#but i'm a complete sucker for behind the scenes stuff

[13eyond13]

Hey Bloz! How r u? I cannot even begin to express how fun it’s been to see ur Beatles posts on my dash. the minute I saw the Real Love demo I was like ok… she’s fallen down the rabbit hole XD I was fixated on them last year for a good few months. It was a lot of fun reading about them, watching their movies, and reading fan analyses online. There’s so much out there! And Beatles rpf is a whole world unto itself lol at first I was skeptical of it but then… I was intrigued haha

Do u have any fave songs or albums? :)

Omg hello Jess!! I miss you and it's so nice to hear from you 🫂

Hahaha YES I'm pretty deep into The Beatles lore rabbit hole already, it's been my main fixation for entertainment for the past month or so. You're right, there's just so much to dig into. Caught me totally by surprise, I feel like I'm so late to the game to just be having a Beatles phase now... I never felt extremely interested in learning about them before, but a randomly recommended YouTube video (x) about how it's reductive to blame the band's breakup solely on Yoko Ono drew me into this whole fascination a few weeks back.

😆 And hah, you must have sent this ask to me right before I deleted that "Real Love" demo reblog, because I thought I'd better delete it after I looked in the notes of the post and saw the OP wasn't taking kindly to anybody questioning if John was actually giggling instead of sobbing there (which is what I think he was doing, personally... but it still sounded like he was writing something about Paul? 🤷‍♀️ idk, doesn't need to be crying for it to still be a bit of an eyebrow raiser, imo)

I haven't actually really looked into any rpf yet, just digesting the "canon" material and whatnot (listening chronologically to their discography and not completely finished with that yet, up to halfway through the White album rn). Been watching their movies and behind the scenes stuff and documentaries (the Get Back one by Peter Jackson was fascinating even for a relatively new fan to watch, imo), reading a bigass biography about them (Tune In by Mark Lewisohn, it's like this great slowburn real-time mosey through the band's childhoods and earliest days together), and watching the occasional YouTube video deep dives (this one series in particular is p beautifully made and impressively researched and really got me in the feels regarding the shippy theories about J&P: [x])

As for my faves of their music, I haven't finished listening to 100% of their albums yet, BUT right now I'm actually very partial to some of their earliest records. I feel like some of their more normie stuff from the early 60s is actually the most fantastic fun to listen to, and Please Please Me and A Hard Day's Night might be the two albums with the most bangers that I never want to skip so far. Their more experimental and psychedelic and surreal later stuff is also interesting and arguably more unique and groundbreaking or creative or whatever, but I'm not as familiar with them outside of the main extremely famous tracks on them yet, and I'll need to finish listening and let them grow on me a bit before I can probably say for sure. However I think so far my faves from their later stuff would probs be Magical Mystery Tour, Abbey Road, and possibly the White Album (once I actually finish listening to it).

John is definitely my favourite Beatle, which was actually a complete surprise to me, I thought he'd be my least fave. And there are so many good bops that it's hard to narrow it down, but some of my personal faves so far are I Saw Her Standing There, I Should Have Known Better, I Want to Hold Your Hand, It Won't be Long, A Hard Day's Night, Do You Want to Know a Secret, Oh! Darling, I Want You (She's So Heavy) and If I Fell... hmm, I think maybe I'm just kinda a sucker for their simple and enthusiastic and joyful love songs the most, usually?

Thank you for sending me this sweet ask! I'd love to hear what some of your faves are too 🧡

[befuddledcinnamonroll]

The Sign - final thoughts

I want to start by reasserting what I've said before about companies like Idol Factory. Having production companies being willing to try new things and push the genre is always going to get points from me, even if I don't absolutely love the end result. Much better that than yet another university series that doesn't even attempt to be coherent.

So I am grateful that this show exists, even if I did struggle to maintain my enthusiasm the entire way through.

We'll start with some very solid positives.

Pros:

Idol Factory is so good at identifying talent. The acting was overall great, with some genuine standout performances (Nat as Art, I mean c'mon, just incredible). Heng devoured his role. Gap was an utter delight. Billy swings between horny and angsty like no one else. Babe did amazing for his first series, and I look forward to seeing him develop as an actor.

The talent behind the camera was really strong in some arenas too. The production quality was high, and we got some genuinely beautiful cinematography.

Even characters in small roles were memorable and well-characterized.

The action scenes were pretty solid, for the most part. The underwater stuff looked really, really good.

The sex scenes. Idol Factory knows we are thirsty bitches, and I appreciate that about them. And they were so pretty!

The cast chemistry. It was fantastic.

The premise - I am a sucker for the reincarnation trope, Until We Meet Again has a firm hold on my heart.

Some genuinely interesting ideas around karma and fate and determinism.

Getting to see more of Thai culture and mythology.

Cons:

This part hurts, because I really was so obsessed with this series in the beginning. I think it was mostly a writing issue, but there's some big flaws in the story construction that became apparent as we got further along. The interweaving of the past & present, the cop storyline with the mythology storyline...it got a bit clunky.

There were a number of planted seeds that never bore fruit. The Abott being set up as a powerful ally to then be completely nerfed in the last episode. Chalothon being set up to be punished for refusing to give up his quest of vengeance, but that never happening. Tharn being told multiple times he needs to learn to fight for his love, and then he just...doesn't. (Unless you consider talking to Chalothon for a year "fighting").

Really clunky setup at times - we've spent almost no time with Khem and Tongthai, and then suddenly a ring, and then suddenly he's shot, and then suddenly he's fine.

Relatedly, I genuinely can't believe that for their final scene, they had Tharn run in and just tell Phaya that Chalothon had entirely changed as a person and was now in support of them. Why wouldn't you have at least one scene of Tharn & Chalothon talking? I get that show don't tell is not universal for every situation, but it was hella important here! That was a genuine wtf moment. It would have been so powerful to see Tharn finally break through to Chalothon, after centuries of hurt.

The flashbacks. I get that they had to use a ton of the budget for CGI, but I rather wish they had either done the flashbacks in the green screen space they used for Phaya being unconscious, or just used a black stage. It just felt like the cast in costumes running around in the woods, which, admittedly, it was. But it took me out of the immersion, and made them less impactful.

I will still watch anything Billy does, and I'm excited to see where Idol Factory goes from here. And someone needs to do a Gap/Yoshi series stat.

[hattiestgal]

Say, purely theoretically, you were cuddled up with a taur friend in some manner of magical library outside of time and space- what're you reading?

Hm, I unfortunately don't read as much like proper literature as I probably should, but if you give me a book about the art or development of my favorite video games or something, I'm reading that front to back in one sitting, which I'm sure would only be enhanced by cuddling up against a taur friend.

I'm a total sucker for the behind the scenes stuff when it comes to the media I enjoy, and video games especially just have so much to know about. The game design, the art, the music, whatever. It's all so completely fascinating to me. Plus, more ammo for info dumping to anyone who'll listen >:3

Also, the imagery of this hypothetical was very pleasant, so I drew it

(I plan on drawing Lena more. This was good practice!)

[gremlincum]

Could you write a fluffy fic about joan jett where like the reader is upset and she comforts them?

Nyx's notes: I've been on a bit of a writing hiatus this past year due to some family and health issues, but I'm hoping to be coming back over the coming months, I was looking through requests and had inspiration strike so here you loveleys go!

Enjoy!

Crimson and clover -

Warnings: Mentions of alcohol, cussing?, best friends to lovers because I'm a sucker for that trope, and fluff

You laid on your bathroom floor covered in sweat and beer. You didn't know why you put yourself in these situations, you hated hosting parties with a passion, yet you always let Joan convince you to throw the next biggest rager at your house.

You lived in a small two-bedroom house on the strip. It was falling apart in everyway possible, and probably couldn't pass inspection, but it was close to your job at the dennys on the corner and that's all that mattered.

Shortly after you moved in, you put an ad for a roommate in the paper, and the next day Joan called you. At first it was supposed to be temporary, but there was just something about Joanie that made you want to keep her around.

She made your stomach twist and turn in the best ways possible. Whenever she was around, you truly felt on top of the world, but you were most definitely not willing to lose an amazing friendship over some silly crush.

That brings us to our current scene. Hiding from the growing party in your bathroom, like a complete loser. A hard knock at the door made you lift your head and scoff.

"Go away"you grumbled, hoping the person on the other side would go away.

"Cmon (y/n)! I gotta piss!"Joan yelled. Of course. Speak of the fucking devil.

You pushed yourself up and tilted your head at the door. Debating if you should even open it.

"(Y/n) I know you're in there! Just let me in please", her voice was softer now, as if it twisted into one of concern.

You sighed and reached over to unlock the door. "Come in Joanie", she cautiously opened the door, afraid of what mess she found behind the door.

"Oh shit..."she snickered"you okay?" She reached her hand out for yours, completely ignoring what she originally came for.

"Yeah m'good Joanie"you muttered shamefully, ignoring her offer to help you up. You didn't want her to see you so vulnerable.

"Dont lie to me"she said, dropping to the floor looking at him. "We're friends, we need to be honest. We are with each other."

"Joanie, I can't keep doing these parties. can't a threesome happen in my room right now" you said, with a slight chuckle.

"And all these people make me nervous. They don't clean up after themselves, they break stuff, they ruin my sheets. I'm scared of even sitting on the couch."

"That's all you had to say" Joanie told you with a smile. "I don't ever wanna see you upset like this want."

"Y'know, you're a great person Joan"you told her with a big smile,

"I don't know about all that, I'm a mess"she scooted closer to him. "You're great though," she smiled with a slight blush going across her face.

It was impossible to ignore Joan's beauty. You saw through her "confident" facade and saw a beautifully damaged soul.

"I love you Joanie"you whispered, laying your head on her shoulder. She glanced over at him, her signature smirk plastered on her face.

"Yea?" She asked, giggling a bit."I love you too". She planted a kiss on her head.

You picked up your head, a blush evident on your face, and slowly leaned in interlocking lips with Joan. She leaned forward and cupped your face, stroking your cheek softly.

"Sorry"you murmured with a smile as you pulled away shyly.

It truly was a sight to behold, you two with your legs unintentionally intertwined on your bathroom floor as a party emerged outside the door.

But at this point you didn't care about the party, you just cared about you and Joan. And the undeniable tension between the two of you.

"Don't know why you're apologizing", she looked down. "I thought it was pretty obvious I wanted to do that for a while.

"I guess I was oblivious"you laughed, biting your lip before coming to the realization "Didn't you have to use the restroom?"

"Yeah"she replied, looking at you, leaning back."It can wait a little bit longer."

[bahamutgames]

ENCHANTED AFTERTHOUGHTS

Game: Enchanted Arms (January 12, 2006)

Console: Xbox 360

Rough day so far. Trying to unwind a little bit by taking care of some non-work related stuff. So I figure this is the perfect time to talk about Enchanted Arms! I beat this game on the first of September, but even 5 days later I can't stop thinking about it. There's something really special about this game and I want to be the one to tell YOU why you should check it out... Although maybe not cause I'll be talking about some spoilers I guess. Oops.

As always, this isn't a review yadda yadda ect ect. I'm just spilling my thoughts about how I felt from playing through it. Not meant to be a guide for if you should play, it's just me talking about video games. Always try ANYTHING and EVERYTHING I talk about here if it interests you at all.

SOME ENCHANTED ARMS SPOILERS AHEAD, IF YOU EVEN CARE U_U

Opening

I'm not 100% sure how I found out about this game. It was on youtube I believe. Either a video for underrated or bad RPGs I genuinely cannot recall lol. But I remember thinking it actually looked really cool! And last year I managed to find a copy for under $10 on ebay and decided, hey why the heck not? And gave it a shot. I made slow progress on it through August but FINALLY managed to wrap it up in September. Like I said earlier, I haven't stopped thinking about it since. It's a janky little game but I think it's a special game too.

Stuff I liked

So, first and foremost. This is an XBOX 360 JRPG. Which is a very odd era for turnbased RPGs to exist in just in general. They tend to be kinda janky and feel a little cheap in some ways? But this just makes them extremely charming in my opinion. They're so few and far in between on 7th generation consoles but ESPECIALLY 360. So I find them all to be extremely charming in spite of their flaws. And this applies to Enchanted Arms as well. All the weirdness and jank just kinda makes it more endearing.

You play as Atsuma, a hot blooded anime-protagonist type guy (who is also an honorary edgy badboy made in a lab! You love to see it.) As he goes on a quest to save his 2 best friends who vanished after a powerful devil golems is freed. He meets new friends and discovers a lot about himself while finding a way to save the world. Kinda basic stuff but the story does manage to do some VERY interesting things. It has a big moral on relying on others, not doing things alone, sticking to what you believe in no matter what, but also some tougher stuff like when helping others just becomes about helping yourself, ect ect. It's a lot of themes I really love and love seeing tackled and I think Enchanted Arms really does a good job with a lot of the ideas! I really loved seeing how the 4 main teammates grow and come to really trust each other. And I thought the whole finale and concept of Infinity was SUPER cool. Infinity was such a freaky and interesting final boss. And while I won't spoil it completely, the way you kill him was very cool.

The characters are certainly a high point in my opinion. Again, I LOVE Atsuma. I'm a huge sucker for protagonists and he has pretty much everything I love. Stupid? Check. Edgy badboy made in a lab? Check. Happy-go-lucky? Check. Has to do some soul searching through the game? Check. Evil fucked up arm that does crazy shit he can't explain? Check check check! But the other characters are good too! I liked Karin is a little annoying but generally I'd say her mean attitude is funny more than it is off putting. Plus the cooking scene was very good. Raigar is cool and I used him a TON during the game. And Yuki is hilarious, she may have been one of the funniest next to Atsuma. And they all have great chemistry, I loved how they tease each other but also help and comfort each other. It's a small party but I think focusing on just 4 teammates really helped the game out in the long run!

Even other things like just the world concept. The lore behind the golem wars is cool, I like the different city concepts and how they're based on real world locations. And even small world building details like how everyone hates Atsuma at school, to the point where there's an afterschool club for hating on him. Or how everyone loves Toya. There's neat concepts like a girl in another city who knows Atsuma, but you don't really know her unless you actually read the tie in comic. There's small world building stuff like that, which you'd expect from an RPG probably. But still! It's neat!

Outside of just the story, the gameplay is really interesting. The overworld is pretty standard walking around dungeons type stuff. But in combat is where it gets really interesting. It's turnbased, but rather than being just regular turnbased combat, it has strategy elements infused into it. So you actually move your characters around a grid, and your attacks only attack certain tiles on the enemy grid (if you've ever played Ikenfell, it's VERY similar to that!) So fights require a little bit more strategy and thinking than just mashing through them. Even basic enemy encounters can topple you if you're not playing smart. While this can make some encounters a total pain, believe me, ultimately I think it benefits the game more than hurts it.

And its not just the combat itself that's unique. The way stats work and characters upgrade is pretty interesting. You have all the usual stats and level ups you'd expect. But where most of your stat increases come from is actually a skill currency you get from battles that you can spend on upgrading stats or learning new moves. It's interesting! And allows you to customize your team how you see fit to match your playstyle! Which is nice! There's some other stuff like friendship points, combos, and overdrive attacks. But I'll be perfectly honest, I never got a grasp on what these were lol. But I think they all play into eachother and helping you build meter for super powerful EX attacks?

And then, something that kinda surprised me about this game. It has a small monster collection aspect to it? As you progress you can find golems to fight in the overworld who will join your team if you beat them, as well as golems you can buy from shops to join you. Golems act as additional teammates who all have their own unique attacks with unique tile layouts they can hit. You can also upgrade them with their skillpoints uniquely. So while they don't learn new skills, they can still be useful and serve to help fill holes in your team composition. For example, I got HUGE use out of the first golem you get in the story, Taigalion, because they can power up 2 teammates without having to waste those teammates turns. Or Eternity, a later game golem, who could use Gravity on some bosses to help me cheese the fights. It's neat!

Outside of all that? I'd say the highlights are the graphics and especially the music! The graphics aren't AMAZING but sometimes I think they can look REALLY good. Particularly in the environments! The Ice Castle, the Marsh, the Woods, even just the overworld field all look INCREDIBLE in my opinion! And relistening to the OST now, it's SO good! I forgot how many good songs were in this. Towards Reconstruction, Day at the Academy, and Reborn are all good ones. And the final boss theme was so haunting. And there's more I could praise about the visuals like the cool menu designs, that equipment shows up on your character (which is always a plus) and how cool all the different golems can look! But I think it might be time to move on!

Stuff I didn't like

Yeah it's not perfect. Starting with smaller stuff, there's a bit to be desired on the characters. Reading the manga that came with the game made me really wish they had opted for a more anime look for the humans than the slightly more realistic approach the game has.

And while I DO like the outfits of the main 4 teammates for the most part. I think Raigar's outfit is a little weird. And Makoto (we'll get to him) and Toya, Atsuma's 2 best friends, are just totally dripless. Toya mostly just cause of his rat tail, a better hair cut to fix it. But Makoto. He wears clogs what more do I gotta say?

Okay I'll go into it really quick cause Makoto is kind of a mess. He's a huge homophobic stereotype, I think having a gay teammates RULES! And having him be in love with another team mate is great. But now like this. He's the one with the blonde hair + exposed midriff on the right on the bottom image if you wanna go peek. But he's like, almost a sexual harasser in some ways and he's ABSOLUTELY played as like "ew gross he's GAY zomg 0_o" Even having a stereotype gay voice and GENUINELY saying "YAAAAAAAAAAAS" super high pitched during some of his attacks which is... So nuts that anyone thought this was a good idea. Spoilers but he returns later in the game with a new disguise that's supposed to be straight but has his chest fully exposed revealing a big scar. You failed this so hard, FromSoftware. Like. How? How did you fuck this up?

ANYWAY! outside of that there's some smaller gripes like the voice acting being not super great. Again a lot of the human designs are kinda meh. Stuff like that. But I think I really need to wrap this up by complaining about some serious gameplay issues I have.

So first off, the golems are totally underused. Once I got 4 teammates I VERY rarely found myself ever pulling out my golems again. Which is a shame cause that's such a big mechanic. While I don't totally mind I think being able to upgrade and customize the golems further would have made me care about them in the second act of the game. But even if I were still using them by that point, I doubt I would have been able to OBTAIN much more. I tried to get every golem I found in the overworld. But partway through the game the fights just become such bullshit. ALWAYS letting the golems go first, then wipe your team with instakill attacks. It's so stupid. So a lot of the golems got left behind in my playthrough anyway.

Then there's the gravity status. This becomes less of an issue later when Karin learns a status ailment curing move. But Gravity is a status ailment that means you can no longer move on the grid. EVER AGAIN. Unless you can cure yourself, status ailments never go away. Meaning if someone gets hit by gravity, even an enemy, they are STUCK until they die. Which is great cause it lets you cheese some fights if you get a boss stuck where they can't hit you. But if that happens to you? You're done! Game over!

But where this game really struggles is with balancing. Some fights are INSANELY easy. Letting you breeze through them with no issues. While some fights are insane slogs that take FOREVER to finish. Some big examples are 1-on-1 fights, which usually devolve into whoever goes first (which is ALWAYS the enemy in these cases) winning so you just have to spam health items. But there are more specific cases of weird balancing too. Such as the Warlord of Earth who randomly deals INSANE damage and takes minimal damage themselves. Dragging the fight out FOREVER. Or the first of 8 (YES 8) final boss phases which can only be hit by Atsuma but also instakills Atsuma? So I had to go grind in the fucking casino for HOURS just to build up the money to buy him enough skill points to raise his health high enough to survive that stupid instakill attack (I did 3000 but people were suggesting 7000 hp. It takes FOREVER to do the casino grind by the way. I won't describe it here but good lord.) And it'll always be just for stupid little reasons that you get totally knee capped during a fight like this. It's frustrating. You wanna save your money for weapons and skills but ultimately you kinda need to spend tons of money on items just to be able to survive tons of bullshit.

Now I will say, for all the bullshit with balancing and just roadblocking you with bullshit. Enchanted Arms does a good job at making sure the enemies play the same game as you. Which is something a lot of games struggle to do. Enemies are all susceptible to status ailments, even most bosses. Enemies ALSO have to manage how many attacks they can do before they must recharge like you do. They're susceptible to the same weaknesses you are. Which is nice. Again a lot of games don't do that. But Enchanted Arms does which makes the game just that tiny bit easier thankfully.

I have some other complaints, like, it's an expensive ass game to clear. Requiring TONS of money to buy everything you need, which leads me to believe the casino is required in a weird way which sucks. Or how there's a weakness system but it kind of makes no sense? (If you're weak to something, it means they're also weak to YOU so it's kind of pointless imo). Or the insane amount of tutorials the game tries to give you which ALL devolve into "go here, press A. Done." It's actually more insane than a Mario & Luigi game lmao. But I think we're done here.

Final Thoughts

As I kept writing more and more things to praise and criticize just kept popping into my brain! There's just SO much to say about Enchanted Arms. I'm kind of shocked. There were times I genuinely wanted to snap the disc in half. But now that all is said and done. I really can't help but look back on the adventure fondly. I still feel like I have more to say. I feel like this game is weirdly influential but no one realizes it cause no one played it. I feel like it's such a good game and deserves more attention (IT WAS REMOVED FROM THE XBOX STORE BOOOOO BRING IT BACK) but at the same time it is a clunky game with a lot of short comings. But I still liked it a lot! I'dunno! It's a game that gave me a lot to think about and I think I'll be thinking about it for a long time coming.

At this point I've played 4 Xbox 360 JRPGs. Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, Enchanted Arms, and Tales of Vesperia (which I played the Definitive Version but still it started as a 360 game lol) and honestly excluding Lost Odyssey which I hated despite popular opinion. They've all been VERY good. Even Lost Odyssey had high points when it wanted to. So I'm honestly kind of tempted to try and track down and play every 360 JRPG I can get my hands on. Again, it's just a fascinating era for a genre I love. We'll see!

===

Thank you for reading! This one feels SO messy but my brain is so filled with this game that I really had to write about it and get it out of my head aha. I appreciate you even just skimming through or even just scrolling all the way to the bottom. Look, if you clicked the link, I appreciate it, okay?

I'm having a rough day at the moment, but honestly I'm so fed up and used to "the bullshit" as it were that I'm genuinely struggling to build up the emotions needed to be upset about the constant downpour of nonstop bullshit that keeps happening to me. So I'll just take that as a good sign and just try to ignore it. What happened can be fixed for a fee but like, GOD DAMN why do I ALWAYS have to do such massive clean ups for things just arbitrarily happening to me.

ANYWAY sorry to vent on gaming tumblr. I'm just a little heated like the Hot Blooded Atsuma! Am I right fellow Enchanters? (That's what we Enchanted Arms fans call ourselves.) Well, anyway. As always, you're welcome to follow me on twitter where I talk more about games I'm currently playing and thinking about!

That's all I got for you today! Go out and play a hidden gem!

[wetcatspellcaster]

So I have finally completed my first (of I’m sure to be many) complete rereads of Pieces now that it’s completed!! What a difference it is actually to read all the way through vs reading as it updates. I truly felt like I was in fight or flight whenever you released a chapter and read it with a resting heart rate of 92837383833 beats a minute. This read was much less stressful but I still caught myself holding my breath at some parts. The story is so amazing, it may be one of my favorite stories overall, not just one of my favorite fics! You are so talented I honestly don’t know how you are so funny one minute then making feel like I’m going to cry in another. I think my favorite funny line is Rose scandalized at Astarion not eating the muffins, it lives in my mind rent free. I’m so happy we still have An Honest Lie because I am now parasocially too invested in you and your updates for all of them to be gone 😅

I have rambled a lot now but I made a tumblr specifically to follow you and a handful of other writers because I loved getting to see WIP snippets and behind the scenes talk of stuff you all work on. Your posts about how appreciated comments are is the reason why I comment on all the fics I am reading, was always too anxious to do so beforehand. I had a baby in November so these fics have been with me while being awake at all hours of the night and kept me sane knowing I had something to look forward to reading while feeding the baby. I feel like they’ve been through the trenches with me and I will always be thankful for the work you do to give such amazing stories!!

PS one last thing I was never a big Hozier person but I finally listened to Unknown and I am VERY EMOTIONAL NOW 🥲

hey darling! thank you for messaging!!!

Unknown/Nth gets us all, eventually :') what a song! I had to write a whole fic about it and everything.

I'm really glad that you enjoyed Pieces on a reread. from my experience of posting with the full fic outline in mind versus the comments I was getting... I can definitely imagine the two experiences being very different!! Definitely easier to go certain places (and end chapters on certain cliffhangers lmao) when the end is in sight. I love seeing stories as serialised narratives versus complete wholes... one of the reasons I'm such a sucker for fanfic! I'm glad it still holds up as a story and I'm really pleased that you like it.

(Also, thank you for the comment about the muffins. It was just a silly bit but... Oscar Wilde would be so proud.)

And just generally, thank you! I often write myself through and out of tricky times in my own life, and it feels strange to know that someone else is going through much bigger changes than me (a baby! you absolute superstar!) and my writing is doing something similar for them that it is for me :) either providing comfort or just a way to relax or have a silly moment to themselves! anyway, I hope you know comments like these are literally the fuel that keep writers writing, and while we are not entitled to them and you are not obliged to give them, it is literally taking the time for messages like this that have convinced me that this is actually something I'm good at and that it is worth my time! I have a silly goldfish memory when it comes to my own talents, I can convince myself my writing sucks in 2hrs or less, and so I am unfortunately doomed to forever need positive reinforcement... and the thing is, I think most writers are the same!

so thank you!! you clearly have a busy life rn, and so spending any of your time talking to me is a massive compliment that I do not take for granted. readers and commenters are a vital part of this little eco-system and so thank you for sharing my writing with me :) you're probably one of the main reasons it happened at all :) xx

[sarroora]

Here is the link to OffQuest’s podcast episode 6, interviewing Emara’s director, Fatma Elmeheiri. This podcast was uploaded on May 18th, around the time the first episode hit YouTube about 6 weeks ago.

The interview is in Arabic (what were you guys inhaling at the start of the podcast what’s going on over there and can I have someXD), so read below for some fun highlights:

Fatma: “I learned that you need to be good at storyboarding if you eventually want to be a animated series director. You don’t have to be a great animator to be a director. My biggest problem in animation was that my timing was always off. I tried and I tried but I couldn’t do it well enough. My teacher at the academy advised me to focus on storyboarding and directing instead.”

“Our studios (in the Emirates) are very small, so you have to do several jobs. I had to be both the director AND the manager, which was very draining.”

Although Emara is a mini-series, Fatma admits she severely overestimated what she and the team could do, especially since the team is so small

“You could put the most elaborate plan in the world - you’ll still face a lot of problems during production. You have to deal with them.”

“School was so much easier than this.”

In early development, Dhabian was going to be the series protagonist, but of course that later changed

“If he were the main character, I feel he wouldn’t be as liked. He’s likeable as the deuteragonist.” The interviewer agrees with this, saying that deuteragonists have a lot of charm because they’re more unpredictable than the protagonists, and have their own minds and agenda that the viewers might find unclear till much later

Interviewer: “Will Dhabian ever get his own spin-off series..?” Fatma: “Who knows? Maybe.”

“Comics would be more likely, since animation is so expensive.”

Fatma doesn’t go into details, but she wanted to put the series on YouTube for a while; it seems that big networks’ politics were just too much for her and her small team’s peace of mind and resources

Large networks are implied to not be passionate about animated series (I don’t find this surprising at all). They’ll pay millions for local live action dramas and imported foreign series, but not for cartoons

It’s also apparently extremely hard for young creators to pitch their work to any network, period. The bureaucracy is mind-numbing and it seems the people able to do anything are stars and people who are famous and/or well-connected and wealthy

Apparently one network wanted to air the series for free?!1?!? The heck is wrong with people O_O This is the whole “do it for exposure” crap again

Finally they found a network that wasn’t shady or trying to take their work without credit, and helped them put up Emara online on YouTube and promote it

“There’s no point in airing the series on a network that doesn’t care about it after all, and wouldn’t market it to people who could care about it.”

Fatma had so many things she wanted to show in Emara, but it just wasn’t possible. She says she had to learn to let it go, and her Art Director Ahmed helped her with that

Dhabian - as a proposed superhero name - received a lot of mixed reviews when his name was first suggested during pre-production. Several members on the creative team are non-Emirati Middle Easterners (Lebanese, Syrians, Egyptians, etc.) and that word makes no sense in their own languages, so they didn’t know what to do with it. But she stuck with it, and wanted a name that also isn’t hard to pronounce in English

Both the names of Emara and Dhabian are references to UAE geography

Fatma went with the name Moza even though it’s such a common Emirati name. Fatma says the foreigners on the creative team thought nothing of it, but the Middle Easterners were hella confused. Because Moza in Egyptian and pretty much every other language in the region means ‘Banana’. However in Emirati, Moza is a kind of pearl

Emara’s outfit is inspired by the colors of the flag

Maitha is a mix of Fatma’s mother and paternal aunt’s personalities

Fatma is credited with creating the designs and looks of Emara, Dhabian, and Maitha. Art Director Ahmed Beyrouti designed other characters in the series

The interviewer asks her if Emara’s outfit is in anyway related to the police force’s outfit because there are some similarities. She doesn’t wanna answer that so he thinks it’s probably a spoiler

The interviewer is impressed at how Dhabian’s design (heavily inspired by traditional men’s garb in UAE) can actually look practical as a superhero outfit, down to the ghutra. No one in real life can fight wearing that stuff 

She loves the art styles of Rebecca Sugar and Natasha Allegri, and both inspire her as women in animation

The reason the lip syncing in particular HAD to be animated to the English script and not the Informal Arabic one is because several of the animators don’t know Arabic. The lip syncing and facial expressions would’ve been completely off

Fatma says it’s highly unrealistic for the series to have only Emirati peeps since the country is a metropolitan with a huge expat population, and so she wanted to reflect that

She intentionally didn’t want every character in the series to be Emirati, because that would’ve bored her. That’s why we see many ethnicities in the background characters (and have a Lebanese and an Egyptian as speaking roles and antagonists, hopefully there’ll be even more characters the future)

She’s weirded out by how Dhabian seems to be more popular among fans than Emara when she appears a lot more oftenXD “Because he’s cool and a badass, that’s why” the interviewer answers herXD

The interviewer is loving on all the Studio Trigger homages and inspirations (thanks to Ahmed Beyrouti)

The 2 episodes Fatma storyboarded herself ended up being deleted because they had neither the money nor the funds. On her twitter, she also mentions one episode would have been about Dhabian’s past, but that was deleted too

Someone asks her what is the one thing she learned during her work, and she replies: “Knowing how to improvise.”

Her favorite people to work with were the voice actors, composer, and art director

She sadly laments that producing quality animation in UAE and the Middle East in general is so difficult, so expensive, and the environment is so harsh and unsupportive of animators that’s it’s easier to go animate in another country

A fan sends her a question asking why she decided to create Emara, and Fatma says she wanted to create a girl she wished existed when she was a child. Because there weren’t much, and a character such as Disney’s Jasmine is so hilariously unrealistic to Middle Eastern girls no one could relate to her. She’s more of a mythical creature

“Guys, do you remember Cow and Chicken, when we were kids?” “Ugh, I remember that, it was so weird, so bizarre!”

Aww, she had my Neighbor Totoro on video cassette

Fatma: “I was so terrified by Princess Mononoke I buried the DVD out in our yard.” Interviewer: “What the heck…”

(Ok, I have no idea how this segway happened, but the conversation suddenly shifted to tips on finding Halal food places in Japan among other things XD)

[scaramouche-bully]

Ooh, following up with that big dick Dainy anon, I honestly just want that man to either smother me with kisses while he gently rearranges my insides while his dick stretches me out, or just mating press the shit out of me while he constantly hits my cervix. I'm a sucker for either, but I just wan some wholesome sex with my comfort character. Also you're doing great btw! Keep up the good work! Make sure to drink plenty of water and rest enough!

Hello anon,

Thank you! I'm slowly making my way through everything so hopefully, my response times will be better. But I will be sure to hydrate and take a break soon. I probably will after this last ask.

Dainsleif works so hard behind the scenes that sometimes you both have soft and sleepy sex. Softly kissing you over and over again as he rocks in and out of your hole as he holds you to him gently. Whispering how well you're doing as he stuffs you with his cock before finally cumming inside. You're such a good girl.

But when he gets irritated or, mainly, you rile him up does he prove to you what exactly he's capable of. Folding you in half as he pushes you down further into the bed as he slams into you. His cock kissing your cervix every time completely unbothered by your cries that it's too much. If you want to act like a brat then you'll be treated like one.

- 🐑

Masterlist

[floweredwriting]

2. Write a scene that includes mosquitos, hornets, or wasps.

"Blood suckers… gah get away!"

"Thoma, isn't that racism?"

"Against who?"

"Hmm… Ayaka and Ayato?"

"Uhhh…"

Yoimiya rolls her eyes, a sparkler in her hand. She dangles it over the pavement, the bright yellow spark snaking up in a slow warm glow. She swings it side to side, sitting on the sidewalk steps with Thoma.

He's holding a DS in his hands, piles of textbooks on his lap. Every so often he swats away a mosquito finding itself on his shoulder. He never hits them.

"'Miya, can't we just go inside? It's hot and these are annoying," the sound of pokemon battle music overtakes the crackling of the sparkler. Yoimiya shrugs, her sparkler almost finished. She watches it with far more interest than she does to Thoma, whose tail is jerking back and forth, whacking whatever mosquito is unlucky enough to get close. "You're usually not so annoyed, missing your boyfriend?"

Thoma flushes red, a glare on his face. Or, it would be menacing if not for the fact it came from Thoma and his face was far too cute and he far too nice to be seen as scary. Yoimiya sticks out her tongue when Thoma nudges her shoulder with his.

"No way, I'm his vassal and I couldn't pos-"

"Possibly like him cause your family's been under their command for decades, if not centuries?"

"Yeah and-"

"And his happiness and life are your priorities?"

"Yeah that but-"

"But you don't swing that way?"

Thoma pouts, his face only pinkish now. He looks away, his DS momentarily forgotten. Yoimiya rolls her eyes, again, nudging his shoulder.

"Please, it's the 21st century Thoma, vassalage and all that stuff doesn't matter anymore," Thoma tries opening his mouth, a retort on his lips. Yoimiya shuts him up, her hand closing his jaw. She sees a flash of sharp teeth before it disappears under his lips. "And you totally swing that way. Have you seen the way you look at him?"

"You're completely unreasonable Yoimiya, I don't look at him in any way,"

"Look at who what way?"

Thoma hiccups, turning so fast Yoimiya worries he's gotten whiplash. Behind them Ayaka and Ayato stand, their uniform hurriedly put on and eyes tired. For vampires, they look rather worn out.

"Oh, hi Aya!" Ayaka smiles at her, joining the two on the steps. She takes out her water bottle, her eyes trained on the still going sparkler in Yoimiya's hands. Yoimiya quite likes the amber glow that reflects from Ayaka's eyes. "How was kendo practice?"

Ayato sits on the opposite end, beside Thoma. He too takes out his water bottle. "It was mundane. Have you two been here the whole time?"

"No, we went out for ice cream and came back," Ayaka's eyes widen, her face panicked. "Oh, we're sorry for making you two wait. You could've gone ahead of us,"

Thoma shrugs, his face still pink. He's been quiet except for the music of his DS. Suddenly, he seems to be taken with it. Ayato nudges him, a teasing smile on his face. "What? No hello for your master?"

Ayato chuckles when Thoma stutters and turns red, apologies spilling from his lips. Ayaka frowns at her brother, but Yoimiya can only laugh quietly in her head. She's never seen flirting as obvious as this.

"I'm kidding Thoma, don't start calling me that now. Though, I wonder what you two were talking about when we came here. Who were you looking for?"

"Oh nothing, just me and Thoma-"

"We!... We were wondering… why you took so long! Yeah, you stayed longer than usual so we were thinking to go find you,"

Ayato chuckles, his blue eyes gleaming. Yoimiya had an inkling that Ayato already knows. Heck, she'd bet he feels the same way. She can only wonder why he doesn't confess yet.

"Oh, well as Ayaka apologized so will I. We had a meeting and I couldn't help but want to… help the president towards the right track,"

"No, you don't have to apologize my lord it's-"

"It's unacceptable to make a friend wait, so how about Ayaka and I treat the both of you to ice cream? I imagine what you had wasn't enough for this heat."

"I'll take you up on that," Yoimiya smiles, sending a knowing look to Thoma. His face is still red and embarrassed look there, but his ears are tall and his tail is wagging like there's no tomorrow. Ayaka only chuckles.

"Well? Let's go!" When Yoimiya stuffs the dead sparkler into her bag and grabs Ayaka's hand, she wonders if Thoma still thinks 'blood-suckers' are as bad as before.

A slap was heard before Thoma choked out in annoyed pain. She can see from the corner of her eye as Thoma's glaring at the mosquito buzzing around him.

Well, at least he thinks two of them aren't as bad.

-

Ayato and Ayaka are vampires

Yoimiya is a normal human

Thoma is a weredog

This was inspired by meiiomi on tiktok :))

[ragecndybars]

top ten whump tropes! <3

oooh this is a good one... and a hard one hfkjhdskjhfd, there are so many good ones!! these are in no particular order (except for number one, which is probably my absolute favorite), but here's what i can come up with

A character who, usually due to past abuse or just really low self-worth, thinks that their friends will think they're "weak" or "annoying" if they ever admit they have Needs, only to be shocked when said friends sympathize with their problems and offer comfort and help rather than disdain. I'm mildly obsessed with this trope and insert it into a lot of other whump scenarios, hfldkjhdfs

Characters either hiding an injury or not even realizing that they're injured (until either another character notices and starts freaking out, prompting the injured character to touch the injury and be surprised when their hand comes back bloody)

"The straw that broke the camel's back" type whump -- a character has been dealing with so many tiny or invisible problems and is so overwhelmed with stress that they finally lose it and completely melt down over something seemingly inconsequential.

Wound-dressing scenes in general, but to get more specific: wound-dressing scenes where the full circumstances behind the injuries aren't revealed, either because it's some secret confidential stuff or because the injured party just refuses to talk about it. Usually, this is because they don't want to worry the character who's tending to their injuries or think that the secrets involved would scare them; little do they know that said character is silently driving themselves crazy thinking about all the horrible worst-case scenarios that could have caused each wound.

A character who's only half-conscious, either due to injury or illness, and in their confusion all they can make out is a blurry picture of their friends' panicked faces and/or faint cries of "Can you hear me?" "Hey, keep your eyes open!" "What's wrong?" "Answer me!"

After being captured by the villains, the reckless hero is restrained by several mooks while the Big Bad walks towards them, seemingly helpless to do anything but glare... until they suddenly use their limited movement to headbutt the Big Bad/spit in their face, even though it just ends with them getting hit and/or restrained even further.

Whump that's done for the character's own good. Such as when an injured character has to be held down by one comrade while the other cleans/stitches up a wound without anesthetic.

Take a normally very cheerful and/or calm character, one whom the other characters would never expect to have a super traumatic past, and make them have some sort of panic attack or flashback in front of their friends. I don't mind when this leads to some big Reveal Scene where the character explains everything and the friends are horrified, but I honestly prefer when there are no huge dramatic repercussions--there's just a silent understanding between them now that wasn't there before. The other characters become more aware that, despite their cheer/calm, this character is a Human Person who has more emotions than the ones they show on the surface.

Henchmen or other bad guys capture one character and force another to surrender by threatening the first. Especially when the captured character is trying to shake their head or shout, "No, don't do it!" only for the bad guys to shut them up by hitting them, which makes the other character almost lose control and surge forward to help, only catching themself at the last minute and just clenching their fists behind their back.

I'm putting this at the bottom of the list because it's become pretty cliche and a lot of people add things to it that I don't like, but I'll always be a sucker for those scenes where a character doesn't want to take their clothes/outerwear off, but eventually gives in or has their hand forced, only to reveal extensive scarring from some sort of traumatic backstory. But I DON'T like when the other characters respond by getting really nosy or pushy; a stunned "What happened?" or angry "Who did this to you?" are both alright, but so many variations of this trope just make the supposed "friends" seem like assholes with no boundaries.

Thanks for the ask, this was a lot of fun to write up! ^^

[bit-of-a-fuqboi]

💕 Thank you @lovebillyhargrove for the tag! I love tag games :)

Your zodiac sign?

Sagittarius, on the cusp of Capricorn.

Favourite season/time of year?

Summer. Straight up, anything under 28° I consider to be freezing and right now I'm sitting under a blank cursing the weather (I hate winter sooooo much)

Your fav time of day/night?

Night. I'm a complete night owl and don't come alive until like the most inappropriate times and probably should be trying get to sleep lol

Your most MOST fav Billy scene?

There are soooo many. I love the moments when we get to see a bit more behind the mask that he wears but if I had to pick, episode 3.04 where he pleads with Max. I'm clearly a sucker for angst and this scene broke me.

Food you're craving atm

Bacon, specifically my partner's bacon. I've been waking up to the smell of bacon for two weeks now, but today they are sleeping in, which they deserve, so I'm leaving them be and staring longing at the kitchen while drinking my tea lol

Your favourite kind of alcohol?

This is a hard one, cos I'm not the kind of person who has a preferred drink. I'll drink anything, from wine and beer to spirits, but keep vodka very, very far away from me lol that stuff is basically battery acid and I've drunk home made stuff lol

Neon lights/hustle and bustle OR the quiet of a small town/countryside?

Preferably, the neon lights/hustle and bustle of a city. I'm a city gal at heart, born and bred, however I do enjoy a visit/stay on country (where my community is from is way out in the country)

Sugar!daddy Steve OR sugar!daddy Billy?

Sugar!daddy Steve! Billy deserve to be spoiled lol

The place you wanna be rn?

Anywhere but my house, seriously. I hate lockdown and I have lost track of days.

Country you would like to visit (fingers crossed, they open the borders some time in the future)

I would love to get a permit to visit Arnhem Land, particularly I would want to volunteer for the Garma Festival. While not another country, I feel it's in the vein since our State borders are closed and events of this nature are cancelled due to covid.

Yes, regrets 😔.. OR No regrets!!!!!!!!!😝 (About life, i guess??)

Many regrets, but let's not go down that sinkhole lol

ONLY IF YOU WANNA!!! A selfie??? I love your hearts already, let me love your beautiful faces))❤️💖❤️

I don't normally, but what the hell lol

[marellytalks]

Thoughts on UWMA

Heads up.

Adult rants and some thoughts on my foray into the world of thai BLs

I'm new to this BL fandom, like a few months old kinda new .

I mean I had exposure to SOTUS but it didn't catch on until a few months back. I think what started me again was seeing a clip of Golden Blood? because I am sucker for bodyguard trope so I explored.

And then I saw clips of UWMA and I intrigued because Fluke is a cutie? and Ohm ? tall and handsome?

Such a perfect couple!

So I started watching. I binge watch in one night.

What a beautiful experience.

At the same time, I was going through some personal issues. A few months back, somebody close to me, the husband of my cousin passed away from prostrate cancer.

We didn't know because she didn't tell us and and then we were told he is on his deathbed in the hospice and then the next day he passed.

I was close to my cousin but I wasn't too close to him because he's always busy at work. I was their weekend child because I went there to sleep all the time when I was younger.

He is a prominent figure in my childhood, he bought me my BTS tickets, drove me to the stadium and picked me up after it's finished.

So imagine the next time seeing him was his body.

I saw how my cousin grieved alone. it was so painful and it made me think and I understood why Intouch was so angry.

Somebody that you love so much, and they suffered and die in front of your eyes. It is unbearable.

The more I think of my cousin and while I watched UWMA, I can feel a fraction of that unbearable pain.

They been together for 33 years. and he is all that she knows.

And I think to myself. I had a thought that would make most people think weird. I would rather lose my husband to infidelity than to be arranging for his funeral.

I been married to this man for 14 years now. I feel like I love him enough to feel okay with that because he works hard to make my dream come through all these years.

We had some issues with kids, We only have one we been trying for the second one for ten years only for to lose it to an ectopic pregnancy twice.

I am a broken woman for five almost five years and he didn't stop trying to make everything okay for me. I wasn't suicidal because I'm scared of pain but I was ready to go if God decided to take me away.

My thoughts were, I would give my last breath to see my child take their first, I would be okay to lose my life in order to give him a second child.

That was my thought until I started watching UWMA.

I realised I have been so selfish. What would happen to him if I passed away away, leaving him alone? I never really thought of it until I saw how much Intouch and Korn's families suffered so much for years.

how would the people I leave behind go on after my death?

How can a thai BL drama able to make me have different perspective? Some would say, it's not that deep, it's just a drama show but hell it made me think so much about the stuff in my life.

You can say UWMA changed my whole perspective on life.

I feel it's one of the non-toxic couple I have seen so far, I mean consent, there isn't con-con action going on, boundaries all set and all.

Since Im very new to the scene, the product placement is a little weird? I hope to get used to it.

Ah the fanservice. My logical mind understands it well but my heart completely loves it. And I have been in and writing in fandoms for years now, ever since the internet gave birth to yahoo.

I wasn't a fan of romance dramas, I only watched selective kdramas, only horror or thrillers, romantic kdramas make me wanna poke my eye out and I couldn't finish any.

but here I am re-watching UWMA, Love By Chance and now Lovely Writer.

Re-watching. And consuming content like a hungry monster.

And I didn't finish Goblin or The Monarch or Crash Landing whatever.

Beautiful aesthetics, music, actors but I just couldn't finish it.

ok so I already attach much feelings whenever I hear the soundtrack to both UWMA and LBC.

And the side couple? YESSSSS . Win and Team YASSSSSS

Also Team looks like a cute baby version of Jimin from BTS.

Ah okay I will expand more later.

[fandom-go-round]

Wait no one ask about the ladies of overwatch I'm offended. May I ask for sombra,symmetry,phara and dva please for the sea monster or mermaid ask please. Thank you writing all of this.

Sorry this took so long guys, I’ve been busy with the end of the semester. I’m hoping to get another set out tonight and work on a longer fic I have. Let me know if you want any other requests; I love all the fantasy stuff!

Sombra:

Sombra is abio-florescent chain catshark; she glows purple in the dark, spots flashingbrightly. She’s able to control her coloring, unlike most other catsharksmeaning that she glows when she wants to. She’s a master of surprise, becomingcompletely invisible in the deep ocean.

She’s fascinatedwith human technology, having a hidden cave where she sets up her workshop. Asthe most successful hacker in the world she’s very busy with jobs, travelingfrom country to country.

Her identity ishidden partly because she’s a mer and partly because she thinks it’s funny. Youonly learn her real name years after being with her, curled in her arms as youfloat through the water. You have to swear to never use it outside the cave, Sombra saying that people would target you if you spoke of her. It’s one of the waysthat you really know she loves you.

Symmetra:

Satya is partoctopus, her tentacles fading from dark blue, almost black at the top to a very light skyblue at the ends. Her suckers are a light pink, nothing too gaudy. They blend in very well with the ocean water so she can sneak up on othermers easily. She’s able to camouflage her skin to match her environment, makingher a master of hiding unless she wants to be seen.

She is one of thefew masters of hard light, a special type of merpeople magic. Her tentaclesmake it easy to create wondrous shapes, body flowing majestically. Satya has“unconventional” beauty; other mers are hesitant to speak to her because of heroctopus background but nothing is more beautiful than watching her work.

She enjoys makingyou trinkets when you begin to talk, courting you in the formal merpeople way.She creates shadow boxes with scenes from the ocean, schools of colorful fishand seashells. You have a large collection by the end of the courting period;you’ll need a new shelf when the two of you begin to move in together.

Pharah:

Fareeha is anemperor angelfish fish; she’s mostly blue with thin yellow stripes. Her finsare large and wide, taking up a lot of space. They help her when she bursts outof the water and into the air.

Her species offish doesn’t breach. Only certain kinds of merpeople breach the water and leapinto the sky. Fareeha should not want to or breach as well as she does. No oneunderstands it. She refuses to say where she learned how to do it but nothingis more terrifying than having her leap out of the water. Humans are scared.Other mers are scared. She loves it.

She’s very shywhen you show interest in her, hiding herself behind her fins if you surprise her. It’s somethingshe used to do when she was younger when she was nervous. She hasn’t done it inyears. Ana thinks it’s adorable and helps you realize that no, Fareeha doesn’thate you she just doesn’t know what to say to you.

D.Va:

Hana is a purplepuffer fish, her tail not exactly purple but close in certain lighting. Shebegan to dye her tail as she got older, liking the brighter purple and how itstood out. Her fans love her bright colors; for special occasions she’ll dyeher tail a variety of colors.

She doesn’t inflate often but when she doeswatch out. Her needles are poisonous and a quick sting can lead to a painfulway to go. There are only two ways to get her to inflate: scare her or piss heroff. Hana has a high scare tolerance and it’s much easier to piss her off thantry to get her to jump. She tries not to puff out as a general rule, feelingthat it makes her look immature.

Hana loves to showoff her tail when the two of you get together. She’s not the strongest swimmer buther tail can be used as a club to knock others back. If she’s feeling playfulshe’ll let you hang onto the end (away from any needles) and swing you around.She loves to hear you laugh with glee.