#Reading Resort

[sun-e-chips]

We love an oblivious y/n

y/n: ( Aww, they really prioritize their guests and making their experience more personal <3

WP Sun: ( Isn’t it amazing!!! Do you love it? :D Don’t you wanna stay here forever :DDD

[hawkeshep]

datv critical post: well thought out, eloquent 5 paragraph essay expressing their disappointment and highlighting what’s wrong with the game and what could’ve been improved upon

bioware dick rider: WELL ACKSHEWALLY the game is amazing and none of you have any reading comprehension or critical thinking skills!!! also you’re fucking stupid and I hope you die xoxo

[starcurtain]

Hey! I apologize if this question has been asked before since it seems like a pretty obvious one, but where do you think the idea of Aventurine being a sex slave came from? Other than the obvious factor of it being something fun for the fandom to mess around with, I mean.

It's something I kind of took for granted as being true before playing his quest, but after finishing it I realized there wasn't really any indication. The only thing I can really think of is his master's comments about him having a good body. Is there anything in his behavior you can think of that would lead to this conclusion if it wasn't a popular fan interpretation already/kind of just an easy conclusion to reach with a slave character?

(also kind of related but what do you think of the idea that he sleeps around/with his clients to make deals? he's obviously willing to sexualize himself with the boob window, but that doesn't necessarily mean he goes further.)

As far as I can tell, the idea that Aventurine was involved in sexual slavery comes from three (maybe four) places:

First, the comment from the master about Aventurine's appearance. People were holding this comment up as refutable proof that Aventurine was used in sexual slavery on top of being tossed into the Hunger Games; however, the response from other players on this interpretation, especially the Chinese side of the fandom, was very mixed, with a lot of people pointing out that the context in the game probably meant the slave master was talking about Aventurine's ability to attract attention from fans watching the literal Sigonian Hunger Games, rather than having a direct sexual-slavery connotation.

Second, the comment from Sparkle about stripping naked and getting on his knees for Sunday. This one has way more implication in English than I think it might for an Eastern audience, actually. In English, this pretty much sounds like Sparkle saying Aventurine trades sexual favors for success in his gambles. However, I suspect the original intention in Chinese was more about humiliation. Western audiences don't have as much history with honor-based prostration, i.e. accepting corporal humiliation as a form of reconciliation that Eastern audiences might be more familiar with. And in any case, Sparkle is Sparkle. She probably just went for the lowest blow she could think of here.

Third, the general assumption that if Sigonian slaves were being chained, branded, beaten, sent to death matches, etc., it seems logical that they would also be taken advantage of in other ways. I honestly think this is probably the fairest take--many, many real slaves around the world faced (and still face!) sexual abuse, so if slaves from Sigonia were treated so poorly you could make them fight to the death for entertainment, it stands to reason they were probably also not safe from other forms of assault. We also have no idea what happened to Kakavasha in any of the years between his being a tiny child fleeing the massacre and then being purchased as a slave as a late-teens-early-twenties person. That's a very long time for a child to have to survive on their own on an extremely hostile planet and not face risks of all kinds or end up needing to do unspeakable things to survive. So I think this is at least not that far-fetched, although it's important to say there's nothing in the game that directly confirms this.

And fourth: I read a tweet semi-recently that stated that one of the Chinese (or maybe it was Japanese) names for a quest Aventurine was involved in was actually a reference to a book about a teenage sexual assault survivor. However, when I tried to verify this myself, I couldn't find any quest Aventurine was in that was based on a book about sexual assault in either English, Chinese, or Japanese. It's possible I just missed something, but I'm taking this one with a bit of a grain of salt currently, since I can't confirm it personally.

Regarding your other question, about whether I think Aventurine sleeps around to make deals...

I definitely think he does not, for one major reason.

First, I will admit that Aventurine is definitely willing to use his appearance to his advantage. This is pretty obvious. He wears incredibly flashy clothes, baths himself in cologne, overloads on glittering golden jewels, and absolutely calls attention to his appearance when working with clients.

We see him actively doing this in his Moment Among the Stars video, where he is clearly using his looks as an equal tool (to his wealth), to daze his target.

It's not an accident that he says things like "Use me as you wish," with all the explicit connotations preserved. The implication is there. However, unless he was absolutely backed into a corner, I think that implication is all it will ever be.

The reason I think this is that the devs go out of their way to give Aventurine three fairly noticeable physical behaviors in his in-game scenes:

For one, he has some of the most closed off body language of any character in the game.

Aventurine's default conversation pose is arms crossed directly and tightly in front of himself. This is like "Defensive Body Language 101." By crossing your arms, you put a symbolic barrier between yourself and the person you're speaking to, and also ensure that your hands are up and available in case you actually need to physically defend yourself.

Virtually all of Aventurine's conversations take place from this stance, no matter who he is speaking to (from the Trailblazer all the way to Topaz). He deliberately closes his pose off and tightens up his silhouette, which just sends a glaring "Don't touch me" message.

This closing off is also blatantly apparent when you compare it to the deliberately open poses he strikes while trying to make himself seem accessible to others (like tempting clients) or seem powerful (to intimidate):

Complementing this habit of closing himself off is a second noticeable aspect of his body language: He frequently avoids eye contact to the point that he even holds conversations while entirely facing away from the person he's speaking to.

I might be a bit lenient and say maybe he's doing this to on purpose to be mysterious, whoo~~ But... in all honestly, he just does this with everyone, even with Ratio while trying to talk about an actual important issue (wanting to look into Acheron's real identity). Hell, even the fake Aventurine does it to himself!

We can even say that wearing the rose-tinted glasses in the first place is another intentional barrier, one Aventurine deliberately removes in specific moments to give people the (false) impression that he's "letting them in" to his circle:

Now, this might be a bit more complicated in Aventurine's case, because eye contact has a whole extra meaning when eyes are the defining trait of your species and come with particularly challenging racial stereotypes. So it may be that Aventurine is simply used to conducting conversation while looking away to minimize racial prejudice against his eyes' unique appearance.

However, I'd also argue that the devs deliberately turned his entire model away in cutscene after cutscene to create a clear sense of being inaccessible, unapproachable, and unwilling to engage in the physical intimacy of standing closely, directly facing, and staring at his conversation partners.

While he faces away, he controls both the figurative and the literal direction of conversation, forcing people to keep their eyes on him while he is free to move as he pleases. Over and over again, it just says "I want to be the one in control. I'm not afraid to show my back to you, but you are not welcome to come near me."

And, in fact, that's a third aspect of his character's body language that I am sure the devs did not include accidentally: More so than other characters, many of Aventurine's conversations are conducted from weirdly far distances. Like, half the time he's talking, he's standing all the way on the opposite side of the room!

This habit of speaking from a-larger-than-normal distance is apparent in the first scene with Himeko...

And then in just about every other conversation too:

The bubble is twenty feet in every direction.

Like yes, he does approach and have conversations like a normal person... sometimes... But it is significantly more noticeable with Aventurine than with other characters that he often conducts whole conversations--even with his allies--from a distance. Just genuinely weirdly far apart.

Leaving space for Gaiathra, I guess.

And it's because these significant decisions were made with Aventurine's in-game body language that, when he deliberately alters his own behavior, it is instantaneously noticeable.

In 2.0, he closes the distance, the glasses come off, and he gets directly up in the Trailblazer's face.

It's uncomfortable not just because the player is suddenly being loomed over, but because this behavior has already been subconsciously established for the player as out of character for Aventurine.

The barriers the character himself was putting up are deliberately stripped away so that he can use physicality and demanding eye contact to intimidate his target. He has to reverse his own normal body language in order to come across as domineering (and, I guess if you're into that, appealing in a domineering manner).

And ummmm, just a tiny aside here because I can't resist:

This does mean that when the game goes out of its way to demonstrate Aventurine altering his own normal habit of distant and defensive body language, it is absolutely intentional.

Yes, this is a Ratiorine post in disguise. There literally isn't any other character in the game that Aventurine is shown being comfortable standing so close to and interacting with in this manner. This doesn't occur in every one of their scenes, but Ratio is the only character that this happens with repeatedly. It's not an accident that the devs literally added "They were walking side-by-side" as flavor text.

But look, I'll be fair: There's a great example of this in Aventurine's scene with Acheron too, where he closes the distance and attempts to make eye contact with her--seeking her guidance and closeness--and she is actually the one stepping away, speaking with her back turned, demonstrating her power and control (and issues with connection!) in that scene.

Anyway, this was a whole longggg tangent into analyzing Aventurine's body language, but my point is that, overall, the devs deliberately adjusted his model's actions in-game to give the impression of a person who clearly wants to be in control of every interaction he has with other people, who insists on distance over intimacy, and whose stances and habits suggest that he is significantly less accessible and open than his "Use me as you wish" motto might suggest.

Long story longer, I think that there is almost zero chance Aventurine is willingly ceding control over himself or the actions expected of him to anyone he isn't 100% comfortable with, and I think that using physical intimacy of any kind would be an absolute last resort for him. Frankly, he comes across as more likely to shoot himself in the foot than let someone he doesn't trust lay hands on him.

To me, he reads very much as "You may look, but you may not touch."

[nenoname]

"The volume I hold in my hands. Describes my embarrassing defeat at the hands of Bill and the loss of my very sanity. Also contains a pretty good drawing of a plaidypus. Will soon be bestowed upon S and hidden at the ends of the Earth (I hope).”

always thinking about how ford was going to give stan j3 before changing his mind and giving him j1 instead.....

with stan completely avoiding the mystery of what the hell got ford into his paranoid state + why he built the portal in the first place, i wonder if getting j3 would've actually made him investigate what happened

+ the forementioned plaidypus drawing

[eightdoctor]

the issue with engaging with the wilderness years is everything nuwho puts out will just remind you of her. only worse in nearly every respect

[purplesaline]

Piracy is preservation, and authors would rather have their books in front of people who can't access many books for free instead of looking those people in the eye and saying "fork over your month's earnings"

Shut up

To be clear, I'm not against Piracy in general. In fact I'm not only an advocate, I'm a prolific pirate myself.

I'm sure you can find a handful of authors who feel that way, but those I know personally (one indie author and one traditionally published) as well as those I've seen comment on the issue are adamant that piracy has caused them significant personal harm.

They'd far rather people who can't afford their books use libraries to access them or, if the libraries they have access too don't carry the book(d), they'd rather people reach out to them personally to arrange for a copy within their budget (sometimes including for free).

Pirating books is not the same as pirating movies. It's the difference between attacking a Spanish galleon and a fishing sloop.

Bigger names like Brandon Sanderson, Steven King, Diana Gabaldon, etc have a entire fleet of sloops and are unlikely to miss a couple going missing, but the less famous (and thus less highly paid) authors can have their entire career ruined by their book being pirated. It can even prevent them from getting offered another book deal, meaning there won't be any more books by that author for you to read.

We aren't entitled to the intellectual property of others. Full stop.

If the author wanted their book to be free, they'd have made it freely available (as some do!). Maybe if everyone had a universal basic income that covered the cost of living we'd see more art available at no cost, but as it stands artists need to make a living too and that means they need to earn a profit to survive. If they can't do that with their art they have to find another way to do it which means less time and energy to make art.

Not to mention the advance an author gets is usual peanuts, and unlike actors who get paid by the time the movie is out, an advance isn't a wage and if the author doesn't sell enough books they have to give back whatever amount of the advance the sale of their books didn't cover. If they get a $5000 advance and only sell $3000 worth of books they owe the publisher $2000.

Again, I'm not against piracy. I am against harming individual artists to the point where it significantly impacts their career. I want more art in this world.

I'm also not telling people they can't, or shouldn't pirate books. I'm against it but I'm not trying to for e others to believe the same as me. I'm providing information so people can make a more informed decision and better understand the consequences of their choices.

So do what you will with the info I've provided. Just be willing to acknowledge the harm you cause with those choices. Even the piracy I take part in causes harm on a smaller scale.

I have no argument against "I don't care, I'm doing it anyway" and I won't bother trying to argue it.

[ronnierosest]

Zakkura "So he never initiates, never asks, and waits." - inspired by a fanfiction we're friends, right? (very adult) by totosheadset

[thecatundertheladder]

I like desperately need a fic where Rung’s a really good fighter because Primus is war god. Like maybe after he gets his memory back he start’s sparring with like Megatron and Ultra Magnus idk I just need him to be a good fighter.

Like please someone write it 🙏

[pali-and-proud]

Chase, nervous/guilty/apprehensive: where's Buddy? ;-; Me, excited/gleeful/moderately sadistic: Where's Buddy? :DDD

[justmenoworries]

Asterius in Hades: affable sympathetic character, pretty nice guy, adaptational sympathy, making his backstory of being imprisoned and then killed more tragic than a glorious tale about a hero vanquishing a monster Polyphemus in Hades II: Nah everything bad you heard about this guy is onehundred percent accurate

[sthilarions]

Asexual Charles Rowland who died a virgin (because he went to an all-boys school, of course that’s the reason - so what if most of his friends got up to things in town or on breaks). He liked looking at fit people, still does, and he liked kissing, but he just never happened to get around to doing anything else. Not for lack of wanting to, of course - of course! Just… never happened.

After his death he did try a few things but it just felt… wrong. Felt sort of like nothing and sort of, if he’s really, really honest with himself, like he remembers nausea feeling. He puts it down to ghost limitations. He can’t feel touch right, probably can’t feel anything like that right.

And then he’s with Edwin. And he can touch Edwin. He can feel Edwin. And every second his skin is against Edwin’s, it sings. So surely it must work, now?

It doesn’t.

Edwin’s hand creeps up his thigh, and it feels the same as it did on his hand (wonderful - but not special, not different, and he knows it’s supposed to feel different somehow). Maybe he just needs to go further? But as he’s moving against Edwin, and feeling sort of like nothing and sort of like everything (skin against skin still sings) and sort of like nausea, he thinks, ah. I guess it still doesn’t work, even ghost to ghost, even with someone I can feel. I guess ghosts just can’t do that.

Until he looks into Edwin’s eyes. And he realizes Edwin isn’t feeling nothing and isn’t feeling nausea. Edwin’s eyes are pupil-full, black and shining, looking up at him with feverish heat and naked pleasure.

Things Charles doesn’t feel.

Can’t feel.

And he’s run out of excuses for why.

[lucid9158]

I think this fic portrays their characters perfectly and Idk why but I can’t find any more of them 😭😭 (this scene in particular gets me)

And also this one:

(https://archiveofourown.org/works/55034254)

(Sorry it’s not orv, I’m going through smth rn)

[lautakwah]

man the pchal run & bun video is Legendary i know nobody here is a huge pkmn nuzlocke fan let alone follows adhd bicon jan pchal krüger but seeing him struggle for the past year and a bit and then coming out with pretty much The best video of his channel is so 🥺🥺 like not even in a parasocial way the writing production value score animation(!!!) etc are sooo good and it rly drives home how hard this romhack is while also showing how much hes grown over the years n during the playthrough n writing + editing of the vid

[puyoupuyou]

—Oh, of all things upon earth that bleed and grow, A herb most bruised is a woman. Medea of Euripides

based on Overly Sarcastic Production's interpretation of her and ofc the play itself! 🥺

[game-on-comics]

To Eva:

Hey Eva! I definitely respect your skill at Basketball, but I just want to ask you this: what do you HONESTLY think about Poof's nickname for you, "Blocky McBlockBlock"? Also, is it true that your favorite color used to be red?

Art: Kaho ; Speech bubbles: Caro

[jackm3rridew]

There needs to be more Scott the Woz art on this app... and in the world

(Several versions for funsies lol) (Last image is the sketch) (paragraph under cut)

I was watching the new Scott's Stash video where he rewatches old outdated episodes and he mentioned something about wanting to make Scott like kinda weird (like when he says something along the lines of "he says hey all a lot because that's a weird ass way to start everything/every episode") and I wanted to draw it... I then got lazy and went on tumblr and realized there has been no new art (that I could find) in the wozblr tag and took it upon myself to add more :) also I really like when people do the blue boarder halo so that's why it's in the sketch and one version of the actual art lolol

(WOW sorry for writing a paragraph mb lmao)