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sheep-from-rad · 7 months ago

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Imagines: Batfam x Social Media Handler! Reader pt. II

Note: This is a random idea. I also had coffee and I’m now allowed to have coffee because it makes me throw up sometimes. Well, i’ll get on that later but right now let me publish is mini idea Original: Batfam x Social Media handler! reader Masterlist

After coming back from a good two months of annual Wayne paid vacation, you were immediately greeted by a salary raise, a few more tasks added on your weekly routine, an access to the liquor cabinets and a private therapy.

One of the new tasks added to your weekly routine is playing fan made games. No, not those games made by big companies but those fanmade itch io dating games. It was Stephanie’s idea, she said that it’s a good idea to keep track of fan’s headcanons and see if a thing is too close to their real identity. The rest of the family shrugged at the idea but now you have a throwaway account for all those games in case you need to sign in and a smaller bank account for paid DLCs.

Unfortunately, from one to two games a week, you now have to review double the amount because Nightwing accidentally quoted a word for word line from one of the dating games during his patrol. Their idols playing their fan made game= happy fans. Happy fans= more games made. More games made=more stuff for you to review. You now record the gameplay as well and you send it to them during their downtimes to share whatever cringe you come across with.

Reading fanfics also got added to your weekly routine. The Batfam usually just ignore fanfics most of the time until that one Damian Wayne x reader fanfic got viral in the media. The plot is good really, it’s a fake dating turned real dating AU where Damian blends in the society with fellow vigilante reader by masquerading as lovers at day. It was good but it almost blew his cover as Robin when hardcore readers started following Damian during school time and then following his other persona during patrols. Damian had to exchange patrol schedules with Tim for a week because of the thing. The fanfic reading is a rare task though because Jason already reads most of it during his breaks.

The pay raise wasn’t just because of the new tasks added to your job, it was also a compensation for every horror you have witnessed and will be witnessing while handling DMs. Handling creepy/flirty DMs is normal given that you’re the first person that will always read them but you forgot the fact that handling DMs means also opening the private and public accounts at 4 a.m. in the morning and suddenly being greeted by nudes. Kate made a good suggestion for Alfred to give you an access to the liquor cabinet because sometimes coffee is really not strong enough.

Speaking of handling public account DMs, handling Bruce’s public account is like reading the gossip page of the newspaper every morning. His DMs can be sorted to three things: Business related messages (which you redirects to Lucius Fox), party and social gathering invitations, and of course, nudes and ex-flings claiming that Bruce is their kid’s father (and occasional threats that they will ruin Bruce’s reputation if they don’t pay child support or take them back as a romantic partner). Most of the Friday reports are just you making appointments for paternity testings. Of course, how can you forget? You can’t handle Bruce’s DMs around the Batkids. The last time it happened, Jason took control of the account, and posted embarrassing pictures on the business page.

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hpowellsmith · 7 months ago

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Honor Bound: Guard students and secrets at an elite school!

Protect an exclusive boarding school and rebuild your life after scandal as a military bodyguard for the children of the rich and famous! Return to the world of Crème de la Crème, this time as a military officer in the Republic of Teran.

Honor Bound is an interactive novel by Harris Powell-Smith where your choices control the story. It's entirely text-based, 595,000 words and hundreds of choices, without graphics or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

You've built a promising career in the Teranese military, a force which has not seen major engagement in decades but which holds vast influence. Thanks to an injury, you're no longer in the field. Thanks to the complicated (read: scandalous) circumstances of that injury, you've been quietly reassigned as a bodyguard for the teenage child of a famous scientist. This should be an easy assignment: your charge is at boarding school in the wilderness, an exclusive sanctuary where the children of the rich and powerful become artists and scientists of the future. The school sits close to your own hometown, so you'll be familiar with the area. Finally, you can recover your health and get your career back on track.

But danger is closing in, and peril can come from inside as well as out. What secret projects are your colleagues pursuing in the dead of night? What is your commanding officer not telling you? Bandits lurk in the wilderness—including one of your childhood friends!—and natural disasters constantly threaten the fragile environment. And then there's the danger to your heart, from the complicated feelings that come from returning to your birthplace, and from adjusting to the new reality of your life. Can you really go home again?

Build a warm community and bond with your colleagues, or impress everyone with your aloof competence. Chase ambition to receive glowing reports and get your life back on track—or become such a disaster that only bandits will tolerate your presence. Or, just maybe, you will have to risk it all for the sake of doing the right thing.

Play as male, female, or nonbinary; cis or trans; gay, straight, or bisexual; asexual and/or aromantic; allosexual and/or alloromantic; monogamous or polyamorous.

Customize your age: play a junior officer in your 20s, a mid-ranking officer in your 30s, or a senior officer in your 40s.

Befriend or romance a severe military officer; a bold, easygoing outdoors expert; a determined and overworked priest; an earnest but scatterbrained fellow bodyguard; a childhood friend turned disgraced bandit; or the anxious, serious widowed parent of your charge.

Pet the dog, the cat, or both.

Meet the main characters of Crème de la Crème, Royal Affairs, and Noblesse Oblige, and find out what their lives are like now!

Shape the school life of your teenage charge: encourage her to make friends or sabotage her rivals; let her slack off or push her to achieve; and get caught up in boarding-school drama.

Unearth and thwart shadowy schemes—or join in the scheming for your own gain.

How far will you go for ambition, duty, and your country?

#interactive fiction #choice of games #honor bound #creme de la creme series #choicescript game #interactive novel #romance games #amare games #indie games #text games #dashingdon

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mostlysignssomeportents · 1 year ago

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Why Millennials aren’t leaving Tiktok

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me TOMORROW NIGHT (Mar 22) in TORONTO, then SUNDAY (Mar 24) with LAURA POITRAS in NYC, then Anaheim, and more!

The news that Gen Z users have abandoned Tiktok in such numbers that the median Tiktoker is a Millennial (or someone even older) prompted commentators to dunk on Tiktok as uncool by dint of having lost its youthful sheen:

https://www.garbageday.email/p/tiktok-millennials-turns

But "why are Gen Z kids leaving Tiktok?" is the wrong question. The right question is, why aren't Millennials leaving Tiktok? After all, we are living through the enshittocene, the great enshittening, in which every platform gets monotonically, irreversibly worse over time, and Tiktok is no exception:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys

To understand why older users are stuck to Tiktok, we need to start with why younger users relentlessly seek out new platforms. To some extent, it's just down to youth's appetite for novelty, but that's only part of the story. To really understand why people come to – and leave – platforms, you have to understand switching costs.

"Switching costs" is the economists' term for everything you have to give up when you change products or services. Switching from Ios to Android probably means giving up a bunch of your apps and purchased media. Switching from an airline where you're a high-status frequent flier to another carrier means giving up on free checked bags and early boarding.

In an open market, rivals have lots of ways to lower these switching costs (it's an open secret that you can call an airline and say, "Hi, I'm a 33rd Order Mason on American Airlines, will you make me a Triple Platinum Diamond Sky-Baron if I switch to Delta?"). Of course, big incumbents hate this, and do everything they can to increase their switching costs, finding ways to impose high switching costs that punish disloyal consumers who have the temerity to go elsewhere.

With social media, lock-in comes for free, thanks to the "collective action problem." Getting people to agree on a given course of action is hard, and as you add more people to the picture, the problem gets harder. It's hard enough to get half a dozen people in your group-chat to agree on where to go for dinner or what board-game to play. But once you're reliant on a social media service to stay in touch with friends, relatives around the world, customers, communities (say, rare disease support groups), and coordination (like organizing your kid's little league car-pool), the problem becomes nearly insoluble. Maybe you can convince your overseas relatives to switch to a Signal group, but can you do the same for your small business's customers, or your old high-school pals?

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/29/how-to-leave-dying-social-media-platforms/

Taken together, switching costs and collective action problems make platforms "sticky," and sticky platforms inevitably enshittify.

Platforms, after all, generate value. They connect end-users with each other (say, little league parents) and they connect end-users to business customers (you and your small business's customers). That value needs to be parceled out among end users, business customers, and the platform's shareholders. A platform can make life better for business customers at its end users' expense by increasing the number of ads (hello, Youtube!), and it can make life better for its shareholders at its business customers' expense by decreasing the share of ad revenue given to publishers or performers (oh, hello again, Youtube!).

From a platform's perspective, the ideal state is one in which end users and business customers get no value from the platform, because it's all being captured by the platform's shareholders. But if Youtube interrupted every 30 seconds of video for ten minutes of ads and paid the video creators nothing, both users and creators would ditch the platform – and advertisers would follow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dab8sKg8Ko8

So platforms seek an equilibrium: "what is the least value we apportion to end-users and business customers without triggering their departure?" Maybe that means giving more value to end-users (for example, keeping Uber fares low by suppressing wages), or to business-customers (crowding more ads into your social media feed).

Every business – including brick-and-mortar, non-digitized ones – wants to find some kind of equilibrium between the value going to its suppliers, its customers and its owners, but digital businesses have an advantage here: digital systems are flexible in ways that analog, hard-goods businesses are not. Digital businesses can alter pricing, payouts and other dynamics from moment to moment – second to second – and make a different offer to every supplier and customer. They have a bunch of knobs, and they can twiddle them at will:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/19/twiddler/

Well, not quite at will. Businesses face constraints on their twiddling. If they get too greedy, users or business customers might weigh the cost of staying against the switching costs and decide it's not worth it. But the more expensive – the more painful – a platform can make leaving, the more pain they can inflict on the people who stay.

In other words, there's two ways to keep a customer or supplier's business: you can make a better service so they won't want to leave, or you can make leaving the service so painful that they stay even if you mistreat them.

There's three ways a digital company can make things worse for their customers and users without losing their business.

First, they can eliminate competition (think of Mark Zuckerberg buying Instagram to recapture the users who'd fled Facebook to escape his poor management):

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/03/big-tech-cant-stop-telling-on-itself/

Second, they can capture their regulators and avoid punishment for trampling their suppliers' or users' legal rights (think of how Amazon has raised the price of everything we buy, both on- and off Amazon, through its "most favored nation" deals):

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/25/greedflation/#commissar-bezos

Third, they can use IP law to prevent competitors from modifying their services to claw back some of that value (think of how Apple used legal threats to block an Android version of Imessage, blocking Apple customers from having private conversations that included non-Apple customers:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/12/youre-holding-it-wrong/#if-dishwashers-were-iphones

Companies can't just use this tricks at will, of course. Antitrust laws can block companies from making anticompetitve acquisitions or mergers. Regulators can punish companies for cheating their customers, workers and users. Technologists can come up with clever ways of modding or reconfiguring existing services with "interoperable" add-ons that let users bargain for better treatment by refusing to accept worse:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/07/adblocking-how-about-nah

Day in, day out, the decision-makers at tech companies test these constraints, twisting the knobs that shift value away from users to shareholders. Their bosses and boards motivate them with "KPIs" that dangle the promise of huge bonuses and promotions for any manager who successfully enshittifies part of the company's products:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/28/microincentives-and-enshittification/

Decades of pro-corporate, pro-monopoly policy has loosened those knobs. 40 years of lax antitrust meant that companies had a lot of leeway to buy or merge with rivals – that's changing today, but it's tough sledding:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/14/making-good-trouble/#the-peoples-champion

As sectors grew more concentrated, they found it easier to capture their regulators, so that they no longer fear punishment for price-gouging, spying, or wage-theft, so applying the same amount of torque to the "break the law" knob cranks it a lot further:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/05/regulatory-capture/

Once you've captured your regulators, you can aim them at your competitors. A monopoly-friendly policy environment has transformed IP law into a bully's charter, allowing powerful companies to strangle would-be competitors who dare to offer their customers tools to shield themselves from enshittification, like scrapers, ad-blockers and alternative clients. Big companies can crank the enshittification knob all the way over and know that smaller rivals knobs won't turn at all:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/20/benevolent-dictators/#felony-contempt-of-business-model

At one point, bosses faced one more constraint on knob-twiddling: their workforce. Many tech workers genuinely cared about their users' welfare, something bosses encouraged as a sneaky trick to get techies to put in long hours without exercising their leverage by quitting rather than destroying their lives to meet arbitrary deadlines. These workers would fearlessly slap their bosses' hands when they reached for the enshittification knob, threatening to quit rather than allowing the products they'd given so much for to be enshittified. Today, after hundreds of thousands of tech layoffs, tech workers are far less like to challenge their bosses' right to twiddle, and far more likely to get fired if they try:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/10/the-proletarianization-of-tech-workers/

All this means that tech bosses don't have to change their approach at all, and yet, their services will grow steadily worse. The boss who twiddles the enshittification knob in exactly the same way as he did a year or a decade ago will find it turning much further, because his customers are locked into his platform, his regulators won't protect them, the same regulators will stop his competitors' attempts at countertwiddling, and his workers fear losing their jobs too much to speak up for their users.

That's the contagion that produced the enshittocene: the forces that constrained companies (competition, regulation, self-help and labor – all melted away, allowing every company's MBA-poisoned knob-twiddling leaders to shamelessly caress their knobs with every hour that God sends:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/30/go-nuts-meine-kerle/#ich-bin-ein-bratapfel

Which is why people want to leave platforms. When a platform loses its users, those users have weighed the switching costs against the pain of staying and decided that it's better to bear those costs than to stay.

So why have Tiktok's younger users found the costs too high to bear, and why have their elders remained stuck to the platform?

For that, we have to look at the unique characteristics of young people – characteristics that transcend the lazy cliche that kids are easily bored, fickle novelty-seekers who hop from one service to another with unquenchable restlessness.

Whether or not kids are novelty-seekers, they are, fundamentally, a disfavored minority. They want to do things that the platforms don't want them to do – like converse without being overheard by authority figures, including their parents and their schools (also: cops and future employers, though kids may not be thinking about them as much).

In other words, kids pay intrinsically lower switching costs than adults, because a platform will always do less for them than it will for grownups. This is a characteristic kids share with other supposedly technophilic, novelty-seeking "early adopters," from sex-workers to terrorists, from sexual minorities to trolls, from political dissidents to fascists. For those groups, the cost of mastering a new technology and assembling a community around it is always more likely to be worth bearing than it would be for people who are well-served by existing tools:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/21/early-adopters/#sex-tech

Pornographers didn't jump on home video because of its superiority as a medium for capturing flesh-tones. Home video was a good porn medium because it was easier to discreetly get into the hands of porn consumers, who could, in turn, discreetly view it. The audience for porn in the privacy of your living room is larger than the audience for porn that you can only watch if you're willing to be seen marching into a dirty movie theater.

Every new technology is popularized by a mix of disfavored groups and neophiles, who normalize and refine it – and yes, infuse it with their countercultural coolth – until it becomes easy enough to use to become mainstream. As more normies drift into the new system, the switching costs associated with leaving the old system declines. It gets easier and easier to find the people and services you want in the new realm, and harder and harder to find them in the old one.

This is why tech platforms have historically experienced sudden collapse: the platform that gets more valuable and harder to leave as it accumulates users gets less valuable and easier to leave as users depart:

https://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2022/12/05/what-if-failure-is-the-plan.html

If you're a Gen Z kid on Tiktok, you experience the same enshittification as your Millennial elders. But you also experience an additional cost to staying: as late-arriving adult authority figures become more fluent in the platform, they are more able to observe your use of it, and punish you for conduct that you used to get away with.

And if you're a Millennial who isn't leaving Tiktok, it's not just that you experience the same enshittification as those departing Gen Z kids – you also face higher switching costs if you go. The older you get, the more complex your social connections grow. A Gen Z kid in middle school doesn't have to worry about losing touch with their high-school buddies if they switch platforms (they haven't gone to high school yet – and they see their middle school friends in person all the time, giving them a side-channel to share information about who's leaving Tiktok and where they're headed to next). Middle-schoolers don't have to worry about coordinating little league car-pools or losing access to a rare disease support group.

In other words: younger people leave old platforms earlier because they have more to gain by leaving; and older people leave old platforms later because they have more to lose by leaving.

This is why Facebook is filled with Boomers. Yes, their kids bolted for the exits to avoid having their parents (or grandparents) wading into their sexual, social and professional lives. But the reason the Boomers were late joining younger users' Facebook exodus – or the reason they never joined it – is that they stand to lose more by going. Facebook deliberately cultivated this dynamic, for example, by creating a photo hosting service designed to entice users into uploading their family photos while disguising how hard it would be to take those photos with them if they left:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/08/facebooks-secret-war-switching-costs

The irony here is that tech has intrinsically low switching costs. All other things being equal, a new platform can always build a bridge to ease the passage of users from the old one. There's no (technical) reason that moving to Mastodon, or Bluesky, or any other platform should mean cutting ties with the people who stayed behind.

A combination of voluntary interoperability (where old platforms offer APIs to allow new services to connect with them), mandatory interop (where governments force tech companies to offer APIs) and adversarial interop (where new companies hack together their own API with reverse-engineering, scraping, bots, and other guerrilla tactics) would hypothetically allow users to hop between networks as easily as you change phone carriers:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/19/better-failure/#let-my-tweeters-go

Tech platforms tend to offer APIs when they're getting started (to ease the inward passage of new users) then shut them down after they attain dominance (locking the door behind those users). The EU is tinkering with mandatory APIs through the Digital Markets Act (though bafflingly, they're starting with encrypted messaging rather than social media). Restoring adversarial interoperability will require extensive legal reform, which is getting started through Right to Repair laws:

https://www.techdirt.com/2024/03/13/oregon-passes-right-to-repair-law-apple-lobbied-to-kill/

The people who are stranded on social media platforms shouldn't be mistaken for uncool, aging technophobes. They're not stubborn, they're stranded. Like the elders who can't afford to leave a dying town after the factory shuts down and the young people move away, these people are locked in. They need help evacuating – a place to go and a path to get there.

Name your price for 18 of my DRM-free ebooks and support the Electronic Frontier Foundation with the Humble Cory Doctorow Bundle.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/21/involuntary-die-hards/#evacuate-the-platformsr

#pluralistic

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lifebloa · 1 year ago

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İO-GAMES-2025 - DEVASA+

These browser-based multiplayer games have taken the online gaming community by storm, offering a unique blend of simplicity and competitiveness that appeals to players of all ages. Whether you're looking to battle against others in real-time or collaborate in a delightful, chaotic environment, IO games provide a thrilling escape from your daily routine. In this blog post, we'll explore various aspects of IO games, including how to access them without restrictions, the most popular titles in the genre, and tips for unlocking your gaming experience.

As the world of online gaming continues to evolve, the rise of io games has captured the attention of players around the globe, combining simple mechanics with highly addictive gameplay.

One of the best places to explore the exciting realm of io games unblocked is at https://io-games-2025.github.io/, where players can dive into a variety of thrilling and entertaining games without the hindrance of restrictions, making it an ideal site for those looking to enjoy the best of these experiences.

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The appeal of io games unblocked lies in their accessibility; players can often access these games from various locations, whether in a school setting or at home, without the restrictions typically imposed by firewalls, allowing for a seamless gaming experience that fosters both casual play and competitive spirit among friends and strangers alike.

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Many gamers, especially students or individuals in restricted environments, have turned to io games unblocked options to bypass limitations imposed by schools or workplaces, ensuring they can continue to enjoy their favorite gaming experiences

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noxiatoxia · 3 months ago

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On: Vita Corrections (SDR2)

I've talked about it in the past, and will probably talk about it again in the future! But when Danganronpa 1 and 2 were ported to the PSVita, it wasn't just a simple port. Several dozen corrections were made, and the PSVita version of Danganronpa 1&2 would go on to become the version ported to PC, Xbox, PS4, Switch/iOS, and thus leave these old errors relegated to the PSP exclusively. Furthermore, the series was not officially given English translated versions until the PSVita versions, meaning only Japanese players likely ever saw these errors.

While most of these errors were visual, some were coding errors. For example, in Ch.1's investigation in SDR2, Komaeda hangs out in the background when you talk to him.

The Vita version went on to correct this, having the camera pan to the standing sprite like it is supposed to and then have Komaeda start speaking.

Everyday I learn of new things that were fixed upon porting the game to the Vita, and of those things is beta sprites mistakenly left in the game.

This will be a long post, and thus will have a read more. But here's an example of a sprite correction that was made and, honestly, was made for good reason...

So, let's talk about all of this.

Firstly, I want to say, the beta sprites used in the SDR2 student handbook I have already covered here, and the beta Naegi sprite used in the DR1 title screen I have covered here, so I won't repeat them.

Furthermore, I will discuss specific DR1 PSP differences at a later date, so fret not. Image limit means I have to limit myself, so it's just SDR2 right now.

And just before anyone asks - DR:AE and DRV3 never had PSP versions. By that point, both games were released first and foremost on the Vita, and did not get PSP backports or anything of the sort. I do know V3 got patch updates after its release on the Vita, but I do not know what changed exactly in those patch releases. Furthermore, I do not know how or if the PC/PS4/etc. ports differ significantly in terms of visual/coding changes in the same way the PSP -> PSVita ports did. Some day here I may look into it myself, but frankly, my focus on these topics have always been about DR1/SDR2 exclusively (which is funny as DR:AE is my favorite game in the series).

Okay, for real, let's talk about the screen shot I just shoved in your face: consent sprites.

Almost every single visual sequence in Danganronpa is consisted of several image files animated together. Thus, the "consent" sequence uses a zoomed-in picture of the characters sprites. Likely what happened in the PSP versions is that early sprites were put in for the "consent" animation, and by the time all the sprites went through finalizing changes, they forgot to replace them in the "consent" animation specifically. That's my guess, at least.

Everyone in SDR2 has one, as it is used in Island Mode as well. DR1 sadly does not have this as its "School Mode" was implemented only in the Vita re-release as a bonus.

Hinata Hajime:

What's fun about Hinata's beta sprite here specifically is that it's the same one mistakenly used in DRS for his swimsuit sprite. I've already talked about it in the hyperlinked post so I won't repeat it here, but it's fascinating that this sprite got mistakenly re-used years later for DRS.

We can see many differences between this and the final sprite. Hinata's body was made bigger, his bangs redrawn, the color layer shifted upwards for his hair (for some reason), and his eyes changed to look up and to the left instead of dead center.

Naegi Makoto:

Heads up: some of these images do not align. Hinata's thankfully lined up fairly well by default, but from hereon some of the "consent" sprites need to be moved slightly to better match up with each other.

Anyways, this Naegi sprite actually scared me (LOL). For context, I was relaxing playing the PSP version of SDR2, and in the middle of a trial, when I agreed with someone's statement, I noticed Hinata's sprite was off. I figured everyone's must be off then, so I ripped them all without knowing what they'd all look like. I opened up the folder for Naegi's, was hit with this, and was genuinely taken off guard. I just wasn't expecting it to look so different. It's very uncanny, and just looks off.

I don't think I even really need to describe it...basically everything was changed (thankfully).

As put by my friend Holly, "Makoto looks like a pug".

I will say, beta sprites for Naegi aren't very common outside of the Demo version of DR1, and this beta sprite oddly found in the SDR2 art book.

What's vastly interesting though is the beta found in the SDR2 art book is the same sprite here. Well, not the same, but the same pose. It's clearly not as early as this one though. So we have 2 beta versions of the final "pointing Naegi" sprite, it seems. How fascinating! I really should put together a "beta sprite timeline" some day...that'd be quite the project, though.

Nanami Chiaki:

This just seems to be an all-around early version of the sprite. Thicker outlines, raised eyebrow, and her teeth are bigger. All of this was fixed in her final sprite.

Ah, by the way. If I don't mention it here I guess I'll keep forgetting to mention it. Nanami, as shown in her mock-up beta image, uses keigo (polite) speech. She does not talk like this in the final game, instead speaking casually. Neat.

Sonia Nevermind:

Sonia's beta is interesting to me for minor reasons. Besides some of the thicker outlines, it could be considered "finished", but even so, the finished sprite is much different. Sonia's mouth was moved up, her hair less voluminous in the back, and her hand seemingly lowered and no longer popping up.

It just goes to show that even when a sprite looked basically done, they still saw it necessary to make so many little changed to it.

Saionji Hiyoko:

Every beta sprite I find for Saionji lacks in any real differences. It's sort of sad, but in a way, sheds light on an interesting process. The fact that very minor changes are made for seemingly no reason.

The final sprite for Saionji is "sharper", having a less blurry look to it. The "consent" image in particular has her sprite moved up a few pixels for whatever reason.

Koizumi Mahiru:

Koizumi's is an example of small but practical changes. Her hand was given much more detail, her hair lines made a bit sharper, and the shading lessened around her eyes. Also some very subtle changes to her ear, her teeth, and shirt collar.

Tsumiki Mikan:

Tsumiki's beta sprite is all sorts of messed up, and may have even shocked me like Naegi's had I not seen it before. Where, you may ask?

Well, DRV3's talent development plan cards were prone to using beta sprites by accident. Here's Tsumiki's:

I have a post I need to make about this...sometime...but for now, here is a clearly early version of this Tsumiki sprite.

Mioda Ibuki:

For the record, I'm comparing Mioda's full finished sprite to the PSP "consent" cutin image for one particular reason. Here's what it looks like if I just compare both "consent" images as they are:

I don't know why they felt the need to move Mioda way, way higher up in the Vita re-release, but that makes it pretty hard to compare the two.

Here's the real comparison. Quite a few details were changed; the lines on her shirt, her arm, the top of her head, the shading, and her mouth was moved down.

Pekoyama Peko:

Here we have the same Pekoyama sprite as seen in the SDR2 wallpapers. Nothing new to comment on here. Her face used to be much wider.

Souda Kazuichi:

Comparison gifs are great, because in cases where I couldn't see any differences when putting the images side-by-side, a comparison gif will reveal all the things I missed.

Souda is an example of that. Very small changes were made that I had not caught, such as his eyes being angled up higher towards the ends, his mouth extended lower, and the sides of his head spaced out better.

A part of me actually prefers the beta sprite. It has a more "extreme" edge to it, which fits the general vibe of Souda's design. However, the final sprite is just as nice.

Imposter:

Besides some width and artifact differences between the two renders, the sprite itself is the same. A shame, but it's what I expected. It's very, very hard to come across Imposter beta sprites. He had to be the first character whose sprite set was finalized, I feel.

Also, yes, the sprite is horizontally squished. I guess to make him fit better...?

Hanamura Teruteru:

Sadly, much of the same with Hanamura. I guess his simplistic design lends himself to not having too many corrections needing to be made.

Kuzuryuu Fuyuhiko:

Both Kuzuryuu sprites. As can be seen, basically his whole head was redrawn. I've actually talked about this sprite before, as it is reused for his UTDP card.

What I haven't seen before is the eyepatch version. What makes that noteworthy is the fact the colors are...greenish? Every Kuzuryuu sprite has an orange undertone, but for some reason, the early eyepatch sprite is blueish in undertone. Strange, seeing how the non-eyepatch version is the same color scheme. I wonder what that's all about. I really couldn't begin to guess.

Nidai Nekomaru:

Nidai has 0 changes. Good for him!

Owari Akane:

Keeping up with the theme Kuzuryuu presented us earlier, Owari's beta sprite is for some reason much more orange than the final sprite. They also redrew her neck, but besides that (and some outline fixes at the top left and in her ear) she seems mostly the same.

Komaeda Nagito:

This is a classic. The weird smiling Komaeda sprite, which is also seen in the SDR2 wallpapers. I've seen it many times so it doesn't surprise me it was accidentally left in for the "consent" images.

Tanaka Gundam:

Last but not least is Tanaka, and this is a great one to end off on because it baffles me.

Up until now, the Vita corrects have been, well, corrections. They replaced all the accidentally used beta sprites with their final, in-game sprites.

Not this one!

It's actually backwards. The PSP version was already using the final sprite, while the Vita re-release accidentally uses a beta sprite.

Same one seen in the SDR2 wallpapers...again.

It just blows my mind how they managed to do that...but if they could do it with Komaeda's standing sprites, I suppose anything is possible?

Well, that's it for now. When I get the time, I'll talk about the changes made to DR1...if you know of any other fun changes that were made between the PSP and PSVita versions, please let me know!

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genericpuff · 2 years ago

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The Kiss Bet Episode 172 - Hot Pot and Venting About How I Want My 70 Cents Back

Okay, look, this isn't a post I was expecting to make today but it's something that just happened and I have to fucking talk about, so let me preface this with some context.

I had to buy coins recently and because I switched to using my iPad for reading comics on, I got a "new reader" type deal from Webtoons for a coin bundle that got me like 100 coins for $5; because technically it was a 'new account' as Webtoons operates their in-game currency model on apps, not on actual emails (meaning if you use the app on an Android phone and then switch to an Apple iOS device, they're technically two separate accounts which you sync the reading data between via the account info linked via the email, therefore they have two separate coin wallets).

So with more coins than I knew what to do with, I decided to start FastPassing The Kiss Bet again, which I had recently stopped FP'ing around the S3 mark, as it's recently devolved back into the "will they won't they" trope, but instead of between Sara-Lin and Joe, it's between Sara-Lin and Joe's younger brother (the "true endgame") Oliver.

Now I don't mind the ship in essence. Joe was definitely not gonna be endgame, it was always gonna be Oliver, anyone who's read any amount of romance before - especially high school romances - knows how this shit tends to go, and The Kiss Bet isn't exactly trying to be groundbreaking or subversive in any way, it knows exactly what it's about and what it's trying to accomplish.

But it's almost become a little too good at this. Because in playing the "will they won't they" game for so long with a character that we know is endgame, it's basically been weeks and weeks and weeks of-

youtube

That said, after I caught up on the recent FP episodes, it seemed like stuff was finally moving a little bit. We were finally meeting Oliver's mom and his stepdad who he has a fractured relationship with, Joe was finally getting with his true endgame girl, Vicky (who's totally not an exact genderbent version of Joe lmao) and Sara-Lin was finally realizing she had feelings for Oliver.

And then the newest episode came out, Episode 172 - Hot Pot and Venting.

CAUTION: FASTPASS SPOILERS FOR THE KISS BET OFFICIALLY BEGIN HERE!

Already I was a little petty over the title like "lmao ok clunky title but whatever". I swept it off as not a genuine criticism, just me being a nitpicking asshole over what's essentially Fluff: The Comic.

The episode cost 7 coins, which is about roughly 70 cents, albeit closer to a dollar for Canadian readers (here's something they don't tell you about Canada - our Monopoly game currency is just as fucked as it looks) and that's where I'm gonna get into my second disclaimer that I need to be perfectly clear about (and it'll be what we get more into later on in this post).

I understand the principle of paying for art. I understand fully that many of these webtoons are being produced on tight deadlines by creators who often can only afford 1-2 assistants, if any at all. I understand and fully agree that creators deserve to be paid for their skills, time, and efforts, not just as creators working on the hellsite that is Webtoons, but as artists in general who deserve to make a living the same as anyone else. Anyone who follows my stuff here knows I'm an artist myself so I would never debate the ethical necessity of paying artists for their work.

However.

I can say that, and also agree with the people who have stated in discussion circles such as on /r/webtoons that a lot of the comics that have started charging 7 coins have been suspiciously delivering less comic since. And it's not even so much in the literal panel count, the liquid volume of these comics have remained the same, but the calorie count has dropped significantly. Food metaphors aside, what I mean is that despite many of these comics maintaining their 40-60 minimum panel count requirement, they have in fact reduced the actual amount of content that happens in them, and The Kiss Bet's newest episode is a stark example of what I mean.

I am going to start by posting only post three panels - three panels that literally sum up the entirety of Episode 172 and what it chooses to spend its time on.

That is it. That is literally all that's established in this episode. I'd tell you to go read it yourself, but honestly, this is genuinely one of those rare times I can honestly say that a 40+ panel episode is not worth 70 cents and you'd be better off, and that's saying a LOT when these episodes are only priced at the cost of a gumball. At least Lore Olympus has entertainment in how bad it is most of the time, Episode 172 of The Kiss Bet is just nothing. You will literally get more substance and flavor from an actual gumball.

Literally every other panel in this episode is either repeating the same dialogue (Sara-Lin saying the same thing multiple different times to express how Oliver is holding her hand or how his stepdad is a dick) and then Sara-Lin and Oliver staring at each other. Over. And over. Again.

I am not joking. I did not cut anything out in that sequence. That is where the episode ends. Complete nothingburger, seemingly cut off right as it was just getting started like Cait Corrain's career.

Out of the entire episode, there were 45 panels. So I can safely assume Ingrid's minimum panel requirement is at least 40 per episode, that's me assuming the best that she didn't exactly meet her panel minimum at 45 panels on the dot.

Out of those 45 panels, there were:

Two actual unique backgrounds that weren't gradients or just a single piece of furniture

4 separate panels of Sara-Lin freaking out over Oliver holding her hand and wondering if he even noticed

10 panels of Sara-Lin staring at Oliver either dumbfounded or asking him to repeat himself (or apologizing over nothing)

5 panels of the characters saying nothing

11 panels of Sara-Lin repeating information in different ways that could have been accomplished in half that time

Two separate occasions of Oliver getting Sara's attention from off-panel, literally formatted the exact same way both times (and both followed by reaction panels of Sara-Lin staring at him dumbfounded)

Way too many panels of Sara-Lin blushing in response to Oliver being an asshole tbh like literally this guy's a douchebag, Joe may have been the "out of her league" love interest but at least he was nice and didn't treat Sara-Lin like someone who just bought a Husky as a "starter pet" ???

Again, I don't usually like being a dick about the coin costs, and I definitely don't like being a hypocrite in telling people they should pay artists for their work while simultaneously posting their paywalled content like this, but I think there does come a point where it feels more irresponsible for people to not be aware of what they're about to pay for and how little they're going to be getting. This episode is literally one of the best - and worst - examples of how far the romance genre has fallen on the platform - when it's not being overtaken and oversaturated by problematic series that romanticize abuse and sexual assault, it's being dragged to death with the most boring executions of tropes that everyone has seen before and is only exciting for anyone who's never read a book or watched a romance movie, period.

And here's the thing where I do approach a bit more "hot take" territory, but every time I see this argument come up about episodes not being worth the coin cost, I see others who rightfully argue that 70 cents isn't that much to pay for what you're getting - weekly episodes of work that are usually always delivered on time, with more panels than you would ever typically see in a free to read comic.

But here's where I take issue with that argument, as much as the principle of it is sound, it misses the overall point: readers are paying for entertainment first and foremost, so can anyone who's actually paying for regular refills on their app currency step away from this and truly call it "entertainment"? Nothing was gained. The comic had 45 panels to say something, anything, and managed to not even squeak out so much of a word. Even the silent moments have no substance, they just reiterate information that we already know.

Do we really need another panel of Sara-Lin blushing at Oliver? We've known for weeks now that she has a crush on him. Do we really need another panel of Oliver getting Sara-Lin's attention? What is this actually showing of their chemistry? What is being shown here that hasn't been shown numerous times - with and without dialogue - for weeks now? What does the comic have to show for itself after four seasons?

Another point of the "it's just 70 cents, don't be an asshole" argument that people seem to miss is it's not 70 cents. It's $1. Because if you want to buy a single episode of the Kiss Bet, you can't just pay for the individual episode in isolation, you have to pay for the coins first, and $1 is the absolute bare minimum you have to pay to get 10 coins, which will only pay for one episode of a 7 coin series - of which there are many now, basically any series that's 40 panels or more will cost 7 coins and, shocker, those are the series that WT will tend to promote most, you'll rarely see the 5 coins series in the banner ads, and that's not even getting into how there are more and more series cropping up that have 5+ episodes behind FP rather than the traditional three.

So if you're someone who's (almost definitely) keeping up with more than one series? You can't just pay the $1, you have to pay at least $5 for 50 coins, and that will NOT go far anymore or cut as evenly as it used to when just about every series is now 7 coins. Webtoons knows fully well what kind of game they're playing by making the new coin cost an uneven number while still offering increments of 5/10 in their coin bundles. They undoubtedly want you to be left with an uneven number so that you'll be easily lured into buying more coins so you don't 'waste' the uneven amount you have left that isn't enough to buy the episodes for the series you want to read. Obviously this is more speculation and not fact, but it's a common business model and with the series that have adopted the 7 coin count model (rather than starting off with 7 coins outright) such as The Kiss Bet and Lore Olympus, it's becoming abundantly clear that either the creators or the platform itself is encouraging these series to meet their panel minimums with as little content as possible in order to get more money out of readers who are barely even being drip fed actual entertainment and narrative progression, let alone spoon fed.

And then there's the waiting. The goddamn waiting. So many of these series guilty of siphoning their content off through a hose that they're deliberately standing on are designed intentionally with the most egregious cliffhangers in mind to keep their audience hooked so they'll undoubtedly FP next week. Do you know what that amount of waiting does to a comic? To its readers? First off, it artificially extends the actual pacing of the comic to make it feel longer than it is, when in reality, many of these plotlines are happening in a vacuum of very short bursts of time. Case in point, Lore Olympus is commonly confused for having a plotline that takes place over the course of months, when actually when laid end to end in order of cause and effect, many of its subplots - including the romance of Hades and Persephone - takes place over the course of days. This over-inflates the plotline's actual depth and, even worse so, it makes it harder for readers to keep up with information that's being delivered, as it often takes weeks for that information to actually go anywhere - so by the time it does, many readers have straight up forgotten about it.

It's absolutely not okay that so many of these kinds of series are normalizing literal slow burning for an audience who's paying to be entertained. It's not a "slow burn". It's just slow, and deliberately so. It's absolutely NOT FUN to follow a comic that does not go anywhere week after week. It's frustrating. And before long, it starts to feel like gambler's fallacy, where readers have to essentially gaslight themselves into paying into it more and more convinced that it has to pay off eventually, based on a promise that was never actually made, only assumed in good faith. And readers should not have to fill in the bulk of the content that isn't happening with their own imaginations, which is something that happens a LOT in these series that spend so much time on the characters just staring at each other and saying nothing. It's not 'plot' to just draw characters blushing and have your audience fill in the rest of it entirely on their own. This is certainly a technique in writing, but in the case of The Kiss Bet and other comics like it, it's much less of a valid technique and more just flat out manipulating your audience into falling so hard into the sunk cost fallacy trap that they don't notice they're being robbed blind by the plot that hasn't actually happened - and they've been paying for that financial and emotional robbery out of their own pockets and brains every step of the way.

Again, I do not care about the coin cost in and of itself, seventy cents IS still an incredibly cheap price for weekly updates of a series that has to put out so many panels each week. But as a reader and a customer, I should not be leaving these updates with less information than what I started with. And I'm someone who's incredibly old school by webcomic standards, there are comics that I follow that have updated 1-2 pages a week for over a decade that manage to do more with their limited pages than Lore Olympus and The Kiss Bet manage to do after entire hiatuses filled with pre-production time.

Why does this page of Alfie manage to move both the intrinsic plot of the titular character as well as the external plot that's going on around her in one page made up of 5 panels better than what The Kiss Bet can do in 45?

Why does this page of Tamberlane manage to convey more information about the world's lore and the people in it in a way that's emotionally driven and clearly affecting the characters without outright info-dumping than what Lore Olympus has managed to spit out onto its plate since S3 started over a year ago?

How does Tales from Alderwood manage to be more entertaining and convey more meaningful storytelling through its characters in a single page consisting of zero dialogue than what The Kiss Bet can convey in its silent panels of staring, blushing, and repetitive stuttering?

Why are the creators who are relying entirely on their own efforts, resources, and ability to generate income through community interaction and support putting out better work with less panels and on slower schedules for FREE than what we're seeing from professional creators on a professional publishing platform who are being paid to do this as their job?

There's this saying in the tattooing industry: good work isn't cheap and cheap work isn't good.

At this point, 70 cents is not a 'bargain' as many people like to argue in defense of the creators. And while I do want to have good faith in the creators who don't pull this shit, the creators who clearly go above and beyond to do what they do in the pursuit of storytelling and polishing their craft to be the best piece of work that it can be - the comics that are worth paying 70 cents and beyond for - are not the comics that Webtoons is promoting to people. The creators of the works that genuinely deserve more than 70 cents per update are being left to fend for themselves without support from the platform, while those that aren't worth the price of even a flavorless gumball are consistently winning the Wonka Golden Ticket lottery.

The cost of 70 cents is relative. For some works it's a genuine bargain. For others like the The Kiss Bet and Lore Olympus, 70 cents is not a "bargain", it's not a "good deal", it's exactly the value of what you're paying for - cheap work that isn't good.

#so yeah i'm done reading the kiss bet fr now #i figured if i had 100 more coins than i needed i may as well use them for something that i didn't need to start from scratch on #but i literally feel ripped off LMAO #webtoon critical #the kiss bet #lore olympus critical #anti lore olympus #lo critical #Youtube

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dastmalchiansnose · 3 months ago

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get to know your mutuals

thank you for the tag, @strang3lov3! ♡

what's the origin of your blog title?

david dastmalchian's nose is one of my favorite things about him visually! i really like noses like that, but I'm not sure what they're called. roman nose? idk.

favourite fandoms?

i love the succession fandom, even though it's slowed down considerably. also, outing myself as a reddit user here, but i love r/okbuddysuccession, LOL. i also love the dastmalchian fandom by itself, as well as hamish linklater's!

otp(s)/shipname?

erin x riley from midnight mass, eileen x rebecca from eileen, and gretta keene x beverly marsh from it (2017) (mmm give me da toxic yuri)

favorite color?

dark brown

favorite game?

word games! IRL, i love scrabble, and digitally, i love wordle and word hunt + anagrams on IOS. i also love playing chess even though i am so bad at it, and always lose to my twelve-year-old cousin.

song stuck in your head?

I'M FEARFUL I'M FEARFUL I'M FEARFUL OF FLYING AND FLYING IS FEARFUL OF ME!!!!

weirdest habit/trait?

i couldn't think of any from the top of my head, so i asked my family; my sister and dad said eating lemons dipped in sugar (it is GAS, try it if you haven't), and my mom said my memory. i have a very strong memory and can recall exactly how i felt in the moment, physically and emotionally.

hobbies?

reading, writing, listening to music, playing the guitar, rollerblading, and playing minecraft!

if you work, what's your profession?

i'm currently a cashier and training assistant at a chain restaurant, and do babysitting on the side.

if you could have any job you wish what would it be?

student rights lawyer! i'm currently minoring in legal studies, but i'm going back-and-forth on actually going to law school because it is just... so much money. it has been a dream of mine since i was in middle school, though.

something you're good at?

i'd say i'm pretty good at writing! i've also got a knack for word games, too. anyone who plays word hunt or anagrams with me gets annihilated.

something you're bad at?

comforting people. i'm very solution-oriented, and i don't really know how to just sit there and listen, which is what a lot of people want.

something you love?

my doggy ♡

something you could talk about for hours off the cuff?

mbti & enneagram

something you hate?

i have such an irrational hatred for "womp womp" and every time i see or hear it i get sent into a primal rage

something you collect?

calico critters! i'm really sad, though, because my dad's dog got my hedgehog family and now they are all permanently disfigured.

something you forget?

to text people back, to the point it became my new year's resolution in 2024

what's your love language?

quality time

favorite movie/show?

hereditary for movie, and midnight mass for show!

favorite food?

grrr don't make me choose... either chana saag or yellow curry

favorite animal?

my doggy x2 ♡

are you musical?

i love music (i actually have a blog for it!), but i'm kind of a jack-of-all-trades and master of none with instruments. i play guitar, mandolin, ukulele, and banjo, but... i'm mediocre at all of them. i just do it because i like it. i also never bothered to learn how to read musical notes, so...

what were you like as a child?

very serious, type-a, and neurotic. also very mean to my big sister, because we were and are so different and argued all the time (sorry, kelsey).

favorite subject at school?

any english course; my favorite class of all time, though, was an environmental sociology course last year!

least favorite subject?

drama. i fucking hated drama with all my heart in high school. i'm not an actress.

what's your best character trait?

my principles? does that count? i always stick to what i believe in and am pretty consistent.

what's your worst character trait?

stubbornness, which does go hand-in-hand with my best character trait.

if you could change any detail of your day right now what would it be?

that i did my laundry earlier >_<

if you could travel in time who would you like to meet?

aghhh either audre lorde or andrea dworkin. maybe valerie solanas, too, specifically after the andy warhol debacle.

recommend one of your favorite fanfics (spread the love!):

pulling triggers by notyourfavouriteboy on ao3!

tagging:

@verylightsheep & @donadefr3sa & @murdocsgirl & @ronecam & @minty-oblivion & @polkastuff & @murdocs-sweetheart

#not david

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omegasomeone · 4 months ago

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Magical Wilted

Part 1: Calipto - Eucalyptus

Chapter 1: Seeds

Today was supposed to be the day. I had everything planned out, to the last minute detail. This day was supposed to be perfect. We would meet up at the park we used to play in. we would then go watch the remake of the first Magical Astra movie as it used to be our favourite movie. then we’d stop by my place to play some Extreme Fam Bash before eating at the restaurant near our old school. But of course, after ten minutes waiting on a bench, a call. “Sorry, the meal I ate yesterday didn't sit right with me, I won't be able to come.. Let’s do this another time, OK?”

despair. rage. disgust. sadness. the perfect day meeting with an old friend that i hadn't seen in almost half of my life was ruined. Just like that. welp, fun's already dead and buried at this point, guess I'll try and at least be productive! that'll show 'em!

Oh, yeah, the name's Calipto, by the way. Hi, the person I'm making up in my head so that I can narrate my life! imagining you helps me think, so, hi, and welcome to my head!

Heading home with newfound.. determination? Spite? I didn't know which one exactly, but with at least one of them, I found myself in front of an arcade. Thinking about how weird it was that i had never noticed it, and that it hadn't closed down yet, I let curiosity -and nostalgia- get the best of me. inside were a crane game, an old Sing Sing Revolt! cabinet and a few racing games, as well as a gashapon that seemed to have figurines from a show i used to watch as a kid but couldn't remember the name of. nobody was at the counter, as if i wasn't supposed to be there, as if it was already past closing time, when it was only 3 PM.

Suddenly, one of the plushies in the crane game caught my attention. it looked like a pastel blue frog, with what seemed like cat eyes and whiskers, and wings of uneven size. it was.. kind of endearing in a weird way? like how you see a caterpillar eating a leaf and can't help but tell it “you can do it, little guy!”

I decided to get it, hoping my crane machine skills weren't too rusty after at least half a decade of not exercising them, and managed to make it mine in only three tries. Looking at it from up close and holding it in my own hands, it looked surprisingly well made. No sign of stitches, the fabric felt really high quality (and really fluffy!) and the stuffing used made it really squishable. I really didn't understand how such a high quality plushie ended up in a crane game instead of directly for sale.

Well, that wasn't my problem, and i really was lucky it got there so i could get it. it seemed like everything else needed arcade specific tokens to play, so i went straight to my place. I reheated some leftover pizza in the microwave, sat in front of the TV then turned it on.

“The search for Io Viola is still on; the 11 year-old girl was last seen at her school in northern Lillac City monday morning, when she asked her teacher to go to the bathroom. If you see her or have information that could help find her, please go to the neareat police station to give your testimony.

Still in Lillac City, three monsters attacked the town hall. Fortunately, Rose Magical managed to hold them all off until every civilian had fled the area then managed to kill the beasts. an eyewitness asked to talk about the fight: ‘Violet Magical wasn't there! She wasn't there! And Rose's petals are withered! Last time a Magical's outfit did that, she tried to destroy the world! I'm sure Rose killed Violet! HE'S GONNA COME FOR US ALL! WE'RE DOO-’”

“Yeeyup, that's enough of that for today. Man I’m so tired.. so much for being productive,” I thought to myself, “I’ll just go to bed early. Studies can wait.” I fell asleep around 5PM, and woke up at 6, more than half a day later, even though my phone was in another room, and I always sleep through it anyway. I made myself a hot chocolate, grabbed a banana, and sat on the couch next to the plushie. I enjoyed my breakfast before putting my laptop in my courier bag and- crap! my teeth! I hurried in the bathroom to clean them before heading out. before closing the door, I said: “have a nice day!”, just to... talk to the plushie, I guess? Hey, don't judge me, I’m sure you’ve done something like this before! I hear a faint voice telling me to the same.. NOOOOOOO, someone heard me! this is so embarrassing, I wanna go straight to bed and not leave it for at least two years!

I -for once- caught my bus and arrived at my college on time. The class started; I had had 13 hours of sleep yesterday, I'd keep awake for all the lesson! I could do it! I just had to keep focused and I wouldn't... fall asleep... in class... just... focus...

Next ->

#ley's incredibly unskilled writing #long post #hobby writer #magical girl #Magical Wilted

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kindatired · 1 year ago

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Genshin Impact: First Impression

I know, "You just NOW getting into Genshin after four years?'

Well, I didn't want to play on my phone so I waited to buy a laptop. I did bought a MacBook for school but then I found out that even though this game runs on IOS it doesn't run on MacOS...

(I should've known since the game isn't on the Switch...

Why most of the games I want to play isn't playable on the devices I have- Anyways back to the point.

I just finish Mondstadt in Genshin and so far I really like the story which makes me excited for what they have in store in Liyue. So this is all my thoughts about the first Archon quest, all in one go.

This chapter was a nice introduction to the world of Tevyat and I like how we already have to worry about two antagonistic groups (The fatui and Abyss Order)

Matter of fact let me list down how I think of each character:

The traveler:

I wish they have more character to them especially during the cutscenes. Despite being the protagonist I feel like they’re just in the backseat most of the time with the exception of them needing to action scenes. (Due to this my version of the traveler is that they're snarky but their heart is in the right place.) But I like how they showed us what the other sibling is doing because most stories they will have it a mystery right before the final arc

Paimon:

She’s cute but also WHERE IS HER PARENTS? At the start, she said that she was saved from drowning and I was like “Who was watching you?? Do you have any friends or anything?” I truly believe she will be a plot point in the story considering she can float around and have a space aesthetic to her

Venti:

I really like how mysterious he was at the start of the story and then later we see how much of a doofus he is. (Not saying he's dumb but carefree) Despite not wanting to be a ruling god, he still cares for his city in his own way. I don’t know why but if you mix Pit and Palutena together and then boom there’s Venti.

Amber:

I love her design so much. It's simple yet effective especially with the red bow. I feel like the team knew this too which is why she comes with her own plushie which is so freaking cute! Her character quests is fun too when she taught us to get our own glider's license. I don't know why but she gives the first classmate you befriend in class energy (Probably because she is the first person beside Paimon that we met in the game)

Kaeya:

I’m down bad I like how he has a laidback personality yet he’s always behind the scenes. Despite the front he puts up, you know he’s doing something else. Kind of wish we get to see more of him but I’m satisfied with what we got

Lisa:

At first I thought she was going to be a flirt she kinda is But I found it funny how she’s has a “I don’t have time with this bs” attitude on her side quest but still have a lot of patience for people's BS at times. I can't exactly remember but I think when she was trying to find all the overdue books, she went "I might as well make it fun" and brought the traveler and Paimon along too.

Jean:

Once I take a step back and think of all the things she had to deal with during this arc, it was definitely something. Abyss Order, The Dragon, The Fatui and trying to keep the citizens calm. She doesn’t get enough credit where it’s due. There's this one line delivery in the English version, I can't exactly point out when but it was about how the Fat couldn't get the upper hand in the situation. I don't know why but her tone of voice was passive aggressive, like she was praying on their downfall.

Diluc:

Mix opinions on him due to him sending us to find four of those ice flowers and I had to spend a hour and thirty minutes trying to find the fourth one. So yeah I have bitter feelings about that Serious note, he's probably my favorite character in Mondstadt if we're not including Amber and Kaeya. Bro is the Batman of the game, they even call him the Dark knight

Abyss Ice Mage:

Yeah I dedicated a whole section to this NPC because Imagine being electrocuted by Lisa and flamed by Diluc within a week. Like bro was put in the wringer (rightfully so). Kinda hoped they appear in the future story so this trend of Ice Mage being comedically abused continues.

My thoughts of the story:

I thought the first archon quest of the story is neat. It has nothing too spectacle as it works as a exposition to the world of Teyvat and it done that job very well.

The twist of knowing where the traveler's sibling is doing was definitely something I never thought would happen. Usually in most stories, they would have the sibling in prison but nope.

Your sibling is doing fine just helping out the big bad organization that is trying to destroy Teyvat.

Now this may be a reach but I like how each character has the freedom of accomplishing their goals by their own way.

First you have the traveler, by default they have the freedom of not being born in Teyvat as they are not from this world. Because of this, they have the ability to use more than one element. Another note is that because the traveler isn't bound by the nation's rules as they wasn't raised in Teyvat, they're always the person with a third option, sort of like a spectator...

is this why they're so quiet? So he can hear the opinions of others before making their own conclusions???

Paimon also has freedom as she doesn't have a parental figure which allows her to tag along, traveler on their quests.

Moving on to the people of Mondstadt, even within the Knights of Favonius who are under strict codes, handle tasks using their own method.

Example of this is the uniforms.

While Amber, Lisa, Kaeya, and Jean share the same motifs as being in the same group, their uniforms are completely different. You know how in magical girl shows, where you have sailor moon, where every soldier wears the same design but different color palette? Then there are other shows like Magica Madoka, where the girls where completely different outfits? The knights of favonius fits the latter, with the exception of the NPCs.

Even the way they handle tasks are different. Amber make sure she does her best to follow the rules but with a bit a flare. Lisa is a tad strict but her approach is passive. Kaeya always tries to find a loophole in the situation to see the whole picture. (Example: Him "staying behind" in the city, to get more information about the Abyss Order). Jean who follows the rules, but know there are times when the rules have to be bend.

Then you have the outliners like Diluc and Venti who are not apart of the knights. Diluc doesn't trust the knights to completely solve the problem so he acts as a vigilante, to pick up the pieces they fail to notice.

Venti who is the god of freedom, decided to not rule his region like the other archons. Instead, he watches it from afar, like the guardian he is, and steps in when the time is right.

All these characters are different in one way or another but they all come together to work together because they all share a common goal. Still even if you do things your own way, you still have to bear the responsibility of your actions.

Venti was too nonchalant in his approach of protecting his region which resulted in a Harbinger, La Signora, taking his Gnosis.

I say he was nonchalant because he was focus on the current problems of his country, which was storm bringer, and not future problems such as the Fatui. Because he wasn't focus on them, he let his guard down when the problem with storm bringer was solved.

I know this may be a stretch and I'm just writing what pops up in my head but that's what I got from the message of the archon quest.

Speaking of La Signora, how the hell did no one saw her attacking Venti and traveler or at the very least heard it? I know Barbara did but you're telling me that only ONE person heard that shit?!

So after talking to Venti it appears that we have to go to every seven regions to find the traveler's siblings. Or in this case, try to convince them to not destroy this world.

The fuck do we look like Pokemon Trainers?... Because I can sing the theme songs if you want

Either way, I had fun with the story. Gamplay-wise... I'm not really much of a gamer myself. I don't go into the mechanics of the game.I play fighting game, barely knowing the combos and just smash buttons to win

However, I can say the gameplay of Genshin is easy to get into. Unfortunately, it's a rpg so I have to farm for materials... yay, I guess. But it's not as bad as Fate Grand Order, Fate grand order farming system is a shit storm especially considering how it's a turn based but doesn't have a auto-farm system.

(for those who want to get into the story of FGO, just look it up on Youtube, do not play the game. )

When exploring, I often hesitate of where I go, because the game doesn't want you to explore said region yet, They will send Paimon telling you "Let's explore that later" only to yeet you off the cliff.

Speaking of Gameplay Paimon, she always setting us up. There was this purple spot, and she told us to blow it away to see what it is, only for it to be the eye of the storm... Its not like it was hard but it was annoying to fight it.

At least she let us control the time though.

Overall, I had fun with the game, I'm looking forward for Liyue and thank you for reading all of this as I was writing as I go so I know there is MANY grammar errors in this review.

Can't wait for Liyue because then I will get to see the character that convinced me to play the game.

#genshin impact #genshin impact review #genshin venti #kaeya alberich #diluc ragnvindr #lisa minci #jean gunnhildr #genshin impact amber #paimon #lumine #aether #Genshin Impact thoughts #hoyoverse #mihoyo

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coldshrugs · 1 year ago

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triple play

pairing: io laithe / estinien varlineau setting: modern au word count: 2.2k [divider credit]

February 7th - Estinien

The first baseball game of the season is fast approaching, and the Knights buzz with a mixture of excitement and anxiety.

The locker room is louder than usual, but Estinien doesn't mind. He likes this part. It's the same every year: the giddy tension, the unconditional camaraderie before the finger-pointing starts, the desire to do well and, maybe, catch an eye or two in the process...

Only a week away now.

What he doesn't like is the feeling of Aymeric's glare boring into the back of his head.

"What?" he asks, trying his best to sound even, unbothered, as he puts away his gear.

Aymeric makes an evasive little sound. "Just thinking. Musing, if you will."

He punctuates this with the sharp sound of his locker closing.

Estinien sighs. This is bait. Somehow, this is bait, and he will take it and most likely regret it. He shuts his own locker with a metallic clang and drops to the bench between them.

"Fine. What's on your mind?"

Aymeric tosses a towel around his shoulders, beaming triumphantly and pausing for what Estinien can only guess is dramatic effect. "Did you ask her?"

If Aymeric's stare needled his skin, that is nothing compared to the itch caused by the sideways glances thrown at him now.

This is the same year after year, too—the whispered locker room gossip, all of them eager for some minor detail about so-and-so's tits or who the hookup of the month is. He's never been one to share that much; besides, there's nothing to tell.

Still… another kind of anticipation swells in his chest, similar to the usual pre-game nervousness, but one he doesn't share with the others. He wishes the 'her' in Ayms' question wasn't so readily implied. Anyone else would've needed a name, but after knowing her only a few months, Io is an assumption.

Most of the others are minding their business again, so he answers:

"Yeah." He keeps his voice low. "I asked her. She's coming." Then he adds, "She's bringing someone."

Aymeric leans against the row of lockers. "And? You brought me to her concert. Don't worry too much about it."

But he's not worried. There's nothing to worry about, is there? It's pretty cut and dry. "I keep telling you... me and Io, we're friends. That's all she wa—"

"Io?"

The voice comes from a few people away. Maybe he wasn't as quiet as he thought.

Haurchefant leans past a set of shoulders before pushing over to them. "You know Io? Laithe?"

"Might just be a common name," Ayms shrugs, but anyone can see he's already enjoying whatever this is.

Estinien shoots him a dark look—great, thanks, this is exactly a conversation I wanted to have—then nods to Haurchefant.

"Not super well or anything."

"Oh, come on." Aymeric laughs. "Hasn't known her long, but definitely knows her well."

Estinien wipes a hand over his face. "Don't say it like that. She's a friend from—" Hm, he doesn't want to put her life story out there to some guy on his baseball team. "—we're in a club, I guess, outside of school."

"Oh," Haurche glances between Estinien and Aymeric, and his tension fades when the latter doesn't react. "Sweet. We, uh, dated for a few months a while back, but I haven't heard from her in over a year. After the—" his voice breaks, and Estinien figures he doesn't want to drag her painful history up either. "Well, anyway... How is she?"

For the briefest moment, their eyes lock, and they have something else in common. Something outside of this team. The warmth he felt at the thought of sharing something more about himself with her, that almost pleasant anxiety, it starts to blister, flashing white-hot across his neck and climbing to his face.

His eyes narrow. He doesn't want to say anything.

Io trusts easily, even when she's hurting (especially when she's hurting). If she wanted Haurchefant to know how she was doing, she'd have talked to him by now. There must be a reason she hasn't.

His chest tingles again, fluttering with something tiny and warm—he is the person she talks to, confides in. Sure, they both have Haven, but outside of that... Well, maybe Aymeric isn't wrong for assuming.

Estinien stands from the bench and peels off his soiled shirt. Before he heads to the showers, he gives Haurchefant the only answer he thinks is warranted. "Doing better."

February 10th - Haurchefant

He met Io at a Spring Break party in freshman year, where he spent far too much of the night watching her quietly hold up the corners of some upperclassman's rented condo. He felt like he knew everything there was to know about her right away, a symptom of that bright melancholy distinctly found in art school girls, like she was only waiting on fate to catch up to her. Maybe the reality of her was less interesting than his half-baked conclusion, but god, her smile.

He was so nervous to talk to her.

They hit it off, in a careful way. Started dating, started kissing, fooled around a bit. But it was so... polite. Almost obligatory. Maybe they wouldn't have lasted anyway, but then, whether she wanted it or not, fate caught up to her. Her whole family was lost in the crash, and she ghosted him.

A slow fade.

Haurchefant has never had trouble with moving on. He finds the bright side and forgets the rest. No, this is unlike him, still thinking about something long in the past, even with such a hazy ending.

But Varlineau?

Seriously?

Haurchefant always found him tactless and a bit fumbling. And he had no right to pull his smug avoidance thing right after downplaying whatever point Aymeric was trying to make. A "club?"

Estinien Varlineau is not in a fucking club, extracurricular or not.

Whatever.

Haurchefant pulls out his phone and stares at the long-dead conversation thread between him and Io. He was the last to text, of course. Some cliche "I realize this is over, but I wish you the best" thing. He meant it. He still means it.

And that's why his unsure fingers dart across the keyboard now, typing and deleting the words until he has something fairly neutral.

He's surprised when she replies almost immediately.

HG: hey io. haven't heard from u in literally a year. i've been worried. u okay? IL: haurche, wow. it's actually really good to hear from you. IL: i'm not exactly okay, but i'm trying. getting help. HG: glad to hear it. i'm so sorry for ur loss. i don't think i can say it enough. IL: i think i've heard it enough for a lifetime, but thank you ♥ IL: and i'm really sorry for the way things went down. that was unfair. i think i knew that at the time, even in the depths of the pit. we were only together for a few months. it felt like putting too much on your plate HG: so u took away the plate. IL: so i took away the plate. like i said, unfair to you IL: i understand if there are hard feelings, but it means a lot that you're checking in. HG: no hard feelings, no grudges. i wish u would've let me be there for u, but i guess we won't know just how much my plate can handle. HG: unless... u want to grab coffee sometime? IL: lol, i'm deeply flattered you still consider me a viable dating option after witnessing me in a nearly catatonic state. IL: but i think i might be seeing someone? maybe? hard to say tbh. i've got valentine's plans tho, so we'll see. HG: yeah? we've got the same plans. i play baseball too, remember? HG: listen... just don't make too many assumptions with him. given the context, this sounds shitty, but he doesn't seem super into it IL: okay... thanks for your insight. and for the perspective on who you're actually worried about here. later.

His leg shakes hard enough to quake his bed. Fuck. That wasn't how he wanted this to go.

February 14th - Estinien

From his place in the outfield, Estinien can't make out the faces in the stands. It's something he always tries to avoid anyway. Easier to imagine the crowd as one rippling, noisy entity instead of hundreds of people there to watch them perform. Even better if he pretends they're not there at all.

But today he can't keep his eyes from darting around the stadium in his downtime, hoping to catch a flash of deep blue. It's a distracting task, one that oppresses the next crack of the bat and when he sees the ball going long it's almost too late.

Oh, shit.

Shit, fuck, shit.

He tears after it. Faster. Faster than that, until he's feet away from the wall.

One more look up. He dives with an outstretched glove…

He crashes into the padded wall and doesn’t give himself time to react to the sharp little aches burning through his muscles. The weight in his gloved hand is all he considers—it’s an out. He slings the ball to Haurchefant at third and they take a second.

Now there’s time to feel it. His lungs are on fire. There’s a dull throb in his shoulder that will show as a bruise tomorrow. This game is the same as any other, he reminds himself while he catches his breath, hands on his hips. Doesn’t matter who’s watching.

The next batter is their third out and they’re off to a decent start. They run in, and there she is, grinning brightly as she waves to him.

Io sits next to Thancred, hands cupped around his mouth so his cheers carry farther, and something like relief swells in Estinien’s chest (not that he has any reason to be relieved). Estinien’s met him once, decent guy. One of her close friends.

He smiles back, throws his hand up as he heads into the dugout.

The rest of the game feels too long, but his focus returns. They win by two runs and it feels good to start the season on a high.

Afterwards, Io waits on the other side of the chainlink fence. She’s wearing a red flannel over a black dress and boots up to her knees, her hair falls messily out of its bun. He walks to meet her, lungs burning like he’s running again.

“Hey,” she says with a smile, elbows against the fence as she leans into it. “You were awesome out there.”

Estinien shakes his head. “We did alright.”

“You don’t like compliments.” Not a question. Io pauses, eyes darting around the stadium for a moment before falling back to him. A strand of windblown hair catches between her lips (he doesn’t look at her lips), and she pulls it away. “Thanks for inviting me. This was fun.”

“Yeah, I liked seeing you here. Thanks for coming.” He shifts his weight, leans against the fence next to her. “Where’s Thancred?”

“No idea. Probably saw someone cute with no Valentine’s date and decided to shoot his shot.”

Oh, god. Today is…

Estinien reigns in his expression before glancing over to Io. She doesn’t seem any different than the other times they’ve hung out. Her smile is as soft and warm as ever. As usual, her presence is comfortingly familiar, and just looking at her causes the sudden spike in his anxiety to ebb away.

Then her eyes flit down.

He doesn’t think about why.

He can’t assume anything. That’s not fair.

He opens his mouth to ask if she wants to get out of here, grab some food, let him show her around his campus—anything—but someone walks by. Too close. Close enough to be on purpose.

“Varlineau,” Haurchefant grunts as he passes, and Estinien ignores a flare of annoyance in favor of a nod. Then Haurchefant's gaze slides to Io and darkens. “Io.”

“Hi Haurche,” she sighs, watching him go. The mood shifts, like all the warmth has been sucked out of the air around them, but he can't figure out why. If personal interactions were as easy to call as baseball, he’d guess she just lost this one.

When Haurchefant is gone, she stands from the fence. “I think I need to get back across town. Just remembered I’ve got a quiz due by midnight.”

“Oh,” he whispers. “Yeah, sure. Don’t drop the GPA on my account. I’ll see you later this week?”

“For sure. And this weekend, too, if you want to catch that movie I told you about.”

“You said I’d hate it,” he laughs.

Io shrugs, walking backwards. “And don’t you want to prove me wrong?”

He shakes his head again. “No, I know you’re right. But whatever, we can watch it.”

“Nice. I’ll text you.” She beams, and that tightens his chest too. “It’s… not a date, right?”

Estinien watches her go, and maybe the little rush he felt before Haurchefant passed by was a fluke. The adrenaline after his win tangling with the weird sense of contentment that comes from simply being around Io. Those things must conflict somehow.

“Right,” he says to himself, resting his head against the cold metal fence (and there’s no reason to be disappointed).

#azia writes #io laithe #io/estinien #estinien varlineau #otwr au #idk what this is tbh #something something haurche will always see io for her potential/as a symbol while she can be herself with esti and that is enough for him #also i just think it's funny that haurche was FINE with the breakup until he has to question #'why would she depend on him and not me--her bf at the time?'#and then estinien's mild jealousy at the thought of io dating someone else. that will return with a vengence when she and mikoto are a thin #i'm sorry. i can't make a lore post. just inception ur way into my brain and absorb it that way T^T #maybe this title is dumb but i feel like they're all three losers here so askjlfds #okay i'm going back to my covid nest bye

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luvlian · 2 months ago

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Non-Sims Interests ──🪷ᩖᩙᝪ᜔⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀

thank you to @tavvles for tagging me!

Games

Omg there are so many games that I love. I am both picky and not picky at the same exact time. I have very diverse tastes when it comes to games, I swear I’d probably play anything. I love otomes, visual novels, J/RPGs, FPS, Farming Sims, Life Sims, City Builders, Management Games, Rougelikes/lites, and probably a whole bunch more. My favorite games are definitely the Mass Effect Trilogy, Baldur’s Gate 3, Tales of Arise, Any Fire Emblem Game, Slay the Princess, Bustafellows, Jack Jeanne, Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, Dwarf Fortress, City Skylines, Project Zomboid, Vintage Story, Minecraft, and way way more. I think it’s safe to say, if you recommend me a game, half the time I either already have it or I’ve heard of it.

Books/Mangas/Interactive Fiction

I know I know, I’ve kind of just shoved all of this into the same genre, but they’re all closely related. I love reading, even though I have to be in a certain phase to do so. Some months I’ll just binge read, literally a book a day, and then some months I won’t read. My favorite books are Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Book Lovers by Emily Henry, First Comes Scandal by Julia Quinn, Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, Silver Lining by Maggie Osborne, and Caraval by Stephanie Garber. My favorite mangas are definitely Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku by Fujita, Love Me, Love Me Not by Io Sakisaka, ReLIFE by Yayoiso, and Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa. My favorite Interactive Fiction works are The Fog Knows Your Name by Yeonsoo Julian Kim, Fallen Hero Series by Malin Rydén, Keeper of the Sun and Moon Series by Brynn Chernosky, and finally Arcadie Second-Born by Arcadie & Utopie.

Baking

I love baking! It’s one of the reasons why I made Tatiana a baker and runs a bakery. My dad used to run a little bakery in the Philippines when he was in university, and even though he didn’t end up becoming a baker, he still loves to bake. He introduced me to baking when I was really little, helping him bake sweet treats. I cook more than I bake now, but ever since I was little, baking has just always been more comfortable for me. There’s a bunch of Filipino baked desserts that I’d love to try and bake if I find the time.

Hatsune Miku/Sonic the Hedgehog/Hangyodon (Big Blue Three imo)

If you knew me in real life you would know that I love these three blue/aqua characters. How many Hatsune Miku figures do I have? Many. How many Hangyodon merchandise do I have? Many, and all are from Mercari. Did I hallucinate that Sonic and Friends were taking care of me when I was 10 years old, sick with the flu? Yes of course I did. I don’t play about these three.

K-Pop

I got into k-pop when I was 13, and of course I was into BTS. I liked other groups at the time too of course, Girls Generation, Shinee, and EXO. In high school I drifted from that, but when I went off to university I got back into it deeper than I did when I was 13. The groups I stan right now are ITZY and P1Harmony. P1harmony having their comeback literally in a few hours, so I am buzzing. It’s a nice casual hobby I’d say. I like to listen to music and collect things and to be able to do both is very fun and satisfying to me.

Wow that was a lot and I apologize greatly. I’ll tag the wonderful @zoopsiii and anyone else who wants to do it! ≽^•⩊•^≼

#making the text small so it didn’t look too insane #I have many interests I know #Yes I feel crazy all the time #tag game #luvlian #nonsims #saviorhide

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chubbygirlmaddy14 · 11 months ago

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The Dollmaker: The Brother

Dale Kobble x reader

A/N: So this is insane, and I would keep going with this chapter but I wanna leave it like this as well. Plus this is a REALLY slow burn fic. I promise i’ll make it to where something happens soon lovely’s :p

Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/story/374688245?utm_source=ios&utm_medium=link&utm_content=share_writing&wp_page=create&wp_uname=chubby_girl_maddy16

Chapter 12: The Brother (1,770 words)

TW’s: Fight scene, choking, abuse, yelling, gun use, threatening (kinda)

Y/n POV:

I woke up later than normal, thank god I don't have work. Sitting up I find myself in my bed, not the living room like I thought I would be. I soon remember what happened and my hand flies over my mouth. I didn't mean to kiss him on the cheek it just happened??

I will say it is better than his lips, he would stop talking to me forever and I don't want that, I don't need him to be out of my life. I get out of bed, drag myself to the bathroom, and turn on the hot water before brushing my teeth.

Smiling thinking about the events of last night, I pull off my clothes and step inside, sighing as the hot water hits me.

My mind keeps going back to what I can remember, the laughing, the movie, and how sweet he was to hold me the way he did and take me to bed after it. Still questioning why I'm as attracted to him as I am,

I realize I've never felt this way about anyone before.

I mean yeah throughout college I went on dates, hooked up with different people, and tried to get out there but I never felt anything for them like I do with Dale. There's something about him, like I'm trapped here for the rest of time as long as he's here with me. I don't mind that one bit though.

Stepping out of the shower and grabbing my towel, I hear the doorbell ring as I'm drying off. I smile thinking it's him and quickly put some comfy clothes on, not caring about how wet my hair is. Rushing downstairs I open the door with a smile on my face, only for it to drop just a second after. "Hey little sis!" he says pushing his way through.

Ryan.

Of course it was him out of all people, and speaking of all people, I catch Dales eyes land on mine as he walks around the neighborhood. I smile softly at him before shutting the door not wanting him to get caught up in any of the drama I know Ryan was soon to start up.

Moving to the kitchen I see him grab a slice of left over pizza from last night in the fridge, "what do you want?" I didn't care about how I sounded, how my tone came out, I wanted him out of my house as fast as possible. He smirks as he leans against the counter looking over my way

"Someone's in town that I just found out about, and I'm not allowed to come over and say hello?

I roll my eyes crossing my arms, I know how he plays this little game of his. He pretends to be all sweet and then snaps

he's just like our father.

"Who told you I was here?" I stare at him, trying to be cautious of who knew that I came back and who didn't. Stepping away from the counter his attitude changes into one I didn't wanna experience.

"Grandma! You know she was so excited to have you back, but you didn't want me to know. ME. I- I'm you're brother, we're supposed to be there for each other." He chuckles, slamming his hand down on the counter making me jump, the pizza long forgotten.

"I've been busy, I didn't need any distractions!"

Moving around to where I was he walks closer, his eyes turning all black. I try to back away as much as I could until my back hits the wall, fuck. His hand comes around my throat pushing me harder into the wall as my mind goes blank. Everything I learned is all forgotten in that moment, I just

freeze.

"Busy enough to not say hi? bullshit. You come back here, move into the house that YOU got everyone killed in, and walk around like you're some kind of hot shot just because you're a big agent now?" His hand gets tighter around my throat, making me try to gasp for as much air as I can.

My gun, I need my gun.

He backs away, making me gasp for air as his hand moves to his side. He finds a beer in the bottom drawer of my fridge and pops it open, drinking it before smiling softly like nothing just happened.

No, what the fuck actually happened.

I didn't think he would do that ever again but I guess I just got to find out how he is one more time. He's stronger then last time, but I know so am I, I just need to focus with him. "Sit" he gestures with the bottle before grabbing another one for me, "I'm fin-" "SIT."

I couldn't tell if he was drunk this early already, or just a bigger prick then before. Sitting down he slides over the extra bottle after he opens it. Drinking some of the liquid I sigh, and I know it was early but I didn't care. I had to deal with his ass for however long he stayed.

Reaching around I find the hidden drawer wrapped around my side, opening it, and slowly grabbing my other gun and holster. Wrapping it around my thigh, his dumbass wouldn't know a thing. I wasn't going to do anything, but he would do anything to me. I had to be safe, with how old we both were now,

we're different, he's different.

Longlegs POV:

I didn't like the way she smiled at me, I knew she wasn't safe. I saw him pull up as I left my house to come see her, I knew she wanted me to finish helping her today. Remembering how he looked from the pictures, I thought of what y/n said to me.

"he's not the best"

After a few minutes I move over to look through a window, one I knew they couldn't see me from but I could see everything. I needed to know she was safe and if I needed to do anything to stop him, and I would do anything for her

I see him move behind her, her eyes following him but refusing to move her head. Seeing a beer in her hand, my eyes raise in confusion. I knew she drank, but not voluntarily this early. I watch as she finishes the bottle, taking a deep breath after and keeping her eyes forward.

She didn't want him there.

Y/n POV:

Chugging the rest of his beer I stay silent, just watching him, trying to see what he would do. "We need to catch up," he smiles, a fake lovingly expression showing up on his face

“I think I'd be okay not catching up actually, I have shit to do that doesn't involve you."

Why am I acting like this? I don't know, but I wasn't gonna be treated like a little girl for him anymore. He comes around and stands behind me, his hands resting on my shoulder before he starts digging his fingers in. First soft but soon replaced with hard painful squeezes that were sure to leave bruises.

I finish the rest of my drink trying to get help from the liquid confidence and having to deal with him.

"Stop." I say softly not being able to take what he's doing anymore, but he doesn't. Soon my pleas turn into screams before I smash the bottle over the counter. The sound doesn't stop him, but the glass from my end cutting his arm does.

"FUCK!" he screams holding his arm as I push him off my, keeping the glass top in my hand.

He smirks before pinning me on the counter, grabbing my wrist and slamming it down on the marble top, making me let go of the glass. He takes it in his hand, "this is for them, what I have been wanting to do for so lon-" I sweep his feet from under him, making him fall to the ground.

A gunshot is all that is heard before complete

silence

The bullet going into the floor next to his head, he stares at me with wide eyes. "I told myself I wouldn't use this on you." In complete shock he doesn't say anything, the gun moving lower onto his stomach, "put it down." my voice has gone monotone as he pushes the glass away from him. Putting together my thoughts I take a deep breath.

"YOU KNOW I DIDN'T DO SHIT." I gain the confidence keeping the gun straight towards his stomach not taking any chances. I shouldn't be screaming, people can hear me but I can't stand how he still talks to me and treats me, plus the gunshot has already gone off, screaming isn't that bad.

"Just cause I found them, we both know that wasn't my fault." I started laughing putting my other hand on my head

oh my god, I've gone insane.

He gets up, walking towards the door and grabbing his jacket his aimlessly threw on the counter.

Putting my gun in the holster, I grab the glass and throw it in the trash. I walk behind him to the door after it's all cleaned up to make sure he left, I couldn't risk it. He takes a few steps down the stairs before turning around to look at me as I stood at the front keeping eye contact with him while he looked back.

"This conversation isn't over." he said harshly making me smirk as I look down "yeah we'll see about that.

I watch him drive off, leaning against the door and closing my eyes I take in the fresh air. Soon I hear footsteps rushing up to me, making my hand go onto my gun and open my eyes.

Dale keeps his hands up as he gets close and I take a breath realizing it was him, "please don't shoot."

I chuckle shaking my head, "don't scare me like that, especially while I have this ready." His hands go to my face as he looks down at me, "I heard the shot and the screaming, are you okay?" Blushing like crazy, I hold his hands against my face before pulling them off and kissing against his knuckles.

"I pinky promise I'm alright, I trained for this stuff." I put my pinky around his before sighing, "Just ignore the hole in the ground in the kitchen, and let’s finish what we started last night."

I smirk softly seeing a blush rise to his face after everything and grab him hand bringing him inside with me.

#y/n #nicolas cage #romance #horror #longlegs 2024 #dale kobble x reader #dale kobble #longelegs 2024

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aita-blorbos · 2 years ago

Note

(tma oc ask content warning for canon typical levels of buried fuckery)

am i the asshole for driving away my friend?

hey reddit . im posting from a throwaway bc i dont want people connecting this to my work (though i doubt youve heard of me anyways) but i think i messed up terribly and i want to know if this is something i can still fix

also sidenote sorry if my grammar or punctuation or word choice or anything of that sort are poor. i have not been sleeping well for some time

i (19m) am a video game developer. its been my passion for years now and i am currently in uni studying computer games development and programming and level design . although i have considered dropping out but thats a point for later . i post on itch io and such and sometimes i make flash games but idk if anyone reading this has played a single one

its been a bit of a hard time for me, if im being honest. i really like games and i really liked making them but i dont think im very good at programming or art or level design or any of the other things that go into the process of making a game . at least a profitable and fun one .

so i ended up coming to this computer science study group in the hopes maybe someone could teach me to be better at programming. and i met this girl. i dont know exactly how old she is, but i want to say she was maybe two or three years ahead of me in her schooling, so probably about 22. anyways lets call her E

E was studying pure computer science and wanted to do it at a high level . so of course she was pretty good at helping me with my really rudimentary programming stuff . and she was friendly and funny and we liked hanging out so we ended up being good friends . she actually complimented my games, once i got them to function, and said my pixel art was cute . my point is we were close . maybe we wouldn’t have been so close if we had anyone else, but i was still new and she was pretty lonely .

really shortly after i met her though i started having fucked up dreams. ok that’s not entirely accurate because i had been having fucked up dreams on occasion for a while . but they got worse and she showed up in them. it was all me locking her in stairwells hitting her over the head and piling earth over her body filling her mouth with mud and cement. terrible things

so i stopped sleeping. i tried not to at least. im pretty sure most uni kids pull all nighters. i know i did even when i was younger. but i wasnt studying for exams or whatever. i was just trying and trying to force myself awake and i started to lose it a bit. my grip on things. it felt like i was sleepwalking through classes and even like i was dreaming when i was awake. id nod off for a moment in a lecture and id feel dirt caked on my hands under my fingernails. and no matter how much i scrubbed and how much i knew with my eyes it wasnt there it just. refused to come off . and it felt like her blood

i don’t remember how we got on the topic but i remember she told me how she always worried a little bit about being trapped . like claustrophobia of a flavor that shows itself in locked doors and thick walls and collapsing underground stations. that made me feel even more odd about the whole thing . of course i felt awful about hurting her but that part of it was like a joke i didn’t get

and then weirdly enough i got really into nineties 3D games. they have these skyboxes that make it really obvious they’re not actually infinite . and i thought that was kind of interesting in context. like the whole world is a box you’re in so why worry so much about if the stairwell door will lock behind you

i kind of started thinking that was something i would like to replicate with my art . like if i put all my issues into one game they would be out of my brain and gone . maybe it could even be pleasant without the whole preying on my friends terror thing

so now we get to the part of the story where i fear i really really messed up . i made this game . and honestly i dont remember the development very well . sleep deprivation is a dreadful thing . i remember again and again while i was making it kind of coming to my senses not knowing where i was and finding massive parts of the game that i didnt remember making at all.

it was set in a stairwell but i dont remember buying or making the models for the door . there was a really weird kind of way the game functioned with an infinite path going up but how that functioned i couldnt tell you . and i dont remember composing the audio or where i might have downloaded it from except that i never liked to listen to it for very long . i dont know why i kept it in the game

i always showed my games to E but i really wanted her to see this one in particular. so she came by my flat and played it and then i remember she just glared at me . there was something to the look she gave me . it was like she was completely horrified and was trying to pretend she was just angry instead

she hasnt spoken to me since . and i think i fucked up . i knew it was playing at her issues and i think maybe i even made it at least subconsciously to pry at them. like the same part of me with dirt under my fingernails was also sitting there typing away on that keyboard .

but at the same time its just a game . and im better at programming now too . like something just clicked there

honestly though development lately has been weird. its been hard trying to go back to the old sort of pixel art platformers and shoot em ups and that kind of thing i used to make. every time i open any program its like im just staring at it and imagining skyboxes. putting it all in a box imprisoning every world i make that kind of thing. like i said earlier ive been considering dropping out. but i dont know. i think id need to sleep on it

i still have weird fucked up dreams but E isnt in them anymore . i dont know where shes gone . i think maybe my idea worked somehow and i did transfer all that shit to my art . and then that just all went right to her . but i dont know if i like that idea or hate it

anyways reddit am i the asshole?

#aita #am i the asshole #unreality

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conniedw · 6 months ago

Text

The fact that if Slenderman was never made Piggy would never have of happened

Well why was Slenderman made well cuz Eric Knudsen, also known as Victor Surge, created Slenderman in June 2009 as part of a Photoshop contest on the online forum Something Awful. Knudsen's goal was to create a character that would cause fear and unease in the general population. Which worked and then an Indie developer named Dennie Vukanovic or DVlooper who made a game in December, 23 2011 called Barguy.

He than made Animal fun and Paint, and one to help people with their finances. Until in November 4, 2015 he released a game called Slendrina who is Slenderman’s daughter. Then down the line we now have 10 Slandrina games which are down below both the names & dates they was released(iOS n Android)

Slandrina-Jan 13, 2015/Nov 4 2015

Slandrina The Cellar-Feb 16, 2015/Mar 21, 2014

House of Slandrina-May 13, 2015/ Dec 22, 2014

Slandrina Asylum-Mar 24, 2017/ Jul 5, 2015

Slandrina 2D-May 10, 2017/Oct 30, 2015

The Child of Slandrina-Apr 1 2016

Slandrina the school-Apr 11, 2017/Aug 20, 2016

Slandrina the Cellar 2-Apr 15, 2017/Nov 25, 2016

Slandrina the forest-Apr 28, 2017/Mar 2, 2017

Slandeina X-Aug 23, 2017

And than finally in November 24, 2017 Granny came out and obviously it was a hit with at time of writing this 420 MILLION downloads!! So yeah definitely a hit! This is also the first game to have a PC version so makes Granny to have 3 different versions which they are n released is

Granny Android-Nov 24, 2017

Granny IOS-Dec 12, 2017

Granny PC-Nov 20, 2018

Fun fact

Child of Slandrina was released only on Android so I can’t play it cuz I am an iOS user plus some of the games haven’t been updated in some time so they you can’t use them on iOS so yeah I can’t play most of the Slandrina games😭😭

Granny chapter 2 came out in September 6, 2019 for Android, September 7, 2019 for IOS, and December 30, 2019 for PC.

And the final and (maybe) last game for the Slandrina/Granny trilogy Granny 3 being released in June 3, 2021 for Android, and August 22, 2021 for Windows

Now that we have the Slandrina/Granny part of this we now have the

PEPPA PIG PART

What did you really think I would put Piggy here ha no we have to talk about the other reason why piggy even exists which is Peppa Pig in which if you don’t know what Peppa pig is

1. How have you not no like actually how?

2. Peppa pig is a show that follows a 1st grade pig named Peppa pig, and her family George, Mummy(Rachel), and Daddy(Perseus).

And their last name is Pig so yeah which I find it so fucking funny to me

So know that we all know Peppa Pig(if you didn’t know(which like how)) we can know Finally get to the

ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE Genre

The zombie apocalypse genre originated with the 1968 American horror film Night of the Living Dead by George A. Romero

INSPIRATION Romero was inspired by Richard Matheson's 1954 novel I Am Legend, which is about vampires that are driven by a desire for blood.

Everything you just read was stolen for Google(why the fuck did they uppercase that)

I am not writing all of that. I started writing this at 8pm MST and now it’s 11:43am MST

OKAY NOW WE START TALKING ‘BOUT PIGGY

In which piggy is an mix of Zombie Apocalypse, Peppa Pig, and Granny which Granny is a spin off of Slandrina and Slandrina is a fan fiction about Slanderman so yeah I know that this is not that detailed as the Granny/Slandrina part but the bc I started writing and reaching when I woke up from a nap so I got like 3hrs of some sleep

Bye bye:b(I did so much research so time to take a 1hr nap and than do my school work(btw its 12pm now))

#piggy roblox #Granny #Slanderman #Slandrina #all of this is in my notes app so yeah #long reads #analyze #took a lot of time #google helped #I have so much school work to do #i put more work into this than I did for school yesterday #ima sleep now

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arayamahidol · 1 year ago

Text

when did you join ? what made you join ? what do you remember from the plotlines that were current at the time ? where were you in life when you joined and where are you now ?

i hadn't rped since 2017 and during the pandemic around dec 2020/jan 2021 i was sooooo bored since all my work turned remote so i went through the "royal rp" tag and hshq was the only rp other than like one other in the tag at the time. i don't remember any specific plotlines, i just remember being thrown into the nye event on the yacht or something? and that's when hijacking was first introduced iirc. and now i'm trying to buy a house and that makes me want to vomit!

which characters have you written over the years ?

haera, san, io, araya, meixu, okeyo and inna

what is your favourite plotline that you've been part of ?

i think meixu's life in general. i thought she would have found someone and gotten the family she wanted and the happy ending ( w a few struggles ofc ) but she ended up alone and more jaded about life! something more comedic would probably be when araya and ireti got tattoos during the monaco event and she thought her tattoo said ja rule instead of jaurel. and def lawnchair gate.

what about other people's plotlines ?

when matilde pushed arnauld into the pool. the english plotline was supes fun to watch unfold.

who is your favourite character from the ones you've played ? why ? what made you love them ? what made them so fun to write ?

meixu because she's the most different from me personally. she deserved the most and the best, but always ate shit asjfhsadkf araya was the easiest to write. she had some good one liners. going to miss my flat assed baddie ♡

if you could relive a plotline, which would it be ?

lawn chair or the lunch thread with the solets. evy, kit and i were in shambles about it. we still bring it up every now and then and idk why it's still just as funny to us as it was back then.

is there a plotline that you'd edit now if you could ?

i don't think so

what's a plotline you wish you would have been able to finish before closing or just write more of ?

probably meixu, she feels the most incomplete. i wish i could have wrote more on how jianguo's death affected her and how that changed her relationships. the other one would be auraya since i honestly did not think they'd last, but here they are, still sharing a single brain cell ♡ if the africa plot actually took off, that would have been fun.

what is your favourite ooc memory ?

when e and i were writing lawnchair gate, giggling nonstop beside each other. we tasked ourselves to a challenge where if i wrote a two word reply, she'd have to write a three word reply, and then my next reply would have to be four words ( you get the idea ). we would count how many words the other person wrote because we'd lose track and then mess up and have to count again. whenever there would be a red carpet event like the oscars or during fashion week, j and i would always play this game of who in hshq would wear it. it was fun. when kit and i spent an entire night trying to pronounce all the characters names and we'd attempt it at first and play the actual pronunciation after and die about how inaccurate we were. and ofc, throwing tomatoes at jo in the disc chat ♡

where can others find you if they want to get in touch ?

discord, but i'll probably not be that responsive sdfhsdf i'm not that great with keeping in touch with people 😭

what else would you like to say ?

i know i joined a bit later and haven't made as big of an impact as others, but i honestly thought i would last two weeks and end up becoming inactive because established groups are intimidating! i'm glad i gave it a chance, i met some really good friends on here that are beyond just "rp friends"! this feels like a high school graduation since this will be the last time we all see each other on the dash like this and it's very bittersweet! hshq was a great distraction for me during the pandemic and i feel honoured to have wrote alongside you all and i'm happy i was able to make so many gifs of so many different faceclaims. loved seeing you all use them.

#hshqtask059

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