#the tale of two fates XD

[sayonaramidnight]

Do you find that your interpretations of your character changes as you get older/learn more about the world around you? For example, a soft character may have started innocent but they (and, by extension, you) choose to keep them that way despite the harshness of the world? Does your character's expertise on a subject change as you become more familiar with it, etc.?

This question has made me think a lot and my thoughts went many different ways, so please forgive me if I get incoherent and/or start digressing~

In general, I'd say my interpretation of my characters kind of depends on my mental and emotional state, but also on where I am with my life and what kind of stories and motifs I'm currently into, and what I'm fed up with. There was a time when I thought of kind and gentle characters as too sweet and naive, but later I learnt to admire them. How about those who are serious and brooding? Younger me thought they were So Cool. Older me wanted to make fun of them. Current me just waits and sees what they do.

That said, most of my characters have been with me for many years, decades even - and then there's Helvi, who's only been there since, 2018, but I started playing for serious in 2019! Given that time is a weird soup and the years 2020-2023 have blended into one short period of time in my mind, it feels like two years at most, so I'm not sure whether I got older or more experienced in such a short time XD

But! One of the very few things I've known about her since the very beginning is that she follows Menphina and it makes love one of the big recurring themes of her story. It got me wonder, how to interpret her faith, because, really, there are so many ways you can go to express it! Will you share your love with your family? Friends? Paramour(s)? Nation? Random people you meet on your way? Do you pray for everyone's successful love life or just focus on your own? Seek your fairy tale romance or indulge in daydreams? Have many lovers or commit to one relationship, or maybe fill your heart with pure love for the whole world instead? So many possibilities and for a long time I didn't know what to choose...

Then it turned out there was room in her heart for all of the above, to some extent.

But let me tell you it wasn't easy to figure out for quite a while. See, from Heavensward to Shadowbringers I played with no long breaks. I had all these expansions, so I jumped from one story right into another and didn't give myself much time to sit down and think. After the emotional rollercoaster that was HW, I mostly ran Helvi through SB on autopilot, and then another rollercoaster came along... And she felt so tired most of the time, so exhausted and still the kindest soul ever, but distant and withdrawn at the same time. She spent a lot of time grieving and self-loathing And I asked myself: is she going to get better? Can she get better? Can she fall in love again? Does she even want to? And at that time, the answer was 'no'. She seemed.. resigned to her fate. Reached into her own soul and found darkness, and decided to embrace it and use it to fight. And it seemed like she would be hardened that way.

Then, there was a long break between ShB and EW, and I could finally think in peace, share my thoughts with friends and answer their countless and valuable questions, and even write a few snippets, putting her feelings and some events from her life. I let her go back and do some thinking in peace too. She let herself laugh heartily again. She didn't stop being a dark knight, but simply added red magic and dancing to her fighting skills and thus found the balance she needed. She made peace with herself. She even fell in love again, after all, and is not going to let this love go. Now, in any friend group, she's that friend who gives away hugs freely and dotes upon everyone, and dances like no one's watching, and also defends you fiercely.

I know I'm rambling, but all I want to say there is a big difference between playing with or without long breaks and it may change your perspective and interpretation of your character :D

#gatheredfates #replies #I dunno if that answers your question #but thinking of the answer gave me Thoughts and Feelings #thank you #thanalan tinies

[blackjackkent]

VERY challenging fight among the mind flayer pods. I think this might be the first time Hector and Co. have actually fought mind flayers directly, and these fuckers are SCARY. They have an attack called Mind Blast which can (and did, on one occasion) stun the entire group out of their turns, and another called "Extract Brain" which didn't seem to do exactly what it said on the tin (thankfully) but did do an absolute shitton of damage. I had to restart the fight twice because Hector was unconscious for the subsequent conversation with Zevlor, which I wanted him to be awake for. XD

(I've realized recently that I completely fucked up redoing his build as an Open Hand monk and I need to redo it again, but I haven't been able to go back to camp since we went down the Flesh Slide. But for Act 3 hopefully he will be a little beefier. For right now I'm just pretending that he's doing more work than he's actually doing in combat. :P )

The thing I'm most worried about here is that we don't have the option of taking a long rest, and everyone is REALLY hurting and low on spell slots and there's got to be some enormous boss battle coming up. :/ But we'll cross that bridge when we get there, I guess.

Also, Zevlor and the two Flaming Fist who were also in the pods fucking KICKED ASS during this fight. I don't know if I buy the tieflings' story that he showed cowardice out in the shadow-cursed lands, because he was definitely not messing around against these mind flayers. My personal suspicion is that he tried to surrender because innocents were in danger of being hurt, and didn't realize that surrendering to the Absolute cult isn't like surrendering to sane people.

But I guess we'll find out because we can talk to him now!

"Hells. I didn't think I was going to make it... Thank you..."

Wyll chimes in before Hector can speak. "Zevlor."

Zevlor glances towards him - then does a double-take, registering the horns and mottled skin now gracing the man's face and head. "Watching gods... The Blade of Frontiers? Wyll? What happened?" he asks, startled.

Wyll smiles bitterly. "I paid the price of angering the wrong devil." His voice is surprisingly cool, cautious, despite having known Zevlor before. The tales they have heard of Zevlor's supposed cowardice have clearly bothered him more than he's let on; after all, he considers himself the protector of the common people.

Zevlor looks at him steadily for a moment. His own smile is sad, weary. "And shouldered the cost to spare someone else a worse fate, I'd wager," he murmurs. A pause; then he turns to look at Hector. "I... owe you an explanation," he says. "Much more than that. But first... please..." His glowing gold eyes narrow anxiously, betraying the placidity of the rest of his expression. "The others. The ambush... tell me they survived."

Hector nods slowly. He isn't really sure what to think of Zevlor at this point; the reports of his cowardice and surrender do not mesh with the image he has seen of the man himself. "They found refuge," he says cautiously. Well, most of them at least. "But what the hells happened out there, Zevlor?"

"You've heard some of it, I'm sure," Zevlor says flatly. "That I froze, or broke, or some other lie that is kinder than the truth." His gaze grows distant, lost in memory. "We were ambushed by cultists, yes. And then I heard... Her. Their false god, whispering promises in my mind. I would be a paladin again - with a god's purpose, a god's power. Everything I needed to protect my people." He swallows, squeezes his eyes shut, regret and shame written in every line of his face. "And all the while, the cult tortured them. They fought, and ran, and died around me, while I imagined myself their savior."

He scowls, opens his eyes again, though he can't seem to quite meet Hector's. "By the time I regained my senses, it was too late. I did not just surrender to the Absolute," he mutters. "For a moment, I welcomed it."

Oh, gods. Hector stares at him, unsure whether to feel sympathy or revulsion.

The great horror of the Absolute, he reflects, is not in all the death, or even in the eldritch transformation and absorption of the mind flayer hive mind. It's in the way that this enemy preys upon the deepest weaknesses and fears of those it consumes, stripping them bare, with no corner of safety or identity left to them.

He saw only a few minutes ago how Zevlor suffered during the aftermath of the Descent - a paladin of Elturel, attacked and exiled by his own people without cause, his faith shattered apart. Yet another flavor of that same lost emptiness that Hector has seen in Lae'zel, in Shadowheart, as they have seen a pillar of their life taken from under them. Is it any wonder that, given a vision of that certainty being returned to him, he should be tempted by it?

Hector could, no doubt, chastise Zevlor for the weakness - but what good would it do? It's obvious that Zevlor already feels more shame than he can bear for what he did, for the loss of control and the sacrifices that went with it.

Like Madeline, in the grip of He Who Was, grieving for those she turned over to the Justiciars. I cannot grant you forgiveness you deny to yourself - but I can tell you that I understand.

"It sounds like you were being enthralled," he says quietly. "It's not your fault.

"It would be nice to think so," Zevlor says; his shoulders relax just slightly at the expression of understanding but none of the tension leaves his eyes. "But whatever these monsters twist us into... I believe it begins in us." He lets out a heavy breath, steadies himself - the military mind taking over, although Hector sees in the moment something of his own rituals of calming and self-discipline.

"I won't make excuses," Zevlor continues, more briskly. "I can't make amends. But I know something of what you came to do - I want to help, if you'll let me." He glances past Hector down the slime-ridden corridor behind him. "Ketheric is below. He thinks you're no longer a menace. Descend and show him how wrong he is. If there are any more survivors to be found, I'll find them and lead them out of this place."

Hector nods slowly, impressed by the force of personality it is clearly taking for Zevlor to stand against his own shame and exhaustion. "I could use another blade in the fight to come," he points out.

Zevlor smiles without humor. "Only if you can trust it won't be buried in your back. The Absolute swayed me once before. I won't risk it happening again." He puts a hand against Hector's shoulder briefly. "Go, my friend. Please. Let me do this much."

He lets his hand fall, turns and walks away down the corridor.

----------

Hector watches him go, his eyebrows knitted together in a troubled frown. "Damn," he mutters. "What a mess." He sighs, rubs a hand down his face. "I'm glad we found him. He's a good man, in spite of... all of this."

Wyll raises one shoulder in a slight shrug. "I want to think you're right," he says. "But people died because of his moment of weakness. Innocent people. People who trusted him to protect them."

Hector glances sideways at him. "And who is to say what vulnerable spot of ours would not be dredged up to destroy us at this moment, if the Prism was not protecting us?" he points out. A rueful smile tugs his lips for a moment. "We all have our regrets. Things we would like the power to change. None of us are exempt from that."

Wyll tips his head to the side and returns the wry smile after a moment's pause. "I suppose I can't argue with you there."

#bjk plays baldur's gate 3 #hector carlisle #bjk writes her own party banter #:( :( :( :( :(

[thegloriousninjaturtle]

First Lines in 2024

Welp, @delivish tagged me to give some sneak peeks in the making and thank goodness they did tag me because boy have I been writing! I know I'm practically silent on here, but I do miss Ao3 and I miss the amazing community in the fandom even more! Makes me wonder why I take a long long time to post (besides life being the apparent answer XD). Here are some snippets of two fics that will be posted soon!

A Series of Choices (CH.5)

Kenny lay on the couch, a cigarette dangling from his lips as he played Tetris on his phone, waiting for Karen to FaceTime him. It was eight in the morning and he had been up since five playing, his thumbs moving on autopilot, tapping the blocks into place. The smell of ash filled the room, smoke curling over his head, and for once, Kenny was glad to be home alone. It was a rare moment where he was able to smoke inside the house and no one was around to pester him about his habits. As Kenny tapped a line piece to the right of his screen, Karen’s face popped up on his phone. He moved his ash-filled cup out of view before answering the call.

“Hey!” Karen beamed.

Kenny couldn’t help but look surprised to see his sister’s hair now a different color. “Hey. White?”

“Sort of. It’s actually a really light pink. My roommates helped me dye it and cut it, too. Do you like it?” She asked, shaking her short hair from side to side.

“Yeah, actually. It’s different,” he commented. “So is that the first thing you did when you got off the plane?”

“More like the second. The first was struggle to unpack with two other people in a tiny space,” Karen said. “Here’s the full tour of the dorm, if you’re interested.”

 She pushed herself out of the way and her laptop was able to capture the entirety of her room right in its place. He was able to catch the lofted beds, desks, and crammed mini fridge all in one glance. Karen wasn’t kidding when she said she was shoved into a closet.

“That’s it?” Kenny asked.

“Yup. The only thing you’re not seeing is my desk, which you don’t really need to see,” she mumbled as she shuffled a few papers out of the way. “But that’s it,” she confirmed and moved back into view.

“Bet you wish you had your old room back.”

Karen gave a half-shrug. “It doesn’t bother me. I’m just glad I got roommates that I actually get along with.”

“Are you saying your old roommates sucked?”

“Yeah, because at least these ones aren't pigs.”

Forgive Me Father for I Have Sinned

In roughly thirteen hours, Butters will be standing in South Park’s Roman Catholic church, waiting to be wed to a woman he didn’t love. His mother has planned everything, from the guest list to the music to the white rose boutonniere on Butters’ suit. His girlfriend – now fiance – of three months has been teasing Butters about her wedding dress, telling him she couldn’t wait for him to see it and even more excited to walk down the aisle without her promise ring. They will say their vows and seal their fate with their first kiss. During the reception, everyone will gorge on gourmet food as they toast speech after speech, congratulating them on their big day. Perhaps Butters’ parents will finally tell him how proud they are of him. Butters and his new wife will have their first dance before cutting the cake his mother lost her mind. No doubt the baker blacklisted them from any future orders. A perfect tale for any wedding, except when his fiance will appear before the church doors, Butters won’t be waiting for her on the other side.

I'm tagging @lozislaw because I know you beautiful bitch have something in the making XD Of course, if you wish to keep it a surprise, we'll all be waiting with bated breath <3

#sp bunny #bunnysp #sp kenny #south park #kenny mccormick #leopold butters stotch #my fic #tsosc #bunny south park #southpark

[mako-neexu]

Aahh you read Death is the only ending for the villainess too!! I love the story and the artist's fate fanart they've done. Callisto actually resembles Gilgamesh to me sometimes though that just might be the coloring. However, an Obeguda death is the only ending au 👀👀...

SERIOUSLY!!!! I thought at first: "Why is Ou-sama here!?!?!?" XD wwwww But he's the best!!! Callisto is the best male lead ever!!!! I read the manhwa a few months ago but I just got back to it now and I have brainrot over it wwww

I loved your idea so I made mini fic!! TvT

I would have loved for Hakuno x Gil death is the only ending AU, but I'm not familiar with her yet ehehe. But I did my best with Obeguda!! Thank you for ask!! I didn't know anon likes both fgo and maybe villainess manhwa 😂🥰

Also the mini fic ended in yakudou trio moment hahaha XDD

-

Ritsuka knew something was wrong the moment their highnesses had entered the ballroom.

It was the crown prince who had always occupied the emperor’s seat, if only by proxy as he was said to be sickly according to the novel…

She knew who would be sitting on that damned massive chair. But as soon as she saw Tristan and Baobhan Sith by Morgan’s side-

She had a terrible hunch about a certain someone’s reaction.

Of course, of course. They wouldn’t invite the likes of him to the crown princess’ birthday party. Still, Morgan and her children should have known by now that nothing ever good comes out of angering him.

She cringed at the thought and decided to stay away from one of the people who would one-hundred-percent guarantee her death.

As fate would have it, the doors slammed wide open, the loud bang causing screams of shock and confusion to spread throughout the room.

Baobhan’s shriek was one that ripped through all of the noise, “M-Mother–!!! H-He’s carrying a–!!”

“A corpse.”

The uninvited guest cheerfully spoke as the dull thud of the body was accompanied by a wet noise, “Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of what happens to people at the end of their life, my little sister?”

Goddamnit, Oberon Vortigern!!!

While maintaining a fairy-tale like facade, he could easily kill someone with one hand, sword or not. The novel said that that wasn’t his “true” appearance per say, as he only revealed it to the real heroine of the story, Titania, when their relationship eventually progressed.

It was hard enough to get through his route in easy mode, but now that she was playing the role of a villainess?

It was practically impossible to make sure she gets at least ten percent on this cursed affection meter on top of their heads!

Still, she would have to find out if the reset button exists, her only hope of going back to her world.

After the bloodstained prince had said his piece towards the family sitting on the throne, a game notification appeared in place.

A new episode had begun: “The Prince of Liars and Fairies, Oberon Vortigern.”

Would you like to be teleported to the maze garden?

>[YES]

[NO]

Ritsuka half-wished her only friend in this world was right by her side. 

Castoria!!! You were fucking right!!!! She should have just stayed in the forest with her instead of attending this stupid ball!! ARGHHHH!!!!

Nevertheless, she pressed on the [YES] button before the timer for it counted down ahead of her. Seriously, why even put a [NO] option? When she gets her hands on the being who thrusted her into this world…

Her next blink was the sight of the very garden itself that Titania had confessed her love to. And the very place Oberon swore to protect her.

Ritsuka had to admit that what she was doing was stupid… but she had to try for that reset button. To be able to get back home, to be able to survive in this messed up game.

—

“I connected shit.”

“No, you didn’t! Oh my god! For the hundredth time, it's because you were going to kill me back then!”

“Nope, nope. Lalalala~ I’m able to see lies~ You know that well by now!”

“Urgh, Castoria!!!!!”

The fairy could only snort and laugh at her two friends. She also didn’t think they would be able to genuinely fall in love with each other, but here they are, arguing already like an old married couple.

“Oi, oi, who are you calling an old married couple!?” The prince growled out, reaching out to painfully pinch her cheek- “H-Hey, that hurts! Isn’t that true though!? Gah!”

“It is not!” They simultaneously said, like an old married couple.

Ritsuka puffed her cheeks before crossing her arms, “As if you don’t act like one with the greatest blacksmith in the kingdom.”

The way her face immediately heated up as she stuttered caused her to internally scream while spewing out excuses, “W-What the!? Muramasa!? That boomer!? Are you serious, Ritsuka!? Psh, as if! He lectures me way too much! I really really hate it! I also hate how he g-g-g-gets rid of his shirt off whenever it's scorching hot. Fuck, I hate him! AAAAA-”

And Ritsuka’s laugh caused her to finally shut up. “Cas, I never said anything about Muramasa.”

“Weren’t you paying attention, tomboy?” Castoria didn’t miss the way her friend’s hand was entwined against Ritsuka’s own.

With Oberon’s tongue sticking out and a finger against his cheek to pull a mocking face at her, she grabbed onto her sword with a battle cry to destroy his ass for pushing her into a beauty contest with Knocknarea and Bageko from last month. Ugh, she should rob him too while she’s at it.

Ritsuka had to admit that her experiences here were nothing compared to what she usually witnessed back home…being the center of a reverse harem novel world of all things…but her goals have not yet changed.

She will still do her best to find a way back home even if the chances of finding it seems kinda bleak. But with moments like this, underneath the sunlight with two of the people she cherished the most, she finds that she could forget about those thoughts for a while and be at peace with them.

#ask #anon #obeguda #guda #oberon vortigern #but seriously!!! hakuno x gil death is the only ending would been great!!

[silverryu25]

Hey hey Ryu ♥ So how about fairy tales day 2 little mermaid with A/B/O dynamics? Maybe there's a reason why the little mermaid so desperately needs to be with the prince, ufufu~ :3c

That is such a good combo!! OwO I got inspired with a little twist that I hope you'll like >:3

DAY 2 - Fairy tales: Little Mermaid + A/B/O dynamics

---------

Sans gritted his teeth as he swam with all his power towards the surface. The water feeling heavier than ever and his new limbs struggling hard to move properly as his vision started fading at the edges.

This hadn't been planned and now he was paying for it.

When he went to the undersea witch, he could only think about finding a way to go to the surface and see Red again. His mind was full of a deep longing he never expected to harbor towards anyone, though given his fascination with the surface world, it wasn't a complete shock that a land walker ended up being his fated mate. The witch used that and made an offer Sans couldn't refuse.

His voice for a pair of legs.

Without thinking, Sans agreed on the spot and the witch, cackling maniacally, gave him what he wished for. Two perfectly good legs... and a pair of faux-lungs to go with them. And all that in a span of a few moments, right in the middle of the witch's den, deep deep undersea.

Sans swam with all his might, all his thoughts filled with the image of Red and the brief moment he had with the land walking skeleton. The way his bones glistened like the prettiest pearl, despite the cracks marring the perfect surface. Sans didn't know how Red had gotten those cracks, but he was dying to learn. He wanted to know everything about Red. What he loved to do, how he spent his time, what his favorite food or pastime were. Everything.

The thoughts kept him going as his vision tunneled, the darkness ebbing from the edges and making it hard to see if he was even swimming in the right direction. He could feel the last of his breath slipping between his teeth even as he fought his hardest to stop it.

But nothing could stop the darkness and despite all his effort, Sans was swallowed up, his last breath used to let out a longing "red..." as his mind slipped under.

Suddenly, Sans gasped, sweet air flooding his new lungs and causing him a coughing fit. Someone helped him turn to the side as he coughed out salt water, his throat and lung burning from the effort.

It took him a few minutes to get his mind focused enough to start breathing normally again. When he was sure he wouldn't cough in the face of his rescuer, he gingerly lifted his head and froze.

There, in front of him was the pearl of his existence, his driving force that finally pushed him to the long sought surface.

Red.

His Red.

His mate.

His omega.

-------------

:D

Well... did you expect that little twist? XD Basically Sans is an alpha that saved his omega from drowning and decided to follow him to the surface~. Does Red know he's an omega and that Sans is his alpha? Weeeeeell who knows~ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#sin-cognito #kustardweek #kustardweek2023 #SilverRyuWrites #SilverRyuDrabble #mywriting #drabble #undertale #underfell #ut!sans #uf!sans #kustard #sanscest

[pencilofawesomeness]

20 Questions for Writers

Tagged by @kiliinstinct so let's go

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Okay so the number on my account is a slight lie because I have two anthology-type fics with many fics inside of them like an egg sac, and in htryds’ case I took all of them out and separated them and I pulled one out of the other so.... 130 unique works. And if I count the oneshots shoved inside my 2021 Whumptober anthology, then 159.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

This also requires some math for the above reason so.... 948,078. (Holy cow I am so close to one million, wait—)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mainly Fairy Tail, Genshin Impact, and Twisted Wonderland, in that order, buttttt I have a few other fandoms under my belt and I am known to branch out on a whim. (Others include Voltron, RWBY, Fullmetal Alchemist, Seven Deadly Sins, Arrowverse, Transformers, Owl House, and literally so many others that I haven't actually published...)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Alright, we got:

—5. Demon Tales [Fairy Tail] - 762 —4. The Eighth Tower [Fairy Tail] - 914 —3. Sparks in the Night [Genshin Impact] - 1,066 —2. Pain Comes in Many Forms (and so does Comfort): Whumptober 2021 [Genshin Impact] - 1,121 —1. Of Dragons and Fairies [Fairy Tail] - 1,405

(So I guess, to no one's surprise, it's mainly HTRYDS but I will say I continue to be baffled by Sparks in the Knight, that random twoshot I wrote in two days XD)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! I love responding to comments, both because it's fun and I love to let people know that I totally did read and enjoy their comment. (And I've even been able to just chat with people this way, beyond the scope of the fic itself, which is a fun little community feature I do enjoy as well.) If there's a comment I haven't replied to, it's probably because somehow it was marked as read and therefore I forgot to go back and respond.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hmmm that is a tough one. I do tend to want to end things on a lighter note, despite the amount of whump I write... Maybe Mortal Instinct, actually, since I pull a bit of a (self-perceived) fate-worse-than-death bit. Though solely by audience reaction I guess it's Coming Home since I left it on a purposeful note of suspense, eheh.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Oh geez, um... I think a lot of them?? Have very happy endings?? Uhhh maybe I'll just say Of Dragons and Fairies, then, because it's meant to be very hopeful and family-shaped, with that bright future ahead.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No not really, actually. I have had a very good experience, especially on AO3.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Ha. No. (Guys I'm so aroace I barely write romance I will probably never write smut XD)

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Yes actually! Not many that are finished/posted, but boy I actually love them a lot. (Many live in my head in amorphous form to be honest.) Most are AUs, so like the world of X with the characters of Y, but for straight-up crossovers, I think the craziest is The A.I.D. Files which is a co-project with @therosefrontier where we have a longstanding universe where we combine literally everything into a multi-sectioned multiverse, and the story focuses on an agency that is comprised of people from all manner of universes, leading to a team that includes Tech E. Coyote, Dani Phantom, Iggy (from Maximum Ride), Jim Hawkins, Numbah 5, and more. That said, there's not any present plans to continue it even though it lives on in our heads XD

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of...

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

There is one! (That I know of, lol.) Sparks in the Night was translated (into a paraphrased version, at least) into German, which can be found here.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yup. With my sister, over the years. Not really a direct one on AO3 though. (Just a shared storyverse or series there.)

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Uhhhh I am not really a shipper at all, so I don't really have a hill I will die on, even though I do have ships I enjoy.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I hold onto the delusional hope that I will go back and finish all of my wips one day because I haven't abandoned them in my heart, but, I doubt I will finish United because it was a largely original world and I have been scheming for a way to make it an original work altogether, so when I revisit it, it will probably be for that.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Um. I like to think I do good character voice/inner monologue. Strength of tone and syntax and all that.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Fight scenes pain me and I also am not great at scenic/setting descriptions, mostly because I forget.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

In most cases I think there are better ways to go about it, but it has its place. Especially if the POV character doesn't know it and is trying to learn or pick up words. (Essentially it boils down to making sure the experience is understandable and authentic to the reader's promised language, otherwise it is just a surprise obstacle/gate, like expecting a reader to understand excessive medical jargon in order to know what is happening. If the language is meant to be understood by the pov character, and therefore the audience, then I feel it's best to offer a direct translation in some way.)

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Sonic the Hedgehog. In a place. That I will not name because I was very young. But it was Sonic the Hedgehog...

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Oh geez um picking favorites is hard. The How to Raise Your Dragon Slayers series as a whole is obviously my baby and I am very biased towards it, but one of my favorite pieces might actually be a FMA/MHA au oneshot that I lost in a harddrive crash and I am haunted by it because I wrote it in a frenzy of inspiration and honestly I think it slapped. XD

-

Okay so let's see which victims to tag... (Though obviously there's no pressure to do this lol): @therosefrontier, @forwantofacalling, @breezy-cheezy, @ljf613, @xxthe-hidden-spyxx, and whoever else wants to do it

#tag game #writing #fanfic #funny how filling this out made me realize how many fics/fic pieces I have unpublished lol

[lycanlovingvampyre]

MAG 128 Relisten

Activity on my first listen: putting up a new fence.

BASIRA: "Jon. Don’t turn on the light. Go get Melanie, quickly." Get Melanie? For what? She’s not Buffy the Vampire Slayer anymore.

BREEKON: "That’s right. Just wanted to – to drop off a package." That pause after “Just wanted to”. He's so unsure of what he's doing...

JON: (with compulsion) "Why are you here?" BREEKON: "Dunno." (pause) "‘S not right, on my own. Not right. No point in doing it on my own." Breekon & Hope... Still a better love story than Twilight... (I like how TMA makes us feel for people and monsters who did terrible things. But in the end I guess we're all just human?)

BREEKON: "Make me." [AND ALL AT ONCE THERE’S A STRANGE SOUND, MUSICAL YET HOLLOW, AND IT SEEMS TO BE BUILDING TO –] JON: "Stop." Seriously this "strange sound, musical yet hollow" and then Jon putting a stop to it is actually really badass. How's that for recording enemies into submission!

BREEKON: "What are you – stop it. Stop it!" [WHEN THE ARCHIVIST SPEAKS, IT HAS AN ECHO TO IT, REMINISCENT OF THE HOLLOWNESS FROM EARLIER:] JON: "No." Yes Jon, show 'em you're not everyone’s punching bag anymore!

I btw also always thought Breekon just couldn't stand the gaze of Jon anymore and fled the Archives, perhaps tossing over a table or a chair in his way and slamming some doors (Does this count as door motif? Oh, when we're on the subject of slamming doors! There is a video of Sam Sam the music man breaking down the TMA main theme and he said those smashing sounds at the end of the theme are supposed to be slamming a door! Just because it's such a stereotypical thing for the horror genre - see MAG 85 Upon the Stair "And please don't slam the door". Such a fitting coincidence! But I already said in one of those Relisten posts, coincidences like this happened a lot more often than people probably think, it's a blessing for artists!) Ok, lost the thread a bit there. I think the image of the telekinesis comes from the fact, that we don't really hear any footsteps? (And I think, people wanted to give Jon a bit more badassary probably? He's demonstrating it so well already in this scene, why not go a bit further xD I generally like it, but I think it doesn't really fit into canon, he'd be too op.) Thing about footsteps in TMA is it's a bit inconsistent until S5? This has bothered me in a few instances before, like the end of MAG 21, when Martin storms into Jon's office. We only hear the door and the squelching of the worms. No out of breath sound aaand no footsteps. There was another one when I thought it's really missing footsteps, god I can't remember what it was... What I'm saying is, I wouldn't really get hung up on (the lack of) footsteps here.

"We started in a plague." / "It wasn’t the plague they feared; it wasn’t the death that waited in our wagon. It was us. Two strangers rolling towards them, unstoppable and uncertain, wearing faces they would only half-remember, bringing a fate they would beg their god to forget." Hm, wearing faces they would only half-remember... Strangers at the time of the plague I’d think more of those masks plague doctors wore - being literally unable to see their faces.

"Poor wretches who emerged from Millbank, with tales of Australia and its cruelties on their lips, bundled into the cramped and creaking ship that would drag them away from everything they loved. And towards everything they feared. That was the first time we saw what would become this place: The Eye’s Pedestal." Hold on, wait! Is that another reference that Millbank Prison was a place of power for the Eye? The Robert Small was a convict ship and (Western) Australia was a penal colony of the British Empire..

"We were conductors on a train, prim suits and scowls, a relentless beast of iron and steam that never seemed to get you exactly where you wanted to be unless there was something dreadful waiting for you. We punched tickets, ignored questions, and threw off those who looked like they were having too fine a time of it." Lol, is that a dig at public transports? xD

"We carried and lifted and helped the circus move towards its next destination, the next doomed town." Makes me think that they probably would have made superb roadies!

"Sometimes we joined the show, lifting weights and things that looked like animals. Sometimes we lifted members of the audience. Sometimes we even put them down again." First of all, lol, that last sentence. Second, throwback to MAG 24 - the two strong-men!

"And so we took the casket, a hungry thing of the earth, a crushing, choking tomb that will not let you die because it is too much what it is for death to find you there" “Too much what it is for death to find you there”... Saying the End has no grasp within the coffin. And not just the End because Daisy also lost her connection to the Hunt in the coffin. Eye + Web being the only ones with a chance to make it out.

"It was one like us that found it, a thing of shifting names and deja-vu. A fool, that believed because it found the coffin in chains, it would be an easy thing to control, to bargain with." Confirmation that MAG 2's "John" was a capital-S Stranger.

"She took him from me, made us a me." Still a better love story than Twilight!!!

"And she doesn’t get to die for that. She gets to live, trapped and helpless, and entombed forever." There are fates worse than death-trope.

"I have never known hate before. I have never known loss. But now they are with me always, and I desire nothing but to share them with you." Still a better-

JON: (voice shaky) "Statement.. ends." [HE COLLAPSES.] Since Melanie makes fun of Jon in MAG 189 about him collapsing again I have the headcanon that Melanie came across collapsed Jon, was like "Alright then" and just left again. (Maybe she went to tell Basira.)

BASIRA: (inhale, set) "Right. Keep it safe; I’ll be gone a few days. I have some leads I need to follow up." Oh, that (whatever that was exactly) was what Elias was proposing to Basira at the end of the previous episode, not his actual plans about the coffin. Alright, gotcha, I'm on track again!

@a-mag-a-day

#a-mag-a-day #mag 128 #tma #tma spoilers

[miqomonkly]

Alright, the OC brainworms are strong today, so I'm gonna take some time and write down some thoughts I'm having for new OCs. If I don't, then I'll never do it, and they'll never see the light of day, which is too horrible a crime to imagine! 😫

Alright, first we have:

Derniergeant Noblecoeur

This character is a male Elezen Duskwight. I'm still trying to determine his name; I want it to be something that can be shortened to John.

Yes, "John." I know it's considered to be a boring name, but this name has special meaning to me, and I would be remiss to not give it to a character I play.

The idea behind John is that he is a bit of a self insert, though not quite; he's a shy sort of fellow, can be awkward to be around, and is actually very intelligent! And deep beneath the weird and knowledge, his heart is bigger than that of a dragon.

Speaking of dragons, John actually spent a good portion of his life in Ishgard. After his parents, former Duskwight bandits, died in an ill-conceived raid on a Gridanian supply caravans, he was passed around between several "caretakers." Each would pass him off quickly as his desire to be one of them was nonexistent. Eventually, the boy would stow away on a diplomatic envoy to Ishgard.

Once more, fate would conspire against him; the envoy was attacked shortly after crossing into Ishgard by none other than the Dravanian Horde. No survivors... except John.

Temple knights arrive sometime after, and take the little Duskwight back to Ishgard. There, he meets a younger Stephanivien, and discovers the wonders of Machinstry.

I have to stop there. I wanna write more, but I've got two others to introduce and this post feels long already XD

Minnow Merigyem

Minnow is a Hyuran Midlander girl. She was born to a woman by the name of Nevva; she never learned her birth father's name. During her youth, her mother became betrothed to a Roegadyn man named Wastlahz, a sailor in work for the Admiral.

Though he was more often out at sea than at home, the leave he accrued allowed him anple time to watch his little Minnow grow into a fine young woman. The two shared many a tale of ne'erdowells and scallywags, adveture and treasure, all while their mother laughed and sang along to their boisterous sea shanties well into the night. When Watslahz finally proposed, it was with his soon to be daguther's blessing.

The marriage was due to take place around her 17th summer. Unfortunately, it was that same summer Garlemald made their move on Cartenau. Their little family had been in Gridania, making the final preparations for the ceremony when word of Dalamud's descent reached them.

Wastlahz took the fastest carriage he could find and herded his family inside, riding west to try and get to the coast. They made it as far as Eastern Thanalan...

Then Bahamut emerged. Their cart was caught in the raining debris and Megaflare.

Nevva didn't make it.

When the chaos finally settled, Minnow's father by bond carried the lifeless body of her mother to Drybone. There, they mourned for a great while, both devastated by the sudden, painful loss of one they both cherished so dearly. Minnow couldn't imagine a world without her...

But the courage of a single Miqo'te woman, with tearstained cheeks and a heart of gold, pushed her forward.

😏

NEXT CHARACTER!!

Tijin Denijin

Tijin Denijin is a lalafell of a peculiar nature. Son of a wealthy Ul'dahn family, it was expected that he would fall in line and study to become the proper heir to his family's estate.

This was not at all what Tijin had in mind!

Ever since he was a whelp, Tijin was loud and slightly obnoxious, but lovable all the same. He would often do crazy and rambunctious things just to get people to laugh or react in any manner. It gave him a spark of joy, of excitement, though his parents assured him he would grow out of it.

Now, he is almost forty summers old, and he can assure everyone that he has certainly not outgrown it!

Leaving his parents at the age of twenty, he joined with a caravan of performers to make his way across the continent. He would dance, sing, and pantomime his way into the hearts of many, leaving them with a smile and a flamboyant bow.

Then the Calamity came.

His caravan was destoryed; friends he had grown close to annihilated in the blink of an eye. Everything he had once enjoyed... gone.

Save for him.

He awoke in the care of the conjurers of Gridania, having slept comatose for nearly seven moons. When he learned the fate of his Caravan, he was dumbstruck and heartbroken. All he had worked for and with, no more?

What was he to do? He had nowhere to go, no means to get home... would his family even accept him?

He broodes on this dilemma for weeks while being tended to. He nearly gave into despair when a family with a young boy was brought into their care. The child was sullen, quiet... cold. The devastation wrought upon the world had touched the poor boy with a numbing finger, consigning him to a life of apathy and nhilism...

If Tijin didn't do something.

And sure enough, he did something.

Well enough to stand, the lalafell began to jiggle and jive in a way that caught the boy's eye. Soon, a smile would spread on his face. Then his parents, the chirurgeouns... soon, everyone in triage was laughing and signing in a way that would not be heard for some long time again.

Tijin didn't know what his future held. But he would be damned if he didn't go out and bring a little light to this bleak world.

Aaaaand that marks the end of my current OC ideas. There is still SOOOO much I wanna write about them, but first, I need to get a few things squared away... namely, actually create them in game! XD

Don't worry! You'll see lots more of these guys to come, I promise

...though if someone wants to shoot me an idea or two for my Elezen's name, I'd be grateful xD

#ffxiv #final fantasy xiv #ffxiv characters #ffxiv oc #ffxiv ocs #elezen #lalafell #hyur #midlander #Duskwight #elf #human #lalafriend #oc brainworms #Minnow Merigyem #Tijin Denijin #Derniergeant Noblecoeur #I'lyanna Zahn

[foxfirekit]

TOA Anniversary Munday!

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is.

Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing!

Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together.

Tagging: You. Right there. Yes, you.

Name: Sekhmet

Pronouns: she/her

Birthday (no year): 1st September

Where are you from? What is your time zone? Australia! Timezone is AEST (which means it is Tuesday for me not Monday kek)

Roleplay experience: I have been doing some form of roleplay, on an off, for nearly 13 years. I have good memories, and the Horrors(tm). I have spaces I will never return to, and now two RP homes ^^

---

Got any pets? TT^TT Not anymore

Favorite time of year: Spring! Not too hot, not too cold and it's heading away from Winter!

Some interests and things you like: Writing, art, reading, video games, Dungeons and Dragons, teaching!

Some funfacts & trivia about you: When I was in grade 8, during woodworking, I was probably the most accident prone student much to my teacher's horror. I managed to be attacked by the tools every single lesson. Including being attacked by the belt sander, I still have the scar from that. A more fun fact - I have an animation degree! I spent three years of my life learning and specialising in the art of animation! And then I became a teacher XD

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? There are a lot but from the ones I play the most - World of Warcraft, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy 7, 13, 14 and 15, Pokemon, Hades, Sims 4 if I'm feeling it, Splatoon, Tales of Series games

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: I don't really have a favourite type, cause I like Pokemon by design, but my favourite pokemon would be Dragonair, followed closely by Victini, Snivy evolution line, Popplio evolution line, Umbreon, and Joltik.

---

How did you get into Fire Emblem? Uhh... I found a ROM on the internet one day.... *coughs*

What Fire Emblem games have you played? Shadow Dragon (unfinished), Blazing Blade (unfinished), Sacred Stones (unfinished), Awakening (finished), Fates (finished), Shadows of Valentia (unfinished), Three Houses (finished), Three Hopes (unfinished), Warriors (finished), Heroes (uninstalled and disowned)

First Fire Emblem game: Blazing Blade

Favorite Fire Emblem game: Awakening!

Any Fire Emblem crushes? *coughs* Matt Mercer's characters *coughs* (coincidentally too! Their personalities are just amazing <3) Chrom and Shigure! And also beloved street rat Yuri

If you’ve played the following games, who was your first S support? Who would you S support nowadays? - Awakening: First - Chrom, now - still Chrom - Fates: First - I honestly don't remember lol, now - Shigure or Nishiki/Kaden - Three Houses: First - incedentally enough, Edelgard, because of who I named Byleth after and I thought the match was funny. It would have been Seteth if Seteth had been available on Crimson Flower!!! Now though - Yuri. - Engage: n/a

Favorite Fire Emblem class: Witch

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class? .... Witch!

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? ....... Ashen Wolves/Abyss honestly. The AU Sothis followers I made would be how I'd interact with the world and the faith in the goddess, and that would very likely get me called a heretic.

If you were an Engage character, which Emblem would you Engage with? .... I don't know how Engage works XD

---

How did you find TOA? Rua told me! And then dragged me over cause I was trying to make an indie blog, and then I decided to apply instead of lurking like a cryptid.

Current TOA muses: Kinu (Selkie) and Seteth

Who was your first TOA muse? If you don’t have them anymore, could you see yourself picking them up again? Cordelia. Would I pick her up again? Maybe, though she would also be the first I dropped again if I decided to entertain another muse

Have you had any other TOA muses? Not .... yet

Do you think you have a type of character you gravitate towards? Chaotic type muses or serious and eloquently spoken muses - the two halves of my personality!

What do you believe you enjoy writing the most? Angst, writing emotionally deep stuff that makes people scream at me because of the feels I stabbed them with.

Favorite TOA-related memory: When Seteth immediately got bullied after I picked him up XD Please bully him more

How do you pronounce TOA? Tales of the Abyss *cough* Tee-Oh-Ay

Got any delusions that didn’t see the light of day that you’d like to share? A few....! Yuri, Shigure... Veronica or Thrasir... Shareena... The Twins from Warriors.... Mikoto... Takumi... The Rainbow Sage lives in my head rent free, silly old grandpa dragon that he is... Sitri through a lot of convoluted means.... Silque....

#[ooc] #month: july 2023 #toa anniversary

[halfagone]

WIP Ask and Tag Game

I don't know whether to hug you or scream at you, but thank you for the tag, @noir-renard!!

RULES: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

Unfortunately I have a lot of WIPs, so I am going to have to bend the rules a little and just include the WIPs that have drafts but aren't published yet. Of course, I also won't be tagging all the people too because that's just too many. XD

lex luthor's list of filed complaints

lex luthor's mystery ward

Arkhamverse (AKA Knightfall)

broken crown

Transparent

Rest Assured

path of reckless abandon

a grieving man's grave

a place where I belong

audience with death

downward spiral

escape

Fated; Chosen

Flexible

hollow victory

if a tree falls in the forest

Magnetism

meet me on the flipside

new face, new city, new troubles

Pale Shadows

play me like a fiddle

shatter, clatter, blood smatters

Show and Tell

spell it out for me, please

Strangers in the Night

Test Your Luck

time is an illusion, reality is a joke (and i'm the punchline)

time stand still for me

trouble, trouble, seeing double

troubles with immortality

two cents in

Unholy

Vision in the Moonlight

whispers in the wind

Witness Protection Program

Blinking in the Starlight

Tales of Song

Curiosity Killed the Cat

To Face Two-Face

These Old Bones

Happy Little Accidents

New Number, Who Dis?

Happier

Head Trauma

Trauma Response (Don't Flinch)

Brotherhood

Mini-Me

Funerary Rites

Kingdom Come (Evil!Jason or Evil!Clark TBD)

Uhm... yeah... Have fun!! To think, I didn't even add the entire list... TAT

For this, I'll tag @die-erlkonigin6083, @chromatographic, @numinous-scribe, @thewritingowl, andddd @theredshirtsarecoming (YOU WILL NEVER ESCAPE ME ZIA <3)

Have no fear if you can't play, and don't be afraid to jump in if you'd like a shot!

#tag game #halfagone's fics #it's a lot...

[sakuramidnight15]

The Tale of Velvet’s Career

_____________________________________________

It started during her schooling abroad the time she learned how to do the bass and the other types of guitars during her sessions in Music Class.

However, her teacher explained to her that she has a wonderful talent, her first performance of it was at her prom night.

After that, a video of her performance skyrocketed. Then soon her younger siblings and her cousins convinced her to join with Tatsuo (who became an idol before her).

After some practising and joining with her older cousin. They soon performed their first collaboration. (The aftermath of the obsessed issue).

Her album is known as: 'The Book of Little Red' (A tale of a young girl within her red appearance and grew up in a difficult environment and the song goes in order of seven and one bonus)

Most of her solo songs might based on life experiences and her experience.

Has improved her skills after the three songs of the album.

Despite where she was, she still felt like the previous life she had was still here despites the changes. But thanks to her friends, she knew that it was still there before here.

Was rather the next one to arrive alongside with Carol and that's when she met the others and Mayuu after being scouted by Crowley.

The first time Mayuu seen her perform alongside with her bass while singing and dancing to balance it was rather surprising XD for the manager.

_____________________________________________

The Book of Little Red (Album)

Songs By Order:

Her red hair

Camael's wings

Lucifer's pride

At my black hood

Roses without thorns

Streetcar Night

Blood mixed with Wine

(Bonus Song): Sinless

_____________________________________________

Solo Songs

Monochrome Pages

Sided Wings

The Stained Saint

Going Forward

Two Daggers

Fate with the Crow

Sessions with Mental

Therapy

Poetry to the Witch

Him to Interrogate

_____________________________________________

Aftermath of the performances, Chizuko partakes in meet and greet sessions, autograph signing and photo taking.

Rowan as her mascot, because of her behavior and his between the pen and paper. They truly understand well when it comes to writing whenever they need to. But there are days that they can start debating on ideas.

_____________________________________________

(AU Belongs to @rosietrace and @starry-night-rose)

(Members tagging: @fumikomiyasaki @nem0-nee @authoruio @windbornearchon @twsted-princess)

#mc #oc #twisted wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #chizuko miyato #chizu #sakura's yuusona #idol au

[grigori77]

Critical Role, Campaign 3 Episode 30

Birdie: "Do you trust me?" Fearne: "I don't know." Birdie: "Good!"

Skirmish crawlers - surprisingly good at skate tricks ...

"What happened?" Matt's honeymoon trauma doesn't provoke sympathy, it seems.

Fist of the Ruiner ... why am I expecting a lot of lowbrow humour to come out of that?

No Wacky Races this time! This is proper Mad Max shit!

Oh shit! Halfling and automaton overboard!

This may be the dumbest shakedown ever ...

Oh yeah, I totally forgot about the bomb. XD oh yeah, this is gonna be fun.

"Matt's doing MAAAAAATH!!" "I know."

"It's got a real gun on it! Look, it's real!" "Pretty sure it's plastic."

Roll for initiative!

Parkour! Orym's pulling a Beau.

The Ire of Mare Christmas! "Yeah, we ruin everything."

For shooting at disadvantage that is evil accuracy ...

Hellish Rebuke!

"No, Matt! The Internet is forgiving." "Too sweet."

Leonidas kick!

Imogen lightning bolts that sniper through the scope like that bit in Saving Private Ryan.

"I wasn't trying to kill them!" "What do you mean? You just disintegrated that guy!"

Wow ... Igniting those charges kinda backfired a bit there. "You decided to base your fantasy on real world shit." "You decided to blow up the bullet."

Hondir: "What's going on?" Boom! Unconscious!

"It's all fun and games until everybody dies."

"So that's the end of your action." " Bonus action, I shoot everyone in the face!"

Taliesin: "I'm gonna rage." Ashley: "AAAAHHH!!!"

Chetney: "I can only get halfway? I'm gonna say ... FUCK YOU!!!"

"He's gonna take two more shots at you, Laudna." "I'm Imogen." "Oh, I'm getting confused between Laura and Laudna." "He's Vax, I'm Vex."

"That's 21 points of acid damage." (several gasps) "Oh, and you're our healer!"

"It's the sweetest thing Fearne has ever done."

Acid damage = FCG passed out like R2-D2 in the dirt.

Laudna pulls a Beetlejuice and dislocates her ruined jaw to assume her FORM OF DREAD!!!

"Gasp! It's a transformer!"

Ah, so Orym only got to be ALMOST a badass ...

"This was humbling." "WAS? It's still going on!"

Both prone on the ground. Orym: "Sucks, huh?" Other guy: "Shut up!"

"You are filled with healing potion and GLASS SHARDS!!!"

While Laura's taking a bathroom break - Chetney: "I healed you!" "She's so ungrateful."

"Good shooting, mama!"

"Are you just adding D6s?" "It's like seasoning." "A little more nutmeg ... a little more nutmeg ..."

Fearne, smiling as she's totally fucking a guy up: "I'm going to take your stuff now."

Sleep spell makes the crawler crash SPECTACULARLY.

Laudna casts Darkness on the crawler as it rolls off. Three minutes later ... a very distant boom ...

Calamity lore dump!

Oooh, spoils! Yay! My, what a BIG GUN ...

Lusciously. Ashley: "That's a good word." Matt: "Thank you."

Don't touch the rocks. Definitely don't let Chetney touch the rocks.

Ollie Calloway. At last ...

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! The Nightmare King returns. Creepy as ever, too. Quite the entrance ...

The Veilscatter Scope.

Laudna's still totally starstruck by Ira. It's adorable.

Ashley nearly has a heart attack over A CUP.

Laudna sees the leylines: "Oh fuck."

The whole campaign hangs on a perception check. Marisha rolls a 7 ...

Ollie's vision ... oof ...

I'm sorry ... Morrigan the Fatestitcher?

So Imogen isn't the only one going through all this crazy Ruidusborn fate craziness, then ...

Sam's flask take #30.

Ashley gets a whisper for insight checking the Nightmare King.

"It's our tiny naked werewolf friend."

Ah, finally, the Crown. Now we get to the meat of the matter.

Awwwwww ... the tale of how Birdie robbed Ollie blind and he fell in love with her.

So Morrie STRETCHED TIME on Fearne and THAT'S why she's so much older.

Liam, take psychic damage for THAT joke, man!

Morrie's a hag, some kind if witchy deal ...

"Was I something you gave for a favour?" Oh Fearne ... now my heart's breaking ...

Chetney works it out ... oh shit ... is that REALLY it?

Imogen looks through the telescope and sees a cage ... "I see a god that can't get out." FUCK.

Damn it ... another bad roll and I feel like we just missed a MAJOR detail ...

Orym takes a look ... NATURAL 20? Seriously? Holy shit ...

The storm parts, there's a CITY on Ruidus --

"And THAT'S where we're gonna call it a night." Everybody LOSES IT.

#critical role #campaign 3 episode 30 #bell's hells #matt mercer #marisha ray #laudna #travis willingham #chetney pock o'pea #laura bailey #imogen temult #liam o'brien #orym of the air ashari #ashley johnson #fearne calloway #sam riegel #fresh cut grass #taliesin jaffe #ashton greymoore

[themattress]

Pokemon Games Story Tier Ranking

S Tier - Genuinely well-crafted narratives with superb character development and themes.

Apparently the series reaches this peak every other generation. It first happened in Gen V with Black/White, which combined the previous distinct “win badges and enter the Pokemon League to become the Champion” and “Stop the local villainous team from wreaking havoc” plotlines into one epic story about the player character discovering themselves to be a hero of legend destined to fight an opposing hero over the fate of the world. Gen VII brought us Sun/Moon and Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, two different tellings of the same story that on their own hold some major weaknesses but when combined make for the tale of the most fleshed out region and cast of characters in the game series to date. And now in Gen IX we have Scarlet/Violet, an open world game that allows you to shape the narrative in the way you see fit but with that narrative always being a poignant, fascinating and emotional experience.

A Tier - The narratives can be shaky, but still give you plenty to engage with and think about.

After Diamond/Pearl suffered from too many cooks in the kitchen turning out an undercooked narrative, Platinum fine-tunes everything and produces a compelling story about a cult using the reality of the Sinnoh region’s myths to attempt to destroy and recreate the entire universe, only for the universe to bite back hard. Black 2/White 2′s story was a noticeable step down from its predecessor, but still continued its themes and character development while further expanding the Unova region. Pokemon Masters’ writing is sharp and makes great usage of the franchise’s history. And Legends: Arceus tells a story in a formulaic and repetitive way, but said story is a fun, fascinating and even highly emotional at times one so it all balances out.

B Tier - Nothing groundbreaking, but with something extra from the usual Pokemon fare.

Colosseum and XD: Gale of Darkness have notably darker, edgier and harder stories than is usual for this franchise as does Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky, the three Rangers games show a much different side of the Pokemon world than the usual competitive battling-oriented locales, Conquest is a unique crossover with the Nobunaga’s Ambition tactical series and gave us the series in feudal Japan style long before Legends: Arceus, and Detective Pikachu is an episodic mystery game with a concept and story that was even deemed strong enough to provide the basis for a major Hollywood blockbuster.

C Tier - The usual Pokemon fare. Not the best in the realm of video games, but not the worst.

Gold/Silver/Crystal, Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald, Diamond/Pearl, and all of their remakes qualify here, as do the other Mystery Dungeon games (particularly the originals and their remake; the other two are just pale imitators of the Explorers story). You get a significant degree of plot, character development and themes in all of them, but overall it’s not the main focus.

D Tier - Huh? Plot? Character development? Surely you jest; we’re only here to have fun!

It’s not surprise that the original Red/Blue/Yellow and their remakes: their story is the very definition of Excuse Plot and not shy about being so. Puzzle League, based directly off the anime series, is also given an Excuse Plot, as are the Snap games, particularly the first one. Sword/Shield are a bizarre outlier here: there is technically some plot and some character development going on in this story, but the game does everything in its power to block you off from it at almost every turn, with your gameplay experience being prioritized by force. The only reason it’s not at E Tier is because the postgame and DLC expansions gave it some greater narrative heft, which is certainly more than you can say about the actual E Tier game.

E Tier - This is a bad story and you should feel bad for putting it out in this sorry state.

X/Y’s story is an absolute mess. It doesn’t know whether it wants to be a standard C Tier narrative, a D Tier narrative as a deliberate way to harken back to Gen I, or do something epic and say something significant like an A or S tier narrative. As such, the story is so messily and underwhelmingly presented to us that it doesn’t reach any of those standards. The lack of a Z version to potentially iron everything out the way that Platinum did for Diamond/Pearl hurts it even further. This was the lowest point in the series, narrative-wise.

#Pokemon #Opinion #Comparison

[soulguardianazeralith]

Okay so because I'm curious and I miss the funky guy- what are you headcanons for Ranbob by any chance? If that's alright.

Oh boy, you have no idea how much I struggled because I wanted to draw somefin for this like I did for Crops’s but artblock is a Binch.

Anyways-

Ranbob is my absolute favorite character in Tales, he’s just a precious murderous lad. That and The Lost City of Mizu is my favorite Tales so there’s already a lot of bias there lol-

-Immediately starting off with what he is, since in my headcanon Ranboo isn’t half ghast half enderman or whatnot. This means Ranbob is still part enderman but because of his bloodline he’s now part something else. Ranbob is part enderman and mostly axolotl. (Not gonna get into what Ranboo is here, just know the half he is isn’t Axolotl. Lore~)

-Ranbob can safely enter water. No burning. He can also teleport like an enderman, albeit varied. Refer to here for my Endermen lore for more of his abilities.

-Ran and Ranbob are not related. This is one of the two biggest things I have in terms of these two.

Ranbob met Ran when the lad was 8 and the older enderman was 16. Ran was one of the few in Mizu’s above water crew so he knew more of the overworld and in turn knew the stories in Mizu were mostly bullshit. Despite this, he tolerated Ranbob’s curiosity and taught him what he knew of the stories. Later in their friendship, though, Ran became more violent and devoted to his beliefs and worship of his idol and demanded Ranbob find something to tether himself to, even if it eventually led to a fight that made Ran leave to the surface and Ranbob in Mizu with his selected idol to prove himself. Ranbob is 18 at this point.

-Around the time he hung around Ran, Ranbob spotted an axolotl appearing more often outside the glass of Mizu, following playfully around him. He ended up letting it into Mizu one day when wishing Ran luck on his scouting trip, thus sealing his own fate.

-Ranbob’s worship towards Dream is fully manipulated by said axolotl, done by a lonely and bored god. He would get nightmares and broken visions of the past, normally about his ‘idol’ and the others worshipped and admired in Mizu. The one who guided him to slaughter the population in Mizu was all XD’s doing, as a ‘test of faith’.

-When the fishermen visit Mizu, the events are fully similar. The only difference being the moment Cletus shattered the hole in the hallway, he’d made a hole for Ranbob to reenter with. When Charles dives in the secret room, Ranbob could’ve easily swam it due to being able to breathe and swim underwater. So when the glass in the tree room is shattered, Ranbob swims out of it and stalks the remaining trio through the other side of the glass.

-There’s more lore on what happens afterwards that I’m not gonna say because then it gets more detailed and this is already getting long with text but I will say this: Ranbob survives at the end of Mizu and finds out the truth of who exactly he’d been listening to. He never dares try to find Ran, the scar on his chin a valid reminder not to.

This picture isn’t lore related, I just wanted another excuse to draw Ranbob. I also technically drew him for this map part here.

If you ever wanna know more of my headcanons, don’t be afraid to ask! It was fun writing these out finally, like how I did with Crops!

#kaine's art #kaine writes nonsense #tftsmp ranbob #tales from the smp the lost city of mizu #ranbob fanart #can you believe it’s nearly been two years since Mizu even aired- #headcanon list go brrr

[just-ornstein]

N and/or T for the ask game? c:

N - Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice): Since I already answered this one for Deltarune I'll be answering this one for my second primary interest, The Sims 2! :) 1. I wish Simmers cared less about what other people think on what they do in their Sandbox game at times. The most interesting stories and gameplays were those of Simmers who just fully played their game the way they wanted to. For example, Alpha CC often gets kinda looked down upon in the Sims 2 fandom nowadays and while the more realistic look definitely isn't my cup of tea I love how much time these Simmers put into their Sims and general enjoyment. Heck my favourite Sims Streamer plays with Alpha CC haha! Or heck, if you want to pair Buzz Grunt with Brandi Broke, please do that, have fun! Who cares how random some of it is.

2. I honestly would love to see more stuff related to Veronaville, Belladonna Cove and Desiderata Valley. The fandom really loves Pleasantview and Strangetown and while I definitely love those towns I feel like the other ones can be quite interesting as well sometimes and do deserve some love.

3. Would love to see more fanart, especially of the spin-off games, who get so little attention but are quite interesting. While it's quite easy to find when you know where to look, there are so many characters that would look so nice in art! :'D

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending, about anything at all (gender identity, sexual or romantic orientation, extended family, sexual preferences like top/bottom/switch, relationship with poetry, seriously anything): Answering this one for The Sims 2 and Deltarune hehe! I'm always bad with coming up with these from the top of my head so I may be forgetting a few but here are some that immediately pop in my mind:

For The Sims 2: - Tybalt Capp, Hal Capp, Orion Tricou, Annie Howell, Nervous Subject and Tank Grunt are all gay. Nothing can change this for me haha. I refuse to ever pair them with a Sim of the opposite gender. - Daniel Pleasant and Mary-Sue Pleasant both made mistakes in their relationship and will likely never manage to work out romantically. The best option for them is to get a divorce and once they've had the time to work on themselves I can see them becoming very close friends again, but that's also where it stays. - All of the Tricou Sims were Vampires and Jon Smith isn't a good person despite what his personality may tell you. - Veronaville is doomed to follow a similar fate to what they were based on, meaning many people will die. The only difference is that they may be able to write the ending to their tale. - Sims biology works very different, hence pretty much anyone would be able to have a biological kid, regardless of gender. This means two female Sims or two male Sims can also have biological kids. I mean heck, the game gives me this option, why not run with it? Sims 2 biology is way too much fun not to see what kids will look like! xD - Romeo Monty, Hermia Capp, Puck Summerdream, Hal Capp and Unborn Baby Broke (who is named Skippy in my game) are trans. I also really like the headcanon of trans Jenny Smith.

For Deltarune: - Jevil, Spamton, Berdly, Noelle, Rouxls, Diamond King and Swatch are all trans. (Of course Kris, Seam, Mettaton and Mew Mew are in canon, but I'm just mentioning headcanons here). - Darkners are NOT one or two days old. I really dislike the headcanon that they became sentient the moment their fountains were open. I feel like they are all AT LEAST as old as their Light World objects are, if not older. As of right now I headcanon while some Darkners came with their objects, some existed long before them and once an object came into the world with their properties they became connected to it. Upon being connected to an object their strengths and capabilities increase. The Fountains are moreso a bridge if anything that makes it possible for Lightners to properly interact with them or see them. - Spamton and Jevil were in a sense written to be each other's counterpart. A balance so to say. Hence while their first instinct is to dislike each other, they grow especially close and inseparable over time. - Kris is selectively mute and has a form of autism. They are capable of speaking at times, but when they can't they use sign language which most people around them know by now. Ralsei, Berdly and Noelle also have a form of Autism. - Both Spamton and Jevil have a form of Tourettes and ADHD. - The reason Rouxls enjoyed long dungeon walks is because of the fact he got to speak to most of the people King Spades inprisoned. This includes the Diamond King, with who he became especially close. - Rouxls was once married to King Spades. When King Spades turned out the way he did he stripped Rouxls off his title, but a part of him couldn't bear to part entirely with him, hence he got turned into the Duke of Puzzles. - Jevil is the direct cause of Seam's injuries, which happened during a performance and were the final blow that made King Spades decide to have Seam imprison him. - Seam is likely one, if not the most powerful entity we'll ever encounter in the Dark World. - The Weather People from Chapter 3 are siblings, twins to be more specific and I will die on this hill unless proven wrong lmao. Which knowing my luck will probably happen. :'D - Noelle was the one that caused so much destruction to the first half of Chapter 2. It's why Queen knew she was powerful and wanted to protect her from it, she's witnessed it first hand! - Spamton is not and has never been an Addison which is why he always struggled to fully fit in with them or sell properly. He looks an awful lot like them, but he still isn't an Addison. His hair also was never fully white. - Noelle is a lesbian, Susie is bi, Kris is pan, Berdly is bi, Ralsei is pan, Spamton is pan (which with Sweepstakes seems to be confirmed as canon?), Jevil is pan, Rouxls is gay, Queen is bi, Tasque is a lesbian. Aaand I can go on like this for a while haha. - After the events of the game Spamton sort of becomes Kris's adoptive uncle and Jevil Noelle's adoptive uncle. - Kris and Berdly become a couple somewhere in college. - More of a theory as of right now, but I headcanon there are multiple Knights, with there only being one TRUE Knight. - Another that's moreso a theory as of right now. But I think Ralsei is aware of the Player, knows outside knowledge and actively despises us. This is why he wants those moments alone with Kris so he can speak with them, one on one without having someone spying on them. I also don't think Ralsei is evil, but he will end up doing questionable things that will end up hurting his friends without him realizing it. - I refuse to believe Kris and Berdly dislike each other, especially after Sweepstakes. I feel like the two have a rival-like relationship and love to tease each other. But at the end of the day when all is said and done they regularly love playing games with each other and probably have the weirdest Minecrap server out of everyone haha. I mean heck, when you give the gift to Berdly Kris runs over to him of their own accord to hand it over haha. - I like to think Berdly is pretty good at painting and drawing!

Sooooo, that's all for now lmao! If I remember any that I might have missed, I'll post them somewhere over time! xD

#lizzy speaks #asks #sprout-tower #God this ended up becoming way longer than initially expected lmao #ask games #ask memes #deltarune #the sims 2

[anthurak]

Also I gotta ask, how would the RWBY Halo story end up potentially jackknifing into multiversal crossover shenanigans?

Alrighty! So this AU can best be described as one of those cases where you spend all this time and effort coming up with characters, developing their backstories and lore, figuring out how they all meet and come together... and then realize you really have nothing for them to actually... DO.

To whit; this AU imagines Team RWBY as a team of SPARTAN-IIIs who fought in the tale-end of the Human-Covenant War and are last surviving remnant of the ill-fated 'Project ARTEMIS', basically 'What if Beacon was a SPARTAN-III training facility?' There's actually a whole crazy backstory I came up with for their story that involves more or less the Fall of Beacon if it was the Covenant instead of grimm and a lot more people died and also Team RWBY fights a one-team guerilla war against the Covenant for the better part of a year before escaping in one of their ships.

However, that wound up just being part of the background for Team RWBY in this AU, because this story would be starting up two years Post-War, with Team RWBY having become innovators in SPARTAN armor modification and brought on to help design and test the next generation of MJOLNIR suits.

And now we come to everything else, because I also decided to come up with a whole host of other characters for this AU. In this case an entire ship and crew that Team RWBY is just one part of that I put a LOT of thought into that can basically be summarized as 'A ragtag bunch of misfits MADE UP OF ragtag bunches of misfits' (which includes Team RWBY). Just the ship alone I thought up as this refitted frigate that was used as a test-bed for all sorts of experimental technologies but wound up so over-designed that nobody was sure what to do with it, so it go assigned to a crew that nobody was sure what to do with.

(also, the frigate is named the Molon Labe, mostly because I am utterly baffled as to why seemingly no Halo ship has been named that yet.)

I had a ship, I had a crew, and I had no idea what they'd actually be DOING. So because at the time I was really into crossover fics, I came up with the idea that after the ship got some upgrades from a friendly Forerunner Construct by the name of 1883 Pensive Delineation (literally Penny as a Forerunner AI), the ship suffers a freaky slipspace/FTL accident that sends her and her crew rocketing across the multiverse for numerous misadventures.

A few of the places/series I was thinking they'd end up:

Mass Effect - Where the crew has to first get their bearings and figure out they are in a whole other universe and also avoid getting dragged into any galactic conflicts because due to cross-universe tech-levels, they're kind of freakishly overpowered compared to the locals.

Fate/Zero - Where the crew gets embroiled in a lot of magic chicanery and also has to try REALLY hard not to get spotted by 1990s humanity. Also they accidentally take Artoria and Irisviel with them when they leave.

Zero no Tsukaima - More magic chicanery and also the crew isn't able to lie-low in orbit/under the ocean again, so now they just have to try REALLY hard not to get embroiled in pre-industrial political powerplays and backstabbing with a bunch of mages who REALLY don't know how to take 'No' for an answer.

(also at some point I was going to have Artoria start wearing a spare suit of MJOLNIR armor. So that would have been fun :D)

Honestly, if more people are interested in this idea, I'll probably just post some of the more interesting parts of the notes I've been jotting for it over the years XD

#ask #ask game #wip ask #tumblingxelian ask #rwby #halo #rwby-halo au #multiverse roadtrip shenanigans