#a lot of people have commented on the it sucked but we made it vibes which is very correct

[unseemingowl]

Saga Anderson, and Nordic rep in Alan Wake 2

Early on in Saga Anderson’s exploration in Alan Wake 2, she runs into Ilmo Koskela. Fiercely proud of his Finnish heritage, Ilmo gregariously makes note of Saga’s Nordic sounding name and the familiar design of her knitted sweater. Perhaps a fellow Finn?

Alas no, Saga’s mom is Swedish she informs him. Immediately Ilmo’s face falls. I’m not sure if it’s actually just the animated character defaulting to his resting face, but either way the timing is too perfect. Cue uproarious laughter from me. People in the Nordics are on friendly terms of course, but we gotta have the tiniest bit of… scornfor each other. All in good fun of course. It’s traditional.

Now, I’m Danish, not Finnish, but still, I feel right at home in the towns of Bright Falls and Watery in Alan Wake 2. All of the little nods to Nordic culture and mindset feel so wonderfully familiar to me. The melancholia, the irreverent sense of humor, the affection for the Finnish and Swedish quirks of the characters. The game feels all the stronger in tone and narrative for Remedy embracing the Finnish roots of the studio.

Which is exactly why it sucks that I almost immediately saw the charm of those narrative decisions weaponised against Saga.

I first watched the scene between Ilmo and Saga on a lets play when I was trying to figure out if I should finally dip my toes into survival horror and buy the game. Delighted by the writing I took a look into the comments to see if people were vibing as hard with it as I was. They were. But I also saw a comment that made me frown.

Paraphrasing, it basically went, come on, like hell a guy like Ilmo would make the assumption that a black woman is Finnish. There are a multitude of reasons why I think that person was wrong, mainly that Nordic people love it when we run into each other in other countries, but it also just made me sad.

Saga being black does not negate her Swedish heritage. Formally, she is American, sure (I assume, not sure how that works in the US), but she’s raised by her single Swedish mom, of course she’s going to identify heavily with that part of her herself. It’s a profound and essential part of who she is.

But hey, I’m a white potato Dane, so I’m not gonna argue that I know much about the experience of being biracial. I’m gonna stick to what I know, which is that Saga is a very moving and beautiful example of something that I’m actually not used to seeing much of - a story about connecting with your Nordic heritage and roots. And it’s part of why I love her so much.

When Nordic people show up in big, international productions, it’s usually as Vikings, and sure, it’s fun to see our wild ancestors, but contemporary questions of Nordic identity and heritage is not something I often see explored. Not even in our own productions.

So much of Saga’s story is about family. Fighting for her current one, Logan and Casey (and sure, David too, lol), and rediscovering her first one. Tor and Odin.

Her discovering her ties to Tor and Odin is profoundly moving and made me teary-eyed several times over. And sure, a lot of those ties are fantastical in nature, but they still feel very much grounded - and what makes us Nordic if not the ties to our myths and legends that Tor and Odin have made themselves the living avatars of.

While Saga’s mom, Freya, had good reasons for leaving the Anderson seer magics behind, seeing them as part of what made her family fucked up, she also cut Saga off from the fullness of her capabilities. It is only through Saga reforming her family, healing its scars and fully embracing the Anderson heritage that she becomes as powerful a parautilitarian as she is at the end of the game. That’s beautiful.

And in fact I think Saga being black only deepens the richness of those themes rather than negate them or make them irrelevant. Because yes, Saga’s story would have been moving if she was a white character too, but I am very well aware that a lot of biracial people of Nordic ancestry can feel alienated from that part of themselves. Not least because questions of who gets to claim a Nordic heritage can get pretty ugly around here. There are most definitely people who share the racist mindset of that commentator. It adds an extra dimension. Which is why seeing Tor and Odin’s eagerness to claim Saga as part of the Anderson heritage is all the more moving. Through her magics, she’s just so obviously an Anderson, and they’re so damn proud to call her theirs and fight alongside her. Because they all got that wild Viking blood in them. They’re part of her and she’s part of them.

Roger Ebert, the film critic once called movies empathy machines. I think games, when they’re at their best, can be an even more intense variation of that. Which is exactly why it baffles me that some people can play through Alan Wake 2 and still think Saga is a stunt-woke character rather than someone fully and beautifully integrated in the narrative. A narrative which, at its most basic level – in my opinion – is about the mystical bonds we form with each other and the rest of the world through art and love and blood and family and heritage. All the great horror doesn’t negate that either, it amplifies it. Kind of like that clicker.

[murky-galaxy]

I really don't think so much (for) stardust could have come out at a better time really

Not only does it really capture so many post-pandemic feelings, it has also got the perfect vibes for the last week of March, where spring is so close you can almost taste it, but right now it's still cold and rainy and gloomy and man your vitamin D stores are at their lowest and you just want summer to come really and you made it through the winter and it wasn't great but summer is coming and even though you want it to be here now, it isn't here yet

[silvershiningtarot]

💋🫦👄18+ PAC What Role You’re Playing in Your FS Daydream? (Secret Fantasy Of Them🫦👄👅)

🧚🏾‍♀️Take A moment look at the piles you feel drawn to. Inhale and Exhale breathe and relax. Comment and Reblog the post and Tell me what pile you like.. ENJOY MY LOVELY 🥰. Remember this is a general reading.

Pile 1: Off the back, I know what type of role you are playing in your husband's daydream. You are the switcher in your husband's fantasy kinks I see. Oh my goodness. I hear their sexual message to you right now. So if some of you are a switcher or should I say submissive then awesome either way. I hope that you play a big ass role in their fantasy dreamland. Oh my goodness! 🤤🤤I can heard them dirty talking. So I can see them lifting you up in the kitchen, just deeply kissing 😽 hard. Like naked in the kitchen, maybe you see them cooking breakfast or dinner in the kitchen naked with nobody else in the house just y’all two. You walk up behind them and start to touch their chest and kiss their neck and I can see that you are the woman of their dreams. Woah 🤯 especially in their daydreams 😶‍🌫️ oh my god, they are completely obsessed with you. So yes they are possessive of you. I hear that when people disturb them, they snap at their friends. So I don’t blame them because they fucking wanna fuck you so hard and you make horny, even when they eating a bowl of cereal you make their dick stand up hard!!. I can see that they love that sexy ass voice. I heard a siren woman that’s what they see of you. Just luring them into you. Ooooohhhhhhhh!! OMFG 🤬 YESSS!! You're like a Dom-Mommy to them. So I see that you would spoil them, for some of you I see that you would be submissive to your FS daydream, I think that is what they would do. They would want to take it nice and slow with you. I’m getting very Simp vibes with your husband! But in a good way, I told you that they don’t like to be disturbed when they fantasize about you. You are their sexy little pixie to them. I was right!! Hahaha 🤣!! You don’t mind being a switcher! They can be the dominant one sometimes and you can be the submissive one for a few of you. I don’t see that you guys have a problem with it. But for some of you I see you being submissive to your husband which is fucking incredible. I’m submissive myself. You have Ultimate love and lust, so you balance it out in your husband's fantasy. Even with your fantasy as well. It's like a straight up balance between you and them. Ooohh!! Watch out ladies, your husband has breeding kinks!!! So they love getting you pregnant. It’s like seeing you pregnant in their daydream turns me on! I can see them seeing you pregnant like four or five times!! I heard them say “I don’t care if I’m a old dad, I love getting you pregnant.” So in my opinion I say get it get it get it!!! Oh yess! They would want you sit on their face, tasting that delicious kitty 🐱 of yours makes them weak. I told you I’m feeling that big ass Simp vibes, especially sexually you got on a leash!! They don’t care what you do to them. For some of you but a lot of you they don’t care what you do to them. But for some of you oh yeah they want to teabags your fucking face!! Get ready suck on those balls even if just a fantasy that’s exactly what they want you to do. I can that for some of you being their submissive hahaha 🤣I was right. Don’t get me wrong 😑 for a lot of you, I do see you being their Dom-Mommy! So get it.

“Let me clear my throat before I tell you what’s been going through my mind. I feel like we have a telepathic connection, you don’t mind me being freaky with you right now. So don’t tell anyone about this please. My friends think I'm weird because I tell them the things I would like someone to do to me in the bedroom, even my ex made fun of me. Baby I would love getting you fucking pregnant 🤰🏾 that’s my secret fantasy getting you pregnant. Yes I got a breeding kink. I don’t give a fuck how old I am or you may think I’m older than you but baby I don’t care I’m ready to get down and dirty with you. Will you be my mommy, I’ll be your puppy and follow wherever you go. Are you ovulating yet? I want you sloppy toppy me, so why don’t you pull down your thongs, let me eat your pussy, I can taste your juice on my lips. Your juice becomes my taste buds.. it can’t never go away nor do I want it to. I’m horny for you, Can I tell you another secret? I want you to dominate me. Can you please. I’m obsessed 😍 with you, the moment I saw you I’ve been non stop thinking about you heavily. I fucking crave for you heavily. So baby you play a sexy ass role in my daydreams. What do you do to me? Are you a siren or a fucking alien? Your eyes just pull me into your stomach. I want you bite me so fucking hard! Deeply. I want to feel your teeth in my skin. Baby I can see us having Twins together, Fucking TWINS!! Doesn’t matter what gender they are because we are having twins then baby let’s get it. I’m ready to get you pregnant. How many months are you yet? I can see that you wanna have a water birth with our kids together. But again I’ll keep that little secret. I’m addicted to you!! I’m ready to pull you out of my dreams, just fucking grab you and kiss you 😘 up and down all around. I’m fucking simping for you. Are you mad at me? Because I’m simp for you, my friends would think I’m a bitch for you, why the fuck should I care right! I ain’t fucking them Yuck 🤢. Anyways! Let me take your virginity, I wanna teabag your face. I want you to sit on my face, Do you feel hot? I know I do. Holy fuck I’m ready to bang you out!! I want your hands to touch my beard, where can we meet up? I’ll be your slut tonight. So be my slutty kitty 🐈‍⬛ meow 😻. I have slut kinks, I want you to put a dog leash on me. Spank me baby. Do it! I daydream about you doing all those things to me. Remember this is our little secret between you and me. I want you to keep your legs shaking for me, am I hitting your G spot already Momma!, what name should I give you? Write it down for me. So creamy you taste 👅. So you getting all wet for me and I can’t get you pregnant? Huh 🤔 too late babe! You already got me now! Whipped cream, spread it on your legs so I lick it off you. Do you do music? I’m hearing that song in my head Drip 💧 is that your song, if it is then baby, ready for your juice to drip in my mouth 👄 it’s all wet and prepared for you. Give me some of those nutrients.”

Pile 2: I can see that you being their Dom, you being their submissive one, they would love that. When I see the Three of cups and Seven of cups. I think that they daydream about you having sex with them outside. I mean outside sex with them. I can probably into BDSM, maybe they are or aren’t. But I can see you submitting to them in their fantasy. You being their daddy’s little girl. Oh my god I can see that shit turns them on. I heard them being annoyed too. No offense to the mothers out there but when they mother be bothering your husband, especially when they daydream about you, they get annoyed 😑 like they snap at their mother. Not because they are doing it on purpose, it is because they are daydreaming about you, it seems like to you, you make their day. So they don’t mean to curse out their mom, it's just when they are in the moment thinking about you, they don’t want to forget you. If that makes sense. I do see that they would love fucking you outside. Maybe in a garden 🪴 I’m seeing. Just have a sheet outside in a garden and start kissing you, rubbing your breast and finger playing your pussy. Yummy 🤤. So they are a freak for you. I can see that they are addicted to you, so you play a role as someone who’s very addicting to them. You are like a drug to them. I can see that in the rising time they daydream about you outside in a garden fucking you. All the dirt on your skin, just makes them fucking turn on. I hope that they’ll love seeing you naked all the time in the bedroom. I heard creeping. So not creeping in a bad way but just sneaking up on the bed and just kissing you and touching you hard. I heard finger-playing, so this pile it’s a little similar to pile 1. Maybe you guys should check it out. I was right! They’ll be addicted to you even now they are addicted to you no matter what. I can see that they’ll take their sweet ass time with you. Again they are into BDSM them being your Dom-Daddy so they are the Dom one!! You are the submissive one or it can be vice versa for some of you but most of you this is your Dom-daddy. They would want to do it all Rising and night!! So Woah 🤯. They’ll used protection with you. The biggest role you’ll be playing in their daydream fantasy is that you are their submissive partner. Let them have fun with you, while you sit back and enjoy yourself. Oh I can hear a sexy message from them. Oh my god 😱😱😱😱. Salute 🫡 to your husband. They’ll be very patient with you because maybe you are Virgin for some of you if you are. But most of you probably have a fear of intimacy that’s okay. Your husband will be patient with you, in their fantasy they are patient with you. I was right!! Sex outdoors. Oh my god I told you! Some of you might lose your virginity outdoors or your first intimacy again with them outside.

“I’m addicted to you, like I’m fucking simp for you baby. I don’t care what that shit makes me sound like but I am. I wish I can tell you all things. I wanna do it to you in person, because you make me feel very happy, I want you to lose your virginity to me, don’t lose it to nobody else but me. I’m your daddy and you should do what daddy said to do. I’ll be patient with you, whenever you're ready I’m ready to take off on you. This is your daddy speaking to you. Listen to me, look into my eyes. I wanna tell you a little secret, but promise me you won’t be mad at me. So I put a spell on you. Are you mad? Please don’t be mad 😠. Tell me where we can meet up and have passionate sex. We can go to a hotel suite. Besides paying for a hotel, let’s sneak into a hotel baby. Don’t fucking touch me, sit that fucking ass down. I’ll whip your ass if you move. Do you like getting choked out? I love it when your eyes roll back up. I wanna fuck you so hard until you lose out of breath. I’m a switcher. I don’t mind you dominating me baby, tell daddy what you want to do I’ll do it. You wanna bring other girls in the bedroom? Do you want me all to yourself? Daddy ain’t leaving no matter what. Can’t push me away. I want you to bite me, put your teeth marks on me. I wanna fuck you so hard!! The way you make love to me, you’re my everything. Your my fucking slut! Do as I say now. Don’t make me repeat myself. I fantasized about you putting that collar on. My little pet! I’ve been dreaming about this day. Are you ready? Or do you want me to wait till you get home to me?. I love it when your toes curls up, that means I’m doing a good job. We have a playful sex, while we making each other laugh. I love being goofy with you. I want to tied you up with anything a rope, handcuff, strings, and even a fucking wire I’ll tied you up with. I love seeing you in lingerie. I love your fucking breast, I don’t care if they are small. I’ll kiss them all.”

Pile 3: I can see that you are the dominant one! They love how you play hard to get!! Because I can see them just trying to get your attention and you just ignore them. Like whatever fuck you! Haha 😂 that shit just turns them on. Even if you are mad at them for real they’ll have rough sex with you. I can see that they’ll love having sex with you indoors more than outside. It's like a thing sometimes. I can see that you love strip teasing them. You fucking little devil 😈 yess!! I love it though! I can they love putting food on you, maybe some strawberries 🍓 or some cherry 🍒. Everything tastes good on you, that is exactly what they are saying right now. Calling them daddy turns them on. Even calling them your little bitch turns them on. I can see them being a little baby for you like mommy’s little boy. BDSM type. I swear they daydream about you sexually. So you play a role as their Dom! Temperance coming out makes me feel like you can balance them out. The devil 😈!! I swear man! Your husband has a big dick! Or some of you have a big clit! Haha 😂 so what cherish it! Your husband loves it. You are their submissive one, because you are their sex slave. I see that they wanna humiliate you in public. Even in the bedroom. They would want you to flirty talk them. I mean fucking curse they ass out in public or in the bedroom. I told you that even if you are mad at them, they’ll like that. They wanna lose track of time with you, Roleplaying with them. Oh sweet you are to them. 😏😏🥰. Music can set the mood for them. Oh okay so sometimes they would want you to be gentle and be light with the dirty talk. Haha 😂 maybe they aren’t much of a rough type of guy. I sense that your husband is a soft lover. So what. They like it, especially when you are playing hard to get with them. In the daydream you are their perfect fantasy. Ohh yess 🤤🤤🤫.

“Hey mama, Are you ovulating yet? I’m horny for you. I wanna get you pregnant already, I know you be in pain when you ovulating. So let me help you with that problem right now. Let me rub you down, you fucking tease, come on climb on this dick. Kiss 💋 on your neck, while you slowly moving back into bed. Let me finished eating, that kitty is so tight sorry for cum quickly. You wanna do it again. Do you want me wear a condom, or are you on the pill? I got a king size dick for you! Who’s your daddy? I’m your daddy right. Let grab your face look into my eyes 👀 I’ll tell you again who’s your daddy. Let me ball gag you now. Hush 🤫 my little puppy 🐶 don’t say another word. I don’t care if you are on top of me. So baby do you wanna take care of me. I’ll just laid back and let you take control of me. Take fucking charge of me baby. I don’t mind being on the bottom. I have plenty wet dreams about you, I can see you cumming on my dick in my dreams, even when I daydream about you. Moaning, dirty talking. Can I tell you a secret? I’m a man eater. That’s the secret 🤫 I love eating Pussy. Especially with your kitty I love fantasizing about yours a lot because you are my biggest fantasy and I have another secrets tell you. I have a crush on you bad. Oops 😬 lol 😂. I wanna give you magical orgasm, curl those toes baby. I want you put scars in my back, face and even on my ass I want you put your marks on me. Bring out the monster baby! FUCKING BRING IT OUT!! Let go of control, release your emotions on me whatever you are feeling take it out. I wanna swallow your cum and I want you to swallow mine. Can I choked you while you swallow my cum. I’m a beast baby.”

Pile 4: For this pile makes me feel like I’m their daydream you ain’t feeling them like that in the beginning. But I heard in my head that they’ll take action. Or if they aren’t feeling you, I can see you taking care of them when they are down. So even when they are feeling down they daydream about you taking care of them. Handling that fucking business baby! Wooo! I don’t get a bad vibe from this energy. I sense an uplift vibe. So you do play a role in their daydream 😶‍🌫️ I can see that. See! I can see them lifting you up and kissing 😽 you while you naked coming out the shower. I can see them picking up a flower 🌹 out of a garden or they found a flower 🌹 and they thought about you and they giving it to you. Very romantic 💝 husband some of you have. Such a sweetheart. I can see that in their daydream you are playing footie with them under the table. I heard them just now “You fucking tease.” You guys are big ass teases. Which is a good thing. You two share food together and they just try their hardest not to touch you but you touch them. I can see someone watching you two. Maybe some of you might be uncomfortable with that type of stuff but most of you won’t even care. Even with your husband they won’t care at all. I heard them again “Just look into my eyes.” So just look into their eyes and you’ll feel safe with them. Because when they look into yours they feel safe with you no matter what. When you two have sex in their daydream you give your husband healing energy. So you give them all the goods. You are giving them the best daydream of their life. I told you! Teasing them. It’s like they love a challenge they fucking love when you tease them and then hold yourself back. That shit ugh 😑 them but they fucking love it at the same time if that makes sense to you guys. They would want you to sit on their face and they would want to teabag yours. Oh my gosh! I can see they want you to take a shower with them and have some sexy ass shower sessions. Hot steamy 🧖‍♀️ session with them.. that what they exactly they fantasize about with you. They would love for you to humiliate them in front of everybody! Fucking humiliation so maybe P.D.A that what would love for you to do to them.

“Can I confess something to you, I’ve put something in your drink. I’ve been a bad boy. Why don’t you come over here and spank the shit out of me. Come on slap me in public, curse me out, fucking pull my hair. Push me against the wall. Oh should I push you up against the wall because I’m the boss. Listen to me, don't turn you on when I fired you. I want you to satisfy all my fantasies, or should I say you already do anyways. You don’t know what I wanna do to you. I have a fetish kinks. I want you stump on my jaw. Tell me what is your favorite fetish. I won’t tell anyone about it. This is between you and me. Oh gosh! You don’t know how bad you make me feel. Crazy isn’t it. I’m addicted to you, I’m simp for you heavily. I want you to lose your virginity to me. Tell me where we can meet up. I’ve been thinking about you like fuck me. Do me right now. Let’s go outside and have sex, I don’t care if people see us in public having sex. That’s none of their fucking business. Come to my job and surprise me with what you are going to do. You wanna do a little role play with me. I’m horny for you, thinking about you all the time. I have intense sexual cravings. Please don’t leave my daydream alone. I hate when I’m by myself. When you are here with me I feel safe. I don’t wanna face reality sometimes.”

[callmearcturus]

i'm gonna make this its own post so its rebloggable w/o baggage

do you wish you had more X fic/art in a fandom? do you not like the current vibe of the fanworks being made? do you want to bring back an old trend you liked?

i have a three step guide:

ONE: Are you commenting on the current fics that are doing that? Are you reblogging the art that is the vibe you like? Are you supporting the people who are making the stuff you want to see?

When people are encouraged, they may make more! When other people see encouragement for an idea, they might join in!

NOTE: If you leave a comment along the lines of "oh man i'm so glad to see X, i'm tired of Y" you are going to do more harm than good. I have talked to a lot of writers about this and we all unanimous feel fucking uncomfortable when someone uplifts our stuff while dissing someone else. Like, oof, just don't.

TWO: Just start hyping the idea! Talk about how cool it would be! Do off the cuff idea jams! Shout about it!

I'm in the whomstve fandom and someone planted the idea of following Hot Karkat Summer with Spooky Jake Autumn, and so I am just reblogging and cheering people on, and cool art and fic is happening! Because people like positive feedback and the feeling of doing something as a community! It's sometimes that easy! After you have already supported the ppl doing the thing, make a space for more people to do the thing!

THREE: do the damn thing yourself!

I very very frequently say this and I will continue to say it: You have to make the things you want to see in fandom. Pick up the pencil and draw the thing! Open a doc and write the thing!

Because the truth is negativity and complaining has never encouraged people to create. It just Does Not Work. You have to support your fellow fans or you gotta roll up your sleeves. But the moment you go from "I wanna see more X" to "I wish people did less Y and more X, because Y sucks/is overdone," you've already lost.

[mykoreanlove]

Similarities

„Speed dating?“, you asked baffled. „You want me to go speed dating with you?“

Your best friend nodded her head eagerly. „Think about it. Our love life sucks and this way we can meet a lot of guys in a short amount of time. It’s cost efficient!“

Her business major definitely got the best of her. „Can’t you just download tinder or something?“, you whined.

She pushed you off the couch and ushered you to your closet.

„Change into something sexy and let’s go steal some hearts tonight.“

Ever since your heart got stolen years ago you made peace with the state of your love life. A sad heart that was still beating was better than no heart at all, right?

You put on a red dress and fumbled with your pearls, deciding to play along for tonight. „Put on a smile, act cheerily and get through this“, you encouraged yourself while looking in the mirror.

„Hwaiting y/n, hwaiting.“

The event was held in a high class restaurant, almost making you feel out of place. „Are you sure this is the right one?“

Your friend nodded happily. „Yes, come on.“

The interior was all white and minimalistic, turning the place into an elegant adventure. Inside were a lot of people - younger and older, introverted and outgoing, boring to the eyes and drop dead gorgeous.

A group of three caught your eyes immediately - they were all so different in looks, yet united in handsomeness. You nudged your friend and tilted your head in their direction, praying to be matched with one of them.

„I don’t know whom I want to meet first, y/n. The one that looks traumatized by everyone in here, the one with the smoking hot body or the cheeky one that keeps biting his lip.“

You burst out laughing, immediately getting side eyed by other contestants.

„Ahem, can I get everyone’s attention? Welcome to our speed dating event tonight.“

The host, a guys in his late 50s, was visibly happy to accommodate such an event. „We’re going to divide you into groups of six, so you have enough time to get to know each other.“

You scanned the room once more, nervous about who you would meet tonight. „There are no rules but please be open and friendly. Who knows, maybe you’ll meet the love of your life here tonight?“, he chuckled giddily.

You rolled your eyes as hard as you could, not believing in that possibility anymore.

They assigned you to a room and told you to wait for the other participants. You noticed your trembling fingers, getting mad at yourself for being nervous about such a peculiar thing. Minutes after you welcomed the next participant, a stunning woman in her 30s.

She beamed at you excitedly. „Hi girls, nice to meet you.“

You chatted for a while as you waited for the guys to join you. The door flung open and you forgot how to breathe as you realized who had just walked in.

„Hey everybody“, they greeted you. Your best friend pinched your arm, smirking deviously. „Told you it was a good idea.“

Your first speed date was with Kibum. 5 minutes should be enough to decide if you’d like to see him again, right? He was definitely nervous at first, eyeing you up and down. Kibum had a certain vibe about him, like you had visit from royalty. Talking to him was fun as he provided a lot of sassy comments and remarkable stories. He talked a lot with his face, letting you know what he felt without saying a word. You could easily picture spending more time with him watching reality tv and gossiping about people’s fashion choices.

The bell rang loudly, announcing the end of your first date.

„It was my pleasure, y/n“, he waved you off nonchalantly.

Your second date was Minho. „Nice to meet you, y/n“, he said politely.

Minho had a certain charm about him, embodying maturity as well as grace. He definitely seemed grown and grounded. You chatted a bit about hobbies, passions and ambitions before the ball rang again.

He squeezed your hands before getting up, flashing you his warmest smile before moving on to the next girl. You pictured yourself with him but felt a bit distant, fearing days of soccer training and talks about how to invest your money wisely.

Last but not least you had your final date with the youngest of them. Taemin was different than the others, yet he blended into the group perfectly. He was outgoing and bubbly, chatting away and giggling about the most random things. He intrigued you the most but you couldn’t understand why.

You examined his face, blushing slightly as you counted his freckles.

„You’re adorable“, he smiled sweetly at you. Your cheeks turned deep red as he caught you off guard. „Me? Why?“

His answer got caught off in the bell‘s ringing, leaving you disappointed. Taemin noticed right away and leaned over, whispering into your ear.

„Choose me and I’ll tell you why next time, y/n.“

Even after he was long gone you still could feel his lips on your earlobe.

„So, anyone you liked?“, you jumped up and down, eager to know about the other‘s experience.

The older girl shook her head and packed her bags. „They’re all nice but I want someone older. Good luck for you all.“

Your best friend turned to you expectedly. „I’m pretty sure I know who you want to see again.“

Images of Taemin flashed your mind, reddening your cheeks again. You didn’t want to be so obvious though, so you played it cool.

„Which one do you think?“

„Oh please“, she rolled her eyes at you, „it’s obviously Taemin.“

„What makes it so obvious?“

„Well, you’re practically the same person.“

You chuckled proudly. „Oh yeah? Because we’re both gorgeous as hell? Or because of our funny jokes? Quirky personality?“

„No“, her voice was flat, „because you both feel broken.“

Her words felt like a punch to the stomach.

„Broken?“

She looked at you concerned. „Didn’t you see his sad eyes?“

Pictures of Taemin‘s eyes flooded your mind but it was hard for you to decipher sadness in them. You got irritated. „What makes you say that? He was so bubbly and happy. I don’t think he’s sad at all.“

Your best friend sighed, choosing her words carefully.

„Or was he a bit too much? Almost hyper? People, especially with depression, tend to do that a lot, y/n. The bubblier they are, the more they’re concealing their pain. Did you really not notice?“

You did not.

Your friend got up and placed a kiss on the crown of your head. „I guess you have been too occupied with holding up your own bubbly facade to even notice who’s really sitting in front of you.“

Tears perked your eyes, stinging heavily. Your best friend took your face into her hand and made you look at her, a mixture of compassion and bossiness in her gaze. „Don’t do that anymore. Just be real about what you feel. M‘kay?“

[jesawyer]

Potentially controversial question, though I don't mean it in that sort of way: One thing I noticed in Deadfire's writing was that there was a far greater likelihood for male characters to be portrayed as the more incompetent or less sympathetic half in most dynamics, whether it was debtor/debtee (Radora/Zamar), boss/subordinate (Furrante/Aeldys), enemies (Rinco/Mokeha) and so on. That's not to say misandry, since the goal is obviously equal representation, but I did notice this enough that I assumed wasn't just me seeing things or wanting to see them to justify a bias, especially also considering that if my observations were accurate, it wouldn't bother me in the slightest considering I would have chalked it down to an understandable difference in context regarding the way genders act based on historical norms and power dynamics (ie. There is possibly more historical weight in a man abusing a woman vs the reverse of that, so it is important to understand that history before portraying something that may or may not be a false equivalency). Essentially I ask this more as a curiosity than anything else: What was the writing team's approach to portraying gender dynamics in Deadfire?

I think the first thing is that we did make a conscious effort to numerically represent women as much as men among NPCs (note: there are not many non-binary characters in Deadfire, so in this answer I'll just be talking about male/female dynamics). We also put more women in authority positions where we felt it made sense in this fictional world that we created. For those who think that's bad, well okay.

That said, I don't really agree that the women consistently come across as more competent or sympathetic. In cases where they do, it's usually a difference of degree, not kind. I think a lot of the female characters are kind of shitty people and/or bad leaders, as many of the male characters are kind of shitty people and/or bad leaders.

If you prefer Aeldys to Furrante, that's understandable, but also Aeldys... sucks? Director Castol and Lueva Alvari are also both bad in different ways. Queen Onekaza II is a sympathetic figure but installed herself as a monarch over the other tribes of the Deadfire and has caused a lot of collateral damage to the Huana in her ongoing defense of the region - literally a gatekeeping girlboss. Prince Aruihi is a flawed character but I don't think he comes across as particularly incompetent or malicious compared to his sister.

Rinco is annoying and pathetic but Mokeha comes across as excessively belligerent even if she was in the right. Radora did get jumped by pirates, which is easy to sympathize with, but I don't think she does much to endear herself to the Watcher. Hazanui Karū is highly effective but she would be perfectly content seeing the RDC effectively steamroll Huana culture. Atsura is below her in rank, but he easily as competent as she is in different areas, but repellent for other, weirder reasons.

And as far as the companions go, Xoti is approaching Permanent Dark Mode, Maia assassinates people with no questions asked, Pallegina is a ultranationalist zealot... I don't know - I just don't think these characters feel "better" or more sympathetic than the male characters.

I think the main difference really is just that there are about as many female characters as male characters and they are more represented in key positions of power. But they often suck ass in those positions of power because they are difficult jobs and inherently corrupting. For better or worse, one of the recurring comments about Deadfire's factions is that they all seem kind of shitty. Even in cases where you can shift the faction head, they still feel a different type of shitty. That's both because of the vibes of the faction overall as well as their leadership. You do not, in fact, "gotta hand it" to the Royal Deadfire Company or Aeldys' nightmare anarcho pirate flotilla with the Ukaizo storm engines permanently set to Max Power.

[goffilolo]

Art burnout

The last few months kinda sucked. I put a lot of time and energy into some really demanding drawings for the asuyuno week, and even before that I was drawing non-stop for a good few weeks making those multi page comics for the simpweek collab, and the nacht comic sequel. And it’s not that I’m fed up with making art.

I’m fed up with how much my mood was dependent on whether or not the drawings I made garnered a lot of attention in the fandom, which I know we as artists are told time and time again shouldn’t be your priority, but it’s still hard. It’s especially hard when you’re part of a small fandom like black clover (at least on tumblr), which means that I only really interacted with like 3-4 people. And since the fandom is so small there was definitely a severe lack of the type of content I liked, which made me feel the push to keep making the stuff I wanted to see being made, which in turn made me feel even more burnt out, combined with low amount of interaction from people. It’s not so much about the number of notes, but the comments you know?

For a hot minute I was thinking to myself ‘maybe I should start posting my work on twitter’ but that was the devil talking. Instead I’m going to take a break from posting for a while. I’m not giving up on drawing or anything. In fact I do have plans to work on drawing just for the sake of making a drawing that is fun to create, and maybe spend some time on trying to improve. I’m just not going to be posting for a while.

My inbox is still open so I might occasionally pop in and answer a few asks if I vibe with them, and if anyone wants to just talk to me you can always DM me or add me on discord.

See ya

[twinsoftriumph]

Do you have any hc for the twins ? Regular or angst ones ?

oh man yes ABSOLUTELY. before i go on though a few Disclaimers. some of these have been alluded to in asks before so there might be a bit of repetition in that regard. and also some will be theory related and moreso going off the assumption that certain extra material is not necessarily Canon in game. also i go into more Individual headcanons later in the post. i won't go into EVERYTHING but this gets long regardless. headcanons below the cut!

concept art related stuff

i've probably brought this up at least 3 other times but it drives me a little crazy that in the concept art timeline, the TWINS are the ones present at the king's coronation ceremony. this pic sucks but it's the only one

this is the first thing that made me believe the twins would have sided with the king in the whole dark stone/light creature conflict

concept art says "The Twins used to lead ceremonial spectacle that honored the King's victories in the Dark Stone Era" which is self explanatory

it ALSO says "Amphitheater was original site of King's coronation" as well as stuff about being free from fire worship and using dark stone for defense.

another reason is valley itself being a city of entertainment even before we got dreams and performance. i'm not saying this was All there was to valley as it seems genuinely culturally rich, but it gives a very Bread And Circuses vibe (superficial distractions from serious problems)

not to mention valley having darkstone contraptions Everywhere.

and who better to lead this than two energetic entertaining athletes?

since they were labeled the "priestess" ancestor in concept art, i think that could very much relate back to the king coronation ceremony. i can see them holding religious ceremonies in the fire era or very important kingdom-wide events (and i'd go as far as to say the king's coronation is religious in its own way due to the godlike powers granted by darkstone)

but on a less dramatic note, i also like to imagine it meant they were in touch with the emotions of their people in valley, offering advice and listening to their troubles Like a priestess would

more personal hc stuff

of course i think there is a genuine significant degree of sibling rivalry, but i ALSO think they play it up for the entertainment aspect. everything in the public eye is a big performance to them

the Sibling Rivalry is a little more complicated than that though due to my belief that they split into two upon falling to the sky kingdom and at times have such insane synergy that you'd think they're the same person because in a way. they Are (i talked about this in an in-character ask once)

but anyway i think they are very smart and aware of how they present themselves to other people and of their influence

they know how to get people energized/riled up regardless of whether they're the ones competing or not. GREAT commentators who can project their voice and capture everyone's attention with incredible persuasion and dynamism

do i think they flirt with the crowd? yes.

due to them representing young adulthood, i think they have a lot of internal contradictions and conflicts that they have a hard time working through

they can absolutely be arrogant and Not in a fun way. they want to feel justified in their convictions especially when it comes to siding with the king so strongly. so basically they doubt themselves but if you doubt them you'll probably just piss them off

they feel their emotions strongly but also have an incredibly logical aspect to their emotions and will get irritated at themselves for "irrational" emotions

they care A Lot to the point of trying to distance and distract themselves from caring, especially when shit is going down in the dark stone era

they love the attention but very much value their time out of the spotlight and even away from each other.

i like imagining that valley has Fights For Entertainment (not like any sort of gladiator to-the-death thing). they'll fight each other once in a while for a crowd but their sparring in private is very different

i think they have petty squabbles over small things but private sparring is letting off steam and being open to genuine criticism. by which i mean they are there to stay sharp and help each other by pointing out weaknesses

there's no aspect of entertaining an audience but it still flows like a dance. it is, however, more... ruthless? no intentionally slipping up for drama or dragging things out or interacting with the crowd

the nicks/cracks in their masks are from each other. i also did an in-character ask for this (i hate how it turned out lmao) but i think the idea i prefer now is that they had an Incredibly rocky time orienting themselves as a split star and dealing with their identity. i dunno maybe they tried to kill each other at one point. just sibling things

at the end of the day they are ride or die

they have adhd. To Me. (<- has adhd)

individual headcanons

they have similarly androgynous voices but there are some distinctions which i am Not sure how to describe. i imagine sah to have a clearer voice that sounds more playful/teasing with a bit of an Edge. for mekh i imagine a more theatrical, regal quality with maybe a sort of... smoothness to it? (this part is especially influenced by how they carry themselves in their cutscene)

sah tends to skirt around what they mean, mekh is more blunt

mekh is slightly taller. don't bring this fact up around the twins

when it comes to theatrical productions, i think it's funny to imagine sah being invested in like. the romance and comedy like Oh my god they were roommates and for mekh to be like YEAHH RIP EACH OTHER'S HEADS OFF and very into the drama

sah roasts a mean dark crab

mekh goes to the counter and says They asked for no pickles (yes i already drew this yes im saying it again)

with other elders

i will quickly reiterate and elaborate on some stuff i've stated before

daleth: noble and gentle, always seems to understand the bigger picture. the twins clashed a lot with them in the dark stone era and treated them rather flippantly, which they regret later on as daleth gave them very important guidance when they were trying to figure out their identity. daleth eventually reached a point where they felt the twins were too out of reach amidst their glory, and interactions were resigned on daleth's part and curt on the twins'

ayin: always hopeful and kind towards the twins, but ultimately they could not truly understand each other. ayin wished to be closer to them and also helped them in designing the valley's architecture. again, with how close ayin was to the light creatures, the twins became rather standoffish and especially defensive in believing dark stone was absolutely necessary to the livelihood of their realm

teth: someone they could connect with emotionally. they had a quiet understanding of each other's feelings of self-contradiction, and teth was not one to demand conversation or vulnerability. teth was, however, someone who would not back down from an argument, so they were more prone to Heated Verbal Disagreements even if they were relatively friendlier. neither are sure they can trust the other's impulses

tsadi: trained with the twins and became protective over them at some point, maintaining a friendly and mutual relationship a decent way into the dark stone era. both feel a great deal of loyalty towards the king, believing themselves to be standing for the good of the ancestors. things eventually sour between them as conditions in now-wasteland degrade, but tsadi blames themself far more for everything that happened than literally any of the elders

lamed: very mixed feelings. lamed recognizes their sheer influence and skill but still finds them to be too impulsive. the twins really are not that shallow or oblivious to lamed's opinions, but lamed is the Genius of geniuses and can come off as condescending or above-it-all even without intending to. stiff in the face of lamed's occasional sentimentality

ok im just gonna. stop myself here because i think my brain is melting from Samekh Thoughts but um. if you made it this far congrats! i hope this was enjoyable to read!

[dissociativediscourse]

Since I got blocked by someone for no reason after trying to explain it earlier, thought I’d make a little post to clear this up, complete with sources! CDD is not a term meant to cover all dissociative disorders (Hence, “Complex”. It’s meant to distinguish DID et al. from things like DP/DR, dissociative fugue, standalone dissociative amnesia… et cet.) , and spitting vitriol at people who use that term for no reason is distasteful and shows that you don’t actually desire to fight misinformation, but instead to impose your fight response onto innocent bystanders. Don’t worry, I’ve been there, too. Trauma responses suck. It still makes you an asshole, though, just as much as I was one when I would do the same.

(A note, this user is not one I had seen in syscourse before today, and I was planning on this being just… Me dropping in, ignoring the rest of the vitriol, and maybe leaving behind a morsel of positive vibes and a tad bit of corrected misinfo without actually being combative about it. Another note, dear fuck, was it a lot of hatred and vitriol. This was on an opinion post about how one person believed that endos are inherently ableist, and I guess someone used the term CDD in the comments, which led the same user as well as another user to pull out all this (very rudely worded, might I add) mishegas about ‘don’t refer to me with your new terms!! i am a DID system not a CDD system!!’ and then ‘yadda yadda, CDDs are all dissociative disorders and don’t mean just the system ones yadda yadda.’ This ticked me off a little. Directing that kind of behavior at other people is unacceptable, especially considering you’re not even correct!! So I left a warm-spirited comment something along the lines of “Just so you know, CDD does just mean DID/OSDD! It can be muddied up and confusing sometimes, but it is used at least colloquially among specialists/professionals, and is referenced in some clinical research and peer reviewed writings as well. It’s really just shorthand that’s more succinct!” And when I replied a second time with some sources to help out (no room in the first comment), to my surprise… Blocked! So… Lmao. Here we are, I already had all these sources ready, so why not. Also, if you see this, person I will not name, try to think about why you are so reluctant to accept new information that does not fit your worldview, and why you have to be so… Nasty? About it. I get you’re young and you’re traumatized, just like most of us. You’ve got to learn how to work with others in a productive way. You’ve got to learn how to mitigate that vitriol. It’s not healthy for you, and I promise you you will regret it later on. Sooner than you’d think. I know I very much regret the way I used to behave.)

Very clear on the definition, also a very useful read in general: https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-022-03970-8

“DID and the closely related Other Specified Dissociative Disorders, example 1 (OSDD), where similar disturbances are observed without meeting the full clinical picture of DID, are commonly categorized as Complex Dissociative Disorders (CDD)”

(This is followed by a citation, which links to “Dissociation and the Dissociative Disorders: DSM-V and Beyond”, edited by Paul F. Dell, John A. O'Neil.)

This one’s similar: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35695685/

“Complex dissociative disorders (CDD) include dissociative identity disorder (DID) and the most common other specified dissociative disorder (OSDD, type 1).”

Another one: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15299732.2014.949020

“There is a paucity of empirical data to assist clinicians in choosing interventions to use with patients with complex dissociative disorder (DD; i.e., dissociative identity disorder and dissociative disorder not otherwise specified) at different stages in treatment.”

I could continue, but I think the point has been made.

Spitting vitriol helps no one, firstly, and secondly, I’m honestly quite appalled at being randomly blocked for (very cordially, might I add) offering an explanation of what the term CDD meant — which you had improperly defined in your comment. Considering the rudeness with which you spread misinformation and the venomous nature both of you involved seem to have exhibited throughout that exchange, it’s plain to me that your interest doesn’t lie with actually being correct. You just want to be pissy at people.

Again, I was once there. Exactly the same spot you’re in. And then I grew up.

I hope therapy treats you well.

[the-defiant-fluffball]

Unpopular opinion re. Cait Corrain drama: some of y'all should chill it, especially with 'mental illness doesn't do this she's just a trash person' kinda comments.

Did she do A Bad Thing? Most definitely.

Did she get her just desserts and then some? Very much so. In the grand scheme of being terrible online (or, hell, being terrible IRL), what she did was relatively mild, and it blew up in her face very severely. A lot of people have done a lot worse and nothing at all happened. This time, justice was served! Yay!

But just maybe, we could do the gracious thing and put away the popcorn and stop dancing on her grave. Substance abuse sucks, and mental illness does too, and combined with the consequences of Cait's actions, I think that's already plenty of misery that we don't need to contribute to any further. She made her own bed, and it seems plenty uncomfortable without us picking it apart and adding to it.

Disclaimer: I'm not in the booktok or fandom scene at all. I haven't read a speculative fiction book in almost ten years, which is really sad and I'm working on changing that. But there's been a lot of gleeful reposting of this drama on my dash, and a lot of comments give me a very naïve vibe. I'm not saying this could happen to anyone (she made some EXTREMELY bad decisions there), but I'm old enough to know how thin a line between a Perfect Girl and a Terrible No Good Fuckup can be. And if it does happen that you cross it (because it does, and it's sometimes not even up to you), and you can't fix it, and your life goes up in flames like Cait's did, I hope you - we all - get the grace of being left alone once it all falls apart. Believing her about her issues doesn't absolve of anything she did, or make it better, but I truly think it's the gracious thing to do.

[safyresky]

I am so ?????????

Finally watched the episode! UM. What in the fuck??? What?? The fuck??? Um???? I cannot really put into words the feeling I am having but I have a great emoji for it! 🤨🤨🤨

That's the vibe, lads.

So the Council. Ho boy. WOW. Allow me to just go OFF for a moment here :) :) :)

THEY CANNOT INTERFERE? THEY WILL NOT INTERFERE? HELLO?????

THE SAME COUNCIL THAT WAS SO KIND AND SUPPORTIVE TO SANTA DURING TSC2.

WITH THE TOOTH FAIRY WHO GAVE HIM A LIFT BACK NORTH.

MOTHER NATURE LITERALLY MARRYING SCOTT AND CAROL AT THE VERY LAST MOMENT.

OFFERING TO HELP SANTA MAKE UP THE DIFFERENCE WHEN THEY WERE BEHIND OR WHATEVER IN TSC2

THE COUNCIL THAT WAS LIKE "NO YOU CAN'T STOP BEING SANTA UR SO GOOD AT IT!"

THE SAME COUNCIL THAT CHARLIE WAS ABLE TO CALL UP ON CHRISTMAS EVEN FOR SOME EXTRA HELP? NO QUESTIONS ASKED>?

WOULD NOT HELP THE ELVES WITH MAD SANTA????

SO LA BEFANA, WHO WAS APPARENTLY ALSO A LEGENDARY FIGURE TOO (which is giving age old fanfics vibes lmao, not sure that's a good thing???? more at 10) HAD TO DO A ROBBERY? BECAUSE THEY WOULDN'T HELP?? BECAUSE THEY APPARENTLY CAN'T INTERFERE?????

WHEN THEY DO INTERFERE A LOT? SEE: THE ENTIRETY OF TSC3 WHERE THEY HAVE A MEETING BC OF SOME CARDBOARD STANDEES AND BAD WEATHER????? AND YOU ARE TELLING ME. THAT THEY WILL NOT INTERFERE WITH:

MAD SANTA ATTACKING THE POLE

EASTER BUNNY BEING TURNED INTO A BUNNY AND THEN A LEMON

EASTER BUNNY'S BASKET BEING STOLEN

EASTER BUNNY BEING KIDNAPPED

CRAZY AMOUNTS OF SANTA MAGIC ALL UNACCOUNTED FOR IN THE R E A L WORLD?????

SANDMAN MAGIC BEING USED ON SANDMAN?

BILLIONS OF SNOW GLOBES FILLED WITH CHRISTMAS MAGIC POPPING INTO THE REAL WORLD AND BEING GIFTED TO HUMANS?

THE WHOLE SIMON THING LAST SEASON?????

THEY WOULD NOT INTERFERE??? WHAT IN THE FUCK!!!!! It's funny, because like. When I was rage fic-ing post S1, I was thinking that the Council, given Scott being...SCOTT, had stopped talking to him as much bc tscs!Scott sucks so bad!! He 100% would've made comments that deffs did not sit well with ANY of the other Council Members, I mean, look at how he treated Cupid and Sandy! I'd hate to be on THAT Council during Covid, YIKES.

But like. GOD. @lmelodie you were SO RIGHT about Council stans being pissed bc I am MAD PISSED. ALSO, JUST LEARNT THAT I AM APPARENTLY A V BIG COUNCIL STAN!! (Checks out I suppose given my fic writing and reading habits, lol).

It's just so MADDENING and INFURIATING and SADDENING, IT'S ACTUALLY REALLY REALLY SAD TO SEE THAT T H I S IS HOW THEY'RE REACTING TO NOT BEING ABLE TO GET ALL THE COUNCIL MEMBERS BACK. Like, GOD, if you're unable to properly use them in the story JUST DON'T USE THEM AT ALL. I am once again REJOICING that the Millers have been left untouched, thank GOD for that!

AND ANOTHER THING (took a kitchen cleaning break and got all annoyed about loopholes). IF RESIGNING AS A LEGENDARY FIGURE ALLOWS YOUR POWERS TO WORK ON OTHERS, WHY WOULD THEY THREATEN JACK WITH THAT IN THE THIRD MOVIE? WOULDN'T YOU WANT HIM TO KEEP HIS TITLE SO THAT HIS POWERS WOULDN'T WORK ON THE REST OF YOU, INCLUDING SANTA?!?!?!?!?! THIS SHIT DOESN'T LINE UP! IT DOESN'T! LINE! UP! MY GOD! THIS SERIES IS MY VILLAIN ORIGIN STORY! THIS SERIES IS WHY PEOPLE NEED TO STOP REBOOTING OLD THINGS! 80% OF THE TIME IT'S A MISS! THAT'S TOO MUCH RISK! TOO MUCH!! AH!

I THINK I'M DONE YELLING ABOUT THE COUNCIL. PROBABLY NOT TBH. BUT FOR NOW I'LL CALL IT. GOD, I MEAN, I KNEW WHEN WE LEARNT WE'D BE SEEING SOME OF THEM THEY WOULD NOT MAKE IT OUT UNSCATHED BUT DAMN! DAMN! MORE RETCONNING LORE! DAMN!

eurhgjrbewhfnujqncwje nsdjk. GOD I'm EXHAUSTED. My brain itches. I was thinking of lobotomys today. I wonder why (/sarcasm)

(it was bc of a shitty patron at work but this just adds to the freudian slips)

UGH. Ick. Yuck. Moving on (impossible for me but we're gonna TRY!)

Elves vs Gnomes

So. The backstory thing. I just. It's cool lore but it leaves more questions than answers and just makes things SO CONFUSING. AS A DISCLAIMER: GO OFF BETTY, WE LOVE TO SEE HER BEING A BADASS. BETTY! HELL YEAH! WE HERE AT SAFYRESKY INDUSTRIES LOVE TO SEE BETTY THRIVING!

Now for the wank. From a LORE PERSPECTIVE. EURGH.

They drop that Mad Santa was a good Santa until he thought everyone was ungrateful and implemented coal and became buds with the gnomes, who apparently ran the coal mines. The gnomes get in his head and prey on his paranoia. Paranoia of WHAT. I've not done a second watch and I don't think I will because I don't actually want a lobotomy despite them being on my mind today a little too much tbh, so maybe i missed that bit, but like, come ON. We can do better in terms of giving antagonists a believable descent into villainy! GOD!

And the trap scene, that was so needlessly drawn out. They should have held him in the trap, Betty revealed her badass self, had Magnus taunt and THEN boom, Befana ALREADY THERE, and she nutcrackers his ass.

Also, calling it NOW. Not ONLY will Sandy un-nutcracker Cal, but she's deffs gonna re-nutcracker Magnus. I bet it'll be like a reversal spell or something lmao

BUT YEAH the lore for the elves around Mad Santa's reign is not quite hitting with me, I gotta say! I am not a fan of it and every time I see it (Betty and Noel aside bc they of course SHINE) it leaves me very :\. It just. Doesn't seem to hit? Or really work? It's just so convoluted to me and goes against everything they said NOT JUST in the movies but LAST SEASON AND ALSO IN INTERVIEWS ABOUT THE SERIES BEFORE TI CAME OUT! It's infuriating y'all. GOD. "A war we didn't see coming" wow, the gnomes and Pyros sure do have something in common, eh? 🤔🤔

Cal and Sandra

God, I love them. They're so funny. Cal is like destroying his room and Sandy is like BRO what the FUCK and HELPS HIM HUNT DOWN THE VEST WITH SANTA MAGIC!! USING HER BEFANA TRAINING! AND THEN HE HELPS HER MAKE UP WITH BEFANA! By lying, of course, so he can go be stupid and heroic and GET NUTCRACKER'D (they nutcrackered my boy ): BUT I LOVE THE WAY THEY SUPPORT EACH OTHER

And the almost hug that turned into punches, lol. That's so Toph coded. We love to see it!

We DON'T love to see Cal DOING THAT! THOUGH! I DID LOVE HIS SCENE WITH KRIS. I'm really hoping, given that he and Cal got duct tapped together and he knows Cal's been nutcrackered, that they give him more of a role, you know? Honestly, it'd be neat if they made Kris the next Santa! I think he'd fit the bill quite well! And then Cal could have his odd job montage and, you know, cross guard and sail on a cruise ship and such. I am VERY intrigued with this pairing, as an aside. Kris and Cal? There's potential. They're gonna fuck it up I'm sure, but we have some DANK POTENTIAL HERE

Sandra and Befana

I'M SO GLAD THEY CHATTED! I am still v much like Sandra did NOTHING wrong and Befana overacted, but I'm glad they talked. Interesting stuff about the magic taking a tole/consequences. Mad Santa really do be out here messing up the balance of things huh? And Mother Nature WON'T intervene. GOD. I know it's bc they probz couldn't get the rest of the ALIVE actors back but like. THEN WHY EVEN USE SOME OF THEM? YEESH. ANYWAY

I'm excited to see how Sandy and Befana manning home base goes! I'm glad they talked and hopefully they can un-lemon EB and just be general badasses around the Workshop, lol.

BUT YEAH. OVER ALL. ARGH. I AM ONCE AGAIN SEEING POTENTIAL, BUT KNOWING THAT IT WON'T BE REACHED IS ACTUALLY LIKE. DEVASTATING.

ALSO. I HATE THAT I WAS RIGHT ABOUT MAD SANTA GETTING TO THE POLE IN EPISODE 6. ARGH

[yooniesim]

any suggestions for becoming a sims based blog? I used to do it back in the hayday of sims 3 but it's been YEARS and I still absolutely love making sims, but I'm too shy and nervous to interact with the community ;;;

hi nonny! this is a complicated question that I'm not sure I'm the best person to ask lol but let me try it out. I think I'm gonna separate it into two parts for ease of reading. And sorry if it's a bit more cynical than you probably expected. I've just learned a lot i wish I had done from the start, lol. So here we go.

Sims content

Post whatever tf you feel like. If you love making sims, post the hell outta them and don't worry about what anyone thinks. There's no one perfect type of content to appeal to everyone; the community is made up of a million smaller niche ones. Editors, sim makers, gameplayers, storytellers, cc makers, etc. If you're passionate about it, you'll find people that love your posts. So don't worry too much.

Don't get too hung up on editing, if you want your pics to look "better" then use gshade/reshade and/or simple psd actions to your liking. Don't let it get stressful cos it ain't worth it. If you don't enjoy editing, don't do it at all. (I wrote more about how I edit & make it easier in this post)

Try your very best not to worry about notes. I know it's hard. Everyone wants their stuff to be seen, but when it comes to engagement on here, you're aiming for quality over quantity. A few awesome mutuals commenting on your stuff is way better than 600 silent likes. Also, having more attention sucks bc it brings the vile swamp rats out of their holes to see what shit they can stir up. The brief serotonins aint worth it. Just aim to find a few cool ppl to talk about your sims with cos thats all that matters.

If you want, find bachelor/ette or similar challenges ppl are doing and submit sims for them. And once you get some mutuals/followers, open sim requests so you can make sims for people. It's super fun and awesome to see your sims in other people's games! And you don't have to talk too much if you don't feel like it, but it's an easy way to get involved with others.

Social stuff & safety

Comment on peoples posts often if you like them. Engage with ppl. Reblog posts you see you like but don't really have any reblogs. I know you said you're shy but, this is most of the way to actual have mutuals that enjoy talking to you and comment on your stuff as well. You can just not talk if you want but it'll make it harder to have any engagement unless you're really good at edits or cc making.

Don't get involved with drama/discourse, it means nothing and amounts to nothing. If you're going to boost someone else's post, look into it first and look for evidence that it's even true before you reblog. If people hate on you in your inbox, block the anon and don't respond even to laugh at them. Block anyone that gives you bad vibes. They look at you funny, breathe wrong, use a color you don't like. Block. If anyone tries to start shit with you, block & completely ignore them & don't comment on it. It hurts, but there's nothing you can do about it, and people will move on if you ignore them.

Don't reveal any personal info about yourself on here or to anyone in DMs. Don't use your real name. Don't have anything connected to your other socials. Don't trust anyone on here with your vulnerable emotions, past trauma, etc. And don't say anything in DM you wouldn't feel comfortable with everyone else on the internet potentially seeing.

If you pledge to people on patreon, be aware that your email will show up on their end when you do. Dont use your real name as your patreon username.

If simblr is causing you stress, you feel like your mental health is suffering, take breaks. Log off or delete the app for a while.

And... I think that's all I can think of for now. If there's anything else detailed you wanna ask about feel free. But these are just my general thoughts. Good luck, nonny :)

[mar64ds]

Can I know what's exactly sam and max and where should I start watching/play/reading it? Your posts make me feel curious and the energy of these two fill me with good vibes

Sam and Max is a comedy series about two guys solving strange crimes, they are married too, it's a lot of fun

It started with comics but then had a tv show and lots of videogames adaptations

-If you search 'sam and max comics' they are pretty easy to find

-The whole tv show you can find on youtube, there is even hd upscales

They have five videogames, you can either play them yourself or watch playthroughs on youtube, your choice

-The first game is Sam&Max Hit the road, an old pixel art game made by Lucasart. It's very short but this game is famous for having extremely difficult puzzles, unless you have a guide it's going to be almost impossible

-Then there is three seasons of Telltale games: Sam&Max Save the world, Sam&Max Beyond time and space, Sam&Max The devil's playhouse. They have remastered the first two seasons and they are working on the remaster of the last season right now, it's meant to come out this year apparently. My advice is to play the remasters, they look better and have removed a couple of bad 'jokes' from the original, as well as giving a black voice actor to a black character that used to be voiced by a white man

The first season starts slow but gets better as episodes go, it's a silly season, it has 6 episodes, the other two seasons have 5 episodes. The second season has a lot of highs and a lot of lows, when it's good it's good when it's bad it's bad, it feels like it has less of an idea of what they wanted the story to be but i suppose that doesn't matter much with sam&max. The third season............... oh, well, let's just say it gets a little less silly sometimes, there are high stakes here, there are tense emotionals moments, if you like these two characters you might cry. But truthfully, it's also a very dumb game with dumb adventures lol

-Then we have a VR game, I wouldn't buy a VR set for it, just go watch a playthrough. The gameplay is not that good and i'm pretty sure the devs are cryptobros, so just enjoy seeing sam and max talking to each other and to you for a couple of hours and then move on

I think it's important to warn that some stuff in this franchise hasn't aged well, some because it was the 80s/90s (comics, tv show, hit the road), others because some writers wanted to be edgy family guy writers i guess even though that's not the humor sam&max is supposed to have (the telltale games). No excuse for either of those though, it sucks that stuff is here at all and it would be bad that i talk about how much i enjoy these characters and not warn that there is bad stuff here from time to time. From the top of my head i remember the comics, show and Hit the road have racist caricatures of indigenous people (the comics have a one page comic long that includes this, hit the road has bigfoots that are kind of meant to be that as well and i would skip episode 3 of the cartoon altogether + edit: i forgot to add that there are characters in season 2 episode 2 of the telltale games that are also racist indigenous stereotypes), the telltale games have a bunch of fatphobia (mostly towards sam), ableism (mostly with a character named timmy, honestly skip the cutscenes once he shows up, you can skip dialogue in these games) and racist comments and stereotypes (like making max say a bunch of conservative stuff for no reason when he canonically kills n*zis and white supremacists in the comics. Caricatures of mexican people in s2 and romani people in s3, you could say the way they write black characters can be a bit stereotypical too but it's not my place to talk, but just a warning overall). There is more and if anyone wants to add more warnings go ahead

It's a fun franchise with fun characters, especially the main duo, when it's good it's really good, but when it's bad it's really bad, it's important to be critical about it. Wether you want to give it a try or skip this franchise altogether it's your choice, i'm always here to give the information necessary for newcomers of the franchise

[twyftwyt]

I 1000% agree with everything you said. There are so many ways they give the impression that they just tolerate their fans rather than appreciate them. It would take too long to list them all. It sucks. I understand people want to make excuses for them, well Noah, but the things they are making excuses for are the things that are the reason they won’t get any bigger than they are. I have seen a couple interviews in the past where weird comments were made. Like Noah saying that they didn’t keep up with their social media, so he was glad people were out there doing the work for them (about JP blowing up on TikTok). There was also one where either Noah or Nick R said that if they could just write and perform music without dealing with the fans and the rest of it, that would be the dream. Like what? That’s a strange view to have if you want to be successful. Especially nowadays. Idk if they don’t fully understand all the work that goes into making it big or if they are just happy with the amount of success they have and don’t care if they get bigger or what.

Another thing I have noticed that bothers me is that with the first two albums when they did interviews or videos, they all seemed like they were happy and having fun. Now it’s usually just Noah and he gives off a weird vibe like he’s trying his best to just smile and be nice. Like it’s almost forced. It’s like being more well known is a pain in the ass to him.

I think we kinda know at this point, that Noah is the one that’s invested the most. I’m sorry that I’m comparing them with BMTH again, but a lot of people only know Oli or mostly care about Oli. Similar scenario with Linkin Park. Most people liked Chester and Mike the most. Every band has a spokesperson, it’s normal. But everyone else that’s just there for the music (Nicholas, Nick) needs media training (cause I do believe Jolly enjoys the interview part even more than Noah sometimes).

[loife1m]

hey, i've barely interacted with you but i think this is appropriate for me to say bc i just saw what happened- i hope you're ok, i hope you know you've got people who truly care for you (i mean just look at your lovely moots! reading their notes made me tear up man) and i hope you take time to heal. you will heal.

however. as someone older than you with more experience ig (i hope this doesn't sound presumptuous/rude) i feel like i should tell you a couple of things, what with the appalling hate you've been getting. first off- please be mindful of what you post on here. or any social media. i know you've got your friend circle on tumblr and you guys have your interactions, but please think twice before you post super private info. especially your age, home situation, personal stuff like that. i think it's one of the main things that makes it easier for hateful anons to send target people and shit.

second, i know it's tempting to cuss out angrily at those stupid anons, but just. don't. take a breath, delete the ask. you responding just aggravates them more, your friends get pissed, and continue the vicious cycle. responding with edgy comments and pointing out their grammar flaws- it's not helping any of you, it's not throwing anon off either. it's encouraging them and spreading negativity to everyone.

maybe this seems like it's very easy for me to say. after all, what do i know what you've been through? i'm not gonna act like i understand what you've faced. but i've faced similar shit. i may not know how you feel right now, but know what all this feels like, loife. it sucks. but posting about hate anon(s?) again and again will just make things worse. please, for your own well-being at least, and your friends, don't pay attention to anon. disable it if you feel like you should do that. clear out anon-related stuff completely. act like they don't exist, because that's the only way they'll fucking stop. your friends are amazing for standing up for you, but them attacking anon is just fueling their bullshit. also, it might not be my place to say this, but take some time off tumblr if you feel you must. take a breather. you don't have to post everything about your personal life, it brings more harm than good.

anyway i'm sorry i sent a whole-ass essay after what happened to you. we might not be friends, but please just know that there are people who love you, and i'm sure there's people in your irl circle who care for you too. eat lots of ice cream, watch something that makes you happy, vibe to some nice music, go out and feel the breeze in your hair, kick a ball, take pictures of things you love. sending lots of hugs. feel better, loife :)

noting all of this down! thanks

[theirloveisgross]

do you think he’ll come back? and tour again?

yes, absolutely. he loves it a lot. he loves it so much that he accepted to do the horrendous residencies. but it'll be a while... i hope it is a while. i think he'll do shows here and there, but a world tour? mmm. i'm guessing 2025. but maybe 2026. everyones knows 1D is touring in 2025 (HAHAHAHSGAHSA).

also, i'll use this post to... vent? rant? ramble? idk. but... love on tour has been a fucking emotional ride. tonight's show was so beautiful and special, and made me remember the great things i've experienced thanks to it... like, meeting one of my closest friends in real life a year after we met online through this fandom, at harry's show in sweden, was one of the highlights of my life. it was my first time seeing harry with a friend who loved him like i do and i will always cherish that day and the fun we had and how close we were (kitchen/jp forever, bitches). like, experiencing harryween with another close friend is also high on the list. like, going all out for kiwi with harry in the same room is to this day one of the most cathartic and joyful experiences i've had in my life, and i'll brag that i did it 7 times having only been to 5 shows, because, yes, i did live through thriwi. like, listening to harry's voice live is so so so beautiful and i will be waiting for the next time i get to do that again. like, singing wmyb with harry is one of the highlights of tour. every show. i mean, it's only the best song of his entire life, he said it himself.

but as there have been many good things, there have also been many meh things, in my experience... like, the shows i attended by myself in 2021 were NOT welcoming. sure, there was still a pandemic, etc etc, but the vibes were not great, and i had to put myself in an imaginary bubble and believe it was only me and harry, forget the rest and go hard to every song. like, the awful hateful comments and words i've heard/read by some fans towards other fans the past two years have been absolutely disappointing and horrifying, and i know that's what you pay when your audience grows, etc, but yikes, sometimes it sucks to be piled up with the same group of people. like, the fact that it was very obvious to me that harry didn't want the 2021 leg to happen (this is speculation, of course i don't know what harry thought). like, the fans that kept bringing disrespectful signs to his shows. if you wouldn't say that to a stranger you just met, why would you do that with harry? like, the residency shows in the us. i won't even elaborate further on that.

anyway, that's a lot of rambling. my brain loves having the sides? nuances? of everything, for some weird and annoying reason. but trust that i was an absolute puddle tonight, especially after harry's speech about us, because, yes, all the good things outweigh the bad ones. and i got you all and my friends, who love harry for who he is, and i hope more of his fans see that, and i hope there's more kindness and understanding on his next tour. whenever that might be.

so long, love on tour. you were... something! thanks for all the experiences!