#ah the 2024 retrospective...

[therosefrontier]

Spotify Tag Game

“Put your music library on shuffle, then list the first five songs that come up in a poll to let people vote for which one they like the most! Then tag Tumblr friends to keep the game going!"

Thanks to @pencilofawesomeness for the tag! Liked the idea of using a playlist for this like Pencil did, but similarly, it's hard to pick just one since they go in different directions, sooo... I thought it'd be fun to shuffle through my Spotify Top 100 from last year! Ended up with kind of a nice variety, I think? But alas, sadly, no OST representation though. Sixth choice would have been "Wildfire" from HSR, oh what could have been... (jk I like all of these, obviously XD)

I don't know which I pick as my own favorite, though. Huh. Feels a little apples to oranges but oh well! Anyways, ummmm....to tag who Pencil has not already tagged, @insertsomthinawesome, @resident-normal-person, @wintersphoenix, if y'all like? No pressure of course!

[unhappy-sometimes]

a 2024 writing retrospective (for sxf fanfic)

ignore the fact that i’m a few days late. i’ve been unbelievably busy the past couple weeks.

in this post i’ll go over the fics i wrote in 2024 think of it as an extremely extended author’s notes. i love to talk and will do so when given the chance.

i’ll start from my latest fic and work my way backwards. spoilers for everything i’ve written in 2024.

(Very) Stupid

Something that I try really really hard to maintain in my writing is believability, specifically when it comes to writing characters. Characters acting out of character is one of my biggest fanfic pet peeves: if I wanted to read about someone’s oc, then I would’ve read a regular book. That being said, I think a lot about how Twilight would actually act like if he were in love. I had an interesting conversation with @cantareincminor forever ago about how he’s so emotionally constipated that it’s kind of difficult to write Twilight in love without making him a bit ooc. Right now in canon it’s hard to imagine him falling head over heels for anyone (in my opinion, anyway).

That being said there are moments in canon where he acts flustered in situations that could be interpreted as romantic. So, for right now, my hypothesis is this: if and when Twilight falls in love, he’s going to be an absolute fool. He’s going to do his usual overthinking and overanalyizing, so much to the point that he starts hesitating over the smallest things.

(Very) Stupid is how I imagine all of that unfolding, although for the sake of comedy I did push things to the absurd. Sometimes Twilight does things in canon with such certainty of “Yes, of course normal people do this, I’m nailing this normalcy thing” that he fails to realize he’s being kinda ridiculous. I also wanted to take that element and incorporate it into a fic.

I also wanted to try subverting expectations (ooh fancy literary term) by having them do romantic things that lead them nowhere. I tried to cram in as many tropes as I could—feeding each other with a fork, only one bed, first kiss—but do so under the guise of Twilight completely missing how dumb he’s being the entire time. He only realizes his feelings until after their first kiss, specifically when Yor surprises him with a quick peck on the cheek. This, of course, was deliberate. I figured that it’d make the most sense if Twilight would only realize his feelings in a situation where he wasn’t the one initiating a (somewhat) romantic gesture because he theoretically wouldn’t be overthinking it. Instead, Yor just sneaks in when his guard is down <3

Endings are usually the hardest things for me to write and (Very) Stupid was no exception. I almost had Twilight pass out at the breakfast table when he kisses Yor but then I realized I’d made him faint in almost every fic I’ve written this year and that felt like a cop out. But I figured it out and I don’t mind the way the ending turned out :D

Also, kind of a random reference, but the title is slightly inspired by VERY NICE by Seventeen lol

Holy crap I’ve written so much for only one fic so far. My apologies in advance.

21 Eden Street

I won’t go into too much detail for 21 Eden Street because it’s still ongoing, but I just wanna brag about how fun it is to write hehe. It’s really enjoyable to write pure crack and come up with stupid and insane ideas with Cantare. You don’t need to have seen either iteration of 21 Jump Street to understand what’s going on. Honestly, we’ve taken very little from the source material and treated it more like a loose guide and a basis for brainstorming.

Don’t worry, we haven’t abandoned it! Cantare is waiting on me to finish writing my chapter (hehe sorry, Cantare!) and soon it’ll be back up and running.

Seeing things

Ah, Seeing Things, my beloved <3

This fic has the least amount of hits out of everything I’ve written (which is not surprising to me) but I hold it very dear to my heart. There’s not a specific reason why other than I just really enjoyed writing it. I also spent a ton of time making supplementary drawings and a whole hype campaign for it, too, so I kinda am obligated to feel some sorta way about it.

Anyway, the way this fic came about is simple; I just had the things I am most afraid of happen to Twilight. Yes, I’m scared of serial killers and my loved ones dying like everyone else, but something I am absolutely terrified of are hallucinations. That and doppelgangers.

Not being able to tell reality apart from fiction activates the flight or fight senses in me. Real life can be scary, yes, but reality is bound by the rules of reality. Literally anything can happen in fiction. The most horrific, awful things are possible in fiction and if those things suddenly become possible in reality???? Girl I am GONE. Passing away. Curling up in a fetal position in the nearest corner. I don’t know if that makes any sense. If I ever start seeing things that I can’t be sure are actually happening or not, I am choosing to die right then and there. Doppelgangers as a concept are also really scary to me. It’s like stranger danger but times a thousand because you can’t tell who the strangers are anymore.

In my initial draft, there wasn’t nearly as much of a tension between Twilight and Yor. If I recall correctly, by then I’d written to nearly the end and realized that for Yor this whole experience has been Loid acting just a little more weird than usual. It might’ve been Cantare’s suggestion (just assume everything after Guy’s Night has been beta’d by Cantare and you’ll be mostly right) but I realized that Twilight probably would start to suspect the people around him were screwing with him. I added the scene where his room was messed up and it all fell into place hehe.

I don’t like writing gore or the like because I feel like typical gore quickly starts escalating into levels of pain that the average reader has no possibility of comprehending and it loses its efficacy. Instead I tried feeding into Twilight’s paranoia, adding things that in isolation are just weird but when put together are unsettling. I shamelessly stole the fourth room hallway from Impossible Landscapes, a Delta Green campaign that I highly recommend you check out if you enjoy surreal horror. I purposefully kept some things vague, like the things Anya sees in Twilight’s mind, the way Handler’s face gets warped, or the description of “the watchers” because I felt like going into detail would lose the unknown-ness of it all. That and I’m lazy heehee.

In some way, canon Spy x Family does deal with ideas of doppelgangers and paranoia. Spies are constantly afraid of being listened in on, they don’t know if they can trust anyone, and they always have to keep an eye over their shoulder. For someone who is always a little scared of being spied on (I cover my phone and laptop cameras for that exact reason), that kinda sounds like torture. Seeing Things was a fun way to crank that paranoia up to a hundred. It was especially fun writing the museum scene because I tried thinking of things that are just ever so slightly off, things that theoretically could exist but clearly don’t.

I also threw in other things I’m scared of, like being watched, being followed, the dark, and the bathroom at night just to be extra mean to Twilight <3

Anyway, I’m rambling and this analysis post will be a novel if I keep this up.

Guy’s Night

I do recognize the insane tone shift going from Seeing Things to Guy’s Night.

What is there to even say about Guy’s Night? I got the idea from Psych (the Last Night Gus episode) who got the general basic from the Hangover movies. I wrote it all out in a few days, one of which I was sick in bed. I don’t know what to say.

Looking back on it, I don’t love the way it turned out. I’m glad I wrote it but where I usually don’t mind rereading my stuff for fun I do kinda cringe at Guy’s Night. It relies on a lot of contrivances which I tried masking with humor but it’s still a bit obvious. If you make a timeline of the previous night’s events, it only kinda makes sense.

It doesn’t help that I went into it with no plan whatsoever. I just sat down and said what happens happens. When I wrote in chapter one that something had happened between Loid and Yor, I didn’t know what that was. When I wrote Loid saying “we need to see what’s on that camera film” I was right there next to him saying “buddy, so do I because I have no idea.” When wrote Franky saying that his friend Marko might have answers, I was hoping he would too because I, like everyone else, didn’t know what was going on either.

The ONE thing I DID know was that Twilight got a tattoo the night before. That was it. That’s all.

I don’t typically plan out everything when I write but I usually have a good idea. For Guy’s Night, I had a bad idea in that I had no idea. It kinda shows. Sorry.

That being said, it was incredibly fun writing their drunk shenanigans and banter. The dynamic between Twilight, Franky, and Yuri was so goofy that I’ve seriously debated writing a sequel of sorts. However that’s incredibly unlikely. If I ever do write a sequel, it’d be a Girl’s Night with Yor and a combination of female characters, probably Sylvia and Fiona.

After Peace (and Glimpses of Happiness)

A quick heads up: I don’t go into detail but I do discuss mental illness in this segment.

I am incredibly proud of how After Peace turned out. Not only did it receive a really good reception for being my first fic ever, but it also helped me work through some things in my own life. It’s important to give some context.

I wrote After Peace shortly after graduating college. I won’t go into specifics, but college was really, really difficult for me. I had been so excited for this next step in my life after graduating high school but instead it turned out to be one of the hardest experiences of my life. Depression came out of nowhere and stomped me into the ground.

I used to have very high expectations for myself; I had a clear vision of what I wanted to do with my life and I was taking steps to work towards those goals. Then my mental health tanked and suddenly everything just felt so difficult and pointless. I’d sleep all day and then hate myself when the sun started to set because that meant I’d wasted an entire day doing nothing when I was supposed to be working towards something. But I just couldn’t do it anymore.

That’s something I’ve noticed that a lot of media gets wrong about depression sometimes. It doesn’t always make you feel sad. Sometimes it just sucks everything out of you—sadness, happiness, anger, everything. I stopped drawing, stopped listening to music, stopped eating, stopped exercising, stopped doing everything that I enjoyed because it felt like the equivalent of doing the dishes. Everything was a chore, even the things that I liked.

What really changed things around was when my poor roommate, who was sick of me sleeping for twenty hours a day, dragged my sorry self to the free counseling services on campus. It’s doesn’t fix everything, but having someone who cares about you and you care about can really help your mental health.

Anyway, let’s not forget I’m talking about an anime fanfiction here haha.

After Peace really did start out as a couple of doodles but as I started to write it, I noticed that there were a lot of similarities between myself and Loid. No, I am not a former spy turned grumpy hermit, but I did once have great aspirations and now have to settle for what reality offers me. Realizing that worth comes from simply existing was something that I had to understand in order to begin my recovery process.

I’ve always found it kind of sad that if you took away the goal of world peace from Twilight that you’re basically left with nothing. He doesn’t really have hobbies, no real friends, and he never takes a day off. That’s hardly sustainable. Would he really be happy when there’s nothing left to do? I’d like to think so, but I wanted to see what would happen if he wasn’t.

I mentioned this in the end note, but After Peace was also influenced by this comic I was working on years ago that had the similar premise of “grumpy man learns to enjoy life with the help of a young girl” (very original, I know). I doubt that I’ll ever release that comic in the capacity I once intended, but it does live on in my secret second tumblr account of you ever manage to find it.

Anyway, I was worried about writing After Piece because Anya plays a big role and I am Not Good at writing children. It was hard striking a balance between making Anya likeable but still realistic. I don’t interact with children often and, as a youngest sibling, I don’t have much experience with them. Anya has so many layers—being a test subject, being a telepath, being a child—that it was hard managing them all. But I’m okay with how she turned out.

There is a slight problem in that she basically disappears once Yor shows up D:

I debated having Yor in the fic at all but then I realized that without her the emotional climax would have to rely on a four year old’s emotional intelligence and then decided right then and there that Yor had to be in it haha.

Yor’s whole deal with accidentally killing the wrong person was kind of a last minute addition. I do wish I was able to explore that more, but I also feel like she’s emotionally mature enough to forgive herself more quickly than Twilight would. She ends up serving a bit of a role model to him. It was also nice to be able to write them interacting with the truth out on the table and for them to be honest with each other.

Pacing was something that I was very concerned with. Looking back on it now, I’m still worried that things move along a bit quickly. However, I am reminded of some advice my graphic design professors gave me: “Good design is when nothing more can be take away.” And, because I was writing this as fast as possible, you best believe I was taking things away if I didn’t need them. I didn’t want to fall into the trap of dwelling on Twilight’s thoughts for too long so I instead opted for showing him progressing through experiences instead. I think it worked out.

However because I took so many things out I decided to start Glimpses of Happiness, a supplementary fic to After Peace that fills in the cracks, so to speak. I wanted to have more moments between Twilight and the other characters, like stargazing with Anya and growing close to Yor. Right now there’s only one chapter, but I have plans for at least a few more. I also thought it was important to highlight that mental health recovery never truly ends. Just because Yor and Twilight had a nice chat on the roof doesn’t mean that things are suddenly okay. It’s a long process that sometimes never ends and I wanted to show that.

Of course, I can’t talk about After Peace without addressing the Midwest allegations. As I said, yes, this fic was inspired by my childhood in the American Midwest, even though I was nowhere near any mountains. The Midwest is a silly place full of nothing to do but go to your local Walmart for fun, but I think it served a good enough setting for Twilight to chill out and slow down. If I really wanted to do full Midwest, I’d have Twilight watch a tornado touch down on a cornfield from his truckbed, but that feels sort of out of place.

I feel like there’s more to say but I can’t think of anything and I doubt anyone’s actually gonna read all the way down here anyway. But yeah, that’s After Peace.

Oh, and the A.M. AM by Damien Jurado Youtube video currently has nine comments that mentjon falling from a five story building, which I think is really funny.

So now what?

Against my better judgement, I’m still writing. I have a couple projects in the works, especially one big big big one that hopefully I can start publishing soon. Keep an eye out for that.

In the meantime, thanks for a great year! I hope 2025 holds more great things in store for us all!

-unso ^. .^<

[magicalbats]

Kinktober 2024 Day 7: Lycaon x Reader

Rating: R-18+

Word Count: 5732

Warnings: Afab!reader, boss/employee, sex toys under clothes, master/servant roleplay, overstimulation, power dynamics

A/N: It's been interesting watching other 'not furry's be converted to the dark side thanks to Lycaon the same as I was. He almost feels like a litmus test in a way. lol

⭐

A curt knock at the bathroom door interrupts your ceaseless fretting and brings your head up with a snap. Oh, this could not be happening. 

“Are you quite ready yet?” Lycaon calls out to you, his tone of voice as soothingly calm and collected as it ever is, but in this particular instance it has the exact opposite effect of making your pulse nervously jump. 

Was this how Corin felt every day, all jittery and skittish of even her own shadow? You were amazed at how she could even function in any capacity let alone a professional one if that was the case, but as you look into the mirror over the sink you’re struck by the obvious panic reflected in your own eyes. Alright, you had a decision to make. You could still walk away from this, tell him you don’t really need the job after all and hand in your uniform. The line had not been crossed yet even though you were skirting dangerously close to the edge of it. 

You could still pack it up and go home. 

“Is everything alright in there?” Lycaon tries again, and this time the creeping note of concern in his mild mannered tone makes you spin around to face the door with your back pressed up against the sink. This so could not be happening right now. You couldn’t believe you were really about to go through with such a ridiculous, wildly inappropriate exchange with your boss. 

“Y - yes, Lord Lycaon. I’m just — tidying up my clothes a bit, that’s all. I’ll be out in a minute.” 

On the other side of the flimsy wooden barrier you can hear his weight shifting almost imperceptibly from one prosthetic foot to the other. “Ah, I see. While it is good to be mindful of one’s appearance, you needn’t worry about that today. I’ve taken care to ensure that the other housekeepers know they have the day off so I can focus on your training without interruption. I’ll be waiting here for you whenever you are ready.” 

You can’t quite help the whimper that slips out of you. That was the whole crux of the problem, wasn’t it? 

Cheeks burning hot, you stiffly fidget in place to test the position of the egg shaped toy he’d given you with the brief explanation that it was to help with today's lesson. Of course you’d thought he was joking at first, just an exceedingly rare display of levity from the head butler of Victoria Housekeeping Co., but the mirthless stare he’d proceeded to level you with quickly assured you that he was in fact not kidding around. And in retrospect, of course he wasn’t. It was stupid to have ever even assumed he was when sexual harassment lawsuits were such a big deal. 

Not to mention that this was Lycaon you were talking about here. He very rarely if ever joked about anything … ugh! Stupid, stupid, stupid! 

Try as you might though, the pink silicone egg is much too attention grabbing where it’s sitting wedged deep inside your cunt for you to find a truly comfortable position where you don’t notice it as much. Its insidious shape was clearly streamlined to push in on the receptive nerves inside your body with precision and accuracy, and it does so with alarming results. You could feel yourself slowly getting wet around it even though you try very hard to pretend like it wasn’t there at all. 

Initially it hadn’t seemed to you very different from wearing a tampon so you’d somehow deluded yourself into thinking you’d get used to it once it was inserted … but you were beyond mortified now to realize that that is not the case. If anything, it was just getting worse. 

All it took was the smallest shift to make it feel like it was pushing in on your guts in a way that wasn’t exactly pleasurable but it also wasn’t unpleasant either. As if the simple, basic design of it was putting just enough pressure on the right spots to make your pussy subconsciously react even though you didn’t really see anything to be excited about in this situation. The fact you’d let it get to this point was astounding in and of itself but you didn’t have much else in the way of options. 

Rent would be due in the next week and if you didn’t manage to find a new job in that time should you quit this one … frankly you didn’t even want to think about that possibility at the moment.  

So you finally draw a deep breath to ground yourself and steady your quaking nerves before pushing off from the sink. Walking is a bit awkward with the toy stuffed inside you but it wasn’t impossible, just difficult. You can feel your legs trembling slightly with the effort as every single blaring siren in the back of your mind frantically urges you to rethink this. 

You couldn’t afford to do that though. Not when it might mean losing your apartment just for the sake of maintaining your pride. 

Your one and only consolation is that Lycaon has proven himself to be nothing short of a true gentleman in the brief time you’ve known him, and you didn’t think he would use this opportunity to take advantage of you. He’d said this was for training purposes only and you so badly wanted to believe that. 

Sure enough, he’s standing perfectly poised in the hallway when you hesitantly open the door and peek out. You catch him in the process of checking his pocket watch but at the soft creak of the hinges his big, pointy ears twitch in your general direction before he glances up. 

Noising a brief sound of approval, Lycaon quickly tucks his watch away and folds his arms behind his back. Well, he certainly didn’t look like someone who was about to pounce on you and rip your clothes off at least, so there was that. 

“Excellent. I trust you’ve made the necessary preparations I tasked you with?” 

“Yes, sir. I - I put it in, just like you told me, but … is this really necessary? I don’t understand what this has to do with housekeeping.” 

His posture perfectly tall and straight, Lycaon steps closer to put a gentle but massive hand across your back so he can nudge you into motion with him. The fact he politely keeps it up around your shoulders rather than reaching lower to grope or manhandle you only serves to confuse you even more. It was as if this really were just a means to an end and he didn’t have any actual stakes at play here. 

“You have my sincerest apologies for not providing a satisfactory explanation to you earlier. But as I said, this is only to help you. It is not a punishment.” Tipping his head down to regard you as he leads the way down the carpeted hall towards the dining room, Lycaon fixes you with a look of sincere remorse. “If you’ll forgive me for being so blunt, I noticed that you’re often easily distracted. We can’t have any lapses in our attentiveness when it comes to the needs of our employers, so I thought this might be a good exercise to hone your ability to focus.” 

Your head positively reels at that. “B - but Ellen - -“

“Her problem is entirely different.” He cooly cuts across you. “And I will see to her as well in due time. As far as you are concerned, I’ve come up with a lesson plan for today that I think should net positive results. Just remember that I am not forcing you to do this and you are free to leave at any time.” 

The unspoken ‘but you won’t have a job anymore’ hangs heavy over your head, encouraging you to keep quiet. 

Stepping into the dining room together, your attention immediately flicks to the quaint tea cart sitting off to the side from the sturdy oak table in the center. There’s already a pot and place settings laid out on top of it as if in preparation for serving. But rather than there, Lycaon guides you over to the head of the table where he surprises you by pulling out the empty high backed chair and taking a seat in it. 

Vaguely the puzzle pieces start to fit together while you watch him scoot in just enough to casually stretch his long legs out underneath the neatly clothed table, getting himself situated with an air of refinement in every gesture before finally glancing up at you where you’re stood next to him. 

“Are you ready to begin?”

You’re not so sure it was even possible to be fully prepared for what was about to happen, but you still find yourself meekly nodding your head anyway. You weren’t usually like this and yet … 

“Good. Then this is what we shall do,” Taking on the smart intonation of someone delivering a rather cut and dry lecture, as if the topic were nothing more exciting than complicated algebra, Lycaon retrieves his cellphone from his pants pocket with a purposeful flourish. “I’m going to play the role of the client and you, my dear, will be in charge of seeing to my every need. In order to ensure our generous benefactors are completely satisfied that means you need to stay alert and even anticipate their wants before they can voice them. I’ll instruct you as needed throughout some of the tasks I’d like you to do, but I also expect you to pay attention as well. Is that understood?” 

You swallow your nerves down hard, hands helplessly clutching at the front of your uniform. “Yes, sir. And … and the toy?” 

“That I will control through the use of this application. As time goes on, I’ll continue to up the speed and power which means it will be your responsibility to keep your attention focused on what’s important rather than letting it wander.” 

Deliberately, he sets his phone down on the table to show you the screen pulled up on some sort of app. You can’t really make a whole lot of sense of what you’re looking at with all the different buttons and settings controls laid out on the page, but it didn’t take a genius to figure it out. It was a remote controlled toy he’d given you and he planned to torture you with it. 

That realization makes your stomach flip in on itself, dread settling in your gut like a heavy lead weight even while you try to figure out how he possibly knew how to use one of these things. Lycaon was not the most adept when it came to technology and you’d heard that Ellen occasionally had to show him how to utilize some of the basic features on his smart device with varying results, so where was this coming from? 

Technically the logic was there though. You would have been lying through your teeth if you’d said he was wrong for wanting to test your focus in this manner, with what was arguably the most distracting form of sensory input that existed, but still. The simple fact he’d chosen this method above all else embarrasses you a great deal, making you squirm on the spot. You were seriously going to give Corin a run for her money if you didn’t knock it off soon. 

“Your mind is wandering again.” He murmurs, snapping you out of it with a little jolt. 

“I - I’m sorry, Lord Lycaon. I understand the assignment. Should I just …” 

Drawing a quiet breath that makes his broad chest slowly expand, the wolf Thiren leisurely reclines back into the chair with a subtle nod. “Yes, I think I’ll have some tea now. Be a dear and fetch it for me, won’t you?” 

It takes you a prolonged beat to realize this game of pretend has already started, and you rush to bob an inelegant curtsy even when it makes the toy push up into you in a curious manner. “Of course, sir. Right away.” 

But before you can turn to fetch that for him, Lycaon pointedly clears his throat to get your attention. Hesitating there with your hands balled up in your quickly wrinkling skirt, you stare at him in confusion. 

And then it clicks. He was playing the role of a client which meant … 

Flustered heat promptly races up your face as you stutter out a rushed, “M - master. I’ll have that ready for you in just a moment, Master Lycaon.” 

He hums a soft sound of approval at that and you quickly turn on your heel to stumble from the table, eager for a chance to regroup. You were such a frazzled mess you felt somewhat faint in the wake of that exchange. 

But you only make it a few steps before the toy in your pussy suddenly comes alive, buzzing a faint sound between your legs that seems to greatly pale in comparison to the intense vibration that starts up. Squawking a half choked sound of surprise, you lurch to a halt only half of the way to the tea cart and double over as if you’d just been sucker punched. Stiff and halting, you simply stand there for a harrowingly long stretch while you try will your body not to react to it. 

You’re fighting a losing battle though, and you can feel the mild tension in your loins slowly curling itself into a tighter ball of pent up kinetic energy while the roiling sensation works through your cunt. The warm, distantly tingling pulse makes you feel even more lightheaded than you did just a moment ago, swaying unsteadily there on your feet. And this was only the first setting? You weren’t so sure you could survive this. 

If the dizzying rush of unwarranted arousal didn’t kill you, the humiliation would probably finish the job. 

But even now you’re still keenly aware of Lycaon’s gaze lingering on your stiffly hunched back, watching you closely to see what you’ll do, and you know you have to at least try to complete this test. It wasn’t fair and it wasn’t in any way polite of him to do this to you, and yet there’s a stubborn little part of you that was resolved to see this through. 

So you force yourself to take another step forward even when your legs don’t want to cooperate, and then another until you at last reach the tea cart with no shortage of effort. Your hands immediately come up to grab the edge of it and steady your wavering balance through sheer force, struggling to keep your head on straight. It still didn’t exactly feel good in the strictest sense, not even now when it was insistently buzzing away at your guts, but rather it’s just so … intrusive that you find it hard to concentrate on anything else. 

Even your breathing is a bit strained as you carefully work to take the waiting pot in your hands and pour some out into the cup on its dainty, matching saucer. This was ridiculous, you quickly decide. And not just the bizarre situation you’ve found yourself in, but also the glaring fact you couldn’t even handle this level of vibration without nearly falling to your knees. 

Alright, maybe Lycaon was right. Maybe you were easily distracted, especially when your pussy was involved, but was this really the way to train that out of you? 

And more to the point, why had this been his first choice before literally anything else? 

“Quickly, now.” He calls over to you, the sound of his voice making you twitch so hard you almost spill tea everywhere. “It’s rude to keep your employer waiting too long. You must be expedient and punctual if you wish to give satisfactory service to our clients.” 

“Yes, Master,” You grit out as you stiffly set the teapot back down with a louder than intended clatter. 

You can hear Lycaon humming a soft sound of criticism behind you at the rough handling of the china, but luckily he doesn’t comment any further than that. For the best, really. The longer that continuous buzz kept going the more on edge you were starting to feel. 

Taking a quick moment to gather yourself, you breathe out a shuddering exhale before taking up the smaller hand tray and turning back towards the table. Your progress is slow and haltingly careful as you make your way over to where he’s seated, clenching the little handles on the tray hard enough to make your knuckles hurt. If you spilled the cup now there was a very real chance you’d automatically fail this strange test though and likely end up in the hospital on top of that. You could clearly see the steam rising up from the shuddering liquid as much as you can feel it wafting across your face, indicating that it was still quite hot. 

Steadily watching you the whole time, Lycaon waits until you’re about an arms length from the table before sedately reaching over to tap something on the phone screen. He does it so decisively and without hesitation that you don’t even get the chance to protest, and all you can do is suck in a ragged gasp when the vibrations suddenly swell. It feels like the silicone toy is just relentlessly battering the walls of your cunt and putting so much pressure on the sensitive nerves therein that you lurch with a wounded noise. 

Your knees threaten to buckle right out from under you as you valiantly attempt to keep the tray leveled out while dragging your feet forward at the same time. It’s incredibly difficult, the tray shuddering almost violently in your hold, but somehow you manage to make it. Somehow you reach the table just in time to half set half drop it down on the clean white cloth so you can clutch the edge of polished oak wood instead. 

Outright hissing through your teeth, you pitifully squirm and fidget against the onslaught of sensation even though you already knew there was no way to escape it. The only reprieve you would find was in having the damn thing taken out, and given the way Lycaon observes you with unfaltering interest you knew that that time wouldn’t come soon. 

Dammit. As if this wasn’t already bad enough, you could feel your pussy eagerly flooding around the toy to ooze gossamer slick into your panties and having him stare at you like that wasn’t helping in the slightest. Your nipples were starting to coil against the soft cotton of your bra too, the arousal so sharp and debilitating that it was getting hard just to think straight. What if you really came like this, right in front of him? 

“You’re having a hard time concentrating again.” Lycaon murmurs, evidently more to himself than to you, but that doesn’t stop you from flicking your gaze over at him. 

“My apologies, Master. I’ll serve your tea right away.” 

Viciously hissing through your teeth, you force your body to gingerly straighten up out of the defensive hunch you’d fallen into against the table. Your motions are painfully slow and stiff as you struggle to pick up the saucer without spilling its contents everywhere but you eventually manage to set it down before him. The little sugar bowl and cream quickly get tossed down as well, and then you’re taking the tray in hand to back up a step. 

“Is there anything else I can, nghn, g - get you, Master?” 

“That will be all for right now. Thank you.” He says, then in a softer voice he adds, “Take a moment to collect yourself.” 

You aren’t sure how you’re supposed to do that when the insistent, buzzing whir between your legs is still going strong and it sounds almost deafeningly loud in the otherwise quiet room. Gnashing your teeth in an attempt to stay the pathetic little whimpers that try to crawl up from your throat, you dazedly watch Lycaon take the cup in his oversized paw and give it a sip. 

But it’s an uphill battle though, and one you don’t seem likely to win. Your cunt is so wracked by intense tremors that you can’t help but squirm in place, blithely squeezing your thighs together in an attempt to relieve some of the pressure between them. There wasn’t anything you wouldn’t have given in that moment to simply lie back on any available surface, spread your legs wide and rub your clit aching and raw. The worst part was, you weren’t even convinced that it was only the vibrating toy to blame for your current state. 

Lycaon’s masculine presence certainly played into it as well, and you understand that on some intrinsic level as you look him over as if in a stuporous haze. Some Thiren were more beast than human, but he decidedly had the proportions of a man and even his general facial structure was rather close to your own. His snout wasn’t so long as to truly give the impression of a canine unlike some others you’d seen or known, and his hands were still shaped like a humans despite being tipped with black claws. 

He registers in your mind just as any other man would despite the fur and in that moment when your pussy was warmly throbbing around the egg shaped silicone, you can’t help but want him. This doesn’t exactly come as a great shock, because you did find him rather handsome, but … he was your boss. And despite what the current situation would have otherwise suggested, he hadn’t shown any signs at all of being interested in you like that. 

This was just part of your training, a means to an end. He didn’t have any personal stakes here. 

Right? 

Softly seething under your breath, you drag your gaze lower to appreciatively admire the broad barrel stretch of his chest underneath the clearly tailored waistcoat. As usual the collar was left open to allow him to breathe, and you’re struck by the intense urge you suddenly feel to play with the tufts of fur sticking out under his neck. Surely that hadn’t been his actual goal in doing this, you’re relatively certain of that, but if it was it's certainly working. 

As if hearing your thoughts loud and clear, Lycaon’s ears twitch in your direction seconds before he glances up at you. Your lungs hitch with a not fully realized gasp as you look back at him, too lost in the swimming delirium that’s come over you to even pretend to be embarrassed about it. He’d caught you ogling him and sizing him up, so what? It was his own fault for turning your own body against you in such an insidious manner. 

“Are you quite alright? You appear to be struggling with this far more than I expected you to.” 

A soft whimper manages to escape as you awkwardly shift your stance. “Any normal person would, Master Lycaon. How — how did you even come up with something like this in the first place? I didn’t expect you to be into this sort of thing …” 

Relenting with a rumbling sound of consideration, he reclines back into the chair again as if to think on that question but the gesture pulls your gaze lower still. As if you couldn’t fight the magnetic pull any longer now that there wasn’t anything in the way, you glance down at his lap. And you nearly jump right out of your skin when your attention fixes upon the very noticeable bulge pushing up at the front placket of his dutifully pressed slacks. 

It’s as if someone has just ripped the rug right out from under you to leave you in a spiraling free fall, and the new tension running through your body makes you clench down on the toy. It feels all the more heavy inside you as a result, your hips giving a pitiful, subconscious little jerk. The pressure rapidly swells and folds in on itself all at once and you shudderingly hunch in on yourself even as you frantically try to make your pussy relax instead of tightening up. 

But it’s no use now that it’s already pushed you this close to the edge. You precariously hang in the balance for a tortuously drawn out moment and then your cunt slowly squeezes down hard enough to toe the line of discomfort, and you abruptly find yourself cumming with a strangled cry of distress. 

Your legs tremble almost violently through the onslaught, threatening to give out and dump you on the ground. But by some small miracle you manage to keep yourself upright, merely staggering forward half a step to unsteadily brace against it. A tortured, faltering groan is all you allow to slip while you screw your eyes shut and ride it out until the pulsing spasms finally start to subside. 

Except the toy just continues buzzing without even lessening its intensity and you soon find your body giving up the fight altogether. Weakly, you collapse onto the floor where you drop the hand tray with a dull clatter in favor of curling protective fingers around your middle. You’re more than just a bit horrified to realize you can feel the buzzing from deep within you, even through layers of skin and clothes. Sucking in a wet, half strangled breath while your legs continue to twitch across the floor, you tip your face up to send Lycaon a harried look. 

You’re not at all surprised to find him carefully watching you with his chin resting along the back of his loosely curled fist, just observing you and your unseemly display. But from this angle on the floor you can clearly see his tail swishing back and forth where it’s curled down over the edge of the chair and you realize he’s not nearly as disinterested in what’s happening as you’d first thought him to be. 

If the obvious tent of an erection wasn’t enough to convince you, the tail certainly was. He may have largely looked like a man, albeit one with big, attentively pointed ears and a cute black button nose, but he was still a Thiren. Still a wolf with all the hard genetic coding and natural instincts of one. 

It was incredibly hard to imagine that someone so polite and gentlemanly could really be hiding a predator underneath that well mannered facade, but there wasn’t any use in denying the obvious anymore. Clearly he was more interested in you than he’d let on. But then why go through all this trouble and approach the situation in such a roundabout way when he could have just as easily simply asked you out … unless he didn’t think you were likely to reciprocate his interest? 

Or maybe it was that he quite plainly didn’t know how to approach someone in a romantic capacity. 

“M - Master Lycaon - -!” 

“I think I may owe you an apology, my dear. I’m afraid I might have underestimated the full extent of this particular training technique. I must admit, I’m more than slightly ashamed of myself.” 

Sighing out a terse breath, he rather stiffly adjusts the way he’s sitting in the chair with a slow creak from the wood. Where you’re sitting on the floor you can tell that he’s trying to lessen some of the strain in his slacks but it clearly doesn’t do him much good. It probably shouldn’t have come as a surprise given his great height but he looked big through his dark pants. 

“To answer your question,” He goes on, a sheepish note creeping into his voice now. “I decided to check online for any training tips or educational videos that might be of use to you but I somehow stumbled upon some very interesting pages instead. I thought it all rather inappropriate at first but then I found one that implemented this kind of technique for training housekeepers and it seemed quite effective. The maids were all very attentive to their master’s needs so I thought … well, I suppose I thought this would work similarly even if I were to take away the sexualized factor at play in those clips. But I can see now that I was mistaken.” 

Your head positively spins at that explanation even though you’d already started to suspect it on your own. But it was still somehow vindicating knowing that you were right, that he’d gotten this bright idea from internet porn and now your pussy was paying the price even if he claimed he’d tried to remove the sexual angle from it. You weren’t so sure you entirely believed that, but you could question him about it later. 

For now you’re much too focused on tracking the movement of his hand as he reaches for his phone where it’s still sitting on top of the table. Judging by the remorseful expression on his face you could guess he planned to turn the toy off and call it a day, to go back to the drawing board for another idea, but you were a little too caught up in the warmth of your afterglow to allow that to happen. 

“Wait.” You blurt, clearly surprising him a great deal considering how he snaps his head back around to look down at you. Moving cautiously slow, you get your rubbery legs underneath you and push up to brace on your hands and knees, trying to catch your breath around the sharp throbs of arousal still making you shudder. Your pussy was horribly oversensitized in the wake of your orgasm but it felt mind numbingly good too, even with the toy mercilessly battering at your guts. 

God help you, but it felt good. 

“Don’t turn it off, Master Lycaon. I - aighh think we can still make this work …”

“Whatever do you mean?” He asks incredulously. 

Panting heavily, you will your body to crawl forward and it grudgingly cooperates even when doing so just makes you squeeze down on the vibrator in this position. You fight through it though, relishing in the sticky warm consistency of your cunt weakly trying to milk the silicone of something it simply didn’t have to give. That was alright though. If you played your cards right you just might get to feel something even better inside you soon enough. 

That thought keeps you going until you at last find yourself kneeling between Lycaon’s feet underneath the table, peering up at him from under the dainty drape of the table cloth. And it’s obvious he’s woefully unprepared for the sight of you like that because he squeezes his hands into tight fists along the armrests and just stares at you with a deeply anguished look. As if he greatly enjoyed seeing you like this but he wasn’t sure if that was alright or what to do with it. 

No matter. Now that you were no longer on such uncertain footing as before you could act with the conviction and confidence you hadn’t had earlier, and you find that this is much more natural for you than the wilting wallflower display you’d shown when you weren’t quite sure what to make of any of it. 

Decisively, you reach up for the belt buckle around his waist and his breath immediately catches with a sharp intake. 

“You are not obligated to do this. I admit I made a mistake in subjecting you to such an unorthodox training method, which in retrospect I now realize was quite shortsighted of me. But I swear upon my honor that this was not my intention here with you today.” 

“Don’t worry about it, Master Lycaon. You told me to focus on my master's needs and anticipate how best to serve them, didn’t you?” 

“Well, yes,” He hesitates, his one visible eye flicking between your face and where your hands are steadily tugging at the top button on his slacks. “But this wasn’t really what I had in mind at the time. I certainly don’t expect you to offer this kind of service to an employer.” 

Sending him a coquettish bat of your eyelashes, you start to tug his zipper down. “Of course not. You’re not actually my master though, are you? Aren’t you just pretending to be?” 

“Yes, but …” 

He doesn’t seem quite sure how to answer that one, falling silent as you finish getting his slacks open and gently start to tug them down his thighs only enough to expose his underwear. The thick, heavy outline of him is even more impressively obvious like this and you take a moment to carefully feel over that bulge before giving it a faint squeeze. Lycaon hisses a soft sound, a vaguely tortured look flashing across his face, but he doesn’t try to fight it. He just quietly watches you slip your fingers into the band of his briefs, getting your first good feel of that surprisingly soft fur when you begin to slide them down. 

The cotton momentarily catches on his length but one good tug is all it takes to have it springing up in the air just in front of your nose. You’re fascinated to find his cock is of a fleshy, smooth textured consistency that looks perfect for grabbing and sucking. Surely fucking too. And just like the rest of him it’s some delightful amalgamation of human and beast that doesn’t lean too heavily in either direction, something about its streamlined shape exciting you far more than any of the others you’d seen in the past. 

Your mouth hungrily waters as you rock forward on your knees to get a taste of him, the shift making your buzzing cunt clench down on the toy in a fresh rush of sensitive arousal. This may not have been the best method for teaching you how to effectively work as a maid but … 

If Lycaon had an interest in this sort of play you were perfectly happy to oblige him, even if it meant giving your boss the chance to ruin you for any other man or Thiren out there. It was a risk you were willing to take if it meant he’d fill you up with something much more satisfying than this measly toy.

⭐

Crossposted: here

[coimbrabertone]

The Best F1 Season For A Non-Contender?

Well, the biggest story coming out of the 2024 United States Grand Prix is without a doubt the Verstappen/Norris thing.

To recap, Lando is coming after Max hard, gets run on the backstraight after run on the backstraight, but keeps going to the outside and can't pull the move off.

Finally, on lap 52, Lando has a good enough run that he's ahead, on the outside, but ahead. So what then?

Well, Max Verstappen is on the inside so he just divebombs to get the apex, goes wide, pushes Lando wide with him, and Lando has to pass around the outside in the runoff.

He's finally ahead.

Except no, fuck you, this is F1 and fun isn't allowed.

So the stewards are investigating this move where no contact was made, nobody got hurt, and there was enough runoff all around to land an Antonov AN-225 in.

And Lando gets the penalty. Lando.

Why? Overtaking off track.

Lando is 4.1 seconds ahead at the end of the race, gets dropped behind Max in the standings, everyone on social media is pissed. Some people - who are wrong - think that Max had the right because he was in front at the apex, others think Lando should've just given the position back and retaken it on track, which probably would've been the smart play in retrospect.

It's also kinda the racing equivalent of cuckolding though, isn't it?

Like, are we really watching for someone to have to give up a position to avoid getting a penalty?

"Ah yes sir, you drove me off track like a prick sir, but here's the position sir, have a good one sir."

Ridiculous.

Anyway, I'm sure this is the 97th different place you've heard about this incident, so I'll leave it there. Instead, I'm gonna talk about something overshadowed by all the petty bullshit going on between these two championship contenders.

And that's the fact that Charles Leclerc is quietly putting together a dream season.

First, he wins the Monaco Grand Prix. Winning Monaco is already a feather in the cap for an F1 driver, but it's also his home race, so that might just be one of the most special wins imaginable. Especially when you consider how miserable Charles' luck at Monte Carlo has been before now.

Then, he wins the Italian Grand Prix in a Ferrari for the second time, no less. He's won his own home race and he's won his team's home race, what more could you ask for in a season?

Well, the first race weekend back from his birthday on October 16th, Leclerc goes and leads home a Ferrari 1-2 at the United States Grand Prix. Now, I'm an American so the USGP is a special event for me - I wrote a blogpost all about its history last week - but I recognize that isn't the case for the Monegasque Leclerc.

Still, a GP win is still an amazing birthday present.

What a way to bounce back considering he was disqualified last year for plank wear as well.

So, that's three wins on the season, each one having something special about it. Does that make it the best season ever for a non-contender?

Well, that's a difficult question.

First things first, what do we consider a contender? In a way, everyone is contending for the championship, so they're all contenders.

Is it a potential shot at the championship then? Eh, probably not, because Leclerc still potentially has a chance at winning the championship.

So how about this: being a contender is having a realistic chance at the championship. So the championship leader and the direct challengers.

This year, I'd argue that's just Max and Lando, since Max has had the best car for years and started the season with easily the best car, while Lando has benefited from a recent surge by McLaren.

For another example, in 2007, I'd argue that Raikkonen, Alonso, and Hamilton were all contenders, but Massa was not.

So how about Massa's three-win season that year?

Well, he won Bahrain, Spain, and Turkey.

Two places without much connection to him, and then a track he already won at the year before.

In that respect, I'd argue 2006 was a more meaningful season for Massa. His first year in a Ferrari, he's far off Alonso and Schumacher, but he takes his first win at Turkey and then gets to win his home race at Brazil, solidifying his position as best of the rest.

Button 2010?

Eh, he's the reigning champion going into a good team like McLaren and ends up dropping away from the championship pack after Korea, and only takes two wins to his name: Australia and China.

I can't think of a reason those races would be special for him.

What about Button in 2011? Is he a contender that year? That's actually hard for me to say. He's second, he was painted as the challenger to Vettel, but he finished more than a hundred points off. Is that much of a rivalry?

Then again, can we really say 2011 only had one contender?

I'm not sure.

Canada, Hungary, and Suzuka are a decent set of tracks if you're gonna take three wins in a season, especially given how Canada went down, with it being Jenson's career drive.

That one could count then, I reckon.

How about further back in history?

What about 1966, when Ludovico Scarfiotti did literally two races - Germany and Italy - and won the latter. An Italian winning the Italian Grand Prix in a Ferrari has got to be special, right? Especially when you consider that this is the last time an Italian won the Italian Grand Prix. Not just in a Ferrari, but at all.

I suppose it's also as close as F1 has ever gotten to that 2006 Valencia Grand Prix in MotoGP where Troy Bayliss returned to MotoGP, filling in for the injured Sete Gibernau at one race at Ducati.

A race with Bayliss proceeded to win.

Troy hadn't won any races in full seasons with Ducati in 2003 and 2004, nor in his partial campaign with Camel Honda in 2005, but he comes back in 2006 as a replacement rider for one race and goes on to win that thing.

It's a wonderful racing moment, and Scarfiotti at Monza in 1966 is probably as close as F1 ever got to that.

Oh here's one.

Jody Scheckter in 1976. The whole world is watching Hunt vs. Lauda, McLaren vs. Ferrari, and here's Jody Scheckter in a six-wheeled Tyrrell casually winning the Swedish Grand Prix, taking four second places, and ending the season as best of the rest.

The Swedish Grand Prix was a great race for these one-off weird winners actually. Scheckter in the Tyrrell P34 in 1976, Jacques Laffite in the Matra V12 powered Ligier in 1977, and of course 1979 with Niki Lauda winning in the fan car.

Ooh, speaking of 1977, I think we have a contender!

...A contender for non-contenders? Yes actually.

Mario Andretti in 1977. He's got the Lotus 78, the first ground effect car in Formula One history, and it's not quite ready to win the championship, but it's still going on a tear.

Winning the USGP West at Long Beach, a home race for Andretti. Then winning at Spain and France, and finally winning the Italian Grand Prix, the other race Mario could call home. That sounds like an awful good season to me, potentially even better than Leclerc this year. He also finished third that year, so it lines up there as well.

How about this? We'll see if Leclerc can win another race or two this year, and if not, then I'll give it to Andretti. 1977, the best championship season for a non-contender.

Feel free to leave any notable seasons I missed in the comments below, I'm eager to hear what seasons y'all can come up with.

P.S

In other news this weekend, we had the Australian Grand Prix in MotoGP. Jorge Martin won the sprint and Marc Marquez the main race. The sprint was pretty uneventful save for a few scary crashes right at the end - particularly Bezzecchi and Vinales in turn one, with both riders thankfully walking away okay - while the race saw a pretty dramatic battle between Martin and Marquez at the end.

I don't exactly cheer for either guy, so it was a bit meh for me, but at least Phillip Island put on a good race.

As for NASCAR...quite frankly I didn't watch this weekend. I was watching F1 and after that I had a headache and I was mad about the Max/Lando stuff, so I just didn't want to bother with it. I hear Logano won though, which means he goes on to the championship four. Cue up the even year memes.

Even Penske tweeted a joke about that.

Penske tweeting jokes. Heh, that's a new one.

[thistransient]

Obligatory retrospection 2024

I was going to title it "belated" but I didn't get around to last year's til the latter half of January either, so I suppose it's just tradition now.

Last year my main goal was to finish reading the Chinese translation of 黃金神威 / Golden Kamuy, which I did not do only because I was determined to read the hard copy version and the library wait queue is insane (a check-out period is a full calendar month and man do people really keep their books as long as possible). I did however read all 23 volumes of Dorohedoro in Chinese while waiting, and got up to vol 27 on GK, so I'm okay with it. Other goals listed: consume more protein, have a look for B vitamins the surgeon’s office recommended, learn how to do multi-colour lino printing, and "fingers crossed for minimal missile warnings and no more 曖昧的關係s". I have in fact been very diligent at trying to consume an appropriate amount and distribution of nutrients at regular intervals (while unlearning certain unfortunate food misbeliefs instilled in childhood). I did buy those damned B vitamins, which largely served to turn my pee bright yellow and make me wonder if I'm sensitive to choline cause I would get mysteriously anxious and depressed whenever I took them (eventually I gave up on it). I figure my regular diet probably covers things anyways. I also finally did the lino colour printing (and more printmaking in general). There were no more mistaken missile warnings, and as for the 曖昧的關係 …well, no unreciprocated pining at least.

I got really into making my own pickled daikon (minus the yellow colouring) when, appalled by the grocery store prices, I discovered they only require 5 ingredients and you just keep 'em in the fridge (I don't have a kitchen in my 套房).

At the time of last retrospection writing I was waiting to see if I got into a grad school program, and whether I'd have to take the Mandarin proficiency exam to broaden my opportunities. I did not get into the program! I took the TOCFL and got a 5 out of 6! (6 being C2 level, TOCFL levels are not equivalent to HSK.) I was still a bit too chicken to apply for grad school taught in Chinese, and decided to take some community college art classes instead, which I understand 98% of the time until the teacher asks me a question directly and then my mind goes blank, of course. The more I look into the heinous bureaucratic requirements for foreigners applying directly for any kind of non-English university degree program in Taiwan, the more I consider going elsewhere. But the idea of doing a degree program was in part so I could get student residency in Taiwan… ah, internal strife.

I had a big sort of personal paradigm shift this year, after my now former bff made (I have to generously assume) an offhand drunken comment on my birthday (of all times, wow), which (amongst some other things) slowly but inevitably led to the end of our friendship (or at least we seem to have mutually ghosted each other as of October- unfortunately he still has my spare key which I need to retrieve). In a strange way it was a positive thing in the end, in that it pushed me to the conclusion that I actually like who I am, including my values + perspective on the world. I realised our friendship was based largely on the shared experience of being "Mandarin-learning foreigners in Taiwan", and it feels strange that my circumstance evolving into "foreigner using Mandarin to learn other things in Taiwan" would be a game-changer, but I guess it is (well, there are of course more factors at play, but I feel that was the big one which had always smoothed over the otherwise substantial divide between us). I feel a bit guilty cause he's helped me with a lot over the years, but I'm working on accepting that one doesn't stay indebted to freely given kindness forever, and people (including myself) change and that's okay.

I went to Ladakh this summer, which was my first trip to a totally unfamiliar place post-transition and post-lifting of international covid restrictions. It's different to travel now with a home base I actually want to go back to, and a mindset which is more "curiosity and exploration" than "need to run away to the ends of the earth". For example, now I care significantly more about coming back in one piece. It's nice to be less bothered about being alive in general, re: transition, but the trade-off is being more stressed about gendered bathrooms and airport security. At least one thing never changes: fear of death by feral dog pack consumption.

I didn't do as much text posting this year, for a few reasons- one being that I stopped going to the kink bar when my fave shibari salon started having more events. A lot of good stories came out of that bar, but I also hated the crowd, noise, and had too many unpleasant sub drop experiences in said environment. Second, with more time to consistently take and post photos, more people started following, I was regularly getting more than 0-3 notes per post and suddenly felt increasingly reluctant to write in great detail about my personal life in a city which is smaller than it seems. Not to mention the amount of terfs in the notes on innocent beach photos... The further along I get in transitioning, the more it becomes relevant to my anecdotes, and I never really intended that to be the focus of my writing (not having to worry about how people perceive my physical appearance is/was a main bonus of anonymous internet blogging). And yet I still want to write about stuff! Maybe it's time for a side blog.

I need to come up with some reasonable goals this year (besides the big stuff I scheme about in counselling sessions). Let's say…get more massages. Finally do that bike ride from Fulong 福隆 to the lighthouse (the problem is getting up early enough to go to 福隆). Oh, I really want to get one of those lil ceramic tea pots and learn how to brew the loose leaf tea that was pawned off on me by a friend only to sit in my closet for a year. I'd also like to finish a novel in Chinese I bought two years ago on my ex tutor's recommendation- it was still too difficult to enjoy then and has been lurking ominously in the Unread Book Pile ever since. Last but not least, hang out more with @carrotblr, the tropical maladies can't keep us apart forever...

[tavyliasin]

2024 Writing Retrospect

Tagged by @jellymellydraws so I'll give it a go!

What's been your biggest learning point this past year? There are very few things I can't/won't write if I put my mind to it, I just need to find the right angle - I've found a lot of joy in writing crackships, one shots, and rare pairings. I do adore my longer stories, but digging in to new dynamics never fails to be exciting and I'd like to lean on that some more~

How has your writing developed this past year? I think I'm a lot more confident in writing, particularly kink, and I'm easing my way out of some bad habits like sentences that are far too long or being too vague when my mind wants to skip through the most exciting parts~

Bad writing habits? Hmmm I'm going to have to throw in getting distracted, not finishing WIPs, and definitely the impatience to post. I know works are better with a beta read, but that means waiting and editing and re-reading instead of just slamming it down, throwing the links into every corner of the internet, and running away in fear and horror that nobody wants what I just put out. Ah, there's another bad habit - the lack of confidence in finished works. I don't like looking at my stats, but I cherish every single individual comment and kudos like my entire creative career depends on it.

Favorite thing you wrote? Gods that's a tough one. I adore all of my works, and I wrote so much this year. It might be between the Raphael/Haarlep prequel pieces, and possibly Emperor x Volo "A Legend, Alive" which was a real experiment when I started it and it just developed so much depth and feeling as I took it entirely seriously~

Biggest win? Getting over 500k words published on AO3, over 100 works, and also finishing the 24 chapter speedwritten epic that was the Volo Kinkmas Challenge. Most of which barely a dozen people have even opened judging by the hit counts, but I shouldn't expect people to actively want to read 24 chapters of Volo smut without me begging them and yelling "hear me out, it's actually really good" about a thousand times a minute. (Seriously though I am proud of finishing it and I think I did a damn good job too, allowing myself that pride)

Goals for the new year? Write. The. Original. Novel. I did barely anything on it last year... I would also like to finish all 3 of my longfics, they've been going on too long without concluding, then I'll feel more free in starting new things or indulging in silly premise one shots~

Your favorite words of the year, aka the words you check each chapter for, making sure you didn't repeat them 788 times? "As". You can pry "as" from my cold dead hands, I need it, it works, I will use it plenty~ Otherwise I really just keep checking word repetition constantly. If I'm going over a piece and worry I've said a word too many times I will do a quick ctrl+F to highlight uses and see if I'm good or not. I prefer several paragraphs before a word repeats and open my thesaurus tab often~

What are you excited for in the new year? Creative events, finishing the other Zine pieces I've signed up for, and the release of Fan Zines I've been a part of - really excited to share those pieces with you all when they are released~

Tagging in - with no pressure, only if you'd like to - @morb-untamed @laserlope @khapikat222 @ineadhyn @redroomroaving

[dr-demi-bee]

2024 Writing Retrospect

Thanks for the tags @marlowethebard and @galeorderbride 🥰

What's been your biggest learning point this past year?

I think the thing I've really learned the most about this year is collaborative creative writing. Getting into narrative style role-playing has informed it a lot - I've definitely learned a lot about how to 'yes, and' and to get into a character's skin. Not only that, but this year I found a community of other writers! And now I'm learning how to be brave and share my work more, how to discuss content without fear of judgement, and to enjoy the process more.

And I think the number one thing I really learned this year has been that there are people that like my work! Genuinely! They like it! They like my characters and my style and- 🥹🥹

How has your writing developed this past year?

This year was a bit of a wild ride. While I got back into writing in general in late '22, started writing fanfic in late '23, and started *posting* fic in even later '23 - I feel like I didn't hit my stride until this year. And that's not to say I wasn't writing well before now - I just feel like I've really started to find my voice (again) and get out of the academic headspace and into the creative.

Good writing habits?

I do it? Haha!

I think, honestly, other than letting myself write what I want and just generally spending time writing - my best good writing habit this year has been allowing myself to be motivated by the enthusiasm of my friends.

Bad writing habits?

Word vomit. Sometimes my stream of consciousness writing is Too Much™️ and I spend way too much time in my own head trying to edit it into something 'perfect'. I'm exceptionally bad at killing darlings.

Favorite thing you wrote?

I know I haven't updated it recently (and I am this close to changing that, I swear) - but my favorite piece is my long fic. It's self-indulgent, but it feels so good to write. And I genuinely enjoy re-reading it every time someone comments on it

Service and Worship are not Love (e.g. the Primalweave story)

Favorite reads?

I've read so many exceptional things this year! It's so hard to pick! But here's a few that stand out:

to admit everything by meownotgood

Axioms of heavenly bodies; an intimate analysis of systems unknown and the pleasures contained therein by @12thhouse-sun

Deeply and Immovably So by @dutifullylazybread

if music by the food of love, play on series by @pouroverpaloma

literally any of the poetry written by @waterdeep-weavemoss

every brain chemistry altering galemance piece by @senualothbrok

Biggest win?

Finishing the October Blurbapalooza! How did I do that! Ah! That was a lot of fun. 🥰

(and secretly, giving myself permission to skip the last day felt really fucking good hehe)

Goals for the new year?

I'd love to finish my long fic. Or at least post a dozen of the WIPs I've got staring at me from the editing pile. (whoops)

What are you excited for in the new year?

To keep going. 🥰 To be in a space where I am comfortable, welcome, and loved - and where I am encouraged to be creative and can support others doing so!

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

Open boops for anyone interested in doing this yourself. Thanks for a good 2024 lovelies 💙🥰 Here's to a safe and comfy 2025.

[theresa-of-liechtenstein]

art by em year in review 2024!

i find myself surprised i drew much at all this year considering the circumstances (completing a bachelor's degree. concerts. international trip. starting a phd. general state of world.) however, for the fifth time i am happy to present my yearly retrospective.

as always, reflections under the cut.

jan: i feel like my weakest pieces always happen in january 😭 this was definitely one of those where concept > execution; some of this feels woefully flat and i wasn't too enthused about how herc looked. oh well. that was literally one of the only things i drew in january

feb: one of the developments that came about this year in my drawing was that of my cartoon/comic style, because i wanted to have a record of all the funny shit that happens in my music life. i've continually been surprised at the reception of it online haha. tita conductor is OUR internet microcelebrity now i guess

mar: ah, the douglas seventh wheels the hercolyn wedding fic i've been saying i'd write for almost two years. well, that actually got written and will go up later this week. but anyway, Hurt That Old Man!

apr: in which some professor of media studies with a slide whistle chose to examine a 160-year-old novel through the lens of an intergenerational relationship, and i took it personally. i was not drawing a lot during this time, so i was naturally falling back on my favorite subjects, namely. herc and linda. so much for branching out this year LMAO

may: a pen test for my graduation gift to tita conductor (finished version here, which she loved so much she couldn't stop talking about it when we next saw each other in september). someone once said to me 'it's weird that you can draw her from memory.' i replied 'looking at her is kind of part of the job description.'

jun: drawing theresa is probably one of the ways through which i measure my art progress, given that out of all the character designs i have (bar one, which i don't share on this blog for Reasons) hers is the one that has stuck around the most persistently. the grey is here to stay‼️

jul: i drew this one while having stomach problems in the philippines 😭 but something about the philippines (and like. being around people of my ethnic background on a daily basis) made me think a lot about my character designs for the soft-shoe-shuffle trio, so i wanted to do something with them a bit

aug: for all i talk about martin i sure never draw him, ever 😂 it's probably not obvious, but i was trying painting an base layer rather than an overlay (which i've been using pretty consistently since last year). in the future, i want to experiment more with coloring: i think i've not been eager to touch that part in my art and that needs to change. also pour one out for what i almost captioned it:

if i got onto a plane and i saw a twink in that mfing pilot seat i'm jumping off 😐🤚🏻‼️

sept: the piece that got the most attention this year i think. i'm not sure how well it came across that douglas is supposed to be ever so slightly horny in this one. oh well. it was funny.

oct: i think it was this piece that made me start to realize that i have kind of developed a problem with making everyone's faces super long. which. i don't really know how that happened. anyway this is really cute still. read the theresa-becomes-a-pilot fic.

nov: omg guys remember when i was obsessed with the theresa-maxi dynamic. well it came back for a blazing second of glory in november. maybe it'll come back to me again for good. we'll see

dec: again, familiar subjects during a tumultuous time. not much of note here, except i have noticed myself getting very lazy with lighting recently. also i wrote a fic about this.

overall: going into the new year, i think the whole 'making everyone's faces look super long' thing needs to be addressed; otherwise, as stated earlier, i really should start experimenting with coloring and base layers and shading and lighting.

thank you everyone! and a happy new year to all!

[aviyinglet]

Pixel Yinglets 0.975 is now out for PC!

Hello, everyone! Hefty update today with a bunch of changes and customization options, getting closer to making this presentable as a cloneable public avatar. The Quest version will be live in the next few hours; you can buy this model for $30 on my fascinating Gumroad page, as early-access pricing before it hits 1.0. Details and changelog after the jump!

I finished 0.96 thinking "Ah, time to relax!" and then it was made clear to me during a meeting with friends that the leg rigging couldn't wait any longer -- so I devoted the entire week of working hours (and then some) to releasing 0.97 -- and the following night of experiences made it clear to me that some bugs needed fixing and more work was needed to improve the new-user experience, so now we're at 0.975. The model now has full digitigrade leg rigging on PC, but also a whole bunch of customization options for character creation, including face/body sliders and separate hue sliders for the body and eyes. In retrospect I'm embarrassed as hell that I waited so long to rig the legs properly, but I like to think I went through my hard knocks fixing it.

Because this is now cloneable, I can confirm that this is very functional in six-point full-body tracking. Putting this in the hands of experienced FBT users (my life-partner and several good friends) was revelatory, and has convinced me to get a set of trackers myself right after Vancoufur. Body language changes a lot!

The next update will probably not come as quickly as this one, but it will feature retopologized hands/feet and toggleable clothing. We aren't done with body customization yet, but I consider this a pretty good start!

The public version of this is currently in the wild, but I'll be waiting till .98 to buy Furhub ad space for it. I'm committed to maintaining feature-parity between the free and paid versions of this, with greater customization through production files as the draw for the paid version. Any questions or concerns, please let me know. <3

CHANGELOG:

02/28/2024 & 03/02/2024

VERSION 0.97: THE "LET'S DIGRESS" UPDATE and VERSION 0.975: THE "LET'S DIGRESS" HOTFIX

(PC-only currently, will have Quest version added in less than 24 hours.)

Feature additions:

Radial menus for body characteristic customization:

Hue sliders! Only visible on PC, since it requires the Poiyomi shader. Body and eye colors can be customized independently.

Shelltooth length.

Snout length.

Snout width.

Snout roundness.

Ear roundness.

Ear length.

Belly size.

Chin height.

Hip width.

Underfluff density.

Digitigrade leg armature on PC version, using constraints. Your hip bones should no longer completely dislocate when you crouch! :D

Front and back fur patterns! In the "Base Fur" layer category in the .psd is a "Patterns" subcategory, with "Front Pattern" and "Back Pattern" subcategories that can be toggled, recolored, and customized as you please.

Credits page, accessible from the main circle menu! Tell all your friends!

"Read this first!" page, which summons a plane containing helpful tips for first-time users.

Geometry tweaks:

Raised feet slightly to prevent them from clipping into the ground.

Adjusted shelltooth angle to prevent it from clipping into the lower lip.

Retopologized legs! Now significantly less boxy, and they stick out less far in front of the body (I used Valsalia's "Anatomy of a Yinglet" as reference).

Retopologized ears. The inner part's concave now!

Added blendshapes for all the customization sliders.

Added a bit more volume to the breast size blendshape.

Tweaked waistline to be more yinglet-y.

Tailtip now tapers more to a point.

UV/texture tweaks:

Added front and back fur-pattern layers, toggleable in the PSD.

Repainted legs and ears.

Repainted the weird transparent pixels bordering the tops of the hard black sections of the legs.

Made eyebrow anti-aliasing pixels actual transparency instead of the default fur color.

Changed credits page to use pixelated fonts.

Condensed color legend on texture.

Added "Read this first!" UI elements to texture. (Will be cleaned up when I expand the texture canvas for clothing.)

Armature tweaks:

Re-weighted feet. Still not ideal, but hands and feet will be retopologized for the next update.

Constrained feet to plantigrade ankles.

Added glasses bone. This and the skirt bones will factor into the next major update.

Added bones for individual whiskers.

Other tweaks:

Assigned default values to most properties between 0 and 1.

Radial menus have been reorganized. All customization sliders are nested in a Customization submenu.

Fixed default lid minimizer not firing in eyelid animations.

Restored eye sparkles on Quest.

Known issues:

Feet rigging is passable but could be better; I'll throw myself at it after feet receive the hand retopology.

Can't yet toggle front and back fur-patterns. (There's an issue with decals that causes them to not retain the hard edges of the rest of the model's pixelated texture.) Will be fixed in a later update.

[bornitereads]

Rich People Problems - Kevin Kwan

Reread: Jul 2024

The third book on the Crazy Rich Asians series. This one really digs into the past of the Young family, and how Su Yi (the Ah Ma and matriarch) got to where she was. See the plot of the book revolves around her dying, so there is a lot of retrospection on her part while she's bedridden. This is the part that involves Nick and Rachel. There are two other plotlines of note: Astrid's stressful post-marriage life with her new boyfriend, and Kitty Pong's continued ascendancy - much to the horror of the old guard.

Seriously I love Kitty in these books, she's so outrageous and determined I just can't help it. She really ends up on top. In fact Nick, Astrid, and Kitty all end with nice arcs. Their characters coming to a nice well deserved end. The book really ties everything up nice and neat with a lot of surprises along the way. Especially the will reading. Oh the juicy delicious drama of that.

I think what really cinched it for me was the opening scene where Su Yi collapses and her brother has a whole commerical flight rerouted to get her doctor back to Singapore. From his POV he's confused and annoyed like the rest of the passengers until he's told he will be getting off the plane. It's just such a "oh this is truly a rich and powerful TM moment." It is very successful at setting the tone for the book.

Info: Anchor Canada; 2017

[armoredisopod]

Arknights Summer Carnival 2024 Event PVs

New Operators

Papyrus, 5* Welfare Chain Medic

Sure enough, you can only see more things when you leave the office...

Sand Reckoner, 5* Summoner Supporter

Treasures always lead to conflict.

Narantuya, 6* Loopshooter Sniper

Thanks for the ride, if I, Narantuya Kapteyn, died on my way to heaven, it would be a great shame for Sargon...

Never heard of me? It's fine, one day my name will be known across the lands.

Pepe, 6* Limited Earthshaker Guard

Greetings, Doctor, i come on behalf of the distinguished Pasha to discuss the cooperative project you plan to hold in the Pasha's territory

My name is Juna Pekape-Sakt Hatshepst, but my friends... friends can call me Pepe.

Operator Outfits Update

Total of 8 new outfits, 3 new additions for the new Misaligned Sightseer brand, 3 new additions for the Epoque brand, 1 new addition for the Coral Coast brand and 1 new addition for the 0011/Yun brand

Misaligned Sightseer

倾听 (Hearken) - Weedy

沉思之庭 (Courtyard of Contemplation) - Hoederer

流辉 (Radiant Flow) - Nightingale (21 OP)

Epoque

To Rest in Night Breezes - Poncirus

Vib-rant - Bryophyta

A Picnic Before a Long Trip - Eyjafjalla the Hvít Aska (24 OP)

Ah Professor, the lambs are already having a picnic over there, would you like to join me?

Coral Coast

Summer Flowers FA083 - Caper (Event Reward)

0011/Yun

Among the Clouds - Ptilopsis

Bryophyta's outfit will be up for sale during So Long, Adele Retrospect

Caper's outfit is a reward from RA2 Tales Within the Sand

Announced a rerun for La Pluma, Elysium, Surtr and Minimalist's Coral Coast outfits, up for sale at the same time as the new Misaligned Sightseer and Epoque outfits

Operator Modules Update

Sand Reckoner being part of the Summoner Supporter branch immediately gets his module

SUM-X module base effect makes the first deployment of Sand Reckoner's summoned unit not count towards the Unit Limit

Wandering Medic branch gets 1 module type

Nightingale gets her second module

RIN-Y module base effect allows Nightingale to heal up to 4 targets at a time

Kal'tsit and Phantom get Integrated Strategies specialized modules

These modules can only be used in Integrated Strategies but have no unlock mission requirements, lower material costs and take only 1 module data block per level

Kal'tsit's IS module allows her to heal 2 targets at once, Mon3tr does not count towards the Unit Limit and has increased Max HP, ATK and received healing

Phantom's IS module makes it so whenever Phantom and his clone attacks it reduces both his and his clone's redeployment time by 1s (up to a limit), the clone does not count towards the Unit Limit and deploying the clone reactivates Phantom's skill

Events and Stories

Inudi Harek, Horakhet, a Sargon side story event

So Long, Adele Retrospect, scheduled after Inudi Harek, Horakhet

Operator Archives update for Eyjafjalla the Hvít Aska, Mudrock, Sand Reckoner, Puzzle, Cement and Czerny

Record Restore update for Ideal City: Carnival in the Endless Summer

Misc Stuff

New QoL changes

Added a number of advanced tutorial stages to teach players about certain mechanics

Module Trust requirements will be changed; Lv1 Module can be unlocked at 0% Trust, Module can be upgraded to Lv2 after reaching 50% Trust and then to Lv3 after reaching 100% Trust

Players can change the skills and modules of operators they borrow from the Support function (like in IS/SSS)

Mudrock, Whisperain and Jackie added to recruitment

SSS New Season #6, Wilderness Zone Security Service - The Royal Victorian Academy of Science & Baiyunjian Pharmacy

Annihilation #27 - Icebound Valley, annihilation mission with The Rides to Lake Silberneherze enemies and mechanics

Livestream Stuff

Showcased Pepe, a 6* Earthshaker Guard that wants to cycle her skills fast and has some neat gimmicks in her kit

First Talent makes it so that she gains 1 SP for every enemy she defeats during skill duration after the skill ends (up to a limit)

Second Talent gives an ATK buff to all Guards when she is deployed

Skill 1 makes her next attack deal increased damage and can hold charges, if she falls under abnormal status like Stun/Freeze/etc while holding a skill charge she will immediately cleanse herself when an enemy walks into her range and perform an attack

Skill 2 expands her attack range, increases her ATK and ASPD and makes her attack enemies within range randomly, subsequent skill activations grants her more ASPD (up to a limit)

Skill 3 increases her ATK and attack interval, enemies hit by her attacks will get Stunned and her main target will get Stunned for even longer, after every few attacks her ATK and Splash radius will increase (up to a limit)

Showcased Narantuya, a 6* Loopshooter Sniper that specializes in being in the frontlines to maximize her damage output

First Talent allows her to Steal ATK & DEF from enemies she attacks (up to a limit, resets when retreated)

Second Talent grants her Physical & Arts Dodge and decreases enemy Physical and Arts Hit Rate within the 8 surrounding tiles

Skill 1 is stance change skill that reduces her attack range in exchange for making her disk jump to nearby enemies (up to a limit) before returning

Skill 2 makes her attacks deal a certain amount of Physical damage and inflict Slow, the disk will pierce her main target and increase in size before returning, hitting every enemy on the way back

Skill 3 allows her to throw multiple disks at once and when she retrieves her disks she deals Physical damage to a number of enemies in the 8 surrounding tiles

Showcased the event mechanic, tiles that reduce ally ASPD/increases enemy movement speed, these tiles can be cleared by attacking them rapidly (uses hit based HP), the tiles will disappear when all connected tiles have taken sufficient hits so players can choose to either deal with small chunks or intentionally connect the tiles with a deployable device to clear out a massive field at once

Announced an expansion for RA2 Tales Within the Sand with a number of new additions

You can capture certain enemies using special devices after weakening them enough, you can bring them to the base and keep them there and even deploy them in battle and have them fight alongside your operators

Added a "peaceful" difficulty setting where enemy raids will be disabled

New gamemode "Vector Breakthrough", looks to be an improved version of Interlocking Competition, you gain buffs depending on the operators you used in the side nodes

Announced the first expansion for IS5 adding a new starting squad and the fourth ending

The starter banner will be changed, it will now have Thorns, Exusiai, SilverAsh, Mountain, Blaze and Saria

New player login rewards have been changed, players can get a headhunting ticket, 10x kernel headhunting, instant 5* E2 voucher, instant 5* Max level training device, T3 material tickets and a starter banner 6* selector ticket (old players will also get these login rewards)

Revealed more info about the Dungeon Meshi collab, confirmed that Chilchuck will be a playable unit and the event mechanic will be gathering ingredients by defeating enemies and cooking them in a pot

[lovewoodvn]

Mermay 2024 surprise attack, part one!!

Okay, so while I didn't do a full month of Mermay, I got a little carried away envisioning the cast of Lovewood (and Lunchbreaks) as sea creatures. Many of them are actually not fish-based, because there were lots of other interesting sea creatures I wanted to feature! Enjoy! 🌊

Atlas - Lion's Mane Jellyfish

Nord - Nudibranch (In retrospect I could've made him a clownfish. Ah well)

Kaileen - Nautiloid

More to follow soon! 🐚

[moonwoodhollow]

Berrys building retrospective pt. 5

Ah, home. Or at least an architectural style I often see on my daily commute and adore it! There's something very nostalgic about these kinds of buildings, that I cannot place as I've never lived in one, but friends in my childhood did so maybe that's why? What I loved reading in the comments, was that some people (mostly Germans) immediately recognised this architecture and felt like it could be a house they'd see in their town, that was a huge compliment!

Either way, this was my first 'partly furnished' cc-build that I shared and it was a pain because I felt I was using too much cc for the interior and I was second-guessing myself a lot; I still love the style I went for in the flat and it's honestly one of my favourite kitchens of 2024 and I created a lot of kitchens this year.

HOHENZOLLERN ALLEE 72-76

a German-inspired 1950s apartment build + a furnished flat

A build download that was in the works for almost a month and made me realise how much I love building local architecture even though it's not the easiest within the constraints of TS4.

It's meant to represent a realistic German apartment build, that is a bit run down and yet still feels homey and nostalgic to those of us growing up near or in these buildings. There's one furnished flat that is ideal for 2-3 sims and furnished in a retro 60s-90s look, that I hope you'll enjoy! This is also a BIG 1K followers gift, with which I want to show my deepest appreciation to all my followers, thank you so much!!

More info, screenshots + DL link behind the cut!

First a little history/backstory to this build:

This build is something you'd see very often in Middle to Northern Europe, less so in the UK, because brick builds there look similar but also different and I based my build off of Northern German brick builds.

The red brick used for these builds dominates the townscapes in quite a few cities where I live and has been used for a few centuries (see Brick Gothic). This build that I based on a real building, however, is more modern and was probably built after WW2, as the design choices, like using tiles on the facades of brick builds is something distinctively 1950s. I know there are older examples, but these buildings usually have more design and decor elements on the facades. These red brick builds were built en masse starting with the 1920s and were usually meant for low-income households. The same goes for the 1950s brick builds, which were built on top of ruins of older buildings destroyed in the war and oftentimes were cheaply constructed and usually don't receive the same appreciation that older pre-war brick builds get, so quite a few are already being demolished for more modern builds.

So what do you get with this build?

Hohenzollernallee 72-76 is a 40x30 lot that I placed in Evergreen Harbor on the Sprucewood Square lot. I created 2 versions of the building, one as a normal residential lot and another as a residential rental. Just choose whatever you want! There are 6 different flats, that have been renovated at different times, which is apparent from the condition of their kitchen and bathroom.. Each flat has its own basement room and the garden is shared between all tenants and there's a shared laundry room in the basement as well.

You'll also have a restaurant shell, the Burger Lab that is not functional currently, but you could make it so if you want.

The furnished flat is playtested and ideal for 2-4 sims max and is heavily 'lived in', meaning very cluttered. I personally see an older woman living there, whose husband already died and her daughter left as soon she turned 18, but the interior was never changed or renovated. I don't know, you could probably come up with a lot of story ideas!

CC is mostly included. You'll find an Excel file with the specific file names and the dl link for all CC that is not included. The build will probably still look okay-ish without the excluded CC but I strongly recommend downloading it, if you do not already have it.

Thank you, especially to these lovely creators: @budgie2budgie, @sforzinda, @surely-sims, @pluto-sims, @syboubou.

@myshunosun, @charlypancakes, @peacemaker-ic, @kkbsmm, @leaf-motif

@awingedllama, @kirsicca, @baufive, @lumenniveus, @kiwisim4 and many more!! it's because of you that this build looks the way it does <3

Uses items from the following packs: For Rent, Growing Together, High School Years, Cottage Living, Snowy Escape, Eco Lifestyle, Discover University, Island Living, Get Famous, Seasons, Cats and Dogs, City Living, Get Together, Get To Work, Werewolves, My Wedding Stories, Dreamhome Decorator, Strangerville, Vampires, Dine Out, Tiny Living, Laundry Day, Backyard Stuff, (Kits): Party Essentials, Basement Treasures, Greenhouse Haven, Bathroom Clutter, Everyday Clutter, Desert Luxe, Little Campers, Décor to the Max, Industriel Loft & Courtyard Oasis

Download: Google Drive | also up on the gallery: aeromantica (but you'll need the cc files from the Drive folder!)

-> Info: I tried to not include merged files, but there are about 3-5 that I missed, sorry :(

TOU: please don’t claim as your own or put behind paywalls etc. If you find any issues (wrong files, etc.) please let me know + tag me if you’ll use the house, I’d love to see it in your games.

[2dkapsddr]

December 21st, 2024 (2/3) - EZ2AC, maimai BUDDiES PLUS, CHUNITHM SUN, ONGEKI

We're BACK!!! with part TWO of this massive series of posts... it's a bit disappointing that the tumblr posting limits don't allow me to combine every score from this session into just one post, but in retrospect it's completely understandable... don't think anyone would wanna scroll through a post with 70 images, no matter how clean of a collage they are . on the upside, making separate posts for separate halves of the session makes for a bigger opportunity to write about certain scores and backstories without making them a slog to read!!! so, if any of those stories correlated to my scores Do pop up, i'll be sure to write about them as best and concisely as possible!!!

...and speaking of score-related stories, we've already got our first one here with the first score of the new post!!! kicking it off by going insida DJ Box... but anyways, this is SND!!! if you saw the post from yesterday (well . not Yesterday as in the time i'm writing the post, but Yesterday as in the daily session before this massive one), you'll know that one of the last few songs i played towards the end of my EZ2ON session with inkss was.... SND!!! this was the song that got him to 20.5 rating (amazing accomplishment btw, i'm still stuck at like 13 or something LOL), but moreover, it was a song i was quickly addicted to because of its rave theme and funny visuals... and to my glee, its BGA was indeed available in the version of EZ2AC following its release!!! what a wondrous day and opportunity, i just had to play it!!! ...only, i forgot just how hard EZ2AC was (mainly the 5K Standard mode) compared to EZ2ON, and so i was met with this tragic last-note fail on the chart when i already had the clear within my grasp... ah, such is life . i'll get it next time, mayhaps...?

alright then, backstory aside!!! i wanted to give it a few more tries in the moment, but it was already my turn in line to hop on maimai again, so let's check it out again!!! ...and once again, a ton of real bad and wonky scores... (massugu stream was legit a terrible chart, but hey!!! since they were both new ver songs, so i got a bunch of rating from them www) . so if you look close at the rating on a majority of these songs, you can see massive rating upscores as i had yet to fill all my new version rating slots!!!

...best score + new version scores are a plight on rhythm gaming though, and i'll still stand by this until games do away with it... but i can't deny how much it beefs up my already beefed-up rating, like over 1k new rating in a single session??? ...but alas, i knew this boost wasn't forever, so that's why i was trying to make the most of it in the first place www . maybe i could even hit 11k this session if i keep at it...

...gah, snap out of it!!! that's more than enough rating for you, quit focusing on it so much!!! we've got other games to play and other funny charts to explore... but my main reason for pulling away from maimai was surprisingly needing to fulfill certain song requests from twitter!!! with these past few maimai sessions (the only suggestion played above being STARTLINER though), i've been knocking out request by request, though admittedly a bit half-assed in the scoring department... still, couldn't do much about it as i really was just that bad at maimai . but you know what i wasn't As Bad at?? CHUNITHM!!!

maimai sessions were too short and the card queue wait was too long, so i quickly needed someway else to scratch that gekichumai itch . and that's when i approached this golden opportunity to grind and improve at one of the other funky sega rhythm games... results? INSANITY!!! it was as if i'd never stopped playing... like, just look at all these individual scores!!! STAR OF ANDROMEDA [Master Lv.14+] FC (+14k upscore btw), a sweet SS on Finite [Master Lv.14+], a sweet sightread SS on Ignition [Master Lv.13+], and even finally getting an FC on Fracture Ray [Master Lv.14+] in local matching!!!!

amidst all the chaotic scores, however, i was suffering through agonizing upon agonizing sessions of AJ grinding, with the target being STARTLINER to get it out of the way in all three GCM games . sure, i could've submitted any of these, but i knew i had it in me... i KNEW i had a christmas miracle up my sleeve, still . just need to charge it up a bit more before i unleash it, of course...

...so to summarize, i'm kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place in terms of GCM scores for now . so why not take a break from it all with some EZ2AC??? namely, why not try seeing if i can finally take down SND before it was my turn up on maimai again? and sure enough, first stage after several failed credits... i did it!!! SND [NM Lv.9] CLEAR!!!! and while i was at it, i also cleared Repulse Stream (RAVEN@TION Remix) [NM Lv.8] with very bad acc, and then i tried SND again to see if i could get better acc!!! (i couldn't) (lol)

...there was still a ways to go until my turn on the maimai cab, but amidst my wait... i saw a different cab freed up and another opportunity to game... on ONGEKI!!!! man, i rarely ever get the chance to play this game, and i sorta regret it because this game is FUN!!! AS!!! HELL!!! only problem is there's so many annoying popups and UIs that i end up skipping the results screen by accident when trying to take a picture of it, which is why you only see two scores here rather than three... thankfully however, one of the scores i managed to get was an S on STARTLINER [Master Lv.11], meaning i had knocked out 2/3 games now!!! 3 if we count the scuffed Chunithm scores, but i still really want to close out that AJ...

whew, okay FINALLY it was maimai time!!! and just in time for the end of my ongeki credit... so then, what amazing scores would we get after waiting in line for so long?? ....nothing of note, unfortunately . got forced to play stupid charts with my friend, so this was sort of a waste of a credit in retrospect... wah, all that time waiting in line and not even a single rating increase !!!

whatever, though . if maimai ain't got my back, i know chunithm does for sure . hopping back on after an exhausting and somewhat disappointing maimai session, i started going HAM with some of this scores!!!! like for one, i instantly kicked it off with a sightread FC on I'm so happy [Master Lv.13+] ft. the shoopster, and then i finally got that MAX-9 ALL JUSTICE on STARTLINER [Master Lv.10] that i've been trying to get for so long!!! ...and now, for the miscellaneous chaotic songs!!! following my little antics, we've got an SS (finally) on HERA [Master Lv.14]!! and then following a suggestion from twitter, we have a few songs to get though!!! the first of which was Insane Gamemode [Master Lv.14], where i slayed with a near-SSS and massive rating increase!!! ....only to have it sabotaged by the evil, evil chart (not really) that is Daitoushi=Klein Vogel Spiel=Erika [Master Lv.14+]... even though i got an SS on the chart on sightread!!!! so unfair... but i wasn't going down without a fight!!! so after yet ANOTHER insane play on another suggestion, Rule the World!! (Master Lv.14, AJ-2!!! maybe next time...), i went back to the song and destroyed it with a +4k upscore to make it... almost an SS+!!! and so began my mix of obsession and rivalry with the song...

aaaand wouldya look at that!!! in what's kind of a perfect timing, i hit the image limit just as i was about to transition over to maimai scores again!!! sooo i think this is the perfect spot to end of this post and come back again with the third and final post for this day's session!! overall, some REALLY good scores in the chunithm department, and a consistently good show of improvement in maimai!!! also super glad i managed to show off EZ2AC in this post, but i don't think there's any more scores of it in the next post... it's all GCM from here baybee!!! welp, i'll see you in the conclusion to this super lengthy saga!!

[fishing-croagunk]

Game Clearing 2024: A Retrospective

You know the drill by now, it's time to go over all those games I played and beat this year.

More detail about my experiences with each game under the cut.

her tears were my light - Jan 8 - Jan 8

Starting off with a game I planned to play last year, but just didn't for some reason. Back in 2022, I played BAD END THEATER by NomNomNami, and I really liked and alluded to trying out some of her other games. As of writing, this is the only other one to be released on Steam so far (though a lot more are available on itch). And, I also really liked it. It's a nice little game, and I would recommend checking it out. Of course, I am purposefully being light on details since I want you go in as blind as possible.

New Zealand Story: Revolution - Jan 11 - Jan 12

When I originally purchased this, I was wondering how much it was changed. It seems like not too much, as it seems almost all of the levels retained their layout from the arcade original. They even have the Heaven levels, which I was pretty surprised about, since this game has infinite continues and a level select. Since it's on the DS, they added in a lot of minigames that use the Touch Screen. Things like Spot the Difference, launching Tiki upwards, and a balancing act. These mini games are fine, but there's one issue with them. Sometimes, winning them will warp you to another level. This means if you want to save the Kiwi, you sometimes need to intentionally lose these minigames to progress in the level, which is a bit counterintuitive. There is a reason to do this, as saving every Kiwi in every level unlocks Expert Mode, where Tiki turns magenta and more enemies spawn. I would not say the Expert Mode much harder than the regular stages, except for a couple chokepoints caused by the increased enemies. I would definitely recommend this version, if you can look past the touch controls.

Tetris Plus - Jan 14 - Jan 18

An arcade game that made its way to home consoles (and the Game Boy), I quite liked it. The meat and potatoes of this game is the Puzzle Mode, where you guide the Professor through a board and to the goal. The professor can climb and fall off of blocks, so in some stages it's easier to have him climb rather clear lines. These strategies really only work if you get the right pieces, and the game's piece rotation means that you may be waiting a while for the only piece that can clear a line for you while hoping the ceiling doesn't come crashing down first. One minor complaint is that since the first few worlds can be played in any order, they all start super easy. Despite being based on an Arcade game, the offers infinite tries, and you can even save your progress. Other than a versus mode and classic Tetris, there's also an edit mode where you can create your own levels, which I think is really neat. I'd say the Puzzle Mode is worth checking out. Also, outside of an arcade-only sequel, the Professor and the Assistant haven't appeared in any other Tetris games which is a bit of a shame as these two are the closest thing Tetris has to mascots (unless you count the SS Tetra crew)…

Cult of the Lamb - Jan 19 - Jan 21

It was pretty fun returning to this game again. Overall, I would say that I like a lot of things added, like the outfits and the drinking. Part of me did wish had more to do on the crusade-side, other than completing Purgatory lines. I did not unlock everything that was added, and that was largely due to me knowing I have a lot of new games to check out. Still, if they are continuing to add content to the game, I'm still gonna come back every while to check it out!

New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe - Feb 10 - Feb 22

Ah yes, the New Soup series. I really like it, and had a lot of fun revisiting Mario U and Luigi U. Honestly, I would have done that even if I don't log my game clearing. I did like playing as Toadette (who I main in a lot of the spinoff titles), even if does trivialize some levels. I also decided to check out the side content, since I literally have no memory of ever playing it. Boost Rush is a perfectly fine mode, and I'd imagine it'd be more fun with friends. The challenges however, are awful. A lot of them take stages from the Story Mode, and add a twist. There's the ones where you run through a course as fast as possible, but most of them don't feel like they were designed with speed in mind. Stringing one-ups off of one series of bounces, collecting coins or avoiding them. Many of them were a pain to just complete, I can not imagine going for a Silver or Gold Medal on all of them! With all that said, since this makes up a very, very small portion of the game (and one I'd recommend skipping completely), I would say I really enjoyed playing New Soup again.

ALIEN XENOBLASTER - Feb 22 - Feb 24

Definitely one of my favorites so far. If I had to describe this game, I would say it's like Donkey Kong, but you have a gun. And you are not Mario, you're trying to stop everyone from reaching Pauline. The enemies come out in waves, and your gun has limited ammo, so make sure you have time to restock before a Goob reaches your cardboard cutout. It's pretty addicting, and I liked the little cutscenes before each boss battle. Oh, and you can play as Peppino and Annalynn, alongside other guest characters. I'm a bit sad more people aren't talking about it, so I'd definitely recommend this one, no notes. Also, this game may be receiving updates in the future, so I might talk about this game again.

Pokemon: Kanto Expansion Pak - Feb 25 - Mar 1

Ah yes, a romhack I was looking forward to ever since it was announced. You might think this would just add in some new mons and call it a day, but no! This hack has new areas, new trainers, and new music, just to name a few. I'm intentionally being vague again since I want more people to go into this blind, but I would definitely recommend it.

Ufouria: The Saga 2 - Mar 9 - Mar 12

I was very excited when this was announced, as I personally consider the NES original to be one of my favorites for the system. And really enjoyed the sequel! It has just as much charm as the original, and the art style is wonderful. I did not care for the achievement that required you to grind coins, but that's completely optional anyway.

Pizza Tower - Mar 13 - Mar 25

It's time to bring the Noise. I was very happy when this came out, mainly because it gave me an excuse to play Pizza Tower again. The Noise's moveset is pretty different from Peppino's, but once you get acquainted with it, it's downright fun. I don't know if there's going to be any more updates to this game or if they're moving onto a new project, but either way I can't wait to see what these devs make next!

Donut Dodo - Mar 29 - Mar 29

Oh boy another arcade-style game! But for whatever reason, the game just never clicked with me. The gameplay's alright, the music and art is good, but I just thought it was okay. To the point where after beating the game once, I felt like moving on. I'd definitely say to try it out, maybe you'll like it more than I did.

Pokemon Silver '97 Reforged - Apr 11 - Apr 17

I really love the unused and beta content in games. And one good example of this is the Spaceworld Demos of Gold and Silver, which were wildly different from the versions we all know today. So naturally a romhack exists that takes these early concepts and turns them into a full fleded game. And this romhack does a great job at that! It's honestly great just going through the early version of the region and seeing / using early designs of mons, as well as mons that never got to exist. Honestly, if this was the game I got to play all those years ago as Gold and Silver, I probably would have loved Gen 2 as much as I do now!

Dangeresque: The Roomisode Triungulate - Apr 17 - Apr 17 & May 27 - May 27 & Jun 27 - Jun 27

I love Homestar Runner. One of my earliest memories online was watching toons on the site, back when Flash was all the rage. And while I never got the chance to play the Telltale Homestar games, I liked checking out this little point-and-click adventure. It's a bit short, but it also has plenty of jokes in it, and a lot of that brand humor I've come to love to the Brothers Chaps. I'd honestly say to play this even if you don't know Homestar Runner. Additionally, the game got two major updates, one Roomisode with Dangeresque Too and the ability to finally play Rig Rug!

Mario Vs. Donkey Kong - Apr 25 - Apr 26

For someone who played the GBA original last year, I was hesitant to play through it again. But then I saw that they added more levels and made some improvements (like removing the score system). The original levels played just as good as they did on GBA, although that might be because I sort of remember what I needed to do. The Plus levels didn't feel nearly as painful for similar reasons. I really liked the two new worlds added, they really fit the feel of the other levels. Plus, I also got to try the Expert levels, which were not as bad as I'd thought they be. I honestly hope they'll make a sequel to this that focuses on the puzzle platforming and not become Lemmings for some reason.

Gimmick! Special Edition - May 1 - May 1

I've played a few of Sunsoft's older titles, but Gimmick is one I've never got around to, until I saw it on Steam. While it is just an NES game, the ability to use save states and rewinds is a nice feature. I would definitely say to pick it up or to play it if you can.

Wario Land 4 - May 4 - May 5

After not playing any of the Wario Land games, I decided to finally rectify that by playing this. And I really liked it! The movement, the transformations, the exploration, it's all so great! I also found the escape sequences to be fun as well. I can definitely see myself playing through this one multiple times!

Gauntlet Dark Legacy - May 7 - Jun 5

This one's a bit of an interesting inclusion. So I actually host Parsec sessions my buddy Nyte (aka Spycrab). And up to that point we've only done Mario Party, but then he encourages me to check out this arcady action adventure RPG, and it was amazing. We ended up playing through with two other friends during our adventure, and it definitely added to the experience. There's so many classes to choose from, so many places to explore, and plenty of stuff to do as you gain exp and gold. Even if you can't find anyone else to play with you, I'd still recommend it.

Grapple Dog - May 8 - May 10

Momentum is what makes or breaks a good platformer. And what would be better for momentum than swinging around on a grappling hook! That's the core mechanic of this game, and not only is it fun to swing around, but the levels are designed to take what you know about Pablo and his grappling hook and take it into directions that makes each world feel great, but one gimmick never overstays it welcome. If you're a big fan of platformers, go pick this up now. And apparently they're working on a sequel, so this definitely won't be the last time you hear about Pablo.

Pokemon White - May 19 - Jun 15

As you can probably tell, I am a huge fan of Pokemon, but for some reason never played Gen V. And I can safely say kid me was missing out. I like the world of Unova, I like the story and the characters, the gameplay is great. There's a reason why many people say Gen V is the peak of Pokemon, and I agree with them.

Mr. Driller DrillLand - May 27 - May 29

Mr. Driller is a series I know vaguely about, so I was definitely curious when they re-released a Japan-only GameCube title to Steam, though this time everyone gets to play it. While I do suck at this game, I quite like how each of the attractions puts their own spin on the formula. Maybe I'll play another game in the series, maybe Namco Bandai will release another game if this sells well. Either way, this game's quite good.

VIVIDLOPE - Jun 25 - Jul 1 & Nov 29 - Nov 30

Of all of the games I've played this year this is definitely a unique one. The game is itself is a like a mix between Q*Bert and Vib-Ripple, for the people out there that have played the latter. I really enjoyed the game, although I did have to switch to a lower difficulty for some of the later levels. I am quite glad that switching to Easy mode and using items has no real penalty other than rankings. While I don't see myself getting all V-Ranks, I might try to get all S-Ranks someday. Additionally, there's a couple extra modes that are also great. Later I came back to play the new update, tying into the Swtich port. Adding in Miss Noir as playable character, and a ton of QoL changes. There's also the X levels, which are scrapped levels, which are probably the hardest levels in game, although the reward you get for beating all of them is really cool. It's a shame more people aren't talking about this one, so it's a strong recommend for me.

Pokemon Emerald Rogue - Jul 2 - Jul 5

It's rare for me to revisit a romhack, but Emerald Rogue received a major update that makes the previous version look barebones by comparison. A re-done hometown, more places to explore, and we're up to Gen 9 now. There's also plenty of ways to customize your adventure, beyond just difficulty settings. If you like Pokemon or Rougelikes, I can't recommend this hack enough.

The Simpsons Game - Jul 7 - Jul 14

Out of the dozens of Simpsons video games out there, there's usually three (four if you count the arcade game) that are generally considered to great: Road Rage, Hit & Run, and The Simpsons Game. And finally getting to play it for myself, I can definitely see why. The writing and humor is spot-on, with plenty of moments that'll get at least a chuckle outta you. The gamelay is alright, you get to play as all of the Simpsons family, and they each have unique abilities that spice up the platforming and puzzle-solving. Generally I'd say to check this out if you're a fan of the show. Also, I played the PS2 version, thinking that the removal of the hub area being the only major change, only to learn that a lot more was changed between generations, including mechanics and entire sections of levels altered or removed altogether. That being said, I do think both versions are good, though I might have to check out the newer gen version at a later date.

Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore - Aug 8 - Aug 8

The CD-i games are legendary, and while I've heard the gameplay is actually decent, most people remember them for the cutscenes. Arzette is a very solid spiritual successor to those games, improving and expanding on the gameplay of Wand of Gamelon and Faces of Evil. There's also a bit of Hotel Mario sprinkled in there for good measure. However, I do think this game definitely stands by itself, with its plot, characters, and music. Honestly, even if you have no experience with the CD-i games, I'd still strongly recommend it!

Wario Land: Shake It! - Aug 24 - Aug 31

I remember wanting to play this one back during the lifespan of the Wii, and finally getting to play it now, it's a very solid game. I think it plays with the formula well, and the motion controls do not take away from the experience! I really liked the secret levels, and the bosses. I did not feel compelled to do the missions, but I did enjoy the little puzzles involved with getting the treasures. Honestly, I think you'll have a good time even if you don't care about completion, largely due to fun levels and wonderful art style.

Demon Turf - Sep 7 - Oct 7

I've played quite a couple of 3D platformers, but I really like how this game takes that formula. Beebz' kit is very fun to use, and the platforming will let truly understand just how wild your moveset is. While I don't care for side content, I do think some of things on offer are neat, even if I don't care to complete it. The game's humor is also excellent, it's worth stopping to chat to the locals of the levels, they've usually got something neat to say. If you like 3D Platformers, I would certainly recommend trying this one out.

Monster Party - Oct 8 - Oct 8

With the Halloween season upon us, it felt appropriate to finally tackle this cult classic. I've seen a few Let's Plays of it way back when, but never played it myself. The levels themselves are fine (outside of the damn labyrinth), but that's not why you play this, you play for it the bosses. Highlights for me have to be the Already-Dead Spider, the Dancing Zombies, the Evil Cat, and the Fried Foods. I would say the game gets easier and harder in the later levels. Easier, since the game starts giving out pills like candy (cause even the devs know trying beat bosses with Mark is a pain in the ass). Harder, because they get really stingy with health pickups, and Bert's laser goes from a quick shot that shoots straight, to a slow wave shot that can whiff very easily. Despite all of that, I would still recommend playing this game, as it's a short adventure, especially if you use save states.

Papa's Freezeria Deluxe - Oct 10 - Oct 14

I have never played any of the Papa Louie games. While I'm sure plenty of people have memories of playing the games on websites in computer labs, I never did that back when was in school (mainly because we played Melee during lunch period and had Quake 3 Arena on every school computer). However, when I saw that one of the games was heading to PC, I knew I had to pick it up. The formula is pretty simple, but man is it fun and addictive. This game is also very casual, as messing up an order only results in a lower score and tip. I'd say to try out any game in this series, as they recently released a new entry where you make ice pops. It's only on mobile though, which is a bit of a shame, as I'd love to see more of their library get ported to PC (like those platformer games that are no longer playable).

Boogerman: A Pick and Flick Adventure - Oct 15 - Oct 16

I've always wanted to check out Boogerman, after playing as him in Clayfighter. And, seeing as I have played the Earthworm Jim games, it was about time to get messy. And boy, is this game kinda rough. Power-ups are usually scarce, but getting hit once loses them, and you start at two, but can get up to three. As his name would suggest, the boogers are your go-to weapon, a quick projectile that gets better with milk. The gas is very situational, either needing to be charged, or so close ranged you're gonna get hit using it. The only time I use it is with a pepper, to fly over enemies. There's also bonus routes, but they're more likely to get you killed than reward you. The mountains are probably the worst levels, as you are pelted with rocks most of the way, and one missed jump can mean losing a lot of progress. Also, no continues and you get a password when you game over, but if you'll probably be on an emulator with save states anyways. I would only recommend this people who think they have the stomach, and I ain't taking about the gross visuals.

Backyard Baseball 2005 - Oct 23 - Oct 25

I have a lot of nostalgia for the Backyard Sports series, my brother and I played them since the first game. Although in my case I watched him play most of the time, as I was too young to use a computer. We even still have all of the CD-Roms, though we stopped buying them when Humongous was no longer the developers. With Backyard Sports apparently coming back, I was hankering to play one of them again. I have the most nostalgia for the 3D games, Baseball 2005 especially. I had never unlocked everything in one of these games nor finish a season, so I was determined to do both. And it was just as fun as I remembered! While there was a bit of jank sometimes, I was also playing this on Windows 10, on a disc I can best describe as "well-loved", via a USB disc drive. I would honestly recommend trying any of the Backyard Sports titles, especially with some of them coming to Steam. Will I be playing through any of them here? Perhaps.

Super Mario RPG - Oct 28 - Nov 3

Here's a game I've heard get universally praised, but I've never played. Actually, I have played the SNES original before, but that was back when ZNES was the go-to emulator, and I don't think I got far. Finally getting to play it now, it might be my favorite game I've played this year. The mechanics really clicked with me, I enjoyed the story, and the game is beautiful. While I have very little experience with the original, I do think most if not all of the changes and additions add to game's overall experience. Regardless if you've played the SNES version, if you've got a Switch, I can't recommend this one enough! A Super Mario RPG remake was seen as a pipe dream for some time, and this game is certainly a dream come true!

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga - Nov 6 - Nov 11

I've never actually played any Mario & Luigi title. So with this coming to NSO, and Brothership coming out to unanimous praise, I knew I had to finally play one of these. And yeah, I can see how this game created its own series. Funny writing, dope mechanics, and a fun world to explore. The minigames were fine, though I never wanted to play any of them more than once. Definitely worth checking this one out (or its remake). Now, will I play Brothership, and any of the games in between? Definitely, and probably.

Sonic Frontiers - Nov 12 - Nov 19

I haven't played that many Sonic games, but I heard good things about it, so picked it up. While I usually don't care for open-world games, I liked it here, even if I have no desire to fully complete it. I enjoyed the various puzzles and levels, and the boss fights were cool, although it got kinda annoying when I was running to get some place, only to have stop because I've entered a boss's arena. Story was also pretty good, though I don't want to spoil anything here. And before you ask, I have also played the Final Horizon, thought it was really cool, and it somehow ended the game on an even higher note for me.

Mendel Palace - Nov 26 - Nov 26

It's sometimes hard to remember that Game Freak makes games outside of Pokemon. Many of them are still held in high regard, such as this one, which is their first one. The game is simple, but challenging: flip tiles and slam the enemies into the walls. Learn what the various enemies do and capitalize on the various tile types. You also get infinite continues, so you don't have to worry about losing progress when you game over. There's roughly a hundred levels to play through, so it'll probably take you an afternoon to beat it. One interesting thing is the Extra Mode, which removes the map menu, but gives you 100 new levels to play, all of them much, harder than the base game! Do you unlock it by beating the game? No. You gotta hold START and SELECT as the game boots up. No idea how anyone was supposed to know that, but I would certainly recommend trying this mode. Additionally, there's also a whole manga about the characters in the game, which apparently ran for a few years, and to my knowledge has not been translated. If I had a nickel for every time a video game got a comic about it afterwards, I'd have two nickels. Either way, a strong recommend from me, especially if you like NES titles.

And here is the year end tierlist. Since I don't really play "bad games", the C and D tiers are a bit misleading. Nothing I've played would receive less than a 5 / 10.

[ao3feedsterek]

Derek's Grand Uncaging

Derek's Grand Uncaging https://ift.tt/nwU7VvR by goresmores A palm cups his right cheek in gentle warning and then Derek pulls back to land a hard-handed smack against it. The force of it sends his body rocking forward, only Derek is quick to slip away and spank him again almost just as hard and in the same spot. Stiles cries out, “Ah! I'm sorry!” His nails curl against the headboard, but the varnish makes it impossible for them to dig in. Another spank and he knows exactly why. “You want my dick that fucking badly, huh?” Words: 4288, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: Teen Wolf (TV) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: M/M Characters: Derek Hale, Stiles Stilinski, Kate Argent (mentioned) Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski Additional Tags: Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Although in a way the porn IS the plot, Relationship Retrospective, Intersex Derek, Cock Cage, Cunnilingus, Vaginal Fingering, PIV Sex, Mild D/s, Dirty Talk, Morning Sex, Mentions of past abuse, Bad BDSM Etiquette, discussions of trauma, Healthy Sterek, Spanking, Lingerie, Stiles also has a vagina, There's no explanation unless you want one, until the smut its written like an ADHD ramble by Stiles, they're both in their 20s dont @ me, Knotting November 25, 2024 at 01:25AM https://ift.tt/nwU7VvR