#at the very least it allowed for some kind of dialogue which is difficult to establish in a classroom i think when you have x amount of

[soracities]

as a poem- and literature-adoring English tutor, whose job is to get students to pass their exams, sometimes I despair that they will grow up and find their view of poetry tainted by education. And I’m not sure if I even blame the teachers! It’s hard, I think, because you’ve got to teach that analysis somehow, and so perhaps whatever they end up analysing they’ll resent on some level because they ‘had’ to do it for school. I try to expose them to a wider variety of poems as a tutor, but they’re not necessarily ‘passionate’ about them, whether it’s because it just doesn’t click for them (which is fine!) or they don’t see them as important because they’re not going to be tested rigorously on them like they would be at school. I hope for some of them, they’ll discover pretty when they’re older, not because necessarily for any intellectual benefit but more for the emotional satiety (or wounding!) they provide.

i used to tutor in english for a bit, too and i completely agree with you! i don't blame the teachers either because, at least through the experiences i've had and witnessed, i don't think it's always as much to do with the subject as it is the framework they have to teach it (and test it) through which can be very reductive and stressful--that's not to say you can't have horrible teachers or that they can't have a huge impact on your experience of a subject (because they can and it's awful), but i sometimes think there's only so much a good teacher can do because structure of whatever education system you're in matters also, and most of the time (in some anglophone countries at least) it's....not great lol. i hope some of your past students can find literature that speaks to them also and see that there's so much more to it than everything they were forced to study and didn't enjoy 💕

[vaguely-concerned]

I wanted to write out a more condensed version of the Garashir thoughts I accumulated through my read of a stitch in time, because it really is driving me slightly nuts. so here we go!

I think my basic takeaway is something like: if you look at what's actually on the page as dialogue and not just the story garak tells himself internally of what has happened between them (which is basically 'I've fucked up somehow and I don't know how or why but something's broken here and I messed it up; I have nothing left of interest to offer him', pretty clearly going over it in his head like he would trying to figure out what he did wrong when tain locked him in a closet as a child), you kind of get the feeling that julian doesn't know what to do with the way garak flinches away from him whenever he tries to get closer or offer help. (which like. not for nothing but that's actually the dynamic between garak and mila too, but with garak's role switched to the mostly-resigned seeker of contact rather than the flincher-away. we all know garak’s daddy issues but I think the mommy issues at work are doing some gulf stream shit under the surface as well lol.) so julian starts hesitating in seeking out contact in the first place, nevermind asking him for anything more when garak's also clearly falling apart mentally and seems unreachable in the first place. and Julian also doesn't want to mess this up and make something already fraught and painful even worse; he still wants to help! he always wants to help, that’s just who he is, he keeps trying through the whole book. and when garak mostly-gently but reflexively and firmly rebuffs him each time he tries… after a while it seems like he doesn't think he's welcome, or that he's imposing and garak doesn't really want him there — that he's just humoring him or something when he does let him in, just like garak was so afraid palandine was doing with him in the beginning. it’s only in the final scene between them that garak invites him in and asks for help on his own initiative. 

“I’m pleased you stopped by”/”No, you’re not,” he said quietly. ‘I really won’t take up any more of your time’. “You see, this is so difficult, Garak. I know what a private person you are, and how you detest people meddling in your affairs….”. “Your holosuite program. The one that allows me to visit the traumas of my childhood.”/“I hesitate to suggest this, remembering how you reacted the last time … but, yes, I feel it could make a difference,” the Doctor gamely admitted. (Julian I love you so much. Eternal optimist hours. Keep it up it’s going to get you spectacularly laid if you just get on that shuttle to Cardassia.) All these moments do not read to me as someone who has no interest in continuing or deepening this relationship (maybe the opposite, in fact), it gives me more the sense of someone who feels he keeps putting his foot in his mouth and making the damage worse no matter what he tries, and not knowing what else to do but to back off to save them both more pain. (he also needs help and support, but he’s not going to go ask it of someone who’s clearly in no position to give it (on account of visibly falling apart even more than usual). And also because the good doctor is such a hypocrite lol ‘of course you’re worth asking for and receiving help!! I’m just fine tho don’t worry about me *light is slowly dying in his eyes behind the smile as the seasons go on*’. Stiff upper lip to the point of psychological breakdown-off (cross-cultural, competitive))  

and the most painful thing to me is that after their disastrous tea party in garak’s shop, at the very least, garak clearly realizes he's hurting julian by keeping him out (But as to the question of which group suffers the most…), and he desperately wants to stop hurting him but he just doesn't know how!!! he's never learned how to close the distance! he's been locked completely into himself by the way tain shaped him and doesn't know how to get out of the closet so to speak yet! ('...am I not. *supposed* to pretend to be functional and have no needs. is that not like. my entire job interpersonally. I am confused.') it’s something Tolan already observes in him and grieves over when he comes home from Bamarren, and the years since have uh not helped with that particular problem lol. for all he longs for it, intimacy is like a hot stove to him; he can’t help but reach out, and he can’t help but flinch away when he actually comes into contact with it. almost the worst part is that I think Julian can tell some of that too and sort of understands it/doesn't hold it against him, and it just makes it even sadder, somehow. they both move so carefully around each other through this, because even in the middle of all that they really do try to be kind to each other the best they know how and it fucks me up so bad. which makes it even crazier and more touching that all of asit is basically garak processing his shit until he can get to the last line honestly — 'You're always welcome, Doctor'. he pulled a full lizardly mr darcy in the post-apocalypse here, he got around to starting to fix himself at least partly to be in a place where he could be able to meet Julian in the ways he needs if he wants that from him. And that drives me utterly insane thanks for asking!!! WILD BOOK COMPLETELY UNHINGED 300+ PAGE DECLARATION OF LOVE AND INTIMACY WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL

(this post started life as a tag ramble under @spocks-kaathyra‘s wonderful post about Julian’s side of it over here, but — as I’m sure you'll be astonished to learn at this point — I found I somehow had even more things to say, my neurons boileth over perpetually and it seems I just have to live with that)

[seirindono]

two questions.

one, HOW DOES ONE COMIC/STORY BOARD??

IM OBSESSED WITH HOW YOU DO IT ITS SO BEAUTIFUL

two, HOW DO YOU SO IT SO FAST( that’s question is more just me being super impressed oh my goodness)

you’re very good😳

Aw, sweet, a board question *puts on serious glasses*

Ok, bring it on anon.

So, the first thing to ask yourself when starting a comic, as I see it, is what type of board are you dealing with. Webtoon? A4 pages? 4 panels? There are many ways to go about it, and each involves different processes. For example, pages will allow for more superfluous scenes, whereas the webtoon format has to be super succinct because of the reading direction. I personally think that's the main reason I do pages, among other advantages: •narrative density •variety •Tumblr-friendly format

There are quite a few disadvantages too but you have to go through the process of trials and errors to really find out what suits you best!

Then there's the ambition of the sequence you're boarding for. And it goes from 1. how used I am to boarding this kind of sequence/drawing these characters/setting and backgrounds, to 2. is it an emotional sequence? Dialogue-heavy? Or more contemplative?

It changes the way you work and how you should approach your board! For example, in TMS, the very wordy chapters (4 and 5 for ex) generally called for simple and narrow framing. Of course, you don't want to bore the reader so you can spice things up to match the characters mood and reactions once in a while, but you have to bear in mind that the sequence aims to provide dialogue and information = the text bubbles are key and WILL take a lot of place. So let them.

( then again, it's all about pacing and balance. A page full of dialogue and one with too much happening are equally hard to read and boring to do)

Only dialogue, simple squares, no compostion, the focus is on Mel's reaction

On the other hand, parts 7 and 8 are all about action and atmosphere! This makes for wider and more varied shots!

They're fighting, things are going fast so why not use a single line to show many actions! They're still basically squares and rectangles but the pacing is totally different!

Or why not give the action a full page to really show its sheer impact

You can also split things, with a zoom or small time gap, depending on if it's a gag or if you want to put the focus on a reaction. Here, the asymmetry helps reinforce the unstable, jerky aspect of the scene. The situation is getting out of hand, and visually, the pages are affected too.

Now, these are case-by-case examples. And I never work on my pages separately.

For context, this-

-is the "first" board I did for part 8.

The drawings are very small and frankly difficult to make out, but the intention is what matters at this point lol I have the script (very important) next to my canvas, and I scribble the pages one after the ither. This allows me to see if the actions flow well, if the compositions are varied and also whether certain passages are too long or too short in regard to their importance. Which scenes can be merged? Removed? Toned down or if they deserve more bite?

This is a really fun and creative part but, I'll say it again, made a lot easier with a solid scipt. And I'm talking about a text document with clearly defined dialogues (or at least outlines) and actions.

I can't really explain how to write a script, it really depends on your work flow and how confortable you are with writing, but it's too important to just rush through it. No matter how much it changes before, during or after your finish boarding (cuz you gotta break your own rules sometimes and you'll often realize some things don't work as well once you put them on paper/sometimes art block can be resolved by writing the scene and just taking the time to imagine) but it's still your one guideline.

Aaaand, that's about it.

Other than that, I can only highly recommend reading lots of comics, Webtoon, books, watching movies, paintings, illustrations, animatics or listening to music, to inspire you and expand your own "personal library of references". Professional or not, anything your find inspiring and well executed. Boarding is at its core, telling stories. No art skill involved, just pure subjectivity. At the end of the day, it's all about squares, rectangles and bubbles so you gotta work on your creativity. The rest is gut feeling!

Constantly ask yourself how to tell this story, and how you want to tell it. How this sequence should be perceived? What do you need to show to make pages and pages of words appealing and interesting.

Be patient, be bold. Start with easy stuff to get some confidence if you need to. Accept that "boring" pages are smt necessary and that it's up to you to build up tension for a scene to really pop. Try new ideas and be ready to scrap many of them, the result will be worth all the work!

Now, concerning the "fast" part, I'm flattered but I personally think I'm super slow xD You prbly get that impression bc I finish the whole chapter before posting it, but behind the scene, I'm just working at a very regular pace.

Thank youuu anon ♡( ◡‿◡ )

[thisisapaige]

Tagged by @mercurialkitty. Thanks! This was fun :-)

20 Questions for Writers

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 59

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 645,479

3. What fandoms do you write for? Just Supernatural. I have the brainworms and they are in the shape of Thee One and Only Castiel.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

stay, In Just Saying It, Non Solum, Still Waters Run Deep, Sleeping Together

5. Do you respond to comments? Most of them. I do get kind of overwhelmed (with love and joy) if someone comments on all the chapters as they read, so I'll often reply to their final comment. And if the comments are rude, I ignore them (doesn't happen often, but it has).

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Thee fic that started it all: Empty Spaces. A bold choice for my first posting, lol. At least I wrote a sequel? :-P

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Probably Something Blue. I wrapped that up with a bow. As a commenter wrote, "Holy happy ending, Batman!!!!!"

8. Do you get hate on fics? Mmmmm, not sure I'd call it hate but I did have a commenter who wasn't happy with the direction The Angel went in. Thankfully, they figured out the fic wasn't to their tastes and decided to leave halfway through.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yeah. It's fun to write but, whew, very difficult to edit, lol. As for what kind... somewhat-idealized- romantic-everyone-has-a-good-time-and-feels-their-feelings kind of smut, I think. Most of the time... Murder the World was a lot more angsty.

10. Do you write crossovers? Nah. I don't really have the fic bug for other fandoms.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I'm aware of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Yup! A couple in Russian and one in Chinese.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? No. I don't know if I'd be able to. I don't think I'd be a very good partner :-P. I don't even like a beta to look at my stuff 'till the draft is done and I read it though a couple times.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? It's the DeanCas of it all.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? The Path of the Righteous Man (my reverse verse fic) is like, my white whale. I keep going back to it and never adding a single word. The block is strong on that one.

16. What are your writing strengths? Introspection and action. Both are sooooo fun.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Dialogue. UGH. Dialogue. How do people talk? Hell if I know.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? Sure. My monolingual ass won't, though.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Posted? SPN. Written on loose leaf paper as a tiny child, which has been lost to the ages (thank goodness)? Final Fantasy VII.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? This is a mean, mean question. I cannot chose one! I cannot! So have a selection (answer subject to change in 30 seconds):

stay for being my fix it that allowed me to continue enjoying the show after that fiasco of an ending.

The Angel for being the fantasy epic I always wanted to write.

insi(de an)d outside for being some of my strongest writing.

Still Waters Run Deep for being my first bang and also because I have prints of the art reafre made and that still blows my mind.

Something Blue because it took me on a very personal journey (and also I just posted it so it's fresh in my mind).

I *could* probably post most of my fic, honesty. I like my stuff. I wrote them for me, after all.

Tagging: @angelcasendgame @hornystiel @wormstacheangel @bloodydeanwinchester if you so chose to participate!

[kuwajima]

If its not much trouble, I would love to hear abaut your pre jigoro zenitsu life that isnt a spolier from your lovely fic.

Fortunately, I can't exactly spoil the fic by talking about this because Zenitsu doesn't have the vocabulary or self awareness to explain himself in my fic. You might notice that in the fic I try to be pretty vague about things, and that's because can't explain himself and Tengen doesn't really allow himself to make the connections or dig deep into what Zenitsu is saying.

But even in my other fic, which is more like a pre-canon Zenitsu character study, I find that going into detail about the aftermath of things is pretty effective. The story is more or less from Jigoro's perspective, so he just sees Zenitsu as being skinny and bruised and insecure but doesn't ask any specifics because he already can guess that people were not kind to him. Kaigaku also recognizes these things but believes these are proof of Zenitsu's inferiority while Jigoro views them more as proof of his kindness and determination.

Anyway. I don't think Zenitsu ever had an adult to care for him. Obviously, babies cannot survive on their own so there may have been some kind of camaraderie on the streets very early on for him, but I do believe Zenitsu's canon dialogue that says Jigoro is the first person to really show him kindness. We really cannot underestimate how difficult a baby with super-human hearing would be. I personally believe his mother was someone who would not have kept her baby regardless of his temperament, but one could easily make the argument that a child like that would be too difficult to handle for some people. I do fully believe Zenitsu gave himself his own surname because it does sound exactly like the kind of surname Zenitsu would choose.

I think it's pretty obvious that Zenitsu comes from a world that is very transactional (i.e. doing something only because you gain something in return) but his lack of connection as a child means that Zenitsu is willing to give things up in exchange for praise or attention. This is why he was taken advantage of by so many girls (he would have also been a child for a lot of those interactions, and children are famously easy to trick.) We also know that Zenitsu is pretty lazy and unmotivated, so I don't think he was able to stay at one job for very long before he would be forced to leave. For that reason, I don't think he lived in one location for very long and that would have affected his ability to make friends as well.

Circling back to Jigoro, I know we technically have a timeline for Zenitsu's training but in my bones I don't think that is the time he actually spent living with Jigoro. I think the training itself may have taken a year, but between getting well enough to begin training and then recovering from an actual lightning strike, Zenitsu may have been there for at least two years, if not more. That does make the ex-girlfriends thing more concerning from a modern perspective. But also...who lends a tween boy a large sum of money?! Someone who knows he is gullible.

I don't really know where I'm going with this now, so hopefully this answered you question somewhat! I have a lot of thoughts but they're hard to get out without writing actual prose about it. Like I said, I don't really go into specifics with my other fic but it is two whole chapters of Zenitsu being sort of wet and pathetic.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

hiii I have a kind of stupid question if you don't mind 🥺 my jp is not very good yet so I may be misunderstanding things. in the R story of azul's Vargas card, he helps Kalim with a bunch of logs/firewood. but it appears he is being dramatic about how heavy the logs are by complaining about it. my question is, does he find them heavy and then decides to play it up, or is he just 100% lying because he's actually really strong? iirc floyd said he's really strong in his octopus form at least, but does it translate to human form? in the same vein, I think it's kind of weird how azul's eyesight is clearly bad enough to need correcting as a human when octopuses are well known to have good vision because they can just contract their eyeball whenever needed @.@ poor azul, nerfed on land!

In the context of that particular vignette, it's clear (via his inner monologue) that Azul is exaggerating how heavy he thinks the firewood is in order to make a good impression on Kalim. The Asims are very influential, so Azul wants Kalim to put in a good word for him, perhaps even connect him to his SUPER successful merchant father. Azul makes a big deal about the wood being heavy so he can play the "hero" and insist on carrying it anyway in spite of supposedly being inconvenienced by the situation. He's hoping that this will impress Kalim enough to speak fondly of him to Papa Asim.

I don't think Azul actually finds the firewood to be as heavy as he's making it out to be; if you read his dialogue, he's obviously being very fake about it (ie claiming that it feels like every muscle in his body is "screaming" and that he feels like he will be "crushed" by the weight of the wood). Maybe he does think the wood is heavier than he would like for it to be, but that's on purpose (the dialogue implies that he took on what Kalim was carrying in addition to what Azul already had). He's likely just overtly making a scene to get Kalim's attention.

The remark that Floyd makes in Happy Beans Day: The Lyre-less Brawl is specifically in regards to Azul's grip strength. It doesn't necessarily mean that Azul is very strong outside of squeezing others (Floyd mentions that Azul's submission holds are scary, and that's a comment coming from someone who is known to squeeze others until they pass out). However, Floyd also says that "octopuses are pure muscle", which would imply that Azul does have upper body strength to spare, so that detail is really up in the air/up to personal interpretation. In episode 6, there's a scene where Riddle and Azul are bickering and Azul mentions that he still has his arm strength, so I would assume that this particular octopus trait does, indeed, carry over to his human form. (Please note though that his stamina is still terrible!)

About Azul's eyes! I actually don't think his eyesight got "nerfed"? There's nothing which would imply that he had amazing vision in his merform (we don’t get a clear look at him in his true form to see if he does or does not wear glasses). Just because octopuses in general have good vision doesn't mean that an octopus merperson would (especially since the top half of merpeople are more human than fish).

Octopuses have rectangular pupils and eyes positioned laterally (to the sides); this helps them see in all directions, and it also grants them control over how much light is allowed into their vision. Here are some examples:

If we look at Azul’s OB (the closest thing we’ll have to his true form), he doesn’t have unusual pupils, nor are his eyes more lateral like that of a real octopus. The argument could be made that maybe Azul’s eyes just look normal but behave like the eyes of an octopus, but it’d kind of be difficult (physiologically speaking) to pull that off if the parts aren’t already arranged in an optimal way. Form follows function, so I suspect that Azul’s vision is just like that of a normal human rather than that of an octopus.

asdbhlabipuabdbsdbsil I know it's kind of pointless debating the anatomy and physiology of a fantasy race that we'll more than likely never get confirmation on or details of, but it's just fun speculating! Finally, what I learned in school can be useful for TWST theorycrafting--

[siderealscribblings]

your favorite genshin characters to write + least favorite rn?

Fav's so far have been Neuvillette and Furina (if only because I've written them the absolute most) with Zhongli up there as well. On the whole, I'm very interested in the Archons/immortals in the Genshin universe like Alice. Abyss!Lumine has been really enjoyable to explore so far as kind of a dark mirror for Furina and eventually her brother. I also tend to enjoy characters who allow me to write absurd dialogue so expect Fischl and Itto to make an appearance.

Cloud Retainer is only difficult because of her speech quirk which makes me shift tenses whenever she has a speaking role (she seems to use "I" occasionally so I expect this is just her speech pattern when she's being adeptus-y). There are some characters I don't gel with as much like Kirara and some characters who I need to do a lot of work to make interesting to me (i.e. since MiHoYo won't give Ayaka much to work with, I'm going to 100% give her the Ouiaboo substat when I bring her in).

[kobeniliker]

HI AGAIN THE NEW CHAPTER!!!!! 123!!!! CHAINSAW MAN. AUGH!H!!!!

Spoilers, rambling & analysis under the cut!!! Warnings for canon typical violence/death/unpleasant situations.

OK SO. 

I was wrong about this lady being the death devil!! 

 (I will probably be wrong about a lot of things lol, I just like to organize my thoughts. Might start making these posts w every chapter, idk!)

The falling devil!!! That makes a lot of sense!!! People falling to their death. I think her powers would tie into a fear of heights as well. But as I have seen some other people point out it also seems to tie into falling into depression or love, or really any vulnerable state. Which is pretty important considering Asa’s tendency to fall in critical moments. She in particular would probably be more afraid of this devil, which makes this confrontation very. difficult.

I LOVE her design. She seems so polite (aside from the murders and the whole being very evil devil thing)! A chef! She cooks!! She has a lot of arms!

Interestingly, she is very human looking. Remove some extra limbs and give her a neck, shes just a really tall chef. Cool, but. 

?????? (Image from Chainsaw man chapter 34, kishibe talking during Prinzi’s introduction)

Devils with human-like appearances are friendlier toward humans. Well, Prinzi and Angel weren’t too warm and fuzzy, but they didn’t kill humans that much. Angel even expressed some regret in doing so, and actively avoided touching humans to protect them.

The 3 horsemen we know of so far are interesting cases, because they look just like humans aside from the eyes. Yoru tries to get Asa to kill people and is the war devil, but she still tries to protect Asa and even seems to comfort her. She didn’t take over Asa’s entire body because she ‘doesn’t know enough about humans to blend in’. Why does she have to be a human, couldn’t she just use her bird form to spy? I dunno, but it’s been established that Yoru isn’t the smartest. Fami is still pretty mysterious, but she didn’t directly kill everyone inside the aquarium. She could have, but she made another devil do it for her. She offered to help Asa and Yuko, and she kind of did save Yuko from dying, at least immediately. She is cooperating with Yoshida’s interrogation. Makima seems pretty detached from everything and does not take issue with hurting humans for her own gain, but was very much able to maintain working relationships and live as a human without being found out as a devil.

The Falling Devil is pretty human-like, but she introduces herself as the Falling Devil and resumes killing and tormenting people with no regard for who sees her. She has a similar level of hostility to humans as, say, the bat devil. So far she seems to enjoy killing people. 

I think this is particularly interesting as she is the 2nd introduced primal fear devil. The darkness devil also looked pretty weird, but definitely had human physical traits. It basically is just a bunch of humans stacked on top of each other and a cool helmet and cape. The darkness devil also does not take any issue with killing or harming humans despite its humanlike appearance.

It’s just. An interesting pattern!!!!!

Another very interesting piece of dialogue:

Did someone send her? Who? Why? This implies some sort of organized society or system in hell that would allow devils to communicate to each other. It seems like they sent her as sort of representative? I have a lot of questions!

And Asa. Oh my god. I fucking cried. 

We have some more of her backstory which is nice, but. Holy Fuck.

She risked her LIFE to save that cat. That was the only remaining family she had. And she was willing to trust this person who promised that they could give her cat a better life, she chose her cat’s happiness over her own. And that trust was betrayed in the worst way possible, in the name of ‘fairness’.

This poor kid. I can’t. She lost everything and she blames herself for it. She believes she killed her mom, her cat died because of her misplaced trust, the one friend she made died trying to protect her from bullies (in a very twisted attempt, there are much better ways to deal with bullying, but I think Yuko genuinely cared about Asa).

We know she lives alone now, and knowing where she was before I’m glad for her. I assume that she left the orphanage sometime after this. But we know she’s never really been social, she’s introverted, she withdraws from others, which explains more about her tendencies to avoid social interactions and shut out everything around her. Unrelated, but I love her short hair and sweater.

I think this is also an interesting parallel to Denji. Denji, who never really had anything but still lost so much. He blames himself for the death of his father, of his friends and adoptive family. He really loved pochita, he gave him everything he could but still lost him. Denji who is loud and puts himself out there even when he really shouldn’t. Denji who isn’t very book smart but is friendly and loyal and social.

The cat/dog parallels. 

It is very, very interesting.

2 weeks till the next chapter!!! Might add more stuff as I think of it, but these are my initial thoughts for now :)

[adamwatchesmovies]

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds will either unleash a deluge of questions about morals and ethics (probably intentionally) or allow you to revel in trashy revenge fantasies while sitting through a story that’s full of finely-written dialogue, unpredictable turns and excellent performances. I strongly suspect the film isn't supposed to be scrutinized, that its only purpose is to be a “leave your brain at the door and enjoy the carnage” kind of film but the skill involved in its creation compels you to look deeper. There are many great scenes and some spectacular performances within the picture, which makes it a surprise that ultimately, the final product is less than the sum of its parts.

In 1944, Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) assembles a paramilitary unit designed to spread terror among Nazi troops. The Basterds are to murder, disfigure and torture any enemy soldiers they find but must also let some live to grow their reputation. A year later, the Basterds are recruited to infiltrate a film premiere in Nazi-occupied France where several high-ranking German officers will be attending. The theater is owned by Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent), a Jewish woman living in Paris under a fake name. She seeks revenge against the same Nazis the Basterds are targeting, particularly SS-Standartenführer Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz).

Inglourious Basterds is two movies that briefly converge but are otherwise independent of each other. The problem is that these two stories are nearly opposites tonally. The Basterds’ story is a violent, comedic cartoon. Shosanna’s story contains real drama. Both are revenge fantasies but of a completely different kind.

It’s hard to tell what message we’re supposed to draw from the film. An opening speech by Raine reminds us that despite the way they act and look, every German soldier is not a person. They are simply pieces of Hitler’s grand machine. The more violent, and brutal their death the better. We never see concentration camps. They are never even mentioned. The Third Reich’s armies are shown killing Jews but only via machine guns. The murders they commit are no more brutal than those committed by the Basterds but we’re not supposed to see the Jewish-American soldiers as bad - even though they torture and mutilate people who beg for their lives - because the people they are killing are “not people”. It’s difficult to wrap your head around the idea because the performances are so good, and the violence so impactful.

This is the kind of film that could’ve used a couple of baddies with eyepatches and mechanical legs rather than the excellent lookalikes of Sylvester Groth (Joseph Goebbels), Adolf Hitler (Martin Wuttke) and Emil Jannings (Hilmar Eichhorn). The message seems to be that compassion and mercy have no place in the world and that they’re likely to get you killed. Should the excuse of “I was just following orders” exempt you from punishment? Tarantino says “Maybe - unless you're a Nazi". At the very least, you must admire him for committing fully to his message.

Whether or not you're turned off by the story’s brutality, there’s no denying what Inglourious Basterds does well. There are so many good scenes the package is worth seeing even if it will offend and appall you. Tarantino holds the tension and then slowly stretches it until you can practically smell the perspiration dominating the room. The dialogue is so good you can’t wait to hear what’s next and you wouldn’t miss a word for all the stolen Nazi gold in the world. The plot’s completely unpredictable and the performances are incredible. Christoph Waltz, in particular, blows you away. You should hate his character. He’s a terrible human being but he’s so smooth the atrocities he commits seem to evaporate from your memory the second he opens his mouth.

Inglourious Basterds is not a classy story but it’s made with such expertise that the mud it’s wading through looks like it came from the spa. It’s deeply knowledgeable about film history and if you are as well, you should see it. Every glimpse we get of Stolz der Nation (Nation's Pride) is perfect to a tee. Would it have been a better film if it had been separated into two? Unfortunately, I believe so. With the conclusion the way it is, the more interesting story - that of Shoshanna - is made redundant, even pointless by the actions of the Basterds. The upside is that you have no clue where it's headed until you get there.

Although I think Inglourious Basterds is a one-and-done for me, I'd be curious to see how a second viewing might go. It really is one of those movies that forces you to react strongly toward it. (May 1, 2020)

[va1ennyx]

MOTHERMAKER Progress Report

(WEEK 1)

INTRO:

Ever since 2020, I've been toying with the idea of making an authentic 'MOTHER' engine within the limitations of RPG Maker.

I bounced from engine-to-engine, trying to find the right Maker to start work in, and eventually settled on RPG Maker MV.

You can even see some of my early progress here!

The hyperfixation eventually subsided after some small adventures in the MOTHER fangame scene, and I took a fairly long hiatus.

Fastforward to 2023 and you'll find me. In my room. Really Fucking Bored.

It started off with me brushing up on my event code, making some practice menus and playing with switches and variables. Eventually I ended up with this.

NOW. For the fun stuff...

TECH! TECH! TEEEECHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Going into this project, I had like. Three Fundamental Rules.

Those being;

All CORE systems must be retroactively achievable in previous versions of RM.

Everything must be achievable through RM's default features (i.e. I must utilize the default map editor, database, etc.)

Plugin/Script usage MUST be kept to an absolute minimum.

This will definitely make things difficult moving forward, but if I wish to create some sorta out-of-the-box MOTHER framework (especially one with THIS scale), I think it's important to adhere to SOME kind of design philosophy.

With these principles in mind, allow me to show you some of the duct tape and bubblegum holding the code together!

Starting with;

Menu Stuff!

In RM, developers are very limited when it comes to customizability, at least out of the box. That changed around the time we first received those iconic Don Miguel fan translations. Many developers were dissatisfied with the default systems given to them, and instead opted to use in-game eventing to manipulate pictures to do whatever they wanted. Very interesting stuff!

However, despite me being able to Talk For Fucking Centuries about RM history, I don't wanna lose too much focus on the subject at hand. You can check out my favorite website ever over here to learn more about the early lil seedlings of our community!

Anyways, almost every graphic-based aspect of this project is done through vanilla eventing. Now, as any Well Seasoned RM Developer can attest, THIS IS NOT A FUN PROCESS!! This is done by modifying variables based on inputs, and referencing those variables to determine where your image should be drawn.

This process can range from easy:

to HARD:

(just reference the scrollbar size for an idea of the process, this kinda shit is NOT something you want to see)

Now, for the save system, it was relatively straightforward. I just changed some switches to record which save the player selected, and a few variables to record which 'flavor' the player chose. These are referenced at various points, such as the battle system, the in-game menus, and even small stuff like dialogue boxes.

For the naming system, well, I haven't actually finished that yet. But you'll undersTAND WHY I PROMISE..

Basically, if I wanted to do this in a way I could "easily" downport to other versions, I had to avoid writing a plugin for it. As you can imagine, eventing an entire custom naming system is Not Fucking Fun. It's fairly easy to do however, just mighty tedious. I did some digging in threads for old RPG Maker MOTHER fangames, and I saw a few examples of people explaining how they made their systems.

Let's call my Chosen Approach 'The Roach Method'. This is named after the creator of a long-since-cancelled fangame called EAGLELAND. Essentially, he made different 'Actor' slots in the database for each letter of a characters name, and referenced them in dialogue through text codes. Once set up, it should look a little something like this;

So on and so forth.

The frontend of my keyboard (and a tiny bit of the backend), is functional. Obviously I can make it prettier and more responsive, but I want to make the naming process smooth first.

I'm thinking of making it so that when you press okay, it triggers a switch to move onto the next letter, and then when you press the cancel key it goes back by one? Idk yet this Keyboard Is The Worst Fucking Thing Ever.

Movement:

Most RM devs know this, but 'pixel' movement doesn't really play nice with the way the engine handles collisions. In my (few) years of Mother Fangame Experience, I've come to learn that the weird pseudo-collision detection utilized by RM (iirc its just a coord check to see if you can move or not) doesn't really Provide the Movement Experience we've come to expect from the MOTHER series.

This is one of the many contentious aspects of making MOTHER fangames in RM. A lot of devs treat (newer) makers like this "out of the box" solution to everything, this framework that you can just absolutely stuff to the brim with plugins to achieve whatever functionality you want. However, in practice, this proves to (almost) never be the case.

It's an especially nasty mindset because it contradicts the reality of gamedev (at least within RM) being a constant uphill battle full of compromise. Unfortunately this stuff takes effort, more effort than just dragging and dropping a JS file into the plugins folder.

tl;dr: plugins and scripts should only ever be complimentary to your event code, don't expect them to do everything for you!

RANT ASIDE!! For the most part, unless you want to make a whole new movement and collision system from scratch, you're gonna wanna stick with the grid. Most grid-based diagonal movement plugins allow you to turn on a setting that lets you clip through the corner of tiles (PLUS, the default follower system is 'MOTHER' enough). This is good because it allows you to make pseudo-slope collisions, which is really useful for stuff like fences and buildings!

You can even see an example of this here!

So yeah, when it comes to movement, the main compromise is choosing between functionality and fluidity.

Mapping:

I'll keep this one brief. The default RM mapping system is less than stellar. However, parallax mapping is NOT a good solution. It leads to massive bloated images inflating file sizes like no tomorrow, long loading screens, and occasionally lag. That's why its better to design your games around the limitations of RM, and maintain your project's scope.

That leads us to our....

CONCLUSION

Unfortunately when it comes to fangaming (specifically within RM), you need to be willing to compromise. You (most likely) will not be able to perfectly replicate your favorite game, and that's okay.

This is where The Big Question really rears it's head;

Are you making a good MOTHER game, or a good RPG Maker MOTHER game?

This is the main conflict when it comes to developing one of these weird lil things, and it's been the death of many a project. After all, you'd have to be Fucking Insane to put yourself through all the eventing bullshit that comes with the territory of anything custom being done in Rm. I mean, sometimes even *I* wonder if i even like doing this, or if I just REALLY wanna flex. Usually it's a lil bit of both. ;)

HOWEVER, it's important to manage your expectations and work ALONGSIDE the limitations of the engine, rather than forcing it to do something it can't and ending up dissatisfied with the final product.

Good read? Good read. See You next week (maybe) mwuaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

[cosmicallyavg]

18, 19, 22

what is a line/scene you’re really proud of? give us the DVD commentary for that scene.

jhjdahkjd as embarrassing as it is every time i think about it. i genuinely am so proud of myself for the entirety of “let your eyes look up upon me for the better”??? like wtf was that? i wrote sex? and ive been told it was good? by many people? what???? like the whole thing could use a DVD commentary, like i could break down every line but that would take so long and i doubt anyone actually would read it all but ill just do a quick summary of my commentary for it.

i genuinely think thasmin has awoken something in me because never in a million years would i have thought i would want to write something mature and i actually did?? and still think of similar ideas to this day? but i really feel such strong connections to each of the characters in different ways that i wanted to depict in this fic, so i did. you could do a whole psychoanalysis on me based on the fic alone because so much of myself is in there adkjsgjsdf 

as an asexual person, fanfiction is a scary place to navigate because there is a lot of very explicit sex, which for some might not be a huge deal, but for me it is. so i wanted to create something that i was comfortable writing, and therefore would be comfortable reading, that still allows me to participate in that sort of writing. and i hope other ace people who are typically uncomfortable reading smut would be able to read as well. i wanted to write sex from what i call “the ace-gaze” where the focus is on the emotion and the characters rather than on the actual sexual acts themselves. and what better vessel to portray it than thasmin??  because i do sometimes want characters to do that kind of stuff, but i dont want to be quite literally disgusted reading it. smut always feels so fake to me. like ur telling me those people just Did that? and no one feels nervous or scared? unrealistic. dont want it. reading something else.

so seeing myself in these characters, i wanted them to be able to engage in such activities, but i wanted it to be realistic, to be exactly how i would imagine things to progress between the two. because with the doctor being asexual (they are and you cannot take this from me) and yaz only just admitting that she’s queer and therefore being inexperienced (my personal headcanon) i just Know it would be so awkward. and i didnt want to skirt around it, i wanted it to feel real. that neither of them know what theyre doing but they just want to have the experience together because they dont have much time left and they love each other 😭😭😭 

so yeah. there are so many layers to that fic and i could talk about it for hours analyzing every line i wrote but that would be. a lot to unpack. 

who is the easiest/hardest character for you to write about? why?

i genuinely typed up a whole response for this and then decided i wanted to change my answer so here we go jsdfhskjd

my range of characters that i have written is very very small but i have found that writing actions/dialogue for the doctor is a lot more fun than for a companion? like theyre so neurodivergent theyre just like me fr so a lot of the awkwardness comes naturally to me vs a companion that is generally less ND, or at least that they dont express it in a way that i can relate to and therefore can write easier.

now when it comes to exposition/the internal monologue of a character, using the companion’s POV is a lot easier bc it can be hard to express how i imagine the doctor’s internal monologue is. like thoughts jumping from one to the next to the next with seemingly no connection?? ultimately i Get it, like my brain does the same thing, so im no stranger to the process, but writing it in a way that is effective and that makes sense to readers can be difficult.

and generally the stories that i come up with are more easily depicted from the companion’s POV, so i get to do their internal thoughts and then the doctor’s actions/dialogue. so it’s often the best of both worlds!! but my current WIP actually is told mostly from the doctor’s POV so we Are switching it up a bit here soon 👀

TL;DR: ultimately it depends on what aspect of writing we are talking about, whether its actions, dialogue, exposition, prose, description, etc. because each character can be easier/harder for some and not the others.

have you cried while writing a fic?

no, but i definitely do write a line sometimes and i feel the sort of happy/sad/etc that i would hope my readers will feel when they read it. like sometimes i write something and im genuinely impressed with my capabilities because i type the line and i just Know the readers are going to eat it up

fic author questions <3

[holydivers]

talking about my tavs (and durge) because i can...2!

also game spoilers abound

riose. he/him, half-drow, necromancer warlock, acolyte backstory. one level in cleric of eilistraee for roleplaying

riose is a follower of eilistraee and a bleeding heart pacifist, which ties into his necromancy - he sees utilizing the dead, whose souls have since moved on, as a way to preserve the lives of the living by allowing them to replace living fighters in events where combat can't be avoided. he believes strongly in protecting life, no matter how questionable the person is, unless killing is absolutely necessary. which is how he immediately got killed by a mindflayer. and then again by a vampire a few nights later. honestly he's more of an accidental menace to the party than my actual selfish chaotic characters. oops!

his charisma is dogshit, so despite trying so desperately for pacifism he's accidentally caused way more conflict than most of my other tavs. he's really struggling out here. also only being half-drow means he doesn't get the inherent differential treatment characters like xun'e get, which bypasses goblin aggression, but people still give him shit for being half drow

his life fucking sucks

anyway i'm still working on his background - i want to give him a human parent and a drow parent in a way that's potentially actually interesting and not just some stupid or shitty bullshit, and thinking about how he eventually came to the church of eilistraee. i'm having trouble settling on anything, though, especially incorporating the necromancy thing - where does a good character generally even learn necromancy? i don't imagine there are necromantic books just sitting around, so i think a reformed villain parent would be fun...(make it the human parent contrasting to the actually pretty normal drow parent? could be funny)

but anyway everyone except for wyll and karlach hates him. he's off-putting and is trying really hard not to be That Guy but is having a difficult time not bringing up his religion constantly and wanting to pray for people. though it's almost circled around to being sort of endearing and at least he's useful as a ridiculously tall meat shield. with low strength bc he's a wizard

he's romancing wyll. also the church of eilistraee apparently do interpretative dance to their goddess every night so that's gonna be a cute little tie-in. like yes wyll he would LOVE to dance but maybe he's not used to your kind of dancing (he's got some dancing naked in the moonlight hippie shit bc that's how eilistraee is apparently)

on the other end of the spectrum is joy. they/them. some sort of tiefling idr, battle master fighter, haunted one background

so like as a durge they don't have much backstory aside from, y'know, the canon. i have another durge who resists the urge (but he's also pretty boring and has no personality <3 idk i'm not super inspired by durge since the amnesia and canon backstory feels rather restricting. i'll figure it out) but was like ok well i'll make one who indulges the urge and play for as long as i can stand it before being mean in a video game becomes too much for me

the out of universe reason for joy only resisting the urge is that even when doing my best to be mean i don't want to kill any of my companions. the in-universe reason is that they initially just really wanted to see someone turn into a mindflayer bc they thought it sounded cool as hell

though obviously they don't have much of a history of being friends or allies to people, they become rather enamored with having a posse and become very indulgent toward their allies. well, the allies who remained after they slaughtered the grove that is

while they do indulge the urge most times the dialogue options allow me to, they're not necessarily that evil outside of that - if the urge isn't particularly calling for blood they're weirdly capable of being relatively chill, though still an asshole. (they gave the prisoner in the goblin camp and healing potion and let him go. after torturing him a lot first for no reason, of course, but still)

hilariously shadowheart initially HATED them and told them they were only good as a meatshield. eventually she warmed up to them. somehow. lae'zel thinks they're too indulgent and chaotic but minthara thinks they're alright at least

though joy did become besties with astarion, joy was drawn towards gale, who talked a lot of shit when joy killed alfira but then sure was weirdly ok with it when joy thought about kissing him during their moment in the weave (honestly the kissing thought was mostly to avoid projecting the immediately obvious thoughts about dismemberment, and joy is trying not to threaten their friends! honest!)

and he didn't react to torturing that guy. and really didn't seem to mind joy biting another guy's toe straight off. and joy sees that dark streak of ambition and is delighted. and even after the slaughter at the grove, gale stays, and in the shadow-cursed lands he's even made comments about how attractive they look after a battle....they didn't even have to try to manipulate him or anything he's out here happily going down a corruption arc all by himself.

tbh i chickened out and initially decided that they'd resent sceleritas telling them what to do and have them not kill isobel but. well. i think i'm gonna go through and commit and get that slayer form. esp since jaheira kept fucking dying at moonrise no matter how hard i tried to keep her alive. we'll see if i have the willpower to have astarion and shart go down their bad character routes.

(i hate ascension but the dynamic of "exes but still friends" in the supervillain context is really funny. esp considering how dogshit astarion definitely would be at being a vampire lord. sorry no i'm not helping you take over baldur's gate we're not even an item anymore i'm too busy helping my boyfriend defy the gods or w/e he's doing <3 taking over baldur's gate is small potatoes. i'll still come over and we can disembowel ppl together if you want. make an afternoon out of it.)

in the end they'll probably reject bhaal? probably? again i feel like i maybe should just commit to going fully evil route but i kinda like the idea that they do save the city and everyone has to put up with this wretched piece of shit who no one likes being the hero and trying to install their flop boyfriend as the new god of magic or whatever.

joy sucks but i kinda love them it's just hilarious how terrible they are.

[mediaevalmusereads]

A Dangerous Business. By Jane Smiley. Knopf, 2022.

Rating: 2/5 stars

Genre: historical fiction, mystery

Series: N/A

Summary: Monterey, 1851. Ever since her husband was killed in a bar fight, Eliza Ripple has been working in a brothel. It seems like a better life, at least at first. The madam, Mrs. Parks, is kind, the men are (relatively) well behaved, and Eliza has attained what few women have: financial security. But when the dead bodies of young women start appearing outside of town, a darkness descends that she can’t resist confronting. Side by side with her friend Jean, and inspired by her reading, especially by Edgar Allan Poe’s detective Dupin, Eliza pieces together an array of clues to try to catch the killer, all the while juggling clients who begin to seem more and more suspicious.

Eliza and Jean are determined not just to survive, but to find their way in a lawless town on the fringes of the Wild West—a bewitching combination of beauty and danger—as what will become the Civil War looms on the horizon. As Mrs. Parks says, “Everyone knows that this is a dangerous business, but between you and me, being a woman is a dangerous business, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise …”

***Full review below.***

Content Warnings: sexual content (including underage sex), spousal abuse, gore

Overview: I saw this book on a list of best historical fiction, and the premise seemed intriguing, so I picked it up. A duo of lady inspectors? Inspired by Edgar Allen Poe? Solving crimes in 1850s California? Sign me up! Unfortunately, I quickly found that it was nearly impossible to connect with the characters of this book, and even worse, I couldn't get invested in the plot. The reason had everything to do with Smiley's prose. I constantly felt like I was being held at arm's length and being told instead of shown everything in the narrative. On top of all that, I found Smiley's word choice to be too simple for my tastes and her syntax a bit awkward, so for those reasons, this book only gets 2 stars from me.

Writing: As I said above, Smiley's prose style did not resonate with me. Part of the reason was because Smiley was more interested in telling instead of showing, and another was that a lot of the character's thoughts and feelings were so mediated that I felt kept at arm's length. Smiley had the tendency to tell the reader point blank what characters were thinking and feeling ("Eliza was sad"), which meant that I didn't feel trusted to put things together on my own. Smiley also seemed to like using phrases like "Eliza thought that..." or "Eliza sae that..." Combined, these techniques gave me the impression that I was reading something almost middle grade or YA, but the story is very much for adults.

Moreover, there were some technical things about Smiley's prose that just didn't feel very well done. For one thing, Smiley uses a lot of very simple, basic descriptions - things like "her skin was dry" or "the body was wrinkled." There was little done to evoke an emotional response; everything was matter-of-fact and overly simplistic. Unfortunately, this also meant there was no mood, suspense, or anything else to keep me invested in the story.

Lastly, the simplistic word choice also meant that a lot of dialogue felt stiff. Whenever characters would converse, something didn't quite feel natural, and moreover, I never got the sense that Smiley was building any sort of emotional intimacy (not even between Eliza and Jean). As a result, it was incredibly difficult to feel invested in character relationships.

Plot: The plot of this book follows Eliza Ripple, a twenty-something year old prostitute who works to solve a series of murders in Monterey, CA in the 1850s.

What I appreciated about this plot was the way Smiley didn't demonize sex work. Eliza and her friend Jean (a fellow prostitute) seem very happy as sex workers, and it allows them an independence that they didn't have before. Eliza in particular finds it very liberating after being subject to abuse from her late husband, and I appreciated that her madam, Mrs. Parks, was supportive and didn't force them to take clients they didn't want.

That being said, there wasn't much else about the plot to get me hooked. There isn't a sense of urgency or suspense when Eliza is investigating the murders, which means that they don't feel very consequential or have much effect on Eliza's life (other than being a curiosity). Indeed, more time is spent showcasing Eliza's day to day life than her investigation, so the murders themselves didn't instill in me a sense of dread or make me feel Eliza was in any danger.

Moreover, the way Eliza goes about solving the mystery isn't exactly clever, which meant that I felt like Smiley was creating a mystery for younger readers. Eliza seems to go after "clues" that don't make much sense and she has little justification for doing so (for example, she sees a man hitting his wife so she decides to look for his footprints - why? What about him possibly connects him to the victims, especially when spousal abuse is common in this world?).

Lastly, I kept feeling like Smiley was trying to make some kind of commentary, either about being a woman or about slavery, but both topics were handled so simplistically that the effort didn't quite feel genuine. Characters talk about being women or about the morality of slavery, but the plot doesn't quite explore any of these topics (so, for example, the murders could be a commentary on misogyny in sex work, but Smiley doesn't really look too far into that). This also made a lot of the book feel YA or middle grade, since the message was so simple and without nuance.

Characters: Eliza, our protagonist, is sympathetic in that she is the victim of spousal abuse, but other than that, it was difficult to feel connected to her. Because of the prose style, I didn't feel like I was being invited to experience the world along with Eliza, but instead, I was being told about it and with very little emotional effect. On top of that, Eliza didn't strike me as particularly intelligent or clever, so I didn't quite understand why she was the one to solve the mystery of the Monterey murders. It wasn't even justified by saying her job makes her more "street smart," so to speak. Instead, she felt rather naive and depended on her friend, Jean, to navigate the world.

TL;DR: A Dangerous Business suffers greatly from an abundance of telling over showing, a poorly constructed mystery, and a not very bright protagonist. Though I appreciated that sex work was respected and that the novel tried to say something about women and slavery, none of the themes ultimately landed because the novel felt simply constructed, as if for a much younger audience.

Jean, Eliza's friend, is a little more interesting because she has the courage and agency to go after "clues" herself. Jean claims to be able to see ghosts and is incredibly curious about the murders to the point where she pursues leads on her own. Compared to Eliza, who goes to places to look for footprints for no reason, Jean has motivations that feel a bit more logical, and I think I would have much preffered a story where Jean was the Sherlock to Eliza's Watson.

Secondary characters were ok. I found the variety of Eliza's clients to be somewhat interesting, but Smiley didn't seem to be interested in using that variety to make a grander point or integrate it into a thematic aspect of the novel. Mrs. Parks, the madam, was fine, if a little boring. It's hard to really say whether or not any secondary character is well done because the prose and the plot are so simplistic that the characters feel listless.

[kayzig]

Rosen of Chroneria: Chapter 6

There's only a little bit on the "visible side" of this session, but I think this is the best possibly way to time it out since I have some background stuff to finish, and it just makes sense to have Rosen recover from their consequence before going on to their next bit. For starters, though....

Rosen is going to make one more appeal to Alistair to be a part of the investigation, a process to capture the assassin and bring him in.

He rolls a +2 Rapport, besting a +1 Will for Alistair's defense! Hilariously due to the dice rolls, both had a +1/-1 that made their result their default modifiers for the skill. I think it's interesting when that kind of thing happens, at least!

Let's oracle in, real quick: Q: Unlikely: Would Alistair actually believe Rosen to be an asset to the investigation? A: 15; yes, eh?

I also know that since I filled in some information about the assassin, the kinds of details that Alistair can offer.

The councilman was one who was responsible for the docks, much like Alistair is responsible for the security of the docks in particular. He was assassinated in his home, and there were no other victims, even though there was family of his in the building, hardly any signs of a struggle, and no witnesses.

It was a very high-up part of an elaborate house, and there was ABSOLUTELY no signs of a break in, according to the oracle. I know how to connect the dots on this story thread in my head, but we'll see if Rosen and Alistair even get those pieces of the puzzle!

And furthermore, the venom that was used in the killing has no other traces of being anywhere in the house, so on top of it being very unlikely that the wife of the councilman did this, there's also evidence to enforce that it wasn't them.

Rosen makes a +4 Notice to immediately draw the line between the portals and suddenly-appearing Sky Legion scouts that got into the estate. Alistair agrees that it seems like more than a coincidence, but has doubts over how successful and stealthy the assassination was, versus the raids on his own home, which were thwarted.

Rosen (quick to smugly point out): Well, clearly, I wasn't there to fight the assassin. Chelise (in somewhat catty fashion): If you knew Councilman Rutherford, you might have let it happen.

I think Alistair would be fondly aghast that his wife said this, but it was a fun way to drop a reminder of the fact that Councilman Rutherford, who has been unnamed up to this point, was not a well-liked man. The assassin could be anyone, and been HIRED by anyone.

Alistair will close out the conversation by adding that while it is a difficult trail to pin down, and it won't be easy, we'll be glad to have Rosen assisting, somehow; he doesn't currently know how he'd allow for this, after everything that transpired with Judge Regent Gregor.

Rosen states that he's simply happy to have Alistair's approval to join in the hunt, as Chelise and Alistair ready to retire to bed. The catch here - Rosen rolls a 0 Deception versus a +5 Empathy from Alistair. Alistair will see through the lie and send Chelise (who did as well with a +3) ahead as he steps aside with Rosen.

Alistair will remind Rosen that it is not a hunt, but an investigation, and he would be bringing Rosen in to ASSIST, not to start a reckless "hunt".

Alistair values his place as Judge Regent, and would not want to break or bend any rules.

Q: 50/50: Would Chelise? A: 86; no

Rosen will ask Alistair a VERY FAIR QUESTION, as to whether or not any other Judge Regents or Councilmen have had attackers materialize into their living room to beg his point of "please ask me to hunt this assassin down like a crazed dog," and makes a +6 Rapport roll! He rolled the Fate equivalent of a Natural 20 to get that, and I definitely think that the related dialogue probably makes a few other points about Chelise and the city's safety, to boot. Alistair's responding Will roll is only -2, so it's a hell of a succeed with style.

Rosen's goal was to leave the estate and investigate what the Good Ship Justice crew was up to; they were scoping out Alistair's home for SOMETHING, and have definite criminal ties. They're his closest contact to someone who may know something, even if they were a bit shady in their last conversation.

Alistair tells Rosen that if he can delay his hunt by one more day, he will take the time tomorrow to make sure Rosen is properly outfitted to wander Port Lamour - a proper writ that acknowledges him as employed by someone in the city to offer him identification, and some kind of clothing that can maybe be fitted, and not have him stand out, so much.

There's a bit more back-burner divination, etc, work to do for the opposite side where the Good Ship Justice crew, their boss and the Assassin are at. I'll update that in perspective when I come back to a place to reveal it in Rosen's narration!

[lynxgriffin]

DELTARUNE Chapter 2 Thoughts!!!

WOOO OKAY I stayed up WAY too late trying to finish Deltarune Chapter 2 last night!! It took me awhile because I suck at video games, but I finally did it!

While I normally type up commentary as I play first time, I didn’t get the chance to do that here, so I’ll get down all my general thoughts here!

Unspoilery thoughts: loved it, knew I would, will need to replay soon to see what all I missed, and am excited for whatever’s next!

SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 2 under the cut!!

(These are just as I think of them, not in any particular order!)

Okay overall I can see why this took two years and a much larger team to complete, the second chapter is SO much more expansive and heavy on scene-specific animations! It all looks SO GOOD

I already love Susie but now I love her even more, her expressions were SO GOOD

Susie has a (little nubby) tail confirmed?? That’s adorable

Okay this game is definitely reading the chapter 1 data, which I find interesting because I didn’t obtain it through Steam last time

But like, I gave the “Susie eats chalk” response to Noelle last time, and in chapter two she gave Susie the box of chalk, so awwww!

Also I missed Onionsan in my initial computer playthrough, so they didn’t show up this time, just got a moment of Susie and Kris sitting by the river together!

I find it REALLY interesting that while Ralsei is a Darkner, apparently he can jump around to other Dark Worlds whereas other Darkners like Lancer and Rouxls can’t so much…hmmm!

It was so nice to see everyone filling out the town now, though!

Noooo Susie probably doesn’t have her own room at home, awwww

Kris just casually jumping up to the classroom and bringing everyone back tho, perfect

Was right on there being multiple dark worlds in other locations, but honestly that part’s the least surprising to me, that always seemed like a pretty standard path to take!

The werewires were creepy and great; difficult to battle tho

QUEEN IS MY NEW FAVORITE

EVERY LINE OF HERS WAS A+

I’m so glad that I didn’t really go anywhere with Jevil’s line about the Queen in PT; nothing I came up with could’ve topped Queen being an absolute acid trip of an antagonist in this chapter

NOELLE SO SWEET

Her lil’ robot disguise! Her being afraid of mice at first!

I kinda wish we could have had her in the party more? She was super useful as a party member, honestly!

But sadly I guess we’re not gonna get more than the three-person party, awww

B E R D L Y

I cannot believe Berdly basically became incel Falco but also had a sympathetic backstory

Like I laughed a lot at all of Berdly’s expressions and dialogue while also going BERDLY YOU ARE THE WORST

Noelle’s WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? part = A+

I feel like Queen’s relationship with Noelle definitely had some uncomfy parallels with probably how she is dealing with her real mom

I AM NOT GOOD AT PUNCH-OUT AND THERE WAS A LOT OF THAT

I somehow missed the part where Susie is wearing Ralsei’s glasses??? Where is this

Also in general there was a LOT of puzzles and gameplay in the overworld map, which I was bad at but was also very cool

KRIS GET THE BANANA

The dolphin pop-up ads…

I DID NOT LIKE THE SPAMTON GUY

DISCOMFORT THE WHOLE TIME

Apparently he’s also the secret boss for this chapter?? That’s at least if the soundtrack is anything to go by. Maybe I’ll go back and try it on another playthrough, but aaaaagggghhhg

SO MANY GOOD SUSELLE MOMENTS

MY LIL SHIPPER HEART HAS A NICE SERVING AND WANTS MORE

The whole deal with the ferris wheel conversation and just awwwwuuuuuuh

Needs more Susiezilla now too (I picked the “something romantic” option because of course)

MORE PLZ, LET’S DIG DEEPER HERE

Also I cannot believe Susie has (at least) two people crushing on her and is just totally oblivious to it

There’s SO Many interesting HMM moments with Kris and that definitely included the entire acid tunnel of love scene with Kris and Ralsei

Interrupted of course by an appropriately silly Rouxls battle

But man the more we see (or often DON’T see) of Ralsei the more intriguing it gets

LET NOELLE RIDE IN THE TEACUP RIDE WITH SUSIE

I just knew going back to get that chest without Noelle would be something dumb

OKAY I ended up dying a lot to 1) the Mauswheel, and 2) the color-changing butlers?? So I ended up having to do the whole sequence with annoying dog blasting through everything in his path multiple times

I DID feel bad for Berdly during that boss battle where he was werewired; that was nice and body horror-ish

That said… “I NEED A KISS FROM A GAMER GIRL”

The giant mecha boss battle absolutely kicked my ass, though

Like it WAS badass but that took me a LOT of tries to get through

My thrash machine was very GUN’S

Overall the difficulty curve was definitely stepped up from chapter 1!

LOTS MORE DARK WORLD AND KNIGHT LORE FROM RALSEI HERE

And lots of talk about Noelle being pretty important to it, too!

I’m glad I got to bring Susie on the walkaround this time around town!

I AM GOING TO BE YOUR WACKY ROOMMATE NOW

King and Queen’s entire conversation was so hilarious

King just slides over to suck on that sweet, sweet giant hamster water bottle

BUNKER STILL BEIN SUSPICIOUS

Aww the pizzeria is not a creepy mascot Chuck-E-Cheese’s style, tho

Confirmation that Gerson was Alvin’s father! And I feel like there’s a lot we’re missing there, too

Still not allowed to see Papyrus…

Catti’s parents…

I wasn’t expecting this at all, but it feels like they may be introducing way more Lightners to the Dark World with each chapter, since both Noelle and Berdly ended up there?

And if that’s the case, I feel like it’s hinting that Catti and/or Jockington may be next

SUSIE STAYING AT KRIS’S PLACE FOR A SLEEPOVER WAS SO SWEET

IMMEDIATELY UNDERCUT BY KRIS GOING FERAL AGAIN

Like I dunno the whole scenario somehow managed to be both REALLY sinister and very funny at once??

Susie and Toriel are busy laughing and making a pie together, meanwhile Kris just sneaks the hell out and slashes Toriel’s tires because it’s KNIVES OUT TIME

Please let Susie watch more giant monster (and giant human) movies with her friends, she needs this

THAT SAID, THAT ENDING

HMM HMM HMMMMMMMMMM

SO THIS SEEMS TO BE INDICATING THAT KRIS IS THE KNIGHT

Which like…is in fact making SOME KIND OF SENSE in my head overall, but I definitely need more context to see how exactly

Like I’m all “THIS FEELS RIGHT BUT I DON’T KNOW WHY, I NEED MOOOORE”

Considering Ralsei’s reaction to Noelle and Berdly trying to make a new fountain, this definitely seems to be setting up some kind of future confrontation between Kris and Ralsei, which! HMMMM

I THINK IT’S TIME FOR THIS GIF AGAIN

Basically I HAD A GRAND TIME, I NEED TO REPLAY, EXCITED FOR THE REST WHENEVER IT COMES

[luna-writes-stuff]

Motion Sickness, Xu Shangqi

Yes, I wrote this out self projection. I myself have a very weak stomach and can therefor very easily and quickly catch motion sickness.

For those interested about what motion sickness is and what it means for me: Quick story of it, my stomach cannot stand a lot of motion, especially when my brain is unaware of the direction my body is moving in. I get nauseous and light headed and just feel the bile rising up in my throat. So when I go on long car rides for vacation and I cannot see the navigation, I could easily throw up in the car in a matter of seconds. When I sit on the wrong side of the car, I get sick. When I look anywhere else but outside in the car, I get sick. When the car is taking turns instead of driving straight ahead, I get sick. It’s really annoying and it’s still something I struggle with a lot. I get it on amusement rides, rollercoasters, boats; even when I just move around to quickly or too much. So when I was watching that scene in Shang-Chi where they drive to Ta Lo, all I could think about was how terrible I would’ve been in that situation. And it inspired me to write this (stupid as it may sound.) Yes, I am aware there is medication for this, but it happens a lot of the times and would I keep using and buying it, I would spend way more money than I actually need to. I only use it for long car rides and boat trips.

Fanfic, female! reader

Fluff, bit of angst

Tw: SPOILERS, motion sickness, description of nausea, lightheadedness, description of vomiting, rising temperature, half consciousness, self projected, description of losing consciousness (but not really), Shang-Chi being worried, established relationship, use of Y/N. Also, I could not find the script anywhere, so half of the dialogue is probably wrong.

Summary: When escaping Wenwu’s home, you join the ride to Ta Lo, even as you are aware that you get severe motion sickness in cars and most definitely will end up throwing up later. Shang-Chi knows this and tries to help, but you can’t talk nausea out of someone. Upon arriving in Ta Lo, you’re barely conscious and Shang-Chi gets concerned.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Shang-Chi asked, as you sat outside the car you just escaped in.

The ride from Wenwu’s home had been difficult to say the least. You got very nauseous in car rides, and you knew that, yet you wanted to be there for Shang-Chi when he would travel to his mother’s village. It was already clear it was not going to be an easy journey, but you insisted on joining the ride.

At the moment, you were catching some fresh air after the eventful car ride earlier. You forced your nausea down, smiling up at Shang-Chi.

“Oh yeah. I’ll be fine.” You assured, standing up and taking a deep breath in.

“You know you don’t have to come along.” He tried again, but you ignored his offer.

“I said I’ll be fine.” You insisted, walking back towards the car. Shang-Chi let out a sigh of defeat before opening the door to the passenger seat.

“Actually, Trevor was going to sit there. Seeing as he kind of holds the information and stuff.” Katy said, gesturing towards the man behind you two.

“He can do that from the back.” Shang-Chi said, but you shoo’d him, opening the door behind the passenger seat.

“I can sit here too.” You announced, sitting down before your boyfriend could say anything about it.

“Y/N-“ “Don’t Y/N me.” You interrupted. “If I get sick, it’s my own damn fault.”

He groaned before stepping in on the other side, his sister seated between the two of you.

“Is something wrong?” She asked, looking towards you with a worried glance.

“She gets sick in car rides.” Shang-Chi announced, putting on his seatbelt.

“Don’t worry.” You reassured her, “If I’m going to throw up, I’m going to aim for Shang-Chi. You’ll be fine.”

“You’re going to throw up?” She questioned, frowning at the statement.

“I’ll try not to, if it’s any consolation to you.” You offered, throwing off your jacket before bundling it up and letting it rest on your lap, holding it against your stomach lightly.

“I hope you’re strapped in. Morris tells us we need to leave now.” Trevor announced, simultaneously making Katy push the gas.

As you’re driving, Katy keeps a steady pace, causing a feeling of relief to wash through you. If this was going to be the pace you’d keep during the ride, nothing could really go wrong.

In front of the car, the trees suddenly started to separate, creating a road for Katy to drive on. You gasped at the sight, having never seen anything like it before.

“This is so cool.” Katy quietly awed. You hummed in agreement, staring at the greens out of the window.

“Morris says you might want to speed up.” Trevor announced, looking at the rearview mirror. Katy followed his look, before letting a curse word slip and speeding up. All three of you in the back quickly looked behind, eyes widening at the sight of the trees closing back.

You turned around the second you saw what was happening, not ready to move forward while looking back.

“Take a left.” Trevor instructed.

“When?” Katy wondered, sparing the man a single glance.

“Now!” He ushered.

Katy took a sharp turn at his words, causing you to immediately grab hold of the handle on the door. Xialing and Shang-Chi both fell towards your side, not having prepared for the turn. You let out a little chuckle at the sight of them, but stopped as the familiar feeling of nausea hit you again.

“Right!” Trevor instructed. Yet again, Katy listened to him, taking a sharp right turn as the woods split into two again.

You had yet to let go of the handle, but you figured it might the closest thing you’d get to grounding at the moment. You felt Shang-Chi’s eyes drill holes into your head, but you refused to look at him. Instead, you kept you eyes on the window outside, knowing shooting your glance anywhere else might lead to some unfortunate consequences.

“Right again!” And at those words, the car stumbled around. Your stomach started feeling heavy as your head grew lighter, but you refused to acknowledge it, silently wishing for it to be over soon. You knew what would happen. You brought this upon yourself and you had no one to blame but yourself. You were in this now and you would not complain about it.

“Left!”

The next turn came completely unexpected to you, causing you to lose grip of the handle and the jacket on your lap, your hands trying to hold onto the seat in front of you.

As the car was on a straight line again, Shang-Chi quickly leaned over, grabbing your jacket and handing it to you, before opening your window slightly, allowing fresh air to fill the car. He shot you a silent look before returning to his seat.

“Drive faster!” Trevor urged, looking in the rearview mirror again. The forest seemed to close in behind you in an even faster rate now.

Katy just followed his lead, pushing the gas pedal down all the way. The car was hurled forward as your stomach began to flip. You leant your head against the window, your jacket pressed tightly against your stomach.

“Right!” Trevor yelled, the wind that blew into the car now becoming louder than his voice.

As Katy followed his directions, your clothes began to uncomfortably cling to your body, your hair slowly sticking to your forehead. You felt the bile rising up your throat, but you swallowed it back down, knowing there was no way of stopping now.

As Trevor kept shouting instructions, you began to wonder when this maze would end. It had been more terrible than you predicted. Perhaps the nausea of the earlier car-ride still lay heavy on your stomach, which only increased with the current journey. Or maybe the fact that there were no blinkers or navigation used, made your brain confused and uncomfortable, leaving you with a sickening feeling. Perhaps it was a combination of both.

Had this been a bad idea?

Definitely.

Would you ever confess it?

Never.

“Close the window!” Trevor yelled to Katy, holding his hands over his ears.

“Do not close the window!” Shang-Chi shot after him, holding his hand beside Katy’s seat, leaving her unable to access the window buttons.

Your head rested against the backside of the chair in front of you, trying to keep the dizziness at bay, but with every following turn, you felt that uncomfortable substance rising back up. Your head felt too light to lift it now, but your stomach forced you to keep it up before everything would come back out.

You let your head fall towards the window, keeping it up in order to swallow everything down again. The sour feeling stung your throat, nearly making you gasp in uneasiness, but you did your best not to show it. The open window that provided you with fresh air, had begun to lose its purpose, now only filling you with a loud pounding in the ears, every other word suddenly passing by unheard. It wasn’t until you felt a warm hand on the one that clung to your jacket, that you moved your head.

Before even looking, you knew it was Shang-Chi, but there was little he could do for you now. He didn’t say anything. Instead, he held out a bottle of cold water and a plastic bag. You gratefully took the offer, taking small sips from the bottle before placing the plastic bag on top of your jacket, just in case things would go sideways.

Your hands had grown all warm and soggy, nearly gliding off of the fabric. Your shirt was now nearly glued to your back. The hair you had refused to put up earlier was now suffocating your neck with a heat attack. You could feel the sweat of it fall down your body, making you move uncomfortably in your seat. A sharp ringing filled your ears, your vision showing black dots from time to time.

The car increased its speed suddenly. You had no idea what was happening, but you closed your eyes, not willing to look outside anymore. You needed your focus on your body, trying so desperately to maintain it.

Katy’s screaming disturbed the ringing in your ears as you felt an annoying banging against your brain.

And just like that, the car stopped moving. Heavy breathing was heard all around the car, but you had yet to open your eyes. The nauseating feeling was far from over. You figured it was best to continue driving before you would have to experience everything again.

“Everyone okay?” Katy asked, which went answered by multiple hums.

“Morris says to go right through there.” The man in front of you announced.

“Through the waterfall?” Katy asked incredulously.

“Yes.” Was the simple answer.

And then, the car was moving again. You heard the window beside you shut, but you made no intention to open your eyes yet.

“Y/N?” You heard Shang-Chi ask, but you ignored him, waving your hand towards him in a “let it go” manner.

How long the car had been driving afterwards, you did not know. You didn’t look outside, the earlier trip still heavy on your stomach. It wasn’t until the car suddenly stopped, that your stomach decided enough was enough, and resorted to throwing everything out.

You were hunched over the bag in your hands, the vomit slowly leaving your throat, much to your discomfort. You felt two gentle, yet unfamiliar hands wrap around your hair before tying it in a simple pony tail.

Your body felt as if it was on fire, your shirt definitely drenched by now. You tried to catch your breath, but you threw yourself back over the bag before you knew it. A second round falling out just as terrible as the first one.

You could hardly comprehend the door beside you opening, followed by a hand slowly, but steadily rubbing your back. You kept yourself above the bag, even though you were fairly sure you were done now. You began tying it, but it was taken from you before you could grab the ends.

As you unbuckled yourself and stood back up, black spots appeared in your vision again, making you stumble outside, before forcing you to sit down, your back against the car.

“Babe, can you hear me?” You faintly heard, making you hum silently, leaning your head against the car too, your eyes closing again.

“Are you okay?” He asked again, the voice now nearer.

“I just threw up twice. What do you think?” You mumbled.

Your statement went ignored, a soft hand being placed on top of your head instead.

“You’re burning up.” He remarked, untying your hair and wrapping it in a bun instead, making you sigh in relief.

“Give me a few minutes.” You stated quietly.

“Can you give me that bottle of water?” You followed up in a whisper. It was quiet for a moment before you felt the cold bottle back in your hands. You finished it quickly, handing it back when you were done.

“Do you need anything else?” He wondered again, his hand softly touching your cheek.

“A cold shower.” You mustered out, throwing your head forward, making it rest against Shang-Chi’s chest. “And a few painkillers.”

A low chuckle escaped his throat as his hand rested on your back, making you since slightly at the hot and sweaty shirt now being pushed against your body.

“Can you move yet?” He whispered patiently, letting you go, though he allowed your head to keep resting against him.

“Give me a moment.” You muttered, one of your hands falling to your stomach as if it would calm it down.

“That’s okay.” He answered, shifting a little bit before resting his head on top of yours, one of his his hands connecting with the one that was on your stomach.

“Xialing is doing the talking anyway.” He explained, his second hand falling to your neck and stroking it affectionately.

“Tell me when to get up.” He proposed, letting you pick your time and comfort.

You hummed in response, happy to be in his arms back on solid ground. You tried turning in your position, but your body quickly show down the idea, fresh nausea returning fast.

Shang-Chi understood what you were trying to do, luckily. He grabbed your waist, carefully turning you around, making your back rest against his chest.

“You’re drenched in sweat.” He noticed aloud, though that was the only thing he did about it.

Your head fell back in the crook of his neck, making Shang-Chi smile and rest his head against yours. Your hand tried reaching for his, even though you could not see anything right now.

“You want more water?” He misunderstood, his voice vibrating through his chest.

You just shook your head lightly, grabbing his arm and letting your hand slide down it until your hand connected with his. He squeezed it in comfort, before wrapping his arms around your body, holding you against him tightly, your hands toying with his fingers.

“I’m tired.” You whispered. “Do you mind if I fall asleep right here?”

Once more, Shang-Chi chuckled. “Of course not, babe.”

“Thank you.” You mumbled, sinking into his arms, nausea slowly subsiding as your mind finally drifted off.

You were glad he had been understanding, instead of cocky and full of himself at the moment. He did not mention your stubbornness earlier or your stupid comments. And you were thankful for that. You were far too tired or nauseous to deal with these comments now. They’d have to wait until tomorrow morning. Besides, a cold shower was next on the agenda, whether Ta Lo had that or not.

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