queenlilyblogsposts

[oddthesungod]

it's a funny thing, I got into Critical Role back when campaign 2 had just started airing (I think around episode 7), i moved on to Star Trek around the time campaign 3 started up, and the trek fandom, despite being magnitudes older, feels like a very small fandom when compared to what the crit role fandom is now (specially when you don't draw too much spirk art, where the majority of the eyes are when it comes to fan content here on tumblr) so coming back to Crit Role and seeing how much it's grew... it's quite wild!

I'm proud of this silly game and these silly voice actors playing d&d, proud of how far they've come <3

[stickandthorn]

I was thinking about that post about redemption I just reblogged, and I think it’s worth pointing out just how difficult and time consuming it would to de-radicalize or “redeem” Lilliana. And I think Essek’s redemption in campaign 2 is actually a really good example of what I’m talking about.

First of all, what the Nein did to redeem Essek was not slowly and politely talk him through why what he did was wrong. They didn’t even know he did anything wrong. What they did was continually reach out to him and give him a support system of friends he did not have before. Notably, friends who he could be comfortable sharing his worldview around: he was an atheist* in a theocratic society who had to hide his worldview in order to have any social, academic, or governmental standing. The mighty nein were probably the first people he could be himself around, and creating a change in his personal life is what led to a change in his ideology. Notably, he did most of the actual deconstructing of his ideology on his own, some before the big betrayal reveal and a lot after. The Nein helped with that directly a little, but the main thing they did was offer him a personal connection he had stakes in, and a people in his life with different world views he hadn’t seen up close before.

This is pretty true to life, in the real world, most people who leave radical or bigoted groups leave at least partially because of a change in their personal life. Even if they do leave because of someone directly challenging their worldview, it’s usually someone they care about who challenges them in a non-aggressive way. It’s still personal.

Secondly, this took a lot of time. I can’t remember exactly how long they spent in the Dynasty, but they befriended Essek over a really long period of in game and out of game time. The cast spent actual real world hours talking pretty much one on one with Essek, and the party spent weeks, maybe even months slowly getting to know him and bringing this support structure into his life. Essek spent even longer actually thinking through and deconstructing on his own. The change in his worldview between the ship and the outpost really shows this, he did a lot of the thinking that led him to change by himself over a lot of time we weren’t there for. They could not have gotten him to actually change his mindset, fully realize what he did was wrong of his own free will, in anything approaching a short amount of time. This was a time consuming process.

All this to say: this is the kind of effort it would take to legitimately de-radicalize Lilliana. She has been in the Vanguard for ~25 years, she most likely joined when she was in her early to mid 20s, and she gave up all personal connections, even her daughter and her husband to join. Not only has her entire ideology been built around this being the right thing to do, her entire personal life is contained within the Vanguard. It’s most likely where she gets any housing or money or really anything from. It is her whole life, and she believes wholeheartedly in it. The level of time and effort it took to get Essek to organically change his mind is most likely the level it would take to get Lilliana to change hers, if not more.

And they don’t have that time. Lilliana is actively doing harm now, she is helping the Vanguard release Predathos right now, they simply do not have the time to redeem her. It sucks, but pragmatically speaking, it is simply not worth the time and effort. Essek gave away the beacons in the past, but also, the Nein did not know he did that for their early friendship. If the Nein had known, they probably would not have put in all the work it took to get him to change. They probably couldn’t have. Lilliana might be able to be redeemed in theory, but so can a lot of people who do very bad things. Focusing on that redemption process is prioritizing Imogen’s complicated feelings over the harsh reality that this is a war, and Lilliana is a key figure in that war doing a great deal of harm. It sucks, but I do think it’s time to move on, and I think Imogen is now leaning that way.

*atheist is a loose term here, it’s hard to be an atheist in a world where gods are proven to exist, but it gets the point across

[teddyeyeseddie]

The Cherrywood Motel

Starry Haze, Crystal Ball

rockstar!Eddie x housekeeper!reader

masterlist

(a/n: ITS BACKKKK AND SO AM I!! Enjoy my lovelies and visit my blog for some life updates!)

warnings: soft eddie, smut, minors dni, oral (fem rec), p in v, cream pie x 2, riding, showering together, a jump from last chapter.

now playing:

You lug all your clothes into the laundromat down the street, heaving the heavy bag onto the table before you once you’ve made your way inside. The smell of bleach and laundry detergent mixes in your nostrils as you sort your piles of dirties.

It’s early in the morning, the only person in the place being you and an elderly woman. You enjoy the quiet, only the soft whirring of the dryers breaking the silence.

You separate your lights from darks, throwing your first load in when a familiar voice resonates through the quaint room.

“Shit- fuck,” you look over to see Eddie struggling with a bag of laundry. You chuckle to yourself, your eyes meeting his. His face lights up when he sees you.

“Hey stranger,” he breathes out as he settles in at the table next to you.

“Hi Eddie,”

Ever since Eddie woke up in your bed, things had been different. Eddie seemed happier, his demeanor not so jittery. You talked more, Eddie revealing more about his life.

You learned he was really a dork. Knows a little too much about horror movies, still plans D&D campaigns for fun, and collects mugs from every new place he goes.

He’s become softer, more himself in the last few days. You found yourself getting closer to him, his magnetic force drawing you in with every little conversation.

His captivating personality had you expressing more things about yourself, like your favorite flower, how you got the scar on your shoulder, and all about your childhood cat, Mr. Snuffles.

Talking to Eddie when he was sober was easy, he didn’t go on unnecessary tangents, he wasn’t as flirty and he looked oh so pretty when he was healthy.

His usual red eyes now pure, no sign of distress in them. He even started taking care of his hair, his usual frizzy locks now smooth and curly. He was doing better. You were proud of him.

“Didn’t think I’d be seeing you today,” he says, pulling out all of his clothes and settling them into a pile. He gathers them all in his arms, walking towards a washer.

“Aren’t you gonna sort them?” you ask, chuckling to yourself as Eddie struggles with the large amount of clothes he has in his hands.

“I never do?” he says as if it's almost a question.

“Well, I’m sure you have some 200 dollar shirts in there that are begging to be sorted,”

“My uh- lady at home usually does it. This is how I used to do laundry when I was a kid,”

You roll your eyes, motioning for him to come back to the table.

You sort his dirty clothes for him, it feels pathetic but the smile he has on his face as you help him makes it somewhat worth it.

“You’ve gotta sort lights from darks. I’d suggest separating your whites too but I don’t want you to keel over,”

He chuckles, grabbing the pile of darks and carrying them to a washer. He puts in his quarters, handing you some so you can start the pile of lights.

“So what are you up to for the rest of the day?” he questions as he strolls back to the tables where your clothes still lay.

“Nothing really, apartment hunting for a little bit and then back to the motel,” you gather your pile of clothes, turning towards the washers and placing the items inside. Eddie swoops in front of you and puts quarters in for you, you playfully roll your eyes but smile up at him nonetheless.

“Oooh, that should be fun,” he scratches at the back of his neck, “I uh- owe you for bailing me out so just let me know what you need for the security deposit and I’ll write a check,”

“Thank you Eddie, but you don’t have to. I lost your jacket, I bailed you out, were even,”

Eddie shakes his head, curls flying in all directions at the erratic movement.

“Someone stole my jacket from you, you didn’t just leave it for anyone to take. Plus I can,so let me,” he states, eyes locking with yours in a stare.

“Just let me, it’s the least I can do-” you nod your head, allowing the man to help you pay your way into a new apartment.

A feat that was easier said than done, you had looked at 5 separate places with Christa, none of them being anything close to what you wanted or needed.

You finally decide to call it quits and return back to the hotel, smiling when you see Eddie waiting outside your door with a pizza box in his hand. Christa sends you a wink as you get out of the car, a soft “enjoy yourself” falling from her lips.

Eddie grins widely when he sees you step out of Christa’s car.

“Sorry- thought you were home from your hunting,” he motions towards your car that is parked a few spots down from your door.

“Kinda got stuck at our last place. Creepy landlord,” you straighten out the pleats of your skirt as Eddie sucks in a breath in through his teeth, wincing dramatically.

“At least you dodged that bullet,” he says as he leans against the doorframe waiting for you to open it, his slim shoulders doing a good job at boxing you in. The smell of his cologne makes your mind whir, gone are the days of dried puke and alcohol.

You unlock the door, Eddie’s hand pushing it open forcing you to duck underneath his arm. He lets the door close softly behind him once he is inside, being sure to lock the deadbolt.

He places the pizza box on the small table by the window. He draws the curtains, blocking out the rest of the world and turning the room into a space that was only for the two of you.

“Got your favorite,” he motions to the box with his thumb as he walks up behind you. You’re stepping out of your shoes when Eddie’s arm snakes around your front, under your arm and resting on your collarbone. He’s come over every night since the cleaning fiasco, you talk about the ten-day-whirlwind that the two of you have embarked on and get to know eachother even more.

Eddie spends most of his time apologizing when you recall anything from the short time of knowing him, ashamed of how much he had hurt you.

It’s been a week of take-out, today bringing you to day seventeen. Ten days of hell and seven of something in between a raging fire and a rumbling earthquake- scalding your skin and shaking off the dust settled deep in your soul.

His arm comes undone from you, his hand tracing down your tricep, over your elbow, ghosting down your forearm, finally grasping your hand as he draws you towards the radio sitting in the corner of the room.

Eddie liked to dance- he twirled to what he called your “teeny bopper” music, he swayed his hips to country music, he even danced to his own music when you forced him to listen to it one night.

Eddie danced with you tonight- his fingers fit perfectly through yours, his hand rested right in the dip of your waist, his lips looked pretty in this light.

“Are you thinking about kissing me, sweets?” He questions, a smile forming on his lips as he leans forward. You blush nervously, nodding your head. His smile gets even wider before he leans in, lips capturing yours.

Both his hands come to cup your face, cheeks tugging and eyes crinkled as he leans in further. His other hand comes to rest on your hip, pushing backwards until your knees hit the back of the couch. You pull away, shifting from foot to foot as you wait for Eddie to take the reins. He chuckles softly before capturing your lips in another soft kiss before pulling away and plopping down onto the couch. He pulls you into his lap, kissing the corner of your mouth, then your cheek, then down your neck, all the way to your shoulder.

His eyes meet yours, his hands fumbling with the edge of your sweater. A plea on the edge of his lips as he looks up at you. You nod, letting him remove the garment from your body. He audibly moans at the sight, your breasts bouncing freely only leaving you in your skirt.

“Please tell me you have panties on,” he mumbles, hand snaking down to your center. He bites his lips and groans when he’s met with your sticky folds.

“S’ laundry day,” you giggle.

His fingers trace through your slick, he has half a mind to shove the fingers in your face, make you lick yourself off of him. But When he glances over your face, your pouting lips and furrowed brow send his heart racing. He decides right then that you're an angel. He thinks there’s no way you're real, there is absolutely no way you’re here with him.

He wraps his arm around your waist, standing from his place on the couch. He walks you back to the bed as you kiss up the side of his neck. He lands you on the middle, arms caging you in as he leans down to kiss you. He’s much slower this time, desperate clashing of teeth melting to well thought out movements.

You pull away from him, hands coming to mess with the edge of his old band tee.

“You’re much too dressed for the occasion, Mr. Munson,” you giggle out. He smiles down at you, getting up to strip out of his clothes. You hold your breath when he pulls down his boxers, his cock springing out and slapping against his belly. It’s big and you’re sure he knows it.

He crawls back up the bed, kissing from your ankle to your neck. He splays kisses across your face, finally meeting your lips in a sweet kiss.

His eyes bore into yours as he pushes some hair from your face before kissing you again, but he pulls away much too quickly for your liking.

“M’ gonna eat you out now, kay’?” he mumbles against your lips, you nod, throwing your head back as Eddie begins to kiss back down your body. He stops at the waistband of your skirt, mumbling something to himself before hooking his fingers in the band and pulling the fabric over your bottom.

He moans at the sight of your center, leaning forward to press a kiss to your thighs before diving in completely. He licks from your hole, up to your clit, tongue dancing around the bundle of nerves. Your knuckles grip the white sheets, mind reeling as he works you up to an orgasm. He laps at your pussy, pulling away to spit on his fingers.

His ringed fingers come to push through the sticky mess the two of you have created, one finally pushing in, drawing a guttural moan from your lips. The cold metal of his rings bump against your skin every time he thrusts his fingers in and out. He works you up to three before pulling them out completely, mouth still assaulting your clit, causing you to squeal.

“You ready f’me?” he questions, mouth still between your legs. You tug on his hair, pulling him away from your center, nodding profusely with a smile on your face.

He pushes you further up the bed, settling in between your legs. His cock nudges at your hole, the tip catching inside, you mewl quietly when he pushes in. He leans down, arms settling on either side of your head, his hair tickling your nose as he looks down at you intently.

“So pretty,” You mumble, hand coming up to cup his cheek and draw him into a kiss. He smiles into it, pulling away and admiring the way your face contorts every time he punches that spongy spot inside you.

“S’ all you, sweets,” He moans, forehead pressing against yours as he drives into you. The pace he sets draws moan after moan from deep within you.

Your hand stays cupping his face, kissing him again, your lips barely brushing his when he pulls away.

“C’mon pretty girl, tell me what it is. Wanna know what I should be moaning while I ruin you.”

You shutter a breath out- your name falling off your lips and into the air.

“F-fuck..” he’s full on smiling, his eyes crinkling as he languidly thrusts inside you.

“Eds-Eddie. M’ close,”

“Shit-ok. Where do you want me?” He picks up his pace, cock nudging at all the right places.

“Inside- want you inside,” Your legs lock around his waist, forcing him to bury himself to the hilt as he spills inside of you.

He’s giggling when you finally release him, pulling his still hard cock from inside you and smearing around the mess that has formed between your legs.

“Look so good painted all pretty for me. Could take a picture and look at it all tour long. Would never haveta’ look anywhere else. Just me this little memory and my hand,” he’s pulling your ass cheeks apart, releasing them before his thumb hooks into your pussy as he rummages around on the side table- careful not to knock down the countless polaroids around the camera.

“Can I sweets? Take a pretty little polaroid of this pretty little pussy?” he thrusts his thumb in further, drawing more cum out of you. You giggle when you feel it run down your thighs as you give him a soft hum in response to his question.

He snaps a picture of your most bare area, the idea makes you blush but then there's the idea of Eddie- using it. That makes it feel alright.

“Just wanna take one more,” he says as his cock nudges at your hole again, the puffy skin wanting to scream no but the burn short circuiting your brain at the same time.

He snaps another picture once he’s half inside you, your hands covering your face as you giggle.

“Enough of that,” he says with a small chuckle as he tosses the camera back onto the bedside table. His hands grip your hips as he lazily thrusts into you.

After finally having enough of Eddie’s teasing, you push at Eddie’s belly, signaling him to stop. He flashes you a confused look as he pulls out but soon gets the idea once you scramble off the bed and begin pushing him towards the couch.

He flops down onto the cushions, legs spreading wide. Deft fingers wrapping around your hips as you sink down onto him, your arms snake around his neck and pull at the hair sitting at the nape.

Eddie looks up at you in awe, his eyes never leaving yours as you ride him. His lips are parted, soft breaths and moans tumbling from his mouth.

“Shit- baby I- I can’t last like this-” He groans as he tries to stop your movements. You grab his hand, raising it and placing it on your breast.

“C’mon sweets, come in me again,” He moans sweetly at his own pet name being used against him, his hips stilling once he is settled inside you. He buries his head in your neck as he comes, teeth biting in as he silences himself.

You let him stay inside you for a while, finally pulling off of him when Eddie begins to rub at the skin on your hips.

You’re up on wobbly legs, shooting Eddie a glare when he begins to chuckle.

He throws his hands up in defense and motions to the mess between his legs. Cum has dripped down his balls and pooled in his seat.

“Gonna need to spot clean this one miss housekeeper,” He winces as he gets up, collecting you in his arms and placing a kiss to the top of your head.

“Let’s shower, yeah?”

You nod, taking his hand as he guides you to the small porcelain tub. He turns on the water, testing it with his fingers before stepping in once it has warmed up. He extends his hand to you, thanking him quietly once you're standing before him in the tiny shower.

He takes a step back, moving out of the spray and allowing you to warm up under the water. You take turns getting your bodies warmed up, Eddie finally assuming his position behind you washing your hair.

“You mentioned tour,” you blush as you recall the memory from moments ago. Eddie’s stops scrubbing your scalp and sighs.

“I- I’m leaving,” he says in an almost whimper.

“Oh, when?”

“Two days,”

[wangxianficfinder]

Fic Finder

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1. Can anyone find me wangxian fic in which lan zhan captures nie huisang and nie huisang ask Wei wuxian helps to save his brother from Meng Yao in nightless city @wangxianpet

FOUND? The Way It Wasn’t by KouriArashi (T, 72k, WangXian, XiYao, Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fix-It, (eventually haha), Slow Build, Family Feels, Moral Ambiguity, Eventual Happy Ending)

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2. I need help looking for a fic please.

All I can remember about it is that they were smuggling Wen Ning and possibly Wen Qing across a border somewhere and they put a fake mustache on Wen Ning. People kept complimenting it, even the bad Wens they came across, and some possibly even grew their own Wen Ning-staches after. WWX might've been dressed as a woman? I can't remember for sure.

Thank you!

NOT FOUND! Propagate Understanding by draechaeli (E, 175k, wangxian, not everyone dies, pregnancy kink, consensual non-con, adoption but they’re all birthed by wwx, mo xuanyu lives, temporary character death)

FOUND! Bloom where you are planted 🔒 by luckymoonly (M, 44k wangxian, MM/WQ, Canon Divergence, Fix It, courting, Mpreg, Sunshot Campaign, Fluff, Happy Ending, getting together early, Romance, WWX giving birth in the middle of the war? Most likely than you think!, Yúnmèng Siblings Feels, Smut, Drama, Blood and Violence, Minor Character Death, There Is Only One Bed, No Fall of Lotus Pier, Crossdressing, Shotgun Wedding, Mention of miscarriage (not WWX), wangxian Have a Breeding Kink, Giving Birth, Soft granduncle LQR)

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3. I just remembered a fic that would fit in the ghost comp but I forgot it's name 😔 it was a fic about wx haunting a house together and I think taking care of a yuan as they do? I may be thinking of two fics because I think there was one where they were ghosts in the bm and raised yuan too but in this one they died in a fire i believe and the house was alive? Again may be combining fics 😅 thank you!

Yes I think that was the bm fic I was thinking of! But I can't remember much of the house fic besides I think wen ning and wen qing lived in the house with yuan? And I think either xichen or Jiang Cheng appear at one point?

Those are definitely 2 different fics. I remember reading the Burial Mounds one, where they're both ghosts and they raise A-Yuan together, and there was no house fire. Couldn't find it myself, but hopefully that'll help someone else find one or both of these...

FOUND! Gently Haunted by LusBeatha (T, 19k, WangXian, Character Death, Sentient Burial Mounds, Autistic LWJ, Shutdowns, Canon Divergence, Ghosts, Child LSZ, Oblivious WWX, Getting Together, Ghost Marriage, ghost parenting, Grief/Mourning, but only for ghosts that are still present, Golden Core Reveal, Soup, Happy Ending) Wouldn't the one where they are both ghost raising A-Yuan in the Burial mounds be "Gently Haunted" by LusBeatha?

FOUND? The Ghostly Adventures of Wen Yuan by Llamamomo (Not Rated, 13k, WangXian, Ghost WWX, Ghost LWJ, Established Relationship, Married Couple, Supernatural Elements, Modern AU, Murder Mystery, Haunted Houses)

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4. For the fic finder, there's a fic I'm pretty sure I first found somewhere on this or the recs blog but I can't for the life of me find again. It deals with WWX accepting a deal where he'll be a prisoner of the Nie clan if the Wen remnants are promised safety. NHS is happy to have his friend around, but it's major depression hours for WWX

I remember him neglecting himself to the point of not brushing his hair for weeks

Thank you 💕

FOUND? Always walked a very thin line by tucuxi (T, 22k, NHS & WWX, JYL & WWX, WangXian)

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5. Hello! I hope you all have been having a great day. I have been plagued by this fic that I just can't remember the title! 😭

It was a post-canon fic where WWX just kept "bothering" LXC in his seclusion and sorta made him help in his research. There was also a scene where WWX got injured and LXC was there to help.

I really appreciate your help and thank you 🥺❤️

Agapé (home is in your arms) by estel_willow (G, 14k, WangXian, fraternal bonding, Mutual Pining, Post-Canon, Wwx is oblivious, lxc is patient, sizhui remains the best son, Wwx uses his words, Or tries to at least, Wwx is an unreliable narrator, Light Angst, well semi-lite angst, canon-typical self dislike from our favourite chaotic disaster bi)

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6. Hey! I was hoping you could help me find a fic. WWX has some "ghost brides" while they're living in burial mounds. There's some description of these ghosts picking and pulling at his clothes, skin, etc.

Hey! I'm #6 on the latest fic finder. I'm afraid that's not the fic I was looking for. It doesn't have f/f wangxian or any gender bending. The fic I'm looking for doesn't have any smut either

Not FOUND your grave, a garden; a barrow, your bed by twinagonies (E, 31k, Female WangXian, Canon Divergence, YLLZ WWX, Ruke 63, Gender or Sex Swap, Genderbending, BDSM, Power Play, Undernegotiated Kink, Restraints, Bondage, Impact Play, Cunnilingus, Vaginal Fingering, Bottom LWJ/Top WWX, Top LWJ/Bottom WWX, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Porn With Plot, Golden Core Reveal, Wēn Remnants Live, Mental Health Issues, Plants, WWX's Ghost Girls, Sex Magic, Dual Cultivation, POV LWJ, Switching) a wild guess but this one has the ghost brides doing a lot of touching with wwx. it is a genderbent f/f wangxian so it might not be right

FOUND? 🔒💖 love, in fire and blood by cicer (E, 360k, wangxian, immortal WWX, slow burn, pining, arranged marriages)

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7. I am looking for a specific untamed fiction. It is modern day. Wei wuxian is an omega. Supposed to rule all the clans. Gets injured when the Jiang fall. Lan zhan finds him and helps heal him in the back mountains. Later meet when the clans start fighting to mate wuxian. Lan zhan is selected as his guardian. Ruohan tries to force a mating but gets killed by wuxian.

Recesses basically function as assassins.

Qinghe tend to function as military.

Huasang and Lan zhan have similar scents. @manalover

FOUND? Under Red Skies by AngelSpirit (E, 169k, wangxian, graphic depicitons of violence, Soulmates, Fantasy, Wolves, Wolf Pack, Wolf Shifters, Alpha LWJ, Asena WWX, Wolf hierarchy, Everybody-wants-WWX, Multiple Time Skips, Canon Setting, Modern Cultivation, Fluff and Angst, Smut, Mating Bond, Werewolf, Scenting, Marking, Biting, primal, Royalty, Slow Burn, BAMF LWJ, BAMF WWX)

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8. Hi! I've been trying to find an a/b/o fic (Lz is an alpha and Wy an omega). What I remember of the plot is that people thought Wy was always hooking up around. Lz had a one night stand with him to try getting over his own feelings for Wy. When Wy went days later to confess to him, Lz said something about Wy hooking up around, and Wy left crying because Lz also believed the rumors about him. Wx, who was Lwj's roommate, said something about fucking Wy, so Lz punched him and went to apologize to Wy.

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9. for the next fic finder: i only know that it was post-cql and wangxian were writing each other letters until wwx broke his leg very badly on a night hunt? i don't remember much else, im sorry!

FOUND? Between The Lines by Witch_Nova221 (M, 153k, WangXian, Epistolary, Eventual Romance, Fluff and Angst, Letters, Falling In Love, Love Confessions, Love Letters, Long-Distance Relationship, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Loss, Canon-Typical Violence, Post-Canon, Idiots in Love)

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10. Hi! For the next itmf, I have been looking for a fanfic in my bookmark and my history I couldn't find it 😅

I think it's (abo) I don't remember quite good I think Jiang Cheng ran away for lotus pier with wei ying to the woods later on lan zhan and lan xichen will find them and take them back to lotus pier, madam yu wants to beat wei ying and wei ying take the blame and Jiang Cheng wants to stop madam yu because lan zhan was there to and lan zhan is wei ying mate, and I think lan zhan will step in front of wei ying, and later on Jiang fengmian slap Jiang Cheng(I think it chapter 9 or something 😅) @rayan12sworld

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11. Hi! I remember reading a modern au fic on AO3 where Lan Wangji, while preparing for an arranged/political marriage, finds out he was actually married to Wei Wuxian and needs to divorce lest he commit bigamy. Lan Wangji does not remember getting married at all! Less clear on the following details: Wei Wuxian was either missing or dead, and Lan Wangji travels to the courthouse where it happened for more info. He finds on the back of a photo of the occasion that Wei Wuxian had written it was the happiest day of his life.

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12. Hi. Firstly I wanna say I absolutely adore this blog and thank you for providing us WangXian fans with amazing fanfiction.

I've been dying to find this one fanfic but I have no idea where it is now and after constant serching I decided to give it ago.

From what I remember: Lan Wangji is taken prisoner and kept in a prison next to Wei WuXian who is some sort of creature (a Phionex to be exact) and Lan Wangji watched helplessly as he is tortured everyday to provide for the Wen Sect using his tears, Phionex cry, etc.

I also remember Wei WuXian helps him escape the prison and Lan Zhan goes back for him but (I think) Wei WuXian already burnt Nightless City and saved the civilians and the Wens but is unconscious.

Please, I hope you have better luck in finding this fic, I've been dying to reread it.

Thank you in advance!!!

FOUND? a thousand hills, no birds in flight | 千山鳥飛絕 by defractum (nyargles) (E, 26k, WangXian, Mythology, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon adjacent setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort)

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13. Hi! I’m looking for a Pregji fic. It’s post-canon and I think wangxian had some sort of post-sex misunderstanding that led wwx to leave. Lwj finds out after that he’s pregnant. I remember the juniors going out and searching for wwx, trying to bring him back. (I checked the Pregji compilation, but it wasn’t there and it’s not under the pregnant Lan zhan tag on AO3) thank you!

FOUND? A Joy That’s Hard to Find by airinshaw (E, 26k, wangxian, Post-Canon, Getting Together, Mpreg, Misunderstandings, Minor Angst, Anal Sex, Fluff and Smut, Kissing) After their first and only night together Wei Wuxian disappears. As Lan Wangji tries to find him again, he gradually realises that Wei Wuxian left him with an unintended gift.

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14. Mood for story where wei wuxian disappears into some faraway land with cliffs. Then appears as some powerful sect with the wen survivors and song lan xiao xing chen. Apparently he rides a dragon to battle.

FOUND? 💖 Echo, Murmur, Dream, Here by bluerainmist (M, 51k, wangxian, canon divergence, WWX survives, sect leader WWX, yiling wei sect au, slow burn, angst w/ happy ending, getting together, pining, love confessions, reunions, mind all the tags)

~*~

15. Hi 😊 huge fan of your blog, I've found so many gems here so thank you and keep up the good work.

I read a fic last year and it's driving me insane because I cannot find it please help....I such at summaries but I can recall that LWG stepped in front of a sword that was met for Yanli , they thought he died because his brother had him away . WWX gives him self up to the lan sect for punishment @b-rabbitsposts

FOUND? If I Could Go Back in Time by Runningbarefoot (M, 122k, WangXian, NieLan, Canon Divergence, Role Reversal, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Pining, Angst with a Happy Ending, Grief/Mourning, Loss, YLLZ WWX, Eventual Happy Ending, The Twin Jade Brotherhood, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Healing, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Study, Twin Prides of Yúnmèng Dynamics, Slow Burn)

~*~

16. hi there! for the finder; theres this one v specific scene i can remember but nothing else. it was definitely canon divergence — they were trying to save yzy and jfm (after the massacre of lotus pier), and they were still alive. they brought them to wq, who did heal them, but jfm was worse for wear while yzy... out for revenge i think? i cant remember all else but if anyone has an idea that'd be great thank you! @revellingfate

NOT FOUND! could be "A Price To Pay" by wangxianist, which was sadly deleted

FOUND! I’m aching and I know you are too by edenwolfie (M, 236k, WangXian, XuanLi, Canon Divergence, Fluff, POV Alternating, POV Outsider, Family Feels, Humor, Romance, Engagement, Fix-It, Drunken Shenanigans, Hurt/Comfort, Qíshān Wēn Indoctrination, Canon-Typical Violence, Fall of Lotus Pier, Sunshot Campaign, First Time, Possessive Behavior, Panic Attacks, Everybody Lives, Established Relationship)

~*~

17. Hi, I'm hoping that you could help me find a fic. It was after wwx death, lwj keep on dreaming a life where wwx didn't die. Then he found out that the incense burner is the source of his dream. To avoid the pain of losing wwx, lwj start to sleep more and it started to affect his health. Lqr and lxc notice this and try to interfere since lwj condition keep getting worse as he choose to stay asleep. They tried to warn and stop lwj but he ignored them and keep using the incense burner. Later lqr and lxc found out that lwj is dead. Sorry if I'm ranting but that's all I can recall. I can't remember the name and wish to read it again. I would really appreciate it if you could help me find it. Thank you in advance! @mayuchi96

~*~

18. Hi lovely Mods! (＾▽＾) I hope you can help me find these fics I've been looking for!

A) WWX builds (is that the word?) a new core, that isn't a golden core, and I think it's something about yin vs. yang cultivation?

B) WWX grow op with XXC, and I think WWX get a title in the same style as XXC and SL?

C) I just remember a scene where LWJ gives WWX a knife (dagger?) made of like the same material a Bichen, and say something about it protecting him when LWJ can't?

hope you have a great day!

18A)

Not FOUND Did I Not Explain Why the Sunset Turns Red? by 3988Akasha (E, 110k, wangxian, time travel, canon divergence, Canonical Character Death, Soulmates, Demonic Cultivation, Original Female Character(s), Emotional Constipation, Minor Character Death, Hand Jobs, Sexual Content, Bathing/Washing, Idiots in Love, Poetry, Mild Gore, Anal Sex, Angst, Rimming, Blow Jobs)

FOUND? 🧡 Never Again by Hauntcats (T, 67k, WangXian, WWX & WQ & WN, Canon Divergence, Time Travel, Golden Core Transfer Fix-It, Angst, Not JC Friendly, BAMF WWX)

FOUND? 🧡 a stone to break your soul, a song to save it by rikke ( M, 180k, WangXian, Arranged marriage, Canon Divergence, Hurt/comfort, Light angst, Canon typical violence)

18B)

Not FOUND I Will Call You By Name by DisasterMages (T, 73k, SongXiao, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Family Feels) I'm not sure about the title for WWX but he grew up with XXC and SZC

18C)

FOUND! 💖 Looking at You Always, All Ways by Keysmashed T, 29k, wangxian, time travel fix-it, fluff, nostalgia, mild angst w/ happy ending)

~*~

19. A) I have been searching for a specific fic for a while but I cannot find it anywhere. It's an ABO Au with Alphaji and Omegaxian, LWJ is older (35ish) and WWX younger (18ish) and they're being set up on an arranged marraige. WWX is originally hesitant but falls for LWJ and it turns out LWJ travelled from a universe where WWX died and found this one where he lives. There's a scene where LWJ gets jelous of LJY and one where WWX dolls up to look silly but YZY lets him bc he looks cute. Thank you!

B) I remember very little about this fanfic except that LWJ travels back in time to his child body but keeps his power so everyone thinks he's a reincarnated ancestor (or smth)so let him do anything, this includes him destroying the wall of rules. I think WWX also has returned and the story follows both of them. It's the destruciton of the wall that sticks most in mind. Any info would be amazing! Thank you!! @yilingweiclan

19A)

FOUND? 4018 by sweetlolixo (E, 28k, wangxian, Canon Divergence, ABO, Older LWJ, Immortal LWJ, Pregnant WWX, Alpha LWJ, Omega WWX, Age Difference, Boypussy, Vaginal Fingering, Dry Humping, Knotting, Blow Jobs, Dirty Talking LWJ, Angst with a Happy Ending, Size Difference, Feminization)

19B)

FOUND? A Life Without Regrets by naqaashi (M, 74k, wangxian, Canon Divergence, Time Travel Fix-It, Humor, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Crack Treated Seriously, musical cultivation, Slow Burn, Pining, Rogue Cultivator WWX, Murder Husbands, PTSD, BAMF WWX, Demonic Cultivation, POV WWX, Cultivation Sect Politics, Worldbuilding, No Yīn Iron, Genius WWX, Inventor WWX, Artist WWX, Musician WWX, Night Hunts, Fate & Destiny, Bad Parent JFM, Bad Parent YZY, Golden Core, Cultivation Theory, Sentient Burial Mounds, Father-Son Relationship, Dysfunctional Family, Grief/Mourning, Parent-Child Relationship, Angry WWX, Pining WWX, WWX is Not Okay, No Golden Core Transfer, BAMF LWJ, Pining LWJ, POV LWJ, Angry LWJ, One-Braincell Wangxian, Love Confessions, Idiots in Love, WIP)

~*~

20. Oh woops, missed the collection window.

Anyways I've been trying to find this fic for a few weeks now, so no rush.

I'm trying to find a specific fic that is NOT decay by antebunny, because I was reading that one and got reminded of the fic I'm trying to find!! But it has a similar plot hook: the Lans broker a ceasefire with the Yiling Patriarch, under the condition that they purify WWX of resentful energey & WWX agrees, even though he assumes it will kill him. Unlike "decay", i think in this fic the purification ritual was held *not* at Cloud Recesses -- maybe in Koi Tower?? Anyways LWJ is also the one to perform the purification, halfway through he realizes what the ritual is doing to WWX and improvises a change in the music to save his life, while still making it seem like the proper ritual was completed. @businesstiramisu

FOUND! A Moment's Warning by Neery (G, 8k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Misunderstandings, Golden Core Reveal, JL Gets His Bracelet)

~*~

[bug-memory]

Muriel bjd update

An update about my Muriel ball-jointed doll(s)!

I am planning a Kickstarter for this project. It is not ready yet but I hope to have it ready later this month or early next month. I do NOT plan to sell these online apart from the KS campaign, because of recasting. I plan to sell them at furry conventions and ball-jointed doll conventions if I can get myself to one (I live in Florida, though). There will likely be fewer than 100 of these but I haven't calculated all of that yet. I have a serial numbering system and a way to authenticate them that I'm excited to try in my next prototype!

After discussing having them casted, I think I will be 3D printing them myself, as the open mouth faceplate cannot be casted, and I don't want to deal with having to print that anyway and making it fit a casted one... If I regret that choice, I will learn for next time lol. The next doll I am working on (my Harold) I thinking might be a better choice for casting, as they would be one color and have a closed mouth.

I was using Siraya Tech Fast Mecha for my next prototype, which was to be the Official Muriel in her natural colors. What happened was basically two things: 1) resin is expensive and 2) it got really really hot outside, which separates Fast Mecha from the Tenacious I mix it with. My next prototype is basically on hold until it stops being 100 degrees out, which it has been since May... Fast Mecha is a compounded resin and does separate. One of the tails I printed for another doll had a transparent tip because the resin separated at the end of the print once it got hot out, so I'm not going to have that happen with a 20-hour print!

Anyway, I'm going to try a few different mixes of the good resin with some ABS-like and Tenacious, as I like how those feel more than Fast Mecha on its own. Mecha is kind of like, powdery, or has a rougher sort of texture, seems to get dirty easier (or I am bad at cleaning it) and is not as transparent. I liked how you could see through the ears a little, like real ears, and Mecha robbed me of that lol, so I want to try cutting it to like a 50/50 ABS-like and Mecha mix, and then add 1/5 of Tenacious to that (math is not my thing but I always add my Tenacious at the end now; it gives me extra resin to not run out in the print and helps my brain calculate things). Also, the cleaning process for Mecha is like, they tell you to toothbrush the entire thing with alcohol, and I want to streamline my post processing, so a resin mix would be good, as long as it doesn't create the scratches in the joints. I want to get it down to a ratio where there is no powdery grinding residue on the joints. The only review I can find said they did 50/50 Mecha and Tenacious and it still did not powder itself at that ratio, so I'm hoping I can do that but with the ABS-like resin I like.

So! Stay tuned for updates for the Kickstarter. I know a few people on here expressed interest and I'm excited at the possibility of actually being able to send some Muriels out into the world, if I can generate enough interest!

[steveisagay]

Stranger Things guys X Pagan Reader

cw: very biased opinions of Christianity (from my upbringing), cursing, mentions of sex,

Eddie

"Wait, wait, like, ancient deities?"

He thinks that it's so cool cause 1. you can't tell me that in middle school he wasn't one of those kids that would research ancient gods and 2. hell yeah non-conformity to other religions

He'd want to learn all about how your worship is and different rituals, including wanting to help out

He'd also bring you different crystals/rocks/twigs/anything you could use in your practice

Eddie also wouldn't hesitate to educate and stand up for you if anyone ends up being an ignorant little shit-

Would definitly try to include parts he finds interesting in campaigns for hellfire

Steve

our poor little himbo, he would be so confused

"But isn't it proven or something that ancient gods are myths?"

He doesn't seem like someone that would know about other cultures and religions

but after a bit he'd act like he understands

he doesn't

he'd still go along with it until it gets to the point where you'll have to simplify it to the bare minimum

he'd look out for crystals but I don't think he'd know where to get them

overall he'd be confused but supportive

Billy

I personally worship Dionysus and I think that he would one-hundred percent help you worship *nudge nudge wink wink*

As well as any other deity that can be worshiped through sex/sexual activities

I feel like he'd understand it pretty well, asking questions after you're done trying to explain paganism

He'd understand the need to have something to believe in, ergo any other religion

He'd also help out with rituals as long as his dad doesn't know

If he did find out about him dating someone who didn't believe in the christian god he would take the opportunity to beat him, or, "put the faith of god" in him

Jason

If it was early in the relationship he would dump you

But if he ended up learning that you were pagan in around 2+ years of you dating then he might reconsider

There would be some arguments about it because his upbringing focused a lot on his religion so he finds it harder to accept other religions being intertwined with his

He wouldn't help with rituals or any celebrations

and he wouldn't want yule to be celebrated with christmas

He's fine if you do your own thing, as long as it doesn't interfere with his beliefs

[therisingphoenixden]

So, I was feeling kind of rough at the end of last week and decided to dip into my stash of comfort video games.

What did I pick?

The first Pillars of Eternity game.

Longish ramblings about why I love this game under the cut!

I feel like I have very weird tastes in comfort games because Pillars of Eternity is not at all what I'd call a cozy or comforting game. In fact, it's quite bleak in a lot of places. But it has amazing depth to its lore and story that grounds you while also pulling you in, wonderfully written characters that make the world of Eora feel alive, gorgeous music (if you watch Critical Role, especially during campaign 2, you'll recognize a lot of the music in the game), and several very unique races to use as your player character in addition to the usual standards of dwarves, elves, and humans. The dialogue system lets you shape your character even further with race, class, stat allotment, and your reputation and personality scores opening up different paths to pick from.

The story also deals with questions surrounding faith and religion, the nature of the soul, and features heavy reincarnation themes. If you know my love of Morrowind, you know that this kind of stuff is my catnip.

Combat-wise, I play on story mode because I'm a story-first kind of player. I'm also usually very exhausted and am up very early in the mornings on weekdays. But even story mode can be a bit of a challenge when you prefer to roleplay as a character and not what the "best" race/class combos and builds are for Path of the Damned mode. Granted, I'm overleveled for where I am in the story (both in base game and in White March 2), but it's still enough of a challenge for my permanently exhausted mind to enjoy. You still have to think tactically so your party isn't overwhelmed, which tickles the part of my brain that grew up playing rts games.

I'm currently dawdling with completing act 2 on my fire godlike cipher, Xiuhitl, just because I missed playing around in the world of Eora so much and I'm not ready to hit Twin Elms and proceed to the endgame yet. I'm taking options that I haven't before and discovering quests that I completely missed in my first few playthroughs of the game. It's almost like playing it for the first time all over again, especially since I haven't played in a while. I remember some of the major story beats, but not all of them, and I'm not ashamed to admit I got lost once or twice because I think the last time I played was during lockdown. But I prefer to say it's a testament to the game itself where I get drawn in and turned around because I wanted to read the ambient dialogue or listen to the bard in Stalwart sing.

The real adventure is the journey - not the endgame. And in a world that's still very magical while maintaining firm and believably realistic roots, why would you want the adventure to end so quickly?

[stillinthatweirdfaze]

I usually don’t make posts like this bc sharing hobbies and interests on the internet makes me very very anxious for whatever reason but I really really wanna share this issue of the Dragon magazine I found at the thrift store yesterday!!!!!!!!

25th anniversary edition of the official D&D magazine !!!!! It is issue 284 and it came out in June 2001. Unfortunately it did not come with the advertised bonus CD rom when I bought it though :[

I’m gonna use this post to show off some of the stuff that’s in it that I really liked or found interestingggg :]

First off we have a full spread add for baulders gate 2, which is kinda funny considering the third one didn’t come out that long ago. I want to eat this ye oldie early 2000ds generic fantasy font I bet it tastes like burnt shortbread.

A little step by step on how the artist made the cover which I find like. Infinitely charming. Especially since this cover itself is so gorgeous. I hope Todd Lockwood is doing good today.

A full page add for an online anime fantasy rpg called Nexus the kingdom of the winds. OUGGGGEEEEE this art style,,,,,,, it takes me back to places it takes me back to like that one vampire anime and clanad and YouTube anime top tens. Fuck graphic design we should start putting sparkles and radial gradients on everything again.

an add for a series of sound effect cds for your games which I want so so bad I need to know what’s on these.

Two little sections where it seems people can submit photos and stories about themselves or their game members to be published. The Dm of the month one is genuinely heartwarming and cute. The thought of Steve seeing that he won made me smile. Also “Nubile dwarf chicks” and “chaotic secretive” is a great example of how early 2000nds out of pocket this issue can be sometimes. You can fucking smell the energy off the second image.

An extremely funny review of a previous dragon issue.

an add for Gen con 2001 and a schedule of upcoming conventions. If anyone went to these I would genuinely love to hear about them I love convention history a whole lot especially from around this time

A page in, apparently a series, about what ttrpg players value in a game written by Gary Gygax!!! If anyone has any previous or the final issues of this study please do share I really really wanna see them. Also the three genders: males, females, and newbies

Two stat blocks for some half dragon characters

A Draconic to English translation table that I wish I had as a preteen because I would have eaten it the fuck up. Also I cut it off but the last sentence on the bottom right is “please don’t disembowel the dwarf” which apparently is “martiver thric gixustratt tundar”

Add for a brand of miniatures and in what stores to find them. I wonder how many of these places are still open

An add for WOTZ game stores with the tagline “it’s where you play the game” and advertising “Hella Bandwith” and “scantily clad BABES.” I find it unreasonably funny that they are three pictures of the same exact woman, scantily clad babe, one (1), one singular babe.

Spell and magical item themed crossword

A full on campaign setting of the real city of London. I didn’t take pictures of all of it but it has a history section, locations, npcs, adventure hooks, and what even looks like a little blank dungeon layout of a mansion . I feel like putting real places as campaign settings has always been like, a thing, but I don’t see it too often. Its charming I like it.

A stat block and gorgeous illustration for a lesser dragon companion. The gradient circle in the back is my favorite argggg I wanna draw like this sometimes

A section on how to assemble your own monster models. Admittedly I know close to nothing about model making so this was an extremely fun read for me

A bunch of PC portraits of half dragons that are so so cool. You see a lot of stuff about people getting really specific designs about different hybrids like oh a dwarf tyfling looks different than an elf tyfling n that sort of stuff in the modern day but you don’t really see it canonized at all. So it’s really interesting to see that concept in an officially published D&D thing, even if it’s just a magazine. I really like the dwarf one a lot.

Possibly my favorite thing ever is this cartoon that reads like a fucking wizard tumblr shitpost. Like down to a fucking tea this is some shit the evil wizard blog would say and it makes me so so so happyyyyyyyyy. It’s the cadence that amazes me they got the tumblr wizard cadence exactly right. Im posting this shit on its own without shame bc I need people to see it. Pour me something whimsical and arcane bar wench.

A absolutely chefs kiss add for a ????? Pc????? Pc game????? Pc accessory??? I honestly can’t tell anyway enjoy your free ps2 polygonal hotted woman ass

And finally the thing that made me fuckin gasp out loud when I saw it, an add for the original year of our lord 2001 shitty D&D movie with special features and online sweepstakes to win a trip to Prague. Holy shit. God I love this game.

anyway that’s it, I plan to frame this thing and put it up somewhere. Ty for reading all my nerd shit. :,]

[utilitycaster]

idk if you're still doing the unpopular opinion thing. Feel free to ignore if you're not. My unpopular opinion is that, because the romances in C1 happened without any planning from the players, it set the precedent to the cast and the fandom that if they talk about the relationships out of the game, it's gonna make them not as organic or "earned". Laura just teasing Travis about fj already made people disregard the ship as "planned" (ignoring the 500+ hours of development) and treating it as if it was bad because Laura "planned it" in advance. But honestly, Imodna is a ship that would've benefited A LOT from some out of game conversations between Laura and Marisha and I think it would've been better if they had planned for them to become a couple from the beginning, so maybe they could've focus more on developing it in game

I'm not still doing it per se but I'm not not doing it, but also to be honest I agree with you on which of these ships are good and that Imogen and Laudna needed considerably more planning, but I actually disagree that this is how this played out for other ships.

I didn't watch Talks for campaign 1 nor watch Campaign 1 as it aired (and Talks didn't start until after the romances had begun), but from what I recall from other conversations Liam did at least float the idea of playing romance out of game to Marisha and Matt - the surprise was when and how he revealed it, which is really no different from Fjord and Jester. I think (and as with all thoughts re: the fandom in C1 I might be wrong because I was not there; it's educated guessing) it was simply more surprising to the audience in that campaign because there wasn't a talkback show, because the fandom was smaller and less romance-focused, and because Vax and Keyleth particularly was very early since some of the development was pre-stream.

I think this post, which I made about a month and a half ago, about talking about the relationship in-game and in-character, might be relevant, as might this post about defining the relationship from yesterday. I think talking out of game is good and useful (and I think the fact that Matt, on 4SD, essentially said "do not try this at home" re: Imogen and Laudna is worth keeping in mind) but also I think that having the characters communicate in-game is arguably more important. Like, I don't know how much Taliesin and Laura talked about Percy and Vex out of game, nor can I say how much was necessary, but the fact that Vex, while Percy is dead (but Taliesin is watching from backstage), says that her heart belongs to him is the equivalent of a green flag conversation. Like, I don't think the cast typically plans out "my character is romantically interested in this character", and even if they do that doesn't mean it will remain the case or that anything will come of it; but a lot of the conversations happen in-game, but in a place where action is not immediately required from the other party (this is important) and that's just as valid a place to talk as out of game. It even serves as a reason to talk out of game; if Taliesin heard that and Percy was not interested in Vex (or if he as a player was uncomfortable playing romance), that's a chance for him to say "by the way, here's where I'm at" out of game after the session.

With Fjord and Jester specifically...look. A lot of people just don't like that relationship, which is their right, but the arguments against it have always been incoherent. As I was around during Campaign 2 I can say that the criticism was essentially ever-changing with each episode, which is usually a sign that it's baseless. It went from "Travis doesn't do romance so this isn't even on the table" to "Jester isn't even interested in him" to "wow Travis didn't plan this at all lol he doesn't care" to "wow this is too planned and inorganic and fake" to "well Laura blinked twice in Liam or Marisha's direction this episode [and also Fjord and Jester made out mid-combat] so I'd say we're winning, folks!" to "we popping the BIGGEST bottles in the finale where they break up" to "this campaign was a FAILURE and I hope Jester is eternally miserable" to "how DARE we have a Fjord-centric two-shot, prayer circle for Fjorester divorce" to "[incoherent sobbing, incorrect use of the term 'comphet', rage-quitting the fandom, and/or creating an entire Essek Hate Block Evasion sideblog]."

Anyway my point in all this, in addition to having fun, is that haters gonna hate and in the case of the Campaign 2 ships, which are all incredibly well-developed throughout the course of the campaign, they are going to make shit up. We don't need to pretend like it comes from a place of anything other than illogic and bitterness; too much planning was just one of the many things they threw out to try to justify a dislike that was, imo, barely related to what was happening onscreen.

But yes: especially because Imogen and Laudna were, out of game, intended not to be romantic, it desperately needed some kind of conversation that defined boundaries and indicated a change, and it's telling (and obviously I'm biased, but also, my blog archives speak for themselves) that the tenor of the conversation among those who ship it has drastically changed over the course of the campaign whereas the criticism has been remarkably consistent since roughly post-gnarlrock fight. But the fix could have been a conversation either out of game or in-game with other characters. Like, FCG and FRIDA, or Deanna and Chetney, are actually a perfect model of how you can handle this primarily in-game.

[annakie]

My gaming friends, please give me 5% of the effort I'm giving you.

Hey, just needed someplace to rant about TTRPG stuff outside of a place where those people are likely to find it.

Feeling very frustrated that the last couple of months with two of my groups of friends I have begged, pleaded and quite frankly, nagged at them to please communicate with me and to give me 5% of the effort I have given to them to ensure that the endeavors we're undertaking are successful, especially when I am already very happy to do most of the work, I just need them to communicate with me and to please do the bare minimum.

Every year 2 of my friends and I go to a local gaming con and we run games constantly throughout the weekend. There is a ton of stuff to cooridinate and experience tells us that planning it ahead of time ensures that it goes smoothly. Every year I have to nag and plead with one of them, the one who runs most of the games, to please communicate with me and talk about what games we're running, and planning other things like what materials we're bringing and who from the con that we enjoy playing with are we planning games around etc. I also tell him multiple times every year that I am available to do a lot of heavy lifting in helping him plan his games with things like making character sheets, picking out maps, the last 2 years planning audio accompaniments to enhance the games, etc. I sent him a long message last year begging him to communicate with me and telling him how frustrating it is to have to do most of the planning, which again I'm HAPPY to do, but not hear from him on all the things I NEED TO KNOW to do the planning. He promised to be better. This year I have repeatedly posted the same 10 questions and a few suggestions and reminders that I'm happy to help do MORE in our Discord and one day he answered 4 of the questions vaguely and hasn't responded since. I have reminded him in person twice to please communicate with us more in the Discord so I can plan. Game submissions opened today and I still have not heard one word from him and I am going fucking crazy about it. For the last two years we've had to bug the organizer of the con to please specially set up our games because he waited until the last second to get me any info (and then went behind my back to talk directly to the organizer and gave him some wrong info so I had to go back to him to correct it.)

I love this person a lot and he is a dear friend and this con weekend is one of the things I look forward to most every year but planning this is SO FRUSTRATING. It needs to be planned. I am so happy to do most of the work. But I can't. Posted a message in Discord today trying to gently call out the lack of participation from both my friends (but mostly one) and have no idea how it's going to go over.

--------------

Second thing is that my Sunday night D&D group are starting a brand new campaign.

We've known we're running this campaign since like, late November? I very early posted the campaign guide and said it was mandatory reading. I also said they should be picking out character classes and coming up with general backstories. We took time out of finishing our last campaign and had a session or two just dedicated to character planning.

I sent them several resources in different media formats (video and text) on just the very basics on learning how to play Pathfinder 2e and they promised to help learn the basics and the differences between D&D5e and pf2e. I am almost positive none of them (maybe one, who is the same one as not-the-problem in the Con issue above) have touched any of that. Late December/Early January we did get general character creation done. We started playing the Beginner's Box and every week I remind them that they need to read and absorb the official player's guide for the campaign. Also I posted a pretty general backstory template, some of which they needed the campaign guide for. Also I told them that in their backstories most of not all of them would have been born and raised in this town. So far all of them have submitted "I came here recently" stories except one who came here awhile ago. (convenient, so that way they don't need to really know anyone in town, right? When I have told them repeatedly that having close ties to people in the town is IMPORTANT in this story!) The 5th hasn't submitted his backstory yet. We will finish with the beginner's box next week most likely and start the campaign the week afterwards. Almost positive none of the rest of them have fully read the campaign guide like I asked, except the bare minimum of what they needed to to fill out their backstory sheets.

To be fair, they did put some good thought into their backstories, the 4 that submitted. But only one has really integrated any NPCs into their stories like I asked. I don't want to nag about it, I don't want to force them to rewrite their backstories, it's THEIR characters, but I am very frustrated about it.

I wrote a "Campaign Guide Quiz"of about 20 questions they should be able to answer (things that will be important for them to know during the campaign) and told them there would be a quiz. Posted it late December. Have not gotten any feedback or response on it. I think at this point I'm going to offer them 25gp if they fill it out and send it to me in DMs before the start of the campaign in two weeks. I love these guys, we are all friends from outside the game, all of whom I've known for between 12 and 27 years. When we game, they are FULLY present, they do their best, they LOVE the game and it's SO much fun. Except for asking them to spend time outside the game (except leveling their characters, they'll do that between sessions) it's hard to get them to do things outside of the session, but I really truly don't ask anything besides what I absolutely need them to do to enjoy the game. Again, as the DM I am happy to take on 95% of the work keeping this campaign going, but it's really frustrating when I don't really feel I'm getting that 5% extra effort I need. They're all working adults with children, but right now I need them to just do a thing that will take one hour, and have given them 3 months to do so, and it hasn't happened.

[unreadpoppy]

6 songs tag game

I was tagged by @flamemittens!

I'm doing these for my dnd oc, Elizabeth Adawolf (drawing by @littlemoondarlingarts)

No pressure tagging: @desenhosdebolso @actualmagus @littlemoondarlingarts

(and you can bet i'm gonna put some of the meaning of these songs in a vaccum)

An event that defines your character's past (Blackbird by Norma John)

You sang when he was in my bed You sang when my heart sang, now Now you remind me of something I'll never have so Blackbird don't sing

I wrote a whole ass fic based on this song and in regards to Elizabeth's past, it's related to how she and her girlfriend got separated from one another.

2. How your character sees themselves (Monster by Skillet)

I feel it deep within It's just beneath the skin I must confess that I feel like a monster I hate what I've become The nightmare's just begun I must confess that I feel like a monster

Elizabeth's a werewolf, and for a long time she realy struggled with that, especially with the shift from her usual life to now being alone and working as a monster hunter. Beyond that, 'I hate what I've become' is a line that resonates with Elizabeth because she has suvivor's guilt and she keeps thinking about how she's not good, and she wished she had died alongside her family or that someone else has survived cause she did and she's a mess.

3. How others view them (Queen of Kings by Alessandra)

Got raven hair, it's dark as night Icy eyes, out of sight, out of sight Her heart in spite, is warm and bright Her smile awakes the Northern Light (...) A firestone forged in flames The wildest card, run the game, run the game Can't stay the same in this world of change Don't fear the pain, just break the chain

Very early on in our game, we discovered that Elizabeth was the chosen of the sun goddess, which also made her the heir of some kingdom, and because of that, some revolutions in a continent started happening and she's kinda the leader of all that now (and of the party) so this is why people see her way differently than she sees herself. Others do see her as a strong, capable leader.

4. Their closest relationship (platonic or romantic) - Universe & U by KT Tunstall

And you know there's no need to hide away You know I tell the truth, we are just the same And I can feel everything you do Hear everything you say even when you're miles away 'Cause I am me, the universe and you (...) Oh-oh when you're on your own I'll send you a sign Just so you know That I am me, the universe and you

Kallista is the most important person is Elizabeth's life after her family died, and one thing I like about this song in regards to that is that it refers to distance, because Kallista and Elizabeth have been (physically) separated for a long time now but the love they hold for each other is still very strong (so much so that one of the driving motivations of both of their stories was trying to find the other).

5. A major fight scene - Hero by Skillet

A hero's not afraid to give his life A hero's gonna save me just in time I need a hero to save me now I need a hero (save me now) I need a hero to save my life A hero'll save me (just in time)

Fun fact: This was the song I was listening when I came up with the concept for Elizabeth! And the reason it's here it's because of the image it conjured when I listened to it that led to Elizabeth which was a battle scene and of her beheading people to save others. Also I think the chorus has some beats that kinda give those 'combat montages' vibes kkkk

6. End credits song - Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles

Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo Here comes the sun, and I say It's alright Little darlin', it's been a long, cold, lonely winter Little darlin', it feels like years since it's been here

This is the moment where I get a bit sappy but because our campaign never ended (as our DM gave up on it due to personal reasons), there's not an actual, canon ending for my girl. BUT, in my personal ending, I would have wished for Elizabeth to finally get the peace and happiness she longs for and deserves and this song kinda signifies that for me, both in a metaphorical sense (the winter being sadness ending for the sun, peace, to come it) but also in a literal sense as i said before, Elizabeth is the chosen of a sun god, so I think it just fits perfectly.

[supportivecircle]

Sonic Wisps Warlock Patron Homebrew Part 1: Level Features

I recently posted about the Sonic-themed DnD Campaign I ran over the past year (and some few months in 2020 before a year break). If you’re in the center of that venn diagram of “Sonic the Hedgehog” and “Dungeons and Dragons”, know that you are not alone and I am here for you my sweet angel chao (tiny celestial, lawful good). Good ol’ Circle Dad has some content to quench the thirst of content for us weirdos. In the post I showed a snippet of the Warlock Patron subclass for the wisp alien creatures of Sonic, directly inspired by Whisper the Wolf, and to be used by one of my players who was drawn to the  warlock class. I can’t confidently say how balanced it turned out. Outside of any major stuff that was already adjusted in the document as we played, I don’t think it was too crazy, but the player was not a veteran DnD player who could probably find stuff to break here. I’ll post the individual pages and give some blurbs about how they shaped up in practice.

So starting off, the expanded spell list. The player immediately took to the flavor of Chaos Bolt, but if I recall I don’t believe they took any others from the list outside of Haste, and we had gotten up to player level 9, so they had the whole list to pick from. Spiritual Weapon I wasn’t sure of, and never got to effectively test outside of Whisper herself using it early on at a lower level, it wasn’t too crazy cause its damage scales every 2nd level and Warlocks only get 2 slots per short rest so they’d be dedicating their resource to a longer damage over time spell compared to a full on Lightning Bolt. The flavor is perfect though for people who like to get creative with integrating wisps into the weapon appearance. Creativity was the main goal with this subclass because I knew the player would want options without being overtly super powered. The Variable Wispon feature gives them a similar function to the Order of Scribes Wizard in allowing for damage swapping of spells. In theory, this allows for lots of fun flavoring of spells to match the different wisps energies. In practice, it was good, but my player also made it a goal to never repeat a wisp between short rests and to cycle through them cause they loved their wisps equally. Some wisps will probably be more appealing in general to players who are looking to capitalize on gameplay vs character flavor and RP. It could be adjusted to have a limit per day of how many element swaps you can do if its a problem. Easy fall back is always Prof+CHA per Long Rest if it’s a problem for whatever reason. Maybe keep it free to use on EB so the player can always have that feel of their subclass playing a role. A personal note for knock-on effects of this ability is that the player felt a bit of freedom in picking spells because it was no longer having to so much look at damage types, but rather what the spell straight up did. Fireball vs. Lightning Bolt has the element taken out of the equation and for the player it became about damage, AoE, durations, and extra effects. Certain spells became more appealing because they wouldn’t be locked behind an unwanted damage type. The flavor we used was the same as how Whisper’s weapon functioned of the wisp flying into the gun, and turning the handle knobs to get different effects n stuff. Mechanically, a Warlock can still cast spells without their focus, so if a player is found without their focus in combat it can be flavored as the Wisps just unleashing direct hell on enemies compared to focusing through the gun. If your player ends up upgrading their focus or being given a new experimental version, it will make sense thematically that raw Wisp spells are weaker because their focus will have a +1/+2/+3 and be built to enhance them. Food for thought.

So the rest of the subclass features. Level 6 is where the Wisp Patron is meant to pop off and change gameplay style substantially. Unfortunately, this is rather late if you are starting at Level 1, and until this moment, most of the subclass’ feature is the element swapping. For someone like me, I’m straight pogging. I have an Order of Scribes Wizard already penned up entirely for the next campaign I’m playing in and I’m all about modifying spell descriptions. For others, it could be underwhelming. There is a “solution” later in the document in the form of an invocation that gives 2 free uses per long rest. I put “solution” in quotes because in all the games I’ve played in with my friend groups, warlocks get the Agonizing Blast invocation as a core-kit feature because of how integral it has become in the modern Warlock equation. So logically, having AB frees up an Invocation slot for something like this to let the player have more fun with bonus actions/wisp stuff outside of reflavoring spells. There’s a lot going on with the wisps in this, I wanted the Color Powers to be fun but not amazingly strong, they are meant to be half-spells as you’ll see in the following pages. We didn’t get to Level 10 but it’s a damage resistance it’s nothing insane. There’s flexibility in it cause it’s the name of the game for this subclass. I followed the general pattern of Warlocks having a defensive feature at 10, and some flavorful cool stuff at 14, which in this case is mostly aping off the big damage of stuff like Fiend but with a Blind feature as opposed to “disappear for a turn as you hurtle through Pinhead’s summer home”. Blind can be rough against some enemies, but this late in the game, a lot of tougher enemies might also just have Blindsight. Like I said I can’t say how balanced a lot of this is in the average game. 

I’m not going to go into all the Wisp Powers in this post, but I wanted to post a little teaser of one of the pages, cause I really like how it turned out visually. There’s four pages of these to look forward to, along with the accompanying blurbs. I’ll post that part tomorrow. I’ve got a lot to say about how some of them turned out in practice, and almost nothing to say about some others that didn’t get used cause it wasn’t in that player’s playstyle. When the whole thing has been uploaded across three posts (Level Features, Color Powers, Invocations+Familiar), I’ll post the whole PDF in its entirety, or just a link to a copy of the Google Docs file so people can copy it and edit it in browser as needed on their own. I don’t know jack about using the images from the comic, but I ain’t making any cash off this and it was just meant to be a little homemade subclass with spruced up visuals. Hope that’s all good. Please don’t come at me SEGA I’m just a little circle guy im jus a small widdle circle noooo im just a little birthday boyyyyyy nooooo.

[myowndesertplaces]

I know a lot of people are frustrated with seeing old PC's or feeling like we are spending too much time on a particular arc during the BH campaign. I think the best way to engage with Campaign 3 is to recognize that it's more theme and plot driven than character driven. This is going to affect the pacing and storytelling of the campaign, and it's why we shouldn't hold similar expectations for arcs, characters, and story beats with a character driven narrative like C2.

The themes are pretty simple: fate, destiny, and choice (anger/rage/violence were also prominent early in the campaign). Can you make your own path in a world controlled by fate? Where does choice factor into destiny/fate? How has previous choices affected the current fate of our party?

Once you realize this is what's driving the narrative, it makes sense why past PCs are so heavily involved in this story.

Also their inclusion in the story shouldn't be a surprise at this point. They established in the first episode that this campaign would be interconnected with previous campaigns: Three members of EXU joined C3, Orym and Laudna's story have direct ties to VM, and Betrand brought the group together. In addition to that, FCG exists because of the Mighty Nein's actions 6-7 years ago. Ashton would be dead if Essek hadn't stolen 2 beacons, and if Yeza hadn't discovered how to extract the potion of possibility. Plus we've already visited Whitestone.

As for why this campaign feels like one long continuous arc, it's because it is. The only breaks we've had from this "arc" were to rescue Laudna and visit the Gorgynei. Even the trip to break into the museum for Hexum included new Ruidus lore. We've never experienced a campaign where every character's backstory is directly connected to one major story. Yes, even Chetney, FCG, and Laudna can trace their roots back to the Ruidus/Ludinus/solstice story in some way. The closest example of interwoven backstories from previous campaigns would be Beau and Veth's connection to Isharnai. It's as if the only way to prevent another apocalypse is to bring these wildly different characters together by an unknown force... Fate.

With all that said, it's perfectly fine to be disappointed with the narrative. Focusing on theme is a departure from past campaigns. I believe most of us were expecting a character driven story, especially from a DnD campaign. Themes have always played an important role in the show of course (that's how story telling works), but it hasn't controlled the pacing quite like this. We saw it at the end of C2 when the cast wanted to end the campaign with an arc about found family and redemption instead of exploring all other character stories. It worked because ultimately that was the story of the Mighty Nein, and we already had a strong connection with the characters.

I think it's also fine to question whether a multi-year TTRPG campaign is the best medium for a theme or plot driven narrative instead of a character driven one. But, if your theme is fate and choice, I think having the story directed by dice rolls and player choice is an interesting way to do it.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with disliking the story or comparing it to past campaigns. You're not a bad fan. But I worry too many folks, 16 months in, are still expecting a story like C1 or C2, and it's only going to lead to further frustration.

[council-of-beetroot]

Character analysis for Tolys and the theme of gothic romanticism, perhaps.

So I will continue this in a second part probably to discuss themes like Psychological Torment, Sin, Struggles of human nature, the supernatural, etc.

First theme: Nature

So Romanticism came in a time where nature was seen as idealic compared to the rapid urbanization and the modernity of the industrial revolution beginning the late 18th century. Now Gothic Romanticism uses nature to emphasize the grotesque, the dark, the irritational and horrific aspects, that we find ourselves drawn to even if we feel we shouldn't be.

Nature is beautiful in it's creation and destruction. We can't transcribe human morals to nature. And man may see himself as above all living creatures but he too is just one of many of the world's animals and but finds himself in conflict with his reason and his instinct and drive.

Tolys sees himself apart of nature. Having never truly abandoned his pagan roots, nature has remained his idea of divinity. You seek to understand the divine through understanding nature. But that futile task exemplifies human ego that one thinks they could possibly comprehend the nature in its vastness and the divine in it's unknowing.

Rather than fearing nature and natural instincts, Tolys embraces it. Nature is beautiful but terrifying and sometimes there is beauty in that those terrifying forces or destruction.

Acceptance of the unknown

Probably the ultimate unknown is death. The forces of life and death fuel nature and everything that stems from there. Tolys is in an odd position when it comes to death. He doesn't age and could live forever hypothetically, but he knows he is alive purely by chance and has survived purely by chance. He has seen countries rise and fall and nations wiped off the face of the earth and forgotten, after all Tolys was one of many baltic tribes in his youth yet he's one of the few who remains to this day.

(disclaimer I'm not an expert on early Baltic history and am still figuring out my headcanons especially with Prussia.)

I think he and Gilbert in particular have an acceptance of death that I think probably makes others uneasy.

To get the vibes across I always think of the traditions of día de muertos, a celebration of death, and the mix of catholic and indigenous traditions that have survived dispite oppression and destruction and I feel that just fits Tolys surprisingly well.

And it really shows that even when something disappears traces remain. I mean just look at how cultures and groups evolve.

Wolves

Sorry for this over emphasis among nature when that is usually just one of many aspects. (I'm an environmental studies major so it's my fault)

Ooh this goes so well with the the idea of the fascination of the evil, the dark, the outcasts of society etc. Because okay those reading you are so far removed from wolves that you probably just see them as large dogs. Okay, they aren't, and people really didn't like wolves because say one night a pack of wolves kills your entire flock of sheep you're probably going to think those wolves are dicks when your whole livelihood was destroyed. This is why some species of wolf have gone extinct through extermination campaigns. But are the wolves the evil ones? Not necessarily the wolf has three objectives in life

Be wolf

Eat

Make more wolves

You were going to do the same thing to those sheep afterall later before you also have three main objectives in life.

1. Be person

2. Eat

3. Make more peoples

Wolf probably had a family to feed and they saw an all you can eat lamb buffet. You have a family and you would probably go ooh my family needs food to survive, lamb buffet in the same situation.

Are you really much different than the wolf? Are you really much different than the thing you fear and hate?

Tolys gets wolves. Their goals are be wolf, eat make more wolves and and survive, Tolys' are be Tolys, eat, fuck, and survive.

Idk I think it just fits especially in the context of the crusades where his existence is seen as dangerous because he is the unknown, and the unknown is feared.

Tragedy

This is one of those things that really draws me to his character. And it's the fact that he has achieved greatness and he has fallen and claws himself back up knowing full well what he has in his hands now is no guarantee for the future. He is haunted by the horrors of the past because he knows that it's inevitable in the future he will face them again. After all the higher you reach the closer you are to the sword of Damocles hanging above you.

I hope this makes even the tiniest bit of sense and I hope this or the second half is what you were looking for in a response. Sorry for my tangent on wolves, it's what Tolys would want.

[bloodgulchblog]

googling suggests that Brian Reed was the lead writer for Halo 4... what specifically about the story of H4 makes him the villain? It's been a year or so since I've played h4 so the details beyond the broad strokes have been forgotten.

that said i will agree he's the villain for halo 5 that story is Not Great TM

(i just like hearing your opinions on stuff and am totally not trying to mine ideas for what might be changed in a post halo-3 rewrite because i do love the covenant civil war aspects of 4. or the implications that there has to have been one because conflict drives narratives)

Thanks.

Full disclosure, I really don't know what was going on behind the scenes on Halo 4 or 5 and the most I can do is offer rampant speculation, usually based on my biases and very little evidence.

My impressions are these:

Halo has always always had trouble on story, mostly around having strong leadership and a definite idea of where everything is going. There are too many stakeholders with ideas and teams have struggled to get to unified ideas and then to have enough time to implement what they finalize. This was true during Bungie days and definitely feels like it's been true during 343. (I'm more confident on what I say about 1-3 because I actually have a book with a lot of old interview details that speaks to that.)

They'll build up a lot of interesting stuff around the games, even though my opinions on the quality of that stuff vary widely. I had problems with Halo 4, but the stuff that was coming out around 4 where you had multiple stories interweaving touching each others' threads... that was interesting! That was neat! And they got Greg Bear to write three whole novels for us!!! Fuck Karen Traviss, but like... dude!!!!

...And then the campaign was just. What we got. Don't get me wrong, there are things in Halo 4's campaign that are cool and interesting, but like... there will always remain a part of me that is still pissed that they killed Cortana.

Full stop.

I accept new Halo lore as it comes to me and try to do my best to take my lumps and integrate even things that I don't like, but I am still mad that they killed Cortana in the first place and have never really stopped being that.

....Anyway. I'm getting sidetracked.

Aside from CE, which was intended to be self-contained and thus is pretty straightforward and ends with a clear conclusion, Halo game plots have never really been necessarily good. That is just the nature of the beast. Halo 2 ends on a massive cliffhanger because they literally could not finish putting the whole story they wanted to in that game. Halo 3 is a mess because everyone was so violently burned out from Halo 2 that the leadership problem was even worse.

[Suspicious silence re: Reach goes here because I still can't motivate myself to replay Reach]

Halo 4 falls very flat for me with some things that were good and mostly other things that I had to make my peace with and come to be okay with. I will grouse about things, but we've Halo cycled our way around to a lot of people (including me) acknowledging that not everything about Halo 4 was horrible.

(I guess my big things that piss me off about it are: Cortana, as discussed, wasting the Didact, and the weird fucking pivot on Catherine Halsey's character.)

Anyway, Brian Reed. My comment there was kind of a flippant attempt to respond to something I wasn't sure how to feel about, but here's what I got:

Reed wasn't actually the lead writer on 4, that was Christopher Schlerf. I don't know much about either of these people! But after Schlerf left, Reed was the lead writer on 5 and did a lot of work on the comics (that I still haven't read because blah blah blah my usual excuses.)

It's hard for me to pick out what exactly I think his fingerprints are in different parts of Halo, because I don't know the guy or his work particularly well. I'm better at identifying what I think (no guarantees I'm right) was Staten back in early Halo because I've seen enough solo work from him to kind of know what I think he liked, and I've seen enough of Frank O'Connor talking about stuff in interviews to (rightly or wrongly) blame a couple specific Chief things I hate on him, but I don't have that with Reed.

However, I have read Reed's short story in the Fractures anthology. Opinions may vary on this, nobody's gotta agree with me, but I really had to pause with myself after reading Rossbach's World because... it was thoughtful?

So looking at Reed, who had to take over for another lead writer and try to come up with a following act for Halo 4... I still hate Halo 5. A lot. But like, I get it. Of course it feels like a weird pivot hail Mary to find something to focus on, because it was.

I think it was stupid and I hated it, but I do have some sympathy for the pressure on the person who ended up taking the fall for it. Anything where you are working for a highly opinionated nerd audience with tons of pressure is going to be very difficult.

I feel like they should've borne out the Forerunner story threads instead of pivoting to the Created, and maybe gotten to those ideas after the plate was clear. I also think Cortana deserved to live. (If you want to see what inspired some of my thoughts about that, you should look into Bungie's previous series: Marathon. But it has been too long since I personally dug around in Marathon for me to be terribly helpful about it anymore.)

...But I also think that Reed is just a dude who had a job and produced a story I really don't like. I've heard he's been pretty much harassed off the face of the internet? And like... nothing is worth that, man.

People with more insight and background details about what was going on actively might have more information than I do and better reasons to hate him, but I was really really checked out of Halo for the better part of a decade and I'm honestly pretty soft when it comes down to it.

[aparticularbandit]

20 Questions for Fanfiction Writers

tagged by: @andtherewerefireworks. THANK YOU. <3 <3 <3

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

206, apparently. O.o I didn't realize it was that much. Whoops. >.>;;;;;; ...when did I end up with 55 fics in the MCU. I knew I had a lot in JTV, but when did I end up with that many in the MCU

2) What's your total AO3 word count?

2,039,621.

3) What fandoms do you write for?

Uh...currently? ...uh...let me check my pinned post. Uh. Danganronpa (not DRV3 because I haven't finished it yet; specifically Junko etc. I like rewrites and consequences more than...crossovers...right now. I would rather play with canon...ish). MCU (specifically Wanda-related etc. re: Wandavision and DSMOM, but also add the Ancient One and also add Viv Vision because I love her). JTV (because yes, I can be persuaded to write more Roisa stuff). Miscellaneous Kathryn Hahn etc. (frequently referred to as Hahnverse, specifically beyond Agatha I will also write Eve Fletcher and Claire Debella). Who Framed Roger Rabbit (because yes, I can also be persuaded to occasionally write more Jessica Rabbit stuff, although it is often highly specific to my Jess). Puella Magi Madoka Magica (just because I haven't in a very long time does not mean I can't). Noir (the 2001 anime; just because I have very little posted doesn't mean I won't write for this). The Haunting of Bly Manor (specifically Dani and Viola and we pretend that most of the last episode didn't happen because I love Viola and I like looking at the complications of that whole situation). ...probably others that I can't think about at the moment, honestly.

4) Top Five Fics by Kudos:

By kudos? 1) What Dreams May Come. 2) Finding Family. 3) Lost Causes. 4) Make Life Worthwhile. 5) Take A Sad Song and Make It Better. Surprised by that last one, honestly, but not by the other four. The top two on my stats are pretty much always Bly Manor Fix-It Fic and FF; they just switch places every now and again.

5) Do you respond to comments?

Sometimes. I respond to comments if I feel I have a response or if I want to continue the dialogue or if I'm asked a question and don't put it off for a while (I'm really bad at this, actually). But I feel like a lot of comments...don't need...a response? And have been running into the weird situation lately where responding to comments...feels like...it keeps people from commenting? Which is? A weird feeling?

6) What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Timeline canon doesn't count (I see you out there reading this) because that's not fic, that's rp. And, I mean, technically that had a happy ending. Technically. the day her line went flat. hands down. i've got some other angsty stuff that comes to mind, but like. nothing like that one, i don't think. ...but if I ever finish it all happens so quick, that may take it.

7) What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

...uh. Hm. I think probably Finding Family, because it was nearly 375k of build up (385k if you include the Holiday Special) and character development and relational development just to get to that ending so that it felt well earned and deserved and still not expected even though set up and just. I knew the ending of that one when I started it, and it was exactly what I wanted it to be, and I think it's the most happy because it's the most right and complete and just.... I don't know how to put words to it, but that one.

8) Do you get hate on fics?

I've gotten bot hate on my MCU fics by bots who want me to switch to a different fic website, which I don't think really counts. I haven't gotten hate as comments on AO3 fic, BUT I DID have a period early last year and some the year before of A LOT of Anon hate, some of which was fic hate. Specifically character interpretation. But that felt more like a campaign of hate against me and that was just the avenue they were deciding to use at that particular time because there was so much other hate they were sending, so like. ...yeah, that was a thing.

9) Do you write smut?

Nope.

10) Craziest crossover?

Heart in Motion aka the JTV/ODAAT crossover that no one asked for and then everyone asked for and then I never went back to. XD

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of!

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! Partly! Someone started translating Finding Family into Russian! With permission! You can find it here!

13) Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! Room for One I co-wrote with @butimnotasexyrussian! IT WAS GREAT.

14) All time favorite ship?

Honestly, I don't think I have one. I love Jess/Scully and Jess/Regina. I love the Valentines. But my shipping favs are flexible at best.

15) What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

What Dreams May Come. I don't think I left it in a good spot, as opposed to If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home Now, which is unfinished and will probably stay unfinished but at least stops at a good spot.

16) What are your writing strengths?

Consistency. I'm very consistent in terms of world-building and maintaining exact specifics through a fic. I keep my through threads, usually, and if I set something up, it's probably going to pay off later.

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

EVERYTHING IS ALWAYS SO LONG. WHAT IS WRITING SHORT STUFF, I DON'T KNOW HER. But also plot. And description. And setting. I suck at all of these things. Oh, also, having characters have distinct voices. All of my characters sound the same. -shrugs-

18) Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

I don't have a problem with it, but I very rarely do it. I'm worried I'll get something wrong!

19) First fandom you wrote in?

Tales of Symphonia. I was in, like, middle school, and I did not post it. Fortunately. (This does not count RP, which I was doing earlier than that. That's not the same. And to be honest, I'm not sure I would know the answer then. Teen Titans or Inu-Yasha, maybe? I'm not sure.)

20) Favorite fic you've written?

It's a toss up between Luisa and the Fox and Surrogate. Probably there's something else I'm forgetting but will remember after I post this. But honestly? It's probably one of those two.

tagging: @adhdavinci (FINALLY I CAN TAG YOU BACK BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T TAG ME FIRST! HAHA!); @captaintoomanybattles; @auburnlaughter; @eriquin