#I think it’s funny I’ve got a similar name to someone in game

[katfreaks-hidyhole]

Am steadily progressing through Pokemon Violet, and am having fun. My Lili has gotten super strong 💚

Also, my character is called Thyme R :)

[ironunderstands]

Fu Xuan X Qingque is fucking peak IN THIS ESSAY I WILL-

Today I’m gonna yap about how underrated this absolutely incredible ship is, and why I love it, so sit back and enjoy because I have THOUGHTS. Also, thank you so much to @cosmicquilt on tumblr for providing me their own insight into it, as well as a place for me to begin, I really do appreciate it! 

Before I go in depth on them, I think their status as *package deal do not separate* is really funny and cute, and I’m surprised people don’t point it out more with just how obvious it really is.

Here’s some example’s I’ve collected (thank you quilt for the first two screenshots!) 

This is from the food event in 2.0, and to me it seems like Fu Xuan bought it out of curiosity, then Qingque had some and got messy because of it.

They are also together in the Penacony mural thing (just like Aventio hehe), and you can see Qingque reaching towards a gambling machine while Fu Xuan pulls her back, as if she predicted the other would immediately make a beeline towards the machines, and had to prevent that from happening. 

Today Is Another Peaceful Day is the name of the lightcone shared between them, whose description is quite comical.

Fu Xuan did infact find her again, she is angry and the sweets Qingque bought to placate her don’t seem like they are going to do much 😭.

Qingque also makes an appearance in Fu Xuan’s trailer, which only tends to happen when characters have an established close relationship or connection (like Dan Heng appearing in Blade’s)

Their team joining voicelines also match perfectly- in fact they tell a pretty funny story of yet another time Fu Xuan goes to look for Qingque, who’s supposedly slacking off again.

This also implies that Fu Xuan knows Qingque well enough at this point to guess accurately where she would be hiding and when she would leave, which is adorable and honestly really funny. 

Overall, on a surface level, their Looney Tunes dynamic is incredibly entertaining and endearing, making their relationship rather lighthearted and sweet. Girlboss X Girlfailure is always fun to watch and a personal favorite in ships for me is when one character has to deal with the other’s antics (you know who :3). I also think it’s a good way to set up a developing relationship, as they get closer and closer together each time they play this game of cat and mouse, which is something that is demonstrated by the game.

So, let’s look at them a little deeper now.

Within the quest, Omniscient Inquiry of Arcana, which is found within the main Xianzhou quest line, we see firsthand how much Fu Xuan actually trusts Qingque. 

Even if Qingque is often unreliable, Fu Xuan is not at all surprised that she is the one who helped bring the Nameless to her, as Fu Xuan knows she can bet on Qingque to come through with her responsibilities when she needs to.

The thing is, Qingque is lazy, but she is by no means incompetent, and gets all her work done on time. Moreover, Fu Xuan knows this better than anyone, especially considering she’s the one who has to go looking for Qingque when she slacks off 90% of the time (something which she doesn’t have to do, she could delegate someone else to do it yet every time Fu Xuan personally sees the matter done). 

So, even if Qingque is just a librarian, instead of fetching someone else to help, Fu Xuan also has her restart the base terminals for the Matrix of Presence, because she knows and trusts Qingque to be capable of it, almost without a second thought. 

Even if the task at hand isn’t particularly difficult, and Fu Xuan could easily do it herself, she lets herself be lazy and trusts Qingque to do so, as I will get into further, they are far more similar than Fu Xuan realizes.

In the quest line prior, Qingque also describes just how much she in turn believes in Fu Xuan, stating that even if the sky were to collapse, she could count of Fu Xuan attempting to hold it up- and she makes fun of Fu Xuan for being short despite being of similar stature.

A remark such as that illustrates how time and time again, Qingque has witnessed Fu Xuan put her all into protecting the Xianzhou and its people, which has earned Fu Xuan Qingque’s utmost respect, even if that doesn’t stop her from slacking off from time to time.

As funny as their dynamic is, the genuine trust they display in one another is heartwarming, and as much as they annoy one another (or really as much as Qingque bothers Fu Xuan with her antics), they truly do have faith in each other. Continually, Qingque’s awareness of the burden’s Fu Xuan has to carry slots her into a unique role of being one of the few people who could support her in a time of need.

Which is exactly what we get to witness in the Heliobi event.

Fu Xuan gets possessed and fire’s Qingque because of it, who isn’t too upset about it as admittedly her tendency to slack off was waisting her life. 

However, she attempts to give a speech to drag Fu Xuan out of her possession, attempting to mask it as her desire to not be fired disgracefully, but really she just wanted to break Fu Xuan out of the illusion. 

Unfortunately, Fu Xuan isn’t having it, and spouts a lot of stuff to the ghostbusting gang, expressing that her former attempts to change the Xianshou’s fate were futile, and that destiny is unavoidable and unchangeable, and that human’s desires to resist it are pointless.

Then, she makes the squad + QQ play a puzzle in which she controls all the outcomes, just to demonstrate how pointless the choices humans make, as they will always lead to the same result. To possessed Fu Xuan, choice is merely an illusion, a waste of time, and she cannot be convinced of it otherwise.

Until Qingque steps in. And perhaps the greatest demonstration of just how much she CARES for Fu Xuan plays out.

Qingque starts out by saying that the game Fu Xuan made them play is not an accurate representation of reality, and that the universe doesn’t have puzzles for them to solve. People have free will, and even if Qingque uses that will to slack off, those choices are still hers and still CHOICES. 

However Fu Xuan isn’t buying it, and this is when the core of why she was possessed in the first place gets revealed.

Qingque’s choices don’t have consequences, at least not far reaching as Fu Xuan’s do. But every action, every decision, every minute step in any direction that Fu Xuan takes could plunge the entire Xianzhou into chaos, and ruin EVERYTHING. 

So, Qingque proposes a new puzzle, hoping to be able to change Fu Xuan’s mind this time.

Qingque fails again this time, however Fu Xuan is starting to get an idea of what she’s getting and, and Qingque reiterates that there will always be more choices to make, even if the puzzles appear to only have one solution.

Therefore, she tries one last time.

Qingque shoves her own solution into the puzzle, her own way by drawing on the help of the ghostbusting squad, but still Fu Xuan cannot be convinced, believing instead that the thousands of different paths people take all lead to the same destination, so making choices is pointless.

However, that’s not what Qingque is getting at, and in perhaps the most heartfelt speech given in this game so far, she saves Fu Xuan, and demonstrates why her choices DO matter. Moreover, she does it in the most Qingque way possible- by explaining it through a comparison to Celestial Jade.

It’s not winning or the outcome that makes Celestial Jade fun, it’s the choices you get to make while you play it which is what makes it enjoyable. However, much like how even if the outcome of a game is predetermined, just because the universe’s destiny could be predetermined doesn’t mean people are aware of it, or that it even matters. Like in a game, in your life , you cannot control all the outcomes, but how you react to the twists and turns it throws your way, and the choices you make because of that, is what makes living worth it.

And if Fu Xuan’s choices didn’t matter, she wouldn’t be making them in the first place.  Perhaps she can’t prevent everything, and perhaps the universe really is weighted against her and the Luofu, but every day Fu Xuan makes decisions that help it stay around a little longer, that save a few more people, that buy a bit more time. The universe isn’t a game, and you can’t just determine your decisions to be meaningless because of some threatening ending that might never come to pass, and like Qingque says, Fu Xuan wouldn’t suffer the effort if what she works so hard for doesn’t mean anything. 

By reaffirming that destiny is an illusion, Qingque saves Fu Xuan and breaks her out of the Heliobi’s possession. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 

PROTECTIVE QINGQUE AAAAAARREAAAAA GRRRRRR TJEY ARE SO IN LOVE GRRRRR R SNANAKMZS AAAAAAA

Qingque tries to get out of work for good but Fu Xuan reminds her that Qingque reminded her that she had choices, and Qingque gets flustered and accepts her defeat.

What do you mean by that Fu Xuan, what do you mean by that, hmm? HMMM??? ELABORATE FU XUAN ELABORATE??? Sesbian lex???

So Qingque is in love with her boss and we all cheered, but don’t worry, and QQ also happens to get possessed by a Heliobus, and the way Fu Xuan behaves towards her is just as sweet and hilarious.

In her illusion, there’s a bunch of Fu Xuan clones who praise Qingque, much to the annoyance of Fu Xuan, who gets flustered and angry over it. Honestly I love just how many romance tropes that are displayed in their relationship, with this as a prime example. Like making a bunch of clones of your crush to praise you? Having Fu Xuan bear witness to exactly what makes Qingque happy (her praise)? The boss-employee dynamic getting reversed? I love it give me 500000. 

The nickname??? Oh you just know Qingque was waiting to call her that, infact she probably had it in her brain for a while, but just didn’t feel confident enough to do it in her previous power dynamic with Fu Xuan, so I wonder what else Qingque holds back from Fu Xuan because she doesn’t believe they are close enough for that. 

Ooh she’s mad mad GET ITS ASS FU XUAN YEAAAHHHH YEEAAH THATS WHAT YOU GET HELIOBUS HAHAHAHAHAH 

What if I ascended to another dimension? What if I left this mortal plane? What if Honkai Star Rail what if? What do you mean Fu Xuan is fussing over Qingque like a wife when her husband returns from war, what do you mean she goes, “As long as you’re okay,” then immediately is like “get back to work,” because she realized she was being too soft. What do you mean she fucking PATS QINGQUE ON THE HEAD AND LEAVES LIKE THAT???? 

I’m actually insane about this like how does nobody talk about them? The most peak relationship ever right there and I see NOTHING??? Like not only is it fucking hilarious with their game of cat and mouse they having going on with one another, but they truly just understand and adore each other even if both of them haven’t exactly realized it yet.

If I were to be 100% honest if you told me that speech Qingque gave to Fu Xuan in the Heliobi event was a confession one, then I would believe you because that was the most romantic shit ever. Like telling your companion in a time of need that their choices DO mean something and that they are such a capable individual whom everyone relies on, who YOU rely on?? If I was Fu Xuan I would have proposed right there I would have summoned up a ring I don’t care.

It’s just, I love relationships where two characters just GET one another inside and out, and FuQing is such a perfect example of it. Something about a trust that runs so deep that the two people who forged that bond don’t even realize it because of simply how long it’s persisted, like they’ve just acclimated to it because it’s been such a fixture of life for so long.

They are each other’s safety nets, and when one of them is in need, the other always delivers and UGHH IM INSANE ABOUT IT.

HOW DID THIS FLY UNDER PEOPLES NOSES??! HOW DID EVERYONE DO THE 1.5 EVENT AND NOT IMMEDIATELY START RUNNING LAPS AROUND THEIR HOUSE BECAUDE WHAT??? Literally that speech Qingque gives to Fu Xuan is one of my favorite scenes in the game, perhaps right behind the 1.6 Ratio-Screwllum scene and if you know me then you know how absolutely bonkers I am about that scene. It’s just so earnest and funny and it encapsulates the themes of HSR perfectly, with Qingque reiterating the overarching theme of the game: Trailblazing, ie moving forward with life no matter the destination (destiny), as it’s the choices you make along the way and the journey you take that matters.

Moreover, that’s what makes it so fucking good; it meshes perfectly with the overall story of the game. Despite how busy both of them are, despite how they often have higher priorities or could just go to other people or whatever, Qingque and Fu Xuan consistently choose one another, for both the most trivial and the most dire of situations. 

The road ahead for the Xianzhou is uncertain, but no matter how the path twists, Qingque and Fu Xuan will travel it side by side, and for that I will always adore them.

Thank you so much for reading! I fear I couldn’t be as intelligent about why I love this ship as I wanted to be, but I hope you at least got the idea a little bit haha. Maybe I’ll be able to me smarter about them one day but for now all my thoughts about them circle back to incoherent screaming. Honestly it’s probably because I like their dynamic far more than I like their characters standalone, so I can’t really bring that into the discussion, but perhaps with time I will be able to add onto this. For now though, all I’m hoping for is the wedding they deserve lol. 

[evanbuckleyrecs]

Buddie AUs over 20k

To catch up on recommending fics in my bookmarks, I'll also try to make some lists instead of posting one fic per post. Though some fics might also still get their own posts even while added in a list.

To start, here are some finished Buddie AUs with more than 20k words

(I made this list in March so it doesn't have any newer fics. Soon I want to spend a day dedicated to catching up to new fics and adding posts to my queue here)

what if you're someone I just want around by ReallySmartLadyMarieCurie

20k, Rated T

"Eddie pauses in his typing, glancing at Buck and trying to figure him out. He seems so eager to help and to please, so willing to take some of the burden in order to make others happy. It’s the sort of presence that Eddie’s been craving in his life. One that he’s missed since Shannon’s fatal accident. And he’s incredibly handsome. He’s got conventional good looks and a beautiful smile, but that pink little splotch above his eye, which Eddie guesses is a birthmark, is really what brings it home."

Or, Eddie Diaz is a successful boxer who's been making a big name for himself in recent years. Buck is a fan, but he certainly never expected to end up at Eddie's house after the man calls 9-1-1 when his son gets sick.

I love the way you spoil me, baby by rosebuddiekin

33,8K, rated E

“I, uh, I was actually at that coffee shop to meet with someone else. You see, for the past few years, I’ve been a sugar daddy on a site that connects people looking for similar things. I was supposed to meet with a prospective baby that day, but then I saw you. And I felt drawn to you, so I messaged the guy I was supposed to be seeing and told him I had to cancel. I just, I thought you should know. That I should be upfront about it from the start.”

Eddie’s fork drops to his plate, making a small clatter. He can feel that his mouth is agape. He’s very glad he hadn’t taken another bite or sip of anything while Buck spoke. Because what the actual fuck? Buck… is a sugar daddy.

OR: Buck is a sugar daddy who wants to spoil Eddie rotten and take care of everything for him. Eddie has never had that sort of relationship but is willing to give it a try. There is plenty of adventure along the way.

Sunny skies & summer high by prettyboybuckley

Sequel to a one shot, 43,8K, rated E


"Well, I kind of want to kiss you right now but that's usually something that happens at the end of a first date, right?" Buck asks, doing a weird movement with his eyebrows in an attempt to be funny.

Eddie chuckles, wrinkling his nose a little.

"I guess, yeah," he mutters. "Think we're doing this a little backward already anyway, so are there any rules to follow?"

He's got a point there, and even then Buck has never really been the kind of guy who follows rules, so he ends up leaning over the center console as he uses one hand to pull Eddie's face towards him. It's a short kiss, a simple peck hello that Eddie chases after when Buck pulls away again.

OR: Buck and Eddie sneak around behind Eddie’s family’s back, spend the summer together, smoke a lot of weed, and fall in love along the way

Kiss me before It's over (if only for a minute) by Bob_loblaws_lawblog

54,2K, Rated E

Evan Buckley is living out his childhood dream as the star hitter for the Philadelphia Phillies. He’s climbing the ranks, improving his stats with every single game – he’s unstoppable.

That is, until the Los Angeles Angels get a new pitcher seemingly out of nowhere. Known for his strong arm and tricky curve balls, Eddie Diaz is one of the few pitchers in the nation who consistently makes Buck strike out, and its infuriating. Even from the sixty feet that separate them between the batter’s box and the pitcher’s mound, the weight of Diaz’s gaze is enough to make Buck’s blood boil.

Because Buck doesn’t get nervous on game day, he never feels calmer than when he steps up to the plate with the bat in his hand – it’s where he belongs. But when he sees Eddie Diaz standing on that mound, his stomach flips and nerves spark across his skin.

Because if there is one thing Buck knows for sure, it is that he hates Eddie Diaz.

… Until he doesn’t.

Traded by princessfbi

23,7K, rated M

Really, it was Lena’s fault. She’d been the one to demand a video when Eddie had finally caved and sent an SOS to the group chat asking if anyone was willing to trade.

“Is anyone interested in trading jerseys with me? Preferably for a smaller size,” Eddie had said because knowing his coworkers, one of them would’ve been a smart ass and gave him an even bigger size. “I ordered an XL because I’m usually a XL but… the way it fits makes me look like I’m fucking one of the players.”

Eddie wasn't trying to go viral. He just wanted to trade his jersey. But then something called Booktok got involved.

Bartender!Eddie Diaz x Hockey Player!Evan Buckley

Snowed Inn by brewrosemilk

31,1K, rated M

Rivaling for a promotion, journalists Evan Buckley and Eddie Diaz get sent to a small town where they are each to write a piece on a once illustrious inn and its rich history. For two talented and overconfident authors, it sounds like an easy assignment - but in between a violent snowstorm, blocked roads, heated stares, and a struggling inn, Buck and Eddie may just have to abandon their rivalry and accept each other as partners.

Don't play games (come my way) by letmetellyouaboutmyfeels

43,1K, Rated E

Buck hates Eddie Diaz.

Ever since his publishing company and Eddie's merged, the man has been nothing but a pain in Buck's ass. The way he nitpicks all of Buck's company emails, the way he spends half his day bickering with Buck, the way he makes Buck's stomach flip and the way he's started haunting Buck's dreams... yeah, it's one hundred percent hate. Definitely. Buck's sure of it.

Because what the hell else could it be?

Falling slowly; sing your melody (I'll sing it loud) by princessfbi

55,3K, Rated E

Buck didn’t like him at first.

Eddie Diaz was all hard lines and strict rules with a bone structure that could cut through glass and scared away his fans. Which... if you asked Bobby, was the point but still!

He also yelled at Buck which was fine. It’s not like it hurt his feelings.

It didn’t.

It didn’t, Maddie!

It also definitely didn’t turn Buck on either. Nope.

Stop it, Maddie!

After a traumatizing home invasion, Bobby Nash decides to hire a bodyguard for his lead singer.

Musician!Buck Bodyguard!Eddie

More fics to be recommended soon!

[tyran-the-tyranical]

I’ve just realised something about one of Raphael’s employees..

Out of the three essential personnel that Raphael has one has always stuck out as odd to me; That being the Archivist.

First off, unlike Nubaldin or Korilla he doesn’t have a name. Even in Raphael’s logbook on his employees he’s just referred to as the Archivist. Secondly, his appearance, he’s a Mephistopheles’s tiefling and while not every tiefling has to have a strict color code they stick to, it’s funny how he’s red and not the associated blue.

Additionally, he’s specifically stated to have had his spine broken (most likely healed afterwards or just broken in places) due to “wandering”, as Raphael puts it in his logbook, he has a tendency to drift , which is obviously an extreme punishment for such a minor problem, yet compared to Nubaldin who let Gortash get away Raphael calls him a little shit and gives him a different job, and yes it’s presumed he was punished for his failure it’s never mentioned explicitly.

“Archivist - naughty boy, supposed to be looking after the collection, but has a tendency to drift. May have to start breaking his neck to give his spine a chance to recover.”

Now you may be wondering where I’m going with all this, and let me give you my big hypothesis; but first let’s look at this mf.

He has a very distinct look to him, yet still kinda a generic tiefling look; red skin, dark hair, etc. but there’s someone else who looks similar to him and this same person is also described as an Archivist.

“The arch devil Mephistopheles snatched up the crown and squirreled it away in one of his vaults. He is not more than a frigid archivist”

And in the DnD wiki, who else is described as having a generic classic infernal appearance?

“Mephistopheles played up his infernal image as much as possible, intentionally appearing as the classic archetype of a diabolical devil.”

Of course they’re not one to one, I believe Mephistopheles’s is usually depicted with much longer hair and white eyes but the likeness is totally there, like the facial hair… 💅

I also just think it’s perfect that he happens to be a Mephistopheles’s tiefling as well, really just driving the point home lol. Our home boy got some real big daddy issues for sure 😭 but also this is just a theory, a game theory lol

[gamebird]

The Soonercon Convention Report

I went to Soonercon this last weekend and I wanted to share what it was like in an attempt to encourage others to attend similar local events, for those who don't know what they're missing.

It’s a science fiction/fantasy convention held in Norman, Oklahoma every year. It has what I take as the standard scifi/fantasy convention events including: Dealer’s room where people sell stuff, gaming room where scheduled and pickup games are held at all hours of the convention, art show where you can buy fandom-related paintings, prints, or sculpture (or commission an artist if you have something special in mind), a costume contest, panels by authors, artists, media guests, and other folks, and various socializing events (a dance, a burlesque show, a drag show, a Star Wars parade, a philosophy discussion den, a cartoon watching event, crafting events, etc.)

The only thing Soonercon didn’t/doesn’t have that I’ve seen at other conventions is a con suite where snacks are available either at all hours or specified hours, and a designated media room playing classic shows 24/7. Plenty of other conventions also have party rooms or even a party floor of the hotel. Some will have live action role play events. Some will have a few big-name guests. Soonercon’s guests were smaller names like voice actors or the guy who played the hero of NeverEnding Story. If they had hardcore partying, it was kept well clear of the convention areas. I heard nothing of it.

There's a lot for everybody! I go to attend the panels. My son goes for the gaming room. My nephew goes for the cosplay. My spouse/partner goes to be supportive and present (also he meets up with a friend of his from that city who volunteers at the con or at least likes fandom). My daughter likes the merchandise, the gaming, and cosplay.

It’s a very relaxed vacation for us. We get a hotel room at the convention and all go our separate ways from that safe home base.

I thought I’d go over the various things I went to and some of my thoughts about them, to give a window on what a person might do:

Friday we arrived. I went through the dealer’s room in detail by myself, which was nice to do instead of speeding up or slowing down at someone else’s pace, or having them there calling my attention to whatever they wanted me to see. I bought some delicious pomegranate gummy fruit. I made preliminary arrangements with a leatherworker for some items.

I went through the art show, which I have never been to at the beginning of the show. The previous two years I showed up at the end and rushed through. I took my time again.

I also wandered the halls at liberty, with no agenda. I didn’t think much of the panels available that day, so I did other things. I did attend an author’s reading of horror fic. One of the stories was titled ‘Grindr’ by a gay man, featuring a gay character. As soon as he went over that, two of the six in his audience left. It was a good story. The other author read a bit of theirs (also good). And then we discussed. One of the things discussed was how this was Oklahoma and the very mention of gay sent two people out of the room. It was good and thoughtful conversation.

Later that evening, I attended a comedy panel that was ‘Am I The Asshole?’ with various heroes or villains of popular fan movies discussing if they were the asshole for their role in the plot of their respective media product. It was funny and a light end to the first day.

Saturday, we got up in time for ‘Cartoons with Cereal’ panel where we ate a couple weird over-sugared cereals while watching an 80s cartoon that featured transforming vehicles and masked/helmeted action figure type characters. After that, we went to a better breakfast, complimentary at the hotel plaza.

My first regular panel of the day was ‘Essential Sci-Fi Television’ where I was hoping to see if there were important shows I haven’t seen. Maybe? Maybe not? They talked a lot about the different flavors of Star Trek and the different ways people get into fandom. I didn't add anything new to my list, but I did get more emphasis that I really ought to watch The Expanse.

At 11, I went to a panel titled ‘How do I put THAT on my resume?’ about how to translate fan interests and skills into marketable descriptive terms that can get you hired. I attended not so much for myself, as I hope to never work again after my current job, but for my son and daughter and my attempts to give them advice on how to present themselves in the business world. I’d encouraged my son to go to this panel, but he went to the gaming room. It wasn’t a great panel – I think he made the right choice. But you don’t know these things until you attend them.

I had lunch and then attended a panel titled ‘I ship it!’ thinking it would talk about the range of shipping in fandom circles. And maybe it did, but mostly it was the panelists talking about rare pairs in anime fandoms – both fandom and characters unfamiliar to me. They were excited to talk about it. I managed to steer them into sharing their thoughts about why antagonists are often more interesting to pair with a hero than the designated side kick or another hero, and then a little about what fueled ship wars/fandom drama. It was good to hear, as always, that totally different fandoms have the same problems.

After that was ‘Libraries, Intellectual Freedom, and Book Challenges’ about what books were banned, why, how, and what efforts were going on or the attendees could undertake to oppose book bans. Afterward, I approached one of the panelists for her advice on finding a good Ursula LeGuin book since I hadn’t liked Always Coming Home, but did like Left Hand of Darkness. Turns out she was a core convention organizer. I sent her an email so she could send me a rec later and separately, I filled out a form to volunteer at the next con.

At 3 I went to early dinner with my spouse/partner and his local friend, who was the one who told me the panelist I’d talked to was high up in the convention hierarchy. At 4, I roamed the dealer's room again, finalized things with the leatherworker, and bought a bunch more delicious candy.

At 5 I had a panel titled ‘LGBT+YOU, Discuss the Plus’. Given the conversation the day before with the gay horror author, I was particularly interested. Also, the panel was focusing mainly on the queer identities other than LGBT – asexuals, aromantics, pansexuals, polyamorous, etc. I found it something of a relief to see them stumble and fail to define an aromantic relationship in a way that differentiated it from non-aromantic ones. The panelists varied from early-30s to mid-60s, some partnered, some not. It was lovely to hear people’s experiences with living queer in Oklahoma.

At 6 I attended ‘Fandom Life vs Long-Term Illnesses’ but found it not super helpful. It was mostly about arthritis and diabetes, neither of which are issues I have. But I listened and learned a bit. I enjoy these authentic little windows into other people’s lives.

I attended the costume contest for the rest of the night, which was a big event with a stage show and a music act. My fave costume won! Even cooler, someone I knew was announced as winner of the Fashion Show which was an informal or less formal contest they’d had earlier in the day. I was thrilled for them.

That night at 1:11 am, someone set off the fire alarm, but it was quickly squelched. Still, everyone woke up. Later sleuthing turned up that it was a person attempting to smoke inside their hotel room.

Sunday! We had a nice breakfast again. My first panel of the day was ‘Hollow Humanism?’ talking about utopia, dystopia, and the philosophy of humanism – what were the things that prevented us from making a better world? I had hoped for stuff I could incorporate into my headcanons for Preservation or the Corporation Rim. Not so much.

Then I went to ‘Fandom – The Next Generation’ which was not about Star Trek but instead about the intergenerational fandom experiences of the panelists. I found this not very helpful. Those weren’t my families. It wasn’t about how to interest my kids in fandom (not that I needed that – they’re into it) or how I could better relate to their interests (something I was very interested in). I asked a few questions trying to guide it toward what I wanted, but the panelists really wanted to tell the audience about their lives. So. I listened.

At noon my group packed and checked out of our rooms.

But we hung around as there was a panel at 1 pm I wanted to attend, ‘Neurodivergent Characters in Fantasy and Anime’. Alas, they did not discuss Murderbot. In fact, they didn’t discuss specific characters or genres at all. Instead, they discussed neurodivergent representation in general, mindfulness, coping strategies, dealing with negative social pressures to conform, masking, exhaustion, career intersectionality, disabled rep, and a lot of things I was equally interested to hear about. So that was neat!

At 2, there was a panel about ‘Oklahoma in Fandom Media’ that I attended half of. It was fun to hear the various filming projects and other media mentions Oklahoma featured in. I left halfway through to help our group depart.

And so we drove home. It was a delightful, low-stress vacation. Lots of viewpoints. Lots of experiences. It was lovely seeing people face-to-face and getting such different impressions. It’s a very different experience than Tumblr or discord or streaming. I would very much recommend it to all of you! Get out and meet people in person in your area. Talk to them. Listen to their stories. Find out what they have to share. Share a bit of yourself in turn.

[mrsbsmooth]

Suzi, now… before the reveal I NEED you to rank the islanders based on their names and resumes (we mostly have similar opinions Id love to see your prospective)

Oh you NEED it well then okay I guess I gotta do it 😂 y’all wild.

Note: this does NOT indicate which LI I’m going for this season. I’m waiting for the rest of the sprites because I’m ✨ shallow ✨

Anyway, here you go!

(Hope this doesn’t come back to bite me in the ass)

Season 8 islanders ranked worst to best

Based on nothing but their applications

#8 Sports Physio (Jack)

Cyclist. Last place.

#7 Wedding planner (Emel)

Hannah/Juliet hybrid. Thinks she knows everything about love. “Can always tell when a couple aren’t right for each other”, now wouldn’t that be convenient if you’re coupled with someone she wants??? It sucks because she sounds so smart and cultured and I hope she’s nice, but I just have a feeling they’re gonna make her the villain.

#6 Acrobat (Sophie)

She could be interesting, but she’s screaming “I’m quirky! Look at me! Want to watch me do a handstand?” Like come on, at least Rohan had a personality outside of his job. It might end up being endearing like Tim with his rap career but somehow I don’t see it happening. I hope not though because I do so love the Irish.

#5 Cat Cafe Manager (Luna)

Idk what it is about her she just sounds laaaaaaame. And this is coming from someone with a cat who adores them more than life itself. One of those people who makes coffee their whole personality, you know??? I feel like she’s gonna be Thabi from S4 but without the personality quirks that made her unique.

#4 Firefighter (Oakley)

He sounds a little boring but I have a feeling he is going to be like, next level hot. Like NEXT LEVEL hot. I’m immediately picturing Blaze from Love Is Blind (Netflix Game) and if he is I might die. 6’3!?!?!?!? Strong silent type, Jake Wilson-esque, might be our “slow burn” (😏) of the season because I feel like one of the girls is gonna latch her claws into him like that cat he saved and NEVER LET GO.

#3 Underwear Model (Jin)

Don’t get me wrong, he’s gonna be hotter than the sun, but honestly his personality is just boring to me. It might be how it’s written, but the whole “I’m funny because I tell you I’m funny” is getting a bit old. I hope he’s got a serious/romantic side to him (a la Bruno 🥰) otherwise he’s gonna get on my nerves real quick (a la Bryson 🤢).

#2 Dentist (Claudia)

I’ll be honest I’ve already seen her sprite and holy moly mother of Mary she is a STUNNER. I already know MC is gonna have nothing on her, but she’s gonna be stuck in friendship couples for her whole time in the villa because she’s a female LI. This also means she’s probably a bestie option. She seems so smart and funny, and it seems like she doesn’t take things too seriously. She’s gonna be fanfic fodder for sure.

Drumroll:

#1 Travel Photographer (Theo)

Not only is this one of my favourite names, it’s also one of my weaknesses. Greek men. Y’all saw me last season demanding Cassius and it didn’t eventuate so if Theo is as hot as he sounds I might pass away. The reformed player vibe is doing it for me so I’m REALLY looking forward to seeing if he’s all that. If nothing else he sounds like he’s going to be a huge source of entertainment and will probably get himself into a lot of trouble 😂

[heloflor]

After getting into Mario with a more “fandom” kind of mindset, and more specifically getting a bigger interest in the RPG games, something that amuses me a lot are the people in youtube comments trying to argue that the Koopalings aren’t Bowser’s children.

Like, don’t get me wrong, I know Miyamoto retconned their link to Bowser. But the funny thing is, even to this day, Nintendo themselves are still writing those kids as if they were related to Bowser !

Seriously :

- In New Super Mario Bros Wii and Wii U, the Koopalings are attacking the castle along with Junior/Bowser, thus putting them on the same level of importance as Bowser and his son. The ending cutscenes do the same thing, especially the one in Wii U that just screams “they’re a family”. Plus, all the Koopalings serve as world bosses, which was kinda Junior’s role in DS, yet again putting them on the same level.

- In New Bros U, they all have their own ship. The only character to have a ship with their face on it before had always been Bowser.

- As I’ve seen someone point out in a comment section, the Koopalings are different skins of Junior in Smash Ultimate, again putting them on the same level as Bowser’s son. They might also be skins of Junior in Mario Maker 2 but I’m not sure on this one.

- In New Bros 2, they’re using a giant clown car, which is implied to belong to Bowser as Bowser and Junior are the only ones with a recurring clown car and Junior’s is too small. I doubt Bowser would let just about anybody use his car.

- On top of that, each has their own clown car in Smash.

- You know that icon/logo of his head thing that Bowser has (the one we see in games like 64 when we die) ? Bowser Junior had had one for a while now and more recently each Koopaling were given one (I think you can see them at Nintendo World in Bowser’s castle ?).

- Since they were originally created as Bowser’s children, they’re the same type of Koopa as him, and that fact hadn’t been changed in recent years. Hell, outside of Ludwig in Mario World and the fights in Superstar Saga, the Koopalings are never shown to breath fire, yet in the remake of Superstar Saga, they chose to keep the fire breath (except for Ludwig ironically enough). They could’ve easily removed the fire breath to make them more similar to Boom Boom, especially since Boom Boom has recently been shown with spikes on his shell, but they chose to keep this ability. Granted their shell plastron is different from Boom Boom, but that’s another design change Nintendo could make to set them apart from Bowser (giving them the same shell as Boom Boom to make it seem like they’re the same species, instead of keeping them as “Royal Koopas”).

In short, the Koopalings’ design wasn’t changed after the retcon, making them, Bowser and Junior the only members of that specific type of Koopa, thus implying they might be related. It’s also not helped by them having magic (which only Magikoopas and Bowser have) + being high-ranked members of the army. They might also be the only minors in the army, which raises a few eyebrows as to how they got the job (why would Bowser hire a bunch of children/teenagers to put in charge of his army ? Granted some like Ludwig, Roy and Wendy might be adults by now but I can’t bring myself to see Lemmy and Larry as anything other than teenagers).

- Saw a video of the bosses in Paper Mario Color Splash, and the minions (paratroopas) address Ludwig as “your evilness”, which is pretty reminiscent to how Bowser is called by his army, most notably by Kamek (“you grouchiness”, stuff like this)

- Baby Bowser and Bowser Jr are referred to as “young master” by Kamek. In the RPGs, the Koopalings are sometimes called “master [name]” (and “mistress Wendy”) when talked to individually. Note that both this point and the previous one are for the English version tho, not the Japanese one (no idea how they’re called in Japan).

- There’s that one Super Mario Adventures comic made in the 90s that was apparently re-released a few years ago (something like 2017-2018 ?), aka well after Nintendo retconned the kids’ relationship with Bowser (around 2012). Yet, in this comic, at least in the English version, the Koopalings are explicitly said to be Bowser’s children, with him saying he wants to marry Peach so they can have a mom + the kids calling him dad. And I don’t think they changed this dialogue in the re-release ?

- Bowser Jr’s Journey. Just, Bowser Jr’s Journey. After seeing all the cutscenes of this game, it is a crime that those kids aren’t related ! Hell there’s literally a moment where Junior pulls out the “I’ll tell dad !” card on Roy ! And let’s not forget stuff like the interactions between Junior and most notably Ludwig/Morton/Roy, Junior saying “us Koopalings” at some point thus including himself amongst that group, or stuff like him singing “I’m the one who wears the crown” making it sound like he’s saying “I’m the one chosen amongst the eight of us”. Then there’s the “family drama” vibe in the first half, the cute moments etc (Also unpopular opinion but after seeing that game, Ludwig should still be the heir of the throne. He has what it takes to be a fantastic king ! Granted Junior is still extremely young and could learn and mature.)

- Also about Jr’s Journey, the main conflict actually works a lot better if you imagine the kids to be siblings, with the Koopalings talking down to Junior because he’s the baby of the family + they resent him for taking the throne from them, while Junior is tired of his siblings babying him + he’s that kind of kid who orders the older siblings around because he thinks he has the power to do so. Them being siblings also justifies why Junior changes his mind so easily during the beach scene and then is quickly shown to be strongly attached to the others (getting happy when Iggy gets his memories back, ordering Ludwig to stay with him from now on, that whole adorable scene with Morton etc).

Meanwhile, if you see the Koopalings as nothing more than high-ranked underlings, it’s weird why they would have such an issue with Junior, the son of their king who is also their boss, and likewise it’s weird why Junior would take such issue with them only to have such a quick change of heart. Idk, I feel like if they weren’t siblings they probably wouldn’t spend that much time together, making both their whole conflict and strong bond a bit weird. And in general their interactions in this game read more as people who are widely different and wouldn’t usually be friends yet still love each other, which is the kind of dynamic many siblings tend to have (isn’t there a poll going around about whether you’d be friends with your siblings if they weren’t your siblings, and the option winning is “we wouldn’t be friends” ?)

- According to their page on the Mario wiki, during an interview revealing them in Mario Kart 8, Miyamoto used a word that means either “underlings” or “adopted children” when mentioning their relationship to Bowser (btw I know it’s the most popular headcanon anyways but them being adoptive children is just perfect. It would explain why 1. Some might be young adults while Bowser is younger than 40 depending on how old you see him, 2. Why they look so widely different from Bowser and each other, 3. Why Junior is the rightful heir).

- Also according to the wiki, the Italian and German versions of Mario and Luigi Paper Jam has mentions of them being Bowser’s kids, which I find hilarious. The translation teams didn’t give a fuck !

So yeah, when it comes to the Koopalings not being Bowser’s kids : who’s gonna tell Nintendo ?

(Side note about the whole idea of “Bowser clearly likes Junior more and neglects his older kids” : what if instead it was just that the Koopalings are teenagers/young adults now so Bowser is giving them their space + have them busy with royal duties, hence why he doesn’t spend that much time with them ? Plus, in all the examples that put the Koopalings on the same level as Junior, it’s pretty evident that they have the same privileges)

[knackeredforever]

Ok this is probably gonna be a long rant but it’s for things that I’ve thought about for a while when it comes to the “ai” craze.

I’m ranting about what I’m ranting about is “ai” or what this hellhole of the modern internet has attributed the title “ai” to a fucked up form of machine learning that steals / plagiarises the work of others without their consent. For the rest of this rant I’ll be referring to “ai” as machine learning because that’s what it actually is algorithms programmed to copy others work.

The name “ai” is purely used to make the machine learning software sound more marketable and cool, artificial intelligence as most people envision it still doesn’t exist machine learning is basically constantly iterating program learning by being given fitness values that the outcome with the highest fitness value is used as a baseline for all the other runs to learn from. The machine learning does this by constantly taking over peoples work trying to use this work to guess what a prompt entered by a user wants in response and that’s why machine learning software would ask users whether they were satisfied by the outcome of the machine learning (I’ve used machine learning alot so I’ll shorten it to ml from now on) that will be the fitness value if the user enters yes that will give that ml outcome a higher fitness value therefore further uses of the ml software for that prompt of similar will give results similar to the high fitness value outcome.

One annoying outcome of the machine learning boom is because of its given name of “ai” when ai is used in the context outside of machine learning people now immediately assume it’s machine learning one example is video games which have used the term ai for decades e.g. enemy ai but now using that term makes people think it’s using machine learning even when it isn’t. One example I can think of was dragons dogma 2(I think? ) where developers were discussing the games new ai systems which journalists immediately assumed meant machine learning despite the fact it didn’t.

Another form of machine learning is the so called “ai voices” which is just taking audio sampling of people’s voices copying it and using it to try to say things those people didn’t originally say. It’s genuinely terrifying especially for people like voice actors who many have spoken out of the use of “ai voices” to replicate their voices who now have to worry about people using their voices to say offensive shit and people thinking it’s the original voice actor that said it. Another element that personally pisses me off is voice acting at an unprofessional level basically for shitposts to give an example my YouTube feed used to be filled with shitposts of people doing impressions of characters or performing the glorious task known as sentence mixing taking already existing audio and manually editing it to create new audio this is very different from machine learning as in machine learning new audio is created by trying to simulate copied audio samples from someone else. While in sentence mixing no new audio samples are created the audio is just edited to sound like something else is being said.

But now my YouTube feed when it comes to shitposts of this variety are usually filled with ai voice shitposts usually made by very small YouTubers but bigger ones also sometimes use it. This pisses me of for various reasons such that a lot of these videos that would have previously contained admirable amateur voice acting or sentence mixing now have bad incredibly flat machine learning voice acting and if your not willing to put the effort in the voice itself then I don’t think the video is probably gonna be very funny.

But another element that saddens me when thinking about this is the fact alot of people probably got into voice acting through doing shitposts online so the fact alot of people aren’t even trying to do these voices and that means they could have missed out on the realisation that they really liked voice acting and deciding they wanted to pursue it further.

“Ai”’s are machine learning plagiarism algorithm that are now forcing people online to be part of their sample size whether they want to or not social media’s are stealing artists work to replicate it worse for lazy people even fucking mspaint is doing this now MS FUCKING PAINT.

I’m sure there might be some good uses for this type of software but so far the main people who use and advocate it are corporations trying to get out of paying people for their art and lazy people.

What proves to me on a personal level that machine learning is used for nothing more than laziness is that in my computer science class we are almost finished with a long individual project and it’s one that I mostly really enjoyed working on my own game which was the good part. The worst part was every fucking computer science lesson where I had to hear other students talk about ways they could use machine learning to do their work for them so that they don’t have to do anything themselves no one cared about actually making something, something they wanted to make. All they wanted was something easy and I have known a lot of these people for years I’ve overheard their conversations most of them do business studies and when it comes to talking about their passions when I overhear them it’s always what job will get them the most money what can they do to make girls to be with them for their money. It won’t surprise you that most of these guys watch videos in computer science lessons on ways to be alpha males. (Unfortunately my computer science class is only guys) so I know machine learning isn’t a tool to help artists it’s a tool for people to bypass the art creation process due to laziness.

Now a second personal anecdote so about a month ago I went to a university open day with my dad for a game development course as that’s the career I want to pursue without getting into personal details my dad doesn’t exactly want me to go to this uni or course he debated me on several points about wanting to go to this uni and I argued why I wanted to go their but then he said that he had problems with me wanting to do game development because “the entire industry will mostly be ai generated in a few years anyway” my dads job has nothing to do with game development in the slightest he made this assumption probably because of news stories saying how machine learning was the future of all industries and that all jobs in those fields will disappear.

And honestly I’ve never heard a statement in my life that made me want to pursue game development more.

I want to pursue game development to create games by my own hands to have something that is truly my own not for money but for the love of creating games I wanna make.

I refuse to let all art become nothing more than having stolen slop fired back at users written inputs because if someone didn’t create it what is the point of art at all.

Art is human expression and machine learning is an attempt to replicate the human expression but it will never win.

That’s why I don’t want to support the use of machine learning online wherever I can because it goes against everything I stand for even if it means criticising something I like for using it as I want to support art not stolen non consensual machine learning.

I’m sorry for the long rant but this is a collection of things that have annoyed me for a while.

[nitewrighter]

On the The Adventures Of Superman radio show kryptonite arc, I’d love to hear your thoughts about it!

I’ve wanted to chat to someone about this for a while, but somewhere in the the 33 ep long arc, when escaping Clark, now an amnesiac from the liquid Kryptonite hitchhiked and catches a ride. The driver then proceeds to mention they’re going to go to Central City.

I know TAOS technically isn’t Superman canon. And, I’ve listened to only about 600 episodes of the show, but I’m fairly certain that’s the first time Central City is mentioned at a point where it didn’t technically exist in comic canon & wouldn’t for nearly half a decade. At the time Keystone City was where Jay Garrick’s Flash operated & it wouldn’t be til Barry Allen when Central City would be introduced.

I just think it’s so funny that they chose such a generic name that comic writers accidentally reused it half a decade later for another hero.

Also, I genuinely Loved the section of “Bud Smith” becoming a world-record breaking minor league baseball player, especially because baseball was something that was on the radio then and announcers and producers at the time got great at how to make a baseball game entertaining and fun to listen to. Though the tearing-my-hair-out-and-beyond-frustratingly-miscommunication-issues-in-a-40s-radio-show-plot-device during the last ep were So Bad.

It was a fucking wild arc to listen to & I hold it dear to my heart. I want a cameo of Bud Smith in the comics so bad. If there is one I unfortunately haven’t been able to find it.

..."Only" 600????

Ahhh unfortunately I'm not that far in--I'm only to the Happyland Amusement Park arc because I also tend to listen to a lot of audiobooks through Libby and since I more or less have consistent access to TAOS through spotify, that tends to take a backseat to Libby because with Libby I only have like, 2-week timeframes to listen to the books I want to (And yes, I know Spotify has audiobooks, too, but Libby means I can up my local library system's digital borrowing metrics). I'm definitely looking forward to the future arcs though!

But I love all the generic city and town names in not-super-canon DC titles--I collect them like pokemon because they're useful to have on hand if I need to throw in a suburb or make the setting feel bigger or smaller.

Something similar happened with National City, though, too! Before the Supergirl TV show, way back in 1997, National City was the stomping grounds of Xer0, a futuristic (thoroughly 90's) super-spy like hero whose gimmick was that he was black, but disguised himself as white (mission impossible mask style) when he was doing his super-spy stuff. Which sure is... something. Basically sales sucked for that title so bad that he never really got slotted into any crossovers, though Xer0 did fight Doctor Polaris like, one time. And eventually National City was forgotten about until they decided to plop Supergirl on the West Coast.

Fun fact about Happyland Amusement Park, though! That eventually did make its way into comics canon with Kirby's Forever People!

[mundanemoongirl]

Writer Questionairre Tag

Thanks for tagging me @leahnardo-da-veggie! I did the part 2 questions

how long have you had your writing tumblr/writeblr? a fast and loose estimate is fine!

Exactly a year!

what led you to create it?

I saw other writeblrs and wanted to show off my writing too.

what’s your favourite thing about the writeblr community?

The games. It’s a fun way to connect with other writers.

what’s one thing you’d like your mutuals to know about you?

I’m not just into writing. I also love science!

is there anything you’d like to see more of on your dash?

Idk. I think my dash is great right now. I have a mix of a lot of things I like.

which wips or writing projects are you noodling about, lately?

Spiritwalker. Tbh I don’t even remember when I last worked on We Faceless Folk. I do have another idea…but I want to finish my current projects first.

how long have you been working on them?

I’ve been working on Spiritwalker for 3 years and We Faceless Folk for 1 year.

do you remember what inspired them/what got you started?

Yes! Spiritwalker was inspired by Kendara Blake’s Three Dark Crowns series and We Faceless Folk was inspired by a mix of one of Rotten Mango’s true crime podcasts, Going Dark by Melissa De La Cruz, and our sucky world in general.

how much time, in your best estimation, do you spend thinking about them?

Literally all day.

when someone asks the dreaded, “what do you write about,” question, what do you usually say?

Fantasy. It’s not all I work on, but it’s what I started with and what has my heart so that’s what I say.

name any characters you created. side characters, protagonists, antagonists, characters who’ve never been written, the first original abomination you ever pulled from your ass; whomever you’d like!

Ok, my main characters are Daron Spiritwalker, Maya Wisp, Catalina Hemlock, Aria Fang, Cassidy Tempress, and Naomi Lunaire. Some of my favorite side characters are Iris Arsonite, Amiliana Hemlock, Rosemary Nightshade, and Leon Starling.

who’s the most unhinged?

Maya. One of my favorite things to write is how unhinged she is. She once asked Daron to break her hand just for touching her.

who comes the most naturally for you to write?

Cassidy. I always say I ran out of character traits by the time I got to her so I modeled her after me.

do you ever cringe at them?

Yes.

how much control do you feel you have over your characters? do they ever “write themselves,” refuse to cooperate, or do things you didn’t expect? to what degree? are some less cooperative than others?

During my first draft I had complete control, but in the second draft I lost it. I think it’s so funny though because it’s like some of my characters were so upset at my failed attempts to get them right that they just took the keyboard from my hands and started writing themselves.

what makes you want to follow another writeblr account? do you follow ‘em as you see ‘em, or take time scoping out the blog to make sure you align with its content? do you follow based on wips, or vibes?

Sometimes I follow just to follow. Sometimes it’s because we have similar interests. Depends on my mood.

what makes you decide against following?

Idk I just feel sometimes that no one wants me to interact with them.

do you interact with non-mutuals often?

Not really. I don’t want to seem like a weird stranger randomly liking and reblogging from people who don’t know me.

do your mutuals’ characters occupy space in your noodle?

Some. There’s so many it’s hard for me to keep track lol

Gently tagging @pixies-love-envy @wyked-ao3 and anyone else who wants to answer! Feel free to use any or all of these questions

[blackknightax]

Yesterday we discussed King of Fighters and Fatal Fury. So today let’s get the las fighting game representation which is actually the first one to get represented… whoops. Anyhow this means we’re talking Street Fighter! When someone says fighting game, Street fighter is likely the game they picture, well street fighter 2 anyhow. The street fighter cast of characters is all big and iconic and there’s no shortage of characters to choose from. When Ryu got added to smash his gimmick was the fighting game inputs, now that we have Ken, Tetty and Kazuya Ryu feels a lot less special. Which funny enough is similar to how Ryu is in his home franchise Ryu is hte burning character that all other characters get compared to. It’s an important role in a fighting game, a role Mario plays in this game. So let’s do a quick lightning round of characters and why i’m not choosing them.

First not Zangief. Simply put, I don’t honk his play style translates to smash very well, not to mention he just, wouldn’t be fun if it did. Dhalsim is frustrating to fight in street fighter, in smash he’d be a less interesting Minmin, which would make him a hated character by a land slide. Chun Li when you look at how she plays and how it would translate to smash, would just make her feel like Ryu, Ken and Terry, it’s just not a good combo, sorry Chun fans. And Finally Guile’s play style translates perfectly as an assist trophy, not so much as a playable character. Thus my choice is…

Cammy White. I’ve chosen Cammy because she is just so fundamentally different from the fighting game characters who have already been put in the game. And no, not because she’s a girl! But because she’s a mobility based character rather than a spacing based character. This would allow her to retain this play style in smash. So let’s discuss this.

For the neutral B I’ve Chosen Hooligan Combination, This is a spinning move that is projectile invincible. I made this her neutral B because I want Cammy to be about mobility and the main other move I’d put here is going to be her side B

For her up B she will use Cannon Spike. This is an upward kick that is kinda her shoryuken, but it won’t cause special fall. This is meant to promote the idea that Cammy will be using her moves to keep herself mobile and moving at all times.

For her side B she will use her iconic Spiral Arrow. The move is a spinning kick that moves her forward and usually causes a knock down and allows Cammy to get a mix up. But, it’s gonna work a little different smash obviously.

For her down B she’ll use her counter from Street fighter 4, I forgot it’s name but it would function a quick stun the enemy allowing her to get a follow up.

I wanted a fighting game character who played gigantically different from the ones who are already in the game. I think Cammy would be a great choice for that purpose. I’l admit I don’t know street fighter very well but It’s an iconic franchise that definitely deserves a third character.

[deci-doodles]

Misc assortment of OC doodles from recently that I had no idea how to post individually so I’ll just compile them :p feat previously shown family members+Tiziri in some outfits besides her Eremite one, and also me attempting to design Itto’s parents coz why not

More info+rambling under the cut

Aight SO,

Tiziri’s the Eremite lady that Tesey’s head over heels for and can’t blame him, she’s very charming, very competent, and won’t hesitate to call him out lol. She’s also the current successor in place for the matriarch (Tizemt) of her adoptive tribe (the Ifri, named after the goddess not the demons lol). They don’t exist in lore since the other two main GoF worshipping tribes don’t really fit the area of influence I wanted to use and Tanit were also a definite no go so instead, the Ifri are a smaller tribe that had branched off from the Tanit but under their current matriarch, have been slowly trying to make themselves more self sufficient and independent, with Tiziri being taken in by them as a child. after they took down the raiding party which had targeted her original tribe and family.

As of current game events, Tesey had been trying to collaborate with the Ifri with textile trading since he believed their work could sell really well in a more international market, so Tiziri’s been assigned to keep an eye on him and also just get a grasp of what kind of a person he is before letting him into their territory and all that (luckily for him he’s long passed the vibe check but after Fontaine’s AQ he had to make an emergency trip back to Morepesok).

Anyways I thought it’d be fun to draw her in a modern Moroccan caftan, but also a Ukrainian folk outfit since she does eventually make a trip over to Morepesok to visit Tesey’s family when they get together. Anyways like Kirena, Tonia and their mother, Oksana (I’ll post their design eventually wsojcndwoc), I’ve based it off outfits from the Luhansk area (go check out these blogposts for references I used for the embroidery it’s such a life saver, but yeah their mum’s side would be from the Donbas irl, dad’s from Zaporizhzhia). Jewellery’s primarily based off Amazigh jewellery from southern Morocco, as well as some Tuareg ones and also a few strings of Ukrainian korali ehe (they’re a gift from Tesey later on as a sign of his intent to take things more seriously and his sincerity). I tried my best with the tattoos since I didn’t want to just trace someone else’s given how personal they are but if anyone has any sources on Moroccan Amazigh tattoos please let me know 🙇🏻‍♀️

-

Next bit is just me realising that a good chunk of my labelled OCs (most aren’t) happen to be aspec, which I find absolutely hilarious (fyi I’m ace myself so this isn’t malicious I just think it’s funny how it keeps happening). Kageharu and Mingli are probs also some flavour of aro but I haven’t figured it out yet so they just have their ace labels for now

-

And, finally, Arataki Natsuki (荒瀧凪月) and Arataki Takenosuke (荒瀧岳之輔). Apparently I felt like revisiting old ideas from 2021 again weciswnjdsq, but still was fun to do. I’m aware it’s more likely Itto’s mother was also an oni (judging by his troubles voiceline regarding Granny Oni) but I thought it’d be interesting to explore what it could be like for humans given how prevalent oni discrimination is, both towards them but also towards humans who are close to them (again: see the voiceline on Granny Oni), as well as people learning to look past assumptions and all that fun stuff. They could’ve lived out a nice cottagecore life with their son if it weren’t for those damned robberies they got blamed for smh

Bonus concept portrait of Natsuki while I’m at it. Tbh one of my biggest pet peeves in designing related characters is making any character too similar to whichever canon character they’re related too and I just really wanted to show that yes, Itto does have quite a few of his mother’s features. It’d be more helpful if I actually drew him to compare ofc, but motivation do be funky like that and my brain wants me to draw Oksana next 😔

[astralleywright]

ludinus and ranni are similar in that they both want to use the moon to kill god out of grief and a need for vengeance. But they’re also cunning and cruel and I’ve seen people reduce them to one dimensional villains who want power for the sake of power.

THIS RESLLYNIS SO... anon your mind is wide open. use the moon to kill god (or is the moon using them 🤔?????)

i ended up having A LOT of thoughts about the parallels between the two and their ideology and their methods and the like, crazy amount of comparisons that can be drawn between Exandria and The Lands Between as post-post-apocalyptic worlds, so. I'm putting those under a read more.

responding to your broader point re: fandom interpretations of them, yeah. a lot of people seem far more comfortable with a villain being motivated by power for power's sake than having legitimate grievances about the way things are or even just like, anything sympathetic at all. bc moral complexity and detatching action from ideology is still very difficult and hard, and even people who claim to be above that kind of shallow reading fall into that pitfall from time to time (which is part of the reason i find a lot of Media Understander posting very unserious and more like a psychic's cold reading than an actual indication of someone's skill in that regard).

okay here's the long part.

the thing is, Ludinus and Ranni both- okay. i'll say it, the thing that discoursers love to treat as equivalent to thinking the vanguard have done nothing wrong and should win - Ludinus Does Have A Point. here, so people can screenshot me out of context-

"Ludinus does have a point." - Hecate Densitywell, 2024

both Exandria and the world of Elden Ring have recorded histories of colonialism and slaughter enacted by and in the name of their gods, against the Primordials and the Giants, the Aeorians and the Great Caravan of the nomadic merchants. The Shattering and the Calamity. Caelid and the Shattered Teeth.

Ludinus is much more interested and motivated by these histories than Ranni, who cares about the larger suffering of the world due to the Greater Will purely as an extension of her ideology. But in both cases it supports their overall argument against their gods, one in favor of free will, of separation from fate and the gods putting a finger - or slamming a hand down - on the scales.

it's a point completely betrayed by the methods Ludinus employs - the same kind of conquest and cruelty and control he rails against when it comes to the gods- but that is a condemnation of the actions and their perpetrator, not the ideas themselves. and while Ranni is shameless regarding the harm, both direct and indirect, that has occurred to achieve her goal, that harm more often has occurred in tandem with the actions of the gods and demigods vs in opposition to them.

they both also have personal, emotional motivations (and while i don't disagree with you, "Ranni killed god and recreated the world entirely bc her parents got divorced" is. so fucking funny when you put it like that.), but this is really true of anything anyone does, and it especially cannot be removed completely from issues concerning oppression, justice, the structure of our very society, etc.

and it's so fascinating in both cases, and in Elden Ring I honestly think Ranni's ending is the closest/most promising as a "good" ending, partially bc of all mentioned above, and bc the scope of the game means that the worst consequences (The Shattering) have already happened and cannot be changed, and there are only so many available endings overall. i do not think the same is true for Ludinus. the Exandrian gods are much more similar to mortals as opposed to say, the Elden Beast, and there's a chance they can be negotiated with or compelled to compromise into a more fair, equal way of using their power for good. and regardless, obviously Ludinus and friends should not be put in charge of fucking anything. not even a local craft store.

idk how to end this post. but damn this is all pretty crazy right

[chinsims]

15 questions for 15 mutuals

Thank you @nectar-cellar for tagging me! I enjoyed reading your answers.

I think it’s my first time participating in one of these, so hopefully I can do it right!

my answers:

1. Are you named after anyone?

Legally, an actress. By choice, I took a masculine version of my grandmother’s name.

2. When was the last time you cried?

I’m actually not sure. The most recent time I can remember was last month when I got overwhelmed after worrying that a coyote had stalked me (don’t worry, it ended up being fine). I have probably cried more recently, though.

3. Do you have kids?

Nope! It’ll probably be a long time until I’m ready for that kind of responsibility.

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Not as much as I used to, but still quite a bit for someone who can’t tell when other people are being sarcastic lol.

5. What sports do you play/have you played?

I’ve never been that interested in sports due to all the rules, but I used to be really competitive about running for some reason.

6. What’s the first thing you notice about other people?

The way people walk tends to stick with me. I know some people with very distinctive walks, so that tends to stand out. I’ve even had to double check that strangers weren’t secretly people I know because the patterns were similar.

7. Scary movies or happy endings?

I like anything that I find personally compelling. I tend to pick up mostly on the choices made with the style and the theme, so I think both have their strengths. I do tend to lean more towards darker themes, however. I (unfortunately) really enjoy Funny Games (1997) and what it does with fourth wall breaks. I could ramble quite a bit about just how much I love (and hate) that film. I also really like the short film Meshes of the Afternoon (1943). I need to get caught up on more recent movies though.

8. Any special talents?

Depends on whether the emphasis is on special or talent. A somewhat special thing about me is that I have very flexible shoulder and hip joints and have double jointed fingers. I’m also fixated on altered states, so I forced myself to be very suggestible to meditative states and learned that I could auto-write when I dropped lucy (it was supposedly for spirits, which I don’t think I believe in personally, but at the very least I’ve been slowly able to tap into something in my own subconscious, so that’s kinda neat!). 

9. Where were you born?

California

10. What are your hobbies?

I’m a musician, I’ve been getting into auto-writing, I used to be obsessed with inventing this thing called polyrhythm hopscotch, I’m working on some film stuff with a few of my friends (which is super exciting!), and making cc for the sims 3 :)

11. Do you have any pets?

Yes! I have a dog and a cat. They are both cuties.

12. How tall are you?

5′ 2″ last time I was measured, although I think that was 4 years ago. 

13. Fave subject in school?

I liked most subjects for different reasons. I was the least jazzed about my art classes though. This was mostly because it was actually an instruction following class, and I feel compelled to do at least one thing that goes against instructions when it comes to anything creative.

14. Dream job?

Full-time musician. I recently switched my major to music, so I’ll always be working in the same field, even if it’s more of the technical aspects!

15. Eye color?

Brown.

Let me see who I haven’t seen tagged yet:

@xiasimla @nornities @simdreams @venusprincess-ts3 @getboolpropped

@omedapixel @tripstaysnoided @tsims

I think most people I’m mutuals with have either already done it at this point or don’t typically do tag games, but if I can think of anyone else who might want to do this I’ll add them to this list!

[crescencestudio]

Hello there! It is me, again. I never really know how to start asks, aha.

During my first play through, I at first got attached to Fenir and Kuna’a(surprise surprise, the two probably most popular characters), but during my other ones where I unlocked all but the two Faes’ dates, I actually found myself really liking Kayn? Which really surprised me for some reason. Usually, I don’t get attached to the flirtier LIs, but I have apparently gotten attached to Kayn.

What also helped me get attached to Kayn was your tumblr! One, was when an anon asked what the LI’s mbti would be, and you said Kayn would be an ENFP, which surprised me a little at first, but then it made a lot more sense. The other was the LI’s reaction to puns and how Kayn would make even worse ones back.

For the MBTI, I’m actually an INFP, so we’re rather similar in that aspect. For puns, ooooh boy. I freaking love puns. And I feel like we’d both just fuel each other’s fire in making the cringiest puns making everyone around us suffer while we’re both probably on the floor laughing.

My favorite thing about the potential dynamic though is just how oblivious I am. You see an oblivious character and think “There is no way anyone is that oblivious.” It’s me. I’m that character. But only towards how others perceive me. I’m quite perceptive of all but that.

Kayn frequently using pet names(darling, dear, love), reminds me so much of this one time a friend who had a crush on me started calling me them and I still didn’t get the hint(I did think it was kinda weird that they started out of nowhere though). I just think that that is so funny.

Also, I’m glad you liked my rambling and thoughts on how I interpreted the characters with the VA’s voices! I’m rather nervous when I send long/longer asks cause of that not so little thing called anxiety. I also don’t frequently send things off of anon because of anxiety, but I wanted to get an notif for when you decide to reply/answer

Ah, anyways. I think that’s all for this ask? You’re doing amazing, and I hope to see Alaris grow! Remember to hydrate and what not!

Hi again!

I’m laughing because Fenir and Kuna’a indeed are the two most popular LMAO. BUT I’m glad to hear about the Kayn love!!!!! I actually thought Kayn would be more popular going into the game’s release, so I was surprised Kuna’a was the most popular with Fenir and not Kayn.

Kayn is a really fun and playful partner, which I think gets overshadowed by their flirtiness. But I’m glad to hear even tho they’re not typically your type, you are still attached to them! Flirty types can be hard to write, I think—I’ve noticed they’re a hit or miss in the VN community. Some people love the trope and some ppl hate it.

I personally think flirting can be fun (not that I’m a very flirty person myself lmao)!! It doesn’t have to be a bunch of sexual jokes/innuendos; it can also be cheesy pick up lines, witty banter, corny compliments, etc., and I hope that comes through with Kayn <3

Also, fun fact but your inner two MBTI letters (e.g., NF) are basically very core to you and how you process the world. The outer two (e.g., IJ) are more behavioral. But basically, if your two inner MBTI letters are the same as someone else’s, you will probably get along well! For legal purposes, this is not professional counseling advice.

Thank you again for the ask and sweet message! I have my water next to me as I answer this hehe.

[thedelolos]

Neverafter Episode 5 Live Thoughts

Under the cut

I WANT TO KNOW WHAT THE GEMS ARE YOU SILLY MAN 

“The mechanic of confusion” you said it ally

Ooo we got updated icons for the characters that we didn’t see last episode 

Lou Wilson I love you never change 

BEATS TO STUDY TO im cryig 

Seriously the new dome effects are cool as hell

So this is “You and your party walk into a tavern” opening?

I can’t take the cock and toad seriously bro

“A bunch of woodland creatures in a cloak” ah yes three racoons in a trenchcoat

Rosamund’s hair is so curly wow

I really want to know her subclass PLEASE i’m thinking it might be beast now because of the cloak of beasts?

YLFA DRUID

YLFA DRUID???

I AM IN LOVE WHAT SUBCLASS

I’m thinking moon or wildfire? 

The fire on her cloak in her dream makes me think wildfire Also they have another person who can heal thank goodness 

The owl getting scared is really funny

The disappearing glass jar

So pib 

Okay yeah red blowing the fire hotter makes me think wildfire, that’s actually a really cool way of skinning it 

“Why does everyone think I’m flirting?” Gerard got that autistic boy swag 

Lou you're killing me with that description of pinocchio

YES PLEASE TELL THEM ABOUT YOUR MOM

She’s awful and i hate her 

“How did we know to come here?” Zac asking the big brain questions

Calling it now the bad fairy that pinocchio is talking about is the step mother

Psa do not trust the fairies at all 

Do you think brennan practices crow noises just randomly? 

Zac’s little dance when PIb is getting scritches is so cute 

I KNEW IT WAS THE DISH FROM HEY DIDDLE DIDDLE

Ally and Lou playing keep away with the invisible book is so funny

Committed arachnid i’m dead these are so funny

THE SPIDER TALKS

Wait does this mean we’re gonna get miss muffit too??

“Honking like thunder”?? Hmmm the gander??

It’s really funny bc i just finished crown of candy where we had ranger liam and now we have ranger rosamund and it’s just really funny to me

Rangers really are the best in campaigns like this 

Wait does that mean that we don’t get anymore cindy??

Oh okay nvm

Ooo this is very interesting, there’s someone writing in the book

WAIT THIS IS DOPE SCHEHERAZADE

So does this mean that the other owners of the magic books are just people who have collected tales in different cultures? 

WOMEN IN ARMOR AGENDA LET’S GO

Aesop too?? So it think there might be some kind of truth to my theory my game theory

Yes babes pls make a better plan 

Stray together, stay together 

“Im just kinda pushing on your frog abdomen” ALLY

Okay okay so we need to find a laughing dog and a cat with a fiddle 

The goodberry thing is so smart, i’ve never thought of that before

Senator i miss you

Senator i love you keep prancing 

“This is all temporary” okay take a shot he said the thing 

No no con saves only vibes 

WHAT ARE THE BEANS are they like levels of exhaustion that you carry through your lives?? If you hit 6 levels typically you die so maybe at 6 beans the character is perma dead? 

Is the boar one of the 3 little pigs??

I like geese and the gander is terrifying 

Okay okay they got a good stealth let’s just hope that they learn from last time and dont get caught, please y’all be safe 

YO THE DARK LIGHTING THAT’S SO COOL

WE 110 percent are getting the spider that sat next to miss muffet, “nobody wants to be friends with me”, the town name sounds similar to tuffet, i think i’m right???