reached forward to move his bangs out of his eyes.

"How are you feeling, Tighnari?"

"Fine." He says curtly, still making no effort to look your way.

In the entire time you had known him he had never been this cold toward you and, with less of a life-threatening situation on your hands, your emotions began to re-emerge. He constantly told you that you needed to practice more before becoming a real doctor. Your emotions got the better of you, you could be clumsy at the worst times, and it was not uncommon for you to panic when the situation was tense. All of these factors were unfitting for a doctor, he insisted, so you continued to train in Gandharva Ville. And now, just after the two of you had an argument, you were the one sitting beside him as he slowly healed from his burns. What made you think you had the right?

"Tighnari?" You ask quietly, waiting for a response that he never gives. You notice the way his ear flicks as you talk, your only indication to keep going. "I'm going to go to the Akademiya tomorrow. I'll see if they have any doctors available to come and help you recover."

"No!" His gaze finally snaps to yours, a pained expression on his face. "You're my doctor."

"That's exactly why I'm going to see if there's anyone better available-"

"You just saved my life, what makes you think you aren't a good doctor?" He fully turns to face you now, wincing when the right side of his body touches the bedding.

"W-well, I'm still nervous. I almost panicked when I saw you on the ground, I didn't know what to do. I-"

"But you didn't. You didn't panic. You did everything exactly like you were supposed to, I couldn't have done better myself." Words of praise were rare from Tighnari and it caught you off guard. This time you were the one to look away from him, suddenly feeling embarrassed due to the intense way he was staring at you. Shuffling your feet, Tighnari let out a sigh when you didn't answer and relaxed back onto the bed.

"Do you know why I was so hard on you?" He said after a few moments of silence, his voice unusually soft. "Because you have so much potential. If you keep working I have no doubt that you'll be one of the best doctors Sumeru has ever seen. And... I was being selfish. If you're a full-fledged doctor, you're going to have to leave Gandharva Ville someday. There are much better opportunities in the city, it would be a waste to not take your talents there."

"Tighnari..."

"Well, now you know. Can we get this over with, please?" He gestures towards the pile of bandages sitting in your lap, pulling the bed sheet down to reveal what little part of his chest wasn't covered in either scars or gauze.

"Tighnari, I wasn't planning on leaving Gandharva Ville." You say, causing him to stop moving. He balls up the blanket in his fists and you can see the flaky skin move against the dressing on his shoulder. At least his home smelt less like burnt flesh, you opened every window he had to ensure it didn't become suffocating.

"That wouldn't be smart." Is all he says, now staring directly at his hands. "You have no reason to stay here."

"I have you."

His cheeks flushed a visible shade of pink and his ears began to twitch before he brought his left hand up to his mouth, trying to cover his face. "You can't just say things like that."

"I mean it. I'm happy staying here for the rest of my life. I love being so close to the forest, and I love working with you." Your eyes meet and you hope that he can see the seriousness in your expression. You stare at each other in silence for a moment, Tighnari's face getting redder with each second that passes.

"If you wanted me dead you should have just left me on the floor at Pardis Dhyai." He joked, something he always turned to when conversations became too serious for his liking. You decided to let him get away with it this time, he was going to be bedridden for weeks to heal from his burns and you did not want to add any more stress to his situation.

"Don't worry, I'll stick around. I am your doctor after all."

#genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #tighnari x reader #sfw #fluff #angst #my writing

[minecraftbookshelf]

Can i just say that I love the 'all marriages are arranged marriages AU' i hope i got the order right.

It is just amazing.

One of the absolute highlights that i need to address

That Pix by being his weird immortal wandering self managed to just. Make it so the leaders need to fight all the wars (also his country just being a democracy at this point with Pix as 'leader' for when war happens so he can fix it) amazing. 10/10 I love it so much.

Now. A thing that i am curious about.

I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall between Xornoth's and Lizzie's meeting where both of them somehow manage to get their little brothers engaged without it being on purpose.

Like. What kind of weird game of chicken were they playing? Where they just saying stuff expecting the other to back down but neither did and woops now we gotta plan a wedding. Woopsie.

And Scott!! Just wanting to stay inside while he tries to deal with his ice which his brother helps with.

Surprise! You need to move now because wedding *jazz hands*

God this whole AU is just so funny to me.

I love it. It is beautiful!

close enough XD

Now excuse me for a moment while i go squeal to my cat about how PEOPLE LIKE MY THINGS!

ahem. yes. anyway.

Pixlriffs accidentally defining the sociopolitical landscape of multiple kingdoms because of his tendency to randomly show up and prank people is one of my favorite things. I'm very excited to get to his backstory fic.

So the good news is you will get to be a fly on the wall for that! At some point. Because that will actually be included in the fic.

The tldr as it currently stands (with the disclaimer that currently it exists only in outline form and the chances of it changing dramatically when i actually sit down to write it are considerably more than zero) is that Xornoth's fault in the matter was mostly that they were a bit caught up in the Seabling chaos of the combined effect of Jimmy's tendency to leap headfirst into things without thinking, and Lizzie's professionally bardic dedication to "yes and". There was a little bit of "game of chicken" happening but that was mostly between Jimmy and Fwip. Rivendell's direct involvement was an unexpected (for everyone) last minute addition to the situation. (And that part is a bit Xornoth's fault, though not their intention at all.)

Scott is absolutely appalled at the idea of moving to the swamp tbh. None of his current wardrobe is at all suitable for the climate or the environment and he can work with green if he must but brown is absolutely not his color. And that is a whole lot of innocent bystanders in the water that he might freeze at anytime and not be able to undo

awwwww, thank you so much! I'm so glad you are enjoying it. I've been having a lot of fun putting it together and seeing so many people get invested has been amazing.

#ask and it shall be answered #passivedecept #rain rambles #xornoth #ldshadowlady #solidaritygaming #smajor1995 #marriage of state au #mos: asks #mos: pixlriffs #mos: scott

[ebonysplendor]

Trembling Essence (Extended Demo)🌲

TL;DR: Noah is cute and all, but what isn't cute is the fact that he wants us to stay holed up in this mouldy ass house with him. Like, I get that you live around, or possibly in, a swamp and everything, but damn, bitch, you live like this...?

Game Link: https://zombeebunnie.itch.io/trembling-essence-extended-demo

Notable Features: Self-Insert, Yandere LI, Choice-heavy, HP Bar, Affinity Bar, Gender Neutral MC Spiciness: 0/5 -- Unfortunately, because this man is fine as hell... LI Red Flags: 1.5/5 -- Pretty bossy, pretty moody, and a lil' sassy, but other than, pretty solid dude (so far)

Wanna know more? Well, let's get into it!

So, listen. I have been meaning to finish and get this posted for like three, maybe four, or possibly even five weeks now, and damn it, I'm finally going to, so overlook the excessive grammar errors or whatever; I was lowkey rushing lol. This ain't about that though; it's about this visual novel, and let me tell you, I think it's really good, and it's super promising so far.

I know, I know, I know; I say that about every game but hear me out!

If you've read my reviews before, then you know that there are certain qualities about a visual novel that just scratch my brain in a particular way and absolutely ruin me in the most perfect way possible. One of those things is a choice heavy game. As I've said many a times, I am an absolute slut for a choice heavy game. It is something about every decision that you make mattering in the most detrimental way possible, bonus points if the consequence isn't immediate. Like, yes, make me hesitate and overthink if I should have waffles or cold pizza for breakfast, dev daddy...maker mommy...program parent? Program parent doesn't have as 18+ of a ring to it, admittedly, but we'll make it work.

Anyways, as I mentioned, the game is super good, and as far as I can tell, it's pretty choice heavy. Like, I'll play a route damn near the same way, but respond differently to one thing, and there's a whole new option the next time around like huuuuuuh? Absolutely love the visual novels that do that.

I'll get more into how amazing the actual game itself is in a second, but I'm a little impatient, and I want to jump into the synopsis. Nothing even really popped off as far as showing the LI's yandere side -- well, at least not as crazy as it could be. It was implied, and there were little peaks, but nothing too wild popped off -- but this has some damn good build up for the rest of the game.

Right now, and tragically, it's just the (extended) demo, but it is damned good. But, no, seriously. I'm going to go ahead and jump into the summary. As per usual, ya girl is going to tell you as much about this game as possible without ruining the game itself as a whole. Why? Because, duh, I want you to play it! That's the whole reason for the reviews, big dawg!

So, without further ado, I'm going to get into storytelling mode and summarize the game for ya!

So, boom.

When this whole thing pops off, we're lost in the woods.

Because we're lost with, like, zero bearings of our surroundings, we just kind've wait around in this hollowed out, rotten tree for someone to come along and help us. Admittedly, kind've a tall order, but we're trying to stay hopeful in this hopeless situation, so we wait it out.

We wait, and wait, and wait, and wait some more. We're sleeping on and off, and it's honestly making us feel worse. Why? Well, first off, it's hard to sleep in the current situation we're in anyways. Not to sound ungrateful, because at least we're somewhat shielded from the cold and wind and rain -- yeah, we're dealing with that, too --, but sleeping in a literal swamp area is not the most pleasant sleeping condition, let alone sleeping outside in general. The second is, since we aren't actually fully sleeping, we just feel tired whenever we wake up. It's just an all around sucky situation, but it'd be stupid to continuously wander around when we just see trees and more trees.

With not really much of an option other than to wait and get more crappy sleep, we wait and get more crappy sleep. The next time that we wake up though, it's because we hear the crunching of leaves and someone staring us down until we wake up, and when we do --

GYATT DAAAAAAAAAAMN.

Well, well, well!! Are we still asleep? Are we dreaming because I'm about to act ALL THE WAY up. Like, my most pleasant and ladylike woof for you, my good, visually pleasing sir, and I mean

Woof~♡

Even still though, going from seeing no one to seeing someone, especially this damned close, is pretty startling, so we try to go further back into the tree, but there's not really much further back that we can go.

This guy -- his name is Noah, by the way, and is an absolute bae -- sees us do this, and he's just like "Ayo, calm down. It's just me. Also, you look rough. Haha, sorry, that was rude, but like, this is what happens when you run off". ...Huh?

"Run off"...? Oh. Oh right. This is one of those games. Lmao I almost forgot that this man is probably psycho.

Anyways, he's pretty much lowkey talking shit. Like, he's not trying to from the tone, but he's pretty firm about what he's saying. Basically, we've been gone for about 2 and a half days now, and he's like, either we can come back with him and ensure our safety and survival or we can fuck around and find out. The reason why I say this is because apparently there' s another storm coming, and it's implied to be worse, not to mention that it's going to get mad cold.

...Well, we definitely don't want to fuck around and find out, so we go with him.

He's lowkey still talking shit, though, saying that he's glad we're being "very reasonable" this time and all that, but he's being pretty sweet about being gentle with us; he even helped dust our clothes off and offered to be better company this time around.

We make it back to his cabin, and it's still kind've ghetto and mouldy, but it's better than the last time we were here, so he must've been serious about trying to be better company. That being said, Noah starts trying to rizz us up a little...or that's how I took it, because I'm highkey down bad for this man.

In actuality, he just knows that we're in pretty bad shape and is trying to help us out by getting us on the couch, cleaning our face, feeding us, getting us warm, and, honestly, trying to be as gentle as possible. Partially, because he probably doesn't want us running off again, which he makes super clear because, as most people like him do, he explicitly tells us to never pull that crap again and that he just wants to keep us safe and all that.

Anyways, he gets us some clothes and let's us take a shower. Just because I feel that it's necessary to be said, there's mould in here, too, but it's only a little bit, and it's at the corner of the ceiling. Now the thing is, we can smell some kind of cleaning products so whether he used it on the walls or the utilities that were in the bathroom, we're not sure, but it reassures us that he does at least make an attempt to clean. I mean, the mould is still gross, but at least we aren't outside in the storm and freezing cold.

After a bomb ass shower, we head back out into the living room and regroup with Noah. He makes sure that we're all good and heads into his room to call it a night, but not before very sternly -- what's up with the random sass? -- telling us to not wake him up. Like, yeah, because there's so much to do in this dank, mouldy-ass, minimalist cabin that would cause such a ruckus, Noah. Like lmao be for real, homie.

Whatever, though, we just kind've let him go on about his business. Once he's gone, we look outside and oof...

He wasn't bluffing. Not only did it rain like he predicted, but it's coming down mad hard.

...

I mean, it would be totally stupid, yeah, but we could take our chances and escape for realisies this time since we're refreshed, or we could wake up Noah like he specifically told us not to do, maybe look around a bit which he also told us not to do for whatever reason.

Hmmmm...decisions, decisions.

Super sorry if the storytelling didn't flow as well as usual (if it even did beforehand), but I was pretty excited about getting to the review.

Me, personally, this was a demo done so absolutely correct. I'm honestly anticipating this visual novel so hard, and it's more for the story than the actual game because Noah is so...normal so far? Like, right now, he just seems like your typical tsundere hard ass that gets sassy for no apparent reason but has those really soft moments. I'm so ready to see this man come totally undone. Like, I need to see how psycho this man actually gets, because why did we run off the first time? Did we get kidnapped? Did he help us and wouldn't allow us to leave? Are we actually his partner and we tried to call it quits but our memories got wiped and now he's trying to start fresh so that's why he doesn't want us looking around? Was the reason we left because of the mould? Like, I have so many questions, and I'm invested in this story.

Can we also talk about the affinity and health bar? Such a nice touch; I love it. The way that everything in me just drops whenever either of those bars starts dipping down, and then the apprehension I got when they'd get dangerously low. Like, wait, what's going to happen to me? I'm honestly so excited to see what kind of turmoil the dev decides to create with it. I wonder if it's not what it seems though. Like, I wonder if you have to get his affinity in a certain range versus trying to max it out or as close to max as possible. You know, like you can't just always be a "yes" person towards him, but you're not supposed to be super combative either; just enough to get that cozy 72% and unlock a true ending or something.

This game has so many possibilities and so much potential, and I'm just damned excited about the direction that it's going in. The art style is sleek, the LI is a total bae, and the story is storying; it's an experience and a damned exhilarating one. Like, I'm in deep just because I'm so curious about, first off, what's going to happen next and, second, what tricks the dev still has up their sleeve that they hadn't showcased yet.

Okay, I think I've gushed enough. I absolutely recommend playing the game if you haven't already. Like I said, as far as the LI goes, nothing too out of pocket happens, just some sass, but the build up is damned solid. Definitely give it a good playthrough if you're willing, not to mention, there is multiple "endings" just in the demo which is wild. But yeah, if you want to give it the ol' college try, here's a link to the game. If you end up liking it and/or want to give the dev that extra push to keep going with a classic "Ayo, this game is kind've dope, and you are you. Give MOAR", head over to the game page (or the dev's tumblr) and post those encouraging words; if you're able, drop a few coins for them, too -- I'm sure they'd appreciate the extra support.

That's all from me though, so now, I'm going to somewhat awkwardly close this out and use this as a transition sentence since I can't think of anything better.

As always! A huge reminder! Drink water, don't be dumb, and hope to you around~!

Trembling Essence

Dev's Tumblr Page

#trembling essence #trembling essence vn #trembling essence visual novel #trembling essence vn review #trembling essence visual novel review #trembling essence Noah #yandere visual novel #yandere vn #yandere boy #male yandere #visual novel review #vn review #yandere #visual novel #yande.re #yandere visual novel review

[astarionsbite]

Saw where @mmothmanners had done these templates for their lovely Ris'daer a while ago so I wanted to try it out with my girl Tavana ❤️

(a bit about her and spoilers for the game below)

Tavana is my girl that I've been playing with since early access and I'm so happy to have finally been able to finish up her story! I've added more to it than I thought I would really but here are some little tidbits of it:

As a child she lived on the boundaries of the forest with her family until her parents found better work in the city and moved them all into Baldur's Gate

She grew up in Baldur's Gate with a decent roof over her head helping her parents run their business, she missed the forest and the animals though

She would sneak out and befriend some of the local fauna...namely cats and rats and pigeons. One rat in particular named Wriggles accompanied her around town at times.

Her excursions at night did put her in the path of one of Cazador's spawn at some point but she avoided the encounter none the wiser to how close a call it had been

Her ranger's companion is a raven named Cantrip (her favored familiar is also a raven and Cantrip can call upon two more ravens for help.....so combat was just Tavana calling upon a group of ravens (which is apparently called an unkindness of ravens) to peck the eyes of her enemies <3)

Originally I had her just romancing Astarion but while playing my Durge I decided that she, Astarion, and Durge would be cute together and....oops i have an ot3 AU now...

I made her exactly as I had in early access but later added the piercings in the endgame as something between her and Karlach....bc Karlach has piercings pertaining to her rage type and they decided that Tavana summoning all those ravens was her version of a rage. It's also a remembrance thing for Tavana because in my original run with her Karlach died (and tbh I'm not sure I can change that I think that's Tavana's canon as much as it hurts me)

Tavana is very sun energy coded

Fun little thing that happened in game: when the spawn invaded camp in act 3 one of them bit Tavana so I had her chug the "A Mother's Loathing" potion and bite them back...so she's maybe a little feral at times

Definitely didn't kill the gur in the swamp and then use his crossbow for the entire rest of the game...nope...

She's a distant cousin of my first dnd OC (who became a literal goddess and is the deity of my current dnd OC cleric)

Tavana adopts so many animals and kids in game.....Scratch, Owlbear Cub, Arabella, and Yenna??? Adopted. She might have adopted Us eventually but she took one look at the whole talking, squirming brain in a skull situation and said: oh no, that has got to go.

Did not use the tadpoles at all, not even for persuasion....my durge on the other hand, has more tadpoles than brain at this point...

and there's a lot more but i think that's enough for this post

#tav #bg3 #bg3 spoilers #tavana ilvenstar #jules speaks

[seyaryminamoto]

I apologise if this question may lead to a massive spoiler, but I wish to know the answer all the same; What do you think will be the dynamic between Azula and Ursa in the future of this fic? I believe that they may reconcile, but will Azula accept the former princess in her new family? What may be the dynamic between the two? Will Sokka be the glue in their relationship? All I would like to know in my rambling is how Ursa's and Azula's relationship may develop into the future.

Ooookay, that answer goes under the break 🤣 read at your own risk, people!

God I kinda don't wanna talk too much because so many Ursa-related things have been some of my best kept secrets throughout Gladiator's process... but I also wanna talk so much about it because I'm very hyped over this and I love to see people who are also interested in how this will play out!

So... let's get cracking:

What will their dynamic be? Azula and Ursa's dynamic will start tense, for sure. Even when neither of them actively wants to antagonize the other, the years of trouble between them, the unresolved issues, are still very much present between them. Ursa is now much more aware of the awful effect she had on her daughter during her younger years, she has been punished harshly for it by the swamp, which absolutely drove home the point that she was already starting to understand, at the time when she left the Fire Nation: she wasn't the best mother she could have been to her daughter. Azula, on the other hand, has been through soooooooo much that her early issues with Ursa, while not meaningless because they never could be, certainly appear a lot less awful now that she can see them from a distance, so to speak. Therefore, initial tension, cordiality, and then... ... And then they'll find one point in common. The one thing only the two of them would EVER understand. One thing that basically bonds them in ways that they can't bond with anyone else. Ursa can't have that dynamic with Zuko. Azula could never have it with anyone else either. It's very specifically something very important for them, so important that these two would be the ONLY people who would ever understand each other when it comes to this... And that basically breaks the dam and changes things for the better :'D they become a lot more open with each other, their relationship begins to heal, and things get a lot better quite quickly for their restored parent-child relationship. While obviously it's too late to make things perfect, they absolutely can them better, and both Ursa and Azula will be ready to make those efforts for each other.

Will Azula accept Ursa in her family? As you may guess after reading the previous answer? Yes, haha. Azula will work towards fixing one very serious problem Ursa needs solving, and after that, Ursa's basically going to be like Persephone and spend half a year with one of her hids and half the year with the other one. At least, that's my current plan for her future 😂

Will Sokka be the glue in their relationship? ... Actually? No 🤣 someone else will be the glue, so to speak, but Sokka certainly will help and he will be the one who tells Azula what's up with her mother. He'll give her the chance to decide what she wants to do, when to meet her, and how to manage the whole situation. Of course, he will tell her everything he's learned from Ursa and how affected she has been by the things she's been through, but all in all, he steps back and allows them to build their bond themselves rather than being their facilitator. But he will definitely help, and Ursa will be stoked to see those two together once she finally does... though Azula, of course, will be very awkward about it because it's Azula. Poor girl won't know how to handle having a supportive mother in some regards, and if Ursa spots any PDA, Azula will most likely be embarrassed to death by it... but a little embarrassment over this is definitely a step-up compared to the awful things she's had to deal with as of late :'D so I'm sure Azula will be very happy to trade her current problems with: "I can't kiss you in front of my MOM that's awkward" "Azula we're literally forty years old..." "Your point???"

Soooo... as you can see, it will develop. Quite a bit. It will become healthier than it has ever been. No doubt the scars can't be erased completely, but Azula can gain a better understanding of her mother and her circumstances, just as much as Ursa has come to accept that she absolutely fucked up in many regards and could have/should have done better for her daughter.

Hope that's a good answer without being... too spoilery 😂

#metallic-lighght #gladiator spoilers #thanks for asking! #... I love talking about Gladiator Ursa #how the fuck I ever went from 'ugh poor Azula her mother sucks' #to simping the hell out of that woman #I'll never know #but honestly I'm so glad #the potential of this character is just so solid once you see it #and I'm glad I did #I'll be so happy to explore this dynamic once I can! #*rubs hands*

[demonslayedher]

Why do you like Demon Slayer so much?

I---I don't know, Anon, w-why do you like breathing so much?

...because BREATH TECHNIQUE LOOKS WICKED AWESOME AMIRITE!??!!?

UFOTABLE MADE SUCH A FREAKING COOL LOOKING ANIME that both looks and sounds amazing with all that care put into it HOW COULD I NOT LOVE IT!? Such good source material too, ALL HAIL WANI-SENSEI!!!!

Or rather, to more eloquently express myself, I'll answer this in two parts: the "why" and "so much."

Why do I like it?

- Simplicity

It's a classic Good .vs. Evil story, a triumph of working hard and working together. It's Coming of Age and Hero's Journey, all themes that never get old because they're really good themes. KnY isn't even that fresh of a take if you boil it down to this, but it didn't need to reinvent the wheel, it just needed to be a good wheel to keep the story going.

I was grateful it ended when it did, it had a goal to accomplish and everything in the story worked toward that goal. I've fallen away from adventure shounen because I can never stay interested in super long series that get mercilessly extended past their natural life as cash cows. Not to sound like a Swamp Demon here, but this manga got to end while it was still young and beautiful.

The fighting mechanisms are complex enough to be fun to explore, but it's not as complicated as other shounen series, making the barrier to entry lower for first-time anime viewers. That's part of why I think it's been so successful. Plus, even though we get things like Red Blades and Marks later, their existence as ultimate techniques was in place from the start, so they felt believably set up and paid off. They made sense within the world building, even if they had to be dropped on the readers later so as to weekly serialization interesting.

It tackles deep themes, but doesn't overcomplicate them. Muzan being a simple villain and Tanjiro simply being good-hearted created interesting tension just fine, the motivations throughout the cast keep the story nicely driven.

- Depth

Although the story, world, and characters are simple enough for people of all ages and familiarity with anime to enjoy, if you want to scratch deeper than the surface level, the hundreds of thousands of words of meta and cultural background throughout my blog go to show that it's very, very easy to bury yourself deeper in it. In my case I already have years of obsession with Japanese culture to build on, so KnY fit very nicely into my niche. I already love samurai and oni and swords and such so that was already playing to my knowledge, but as a passionate nerd, it's also given me lots and lots of exciting new material to learn more about. But more about that later, suffice to say here that Gotouge is a very, very knowledgeable gator.

- Characters

THEY ARE JUST GOOD AND FUN AND UNIQUE DESIGNS IN THE FIRST PLACE, but also, I don’t feel like I already know these characters from other anime. Many of them defy being typecast, and even the ones that do feel like like other characters in a plethora of anime have such a unique spin to make them stand out in my heart. I'm sure I could be a nerd for plenty of other series, but it takes the right characters to make a fangirl.

Also, my emotions got manipulated excellently; I like Tanjiro and immediately wanted to root for him, but I ha-a-a-ated most of the rest of the cast until I got to spend a teeny-tiny bit more time with them, and then I liked them hopelessly. I got totally strung along and I love it when I can get strung along like this.

Why do I like it so much?

A lot of that comes down to my personal recipe of brain soup and the situation I already felt stuck in by the time I got into KnY, a few months prior to the pandemic. Watching the anime and feeling really into it came as a comfort while I was finding myself in what felt more like a situation than a good career move and feeling frustrated with the second draft of a novel which wasn't working. Then just as I had hoped there might be some improvements to my situation which I was holding out for, the pandemic changed everyone's plans.

Simply put, the isolation and stress in those early stages of the pandemic both gave me lots of time to explore and write fanfic and made me rely a lot on the joy I got out of KnY, and then I got so practiced at making KnY fanwork that this blog became like my bonsai I could cultivate in peace while most other things in life have continued to feel out of control. And dang it, I'm good at cultivating this bonsai of a blog! It's gratifying to feel good at something when real life is making you feel otherwise!

Hopefully the upcoming new start in a new city and in a new job that'll hopefully make me feel good at things again and provide some smidge more control over my life will make me less reliant on KnY for such a big share of my happy hormones, but...

THE HYPE IS PART OF WHAT I LOVE

IT IS

SO MUCH FUN BEING OBSESSED WITH A MAINSTREAM PHENOMENON

THERE ARE THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY EVERYWHERE

I SAY THESE CHARACTER NAMES AND EVERYONE KNOWS WHO I'M TALKING ABOUT AND THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED TO ME

IT STAYS ON MY BRAIN BECAUSE IT IS EVERYWHERE

AND THIS IS SO COOL

[k-s-morgan]

I just finished WHGTB and I've been crying so much for Tom. He is truly broken. You write his pain so well, I almost can't forgive Harry either! I do have a couple of questions if you don't mind: 1) what was Tom thinking while in bed with his eyes wide open but shunning Harry? 2) after Tom starts talking to Harry, he still spaces out, what does he thinks about then? Is he hallucinating? I'm trying to understand as much as I can regarding his mental state so if you answer me I would be grateful!

Hey! Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback, I love when my writing achieves the effect I was going for! It was very interesting to see how people's sympathies divided. So many emphasized with Tom more despite everything he has done. I myself feel pretty equal toward him and Harry: I think they truly are worthy of each other, in good and bay ways.

About your question: whenever Tom spaces out in those moments, he's not really thinking about anything. His mind shuts down and goes into a pure self-preservation mode. It focuses on performing the most basic functions like breathing. Tom gets immersed into just keeping his body going: breathing, blinking, swallowing, maybe listening. He hides from the gravity of the situation, from its devastating emotional impact, and he resurfaces only when he regains some of the mental strength.

Sometimes he gets flashbacks to how he felt without Harry, and it stupefies him anew. It swallows him and it takes a while before Harry's voice manages to drag him out of this swamp, back into reality.

I imagine this will go on for some time, maybe more actively for a year or two, then happening from time to time for decades to come. Tom and Harry have undeniably left tremendously deep scars on each other.

#my fics #tomarry #harry potter #tom riddle #whgtb

[fiendfontainefenix]

work in progress. 18+ zhongchi

warning. non-con. will finish sometime. want zhongli to make a mess of childe.

-

“That isn’t what I meant.” Zhongli interrupted in an exasperatingly patient tone. Brushing nonexistent lint from his immaculately pressed pants legs, he continued, “I do not understand how someone like you could have intercourse with a woman.”

Something popped loudly inside of Childe’s head. The corner of his eyebrow twitched violently. His strained smile grew even bigger as the urge to wrap his fingers around that bastard’s neck and find out how long it took for that composed expression to morph into one of terror clawed at his reasoning. What the fuck was this asshole implying? That hadn’t even been his intention in the first place but if it had been, Lumine’s legs would’ve been spread with a few whispered words. Sex wasn’t something that usually interested him. It was an unnecessarily messy, unpredictable act that led to more problems than it was worth, but he considered it a tool – same as his words and his fists. He’d gotten really good over the years at maneuvering himself into those kinds of positions and making sure that whoever his partner was remembered the pleasure over everything else.

He knew he shouldn’t be angry over an immature insult. The bastard was trying to get him to slip up, to dig this stupid hole even deeper. Still, something about the way this guy said that just rubbed him the wrong fucking way. Sex was a tool in his arsenal. Something he excelled at. He’d bristle at someone insulting his fighting skills so why shouldn’t he be furious that his skills in bed were being put into question? This bastard had already misunderstood the situation entirely, threatened to spread this misinformation and now was making snide comments about something he knew nothing about. Of course, he was going to be fucking angry.

Turning to face Zhongli head-on, glaring coldly at him from over a snarling grin, “You’re going to have to explain that one to me a little more. I’m afraid I still don’t understand what you’re getting at.”

Zhongli stared silently at him for a moment, his intense golden gaze unreadable then abruptly stood. A slender hand shot out, grabbing hold of Childe’s wrist. He was wrenched forward with startling strength. Not many people could get the drop on him like that, but Childe found himself staggering – stumbling forward against Zhongli’s bigger body. Their chests bumped together. Zhongli’s other arm snaked around his midsection, squeezing him in even closer. Warm breath washed over his ear and neck. The scent of herbal tea and ink flooded into his nostrils. A furious mix of emotions churned inside Childe’s belly. Heat rose to his head, swamping him with a shock of dizziness. His heart picked up a galloping rhythm, banging hard against the interior of his ribs.

That same strong hand quickly snatched hold of his other wrist. Zhongli yanked his arms down to pin his hands firmly to his lower back. With unnerving grace, almost like they were dancing, Zhongli pushed forward, maneuvering them around until Childe was pushed up against a nearby wall. Ear-ringing silence fell over the small room. Panting softly, perturbed by how hot his body had suddenly become, Childe wriggled fruitlessly in Zhongli’s hold. Perhaps it was the position he was ensnared in or maybe this bastard was inhumanly strong but no matter how much he struggled, he couldn’t budge an inch!

Laughing lightly, Childe, doing his best to hide how breathless he’d become, said, “My, my, what’s this, Mr. Zhongli? For someone acting so high and mighty before, you’re getting awful handsy with a subordinate. Maybe I should be the one telling on you for harassment.”

“You asked me to explain.” Zhongli’s low voice echoed up from the nape of his neck. A shiver raced down Childe’s spine, sending electrified pangs coiling through his limbs. He instinctively jerked his head away. “Did you not?”

“You really must have a screw loose, Mr. Zhongli.” Childe replied jeeringly. Fuck…fuck-! His heartbeat was racing out of control. It felt like it might plow straight out of his chest at any moment. Damnit, why couldn’t he just throw him off? Being this close to this asshole was making him feel weird. There was a white-hot flame raging in his core, radiating off a heat that could melt tungsten steel. His limbs felt all watery and tingly. This was different than the kind of reaction he had when he knew he was going up against a dangerous opponent. This Zhongli fella was something unlike anything he’d encountered before. As much as he wanted to continue the snarky route, he might have to be careful with this one.

“Sorry, but I don’t really care anymore.” Childe sighed dismissively, “Do what you want with that so called ‘evidence’. Lumine will tell the big boss that you’re misunderstanding this whole thing. Now, could you let me go so I can get back to wor-RRK!”

A warm, slender hand smoothed down his side to shamelessly grope at his backend. Zhongli’s long fingers cupped around the curvature of his ass, giving the plump cheek an ample squeeze. A veracious bolt of heat sizzled through Childe’s groin. His cock twitched rebelliously against his thigh. His teeth gnashed together in a furious smile. This bastard-! He really was playing with him – making a mockery of him! He was just going to walk away from this but no way in hell was he going to let this slide now.

Sucking in a deep breath through clenched teeth, Childe growled, “Mr. Zhongli, this really has gone far enough. I’ll have to ask you to let me go or I’ll-“

“Do you really think you can please a woman with a body this lewd?”

“…what?”

“You probably haven’t realized it yourself.” Zhongli continued to comment, his voice a low, smooth purr. He slipped a lean, muscular thigh between Childe’s legs, pressing it up against his clothed cock. Bursts of heat pierced through his belly. He only just barely managed to swallow down a gasp. His penis responded without hesitation, gleefully hardening in response to the insistent stimulation. Zhongli’s smell was, somehow, stronger now. They weren’t any closer than before but with every harried breath, that overwhelming scent filled him. His head swam. Sweat rolled down his face in fat droplets. His clothes were already becoming damp. Childe grinded his teeth together. What…what the hell was this? He wanted to kick Zhongli away, to punch him, bite him but he couldn’t find the strength to do any of those things.

Brushing the tip of his nose along the curve of Childe’s darkly flushed cheek, Zhongli murmured, “Or perhaps you have but you simply cannot admit it.”

“What’re you talking about, bastard?” Childe snarled breathlessly. He yanked hard on the fingers wrapped tight around his wrist but couldn’t dislodge them. Precum was leaking into his underwear, making the fabric soggy. There was a tension, an itchiness in his backend that was starting to grind on him, “Get off me. Now.”

“I knew it from the beginning. From the moment I first saw you.” Zhongli whispered into his ear. His words punched through the fog that was settling over Childe’s mind, becoming luminescent and unavoidable, “This body…this beautiful, lewd, obscene body…it’s made to be held.”

Zhongli’s long fingers slipped between his ass cheeks. The smooth pads pressed persistently to his hole, nearly dipping inside in their eagerness. This time, Childe couldn’t bite back the yelp that came bludgeoning out of him. His eyes widened to bulging circles. A tremor passed through his cock. With that one firm touch, he was fully hard. His cock rose insistently against the front of his pants. The tip rubbed irritably against the inside of his underwear. Shocks of stinging pleasure coursed through his muscles. Zhongli chuckled softly. His tongue slid out from between his smooth lips to press teasingly against the side of Childe’s neck. He dragged the wet muscle along his skin, leaving a trail of saliva that glistened in the artificial light.

“Sto-! Bastard,” Childe panted, frantically grappling for any sense of control but still shivering dramatically when Zhongli’s lips clamped down on the skin stretched over his hammering pulse, “what nonsense are you spewing? You really think I’d enjoy something like this? Sorry, but I’m just pent up. It’s been a while since I’ve been between the legs of a lovely lady. Someone like you could never get me going more than this. So why don’t you let me go before you embarrass yourself?”

“Sex with women is only a chore for you.” Zhongli said against his heated, sweat-dampened skin. “Methodical, mechanical – thoughtless, emotionless…lacking any satisfaction or real pleasure. You’ve never truly experienced what it is to be held.”

“Hah, what? You a shrink now?” Childe retorted coldly, “You don’t know a single thing about me.”

“I know everything.” Zhongli rasped, lifting his head to stare down at Childe with a burning golden gaze. “Everything that you’ve tried to hide. Everything that you’ve refused to acknowledge. I’ve seen the longing gazes, the reddening of your cheeks and the way your eyes sparkle. I’ve seen the desire, the blatant and shameless want that is constantly etched into your features.”

“Oh yeah, and what do I want?” Childe sneered, determinedly ignoring how vulnerable and bare that fathomless golden gaze made him feel.

The corner of Zhongli’s lips tilted up into the barest hint of a smile. His slender hand darted up to the swell of his hip. Deft fingers slipped underneath the waistband of Childe’s trousers, sweeping down further until they were right back to where they’d been outside of his clothes. Childe’s eyes widened. His mouth opened to issue a vehement protest but before he could make a sound, those slender digits were teasingly playing with his hole. They rubbed against him, first swirling around his entrance before stretching him open between two fingers.

“What do you want?” Zhongli cooed, leaning in to mouth a line of kisses along his blisteringly hot cheek, “You want to be fucked. To be held down and have this,” he pressed hard against his hole, nearly slipping his finger inside, “filled up…over and over and over again until that oh so convincing act you put on slips away and your free to express who you really are…a cock hungry slut who exists only to be held, to be loved.”

“You’re fucking crazy.” Childe panted raggedly. His hips swayed backwards, rubbing in turn against Zhongli’s fingers and his thigh. He was so hard that it was becoming painful. That itch that had only been mildly annoying before was now unbearable. It was hard to get enough air in. A mess of mush, fog and heat had taken over his head. He could hear each word that Zhongli was saying clearly but simply refused to acknowledge them beyond that dismissal. He was crazy. This whole thing was fucking crazy. He was going to get away from this bastard, knock him down several pegs then go and actually fuck Lumine until she passed out.

Zhongli chuckled quietly, “You would still deny it, even though your body is being so honest. Not to worry. I suspected…and hoped that this would happen for if it did-.”

Stepping back, Zhongli abruptly wrenched him forward then spun him around with dizzying speed. The wall greeted Childe’s chest as he was smooshed aggressively against it. Something velvety and soft was wrapped tight around his wrists, binding them in place to allow Zhongli to have both hands free. Warmth pressed snug to his back. A spasm of panic was quickly overwhelmed by a loud beat of excitement as Zhongli’s scent washed over him. Sucking in a sharp back, Childe tried to shove back, hoping to catch the bastard off balance but Zhongli held him quick, wrapping his lithe arms snugly around his trembling body.

“Then I could be the one to teach you.” Zhongli’s hot, slender hands smoothed down his sides to his waist. “This beautiful body…I’ll devour it over and over again until you understand.” He seized hold of his trousers, yanking them down swiftly to expose his groin and ass, “I will show you, Childe, just what this lewd body truly desires.”

#genshin impact #zhongchi #zhongli #tartaglia

[enbyleighlines]

Leigh plays Tellius prt 18

It's time for the two-parter Marado map. I was feeling nervous about this one, mostly because of all the pegasus knights. My Jill was not doing so hot, so I was afraid she would become overwhelmed by them, and they would swarm my squishier units.

Thankfully, however, I managed to get through the first section without issue. The second section, on the other hand...

I do appreciate Fiona for what she was doing here. I only wish that she got more time to become a good character and/or a good unit. At least she has savior, which helps her not die on this map. The other cavaliers were not so lucky, and quite a few of them died. The amount of times my characters died because I rushed too quickly trying to save the villagers was... too many, really.

I do love this ongoing metaphor going on through this conversation, comparing themselves to shepherds and the people of Daein as "little lambs". It's so demeaning and dehumanizing, which is of course the point. It also shows how they rationalize their actions.

I love you Meg, I really do. And I get it. Meg's young and unfamiliar with the world outside of her small farming town. But this particular plot point always annoys me. Brom, why would you do this? I'm glad that Zihark is a complete gentleman about the whole situation. But I'm sad we never get any resolution over this. Does Meg ever realize Zihark doesn't want to marry her? I do know from her ending that she does end up getting married and having a family of her own, but it would have been interesting to see a little of what happened in between.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Radiant Dawn suffers a lot from the lack of support conversations. The Dawn Bridage, especially, suffer from stagnant character syndrome.

Micaiah getting upset at Pelleas for not having a backbone always puts a smile on my face. She's usually so distantly polite with everyone (with the exception of Sothe), so the times when she reveals a little more of her honest feelings and thoughts are really great to see. And while I adore Pelly, I 100% agree with Miccy here. Grow a spine, Pelleas!

Oh, and while you're growing that spine, maybe also lose the racism. Again, I love you buddy, you are the beorc equivalent of a sad puppy left outside in the rain, but dude. Try to form your own opinions for once.

Anyway, onto the prison break map!

Love these three! Wish they were more involved in the story.

Ahahaha. I don't know if Maurim meant this sincerely or sarcastically, but man. That comment alone probably destroyed whatever "manly pride" Sothe might have had.

The map itself didn't give me nearly as much trouble as the previous one. And luckily, Jill got some good level ups on this map, which transformed her from a slightly weak unit to a dependable one, which has put my mind at ease.

Sothe is so fucking funny. I love him.

Next was the stupid swamp map. For some reason, this is the only screenshot I took, probably because it was the only highlight. This one gave me even more trouble than the second Marado map. I really wanted to save most of the people trapped in the swamp, which meant I took some really stupid risks, and had to restart waaaay too many times. But at the end, at least Edward classed up.

This part of the story is so sweet. Micaiah has lived all of her life in the shadows, keeping her distance, afraid of how people would react if they learned her secret. And now here she is, adored by many, people who look up to her and feel inspired by her. I can only imagine what she's thinking during this scene. She probably thinks she doesn't deserve it, and to some extent, that's true. Or to be more accurate, they are idolizing her, putting her on a pedestal, which is puts a lot of pressure on her shoulders. She doesn't deserve that, because she is worth more than that.

Anyway, it's getting late, and I'm losing my train of thought. I just love this game so much, guys.

See you all in part 19!

#leigh plays tellius #fire emblem radiant dawn #radiant dawn #fe10 #tellius

[dolliedarlin]

Omg king happy birthday!!!! Can I request Shinsou with a reader who used to work with the L.o.V. But was quirkless (joined because they hated heroes at one point)

a/n : oh my, i've never been called a king before, that's very flattering, thank you! (>///<) i don't know if i can write this well but i'll do my best for you, dollface!

this is going to be an aged up/timeskip au, if that's alright- i'll also be adding my own little twist to it in the end

"How many times do I have to say this?..." you grumbled, swamped in an oversized grey hoodie and sweats as you make your way out for groceries, "I don't need a hero for a babysitter,”

"Trust me," Shinso jumps down from his perch on a near by utility pole to stand before you, "I don't want to be your babysitter either,”

You click your tongue and move to step around him, continuing on your way and ignoring the annoying fact of him falling into step beside you, "then why are you still here?" 

"it's my job and you can't be trusted as of yet…” you had nothing to say about that and only clicked your tongue to further express your displeasure. 

There really was no reason for you to be so angry, it was your decision - a bad decision - to join the L.o.V anyway so this was just your punishment. You’re surprised they were being so lenient on you but again, if you really thought about it, despite being a quirkless person, it was your brains that really made you stand out. You’re certain that there’s a catch, it’s how the world works after all. This generous freedom comes at a cost and you think you know what the higher ups will want in return.

You dread the day they will confront you about it... 

“Why did you join the League of Villains?” Shinso brings up casually as he inspects an assortment of packaged mushrooms beside you. 

“This really isn’t the appropriate time or place for a talk like that…” you snap under your breath as you snatch the mushrooms from his hands and tuck them into your basket. Next stop eggs. 

“There’ll never be an appropriate time or place for a talk like this so why not now?” the purple-haired, sleep-deprived prohero persists and follows you on your journey to find eggs. 

“We’re in the middle of a grocery store looking for eggs,” you stress with a huff as you face him with a wave of burning irritation. 

He shrugs. You groan. 

Back to the eggs. Where the hell are they?

“Do you always have to be around?” you complain once more under your breath, cooking yourself an omelette for breakfast. 

“Well…yeah…”

“But why at such random times?” Shinso comes and goes however he pleases from your provided residence it seems. You want to complain more but you know you don’t have much say on the situation seeing as you’re supposed to be under supervision at all times, and you’re already on a much lighter penalty by the government than you were originally supposed to be. You know you should feel lucky to have Shinso as you commited, non-commital assigned supervisor

“It’ll keep you on guard so you can behave like a good girl,” the purple-haired prohero smirks lazily at your tangible disgust at his statement.

“Don’t call me that. I’m not one,”

“You used to be…” sighing, you ignore his melancholic words in favour of finishing up your omelette, where you then plate it and head to your small table to eat. No sooner that you sat down did Shinso join you at the opposite side, his one hand tapping away at the wood as his other holds his chin up, “what happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it…” you voice weakly through a mouthful of your omelette and rice. Your once cold and irritable demeanour quickly diminishing into one of insecurity and anxiousness. Shinso observes your rigid but defeated silhouette attentatively. You’ve changed so much since he last saw you that, when he finally saw you again, captured and in recovery from battle as an associate of the enemy, he begged to be the one keeping close watch of you. 

He couldn't believe it was you. That he has finally found you again.

“Why not?” Shinso whispers, his voice barely making it to your ears as his tone was too soft, too delicate and too careful in its attempt to reach you. You don’t even make the effort of acknowledging his question and only proceed to finish your breakfast, “Don’t you trust me, anymore?”

“…I hate heroes…”

Shinso didn’t know how to react to your shocking statement. A memory of your beaming smile when re-enacting your favourite prohero’s victory pose as a child flashes in his mind and before he knows it, he’s reaching across the table to take your hand into his own. You spare very little effort in trying to pull your hand free but it was no use. Instead, Shinso pulls your hand to his lips and kisses the centre of your palm delicately.

“Does that mean you hate me too?”

His seductively indolent eyes stare back at your wide-eyed expression. Your mouth is dry and your breathing has stopped. 

Did you? 

🔖 : @hangesidekick ;  @emotionalfangirl2002 ; @kookie02 ; @lordbugs ; @answer-the-sirens ; @@toobsessedsstuff ; @moonbinnie0983 ; @kinba-ri ; @beaniebanby ;  @themoonandlover ; @Ravensfeatheruniverse ; @barbra-annbunny ; @Modmochi ; @maybeisthemoon ; @a-book-lover-things ; @thathoneybee3 ; @lostinbooksblog ; @moonlightaangel ; @cocoa-bitter ; @mysteriousparker ; @mha-baku-todo-deku-kiri ; @dangerousluv1 ; @Pansexualproblemchild ; @PeacchFuz ; @Skywalkerstyles ; @chwlogy ; @acuario2 ; @juliannaelee ; @levimeko ; @Neutralchaosintheworld ; @saccharisa ; @no1herothatlookslikeavillain

#⍉ : BIRTHDAY SPECIAL REQUEST #shinso x reader #bnha x reader #bnha fluff #bnha prohero #hitoshi shinso x y/n #shinsou imagine #bnha shinso hitoshi

[nerdnag]

How is your work situation? Still improving?

Yes!!

Well. The main thing that fucked me up is still improving, at least! The coworker who used to be really negative toward me has been nice recently, and I suspect it may be because my new boss has talked to her about it (which I have to assume she has done). The new boss and I have an excellent relationship and we think alike on all the most important stuff. Also a lot of the things I had to do in the past year are now no longer my responsibility which is a huge relief.

However. I may be a tiny bit--ok large bit swamped right now.

See, for the past half year or so I have been working on developing an IT platform for our clients which will replace our old one. (I have built it within another software, so don't go thinking I'm a pro software developer or anything, I've just played with lego basically...) Although some of my coworkers have gotten involved in the later stages, I'm still the main project owner, and I'm the only one who fully knows how everything works.

We have a little over 100 clients to move from the old platform to the new one, it takes somewhere between 1-2 hours minimum to move one of them (as well as 1 hour more for some extra polish), and we might lose access to the old platform on Sept 1st because of... reasons. So we need to move as many as we can before then.

Also I've been stressing around in the past week trying to write the manuscript for/edit informative videos about the new platform (and if it hadn't been for the fact that my partner happens to love recording voice stuff and is also good at it then I might have had to fully record the videos as well, but thank god my boss allowed me to bring in my partner to do it instead, so now I only have to write the script, record the moving pictures and edit the videos together), all while scribbling together a manual for the clients (which I'm giving almost the exact same content as the script for the videos because fuck it) and moving the very first client to the new platform two days ago, while writing an internal manual for my other coworkers who are involved in the project as for how to move a client, and struggling to fix last-second bugs, and tomorrow I'm live-showing all our co-workers who have not been involved so far how to use the new platform, and on Tuesday I'm doing the same for our clients, and... And...

And next week I'm starting up a new client (who will take up 50% of my time until december) while juggling another client (on 25%), and who knows what unexpected issues may occur with the new platform in the meantime, not to mention all the other more sporadic clients which I have barely had time for in the past year, and other internal company stuff I need to do...

... Ok I'm a huge bit swamped.

But tbh I'm much rather swamped as in "too much to do" than treated badly by coworkers. And things will improve in a few months.

(Besides it's partly my own fault anyway that it's this stressful right now, because I've known for over a year that we had the Sept 1st deadline, but because I was swamped by other things and felt horrible at work most of the time and because my adhd happens to thrive on short deadlines, I delayed the project until I basically couldn't delay it any more. I mean, it's not only my fault. It's just. I can't really duck away from all the blame, you know.)

But yes! Things are improving for sure ^_^

#... Holy hell i hadn't realized how much stuff I had to do until I wrote all of that #Someday I will rest I promise #Ask a nerd #Worknag #I was about to go back to editing videos right after posting this #But my partner just came in and told me I am not allowed to work more today #So I guess I will... Do something else?

[hoedameron]

Dark Winds anon back again to talk about the new episode bc I have so many thoughts and no one to tell them to irl!! What an episode man aughhhhhhhh. (These thoughts are very disjointed so bare with me) The whole hospital scene was sooooooo cool! whoever did the lighting for that needs a raise fr. I almost wish it had been a longer sequence with Joe and Bern having to go inside and stalk blondie/ protect Chee, but that’s alright. Speaking of Joe, I’m absolutely loving the little descent to madness he’s got going on. The staring off into space, dismissing anything that isn’t the manhunt, the obvious exhaustion etc all works so well. Bern was really keeping an eye on Joe the whole episode, which leads me to think that she’s at least somewhat caught onto his spiraling and is….. Concerned….. at the very least. It does make me wonder just how much they’re going to touch on Bern’s feelings regarding Joe Jrs death, esp since she says he was like a little brother to her in s1. Personally I think that, unlike Joe, she would probably be able to keep her feelings out of her work more, and that she’ll probably be a rock for him (at least on the professional side, her deal with Joe and the border patrol job is smth else entirely) rather than succumbing to the same recklessness as Joe. (Tho if anything happened to Joe or Jim I imagine that might change). My guess is that if we see any of her thoughts about it, it’ll be a quieter moment off the frontlines. but that’s a complete guess, I could be wrong about all of that! Overall, another great ep. I won’t lie the timeline is sort of throwing me off (it doesn’t seem like it’s been 6 days since the events of the first ep) but maybe I’m just dumb. Veryyyy much looking forward to the next episode which based on the preview seems to be a lot of injured Zahn McClarnon walking simulator, my favorite!

OMG HELLO BABE sawwwy i had a swamped up week and barely had enough energy </3

every single episode keeps gettng etter and better like what did they put in this show that makes it sooooooo scrumdillyumptious....YESSSSS the entire coloring of this season has been sexy as hell and i hope whomever had a part in that decision gets sloppy onthe reg. joe can go on a spiral as a treat for having to deal with another whitte man messing around with his livelihood like totally understandable it's only fair. goshhhh, my bbygirl bern needs a break !!!!!! and she is also always the one getting thrown into the supernatural-esque situations like omfg GIRL.

that's why i adore the relationship between joe and bern because they take care of each other like they can alwys lean on each other and trust one another with each other's lives. no, you're right, i do think bern might be the anchor in the storm and the one who would most likely face consequences for their actions is joe since it's now eating away at him. the questions of how did that buckle end up there? what really happened? just swirling around in his head. naurrr, it's going rather quickly and that's the thing that sucks about this show is that it's only six episodes long </3 even my dad was like wthhhh do you mean it's only six episodes ....my thoughts exactly. at the same time, i do think that if it was any longer than 10 episodes, it might be a litle drawn out like i've seen shows with long seasons and it's not always good lol. WHUMP JOE EVERYON EO N THE WHUMP HURT NO COMFFORT JOE TRAIN BABEYYY!! two premium tickest please ^_^

#ask #also this is my sideblog so if you want to find more dark winds stuff u should check out my main @jimschee!! #plus i check that inbox more frequently since i only get on desktop like twice a day ...maybe sometimes evven once