#idk if it would just be pick from the main and secondaries

[solitaireships]

If I made a f/o poll would you all vote in it?

[aleph-trix]

random thought (theory? prediction?) - SCP-5243 is sapient (sentient? autonomous?) [SPOILERS FOR ON GUARD 43/NO RETURN]

NOTE/DISCLAIMER: I have not read all of On Guard 43, specifically Bury the Survivors so this is less of an informed thought ramble and more of my own sort of theorising. I just had this thought. Whether or not it’s true is well. Idk how to end that sentence but yeah

So, SCP-5243. The Breach That Keeps on Breaching. The reoccurring annual time loop localised to AAF-D at Site-43 on September 8, every single year. Caused by a combination of massive anomalous waste conglomerated together, an unknown precipitating subject and the counter-chronological material making it a loop in the first place! Fun.

What if it had sapience and/or sentience? There are a lot of definitions for these words but I’m using them as a vague stand-in for “able to make conscious decisions”. And as for how it could gain that sentience/sapience, well perhaps it’s because of some quality of some of the anomalous waste. Or whatever. It’s anomalous.

There are primarily three pieces of evidence that I picked up that could point towards an idea like this:

One. The distinction between what gets incorporated into the loop and what does not: One quality of SCP-5243 is its ability to incorporate events into its loop even if they did not happen in September 8, 2002 (the original breach). The most prominent example of this is the death of Adrijan Zlatá in 2015 which lead to his death re-occurring ever year from then on out.

However, there are also examples of 5243 NOT incorporating events into its annual loop, two in particular are related to 5243’s production of a secondary memetic anomaly: SCP-5109. The main star of the show that is “The Time After Time Password”.

We learn about SCP-5109 originating from 5243 in TTATP as well as several other details about it. 5109 was “discovered” in 2009 after Elstrom had gotten it while stumbling into AAF-D in 2008 and getting it from the breach (5243) somehow (I guess there was some memetic wordsoup floating around in the waste too.) The interesting part, however is this:

The production of SCP-5109 (instances) is an incorporated part of 5243’s loop, however the event of Elstrom receiving the anomaly is not. The same is true for Sokolsky receiving SCP-5109. While he did annually camp at AAF-D (ever since 2004) in order to gain more instances of SCP-5109, he did not do this in 2008 when Elstrom gained it instead which would have lead to the creation of an alternate timeline if it was incoporated to the loop. Now there is an argument to be made that Elstrom simply replaced Sokolsky and this is the thing that does happen with 5243 (e.g. Torosyan replacing and taking Nascimbeni’s role in the annual 5243 loop) but Elstrom receiving 5109 was purely by happenstance. Sokolsky had gotten a bad stomach that day on 2008 (not lying).

So, this shows that there is a possibility that interceptions into AAF-D are not always incorporated into SCP-5243’s loop. Maybe it’s because these events don’t interfere with the actual breach, but Zlatà’s death did not technically interfere either (He’s not even mentioned in the main section of the ConProcs.). However, there are also two more events of interest relating to this phenomena of SCP-5243 incorporating some events into the loop and leaving out others and it comes in the form of everyone’s favourite pair of tragic brothers: Phillip and Dougall Deering.

This is pretty straightforward: Phillip was in AAF-D during the original breach, and 5243 even gifted him his self-deprecation personified as a mirror monster (5056) yet he doesn’t have to play a part in the annual containment of 5243. Meanwhile, Dougall wasn’t in AAF-D in 2002 (from what I gathered) and yet he is resurrected and killed every single year. We know that him being killed is the result of Resino Cannon shenanigans from the Paradox Timeline/TL-5956-X and later on, the intervention of Site-43 personnel themselves as part of the ConProcs but why is he revived every year? In fact, Dougall being alive and NOT dying in 2002 is what leads to the Paradox Timeline which is a result of 5243 being *prevented* by Dougall. What if 5243 is actively trying to stop its existence by reviving Dougall every year? Something interesting to think about.

Anyways, what all of the above shows is that SCP-5243 can both incorporate and ignore events into the loop on a whim, and that this could be evidence of it being able to make decisions.

Two. SCP-5243’s evil twin from the Paradox Timeline: SCP-001. The SCP-001 we’re referring to here is the one from TL-5956-X so we’ll refer to it as 001-X. 001-X is essentially a mirror version of 5243 occurring in the Paradox Timeline and is a result of time-paradox bullshit rather then anomalous waste conglomeration. And it is most definitely sentient and/or sapient: it specifically targets Dougall (the person responsible for the time-paradox) psychologically by producing fucked up versions of the mainline Site-43 anonmalies including both SCP-5056 (now SCP-001-A, and also Phillip) and SCP-5109 (now SCP-001-B). This not only gives credence to the idea that SCP-001-X’s mirror, 5243, also has some level of sentience/sapience and that both are perhaps self-deprecating? (With the former punishing its creator for creating it and the latter trying to prevent itself). Who knows

Three. The Critical Post-Impasse Pivot: Within the Metafoundation mega-canon (?), SCP-5243 seems to be localised to the Prime-Timeline and that the semi-extant timelines created from messing the ConProcs up seems to branch from the Prime-Timeline (specifically from 2002). However, in SCP-6500 following the O5 Council vote on the Impasse, the Prime-Timeline splits in two and creates the Vanguard (post-Foundation) and Threshold (continuing the Foundation) timelines. Now, the next piece of evidence in regards to this point comes from outside the actual articles, but: in an old iteration of the Metafoundation timeline map, TL-5243-F (the timeline created due to a 5243 failure in 2021) is shown to be branching off the Threshold timeline as the failure takes place after the Prime-Timeline splits into two. While it would technically branch from 2002, what this seems to imply is that SCP-5243 only took place in 2021 in the Threshold timeline. Maybe Vanguard didn’t experience a “VNP-5243 failure” but considering that sections of Site-43 begin to sink in that timeline (as shown in Voyager), I doubt 5243 continues to persist in it.

If we take the idea of 5243 only persisting in Threshold following the Impasse split, this means that 5243 defaulted to the Threshold timeline to localise itself into: perhaps it chose that timeline due to its greater similarity to the Prime-Timeline then Vanguard.

Those are the three points of discussion that I believe support the idea of SCP-5243 being sentient and/or sapient. Although this is pretty much all just my rambling and is more similar to a headcanon then anything else

[ophernelia]

Hi. Do you have any tips on how to grow your sims platforms? I keep tryig and posting and I hardly get any interactions or followers. Idk what to do. I wish bigger creators would help out smaller ones more by reposting the content so it gets more views. Its so hard starting out

Hey! Yeah, I have a few tips I can share! This is gonna be long so beware!

I keep seeing this sentiment reiterated about larger creators. I get it, but I think everyone's missing one thing in regards to it: you already have access to the same audience they have. Just like you they grew their platform. Maybe it was a stroke of luck from a viral post or something, but they still had to start somewhere. What it takes is getting your content to hit the algorithm. That's all! So even if a larger creator never looks your way, you can still grow and curate an audience without their help. Small accounts are what make up big accounts after all.

You NEED good SEO. I'll talk about TikTok specifically. If you want a boost in visibility then get on Tik Tok. Properly tagging your content is the key to working the algorithm in your favor. I think people believe the more tags the better. No. The more accurately tagged, the better. The hashtags "TS4", "The Sims", and "The Sims 4" are always trending. You should always use those tags. The rest depends on the kind of content you're posting. I'll use my most viral video as an example. My Stormveil Chateau post on Tik Tok got 141.6K views, 22.3K likes. Since it was for a maxis match build I used the following tags: #thesims4 #sims4 #ts4 #simstok #ts4cc #fyp #sim #sims4tok #sims4maxismatch #sims4build #sims4builds #ts4build #ts4gameplay. Most of the tags are related to TS4 and TS4 builds. I wouldn't include anything about CAS, mods, etc. It wouldn't fit the post. Don't flood other tags in hopes of getting more views. It'll just bury your post under a bunch of random content. People have to be able to find your content.

Visually appealing content performs better, period. Y'all give the aesthetic girls hell but they know a thing or two about working the algorithm. I'll give them that! People like things that look nice. Now, that's not to say you need to purge all the color or character from your game. You don't have to follow a certain style trend. Curate your own personal style. Do what you do to the best of your ability. Whatever you post, just make sure it's good quality. Focus on sharpness, clarity, etc. If you wanna curate a particular look then go for it! But most importantly, having clear clean images or videos is the main thing you need. And you don't need a beast of a PC to do it. Sharpen your images and videos before you upload them using Capcut or something. Make sure the lighting is nice. Make sure it's a good resolution for the platform you're posting on. A quick tip: Adding dof to lower quality images makes it look better! See how the left photo looks more clear than the right? A little bit of depth of field helps so the pictures don't fall flat.

Pick a primary social to promote your secondary ones. Usually your primary social may be the one where you have your largest audience. For me, it was Tik Tok. On there I'd promote my Patreon, YouTube, and Tumblr. You just released some cc? Post something about it on Tik Tok, let your audience know they can find it on your Tumblr. Use one to promote the others.

Slow organic growth is STILL growth. Growing your audience is one beast, but maintaining it is a whole other thing. As someone who has gotten shout outs from larger creators, that initial boost ALWAYS dies down. And socials like YouTube will not hesitate to tell you "Hey boo, your shit's failing now. You kinda suck." Been there, felt that. Boosts from other creators and giveaways don't have much longevity. Most times that audience will leave. On occasion you may get a few who stick around, but most won't. That's why it's important to build your audience organically. Yes, it may take longer but they won't just dip out after a few weeks. Things take time to grow. Things take time to curate. Understand you are BUILDING something. It takes time!

And lastly- if you just really want the numbers and it doesn't matter what content you post, then here's what you do: Sell. Still use good SEO, still try to have high quality photos, but give people something to consume. People like to see what they can get. Post some builds, cc, whatever. If you're not a cc creator, then do cc finds, mod reviews, tutorials, build recommendations, lookbooks. People love a good cc haul. They wanna see what they can get. And that's not to say people that make this sort of content don't care about their content. I know they do and it's a lot of work! It still takes time and effort to curate. It's just HOT right now! Especially maxis match content. It ruffles less feathers because a wide array of the Sims community has a vicious vendetta against alpha cc. (Yeah ion know. They will "uncanny valley" and "just play IMVU' you to death. If I say what I think it is.. My people know.) But if you really just want thousands of followers, then there's a way to do it.

With all that said, I know how annoying it is to constantly hear to not focus on numbers but don't. CREATE FOR CREATION'S SAKE. Do it only because you enjoy it. Growth for me has come as a byproduct of me doing whatever the hell I wanted. I make Lykaia because I want to make Lykaia. I love that people love it but it is for me. Not to be an influencer, or to inspire, or to receive praise and accolades. I love everything about the process. Hell, I love the stress that comes with it! I have four scenes to film and I'm still not done editing the ones I have filmed. The episode is supposed to air on MONDAY. I fucking love working down to wire. It's stressful as hell but it feels good! If it's out there, the audience will soon follow. Always. Take your time. Be grateful for where you're at every step of the way. Enjoy the process! And remember that all it takes is one post to take off.

[dippedinmelancholy]

Sometimes I just want to read smut for smuts sake, so I pick up a book that people are saying is good, and I am, as usual, just left either going “meh” or “please write something where I don’t despise the FMC”

Kiss of the Basilisk was fine. I’d give it 2 or 3 stars probably. The writing itself, the prose, the grammar, very decent, no complaints.

The FMC? like no character traits beyond “is stubborn, will not accept literally anyone telling her what to do. Wants the two men to only want her, gets jealous over any information that they might have fucked someone else, but wants to fuck them both with no consequences” she is constantly fine with lying to both of the male love interests, yet expects complete and open honesty from them, even for things she hasn’t asked about, she just expects them to tell her.

Ona scale of annoying, she’s probably a 4/10

The “perfect” basilisk love interest was just like, really boring? Like insert any male model, no true defining character traits, physical or personality, other than like, worshipping the FMC. He knows like two sex positions, which seems odd since he’s supposed to be the epitome of sexuality.

The secondary love interest, the human prince, is 100% more interesting but clearly never truly an option. Temperance never gives him any grace, assumes the absolute worst of him (you know him the human not the literal monster that can turn her to stone or make her a slave) and then is upset when he’s not perfect with her. She claims to love him, yet doesn’t treat him with even a crumb of kindness and openness that she gives the basilisk.

The entire premise of “there was a war between the basilisk and the humans and a truce was called and the basilisk have been abused ever since” doesn’t really make sense because no weakness of the basilisks is ever given? Like no detail about how the humans could have ever gotten a hand over these monsters. Temperance is repeatedly told and shown that basilisks are predators and humans are their prey, and they feed on humans in a way that is borderline rape, and yet the whole time she’s going “humans vile, poor baby snakes! Must defend!”

The book promised to have sex so kinky I would question myself when it was over. The most taboo thing is like, fucking her lover’s dad? But again it’s like, she’s on top, he’s not even touching her. The most erotic scene wasn’t even IN THE BOOK. It was a bonus chapter that explicitly starts with THIS DID NOT HAPPEN IN THE PLOT, THIS IS FANFIC FOR MY OWN BOOK.

Idk guys, I just really wasn’t impressed. There was a lot of her riding dudes and giving blowjobs and expecting people to worship her and do whatever the fuck she wants, but having wholly different expectations for them.

Her getting railed with a dick so big it broke her pelvis was super weird. Like, not a single blindfold, paddle, or candle in sight, just straight to broken pelvic. She did describe a cock as “pretentious”, and I’m still trying to figure out what the fuck that even means, how can an unthinking piece of flesh be pretentious? Can my tits become pretentious?

I’m pretty much over the “girl boss” wave of FMCs who just don’t understand what no or laws mean, who don’t hold a single crumb of respect for a single other person alive. Can we just have well rounded women again? Not this weird wave of “see ima. Feminist because the main character does whatever the fuck she wants with no consequences! Girl boss go!”

Give me the prince with the gold fangs, I will fuck him. Also there’s a concerning lack of monster fucking? They’re all in human form.

Anyways I’ll take book recs if anyone has them.

[songofwizardry]

things i liked in 2024

for the past few years, i've kept a running list in my notes app of media i really enjoyed over the course of the year, and last year i finally wrote it up properly and put it on tumblr, which was fun! so we're doing that again. with some vague categories, and links where possible, here we go—my 2024 media list:

words (prose, poetry, etc—book links go to storygraph):

non-essential work by Omar Sakr [poetry collection]: i did not read as much poetry as i wanted to this year, but i discovered Omar Sakr online and his work just hit me very hard. my favourite is probably on finding the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in Dante's Inferno.

the gardener's hand series by Felicia Davin [prose, fantasy trilogy]: i read a lot more books this year, and i'm very happy about that! i absolutely adored this series. i started it on a recommendation from a friend (thank you @everyoneinspaceisgay), and not only was it extremely readable, i loved the worldbuilding and the magic in particular, our main characters are so compelling, and it's just a really queer series. not just in the 'oh there's a gay relationship at the centre of this', it is very very queer. loved it. can't believe i haven't heard more about it tbh.

the adventures of amina al-sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty [prose, fantasy]: i knew i was going to love this book, because i adored the daevabad books, but god, this was good. amina is such a good protagonist, there were djinns and magic and high sea hijinks, and while a decent chunk of the reason i loved daevabad was because seeing a fantasy world filled with the islamic mythology and folklore that i grew up with made me really happy and excited, this hit that even more—amina sails the indian ocean, and that's my coastline! i grew up on the Swahili coast, my community's immigration history is shaped by the indian ocean, and i had no idea before i read the book that the indian ocean and its coastlines and trade routes would form such a major part of the story. it was excellent. i got very excited at multiple points. you should read it.

paris daillencourt is about to crumble by Alexis Hall [prose, romance]: my partner is a connoisseur of queer romance. she recommends to me a lot of queer romance, but this one has maybe been my favourite. idk what it was about it—the birmingham references, the joy that was the love interest Tariq, the intense quotability of it all (i have so many screenshots, particularly of quotes from Tanya, who is a secondary school science teacher and who was just extremely relatable to me), the nostalgia it gave me (they're disastrous just-about-twenty-year-old gays and one of them lives in, i quote, 'a house with four other students in birmingham with one bathroom and rising damp', it took me back to 2016 in a very vivid way tbh), it was just great. if you need a gay romance, you should read this one.

honourable mentions go to the two t kingfisher books i read this year (nettle and bone and a house with good bones, both excellent and creepy in a wonderful way) and bury your gays by chuck tingle, which was the perfect thing to read in the depths of summer.

video (ish):

we built a TUBE MAP out of LEGO with working trains! by Geoff Marshall [youtube video]: i don't know how to describe this other than this is a delightful bit of nerdery. so much nerdery. the lego is great, the little trains are incredible, but it's the work that goes into it and the justifications about which lines should be above and below the others that make this video incredible.

bingo - game changer season 6 episode 5 [video, dropout exclusive]: game changer just... keeps doing wild and weird and wonderful things with their format, and i don't know how they keep doing it but they do and i'm having way too much of a good time here. it was really hard to pick one episode from the most recent season to go with. this could easily have been a recommendation for deja vu or beat the buzzer instead. i guess what i'm trying to do is recommend the whole season. anyway, i loved bingo because it did something that got me into game changer to begin with—set up what feels like an innocuous game, so you know there's a twist coming, and slowly, layer by layer, reveal the twist. except this one goes places. it reminded me of some of my game changer favourites (tell us about yourself, lie detector) except boy does it take things to a wholly ridiculous level. sam reich, never stop please.

chris grace: as scarlett johansson [video, dropout exclusive]: (link goes to youtube clip from the show, which is sorta... spoilery?) i don't even know how to describe this. it's a stand-up special about racism, it's about scarlett johansson, it's a one man show, it does some absolutely incredible things with its form and format and works with the medium of dropout presents so well, it made me cry and also left me a little shell-shocked in places, it's funny, it's... look, it's a lot and it's really fucking good. i tried looking for a solid review of it to try and explain what it's like, but i didn't succeed. i think you just gotta watch this one to understand it.

rogue - doctor who season 14 episode 6 [tv show episode] - the most recent season of doctor who has just been... fun, okay. like, i think doctor who is at its best when it is not taking itself too seriously and it's a bit ridiculous and also ridiculously heartfelt. this episode was basically made for me. historical shenanigans! aliens with very specific abilities! d&d references!!! (was not expecting that and got SO excited by it.) the doctor getting overly attached to someone and then losing them promptly! emotional high stakes! banter! a+ work all around. i'm told the bridgerton gays loved it as well (my only reference for this is my partner). it was great. this is what doctor who is about, folks.

the importance of being earnest - national theatre revival [theatre]: ("salmon, this isn't video no matter how far you stretch the definition of video." look, i'm aware. idk where else to put it though, and also, it's going to be in cinemas in february and then it will be video, so i'm just ahead of the times. go with the flow.) i keep saying it feels like i've waited fifteen years to watch this exact production of earnest, and i will keep saying it because it is true. i will write up a better post about it sometime soon (promise), but this was so much fun—it was incredibly camp, it starts off with a drag interlude, it's unabashadely gay and also incredibly pretty (the sets were amazing), and it just felt like a love letter both to the text of the play and to the spirit behind it, yknow? i had an absolutely amazing time watching it, and it's one of my favourite things i've experienced this year. when it's in cinemas, you should watch it if you can.

honourable mentions go to: heartstopper season 3, for pulling absolutely zero punches this season, making me feel extremely nostalgic and a bit old, and for the side-characters of the two gay teachers that i have gotten way too fond of; the good place, which i had obviously watched all of as it aired but that i rewatched with my partner this year, and the ending is still so so so good; and to the nein hells (critical role c3 e111), which was an absolute fucking riot—chaotic and hilarious and still heartfelt, and a very good summation of why i love this ridiculous d&d show.

audio (briefly, because this list has gotten very long and out of hand):

this year i started listening to let's learn everything, which is a truly delightful sci-comm podcast (that i discovered via hearing the cast on Tom Scott's lateral). all their episodes are great commute listens (and remind me to have enthusiasm about science when i am tired which is helpful when my job is... yknow teaching science and being enthusiastic about it), but i particularly enjoyed the episode that has interviews from the Ig Nobel ceremony and the episode about epigenetics and the World Games.

i also kept listening to if books could kill which does a great job of tearing to shreds terrible airport books. i don't have any specific episode recs from this year, but if you've never listened to them before, the episode on the secret is a good place to start!

ok, this has gotten a lot longer than i intended, so i'll stop there. if you've read this far, thanks for coming on this journey with me! i've enjoyed making these lists. 2024 was really wonderful in some ways and... relentless and exhausting and very difficult in other ways. i'm hoping for a bit more time and a bit less exhaustion in 2025, and i'm going to try to keep up my reading, to write a bit more, and to hopefully watch more actual play stuff, because i really didn't watch as much of it as i wanted to this year.

let's see what 2025 brings—new critical role stuff? another season of game changer that will blow my mind again? (definitely.) more doctor who? an alecto the ninth announcement? (if we are very lucky maybe.) we shall see! happy new year, folks!

[guardianbee]

I just realized that what sets Netflix's Stretch Armstrong above the rest of contemporary superhero cartoons is that it gave each protagonist a rich inner and personal life, both separate from their superhero identity AND serving as their motivation to become a superhero. Compare Jake, Nathan, Ricardo, and Riya to Marvel's Spider-Man's main protagonists - Peter, Miles, Anya, Gwen, and Harry.

Out of the five MSM protags, only Peter has his personal life consistently explored. Harry's personal life is explored but only in opposition to Peter's, and once Harry's arc concludes in S1, he drops off as a protagonist entirely and becomes a supporting character in S2 & S3. While Gwen gets some personal life development in S1, it is to only forward the villain-of-the-week plotline. Once that resolves, Gwen is hardly given any real character growth except in a few key episodes with Anya. We never see her father or what her life is like outside of Horizon High. Miles and Anya both have a single episode that explores their family dynamics and THEN we only see Jefferson and (a fake!) Maria as poorly-executed villains to add drama to the last half of S3. Neither Miles or Anya organically develops without either Peter or Gwen around.

With Stretch Armstrong, each of the protagonist's family and past are explored. You get the backstory, you get familial dynamics, and you get motivations. Jake wants to be a hero to both escape the confines of the rigid expectations his father places on him AND because he feels like he can finally put all the lessons his dad taught him to use. Nathan wants to be a hero to protect his family and stay close to his friends. Ricardo wants to be a hero because he finally wants to belong somewhere - he wants community, and he wants friends that he doesn't have to leave behind. Riya's primary motivation is avenging her parents and taking down Rook before his corporate schemes go too far. And notice how all their motivations are distinct to their family dynamics and personal ambitions!

Why do Gwen, Anya, and Miles want to be heroes? We don't learn about Miles' desire to protect his neighborhood until S3! What are they motivated by? Just a desire to help? They're just naturally good people and want to make the world a better place? But why? Where does that desire come from? What do their family and community think of them - how are they motivated by those factors? MSM hardly explores that - MSM is primarily in service to the fantastical elements of Peter's life. And, when we do have time to catch up on the protags' personal lives, it is almost always Peter that has these moments. The MSM writers wanted to give Peter a team but then they never explored that team, never gave the audience to care about them other than "they're Peter's friends," while Stretch Armstrong gave Jake a team and THEN chose to develop each protagonist into their own fully-realized character. The show was about Jake but his team was not there to just serve his character and story - they each had their OWN character and OWN story. Had SAATFF been picked up for an S3, I'm almost positive Erika's personal life outside of Nathan would also have been fully explored to the point of being a main character rather than a secondary one.

IDK man, it just feels like contemporary superhero shows and comics in general can't balance the fantastical with the average, day-to-day lives of their protagonists. That's why ITSV and ATSV are so revered and stand out - because of that balance. Miles is a compelling character because he deals with and endures all these fantastical elements of his life WHILE having problems with his parents and deciding what his future will entail. Gwen is a compelling character for similar reasons. Their romance is compelling for these reasons - balancing the fantastical with the mundane - Gwen protecting Miles by keeping him away from Spider Society and all of its secrets, but still feeling jealous when Miles eyes Margo; Miles coming along with Gwen to earth-50101 to help her and then slightly panicking upon learning Gwen has been staying on another earth with a dude named Hobie.

If superhero writers have forgotten this, if they can't find that balance and explore it, then we're really in fucking trouble for years and years to come.

[cola-losers]

drop the mortal kombat list that sounds so fun :0

(Just yoinked this from my docs)

What MK character does each EW character main?

Long ago the 4 Lads picked their main based on their favorite color while playing on Edd's Super Nintendo. Later on as they played more games they picked a second main. They did go to the arcade to play MK and MK2

Edd

His main is Reptile he genuinely enjoys his lore and wishes he wasn't shafted so much. His second main is Kitana, he's a Kombo King. He actually knows the lore of the series and of the 4 Lads he's the biggest fan and can actually play any character well. (Although he's also partial to Jade, Jax, and Sheeva)

Tom

He mains Sub-Zero and is actually quite skilled at him. Although tom claims is second main is Noob Saibot he's actually pretty good at Cyber Sub-Zero and Frost. As long as they play similar to good old SZ he's good

Matt

If not for the fact that Edd unlocked every character the first weekend of that one summer Matt would have never hears of Rain, with his rarity and story of being a demigod prince Matt immediately knew he had to play him. Unfortunately due to Rain's rarity Matt needed a second main, lucky for him Johnny Cage was perfect

Tord

Violence, gore, robots, ninjas, sexy women, this game was made for Tord and who better to main than Ermac? Similar to Edd however Tord can play pretty much any character but for his second main he couldn't resist the ever badass Scorpion

He is also however a fan of the Cyber characters such as Sektor. Beyond those he enjoys newcomer Skarlet and old school Kano

~•~

The neighbors prefer street fighter/j

Similar to the Lads they also went for ninjas with their respective colors but decided on the og trio of kunoichi (along with secondary mains)

Eduardo

He was determined to master Jade and he succeeded. He's absolutely terrifying with her. His second main is, fitting with his ego, Shao Kahn himself. He's not as skilled as Edd is but he is skilled in the characters he's mastered so far (Kotal Kahn, Kano, and Goro)

Jon

The unbridled rage within this lad has made him a beast with Kitana that rivals only Edd himself. As tho that weren't enough his second main of Kabal ensures his speed is unmatched

Mark

Mark originally had no interest in playing but his friends practically begged him to, with that in mind he learned to play as Mileena. Her brutal nature is a bit much for him and he isn't the best player but he can hold his own. His other mains tend to depend on aesthetics rather than game play so as such he enjoys the more appropriately colored Lie Mei, the beautiful Ashra, and the handsome Hotaru (F for Mark idk if they're ever bringing him back)

~•~

Unlike the other characters above these 5 decided they were going to main characters according to a theme

( This doesn't mean they won't play other characters positious their faves/mastered)

Paul

Paul has decided on his theme being only the cyborg characters with his main being Smoke. (He will still play their human selves of course) he initially chose Smoke due to the irony but ended up enjoying his playstyle immensely. (He was NOT a fan of the Noob-Smoke team up in Deception).

(The Cyber characters are Sektor, Cyrax, Cyber Sub-Zero, Frost in MK11, Smoke and Triborg)

Patryck

Having not grown up with the game and being Introduced to the world of Mortal Kombat in his adult years, Pat had no bias aside from "I wanna be the yellow one" thus granting him the skill to master who he considers the BEST Cyber Lin Kui member: Cyrax. But is also good with with Tanya and Scorpion

Yuu

Yuu decided he would go for the muscle bound characters. His main is Baraka however he's also a fan of Jax, Kintaro, Goro, Sheeva, Shao Kahn, Ferra/Torr although he admits he isn't the best at them (Although he's pretty scary with Jason Voorhees hehe)

Yanov

Yanov decided he was only going to play as a God (if he's going to play a violent game, he wants to be the nice characters. Or so he claims). He mains Raiden but is also quite skilled with Fujin and despite his claims of only wanting to play a good guy, curiously he's very skilled with Shinnok

(Also vibes with Geras, Centrion and Kronika )

Anya

Sonya Blade hands down with a secondary main in Cassie Cage along with Jaqui Briggs. Army women isn't her theme though she's working on mastering every female character in the MK series

~•~

No real theme for these guys

Coco

She's a Lie Mei main (Lie Mein ha ha) and mostly just picked her once when she stayed over at a cousin's house who happened to have Armageddon. Aside from her she's also partial to Sareena and Nitara only because "they look cute ^^"

Catherine

She is here for brutality and blood and thus, who's a better choice than Skarlet herself? However she's also a fan of the lesser appreciated characters such as Motaro but she isn't picky, she just likes cool Fatalities and will pick whoever isn't picked already

Laurel

She loves Sindel, she's a a fan of what a girl boss she is. She's been talking a lot to Edd (and Eduardo) about the characters and she thinks they're neat. Her second main has become Takeda

Diwi

This boy is so bad at the game but he tries his best!! He thinks the characters are neat and he absolutely loves Johnny Cage. Aside from him he's also one of the few people in the world to think Mokap was cool and he has a soft spot for Stryker

Mike

He is not immune to cool Shaolin Monks and thus his two mains are Lui Kang and Kung Lao but make no mistake this man is a fast learner, he's started playing the hated characters like Blaze or Meat just so he can flex

Hellucard

His normal main is Shang Tsung or Quan Chi but he's a horror movie fan first, person second so he's here to play ALL the crossover DLC characters. Overall he's the perfect person to fight against Edd as he is a MASSIVE fan

[thevelaryons]

Do you think GRRM dislikes Baela considering how her life especially after the dance is a big disappointment! Her betrothed Jacaerys is rumored to have an affair with Sara Snow, she lost Moondancer, she has burns/scars from battle, the regents didn’t want her to be Aegon’s heir, her husband Alyn was constantly cheating with other women, and supposedly had a great love affair (and children) with her niece, her daughter Laena’s hatchling, the start of house Velaryon downfall in general. idk but Rhaena seems to have a better life…

I don’t think how much a character suffers in the story is an indication of the author’s dislike for the character. If that were the case, then Tyrion Lannister would be one of GRRM’s most beloathed characters. Except we all know he’s actually the unquestioned favourite #1.

I think I’ve said this before but the Dance of the Dragons is just ASOIAF writ small. The Dance characters all have counterparts in the main series. The author is just envisioning them in different settings. And just as the Dance ended with a broken boy on the throne, so will ASOIAF (as confirmed by GRRM himself). For Baela, her main series counterpart is of course Arya Stark. These two have so many heavy handed parallels it’s impossible to deny the connection there. If you look at interviews where GRRM talks about Arya, he clearly adores her, has referred to her as one of his favourites, and even speaks of her as being a character who everyone should love. Do I think GRRM would dislike pre-ASOIAF Arya aka Baela? No, absolutely not.

Speaking specifically of Baela, the author writes about her quite positively. She’s given many endearing attributes that place her in a heroic position in the story. Her twin is often written as secondary to her too. If Baela suffers because of the actions of the characters around her, such as her husband supposedly cheating on her, that says more about those other characters than it does Baela.

Tbh, if somebody asked GRRM who is his favourite female character from the Dance, Baela would be a top pick (GRRM has previously spoken of Daemon as his overall favourite, and Baela is just a nicer version of her father…).

[nami-moittli]

[Part 1] [Part 2]

Note: There will be appmon spoilers ahead!

So, picking back up where I left off, now that we’ve got one half of the appdrive-color coding out of the way, let’s move on to the other half, where I will slowly start to get more indulgent and headcanon-y

So, now that I’ve talked about how each chosen is color coded, we now have to take a look at the appdrive DUOs

(Sorry Astora, for the blurry photo)

But now we get interesting, each DUO has two colors, each chosen’s main color and a secondary one. All but one of them have the same secondary color, and guess who that is!

It’s Yuujin. Because of course it is.

Yuujin has purple as the ‘top’ color, which as I’ve stated represents himself and Offmon, but on the ‘bottom’ color, it’s white, silver, really.

All the rest of the chosen have their respective colors on the top portion, and a yellow, gold, on the bottom. Now what could this all mean?

I, personally, see it as a slight show of Yuujin’s “other” nature. Being a second “sixth ranger” and, of course, being an A.I. being originally made for Leviathan before Minerva decided to use him herself.

Now, I can’t really talk about color theory and why Yuujin, Leviathan, is silver while the others, Minerva, are gold, but I can talk about my own headcanons and general AU bs!

So, speaking of the appdrives and Leviathan, that brings us to everyone’s favorite arc-long villain, Unryuji Knight.

We see in the fight between Warudamon and the app drivers there is a mysterious applidriver who allows for Mienumon to app fuse her to get her to ultimate, and this mysterious appli driver also shows up with Cameramon to app fuse him to Scopemon.

As we can see here, from Mienumon being listed as Knight’s buddy, (I think from the manga?) it would make sense for this mysterious applidriver to be our dear Knight.

Now, why am I saying this?

What color would his appdrive be?

To confirm that the manga is the reason why Knight is listed as Mienumon’s buddy, here on Wikimon it lists all the applidrivers:

Of course, the color is listed as “unknown”, which makes sense, it means we, the fans get to speculate!

(Also, slight mention for the game appdrivers, apparently Kazuki/Itsuki, who I believe are the male/female protagonists, have white appdrives. I’m ignoring that because it’s game canon, not show canon.)

Now, the easiest color to choose for him would be white, as that is what he is mainly seen wearing. However, as I’ve previously mentioned, the appdrive’s color seems to match the buddy, not just the child.

This, decidedly, makes things harder.

Of course, we could give him, maybe a pink, to match Mienumon, as blue and purple are already both taken (unless we want to go with a “different shade is good enough!” Approach) but, I and others who have watched the show know that this isn’t quite right. Knight originally had an app that he himself made, being a messaging app, before it got shut down due to hate speech.

Of course, we would go with this app’s color scheme instead. I don’t remember if we ever get to see this app’s icon in the show? I think it’s shown, but I don’t really remember the color scheme. But even, I do have my own ideas!

Now, I know that I said that white is the obvious option, and it is the one that I would pick for his applidrive, but I did want to talk about his buddy as well. So with that out of the way, and me diving into the trenches of my own cool ideas without regard for what makes the most sense, I do have a fun idea as to how Knight’s applidrive more interesting!

I think it’s be cool, if like Messemon, which has multiple colors, Knight’s appdrive reflects off different colors as well! Of course, the base color would still be white, but depending on the angle, maybe the outline color could change? Maybe green, blue and red like we see from Messemon? Or something else?

Idk, I just think it’s cool.

Oh, and of course, with his DUO the secondary color would be silver like Yuujin’s.

New section: My madness (with a hint of analysis still sprinkled in)

So, now that I’ve got all of the canon stuff out of the way, with an exception of Hajime, which I will get to in this section, I can talk about my own personal headcanons/post-canon AU stuff!

Let’s start out simple with “still in the realm of canon” Hajime!

I believe that his appdrive color would be orange, because yellow’s already taken and it’s reasonable to get orange from both Hajime and Onmon/Bootmon. For his secondary DUO color though, I’d imagine it to be neither silver, nor gold. Instead being a bronze, as by the time he gets his appdrive, both are gone.

Now, into my madness! Yuu, my headcanon/OC character. If you haven’t read my little “introduction post” I suppose it would be called, for him, the basic premise for his character is: Yuujin but one model down is brought to life by the Katsura’s, who he now lives with. He has an identity crisis over 1) being an android and 2) not having any memories of the main story, as he’s currently YJ-12, if you will. He ends up having so much of an identity crisis because (when I first imagined him he was Hajime’s age without me thinking of the implications) he wanted a more “fresh start” of being his own person. He’s now Hajime’s age and he goes by “Yuu Katsura”

Anyway, with that out of the way, I can get into what I actually wanted to talk about! Of course, as this is post canon, his secondary color is bronze, just as Hajime’s is. But his primary color? At first, I wanted it to be green, as that’s Yuujin’s main color, and it could be like they switched, Yuujin wears green with a purple appdrive, and Yuu wears purple and has a green appdrive. But then I had my appdrive color realization, and luckily, purple is not Offmon’s only color!

So Yuu’s applidrive would have grey as its primary color and bronze as its secondary color.

Now, for awhile, Astora’s cousin, Hinarin, was my Side Character I Care Way Too Much About. So, of course, I had to give her a buddy of her own! And so, I ended up giving her the buddy appmon of Dancemon! It makes sense, as she’s Astora’s cousin so a variant/coincidental resemblance to Musimon makes sense. Plus, as she’s been bedridden in the hospital for quite some time now, having such an active buddy would be really fun! I even came up with an episode idea for the two, but I never got around to really writing it, Y’know?

Anyway, all this is to say, green primary color, bronze secondary color.

Onto Ai! Now, I mainly associate her with the color pink, but as I’ve already discussed, there’s more to it than just that. So, who would her buddy be?

Now, I’ve seen people say that Bookmon would be a great buddy for her, and while I do agree, it would seem a bit, off. If you know what I mean.

Gatchmon, Musimon, Dokamon, Hackmon and Offmon (and Onmon/Bootmon, if we want to add Hajime) if you think about all these appmon, adding Bookmon to the roster would look, odd, would it not? After all, all of them are, idk how to describe it, vaguely humanoid? Of course, all except Hackmon, who’s more beastioid? I mean, It’s not like any of them look as human as say, Mienumon, off the top my head, but none of them are object appmon either.

So, no, I would not have Bookmon be AI’s buddy. Who would I choose?

Well, honestly, I kinda want to make an OC appmon for her buddy, so, in terms of applidrive colors?

Pink primary, bronze secondary.

Bonus:

Watson can have that one Roleplaymon variant we see in his joke backstory. The one based off the successful RPG app game.

Idfk, brown and bronze?

[chuluoyi]

Hi Chu!!!!! OMG This AU looks so cute AHHH I regret not buying schips thenn 😭😭Backing Rosa against the sofa!?!?!??!? SIR ME NEXT-

OH and I got the Marius SSR too! The story is super cute you've got to read it soon! You're so right! If it were a 4 SSR event I would die...

Yeah!! Unholy blood is really a unique webtoon, and Father Michael 😭😭😭 I cried too it was so sad... I somehow always cry when I see the main character devastated...

The author's new work is called "Killer Peter"! I haven't heard of Apostle's creed tho...

HAHAHA Callisto's smirk 🤣 Is he your fave male lead?? I despise Derek with a burning passion... I started liking Reynold after a while, and my fave so far is Eclise 🥹🥹 Vinter is useless ngl like he's just there...

I already returned from Kuantan! It was so fun! The beaches were really beautiful, I wished Nanami could've seen it once 😭😭😭

You can do it Chu!! 💪🏻💪🏻 Jan is coming soonnnn!!!

Yeah! I'm studying in a "Polytechnic" instead of a Junior College. Polytechnics don't have uniforms, and we study things that relate more to our dream career! My extracurricular is actually SFX, but my instructor is a makeup artist so he teaches me beauty makeup too! Omg You're allowed to cut your skirt?? My secondary school would expell me if I did that... And what even- They mock girls with or without makeup??! What's their problem? It really isn't easy being a woman 😭😭 Somehow we're always wrong... So are we supposed to all be naturally pretty? [I think they would call naturally pretty girls slutty ngl] THEY'RE the problem, not girls bruh.

Omg I thought Yuri on Ice was like some anime that not many knew about 🫠🫠

YUH OMG FINALLY SOMEONE WHO KNOWSS!!! 🩵🩵🩵 Shin Hyesun is so talented! You should watch "Mr Queen" she's so funny in this kdrama 😆 I've watched Angel's last mission too! I love how she actually immerses herself in her roles like her acting is just perfect she's sooo natural

THE XMAS ONE 😭😭😭 That one is so brutal 😭😭😭😭 Your bf needs to be hollow purpled by Gojo-

I'll use the forum once my school starts in Jan!! For now I'll just chill 🫠

HUH 50?! THAT'S NUTS I thought 20 marks was bad 😭😭😭 How did you score in that 😭😭 Ooo was engineering interesting tho? Hahah! I'm doing banking and finance but I plan to switch courses to Accounting or something... I'm so done with crypto and stuff I'm not cut out for it...

Sorry babe I despise Econs with a burning passion 😭 I'm a math girlie ✨️✨️ I love Algebra HAHAH but I hate Trigo... Idk why we need to find X and Y... But if I'm somehow good at it, sure! Right? I can't remember anything from the nervous system... I remember being so done with it 💀💀 Omg the whole periodic table?!??!! That's crazy 😭 I was already happy with memorising the metallic table thingy...

YEAH- I think it's different tho! HAHHAHA Everyone would flock to Kuantan 😭😭😭 But Kuantan is pretty good on its own too!! There's always turtles there! If the timing is right, you'll even get to see the turtle eggs hatching and baby turtles too! The beaches are STUNNING

P.s Sorry I took so long to reply again 😭😭 I spent the past few days painting my house walls 🫠🫠🫠

-🪩

disco anonn!!🥹 sorry for taking my time to reply!

SIR ME NEXT is soooo relatable omg😭 aaargh i haven't got the time to read it comfortably yet but i will soon!! the illustration is legit sooo cute😭

ohh killer peter! okay, i'll add it to my reading list too next!! apostle's creed is quite good! but well, nothing measures up to unholy blood to me still...

AHAHAHHA honestly i hate him at first🫠 ugh but that's my cycle with cocky male lead. hate him -> get soft -> love him. it applies the same with callisto too argh i love his hair like i'm weak for men with that sort of hairstyle― but yes, i think he's still my pick and YOU'RE SO RIGHT FOR VINTER HAHAHAHA he's just there like 😭 sir, thank you but next

waaah i'm happy that you've returned safely!🥹 do you like beaches? i love it too but i can't swim so i can only wait from the sidelines :')

oh and nanami... have you seen the recent leaks?😭 gods, i'm sad all of a sudden while reading the latest chapter. i'm happy that he's mentioned after so long in the manga but...

ahh that's so interesting! like yes, the more focused it is, the better it'll help in your future endeavors🥹 well, "allowed" is not exactly... but i went and cut it because i just didn't like it🫠 it went past the knees and i felt like... a walking stick? i just hate the way it feels, so i make it shorter... to a bit above my knees🥹 my teacher once suspected i did cut it but then when i played the fool, she was just like "nah" and went on her way HAHAHAHAH

that's also what makes me so ??? like why are you little clowns like that you don't even know the first thing about beauty🫠 nah so true, the best we could do is to be on our ways, don't bother with them because they're not worth our time

I WATCHED IT!! omg that was one of the best kdrama all time to me like i can't stop laughing for each and every episode😭 shin hyesun is soooo funny and the king (kim... jung hyun? omg i forgot)'s face is also naturally funny as heck too even when he's staying quiet. they're the best crack pair ever i swear!🥹 but i just watched see you in my 19th life but sadly i think it's quite average... but i think it's because of the script and ahn bohyun's stiffness though...

i so agree i will hollow purple him― oh wait, have you seen the new gojo hollow purple figure!? it's sooo majestic i swear!

good luck!! holidays is coming soon let us rest before we tackle more new year shit :'))))

i... think i scored only about 30 out of 50 marks? i was sooo bad at economics and i think it's the power of my prayers that i was able to pass at all🫠 engineering is... interesting yes, but it's also making you scratch your head in confusion. like i met math and physics again there and it's more of technical things like machine and such (which i have 0 interest in) so most of the time i would sit in class and try not get caught being sleepy―

accounting is pretty useful in the working world!🥹 i think it's great should you decide to pursue that because anywhere we need accountants~ ah, tbh i'm afraid of trying crypto because well, for one, my luck isn't that great so...

SERIOUSLY how did you like algebra that was my natural enemy😭 but yeah if you're good at it, of course you'd like it!🥹 i was a total dummy so i hate it ahaahahah ooh i actually started out not hating biology but ever since my teacher got me to try this national competition, i realized how much i'm not cut out for that and even in the end i WO-ed🫠 periodic table isn't that hard when you compare it to biology though AHAHAHAH

omg really?! that's sooo cute! i definitely want to visit there now that you said it like that!🥹 baby turtles always get my heart soft like awww they're so smol and yet walking...

that's okay! oh and that's so fun that you're painting your walls by yourself?? like you can customize it and such too??

[lightlycareless]

spoilers for chapter 36 (a.k.a the first page and a bit of the second):

Also, as always, this might be edited YET AGAIN 😭 but the essence shall remain.

idk man I want this to be sad, I hope it is. and tragic. :) I just love backstories. also the movie hereditary :)

There isn’t much that you remember from that awful day, (or want to, more likely) but now that you’ve been unwillingly pressed to do so, you recall it being a weekday, specifically a school day evident by the way you rushed back home alongside Hinata, Ren, and Sumire’s mother, Ayaka.

Your mother would always be the one to pick you and your siblings up, but when neither she nor Eiichi could, Ayaka would step in.

Arrangements that did little, to nothing to upset the kids, for they greatly cherished her, seeing her like an auntie, and treating her like such.

Thus, you were not shy on finding your excitement with her regarding an upcoming school trip to a nearby amusement park—the yearly endeavor you were patiently looking forward to ever since Ren told you about it, turning eager once Hinata went herself and confirmed all your expectations.

There was no denying you wanted to go, and your parents knew that too, it’s all you’ve been talking about since starting your current grade, after all, and it would be an understatement to say they’ve been saving up money so you could get the best experience out of it yet.

With all this in consideration, it was only natural that you’d ignore Ayaka’s pleas asking you to go change into more comfortable clothes or get something to eat first as soon as you arrived home—barely leaving your shoes behind at the entrance, only doing so by habit, as well as your backpack, and siblings who went on to do just what Sumire’s mother requested, before rushing towards the location you presumed your mother to be: either somewhere in the gardens, or alongside your father stuck in one of the many boring meeting’s they’re forced to attend.

You just couldn’t wait. It was impossible—more so when the paper slip in your hold weighed heavy against your hand. It was the permit to allow you to attend the school trip. Even if the institution already knew you were going to attend, procedures still needed to be followed, thus you obliged.

Now at the main hall, a wide grin decorated your face as your big, shiny eyes searched for your mother.

It wouldn’t take long before she came into view, a sight that made your heart soar as you scurried to her side. Minako was pacing from one side to the other just outside one of the meeting rooms, before suddenly stopping just by the edge of the engawa and staring into the gardens.

Minako was more likely than not waiting for your father’s meeting to finish, or perhaps even waiting to get an audience with the elders judging by her stern face. Your mother, even when relented to a secondary role inside the household, was very hands-on when it came to what she considered truly mattered: her children.

Because she was willing to accept the requirements that came with being married to Eiichi, she became very strict with everything else: such as enrolling her children in a “civilian” school, a controversial decision for established sorcerer families, so they could have a “normal” childhood.

Encouraging her children in hobbies that related outside of training and sorcery, in other words, teaching them that they are more than just tools for the community to exploit, and to live their life to the fullest.

Your mother was never popular amongst your family, and these decisions certainly didn’t improve her standing, but that didn’t matter to her. As long as her children were happy —earning her the sweet, bright smiles on their cute little chubby faces, which she’d always tease with a pinch on their cheeks—that’s all she needed.

But that day… something felt different. Something was not… in place, so to speak. Your mother appeared to be a bit distant, aloof, as if she were completely focused on something else—perturbed. Contrary to the engaging personality she had when receiving her children after a long day of school. And that should’ve been enough warning for you to realize there was something wrong, but at your short age you still failed to recognize when your parents were tired, annoyed, or just wanted space for themselves.

And it wasn’t your fault, for they always tried to keep a rather cheerful image towards their children, and while one could argue this was more harmful than good, their intentions were clear: they wanted to keep you and your siblings as far away as possible from any sense of stress they knew they’d be getting in abundance when the time was right.

Minako was too deep into the realm of her own thoughts that she had failed to acknowledge your approaching steps, as well as the cheery greeting that had long announced your return, virtually heard from the other side of the house, before bumping her and subsequently wrapping your small arms around her.

“I’m home mama!” you’d cheer, jumping on the spot with unparalleled excitement before looking up to her with a toothy grin—there was nothing but overflowing love in your eyes, ready to tell her all about your day, but her gaze… her gaze was cold, distant, so, so different from the adoration she’d unconditionally give you… a warning that would pass undetected at that moment, only recognized much, much later. “I’m home from school!”

Your mother doesn’t respond outside of prolonged silence and eventually a hum that seemed to be of acknowledgment. Your cue to continue.

“We did so many things today, well, lots of boring reading and work, but I also got to play allot with my friends… sensei said I shouldn’t be too rough because my clothes can get dirty, but I don’t think they did… not like Hina-nee anyways!! —Oh! And I also did a drawing for you, but I have it in my backpack, I can show it to you later if you want… Aaagghh!! But that’s not what I want to tell you!! Look, look!” You cried while extending your arm and waving the paper slip before her, representing the arrival of the moment you and your parents have been excitedly waiting for practically throughout all your academic life. “It’s finally here, I’m finally going to the zoo!! I can finally go do what Hina-nee and Ren-nii did and they won’t be able to make fun of me anymore!”

No one made fun of you, of course, and that’s something Minako would’ve reassured you, had she not remained eerily focused on something else…

“I just need you to sign it” you grin, taking out a pen from your pocket—you might’ve you’re your things behind, but that didn’t mean you weren’t prepared—and handing it over to her. Minako did not receive it. “Sensei said she already knew I was going because papa was being all annoying about it. Saying things like ensuring my safety and how do I know she’s not going to get hurt? Who are the chaperons?!” You mimicked, trying to relay the seriousness you once overheard from your father the last time he attended a PTA meeting.

Once again, something your mother would’ve commented on, probably attempt to sway you into doing it for some might find it rude, but secretly loving your interpretation… had she not— “But she still needs your written permission!”

It's only here that her prolonged silence finally began to worry you; throughout this conversation Minako hadn’t even looked at you, and far from making you feel ignored… it allowed the uneasy sentiment of dreadfulness to settle in your heart.

The first time you’d ever experience such feeling, and one you’ll never forget.

[eluvianna-ooc]

YES. I have so many Google docs about things like:

• Elu's cursed pendant and its history.

• Her dagger vs staff as main and secondary artifact weapons (and why).

• A fairly detailed story about one of my main character's parents who we never meet. Started to logic both his name and why he's so desperate to redeem them—and by extension, all paladins? Gets spicy because idk, rivals to lovers.

• More about how various characters' parents met. (??)

• The above characters' (joke) adventure when they leave the main story for a bit. Which we never hear about when they come back, for some reason. But somehow it was very important he meet a wizard who seems an awful lot like Leezar from Your Highness.

“Oh yeah, while we were off-screen we met this really significant wizard... he just really needed help picking out a toilet seat.”

• Exploration on punishing an antagonist by making them pick up trash in Dalaran. And why or why not this would be a fair consequence for murder (according to its citizens). I guess because it's usually otherwise handled by magic?

• A brief history and lore for a warlock guild I mention in passing once.

• Similar for an Arcane version of the Brawler's Guild (actually used).

• Tenets, lore, and history for a cult I made up because none of the ones in-game were quite "right" for the story. I also list inspirations from TV shows and books. (???)

• A Netherlight course catalog, just for fun.

Okay, I make fun of my characters a lot....umm

[tinkywinkyschauffeur2]

wild times in the spare change fandom

(there is canonically rpf, the landscape of which changed over the course of the band’s existence, the original popular pairing of which was Bridie x Cardinal with Ishani x Leon as a secondary pairing. They’re obviously not “canon” but with none of them having public statements out regarding their sexualities I understand where they’re drawing the chemistry from, similarly in a meta way, in some delusional future in which i am famous, I would also understand the context in which someone would want to ship that. There was slash fic at this time but the gay ships got more popular the longer the band existed and there were more interviews to pull from and the four of them just got more comfortable joking with each other about stuff like that.

I’d like to go on a small tangent about Leon because in a bizarre turn of events he has slowly marinated some flavour while i wasn’t looking and now I have things to say about him. I think he gets treated similarly to the way that Hozier is treated. “WHY DOES HE DRIVE THE GOLF CART LIKE THAT IM CRYINGGGGGGG 😭😭😭”

especially the way that people lose their minds over those angelic back lit live photos

Though with Hozier ppl are like ‘shout out to hozier for inventing love’, (talking about his lyricism) but that doesn’t happen with Leon because he doesn’t write the lyrics to the songs — although Vivian thinks that he should. Instead it’s about the things that he says in interviews and the weird existential poetic shit that he says far too offhandedly for comfort. He ended up getting banned from talking in interviews bc he kept turning simple questions into anxious musings about the universe and no one knew how to move on from it.

‘You know, and I wonder sometimes if any of it really matters. In a world reclaimed by plants, would anything that I’ve done last? Soil gunking up the inside of cassette tapes and that. My single bass line, the last thing left of me, would be silently stored on the millions of records it was printed into, never to be played again. And then I wonder if I have any right to worry about it at all. I think it’s selfish in a way, to care about a legacy.’

‘Leon the question was do you have a favourite guitar that you own.’

‘Oh.’

he was mad about getting banned for a while until an alternative type culture show requested an interview with him and he and the interviewer just sat on the floor on sequinned pillows and spoke at length about that kind of philosophical stuff and the fans lost their fucking shit let me tell you. VCR’ed to death. and then there were copies made of the copies bc everyone needed their own copy. following the collapse of the band it eventually was reincarnated (2011) into who could get the most artistic generation loss coupled with super distorted and slowed spare change music something something metaphor for corruption. idk he found out about it later and was like. you know what. it was very traumatic but yeah this is comforting in a very weird way.

side note he’d be number 1 vance joy listener on spotify

anyway

There was a series of some sort that he was extremely invested in (which i haven’t invented the barest trace of a premise for yet.) and was later the appointed president of the local fan club for it, after being a loyal submitter of fanfic for the zine for several years. and oh yeah baby we’re on some trekkie type shit here. Leon Barta most prolific slash fic writer in the whole prefecture.

this is the early 90s btw. he changed mediums with the dawn of the internet. i’ll explain the way the trallum internet works later but he had a personal page that linked from the main fanclub page (think old geocities/neocities) where he posted his work. That page was later taken down as spare change began to pick up traction and someone found it and panic ensued as he didn’t remember the login to it and he was freaking out so badly that he convinced dick to call the admin people at The Internet to get it taken down from the other end (damage control now, ask questions later). neglected to mention what was actually ON the page tho

Ishani figured it out pretty quickly though and maintained her poker face honourably but broke down the end.

She knew because she was his long suffering editor and spent time in the public library with him while he built the website in the first place.

Their high school time was strange. they both identified as lesbians at that time for context and both agreed with the concept of ‘yes i am a lesbian but i do not like the concept of participating in lesbian sex. maybe I’m just lying to myself’. fast forward eeerereewwewewewweeerrrreeeupp. asexual lesbian and straight trans man. it all made sense to them in retrospect but at the time ishani spent most of her time being endlessly frustrated at anything and everything to distract from the main issue (complicated feelings too messy for her to want to deal with. Very heteronormative in that it’s a given that she’d marry a man, but that’s a deep issue in conflicts between culture and scripture and victorian colonisation and she really just wants to get through school with good grades right now. unpacks it later in her 20s but using aimless frustration as a coping mechanism with being uncomfortable never went away which is again a problem in itself) and leon had some kind of weird guilt complex over being a lesbian but writing purely about men fucking other men.

sorry side tangent

there was considerable public jealousy of bridie when she and leon announced they were together (mostly the leon fan folk who were angry they couldn’t get with him and also are fourteen and need to get some sleep bc they have school tomorrow). and then natural follow up is oh okay so cardinal x ishani.

C: oh no we’re just friends :)

I: EW no he’s gross look at him. he is like a brother to me. a gross yuck BROTHER. EW. why the fuck would i be in love with him that’s disgusting

C: :( :( man i thought you loved me :( u were literally the best guest at my wedding

I: SHIT MAN I AM SO SORRY. i do love you. you;re still objectively gross tho.

C; yeah okay fair enough

i must confess also that Leon’s entire character was originally based off the specific look that peter hook makes at 5:14 in the perfect kiss music video after playing the drums while their actual drummer is playing a keyboard with one finger like he;s trying to laser it with his eyes and their singer is going wild with a cowbell.

he’s not like that anymore tho he buys plants from the hardware store and is convinced that if he thinks too many bad vibes they will die and also keeps a sourdough starter and has to feed it and bridie refers to it as ‘the beast’

the following is a bunch of pictures that i imagine their house looks like

t4t adhd stoner + chronically anxious and plagued with visions

thank you thank you i’m here all night

[castlebyersafterdark]

idk what it is but all this pining for steve is making me want him less lol. more for you vinny i guess! i loved him in s3 but in s4 he's just too... nice. the dad of 8 kids vibe does not do it for me. and he looks soooo dad in those s5 loafers and with that hair.

as for heteronormativity anon, who is probs long gone by now, i find myself defending it as a cognitive concept. its a societal issue, but i feel like bylers use it to degrade individual milevens, who instead should be judged for their homophobia, arrogance about storytelling, or extreme denial. i would say the main prescription of anyone who is still left shipping mileven is denial due to unhealthy emotional attachment; meanwhile, general byler antis who dont necessarily care for mileven are either blind to storytelling or homophobic.

as for heteronormativity, its understandable when you think about what exactly IS it that sets romance apart from platonic love? we love byler because theyre friends, but what shape is the love and romance? is it devotion? friends can do that. is it care? attention? friends can do that too. is it in sexual attraction? well, some would argue they fall in love but don't feel sexual attraction. or that sex is secondary. is it in the extent of all these things and how they all contextually tie together that makes byler feel romantic? i would say: yes.

romantic love looks different for every couple, but the only things we have to share and empathise and express this with others outside of the couple are institutions such marriage, living together, children, sharing lives, and other gestures. think of trying to explain to anyone how or why you love your partner without sounding trite or cheesy or tired. its so unique to the experience of being in it. and what some would see as the peak of romance, others wouldnt. so if we're telling stories - or indeed relating to eachother as humans - there needs to be a shared understanding of what could be considered love, romance, or friendship.

so you can see that, in society that has a fairly good reason to expect men and women to be attracted to each other due to biological evolution, most people expect and subconsciously look for signs of more-than-friendship love and affection in different-sex pairings. it is literally, in a way, survival.

society is changing and more people are opening up to see queerness everywhere, and see the beauty of it. but there's no way people are ever going to stop thinking about mixed gender potential couples, because there's a biological hardwiring for het people to see heterosexuality that in others. even though, to queer folk, straight life seems easy to find partnership, its not straightforward and there are plenty of reasons why its hard. its comparatively easier than being queer, but its still uniquely hard for each person to find love, no matter their sexuality.

so... until there are more queer folk than het in the world, i don't think it will change. i can see how alienating it is to always be thought of second, but its the nature of being queer in a mostly het world. i dont think heteronormativity is objectively bad, not unless there is also prejudice and hate accompanying it. and plenty of straight folks will watch byler and think 'that's fucking beautiful.' they just probs won't be as invested as queer folk are, and you can understand that! and there are also lots of allies and straight people invested in queer stories, who did pick up on byler, but usually they have their own reasons for being so invested, such as relating to the outsiderness of queerness despite not being queer themselves.

Hmm, I can see what you mean but it's funny because I'm into Steve even more this way!! Entirely think it's a clothes making the man idea here. I like my Steve dorky and a little strange. Or classic Steve. I'd say this combines the best of. He was hottest in season one and three. But that look? Dressed like that and possibly road-tripping with Dustin? Cute!! Endearing. Love the fit. I don't like "babysitter Steve" because it's such a wider audience cliche by now, but I do think genuine moments with Dustin are great. And them spending all that time together?? Driving cross country or wherever? Really love that. Hope that's the Steve we're getting and it improves on season 4 Steve, one of my least fave character variations.

Onto the rest. "...who instead should be judged for their homophobia, arrogance about storytelling, or extreme denial." This is accurate, this is the core of that fanbase. And yeah, it might be unfair to those who aren't of these descriptors, but it's helpful in understanding. And reading through - I do see your point overall here and not negating any of that, that's all accurate and true, better or for worse. And is all the very definition of heteronormative thinking in society. Right there in the name. Normal straight culture. I mean, yeah in regards to romance people are going to fall to doing all that for any standard media and scrutinize the possibility for a man and woman towards a relationship where something queer is ignored or not seen or shocks.

It's not untrue to say there's more straight people out there. Accurate statistic. But that's the whole point - the want for acknowledgement of different lifestyle, lives lived. It's less about how romance is generally difficult, because yes, and more the media angle of all a man and woman need do is be put on screen together and stand there and the work is already done for the audience to accept and root for them. That's heteronormativity. That's what queer characters are up against in front of the audience. It's rarely that easy (some may chime in and say fandom does that with any two random men in proximity but ok - is fandom real life and an accurate view of society? No).

I definitely don't think you said anything untrue. The point and wish I guess, what were up against, is that assuming mindset where everything is straight = default. And a hope that at some mystical point, media and fiction is approached neutrally, where the assumption isn’t completely hardwired or challenging it at least isn't shocking if the default still remains, however unrealistic to think that the default will ever truly disappear. It's tolerance -> acceptance -> celebration. We're barely into the first one, overall.

[drawnecromancy]

Author ask game

Tagged by @isabellebissonrouthier ! thanks :)

Tagging : @the-stray-storyteller, open tag bc idk who else would like to be tagged ^^

I'll be talking about Le Prix du Sang here.

1) What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war), and why did you choose it?

There isn't any that I'm currently planning on having. Whether I'll find one on the way or not is still up for debate. I'm not giving lessons, I'm just throwing awful people in the same general area and looking at what they do.

2) What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding (like real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites, etc.)?

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh [blanking]

There's definitely the. General european fantasy setting you'd expect from a european writer, i guess.

Although this place's worldbuilding is, specifically, based on a no-fun-allowed discussion I've had with my sister AGES ago when I was a teenager. What if it had magic, but was an awful fucking place ?

Idk. I tend to pick inspiration from a lot of places and it's hard for me to pinpoint one thing exactly. I can tell you when rereading that "ah, i probably picked that bit up from Ewilan" or "oh, this is absolutely because I hated X thing in les Chevaliers d'Emeraude", or even "oh okay this whole dye business is absolutely because of some of the classes i had".

Definitely, the fact that Monthaut is known for its high quality wool fabric is because of my classes.

3) What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, help readers grow as a person?

She's trying to achieve having a stable life for once, and once she gets at she's trying to keep it no matter what it takes.

I'm trying to see how interesting I can make that while sometimes the secondary characters are doing most of the stuff.

I want readers to come watch those fucked up little guys with me. Again. I'm not going to teach you SHIT. Come look at my weirdoes. They're kind of awful. Wanna see how far they can take their bullshit ?

4) How many chapters is your story going to have?

I have no idea ! Several, definitely ! I've written, uh, 8 of them so far. We're not past the halfway point. So at least double that ?

5) Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

Original content. I don't plan on posting it, but on hopefully going the traditional publishing route.

6) When and why did you start writing?

Good question ! A long time ago is the best i can do.

I do think I used to write random snippets when i was a very young kid, just for fun, to entertain myself. Then it was writing stories with my younger sister, just for the both of us.

We'd always find ways to put links to each other's stuff in our writings. Were our main characters actually related ? Did they just know each other for whatever reason ? Etc.

7) Do you have any words of engagement for fellow writers of Writeblr? What other writers of Tumblr do you follow?

Uhh... I consider myself to be a little bit to the left from writeblr because this is just my personal blog, man. I just happen to be a writer and an artist.

A lot of my friends tend to be these things too, altho I'm not super sure they'd consider themselves part of writeblr (hi Mal my beloved, Jo, Zach!, Alren); so I'm not tagging them here. Again, don't know if that'd bother them.

For people who have writeblrs that I follow, well, there's Isabelle and Stray I've already tagged, and @holdmyteaplease (also, if you do want to do this tag game, feel free!i just don't know if you do tag games LMFAO); and I think that's about it.

[teecupangel]

We can make it work. Desmond was in New York before Season 1 so what we can do is make Bad Weather a neutral zone.

Something about Bad Weather debuffs everyone, a kind of dead zone that keeps everyone’s magic ‘diluted’.

Desmond doesn’t realize it until he started seeing ‘the other side’.

And it wasn’t that he started seeing first but he started hearing it. Desmond himself doesn’t realize it but it’s his Eagle Sense adapting to the environment. Because Desmond is trying to ignore his Assassin heritage, including the Eagle Vision so his senses had to adapt because he was a normal human in a ‘dangerous’ location.

So it’s a slow awakening and Kingston felt it. As far as he believes, Desmond was already a New Yorker even if the boy isn’t exactly acting like a native. He can feel the slow awakening so he starts going to the bar to keep an eye on the boy.

That’s how he learned of Desmond’s situation. A young adult just starting his journey, needing support but too shy (too ‘damaged) to ask for it.

And that’s how Desmond started to live with Kingston. “Until he can find a better place to live”

This way, we’ll have Kingston (and the rest of the characters that have been confirmed to be in New York and already ‘awakened’) to support his slow journey to becoming a part of the Unsleeping City while having a lot to play in terms of characters and storyline with the Bad Weather being both a neutral zone and acting similar to the DND beginner tavern.

I would suggest that they don’t. The main point of the Brotherhood is that they stay in the shadow to serve the light. The Hall of Heroes is a place of bright light.

What we can do is add ‘heroes’ there that actually had a close Assassin ally. If Desmond looks deep enough to the history of these heroes, there will be a bit of ‘inconsistency’ that Desmond would easily find (like “roll perception with advantage” type of situation) that would lead him to seeing Assassins throughout the ages helping those with the Questing Blade whether intentionally or a series of events that led them to find one another.

Will this lead to some kind of game mechanic between him and Mr March? Maybe. I’m thinking that Desmond has sneak attack bonuses if he’s attacking someone near Ricky or someone that has attacked (attempted to attack) Ricky.

The idea is Ricky’s light serves to hide Desmond in the shadows better.

This also means that this would transfer to Cody in season 2 and Cody will absolutely think Desmond is so cool, being an ‘edgelord’ assassin character. Desmond just sighs, not even bothering to remind Cody that he isn’t an edgelord “That would be my Syrian ancestor…”

OH GAME MECHANIC WISE!

Once Desmond gets the Bleeding Effect, after every turn, Desmond has to roll a d20.

1 – 5, he has a Bleeding Episode that last for 3 turns.

2 and 3, he rolls a d4, 1 is Altaïr, 2 is Ezio, 3 is Ratonhnhaké:ton and 4 is Haytham.

4, he (the player) gets to pick who he’s Bleeding as.

1, the gm picks. Only in 1 and 4 can Edward be picked.

Of course, each Bleed has their own stats and proficiency + skills.

Desmond himself is a Rogue Assassin with a bit of Ranger Gloom Stalker build.

Altaïr is a Rogue Soulknife with a bit of Conjuration Wizard (his spellbook is fixed and his summons have the same brew as usual but looks like Assassins in general XD)

Ezio is a Rogue Arcane Trickster (not sure what his second class is but I’m thinking something like Champion or Battle Master Fighter idk)

Ratonhnhaké:ton is a Ranger Gloom Stalker with his second class being Assassin Rogue, aka the invert of Desmond’s progression in some ways.

Haytham is a Conquest Paladin with a secondary class of being a Mastermind Rogue

Edward is a Swashbuckler Rogue (his secondary class will be Thief Rogue IF the gm allows it XD)

From @ddxcrow

(this one was me lol) in love with the idea of Desmond asking if Sophie could please take her nasty rat out of the bar. He knows where Kug has been (he has been there before). I'm also imagining the meta-narrative of this scenario where the table jokes abt "iwe need to find a Bart for Desmond to end. Is this one named bart. Can i roll to see if this one's named Bart" & when Desmond finally gets the last hit on something ally goes 'WAIT WE FORGOT TO ASK HIS NAME. WAS HIS NAME BART' & Lo. For the bit, it was. Bart Ender

(thank you for this ask! I had so much fun writing this one since I like making D&D ‘sheets’ for characters) Desmond would remember Kug. He’d just think that he was dreaming back then but, now that he sees him while awake (and sober), he’s just going to go with the flow hahahahaha

It would be so funny if the Bart Ender that they’ve been looking for was in Bad Weather the entire time, they just never asked his name XD

Been holding a thought on my brain for too long abt putting Desmond in Situations: have you watched Dimension 20's The Unsleeping City? At least s1. Bc 1) watch it, it's so good & 2) I specifically in this situation think abt Bad Weather being the normal version of the bar in Broadway that Kingston & Misty go to. Pre-canon Desmond seeing past the Umbral Arcana & getting involved in magic shenanigans..... Yeah.

You know his latent Eagle Vision is peeling out & seeing the magic shit happening in New York City. You KNOWWWWW. Please tell me one of your followers has been thinking this too.

I have good news for you, nonny, because I have just started watching Dimension 20 this year but I am a slow watcher so I’ve only gotten as far as the first 3 episodes of Unsleeping City season 2 (atm, I think my fav D20 moment is with the Bad Kids’ “Spring Break, I believe in you!” XD). I’m one of those few people who’s pathway to D&D and TTRPG is Oxventure→No Rolls Barred/Chaotic Neutral→Mystery Quest so I am absolutely late to the party XD

Anyway, for this one, we need to do a bit of housekeeping.

I’m basing this on the title of the opening theme New York 2006 because I think that’s the year Season 1 was set (feel free to correct me though)

This means that Desmond would be 19 at that point and we can push it that he’s already working in Bad Weather.

Now, I like the idea that Bad Weather is the normal version of the bar that Kingston and Misty goes to but, may I suggest an alternative?

An earlier possible way to add Desmond to all these shenanigans is to make Bad Weather one of the bars Sofia and Kugrash go to for their ‘hairy baby free drinks scam’.

Towards the end, maybe the last bar they go to, Desmond walks up to Sofia and requested that they leave because the big rat pet she had would make other customers uncomfortable.

Sofia and Kugrash are already drunk at this moment but they hear Desmond call Kugrash a rat and are like “you can see him???”.

Kugrash immediately remembers Desmond as one of the homeless kids he helped when Desmond first moved into the city and had clocked him as ‘strange’ because there was something about him that felt... not exactly magical but almost magical-adjacent.

This ends with Sofia and Kugrash inviting Desmond to their new party as a recruit (with Sofia thinking both (1) this boy needs someone in his life to take care of him and now I’m trying not to cry because my cheating (as far as she knows) husband and I never had kids and (2) maybe he and Pete can get along as newbies with me)

And that is how our Intrepid Heroes managed to recruit an Assassin Rogue who may or may not multiclass to Gloom Stalker in a different playstyle to Liam Wilhelmina.

.

Unorganized Notes:

This is a Desmond who doesn’t know about his destiny or his ancestors but his training on the Farm is so ingrained into him that it makes him a Rogue.

Because of his lack of knowledge, we can argue that he could turn into a Thief Rogue instead of Assassin in this one because he had never assassinated anyone before.

In terms of playstyle, he’d actually be more a close combat attacker that uses some kind of switchknife with sneak attack being part of 'bonus action: hide -> main action: sneak attack')

Another suggestion I have is for Desmond to subclass as Phantom, more because of ‘Whisper of the Dead’ where every short or long rest, he can gain one skill or tool proficiency and the flavor text describes it as one of the ghostly presence shares its knowledge to the user. Desmond has no idea what this means because this is pre-canon but this is actually his ancestors managing to create a link to him in some form thanks to the Umbral Arcana mixing with his ‘destiny’.

If you want Desmond to be given the illusion of choice and not be a Rogue, we can make him a Warlock ‘worshiping’ an unknown Fathomless. In this setup, they don’t know who Desmond’s patron is and Desmond himself just shrugs because he can do magic so that’s nice. Part of his deal is that he receives messages from his patron in the form of texts on his phone. They all come from an unknown number he can’t call and the texts are always like ‘The Scholar is pleased with your desire to learn about the history of this place’ or ‘The Prophet is worried of your health and asks that you requests your companions for a rest’ or ‘The Hunter suggests you still find a weapon even if you are using magic’ and this is some weird shit even for Kingston because it seems like Desmond has multiple patrons or maybe even an entire pantheon of unknown gods/beings.

Abstergo is going to be so fucked in this one because, by the time they try to kidnap Desmond, he’d probably be around level 10~12 and maybe even living with Pete in his apartment.

And yes. Desmond absolutely knows Ricky as Mister March as well XD