#and it’s basically just a bunch of vignettes

[workingchemistry]

“The Master plans to enroll him in university next year.” Rico says in casual Japanese.

Kevin twitches, looking over his shoulder to study Riko’s expression—it’s cruel and amused with lingering boredom. “You don’t think he’ll be ready?”

“He’s a pathetic creature,” Rico’s upper lip curls with warning but he doesn’t lash out, “but I do not suffer mediocrity on my perfect court.”

Kevin winces and twists forward again.

[mysteryshoptls]

R Ortho Shroud - Athletic Gear Vignette

“What losers do”

Ignihyde Dorm - Lounge

Ortho: Woah, look at them, Nii-san! They're playing soccer out in the sports field. They look like they're having so much fun.

Idia: Does it, though? I'll pass.

Ortho: Everyone's all muddy, kicking the ball around and running down field… Looks fun…

Ortho: When I think about it, I'm always flying around. Once in a while, I'd like to be able to walk on the ground like that!

Idia: No. No way! Any guy'd kill to be able to float like that, it basically screams you're OP!

Ortho: Ehhh～? Really?

Idia: Only lame weaklings do analog stuff like walking on the ground. The real bosses are the ones that fly.

Ortho: Man… But I bet it'd be so much fun…

Library

Ortho: Hmph, I can't believe him. He gets so stubborn on the strangest things…

Ortho: Let's see, the fashion magazine archives are… Oh, here it is, "Sneakers Special Edition."

Ortho: Wooah, there's a ton of cool-looking shoes here… Ooh, there's a bunch of stylish ones on this page!

Ortho: There's so many different kinds of footwear. I wouldn't've known if I never opened this magazine.

Ortho: What's this say…? "These soles have been engineered to absorb the shock from impacts on the ground in order to provide a pain-free experience for your feet…"

Ortho: …Man.

Ortho: See, I knew it… Walking sounds great. I want to be able to walk on the surface sometimes, too…

Floyd: YOOO!

Ortho: Wah!

Floyd: I love that sneaker brand too～

Ortho: You surprised me… Hello, Floyd Leech-san. Oh, and Jade Leech-san.

Jade: I am more partial to the sneakers on the next page. This brand always does well with its high-quality products.

Floyd: Truuue, I think these shoes fit you pretty good. A bit too boring for me, though.

Jade: Is that right? I feel as though the flashy and bright colors on these sneakers would be perfect for you…

Ortho: There goes my catalog. They're getting pretty into it…

Ortho: Hey. It is that fun picking out shoes?

Floyd: Well, duh!

Floyd: We got feet to walk around on now, so it'd be a waste not wearin' kicks we like.

Jade: Is there one that has caught your eye…? Oh. But with those feet, I suppose you wouldn't be able to wear sneakers.

Ortho: Yeah… That's the problem.

Ortho: I've been thinking that I'd like to walk on the ground like you guys, but… My brother said…

Ortho: "Walking on your own two feet is what losers do! No way you're doing anything that lame!"

Floyd: …Uh-huh. "Losers," huh. Aha! That's pretty hilarious.

Jade: And "lame," is it? I see… Heh heh.

Ortho: I wanna be able to jump in puddles, or kick rocks around, you know…?

Ortho: Hey, are you two listening to me?

Jade: I don't think we can let him get away with saying that. Right, Floyd?

Floyd: Yup, you're right, Jade. We gotta make him realize just how wrong he is.

Jade: If I recall, there was that one personal factoid about Idia-san… Heh…

Ortho: ? What's with those grins? Weirdos.

Sports Field

Three days laterー

Ortho: This is like a dream… I can't believe my brother made me a body that can move around just like a human does!

Ortho: I don't have an anti-gravity unit at all! Look at me, I can stomp on the ground! I can finally do everything I wanted to do.

Ortho: Nii-san, thank you so much. I have the nicest brother in the world!

Idia: Haha, I'm glad you like it, haha, hah…

Floyd: Yeah, yeah, you look real cool. I really like those springs you got in your shoes.

Jade: They do say that fashion begins at the feet. It would be terrible to consider those who cannot fly "losers."

Jade: Right, Idia-san? You agree, don't you?

Idia: Y-Y-Y-Yeah… S-So, uh, a-a-about that one thing…

Jade: No need to fret. You created the "feet" that Ortho-kun wanted, just as you promised, so we shall not divulge it to anyone.

Floyd: Crazy that you got it done in 3 days. Good thing we didn't let your secret slip. Aha.

Idia: Urgh, why do you guys even know about that…? If that ever gets out… It's mortifying to think about…!

Ortho: Hey, Nii-san, let's race. Floyd Leech-san, Jade Leech-san, you both as well!

Ortho: I finally got my brother to build me a body built for exercising. There's no way I can lose～!

Requested by Anonymous.

[kyupidos]

updated 08/02/24: here is a part 2 to this analysis!

i think one of the most disturbing yet funny things about sebek antis is how they manage to twist a well written narration about internalized racism and the struggles of being a mixed person into something relating to “fascism”.

( btw there will be SLIGHTTT b7 spoilers in here but i personally think it’s whatever, no big difference to what we’ve known in the past nothing shocking. )

as his biggest fan AND as an ethnic person i feel as though you HAVE to be brain dead and/or white to not understand any of this. he doesn’t genuinely believe that humans are an inferior race, he has MULTIPLE instances praising human people ( riddle, epel ). and the evidence is in firstly, epel’s school uniform vignette where he praises his apple carving, saying it’s even nice enough to be used as a gift to malleus, and we KNOW how highly he regards him. and not once does he ever say anything like “for a human”, or insult him for “being human”, he appreciates his skill.

then there’s riddle’s ceremonial robes vignette, and while he does look down on him, it’s not really even about being human saying, “i would better be served by weight training than riding with a bunch of amateurs” ( in reference that here we see him initially join the equestrian club ). but once riddle proves his skill, sebek is more than willing to respect him highly.

( a small thing from the harveston event that i’ve been told of from a friend as well, he also holds high respect and love for marja. initially he wasn’t fond of her, but she gave him a squirrel plushie for the plush sled race. because of this he’s basically like, “she’s the only reason i got this far!!” and praises her. i haven’t played the event and this is what my friend says, but i figured to at least include this. )

the most insane part is you don’t even have to scour through every single moment he shows up on screen to know this, it even shows in his WIKI that one of his dislikes/pet peeves is “whining.” to be clear, while admittedly he does make patronizing remarks in regards to humans, it’s never enough to say he has a genuine hatred, and in fact he proves the opposite many times, in both epel and riddle’s case. and, in regards to the personality section, again referencing epel and riddle ( there may be other examples, they just happen to be the ones i found specifically ), he isn’t afraid to acknowledge and respect people for their talent or skills, even if they are human.

and if you’re wondering what i mean by it being ethnically related, fae are canonically ( say it with me now canonically, ) considered to be a minority race. being half human half fae is what makes him mixed, equally canonically so. as far as i’m concerned basically everyone in the fandom knows this but the complexity around this part of his character is just SO undermined that people are willing to call him “openly racist” ( to others, not his internalized racism ) and a FASCIST. are you serious?

we know already that sebek learned a lot of what he thinks now from his grandfather, ( sebek zigvolt wiki, trivia ) considering malleus and lilia commenting that his temper is a trait he gets from him ( scary monsters event story for malleus ), which of course is likely what garners his dislike towards his human aspect and his father for being human, even considering his father outputting, trailing off when noting he is human, while being prideful in his mother who is a fae ( birthday boy vignette ).

and what do we learn about his grandfather? he was in a war against humans, which makes it obvious enough how he would learn this internalized racism and why he would put down that part of his human identity. remember that fae age differently, this war wasn’t even that long ago for them. i think it’s a shame people seem to put so much love into diasomnia but not even recognize its lore that’s rooted so deep yet at the same time is right in front of our face.

but that’s all from me folks. willing to dive deeper into my sebek love and analysis if anyone wants it!

[literary-illuminati]

2025 Book Review #26 – If On A Winter’s Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino

My mother recently started doing some severe post-retirement cleaning and reorganization of her home, which included what was somewhere between an invitation and an ultimatum to go sifting through all the books laying around the house to grab any I might want before 90% of them were disposed of. This provided an excellent chance to get my hands on a bunch of 20th century literature I had vaguely heard of before but didn’t actually know a thing about. Thus, If On a Winter’s Night a Traveller, a blisteringly clever and playful novel that is almost but not quite clever enough to last 260 pages before becoming truly insufferable.

The book is the story of a reader sitting down to enjoy the then newly-published If On a Winter’s Night a Travellerby Italo Calvino. Tragically, only a chapter into the book he discovers that there has been some horrible misprint, and every second page in the rest of the book is totally blank. Returning to the bookstore the following day to get an undamaged copy, he finds himself falling ever further into a farce, each attempt to read more of the last book he opened instead revealing itself to be the first chapter of an entirely different story. Pulled along by chance, circumstance, and a magnetic attraction to the similarly curious reader Ludmilla, he become impossibly entrapped in a bizarre conspiracy of counterfeiters, censors and false translations all engaged in vast esoteric contests over the true significance of reading, authorship, and truth.

So leaving the plot, characters and philosophizing aside for the moment (for better and worse), the most interesting and enjoyable thing about the book by far is the formal experimentation. Each of the different stories the protagonist reads the first chapter of is relayed(either paraphrased in great detail or entirely written out) in a very distinct voice and style than either the main narrative or any of the others. This could easily have been absolutely intolerable (and was beginning to wear out its welcome by the time we got to ‘1970s Italian guy writes pastiche of Japanese literature”), but on the whole I found it an absolute delight. It was overwhelmingly an excuse for Calvino to play around and show off, of course, but he is one of the vanishingly rare authors who can actually pull something like this off.

I was left wishing I either had far more context for the contemporary literary scene Calvino was responding to, or just that I was reading one of those later editions with an introduction by some English professor that spoils the entire plot before you start the book but also explains every reference made at length. I am nearly certain that at least some of the different vignettes were riffing on particular works or trends and that I’d have enjoyed the book more if I’d been familiar with them.

The actual plot I honestly found less endearing. Or better to say, I was enjoying it thoroughly when it was a more grounded farce of a basically average reading enthusiast nursing an intense infatuation with a woman he ran into at the book store and accidentally starting new stories in more and more improbable ways. It got a bit less enjoyable when the framing device plot itself because just as exaggerated and obviously trope-driven as any of the stories, centring around a globally infamous false translator and fraudster who fills the world with false and insincere stories for the sake of getting back at his lost love (the woman the narrator had quite coincidentally become infatuated with). Though I suppose that’s just a preference on my part for the framing device to be more mundane than the fictional excerpts – and in any event the more grounded comedy was usually funnier than the Austin Powers-esque farce it ended up at.

Some allowances have to be made for this being written 50 years ago. But also, oof does the writing of women in this feel like genre fiction written 50 years ago. No screeds or anything, but when the story stops to lampshade and poke fun at itself for every single female character (in both framing narrative and pieces of fiction) seemingly existing mostly to sleep with the protagonist, the bit of self-awareness ruins all possible charity I might feel towards the text. The most significant woman in the book by some margin is Ludmilla – ostensibly positioned for a bit as the book’s deuteragonist, quickly left behind afterwards and only really of significance to the plot insofar as all these different men are obsessed with her.

Speaking of being written 50 years ago – truthfully I did not realize that ‘postmodernism’ as a movement was quite so old. Always thought of it as more of a ‘90s thing than a ‘70s one. But there’s really no possible other way to describe this book. It’s somewhat amusing how the portrayal of academic life could be inserted into a work published any time up to today without raising anyone’s eyebrows, though.

This is fundamentally (and very explicitly) a book about books – about writing and reading, really, the relationship between author and audience and the nature of truth in literature. As a rule, I find this sort of thing insufferably masturbatory and self-congratulatory, but Calvino really does almost pull it off. An impressive feat which is basically entirely down to the quality of the prose and the translation. It really is very beautiful at points, and legitimately funny at others. Not, I think, enough to really sustain it for the entire length of the book, but it comes quite close.

I can’t say I recommend this without reservations, but it was certainly an interesting and fascinating read. If you suffer some fundamental damage like I do and get a consistent kinks of reading authors imitating dramatically different styles and voices n the same work. Just be prepared to roll your eyes a bit.

[lazyscience]

Have finished Careless People, and my biggest takeaways:

Mark Zuckerberg's favorite president is Andrew Jackson "because he got a lot of shit done," his favorite Roman emperor is Augustus, who was the one who made the Republic into an Empire, and he asked Xi Yinping - yes, THAT Xi Yinping, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, chairman of the Central Military Commission - on the second time meeting him for less than 5 minutes, to name his child. This guy loves authoritarianism like Swifties love Taylor. I wouldn't tell this fucker I was on fire and needed to be put out for fear of who he'd sell that information to, he certainly wouldn't do anything USEFUL about it.

Facebook, despite any public protestations otherwise, is certainly not sorry about serving beauty and diet ads to depressed teens and pro-ED communities, racist and inflammatory content that resulted in rioting in Myanmar, invasive monitoring to block human rights activists in China or ragebait to drive "engagement" with Trump ads. They are not even embarrassed at being caught - they are ANGRY because they don't understand why any of that was wrong. They think they should be able to brag about how good a job they can do giving political candidates, the surveillance state and predatory capitalist enterprises exactly what the customer wants targeted, even if the customer's fucking evil and it results in peoples' deaths. It's like the Nuremberg CITATIONS 'but look what a GOOD JOB we did, that should count for something, we were very effective helping fascists."

Amusingly, despite number 2, no Facebook executives allow their children to use Facebook. Or apparently screens in general for that matter.

Sheryl Sandberg is currently promoting a documentary about the October 7th victims of sexual assault by Hamas. There is nothing wrong with that at all, rape, particularly as a tool of racial/religious hate is vile and needs to be called out. But interestingly, Sheryl, where were you and the documentary film crews in Myanmar when it was Rohingya women being mass raped? And where violence, including sexual violence, is still happening in the year of our lord 2025? Oh, that's right, Facebook helped facilitate THAT ethnic violence, so we need to keep that one hush-hush. Oopsie! Another case as with her boyfriend Bobby K, if we did it it's fine, it's only a war crime when it's someone else!

In case you needed ANOTHER reason to hate Sheryl Sandberg, this charming vignette about Facebook's brief foray into promoting organ donation (this bitch actually wanted FACEBOOK to be INVOLVED in collecting people's transplant information!):

Sensing danger, I pivot to the risk of organ trafficking. I explain that countries have put a lot of thought into safeguarding organ donation information and guarding against cross-border transportation of organs. She turns to me, indignant. The edge in her voice is unmistakable. “Do you mean to tell me that if my four-year-old was dying and the only thing that would save her was a new kidney, that I couldn’t fly to Mexico and get one and put it in my handbag?”

Completely aside from the elephant-sized racist entitlement thinking that because a rich white twat waves a bunch of money at a Mexican doctor of course they would give her a kidney, perhaps wrapped up in a Thanks For Your Business! red and white plastic bag with a complimentary taco - what in the lacking even a BASIC understanding of "this shit's complicated and maybe there are good reasons for rules" - like, you think you can put a fucking kidney from a total rando in a Coleman, shake a bag of ice over it and go? BLOODBORNE ILLNESSES? FROSTBITE? DONOR MATCHING? I can't with these people who are allegedly supposed to be smart.

These people really are straight out of a Great Gatsby novel. Their singular drive is proving they're superior to people they despise, obsessed with the trappings of status while being wholly unable to enjoy them as an experience, just as "I'm better than you," who will expect you to go to JAIL for them but then literally step over your twitching body if you need help, and are incapable of imagining a world where they had accountability for their actions, as opposed to simply claiming credit. That's for lesser people, that's for the people who work FOR me.

Meta are claiming it's a smear job, but - these stories, this story, doesn't reflect flatteringly on the author, either. She freely admits that it took her way too long to realize Facebook was never going to be the "force for good" she envisioned, and when she had that realization she was still for a long time was trying to extricate herself in a way that preserved the financial and career benefits she had gotten used to, of being Somebody Important who advised global concerns and rubbed shoulders with diplomats and heads of state. If Meta had been smart enough to ignore this book, I don't know that I would have found the story sympathetic enough to pick it up.

And I'm glad I did, because it was a useful insight. Oh, not into exactly what it IS Facebook does to do its data criming at ALL, you need resources like WIRED and Techdirt for that, authors more interested in the technology itself rather than the implications. But to understand who the true believers are and the ...pettiness of it all, that's helpful. They're not supervillains. It's not a long-brewing plot of world domination. They're just assholes who don't want to pay taxes like every business ever.

(And clearly working in tech is even worse than working in medical. Man, I thought my previous employer sucked? They were a beacon of support and sanity compared to Meta, apparently and that's really fucking disturbing.)

[becdecorbin]

TRAUM's first anniversary!

May 2nd is the date when TRAUM first started updating on comicfury. TRAUM story 1 especially is a lot of firsts for me, a continuous story that has a conclusion. but of course, TRAUM 2 picks up where the first story left off.

I'd also had never drawn so many pages for one comic, TRAUM 1 ended up being 333 pages long, total.

Chapter 1: 64 pages

Chapter 2: 62 pages

Chapter 3: 96 pages

Chapter 4: 111 pages

which is... just bonkers to me. how'd I manage that, haha. I mean, it does help that each page is in black and white and there's typically 3 pages per panel on average.

putting the rest of my rambling behind a cut, this ended up a bit long.

I'd been burned out on comics for a good while after Daddy Long Legs in 2011. considering it was a full colour comic with self-contained vignettes each update (once a week, even), is it any wonder I burned myself out. the setting also, unfortunately, no longer interests me. I may have done some things differently and I had comic ideas that never came to fruition, but oh well.

even so, sequential narrative art kept beckoning me, I'd been drawing shorter comics for ages and only when I stopped entertaining every single idea as Next Potential Comic Project I could take it easy. just drawing for fun. even if I had a few webcomic ideas that, alas, never quite materialized due to being too ambitious.

TRAUM isn't intended to be anything world-shattering or thought-provoking: what I set out to do was to draw characters going on adventures and seeing how they interact with one another, much like I used to do when I drew comics as a kid by the seat of my pants. it's fun to see characters doing their own thing.

TRAUM 1's story originally started with a basic premise: the subject of grief, bereavement. and because I'd been reading a bunch of Oz books I wanted to make my own scarecrow character, so Wedge was born. a scarecrow standing in a field and unaware their master had died long ago, and after that point they begin questioning their role as scarecrow. what can a scarecrow do if there's no field to scare crows away from? their ability to eat crows came first, but since they're able to do that, surely they can cry, too? I didn't initially intend Wedge to become a main character but it just kind of happened. the character relationships formed organically. I started shipping Wedge and Helmi! truly strange! but I ended up loving their chemistry.

after chapter 2 of TRAUM 2 ends, I uh, I'll see what I'll do, I've been working on another comic project, Lush&Flora, I have the first story fully thumbnailed and pages set up. chapter 3 of TRAUM 2 only needs to be inked and toned at this point, but I'll see how I'll find the time and energy, I'll probably have to put the comic on hiatus while I work on L&F.

in any case, thank you for reading TRAUM so far. I hope you've been enjoying it. it's definitely attracted a few detractors here and there, some not fans of Helmi and Wedge's relationship, someone else considering the comic to be boring, but, vast majority of folks commenting on the comic have been very civil and kind. I hope you enjoy other creative endeavours I may work on in the future, whether TRAUM related or not, only future can tell.

thank you!

[yuri-is-online]

Happy Holidays! I’ve been on a bit of an angst fix lately, so if you don’t mind, I’m going to brainrot in your inbox about it.

I’ve been thinking about a scenario where Yuu just finally snaps. I mean, an entire school year of being trapped in a foreign world with no certain hope of seeing your family again, being forced to contend with (at least) 7 life-or-death scenarios, the massive egos these teenage boys have, and probably at least a little bullying from the NRC students for being magicless. I mean come on, I love our boys and all, but a lot of them are kind of awful people. There’s no way a regular person’s mental health survives that.

And maybe Yuu, tired of it all, packs up what little they have and leaves. Surely their prospects couldn’t get any worse than at NRC. Maybe Yuu tries their luck at RSA in finding someone to help them go home. Maybe Yuu just wanders until they find somewhere where they can be something. Would they even leave a letter behind explaining what happened to them, or would they just assume no one would care anyway?

I just want some more Yuu angst lol

Do you have any thoughts on this?

Happy Holidays to you too annon! Everyone is welcome to brainrot in my inbox, especially about Yuu. And I do have some ｢(ｰﾍー;) but I might be a bit nicer to the NRC boys than they deserve.

notes: they/them used for Yuu, more fleshed out fic can be found on my masterlist here. SPOILERS FOR UNRELEASED CH 7 CONTENT. CW for abandonment issues, ptsd, bullying, and just general ignorance on the part of the OB boys. Heavy on the angst, this is a mega oof tm of a post.

I want to start off by saying that, in my personal opinion based off of the in game voicelines and vignettes, that the various NRC boys do like Yuu and enjoy having them around. They think of them as the same of any other freshmen student at NRC, which is sort of the problem.

The average NRC freshmen has magic, a dormitory with a housewarden responsible for "guiding" them, and a family they can fall back on if things get rough. The average student has a basic understanding of the history of the world they live in, of it's pop culture, it's food, it's clothes, and a bunch of other things that they might not think about because of how ingrained it is in their very being. Yuu has none of those things. They don't even have a cannon club which I think is more meant to allow players to have head cannons, but since we are talking angst I have wondered if since Yuu and Grim are one student, any club Yuu wanted to join would have to take Grim as well and no one wanted to deal with that. So Grim started his own "club" and Yuu just takes pictures of birthday celebrations and events they aren't able to fully participate in for the school at Crowley's request.

Ace's first reaction to Yuu is to bully them for not having magic. Deuce admits to having done the same thing as when he was a child, and is very embarrassed by it. We don't really see Yuu getting outright bullied outside of this, but given how the faceless students reacted to Deuce being excited for Starsending, yeah I think Yuu has had to deal with some bullying. And while I do think Adeuce (and the rest of Heartslabyul really) would stick up for them, it wouldn't make it stop. If anything it just gets sneakier and Yuu, not wanting to cause any problems, does their best to cover it up. Something about keeping a stiff upper lip or a smile better suiting a hero and all that.

The overblots is a whole separate issue. We get two real apologies, one from Riddle and one from Vil, who again do not take Yuu being magicless in to much thought. They think of Yuu highly! They are a housewarden of their own little dorm! And they take such good care of Grim and the others, not to mention all those overblots you survived! Not many mages can claim that but you can! What could you possibly have to be stressed about?

As if that isn't the entire problem. As if anyone understands where Yuu is coming from. As if they even would care if they did.

They might be just as capable as any other freshmen, but when school ends, hell even when it goes on a break, they have no where to go. They were stripped from their friends, family, and especially their belongings, including money and autonomy! I have some thoughts about my own Yuu wanting to be nurse in her world, but given how much of even basic medical care seems to rely on magic in Twisted Wonderland I wonder if that would even be a career path any magicless person could take. We know a lot of them work at Styx because they don't risk blot accumulation, but even cooking is done with magic (if it can be) in Twisted Wonderland! How would you feel if you had your heart set on being a doctor, worked really hard to get good grades and took up a part time job to save for college/university only to be transported to a different world with different laws of physics completely against your will. A world where all that hard work is meaningless and you might not be able to accomplish those dreams of yours. And! AND AND! If you get upset about it, that will be seen as a weakness on your part and no one will care.

Because hey, they had to work for what they have. Why can't you? They didn't ask to be born with magic (even though they would have probably) so there is no use crying about things you can't change. Ruggie and Jamil do seem to feel a bit of sympathy to Yuu's plight, but neither of them think twice about exploiting Yuu for their own gain. Sure it might be unfair, but life is in general! It's not their fault, they aren't to blame. And that's really how all of NRC sees it, they aren't to blame for Yuu's circumstances, so they aren't owed any special treatment.

How Yuu snaps and what they do because of it would really come down to how you hc your Yuu to be. My own personal thoughts come back to personal autonomy a lot; I don't think Yuu has much of it and that would grate on me constantly. I could see Yuu hearing their friends talk about their plans for the future, and though Ace and especially Deuce try to include them in the conversation they can't add much. Ace applauds them, says "we need to take things easy! We're still freshmen..." and drones on about how he just wants to enjoy school life. And maybe Yuu does too, but they have no concrete answer about whether or not they can get home. They don't have the support system that their classmates do, so there really isn't anything waiting for them after the school year ends. Yuu feels so helpless, and they don't have the words to explain how they feel, because how could they?

If Malleus's overblot ends without any real repercussions (which I doubt it will but hey, I am like 65/35 on whether or not he apologizes to Yuu specifically for almost killing them I will be so pissed if he doesn't) I could see everyone else making fun of Malleus for loosing while Yuu just. Stares off into the distance, trying really hard not to cry in front of people they are convinced will make fun of them. This has all been scary, things like this just aren't possible in their world and they aren't mentally prepared to face death again.

And they are convinced they will. You can say overblots are rare all you like, but Yuu has practically seen one once a month ever since they arrived in this world. It is normal to them, and who should they trust? The lying headmaster or their lying eyes and ears?

If Yuu decides to run away, I think that the Ramshackle ghosts might try to stop them. Sure the headmaster sucks, but your ghost buddies really love you! And want to support you in anyway they can, so does Grim! He wants to be together for the next 100 years, and while he does really want to stay at NRC so he can be the world's greatest mage... I think he might love Yuu more. Just a tiny bit. He would play it off as him being too good for the school, or that he and Yuu are only one student after all so he will be expelled... but really he wants to come with because he will be worried about Yuu.

While going to RSA does sound nice on paper, Yuu doesn't really have a reason to go there. They aren't exactly on first name basis with any of the students we've met so far, and there is always the risk of Che'nya snitching to Riddle and Trey. Better to try and find a place where they can be something and maybe send letters to all the magical academies they can get contact information for to see if they can help. And also, to see if they will accept Grim as a full student, got to make sure he isn't sacrificing his dream for nothing!

The ghosts, realizing they can't convince Yuu not to leave decide to help. They already sell things at the markets downtown, so maybe they chat with some of their clients and convince them to let Yuu rent a room for a while. You have the option in Portfest to mention you have been to Craneport before, and I like the thought of Yuu having a part time job there. Maybe the ghosts explain that Yuu has no real family to go back to and Yuu's part time employer agrees to give them a full time job while Yuu figures out where they want to go.

Another thing related to personal autonomy, Yuu wouldn't have government documents if they just got isekaid out of the blue. I could see that being a huge issue for traveling to different countries and trying to establish a life. I also wonder if Crowley even did anything about that... but assuming he did since he (allegedly) talked to the school board about what to do with Yuu I think the ghosts would get them for Yuu on the condition they still come visit sometimes.

As for the note, I think Yuu would leave one simply because they feel like they didn't have the words to explain themselves out loud. And because they don't want to face the fight they know will come where everyone tells them to just suck it up and get on with it. These are teenage boys they are dealing with, their brains just can't fully comprehend the situation Yuu is in and they have given up expecting them to.

Just so we're clear, I think this would devastate Ace and Deuce, maybe to the point of destroying their friendship, at least for a while. Ace does think about Yuu not having magic, he wants to protect them. He says so when you level him to max, that protecting you will be easy, but clearly it wasn't. Clearly he failed you, and what does Ace do when he feels bad? He takes it out on everyone else and in this case especially Deuce. Deuce just feels stupid, which he already does a lot, but he really saw you as being around for the rest of his life. And now you aren't, and not for a happy reason like you got to go home. You aren't there because they failed you.

The others are a bit of a mixed bag I could do a separate post about but to hit the other big one...

I have no real idea how Malleus would react. I can see him thinking this means Yuu is afraid of him now, which I don't think he would react well to, but assuming this is post ob then he might be willing to take responsibility for it. It would certainly make him think, but how that thought would manifest? Outside of the obvious weather changes I do not know. I could see him being slightly resentful to his mother for cursing him to be hated by humans and loved only by fae when he so desperately wanted to be loved by one specific human. They were his first real friend, and he didn't treasure them in a way they found meaningful.

idk Yuu dropping off the grid isn't something I can see Crowley letting happen, but I can see why Yuu would want to try.

[thegoldencontracts]

(Overlooked Aspects Of) Cater Diamond

Okay, so to start off, this post is not intended to judge anyone. All headcannons of Cater are completely valid, and I would not only not mind - but also actively appreciate - if someone wanted to make corrections or arguments in reblogs or comments. This is just an analysis of parts of Cater that I believe are not given much focus, and would therefore like to highlight. With that being said:

Cater Diamond is a very complex character beneath the surface of a friendly, Magicam-obsessed senior. Definitely more to him than meets the eye. There's obviously the fact that he's certainly not as happy as he claims to be, but less frequently mentioned is the reason why.

Cater's Lab Vignette introduces this aspect of Cater's character, with the storyline of him making mandrakes with Lilia and Vil. The mandrakes are said to reflect the traits of the person infusing magic into it, and Cater's-

Vil: Oh, dear... This mandrake's hugging its knees and huddling in place.

Cater's also mentioned to make a bunch of mandrakes and hide the ones that don't fit the happy 'Cay-Cay' image. In a way, this is also an analogy for himself, hiding the parts of himself that don't seem perfectly upbeat from others.

Now, why exactly does he behave this way? The most common answer is usually that his sisters forced him to conform to their standards of cuteness, and that in pleasing them, he developed his current facades of a perfectly cute and happy senior. And although his sisters likely did play a part in it, there's also another reason for the distance he puts between himself and others.

In Cater's Halloween Vignette, he mentions the following:

Cater: I guess I have a wide circle of contacts, sure. My dad works at a bank that has branches all around the world, so every time he was transferred to a new office, the whole family went with him. We moved about once every two years. I'm a real pro at packing by now, lemme tell you. ... Cater: But for all the people I met, one thing never changed( ...) I would always leave, and they would always stay. That's why I always tried to be on good terms with everyone, rather than forge strong bonds with a chosen few. Like a circus performer who has a grand old time with people from around the world, and then packs up and moves on. In that sense, Magicam's been seriously great because I can get messages from people I knew at school three years ago. I can have all the casual connections I can handle. And that's just my speed, right?

Essentially: Cater's moved so often that he's adapted to forming shallow connections with everyone he can rather than actually trying to bond with him. He wants casual connections, because that's what he can handle. He views people rather impersonally, because he knows that he'll have to leave them eventually.

And that's likely a major reason for the facade he puts up. He's afraid of being vulnerable. Of forming a bond with someone and getting attached, only to have to leave them behind eventually. "Cay-Cay" the agreeable senior is a tool to form these casual little connections and play nice without getting attached, so that, when he inevitably has to leave, he doesn't get his heart broken.

This also leads to and explains another aspect of Cater's character: His occasionally questionable morality.

Cater had frequently displayed a willingness to trick people into doing his bidding. Not evil, by any means, but still questionable. There's obviously his introduction in Book 1, where he straight-up tricks Ace and Deuce into doing his work for him, and there's also scenes like Jade mentioning he'd like to have Cater as an older brother, one of the reasons being-

Jade: ...His ability to collect and disseminate information on Magicam is mind-boggling.

Basically, Cater is willing to use other people to do his bidding, and part of this stems from the fact that he's always keeping them at an arms' distance. You know, nothing personal, bud, just how the world works.

Anyways, in short, a large part of Cater's facade is caused by a fear of vulnerability stemming from the lack of permanence in his life, and that also affects his willingness to use other people.

With that being said, one final thing. The fic that inspired me to put all these thoughts about Cater together into one post. Its take on Cater's family is super refreshing!

The Company's Quite Nice (On Crimson Nights Like These)

[vera-king-hrfl]

For those of you still interested, 2 new chapters of What Dreams May Come have just been posted on my AO3. My chapters tend to run together, so back up as far as you want if you need more context, but the fun starts on this page. I am well aware at this point that I'm basically writing for an audience of around 3 people, including @crowwolf who helps me write it, but I had to put in a little bit dedicated to our buddy @graysparrowao3 😊

CW: just... all the things. This latest chapter is a literal drug fueled orgy starring about 40 people. Vignettes range from suggestive to explicit. M/M, F/F/M, etc... various and otherwise. If any combination of fucking bugs you stay far away. 😂

The event begins with a performance at Raphael’s cabaret, the House of Hope. After a suggestive and magically enhanced balletic performance featuring people wearing only body paint and illusion, the attendees are already a bit worked up. What nobody expects is a certain cheeky incubus has played a trick on them all. Spoilers below the cut.

I was having fun with this one. There have been a few pairings I've wanted to write for a while now, and I just couldn't fit them logically into any of my stories. So I did it illogically. These scenes are all pretty short.

The ones I wrote out include:

Ulder Ravengard and Jenevelle (Shadowheart) with a femme OC (my Nienna). This one is partially written and more suggestive than explicit.

Damays and Raphael with a femme OC (@crowwolf Kitalia) Explicit.

Zevlor and Rugan. Explicit. Note to @graysparrowao3 I'm sorry, I didn't want to copy you, so I think he kind of veers into cockney pirate territory 😂. He does use one of your lines because it gave me chills when I first read it and launched my whole obsession with him. 🥰

Cal and Astarion. Explicit. Throughout the entirety of writing Where Our Demons Hide, Heat of the Night, and all my earlier stories, I have never written smut with Astarion. Today, I break that streak and honor his sassy self with a ride on my favorite sweet boy, Cal. 😁

You might have noticed one name that does not appear. My own main OC, Ryldinn. That's right; he's not in any of these scenes, and along with Florrick and Karlach, is one of the few people who both wasn't dosed with the toxin, and had sex with absolutely no one. Poor baby 😅

I have so many of these. He either looks super annoyed or deeply disturbed in almost all of his pictures 😂

Suggested but not depicted are:

Lia, Lakrissa, Alfira and our OC half-orc Max

Dammon, Nym and Sorn Orlith.

Rolan and transmasc Gale.

There's a bunch more pairings and groupings that went on in the city that I haven't mentioned yet, but will be spoken of in the next few chapters. I've basically been setting up the cast of characters for this in the weirdest way possible. Enjoy! 🤣

[vintagerpg]

Another thing I feel like I say a lot: zine is a sort of meaningless term, interchangeable with chapbook and booklet and probably other words that all refer to the same basic format. I think for a lot of folks “zine” implies photocopied and chapbook means “really nice paper” and I am usually dismissive of these sorts of taxonomies. However! I have a bunch of publications (both real and, courtesy of the HP Lovecraft Historical Society, fake), dedicated to short monographs on different historical subjects or artifacts. These are formal looking, are printed on fancy paperstock and just feel, well, academic in their presentation. They’re still essentially zines, but also somewhat different. Tyler Vance’s Void (2021) feels of a kind with those.

Void: Records from the Frontier 001 is a world building exercise consisting of six of Vance’s gorgeously strange, fossil-like paintings accompanied by brief vignettes. Taken together, the reader/viewer should begin to cobble together some facts �� there is a Void, people go in, sometimes they don’t come out, sometimes they come out carrying things with them. I don’t want to pollute your potential experience with my notions, so I will mostly leave it at that, but I find it and its sequel volumes wonderfully meditative and evocative. (OK, a little more: Stalker, Annihilation and Gibson’s short story “Hinterlands” are all touchstone for my reactions to Void).

I think it is well known that I like these sorts of no-system world-building projects (A Thousand Thousand Islands, Rainy City, Lodestar to Karamouska), but I like that this goes one step farther and, aside of the artist’s statement at the front, it feels like an in-universe artifact, a catalog for some strange museum exhibit, an auction book, a secret black market log. Volume two has similar vibes and oh man, volume three, A Young Person’s Introduction to Erratics, takes things in a fantastic new direction (that is pretty clearly signposted by the title). It will pull you even further into this strange underground.

Grab all three from his store. You won’t be sorry!

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I love all the information on your blog! If you have a moment, would you confirm something? In every fanfic with Lilia he seems to use his bats to watch over others (particularly Silver) and can even use them to spy. (Basically, he's the bat master.) In the game does Lilia ever use bats for anything or are they just part of his aesthetic?

I checked all the Lilia content I could and (surprisingly) Lilia never mentions the bats or their relation to him in TWST canon. In fact, he never states that he has them do anything for him at all either. The fandom/fanon emphasizes the “bat” aspect + utility of Lilia far more than official content does, with fans often incorporating bats into his regular activities.

Lilia usually does tasks by himself in canon (even delivering Malleus’s holiday note to Yuu himself rather than relying on bats to do it). He doesn’t use bats to help spy on others either, even in situations when it would be a considerable boon (such as during the human-fae war, when having bats scout the area ahead for human soldiers would have been beneficial). This is consistent with other characters’ accounts as well. When Silver describes his childhood, he recalls that Lilia would go on globe trotting journeys and leave Silver alone in their cottage to look after the house and himself. Not once does Silver ever remark that bats watched over him in place of his father; it was either his woodland creature friends or the Zigvolt family that watched Silver in Lilia’s absence.

(Note: one scene that’s difficult to interpret due to the visual novel medium of TWST is when Yuu and co. meet General!Lilia in book 7; there is a part where a bunch of bats flood the screen, but it’s unclear whether they’re just wild animals of the forest or if they’re following Lilia’s command.)

The only prominent time Lilia mentions bats is in his own Dorm Uniform vignettes, in which Silver and Sebek bring home an injured bat and Lilia nurses it back to health. Lilia demonstrates knowledge of bats, but nothing more beyond this (as he takes care of the injured one just as he would look after a human infant like Silver). At the end of the vignettes, Lilia prompts the bat to return to its family; he does not indicate if he is already familiar with the swarm of bats the recovered one is going to.

Bats are definitely a part of Lilia’s “aesthetic” though! He wears bat motifs in his clothes (such as on his Clubwear T-shirt and on Suitor Suit’s chain). Bats are also commonly included in his “image” artwork, such as his Birthday cards—and bats are even featured on Lilia’s character coffin design. They’re clearly a very important symbol for Lilia as a character.

I think where the confusion (or headcanon?) comes from is that Lilia is seen with bats helping him in or appearing during lessons (the gameplay mechanic). Most notably, a swarm of bats holds Lilia’s broom for him in Flight Class. The bats also appear in other aspects of gameplay, such as Alchemy Class and in battles (although they aren’t shown actively “helping” Lilia in these instances; it’s more like the bats are just there).

This probably led to fans speculating or assuming that Lilia has the ability to communicate with bats and can get them to do his bidding. (Isn’t it crazy what a few little animations can spark in a fandom? 😂) Part of this may also come down to the fact that Lilia himself is a nocturnal fae and displays many bat-like or vampiric tendencies himself, such as being averse to sunlight, staying up late/being nocturnal, greeting others while being upside down, and his preference for tomato/berry juice.

So! It’s just a “logical leap” to make, I guess 🦇

[mysteryshoptls]

SSR Ruggie Bucchi - Platinum Jacket Vignette

"Happy 100th Anniversary"

[Land of Dawning – National Museum of Art]

Ruggie: Can't believe I'm here bein' a supporter for some museum like this. Guess ya never know what life's got in store for ya.

Ruggie: I mean, I totally wouldn't've ever paid to see paintings that I can't even fill my belly with…

Ruggie: But I guess it's okay if I don't gotta pay. I wonder if they got paintings I've seen in my textbooks.

???: This painting… These are the hyenas from the King of Beast's legends. When the three of them are lined up like this it's kind of intimidating…

Ruggie: Well, yeah, they were out there patrollin' lava quarries 'n goin' out on scoutin' missions, so.

Trey: You sure know your stuff, Ruggie. I guess that would make sense for a hyena beastman to know.

Trey: But still… Both patrolling and scouting seems like painstaking work.

Ruggie: Oh, yeah. From the stories I've heard, they had some pretty tight scrapes…

Ruggie: Like there's one where while they were out chasin' some stubborn foe, they ended up runnin' off a cliff tryin' to catch 'em…

Ruggie: Which had 'em endin' up flyin' into some real prickly thickets.

Trey: If it were me, I'd probably hesitate, worried about getting hurt. Guess the hyenas who worked under the King of Beasts were just that brave.

Ruggie: Brave? Then I guess I'll take that compliment, too. 'Cause I've jumped into thorny thickets like that a buncha times!

Trey: You've jumped into the thorny thickets…? A bunch of times!? Why would you do that…?

Ruggie: Actually, did you know? In the Sunset Savanna, there's this real steep cliff that's become a bit of a tourist attraction.

Ruggie: It's the perfect place to catch the settin' sun, so a ton of tourists go up there to snap a pic, leanin' over the fences 'n everything.

Ruggie: And like, sometimes there's folk that'll get so focused on settin' up the shot, or that'll bump into others that they'll drop and lose stuff.

Trey: I'd expect they'd have to let their stuff go if they dropped it off the cliff… But how does this all tie into you talking about the thorny thickets??

Ruggie: Sheeheehee. So actually, at the bottom of that cliff, there's a huge bramble of thorny thickets.

Ruggie: It's off-limits, and it's pretty dangerous, so no one really heads down there.

Ruggie: So, that's why I'd sneak down in the dead of night, and pick up all the lost items!

Ruggie: Sometimes I'd find little wrapped pieces of candy, watches 'n accessories, and even wallets!

Ruggie: Well, it kinda depended week to week what dropped, but… That was a great way to make some quick cash.

Trey: B-But if you had gotten injured, would all that have been worth it?

Ruggie: Yeah, true. Back when I was just a kid, I could slip in 'n out pretty easily, but I had to stop when I started getting' bigger.

Ruggie: Not only was I makin' big bucks, but the cliff's environment was getting' kept clean. Felt like a win-win deal to me.

[Land of Dawning – National Museum of Art]

Ruggie: Oh, this one… It's a painting of the thunder god and his son.

Trey: Yeah, according to the legends, he came to the human world just after being born, and was raised by adoptive parents.

Ruggie: Basically, that means he was raised apart from his actual dad, right? Amazin' they actually look like they get along good.

Trey: Haha… I wonder. Do you get along with your dad, Ruggie?

Ruggie: Nah, I don't got one.

Ruggie: He left back when I was a kid, so I don't remember anythin' about him, 'n I don't know what he's up to now.

Trey: Oh… Is that so? Sorry, I didn't mean to overstep my bounds.

Ruggie: Huh, that reaction's pretty different than what I'm used to.

Ruggie: Back home, there's a ton of kids just like me, so usually they'd just shrug and go, "Oh, okay" and move on.

Trey: And I guess it doesn't sound like they're saying that just to be considerate.

Ruggie: Obviously. Because the bigger problem is not havin' the money to buy food!

Ruggie: Granny'd take care of me, but there wasn't much we could do 'bout our empty bellies…

Ruggie: When I was big enough, I'd start working together with all the kids in my little neighborhood to scrounge up some food.

Trey: Kids running around trying to gather food on their own… That's hard for me to imagine.

Ruggie: There's a buncha ways to gather up food. We'd go into town and ask for alms, or drop a line in the river.

Ruggie: We were always pretty hungry, so we'd pretty much do anything… Oh, like we had a great time once digging for potatoes.

Trey: Is digging up potatoes that exciting?

Ruggie: WELL, YEAH!

Ruggie: There's actually a type of potato that grows in my country that can get as large as 20 kilos…

Ruggie: Around the time the potato harvestin' was finishin' up, we all snuck into the fields at night…

Ruggie: And we'd pick up some stunted potatoes that were left behind, as well as dug up some other forgotten potatoes.

Ruggie: We were all up in arms to pick every single one before the sun rose!

Trey: Why'd you go at mid… Never mind, I'm not going to ask.

Ruggie: And then, this one year when I was diggin', I hit the jackpot!

Ruggie: It was a potato so huge I wouldn't've even been able to carry it with both arms! It had't've been heavier than 20 kilos～

Ruggie: Didn't think there'd be any potatoes left that huge… Maan, I really lucked out then.

Trey: 20 kilograms, huh… With something that big, I don't think there'd be much to worry about eating for a while.

Ruggie: Don'tcha think?

Ruggie: I was thinkin', like, we could dry whatever was leftover and turn it to powder to make it last a bit longer…

Ruggie: But then Granny ended up boilin' 'em, fryin' 'em, and basically makin' a ton of dishes. It was a potato party extravaganza!

Ruggie: Me and the other street kiddos were just packin' 'em away, and little by little it started to disappear…

Ruggie: In the end, I couldn't make anything to save it for later.

Trey: Ah… That's rough.

Ruggie: And I never saw a potato that huge ever again. Guess good luck like that only ever hits once in a while.

[Land of Dawning – National Museum of Art]

Trey: Woah… This painting has a real powerful presence.

Ruggie: So, this is a painting of when the Thorn Fairy transformed into a dragon to fight, huh.

Trey: She looks way stronger than what her stories say. I bet I would be no match for her.

Ruggie: Eh!? Trey-san, you lookin' to pick a fight with the Thorn Fairy? It'd be waaay better to try 'n flatter her instead.

Trey: Oho, but that might be the scarier route, don't you think? You might end up in deep trouble if you were to offend the Thorn Fairy instead.

Ruggie: Sheeheehee. Oh, but I'm pretty good with that kinda stuff.

Trey: Haha, well, I guess I have to admire that pluck.

Ruggie: But man, she's really something. She's the one that caused all that lightning too, right?

Ruggie: They say it was always thunderin' and lightnin' outside her castle as a way to keep intruders out… That's a huge undertakin', huh.

Ruggie: But with all those lightning strikes, I bet the bread prices were super cheap near the Thorn Fairy's castle.

Trey: Bread? …Ohh, right! Because when lightning strikes, certain particles are released in the air that helps plants grow.

Ruggie: Huh? Wait, are ya sayin' there's actually a whole science behind the whole "bread gets cheaper whenever it thunders"!?

Trey: Oh, isn't that what you meant?

Ruggie: I was just sayin' what Granny would always say…

Ruggie: Wait, so does that sayin' mean that 'cause more wheat gets harvested, more bread can get made, and that's why it's cheaper?

Trey: Yeah. Although, with how much we've developed our fertilizers nowadays, I don't know how much lightning strikes actually play a part anymore.

Ruggie: Cooool, I had no idea. Guess you Science Club folk know your stuff.

Ruggie: I bet Granny didn't really know the meanin' behind it like you did…

Ruggie: But I bet she saw with her own eyes the change in bread prices whenever there were tons of thunder and lightning.

Ruggie: But still… Kinda weird, huh. Sheeheehee.

Trey: Weird? What is?

Ruggie: Back when I was a kid, I only ever cared 'bout food, so there's no way I woulda been interested in learnin' why the bread was cheaper.

Ruggie: But now, I heard your whole spiel, and my reaction was to think it was pretty cool. Guess I'm maturin'.

Trey: Well… Maybe it's just that you can actually afford to take the time to listen now?

Ruggie: Maybe, maybe not. 'Cause my wallet's still pretty empty…

Ruggie: Oh hey, maybe this is just me bein' able to relax my stresses away, huh!? …Maybe not, heh.

Trey: Could be, if you're enjoying your time here, at least. Oops… Look at the time.

Trey: I think I'll head out to go check on how my dormmates are doing. See you, Ruggie.

Ruggie: 'Kaay, see ya. I'm gonna keep lookin' around this area a bit longer.

Ruggie: Hm? This painting… A lion cub's just lollygaggin' with a warthog 'n a meerkat.

Ruggie: I'm wonderin' if they even know all the scary things that can happen to animals that step outta their territory, hm?

Requested by Anonymous.

[baldurs-writers-3]

Fluff: A Baldur's Gate 3 Rec List

This week, we have Fluff Fics!  Check under the cut for 12 fics that include a lot of soft love and gentle comfort, and as always, comment and kudos if you like them!

Baldur's Fairytales by CobaltCactus (2899,Teen) Warnings: Nothing triggering in here! Pairings: Lae'zel/Shadowheart

A short shadowzel fic inspired by old fairytales and such.

Reccer says: PLEASE WHAT ISNT THERE TO LIKE ABOUT IT. ITS ADORABLE I LOVE IT AND IT MADE ME TEAR UP 😭. Anyways, it reads like it was actually written years ago as a precautionary tale without the precautions. It's so fucking sweet and I JUST CANNTTT UGHHHHHHHGG

Covert Kindnesses by brewstersbru (1938,General) Warnings: None Pairings: Astarion/Halsin

In which Astarion is secretly nice and Halsin is exceedingly (annoyingly) observant.

Reccer says: I'm a sucker for Astarion pretending to be a jerk while also secretly being incredibly kind

Halving the Grief by Ineffable_Hannigram (2035,General) Warnings: Themes of grief and healing Pairings: Astarion & Arebella, Astarion/Halsin

Arebella seeks comfort in an unlikely candidate.

Reccer says: It's just very soft and sweet

Cat Burglars by AbigailMoment (5007,General) Warnings: None Pairings: Astarion/Tav, Tav/Halsin

Astarion and Staeve get polymorphed into cats. Now Halsin has to make sure they don't get themselves killed

Reccer says: Now there's literal fluff! But also just lots of sweet tender care in the form of cats and their druid

Glad Tidings by partingxshot (25638,Teen) Warnings: None Pairings: Astarion/Wyll (Baldur's Gate)

A choose your own adventure fic staring... Ulder Ravengard?! Astarion is his son-in-law to be - he hates this, can the miracle of midwinter solve the family strife?!

Reccer says: its fucking hilarious and you can mock Ulder mercilessly via bad decisions. ALSO THE FESTIVE HAT.

It's the world that falls away from me by Whumper (381,General) Warnings: None Pairings: Astarion/Halsin

Halsin's blood is so yummy that Astarion basically goes into subspace lol

Reccer says: So very soft and light and good

Owlbear Vignettes by BlackjackKent (2062,General) Warnings: None Pairings: None

Buddy the owlbear cub, and his adventures in camp with his new family.

Reccer says: Pure, unadulterated FLUFF of the highest quality

Gentle Hands by onlymine139 (7415,Explicit) Warnings: None Pairings: Astarion/Halsin/Tav

Astarion returns to camp after a long day in Baldur's Gate and Tavara is nowhere to be found. He finds her and Halsin together relaxing by the river and has to decide whether or not he should tell them how he feels.

Reccer says: A good blend of fluff and smut, very sweet with lots of soft moments.

Bouquet of the Frontiers by Tavylia_Sin (5796,General) Warnings: None Pairings: Wyll & Friends

Wyll tries to spend the tiefling party off on his own. His friends decide they would much rather adorn him in flowers and affirmations instead.

Reccer says: Very sweet. The found family vibes are impeccable

A Sweet Escapade by QueenOfCats135 (4484,General) Warnings: None Pairings: None

Mattis needs to find a way to celebrate Silfy's birthday. Hijinks ensue.

Reccer says: Just a fun little romp with a bunch of sticky fingered kids

Kvitravn by Mellybaggins (3120,Teen) Warnings: Injury Pairings: Gale/Tav

When Laileth is injured in a fight, Gale takes it upon himself to teach her some protective magic, to mixed results. In the process, the two friends find out their relationship could become something more.

Reccer says: It's sweet and playful and fun to read.

Dancing in The Dark by justmightyshadows (703,General) Warnings: None Pairings: Karlach/Lae'zel, Shadowheart/Karlach, Shadowheart/Halsin

Karlach returns from the hells and notices that feelings might still be lingering from a past relationship.

Reccer says: I liked it!

The above fanfic recommendations were pulled from our community for this weekly event. Have any questions about what this is? Check out the FAQ!

Next week, we’ll be back with Character Study Fics!

[maerossi]

Ummm I saw my favorite silent film ever today

It's from 1919 and it's called Kaliya Mardan (The Childhood of Krishna). It was made by India's first director, Dadasaheb Phalke, and it stars his 7-year-old daughter Mandakini in the role of tiny Krishna.

It opens by introducing us to his daughter and telling us she's "gifted"

Then it shows her reading a book (the actual movie hasn't started yet):

Then it shows her making silly faces (movie still hasn't started):

And then the movie starts, and it's basically a bunch of vignettes from the childhood of Krishna, Supreme Deity/god of love and compassion. And look at what a little ham she is!!

Seriously I can't stop taking screenshots because she exudes such joy!!

There's a scene where Mandakini gets to tell a bunch of older boys to sit down around her feet and you can tell she's just getting such a kick out of it:

There are some scenes where she has to act all by herself for a few minutes (like this scene where she sneaks into a couple's room and ties the man's long beard to his wife's long hair so that their heads clunk together), and whenever she's on her own for a few mins she looks straight at the camera, probably because her dad is behind it giving her a thumbs up or reminding her what to do:

Imagine your dad is helping to invent this new thing called "movies" and you're 7 years old and he lets you dress up like one of the most powerful gods in the multiverse and pretend to pull little pranks and be naughty:

She's!!! So!!!! Cute!!!!!!!! And so clearly deeply loved!!!

Anyway sometimes you hear about actresses being belittled on set, and this felt like an antidote, because clearly Dadasaheb Phalke would never:

It's free to watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhrpSYQZMmE&ab_channel=HindiClassics

Also: Decades later, the film archivist P.K. Nair found bits of the film just barely preserved, but it was Mandakini Phalke herself, now an adult, who told him in what order the film should be put in. So in some ways she became the author of the film we have today.

[totaldramafan-lauri]

Make Use Of Me (chapter 1, preview)

2025 EDIT: PLEASE STOP LIKING THIS OLD PREVIEW!! This doc has NO reason to be read anymore! I posted this over a year ago to gauge interest in my fic, and now, well.....THE WHOLE FIC IS COMPLETE! The whole thing! I got it all done, and it's big! You can find it here! Read that if you're interested, rather than giving attention to this post, please! This is SO outdated now!

O-OK...here goes....

First thing's first: I am not expecting a lotta people to read this. I'm not asking people to read this. At this point, I'm making this mostly as a passion project, and if anyone enjoys it, it'll be a really cool bonus. My writing style isn't gonna be for everyone, and the characters I write aren't the most....popular characters in the CRK X Reader community, and I imagine this isn't really something a lotta fans'll be demanding more of.

This is LONG. This one chapter is 56 pages long. I am a VERY wordy writer,

So......why'm I posting this preview? Well....partially as an interest gauge for people who WOULD wanna read it, but...mostly as a motivator. As something to remind myself of whenever I get lazy. After all....I can't quit after I made the first chapter public, right? By doing that, I put myself out there...And, hey, I even tagged it, so, if by the off chance, someone did read it, I'm basically promising them more eventually.....

But, again, I'm not forcing anyone to read this.

Not only is it long, but.....This first chapter is probably my least-favorite thing I've ever written. By posting this chapter by itself, I'm testing to see if it does its job of making people wanna read the rest, cuz....right now, I'm not so sure how well it succeeds at that.....

This is the boring part of the story. It's a bunch of setup, and me jumping through hoop after hoop after hoop to just get everything started. I know setup is important and all, but....I'm already a very wordy writer, so....oof....There is some interesting stuff that happens, but it takes a while to get there.

I-I....kinda hate it, actually. The only reason I didn't scrap it is that I didn't realize I hated it until I was about halfway through it and the "good part" hadn't started yet. And I still spent a month writing the thing, so....I finished it.

I'm tagging this...as an experiment. If you wanna read this, go ahead. W-well, read my tags first, THEN go ahead. XD

All I can really say in this chapter's defense is that....I do try my best to salvage it. It's just setup, but I TRIED to make it interesting. And everything that seems like it didn't go anywhere, will later. This isn't the whole story, it's just the beginning of what's gonna be a BIG story. Anything that seems weird in this chapter, gets explored in the other chapters. This does set up a bunch of stuff that becomes important later (The friend character shows up later, the Colosseum becomes relevant later). This chapter is boring, but I tried not to make any of it pointless.

For the future: I'm aiming for five chapters. Chapters 2 and 3 will be a series of smaller vignettes that take place over the course of a few years, chapter 4 will be the climax, and chapter 5 will be something of an epilogue. After that, there will be two endings to choose from (which will make sense when we get there).

This probably won't be my favorite thing I've ever written, but it will be the most ambitious thing I've ever, and probably will ever, write. I haven't written something like this before, and it's all to flesh out this story and make it believable.

Right now, I.....I want to finish this. I'll probably still be writing this in February at the rate I'm going, but...at this point, I've put too much into it to give up on it. However, I'm STILL not completely ruling out the idea of my motivation dying before then. It COULD happen. So, what I'm planning to do is...setting a short-term goal of finishing chapter 3. After I do that, I'll post the first three chapters on AO3 together, and work on the rest. That way, even if I don't finish it, I'll at least have it over half done, and chapter 3 will end on a somewhat high note.

So, yyyyeah....Not a lotta people will read this preview. Overly wordy writing style + boring setup part of story + 56 pages long + assumed lack of interest for X Readers of this character (At least, I haven't SEEN many simps for her, m-maybe I'm wrong, I might be, I-I haven't checked any tags cuz I've been nervous, b-but it doesn't make my writing any better. In that case, this is my first time writing her so I'm trying super hard to do her justice >//////<)

I-if you wanna read this, and see if this first chapter does a good job of making you wanna read the better chapters, then...Go ahead.....

Some notes:

-This is still not the final draft. It's finalized enough for me to share, but I'm still not considering it finished. Even tho I'm working on chapter 3 right now, I STILL go back and edit this, even very recently. So, chances are, even if the story is finalized, small details and sentences are still subject to change. I know for a fact that there are still SOME placeholder bits in here that will change after I get some stuff cleared up. Recently, I even considered chopping off an entire section to make it shorter. I decided not to, but hey, it could still happen. I don't wanna waste anyone's time. The first chapter of a story, even if it's boring, is still very important, and I wanna make sure it's the best version of itself.

(A-and yes, this means that I've finished chapter 2 as well. The reason I'm not sharing it is that, unlike chapter 1, it was finished VERY recently, so I might still need to give myself time to edit it. From what I have, tho, I do like it a LOT more than chapter 1. There are some parts of chapter 2 that I'm legit proud of.)

-Even tho this first chapter is completely clean, I-I should mention that....this fic is for adults. The full version, at least. Chapters 3 and 4 are gonna contain some light N/S/F/W moments (the "fade to black" variety, so nothing explicit) and there'll be other slightly racey comments here and there. Just a heads-up. I'm gonna be uncomfy with minors reading this.

Th-that's all? I-I think that's all.......O-OK, so......h-here goes..... E-enjoy....

[mochimouiemarty]

I need your headcanons I don’t care which character which fandom I need headcanons because you seem awesome now give them to me /affectionate

ARGHHHH IM SORRY THAT THIS TOOK SO LONG TO ANSWER?!?!? i was drawing the pookies to go with these hcs

i jumbled all my favs together and yeah have some silly hcs (thisll prolly be rlly short, or not) not in a set order so good luck finding the characters from fandoms you know 😈/hj

CHARACTERS MENTIONED IN THIS!! Idia Shroud, Cater diamond, Mime Bomb, Weeping Clown

- Cater once played this dress up game for fun (or to make some content out of it), got some HARSH constructive criticism, never played again (person who insulted gave him advice was idia)

- Weepy often puts wax on the hair in front of his face to keep it out of his eyes while performing. (totally not based on an oc x canon thing i thought of.)

- Mime Bomb often has makeup residue around his eyes, making him look more tired than he already is. He struggles to get it out and also doesnt see the point bcs 9 times out of 10 hes gonna be hopping on another flight anyway!!!!

- Idia is half filipino. dont try and change my mind YOU CANNOT

- Cater has freckles and used to cover them up around highschool - year one in NRC. maybe because of insecurity or to follow the current "trends". maybe both!!!!!1!1!1!1! probably still does it to this even better if no one actually knows if his freckles are real or nah

- Mime Bomb knows how to draw! always uses himself as a reference when he can. loves drawing hands

- weepy is a jack of all trades, master of none. he'd observe and learn other peoples crafts silently from other people at the circus! even if he's not that good at most of them, he knows the basic stuff.. maybe.

- Cater often puts white eyeliner on to brighten up his eyes!!

- i think idia likes watching those process videos on sculpting and carving, just traditional art in general.

- cater probably likes to deconstruct a bunch of stuff, mainly content-making related things and especially music! I saw someone mention how passionate he seems about music based on the details in his room (might sound like a total idiot rn if those details were disclosed in one of the vignettes or something) so in my heart it seems like something he'd totes do. he's also a very detail oriented person so !1!1!1!1!1

- Joker dislikes popcorn, also smells like stale buttered popcorn(/hj)

- mime bombs skin is either hella sensitive or the complete opposite. I can see him either hoarding this one brand of makeup cuz it's the only one he can use, or his skin is THAT ok with any product that he's fine with using VILE products 😭

- I like to believe that Jokers hair is either a wig (or he dyed it) and he's a brunette. or he's just silly like that yk (the most likely possibility)

- Cater has an old list of piercings he wanted/wants, idk which ones he'd want but yuh!!! maybe he got a piercing when he was younger but got caught soooo

- Idia hates oily foods

this is probably it

also have the drawings that took TOO DAMN LONG.

"one is not like the other!!!!!" ahh favs 😭🙏

these are sort of my hcs on how they'd look? or at least a reference for myself for when I draw them again, I'm too inconsistent

random, but idias hair being so expressive is my most favorite detail about his character

I APOLOGIZE FOR ANY SPELLINV MISTAKES

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ok these took too long thank you bye