#(dates approximate)

[softkostyk]

jeremy saying something like, “why do I get to have this?” as he and jean are lying in bed together, his back to jean’s chest. “we have suffered enough,” jean says after a minute.

[not-rab]

Evan, coming out of closet: I don't like ... women.

Barty, mouth agape: ...

Barty: yoU ARE A MISOGYNIST?!

[gigglesandfreckles-hp]

two minutes too late jily, sixth year, canon compliant, mutual pining, you know the drill, 2.3k

James is not reading. Technically, yes, his eyes are pointed at a page in his textbook about…something, and his quill is occasionally scratching out what might, if squinted at from a great height, resemble notes. But mostly, he is not reading. Mostly, he is trying to focus while Lily Evans sits precisely twenty-two inches across the table from him—reading, sighing, smelling distractingly like lavender and ink, and making soft little humming sounds of contentment every time she finds a passage she likes.

continue reading on ao3

[moiraimyths]

Is it possible for romance to bloom while mixing platonic and romantic choices? Sometimes the flirting gets a bit too overt or I just feel the platonic choice suits the mood more (especially often with Shae) so I was curious about how this might work! Do I need to pick romantic choices n number of times to get it on the right track or will it be fine if just sprinkled occasionally?

Short version: Yes, you can absolutely mix your choices! Long version:

There are a lot of choices in NDM. Some are general flavour choices, others are good/bad ending choices, and the remainder are choices that impact your relationship with the cast. When those latter choices are selected, one of these little icons will appear briefly in the top left of your game: A heart, two hands, or a crown.

Heart choices are the most romantic-coded choices; overt flirting, amorous expression, kissing, etc. They're the type of choices you'd generally expect to see in a romance game, and their purpose is to signal that you're pursuing a character romantically.

Hands choices are the more platonic-coded choices; congeniality, friendly ribbing, hugs, etc. If you find yourself faced with two choices and one seems more romance-y than the other, then that second one is most likely a hands choice and will signal your intentions as friendly.

Now if we stop there with our choice options, we run into a bit of a problem: By themselves, these options feel superficial, or too rigid for realistic relationships. Flirting alone does not a love affair make, and who hasn't kissed their homies goodnight before?

This is why we have crown choices. These choices are essentially neutral relationship points that could be plausibly romantic or platonic; gestures of loyalty, positive affirmations, expressions of care, etc. More importantly, if you -- the player -- decide to mix and match your heart and hands choices such to the point that they're essentially even or within a reasonable margin of error, the crown choices will allow you break the tie toward your preferred ending.

Ergo, let's say by the end of Shae's route, your relationship choices are 49% hands, 41% hearts, and 10% crowns. Hands (or the friendship ending) is leading by a teensy amount over hearts, but you really want the romantic ending. In this scenario, you'd be prompted in-game to answer how you perceived your relationship with Shae, which would turn your crown stat into the hearts stat, tipping it to 51%, which secures you that romance end. Same choice would be presented if you incidentally or intentionally had a plurality or majority of crowns over hearts or hands.

Ultimately, we want our players to be able to define their experiences and choose the relationship choices that feel most natural, without necessarily needing to worry about tallying up how many times they opted for smooches over hugs. So have fun! As long as your choices aren't majority heart or hands, you won't be too "boxed in" to one path or another.

[apollabarnes]

Day 17: Approach

"One hazelnut latte. Anything else?" "Yeah, one medium coffee, two cream, one sugar, and two of those ginger molasses cookies," someone else said, sliding into the spot next to Tommy. Tommy raised an eyebrow, watching as the other man paid. "Does that approach actually work for you?" He asked, smiling faintly. "Worst case scenario, you get a free coffee and a cookie. Best case scenario, I get a phone number." He handed Tommy's drink over. "Want to share a table?" "That depends, do I get a name first?" "You don't have a name?" He laughed. "Evan. Buck at work." "Tommy, everywhere." "Everywhere, huh?" Evan looked him up and down. "Works for me." "Getting ahead of yourself?" "Hopefully not."

other witching hour drabbles

[assmaster-8000]

i don't know if im tripping for this but it seems a lot of millennial and gen z women on tiktok still have really. weird gender norm based perceptions on men, and their relationships. do all your complaints about the standard of dating today need to consist of insulting a man by equating him to a woman. what do you think you're actually saying here

[astrum99]

Do you think bugs fall in love?

Their small bodies host even tinier brains. Built to crawl through soil and rocks bigger than itself. Running on a simple software bouncing between eat, sleep, fight, flight, and copulate.

V1 is smarter than a bug. It must be. It’s a war machine, so it must be. Its programming is complex enough to fry several motherboards; the internals are heated from constant, unrelenting processing needs. If it updates its optical data intake to any greater degree than these rough, messy polygons, it’d surely perish from the overwhelming information.

V1 is built to kill first, survive second. To be fair, survival would ensure more killing, so it’d be more effective. Moving through the battlefield, culling lives, drawing blood. Perfectly aligned with its programmed objectives, then.

Gabriel is smarter than a bug. He must be. He’s an angel, so he must be. He’s one of the best soldiers in the heavenly realm. Armour and swords glistened with pride and justice. He sees all. He judges all. His loyalty and perfect track record have earned him a high rank within the order. Leaving behind the creaturely "it". His light burns hot and bright within his constitution.

Gabriel is built as a messenger of the Father, then a judge of Hell. To be fair, the role of a judge was assigned to him by the council, so he supposes that his placement can be summed up as the bearer of the divine authority to bring right to all other creatures. Perfectly aligned, then.

Bugs… Well, they’re the same. I suppose. Small beings. Running pre-programmed orders derived from centuries of evolution: eat, sleep, fight, flight, and copulate. No role. No responsibilities.

Bugs are built naturally and fully, unlike humankind; but formed and ready to go within seconds from their births, like machines and angels.

So. Do they live?

When the machine and the angel escape their chains, do they see themselves in bugs?

Bugs are born to live, temporarily, fleetingly, yet live nonetheless. Do they, then, deserve to live, freeing and meaninglessly. No role. No responsibilities.

So. Do bugs love?

Do they learn that they can go beyond their basic structures? Do they see their own reflection in each other’s compound eyes? Do they recognize each other’s bodies, scents, heat? Do they feel the desire for closeness?

To flutter wings like a dance of waltz. To brush antennae like butterfly kisses. To greet and caress and lie next to each other near their death.

To move through the sky in battle, in passion. To clash swords and fists and bullets. To greet and caress and lie next to each other near their death.

The same cells in the same blood coursing beneath the same suit of exoskeletons.

Machine, angel, bug. Boiled down to the barest essence of existence; crisp simplicity.

To live, to love.

[finnlongman]

Book news this month 👀

(By which I mean cover/confirmed release date/further news related to those things)

[littlespoonevan]

i'm sorry i'll never shut the fuck up about how BIZARRELY 911 handled buck and ali i've never seen a show approach a relationship like that before?????????? like, she shows up in 2x08 as buck's surprise date when he's trying to put himself back out there again and hey, that's great!! she seems nice and they got along during the earthquake!!! but then we hear nothing again until 2b where buck makes exactly one (1) reference to her in a conversation with maddie in 2x11, saying she's around but that she travels a lot for work, and then it's CRICKETS for another 6 episodes. like absolutely nothing. nada, zip, zilch, her name does not leave anyone's mouth until suddenly. suddenly. she reappears in 2x18 and is..........helping buck find an apartment??????? that she wants a lot of say in because apparently their relationship is that serious???????? and then she's at the hospital when buck wakes up from surgery and maddie and carla are joking that buck doesn't even realise they're in the room bc she's there and it's just like excuse me this woman is a sTRANGER???????????? the first time i watched i literally forgot he was supposed to be in a relationship. i paused in the middle of the loft scene and went to check if i'd somehow accidentally skipped an ep like???????? what was the point!!!!!!!! was it just so she could break up with him at the end of the ep????? because almost dying and having his leg amputated wasn't trauma enough????? unhinged behaviour on the writers' part honestly

[djarinova]

you offhandedly tell rafayel you have a date and he doesn't sleep for the next 72 hours

[youremyonlyhope]

Wow, Eloise is so ahead of her time that she's reading Emma at least 6 months before it was even published.

[enbysiriusblack]

sirius finishing his exams in half an hour and proceeding to spend the rest of the time staring at the back of james' head until james finishes and turns around to give a quick grin to him before turning away again and doodling lily's initials

[art--harridan]

[Image description: A digital drawing of Kou Minamoto and Mitsuba Sousuke from the manga Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun. The pair looking into each other's eyes fondly, both smiling - Kou with his mouth tight, while Mitsuba has their teeth showing. Kou has a hand clutching Mitsuba's shoulder, his other arm at his front. Mitsuba has one hand hidden in their jumper, while the other makes a peace sign. They are wearing the clothes from their aquarium outing. They are drawn with a dark burgundy outline, and warm, pinkish tones to their colours. The background is a periwinkle blue, with faint drawings of the aquarium's fishes, coral, bubbles, and water lines. These elements are coloured with a flat lighter purple.]

Gift #3

[eliseliedl]

had to sit through 3-minute trailers of boring basic ass games and then persona 4's trailer was. 20 seconds long

[divorcedwife]

and people in my family have been kind enough to entertain my history reading and ask me questions about it even, but when they ask « why » im doing all that reading and research i don’t know what to say. isn’t learning simply very fun… i never have reasons for anything i do, im not built like that

[centaurus-festival]

The 2024 Centaurus Festival has Ended!

Thank you to everyone for a wonderful first Centaurus Festival! Here are some cool end-of-convention statistics:

We had a total 150 people register to attend the convention

We had a peak attendance of 134

There were 11 Panels in total (excluding movies)

3 of the panels were impromptu and completely improvised during the course of the con (!!! so cool!!!)

Recorded panels will be up on the Centaurus Festival Youtube later this week. And if you make anything inspired by the convention, please tag us in it! We would love to see!!!

Once again a huge thank you to everyone who attended and made this gathering absolutely magical. Please keep following your passions, enthusiastically engaging with the community, and being the fantastic and vibrant individuals that you are. We hope to see you all again next year!