#(I guess? I dunno. just in case. it's horror writing)

[guardsbian]

notn advice for newbies!!

everything is gonna be really hectic at first!!

so stay put and try not to panic— everyone else can smell the cowardice emanating from your pathetic, quivering body!

you may not make it! in fact, you probably will not make it.

every bone in your body will be tested, continuously undergoing a cycle of breaking and mending, across the span of hundreds of thousands of lifetimes, within a matter of a weeks.

so make sure to keep stretching those wrists!!

the voice telling you to hatch eggs can not be classified as right or wrong, good or bad, or any other useless mortal dichotomy, because it does not abide to "our" rules of logic or morality! it does have rules of its own, though, so watch out!

remember, it's not called "night" of the nocturne for nothing— nights are the most dangerous time of all!

there is no hope of salvation! prayers will not save you, for when the nocturnes come, they do not discriminate between the blasphemous and the faithful.

ok guys have fun out there!! especially all you first timers ^v^!! personally I can't wait to get some more eggs, even if the nocturnes gnawing endlessly on my liver are a little much LOL

[screaminglygay]

KINKTOBER day 5

pairing: ghostface! sam carpenter x fem!reader

summary: you and sam are besties, but do you tell each other everything? (what is this? i dunno)

warnings: smut!!!, dom!sam x sub!reader, sam is a big meanie for a little, spanking, degradation, dirty talk, swearing, killing mentioned, tiny bit of knife play, slapping, crying, not proofread, if anything else, let me know - I’ll add it

word count: 4.4k

an: enjoy I guess, let me know your opinions, also thanks for so much support with wanda, tbh I though that it won’t do this great, but it did and all of you are so horny freaks, including myself, but truly I appreciate it!!!💕💕

(italics = your thoughts)

!MDNI!

Enjoy this spooky season and be safe!

The phone rings again, hidden caller. Picking up a secret number is really not your style. You let it ring, if they truly need you, they will write you a message.

Buzz.

Oh and they do need something important. You take your phone and look at the notification.

Hidden number

8:36PM

Call me ASAP, please! I can´t open the excel!

You calmed down a little bit as it was probably your classmate and accidentaly made their phone number hidden. Taking a deep breath before calling someone was always your go to thing, since the whole situation is very stressfull, you´d much rather write a long paragraph over a text, then just call someone. But since it´s about school, you´re less nervous.

You finger touch the last missed call and it starts to ring, as soon as you see that the other side picked it up, you started to speak.

"Hey! Sorry, I didn´t hear the phone. Anyways what´s going on with that file?" You took your notebook in case you have to make step by step tutorial to your classmate, because it wouldn´t be for the first time.

"No one ever told you lying is bad, (Y/N)?" You didnt recognize the voice, it wasn´t a voice you remember anyone having from your class, or the whole school. It was deep, raspy and mostly scary. You didn´t like horrors very much, but you were positive that you´ll get prank called or jumpscared by some idiot. And here they are, idiot on the line, at least that´s what you think.

"Haha very funny..." You´re mostly annoyed, but there is this side of little you, who is hoping this is truly your idiot classmate and no one else. "Do you wanna help with the sheet or not?"

Long big sigh can be heard on the other side. "And I thought you were a nice girl, (Y/N). Guess I was wrong. Don´t worry, we´ll work on that."

Now your little scary thought became a little bit bigger. You weren´t so sure it was someone you know.

"Who am I speaking with? Sorry, I don´t have your number added." You hoped they would say your name, you would stop panicking and it would be done it two minutes.

"Someone who likes to play games. (Y/N), would you like to play a game?" the raspy voice asked.

"No, thank you." Out of nervousness and mostly fear you hang up. You didn´t even realize until you stoped hearing the rapsy breath. Even if there was a truly a classmate who wanted a help, they shouldn´t prankcall you. Gosh how much you hated these things.

The phone didn´t ring again for quite some time, so you just let it go. Taking a long shower sounded like the best idea now. Out of the closet you took oversized shirt and some shorts and you headed to the bathroom. Doing your usual skin care routine went on automatic and brushing your teeth as well.

Coming back to your room, you notice that you left your closet opened, you sigh and close the door. Being too tired to prepare your clothes for tomorrows school day. As you lay on your bed, you hug your big teddy bear and your eyes immedietly close as you drift to sleep.

...

The next day goes smooth, first lecture was actually really interesting and you didn´t felt tired at all. You had your morning coffee and today was just a good day, you could feel it. You didn´t have those in a while, so it is very welcome.

Second lecture was indeed boring, but at least you know that the human eye blinks an average of 4 200 000 times a year, which is... a new information, that´s for sure. But the professor ended class sooner, so at least you had more time for lunch. And that´s a plus.

As you´re sitting alone, eating your lunch on a bench in a park, where you like to spend your free time between the classes, someone taps on your shoulder.

"Oh hi, Sam!" You smile, seeing your friend always makes your day better. "What are you doing here, I thought you´re working today." You scoop so Sam can sit next to you.

Sam met you when you were running late, literally. You two bumped into each other few months ago and because you spilled your coffee on her, you just had to pay for it somehow. So after you quickly gave her your number and basically sprinted out, Sam made sure you´ll keep your promise. And you did, few days after that you two met again and over a coffee realized how much things you two have in common.

She seemed like a cold and closed of person at first, but she is actually the sweetest teddy bear, as you like to call her for fun. Sam told you many times she hated it, but you made a good points that she is just so sweet, big and you feel safe when you´re around her, just like with teddy bear in your bed. And she was a taller than you, so that´s another point. After few "arguments" she actually let you win, so she is now your big and protective teddy bear.

You two started to hang out more and more, which just confirms your initial click, that Sam felt as soon as she laid her eyes on your sweet and innocent face.

"Well maybe I lied and I wanted to suprise you." Sam answers as she sits next to you.

"I am surprised," you giggle. "I have like a hour and something before my next lecture, so..." You look at your phone.

"Good." Sam smiles and tilts her head, she notices that you´re smiling ear to ear. "What got you smiling like that, (Y/N)?"

"Hm... nothing in particular, but it´s just a good day. And I´m enjoying a every single bit of it." You answer and your cheeks start to hurt a bit from all the smiling, you did in the last 10 minutes.

"Oh, I see. As you should." She nudges your arm with hers. "What are you doing after school?"

"I have to finish some excel to my statistic class, but besides that... nothing." Your thoughts are taking you back to last night and your weird call, with who you thought was your classmate.

Sam notices your smile fading and put her hand on your thigh, something she did pretty often, but it brings you butterflies everytime. "(Y/N)?"

"Hm? Yeah?" Sam just raises her eyebrow. "It´s nothing, I just had this weird person from school call me yesterday and... yeah, it was weird. A stupid prankcall." You roll your eyes.

Sam move her hand on your thigh up and down, trying to sooth you. "What did they say?"

"Just some stupid stuff, like do you want to play a game. Do I look like I want to play a game?" You sigh.

"Depends on the game. Horor game? Probably not. The Sims 4? Absolutely yes." Sam chuckles as you punch her arm.

"Every woman has her needs, mine is playing The Sims. Can you blame me?" You laugh, Sam always helps you with your bad and anxious thoughts.

The rest of your free time you two shared a lots of laughs, smiles and overall a good quality time together. Until you had to go back to your lectures, which made your day a little worse, since you wanted to keep talking to Sam.

...

Few hours later you finally finished all of your lectures for the day. You didn´t have that energy boost as you did this morning, but you´re still in a good mood. So you decided to walk from school back to your dorm. And even if it was October, it was still kinda warm outside so you put some soft music on and decided to walk.

Stepping into your dorm you notice that something is bad, you can´t point a finger on what it is, but the vibe seems off. Shaking off the feeling didn´t help for long, because as soon as you reach for your keys the ligh on the other side of the hall just turn off.

"Shit!" You flinch and your hands start to shake. As you succesfully get inside you lock your door faster than ever.

"Oh my god-" you take a few deep breaths. "It was just a light, (Y/N), everything is good. It was just a light." Mumbling out loud these words, in hopes that it will calm you down.

You turn all of your lights in your home on as a prevention for your mind from creating something that is not there. Lastly you go to your bedroom and open the door, you stop in your track in a moment when your eyes met a tall black figure next to your opened closet.

A cold shivers run down your spine, but with confidence it´s just your mind playing tricks you turn on the light even there.

But that choice just showed you, that this time, it´s not your mind playing tricks, but there is actually someone in your house. A tall black silluete turned into a big person with a black cloak and a white mask, looking like a ghost. You´ve seen this mask many times during Halloween parties. Quickly scanning the person you notice that they´re holding a knife. A knife!

"Oh fuck!" You qiuckly close your bedroom door, hoping you will get more time, but of course you had to lock all of your locks and jumping from a window was not an option since you´re living in the 9th floor.

Shit, shit, shit. Wait... I don´t hear anything.

The only thing that you can hear is your heartbeat, no steps, no breathing, just your heart. Looking back, noticing that the door you slammed shut before are now open again.

Your living in your worst shitty nightmare.

It´s a tap on your shoulder that almost makes you lose it. You let out the most horror scream in your entire life, you didn´t even think you could scream like that. The tall person with ghostface mask is standing right next to you, they shake their head and one of their hands makes it over your mouth to keep you shut. As soon as your bodies hit the floor, which suprisingly didn´t hurt at all due to all the adrenaline you have in you, right now. They pull their knife to your face and slowly slide it across your cheek, not hurting you in any way.

Your breathing gets faster and faster to the moment you feel like you start to hyperventillate.

"Hello, (Y/N). You cut our call last night, so I felt like meeting you in person, again, would help us solve the excel problem. Don´t you think?" It was the same raspy, deep voice you heard yesterday over the phone.

"I- uh s-sure." You nod as you mumble your answer agaist her hand, noting better came to your mind.

"Sure? Now you don´t have a problem with that, but yesterday you cut me off like I was a fucking no one?!" Now you were truly hoping that this is just a nightmare and you will wake up. "Isn´t it fair if i cut you off too? So you would now how it feels?" Their knife is swinging infront of your face again.

"I- No, please, don´t. I- i uh I´m sorry!" You mumble agaist their hand.

The person on top of you just laughs and bring your hand above your head and now you can´t move at all.

"I think it´s fair, you know how shitty I felt? And today you´re doing like nothing happened? Like I was just.. what did you described me as... as a weird person who said stupid stuff?" Their face coming closer to you. "I think it´s fair to show me some fucking respect." you feel a slight sweet cologne coming from that person.

A scent you know very well, It starts with a fresh burst of citrus, like a mandarin. With a little hint of vanilla and amber adds depth and warmth. This scent is a subtle and comforting, like a cherished memory to you. A cherished person, you know too well.

It can´t be...

Your eyes shift, looking over the mask again, your eyes anaylzing from side to side, like you´re trying to read their mind through the eyes on the mask.

They tilt their head again, the knife slowly going away from your face. You hope that what you thing is just a big misunderstanding, it can´t be her. Not your Sam.

"Sammy?" You mumble as their hand is going away from your mouth. Few tears forming in your eyes.

"Oh look at you, you figured it out." She takes her mask of and it was like a bullet straight through your heart. "Now be quiet or I´ll shut you up." She picks you up, like nothing and wallks quickly into your bedroom.

This was not your Sam, not your friend, she look like her, but her actions were the exact opposite of your comfort person.

She throws you at the bed and you´re now laying on your stomach, she comes closer to you again and whispers into your ear.

"Every woman has her needs, mine is playing with you, (Y/N). Can you blame me?" She chuckles as she repeat what you´ve said earlier. "Ass up." She put her hands on your hips and you put your ass up, as she told you. Too scared to do anything else. "Good girl." Sam praises you.

"S-Sam.." you whine out between with your tears streaming down your face.

"Oh shush, did no one told you to speak nicely about your friends? And not talk-" she spanks you, hard, "shit about your friends?" Sam spanks you again, this time it was even harder.

"I´m sorry, Sam- I didn´t-" you try to talk, but it´s hard when your face is burried in the pillows.

"I. Dont. Want. To. Hear. It. Now." Her voice was harsh and so was her hands on your ass with each words she growls into your ear, even when you have your clothes on, it still hurts too much. "Just take what I give you and then we might talk." Without any warning she takes your pants off, slicing your shirt and throwing it away.

"No bra?" Sam laughs. "You went the whole day without a fucking bra, you´re so pathetic, (Y/N)." She runs her knife on your back, she´s doesn´t want to hurt you really, at least not right now. "You did this on purpose? You´re look so innocent, but you´re not so innocent, are you?" Her hands find its way on your tits, she give them a tight squeeze and you can´t help, but let out a big moan.

You like this, which shock you more than the fact, that Samantha Carpenter broke into your house, just to play with you.

Her big strong arms, oh god how much you love her amrs. The way they hold you during your sleepovers, how they caught you everytime you walk into the street without looking both sides, or how they always brought comfort to you. Everytime.

But now? It´s totally different now, at least that´s what you think and Sam noticed that. And she can´t have you be thinking this much, when she wants to have her sweet time with you.

Her hands playing with your nipples, pinching each one very hard for you to come back to her. And you did, you realize just now that you´re not crying anymore, you´re just a moaning mess.

"You´re doing so good, look at you, mi amor, taking all the spanks as a punishment for how mouthy you were." You can sense the smile in her words and it´s like your Sammy is speaking to you, which instantly make your worries go away. Your body relaxes againt her and she can feel it, it´s like a small win for her. "Good, just like that."

You moan once again, it was more a needy moan than anything else. One second you´re on your stomach and the other one, you´re on your back, Sam holding your waist to scoop you closer to herself. She´s still wearing the black cloak, that don´t scare you anymore. If anything it is kinda attractive, that she´s still in her clothes and you´re just in your panties.

Looking at her with needy eyes was something that Sam saw a many times. Begging her to pick you up after school, or give you her hoodie, when you were cold. Or those many times when you cannot reach something, because it was way to high.

But this time you have this spark in your eyes, the good girl was gone, now Sam could really see the needy whore, who hid under the inoccent cover for the whole time. And this time Sam takes this as the ultimate win.

"Please-" you whine.

The most confident smirk appears on Sam´s face as her hands runs down your body, finally kissing your neck. "Please what?" Sam asks you between those sloppy kisses.

You let out another whine.

"I´m letting you speak, if i was you, i´d better use it." She bites your neck, which will definetly make a nasty bruise.

"Use me." Your move your head, so Sam has better acces to your neck.

"Oh wow, such a fitlhy words, for such a pretty little girl." She chuckles as she keep kissing your neck, her hands finding your tits again.

You never knew your nipples were this sensitive, but Sam knows. Of course she does. You feel as her hands are grooping your breasts, but you´re not satysfied, you want to see her, so you tug on her cloak and let out a whine.

"What?" She mumbles agaist your neck and then she pulls away to make eye contact with you.

"I wanna see you." You tug on her cloak again, "please."

Sam without a beat took her cloak off and she was now in her black underwear, sitting on top of you as your eyes wonder. She gives you a little time for checking her out and god you could stare at her for days. The light in your room making her muscles look even sharper, not that she needs it, but you just can´t have enough of her.

"You´re not so sad now, huh?" She smirks again, fuck how much you hated that confident smirk. Without waiting for your actual response, she dive back, her lips on your neck, making sure that after tonight everybody knows who do you belong to.

After a few minutes of Sam being basically a vampire, she starts to kiss her way down, slowly as she stops at your nipples again. Slowly, but hasrshly sucking on them, making sure to keep an eye contact with you. " Keep your eyes at me." You could cum just from watching her.

She treats you like a blank canvas, and as a skilled artist, she must make sure that you are painted with her in the end and with a pleasure you won´t forget.

Her big muscular hands are sliding down your body, pinching your inner thighs to tease you. She knows what you want, but she won´t give in that easily, even when you´re looking at her with those cute and innocent eyes.

Your hands are sliding off your panties, but Sam qiuckly takes your hands. "They are staying on and keep your hands above your head." Her raspy voice sends shivers down your pussy, that is now drenched, because of her touches and skilled movements.

You put your hands back above your head, wiggling a little to show Sam how impatient you are. She just sends you a quick slap on your thigh and you giggle.

Her finger slowly going up and down your clothed pussy, you can already see how wet your panties are and if Sam wasn´t that needy, she would make fun of you. Seeing you like this gives her so much power and let´s be real you are really feeding her ego.

"Sam!" You move your hips up, hoping she will actually do something.

"(Y/N)!" She mocks you with innocent smile on her face.

"Fuck- I need your fucking hands in me or I swear I´m gonna lose it!" You did lose it already.

"You want my fucking hand in you? You like my hands?" Sam whispers.

"I do! So much! I need your big hands in me, please!" You shift towards her again.

"Aww pretty little girl, do you think that your pussy will take my big hands?" Sam´s finger barerly toucing your slit.

"Yes! I can take it!" You think that you will be crying from the frustration.

"Say it."

"My little pussy will take your big fucking fingers! Hands! Whatever you give me, I can take it, Samantha!" You groan.

"Oh you´re using my full name, you really need it, huh?" She smirks again, but your wish is her command and in the end she wants to make you feel good. Pushing your panties to the side, your juices are everywhere and god she loves it.

"Is this for me?" Sam softly asks.

"Only for you." You give her a small smile.

"In that case-" she slides her two fingers in you, slowly pushing in and out. Sam already feels your pussy pulsating and her fingers get almost swallowed by you. "Oh wow, I was so wrong about you and I´m so happy I was." She adds another finger.

You whine, you feel aready so close, your pussy is feeling like it´s on fire, your hips going up and down and Sam´s just enjoying the view. You want more, so you feel like grabing Sam´s hand is a good idea. She raises her eyebrow and slip her fingers out of you.

You whine out, immedietly feeling empty, you feel like you gonna burst out, you really need to cum, but now you lost everything that felt good.

Sam slaps your pussy one time, but damn it´s painful. "I said, keep your hands to yourself." Her fingers slides quickly back into you, both of you know, that you´re very close.

"Ple-" you can´t even finish the word without a moan.

"Go on, scream. I want you to fucking scream my name, mi amor." She uses both of her hands now, one sliding in and out of you and the other one playing with your clit, which is something that gets you over the edge pretty easily.

Your whole body flex under her touch, this is the best release you ever had, it felt better than anything in this world, she definetly know what she´s doing. As you scream her name, Sam slows down her movements, for you to ride it all out, without being too overstimulated.

Sam gives you two kisses on each of your inner thighs and then kiss her way back up. She´s smiling and you are too.

The atmosphere went from being scared of your life to you having THE time of your life.

"There you go, little girl. How are we feeling hm?" Sam whispers into your ear as she wraps her strong hands around you.

"Fucking confused." You let out a small giggle.

"Watch your tone, young lady." Her hand squeezes your wrist.

"I- I´m good. Just... what just happened?" You lean into her.

Sam laughs as you´re confused. "You know I hate Halloween, you scared the living shit out of me with this prank, Sam. If you wanted to... you know, you could´ve just asked. I though you were some murderer!" You lazily mumble as you are half asleep already.

"Yeah and I love Halloween and asking you for a fuck session is not so fun. Me a murderer? Oh please." She kisses your head.

"Hmm.. whatever." You are too tired to have this conversation with her.

As you fall asleep in the arms of Samantha Carpenter you felt happy, today was really a great day.

Sam made sure you were dead asleep before getting up from the bed, but as soon as she did, you instantly start to move in discomfrot. She quickly grab your teddy bear and made you cuddle him instead and her plan worked. Cute smile was on your face again and Sam was glad you had this stuffie here as a replacement for her, when she needs to do her job. She knew you will be overthing when you woke up to an empty bed, so she quickly scribble down a note.

"I´ll call you later, I had to go to work, -s"

She took her knife that was laying on the ground, take on her cloak and last but not least take on her ghostface mask and went to work.

She was never a murderer, she was and still is just a protector. Especially when it comes to you.

…

Of course you had to call Sam, when you heard the news.

"Hi, how is my sleepyhead?" She chuckles into the phone.

"Hey, um... did you hear the news?" You quickly say to her, as you´re almost out of breath.

"What news?" She asks you.

"There was a murder, someone in a ghostface mask was seen few streets from my dorm. They killed a girl from my statistic class, I mean... I didn´t know her, but it´s still scary." As you say this, goosbumbs appear on your arms.

"Oh shit, that´s... scary even for me. Are you okay?" Sam asks with concern.

"Yeah, I didn´t know her or anything, but it´s crazy. Especially when you can buy the mask anywhere, since you have it too." You ramble over the phone.

"Right. It´s like I killed her, right?" Sam responds.

"Sam, don´t joke about these things. Can you maybe come to mine after work?" You really need her, to protect you and make you feel safe again.

"Give me 15 minutes." And with that Sam hang up. Drove away from the empty parking lot, where she watched your classmate, Tony. She heard a few stories from you, that Tony was being a dick during your presentation and no one can be a dick to you. No one.

And today is Tony’s lucky day, because you need her now and that´s way important. When she´s with you, no one can hurt you.

Only she can and that´s how it should be all the time.

Thank you for reading! Have a great day!!! And tell me what you think<3

[yallemagne]

So far asking for textual queerness in Dracula media since it's not the 1890's or Hays Code era anymore to self-censor as much is a monkey's paw, because so far we've got: 1) "bi-homicidal" Dracula in love-hate with woman Van Helsing 2) queer Lucy who punishes Mina for not loving her back and gets killed by Dracula over this (and for being the promiscuous sapphic trope in two cases)

I'd rather have the

You cut off there, bud. I'm guessing you're saying you'd rather have unhealthy straight than unhealthy queer dynamics displayed. I'd just rather have good media.

Yeah, I don't enjoy the tendency of casting queer people as these evil, corruptive, predatory creatures rather than... ya know. Human beings. I feel like the tendency of making queer people just straight-up awful is probably left over from when we could get no representation whatsoever. In order to publish stories featuring themselves, queer people had to write morally dubious/evil queer characters that always die in the end. That's fair. Until you get straight people writing those fucking stories so they can claim diversity whilst also shitting on anyone not cishet, white, and Christian.

So, "bi-homicidal" Dracula... it's telling that they felt the need to make VH a woman. Not only a woman but just a very strange and homophobic woman. Agatha van Helsing would corner a gay couple and harass them until they told her who was the bottom and who was the top. Everything about the Dracula miniseries was annoying. It's telling that they were so uncomfortable with the bi part of bisexual that they killed Jonathan off in the first episode and replaced him with a woman. AND IT IS VERY TELLING that they gave all the queer characters and the characters of colour the most unnecessarily brutal deaths. HMMM MOFFAT.

It's because of heteronormativity that Dracula had to switch from Jonathan to Agatha. The bisexuality is less representation, and more of a crutch. Dracula can switch off his attraction to men whenever the straight male writers get too uncomfortable with it, but whenever they need it for a horror scene, he can turn it right back on.

Lucy who punishes Mina is just promiscuous Lucy but reclaimed as a "girlboss". It casts sapphic people as predatory, it casts bisexual people as more promiscuous and willing to cheat and homewreck, it's annoying. You can write a story where Lucy is queer (in fact, most do, but they just make that part of the sexual deviancy of the Bloofer Lady), but because of the rule that you're not allowed to depict healthy relationships onscreen because they're "boring", we get this shit. Lucy's just Dracula at that point. She's the replacement Dracula who gets punished by the actual Dracula for stealing his idea.

The issue here is adaptations' refusal to have Lucy be the sweet young woman she is in the book. No adaptation can accept more "submissive" or "girly" girls, they have to be subversive and manly (but not in a butch way, never in a butch way). Women have to be overtly sexual and sarcastic and just basically toxic men but with tits. The only way to be femme in a movie is to be a femme fatale who objectifies herself to? Get back at men? Great plan. But sometimes you don't WANT to be fatale, you just want to be fucking femme and kiss your girlfriend. But since these movies are made with only the male gaze in mind, you can't.

And listen, I know someone's gonna blame me if I keep begging for Holmward and then an adaptation comes out where Jack like... I dunno, kills Lucy so he can have Arthur all to himself, but that's just the cards we're being dealt here. The solution isn't to settle for eating shit, it's to demand something better than the shit on our plates. It's not our fault for asking for representation. We aren't inflicting this upon ourselves. If I asked for a movie about an ace person and Hollywood responded with a movie about a sex-repulsed serial killer who kills people who have sex, THAT ISN'T MY FAULT. THIS ISN'T A MONKEY PAW SITUATION, THIS IS JUST BAD WRITING. I'm not being karmically punished for challenging the laws of nature, mainstream media just sucks in terms of representation.

[tideswept]

For the writer questions, "What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?" and/or "How much prep work do you put into your stories? What does that look like for you? Do you enjoy this part or do you just want to get on with it?" (what a fantastic list)

HI DAE~

(from this ask game!)

What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

UM. So this might sound strange, but I read while I write? If I get to the point where my brain starts lagging, or I hit a block, or I'm just Not Happy with what's on the page, I always have a book (or ebook, in this case) open that I'll switch back to for 1-3 pages, because keeping one's nose to the grindstone doesn't work that well when you lose track of everything else, you know? Tunnel vision.

It helps refresh my brain as to what "good writing" is supposed to look like. Varied sentence structure, a reminder to describe the background with more emotional depth, that scene changes can be abrupt, that I'm allowed to summarize events before picking a point to enter a new scene.

I also usually try to match the book to what I'm writing in some way. Is the fic set in 19th century England and skews to gothic horror? So does the book. Otherwise, the change in tone/setting is too abrupt. (For me, anyway.)

It almost feels like being fed encouragement? I dunno. Weird parasocial phase with a book.

How much prep work do you put into your stories? What does that look like for you? Do you enjoy this part or do you just want to get on with it?

Close to absolutely none! I usually just start fics and then feel my way around. I've tried to do prep work, but it doesn't provide good results. I'll get stuck on the research phase forever and never be happy with whatever I write to start off, because I've made the fic already bigger and more important by being armed with so much knowledge, that just starting it becomes a repetitive task of failure, a constant rolling of that boulder.

Mind you, I enjoy research! I just do it while I write. Like, I won't hesitate to stop writing for 20 minutes just to tumble down a rabbit hole of researching when halogen lights were invented, what form they first took, how available they would have been in X country during X time period and how much they cost, all for a tiny, nothing sentence like "the halogen lights flickered over their heads" that impacts nothing in the story if I just omitted that they were halogen lights. So no prep work, but a decent amount of research still happens.

Oh, and, um, if prep work meant more like outlines and such--no. None. The way I describe my process is that when an idea/notion occurs to me, I'll start writing and usually throughout the first couple thousand words I'll hit upon what the fic is, at the core, rather than just me going OKAY SO ANAKIN WANTS TO BREAK INTO PORN-- and suddenly it's about the fear of true intimacy and the raw honesty that you feel when texting a stranger. So, boom, now I have my bones. Everything else, muscles, organs, flesh, they form in pieces as the story takes shape in my head. I'll usually have specific scenes/things I want to happen, but I leave it very loose as to how I get there.

(It's why my bestie and beta knows that when I describe the stage of the process as "light surgery" I'm referring to cosmetic surgery, aka, it's superficial and the very least stage before I'm satisfied with how far I can take a fic, and now it's her turn to check my work. If it's deeper editing that's needed, it's a system of like "superficial skin", "flesh", "muscle" --if I need to edit the organs that's MAJOR rewriting of scenes or removal of them. If I say there's a problem with the bones? That's usually code red for "we need to spend 2 hours discussing where the fic went wrong, why, and how it can be fixed.")

Uh. So I guess now everyone knows I'm weird. Sorry, friends.

[saspitite]

Needlessly Pedantic Answers to Worldbuilding Questions that Don't Matter That Much to Begin With, Episode #1:

why is everyone in your fictional world an animal? what do they eat? are there any non-sapient animals? is it more of a "Zootopia or Beastars" type situation? how does anatomy change across certain species?

so as nobody may know, i write about a lot of fictional worlds and one of them is your standard diverse furry society. while these are quite fun to mess around with, they tend to bring up a lot of questions (that technically don't matter too much, i mean you're just telling a fictional story for god's sake) about how the world works. and there's especially a lot of questions raised in my case because my world doesn't just feature mammals, but also reptiles, birds, amphibians, fish, and so on, so you wonder how differently they live, if at all. i'm gonna be evil and answer all of those questions that exactly -2 people have asked today!

1: why is everyone an animal?

of course, the real reason is because it's fun to explore stories and create characters that aren't human, and it's especially a fun opportunity to experiment with character design! but for a more in-universe reason, the gods like to take inspiration from each other and will tend to build off of each other's ideas. this world was made by the wandering god Belet, who became inspired after visiting several worlds of other gods. they were curious about creating a world where multiple sapient species exist, since it was a common trend in other worlds for only one dominant species existing at a time.

2. what do they eat?

naturally, all species are vegetarian, although some areas of the world have gotten to the point of inventing artificial foods adjacent to plant-based meat. the idea of cannibalism or killing other people to eat hasn't really been explored due to being kinda... dubious. but i guess it's up in the air. although it may sound weird, the practice of selling one's own dairy products and other non-meat animal products is quite normalized. it's basically just seen as the same level of normal as selling any other food items you make.

3. are there any non-sapient animals?

so far? nope. but that might get retconned in the future, i dunno. i haven't published enough about this world so i'm still able to reconsider if i wanted to. but as of right now, basically every single organism from the animalia kingdom is anthropomorphized, with a few exceptions. (exceptions usually being organisms i have no clue how to anthropomorphize lmao)

4. is it more of a "zootopia or beastars" type situation?

to expand on this question, it's basically asking for more information on how society functions and how fucked it is, if at all. initially i said it was going to be a utopia of sorts- i retconned that, lol, because it seems like i can't ever write about a truly happy world. it's definitely one of my better worlds to live in, but it's by no means perfect. i wouldn't say it's Beastars levels of messed up (black markets selling dubious meat and carnal instincts telling you to eat your friends) but it's probably not as cutesy as, say, Zootopia is on the surface level, although i do like how it tackled systemic racism and whatnot. i guess it's somewhere in between. there isn't anything going on that's straight out of a psychological horror movie but there's definitely inequality and tension everywhere.

5. how does anatomy change across certain species?

outside of the very obvious base change of every animal becoming anthropomorphic and thus more human-like, there's a couple other changes, such as necessary internal anatomy shifting around so all creatures can live on land properly, plus the ability to be able to speak the same languages, stuff like that. arthropods are a bit trickier (like oh my god so much would have to change) but i usually just explain that they're built different and call it a day. for my sanity. cold blooded animals are able to somewhat thermoregulate on their own, but will still largely rely on their surroundings. if you're cold, they're cold. wrap your lizard girls in blankets. also, all animals are similarly sized, but some tend to be slightly larger/smaller on average depending on the species. like, an old elephant man is gonna be MUCH taller than a moth lady lol.

oh, and an extremely unnecessary addition that i only expanded on because of the fact that i had to face the logical issue of giving my reptile characters boobs: non-mammalian animals will still tend to have visible "breasts" due to having the general silhouette of a human, but they don't produce milk or function at all outside of looks. some non-mammalians prefer to get their "breast" tissue surgically removed due to the fact that it serves basically no purpose for them.

that's about where the biological similarities end, though. when it comes to reproduction, biological compatibility largely follows the same odds as it would in the real world, so you sadly won't see many wolf/komodo dragon hybrids hanging out. this also tends to be a source of interspecies-relationship discrimination, and not to mention eugenics...

some miscellaneous tidbits:

-in terms of technology and resources, i'd say this world is about as advanced, if not a little more than our own. it's no sci-fi paradise but there are some significant advancements made that definitely outdo us, such as the research and technology poured into environment conservation and space exploration (the latter of which may or may not be one of the main topics of a story i'm working on... :3)

-trans healthcare is also reasonably advanced, although that doesn't imply there's less transphobia.

-yes, there's probably some unique version of veganism in this world, but instead of not eating animals it'd be like... fungi. or certain types of plants. or maybe even animal products anyways, despite the fact that they're normalized, for one reason or another.

-ohhhh clothes work so differently depending on what kind of animal you are. but i cannot get into that here. not without going insane. just know that i have been thinking about it a lot. there are entire different kinds of clothing for certain body types, just not the definition of body type you'd initially think of. there's specific clothing for the winged. the tailed and the non-tailed. the quilled. the feathered. the slimed. its insane

[alangdorf]

Actually more rambling now. Currently thinking thoughts abt Tsuru and also Yabu (and Tsubakura by extension, obviously, who do you think I am,)

Always extremely funny that Tsubakura isn’t in most of Evanescent Existence just because they ignored the psychic intercom message and got really interested in the weird cave instead. What exactly was Tsurubami’s plan for if they hadn’t done that?? They run into each other and Tsubakura’s like “yeah I guess this might as well happen to me today”

Anyway the whole plot of Evanescent Existence is bizarre but it feels in character with how inscrutable Tsurubami is. Impossible to tell whether he has a convoluted plan or if she’s just having fun and it doesn’t matter cause he’s so all-powerful she’ll just get whatever she wants in the end regardless. Awesome!

Gotta mention one of my favorite fan works and definitely my favorite writing of Tsurubami is Misremembered Memories (fangame by Mugenri) (the person); I once summed up Yabusame’s scenario as “hey girl I didn’t call to talk to you put your dog on the phone” and made myself laugh extremely hard. And the bit where Tsurubami is like “it’s a trade secret!” And Tsubakura’s like “We have the same job? I’m filling in for you at your job?” And Tsubrubami’s like “Oh, I guess you’re right!” *blatantly continues to not tell them what they were drugged with* is LEGENDARY. But aside from the incredible banter I also love how Tsurubami asks Yabu & Tsuba for favors only after they’re already in a position where they can’t reasonably refuse. Feels right (kicking the “frankly I think it’s hot when characters are manipulative” tag from my ‘shall we dance’ pic under the fridge)

Oh yeah speaking of the song I happen to have a very strong link between liking music -> liking the associated character (slightly less so for Len’en than with Tohuhou cause I’m more interested in the story on its own merits for Len’en but it still seems to largely be the case) and I’m still very obsessed with the song. Thoughts on how it connects to the character 1) leading (like in dancing) 2) disorienting 3) silly goofy mischievous. Though I’ll admit I’m even more obsessed with broken eternal dance engine these days and that’s a twofer cause it’s actually Arde but would still presumably apply to a case where Tsurubami was outright trying to kill you! Either way 1) DANGER 2) even more disorienting 3) if you have the sound turned up just enough on that last big beat drop. Insane. The key change. The flip from just piano to full strings and heavy bass and crazy percussion. Kills me every time

(Tangent my friends who only know Len’en because of me talking about it are used to me very ardently insisting that Arde is just, like, pretty normal actually and today I was like “oh yeah I forgot this is her theme btw” *MO-NA-D-1 Memory Pursuit (basically a horror movie soundtrack)* lol)

Also I was thinking about the possibility that Tsurubami was the one who activated Rei (bc of how Rei talks abt him) and that’s got me spiraling. What all is she doing out there? If he was outright pretending to be Tsubakura again wouldn’t Hoojiro (& Haru) know about it? How’d he get access otherwise?

Extreme mental gymnastics offshoot from there: is Tsubakura a nepo baby??? Is it EN like 燕??? I dunno man. Trying to reverse engineer their backstory is such an ordeal; I keep muddling through their confusing relationship dynamics with Arde (it’s more straightforward with Hamal. Weird and bad, but straightforward!) and I’ll just be constantly going like girl (gender neutral) what is wrong with you…. Why are you like this……..

Anyway. My one big thing to share about Yabu is that I used to make the joke that Len’en as a whole feels like “Tsubakura’s terrible horrible no good very bad day, and also Yabusame is there” and then one day I had the epiphany to flip “it’s kinda funny Yabu just doesn’t really have a personal reason to be involved in all this” into “but she is anyway! They didn’t have to be there but she’s there for Tsubakura!” and got extremely soft about it.

Also uhhh I guess it depends on how much everyone knows about how Suzumi and their abilities work (always difficult to sus out) but in theory if Tsubakura knows about Yabusame’s immunity then them living with her would lessen paranoia that Suzumi could show up and then make them forget about it afterwards (though maybe undeservedly considering how BPoHC went lol)? Works as a deterrent either way. Okay so I think what we’ve learned here is I’m definitely not done with trying to make sense of a detailed headcanon version of precanon lol

[monty-glasses-roxy]

i'm all ears for the book idea homie

You would not believe the confusion of this ask because I completely forgot about that post lmao

Anyway, yeah I thought it would be cool if we, as the fnaf community, made our own fnaf short story series for funsies. I was thinking without considering how to do it, so in my head I was saying it would be dope as hell if a bunch of us writers and artists got together and did a little series of spooky horror story fnaf books that followed the same format as the actual books, but with more art stuff for the artists to join in and... better writing in a lot of cases lmao. I was thinking of physical books at the time like how I've seen some some of those big community zines that raise money for charity but I have no idea how to do that so...

Now that it's not stupid in the morning before I've slept, the easiest way to do something like this I guess would to like... make a PDF maybe? Three stories per 'issue' I guess and release it for free of course! (Unless someone knows how to make 'pay what you want' with any money gained going to a good charity? I dunno. This would just make it optionally free) Someone could do epilogues for each one, so one long story over however many we make, which could be fun.

Could put it on a Neocities (which is a free website thingo that's also free to view) or something too. I dunno, it could be fun though! One collaborative project, linking together writers from different corners of the overall fnaf fandom to do what the source material is doing but better... that'd be pretty fucking cool ngl

The overall idea of what's actually getting written and stuff is where I'd pobably lose people though. The idea is basically 'do what the books are trying to do but better', as in... 'expand on the fnaf universe in short, fnaf themed stories' and not 'Blorbo Adventures: The Twink Robots Kiss' kind of stuff. So like... new animatronics, new attractions, new Fazbear themed horrors, people dying or whatever, possessed robots, terrible business decisions, elaborate coverups and... I dunno I've not read that many lmao but you get what I mean. Basically, do what you want, go crazy, just don't write your Canon Blorbos as you normally would if you were posting on Ao3.

I suppose it's like... Fazbear themed original fiction? Kind of? It could include re-imaginings of stuff of course, since that's part of what's in these books to begin with, but I still think it's probably not fan community oriented enough to ever see the light of day, ya know? Would be really fucking cool though!

Could do an interest check on it I suppose? How many people hate the books so much or want to write general spooky stories enough to join a poject like this? I dunno. If this post gets enough traction, I'll do a proper interest check and we'll see about it.

Also if none of this makes sense, you can for sure ask for clarification my brain is... not braining today :(

[empressofthelibrary]

15 questions, 15 friends

tagged by @pendrvgons

are you named after anyone? My mother picked my legal first name based on her late best friend, who passed shortly before I was born. My penname began as Alanna West, and both halves of that are from fictional characters. I use Alanna as a middle name now, and "Emory Alanna" has such a nice ring to it. I'm really happy with it -- I might make it my legal name, if I ever wanna set anything in stone.

when was the last time you cried? Within the last thirty-six hours. I've slept a lot today as the last two days caught up with me, so beyond that I'm not sure.

do you have kids? What, in this economy? Hah! ...Jokes aside, no, I don't, and tbh I'd probably be a terrible parent anyway.

what sports do you play/have you played? I used to do archery as a hobby when I was a teenager. I miss it, but I never had the opportunity to really practice.

do you use sarcasm? Me? Sarcastic? Noooo...

what is the first thing you notice about people? Their voices, I think. I'm not good at eye contact and I'm pretty faceblind, so those things tend to slip past me. But voices are much easier for me to recognize.

what is your eye color? Blue!

scary movies or happy endings? I'm not a horror movie person. I'll enjoy the occasional thriller, I guess, but I want to know the heroes win. Even if it's a temporary victory, with a bigger threat still out there. "The heroes die, the villains win" is basically impossible for me to enjoy. Tragedy can be fun, you know I love Hamlet. But I need to be expecting a tragic ending, in such a case, and the villains need to lose too, even if the heroes die in the process.

any talents? I write! I've been told I sing well, but I still waffle back and forth on if I can believe it. I can draw decently, both digitally and traditionally. I used to be really good at climbing trees, too, but I'm too heavy and too short to haul myself up like I used to.

where were you born? Oklahoma, unfortunately.

what are your hobbies? Reading, drawing, writing, and I'm trying to learn to play guitar. I also do very bad, off-key karaoke sometimes.

do you have any pets? Three cats. They are needy baby terrors and I love them.

how tall are you? 5'4", I think?

favorite subject in school? I excelled in English in k-12, and art was great. I loved science, but I wasn't good enough at math to really get into it. I wanted to enjoy my history classes more, but the sliced-up way it was taught made it really difficult.

dream job? Oh, jeez, I dunno. I'm not sure I even have one anymore. I honestly wish I could just spend all my time doing art and creating things, and not have to worry about money. That's the dream, really.

I'm not tagging fifteen people, but: @lovelyladylavie @lilyntlrs @saberwriter @twinklecupcake aaaand... @techmomma and @crayonurchin 💛 (no pressure, only if y'all wanna)

[maskedemerald]

15 Questions Tag Game

I'm finally getting to catching up on the tags I've gotten while I was ill. You'll be seeing a lot more of me now!

Tagged by @the-down-upside-finch and @taveren-writing because I got tagged twice I'll do this for my OCs from both my upcoming NaNoWriMo projects: Blue is A Curiosity Piqued's current and upcoming protagonists Aelfraed and Arnvalr. Red is Magic Act's protagonists Magician and Night. Sorry this is going to be a long one but hey you get some Fae shenanigans and some detective vs thief shenanigans.

Rules: Answer the 15 questions as your OC or yourself. Tag up to 15 people.

Tagging: @card-queen @pb-dot @thetruearchmagos @dogmomwrites @i-rove-rock-n-roll @stesierra @guessillcallitart @sparrow-orion-writes @ashwithapen @cat-esper @jasperygrace @sam-glade @alnaperera @amaiguri @akiwitch

I'm curious to learn more about you and your characters!

Are you named after anyone?

Aelfraed: I was named after my grandfather... though I was almost named after my father. Very glad that didn't happen its bad enough sharing a lastname. Arnvaldr: Dunno, never met my folks and never bothered to ask my sister Vigdis. Don't really care they were all probably shitty.

Magician: That's actually pretty hard to answer when I don't remember what it was. Night: Wouldn't you like to know human. You can't trick what is mine so easily. You are not that clever. Though the attempt is amusing.

When was the last time you cried?

Aelfraed: A couple of weeks ago now, its been a good thing to have gotten away from the university in the long run despite everything else that happened. Arnvaldr: pft, poor detective. Dunno the last time I did.

Magician: After Night threw me in the deep end. They left me to trick some fae into believing I wasn't human by myself, specifically one that I'm sure was planning to kill me. Night: I apologized for that Magician, you seemed to be fine at the time. You had them convinced. Magician: You called that an apology? Ugh you make absolutely no sense. Do fae even cry? You thought I was ill. Night: Correction, I thought you were ill because you kept sleeping for more time than you were awake. Fae do cry, I have cried. Magician: When? Night: I would rather not talk about it Magician.

Do you have kids?

Aelfraed: I've never really considered it. Arnvaldr: Never, nope. Not happening.

Do you use sarcasm?

Aelfraed: Its not really something I use, I would rather state things clearly. Arnvaldr: Figured you'd pick the boring answer Detective. Life's more fun with a good dose of sarcasm.

Night: Me? Never, I only ever say exactly what I mean. Magician: Uh-huh, sure you do Night. There has to be some sarcasm in all that cryptic stuff you end up saying. Wait... stop laughing its not my fault you manage to say that with a completely straight face!

What’s the first thing you notice about others?

Aelfraed: Their mood probably. The expression on their face. Arnvaldr: Really, doesn't the au... never mind. I guess we have something in common Detective, well sort of.

What’s your eye color?

Aelfraed: They're gray the same as my father's, not a nice kind. They always seem so cold and judging. Arnvaldr: Huh I thought they were darker than that, probably just the lighting. Running across rooftops at night isn't the best way to get a good look at someone. Mine are green in case you missed it. Aelfraed: Are you trying to make finding you easier? Arnvaldr: I'll say again, catch me if you can Detective.

Magician: Mine are a redish brown... Night? What did you do to my eyes! Why are they more red! Night: Pft, you didn't notice Magician? I thought you would have noticed before now. You didn't really think you'd fit in with such ordinary eyes, you've seen mine. I am sure humans do not have this shade of purple. Magician: I was a bit distracted with the ears. Also that's more than just purple.

Scary stories or happy endings?

Aelfraed: I would rather see a happy ending, life is bad enough without adding horror stories to it. Arnvaldr: Wuss, give me horror any day. Happy endings just aren't realistic.

Night: Horror, without a doubt. The more disturbing the better. Magician: That tracks, living with you is like being in a horror story and I've had enough of that. Happy endings please, hopefully I'll get one.

Any special talents?

Arnvaldr: Does thievery count, or maybe my nack for escaping. Aelfraed: I would say no. With what you steal I'm rather surprised you're still alive.

Magician: I'm pretty good with my magic tricks by this point, as long as I have my gear there is a lot I can pull off. Night's is probably being terrifying. Night: ah haha, funny. You are just easy to scare Magician.

Where were you born?

Aelfraed: A smaller town outside of Edinburgh. Arnvaldr: I don't really know, don't really care.

Magician: I was technically born in the city. Mum had to go to the hospital and we didn't have one nearer but I grew up in a small town that's practically countryside. Night: One of the many fae realm pockets. I believe the mirror to Magician's small town though according to Magician the two are quite different.

What are your hobbies?

Aelfraed: Reading, give me a good book and I'll be happy for hours. Even better if I'm learning something. Arnvaldr please don't say theft, please tell me you have something else to do. Arnvaldr: Oh come on, the theft is fun! But if you insist, running... specifically over rooftops.

Magician: Magic tricks, cycling and video games. Night: For me gardening, my blue roses are quite well kept. Though also the stars and my experiments. Magician: Don't give them any ideas, you don't want to be one of their experiments. Its a nightmare. Night: Shhh, you're scaring them away.

Do you have any pets?

Arnvaldr: Hmm I'd like one, not really able to look after one though. Don't tell the Detective I feed the strays when I can, I don't want him getting the wrong idea.

Night: I have Nyx, he's a crow I found near the lake portal. Magician: Wait so Nyx looks like a normal crow because he is?

What sports do you play/have played?

Magician: A little football with my friends, its fun but I'm not serious about it like some of them. Night: I would explain but we would be here for some time, I doubt humans have fae sports.

How tall are you?

Aelfraed: Quite tall, I think I got most of the height in the family. Only my father is taller and that's not by much. Arnvaldr: 5ft 3, less height really helps with the whole thief thing.

Night: You think I am constrained to a specific height? No, though I do prefer to remain on the taller end of things. Magician: A little jealous that you can just choose. I'm 5ft I'm hoping to get a bit more as I get older.

Favorite subject in school?

Aelfraed: Everything, I missed the variety of subjects once I started at University.

Magician: Science, it gave me so many ideas for tricks. Its not really school but I really like the theatre club at the community theatre across town too.

Dream job?

Aelfraed: I don't know right now, I've left university and haven't worked out what I want to do now. What about you Arnvaldr? If you didn't need to steal what would you do? Arnvaldr: Come on, I'd probably still pocket things. Maybe a Focus Engineer or Archeologist. Aelfraed: I didn't know you were interested in history. Arnvaldr: I'm not, but that's where the interesting treasures come from so where better to pocket them. Aelfraed: There's no changing you is there.

Magician: I want to be a magician but I think that's obvious, maybe a stage actor too.

Woooo! Thank you for reading to the end! If you're curious about the projects I'm going to be working on both during NaNoWriMo next month and will be posting more about them!

[killajust]

Okay bc I can't shut up I'll write about my opinion on every ship on that poll/their eligibility. Under the cut naturally

Dazai Osamu/Nakahara Chuuya or skk or whatever: one of my friends hates them so they deserve to be here

Crowley/Aziraphale: agree on the overexposure level of annoying but aside from that they seem like a cute couple. however i think the fans were largely unbearable and there was problems with antisemitism

Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson: nothing wrong with it but definitely inescapable and super fucking annoying, sorry. i'd have no objection to it being canon but people just went way too crazy for it and now idk.

Reylo: absolutely deserves the win

Star Butterfly/Marco Diaz: this shit was fucking messy. the creators handled it terribly. from what little i know. it can stay

Spamton/Jevil: it can stay only because spamton is annoying as fuck (as was the plan surely) not bc of him even but bc of everyone else (as was the plan surely)

Harrier Du Bois/Kim Kitsuragi: yes theyre drawn a lot (and its always good) and im sure people meowmeowify them and do whatever but overwhelmingly their content is super good and they deserve to be annoying and everywhere. booing them offstage for this poll. theyre good

Herbert West/Daniel Cain: havent watched reanimator but im sure they deserve each other. it can stay just bc as i say later i think horror movie shipping is widely bizarre as fuck and kind of dumb (there are exceptions)

Catra/Adora: never watched SPOP and am curious how they ended up together from how odious catra seemed from the start. probably deserves a spot

Akira Kurusu/Goro Akechi: tHIS is the one i want to win for super petty reasons (the name of the ship) but i know realistically it won't. it can stay though simply because of that

Lapis/Peridot: yeah they can stay. SU teased so much shit with ships and then didn't do a damn thing with em. not that they have to but it was annoying

Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler: I KNOW WHO SUBMITTED THIS and idk if i just missed the blast radius but during superwholock dr who barely grazed me. so i don't have an opinion! they seem like a sweet couple idk if they should be here though i am sure outside of my bubble they're annoying due to being everywhere

Cole Cassidy/Hanzo Shimada: there are worse ships for hanzo. also they're both kinda hot together. feel like i should give them a pass to leave

Takami Keigo/Todoroki Enji: idk about bnha but if that's todorokis dad then he deserves the chair. they can stay here and rot

Beauregard Lionett/Jester Lavorre: i know nothing about critrole but beauyasha appeals more. based on that they can stay bc its fun to be a hater (not really. idk what im saying here) jk they should go bc jester is cute. shin has educated me on who they actually are

Raiden Ei/Yae Miko: i don't know/like genshin much but i think eriko likes them so get them off this poll immediately

Katsuki Bakugou/Izuku Midoriya: absolutely deserves to make it to semifinals at LEAST holy shit bakudeku sucks. and i dont even go to bnha like even a little. dont even know what deku sounds like

Jack Hakrness/Ianto Jones: never watched torchwood. if they had chemistry i am sure people went wild for them and became overbearing though lol but itll never be destiel

Marisa Kirisame/Reimu Hakurei: reimari rules what the fuck is this doing here. HOWEVER someone i follow had to delete all their reimari stuff so maybe touhou fandom just sucks shit so... maybe. i dunno

Rhys Strongfork/Handsome Jack: yeah this one can stay

Kaname Madoka/ Homura Akemi: after rebellion i guess it's sucks but i really like the premise ): don't feel like it should be here

Alhaithem/Kaveh: idk who they are but as i say further down they're not the most popular genshin ship i know of

Ryuki Kuruto/Date Kaname: don't know these people from adam. no opinion

Ethan Winters/Chris Redfield: dont know anything about RE but if its a case of 'two conventionally attractive guys in the same game' then im sure it is annoying at least a little. still i feel like maybe its just average

Hunter/Willow Park: i know a loooot of people hate this one bc they've seen it so much so i guess it deserves a spot if the people have spoken

Childe/Zhongli: genshin is inescapable. mr electric send them to hell!!!!!! no in all seriousness this one isn't the one i've seen the most of (i say while fully being aware i can't tell anyone in genshin apart)

John Watson/ Sherlock Holmes: I WAS A JOHNLOCK BACK IN THE DAY LMAOOO i hope they make it to semifinals at least

Dimple/Arataka Reigen: THE GREEN THING??/ THATS A SHIP?? FJDJJ

Ashfur/Scourge: never read warriors but the mere thought of shipping cats like just straight up cats who walk on all fours is so funny to me

Zuko/Katara: zutara is cute on like the surface but many indigenous people have pointed out their discomfort and the issues with it and people WERE super annoying about it. theyre better as lifelong pals. it can stay

Nico Yazawa/Maki Nishikino: never heard of them in my life

Dean Winchester/Castiel: they should win second place to reylo

Sasuke Uchiha/Sakura Haruno: yeah

Vriska Serket/Terezi Pyrope: they actually ended up being really cute and i dont hear much about them. not sure they should be here

Benry/Gordon Freeman: ooh im so fucking sick of bendon. hope this one gets far (petty) as fond as i am now of shitty dynamics like that it's just a dumbass step too far. deserves a spot for sure imo

Keith Kogane/Lance Mcclain: its better than sheith (has never watched vld) but should probably still be here

Kazuhira Miller/Revolver Ocelot: everyone in mgs is funny please leave them alone

Jotaro Kujo/Noriaki Kakyoin: kakyoin did you lay this egg

Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas: hell no i love davekat get it OUT of here (i say knowing full well it probably qualifies in some way)

Sonic the Hedgehog/Shadow the Hedgehog: shipping sonic characters seems kinda weird to me overall but like idk it sounds like a funny ship. not sure how bad it is.

Mako/Korra: shippers of this were absolutely trash to korrasami. earned spot

The Onceler/The Onceler: GOD yeah on principle this deserves a fucking spot. on concept alone. speaking of that where's like sans on here

Lavernius Tucker/Agent Washington: never watched it. havent seen it around in years. doesnt seem relevant enough to be here

Chris Hartley/Josh Washington: this shouldnt be here it like barely makes a splash unless you look???? get it out of here i am sure anything from dbd qualifies 300 times as much

Piers/Raihan: people are just annoying about any m/m ship tbh. no strong opinion

Natsuki/Yuri: this is a good ship. one i haven't seen much content for. not sure it should be here i think they just wanted to fill a yuri quota.

Greg House/James Wilson: LOL yeah let them stay simply bc its funny

Callie Torres/Arizona Robbins: i dont remember much about greys but i think callie deserves to be happy. let them go in peace

Kazuma Kiryu/Goro Majima: no theyre married this shouldnt be here its the best dynamic theyre exempt from criticism

Light Yagami/Misa Amane: PEOPLE ACTUALLY SHIP THIS??? how is this here??? objectively yeah it sucks but how is it here???????

Chell/GLaDOS: chelldos rules and shouldn't be here

Adam Faulkner-Stanheight/Lawrence Gordon: shipping in horror movies has always been fucking bizarre to me. sorry. maybe it deserves a spot (this is how you can tell i filled these in out of order)

Tom Wambsgans/Greg Hirsch: fully thought these were MCYT dudes before i saw 'succession'. people are annoying about succession and idek a single thing about it. it can stay

Ryo Asuka/Akira Fudo: never watched devilman but from what i remember of the ryo dude maybe they do deserve to be here

Yami Yugi/Seto Kaiba: if by yami yugi you mean full on atem then fuck you theres like barely any content and it's so real. shouldnt be here bc it fits no criteria

Qrow Branwen/James Ironwood: never got that far in rwby so have no opinion.

Batman/The Joker: superbat is better. it can stay

Getou Suguru/Satoru Gojo: are these the two that look like songxiao? they should be safe just bc of that and shouldnt win

Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski: if its some bad teen/adult age gap its shit by default and also apparently really weird queerbaiting or something too

Iki Hiyori/Yukine: never heard of them in my life but if theyre lesbians they can be as bad as they want

Jayce/Viktor: sorry gonna be controversial here but i tend to drop a ship if in the series they're shown to be into other people. i was on board for a bit but mel is SUPER hot and jayce was like 'youre like a brother to me (:' and sorry but that kills my enjoyment of ships like immediately. maybe i cling to canon too much but like 'as a brother' has always steered me away from stuff. idk if they should be here but i do wish they were a little less popular. im sure i will be waterboarded for this and told 'thats just the writers trying to sink a ship!!' or whatever but like leave me alone i dont know

Hannibal Lector/Will Graham: theyre funny. they can stay but because theyre the worst affectionately

Dirk Strider/Jake English: dirkjake is soooo fucking mid it deserves a spot

Ash/Serena: who is serena again? ash is like perpetually 10 anyways right so i wouldnt wanna get so passionate about something involving kids holding hands

personally if genshin was gonna be here on terms of being super annoying from what little i know of it it shouldve been kaeluc. also SO many mxtx ships and yet none were even available LMAO i can say 3 off the top of my head that are everywhere and aren't problematic... anyways chicken salad should be here. (redacted) too but in a more affectionate, genuine way. sadly its super problematic so it cant make the cut. tbh im shocked theres no star trek on here either maybe i just follow a lot of trekkies

i follow a diverse group of bloggers who talk about all these different things and some of these have not shown up even once, which means they're not nearly as annoying as being on the poll would lead you to believe. i have a good sample size and if i've never heard of your ship, it shouldn't qualify.

[shai-manahan]

OK OK OK CALM DOWN CALM DOWN THIS IS NOT AM EMERGENCY BUT I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW JUST HOW MUCH I LOVE YOUR WRITING AND IF LIKE- ????? THE WAY YOU DESCRIBE THINGS IS SO BEAUTIFUL AND OMG THAT NIGHTMARE SCENE IS GIVING ME NIGHTMARES THE MORE I THINK ABOUT IT SO I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU THAT I ABSOLUTELY LOVE YOUR WORK AND HOW GLAD IM THAT YOU DECIDED TO BRING IT TO LIFE- SO KEEP IT UP AND PLEASE TAKE CARE YOUR HEALTH AS WELL 👍👍👍👍👍👍

also i have a few theories about our MC if you don't mind-

1. so... as i played through the nightmare scene for the 9th time in a row to fully relish the horror and trauma, i realized that our dear (but unfortunate) MC must have gone through something MUCH MUCH worse than merely watching their father get oofed off by their mother 🤔🤔🤔 because i once read somewhere that if someone experiences like a really bad traumatic experience their brain will instinctively suppress their memories and lock them away to protect the person from getting anymore affected and also to give them a sense of normality? dunno about that our brains can be really mysterious sometimes, which brings me to my second theory

2. OK OK OK i know this may sound crazy and also scientifically inaccurate, but i think MC has some sort of Dissociative disorder? i mean- how do you explain their sudden black out from their home to their journey all the way to Bale's territory and the bar? or maybe im just overthinking it and perhaps its somehow related to the hallucinations and the syringes that have been emphasized over multiples times in the demo

3. why do i feel our MC is being drugged with something 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔 or maybe something happened before or after the incident with their father otherwise why would Alex act so sus, Vincent too, YALL TOO SUS

and so ends my theory spree as i have exhausted my remaining two brain cells to make SOME kind of sense and connection through this whole theory thing

ALSO ALSO ALONZO WHY DO I HAVE A FEELING I WRONGED YOU SOMEHOW AND SOMEWHERE AND IF I DID IM SO SORRY -

which puts me to my next question, i wonder why our MC just offed 11 of their coworkers 🤔 corruption maybe? whatever the case Is, it still doesn't excuse bernard (or whatever his name is, he's a jerk) for acting like the lil piece of poop he is, to both us and finn cause oh boy imma bout to throw hands (you better sleep with one eye open you lil shit)

ALSO ALSO ALSO MORE WESLEY LORE YAY omg now i feel kinda conflicted rn like i still wanna sock that lil bastard for exposing us but i feel kinda pity for him too, also that wholesome moment between them was so cute if not for the current angsty situation, but i guess i'll them off with one good bish slap on the face for the whole expose before listening to their side of the story

and now finally, after going through your whole blog i realized that we have a hidden mental health stat- lol my mc is gonna be one helluva self sabotaging half depressed boi bu the end of this IF 😂

SORRY FOR THE EXTREMELY LONG RANT / ASK I WAS JUST TOO EXCITED AFTER PLAYING THE WHOLE DEMO AGAIN OVER 9 TIMES BEFORE FINALLY FEELING SATISFIED- IM SORRY 😭😅

Oh that is long, but don't be sorry! I love seeing long messages like this 😌And I’m so glad you love the story to this extent 😭

First of all, so there'll be no misunderstandings, I want to make it clear that what the MC is going through isn't exactly a dissociative disorder, although there is some degree of disassociation happening. I can't explain further because it's a very huge spoiler, but not everything they've been experiencing can be solely attributed to the level of trauma and other related occurrences that DID patients often went through before being diagnosed. It's a little... different.

This does not mean, however, that the MC has no repressed memories 😔 If you look carefully, there are actually some more hints spread throughout the demo, although some of them are hidden behind certain routes. A lot are in Chapter 2, though. Anyway, the revelations relating to it won’t be the focus of Book 1, but there will be a lot more clues in the future.

And yeah, I'm afraid Alex and Vincent will continue to be sus all the way.

YALL TOO SUS

ah but I wouldn’t have done my job right if they’re not sus :)))

why do i feel our MC is being drugged with something 🤔

🤔🤔🤔

ALSO ALSO ALONZO WHY DO I HAVE A FEELING I WRONGED YOU SOMEHOW AND SOMEWHERE AND IF I DID IM SO SORRY

Well, I suppose that depends on the perspective but Alonzo does believe the MC has wronged them haha which is tbh actually valid.

which puts me to my next question, i wonder why our MC just offed 11 of their coworkers 🤔 corruption maybe?

To be fair, I don't think arresting them counts as offing lmao but yeah there's a heavy corruption occurring within the police force and everybody knows it; it's just that most of the people in Gaile cannot do anything to stop it. And don't worry about Bertrand, he already sleeps with one eye open lmaoooo although he does have kind of a huge role (spoiler: he will always be an asshole).

Wesley's reuinion scene, though... if you all think the flashback scene is already conflicting you, well, the reunion might uh.... actually nevermind, I'm not gonna spoil it.

and now finally, after going through your whole blog i realized that we have a hidden mental health stat- lol my mc is gonna be one helluva self sabotaging half depressed boi bu the end of this IF 😂

There are four types of mental health stats in the demo right now, but I'm arranging all the variables in a spreadsheet to see if I've missed anything. I kinda have a lot of them lmfao.

[pretendfan]

husband, one night stand, best friend: Adrian Chase, Jake Martin annnndd....Jake Peralta! 😈

(2 jakes and an adrian?) (couldn't make it too easy with adam!)

OMG you’re KILLING me💀🤣 I want all three of them combined this is the impossible question just gimme a hot minute….

(Husband)

Adrian Chase💍cos I’m pretty much a broken record at this point but I so want to be his wifey. I would even learn to cook to feed him or at least learn where is fave take out place was! He would protect me and I would do the same for him and in return we would have cute date nights at a cinema that showed old horror movies, late night talks and cuddles plus two cats called Chain and Saw (I’m delirious from this fantasy at this point) what was the question again? Oh yeah and I would totally wear the mask too…just saying!? iykyk.

(One Night Stand)

Jake Martin😈pretty self explanatory we would meet at the local bar and then he would show me the garage where he works. His car clearly doesn’t have any backseats so we would have to make do with the hood of the car, afterwards we would Uber back to his place for a night of fun imaging Jake very excitable and easy to please, especially if you praise him that shit drives him wild…the next morning he would be so sweet and such a gentleman even though Jake was known for being a huge flirt, it would be a great experience, tick it off my bucket list!!! Five stars.

(Best Friend)

Jake Peralta🍑I would have the absolute best time hanging out this dude, and Adrian would be totally cool with it (mostly) because him and Jake would get along so well talking about murder cases and just murder in general I guess…but Jake would totally have my back telling me how awesome a guy Adrian is because he showed him Die Hard one night and they instantly became BFF’s (peacemaker who?) I guess we are old friends rooming in the same apartment block and stayed close of course I’m overthinking these answers cos I’m a writer dammit! And now I wanna write a story where reader and Adrian go to NY to visit Jake, get his approval, I dunno I just wanna pair up Jake and Adrian…could you imagine it?! “Stake me out tonight!!” Ugh.

I’ve poured out my soul, now it’s your turn to deal your cards @powerfultenderness

[cf56]

Here's a sample of chapter 7 of The Curious Case of Yakko Warner, just to prove I really do have stuff written. I was hoping to get it out today, the one year anniversary of the last time I updated the story, but it didn't happen. I did make a lot of progress- it's around 2/3 or 3/4 done now. I just don't have much time to write currently, working 20 hours a week and going to college full time. When I do get free time, I feel like relaxing and playing video games rather than writing much. But I'm still trying to chug along. Next semester I'll have much more time.

Eventually the line of hallways and rooms tapered off into another busy film set. Yakko sighed, exasperated. This was impossible. He had no idea where to look, or who to ask about what, or even how to ask it. He decided it was time to give up and return to his…

“Sibs?” Yakko said to himself, suddenly becoming aware of the massive size of the room around him. The mobs of people roaming around, the loud, busy chattering in the background- it was all a little overwhelming. Well, more than a little. He quickly realized, in horror, that he had no idea where he actually was.

“Sibs?” He called again, his voice now quivering with worry. People continued to walk past, not taking notice of him at all. He turned back, trying to retrace his steps to the hallway he had just emerged from, but it was just… gone! He couldn’t see it anywhere. Instead, panicked, he began to absentmindedly follow the closest adult he saw, winding up standing at the catering table. With wide eyes, he looked all around him, not knowing what to do. His siblings always knew exactly what to do, but they weren’t here, and he didn’t recognize a single face passing him by. Now terrified, he just needed someone to comfort him. Anyone. Without thinking, he grabbed tightly onto the leg of the person nearest to him, hugging it tightly. The woman looked down.

“Well, hey there. Look at you. What a silly little cartoon guy you are.”

He stared up at her, eyes big, unwilling to loosen his grip and unable to make himself speak.

“Is something the matter?” She asked, gently, placing a hand lightly on the top of his head between his ears. He nodded silently. “Well, let’s get it fixed then.”

Reaching down, she used all her strength to pry the little toon off her leg and then pick him up into her arms. As soon as he was up, he started to clutch tightly onto her shoulders. Though he was physically seven, the general small size of his species meant he was about the same size as a human toddler. This allowed the woman to hold him without much effort.

“Now, where do you belong?” She questioned cheerfully, trying to lift his spirits by proxy. “Are you here with anyone?”

“M-my… my… my sibs…” He sputtered the words out, hoping desperately that the lady would understand and know what to do.

“You have siblings? Where are they?”

“I don’t… I dunno…” He responded, almost on the verge of a total breakdown. The woman pondered his response, not quite sure what to do next. Just as she was about to ask another question, a gruff voice interrupted from behind.

“Hey, Cassie.” The bearded man said. Yakko buried his face in her shoulder, the prospect of having to interact with another stranger simply being too much for him. “Aren’t they shooting some cartoon show over next door? Could be where he came from.”

“Really?” She responded, turning around. “I hadn’t heard about that. But I guess that makes sense. Let's go check.”

[hospitalterrorizer]

diary199

4/1-2/2024

monday - tuesday

tomorrow i work.... but it's 5 hours and i can do that... i will be okayyy.

then i get a bunch of days off and stuff. cool. i forgot to finish the drawing but i corrected that song from last night and did another one. i think i am too tired now to do another one. i've, instead of working on a third today, to get things closer, been thinking about if i'm dumb or not, stuff like that.

i've been thinking about that cute/acc thing again, i was reminded of it, apparently my gf bought it also so i guess i will read it. unfortunate but maybe useful. i do really feel like i will disagree with that book, that is everything i am feeling. but does that mean i'm going to be bound for failure while reading it? i don't know. i argue with everything, and resist everything. it feels useful to resist any 'accelerationism.' it's just... i dunno. i feel like no matter what, could i even refute it right, and if i could, who would care. but i want to, or i feel myself developing, or having developed, some other experience of 'cute'. i've talked about it before, apparently 34-ish entries ago. so hardly over a month. but the book is coming into more clear focus. it appeals to some sense i have, for instance, of letting the void speak through one, but then it asserts, cuteness has no interiority, it's pure surface. but pure surface is really a perfect shell around void, it is a perfect articulation of an inside, it's so shadowy a thing, spilling out constantly. the sense i have of this comes from dolls, and a painting. but thinking about this made me write it into a novel kind of, which is probably good. i should articulate this stuff in fiction. guerilla tactics against discourse.

advancing things against visibility. yeah. just leave myself to places no one looks. maybe that's part of why i get so upset and feel so ugly sometimes, and then need to dress like a slut or whatever.

but it's okay to be like that.

when i was watching the doom generation someone called amy a slut, like, in the way where they're like, you go girl. but it made me feel sick. the existence of the word and the violence it perpetuates really does horrify me and i don't know if it's even thinkable to absorb it back into being a positive. really what it means is the penalties get to exist beside whatever efforts there are to clean the word of cruelty or whatever. the whole movies is about why that word is terrible, basically.

i felt like crying hearing it in the theater.

i feel scattered and upset. it's because i slept only 4 hours but i'm also just crazy and stuff but i really feel something. i've been pregnant for a while now, it feels like, something inarticulate. hopefully, soon, alone, i can write this thing out of me.

part of why that cute/acc book upsets me so much probably is the amount of pain i experience needing to be cute, and then being cute, and the pain i know lolitas experience, the pain i know people put into dolls, fashion dolls to porcelain ones you keep in cases, the affection and interiority of the objects or the objectified. it keeps itself there, at the threshold, the book, it seems at least, of the objects, it's not that i want the human to have any place in the book, it's that the horror exists where, the horror i embrace by wanting to be cute. where is this, the human is wiped away yes, and not replaced with a cute surface, but spasm and incoherence, something illogical and driven by fantasy and erotic pulsions, as much as a need to be pristine. i am cleaning myself to only dirty myself. my monstrousness is not contained within tamagotchi cuteness, it is real deformity, to and for the social field. i am non-functional. i cannot even be myself at work. when they see me, i am an error that requires solving, cuteness does not make me easy to swallow, cuteness is tension, it interrupts itself, it's ugly.

hans bellmer - illustrations for madame edwarda.

anyway. i complain too much. today i also read about fascism and of course read more foucault. but i was so shocked at work, i heard the beatles, and listened to ticket to ride for the first time in years and was shocked by how much i like it. i loved them as a kid and stuff, they were like my first favorite band, without them i probably would not make music, but it's been a long long long time since i've listened to anything other than strawberry fields forever.

i am tired though, and other stuff, i just need to sleep i think.

soooooo

byebye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rapifessor]

Pokéchronology, Volume II

-~+*◇ Crystal ◇*+~-

Day 2

Now that I have a day off, I have time to continue with Pokémon Crystal. Actually, I had yesterday to myself as well but there were a lot of other things I wanted to do. Some of those things will be relevant to Pokéchronology, in fact. Regarding that, I'll have something to show you very soon. For now, I present to you the next chapter in Reuka's Pokémon adventure.

Spoilers for Pokémon Crystal and other Generation II games/remakes ahead. You know the drill.

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

Alright, I'm feeling refreshed and I'm ready to take on whatever's next for me in my journey. Looks like I should be heading down Route 32 next, but I think I'll check out Route 36 and maybe Dark Cave before that. Let's start with Route 36.

Seems like I can't get very far though, as a very conspicuous tree is blocking the way to Goldenrod City. It doesn't seem like there's much I can do about that right now. In that case, I think I'll check out the Ruins of Alph.

Ruins of Alph

This place feels important somehow. Maybe that's normal for ruins that are 1500 years old, but it's not like I'd know. There's all this writing on the walls that I'm sure means something, but it's indecipherable.

Strangely, the researchers here don't seem to mind visitors getting their hands on the ruins. Like, normally you're not supposed to touch the exhibits in a museum, right? To preserve the artifacts and all that? I dunno. But apparently they're even encouraging people to mess with the sliding stones in one of the chambers.

I'll get to that in a minute; there's some writing in the back of that same chamber. One of the researchers was saying that all these cryptic patterns had appeared recently that weren't there before. Okay, moderately unsettling. I looked at the writing and it kinda looks like the word "ESCAPE." That's... rather ominous. What is this, some kind of horror movie?

I guess since I haven't been sufficiently spooked yet, I'll give that sliding stone puzzle a go. It's not long before I notice a pattern to the carvings on each stone, and how they line up with the others. I managed to recreate the image of the Pokémon, which I think might be Kabuto.

But the moment I put the stones together, there's some kind of earthquake and the floor falls out from under me, landing me in the chambers below. Somehow I'm okay. Well, I don't think I've broken anything, at least. But one does not simply fall through the floor and not get hurt. Ow...

I realize I'm in the chamber I visited before, with all the writing and statues and not much else. But something's off. It's eerily quiet, and I feel really uneasy. I decide I'm going to head for the exit as soon as I can, but then I'm attacked by a Pokémon that looks like the writing on the walls!

Okay, NOW I'm sufficiently spooked. I'm getting the hell out of here. But first I have to battle this... thing. I have no idea what type it is or what type the move it's using is. Sometimes it's super-effective against my Pokémon, sometimes it isn't.

I did manage to catch one that looks like an E, so I just called it... E. Look, I'm a little traumatized by this whole experience and I can't be bothered to think about stuff like this. I would have caught more, but I had to use all my Poké Balls just to catch the one.

I finally manage to get out of there, I tell the researchers what happened, and then it's back to the Pokémon Center to try and shake off my nerves.

Dark Cave

While I'm still processing the insanity I just went through, I get a call from that kid Joey again. I guess I'll go play with him one last time before I continue to Dark Cave. That might sound like a bad idea given what I just said, but it can't be that bad, right?

Well, I'm blocked off over there too. I need a Pokémon who can break rocks. I did find some new Pokémon to catch though. Zubat and Geodude aren't that exciting, but I named them Zuko and Bouldette. I was lucky enough to also encounter a Dunsparce... then I was unlucky enough to knock it out before I could catch it.

Damnit, now that I've seen one I HAVE to catch it now. I spent so much time looking for one in Dark Cave that the egg I was carrying with me hatched into Togepi. Eventually I did manage to find another Dunsparce and catch it. I named him Veggie.

I guess I should go give Professor Elm the good news, so I make a trip back to New Bark Town to show him Togepi, who I named Yoshino. He gives me an Everstone that can stop a Pokémon from evolving. Seems kinda silly, because Pokémon get stronger when they evolve, don't they? Sure, some Pokémon are really cute, but I want them to be as strong as they can be.

Route 32

Okay, time to finally get back on track. Once I got back to Route 32 I ran into someone who wanted to congratulate me by giving me a Miracle Seed. Uh, wow. That seems really useful. Billiam II is eating good today.

I battle a few trainers as I continue to head south. One of them just had a Goldeen that I figured Billiam II could handle no problem, but I forgot that Goldeen usually knows Peck... Sorry, Billiam, I messed up.

Not much later I reach a Pokémon Center and one of the people there gives me a fishing rod. I suppose it'd be nice to try and catch some more Pokémon that way. So I went for a quick trip back to the water up north and caught myself a Tentacool. Named him Jellylord.

After that, it's time to enter Union Cave.

Union Cave

Here I use my last Poké Ball to catch a Sandshrew who I name Sara. Gosh, she's adorable. Maybe I can find some room on my team for her, but I'm not sure who I'd want to replace...

Some trainers in there were talking about hearing some crazy Pokémon in the cave on weekends. I went to investigate but it looks like I can't get far without a means of water travel. I guess I'll have to keep this in mind. Otherwise it doesn't seem like there's much to see in here.

I'm racking up quite a lot of phone numbers in my Pokégear already. Having connections is probably a good thing. It seems like most of them are interested in rare Pokémon and they said they'd let me know if they see anything interesting.

Right now it seems like a lot of work to get places, though... I got yet another call from Joey but I honestly can't be bothered to run all the way back to Route 30 right now. I could really use a faster way of getting around.

Azalea Town

Okay, so something's wrong with this town. I don't mean that in a bad way, I mean that they seem to be having some troubles. There are supposed to be some Slowpoke around here apparently, but something happened to them. Suddenly I recall the "Slowpoketail" salesman outside the Pokémon Center by Union Cave. That bastard is gonna get it if I find out he has something to do with this.

Turns out it's actually Team Rocket that's been de-tailing Slowpoke and trying to keep people out of the well where they're found. I thought those criminals were long gone. I'm even angrier now that those pieces of loser garbage decided to come back instead of getting lost forever. Next one I see is dead meat, I swear. Not that I would actually... y'know. I mean I'll kick their ass in a Pokémon battle.

Ilex Forest is to the west of here, but as per usual, it seems I can't get very far in before hitting a roadblock. I need a Pokémon that knows Cut to get through. Guess I'll go see how the old man Kurt is doing.

Slowpoke Well

Well, the old man fell on his back, so I guess it's up to me to deal with Team Rocket. It'll be my pleasure. Time for Veggie to do his thing and Rage his way through everything.

I brought Sara with me too and taught her Mud-Slap, since I figure she could use a decent move. She's a little weak for Team Rocket's Pokémon though, so I had to let the other members of my team do most of the work.

Pepper went and evolved as I was beating down Rocket, making him the first on my team to do so. I'm looking forward to seeing how much stronger he's gotten.

Rocket was saying some crap about Slowpoke's tail growing back quickly after it's been cut off. I don't believe that for a second, and even if that's true I'm still gonna make them pay for this. Come to think of it, why are Slowpoketails so valuable anyway? Who the hell wants the severed tail of a Slowpoke? Is it like, some prized alchemy ingredient or something?

Whatever, animal cruelty is for weak and worthless people. I don't really care what it's used for or why people want it.

Azalea Town Gym

Now that I've taken Team Rocket's collective ass and shoved it right back in their faces, I guess I'll go take on Bugsy's Gym.

Since I've got two types that are super effective against Bug, this should be a breeze. There was just one trainer who had a Beedrill that managed to survive a hit from Pepper.

I get to Bugsy, and his Pokémon are actually at a pretty decent level, so Pudding has to put in a little more work to get through them. When he gets to the final Pokémon though, I have to switch him out.

Bugsy's Scyther is pretty strong, and he knows Fury Cutter. Even though Pepper resists it, the move gets stronger every time it hits. Thankfully, Pepper was able to take hits for long enough to bring Scyther down and win me the Hivebadge.

So maybe the gyms are going to be at least a little challenging. I expected more from Falkner, but Bugsy proved to be decently threatening, despite my team being pretty good against him. I'd better be careful that I don't underestimate the next gym, since it might be more difficult.

Having conquered another gym, I think I've earned myself some more rest. I'll have to find some way of teching Cut to one of my Pokémon to continue. Maybe I'll have a look around and see where I can go once I manage that.

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

As always, I'd be glad to hear what you thought of this entry in the second volume of Pokéchronology.

I'm really wishing I had some means of fast travel already, as there are a lot of things popping up that it would be handy for. Berry trees grow one berry or apricorn every day, and obviously if I want to harvest them all it'll take some effort.

Same for Joey. Right now it's just not worth the trouble to me to run all the way back to fight him again. I'm pretty sure I got access to the Fly HM not long after the second or third gym in Pokémon Yellow, so hopefully I get that soon.

Things have already settled into the standard Pokémon gameplay loop. The main difference I'm noticing from Generation I is that areas are generally more complex, and there are more places to go but you're still pretty much forced to go in one direction. Evidently there will be a lot more to explore once I have access to more HM moves and things like that.

[denydestiny]

might as well say something. the biggest gamble one has to take with sequential storytelling - the likes of which felt in indie game communities if you're not the creator of a game, and so, you don't know what to expect - is that the next piece in the puzzle could have something in it that really dashes audience expectation. something that just really hits them the wrong way, to put it lightly.

it's felt to me most in the indie horror genre, in how content warnings tend to be vague if they're there. i think partly it's from a sense of wanting it be a surprise, partly from working with something so closely you dunno what you'd say about it, and partly because some circles seem to think labeling it "horror" tells you all you need to know. for now though, i'm talking more about when a game is released in parts.

by the time a few parts are out, there's a chance you'd know what level of intensity to expect from a project, but like... nothing's guaranteed

in particular, this is about yttd, in that it's last part seems to me that it'll end with some pay off. classic horror movie stuff. the cast dwindles down, and the survivors probably become friends? i'm hoping that the mentor character the lead has ends up as like, her new dad. i don't remember the names right now, but like to me, that's the best case scenario. more thoughts below but.

but i will say that if yttd doesn't stick the landing i'm going to reply to this saying i called it.

also if you plan to look into the videogame i wouldn't know how to warn for the contents, only that it's called a "death game" and people sure do die. it's like about what i'd expect from a slasher film, i guess is the best way to put it

the creator seems unpredictable to me in how he writes. and i've been told the manga for the game, that wasn't written by the game developer, was drawn by someone weird? i dunno the specifics, but my point is that makes me go :/ a friend also pointed out some weird writing choices surrounding a mentor character who's kind of a dad to the lead. so that's also making me go :/ because i'm really hoping the point of this story is the lead like... realizing that her dad is lame, and finding a new better dad. because i actually haven't seen that done in many horror stories where the new dad/mentor lives. so we'll see

and i didn't get super into the game, and i don't think i'd enjoy the ending a super great deal because the part that's out right now was like the climax of the story. the tables are turning, an ending awaits... that sort of thing.

so at this point, as october draws near and i think about indie games i've seen release in installments, i'm thinking about what it means to wait. sometimes the best thing a story can do is take you on a journey. even if it never finishes. i've seen plenty of cool projects fall through and therefore, never end

i don't think i need any closure past the part that's out right now since everything up to this point has been pretty standard stuff for horror/suspense films. the cast gets smaller as they have to make harder choices, and in the end it comes down to trusting other people or like... wanting to be the final girl. i think yttd's answering all of the questions that it's posing, and that's cool. i think one ending will involve a group surviving, and another will not

but i'm still kind of meh about it. anime, and anime-inspired indie games, sometimes try to say something really profound, but... sometimes they don't stick the landing. i'm fine with a good tragedy, but if it's done wrong, it feels like a waste of time. so i'd have to wait until it actually ends to say anything more profound

it's the same kind of feeling i think one gets when waiting for an author they like to continue a series. there's no way of knowing if the small red flags are actually red flags, or if it's a poor attempt at writing something meaningful. because it could be cool, what yttd is trying to do