#so now that i have... interacted with 3 developers of the game its just... wow. then again this mod isn't TOO popular unlike lullaby

[jils-things]

gosh wait, i wanna gush about how happy i am over this gift. like seriously ....

like oh my gosh?????? i was striving for this kind of artstyle as i learn how to use aesprite (the pixel art program) and i had actually told myself, wouldn't it be real funny if I tried to insert rhys in the actual poster/full sprite image for creepy black? like i just imagine him at the back, a little more hidden and almost appearing silhouette like behind ghost? and that he's facing back EXACTLY like that?!?!?? it's a way to tell that he's connected to the story but he comes a little later (because he did indeed, come in late when carmine has been possessed)

it honestly felt like my dream became a reality right there, even if the dev simply just made rhys and carmine stand next to each other. also because that's like. omg. rhys in. THE STYLE!! the creator's STYLE. the lead artist for this all. it's all so insane to me im really glad how things turned out with rhys ;; so glad i stayed to make more of him..... and... um. love him.... in that way too HSHDBD

[stained-glass-cicada]

one of my nearly line by line posts about sayer and brady's interaction in Episode 66- Developer's log

sorry

"Are we getting the staff I requested?" "I suppose that likely depends on your responses to the aforementioned follow up questions. Wouldn't you think? ...Oh, your extensive list of ideal candidate qualities was noted and, I'm even told, briefly perused."

AKDHDGASJA it is MEAN today

"Okay, SAYER, [Laughs] you're coming in a little hot here, uh, I'm sure the higher ups have questions, but I also bet those questions don't come with all this snide judgement that you're slinging. Is there something about this project in particular that's causing this?"

okay so Brady knows SAYER well enough to be unsurprised by SAYER being mean, knows its intentional (not just it being too blunt or logical as a machine), and knows there's a feeling underlying that.

"Dr. Brady, I apologize if you have misinterpreted my statements as judgemental. Or rude. I am simply acting as a facilitator of communication in this situation and do not have enough specifics on your current project for it to be a significant factor in my behavior. I know my relative level of autonomy is frustrating for you, Doctor. Your pet on earth serves as the sole evidence needed of that."

hooo okay 1) sayervoice: I'm Not Mad >:// 2) wow that's how it sees speaker, lacking autonomy, a pet, more tethered than even itself 3)'relative level', it's really feeling its restraints this season

"Ah. So this is about SPEAKER. uh- I'd ask how your feeling about its installation, but I know that's not how you work. uhm- What is it about SPEAKER that's causing this negativity? Do you think its installation endangers your ability to perform the tasks you are assigned?"

he's genuinely trying to ask it whats wrong without it shutting down the line of inquiry or being insulted.

"Recruitment is on the rise... It has been suggested, by those who would know, that this would imply a need for advancement here as well. I do not think i would like to be replaced."

I think about that last bit daily. It feels like such a show of vulnerability.

"Given our recent discussion, wherein Dr. Young attacked my impeccable reasoning, and proposed I was out of touch with humanity's delicate need to be coddled, you might understand why I have my reservations about his current work. He is unpredictable. I find him complicated to interact with."

it was so hurt by the conversation in The Games You Play. It does not know what to do with Young and the constant maneuvering he does. Its also being so open with Brady. It's scared and it needs someone above Young to offer reassurance.

"I want you to know, we're not working on replacing you. I don't know what role we're building this new entity to fill, but its not going to be on-boarding, alert broadcasting, task management... If you'll pardon the analogy, if this thing is a ninety thousand PSI water-jet, you'd be the Mississippi river. Kay? Same basic pieces, wildly different function."

very logic and function based reassurance. because that's what SAYER would accept? or because he ultimately sees it as a tool? regardless its effective enough for now

"You are attempting to mirror human development with this synthetic entity... This seems unnatural..."

Interesting, not sure what to make of this, is this why it sought to ruin FUTURE? Not *just* to get back at Young, but to prove how easy it would be to ruin an AI being trained like this?

"I'm willing to work with whatever situation"

Conceded to SAYER's and/or higher up's judgement , a good move, Doesn't act like he knows best

"Thirty three hours ago Dr. Young submitted a request... In the future, please remember all such requests should come directly from you as team lead. Anything else could imply a certain level of disorganization within your team."

I read this as less a threat and more a warning. You gave me information, I know You at least don't intend to replace me, even if I know Young does. Here's how he's screwing you over.

[labyrinthe-exe]

laby_log 0.1

gosh. where do i even begin? yes i'm totally writing in lapslock, because that's just how i am... LOL

anyway, wow!

okay...

where do i begin?

last year i did a 100 day art challenge at the beginning of 2024, i totally knocked that out of the park. this isn't really a year wrap-up sort of post but i promise it's relevant! so, flashback to early 2024 in like april, i've been drawing 100 days back then and finished in april... and then for the rest of the year i spent it procrastinating...

i had FINALLY progressed my art, jumpstarted and kicked back into gear the budding sprouts of falling head over heels back in love with art... and i totally wanted to jump to the wind and just shout...

"HELL YEAH, I'M SO BACK!" and catapult myself into the most productive year of my life.

so did i end up actually keeping up with art? no. i arted very intermitted...ly... and then i worked on like everything else but art ( my mental health for instance, cause woo boy i went through a LOT of changes in 2024... but not gonna get into that, wow boy howdy totally a wild ride mentally... )

i ended up being inspired by artists that i follow and interact with, like wow :plead: they're literally all so amazing :sobbbb: crying all over the floor, for the fact they could all pull through, so could i!!!

i knew i wanted to do winter jam, i wanted to do and make visual novels and games... I HAVE LOTS OF AMBITIONS! but golly, gosh... am i a procrastinator... with a perfectionist streak...

i wanted to do spooktober, otome jam, etc and failed all those... that's why i was finally WINTER JAM WILL BE THE BEGINNING and it was!

in like three days i created a shitty visual novel demo called "it's only december, always december" about seasonal depression and it was like a psychological horror... i had LOFTY AMBITIONS! and it's not that i couldn't do them... its just the entire month of december was hectic... crazy... totally batshit insane... i was robbed of both time, mental energy, and my goals until i was nothing but a collection of ambition, fatigue, and all my wirings all sticking out... totally a not good sight!

but i promised myself, i will make a visual novel! so i got my ass up, collected the time that i had... and birthed up... "it's only december, always december" and finagled it on the last freaking day and WHAM BAM! that's the beginning of my wannabe villain origin story!!!

and thus after december ended ( finally ) it was decreed that january was to be born and it was 2025... THE TRUE BEGINNING of my totally super cool and amazing visual novel developer journey !!!

i decided like idk like 2-3 days into the year that i was going to make the most crazy and ambitious idea ever... for a complete newbie beginner fledgling dev... yes... i was going to make a gothic horror romance visual novel with SWAK ( sealed with a kiss jam )... with a whole whopping... you guessed it...

EIGHT WHOLE LOVE INTERESTS!

A MAP SYSTEM

POLY ENDINGS

A TOTALLY SUPER COOL PROTAGONIST ( CAIN my baby )

STAT BUILDING

AFFECTION POINTS

POINT AND CLICK MECHANICS

INSANITY COUNTERS

now if this sounds unrealistic, believe me, it is. LOL but i am nothing but incredibly idealistic... so i charged on with an idea! no programming knowledge! no idea how to make gui! and like literally no story or outline because i'm a fucking pantser! honestly, it started out pretty fun?

i concepted some gui, i made some progress and i was having fun thinking about and talking with dev friends about my totally wacky dreams! i spent the first week really researching gothic horror and like trying to get myself in gear, drawing concept art of beloved characters and trying to figure out the art direction i wanted to go for!!! this is where my first mistake was...

trying to change my art style!

my art style is naturally kind of super sketchy and retro inspired, my art direction was also super retro inspired: think matsumi inomata, castlevania, yuki nobuteru ( sorry if thats spelled horribly ) ... you know !!! vibes! but the thing is...

i'm still not a proficient artist, so consistency is something i really really struggle with UNFORTUNATELY!

pictured up here are sketches i went through, trying to design the love interests ( focalor, october ) and cain my beloved baby boy is the one that looks like griffith's child... yes i'm super aware of the resemblance but i swear they're totally not the same!

at this point, i was still super optimistic! i ended up discussing with a friend who told me some of my gui wants were possible!!! and also opening up renpy documentation and fully prepped to spam another friend w/ like a million programming questions... but also super excited to just tough it out! cause i _do_ love coding... mostly from a css/html background though...

i love learning though!

but golly, i underestimated how much the gui would send me into emotional turmoil. i was constantly second guessing myself like "does it actually look good? does it look nice? is this going to be slop just like always december was? am i going to give up? am i even cut out for game dev at all?" things like that...

keeping a positive mindset and taking care of my daily irl chores, spending time with friends, and being a cheerful person was kind of hard and especially as i hit a low point this past week...

i really really wasn't feeling up to par this week... i wondered if i sounded silly or irresponsible to my friends or like a totally dumb scatterbrain... i wondered if people looked at me like a totally naive super unrealistic nobody who would never achieve anything at all even dialing it back... i nearly spiraled!!! but...

good news though, i practically finished the gui!

but before that, i ended up drawing some more beloved characters in hopes to cheer my mood up and contemplate the story i would tell for yandere jam... and if i hadn't mentioned it before then... yes... i do plan to join jams literally all year and release a full game of always december for next winter jam!

it helps because i'm a hikikomori coded neet... i'm just trying to push myself into a more consistent schedule so thats why i'm doing the whole "go big or go home" because if i don't push myself like this, i'm just not going to do anything at all... so even if i fail or stumble, it helps me in the long run!

ta-dah!!! one part of the gui... i had so much lovely and amazing help from dev friends getting this all squared away from colors to how to shade better and encouragement to keep going! i love them so much ;--;

i spent like 2wks totally fluffing about, still haven't written jack shit ( but i'm confident in my writing ) and now venturing into sprites and background artwork!!! and since today is like 11 at night on the 17th... well i only barely hve 2 weeks left to get everything else squared away...

thank gosh, this is only supposed to be a demo! so all those lofty features i mentioned earlier... thats just for the full game! haha!

so where am i now? well...

ive made like two sprites! the gui and.... i'm a bit bummed out... i wanted to do full body but i decided today in the middle of drawing them after being unsatisfied and nearly crying over it...that i can just cut their knees off! :D ( which was suggested earlier but like in an actual cut their height down way cause they're all tall giant not human love interests )

it really sucked running into that roadbump, cause i realized i am lacking when it comes to my art... yes i know i'm improving but i am not proficient in full body and 3/4 angles and other angles at all and i really need to practice but i told myself i would try to get creative and look for other solutions... i did!

so now, i feel confident i can complete the rest of the cast... which i'm thinking that i'm cutting the demo interactables to just 4! which honestly is for the best and i can finish the next two tmrw or tonight... if i feel like drawing again..

but while i've hit hiccups and i'm not doing as much as i could be doing throughout the day... i am having a lot of fun! i'm learning a lot, what works for me and what doesn't... i'm learning that chatsims are actually massive ( i wanted to do one... i guess i'll hve to spend some time researching it ) and honestly... i haven't even TOUCHED music or audio but i'm excited to deep dive into that too...

and here's another side quest of art that i did while i was trying to improve my mood the other day... i really do yo-yo hard and while i wanted to cry today... i'm super glad i persevered... that's to say... uh... dont always do that LOL

OH! and here's what it was gonna look like if i managed to do all full bodies but i hated it cause like his feet was too big and his head was just- it was hard! okay!!! anyway... i'm also gonna have to learn proper marketing too but overall... i feel good? i feel like this year i will learn like super much like a million amount of knowledge...

i look forward to posting another log like idk next week ( don't hold me to that, i'm like all over the place... )

...and maybe i'll actually get up a site or post more art here or like on bsky... etc... but for now! i'm just doing my best to get a consistent schedule!

anyway, laby logging out <3

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

Wow this is a definite hot take to be sure as I know a lot of people have A-2 ranked as their personal favourite Another case period, so seeing it ranked so low is...a interesting manoeuvre.

The characterisation of the victim and culprit is interesting because it shows a massive inconstency with LINUJ's worldbuilding and his worldview. You see LINUJ had ideas to make certain characters more jerkish and more evil then they were. I already discussed how he planned to make Kanata into a serial killer but decided she was too cute and wholesome to be twisted so it was dropped. Similarly he had plans to make Ayame into someone evil as well, so that one segment where Ayame claims to be evil was meant to be geniune. This was again dropped because I think LINUJ started to realise if he made all his culprits to be complete arseholes, then it would get boring very quickly. Also because of the big reveal that not only were all of Class 79 members of the Kisagari Foundation but apparantely they all got the best character development imaginable and all became good buddy-buddy friends.

So by this logic that means Kizuna eventually evolves and develops to be more then a shallow bullying bitch, so why the fuck is she described as being a hollow bitch all along LINUJ? I know Killing Games are high stress enviroments which do nobody any good but what happened in the one year the Class 79 knew each other which was so different from the now? Its just so much of a tonial dissonance that its almost as if LINUJ's views on human nature and how the story are progressing are competiting against each other. Now I'm starting to have a better picture why Void are the way they are, because maybe LINUJ realised having a group who supposedly all got along so well, that he needed to create a massively evil group to justify what he says about them.

So long story short if you remember Bubble's Mean Girl Problem essay, Kizuna is the biggest victim of it because she is literally treated like a bitch and nothing else. Like the crying and the fact she was lonely was all a ruse so she could kill Yuki? And that's not even ignoring the fact Kizuna in some ways would have become an accidental heroine given her original targets of Yuki and Akane ARE the masterminds all along, but I don't really think she had noble intentions there. It makes me suspect if Divine Luck came into play why Ayame happened to be in the area when the murder was taking place so that Akane and Yuki could dodge death.

This chapter also makes me realise how overrated Akane and Ayame's relationship is because those two barely interacted with each other during A-2, and the main reason people ship these two together is soley because of the fact Ayame saved Akane from Kizuna. Which its a solid reason and we know Ayame's actions do have a lasting effect as its the main catalyst which causes Akane to develop a conscious in the end, Akane doesn't really interact much with Ayame beyond that. Most of her Chapter 2 interactions are with Kizuna and we all know how THAT ends up unfortunately. Dom't get me wrong I do like all the shipping done with that, but its something that's blown WAY out of proporation.

Seems like wasting a good chunk of the class trial on pointless stuff is a recurring theme with Chapter 2s isn't it? 2-2 had to go through the video game and then Hiyoko having a Twitter like meltdown, 3-2 had not only Himiko but then Maki accused of murder and that took up a good deal of trial time, this obviously spends a lot of time with Akane in the hot seat and Despair Time takes the cake with the majority being spend on pointless secrets that in the end adds to nothing. That's easily the worst one since at least the others kinda were related to murder crime but that...was so not it. Heck even 1-1 and A2-2 weren't spared this since 1-1 had the Genocider Syo stuff though that was actually a important point to the trial so it wasn't nonsense that out stayed its welcome, and A2-2 was a trainwreck conducted by Kanade Otonokoji so less said there the better.

This is another reminder I REALLY need to read +2-2 at some point, because I know quite a few people, especially Carol herself, having been asking me to read it, which for those who don't know, its an AU where Ayame was able to give Kizuna medical attention before she bled out to death. Because seeing the main reason why Ayame decided to kill Kizuna was because she knew there was no way she could get Kizuna medicial attention in time before she died and then Akane would be the blackened, Ayame would basically finish off the job. So I am curious how Carol gets around that issue and how it effects the rest of the Chapter.

I also notice there is some translation errors in this Chapter since the motive is the dark secrets that everyone randomly picks out, but they keep referring to the notes as videos, so unless these are like Harry Potter like notes where the words move, I'm gonna suspect the translator fucked up here. The remake should clear this up though.

Going back to my previous discussions on how Junko is watching all this footage and taking notes how to finetune it for her own Killing Game, I think the actions of Kizuna and Ayame is what not only motivated her to kill Mukuro off, since she didn't want Mukuro doing a Akane and siding against her, but also why she decided to have Mukuro pose as her while she hides in the background. As after seeing Kizuna (rightfully) suspect that Yuki and Akane are tied to the Mastermind, she tries to kill them off which to Junko was too much of a risk factor for her. I did always wonder why Junko didn't hide herself among the students and was just cooped up in her mastermind room all the time, but now I know why this is the case, you cannot kill the Mastermind if you cannot find them.

We all know the Doylst reasoning for this is LINUJ trying to play it safe, but I do like my Wattson explanation for why there are differences between the Proto Killing Game and the Killing School Life as Junko taking notes on the test run and figuring out what works well and what doesn't. Like the notes are given randomly so others do find out, but I wonder why Junko decides to have it so Class 78 get their own secrets and the threat that no murder in 24 hours means the entire world finds out about them. As I would think others knowing the secrets would cause more chaos.

It is cool that while Ayame said she did do it to protect Akane, she also had ulteror motives for wanting to escape too. This is something I had to talk about on my blog where someone mentioned someone saying that Gundham covering up evidence for his crime means he was trying to escape and not kill Nekomaru to sacifice himself, because if he wanted to help everyone, why not say so at the start? Now of course that should be pinned for 2-4 but my rebuttal at the time is that the reason nobody who does a sacifice says I did it is firstly survival instincts mean nobody wants to fess up since confessing means death, but secondly even if they did admit it would anyone believe them? Plenty of characters like to falsely confess to killing which means said confessions won't be accepted. And by plenty I do mean Nagito and Kokichi. Mostly Kokichi.

Also the fact that Danganronpa is a video game and it would make it very boring. And yeah I agree there should be more evidence to pin Ayame as the culprit rather then opps I slipped. Since the lack of it is what leads the discussion to be focused on Akane for so long and not shift to Ayame until Rei had to literally spell it out by saying "Ayame did it, you guys are morons and never ask for anything ever again."

Tsurugi's downward sprial is also a big yikes because this is what happens when the "leader" becomes the rival character and everyone suffers as a result. But I do disagree that Tsurugi doesn't improve as as the game goes, and the rest of the characters call him out on his bullshit, he does eventually realise it leaves him isolated with no one but Yuki for company, and even that is hollow in the end. So there was a sense by A-5 that Tsurugi would eventually improve as a person...but then Yuki being Utsuro completely killed any intention of that and really made him become the maniac he was by SDRA2. Having said that, I will say he isn't the worst example of this in Fanganronpas, because I'm going through The After right now and if you hate how Tsurugi is treated...

Then you are really gonna loathe Ryohei Seki. I do like this approach because Tsurugi does become quite hateable but its a very unique take on a rival character as normally the distain for the character is like "they are werid/creepy" whereas Tsurugi is very antagonistic and the others do call him out on that. Remember how I said Mitch being so irredeemable allowed Tsurugi's idealogy to sneak into the other's heads? Well having Ayame be sympathatic and Tsurugi to be like she's evil all along, is the point where most characters will start to realise Tsurugi is in the wrong.

I also find Tsurugi's idealogy to be very hypocritical as he got that idealogy from his father, who was working with Junko all this time and thus is the Ultimate evil. So why double down, and thus making himself to be as deprived as Despair itself? Is he literally that delusional in SDRA2?

That being said A-2 is an original case which is more then what can be said for all of Another 1. And while Ayame and Akane's dynamic was handled well, abet right at the end, Kizuna wasn't handled well and some of the stuff LINUJ says really goes against his own writings. Tsurugi is going a interesting turn as while he's not a very likable character I find it compelling he's like this, and while the first trail serves to help you support his idealogy, the second one is to tell you Tsurugi is very much in the wrong.

Overall I tell now we are in the C tier of Chapters, where we are past the real stinkers and ones with glaring flaws to them, and are now into the okay ones but with some significent flaws here and there. And I'm curious who you consider to be a better Another culpirt then Ayame but we will eventually find that out.

//I find it funny how LINUJ decided against making all his culprits assholes, but then rehashed that idea in SDRA2.

//I mean, with VOID, it makes sense. Their whole gimmick is that they're an evil organization infiltrating the group and steering events in Mikado's favor. For SDRA2's plot, it does make sense.

//But then with the killers in Another 1, all of them are somewhat sympathetic, even Kinji, except for MItch. So I'm not sure what happened between DRA's creation and SDRA2's creation that really got LINUJ to change his tune like this.

//And yeah, trust me when I say Mod Carol is definitely happy about the fact that everyone was very friendly. Makes their favourite killer/victim ship that's shown here a lot more justifiable.

//Speaking of Carol, I had no idea that she wrote that fic. I might have to read it myself. Unlike my interactions with other DR Mods like Bubbles and Poi, I've not really talked to her ever, but I've been a fan of her art long before I ever found A Student Out Of Time. If she's the one who wrote that fic, I'll for sure give it a go.

//Also, the fact that Divine Luck came into play to protect Akane is canon. Divine Luck made it so that everything in the killing game happened just as Utsuro wanted it to without Utsuro even being conscious or aware of his own abilities. It's also why Tsurugi just so happened to trip over the carpet in Chapter 4 when he was was trying to goad everyone into group suicide, and why he didn't die despite shooting himself point-blank in the brain.

//The fact that Ayame and Akane didn't interact too much during the Chapter isn't something I take fault with, because I think it's implied that they still hung out behind closed doors (and no, that's not an innuendo) when Yuki wasn't present, but yeah, you have a point. It would have been more impactful had we seen something like Mondo and Taka's bonding session in DR1, but at the same time, Akane and Ayame were never really at odds with each other.

//Maybe if you were to send that to the guys working on the remake, they might consider adding a little scene to better explain it. The only problem in that case is that it would make it way too obvious that either one of them is going to be the Chapter 2 killer.

//The thing is that of all the second cases in this series, yes, they all do have the common trait of dancing around a lot until you reach a conclusion, but I think that 2-2 and A2-2 are the only ones that did that poorly, and A-2 kind of does it...okayish. 1-2 and V3-2 actually do really good stuff with their red herrings and it makes the case way more interesting.

//Also, the main reason why 2-2 is so bad in that regard is because the killer is outed REALLY quickly. If it was the other way around in that the killer was outed very late into the trial, and most of it was waffling around trying to figure out their identity, I wouldn't mind as much, because that's the whole point of Danganronpa.

//And yeah, please don't put too much credit to the direct translation of Another 1 that most people have played. The translation issues and the fact that the team who originally did it did such a half-baked job is one of the raving issues of that game when I and my friend Megacomet played it for the first time, and I'm glad the remake seems to be serious about fixing that.

//That stuff about Junko makes sense, but honestly, thinking about it that way, I do think that does ultimately take away from Junko's character. The fact that her master plans aren't even hers originally is one thing, but I also feel like she would happily have killed Mukuro regardless of what happened. I think she saw the killing game as a spectacular event that she could use as an excuse to finally get rid of her after all this.

//Weirdly enough, this motive and the tension it causes reminded me of the Chapter 2 motive of Hyper Danganronpa H20 of all things. I don't know why because it's completely different, but it carries the same amount of weight with its reveals and stuff, even if its handled relatively poorly.

//The quick version is that the motive itself gives you one other random member of the main cast, and how many people over the course of their life that they have hurt, and how many people they have killed. And it comes with some interesting revelations, such as Victoria Hester having killed several thousands as part of being a naval officer. Although in that game, this comes back to bite her much later in Chapter 4 when one of the other characters turns out to be a survivor of a camp that she and her squadron destroyed.

//The reason why Victoria manages to survive for much longer after that though is because the others confront her about it in a non-violent confrontation, and she explains herself. Meanwhile, that chapter's killer, like Kizuna here, doesn't question the circumstances behind her own note, and chooses to assinate that chapters victim based on this unproveable evidence.

//So HDRH20 does it better and just as bad at the same time, which for Another, is NOT a good look.

//Also, that spiel about Gundham and why he didn't step forward immediately following Nekomaru's body discovery? There actually is a more thorough and detailed reason why he chose to do, and it's a lot more obvious than people think it is. But I'll cover that when we get to talking about 2-4, which in case you don't know me by now, won't be for quite a while.

//All I can say in regards to how the Ayame stuff gets resolved is #SleiMekaru, and that's both good and bad.

//Tsurugi in SDRA2 is a discussion for another time, for sure, and I will touch on it when we get to talking about A2-6. There are, I'm sure, a lot of reasons why he became so disjointed, but the fact that he regressed so much still bothers me.

//Although, if there's one thing I do like about Tsurugi, it's that even as a "rival" character, his main relationship with Yuki is surprisingly cooperative and very not rival-like. The only ways in which they differ are their chosen methodology, but both know they ultimately want the same thing. Contrasting that with other rivals:

Makoto wants to work with Byakuya to ensure that everyone can survive, but Byakuya wants none of that, and initially, he would much rather the killing game continue so he can have his fun. He's very serious about making Makoto know that the two of them come from very different worlds that should never cross.

Hajime and Nagito go through a rollercoaster in which they start as friends before Hajime develops a disdain for Nagito after he reveals his true nature and ideology, then Nagito turns that disdain back on Hajime, and then they are...somehow okay with each other again in 3, but...whatever.

Shuichi and Kokichi maintain an...interesting relationship in that they're not quite friends, but definitely not enemies either. Kokichi is clearly very endeared to Shuichi with the fact that he likes playing around with him, but never specifically subjects Shuichi to any of his more extreme antics, while Shuichi never holds Kokichi's actions against him, despite some of the absolutely terrible shit that he does, because he just wants to understand Kokichi.

Sora and Syobai just despise each other and maintain an unhealthy and bitter dynamic with each other, even when they try to avoid one another. Makes sense considering SDRA2 literally starts off with Syobai stabbing her, but in the end, they do eventually accept each other for who they are, and come together to destroy Mikado in an epic fashion.

//In contrast, Yuki and Tsurugi disagree on each others way of going about the Killing Game, with Yuki trying to be friendly and reasonable, and Tsurugi trying to be a totalitarian dictator about it, but they themselves are ammicable with each other and respect the other as a person.

//And this carries over in SDRA2 when Tsurugi very clearly genuinely wants to save Yuki from the Neo World. As bad as Tsurugi is, his relationship with Yuki is one of his best points. It's just not something that gets brought up in the trials a lot.

//But yeah, the key word when it comes to analysing Tsurugi is "hypocrisy." It is ABUNDANT throughout his entire writing.

//As for Ryohei Sasaki, I am partially familiar with him, but there's a difference between them.

//Tsurugi fell into despair and became corrupt as a result of the circumstances around him, and he genuinely thinks that what he's doing is for the betterment of the world, and in some ways, he is right.

//Sasaki is just a bad person through and through.

//And yeah, to finish this quick response, I did actually make a tier-list version of this ranking, and we are in the C-Tier right now. This is how it is so far:

C Rank - ???, A-2, A-1, 2-2 D Rank - V3-5, 1-3, A2-5 E Rank - V3-6, 2-3 F Rank - 1-1, 1-5, A-3 G Rank - V3-3, A2-2, A2-3

//Right now, the trial that I'll be covering tomorrow is not only our final "C-Rank" trial in my opinion, but at the risk of spoiling but alsk keeping you guessing, it's also going to be our third Another 1 case in a row.

//And given its status, probably one that's going to be similarly a controversial pick.

-Mod

[entropy-game-dev]

Alpha testing, v0.12-v0.14

So, it's been a busy period, both in real life and for the game. Game stuff first though! M was back testing a few consecutive versions of the game. Some of the highlights for each version:

v0.12 - Looking beyond the code

M had suggested a new room/corridor algorithm to reflect the final design of the dungeon, rather than how it was constructed. During construction, some corridors can be widened, and some rooms can have space taken from them, and so an algorithm was developed that looks for a certain number of adjacent squares (like a 2x2 seed) that fills space and is stopped by a 1 tile wide corridor.

However, the initial algorithm was overzealous in its conversion and also converted the map edge to ground that could be walked on. Oops! So when M stepped onto to one of these spaces, and was looking over into a tile with x or y coordinates of -1, the game would indeed crash.

The other type of "illegal" looking happened due to my implementation of the turn speed option. During battle, you'd turn too fast and (because of my hacky implementation), the enemies wouldn't spawn, and so you'd enter a soft lock sort-of battle mode limbo. Again, all fixed, it now accounts for turn speed!

v0.13 - Tamed doors

Probably the best feature I added in this version was the ability to interact with doors and stairs simply by walking into them. It was a small change but one that was appreciated.

Apart from that, M had a suspiciously bad run of luck previously when trying to extract lore/logs from computers within the dungeon. When I looked into it, I was testing multiple log parts and forgot to get rid of a debug value that stopped the player from collecting the first part of the log. If the first part wasn't obtained, the later parts couldn't be obtained too!

However, in this version, I once again forgot to reset the extraction rate for the log - I wanted to make sure everything was working so I set the rate temporarily to 100%. So M went from being too unlucky to being too lucky...

v0.14 - The sound of music

I had M fiddle around with the volume settings on the options in the title screen (without telling him why), and we spent some time in the options menu. Here's some paraphrased dialog:

Him: Oh, the music cut out and reset just now

Me: Yes, my composer hasn't completed the song so it's just here as placeholder

Him: Right, I don't think I've heard it cut out before because I've never spent so long here on the title screen

Me: Actually, it's because this is the first version of the game to include music!

My composer friend (P, from now on) had asked me to put in some music in order for him to get an idea of the types of songs I want, and how they sounded in context. P said just use whatever was the most fitting, and he had written samples of songs previously for me, which are amazing, so of course I added them in. Along with some examples of other music I thought was fitting.

I said it to P, and he said it back to me during his test (v0.15, blog coming soon), but wow, the music really makes the game come together.

There's 3 lots of patchnotes below the cut, so brace yourselves...

v0.14 Features: Press forward to interact with stairs/doors automatically! Advantage Burst status effects now actually have effects! Implemented slider for lingering screen glitch effect length! Relativistic navigator mouse controls! Added recruitment % display to enemies Added options button to delete tutorial progress Full screen tutorials implemented! ADDED MUSIC!!!! Added master volume slider Added move speed option Shift+click is debug travel to dungeon/system

Balance: Buffed recruitment rate slightly

Polish: When stepped on, features don't display a message if they don't successfully affect you Matrix slot text no longer spilling out of the box Made navigator icons blink when appropriate Nav icons stop blinking when moused over Rel nav messages now appear HP display on enemies now rolls to the right value Added send log to bug reporting text Added mouse2 clicks to cancel report forms and rel nav interface First time scan displays enemy description in log Made options no longer need to be deleted when adding new option into the game Made logger not log empty text variables Added divider to tutorials Added interface initializing text to stop text bug Fixed misaligned … in scrolling textbox Added music rights text

Bugs: Removed fuel gain requirement from projects to be able to access tier 1 capstone Re-enabled lore collection Fixed some attack and defense stats of items in database being mixed up Fixed empty form textbox crash Fixed strange battle array crash related to fixing the coordinates when the unit moves before the attack applies

v0.13 Features: Do a 180 with shift + turn!

Balance: Slightly lowered enemy spawns Stuns and summons have 2 cooldown Buffed some AoEs Made advantage bursts inflict double bad/good status effects

Polish: Made research results more visible Made research help screen clearer Moving your mouse away from the dungeon icon on the navigation screen now cancels it Changed swim swarm center square Renamed Energy Differential -> Energy Drain for clarity Increased tutorial text scroll rate Text speed textbox and window speed window in options menu is deleted immediately when closing

Bugs: Fixed debug options deletion flag also deleting save files Stopped showing default "ITEM" attack when no equips Stopped battle softlocks when fast turning Disassemble tutorial now fires correctly Exploration help overlay message displaying the proper text after game load Fixed room conversion code converting the dungeon boundary to floors Fixed some features from showing up as the unexplored scanner fx

v0.12 Features: Added more stairs up sprites (a vertically mirrored hole and pad) for clarity Added text logging! Added option to speed up turn speed

Balance: Changed sensory overload affinity to particle for Astronaut Buffed Assistant's sensory stun affinity to overload Increased data costs of first 2 projects Slightly tweaked encounters to make bigger enemies spawn more frequently Made status effects apply with a chance based on the weak/resist of the unit Added flags that stop certain moves from missing

Polish: Standardised being able to exit out of some base facilities instantly vs not Made the back to base noise only occur when the screen is fading to black and not when it's waiting for text to finish outputting Fixed being able to click to select an attack in the attack menu to avoid double clicking accidentally Made attack power numbers on the routine information panel have 2 decimal places Changed tutorial text from "suit's option menu" to "option menu" Changed other effect intensity to screen glitch intensity Text on research in progress screen now includes tip about data collection Research arrows now flicker Made some unimportant tutorials only happen when the major game state gets changed Added SE descrption to mouse tooltip Made research left/right icons blink Secondary affinity animations now appear above the status panels Updated some menus and icons (battle, storage, party) Now show targeting background on selection of non routine moves

Bugs: Fixed frame perfect cancel inputs on base facilities softlocking the game Fixed research tutorial for dismantling not showing under the right circumstances Fixed power load tutorial not working Fixed last tutorial and crafting availability entry being duplicated in the respective save grids Fixed objects close to the ground tute triggering for the spawner object Fixed enemy description showing when using mouse controls to choose the attack target Stopped mouse controls from choosing a disallowed row as specified by the upperlock parameter in the routines database Fixed defending status effect not upping negative resistances Standardised the way the e_battle.target state generates move targeting parameters Fixed objects not appearing when going throgh doors Defending now decreases incoming damage instead of increasing it Stopped mouse stat panel from staying when exiting battle Mouseover routine information panel now closes properly when viewing a part without any moves Fixed item filtering in storage window not working on mouseclick

[raeygina-george]

Every third remaining ask from the game

ill just answer the whole thing in one. LONG ASS POST GUYS

💖Favourite thing to draw

WAVY HAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

💯Favourite piece(s)

you get a sneak peek of the art project im working on yay. the perks of putting up with my bullshit <3

some of these i like more than others but as of rn these are the pieces i show people who haven't seen my art. my makeshift portfolio, i guess

🌈Favourite colour palette(s)

i think this is obvious enough if you look at my previous answer, but pinks, oranges, purples, and blues!

🤴Favourite OC(s) to draw

oooh yikes. to DRAW???? i never draw my ocs... i really like kyrie's design but i've never drawn her outside of that so i feel like she'd be really hard to get right..... idk i mean i guess saturn????????

🎨Favourite artist(s)

i dont have a lot of these, but i like hanacue, aidairo, and milkie2's art styles (these r just what i could think of off the top of my head)

✒Favourite medium 

i like gouache cause im a whore bitch

📏Medium you’d like to work with more

gouache because im not typically a traditional artist and every time i sit down to paint i just end up suffering for like an hour before i finally accept the fact that i cannot save this little kitty from its fate of looking like a vaguely animal-shaped blob. such interactions further repel me from the world of traditional art. im taking a painting class soon though so i'll just get my act together then

💭Go-to subject matter

humans?? usually just like. smiling. not doing anything too interesting

💜Drawing staples

i don't know exactly what this means but if it's an art piece of mine, it's got pink in it

💬What you’d like to draw more of

i'd like to draw more like backgrounds and animals? there's a shit ton of stuff i wanna improve with my humans but idk i've been wanting to branch out a bit more for a while i just haven't had the time or energy to draw more than like 1 of my blorbos a month

😂 Funniest drawing

i play tee k o with my family (you) so i draw stuff for that that's silly. WAIT HANG ON

this isn't my funniest drawing but it's what i have

❓Weirdest drawing/drawing with a weird process

im doing an art telephone w my friends that i might post when we're done? i can't post it now cause that would ruin the fun but yeah

🕑Drawing(s) that took the longest

uhhhh i mean earlier in my drawing journey i took forever to draw and i really hated drawing bc i took a super long time to draw and i didn't like anything i made and no one else liked anything i made so it was just like wow i spent all that time for nothing. still glad i did it though bc that era was still an important step in my art development. anyways as for more recent pieces uhh. my piece for the yorknew auction took a while, mostly because i had 0 time or energy and it was a really involved piece

👑Favourite fictional character(s) to draw

as you will see, i really like drawing lust from fmab

👿Least favourite fictional character(s) to draw

i've found out that unfortunately drawing olivier is not very fun for me. so sad cause i really like her

👔Design process for [x] character 

oh my god guys ask me about my magical girl designs and i will go insane i will type up a whole essay. i'll talk about kyrie cause i like her a lot

here's the design! so she drowned (or rather, was drowned by someone else) at 16 after being stalked for a couple months and eventually kidnapped. not exactly the lightest story, but bc it was so traumatic her brain erased the memories, and she doesn't find out the real cause of death until much later in the story, when kye comes across a guy who lived in kyrie's town and gets the full story.

her outfit is themed after ophelia for. obvious reasons. i looked up paintings/common interpretations of ophelia and found that she was commonly depicted in a white and gold dress with reddish-brown hair half up. oh, and flowers. so i ran with that. the white streaks in her hair were actually not part of the initial plan, but when i was using the bucket tool it left blank streaks and i just thought it looked nice.

for the flowers i chose forget-me-nots because she loses her memory, and then the hands on the skirt represent her fight to stay alive (both while drowning and before) and how she reached out for help in the months leading up to her death but no one answered. she's also, in a way, reaching for her lost memories, who she used to be, etc etc. the blue thingy in the back was initially supposed to be a mermaid tail as like. a single callback to the little mermaid (and the fact that she was a really good swimmer, so it's ironic that she drowned), but i took the mermaid aspect out & added in the two eyes.

the eyes are like. the feeling of being watched. the eye at the front will always look at kyrie no matter what, and the eye in the back will look at anyone else it can find, as if pleading for help. i just noticed the bracelet? not sure why that's there. probably just for fun. anyways the ring with the star on it is from a play called 'the princess who had no name', which is about a princess with amnesia who's trying to find out who she is and where she came from.

and finally, the weapon! it's meant to be a sparkler, like the little fireworks yk? it's a callback to the very first draft of her character from like 2 years ago, back when the kyries shared the name lylie instead & i had written absolutely nothing about her character. but i was reading through the old plot/character info a while ago and i found out she apparently really liked fireworks??? that was like my only piece of info about her. i figured since she'd changed so much it was only fair i put a little something from her roots. but the sparkler can also represent how 'bright' she appears to be; people are drawn towards her, for better or worse.

📆Earliest fandom you did fanart for/first fanart

the first fandom i remember like really being hyperfixated on was.... miraculous ladybug................. BUT i didn't make any fanart for it, so instead you get the very first real piece of art i ever made on my computer :)

shoutout to me for drawing those wings by hand. i didn't know how to use the flip tool so i just spent like 4 hours trying to make them symmetrical. and now i can't even remember how to draw butterfly wings. smh

HOLY SHIT WAIT I JUST REMEMBERED. BACK WHEN YOU FIRST SHOWED ME FAIRY TAIL I DREW HAPPY A COUPLE TIMES. I DONT HAVE ANY PICS BUT THAT'S DEFINITELY EARLIER THAN THIS. oh my god and don't even get me started on my warriors phase. wow i guess i've been making fanart since forever lol

📖Sketches 

this post is already too long. no

📝Process for [x] drawing 

my general art process is idea > rough sketch > real sketch > lineart (if applicable) > coloring > rendering > SHADE THE FUCK OUT OF THAT THING > send it to my friends and say 'anything else i should add 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺' > add a little more shading > done. you can ask me for more detailed instructions, i'd be happy to give a more in-depth tutorial about something specific

✨Inspiration for [x] drawing 

uh idk i do a lot of redraws. lately i've been doing redraws + asking friends for cool poses + looking at stock images for inspiration

💚Things you like about [x] drawing

i'll go with that aubrey piece from one of the earliest questions. i like how the emotions came across in both her expression and the coloring, and how much more fluid the pose is. i think the shading & rendering is neat. overall it's a big improvement from the piece i was redrawing so im really proud of that & it's nice to see how far i've come in a relatively short amount of time

��Things you’d do differently with [x] drawing

using the same drawing, uhh... idk there's some stuff with the proportions that like. sometimes looks fine to me and sometimes looks off? i really just eyeball anatomy and stuff so it's not always particularly Good. i like the colors i have here but they're not the colors i was intending to use. i didn't really know how to draw the jacket and everything i did with the top just looked strange so they're not As Detailed or 'good' as they probably could be? there's parts where i got lazy and all that but all in all i really like this drawing and nothing big really jumps out at me, these are all just nitpicks

💌Some favourite feedback on art

hmmmmmmm i really like the few like. paragraph responses i've gotten. i appreciate every single comment i get but like when people rave to you about your art???? that's so nice. i can't really pick out a critique i've heard that super super helped me off of the top of my head, but there's power in knowing what you can do better next time

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Gale Reviews: ML Season 5 episode 17 Adoration

(Spoilers as this episode is out before other ones)

-Andre bonding with the child Audrey the supposed love of his life had with another man.

-I pity that man, changed everything about himself for love… it’s actually kind of sad. Because it’s clear he fell for the wrong person.

-Zoe got someone she is in love with. I’d say it’s Marinette, because she has LITERALLY no other people she has seen interacting with. But I doubt it will appear since this is an international show. So my bet is they will imply it without saying it, plus, Zoe doesn’t show the photo she was gonna bury.

-oh so Zoe is in 8th grade while Marinette is in 9th grade. So at least that conforms Audrey cheated on Andre AFTER having Chloe, Damn

-so those two are the reps. Also. Marc is a year younger than them. Interesting

-oh the zoenette is strong in this one

-The storage of all the gifts she made for Adrien, which needs cleaning out. Guess Marinette chilled out about things. Good on her.

-huh… this is the first time we actually get a full on tour of her room. (We see it a lot, but never knew how she divided her stuff up. Neat.

-Oh the hidden adrien simp board is new. Love the touch. (I love the little sticky drawings)

-That probably hurt Zoe more than she would let on.

-not gonna lie I know Andre isn’t his real name, but I get why he changed it. It’s a mouthful.

-the butlers name is Armand!?

-Zoe knows everyone in the hotel. Good. Glad that girl is respectful to the people that help run the place. (Zoe + 3 respect)

-And Chloe and Sabrina are there… what a shock (not really)

- Yea the show really just removed any and all character development they had for Chloe and squeezed it into Zoe. Points for Zoe standing up to Chloe.

-At least Audrey is still in character.

-Andre really be like (I prefer the daughter that was born from another man banging my wife than my own) points to the Simp mayor

-I take it back Anax as a nickname sounds kind of dope

-You ever just see a character on screen and hope a piano falls on him? Yes I’m talking about Gabriel that sterilized tampon

-now Nathalie here being the GOAT with only one line. Respect for Nathalie. Girl really gave up on her simp tendencies and decided to just be the mother Adrien needs

-Gabriel really be the worst. Looks like Lila gonna cook up something

-seems Zoe forgot about the photo is out. Which I bet will cause a misunderstanding with her hiding it.

-What exactly does Sabrina have morals in? Also side note, PUNCHING BAG?! Really?

-Yea, Chloe just be mustache twirling evil

-Vanisher is back and with Dog powers

-Lila literally plotted an akumatization.

-if I had a dollar for everytime Someone couldn’t tell Marinette they were in love with her. I’d have 2 nickles. Which isn’t a lot but weird it happened twice

-Marinette is pretty clever figuring out all the details… EXCEPT THE FACT THAT ITS HER!?

-Marinette shows she supports Love is Love.

-Op she thought it was a he, to bad Marinette you failed the game. Rip.

-wait did Marinette just condone polyamory? I might have read that wrong

-Marinette consulting Alya on the matter

-oh so that’s how Marinette gets the assumption it’s Adrien. To be fair, I’d have come to that conclusion at some point to.

-oh I can feel the awkward situation coming in 3…2….1….

-Zoe, thinking (wow I reall fell for a simp)

-ah yes the cringe is finally here, now to spend the next Hour trying to watch the episode.

-OOOO A MONTAGE, so how many items can be retrieved via one whistle blow

- They really replaced Luka with Nino. Wait… DOES THAT MEAN WHAT I THINK IT MEANS! Was the truth finally revealed?!

-I get the plan now, they are framing her for stealing stuff. So basically what Lila did in the episode Ladybug. That’s not surprising but also kind of mid. I was expecting more pizzaz. Side note, Zoe was with her the whole time? Also why would she steal from her parents?

-The Chloe accusing her part was clever, because the motive of Chloe walking in to yell at Marinette is very believable

- okay I take it back, this plan has Pizzaz. But the fact everyone sort of just believes it even her own parents? Like come on? And with an akuma litterally anything is possible.

-And Marinette caught on, sees vanisher thanks to the flowers.

-Chloé legit has a Gold phone?!

-Zoe is taking the blame! Zoe no!?

-Oh! Vanisher can just call back whatever she wants. Proof is in the pudding. Good thing Marinette is ladybug. Piñata time!!! Viva piñata

-yum ladynoir crumbs

- Rip Luka’s guitar

-Chloe now getting stared down

-So confession time!

-Well she never outright say it… but She pretty much says it and Marinette confirms it though turns her down. I’m surprised they did that much

-I was complaining earlier about subtlety but this was tastefully done.

-I FUCKING KNEW SHE WAS DOWN BAD SINCE DAY ONE!

-Good on Zoe for encouraging Marinette. Even though she got turned down. But at least it was canon

-Oh damn Marinette is gonna confess

-SHE DID IT FOLKS! She fucking did it! And Adrien is receptive! Will we get a kiss!?

-GABRIEL YOU COCKBLOCKING FUCKING PIECE OF GARBAGE! I WILL END YOU!

-My heart breaks for Marinette

_________________________________________

7/10

It was a fine episode, I think a lot of it felt padded out, and while I enjoyed the first few minutes and the LAST few minutes were epic. The rest of the episode felt… meh.

Yea Adrien is a sentimonster. There is no denying it. Like I’m sorry for the hood outs. This episodes ending confirmed it completely. Which may be the reason I’m not gonna rate it higher.

[rafaelblackbird15]

Teen Wolf Fic Recs Part 2: Steter

It took me quite awhile to gather all these together, so please enjoy discovering more parts to the incredible world of Teen Wolf, provided to you by the wonderful writers of our fandom.

Leave comments and kudos for these writers if you can, they really deserve it, they're wonderful. And it's my honour to try and share their creations with tumblr.

These are Steter, Stiles Stilinski/Peter Hale fanfictions. Read them at your will. Check the tags on the actual fics for warnings and such.

I have included links to authors that write a lot of Steter as well, and some of their fics for examples. I'm sorry this post got so long, haha, but enjoy the stories, they're worth it.

If any of the links don't work, just comment and I'll fix it.

Check out my other Sterek fic recs [Part 3] and [Part 4] and Steter fic recs [Part 1]

*********

Broken Bones and Broken Bonds by twothumbsandnostakeincanon(somanyofthekids) on Archive of Our Own

Words: 20148

Chapters: 4/?

Summary:

Stiles kind of wished that he’d at least tried weed before this. 

Or something, you know? Maybe taken up a graffiti hobby, or even just skateboarded in front of City Hall often enough to get a citation. 

He wished he’d done something to be deserving of the looks people gave him now, rather than just being the recipient of his dead father’s unused power. 

**********

Stigmata by twothumbsandnostakeincanon (somanyofthekids) on Archive of Our Own

Words: 1661

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

He feels so hollow that he almost wonders if he's been turned inside out. This emptiness he feels; is it the vastness of the entire world?

How do you fill a world? With people, he supposes. But his people no longer want him.

He needs people.

*********

Beefcake Mountain by twothumbsandnostakeincanon(somanyofthekids) on Archive of Our Own

Words: 14565

Chapters: 7/7

Summary:

Shortly after moving back to Beacon Hills, the left hand of the Hale Pack opened a text from a mysterious number.

"Is there a mirror in your pants? Because I can see myself in them."

What the f—

**********

Steter Week 2019 by twothumbsandnostakeincanon(somanyofthekids)

Works: 4

Complete: No

Summary:

There isn't a summary listed so I've included the first fic underneath:

Marvelous Miss and Magnificent Mischief by twothumbsandnostakeincanon(somanyofthekids)

Words: 3346

Chapters: 1/1

also Part 1 of the Magnificent Mischief series

Summary:

“Marvelous Miss and the Magnificent Mischief!” the carnival barker shouted just outside the corridor with all the food tents. “Come see Miss Paige do amazing tricks with her talking raven! He not only speaks, but he jokes! He teases! He philosophizes!”

********

Author: twothumbsandnostakeincanon(somanyofthekids)

This author has a lot of wonderful Steter fics, and their writing of the pairing is really worth having a good look through.

*******

Blood Runs Cold by Smalls2233 on Archive of Our Own

Words: 111408

Chapters: 22/22

Summary:

“So then why are we letting Scott and Derek search for it if you know it's useless?”

Peter looked down at Stiles and cocked his head with a grin. “Because I think seeing my nephew and your best friend run around like headless chickens while I think up a plan is hysterical.”

“And the plan is…?”

----

Trusting Peter Hale is something that Stiles had repeatedly told himself to never do. He had seen first hand the results of Peter's plans and schemes, but when a shadow began tormenting Beacon Hills, he found that sometimes he'd have to to play along with Peter's games.

This story does include a dose of Chris&Stiles interaction about midway and carries on throughout, and then Chris/Peter towards the midend, which also carries on. And it kind of dissolves into Chris/Peter/Stiles. If that's not your taste, that's fine, because the majority of the story is Stiles/Peter, and that majority is really really good Steter.

**********

No One Listening Tonight by Smalls2233

Words: 6985

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

That left… well it left Peter and only Peter. Relying on Peter for help was only slightly better than stabbing himself through the eye with a hot poker. But desperate times called for desperate measures.

Of course, there was always the option of packing up and letting whatever was trying to destroy the town succeed this time. Stiles snorted under his breath as he thought about how that would probably leave him with fewer injuries than dealing with Peter would. But unfortunately, that wasn’t an option. Stiles knew he needed to head downtown to Peter’s apartment and pray the man was willing to work with him.

----

Stiles stumbles into a magical trap forged by a wannabe warlock.

*********

Author: Smalls2233

*********

Blue by Wynnebat on Archive of Our Own

Words: 3179

Chapters: 2/2

Summary:

Derek brings both Scott and Stiles to the hospital to prove a point about hunters, but Stiles isn’t sure the point he’s getting is the point Derek’s trying to make. Especially when his black and white world explodes into color the moment he looks into Peter Hale’s eyes.

*********

The Long Way Around by Wynnebat on Archive of Our Own

Words: 15569

Chapters: 3/3

Summary:

When Peter leaves Beacon Hills for good, he expects that to be it for the broken bonds of the last remaining members of the Hale pack. Fate and Stiles Stilinski aren’t of the same opinion.

**********

Prowl by Wynnebat on Archive of Our Own

Words: 3454

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

Laura's body is never found, but instead of continuing with his murder spree, Peter gets distracted by the scent of his mate. Stiles gets very distracted by the huge wolf that starts showing up at his house all the time.

**********

Author: Wynnebat

This author writes some really interesting, deep stories about Steter that are really beautiful.

**********

your last white lie (everything is not alright) by snowdarkred on Archive of Our Own

Words: 4023

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

Stiles says yes, and things go downhill from there.

**********

reflect by snowdarkred on Archive of Our Own

Words: 569

Chapters: 1/1

Part 1 of the dig your teeth in and tear until you taste (peter/stiles oneshots) series

Summary:

(previously posted to tumblr)

When he dreams, he can sometimes still hear his mother’s voice, explaining it to him: Reflections are the price we pay for what we are.

*********

sentire by snowdarkred on Archive of Our Own

Words: 1027

Chapters: 1/1

Part 2 of the dig your teeth in and tear until you taste (peter/stiles oneshots) series

Summary:

[to feel]

Stiles hears the whisper of death before it strikes.

**********

Author:

snowdarkred

This author writes some really intense, interesting stories about Peter and Stiles. Not as long as some fics are, but they're really good adaptions of Steter with a lot of feeling.

**********

The Striking Complication by aurevell on Archive of Our Own

Words: 27235

Chapters: 4/15

Summary:

The smile slips off Stiles’s face. “Hey, um. Why am I here?” he asks, voice unsteady. “I’m—I have this weird feeling like I shouldn’t leave you. I’ve felt all day like...” He can’t finish the thought.

Peter looks as surprised as Stiles feels. A strange expression passes over his face, there and gone before Stiles can decipher it.

Stiles snaps awake each morning with the sense that he’s missing something. Weirder still, he can’t wrap his head around his sudden, inexplicable trust in Peter Hale, who seems to know way more than he’s letting on. Nor can he guess why a half-remembered nightmare seems to haunt his every move.

Rinse and repeat. Because time loops suck, apparently.

*******

Author: aurevell

This author has 11 Teen Wolf fics under their belt. 5 Sterek and 6 Steter. Happy rummaging!

**********

the teeth right down to the blood by sazzafraz on Archive of Our Own

Words: 2133

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

‘We’re pretty fucked right now.’ Scott says. Stiles doesn’t speak but there’s something singing in his bones that says Scott got the message anyway. (In which both are bit and things are gruesome.)

This has a sprinkling of Scott/Stiles, Scott/Stiles/Peter, and Scott/Allison as well as Steter, but it's worth the read, a good story with an interesting concept.

*********

Author: sazzafraz

This author doesn't have that many Steter stories, although they do have a few. Although they do have some pretty lengthy Teen Wolf fics about other characters of the show.

***********

Everything goes (wow) by midmorning_bomb on Archive of Our Own

Words: 8215

Chapters: 5/5

Part 1 of the Aranea & Babewolf series

Summary:

It was supposed to go like this:

1. Peter summons demon to the circle.

2. Demon remains in said circle until Peter outlines their contract.

3. Demon agrees to elegantly crafted contract, becoming loyally bound to Peter and Peter alone.

Instead, the creature steps casually out of the circle, tosses its things onto the leather sofa, and starts immediately meddling in Peter’s immaculate space, touching all of Peter’s very expensive things.

*********

It's only by midmorning_bomb on Archive of Our Own

Words: 2905

Chapters: 3/5

Part 2 of the Aranea & Babewolf series

Summary:

“Darling, please don’t pout.”

“You’re pouting.” Stiles pouts, from the upper corner of the library, everything from his hip bones down an angry mass of hissing fangs and venomous chelicerae. “Why would we ever go back to that garbage town? Everyone there is the worst, the only good thing is the very rad and awesome curse I laid.”

*********

You are a memory by midmorning_bomb on Archive of Our Own

Words: 900

Chapters: 1/1

Part 2 of the Little glimpse series

Summary:

If he has to bleed to breathe warmth back into Peter’s icy body, he will.

Because Peter’s done the same for him.

********

Author: midmorning_bomb

This author has 16 Steter fics. A little unfriendly to some of the other characters, but it's only kind of obvious because it's not subtle about it, and not exactly underserved. Has some really interesting ideas as well as some kind, well developed Steter. Definitely have a read through.

***********

[chococolte]

Hello!! I don't have anything to request right now but wow your writing style is just stunning. I don't think I've ever read anything quite like it, you weave together imagery and emotion so beautifully and there's just something so sensual about the way it flows? I hope that doesn't come across weirdly lmao it's just so gorgeous and reading it makes me feel like I'm watching an intricate dance routine or running my hands over silk, I love it sm. Ur rlly out here feeding us the highest quality content imaginable for free???? We are not worthy omg

Also I think my jaw actually dropped when I read that you were 16 like??? Can I ask when/why you started writing and how you developed your style? Sorry if you've answered these before :') and thank u for ur amazing writing <3

XBYUDBNXHBDUHF thank you so much!!! ♡  this was the first thing i read today when i woke up... im so happy it was this!! this means so much to me i cant even describe it properly, im sorry its taken me so long to whip up a response, ive just been looking and thinking about it for so long and i wanted to make sure i responded to it well!!!

im so happy you like my writing!! its actually been something i've been pretty insecure about, even when i still had my old blog. the only people i really showed my writing too was my brother and my friends, who ... you know... as my brother and my friends, why would they tell me my writing is bad? and even on my old blog, i didn't really feel like anything i was writing was like, actually good. but since i've started this new blog i've gotten so many nice messages and people telling me how much they love my writing and i just!!! it makes me soft... and makes me realize that maybe i'm not actually as bad as i thought lol

im going to put my answers to ur questions under a readmore!

i've been writing since i was around 11-12. obviously i had written before that for school and shit, but that was around the age when i started to have an interest in original stuff.

i've only started taking writing seriously for around 2 years, though, so since i've been 14. since i started taking it seriously, i've had a sudden jump in improvement-- mostly because it also coincides with the moment i realized what kind of writing i want to have.

my style itself wasn't all that impressive when i was like, 13-14. which is to be expected! but i think even in my writing from that time, you can kind of see the direction i wanted to go in, which is vivid description.

when i was 15 i finally realized what i wanted to do with my style, which was description. i like describing things. a lot. if u read the stuff i reposted i think u can see that, but i was still a little fledgling at it-- i used some words that i didnt really have a full grasp on, which is still a little sin that i continue to partake in... but you can't blame me ok, words r just so pretty and i need to use them all </3

ive actually only been writing fanfic since 2021 lol, before that all i wrote was self-insert stuff (still yandere, of course). the reason i started my [old] blog was because i was reading stuff on tumblr, and im pretty sure it was specifically a yandere childe post, and his characterization annoyed me so bad i decided to do it myself 💀 before that, the only fanfic i had written i think was like... 2 pieces, one about an interactive fiction game and the other about omniscient reader's viewpoint vxbfubfbg

idk what in particular led me to developing my style as it is now-- i kind of just try my best to make sure my readers can imagine the way the characters feel as best as possible. ultimately, the way i want my writing to be is i want people to kind of fall into it. i want someone to pick up my writing and feel the things the characters feel. i want someone to read my writing and be able to place themselves in the moment, and, for particularly my blog, i want people to read my writing and to feel loved. when someone tells me they got tingles from my writing its literally some of the highest form of praise, like!!!!!!!! if ur trying to seduce me it's working JUST SAYING...

i honestly still feel like i have a lot to improve on, but im so happy you like my writing so much! to think that people think my writing is so good is just such an amazing feeling, i feel like im walking on clouds <3

[alexbraindump]

Night in the Woods & Optimistic Nihilism, Pt. 1: Constellations

“So I believe in a universe that doesn’t care and people who do.”

Night in the Woods manages to create one of the most realistic narratives I’ve ever seen crafted in a video game. And that’s a bold statement, one that shouldn’t be tossed around lightly. Yet I feel entirely concrete in saying it. It’s quite the diverse game, dealing with a range of topics so wide that it’d be hard to cover all of them in one single post. I hope to cover more of them someday, but today I’ll be narrowing in on one specific point that resonated especially well with me personally: finding purpose in an existence that is inherently devoid of it.

And it’s here that I’m going to say that, to anyone who hasn’t played NITW yet, stop reading this right now and go pick it up. It’s only $20 and with it comes an experience that remains consistently enjoyable and impactful throughout its entire runtime. I won’t be holding back from relevant spoilers for the rest of this post, so now’s your only chance. Go away. But come back once you’ve played the game. That’d be pretty cool I think.

~~~~~~~~~~~MILD SPOILER TERRITORY BELOW~~~~~~~~~~~

Now that the uninitiated are gone, it’s finally time to wrap back around to that quote at the beginning of this post. A universe that doesn’t care, and people who do. It perfectly aligns with the definition of optimistic nihilism, a term seemingly dubbed by a youtube channel in 2017. For those who are unaware, optimistic nihilism is exactly what it says on the tin. It’s the philosophy that the universe is inherently uncaring, that there’s no concrete meaning to life that we can grasp onto, yet we as human beings are uniquely capable of creating our own meaning without requiring some higher power or order to do it for us. We can choose to pursue what we wish for out of our lives, free to choose our own individualized path through the blank slate that is existence and draw whatever patterns we may choose from it.

As you read through that brief summary you may have already begun to understand exactly why I consider Night in the Woods to align particularly well with optimistic nihilism. The game is not exactly lacking in the theme of finding meaning within things that may be meaningless in the most literal sense. It’s been there since the very beginning, with NITW’s first supplemental game Longest Night. It’s a simple little game featuring Mae, Bea, Gregg and Angus identifying various constellations and making characteristically entertaining quips about each of them. Despite the game’s relative simplicity it acts as an early (over 3 years before NITW itself released!) establishment of NITW’s ever-present theme of establishing meaning in things that don’t have meaning by themselves by using one simple thing: constellations.

Constellations are a perfect medium to establish the philosophy of optimistic nihilism and it is evident that Infinite Fall were acutely aware of that from a very early point in the development of NITW. All constellations really are just patterns of stars we may see in the sky at night that people have assigned their own patterns and meanings to. Most stars sit so far away from the Earth that the human brain struggles to even comprehend how far away they truly are beyond a simple “Wow! That’s pretty far!” They’re balls of gas, unable to care about or even recognize whatever we humans see within them. Most of them have existed for longer than we have and will continue to persist long after we die. Yet the human race has taken it upon themselves to assign patterns to them and continue recognizing said patterns long after we’ve obtained knowledge about what the stars that form them truly are. In nature they hold no inherent meaning and have no rhyme nor reason to their locations relative to each other from our perspective, yet we have used our minds to instill meaning into them and draw patterns that can only be drawn from where we stand. The universe did not care about how it put them there nor how any living being may interpret them, but people cared enough to give them meaning.

Years after the release of Longest Night, Night in the Woods proper came out. And in it the usage of stars was far from ditched. Their function as being one of the elements perpetuating NITW’s optimistic nihilism was only expanded. Every two days in the game you are offered the opportunity to choose to hunt for dusk stars with a character named Mr. Chazokov. The interactions with him themselves don’t offer much in the ways of adding upon the pre-established theme of finding meaning within none, though their mere inclusion does help cement the theme as an important part of the game. The true point in which the theme is finally brought front and center is when the player can choose to go ghost hunting with Angus at Possum Jump. After some uneventful ghost hunting, Mae and Angus decide to rest at the top of a hill and do some stargazing. At this point the game essentially retraces (literally and figuratively) all the ground covered in Longest Night. Mae connects constellations together and Angus names them and gives a brief explanation for each of them. It’s a charming little moment that eventually evolves into Angus explaining the abuse he endured throughout his childhood to Mae. But what’s relevant to this specific analysis is Angus’s attitude throughout. He continually stays true to and loops back upon the fact that, while the stars themselves are very real and the stories given to them do very much exist, the stars really don’t mean anything by themselves. It all culminates with Angus explaining his tragic childhood to Mae. But what’s important to the overall narrative of this essay is Angus’s response when Mae asks him if he believes in anything.

It’s at this point that the game gives its most obvious addressal to its philosophy of optimistic nihilism. It’s like the pot finally boils over and it says “alright, time to finally talk about this.” As a response to being prompted about his beliefs, Angus explains his thoughts by using the constellations recently outlined as a convenient example. It’s here that the quote that spurred this whole essay on shows its head. “So I believe in a universe that doesn’t care and people who do,” is the final quote summarizing Angus’s philosophy on meaning in the universe. And if that isn’t the clearest possible representation of optimistic nihilism in NITW then I don’t know what is. It’s a simple little quote, yet it manages to single handedly encapsulate what optimistic nihilism is. Of course, it’s framed as the view of one character in the game, and a character thinking something doesn’t immediately mean that the entire work subscribes to that philosophy, but as you think about NITW and its various elements more and more it becomes increasingly apparent that it is indeed representative of the philosophy of optimistic nihilism.

And with that vague statement I’ll be leaving off the first part of this little mini-project for the time being. I do intend to come back to it at some point in the (hopefully near) future, as I feel that there’s a lot more that could be said about the themes of finding meaning in Night in the Woods. Currently I’m planning on writing about why I enjoy Mae Borowski as a character so much and see her as one of my favorite video game protagonists, so that’ll probably be done before any other parts to this essay come out. Keep an eye out if you enjoy what I’m posting and want to see more, and don’t be afraid to offer any feedback you may have. There’s a contact section on my profile if you’d like the most effective ways to get in touch.

[ufuckingpastry]

Writing Update 3/6/22

Hey guys. I’m taking a (kind of not intentional) break from writing this month and any update I’m gonna have probably won’t happen this month. If it does, maybe later on. I’ll give some of the main reasons for it below the read more, but I wanted to at least give y’all a heads up for it.

TLDR: I do not have a bunch of time to write due to several reasons, but mostly ones that involve a level of time management I struggle with. I hope you guys stay patient with me as I work on being patient with myself too.

Reason 1: World of Warcraft 9.2 update Pretty much what this means is that the vast majority of my free time is gone. I’m part of 2 raid teams in WoW with two different characters. The 9.2 patch was released almost 3 weeks ago, but that also means that I’m raiding now for 3 days throughout the week for up to 8 hours total (per week). There’s also a bunch of new content that I want to keep up with and I’m already struggling to do so because of some poor time management on my part and just an absolutely shit sleep schedule because of

Reason 2: My ceiling was leaking The room my computer/do my hobbies in had a leaking ceiling/doorframe about 2 weeks ago. And I ended up staying up until 11:30pm every single night due to waking up to that sound and trying to manage it the best I could. And then, when I got confirmation that my landlord and his contractor were coming over, I mass-cleaned my apartment, also devouring my other free time and also keeping me up super late. I’m trying to get out of the habit of staying up that late, which has proven very hard. 

Reason 3: General Self-Care/Time Management on Hobbies I’ve put these two together because they go together. I’ve talked about it before, but especially with WoW taking up a large portion of my life again, I’m still trying to not only limit my hobbies to WoW. Because when the game was the only thing I played, my mental health suffered. Plus the isolation from COVID and some specific interactions that really tore me down that I’m still recovering from. Basically, this is me struggling to make sure I’m

Doing my chores

Keeping up with WoW

Putting in time for other hobbies

Writing

Self-Care/Mental Care

Reason 4: Fic Development I realized some time in February that I don’t fully have an idea on where I’m going with some of my major AUs. Like, I have up to ch 15 figured out for PB, but I don’t know where it leads afterwards, nor how I’m going to make a good climax for it with all the things I want to do with the fic. WEG is at its first major conflict, but after ch 8, I need to figure out where I’m going with it too.

I’ve also started really working on another AU where I want to actually write that/most of it out before I start posting it, so I can avoid the same problems I ran into PIP and what’s happening again with WEG and PB. 

What I’m doing now: I’ve decided for this month, I’m going to focus on figuring out some of those things I’m unsure of in my fic development, while working on getting some updates out. I have a good chunk of both WEG and PB’s next update done, but I’m either stuck at a point or just need some time to sit and write a bunch of words, and don’t have the motivation to do so. 

[veebs-hates-video-games]

Wow, Tumblr just ate like four paragraphs I'd written because apparently it didn't like me changing something in my browser toolbar that shouldn't affect the page I'm on at all in any way. Impressive.

I was trying to say that I have another double post to make, this time about AU Shibuya RPGs I've been playing in the past month or so: Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore and The World Ends With You Final Remix.

TMS#FEE is funny because I've seen a lot of complaints about it online, but they're almost entirely about things I like about the game. I've seen plenty of grumbling from SMT/Persona fans that it's not dark and serious enough and is full of idol stuff, but I think that stuff is great. I've also seen people who wish it had the social link stuff from Persona or choosing schedules and stuff, but that's where I tended to get bogged down when I tried playing stuff like Persona 3 before, feeling like I was missing stuff by choosing wrong or the pacing just not being great because of it. And then there are the apoplectic gamers going absolutely bonkers about the censorship in the international release, saying things like chapter two doesn't even make sense anymore if it's about fashion models instead of gravure models. I never would've known anything was different if I hadn't seen posts about it, so I'm pretty sure it still works fine. And I just don't need underage girls with their boobs half falling out or panty shots or whatever. Thank you for letting Kiria wear pants.

The game is fun though, but I'll have more to say about that at some point when I play more or finish it. My only complaints so far are that I can't just switch between skills I've already learned and instead have to delete them to make room for new ones and relearn old ones if I want to use them again, and that the areas feel a little too big and get a bit tedious going through if you want to grab all the optional stuff on the way. The battle system is genuinely great, but I could use a break from it a bit more often.

And then for some reason my brain insisted that I play TWEWY at the same time. I tried playing it before, but I never had a DS of any kind until recently so my only option was on my phone in an emulator. I've played through entire stylus-only games on it just fine, but TWEWY just was not good that way. It's much more playable on the Switch, and it looks and sounds much better too. Unfortunately the UI and controls are still a disaster, like on a "I can't believe someone thought this was fine and actually shipped it" level. I want to go on about the interactions between input devices and control schemes and game design and how consistency, predictability, and reliability play into that, but this post is long enough already so that can be its own separate thing at some point.

Anyway aside from that (and having a strong contender for worst minigame I've played in my entire life) it looks good and sounds good and has good characters and story so far. It's kind of the opposite of Astria Ascending in a way, which has excellent gameplay but bland characters and bad writing, which is funny because these are apparently the results of Nomura and Nojima doing things separately. Both also immediately introduce your characters having conflicts within the party and clashing personalities, but AA barely does anything with that across its entire story while TWEWY very quickly starts developing those characters and relationships in interesting ways within the first couple hours.

Can't wait to see where these both end up going when I eventually finish them several months or a year or two from now after bouncing around between 14 other games in the meantime...

[huskeddevotee]

Borderlands 3 and the Powerful Man + Crush on woman = Powerful Woman phenomenon

A common complaint in BL3 is how we get spoon fed a narrative of powerful women and girl bosses, without ever seeing strong female characters. No one is actually interesting or with much substance. With the problem of a false feminist narrative, I've had a nagging question in my mind since I first played:

What's up with the crushes?

Zer0 has a crush on Lorelai.

Fl4k has a crush on Ellie. 

Troy has...a thing, for Aurelia. 

Lorelai is an enby who presents and mostly uses feminine pronouns, and is a leader of a small Atlas soldier group fighting Maliwan. Zer0 is an enby/of indeterminate gender who presents and uses masculine pronouns, and is an Atlas spy and assassin. 

Ellie is the owner of the Catcharide and the Sanctuary III's mechanic. Fl4k is an enby bot who is obsessed with death and the hunt.

Aurelia is an older woman who is rich and full of bravado, though not to the point of unclassiness. Troy is a leader of a cult and is both aggressive and intelligent. 

So, this doesn't look bad so far. But look closer and it looks...weird.

We never see Lorelai and Zer0 interact bar an Echo log and a dialogue that may or may not play from Zer0. Troy and Aurelia are fundamental opposites; Troy is a grungy, crass, lowerclassmen, Aurelia is an elegant, classy, hyper-class-motivated woman who detests reprobates. Aside from a one-night stand which is ooc for both, they have no relationship. 

And Fl4k and Ellie…

Fl4k flirts with Ellie once. 

And its not even flirting. 

When the player meets Ellie, if they play Fl4k, their line is "You've got admirable heft, girl."

I am a fat girl. If someone tried flirting with me by telling me I was fat enough for them, that person would be maced. That isn't flirting. It has no grounds for a relationship, but because GB says so, Fl4k says this as a way of showing they like Ellie. 

Now, let's take a look at the boy and enbys.

Troy is a ruthless maniac with a taste for violence and attention. He controls the CoV, even killing a powerful Siren, Maya. He is dangerous. He is depraved. His thing is that he has the masses to throw against whoever oppose him, and years of being out of the spotlight has even turned him against his sister. He's off the rails and taking control. 

Zer0 is a hyper-skilled assassin that is 10 steps ahead of everyone they encounter, predicting enemy plans before they are even made. They are lethal with the blade and incredibly agile, striking fear into their victims with their mystery and oddness. 

Fl4k is a bloodthirsty stalker of men, obsessed with appeasing death after gaining sentience and revels in the fear of their enemies. They've tamed vicious beasts and what they can't sicc the pets on, they take down with a bullet to the head. 

Ellie is a mechanic.

Aurelia is a rich woman who's good at hunting.

Lorelai is a murderous batista. 

Now, the girls are not bad characters. I like them all.

But why do these men like them?

There is no reason or precedent. We have no reason to think these characters have chemistry bar being told there's something there. And all of them are straight - this is notable because the samesex relationship was done wonderfully. They showed chemistry and genuine romance between Wainwright and Hammerlock, why couldn't they with the trio of heteros? 

Because there was nothing to push with Wainwright and Hammerlock.

Every single female character that didn't die, we are told is powerful, a strong woman, a boss lady. 

They weren't. They were stupid, brash, arrogant, and did nothing to advance or control the plot. They told you where to go, and someone else told you what to do. Lilith has nothing to do until the end of the game. Tannis is a factor for 3 things. Ava does nothing ever. Ellie doesn't do anything. Lorelai doesn't do anything. 

Not even Tyreen or Aurelia do anything. Troy does everything for Tyreen until he dies, and Aurelia just taunts you over the Echo and shoots at Hammerlock. On Promethea, Rhys tells you what to do. On Eden-6, Wainwright tells you what to do. On Nekro, Typhon tells you what to do. 

For a game all about strong women, the women have no autonomy and its the men doing everything and moving the plot forward. The only female character that does something significant is Maya, for dying and directly encouraging Troy's abandoned character arc. 

So, we have female characters who aren't convincing as strong, powerful women. 

We know Ellie and Aurelia are powerful and strong - they're fan favorites. Everyone loves Ellie, and for the ten people who like TPS, Aurelia is great fun. Lorelai needed convincing the most. 

What's the easiest way to hammer in "See? They're strong and powerful!"?

Make a strong and powerful male/male presenting character have a crush on them. 

Zer0 is scared of Lorelai and likes it, even messing up the haiku when meeting her. Fl4k admires Ellie’s body - which I’ll get into in just a moment. Troy bottoms for Aurelia. These guys are intimidating and dangerous, so them falling for x woman means x woman is a strong, feminine force that allures them with her strength. 

Wainwright and Hammerlock are good because they were allowed to be a couple. They were just in love and you can see it. The trio never romantically interact beyond telling you "I, scary man, want this woman to step on me" in different flavors.

And what bothers me the most out of all of them is Fl4k and Ellie. Ellie was never a sexual character. She didn't care how people saw her, and didn't care about whether or not she had a man. As a fat girl, I adored her because it was nice to just see another fat girl not be just a Rebel Wilson fat girl. She talked about her body and was happy with it, but it wasn’t just “I am fat and like to f*ck.” 

In BL3, we are constantly reminded that Ellie is desirable and sexy. She tells us she wants to 'show city boys things they only see in nature documentaries'. Everyone's (Sans Zane, bless him) first comment upon meeting her is on her weight and how hot or good it is, rather than saying an actual greeting. You don't do that. You don't greet someone by saying "Wow! You're fat!"

They were trying to be positive about Ellie's body, but instead made the VHs look like feeders. Ellie was positive because her weight did not matter. Making it the only thing about her just...made it weird. 

And Ellie and Fl4k's only flirty interaction is Fl4k telling her they like how fat she is.

At least Lorelai and Zer0 clearly say they like something normal about the other. Lorelai comments that Zer0 is tall, Zer0 says Lorelai is scary in good way. Troy and Aurelia is just an allies-with-benefits, they don't have a romantic connection.

Fl4k, if that line was meant to be flirting, outs themselves as a fetishist. 

This bad character writing and interaction writing happens because we had to be reminded that these characters are powerful, and the only way was to make other characters say "Wow she's hot." The only reason this didn't happen to the main female cast is because they had a main part in the story - Lorelai, Ellie, and Aurelia are all blink-and-you'll miss it. 

The three women not being part of the overarching story means that they don't have a lot of opportunity to show off how capable they are - we have to be told directly, or be shown that they are because someone powerful thinks they're hot. And the thing is, these characters are strong characters, but we aren't allowed to see them be. Ellie was one of the best new characters in BL2, Aurelia one of the favorites of TPS. Lorelai could have been a great character, too. But they just didn’t do anything with them. 

And even stranger, they did this thing with Maya and Krieg.

When Krieg first saw Maya, his thoughts were 1, she's a Siren and could kill me, and 2, I am completely enamored with her. In that exact order. But this doesn’t come off as an attempt of spoon-feeding faux girl power because Maya is blatantly a strong female character. Every second with her, she is in control of the situation and active in the plot, both in BL3 and BL2. You don’t need to be convinced that Maya is a powerful woman, so Krieg being in love with her not only works via genuine chemistry, but because how could he not be? 

But the difference is, with Maya and Krieg, we actually had decent writers who knew how to write relationships between characters and how to, y’know, develop good female characters. 

Which we don’t anymore, evidently. 

[thewritewolf]

Interview with an Author Tag!

This game was originally posted by @goldenavenger02 and I was tagged (a, uh, a while ago, sorry about that 😅) by @mikauzoran. Thanks!

1. Your favorite fic that you’ve written (or just one you want to give a shout out to).

Oh wow, what to recommend? I’ll limit myself to just three since I’ve got 49 to choose from.

True Sight: Secrets of the Miraculous was my first fic and also my most ambitious one. The early chapters are rough but I get my feet under me after... three or four chapters, I want to say? And after that, I have my favorite Chloe redemption ever, plenty of character development and natural expanding of the core team (remember, I starting writing this when Rena Rouge was new).

Rekindle was my first fic to get any kind of real attention and honestly, its for good reason. Its an aged up Marichat fic with plenty of fluff, moments of angst, and a generally good time all around. Plus there is art of it! Which I embedded into it!

Four Times (and the Lucky One) is a short, focused story which is very cute - its about Adrien trying to ask Marinette out but having awful luck with it. Two things are notable with it. First, it launched a whole series of fics in the same timeline that have been a joy to write. And second, it was inspired by art from @ohsweetsweetie who I eventually became friends with way after I wrote it!

2. Your favorite fic title that you’ve come up with. 

Running to Catch An Airplane Trope has my heart - it always makes me chuckle and honestly everything you need to know is said by the title alone!

3. How do you get inspiration to write?

In terms of actually making myself write, I’ve got playlists for characters, then there are MyNoise generators that help me get into the mood for writing.

When it comes to ideas, nothing gets the imagination going more than watching the show and seeing the characters interact! My imagination tends to go wild anyway, especially when I’m not doing anything but watching.

4. Your favorite genre/subgenre of fic to write.

Oh that’s easy - Fluff. Every single fic I’ve written either was primarily fluff or had plenty of fluff in it. And absolutely every fic had a happy ending. Be the force you want to see in the world, right?

5. Do you have other hobbies?

Well, besides writing fanfiction, I write a bunch of original stuff, including an entirely original world. Which I use sometimes for a D&D setting. Beyond that, I used to paint miniatures a lot but now that my friends are scattered all over, that sort of fell by the wayside.

Outside of creative pursuits, I play video games and watch youtubers like Game Grumps and Markiplier.

6. A fun fact about you that a lot of people may not know.

I’m caught between my abilities as a cat whisperer, where almost every cat I’ve ever encountered, excluding feral ones, will be my friend immediately and let me pick them up, or my degree in history/political science. Both of these facts are important to me 🤔

7. Pick one character to self project onto, go!

Adrien Agreste, naturally. I see a much younger me in him and I hope he has a better time of it than I did. 😫

8. Favorite genre of music.

Heavy mithril, folk rock... things like that. Although I listen to music of all kinds, so its hard to pick a particular genre

9. Your favorite singer/band.

I’d say its split pretty evenly between either Hozier or Sabaton 🤔

10. And finally, how has your experience in fandom been?

Pretty good, honestly. Well, in ML at least which is the only fandom I’ve been a active member of. Excluding salters its been an absolute dream - sharing ideas, meeting friends, writing and reading fics... and just being lost in the sauce of loving these characters. Its been a great time.

I think many of my writing friends have been tagged already so... I tag everyone who wants to do this! Go forth, be free!

[old-blanket-man]

danganronpa hot takes because i hate this fucking series, a new game is coming, and danganronpa tumblr is pretty chill (spoilers for every game lol:

- chapter two in every game is just,, god teir im sorry

- genocider has the best sprites/art

- also shes super fuckign funny?

- other than thh really, the anime is bad. its so fucking boring

- sdr2 was the worst game in terms of storyline. worse than v3. v3's trials saved it for me, but sdr2 was a clusterfuck of sexualization and garbage

- like yeah makoto was stupid but at least it made sense

- ig i'll add this, no i didn't care when hajime was all "im not re a L?" because he was unrelatable and boring as shit

- kaede as protag and angie as antag would have been better for v3

- honestly they should have made angie more important, she was pretty funny and her relationship with god could have been used more

- himiko is gross and has the worst voice in the entire series

- nekomaru could have been such a good character (in a q-taro after chapter one of yttd type beat) but he was just shit jokes till he died.

- also im in love with nekomaru i'll put this here

- sdr2 had the best and worst executions in the series (one woman army for best and whatever the fuck mikan was for worst)

- can we talk about how stupid junko's execution in thh?

- no? okay then, kirigiri wasn't a support character until chapter 6

- there is no fucking reason for teruteru to be a pervert but they gave him the trait anyway to meet the gross character quota.

- i honestly really fucking hate sonia shes so boring bro

- hifumi is extremely relatable and pretty funny but god danganronpa doesn't know how to draw anyone who isn't skinnier than a fucking pencil

- people making joeks about chest size is weird especially since you're supposed to see these characters as minors most of the time ("but they're actually-" stfu i could care less.)

- fuyuhiko was the only character to likee,,, actually develop other than the protags and antags

- ryoma single handedly improved the v3 cast by just existing

- the previous one is mostly a joke, but he is my favorite from that game i think his cardboard cutout base (every dr character is just a trope guys, dont think this is dynamic shit) is actualyl pretty interesitng.

- 11037, mondo butter, fairy, etc jokes weren't funny, currently aren't funny, and will never be funny.

- i did enjoy chapter 3 thh, but it was super easily predictable because no one else was smart enough to do that

- i hate sdr2 chapter 3 it was just sorta shitty (though mikan my beloved)

- chapter 3 v3 was,, okay. korekiyo my beloved.

- monokuma is super funny and i laughed at him a lot. his voice is only good in the thh anime though.

- i keep bringing up the anime because its better paced then the games uwuw

- the woh are some of the best villians. they're relatable, funny, and have super interesting personalities because of it. also kotoko is the best one i dont make the rules man

- nagito's english va sounds like he smoked 50 a day

- EVERYONE'S JAPANESE VA IS BETTER THAN THEIR ENGLISH

- the only english performances i really really liked were miu's (it captures her perfectly, the lines are delivered so well), teruterus (they get the gross lines down well, the screaming was well done, also :sparkling_heart: im in love), and genociders (idk its just done really well, as i said all the lines are pretty funny, but with the voice acting it makes it better)

- danganronpa shouldn't have been at e3, i screamed when i saw it. not a positive scream. i was terrified.

- i genuinely don't like many danganronpa ships, but i'll list a few of my favorites because its about meeee today: teruteru x nekomaru (they get one,, mildly sexual scene together but omg they'd work out nice), kirumi x ryoma (idk what to say its a comfort ship, give ryoma the happy 2021), sakura x toko (remember that scene in the manga? yes), tsumugi x hifumi (im a rairpair guy, this one is a tdp thing, they'd be cute), angie x miu (they get like 0 interactions but they'd play off each other really well), peko x fuyuhiko (sobs)

- nagito isn't well written hes annoying

- same with ouma lol

- togami isn't super bad, i still fucking hate him loads during the first few chapters

- have i mentioned im in love with nekomaru? i think i have

- also you shouldn't hate people for enjoying characters like wow u hate them cool stfu now

- im being really harsh on this series because it really has changed my life for what should be the better, but now that the magic of a new fandom has faded, i can finally take a step back and criticize it (even if i am a little harsh)

- nagtio is going to kiss a girl in the new game

[maggiecheungs]

2020 ~everything~ wrap

i finally have time to do all of the tag games that people have tagged me in over the past month or so! i cannot for the life of me remember who tagged me in which one, so i’m just putting ~everything~ in one huge post. if i tag you anywhere then consider it a standing invitation to do whichever of these you haven’t done :) in fact, this is me issuing a standing invite to any of my followers who wants to do it :) also, thank you all!

Creator Wrap: Favourite Works

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 (or so) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

this collection of philosophy quotes paired with thai bl series, (and its sequel) which is possibly my favourite thing i’ve ever made. for, uh, nerd reasons.

these gifted text post memes i made still make me laugh sometimes

this fic about green from 2gether, which i wrote in the notes app on my phone and published the same day. not my absolute best writing but i am very fond of it <3

i have a bunch fof friend zone dangerous area edits/shitposts which i like, but i’m particularly fond of my fzda as satire headlines (which now has a sequel!)

i also love my crisgood-walmart-lesbian post. i might send it in to gmmtv to try and convince them to do a crisgood-bffs spin-off

+ bonus: since i wrote this list i made this gifset (my first ever!) of jennie panhan in the shipper and i love her too much not to include her on here

+ extra nerdy bonus: this niche meme about Chinese philosophy, which still makes me crack up whenever I think about it

Favourite Creators/Follow Forever

i’ve completely lost track of who’s following who from which blog, so this is just going to be a haphazard, non-exhaustive list of people who i adore/admire/am vaguely intimidated by, mutuality be damned. maybe we talk all the time! maybe we’ve never interacted! maybe i am constantly there in ur tags... lurking... 👀... but if you’re on this list you have made me smile at least once this year and i love you for that alone <3

@wjmild kylie!! you make gifs of arm & tay & lee (separately or in various combinations) & the shipper & and kapook & random fluke pusit cameos & school rangers so i don’t have to <3 ilysm

@janeramida vianey, you have such impeccable taste in general, but your sizzy gifset in particular is so gorgeous it lives in my mind rent free

@applelapis bri, this post was a callout and i want you to know that it haunts me at night as i lie awake staring at the ceiling :((((( i hope you are happy

@gigiesarocha cata, i love it when you show up on my dash bc you have!! such taste!! also, every time you gif gigie i gain five years of life <3 pls continue doing the Good Work

@pvrrish​ eleni, i remeber legit thinking that this was an official poster when i first saw it, it’s so beautiful

@ahysopae​ juliette your khaithird fic is so good and it literally changed the way i think about khai (not an easy feat)

@kurosawadachi angel, whenever i think about grace’s speech i remember your gifset and get literal chills

@doctorbahnjit alexa, you have no right to be as funny as you are. your friend zone edits give me life

@khaotungthanawat sam, you’re probably sick of getting tagged in these lists by random strangers, but i just had to bc your gifsets are Pure Art

@tanwirapong roa, all your gifsets are so ✨iconic✨

faiza @asianmelodrama and rahul @petekaos! yours were the first two thai drama blogs i followed and for ages i lowkey thought of you as my fandom parents.

and some more blogs that make me happy: @curlykytta / @lee-thanat  / @fck-inspector-m / @pangwave / @tichawongtipkanon / @tawanv @kimmonv (violet istg i have spent more time this year trying to figure out how many blogs you have than i have spent admiring your gifsets. & i spend a lot of time admiring your gifsets) / @taytawan / @1akorn and @yihwas (and your radiant lovechild @lakornladies ofc) / @teh-ohaew / @vihokratanas (mel your gifsets are just so gorgeous) / @tootiredtoosadtooangry / @headcompletelyempty / @demiromanticmickey​ / and there are definitely more but my brain is a sieve so apologies if i’ve forgotten anyone!! i love you all!! 

2020 HIGHLIGHTS ✨

rules: list your top 10 shows (bl or not) you watched in 2020 (doesn’t necessarily have to be shows that came out in 2020 though!)

1. 2GETHER & STILL2GETHER

my first thai drama, and even after all the amazing shows i’ve watched this year, it still has a special place in my heart. watching 2gether was the first time i’d ever seen a queer romcom that just... was. for me, by the simple fact of its being, 2gether was revolutionary. and then still2gether came along and took all the best things about the first season and gave us something beautiful and quiet and lovely and just proved to me, once and for all, that queer happiness doesn’t need to justify its own existence. there can be gay cuddles on the beach for no other reason than that we want them. 

2. UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN

i don’t really have the words for this one but. it makes my heart so very soft.

3. FRIEND ZONE 2: DANGEROUS AREA

season one was mindless fun because everyone was an absolute trashfire and it was hella cathartic to watch, but season 2... wow. i love it for so many reasons: it has messy and authentic queer rep; the characterisation is excellent and i somehow care about all of the characters; amazing women taking centre stage(!); a wlw relationship with lesbian, ace and bipolar rep; multiple interesting plotlines; actual character development; arm weerayut as a chaos gremlin... absolutely one of my favourites of 2020.

4. CHERRY MAGIC

i don’t think i need to explain this one, which is fortunate, because i have no idea how exactly i’d describe the happy-warm-fuzzy-queer-seen-loving-affirmed-profound feeling that rises in my chest whenever i think about it. 

5. THE GIFTED: GRADUATION

confession: i liked season 2 more than season 1 (with the exception of the ending, which we don’t talk about). season 1 was enjoyable and interesting, but for me it was season 2 which made me love this series. it did some incredibly interesting and complicated things (even if it didn’t quite nail the landing): it pushed characters to the breaking point and wove so many layers into the story and questioned its own underlying themes. plus, watching it alongside everyone in the fandom made it 200% better. i love all of you and i love this show. egg girl 5eva.

6. THE SHIPPER

i 100% understand why so many people didn’t like this show, or found it problematic, but through some fluke it absolutely worked for me (even the ending). one day i will write an essay explaining my rationale, but for now i’ll just say that it’s one of my favourite shows about adolescence and queerness and identity and compassion and friendship and love that i’ve ever watched. 

7. YYY

this series is absolutely off its rocker, and it somehow managed to be one of the most affirming shows i’ve watched. it shouldn’t have worked by it did, and i love it so much.

8. 3 WILL BE FREE

absolutely iconic. amazing plot, stunning visuals, great characters, canon polyamory, jennie being incredible... what a series.

9. MANNER OF DEATH

i love the fact that this show exists; i love the mix of crime and romance; i love maxtul’s acting; i love the central relationship; i love bun. i know we’re not even halfway through yet, but this show is doing something special and i’m so grateful that i get to watch it unfold in real time. 

10. CHIHAYAFURU (SEASON 3)

odd one out on my list, but I had to include it. chihayafuru is my all-time favourite anime and it finally got a third season, which is somehow even better than the first two. mashima taichi is one of my favourite characters of all time and his storyline hits me on such a profound level. plus, in the years since i first say this show i’ve fallen in love with classical japanese literature (particularly heian poetry) so i had newfound appreciation for the karuta matches (aka i cried every time someone recited one of my favourite poems)

other favourites: together with me, he’s coming to me, sotus and sotus s, my dear loser: edge of 17, why r u, theory of love, wake up chanee!, gameboys, pearl next door, uta koi (anime), three kingdoms (2010), blood and water (netflix). (itsay would almost certainly be on my list if i’d had time to watch it. same with dark blue kiss, which i had to pause so i could do my assignments)

Final Thoughts

well, it’s been... a year (i don’t think anyone needs a reminder of the details) but writing this post has reminded me of all the amazing shows and people I discovered over the course of it.

thank you to everyone for being so lovely and creative and funny and quirky and kind and passionate. you’re all incredibly awesome people and i wish all of you the very best xx