#but then there’s the added context??????

[coeluvr]

Hello, everyone!

Here is what the update entails:

3 Short Stories

Character Codex [ The ROs and other characters ]

World Codex [ Geography and Arcana (passt the cult ✨️) ]

New look for the Profile section

Updated the variables and slight chapter changes

The Shorts and the Codexes unlock as you play the game so you will have to restart the game and play from the very beginning.

[ Play Here ]

For a more detailed report look below!

• The 3 short stories went under a few changes so it is more cohesive within the game.

For example:

Helios apologizes no matter which route you take in The Lake

There is a bit more about Hunter in the 18th Birthday + the wording was changed + a few choices on how MC feels about their relationship with Hunter

New information in the Birthday Ball short regarding E's family.

• The Character Codex undoubtedly took much more of my time because I kept trying different things lol. I am quite pleased with the RO pages while the others leave much to be desired by me but that will be fixed in the next main chapter update hopefully. I was originally going to add character stories for the non RO characters but I felt bad only doing it for a select few non RO characters so I decided to go with another approach which will hopefully add information into their pages as the story unfolds.

• Regarding the World Codex, it has limited information at the moment but I think it is all the additional information people will need to start speculating in their heads hehe. Again, more information will be added as the story unfolds.

• The profile section felt a bit messy to me so I decided to cut down on words and make it simple and easy to read so that's all.

• I updated the variables for a childhood crush on Hunter and Fadiya + added a new reserved variable which came to replace my old quiet variable which was not being used enough despite it being needed.

Also before when you played the game there wasn't an option to NOT pick freckles/beauty marks so there is one now.

I also added a tiny tiny bit more context to the whole Naima suggesting journal thing + in terms of journal names, I removed the #2 so it is plain Alistair now.

• Fixed some random bugs and typos I cannot remember. If you do find any let me know!

[icys-junkyard]

Unova Battle Subway maps

My personal preferred map of the railways (one with blue markers, one with color coded markers)

An alternate map, taking the in-game subway map slightly more literally. (Bonus map with a few non-canon markers I added purely to help myself make sense of the seemingly pointless shapes of some of the routes)

Bonus extra map of the routes taken by Ingo, Emmet, or both of them, for those who want a more specific visual of those routes on their own. (Of course Emmet's line goes through the Pokémon World Tournament lmao)

Misc notes/thoughts under the cut

I'm not a train person, take all these musings with a grain of salt lol

Canon map note: I imagine this map only shows the large, intercity railways. Cities like Nimbasa, Castelia, etc likely have smaller, more complex subway lines all over the city like we tend to see IRL.

Canon map note 2: In an IRL setting, these rail lines are likely far less straight and angular than on these maps and could probably make a lot more sense if drawn with a freer hand and consideration for the landscape, but I tried sticking somewhat close to how it's presented in the game.

International (wi-fi) line: In the game it's the wi-fi line. In a non-game context I imagine this line is one that actually leaves Unova and goes to a neighboring region.

Subwayness: While not all of these lines are 100% underground like they might be in the cities, I like to think quite a few of them are partially or primarily in tunnels. Many lines go across water without a major bridge* on the map, or straight through harsh environments like mountains or deserts, some of which may be more convenient long term to go under rather than through. With the technology of the Pokémon universe, I imagine large stretches of underground train tunnels are entirely possible. (*Maybe there's smaller unshown bridges for the trains, but at least the line that goes right through Castelia's port to an island I'd like to believe could be underground under water)

Battle Subway: The Battle Subway itself likely only runs on these intercity lines.Assuming IRL distances rather than in game walking distances, depending on the length of the line, a lap or two could be a full days work for the bosses. Non-battle trains likely use these same tracks.

Anville Town: The branching path on the Anville line is strange, as it doesn't seem to point toward any known location. It could be pointing toward some unlabelled town or landmark, though I've seen some people posit that it stops at the Celestial or Dragonspiral towers (though they seem too far away for me to agree). My personal headcanon is that rather than the large branch shown on the original map, it's actually two branches going to Anville Town; a large alternate rail to help with rotating/moving trains going in and out of the rail yard there.

Pokémon World Tournament: Located in or very near Driftveil City, it was added in BW2 by Driftveil gym leader Clay. Considering Driftveil is a city, it could have multiple subway stations, one of which just happens to be close to the PWT. Alternatively, it could be a bit of a distance away and thus have it's own station.

PokéStar Studios: Located in or very near Virbank City. As the major intercity lines don't quite hit Virbank itself, I imagine Virbank only has one intercity station near the studio if it's within Virbank itself. That, or it has no intercity stations and one must travel the distance between Virbank and the studio to travel further.

Unity Tower: Literally this train goes through a port and right into the ocean to reach an island. This island is only accessible by boat. I'm convinced this train goes under the seafloor. That or it has a super cool Marine Tube situation where it's a subway tunnel, but the tunnel is transparent and the ocean and water pokémon can be seen out the train windows.

[lackadaisycats]

As someone who hasn't read the comics but absolutely loves the pilot will I need to read the comics to better understand the storyline or is the series more of a retelling?

Btw cannot wait for season 1!

Thank you! You can read the comic if you like, and you might be able to glean some added context from that (especially if you read ahead) but it won't be necessary to understand the animated Season 1. The season will follow the same general storyline as the comic, but it'll be presented in fairly different ways in some places, and will feature some scenes that aren't in the comic.

[whatbigotspost]

I’m gonna start coining tumblr specific cognitive biases and logical fallacy terms…here’s the first ones I’ve theorized so far. (I’m using “actor” here meaning “the person, acting out the fallacy or bias for us all to see.”)

1. The unique contribution fallacy—reading a post of over 10k notes and the actor thinks of something they surmise is very clever to add. The actor imagines themselves to be the first special unique soul to contribute this add, when OP has actually received this “clever” comment 5000 times of those 10,000 notes driving OP up the wall.

2. The whataboutism bias— reading a post on any given particular topic, and believing that OP should say every single thing that you could possibly say about that topic under said single post. The actor doesn’t know they have a personal agenda on the topic and expects OP would have that same bias to talk about the side of the given topic that correlates to the actor’s personal bias, instead of allowing OP to be somebody who just writes what they wanted to write. This often works in tandem with… 

3. The TLDR bias— seeing a post that is actually extremely long and thoroughly well written, often times with sources, numerous added threads of detail etc. but the actor doesn’t actually read the content of the FULL post. Then, in reblogging it or commenting on it, “adding” something that OP definitely originally said, and revealing oneself as somebody who doesn’t even read the detailed things that they re-blog or add on comments about.

3. The literal URL fallacy— not understanding the total chaos that is the Tumblr URL, in this fallacy the actor thinks that someone’s username is ALWAYS telling you exactly what the content of their blog might be. I’ll illustrate this one in like a totally random example way… Let’s say that you hypothetically made a blog that was all about calling out bigots back in the days of yore, the early twenty teens. And yet somehow, despite the fact that every other user around you seems to not be taken literally by their URLs, the actor decides that everything that you post is therefore bigotry…….even if what you’re posting is your own original content that you’re writing, calling out bigots. Too bad, so sad! Because in this fallacy, the actor is going to see you as what your URL says, literally, always.

4. The missed URL fallacy— this of course is the exact opposite of number three. It is where a blog has a very particular theme and format to it, that is the most important thing you can notice to understand the context of a post. So, again, just a random example here… But let’s just say that the intent of a blog is to always post submitted weird ass dreams people had, but the actor doesn’t realize this in their relogging and thinks that somebody is reporting a real life situation that was definitely, very specifically a wild fever dream.

5. The throw the baby out with the bathwater bias— a fan favorite among left leaning and social justice corners of the site, this bias is when the actor reads a post where somebody doesn’t use the most optimal, virtue signaling language for them personally, so the actor ignores the whole entire point of the post. It could be something as serious as and attention demanding as genocide, but somebody uses a word like “crazy” or “stupid” or “bitch” in it and so the actor’s worldview and general proclaimed values are casually tossed aside because the language that was used to deliver it was not “perfect.”

6. The choose your own reality bias—The actor reads a post and reblogs it, adding commentary that is responding to things that are definitely not said in the original post and definitely not anything in the realm of what OP was talking about. Close cousin to…

7. The this is definitely about me/self-own fallacy— this one is actually one of my favorites to spot out in the wild because it is SUCH a tell. It is like a slightly more specific version of the “choose your own reality bias” but this is when the actor reads a post and blogs it, adding commentary that is responding to things that are definitely not said in the original post as if OP is talking about them personally, and therefore revealing themselves as potentially shady or suspect in someway because why did they make it about them, if it’s not about them, you know?

8. The zombie post fallacy—in this one, the actor most likely does not have time stamps enabled on their dash because that isn’t something that happens here by default, and this site has a higher presence of zombie posts (by the way its designed and how it functions) than any other social media site I know. So when a zombie post from 2011 shambles across their dash in 2024, they react to that content as if it is completely new and relevant information or news or a situation to be dealt with in the modern era.

What needs added?

[fairuzfan]

Literally studying to be a journalist right now and the number one thing my course teaches is that you're supposed to present all available facts, don't let one group's voice dominate, and to always say just how you got information and what you do and don't know and why. Every major news network in the US is failing to do that right now but that Atlantic article is making me lose it extra from a professional perspective on top of from a human perspective. It's so easy to, instead of saying that something terrible is legal in a certain context, say that the ruling-class and/or occupying government considers it legal, and then dive into what exactly legality means for the victims in question and what the victims' government's power is in relation to the occupier. "It's legal," okay, to who and what is their history and current sociopolitical relations and what does legality mean due to those things. It's basic ethics and morals and the Atlantic and everyone else is shitting the bed and it's literally the opposite of what you're taught to do, which is just adding to my fury and disgust. Fuck all these journalists fuck these news companies. May they rot in hell and be used as stomach-churning examples of what never to do in future history and journalism classes, amen

Yeah at one point I wanted to go into journalism but stopped after a few classes so seeing like very intro level journalistic malpractice is soooo shocking to me and I'm not even an amateur.

Not to mention the article is clearly biased against hamas in a way that makes the reader already attribute the fault of the children's deaths towards them (they literally talk about human shields as a reason for it being legal to kill children). If you read the article that is definitely what the author is trying to say. The only difference is that they are saying "it might make some people uncomfortable but it's not *illegal*" which is a pointless statement to make overall.

But anyways it's literally one of the worst articles I've read these past few months, I'm so surprised this wasn't an opinion piece and just a straight up actual "news" article.

[crumb]

i love how benson is, on the surface, this devil-may-care kind of character, going around shooting people, dragging randy around to fix his life and scaring the hoes in the process—but at the same time there are these little details that show how much he does care. I mean the big obvious one is his motivation for wanting to fix randy, fix randy and help him not turn out like benson and the rest of the people in the small town, we all know this and have gone over these themes. but the smaller details, unintentional or not, those are really nice. Benson being the only one at Burger Burgers Burgers who has his sleeves cuffed and his shirt tucked in. This is one of many details that shows Benson does care, he cares about how he looks and how he's perceived to some extent. because let's be honest, it does set his character apart from the stereotypical 'redneck working at a fast food joint'. Which then gives an added weight to when he walks outside for his cigarette and untucks his shirt. he's releasing himself from this more restrained version he's presented himself as up until that point. Which then ALSO makes Chris saying "Benson, why do you fucking care?" even funnier. because like... Benson basically responds by killing him which in a way is him saying "hey, you're right, why do I fucking care?" lmaoooo Benson is also the only one, other than Randy (and I guess hardy?) who is wearing BBB uniform trousers. Chris is wearing cargo joggers and Jess is wearing a mini skirt with fishnets. If benson really didn't care about that job, or how he looked at that job, would he be wearing 100% of the uniform, well fitted, cuffed, tucked, cleaned, and ironed? And then when changing outfits at his house he puts on a fuzzy yellow/green cardigan and graphic ringer tee, the choices of which feel very intentional and like they're his favorite pieces of clothing. Which I think must be true if you think about him knowing this is his swan song, he wants to go out looking good. But what he doesn't change? His trousers. You'd think after killing three people at a job you probably don't particularly like and dragging their bodies around, changing out of the uniform would be a relief, other than wanting to just get out of clothes that are recognizable to the restaurant. Which makes me think his BBB uniform trousers are the best/most well-fitting trousers he owns which in itself is interesting. I mean look at the clothes he gives randy, they're not that much different in body size so even on benson those jeans would've been oversized as hell. This somewhat cleaned up version of himself that he presents, especially pre-killing spree, juxtaposed to his home life and his car is, I think, a great representation of Benson as a person. His home life, the clutter, his Ma in the front room, the clothes he gives randy, the junk strewn around his car—versus his cleaned and cuffed and tucked uniform and his stylish cardigan and graphic tee (idc what you say i love the cardigan)—I think it shows someone who is struggling but putting on a brave front, trying to come off as put together, as someone who knows himself and doesn't care about other people's perceptions, but at the same time so desperately does care and hates that he cares, and hates that he can't seem to change things. he can only dress them up a little to look presentable to passersby. and maybe it's one of those "the walls are just blue because they're blue!!" type situations and the wardobe dept or kyle or carter or the art director and whoever else, maybe it's just simply style/design decisions by one or several of them and there's no subtextual meaning behind it all—but even if so, I love that, to me at least, it's developed this deeper meaning within the context of the film and the character.

Don't even get me started on the Kurt Cobain cardigan and Benson having a shotgun in his trunk.

[fancifulplaguerat]

I am utterly compelled. beguiled, even, by Daniil’s Horace quotation in Patho Classic: “ira furor brevis est,” or “anger is a brief madness” (Epistulae 1.2.62). The phrase feels like a more subtle precursor to Daniil’s Seneca allusion in P2: “Imperare sibi maximum imperium est” or “to rule oneself is the highest power” (Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium 113.31.1). That is, both phrases advocate self-control; Seneca’s is obvious, though Horace’s requires context from the full phrase and letter proper, in which he advocates self-control through wisdom (sapienta). The entire sentence is: “ira furor brevis est: animum rege, qui nisi paret, imperat; hunc frenis, hunc tu conpesce catena,” or ((very roughly)) “anger is a brief madness: rule [your] spirit, which if not submitting, rules; you, restrain this with reins, this with a chain.” The juxtaposition between anger and madness particularly interests me, according to how these crop up in Daniil’s character. And yeah I *am* probably looking into this too much but umm. That is literally what I do let us proceed.

Daniil appears emotional, highly reactive, and potentially prone to anger; particularly given his reaction to Simon’s death and Aglaya’s supposed betrayal. Now as this concerns Horace’s quote, Daniil’s one concretely self-professed fear is madness: “Madness is frightening… It’s the only thing I’m truly afraid of.” This appears inexorable from his guiding rationality: “And I, a champion of reason, fear madness over anything else!” So. Most curious why the devs chose to have Daniil say this. His P2 characterization and general internal locus-of-control suggest that he would strive for self-control, yet the quote still feels almost ironic considering his general behavior. Especially since he says this to Saburov on Day 6 during his literal witch hunt, but Daniil’s Day 12 decision ostensibly hinges on his rage at Aglaya’s “”betrayal”””. It’s as though Daniil thinks his rationality and accordingly logical justice place him above madness, but he succumbs to his own form through his tendency to act on anger. 

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for fake dating my friend in order to prank someone I don’t like?

🧡💛🤍🩷❤️ to find

I (17F) have a friend “Hope” (17F) who I am very close with. We met about a year ago through a mutual best friend of ours, “Lily”(18F). The three of us have become extremely close with each other over the course of the last six/seven months, and hang out pretty much every week. We are also all gay (I’m a lesbian and Hope and Lily are bi) and we're all very comfortable with platonically flirting with each other to the point where people often think we're dating.

Recently, Lily and I invited Hope to our school’s prom (Hope goes to a different school), and we all wanted to take some cute pictures of us in our dresses. The grounds of where the prom was are absolutely stunning, so we, along with our friend group, went to go take some pictures a little bit away from the prom building. While we were taking photos, Hope and I started ironically flirting, saying stuff like “I wonder if anyone’s gonna kiss at prom” and “this prom isn’t gay enough yet”. Our friends then jokingly said we should kiss, and we went “why not” and did. Our friends took a couple pictures, and later that night we added them to a shared album of all our prom photos.

In the days after prom, we all planned what pictures we wanted to post on Instagram together. We all posted on our main accounts, but Lily and I decided we wanted to make funny/casual posts on our private spam accounts along with the posts on our main ones. Lily’s spam post ended up containing the picture of me and Hope kissing (with our permission ofc), and I decided that I wanted to post it on my spam too (again with permission). However, I was a bit worried about posting it solely because I have a couple people added on my spam that Hope dislikes.

Specifically, I am “friends” with a guy from Hope’s old school who was a toxic friend to her. I met him a while before I met her, so I didn’t know he was awful until many months into mine and Hope’s friendship. I don't really want to be friends with him anymore after everything Hope told me, but I have no way to drop him because we have a lot of mutual friends. We also share a lot of common interests and frequent the same places in town, so we run into each other at stores or events sometimes. However, Hope told me not to worry about it and that it’d be funny for him to see someone who he considers a friend be kissing someone he hates.

We then decided on a phone call that I would post the photo as its own post with the caption “is it gay to kiss your friends”, and put a popular lesbian song on the post, then refuse to give context to anyone asking. About an hour after making the post, however, the guy messaged me in shock asking when I’d gotten a girlfriend and asking who she was. (This wasn't asked out of him having an interest in me btw, he is gay and has a boyfriend). I told Hope and Lily, and we decided that Hope and I were going to keep up a fake dating bit in order to lie to him.

We have since made a fake anniversary post on our stories and have been planning out a whole backstory for our “relationship” to make it sound believable. We plan to keep this bit up for as long as possible solely for the point of pranking this guy, which we all think is a little bit mean, but he was a horrible friend to her and we don’t really feel bad for lying.

AITA?

[ddarker-dreams]

I ASPIRE TO WRITE LIKE YOUUUUU UGUGUHHHHGUGHHGHHGHGHHGGHHHHHH I CAN'T STOP DEVOURING YOUR WORKS PLEEEEASE HOW DO YOU WRITE SO ELOQUENTLY YET SO CHARISMATICALLY?? PLEASE SHARE YOUR WISDOM, GREAT ONE!!😭🙏

PLSSSSSSS thank you so much,, i feel undeserving of such high praise 🥺 ...

i'm not entirely sure how my writing style came to be hjiegrjw lots of practice, i guess?? i consider what i want to get across in any story, whether it's a snippet or full-fledged series, then work around that. all that experience has made me familiar with my most effective storytelling methods.

my writing process basically looks like this:

initial idea

brainstorming about the idea (what are the character's positions? if they're at conflict, how do they express it? what's their body language, their word choice? etc etc)

open the accursed google docs and either:

(a) start at the beginning of the story, specifically what context the reader needs and drawing them into the Vibe. also equally important is knowing what information not to provide the reader, so they're left wanting to unravel what is going on.

(b) start smack dab in the action. structure comes later. lean into the excitement of the cool idea. context be damned, go ham.

in both cases, when i feel like i'm getting stuck, i come back to it later if it feels like it's grinding the entire process to a halt. i'll underline the segment, write a description of what it is i'm going for, then keep chugging along.

🚄 continue chugging until i can't anymore. exit google doc.

daydream about the story literally nonstop until i can work on it again, looking at things with a fresh lens in the days that follow the initial draft.

i make a few copies of the draft and try out different ideas, scrapping and adding as i go.

(here's an example of what this looks like, chap 4 and 5 of nexus had multiple versions with differences throughout until i landed on something i liked)

reread 458729x times and nitpick over smaller things like word choice, clean up dialogue to make it more fitting to the character

pray

huh . this is actually more convoluted than i thought. i'm not entirely sure if this will be helpful or not, messy as it is... but it is an unfiltered look into whatever tf my process is.

[moremousewrites]

Unforseen Events

Pairing: Astarion/Reader

Summary: After stumbling upon the Last Light Inn, you discover an interesting substance in one of the rooms you've been boarded in. Astarion has an idea how to use it, but so do you. The night just might yield a surprising result for the both of you

Tags: Smut, light angst, Shadowheart mentioned, rimming, anal fingering, miscommunication, handjobs, canon compliant lubrication

A/N: okay Tav (reader) is technically gender neutral in the sense i didn't describe them or use gendered pronouns however the context could imply they're afab. But it could be interpreted either way if you so choose. Either way please enjoy!

The Last Light Inn was a safe haven amongst the blight of the shadow cursed lands. Your party was exhausted after fighting its way to sanctuary, and Jaheira, the head harper allowed you shelter for the night. You thanked her, and made your way to the rooms that were available. 

Upon opening a communal closet you found several ornate bottles. “Huh, what's this?” You asked, turning one bottle in your hand.

Shadowheart inspected the object “Aloe oil. It's useless, it has no healing properties. It's worth more to us to sell” she took it from you and held it to the light to confirm its contents.

“Well, not useless. I can think of a couple of ways to use this” Astarion piped up from behind you, picking up another bottle from the shelf.

Shadowheart scowled at the veiled comment. “How very crafty of you. Perhaps you can use it to slip out of our lives forever” she placed the bottle down and left the room before Astarion could retort.

“What do you say, darling? Care for a demonstration?” Astarion asked, flashing his charming smile at you.

“Oh! Sure, I'd love to” you examined the substance in his hand. “tonight then?”

“Every waiting moment will be agony” He flourished his hand, adding emphasis.

After taking a well deserved bath, scrubbing off the blood and dirt from your body, you met Astarion in a private room. He was shirtless already, and had groomed and perfumed himself. He seemed to have set the room with carafes of wine and water, candles lit various surfaces as if this were a ceremony.

You strode over to him, kissing him where he stood. His hands found their way to your ass, rolling your hips onto his as you sucked his tongue into your mouth.

“I must confess something” he broke the kiss. You hummed in inquiry. “I've wanted to do this with you for quite some time”

“Oh I have to confess something as well. I haven't done this in a while, I might be a bit unpracticed” You give him a faint smile as he squeezes your ass tighter.

“That won't be an issue my dear, let me guide you” Astarion used his practiced charm on you, ready to take control.

You gave him a look that was hard to read. “Are we on the same page here?” 

Astarion feared he pushed for something you're not quite ready for. He thought you knew what he was suggesting when he mentioned the oil's usefulness. “I… thought so. What exactly did you have in mind, my sweet?” Preparing for the worst, Astarion expected rejection. Perhaps you just wanted a vanilla romp in bed. He could work with that. But you'd been experimental up until now, and Astarion was unsure where the confusion lied.

You gave him a mischievous look and pushed him onto the bed. 

While you'd taken him by surprise, he was much more interested in what you had in mind at this point and let you take the lead- for now.

You took off his pants, pushing his legs up “what are you-” he's cut off by the feeling of your tongue pressing against his asshole, causing a pinched cry to eek from his lips.

“Is this okay?” You pulled back in concern, never having heard the sound come from him before. Its raw pleasure, completely unscripted and unfocused on you. Astarion isn't totally sure of the answer but he knows it feels good and nods anyway. “I need your words'' you insisted.

“Yes, please keep going” he spoke, more breath than voice. 

You pulled his ass cheeks apart and tongued his hole again, circling the tight ring of muscle. His cock pulsed against his stomach and you looked up to see his precum smear against his stomach. 

His hands were fisting the sheets, desperate to remain in control, but when you form a tight grip around his balls to constrict him, his back arches and he breaks

“Please, Tav, please give me more. My cock, my ass, anything”

It's a side of him you've never seen before. He's never surrendered to you this way and it's beautiful. You're honoured.

You pull away from him, causing him to whine in defeat, only to uncork the aloe oil bottle from earlier. The substance is cooling on your hands, and fantastically lubricating. 

You lather your hands and take his weeping cock first, stroking him slowly as he as his hips meet your hand to match your pace. He's so desperate for your attention you don't dare stop him now. 

“Tell me if it's too much” you warn him and lightly prod at his asshole with a lubricated digit, toying with him. He groans in relief when you slide your first finger in, pressing your knuckles against his ass.

He's panting now, begging you through stuttering breaths, “more, please” his cock twitches in your hand as you roll your thumb over his red tip.

Another finger slips in and you scissor them, spreading his hole for your fingers as you begin pumping them in tandem with your other hand. Astarion's hips are undulating against your thrusts, bucking onto your fingers as he reaches his ecstasy. You see it in his taut muscles, his tightened balls, he's nearly there.

“Come for me, Astarion, let go” your words are a reassurance, not a command. Still, he isn't quite ready to come undone.

You curl your fingers upward inside him and as he descends upon them, his pleasure shatters him. 

Astarion let out a sound that could only be described as a howl. The intensity of his orgasm frankly shocked you. His spend shot as far as his chin, and covered the expanse of his chest. He shuddered as his cock softened in your hand.

“Astarion? Are you alright?” You asked, concerned by his new demeanor. From the few times you'd laid with Astarion, he'd only ever focused on your pleasure, though you really insisted on pleasuring him. His orgasms had always been quite restrained, especially compared to this.

When you removed your fingers from him, he blinked, as if awaking. “Oh? Yes, that was-” He looked down at himself and to you, perched between his legs, eyes filled with worry. “You said you've done that before?” He asked, a bit lost for words. 

You smiled, taking some rags off of the nearby dresser and wiping off his chest. “Yes, plenty of times. Though it's been some time as I said before,” Astarion felt an odd twinge at your admission. He knew you weren't particularly picky with your bedfellows, hence his situation with you. And it made sense he'd feel territorial over you, he needed you for his arrangement to work. But it seemed he actually felt… jealous.

“Have you?” You asked, wiping your hands.

“Yes, of course” he answered, curtly. So why did it feel different? Why did it feel good?

You both sat in silence for a moment, sitting in each other's presence. 

“May I ask, how did you expect tonight to go?” 

Astarion sat up, meeting your eye and giving you his charming smile “Truthfully, darling, I expected to be the one inside your ass tonight” 

You try to suppress a chuckle only to let loose a hearty laugh. Astarion recoils from you, scowling. “Oh, I'm sorry, it's not funny, really. It's just that the thought hadn't even crossed my mind. You see, I was never really much of a ‘receiver’. At least, not before I met you. But I can see why you thought that now” you explained, trying to reconcile the situation. “I suppose we both should work on our communication skills in the future. But I'm open to the idea if you still are” you offer him your hand.

Surprising the both of you, he takes it. “Well, we've still got a few bottles of the oil left” he nodded to the shelf. 

“I'm up for it if you are” you leaned in to kiss him, and Astarion reciprocated. 

“Yes, I believe I am”

[writingquestionsanswered]

How do you write a nightmare sequence that's supposed to be foreshadowing but doesn't give away plot points? I'm trying to be subtle about it and I'm drawing a complete blank on how to allude to it as the character has temporary amnesia. My friend suggested to do a happy dream that gets vaguely unsettling, but I'm wanting to be more unsettling.

Thank you for your time ;_;

Nightmare as Foreshadowing

1 - Understand Your Purpose

First, you need to make sure you understand exactly what you're trying to convey with this nightmare. What specific things are you trying to foreshadow? If you're not clear on exactly what you're trying to get across, it will be difficult to render it in any way. 2 - Lay the Foundation

Next, you need to make sure you lay the foundation in your story so that the reader has a built-in understanding of why all of these things are unsettling in the first place. If your reader doesn't have good context for what's going on, no amount of exposition or action in the nightmare will do the work for you.

3 - Sensory and Emotional Detail

A big part of making a nightmare sequence unsettling is to make sure to include sensory and emotional detail. In other words, use what your character can see, hear, smell, taste, touch, and feel in the nightmare to make it more unsettling. Also, be sure to touch on what the character is thinking and feeling as they experience the nightmare. Have a look at the following posts for help: Horror by Darkness, Horror by Daylight, Adding Emotional Details to a Horror/Tragedy Scene, Portraying Strong Emotions 4 - Metaphor, Symbolism, and Theme

Try to use metaphor, symbolism, and theme as a way of getting your foreshadowing across. For example, if your character is on the run from a greedy corporation after threatening to expose them, your character might dream about being chased by a pack of wolves as a metaphor for being chased by something dangerous. Symbolism plays a big part in our dreams and nightmares. You use Google or sites like Dream Dictionary to research different dream symbols and what they mean. You can also look at the themes in the element you want to foreshadow and find other ways to represent those themes. For example, maybe the conflict has themes of environmentalism... what are some other ways you can convey that theme in the nightmare?

Happy writing!

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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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Angeal only left sephiroth because he thought he could handle it. in oo he was shocked that sephiroth deteriorated as much as he did. he didn't know.

Yeah, that was a huge indicator for me that a lot of Angeal's avoidance towards Seph in CC was pretty much just the result of clunky writing. I think they really should have added a bit of dialogue there to show that Angeal wasn't intentionally being kind of callous.

Opera Omnia was pretty useful in that it added a lot more depth to Sephiroth and Angeal's individual relationship outside of the inclusion of Genesis. I really appreciated it. Angeal thought that Sephiroth would be okay on his own, but never meant to actually hurt him. Maybe Angeal thought that Sephiroth would simply overcome the anxiety of the situation, or that as Shinra's "hero" he wouldn't have to stoop down to their level. You could really dig deep into the WHYs and HOWs.

I have a feeling FS Episode 2 might add some extra context by presenting us with a scenario in which a young Angeal witnesses Sephiroth overcome a seemingly unconquerable situation, further adding to his view of Sephiroth as someone who rises to the occasion. All the while never knowing that Sephiroth emotionally relies on him and Genesis more than he ever could express in words.

Regardless, Angeal still cared about Sephiroth greatly. And never meant to hurt him or leave him behind. It's just part of the tragedy of the situation.

[jayteacups]

Like imagine you’re chilling in the living room, knitting reading, finally at peace, and you just blurt out “you know honey…remember when we were fighting eren…you looked so hot” hed be there with a blanket on his lap and a cardigan looking at you like youve lost your mind. But he would still blush and tell you to shut up

(Previous ask)

Yessss I love the image of you and post-war Levi all cozy and comfortable on the sofa, and then you just blurt that out nonchalantly. I'm now imagining him choking on his tea a bit and has to put his cup down on the coffee table before shooting you a glare. He's all flustered, trying to regain his composure by grumbling something like: "you nutter, have you finally lost it? Why are you saying these ridiculous things?" He turns his head away, avoiding your gaze, alskjffdksj he's so flustered and confused. Doesn't matter how long you've been together, he'll never really get used to you saying that you find him attractive. 🥹 and with the added context of you thinking that he looked hot while he was so injured as well... he's going back for his tea because he doesn't quite know how else to respond to that and would rather just pretend you didn't say that. You just smile at him as if you hadn't caught him incredibly off guard, he's grumbling at you to shut up before you can say "something else that's even more fucking ridiculous'", and you tip your head back and laugh. The flush on his cheeks doesn't leave until he's had at least two more cups of tea.

[melonteee]

Since you brought up the OPLA den den mushi… I honestly think they’re pretty unimpressive as far as animatronics go. Both in their construction and how they’re used in the show.

Not only are the den dens far less articulate than the animatronics seen in shows of a similar caliber (see: Farscape) but they don’t even achieve the level of articulation of most hand puppets. To me it sums up what sums up how the overall production just seemed to have weird priorities; $10,000 a pop to give these snails realistic skin textures, human lips with moisture glisten, human hair, and off-putting bloodshot eyes only for those elements to be squandered on lifeless mouth flaps.

But they also just don’t work in how they’re framed by the show. In the original series, the Muppet-like simplicity of the den dens’ designs is used to help sell that the mundane whimsy, which combined with how characters treat the den dens makes their relationship with humans feel mutually beneficial. The live action though? If the “kill me” expressions weren’t enough, it’s clear that the directors treated the den dens as set props instead of living animals in the context of the world, and that bleeds into how the characters interact with them. The only characters who use den dens in the whole show are antagonists, Nami’s ear bud den dens sputter and squeal in pain after being submerged in salt water and she throws them back in the water in annoyance when they don’t work, and worst of all Garp flips his desk in a tantrum with his den den still on it where it gets smashed on the floor. Replace the den dens in any of these scenes with a carrier pigeon or a ship cat and the tone suddenly shifts into a huge “fucking YIKES.”

Which to me is a crying shame, because the prospect of seeing Muppet-esque den dens and similar creatures was kinda the only thing that piqued my interest. One Piece is absolutely a series where you should be able to visualize the characters having in-depth conversations with most Jim Hensen creations, but it feels like the show’s budget is already bursting at the seams given how this same issue is prevalent in other areas of the production. I can already tell that the existence of the den den earbuds means they’ll likely phase out the den dens at some point in favor of having characters talk into the middle distance. The Golden Den Den Mushi that triggers the Buster Call to Enies Lobby might end up being a Golden Bluetooth if the series gets that far.

Yeah it feels like the Den Den Mushis were treated so cruelly in the live action, which is just adding to the 'edginess' of the world I guess ??? And it's a shame cause when Sanji crushed the radio in water 7, Oda got someone asking if the Den Den Mushi was okay, and Oda said don't worry! The radio isn't actually the Den Den Mushi, it's just placed on it! So Oda has taken very careful care in his own world to not hurt these little snails, but it feels like the live action just shoved them in not to world build but...like you said, just as props HHH

And yeah the lifeless form of the Den Den Mushi animatronics really aren't that impressive are they, the original Den Den Mushis have little arms that flail around while they openly laugh and scream and cry. Every time a Den Den Mushi got a distress call and acted it out in the manga/anime, I remember thinking "good job little snail." But the live action Den Dens are so...nothing?? They just don't even feel like living creatures lmao

The live action Den Den Mushis feel like a good sideshow attraction where u can let people talk through it for the mouth to flap, but otherwise...why in the world spend 10k (or whatever it was) per Den Den Mushi if you could just make a hand puppet, or even include some CGI, for a LOT cheaper and have MORE movement and expression??? Like you said, the priorities of production were bizarre.

[hellojuiceboxbaby]

I was listening to the song reckless driver a moment ago thinking absently about what pairing in dbda it suits or mirrors and my first thought was either Edwin and Charles or Charles and Crystal. Charles being the “reckless diver” in both pairings and Crystal or Edwin being the “carful drivers. In the way that he plans things about as they happen allowing his anger take over to deal with pressing situations and responding to imminent danger with violence in some cases.

I was interpreting the song as the reckless driver as the spontaneous more in the moment person whilst the carful driver is the well thought out planner. Which it can be but in the context of the song the reckless driver is someone who lets their emotions completely rule their actions or distract them from what going on around them. The reckless drivers consuming love for the passenger (carful driver) making them to ignore what they’re doing and causing them to crash the car.

And that speaks even more to Charles as a character. He let his anger for Mr Devlin (who he saw as a placeholder for his own father ad both were abusers) completely take over as he went to directly intervene in the time loop and then getting caught up in it.

We see this happen again when the night nurse first comes to collect the boys and she tries to use his past to convince him he should go with her but it has an opposing effect. The anger and sadness of having to momentarily relive some of the worst moments of his life, that also lead to his death, blinded him as he violently expelled her into Angie.

Anyway that’s what I do all day at work, listen to music and see what marauders or other fandom ships they make me think of. (I know I should go into Edwin being the carful driver in their duo but I genuinely do have to get back to work lol)

[swissyyroll]

i love looking through old screenshots with no context because i don’t know what happened in most of them. however i added the one with pac in a crown because 🥹