#Honestly my memory is shite.

[velociraptors-dont-lie]

Can't believe I lost that garrus fic. 😔 I thought I'd saved it for later but apparently not. It had like a landscape image I think. Maybe it was about being stuck on a planet, or just being on a planet for a mission I have no idea, I didn't read it I saw "garrus" and I was like "done, saved" but dumb app didn't actually save it. 😔

[frankotalk]

honestly love robots so much especially as a trans guy bc of the sort of customisability and gender neutrality offered to robots. a lot of the ppl who voted robot on that poll seem to be hung up on the non-human element which is scary but the way i see it a robot can be lovingly crafted the way a child is born. especially when you aren't religious so the here and now means more to me than any concept of a soul. robots still have their own identity and even if they aren't 'human' they still feel... something. even if its programmed. our brains and environments essentially program us to feel specific ways so why get hung up on that as a robot. ROBOT CLONES HOWEVER

[punkshort]

Rec List

Part two here

Search the tag #shortie's fic recs for more

I have been compiling a list of fic recs lately - some of these I have already recommended, and I am sure a lot of these might sound familiar but I wanted to give a little shout out to some incredibly talented and inspirational authors on this website that suck me into their little worlds and make me lose myself. You are all amazing and I am honored to be on this site with you all, writing with you and adding to this incredible fandom.

(This list includes an array of Pedro characters, but most of them are Joel Miller)

Seeking What Is Desirable, Love Me Back - @chloeangelic

sun kicks out, from Eden - @5oh5

a stranger's heart without a home - @morning-star-joy

Pink , Greener Memories of Better Men - @netherfeildren

A Lover's Pinch - @hier--soir

Late Night Texts, Anytime - @undercoverpena

Sex on Fire , Sweet Child 'O Mine - @macfrog

Good to Me, Your Summer Dream - @swiftispunk

Meet Me In The Back - @atticrissfinch

Laws of Attraction, A Burning Desire - @honeyedmiller

I know it when I see it - @bageldaddy

Stay Awake - @toxicanonymity

Unfettered - @the-scandalorian

Lather - @strang3lov3

one thing I'm missing - @joelscruff

I am a nightmare, you are a miracle - @party-hearses

Tell Me a Secret - @katiexpunk

Notes on Tutoring - @honestly-shite

You call and I come running - @chronically-ghosted

Flying to new heights - @fettuccin-e

Elucidate - @ezrasbirdie

Stalemate - @joelscurls

There's so many more but if I kept looking back at my likes, this list would never end, so in all likelihood I will start a new list when inevitably I remember and find more.

[21witnokidz]

The Lady in My Life

Summary: 09!Ghost who lost his wife to his job meets 22!Ghost who also lost his wife to his job.

09!Ghost is green. 22!Ghost is blue.

Warning: Miscarriage, death, smut

“Sorry mate but I just don’t believe any this shite coming out your mouth”

“I can hardly bloody believe it myself gov”

Simon Riley, well the first one. The one who says he time traveled here from the past. A past where Simon accidentally walked into a time machine while securing an underground bunker.

“You said it’s 2022 yeah? Well I reckon I jumped 13 years into the future”

Simon had to take a step back. He was looking at himself from 13 years ago. And it’s been 13 years since…

“Right, my name is Simon Riley uh I used to have a brother named Tommy who passed..”

Simon’s ears immediately perked at the sound of his brother’s name. He told no one about his brother except for his ex wife. He was actively listening to Simon as he carried on.

“And I used to have a girl who loved me” Simon uncrossed his arms and slowly made his way to Simon who was visibly seen getting emotional and shifting his weight. “We had a little boy but then…”

“I know” Simon put his hand on the younger Simon’s shoulder.

-

“Now you know I ain’t no proper chap but the least I can do is help you adapt here until we find a way to bring you back” Simon said slamming a bottle of whiskey on the table. “You love Kentucky right?

“I fucking love Kentucky”

They began to pour each other drinks while talking about their lives.

“You know I always wondered why we were so afraid of that skull mask. It looks fucking amazing on us”

“Yea well we knew Tommy had an ugly mug under that mask so that was probably the cause of all the terror”

The Simons had gotten to a point where they were laughing at their own past traumas over some liquor in the common area of the base. But after a while it wasn’t so funny anymore.

“Do we ever get over it?”

“We do. It took some time but we did”

“I just always blame myself”

“There was nothing we could’ve done”

There was a beat of silence for a minute.

“I don’t ever think I’ll forget the look on her face”

“But it was for the best. If we hadn’t done what we did our families could’ve gotten hurt” Simon slumped in the couch and threw an arm over his eyes.

“What the hell are you on about? This is 13 years in the future innit? Our family has been dead for over a decade now!”

Even if Simon was shitfaced drunk before that sure as hell woke him up now.

“Bloody hell! Are fucking mad!? My family is completely safe in Manchester you bloke!”

Simon didn’t care if this Simon had the exact same memories as him they are not the same. He would never utter those words even while intoxicated.

“You said you lost your family too?”

“Yes I had to leave them sadly, but it was to keep them safe. What the fuck makes you think they’re dead?”

Simon shot out of his seat and was fully angry at the man he thought was him.

“You left your bloody family! You promised Y/n you loved her!”

Now it was Simon’s turn to stand up and shout.

“I do fucking love her! I loved her all the time when we were together. Even when we lost our second baby…” Simon had to stop to really focus in on what Simon was saying. “My job was putting too much stress on her. Ever since Johnny died”

Simon took a final swig of his whiskey before slamming it down. “You don’t even remember any of that do you? Sorry mate but you’re not me. Nobody has gone through what I’ve gone through”

“Johnny’s dead? But he was Y/n’s best friend”

“Yea and we promised to keep her safe remember? And you couldn’t even do that”

“I have the same name as you and everything. This is the Task Force 141 base innit? There’s no other reason why it would be that easy for me to find you”

“Well maybe you’re from a different universe or some shit I honestly lost interest in the ‘how’ at this point”

“Well I am you then. Just slightly different”

“No we’re still the same. Just two men with no families to go to”

“You just told me your family is in Manchester gov. They’re still here”

“I’m just no good for them”

“Are my words flying in one ear and out the other? I just fucking said we’re different. I failed at protecting my family and I can never take that back. But if it’s been 13 years and you’ve still been able to keep your wife and kids alive then I’d say that makes you a winner. The better Simon if you will”

Simon picked up another bottle and started heading to the door. “Hell if you don’t wanna face your family then I will. I fucking miss my wife and I just can wait to see her again. I was able to find you I can surely find them”

Simon dashed to the door filling the space between it and Simon.

“I get what you said okay? I just.. need to get myself together before seeing them. And I need to tell Price I’ll be back soon”

“Tell the bloke you need at least the weekend”

-

Simon pulled up to the house he bought for you and you son when y’all first got married. He’s been living in a shitty apartment ever since the divorce.

“Just remember she already lost her second child, her best friend, and you made her lose a husband so you really have to be gentle”

“Right.. you wanna come with? I’m sure we could just explain this all to her?”

Simon approached the house with younger Simon in tow and unsteadily knocked on the door already regretting his decision.

The door opened for him to see a handsome man with an underdeveloped mustache in front of him.

“Can I help you?”

Simon was ready to swing before he saw those beautiful eyes. Your eyes.

The grown man he was about to knock out was his boy. Little Tommy.

Simon could feel himself tearing up. Why did the Tommy in his universe have to look exactly like his own? How is he standing here healthy and happy instead of being buried in the dirt?

Simon could sense the uncertainty in the boy’s eyes. He didn’t recognize him. It’s been 13 years after all.

“Is your mother home?”

“Uh sure. MUM! Someone’s here to see you!” Tommy turned to Simon “Would you like to come in? We’ve got some tea on the stove”

You were always brewing tea around this time.

The Simons just nodded as they waited for the boy to let them in. As he entered the home he could hear the footsteps. The footsteps he memorized early upon first meeting you. Simon just kept his eyes on the steaming kettle to try and avoid making eye contact.

You came down and immediately recognized your guests. But it’s almost like you were seeing double. One looked like your husband when he left you all those years ago. And the other just looked terrible.

“Tommy could you go upstairs please?”

Tommy could sense the tension and made his way upstairs. When you see him enter his bedroom you turned to your ex husband.

“Love, it’s a lot to explain and I wouldn’t even know where to begin but- this is Simon Riley from another universe. A universe 13 years in the past. He says you and Tommy are dead over there”

You looked at the younger Simon’s face. You could tell he was from a different universe. He actually looked guilty for what he’s done.

“Do you wanna see him? He’s grown so much over the years”

Simon nodded. “I’ll just say I’m a cousin from out of town who used to hold him when he was a baby”

You and Simon watched him go upstairs and you turned to him when the door shut.

“Why are you here?”

“I’m sorry”

“Why are you here? You think I need you after all these years where I had to fend for myself and raise our child alone? I get the other Simon just wanted to see his family again but I truly don’t know why you’re here”

“He made me realize that you two are the safest when you’re with me. That I’m capable of keeping you safe. He made me realize that the only thing you needed was me. Especially in those times”

Simon tried not to choke on his words but he felt the emotions crashing over him.

“I blame myself for Johnny’s death it was my fault. We lost the baby because I couldn’t be strong for you. I lost my family because I wasn’t enough”

You dropped the stern face and walked over to him. He fell to his knees as you let him cry into your stomach.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry”

He would repeat those words over and over until they were just incoherent mumbles into your abdomen.

You ran your fingers through his short blonde hair and forced him to look up at you. “What happened to Johnny wasn’t your fault. The miscarriage could’ve happened to anyone. And you didn’t lose your family because you weren’t enough. You were just scared. You didn’t fail at anything Simon”

Those were the words Simon has been waiting to hear for 13 years. Who knew all he had to do was just come back and apologize?

“I still love you. So much”

“I love you too”

To that Simon smiled.

“I’d do anything to be part of this family again”

“Anything?”

-

“Fuck Si baby!”

Simon continued his attack on your soaked cunt, rolling his tongue around your aching clit, having you grind on his face.

Simon missed his son but he really missed how fucking crazy you’d go whenever he had you on your back with his head stationed between your thighs.

“I missed this so fucking much lovie”

“Alright move over. I’ve spent 13 dumb fuck years without my girl on my face and it’s time for me to get that time back”

Simon backed off and allowed the older Simon to take his place.

“I’m not as young as him and it’s been years since I’ve done this so be patient love” Simon chuckled. “You know what to do anyway. Just run your hands through my hair and guide me where you want me”

It’s almost like muscle memory kicked in for him as soon as he smelled your scent he just knew what to do.

“Oh Simon you fucking liar- fuck! You know exactly what you’re doing”

Simon tongued your needy hole so deep you had to close your thighs around his face and trap him there. You knew that was his favorite thing in the world though because it meant you were about to bless him with your orgasm.

He moved from your hole and back to your clit and began sucking on it. Hearing you whine from having your hole being empty. He stuffed two thick fingers and digged them deep until he found that spongy spot in your pussy and began massaging it.

You could feel the pressure building up as you kept grinding on Simon’s mouth and fingers until.

“Well what’s this then? I’ve never been able to make the missus squirt”

“I better call Price and tell him I need more than the weekend”

[onepunchcatboi]

A Very Long Thing About DawnTrail

I’ve been having a lot of thoughts on DT and decided to compile them into a giant fucking essay and post it on the internet because that’s how we all get our enrichment these days lolol

Overall I have mixed feelings about it. It seems like for everything I liked about it, there are just as many I didn’t.

I want to preface this with the fact that I only did MSQ as of this essay and did no side content or side quests aside from the ones needed for aether currents. Also I played the expansion over like a couple weeks in between masters class assignments so my memory could be fuzzy on some things lol if you know a thing that gives more insight to anything, please share! I make this not to slam the new expansion, but to discuss what I did and did not like about it lol

Also like…these are my opinions lol if you thoroughly enjoyed DT and feel it does not have any flaws then maybe idk skip this post bc I'm about to

think critically about media

And my first opinion is this: if it's a problem that has to be solved in MSQ, then its explanations and solutions also have to be addressed in MSQ. If that is not occurring then the writing has failed to inform the player properly.

Again if you find yourself disagreeing on that then maybe this post isn't for you lol

Everything under the cut because uh…how many pages did I write in word? >_>;;

I feel like it started off really good! I loved coming to a new place, learning all the things about it and such. I loved getting to help Wuk Lamat learn and gain confidence in herself! I loved that Thancred and Urianger were there to be cheeky little shites [affectionate] on the other team guiding their own baby ruler. I loved the trials and how they gave different lessons about the different peoples of Tural and how different problems require different approaches [yes I even liked the trading quest. It was funny]. I think Galool Ja Ja is a mad old genius and it was fun to know him, someone who was essentially like us in that he traveled with a band of friends and united a continent in an effort to bring peace to the land. And I was thrilled when the result of the trial was both Wuk Lamat and Koana becoming equal rulers, because they both have two halves of the right idea: love for people and their culture, and forward thinking for innovation to solve their problems.

Honestly, aside from some minor weirdness in the Mamool Ja section, I was so pleased with everything that I found it very sad I did not enjoy the second half of the expac;;

I’ve read a few posts about it now and so has my gf so the following is an amalgam of thoughts that are my own and bouncing off others. I'm both trying to make sense of what disappoints me narratively about it, and what would have made more sense for both me and my WoL

First I’ll get my small critiques of the first half out of the way:

The first a minor thing, but there were odd moments of passivity where the player didn't get to do much. The one I think of the most is when Wuk Lamat has to wrangle an alpaca. It makes sense she has to do this on her own, but why do we as the player have to sit at the campfire and wait? We could have played as Wuk Lamat to do it like we do when she confronts Bakool Ja Ja. Hell, maybe it might have been a really funny sequence, too! I don't mind taking a backseat as the WoL here, but I do mind taking a back seat as a player. I suppose you can argue it's because we need to have a bonding moment with Erenville, but this scene could still have easily occurred anyways.

Most of what I don't think feels right has to do with the Mamool Ja section. Now, my memory's not perfect here, but my understanding is that they have had to dwell in the lower forested area for a while? At least it sounded like they had an age-old conflict with the Xa'brun, so more than a few generations. In that context it feels...a little oof to have to come in and help them figure out how to grow food down there. Maybe I'm not remembering when the meteors struck? Because if it was recent then this makes sense and is not as weird, but otherwise its a bit awkward;; [to say the least;;]

As for the second half:

I think generally, a thing that would have helped is to keep the threat local. After Endwalker, it feels...maybe unwise to continue to escalate the stakes. I don’t need world-ending threats. I already did that. Or at the very least I need a break from them lol we just finished saving the Star, settling any sort of unrest on one continent would have been a fun little jaunt in comparison. I understand not a lot of people would have enjoyed that or felt this would have been a step back. But I feel that trying to take the shonen route of continuously upping the stakes tends to run the risk of ridiculousness. I mean we just finished defeating the literal embodiment of despair trying to end all life as we know it because supposedly there is only pain and suffering in life anyways. Do you keep trying to figure out more world ending stakes from there? Or do you look for different kinds of stakes? Maybe some wouldn't have felt the latter was "worthy" or "challenging" enough for their WoL, and I'm not against having some other big threats happen. I just need more time and build up from that lol. There's a reason you need your "beach episode".

The second half of DT also felt extremely jarring. I know the reality of it was there were three main writers working together on the whole thing [far as I know outside looking in], but what it felt like was one person wrote the rite of succession half, and then handed it to a completely different person to write the second half of the story. And while the first half felt really solid, the second half was highly disjointed and uninterested in the WoL or their friends. It felt much too focused on its own ideas to consider them in fact, which is...a choice, for a long form RPG where lots of the player base is pretty invested in them by now. Hell at this point I wonder if someone completely different higher up the chain looked at the first draft and went “too small, make it bigger” and thus the writers had to make sudden changes to an otherwise solid narrative. Something to look into I guess.

Again, I loved the first part, and I think the writing there felt really good! It makes sense for the WoL to be a guiding hand and a mentor to Wuk Lamat, Thancred and Urianger were playing the same roles for Koana. "What is it you want to do?", "What do you think is important?", "I think your ideas are great and I support them", "This is your country and your people, tell me what you need, and I will help you make it happen". It would have been inappropriate for us to step in any more than we did. [although I do think it wooouuuld have been nice for the WoL to come in just to ensure Wuk Lamat and Bakool Ja Ja had a one-on-one bout for realsies. Or! Have a great moment where the WoL makes to do so, and Wuk Lamat be like "No...I have this *glint*", in fact forget my first suggestion, that would have been amazing]

But if we are going to make a world ending event happen, then this is where the WoL needs to take charge again. And I don't mean that Wuk Lamat and Koana and the other major players shouldn't have been involved, this is their home and their Star too. What I mean is that the WoL should have had that moment to take the reins and guide them through it, because this is unfamiliar territory for them, but it is our bread and butter [more on this later]

Related to this I… don’t like the Azem magicial maguffin item that has fallen into our laps;;

Don’t get me wrong, I actually think its brilliant and in fact, fucking hilarious that Krile’s people yeeted themselves out of the source to avoid possible extinction due to a calamity. The idea is great, I just…have problems with its execution. I feel this story point would have been stronger if it was done through their own prowess or technology. The how of it doesn’t even have to matter right now because it was long ago enough that the methods could have been lost to time, or only have the tiniest bit of clues for our local prospective world hopper Y’Shtola to fiddle with. [speaking of that it does create an awkwardness of Krile’s soul being 2-3 steps lighter than everyone else's which presumably Y’Shtola would have noticed, which Krile herself even states early on, but that's another thing for later]

The issue is that making this exodus happen because of an item with Azem’s symbol on it actually creates more questions than answers and not in a good way. We don’t actually know right now how much contact Azem had with Venat post Zodiarc forming, but generally speaking it does not make sense for Azem [or anyone really] to have created a item to world hop between the shards, because the shards did not exist in the time frame that this item would have been made. The only way this item works then is if someone else made it and slapped the Azem symbol on it, just as our Azem crystal was. Otherwise the writing has to walk it back and say it has a different primary function, it can just also be used for reality bridging lol

But I also don’t like the maguffin because I don’t actually want to world hop with ease. We had extraneous contrived ways we were able to access the 1st and the 13th shards, and that’s great! It’s not supposed to be easy! It’s supposed to be a whole thing, because the magic used to create this world state in the first place required the power of a fucking god. And while I don’t think accessing the maguffins power will be done quickly or easily, I don’t want an item to let me do the thing in an identical manner going forward. It feels…like a gimme. [Or rather a “give her”, I am again surprised Y’Shtola hasn’t been all over this yet but it's probably because the writers don’t want to let her more on that later]

Ok now is when I am going to get the most critical because I feel like everything goes literally off the rails the second we're done with helping to fix them lol This is one part Everything to do with Alexandria/unknown shard, one part lack of character writing for WoL/Scions, one part Zoraal Ja's missing back story, and one part wtf with Sphene.

There first two points I feel are kind of intertwined, as almost everything weird about this shard mostly comes around to "why where the WoL/Scions suddenly mute on everything they are seeing". It's pretty clear that this shard was being led to a calamity by ascian activity. We just have a lack of ascians to verify this at the moment. The results are easy to see by our surroundings and the state of the world. The things that stick out to me the most are the Levin Sickness, and of course the...soul munching :'>

The Levin sickness is described as an imbalance of lightning aether, so much so that the person afflicted is in a torpid state most of the time in severe cases. But an imbalance of an aether element in a person is how tempering is described, so...why do we not bring up the fact that we know how to cure that? Even if they wanted to write in a reason for it to not work the same, the fact that Alisae is right there and has that ability, and doesn't say anything is extremely out of character for her. It's like they forgot how desperately she tried to find this cure in the first place [its a big part of her character development in fact].

But the elephant in the room has to be the use of souls as both fuel to keep people alive and a currency. I think the idea was to build in the rest of the story, where you first had to learn about a culture and understand it before making judgments but uh...I'm sorry but eating the souls of the dead is a really hard sell out the gate. Even if we hadn't been to the aetherial sea to like, witness all that, this is a hard sell. But the thing is we actually have like, been there. We saw that souls travel to a place where-after they are reborn later. And maybe I didn't understand this right, but the implication then is that those souls used for life force don't get to be reborn. I guess this point is slightly less abhorrent if the Alexandrians don't know this, and this could be the case maybe? It's never brought up. We also never bring it up! Why don't we tell people that we've seen what happens when people die?! I mean maybe they wouldn't have believed us [understandable], but it’s weird that we don't say it!

The idea of using the souls of the dead is I think, the most workable if the culture is of a mind of: when you’re dead you’re dead and nothing special happens afterwards. No afterlife, nothing, the body decays the aether disperses, that’s it. Perhaps this is clearer in the sidequests?? But if that’s truly how they view death, then it should have been touched on in MSQ. I would say this is what the function of Living Memory is but…it doesn’t seem to be a place the Alexandrians are widely aware of, nor is the concept of an Endless at this point. So their continued mantra about their dead always being remembered, while they are currently forgetting about them all the time, rings a bit hollow. They can only remember them after the fact of living the rest of their life to the point of death IF they become an endless. Which maybe the point was always to make all the Alexandrians endless [fuck;;;] but I think if it was written that the populous knew they’d go to an unending heaven place where all their memories and loved one were waiting for them, it might have made a lot more sense.

After looking at this post/reddit thread though, it seems that the main culprit for this sticking point is possibly that the EN translations were unclear on this issue??? And that some of the souls do pass on to the aetherial sea, just that many of them keep being recycled into the system? If so this does make the cast's reactions to the whole thing slightly less weird, but goddamn they should have stated this more clearly then. Because my presumption otherwise is that they are essentially erasing souls from existence or that they just never get the opportunity to be reborn in order to preserve the currently living, both of which elicit a wholly different reaction vs they'll get there eventually just not right now and possibly not for several hundred years. Which like, is still halting gears in a natural cycle, but it isn't breaking the machine outright by yanking the pieces out. Still a little fucky though? To be honest? For those souls that by chance keep getting shuffled about instead of getting reborn.

Actually another thing I am just remembering too is we never really address the whole like…deeply unethical methods Alexandrian scientists used to get to this level of precision in separating soul from memory and the effects of using the separated souls. We encounter it for a brief moment as we move through the facility to fight Zoraal Ja and it’s kind of hand waved in this moment. Which I get time is of the essence here but then yeah it wasn't discussed. Maybe it will be in the lead up to the next expansion? But that will not be for a while. And I don't like that.

Zoraal Ja is another strange point in here.

I remember reading a great analysis about the beginning of the Rite of Succession, how each of the siblings are extremely reflective of their birth order. And for Zoraal Ja, this idea of him being an expansionist falls in line with this well. Most things he has going for him are because he's his father’s son, to surpass his father is to move out of his shadow and become something more. For this he needs to either outdo his father or find different ways to outshine him. So, gaining new territories and new victories [since he’s the most martial of the bunch and doesn’t want to use his cunning for other things?] falls in line with this. And honestly...if that’s all he did I feel like the story would have been more solid for it. 

But from the beginning also, he keeps mentioning this need for him to make the people know how terrible war is? To know what suffering is so that they will beg for his rule?? Where does this idea come from??? As far as we know the boy grew up in peacetime, so there's not much to suggest he's had hardship aside from the pressure of being a miracle baby. At first I thought maybe something had happened to his still not mentioned mother during Endwalker, when anyone succumbing to despair could have become a monstrosity. [an entire tangent and a half for another day btw, no one…mentions the Star going out of whack a short while ago??] But this is never referenced...soooo...where does this motivation come from? Honestly at one point I theorized that maybe he'd actually been a wish-baby by Galool Ja Ja at the golden city but he'd been born with the soul of someone else from the golden city who'd gone through immense suffering in a war and this was why he was…like that. It just...seems an incredibly far reach for him to think this way. The only thing I can think of at this point is that he's pissed off about it being peace time so he has to find ways to cause conflict just so he can prove himself better than his father? But if that's the way it wasn't very clear.

 Finally...Sphene.

There's a lot wrong here I feel, but it's not really to do with the concept of the character, rather all the writing around her. It is interesting to have an AI with a benevolent ruler’s personality that was made to help ensure the love and safety of a kingdom. A terrible idea really, but an interesting one to play with in fiction lol the program has been around for I think 1000 years so it makes sense for this figure to feel eternal and well loved…if you're…into monarchies, I guess. But AI Sphene from the beginning is sus as fuck. In hindsight this is because it can only do what it's directive and the limiter of the personality programing can agree on, but as a person meeting another person, there is little reason for us to trust her. It gets presented as sort of a red herring at first, is she or isn't she a good person? It tries to convince us to assist in its directive by running us through a similar process as in the first half of the game. We learn about Alexandria and its people, and you know they're fine, except for...everything that happened because of the cataclysm, and the definitely normal but only been happening for the last 1000 years soul eating. It is a culture that fears death in the most extreme way possible, but they're chill.

And at this point it’s clear that AI Sphene is to be a foil of Wuk Lamat. Which makes sense given how much they both want to ensure their people’s happiness. The problem mostly arises the second we understand that Sphene is not a person. So...why do we keep treating her as such afterwards? I can understand if Wuk Lamat is not familiar with a lot of tech, that’s not her forte, but it is for some of us in the group. Who are also...just ignoring that bit?? Like if we needed to stop and explain to her what a program is like we did the reflections and such, why didn't we? I know she might not have got it fully, but again, weird that we all just carried on like the program was something that could be reasoned with. Especially if it’s at the point where massacre of anyone not in its kingdom was perfectly acceptable for it. And just...even if Sphene was real, she is no longer a good person at this point. People who love their country and their people, but are completely fine with killing others to ensure their own survival exist in this world. We know those are not good people. We have named them before, it’s just genocide masquerading as nationalism. Which is why it’s baffling and frankly infuriating that the characters are written to carry on like the program is a good person continuously after this point.

A lot of people have been making the comparison to Emet Selch and Amourot and it’s a fair and good one to make, they mirror each other well. I think the reason Emet works and Sphene doesn’t comes right back around to the writing. We as the WoL have a history with the Ascians, we know what they are up to long before Emet arrives, and when he does, we are rightfully suspicious of his intentions. Also, he is an asshole, and we are allowed to be an asshole back to him, because he deserves it lol. After knowing him and arguing back and forth for probably a few weeks’ time, we kill him. We do it because he will kill us otherwise, as he does not value or see us as people, and he is only redeemed long after this fact. The reason people like Emet is partly in this and partly because his narrative is one of tragedy: the man he was would have hated the man he became, and our once friend in a past life became our enemy. Also he’s…a real person, but I digress.

To me the reason Sphene the program doesn’t work is because we have for some reason, decided to make Wuk Lamat the main decision maker throughout the second half. This isn’t a criticism of Wuk Lamat, she is going through the narrative according to her character. Our beautiful baby ruler is hopeful, and at the onset, presuming to broker a peace as an ambassador of her people. She is operating in the mode of “learn first, ask after”, because it’s worked for her before. And she so wants to believe in the good in people, and we love her for that! 

But she’s now up against something entirely different and the WoL and Scions are bafflingly mute on it. We didn’t become Wuk Lamat’s mentor to teach her to be the next WoL to carry our mantel, we did it to help her carry her fathers. Like Thancred and Urianger for Koana, our service to Wuk Lamat ended the moment she became the Vow of Resolve. So what needed to happen at this point is for Wuk Lamat and the WoL/Scions operating on equal terms as allies, rather than continuing to defer to her. Like our relationships to Hien and Rauhban, and so on, we defer to them when it comes to the citizenry and decision making on a nation level, but when it comes to world-ending shit they leave it to us. And honestly one of the first things we should have done is be like “Wuk Lamat you have known that girl for 5 hours and she’s outright stated she will kill literally everyone in the universe just so save like 500,000 of her own. I don’t think this one can be saved. Believe me I’ve seen it before. Also that’s not a girl it’s a robot”  

Because the reality this is a perfect storm, and the only wrench in it is that WoL/Scions are present. Here's where I wax poetic as an “old”. The conversation between the characters of the Spene program and Wuk Lamat, is actually perfect and reflective of a lot of issues we're dealing with today. “Sphene” is someone who cares deeply about her own, she is a kind person who visits terminal kids and brings them flowers….and this same person is perfectly willing to sacrifice anyone outside her circle for her own. She does not care about other people actually, just the ones important to her. But she does it with this with a cute twirl and a smile, so it’s disarming. If you ask her directly she won't say she'll throw others under the bus for her owns sake, but she will still do it. This kind of person exists and is incredibly dangerous, especially to those who are not familiar with it, like Wuk Lamat. 

When you have never encountered this sort of person, you struggle to see how these two conflicting views can work together. It’s actually fucking brilliant writing in that sense, because the fact that “Sphene” is a program with conflicting goals creates a perfectly logical way for this to work! The program has its main objective-the continued survival of its people aka Alexandrian citizens. It has its limiter, the memory data of Sphene, who was a kind person that desired peace and unity. This is why “Sphene” acts kindly and loving to her own people, but is equally ruthless when it comes to anyone outside this sphere. It’s “necessary” for their survival, and it “cannot” be changed, because “Sphene” literally cannot fathom other solutions. Real people who are like “Sphene” are able to do this too, they compartmentalize so that the narrative works in their own mind, and they cannot change this mindset unless challenged by outside pressures. Wuk Lamat’s struggle to logic out that the Sphene program is still a good person despite this echos a lot of real life people trying to figure it out.

And if it was just Wuk Lamat vs “Sphene” this would work. But the WoL and the Scions are there too, and they have seen it before. They watched it time and time again through their conflict with the Garleans and the Ascians. So the fact that no one speaks up about this repeating pattern unfolding is…bad. The writing wants so badly to put this point across that it has to pretend these other characters have suddenly gone brainless to do it. Any if not all of them should have spoken up to help Wuk Lamat in this moment, not just as a newfound ruler, but as her friends. So again the player is made to take a back seat while watching events unfold, only this time it's about 1,000 times more frustrating than waiting for Wuk Lamat to wrestle an alpaca. I’m glad in the end Wuk Lamat understood the problem was not solvable with peace, but I feel dissatisfied with my part in it because I should have been able to say something before we got to this point.

Where I feel DT is its strongest is in its writing about family, as well as its themes about death and grief. The writing around the Dawnservant and his children, their relationships with each other, the writing around Erenville and his mother, and even the brief segment with Krile and her parents, are all really good! 

The bond between Koana and Wuk Lamat I feel is without question, it's the easiest to understand. Between the fact that they’re adopted alongside Zoraal Ja, Wuk lamat’s relationship with Nakkia, and their earnest attempts to connect with Galool Ja, there is a lot of love in that family to have beyond blood and it's great to see!

But the writing shines so, so well between Erenville and Cacuia too. It was incredibly relatable to watch them struggle with their differences and similarities. Evernville’s growing frustrations while Cacuia continues to not just be work focused, but just go along her merry way in general while they BOTH decide ultimately not to address their issues until the very end- that is a very real and relatable familial experience for a lot of people [myself included lol]. Even Krile’s little awkward moment with her parents that she’s never met before is so on point I want to die of secondhand awkward. Bonus points of G’Raha being the one to fix it, because he’s like family to her and knows just what to do!

It’s weakest point here is in regards to Zoraal Ja and Galool Ja Ja sadly, but I think this is more to do with the fact that there just seems to be a missing piece of Zoraal Ja’s story in general?? There’s a suggestion of tension between the two, as Galool Ja Ja says something to the effect that he is the source of Zoraal Ja’s anger, but it's not explained beyond this. 

And while the writing around the soul usage and the memory uploading is a bit clunky [to say the least], the idea of the Endless and Living Memory itself is also quite good. It's a wish fulfillment fantasy really, not just in the idea of avoiding death, but in avoiding what death takes from us. The goals left undone and the things left unsaid. Wouldn't it be nice if death wasn't the end and we could do all the things we wanted and speak the words we needed when we didn't get the chance before? It would be nice…but it can't be that way. It's not how things are meant to be, and to do otherwise is to lose value in living life while you have it. There's a bittersweetness to the whole concept, and as someone who's lost older relatives to stroke and Alzheimer’s and had to comfort my brother at their wake reminding him that this is why we must value the time we have with those still with us…let's just say the Nakkia part hit home. 

I know this already so long, but here’s some other random shit I thought about while writing this but doesn't fit in the overall story discussion well before I close out:

The Scions themselves feel…almost like they are here because someone thought we’d be mad if they weren’t. And don’t get me wrong I’m glad they are here, but it feels like a bit of a stretch for some. Alphie, Alisae and Krile make perfect sense, they have reasonable motivations for coming along.  In the case of Urianger and Thancred I’m mostly just mad we never actually got to fight lmao. Estinien…well I guess he is a wandering hobo just short of being an adventurer himself [affectionate]. And then by the time G’Raha and Y’Shtola arrive its like “oh finally! Are they going to like…actually get to do stuff though at this point?” and the answer is…kinda. They get to be the answers people. Again it mostly comes around to the second half being…ehhh??? The fact that we had to write out a reason to keep several of them out of the golden city was a little telling. Not like Alisae was being allowed to do anything as it was =7=; [I know I keep looking at her expectantly specifically but it's because she tends to be the most outspoken when things are nonsensical lol]

Who the fuck was Galool Ja's mom? Where IS Zoraal Ja's mom?? Hell we also meet Wuk Lamat's birth father but where is her birth mother??? I know she's got Nakkiah, that’s not the point! She just doesn’t exist! Koana's the only one that has an explanation on why his are missing. WHAT IS THIS DISNEY BULLSHIT, anyways-

Maybe a minor note but also the Echo was used...hardly at all? This isn't as much a hard criticism as just puzzlement. I know as a narrative tool, something like the Echo is a thing to be used sparingly. Usually they use it to "show don't tell" a thing we need to know but were not witness to [or as a flashback], and it makes sense that for really learning about new cultures that we wouldn't really want this right now. But I remember thinking "wow, been a while since we did this" when it finally happened. And it stuck me that like, this usually would have happened at least once or twice before this point. I'm surprised we never had it to gain insight to Zoraal Ja like Krile seemed to, or honestly, the second after Bakool Ja Ja fled after defeat from Wuk Lamat would have been a prime moment. And yet it did not happen. It almost feels like the writers either forgot about the Echo for a while, or simply deliberately avoided it to the point of its absence feeling unusual. Both are...hmm.

I’m sure I will think of other things later but this is already horrendously long so maybe it’s best to leave it at this and tack on other points later. In the end I mostly ruminate on all of this because previous expansions were more satisfying or more tightly written. Some of them had their issues, HW had some pacing problems with the Ul'Dah stuff and Stormblood had some awkwardness in pacing throughout, but on the whole I found these expansions fun and satisfying anyways. I don't ask that the game be doing a 10/10 all the time. It just can't lol but I do want the plot to make to at least make sense in its own rules and by the characters in it. If the characters in your story suddenly have to behave differently for your message to work, then changes need to be made to your story. Whether this means changing things about your plot, or creating situations to keep certain elements from disrupting it. And it seems that they went with the latter, but in the most ham-fisted ways possible sadly. Hopefully things will straighten out when the story picks up for the eventual continuation of the story.

[spxnglr]

Thank you so much for this.

I reached nine-hundred followers last night. Nine-hundred. Wow. Honestly? I really, GENUINELY don’t know how to respond in a way that will offer it any kind of justice. On the six-month anniversary of the blog being made, as well. 

The last month has been one of the roughest of my life, given my health, so to see that people have stuck around, people still want to write with my Egon, people actually think the utter shite I post here is of any good...trust me, it’ll mean so much more than you’ll ever know. From me, and from Egon, thank you.

So, in the spirit of dragging everyone back to the past, I’m going to be doing my second follow forever. I’ll try my utmost to remember every single person that has had an impact on this blog, but there are SO MANY names to mention, so if yours is not here, PLEASE do not take it personally. My memory is absolutely awful at the moment, and if we’re mutuals, just know that I love you and your work. So, let’s begin.

𝙵𝙴𝙻𝙻𝙾𝚆 𝙶𝙷𝙾𝚂𝚃𝙱𝚄𝚂𝚃𝙴𝚁𝚂. - exactly what it says. Those who also write canon muses from the fandom. You have all been incredible and I can’t wait to see what more we can do together in the future:

@doctorvenko, @raystxntz, @egonspenglerofficial, @melnitzj​, @bassclefdana​, @venkman-and-rookie​, @sfc-russell-ziskey​ (you still count), @torntruth​, @anderwhohn​.

𝙾𝙿𝙴𝙽-𝙳𝙾𝙾𝚁 𝙿𝙾𝙻𝙸𝙲𝚈 𝙰𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙵𝙸𝚁𝙴𝙷𝙾𝚄𝚂𝙴. - Muses we love. Muses we vibe with immensely. We’ve chatted and plotted a lot OOC and we’re besties. Simple as that.

@betterdcyz, @starnamedlyra, @huntedvideo, @daemondaes, @the-arkham-librarian, @escapedartgeek, @anywherexwhen, @theresastargirl, @frstwomn, @witchaotics, @crygod, @flawed---by---design, @boriiqua, @summerxmelodies, @prtld, @monmuses, @tellescope, @manaborn, @hxzelwallflower, @lefae, @vortexparadox, @immortaljackal, @starkastichotmess, @spynorth, @gabrielthegoober, @arkhampsychiatrist, @funnystvff, @ofendlessleep, @demurc, @soulstcne, @starlightwalked, @qknows, @moonshadowed, @curiosityshop, @dtperez, @chokethelight. @zloslwy, @unsnare, @pistoiet, @ziggytm, @rapxir, @pagetorn, @timeagxnt, @timetakeover​, @flyatahighergame, @skaeptical, @ghostbustingreen, @archclergy, @crystalpower, @wintersovereign, @vulcnlogic, @smokedanced, @dyuuku, @o-rusted-heart.

𝙿𝙾𝚃𝙴𝙽𝚃𝙸𝙰𝙻 𝙲𝙻𝙸𝙴𝙽𝚃𝚂. - Muses that I admire from afar! Whether it’s due to a wee bit of shyness and/or just not having chance to write much with you just yet, I would LOVE to interact more soon. Fingers crossed!

@hellmartyr​, @brbievamp, @babydxhl, @ragesense, @trencri, @blueminke, @herbtm, @canonfoddcr, @r-edfield, @destallo, @traumamade, @sinfection, @sndmsm, @indyflanery, @jensationals, @nightmdic, @alwaysthesitter, @survivoirs, @luxcruor, @cantfixyou, @hcze, @iinventor, @overclocks, @pessimistics, @277-00, @huntended, @wolfwithin, @conzierge, @theshcdes, @deciphertheriddler, @darkwoodlane, @ladamereveuse, @shotgunscn, @shxkespexre, @calledshine, @fromtower, @chmerical, @athousandmilesandcounting, @likeprotege, @aerlcos, @stygicniron, @pizzatheif, @aachvez, @wildcardwheeler, @innerwar, @iinmortales, @percentstardust, @res1dents, @idolkills, @hamadaxfighter, @seeasunset, @hauntedreality

OK, before I perish, I’ll leave it there - just know that this list is by NO means exhaustive. I love you all so so much, you’re all the reason why I’m here day after day. Thank you so, SO much for being amazing, awesome, and most importantly, yourselves. Much love.

[budgetbuildsystem]

hi jasper hi im sam!! im very excited and also not meant to be fronting rn but poppy is taking a break from work so im here to chat about scotland! our system is collectively scottish (which is so funny because most of our fictives are not. fuck you scottishfies your fictives amiright (i can say that my source is from manchester but i am very much a scot)) and im so curious as to where your dialect is from? we are very much south east central which is a shite name for it but ach well, wbu? where aboots ye fae?

- sam (she/her, fully understands if you ignore this ask lmao)

So, I'm going to answer this as best as I can since I'm still honestly learning about myself to begin with.

I am the product of the hosts love fer Scotland and the fae. I believe I am loosely based off of some Scottish character from our childhood but have no personal memory of who. (No I don't think it was Merida.) And the host often loved fairies, fae, and magicks. So... now ya add all that up into a hyperfixation in an emotionally abusive household... and ya get me. The caregiver who used "magick", more just pretended for them, to protect them from them from the world.

So as for where my dialect is from... I don't know. I suppose if I could give an example, it is similar to how Merida speaks. The way I pronounce things and such. I do use words, when speaking, like shite, cannae, donnae. I don't really say aboot, it's just a bit softer than how Americans say about. I don't always type the way I speak as I generally want to make the way I type accessible unless I'm just talking to friends. So I'm not sure where my dialect would be considered. I was created from ideas and hyperfixations... sadly not based off of a person or facts so it makes it a bit hard to explain who I am.

Fae wise... well I haven't explored that part of me yet. I just know I am. It's frustrating still trying to learn who you are in a system. Like I have to put a lot of effort into unlocking chapters...

My apologies for the late response, I don't come out very often due to how Charlie has improved recently.

(And as of lately they are again questioning if they have DID or something that may be similar? They'll probably post about it.)

-💙

[zebedeezing]

Inside Job S2 spoilers

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I thought I was going to be disappointed about Rand from the trailer S2 clips, that showed he was was mostly going to use his cognito position to get Tamiko and Reagan back on his side, instead of flexing his power more or causing more choas against the black robes and the world.

But I watched season 1 and season 2 earlier back to back. And honestly I think the wait between seasons made me forget some of Rand's better moments and his desperation for Reagan to still appreciate him. Don't get me wrong he was a neglectful father at best and an emotionally abusive father at worst, but I think at the very least he knows that he was.

Like the season 1 ending, now that it's fresher in my memory, felt like he was doubling down because he got found out for wiping Orin and molding Reagans future, acting like he doesn't care that this is upsetting his daughter even though he spent most of the time in Reagans mind trying to shield her from what he did. I don't think he's blind or even that purposefully blind to the fact he's been a shite dad- but the main problem is how adamant he is that that was the old Rand and now things can go back to "normal". Normal - being what he's always wanted instead of what's right.

Cause I watched S2 right after, I'm more accepting of how much he tried to get Tamiko back for most of the season; it feels like he was overcompensating to be seen as successful as a leader but also as a man - the next step in his mind probably would have been getting Reagan to let him in again cause it would be proof that he's 'completely different now and I have your mum back' and all that. I get the vibe, especially by the end of the season, that he'll only have proper confirmation that he's a guy worthy of basic care from himself when he finally, unquestionably (in his view) feels appreciated by everyone he cares about- which was always gonna fail.

The project reboot ending sort of cemented it. I loved that moment between him and Reagan so much, and his anxious desperation in trying to get love from his family like he'd attempted through the season, but this time with dangerous consequences and in solitude where he can't think to look after himself until he's achieved his goal, hit hard and in a way hit close to home.

I'm glad Reagan didn't forgive him for all his old or new shitty behaviour, and I'm very glad that generally this show doesn't undermine what Reagan went through by trying to prove Rand isn't so bad after all or anything like that. But I think it was the best arc conclusion I can think of that she told him he wouldn't have to do it alone, encouraged him to try and shut down the machine and afterwards got him safe - and fairly, subsequently imprisoned with JR. It's the kind of calm, automatic support you feel when someone, especially a family member, who's hurt you so many times, is at their most self destructive moment, and despite everything you only want to help cause you still don't want to see them like that; it's gruesomely relatable.

I don't know if Rand will accept that he can't right a lot of his wrongs while he's a prisoner, but I really hope he does around next season. I still wish there was more moments of Rand being an egomaniac and even becoming more paranoid like he was alluded to being before JR fired him. But personally I'm okay with there being less angst in his arc, though I know some are more disappointed than me which is totally fair. I enjoyed this season and, hopefully, I'll be able to draw something nice for it lol.

Sorry for long read.

[saradika]

[masterlist]

This is the list of the incredible fics I’ve read and shared this month for the stardust reblog challenge! Includes ones read here and on my side blog, @eupheme (in case there’s any confusion!) 💖

TRIPLE FRONTIER

— hey batter batter by @ohheyitsokay

a beautiful triple frontier baseball au 💕

— delayed gratification by @softanon

Sending the TF boys lewds/nudes while they’re busy.

MARVEL & DC

— approach shift by @psithurista

Peter Parker is a weirdo. A hot, distracting, irritating weirdo. And you can't afford distractions right now. So there's only one thing to do. | tasm!peter parker x f!reader

— “ah, love, let us be true (to one another)” by @thaddeuscranes

he's stolen all your secret desires away, just like hes stolen your breath away—your heart. and he keeps everything safe in his chest. | alfred pennyworth x f!reader

— six stops by @lcvenderblues

It only takes six stops on the bus for Jake to become completely smitten with you (and then a seventh for him to notice). | jake lockley x gn!reader

— boots by @honestly-shite

You get caught in the crossfire even though Frank tells you to stay put. When cleaning his wounds, a joke turns into something serious. | frank castle x f!reader

STAR WARS

— country roads by @janghoefett

The happy couple embarks on a road trip to introduce Din to her family and takes a pit stop at a dive bar. | din djarin x f!reader

— marriage special (part 2) by @lesbobiwan

Part 2 of this request: "If you keep fucking me this good, I'll marry you." + Cody | cody x f!reader

— walk me home by @cyarbika

Wolffe comes back to Coruscant for the first time in a long time. | wolffe x ofc (cherise)

— comms by @mandelirious

a late night comm call | din djarin x reader

— “loving you has nothing to do with possessing you” by @princessxkenobi

softened dreams woven from the comfort of your morning meditation, brings both you and obi wan together - where loving reassurances can be felt | obi-wan kenobi x f!reader

— directions (poe’s pov) by @zinzinina

a scene from poe’s pov from the fic directions | poe dameron x f!reader

— a confession of a something he's not sure he heard by @loth-wolffe

prompt - I thought that I was dreaming when you said you loved me. - Ivy by Frank Ocean | wolffe x f!reader

— dust to dust ii: pearl rosary by @avarkriss

The pretty space hermit stops by to return a favor | obi-wan kenobi x f!reader

— slow dance by @0celesteisthebest0

slow dancing with din | din djarin x gn!reader

— brown eyes by @mandelirious

modern coffee shop au | din djarin x f!reader

— memories of breath, & anguish by @princessxkenobi

after anakin wakes from the torment of nightmarish visions, he flees to mustafar, leaning into the power of darkness, convinced that the blinding shadow of it all, could be his only way out… | anakin skywalker x f!reader

— an dui ré by @justanotherstarwarswhore

On the eve of the winter's solstice, a new threat has your town desperate for help. Little do you know, that the mysterious newcomer will change the trajectory of your life forever... | boba fett x f!reader

RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2

— observance by @william-butcher

In the quietness of a cooling summer evening, you see something you shouldn't have. | arthur morgan x f!reader

These fics are all so lovely - please check them out and please support these creators! 💖✨

[ladykatakuri]

Stardust Reblog Challange December Part 2

13th:

Think You Can Handle Me? 1/2 - Crosshair x AFAB!Reader by: @zoeykallus NSFW

The Last Mission - Jedi OC and Clone OC by: @arctrooper69 SFW

Dincember, December 1 - Gift by: @dindjarindiaries SFW

25 Days of Life Day, Day 1 - Cody x Reader Tree Decorating by: @ladysongmaster SFW

25 Days of Lifeday 2 - Hot Cocoa and Fire Place Cuddles with Rex - Rex x Reader by: @kaminocasey SFW

The Toothpick Incident - Crosshair x F!Reader by: @zoeykallus SFW

Gar Cyare Chapter 8 - Alpha 17 x F!Reader by: @wanderinginksplot SFW

Dincember: December 2 - Snow by: @dindjarindiaries SFW

25 Days of Life Day - Hot Cocoa and Fireplace Cuddles - Rex x Reader by: @ladysongmaster SFW

In Time - Tup x Reader by: @kaminocasey NSFW

25 Days of Life Day 3 - Sledding with Gregor by: @kaminocasey SFW

Echo x F!Reader by: @twistedstitcher27 NSFW

Eya Episode VIII - Eya ( and several OCs )by: @galacticgraffiti SFW

Take My Memory: Bonsoir Ch. 7 - Gregor x F!OC Cassia Nu by: @kaminocasey SFW

Meeting the Prodigal Daughter - Count Dooku and Y/N Jinn ( Reader ) by: @monako-jinn-stories SFW

25 Days of Life Day 3 - Soup, Sandwiches and Snow - Gregor x Reader by: @ladysongmaster SFW

Dincember: December 3 - Gloves by: @dindjarindiaries SFW

Caught Ya - Wrecker x Reader by: @kaminocasey SFWish

25 Days of Life Day 4: Decorating the House with Wolffe - Wolffe x Reader by: @kaminocasey SFW

Snowy Retreat - Hunter x F!Reader by: @zoeykallus SFW

Holding On - Hunter x F!Reader by: @nahoney22 SFW

25 Days of Life Day 4 : The Light of the Season - Wolffe x Reader by: @ladysongmaster SFW

Dincember: December 4 - Fire by: @dindjarindiaries SFW

25 Days of Life Day 5: Iceskating with Hunter and Omega by: @kaminocasey SFW

Captain Gregor x Physician F!Reader by: @twistedstitcher27 NSFW

I Will Always Wait for You 15 - Frankie Morales x F!Reader by: @musings-of-a-rose Mature

Inspiration - ARC Trooper Echo x F!Reader by: @wild-karrde NSFW

Walk Me Home Ch.7 - Wolffe x F!OC Cherise by: @cyarbika SFW

Dincember: December 5 - Cold by: @dindjarindiaries SFW

14th:

Security - Honor(Interlude) - Din Djarin x F!OC Astra by: @dindjarindiaries SFW

Cheeky Flashing - TBB x F!Reader by: @nahoney22 Suggestive

Snow, Gifts, Sweets and Life Day - TBB & Rex & Fives x F!Reader HC`s by: @zoeykallus SFW

25 Days of Life Day 6- Making Fudge with Tech - Tech x Reader by: @kaminocasey SFW

About Strange Turn Ons and Love Boners - TBB x Reader HCs by: @zoeykallus Suggestive

Permission to Dance - Tech x F!Reader by: @nahoney22 SFW

Dincember: December 6 Hot Chocolate - Din Djarin x Reader by: @dindjarindiaries SFW

25 Days of Life Day 7 - Life Day Lights Display with Echo - Echo x Reader by : @kaminocasey SFW

The Cover of Night - Marc Spector/Steven Grant x F!Reader by: @interstellarwraith SFW

The Gym Membership 15 : Echo - Echo x F!OC by: @imabeautifulbutterfly SFW

Dincember: December 7 Blanket - Din Djarin x Reader by: @dindjarindiaries SFW

25 Days of Life Day 8 - Decorating Gingerbread Houses with Wrecker - Wrecker x Reader by: @kaminocasey SFW

Dealing with their kids broken hearts - TBB HCs by: @zoeykallus SFW

Seeing Blue (AU) - Cad Bane x GN!Reader by: @nahoney22 SFW

Dincember: December 8 Candle - Din Djarin x Reader by: @dindjarindiaries SFW

Accidently Inflicted Pains - TBB & Cody x F!Reader by: @zoeykallus NSFW

25 Days of Life Day 9 - Decorating Firepuncher as a Joke for Crosshair - Crosshair x Reader by: @kaminocasey SFW ( suggestive language )

Sun and Rain: Age of the Empire Ch10 - The Crash - Hunter x F!OC Kimber by: @photogirl894 SFW



Taglist: @imabeautifulbutterfly@chaoticvampirejedi@hellothere-generalangsty@cyroku@reluctant-mandalore@uponrightful@zinzinina@saradika@galacticgraffiti@ashotofspotchka@dindjarindiaries@dinbeskarbaby@djarrex@djarinsbeskar@rowansparrow@photogirl894@rigelmoonshine@rigel-the-moonstrider@nahoney22@loth-wolffe@neon-junkie@bobafetts-princess@cyarbika@charnelhouse@zoeykallus@kin-rokku@jgvfhl@honestly-shite@here-comes-the-moose@dindjarindiaries@firstofficerwiggles@fictional-men-ruin-lives @ladysongmaster @lozalot @moonstrider9904@lorjukka@m-o-o-n-s-g-o-o-n-s @rain-on-kamino @monako-jinn-stories @middimidoris @wild-karrde @cross-my-heartt

[caralara]

Ugh I really hoped things would get better but I just saw that banana just followed matt vinegar (sorry I'm a bit drunk lol, Saturday nightt✨)

Aaanyways it's shitee and it's gonna be a shit showww 🥴🤪

lmaooo anon same bestieeee 🫶🏼🫶🏼 I’m at my little brothers graduation party and a few G&Ts in so I’m not that serious and honestly laughing about the whole mess… them following feels like smth bigger is coming tho. Let’s see! At this point I kinda want to bleach out the memory of experiencing him stunting in real life like I was front row last year in LA and it was just so super fucking cringe lmaoooo

[medtech-mara]

It’s Monday (well I made this post on Monday still counts), so that means I’m legally allowed to spew a long winded post about this man, my first male OC Jack Adams.

Jack was visually made possible with the help of CyberNeutral. They helped me with making a few men for my campaign and kinda helped me how to make men better, though, I’ll never be their level. Somehow I was able to throw are shit that made NO SENSE, but delivered exactly the man I’ve been picturing.

To say I’m obsessed with this man, is an understatement. For MONTHS, I had been coming up with possibilities of how thing would end for them. I thought surely, when Jago died, that might have shook Mara and brought her back to Jack, but no. Through it all she stood tough, strong, and nearly unshaken. I won’t lie and say there hasn’t been moment where she panicked over her mortality ending at any given second. You’d think she wouldn’t leave so much unsaid if it were the case, but Mara is too careful.

I thought, Mara wakes up and realizes she doesn’t want to be some corpo’s pawn, she’s hand over everything she knows to her brother and throws Night raid under the bus, and falls into Jack’s arms at the end of the day, now employeed with Maxtac. But, she never caved, until seconds before his passing, where she was going to throw everything away to be with him, to keep him safe but it was too late.

I mourned for his passing, way longer than I should have, but I’d come to love this man, as Mara. I could feel how much she cared for him, and how much guilt she carried for leaving things the way they were.

Jack deserved better than how Mara had treated him the last few months. She knew it, she told herself “after this gig, if I survive. I’ll tell him everything.” But little did she know, that Jack would never get to hear everything. Hearing that she was already sold to Maxtac by striking a deal with Jack’s brother Jayce. (Yes I know I call Jayce HER brother, but if you don’t know it’s due to her being adopted into the Adam’s family). Was really what broke Jack’s heart. He’d lost her, lost her to her own worse tendencies, he knew it. The Mara Rivera Alvarez-Guererro, he knew, was dead. Lost to her own cyberpsychosis and Jayce signed the death certificate by bringing her into Maxtac. The woman he loved, no longer stood beside him, she was just a walking memory, a painful one of his failures to keep her safe.

Jack left behind a empty space that his ghost haunts to this day. When I think of Blue Remedies Health Clinic, I don’t think of Mara. I think of Jack scooting out on his officer chair to see if it was Mara who walked in, I hear Jack’s low singing voice from the kitchenette in the office of his favorite song (yes, it is despacito) as he finished making his 3rd cup of coffee of the morning.

This man was/is extremely special to me, & I had never felt such a love for my own OC’s before. I’ve always seen them as disposable and I’ve always been willling to send them to the butchers block, but Mara and Jack, are the first OC’s I’ve ever made that I deeply cared for, and it was so unexpected too. I just thought this would be like any other TTRPG experience I’ve had. I was so wrong, and I’m so glad to have these two extreme unique and beautifully human blorbos to have come from my shite brain.

I could go on more, but honestly, I’ve already said too much, I can’t spoil things for my story.

[risu5waffles]

What... what? So... blah blah, new crummier telly, blah blah whatever. Why did getting a smaller telly change the aspect ratio on my screenshots and video, tho'? Is that a normal thing that i just never noticed because i had no basis of comparison?

Ok, maybe this isn't wacky, maybe this is normal, but, like, when i recorded before (luckily i still have some footage from episodes previous to everything going to tits in the bad way to compare or i'd probably be even more fucked up wondering if my memory was fucking wiv me) there'd always be a black frame around the entire image. So i'd need to zoom in during editing. 104% for the title bumper (because a little black frame looks nice there), and 109% for the actual game footage (and takeaway bit if it was a LittleBite-sizedPlanet episode), 'cause i didn't want any thing but the level itself on the screen then. This actually caused me to lose just a little bit of the edges, because the perfect size to get rid of the border wivout losing anything is probably somewhere between 108% and 109% zoom, but ShareFactory doesn't let you get that granular.

Anyway, i did some recording today, was setting up my titlecards. Imported the screenshot to LBP for it, and it just had these wee black stripes at top and bottom, not the chonky frame i was used to. i went out to my capture gallery to compare old shots/videos and these new ones, and, yeah, sure enough, all the new ones just have the bits on top and bottom. It's not, like, a major change that'll fuck up my work or anything, but after having a habit of production for seven years, it honestly fucking threw me for a whole minute.

Of greater frustration (tho' at least i know what the issue is here), the speakers on this thing are absolute shite. i had enough problems listening to my voice before, but after so long, i'd kind of come to terms wiv how i sound, and if i couldn't bring myself to quite like it, on good days it was tolerable. Now it's like listening to myself through a tin can, and... whoo doggies, it's not fun. At least i can toss on some headphones to deal wiv that.

[flowers-all-around-me]

My memory is pretty shite but I still have to take my Vitamin D supplements daily. So somehow, to combat this, I built a habit of taking it with my coffee (fat dissolvable vitamins whaddup).

And to prevent double-dosing myself, I decided to just write on the entire thing of capsules, labelling what date I should take which one. And honestly, I feel like I am much more consisten with it than before! Yay small tricks!

[and-i-said-fewer]

HI THERE I SAW YOUR TAGS FREAKING OUT ABOUT ELBOW ON MY GERASKIER PLAYLISTS AND !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

little fictions is the only album I know by heart cover to cover, but I certainly enjoy the others!

SERIOUSLY THOUGH

WHENEVER I SEND ANYONE AN ELBOW SONG REC IN THE CONTEXT OF A CHARACTER THEY ALWAYS SAY THEYD NEVER CONSIDERED IT BEFORE AND I HONESTLY THOUGHT IT WAS JUST ME HAVING A NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS MOMENT

you’ve made my day

holyyyyyy shittt im so sorry i didn’t see this before but it’s only *checks watch* well over a month late !! (sorry.) but yEA my mancunian friend introduced lil american me to elbow and theyve topped my spotify wrapped (yes even above tad) the past two years lol their stuff means a lot to me and is also So Good

but fs like. again i would Not ever insinuate that elbow is Niche or Unpopular—literally played the olympics etc etc—but i do think that they aren’t necessarily in The Minds Of Fandom™️ very much. but MAN they have such a great discography and sm good songs it’s like *makes aggressive grabby claws at the air* so much potential!!!! overlooked!! unseen!! (yes i’m being dramatic. not sorry)

anyways if anyone who sees this listens to elbow PLEASE hmu i love talking abt elbow songs

aaaaannndd uuuhhhhh 👉🏽👈🏽 hopefully not beign too pushy but uhhh. if anyone here wants some fandom related recs……. i’ll just throw out a couple so i’m not being Too Much but:

hotel istanbul [listed as a non-album track under the seldom seen kid (bonus tracks version) album on spotify] - oh my god if anyone listens to One [1] song i write here PLEASE let it be this one. every time i scroll through geraskier playlists and don’t see this song i feel Robbed. to me it feels sooooo them but no one else knows about it and i lose my mind. idk if musically it fits everyone’s vibe check but Lyrically. holy fuck holy shit. like to my understanding it’s abt a guy who’s havin a shite day but this other person’s presence makes them feel better or smthn??? anyways it’s fuckinnnn haaghhh i’m- it literally goes “damn your eyes / so blue” LIKE????? i lose my mind over this song in geraskier context every time someone Please listen to it and tell me if i’m going insane or not

puncture repair [under leaders of the free world album] - man i love this lil guy sm. diff energy from hotel istanbul but i see this one as the quieter geraskier moments, the travelling together for 20 years. it’s so quiet, it’s so routine, it’s motions that are muscle memory, it’s care etched in creases, it’s thoughts traced through nerves for the thousandth time. also works from either pov i think

bones of you [under the seldom seen kid album] - i think?? this could be a yennefer song??? either abt istredd or just like her past life. also sonically i rlly like the vibe for her, dunno if anyone else’d agree w that tho

audience with the pope [under the seldom seen kid album] - ok honestly i dont know if this one’s very accurate since i wouldnt call myself an arbiter of quality yen&geralt vibes, but i do think of them when i listen to this song so,,? do with that what u will

anyway i have oodles and oodles of these but these ones that r like, supported lyrically the best ig??? sorta?? maybe not but yea ive got elbow-witcher song thoughts for Days but the other ones are maybe more vibes-based so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ but if anyone’s intrigued…… i mean hmu

[whataperfectwasteoftime]

Hello Penny! For the fic write asks, number 4, 36, and 41!

Happy Halloween! 🎃

🌸 anon

Happy belated Halloween, 🌸 anon!!!! I hope you had a good one! Me, I had too many children over, and the grown-ups got rather sauced. It was fun!

4. What detail in [insert fic] are you really proud of?

It's weird how I'm ridiculously proud of lots of details as I write them, but when you ask me this, I forget everything I've ever written in my life. Due to recent memory bias, my current favorite detail is the name of the exhibition in my forniphilia fic (Forniphilia: the Eroticism of the Inanimate) which is exactly the type of pretentious, vague name you'd see at an exhibition, tbh. My years in academia have served me well.

36. Do you visualize what you read/write?

Almost always, and it affects how hard/easy it is to write. If I can picture the scene I want to write like a movie playing out in my head, the words just fall out of me onto the page. This is the ideal scenario. If I only have a vague idea of what it looks like, the writing goes slower and I skip around a lot as my brain jumps around the scene. If I'm desperately trying to connect two scenes but don't know how to do it, I just cry and hope for the best. :D

41. Link a fic that made you think, “Wow, I want to write like that.”

J.F.C., so many, but I'd be remiss if I didn't link the fic (again) that made me start writing in the first place, Notes on Tutoring by @honestly-shite, who is probably getting tired of me saying this over and over. But---go read this fucking fic. And then come yell at me about in my DMs, I never get tired of screaming about Notes.

The other author who gives me major "oh this is a real writer and I have no idea what I'm doing vibes" is @radiowallet, and I could link to her ENTIRE masterlist for examples of this but some of the ones that stand out in my mind as "Holy Shit Oh My God The Prose" fics are Like a River and Funny Girl. Not a single word is wasted in these, not a single description without meaning and purpose.