#and I have a neutral preference and stuff when it comes to the entire game casts??? sooo?

[talulla-artblog]

Making a meme so everyone knows that I haven't died yet (i'm cooking a piece rn dw-)

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I interpreted the "adaptation from the manga" thing to imply that they'll animate the 3 Yuus (like you said) but my partner proposed smth to me that raised my concerns... what if they only animate Yuuka? or like- default to a female Yuu? I could see that bc it would be probably easier for them to have only one protagonist.

don't get me wrong I like Yuuka and I know a lot of TWST fans are women but since the studio involved is apparently known for shojos I'm scared they'll make it seem like the story is romantic/the game is an otome... Which I mean- we do have SOME fanservice stuff but it's definitely not a romance story. That's why I'm scared 😭 if they do go that path... I much rather prefer the disconnection (?) of having 3 different Yuus than the possibility of this...

Also I'm just 🥲 I'm scared ppl will see that and say ahhh So Yuu has always been a woman!! Because as a trans guy, one thing that rlly made me feel valid in a way was seeing that in the game Yuu has no gender at all... I don't go by they/them but I'd much rather be referred as that than to be misgendered. It's a small thing but it's such an important detail for me (the fact that Yuu is gender neutral/can be whatever u want them to be) that it being erased in the anime would make me pretty sad... even more if ppl take the anime as "confirmation" of Yuu's gender, which it wouldn't be regardless if they end up giving us a girl OR guy Yuu- it would just be another Yuu interpretation different from the game.

But yeah, personal stuff aside, I'm more scared by the possibility of them making it seem like it's a romance story 😭 or ppl calling TWST an otome... which I mean... some people already have that misconception, even some fans...

[Referencing this post and this news!]

I definitely think they're probably leaning towards a new Yuu every season; otherwise, there would be a very uneven distribution of screen time for one Yuu over the others, and that leads into the problem of one Yuu being "more" canon than the rest. Yes, it will probably be easier logistically speaking to keep the same Yuu for the entire anime--but I also said the same thing when we only had the Episode of Heartslabyul manga, and look what happened with that. We ended up getting Yuuka and Yuuta following Yuuken, regardless of the logistical inconvenience of it all. I think if the anime intended to have a singular Yuu to follow for the main story, they would have chosen to adapt the light novel (which has Yuuya across multiple volumes) instead of the manga. The conscious decision to adapt the manga (with changing Yuus) says something to me. So really, I don't think we have to worry about one "kind" of Yuu dominating the anime. I took a look at the portfolios of the two studios collaborating for the Twst anime and didn't see a ton of shoujo myself. There was definitely a handful of them, but overall there was a spread of genres. I think Yumeta Company (one of the studios) has Tokyo Mew Mew New under its belt, which is probably one of its better-known works and maybe that's where the "they're known for doing shoujo" allegations are coming from? Don't quote me on that, though. I'm not someone who closely follows anime studios.

I would, however, like to point out that we shouldn't put all our stock into the studios behind the anime. Yes, they are obviously animating the project and thus have an influence on how the final product is. However, there are tons of other people involved (like the script writer) that will dictate how the anime looks and feels. (In fact, the script writer for the Twst anime, Kato Yoichi, is not known for writing shoujo.) I highly doubt all the staff involved at every possible level of production are conspiring to make Twst a genre it's not. (Related: I blame socialization for this, but it's a little sad that most of us by default think one woman + a bunch of men in a cast must be romantic.)

Now, to your main point. I understand the initial fear of people misunderstanding Twst as a dating sim/otome from how it is presented. Really, I do. I also understand the frustration that comes with people claiming Yuu's identity or gender or what have you is "confirmed". But to that, I ask you: so what? And I don't mean that in a "your feelings aren't valid" way (because your feelings are very valid!) I mean in like... Do these misconceptions others have truly impact your own enjoyment? Do the people believing in these falsehoods erase what you know is the truth? I would wager it doesn't. There has been and always will be those who see Twst or interpret Yuu as something they are not. Lots of us (myself included) thought Twst was an otome game when they first heard of its concept. People claimed Yuuken was the definitive Yuu when the first chapter of the manga dropped. That's fandom, especially the larger they get. If we fixate on those sore spots, it will ultimately make us unhappy because there will never be an end to misunderstandings. I would advise that you try and detach from those worries and just focus on having your own fun in the fandom rather than worrying about how others are consuming or reacting to Twst. Yes, we want Twst, a franchise we've seriously been invested in and love, to be seen a certain way--but I don't think that should come at the cost of your enjoyment. Fandom is meant to be fun, and we don't want to make ourselves miserable by stressing over the "what ifs", you know? Please focus on yourself!!

[sca-nerd]

Hi!! unlike a lot of the asks youve gotten lately, i dont have any advice or answers for anyone, but i do have a few questions for you!

im not worried about titles or how id be treated in the SCA as a trans person given the demographics of my area, but i AM kind of worried about things like clothing. i know there are some somewhat neutral options but having to be historically accurate kinda kills my usual method of blending historical clothing into androgyny, do you think theres any leway for things like that or would it be up to my local group entirely what theyd allow?

i was also wondering if the SCA is always so focused on such a specific geographic history (everything ive seen is either very english or somewhat scandinavian), or again is it up to the individual as long as its time period accurate? i think my local group would be the canton of seashire/barony of ruantallan so im sure theres at least a few people whod want to deviate, i just want to join a group like the SCA but i dont have much love for the english....

i also have a disability that makes it hard to travel and do stuff like pitch tents, i sometimes have to skip events. is that something id be able to compensate the group for in other ways if i need a little extra understanding sometimes? i dont feel right asking for help and not paying it back when its my own fault.

thanks for always helping us when we want to know things, ive wanted to join a group like this for so long but the SCA seems so strict that a two hour drive for someone who cant drive wasnt worth it, but now im moving and this new group gathers down the road from where im moving to so i figure maybe id try looking into it again! (im sorry this sounded like an email 🙃)

Hello, friend!

I have great news for you. :) The only requirement for garb in the SCA is that you make SOME attempt at pre-16th century clothing. That's it. That's the rule. Some people interpret this for themselves as being as strictly as historically accurate as they can, while others interpret it as doing what they can with the resources they have. It all depends on how you want to play your game. The other good news it that, just like today, people then played with fashion to fit their specific needs. So if you want to adjust your garb to something that is more comfortable for you, then by all means - do it!

When it comes to fashion among the populace, there are definitely trends that happen. But, like I mentioned before, there's also necessity in fashion. There was a little ice age happening from approximately 1300-1800, and so fashions tended to be layered and well... warm. That doesn't really work in some of our modern climates. In warmer Kingdom's you'll see a lot of Roman or Anglo-Saxon happening in the summer. In the winter, Viking tends to take over. You also find that fashions that are easier to make and wear are usually preferred over ones that are more complicated, expensive, or just unsuitable for the event.

In my Kingdom, there was a trend for a little while for each of the reigns to be themed. We've had a Persian reign, a Landsknecht reign, a Viking reign - and then the populace made garb to coincide with the theme of the reign, which did add some diversity to looks. Right now, I've noticed that Landsknecht is definitely on the rise in our particular area after Viking had a bit of a strangle hold for a while. It still does, really, because it's such an easy fashion to make, and can be comfortable in all climates depending on the material you use (linen for summer, wool for winter).

Everyone has their skills and talents, as well as their limitations. You can absolutely find something to contribute to your group based on your own capabilities. Coordinating the hospitality, offering to watch little ones, heck - even being in charge of making the field space reservations would be ways that you can contribute to the group event experience. If you are a crafter, an artist, a performer, or even filling an officer position or assisting an office with their duties. And if you're none of those things, that's fine, too. Events are more fun just having people there to share the experience with. No one will begrudge you for not doing something you are incapable of doing. If they do, then forget them - I'm your SCA Mom now, and you can come play with me.

I'm so glad that you're closer to a group and are going to be able to be involved! I hope that you have an amazing time - please let me know when you go and how everything went! I'm so excited for you.

Welcome to the dream!

[ballad-of-birdy-lamb]

Please give reaper ash headcanons or I might ACTUALLY combust, thank you 🧎🧎🧎

I ❤️ Reaper

Reaper Ash x Gender Neutral! Reader (romantic headcanons)

Summary: basic romantic headcanons for Reaper before and during the Hunger Games. __ Before the Games:

Far before the reaping or the Games, Reaper had fallen in love with you. It happened since you had the same classes and he slowly gained feelings for you. You were so kind, and he couldn't help catching glimpses of you during class.

During the reaping, when his name was called, he almost immediately felt dread. He desperately wanted to never be called, not only because it was his lasting year of (possibly) being reaped, but also because he wanted to get the opportunity to ask you out.

Reaper didn't think he could feel worse but apparently you being reaped caused him to feel so many things he thought he couldn't.

Though he would greatly prefer you not being reaped with him, considering Reaper would win and he would get to be around you.

Reaper would spend most of his time in the train car talking to you, hoping to get to know you better. He's very 'normal' when it comes to conversations, not the best, not the worst.

He's very kind and would try to keep you safe from not only the other tributes but also Capital mentors. Why should they be trusted? None of them were being taken care of properly, it's not like anything would change.

Of course, one of the mentors brought around food. Reaper wasn't extremely excited about talking to some random Capital kid. But you got some of the food. Even if he told you, it wasn't really worth it since they could've put stuff in there, you got some stuff anyway.

But he's more than grateful for you sharing food with him, giving him half of your sandwich. Reaper would make himself think you magically got it, and it was out of the kindness of your heart to give him some.

Both before and during the Games, he would keep watch over you, making sure no tributes tried anything or any Capital person came in the night to grab at you or something. Reaper would sit close to you, looking down at you softly and carefully wiping the dirt from your face, hoping you won't wake. He would be so embarrassed if you did.

During the Games:

Since he grew close to you before the Games, it meant you were more trusting of him, which meant you stayed close. You could fend for yourself, but you decided he was good enough to trust.

He would tell you to stay near him, not going to the cornucopia since he would be able to get the weapons himself. Instead, Reaper would tell you to stay in your spot or go for the tunnels.

Reaper will take you into a room in the tunnels, forcing the door shut, just enough for only him, you, or one of the stronger tributes (like Jessup) to get through. He doubted anyone would go for him since he was strong enough to take on another tribute (maybe even two if he felt it was worth it).

With his time in the tunnels with you, he would stay up nearly the entire time, staying watch to keep you and him safe. It's only on one occasion you got him to sleep while you stayed awake, which took a lot of convincing.

While a lot of tributes are asleep, he would talk to you about District Eleven, talking about things like music and hobbies he might not know you have. If you both have same hobbies or music you both like, Reaper would view it as a good bonding experience and try getting to know you better.

But he's just friendly, it's not like he has had a thing for you for months.

As time goes on, he'll try and get closer to you, physically and metaphorically. If you accept his advances, he'd be over the moon, smiling so much his face would hurt.

And he would only kiss you when he knew the Capital was asleep, no longer looking down at you through their cameras. That's when he would leave soft kisses on your face as he would hold you in his arms dearly.

__

So sorry it took so long to complete!

My tbosas masterlist

[fable-on-the-table]

A ridiculously long review of the Wayfarer system

I posted this review to the Wayfarer system's itch.io page but I figured I may as well post it here too for posterity.

Truly I am not beating the 'tism allegations.

I've run three sessions of Wayfarer so far and my group has been really enjoying it, so get ready for a needlessly in-depth review of this entire system! I've given some feedback on some aspects that I'd like to see tweaked or expanded upon, so if you ever feel like releasing a 2nd edition I will 100% check it out. Please note that while I go into a lot of depth criticising some parts of the game, it's only because I want to really break it down and analyse it - not because it's really wrong! Despite my feelings about a few aspects of the game, you've still done a great job on Wayfarer and deserve a 5/5. I'm sure my players and I will enjoy this system for many sessions to come!

Stuff I liked!

The harm system. This is a really nice adaptation of Blades in the Dark's harm system, and I even think it's more naturally intuitive than how BitD does it. It makes players actually deal with the wounds they've suffered rather than limping around on only a few hitpoints with no consequences to their abilities.

Spirit. Spirit feels like a nice catch-all for the classic TTRPG trope of the per-day resource. I love that you can spend Spirit for flashbacks - super evocative!

Advantage and Disadvantage. A nice way of implementing it into a 2d6 based game! Feels very familiar and easy coming straight from D&D.

Recovery. I found the resting system clear and straightforward, and I love that it distinguishes between resting in the wilderness Vs resting in a civilised area. I also really like that you can spend more coin or supplies to recover more.

Skills. I like that skills do something other than just providing a numerical buff, but are still a way for you to manipulate your chances of failure/ success.

Abilities. All the abilities are very evocative and add a lot to the narrative. I think some of them could have used a little more explanation, but the GM can usually fill in any ambiguities.

The Sorcery Table. Great for coming up with a vast array of magical effects on the fly.

The explanation of soft & hard moves for the GM. Though I know you're not the first to come up with the concept of soft and hard moves, you explained it really well!

The guide to building threats. Your framework for building threats/ monsters is so concise and effective! I followed the guide for the first boss monster that my players faced, and that fight was some of the most fun I've had playing TTRPGS in a long time. Encouraging GMs to invent monsters that have specific weaknesses instead of a health bar is a great move, and encourages super creative and cinematic play!

Visual design. The layout of the rulebook and character sheet is great. I'm a designer myself, so I can always appreciate when the visuals and layouts are really on point!

Stuff I was less keen on

The names for the attributes. I might just be brainrotted from D&D but the names used for the five core attributes weren't my favourite. I kept getting resolve and prowess mixed up. But hey, I recognise that this one is super dependent on personal preference so it's more of a neutral comment than a critique.

The inventory and supply system. I see the vision for this - by having players' inventories not set in stone you give them a lot more options and remove the need for intensive pre-planning for an adventure. However, in my opinion this inventory system just takes something that almost all players understand intuitively ("which items do I have in my backpack") and makes it unintuitive and hard to understand. It feels like your inventory is in this weird quantum state where you don't know what's in your pack until you pull an item out. We tried to play it by the book for the first session, but we all ended up getting really confused and switching back to a more traditional system. Sorry, I think this system may just not be my cup of tea, but I do see why you made it this way. If I may suggest a compromise - you could always have a standard inventory system for crucial items like weapons, armour and quest items, and then "supply points" which you can spend to produce mundane items like spare clothes, food, camping equipment, etc. The Root RPG handles items in a similar way (and it's also PbtA!) so maybe it would be good inspiration for you. Each character has a "depletion" meter which tracks how much mundane supplies they have left, but more important items are handled as their own things. This way you can hand-wave the boring stuff and focus on the actually interesting items!

The coin system. Again, I feel that this was an already-simple mechanic that has suffered from being further oversimplified. I find it odd that any item (including coins?) cost 0 coin, and also the values of what each amount of coin can buy seem to progress exponentially rather than linearly. 1 coin buys you a martial weapon, but 6 coin buys you a meagre home. Does that mean you can trade six martial weapons for a meagre home? I'd assume not, but when it's so nonlinear it's very hard to tell. Another side effect of this system is that it makes it impossible for you to reward your players with wealth in drips and drabs. They can't stumble upon a few coins in a cabinet, for example, because that would count as 0 coin and make no numerical difference to their wealth. In my opinion, currency does not need an overhaul, because everyone understands how it works already. I've just been running it in the usual way, so every 1 coin has a fixed spending power. I also wrote up my own cost table to make it more linear. If the original version works for you, fine, but it's just not for me.

Stuff that I would like to see expanded on

Ritual magic. Love the concept, but at the moment the GM has to put in a lot of legwork to come up with ideas for rituals. Which is fine, but it's just a bit tricky when there's no framework at all provided. I'd love to see something along the lines of what we get for the sorcery domains table, but perhaps it's various key phrases that you can combine together to describe the function of a spell. For example you could have the key phrases "conjure", "destroy", "locate", and then "plants", "rocks", "fire", and those could be put together into "conjure rocks", "destroy rocks", "locate plants", "locate fire" etc etc. This would combo especially well with the list of drawbacks added to rituals which is already in the game!

Alchemy. Similar to my thoughts on ritual magic. Good starting point, but even a basic framework for what kind of potions a person can brew would be wonderful.

Types of weapons. The example gear sections lists "basic weaponry", "martial weaponry", "great weapons" and "beautiful weapons" as different things, but provides no distinction. Even a short line to give the weapon types some distinction would be awesome.

[misc-obeyme]

So I was thinking Barbatos is a busy demon and probably has a tight schedule as a butler, plus his duties in RAD. So dating him means the two of you don't see each other often. So what if you started working at the castle as a maid? (Or as a butler, but i was thinking Maid as in gender neutral since everyone regardless of gender can wear a Maid dress) So that you could be closer to him and you'll get to work with him! 

This thought occurred to me while i was thinking how barbatos might react seeing his beloved in a Maid dress since he's a butler and all. He would probably silently stare at you, taking in every detail of you dressed up and teasing you for it.

But if you actually started working at the castle, you would probably be tasked with doing small things that won't be draining for a human such as typical stuff like Making beds, Mopping, Cleaning interior windows, Run personal errands, Dust surfaces, Ironing and so on. Bonus, you get to work with the cute little D's by your side! On the other hand, Barbatos would still be strict with you even if you're his significant other, and he would take it seriously to teach you how to behave as the perfect Maid, and if you do mistakes you might get punished. Remember, this dude is a perfectionist.

Now, this is more NSFW, but imagine with his constant staring that you decide to make a game out of it by teasing him by doing little things such as pulling your skirt just a little higher, ‘accidentally’ keep dropping things to bend over and pick it up while His eyes are all on you, observing from afar or when he's near.

Now, after a long day of teasing and making a game out of it, Barbatos pulls you inside his room for some privacy. Lingering touches, his hot breath on your skin, and before you know it, you find yourself underneath him on his bed while he's on top of you staring down at you with his green eyes glowing in the dark. He would whisper in your ear what a naupthy maid you are or how you didn’t do a good job. He would go down on you and edge you for hours to come. Only when he thinks you've had enough, with your cute moans bouncing off the walls and your begging for release, he might give in and give you the sweet release you've been begging for, with your thighs clenching around his head and your cheeks flushed.

NSFW MDNI

Oh my, anon. This is exactly my favorite thing - Barbatos losing control because you're making him crazy lol.

I certainly have thought about all of the characters in a maid dress, so I think it could be considered gender neutral. Though when it comes to actually working I think a maid dress would be somewhat impractical. Like how am I supposed to move around in something like that huh??

But I realize that is not the point lol.

Do you suppose the punishments would always be of that nature? Because I think if being a naughty maid and getting punished results in having Barb's head between your thighs you might just deliberately be terrible at your job.

I think Barbatos would play along. Ah yes, MC, you're so naughty~

Ah I can't decide exactly how I think it'd go. Because on the one hand, Barbatos cares about doing a good job, but on the other hand I think he'd be unable to resist you. Maybe in the end he has to cut back on the hours you're working because every time you're around in that dress, he loses focus.

I've thought a lot about what it'd be like to date someone so dedicated to a job that is essentially their entire life. Being a butler isn't just a 9-5, he's working continually. I like to headcanon that a lot of the things he does can be delegated to the little Ds or other such castle staff. He just prefers to do things himself because he knows he'll do the best job. But if he realizes that he has to choose between having everything in the castle perfect and spending time with you, I think he'd let the others do a little more. I also think Diavolo is a good wing man and would demand he take more time off to be with you lol.

[mania-sama]

Random ask, who are your favorite romantic relationship's couples in any media, like anime/manga, tv series, books, etc (can be canon or non-canon)? Feel free if you want to write the reasons or not of why you love them....

Thank you so much for sending in an ask! I would love to answer this question! I didn't go through every fandom I've been in, though I went through quite a few!!! Usually, there is only one ship I really love in a fandom that ends up being my favorite, but I like/love plenty of ships and don't limit myself to just one ship. I will say that when it comes to engaging with fandom and fanfiction, I tend to actually prefer platonic relationships, centered on found family and blood-related family than anything else.

Bungou Stray Dogs -> Shin Soukoku (Akutagawa Ryuunosuke/Nakajima Atsushi). I think most of this comes from the way they are quite literally yin and yang (my favorite symbol of all time) in almost every aspect. I firmly believe Asagiri is beating us over the head with a mallet saying "Look! Look what I did! Please look!" I'm under no impression that they will be canon, but BEAST gives me the hope that they can at least become friends, and that's testament enough to the development they go through. There is just so much there. I'm not an enemies to lovers person, but for them, I make the exception. There are so many parallels to draw between them, so much to look at and really dig into. I'm not delusional enough to say they wouldn't be toxic (all of the BSD ships except for, like, RanPoe, are toxic let's be real), but I am lenient enough to say that they can be good to each other in fanfics and decent friends in canon. Also, this applies to their BEAST counterparts, too. BEAST makes them better.

Jujutsu Kaisen -> ItaFushi (Fushiguro Megumi/Itadori Yuuji). There is a sort of trend I have with shipping, I think. I tend to like the second most popular ship, usually the younger generation of the most popular ship, which is arguably a form of torture in and of itself. JJK is not as bad as the BSD fandom is about the popularity difference, but it's still painful. Anyway, I think my love for this ship stems from the fact that Megumi has a big fat crush on Itadori and I will accept, under no circumstances, any other interpretations of his relationship with Itadori. Everything from the SatoSugu parallels (who are one handhold away from being canon let's be real), to their whole shtick being to save each other (physically and mentally), to Megumi literally describing Itadori as his type of person. Gender neutral. Even though it is so incredibly easy to use gendered terms in Japanese as it is in English. I feel like Gege is doing this on purpose because there is just no way he sees this as normal friend stuff. Recent chapters got me in a chokehold. I am SCARED. Besides all this, I think they just work very well together. They are also horribly tragic. Perfect combination.

Genshin Impact -> Xiaother (Aether/Xiao). I debated pretty heavily with myself here on what my true favorite is. I came to this conclusion mainly for one reason: Xiao. I love Aether, but I love Xiao. He is my favorite character, right next to Razor, so obviously he carries this ship. I also think that, of all of the implied relationships Genshin has supplied in plenty, Xiaother has had the most development. Every scene with them is better than the last, and the way that they make each other better is something I adore. And as for the ship being specifically Aether and not Lumine or nonspecific, it's because I chose Aether, so I'm more accustomed to using him as the traveler vessel rather than Lumine, but I'm honestly fine with either.

Identity V -> Elisop (Aesop Carl | Embalmer/Eli Clark | Seer). I haven't played this game in a hot minute for storage and laptop reasons, and I'm also not updated with the lore (nor was I entirely familiar with it from the beginning, outside of the MAIN main lore). But this ship and game were a huge part of my personal development, I think, and I do want to return to playing it in an honest effort eventually (I WANT MY ROBBIE RANK BACK). I think I perceive it differently than other people do, mainly because people oscillate between two sides of the Aesop Carl characterization spectrum. But there is something really fun in the idea that Eli, with his ability to see the future, thinks that he can somehow "fix" Aesop, under the impression that his and Getrude's relationship will never mend. And Aesop, who sees Eli and feels real love for the first time, finds that he doesn't know if he wants to kill and embalm Eli, or if he wants to indulge in this feeling called love. Toxic, probably. Their color schemes also match very well together (which is actually what led me to ship them in the first place, before fandom influence), and they are extremely compatible gameplay-wise.

Haikyuu -> IwaOi (Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru). If you told me two or so years ago that this was my favorite Haikyuu ship, I would have LAUGHED IN YOUR FACE. I hated Oikawa and didn't care much about Seijou. But then. But then. I went through a like. Month-long Haikyuu revival not too long ago and only read IwaOi fics because I came to this revelation. Oikawa is really goddamn relatable. I think we are all, in a sense, Oikawa, at one point or another. He is THE teenager. He is someone you can project every single one of your problems onto because his struggles with being untalented and unworthy are interchangeable with pretty much any self-worth conflict: internalized homophobia, eating disorders, socializing, etc. Iwaizumi can also provide these internal debates, but in a context with Oikawa makes it even better. Does Oikawa carry this ship for me? Yes. I don't care what you think I'm not here to defend myself.

Voltron: Legendary Defenders -> Klance (Keith Kogane/Lance McClain). Do NOT talk to me. They have ruined my life in pretty much every aspect. Also an exception to the not shipping thing because they are kinda the whole reason I even watched this show past season... three probably. I don't even wanna talk about them anymore because it'll just upset me. Just know that as far as the Sheith vs Klance debate goes, Sheithers are wrong for that after Keith called Shiro his brother. There. I added my fuel to the ever-burning garbage fire that is Voltron shipping. I may talk about Klance again in the future but for now I wanna leave my thoughts off here.

Merlin BBC -> Merthur (Arthur Pendragon/Merlin). Thank you Merthur fandom for teaching me what a good fic is supposed to taste like. They are kind of the epitome of the ships I tend to gravitate to: TRAGIC. The ending of Merlin is traumatizing and the fact that all of the cast pretty shipped it (as well as you can see the faint mouthing of the words "I love you" in the final death scene) is like. The first true healthy immersion into a ship I've ever had. I never obsessed over them too hard, I think, but Merlin is still my favorite live-action show, and Merthur is always well and true to my heart. They also got me introduced to the master/servant trope in terms of medieval times, and I had a very long affinity for it in fanfiction. I don't like it as much anymore, but I look upon that time with happiness rather than the usual slight embarrassment.

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power -> Catradora (Adora/Catra). I also make an exception for enemies to lovers for them because they even added that extra-friendly step of friends to enemies to lovers. Genuinely, no show surprised me as much as She-Ra did. Shout out She-Ra for giving me the worst envy I've ever felt in my life. I want to rock a suit as well as Catra did in that one scene. Anyway, I loved their development. I know some people criticize it for being rushed towards the end, but I like the way they were able to forgive Catra so easily. They understood what it meant to be used and manipulated, what it meant to be unable to fight against oppressive forces. People are mad at compassion, even though that's the literal whole point of She-Ra. Whatever. They could never make me hate you Catradora.

Percy Jackson (all book series) -> Percabeth (Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson). The blueprint. That's it. That's all you gotta know. I don't read fics about them because there is nothing to improve upon. One of the best written series and best written romances of all time. It was basically everything Avatar: The Last Airbender failed to do with Kataang (sorry for ragging on them for a second but that's the only thing I didn't like about ATLA; the romances) failed to accomplish, with all the same in-depth and wonderful characters. Like, they are everything I aspire to have in a relationship. The way they are simply meant for each other and aren't rushed, but are always implied to have that cutesy young crushes until they finally got together. I love them. Ugh. Uncle Rick you win again.

Anyway, these were some of my favorite ships of all time!! Sorry, I blabbered a lot. Probably listed more ships than you meant to but I take whatever opportunity I can to talk about things I enjoy IN DEPTH. There were also a lot of M/M romances, which, I swear to God, just happened out that way. I love plenty of F/F and F/M relationships, they just rarely end up as my top favorite. DO NOT accuse me of anything because I WILL NOT hear it.

[kitkatopinions]

Sorry to come into your ask box to vent after your post...

But I gotta say, you certainly managed to really sum up everything I dislike about the mentality of "subverting expectations = good storytelling" folks.

Like, it had been such a thing for people to say "X is so good because it subverts audience expectations!" And it's been driving me up a wall because that's just such a backward mentality about it: subverting audience expectations is a completely neutral thing, and one can just as easily ruin a story by going against audience expectations as tell a good story by playing out what the audience might be expecting.

Which, not to necessarily be mean about RW//BY, but yeah... that so many passionate defenders of it are also of the "a story is good cuz it subverts expectations" crowd is... not unexpected.

No, but for real! The way that people and seemingly a lot of writers think that surprise = good is frustrating!:This is one reason why spoilers are such a big deal to people, is that their viewing experience seems to bank on surprise and shock about who might die, who ends up together, who wins what victory in the end. I should be able to know all the plot points and plot twists going in and still enjoy the finished product just as much. If something isn't well set up (Adam's switcheroo in motives, the existence of the gods, Penny being a flesh person, the Ever After, Blake's personality change, arguably Ruby's depression in V9,) or not well done (Ironwood's fall to villainy, Ozpin's gray morality, the bees, Neo's eventual suicide, Ruby's journey as a SEW, the whole morals of the whole show) then whether or not it 'subverts expectations' is entirely irrelevant.

People are fully allowed to complain that they thought a piece of media would do something they wanted and instead did something they personally don't like that much, also, because that IS a bummer. But when I complain about RWBY, most of the time it's not just because I'm salty that it isn't doing what I think I'd personally like more. Like, I like the game Octopath Traveler, but I wish it wasn't that 8-bit looking early video game design, but at the end of the day I don't care because just because it doesn't fit my personal preference doesn't mean it isn't good. I wish Zuko had joined the Gaang earlier in ATLA or had more time with the Gaang than he did, but I still think Zuko's story is as close to perfect as it probably could've been. I just write or read fanfiction for the personal preference stuff. But the complaints I typically have for RWBY aren't like that. Like YEAH I actually DO prefer stories without heroes falling to villainy and with lots of redemption arcs, but I'm not about to hate RWBY just for not following my own personal preferences. No, I criticize RWBY for the bad execution, the lack of emotional pay-off in their story beats, the inconsistent morality they splash here and there whenever it sounds good and then forget about. RWBY is a confused show packed with ideas that never seem to be able to come together and writers that seem more interested in making giffable moments than a well done story. It's just generally not a well written well executed show.

I think that 'it subverts your expectations' is just one of many excuses that people use to wave away criticism with as little thought or effort or need to actually engage in discourse as possible. Just like complaints that the writers weren't interested in good world building and lore and therefore the transition from the moster school drama Beacon Era into magical world traversing quest wasn't well done are waved away with 'you're just mad the writers aren't following your headcanons' or 'you just want cute girls to go brr and hate substance' without actually addressing the true meat of the complaint or offering any substantial counterargument.

BTW, complain any time! I don’t mind hearing it at all. XD

[wizardofvamp]

Helloooo it's me again!! Could I please have 4, 10, 17, 19, 20 for the vtm player asks?

Hiyahiya glad to see you again!! Apologies in advance for the wall of text ;-; 4. What's your favourite clan? Why?

There are several clans close to my heart-- Malks, Tremere and Gangrel leap to mind. But the Tzimisce will always be my favorite. I could go on for ages as to why, but to keep it short and simple: they occupy a niche genre sweet spot for me. Vampires and body horror are my primary jams, and the clan marries classic gothic vamps and 90s splatterpunk in a way I adore. Also I'm trans, and come from a family with a few ministers floating around in it. So genderfuck pack priests are appealing to me! 10. What's been your favourite interaction throughout your VtM experiences? Can be in game, playing video games.. anything.

Def pulling from Marcel's catalog here, but this time gonna reference something more grounded. Early in the campaign, like year one when Marcel was still a brand new fledgling, SI firebombed his sire's haven (long story but yes it was Marcel's fault). Marcel was bonded, to the point of it overcoming Rötschreck to try storming up smoke-choked flights of stairs to try to rescue him. It was a lost cause, he had to be dragged out of the burning building by his coterie-mates. There were still hunters around, and they needed to be neutralized. Marcel went "fuck that" and tried hiding in one of the vans the Hunters had rolled up in. In it, he met Lily. She was the teenage daughter of one of the leaders of this Leopold-esque hunter cult that was tearing through the area, insanely high true faith and had been kept around as a human shield/potential sacrifice. The two of them sat in the back of this van, both having been recently, violently liberated from the men who had been shuffling them both around like disposable cards, and after a surprising heart-to-heart they decided to go "fuck it, we're leaving, we've had enough for tonight" and zip away from the clusterfuck with the van. Coterie mates were upset about being ditched but once they met Lily chilled out considerably. She was more or less adopted by the eldest vamp of the coterie (a Banu who helped her become the Buffy she is today, one who would die tragically two years later) and she and Marcel remain close like a big brother/little sister dynamic. Though their relationship is more strained these nights with how Marcel has started picking up the habits of the old bastards that they were fighting to begin with.

17. You suddenly switch places with one of your characters, which one would you prefer to be?

Definitely not Marcel, since I'm pretty sure he's IOU'd his soul to like three different Horrible Entities for powerboosts and I don't think I can handle that kind of existential stress. Wouldn't want to be Bell for similar reasons, though at least his pacts are uncertain end-times cashouts whereas Marcel's are due *checks watch* now. I'd be tempted to say one of the Ghouls (Eliza or Canary, wouldn't want to live Roman's life if you paid me the entire planet's income) since they have the least amount of Deadly Stakes and could potentially find a way out of all the scary stuff. But both of them are pretty damn enmeshed, so that seems unlikely... I guess Ana? Because out of everyone he 1) Has a really nice house (just don't look in the basement) and a healthy bank account 2) multiple, unlife-long contacts that are reliable af 3) has relatively more freedom than any of my other guys. Does all that stability come with a stupidly high and arguably unhinged personal, Mihal-shaped cost? Yes, but better the evil you know, right?

19. Which character is least spoken about? Speak about them now!

Probably Bell and Canary (yes they are a unit much like Ana and Roman so I speak of them both)! They're a wandering Malk/ghoul pair who make music out of the back of a station wagon (def in part inspired by Ghost's band in Lost Souls). They're an excellent addition to the blunt rotation on the short term but it's recommended that you handle Bell with care--he's like a large cat. Even when he's playful he can be dangerous because he's lost grip on how hard he can hit. Sometimes a "fun" conversation can veer so off track the neonate Bell was toying with is a shattered husk by sunrise. Canary seems to be the only one with the mental fortitude to handle Bell's crueler fits, and because of this they tend not to stay in one place for too long.

Canary's a younger ghoul--he's been travelling with Bell for around a decade and a half. His family got... got by the fae. How did he end up being the sole survivor? He doesn't like to talk about it. He was picked up by Bell while hitch hiking, and they've been inseparable since. They aren't bonded, mostly because Bell knows his vitae can be destabilizing enough and he likes Canary! So as sturdy as he believes his dear ghoul to be that's not something he wants to mess with. As far as Bell, he's equally closed-lipped about his history. He's old, of elder blood that's for certain. How elder he doesn't even know anymore--he actively avoids memorium out of fear that he would never return from it, or return as someone different. So if the sands of time tuck something away he does as a mortal would and makes his peace with it. One of the few facts Canary does know is that Bell was a pack priest before finding him, a fellow sole survivor with no interest in outlining the how or why. Wrote a play around these two a year-ish ago, around a big winter reunion Bell decided to throw for some old friends--I want to adapt it into prose for the ole writing blog, though when I'll get around to that is an outstanding question. 20. Is there something specific that influences you for your character creations?

Hmmm. Like specific influences for my characters? Or a pattern/habit of mine regarding character creation? A small answer for both questions! Marcel - Winslow Leach, Griffith (the thesis was 'nerd griffith who isn't hot but still has the manipulative rizz with the Toreador Baseball player of the coterie being Fancier Guts) Ana - People keep accusing him of being Evil Carlisle Cullen and I can't even come close to beating those allegations

As far as general influences when making characters-- it's hard to say? I tend to gravitate toward particular lore/skill and then tease a character out from there. Marcel was made because I was interested in v20's Thaumaturgy, Ana was made both because I'd been chomping at the bit to play a tzim for years and Obertus Rev lore lives rent free in my brain. I really dig messing around with Rev families in general, something that'll likely become clear when I post more writing about Kliment.

[cloythedramatic]

I just had an idea about Nightmare, both bc of how I enjoy depicting him in private works & how I see Killer depicted alongside him.

What if depression dampened the amount of available negativity? Not all depressions, and not all negativity, but if someone doesn't have ANY positivity for too long than their negativity basically becomes useless (the opposite is also true, if someone only feels positivity then it doesn't help Dream, and doesn't hurt Nightmare) Like you absolutely need atleast somewhat balanced emotions to affect Nightmare & Dream.

Killer comes into that, because he is typically depicted as weirdly happy, but never hurting Nightmare, I have two preferred head canons but this post is about the first. (the second is just soulmates, and soulmates cant hurt each other like that) So Killer is always so happy, wants for nothing, and is very enriched in Nightmare's castle, and his positive aura entirely doesn't effect Nightmare because theres just a total lack of negativity. (typically there would still be some negativity in Killer's situation, but he's a little fucked up in the emotions department so thats my excuse for no negativity)

Nightmare takes a significant amount of time to really figure it out, chalking the fact Killer doesn't hurt him with positivity due to the fact they done exist (they do but he cant feel the aura from weird soul stuff) and he only realizes that its based on an emotion embalance in the person, which I'm just gonna say he learns after meeting a very depressed kid who has had basically nothing good happen in their life, because I cant imagine such imbalances are common.

Dust and Horror dont have such imbalances btw, they both experience love and joy, as well as depression and anxiety, they just tend to be more sad and upset, or atleast neutral, to ignore the downsides when they are happy.

It mostly came to mind bc I did an RP earlier today where my character was so sad & useless that Nightmare couldn't even feed from them, and then just now I started a fic and the summary just was questioning how Nightmare was fulfilled when his kingdom was practically a utopia (they went the route that he just has a factory full of sad people, idk much further than that bc I hardly even started it) (if you want the fic its called "The factory" by "AppleBloomer" on Ao3, they said be wary of the tags, but I'm a heathen and haven't read them, if you might be triggered in some way you probably should tho, idk what triggers but yknow)

[moonyistired]

random Lesser Family AU stuff. my oc is here. say hi to him. or don't, he doesn't mind either way

in which lancer deltarune collects dads (gender neutral)

i don't imagine king as being too bad in this. not only is this set many years before deltarune (jevil is sane, spade king is not the only ruler, no lighteners involved for now) but also just a different universe altogether (an excuse for me to let them age normally and for all the dark worlds to exist)

this is getting off-topic from king- anyways, i think he's not too bad but also just doesn't know How To Parent TM. he's busy and his parents didn't exactly raise him themselves and his only role model growing up has been dead for five years now so he- he's trying his best. unfortunately his best is not very good.

rouxls is also trying his best and his best is not very good either, but it is a bit better than king's.

man has zero experience with children though. i imagine at first he treats lancer like a very small man. just trying to teach him complex words in that weird accent of his and feeding him food that most toddlers wouldn't find appealing. luckily for him lancer, is a bit of a weird kid.

he did give him a terrible habit of wanting to be carried everywhere though. for the first years of his life lancer barely ever touched the ground and now he's three and doesn't know how to run.

sirius is of course the best one around when it comes to raising a child. that is what he was hired for, after all (even if at first they pretended they were just hiring him to be a tutor). he's been taking care of muliphen ever since she was born and she's two years older than lancer, so of course he knows how to take care of a three year old.

doesn't mean he's perfect though. boy was a bit of a child prodigy who didn't know he was a child prodigy, and muliphen is walking on those same footprints now. so while he knows what a toddler should eat and how much they should sleep, he absolutely does not know that it is perfectly normal for a child his age to not be able to read an entire book without pictures.

jevil has not been allowed to be alone with lancer ever since he was born, and rouxls simply does not tolerate him enough to be around him when he wants to play with the young prince, so basically he's been starving to formally meet his new play pal for three years now.

good for him that sirius finds jevil quite amusing and would not pass a chance to annoy rouxls if just a little, so now jevil is able to invite himself every time sirius isn't too busy with teaching and play all the games his adult friends don't find fun with lancer. he's a good boy though, he lets lancer win every now and then. hearing his adorable laugh is much better than winning.

seam doesn't care for kids. they've got enough energy in their life, and his name is jevil. if asked they can give a million reasons why they'd much prefer not to be around children ever, but seam doesn't have it in their heart to be mean either. if lancer (or any other child, for that matter) found his way to them, seam would do their best to entertain and take care of him until someone else arrived.

seam absolutely has not fallen asleep with lancer on their chest and you can not prove otherwise.

[implausiblyjosh]

Let's Play A Terrible Wrestling Video Game, TEW 2020

I've been feeling the call to play TEW 2020 again. This is a text-based pro wrestling management video game that just sucks so much ass. That screen you see above? That is the main window and it cannot be resized. Seriously, I'm fairly certain every menu in this game is just an image file with clickables put over it. Nightmarish.

Anyways, the cool thing is that people make their own mods for this game, either building up entire fictional wrestling universes (the game comes with it's own version of this, the CornellVerse, that has been building and changing with each entry) or mapping out the mod-makers approximation of the real world. Today, we're going to be making a new company using Real World Chronicles 2023, the June 2023 edition.

Anyways, let's start our save!

Now. I'm playing with a larger mod database, which means there's a lot of data to crunch, but like... this hangup happens anytime I play this game unless I'm playing an "organic" save (you start w/ the bare minimum in the database and let the game generate new stuff), but this always freaks me out.

Now we have to pick who we're playing as and folks... this list is a doozy.

Usually what I like to do is start with a created User Avatar (I think that's what this game calls player characters), where I set their stats up basically to the max but I never have them do in-ring work, usually just commentary. I... forgot to do that this time. I don't wanna back out, so I'm just gonna pick someone who is closest to me in age. In this case, I'm playing as Poppy who I guess has worked closely with WWE's NXT brand to make music for them??? She's 28, I'm 29, I've already imposed this rule on us.

The second thing we set is "User Talents". These traits (Negotiating, Motivating, Creativity, Leadership, Diplomacy, and Silver Tongue) will help and hinder us in certain ways, and we will get more points for every X number of shows we run. At the start we have 30 points, along with some template options. Usually I do not care about this and pick Jack of all Trades to get 5 across the board. But let's go full chaotic and do Lucky Dip. This will give every one of our stats a random number, so our total could be higher or lower than the initial 30.

That's... not great? So negotiating is maxxed out, which means we can really have our way in contract negotiations. Diplomacy is also high at 9, which means when incidents happen back stage we should be able to handle them better. Leadership of 5 is basically neutral, and would give us a passive bonus to backstage/locker room morale. Creativity of 3 is less than neutral, and handles Gimmick changes and Heel/Face turns. Silver Tongue at 1 is awful, that handles how we can talk workers into doing angles/matches they may not be jazzed about. Finally, Motivating is at 0 and this means our workers will likely have loads of "off" days. This is 28 points total, so we missed out on 2 points and the spread is bonkers. We cannot reroll this. We must move on.

Next thing we can tinker with is Preferences. This will impact how our matches and promos are rated, which impacts how our shows are rated, which impacts how our audience perceives us, and on and on. There's a lot here, but I keep it on "Standard" from the drop down and also add "Enable Dirt Sheet" since that will tell us what is providing positive or negative impacts on matches and promos. It'll really help us figure out what is or isn't working on our shows!

Now we could start with an already established company (WWE, Impact, AEW, etc) with this, but I always prefer to make my own way in the world. We will start as Unemployed and make our own company!

Here's our start screen. It's... a lot. This will be good to see when new wrestlers get generated, or when other companies go under or let go of people, but for right now we do not care about this. We care about the "Start Own Company" button. And I happened to throw together a logo and a name, so we should be good to set up True Power Wrestling. And it's time for yet another awful menu.

This used to be better and worse in some ways. In the last game, TEW 2016, you used to build your own product based on a handful of different axis ("Mainstream", "Realism", "Comedy", etc.) and how important they were to the types of shows you were putting on so you could fine-tune what you wanted your audience to care about, and what may or may not be fit for television. It was a worse menu, but allowed you some cool options to really make the product you always wanted. In TEW 2020, the devs have effectively laid out that people were "gaming" the product setting system, and there's only so many distinct types of wrestling that exist or could exist, so they've just made a drop-down of all the wrestling products they think are possible. If you have an idea for a product type you think is missing from the game you can ask nicely on the forums and they will maybe add it in a future update.

I'm not gonna go over what each and every product is, but I'm going to use the Family Friendly Pro Wrestling product you see above. In my mind I'm thinking "what if my idealized version of 90s/2000s Cartoon Network had a wrestling show". 70/30 Match and Promo split for TV shows, 85/15 for events, wrestlers are rated 30/70 on in-ring performance vs popularity, and we really want the matches to be family friendly. No high-risk moves, no spinal-impact moves, and "called in the ring" means that our workers will know how long a match needs to go and who's winning, but otherwise no other planning is happening.

Additionally, I'm starting under the "Rock Hard" conditions. This means our company will be barely known, have 0 prestige, and start w/ $2,500 in the bank. We will be changing that dollar amount soon, but I love to play "Backyard to Global" style where we start as complete unknowns and see how popular we can get before I run out of steam.

We have started True Power Wrestling. This will be our actual main screen, as this hellish menu will be how we make changes to our product. But first, let's see what the internet says Poppy's net worth is.

Uhhh I forgot how nightmarish those types of sites are, but the number I'm getting is between $1-3 Mil. I'll say Poppy is putting $1 Million of her own Net Worth into True Power Wrestling.

Now we gotta start looking for workers. Poppy is a Personality, which means she'll talk on-screen and be a personality, but she's not gonna do any in-ring work. She will not take a pile-driver. So we gotta find literally everyone else: Wrestlers, Refs, Announcers, Commentators, Road Agents, & Managers. Let's look at the "Workers" tab.

An overload of information, but! We're only looking for a couple things right now: Psychology, Popularity, if they will work for us, and if they are a good backstage presence. Psychology is just a rating of "can they tell a good wrestling story in the wrestling ring", so that'll be good for our actual show ratings. By clicking "Search" we can narrow down what workers will show up in this tab.

I'm not going to go through every single worker we add this way, but know I'm messing around with these filters to get us workers. When I find a worker who looks like they may be a good fit, I click negotiate and I get this:

Now you gotta make a contract offer. There are handshake deals and written deals, with either of them having the option to be "exclusive" so they can't work elsewhere. I usually try to make the numbers multiples of 10, and a little higher than what the game tells me to give just so the workers are in a good mood. As a backyard promotion, even with $1 Mil at your disposal, there is no way you're going to get exclusive deals this early on so I just make regular written agreements. This way everything is locked in for a set time and the payments don't fluctuate before contract negotiations, and if I let them go before the contract is up they gotta be paid which is just good for these digital workers.

When I do this, I usually make 2 templates at first: 1 Yr Wrestler and 3 Yr Worker. For wrestlers, especially just starting out your company, you don't know who is or isn't gonna work or be Your Guys, ya know? This way they get a year of work in (about 12 shows) and you can get a feel of who you wanna build around. For the 3 Yr, I keep that for Everyone Else. I think of it like superhero comics, ideally even if the writing team changes, there's some aesthetic connections and stability if you keep the pencilers/inkers/colorers the same. My commentary team, my refs, my on-screen personalities, my road agents, they are that aesthetic stability. And it means I don't have to worry about them on top of my wrestlers.

After spending the better part of 15-30 mins looking through the workers I can hire, here are notables: Shane McMahon (dunno what I'm gonna do with him, but it won't be in-ring work), Brian Zane (commentary, I watch this dude's YouTube videos!), and the Da Vinki guys (The Voros Twins! Guess I have to have a tag division for them). Usually what I'll do is grab who I can, about 10-20 wrestlers, 1-2 refs, 1 road agent, 2-3 commentary people, and then wait for the negotiations to come back. From there I can see who has tag partners I didn't hire yet, and see if I missed any other types of workers.

I still have other things to do while I wait. First, let's look at our Title situation.

A normal menu. I'm going to create our Primary title, the True Power Title, and our Secondary title, the Rising Star title. True Power will be our World Heavyweight, the top title everyone has dreams of. Rising Star will be the stepping-stone, our equivalent of a US or Intercontinental title. Might even have it so in-universe the champ of the Rising Star title can vacate their title to make a True Power title match, add a little Money In The Bank flavor.

You can actually purchase a retired title, which is kinda handy! As a backyard promotion, the True Power title only has a prestige of 30. There are some on the market with 45 prestige! But I'll hold off on that, we'll wait to at least have our first year of shows before doing that.

Now... we wait. I don't have any workers, negotiations don't happen the same day, so we gotta move forward. I click those double arrows on the upper left hand side and tell the game to advance a week, for next Monday. The game stops at Wednesday, and we have some updates! The Voros Twins and Brian Zane wanna join in on this, along with about 5 other workers. A ref who I didn't realize was retired rejected us, but this is why we put out so many feelers!

Since we have Zane as a commentator we'll set him for every Event moving forward. We haven't scheduled any yet since we don't have our full roster just yet, but that's okay! We're ready. Let's move forward in time a little more, still aiming for Monday of Week 2, June 2023.

Thursday of Week 1, June 2023 and we get basically everyone else signed on. We've got a ref, we've got a road agent, we've got it all! We don't need a minimum number of wrestlers as we're such a small promotion, but we do need enough to run shows using a Heel/Face split (good guy/bad guy split) and we need at least one of each of those other non-wrestling positions.

I push us forward once more to Monday of Week 2, and we get stopped again. On Friday we sign Shane McMahon. My idea with him is to have him be some type of personality, probably a CEO trying to destroy True Power Wrestling? I dunno, we haven't even done our first show yet.

All this, and we still haven't run a show. And we still won't! I'm tired and don't wanna play anymore today lmao. Next time we'll plan and run our first True Power Wrestling show!

See ya!

[interroughbang]

Video Games and Gender

My first Christmas owning a console—a pink Nintendo DS Lite—I got a couple of game cartridges. Having only been on the sidelines of gaming, playing only at friends’ houses and seeing all sorts of cool games with magic combat, cool graphics, giant motorcycles and guns, I was hyped to say the least.

I got three games that Christmas: Moshi Monsters Moshling Zoo, Moshi Monsters Theme Park, and Chess for Kids. Cue immediate deflation. Why did I get the girl version of a monster collecting game? Moshi Monsters was an often girl-marketed game as far as I understood it. Games were toys, marketed with gender in mind just as often. It didn’t help that I also got one of those game t-shirts from the girls’ section—Pikachu was on it (wahoo!) but only along with a smattering of hearts and sparkles on pink. The “girl” stuff always had to be different. Even while playing the chess game, the UI needed to know whether I was male or female. That wasn’t my parents’ fault—nonetheless, I felt a bit boxed in.

Why was it so important to have a defined gender in these games? Why did the game often get to choose for me? Why did only types of games allow you to play as a girl (or have it as the only option) while some genres were entirely male player-characters (PCs hereafter)?

When I went over to my friend Derek’s house, I could see a world of games entirely different from mine. First off, there was the violence, always coming from male characters. I don’t think I actually ever saw a gender selection screen on any of his games, unless counting the rosters of fighters like Dragon Ball. We had Minecraft and Fossil Fighters in common of our personal game collections, and Fossil Fighters didn’t have a gender selection. Instead, you would choose your favorite dinosaur and get an outfit of its color scheme. You could be pink if you liked the Maiasaurus. Just not a girl. Fossil fighting was for boys, though ironically two other main characters and fighters are young women. (This was fixed in the second game).

There is a strange limitation in effect of many video games. Nowadays, there’s of course more variety—many games, especially role-playing games (RPGs) will offer a character creation bit or a vague gendered selection. Indie games are excellent with this, often taking care to even offer small bits like pronoun preference.

Many games do not have any choice at all, though, except maybe for name. Especially with earlier games in the 80s and 90s, you’d play as a set character or not play at all. And those characters were nearly unanimously men. Exceptions to the rule would usually be games where you could only play as a woman, which included things like Barbie. The content and genre of the games would vary widely based on the gender demographic. PCs were only men in shooter games or things like Grand Theft Auto. Games on average were more focused on adventure, yet had potential to branch out a lot. Boys could play in any sort of story. Except the Barbie games.  Barbie games were Barbie games, and you could only be a blonde woman buying heels and calling her boyfriend. This was dating back to the times of the Commodore 64.

The concepts of video game adventures are generally pretty gender neutral. They end up supporting some stifling roles in limiting their adventures to male PCs when there is no reason to. Individual characters (like Ness of Earthbound, or Lara Croft of Tomb Raider) are a different case, as they place you into a single place rather than you being a random insertion into a universe. After a while, though, when you only hold an assault rifle in the hands of a male character and care for animals in that of a female character, there are implicit lines being drawn. Violence is for men. Caring is for women. Women play one role, men another. Binary, exclusive distinctions in the gender roles of characters are damaging, even if you might not take it to heart too much.

The binary is enforced in ways ranging from unnecessary to borderline nonsensical in video games. In the latest installments of the Pokémon game series, the character creation only asks “What do you look like?” with presentations of male and female character options, but if you choose a female character you will be referred to as “Mistress [Name]” by the school’s principal, and “Master [name]” if you play a male character. It’s the only difference, aside from visual, in the game from the player character’s appearance. I am also of the opinion that it is weird to call a school-aged person ‘Mistress’. Strange.

Another example from Pokémon (I play a lot of Pokémon) is a niche, still odd example found in a hidden sort of mini-dating sim in the White 2 and Black 2 versions of the game from 2012.  Walking onto certain spots of the map after picking up a lost calling device triggers a series of phone call conversations. The gender and dialogue of the caller change depending whether the PC is a boy or girl. The caller is always the opposite sex: Yancy calls you if you’re a boy, and Curtis calls the girl character. Their dialogue not only differs in their personality…only the men get to talk about themselves! I’m not kidding. Though you can’t read any dialogue from the PC during the calls, if you’re a boy, Yancy only responds to what you say, barely (if ever) saying anything from herself. Curtis will talk your ear off.

Here’s examples of the differences between the same conversations, with the different callers:

Yancy:

Curtis:

It is as insufferable to play as it is to read. Though it’s silly looking, it still supports a standard of men always taking the initiative, and women being receptive conversation partners and always going off of or listening more to what the man is saying. There isn’t even a reason to really have this difference, as since the player has no dialogue options to choose, they can’t really talk about themselves. I wanted to hear Yancy’s favorite type of music too, but all she says is “I like music too!”. Horrible.

These kinds of arbitrary limits and differences are all over the place in games, and though they seem unserious sometimes at face value, they quietly (…or less quietly) reinforce “dos” and “donts” for players based on their gender. In Fire Emblem, only males can axe-wield until the fourteenth installment of the games. Men can’t be Pegasus Knights because they are considered too provocative for the skittish creatures…while literally all women are calm enough, apparently.

There are always arguments of gender differences in games being ‘realistic’, contributing to the suspension of disbelief in gameplay by anchoring mechanics to real world truths. The key takeaway I want you to have from reading this is that not a single gender difference is absolute in this world. Not a single one. There are trends—many people raise their children in separate ways, subtly or unsubtly, based on their assigned sex—in cultures, eras, geographical location, the list goes on. Nonetheless there always exist people outside of the standard. The standards of gendered behavior and general constitution are shaky at best, and fictitious at worst. Women are not inherently more receptive or docile, they are raised to be, so some may have more of that sort of personality by virtue of any sort of influence or personal disposition. They can also be literally anything else. Liking pink or blue, guns or glitter, pegasi or dinosaurs or whatever aren’t wired into anyone’s chromosomes, and neither are their personality traits for the most part.  

The prevalence of these sort of tropes create an uncomfortable environment for many gamers that aren’t men that fit the bill of the expected audience. Men may not care as much that men and women’s stats have opposite strength profiles in Fire Emblem for the most part. A female player would likely not want to play games where she is at a set disadvantage solely for picking the character with eyelashes, or where choices are limited based on that initial character choice. Many people enjoy immersion in games, and when that immersion mimics and reinforces real life sexism, video games become understandably less attractive. If the only women in a game are sex objects, it’s not really as fun anymore to play as a woman, knowing that’s the place of women in the world of the game.

Unfortunately, these strange standards are mirrored onto playerbases quite often. Especially with chronically online gaming folks, the separation of the functions and abilities of men and women gets downright absurd, and can reinforce already prevalent misogynistic stereotypes. And with all that, some come to think: what women would even want to play games then?

Aren’t these just a dude thing?

And so the cycle continues.

People of all genders and backgrounds have infinite potential, on and offscreen. When games refuse to represent that--or worse, refuse its possibility outright by their mechanics--they perpetuate the cycle of restricting peoples lives by arbitrary elements of their identity.

[thiriumhound]

You're right that Connor can spare Hank without deviating if he has no significance to CyberLife- that's what happens in canon if you decide to leave- but in my theoretical scenario, Hank does matter to CyberLife: he is directly getting in the way of their goals. As such, he presents enough of an obstacle that Connor has to decide between 1. neutralizing him, 2. leaving him alive but thusly facing constant interference that might cost him the mission (and Amanda does not like when Connor makes stupidly inefficient decisions like that, just see her rep drop when Connor merely says anything but "I'll ignore him"), or 3. the secret third option, reconsider whether his mission is worth it at all. Because of the sheer misery, effort, and significant risk of option two, and his emotional obligation against option one, option three manages presents itself as a possibility under all this duress- if he can actually face his doubts and decide "actually, no, killing all these innocent deviants is wrong" because of the stress of someone he cares about finally being in his crosshairs, then all that strain is lifted and he has deviated "thanks to Hank". To solve the strain posed by the scenario (and the unsustainable option 2), it's a choice between killing his unwillingness to harm Hank and killing his unwillingness to face his doubts- whichever is stronger is the one that will be left alive.

Not a fan of y'all "Connor should deviate with Hank". Totally breaks the whole deal for me and I never gets why is this a thing.

Moving past the previous stuff- we both just have different angles on details and semantics, which is totally fair- I can def agree with this! I don't think he should have deviated with Hank, just that in a story more focused on their relationship as a central aspect rather than the android revolution itself with Hank on the side (such as a fanfiction working off this "Connor deviates with Hank on the roof" premise), it can still function- and considering how widely beloved their dynamic is, it wouldn't be an unreasonable direction for a story. It'd be quite dissonant in the actual game as it's written now, but I don't consider it a terrible concept for fanfiction if that's the direction someone prefers.

Also, there's 3 reasons for Amanda not interfering until BfD (even tho these chapters are totally inconsistent for cut content reasons) [...] They were expecting Connor to come to CLT (CL also expects Connor to have deviated);

Honestly, this is where my point of confusion comes in. Why did they go through all the trouble of sending another Connor to neutralize the deviant Connor (and kidnapping a high-ranking officer of the law in some routes to do it, no less! Are they going to try to sweep that under the rug, too? Is Hank already doomed to die for a coverup??) instead of just... taking him over and stopping him? Sure, the moment he does get taken over is very opportune, but I don't think him breaking out their entire stock of androids is just a little thing to test him over- it's pretty drastic. In fact, I'd argue after Connor breaks out all those androids, we're past the point of no return where shooting Markus ultimately does very little to solve the problem- someone else will probably rise up, who cares? They've already overtaken Detroit. Somehow even the contradictory leader!Connor makes more sense to me than this.

I might just be missing context from the cut content here, though. A lot of CyberLife's and Amanda's motivations are highly confusing and oft self-contradicting, so it might just be best not to think too hard about it, lol.

broke: connor should've been able to deviate on the roof with hank when choosing hank over the mission

woke: connor should've been able to deviate after failing to find jericho with high enough software instability because he is audibly and visibly afraid to die there and realizing that he fears death could lead to him realizing his victims felt the same, thus motivating him to live for the people he hurt and those cyberlife is still hurting (and likely for hank) instead of just marching back to cyberlife for deactivation

[stardewstardropthoughts]

helloo!! love your writing c:! could you maybe write a bit about bachelors thoughts, feelings and actions when farmer asks them to hang out together at their place after a couple of dates? (maybe nsfw??) c:

Sorry this took a moment! I didn’t go to heavy on the nsfw in this one and I did my best to keep the farmer pretty gender neutral, there is still some nsfw so minors do not interact!

The bachelors when they first spend the night and your nervous

Harvey:

This mans just as if not more nervous then you to be honest

It’s been a long time since he’s been in a bed with anyone

I mean it is a hippa violation to sleep with your patients lol

But he’s willing to bend the rules for you since the only other option would be passing you off to a doctor over 40 miles away and he doesn’t feel like you’d get adequate treatment

Shows up at your house with dinner from the saloon in hand

You have movies ready to be watched and a few select snacks set out

He changes into his pjs in the bathroom while you change in the bedroom and set the bed up all cozy

You’ve probably readjusted the pillows like nine times by the time he comes out (he was giving himself a pep talk in the mirror don’t judge him)

If he notices your nervous about sharing a bed with him he will absolutely offer to sleep on the couch, you quickly tell him that’s okay and you want to share a bed with him

Will do his best to make sure your comfortable, weather that’s entirely curled up on his lap trying to bury yourself into his skin

Or three feet apart only touching ankles

If you do in-fact make a move to get a little handsy with the good doctor he will not turn you down, thoughts of what it feels like to be with you plague his mind all the time

Wants to know what your skin feels like under his hands and how your moans sound when he’s the one bringing you to orgasm

But only if you want him too

Alex:

Dudes very ready for a sleepover, he’s bringing a football with him in the event you wanna toss it around with him

Also brings pjs and personal hygiene stuff ya know, the usual

He’s a bit nervous to stay the night since it’s a rather large step in the relationship but he’s excited nonetheless

Shows up early by like ten minutes because he overestimated how long the walk would take, he’s got long legs lol

Once he’s inside he’ll set his duffel bag down by the bed and ask where you would prefer he change

He’s cool changing in front of you but he doesn’t want to make you uncomfortable

If you want privacy while you put your pjs on he’ll step into the living room and look around a bit

He’s curious about what your house is like so you will see him looking at the bookshelf when you come out

Complements your choice of pjs to make you feel more at ease (and cause he thinks theyer adorable)

Helps you make dinner, hands on your waist or wrapped around you while you stand at the stove

Will one hundred percent back off though if your not comfortable with that

After dinner and when y’all are in bed he’s noticed that your basically hanging off the bed

“You can get comfortable, I don’t bite ya know” he says with a little chuckle trying to ease the tension

Y’all end up spooning, he’s the big spoon

Wiggle your butt against his crotch please it’s fun to tease him

Will trail little kisses down your neck while feeling you up if your comfortable with it

Chances are you two don’t end up actually having sex that night but a lot of light teasing and lingering touches

Sam:

Literally the most excited person to spend the night

He would show up in the morning if you let him lol

He’s brought games, snacks, pjs, extra blankets, he’s ordering pizza

If he notices your feeling a bit shy or uncomfortable he’ll ask if there’s anything he can do to help

Will make a blanket fort in the livingroom with you to eat your pizza and snacks

Tells you a whole buncha stories about growing up and the things he enjoys doing

Gentle touches and soft smiles will eventually turn into small kisses and hushed giggles

It’s so hard to be nervous around him when he makes everything so fun

Small kisses turn to make out sessions as night falls

Your in his lap arms around his neck while his hands rest on your ass, gently grinding you down on his lap for that little bit of friction

If you want to take it further he’s more then down, but totally chill with keeping it to hot and heavy makeouts as well

Sebastian:

Mans sweating, maru’s been making fun of him all day

He shows up late on accident, apologizes profusely about it though

High key forgot his overnight bag in his rush to get out the door

Your glad he seems just as nervous as you though, it’s comforting in a sense

He helps you make dinner, he chops the veggies, he can’t cook much but he’s more then willing to learn if it means being near you

The conversation flows pretty easy which helps settle both your nerves and his

Cringes internally when he accidentally drops an egg he was handing you, you laugh though which makes him feel better

Y’all play some video games before settling in for the night and he very shyly offers up his lap as a seat

You accept, very red faced but soon enough your nerves melt away as you try to kick his ass

You do not win the game, but all your moving around has distracted him because he’s trying his best to not be painfully hard against you right now

You notice the bulge pressing against your butt and decide to grind down a bit, testing the waters

That action earns you a soft groan and a pair of hands on your hips stilling your actions

“If your gonna be cheeky you had better be sure your ready for the consequences”

Shane:

Spends the whole ass day freshening up for you

Trimmed beard, brushed hair, clean clothes, the works

Shows up right on time and with a bag full of snacks and movies

He loves horror movies, and they give him an excuse to hold you close to him so it’s a win win

Both of you made pepper poppers so now you just have two dozen

He can tell your nervous, offers to help you set up the snacks on a tray on the bed, also wraps you in his sweater because you look very cute drowning in the fabric

Makes sure your alright with the choice of movies, crawls into the bed beside you and asks if it’s okay if he puts his arm around you

Loves it if you bury your face into his neck/chest/arm when something scary happens on the tv, wants you to feel like he can protect you

Will press soft kisses on the top of your head when your comfy with it, his hand smoothing up and down your arm comfortingly

“Your doing so good love, I’ll keep you safe from the monsters on tv”

Likes to praise you for sitting through the movie so well

When it comes time to lay down you’ve relaxed a bit more about sharing the bed with him so you cozy up to his side

Definitely not because your still scared from the movie, nope absolutely not

Places little kisses all over your face before pressing a deep kiss to your lips

Best of luck if you whine into the kiss because this man (with your consent) will have you pinned under him with your hands held above your head in one of his big hands, other hand palming over your crotch while making out, occasionally leaving your lips to bite at your neck

Your gonna have a lotta hickeys to cover in the morning

Elliott:

He’s thrilled when you asked if he wanted to spend the night sometime

He’s bringing an over night bag, snacks he thinks you’ll like, candles to light at dinner

He 100% brings those glow in the dark stars you stick on your wall because it’s raining outside today and he thinks you deserve to sleep under the stars

Man wants to create an atmosphere, let him have a little fun

Shows up a bit early so you’re still cooking dinner, your a bit frazzled that he’s shown up early because you wanted to have everything prepared

He apologized of course and you let him in anyway

Disappears into your room to set it up

He’s got the glow stars placed on the wall, he’s got little fake flower pettles on the bed, electric candles on the bedside tables set to dim for a nice mood

Would have brought a diffuser if he had one

Comes back out and you’ve set the table

Two plates of some very fancy looking pasta, garlic bread and wine set out

“You didn’t have to go through such trouble for me love, but it looks wonderful, thank you”

Kisses your hand

He tries to take your mind off of any anxiety by making lots of conversation and gently stroking his thumb along the top of your hand

When you get done with dinner and prepare to go to bed you’re shocked by the amount he’s managed to set up In the twenty minutes he was in your room alone

Offers you a shoulder massage to ease any lingering apprehension

Literally amazing at giving massages, he spends his whole day writing so you know those fingers are strong

They certainly come in handy for other uses as well 😉

Leaves little kisses along your neck and shoulders as he massages your skin, you let out a few breathy whines at the feeling and he’s half hard already

Thinks They’re the most wondering chores of sound he’s ever heard

As the night goes on you find yourself underneath him while he uses his hands on you showing you just how good he can bring you to orgasm

You don’t actually end up having sex that night but you do go down on him and he of-course repays the favor

[sister-lucifer]

The Demon Brothers + Punishment (Part 1)

PART TWO HERE

Lucifer, Mammon, Leviathan x Gender Neutral Reader (separately)

Genre: NSFW Headcanons

Summary: How and why the older brothers would go about punishing you 

Content/Warnings: dom/sub dynamic with sub reader, spanking, toys, degradation, fingering, overstim, y’know the usual punishment stuff 

Like my writing? I take requests! NSFW or SFW for any fandoms in my bio! 

Also, please reblog! it’s free, takes two seconds, and really helps me out 

Feedback is encouraged and appreciated:)

Not fully proofread! Let me know if you see any errors

Lucifer 

He low key takes it too seriously 

Very stern but gentle 

(Unless he’s particularly angry of course) 

“You know why I’m punishing you, yes? I need you to learn from your mistakes, my love, that’s what good little pets do.” 

The severity of the punishment depends on the offense you committed 

Something small will likely result in him making you cum on his fingers after you’ve apologized profusely 

Then he’ll treat you to his cock 

But when you mess up big time 

Ooooh boooy 

That sadism really comes out 

Collars, leashes, handcuffs, you name it he’ll use it 

He needs to be in a particular mood for his sadism to come out, but when it does it’s all or nothing 

He’ll either be kissing your forehead gently or pushing you down with a foot on your chest while he toys with the remote of a vibrator 

No in between 

He’s actually not super into spanking. Although he’s not opposed to it, it’s not his go-to 

He finds there are plenty of other, more humiliating ways to teach you a lesson 

And he intends to show you all of them 

“Now, now, no whining. You did this to yourself, my dear. Take your punishment now, or else you’ll only make your situation even more dire.”

Mammon 

As much as Mammon likes to play rough with you, rarely ever will he actually punish you 

He prefers to be playful, if a bit mean spirited at times 

You’ll often have a couple of bruises or bites, but that’s to be expected; usually nothing more 

So, what exactly merits a punishment from Mammon? 

Well, the first option is to ask for it

He’ll happily oblige, but he’ll start slow in the beginning and ask you if you’re okay at least four times before he actually gets going 

The other option is to make him jealous 

If he sees you getting a little too friendly with another demon he’s sure to lose it 

Drag it out for as long as you can 

That’ll make him even angrier 

Double points if you act oblivious about it later 

The second you’re home alone he’s bending you over his lap and spanking you until itll hurt to sit down for the next two days 

And he’ll make you apologize after each one 

When he decides he’s had enough with that he’ll move on to roughly shoving his fingers in you 

He’s going much too fast, but he doesn’t care 

You deserve it for pissing him off like that 

And he’ll talk down to you the entire time, making sure you’ve been thoroughly humiliated 

“This is what little sluts like you get for acting out! Maybe next time you think of pulling a stunt like that you’ll remember how this feels.”

Leviathan 

Oh this sweet baby loves you far too much to hurt you! 

Punishments are so incredibly rare with Levi 

You could ask, yes, but he’ll be so nervous there’s only a half chance he’ll actually go through with it 

“O-Oh my stars, are you ok?! I-I know, I know I haven’t actually done anything yet, but…gah! I’m just so worried about you!” 

Sweet boy 

That means your only option is to earn your punishment 

The best way to do that is to get him on a day when he’s already mad about something 

Maybe Mammon stole one of his figurines to sell, or maybe he’s frustrated about a certain level of a game 

That’s the best time to misbehave 

Leviathan is rather possessive, even more so that Mammon, so the same tactics would work on him tenfold 

Leviathan usually isn’t very active in his punishments 

Instead he’ll tie you up on his bed and leave you squirming with at least three vibrators assaulting your sex 

He’ll have the remotes with him at all times, but after a while of playing with them he’ll just leave them on the maximum speed while he ignores you to game 

And he can get very, very invested in his games 

You might be there for thirty minutes, maybe three hours 

Depends on how he feels and how invested he gets 

One things for sure, he’s not done with you until you’re practically thrashing against your restraints as you desperately try to quell the overstimulation 

“You sound pathetic, whining like that…this is what happens when you underestimate me, human! This is all your fault…”