#but there are others who are on the builder's side and others who don't particularly care either way

[enbyboiwonder]

Y’know, when Lee came and found me and told me to give over any data disks and especially any weapons I find in the mines for destruction (and of course it was the fucking church who found me first and not the research center. Luckily though I found the research center soon after. The church ain’t getting shit), I thought I’d be finding old nuclear warheads down there or something. The first time I found a glowing purple dot on the scanner, I assumed it was a weapon, and when I pressed A, I thought it had taken me to the entrance or something and I couldn’t mine in that area anymore. I didn’t realize it had taken me to an unused room with a few monsters to kill and a few chests to loot (and I could go right back and keep right on mining), and I also hadn’t uncovered enough to see that it was a pipe. I realized the second time, though.

No, it’s the triple barrel snakebite, a.k.a. the poison blaster, as I like to think of it. The day after I first pieced one together and tried it out, I received a cease and desist letter from the church (and lost nonexistent favorability points w Lee and Nora lmao). lol how ‘bout no.

Anyways, fuck the church.

[ithebookhoarder]

A Whole Latte Love to Give 🍁 (Matt Murdock x Reader)

Description: You hate running late to work as it means you don't have time to stop for coffee - and what's worse, it's your favourite coffee season too.

A/N: It's Autumn and I'm a coffee addict so this felt right 😅 In fact, if anyone brings me coffee in the morning they are automatically my favourite for life 💕

Warnings: Swearing, references to smut, I think that's it.

Masterlist

You hated running late. 

It was frustrating and meant you had to sprint to make sure you made it to the subway on time to get across town to your office. You’d also then end up arriving with your hair all over the place, out of breath, and normally dripping with an uncomfortable amount of sweat. 

That alone would have been bad but when your boyfriend/boss had the super nose of a blood hound, it actually made you want to curl up into a ball and melt into the carpet. 

Needless to say, you were having one of those days today. The alarm hadn’t gone off and you had barely had enough time to put a comb through your hair, let alone grab some form of breakfast, or more importantly, coffee. 

You were embarrassed to admit how heavily you’d come to rely on the caffeinated beverage but honestly? It was all that kept you running most days. Besides, this was New York. People here were used to drinking it like it was water - which is to say you were struggling by the time you made it up the stairs to Nelson & Murdock. Worse still was the fact that you’d passed your favourite coffee shop on the corner as you’d sprinted to make it to your first meeting of the day. 

The bright fall leaves glued in the window were mocking you as they declared the arrival of the season and with it, their drinks menu - including your favourite drink of all time: a pumpkin spice latte.

Yeah, that particularly stung as you had to physically drag yourself away, knowing you didn’t have the time. Damn it. 

You’d have to wait til lunch to treat yourself and mark a start to your favourite season - a thought that had you grumbling to yourself as you finally made it up the stairs and to your office. 

Thankfully, it was quiet when you pushed the door open and managed to drop your bag at your desk. No clients were sat waiting for you, ready to berate you for clocking in a whole five minutes late, which was a huge relief. 

In fact, the only other person who appeared to be in the office at all was Matt - and even he seemed to have only just arrived, given the fact he hadn’t even taken off his coat yet. How strange. Normally he’d have been here a good twenty minutes or so already, having barely stopped long enough at his apartment for a quick power nap. 

Maybe he was also running late this morning?

“Morning, Matt,” you sighed, by way of greeting. “Sorry, my stupid phone didn’t charge last night so I missed my alarm. I only woke up because the asshole builders outside my place decided to start construction a whole hour earlier than normal, which is a pain but kinda saved my ass in the end. I mean, thanks to them I at least had time to brush my teeth but that was it if I was going to make the subway- Oh!“ 

You stopped. 

You stared down at your desk, surprised to see the steaming plastic cup sitting waiting for you. You were even more surprised to see your name scribbled on top, as well as your order printed on the side: a large Pumpkin Spice Latte. 

“Is this for me?” you blinked, turning your gaze across the room. “You got me coffee?” 

“I figured you wouldn’t have time,” Matt shrugged, in true Matt fashion. He always underplayed it whenever he did something for you. He never saw it as a big deal, whether it was taking a bullet for you or just grabbing your dry-cleaning. “You’re always in before I am unless you’re alarm fails to go off so… I grabbed you a coffee when I grabbed myself one. Don’t worry about it.” 

“But … you got my favourite? You remembered?” 

Matt laughed, holding his hand over his chest as he gasped in mock hurt. “Your surprise wounds me, sweetheart.” 

“Oh, hush. It takes more than that to hurt the big bad Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, Matty.”

“Well, I don’t know about that. You’re kind of my weak spot.” 

His admission tugged at your heart and it was hard to hide the resulting grin, especially when he followed the words by stealing a kiss and pulling you into his arms. 

This was always the best part of your morning routine, stealing a moment together before Foggy and Karen arrived. Just a perfect moment of peace, where nothing else existed other than the two of you. It was as if the world had stopped, just for a second, and there was no crazy crime bosses trying to kill you both, bills to pay, or clients in need of your help. 

You were simply two people in love, starting another day at work with a cup of coffee. 

“Have I told you today that you’re the best?” you hummed.

“Not today, I don’t think.” 

“Well then, I’m telling you now. You’re my hero - my coffee grabbing hero.” 

“At your service,” Matt chuckled, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. “But, you do know there’s an easier solution to this, right? One that would cut your commute in half and allow you ample time to get coffee in the morning?”

“Oh, what’s that? Super speed? Or are you going to show me how to parkour my way across rooftops?” 

“Actually… I was thinking you could move in with me?”

You stopped. 

Your head lifted so you could look him right in the eye. For a second you couldn’t tell if you’d misheard him or even just imagined it. “Are - are you serious?”

“As a heart attack,” he teased, his nerves showing as he waited for your answer. “Which is incidentally what you’ll have if you keep on drinking nothing but coffee all the time.” 

“You are such a hypocrite, Murdock-”

“So what? That a deal breaker?” 

“No,” you gasped, meaning every word. It was true. There was no force on earth that could drive you away from the man you were blessed to call your own. “I think, that actually sounds like a pretty good idea to me.”

“Wait, is that a yes?”

“Yes, Matt. It’s a yes.”  

It was about a week later that you finally made the move a reality. 

You spent the Saturday, assisted by a giddy Foggy and Karen, moving your boxes up the flights of stairs to Matt's apartment. They were only too eager to facilitate the pair of you finally moving in together (a fact proven by the fact you caught Foggy handing Karen a $50 bill. She had apparently bet you'd move in together before the end of the year).

"I had you down for six months ago," Foggy had grumbled, rolling his eyes at Karen's triumphant cheers. "Not my fault you two move at the pace of a glacier."

Still, you knew he was only joking. He was second only to Matt in his enthusiasm, helping move your worldly belongings about the apartment that was now also your home.

"I'm just going to run down and grab the last box from the van," you called, stepping out into the hallway and leaving the three of them to it.

However, you'd only made it a step when you heard someone calling your name.

"Y/N? Is that you?"

You turned and smiled at the kindly elderly woman who you knew to be Matt's closest neighbour. "Hi there, Mrs Manning."

You'd run into her a few times since you and Matt had started dating. She was a kind old soul who had been widowed sometime last year. Now, it was just her and her cat Tigger who resided in their apartment - and she had a real soft spot for your boyfriend.

"You doing ok?"

"Fine, thank you, dear," she smiled, gesturing to the few cardboard boxes still sat by the front door. "Those yours?"

"Uh, yes," you nodded awkwardly, sliding your hands into your pockets, “I’m actually moving in.”

"Well, finally. It was about time," she teased, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "Now I can have you both over for dinner. It'll be nice for me and for that darling boy in there to have some company. He always spends too much time alone. I swear, he is wasting away - never any meat on those bones of his."

"We'd love to come to dinner," Matt answered smoothly, opening the door and popping his head out with a stealth you still couldn't get used to. He must have heard you talking from the other side of the door. "And don't worry, Mrs Manning, we'll both take good care of each other."

"Good good - and don't worry, I'll have my music playing nice and loud for most of the night so make all the noise you need," she teased, winking cheekily at the pair of you before turning back towards her apartment.

You and Matt were left standing there, speechless.

"I'll see you lovebirds later."

[floramisu]

Made a little character sheet for Onyx!

The template was made by @lucifers-paramour

And I'm slowly writing down lore for her, I'll write it under the cut!

Name: Onyx Age: ~22 Gender: Female (She/Her) Profession: Builder City of Origin: Highwind

Onyx is one of the new builders coming to Sandrock from Highwind. She wanted to make a change in the world, and seeing a position open in a town in need, she thought it was her chance to finally make a difference. In Highwind, Onyx didn't have many friends, Nia being the only that stuck the test of time, even if they started drifting apart after High School. People are usually intimidated by Onyx's stern gaze, leading them to believe she's unfriendly and should not be messed with. In truth, she's just reserved, but craves connections that always seem just out of reach. Maybe in Sandrock she can finally change her fate.

Trivia:

She's a follower of the Church of the Light. Even if she's not the most orthodox, she still tries to give donations whenever she can.

Despite this, she finds relics fascinating, and believes not all of them should be discarded, though some should be handled with care.

Relationships:

Please note most of these are previous to certain story events, and those events will change how she feels towards them.

Burgess: Despite her seemingly standoffish appearance, Burgess was nice to Onyx from day one, and did not judge her. He soon became Onyx's first friend, and she cherished him deeply, wanting to do anything to help him out in his quest for water conservation! Eventually, she developed feelings for him, and they started dating. Everyday she's with him is a day filled with the warmest sunshine.

Mi-an: While she was a bit afraid of Onyx at first, she very quickly realized there was nothing to fear. With both being builders and working together, they developed a nice friendship. Onyx enjoys having someone she can trust and with whom to discuss her passion.

Miguel: As a member of the Church of the Light, and the one handling finances and donations, Onyx and Miguel got to talk quite a bit. They don't agree with everything, but they still get along quite well. Miguel can offer Onyx advice when she's feeling lost, and she really appreciates him. In a way, he's sort of like a second dad to her.

Matilda: Onyx often goes to donate to the Church and ends up seeing Matilda. She enjoys listening to her, and they usually have very nice chats. Matilda never seemed to judge her, and this is something she values.

Pen: Onyx doesn't particularly like Pen, but they talk from time to time regardless and she tries to give him a chance. However, she gets very annoyed any time he picks on Burgess, and will not hesitate to let him know, though he doesn't really care. Pen respects Onyx's strength, and something may have happened when he realized her arms... are actually strong?!

Unsuur: They often pass each other while working, and while they didn't talk much at first, Unsuur admired Onyx's hard (like a rock) work. After a certain incident, they became closer friends, and Unsuur loves talking to her about rocks. With a name like hers, she's the perfect person for it!

Fang: It took some time, since both are pretty reserved, but after Onyx helped Fang with his experiments, a bit of conversation started appearing, at least from Onyx's side, helped a bit by X. Onyx could relate to his loneliness, and really wanted to help him come out of his shell, just as she had been learning to do during her time at Sandrock.

Dan-bi: They're not that close, but as a friend of Burgess, Onyx tries to befriend her as well. They don't always understand each other, but both of them agree that they will kick the butt of anyone who messes with Burgy boy, and sometimes that is enough.

[dandelion-wings]

Aether and Lumine? Paimon too.

Thank you for the ask! :> I am going to split this not on Aether/Lumine lines but on Traveler/Abyss Prince(ss) lines, because, well, canon did set it up that way, and while if absolutely pushed, Lumine is my Traveler, I mostly prefer to be agnostic in my meta and fic about who is who.

TRAVELER

How I feel about this character

Ah, yes, Traveler von Protagonist Disease.

The thing that complicates the Traveler for me is that I absolutely loathe the kind of semi-self-insert-but-semi-independent-character protagonist that seems to be getting popular in video games these days. Byleth in FE3H is another good example. I wish they didn't exist! I wish that it was either a full self-insert, character-builder and all, or that they gave us a protagonist with a personality in the style of Tales Of and Final Fantasy games in the first place. I really enjoy roleplaying a character as I play a video game, whether given to me as a fully-realized character or as one I made up myself, and this in-between kind of robs me of that because I can't go full "this OC of mine believes this" and I also can't try for accuracy to the character I'm presented on-screen.

That said, they have been getting better about this with the Traveler over the last few nations, and I like the increasing sense of actual, independent personality that we've gotten for them! Obviously a protagonist of this kind of game, where all the others have to like the player character to make the gacha appealing, is going to want to help others, so I actually particularly like the occasional thread we get where they're like "no, I don't actually care half as much for Teyvat as I do for my sibling, I don't not care but my main mission is still to get to them" because it's very refreshing to me.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Childe with the Lumine version, as two people who can and will absolutely fuck each other up in a play-battle, post-fight sex optional but fun. (Also I once read a Childe/Lumine AU fic where Childe was attempting to pursue The Greatest Game with Lumine and she turned the tables and pinned him down with knives through his hands, and it was incredibly hot.) Ayaka, as a one-sided crush on Ayaka's part. That's... really about it.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Paimon! My bestest and beloved friend. :>

My unpopular opinion about this character

With a handful of exceptions, I... do not particularly enjoy Traveler-centered fic/art/meta. I don't know how unpopular that is but it's all I've got.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I know why Hoyo can't do this with their gacha game full of waifus and husbandos, but I wish we had at least one major/playable character who just did not get along with them. All their voicelines are along the lines of "you think I'm fucking telling you that?" I just want to see how it would play out.

THE ABYSS PRINCE(SS)

How I feel about this character

Honestly much more fascinating to me, in part because they've been a lot more allowed to have some kind of personality from the beginning! I want to know all about what's happened to them, why they hold the positions they do, why they give their twin so few crumbs, etc.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

I mean. Dain. XD

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Aside from their twin, also Dain! Love their history.

My unpopular opinion about this character

This sort of overlaps with the second, but while I don't know how plausible or how unpopular it is, the mirror in the Caribert quest where the Traveler saw them in it combined with some minor previous stuff to unlock a Theory for me that the Traveler and the Abyss Prince(ss) aren't twins, but a single person with, for the Traveler, altered memories, whom the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles broke apart in order to nerf their power and/or for other reasons related to the whole "Fourth Descender broken up for parts" thing. Fascinating to me.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Related to the above: Hoyo, please give me this. For all the game's deliberate sibling analogies and their pleasing narrative resonance, this theory honestly has way more appeal to me overall.

PAIMON

How I feel about this character

My buddy! My bestest friend! :> I get mad when people are mean to her (in-game or people who choose those options in play). I get sad when she talks about being scared without us (@chrysoula has a theory that this is all foreshadowing a quest/arc where she's taken away and I think this is reasonably likely but I'm also dreading it). I refuse to believe the theories that she's evil, but I do love the theories that she's a reduced/de-powered version of Something/Someone in Teyvat's lore, that would be very fun. I want to give her so many hugs.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

I do not. XD

My non-romantic OTP for this character

The Traveler, of course! :> I also love her rivalry with Itto. I love when characters treat her as a separate person from the Traveler and have their own relationships with her.

My unpopular opinion about this character

From what I've seen in the fandom... that I like her at all? XD;;

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Hoyo stop giving us options to be mean to her. She doesn't deserve it. >:( Appreciating and loving Paimon hours ONLY.

[shebeafancyflapjack]

Do you reckon Robin would have picked someone out of the Button House regiment to follow around like the builders and Sophie?

By regiment are you referring to the soldiers stationed there with Cap?

Idk, maybe, I think he's had hundreds if not thousands of people he's followed around. I don't think Sophie was a unique case, I'm pretty sure Larry confirmed in an interview that Robin has basically been doing this with livings since he died because it's the best way he could keep himself sane.

There's nothing in particular about Cap's time that sticks out to me, Cap is the only character we know out of the soldiers. Yes there is Havers but, cmon let's me honest, do we know much about Havers other than his name, rank and the Captain's feelings for him? I certainly don't and as I'm not a Capvers fan I don't read any fics or hc about him to have an opinion on him. And that era as a whole isn't one I'm particularly interested in, when I think about the eras Robin has seen I'm much more interested in basically everything pre-Regency, the farther back the better.

Whenever I think about Robin following livings around I like to imagine times when there were children on the site whether it was when there was a village in the Plaguers era or when Humphrey, Sophie and Kitty were young. I love the thought of him enjoying their games or learning stuff they were learning and getting to act like a dad even if they couldn't see him. I think about him watching the battles that took place and taking sides and placing bets with himself on who would win and then being present when people died to see if he'd have a new friend or just making sure they weren't alone when they moved on.

Sorry, that answer took me on a bit of a tangent there.

[singular-yike]

Barrier Shop "Azumaterasu"

The Sanctuary is the geographical area around the Senri Shrine, within which is the Human Village. The barrier shop "Azumaterasu" can be found within this village, and is the topic of analysis today!

Mainly, I'll be focusing on three aspects of this shop:

The mythological inspiration behind its name

Its history and role within Mugenri

The store's internal hierarchy, and how Tenkai fits into it

That out of the way, let us begin!

Mythological Basis: Tōshō-daigongen

Azumaterasu is named after a Japanese god called Tōshō-daigongen (東照大権現), the "great incarnation who illuminates the east".

The "incarnation" here is because he is said to be the local manifestation of the buddha Yakushi-nyorai (薬師如来), the medicine buddha, under the honji-suijaku theory (本地垂迹) (No we do not have time to go into that this is long enough as is).

Below: A depiction of Yakushi-nyorai on a painted scroll.

When read under kun'yomi reading, Tōshō (東照) is "azuma terasu", and this is where we get the barrier shop's name from. Now , let's take a look as to at why it may have been chosen.

One key thing to note, is that Tōshō was once a human, and not just any human, Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

Below: A portrait of Tokugawa Ieyasu.

This is perhaps immediately notable to you as Ieyasu is likely who Tsurubami Senri is based on. In addition to this, it also furthers Tenkai's own connection to the shogun, whose burial site is referenced extensively in Tenkai's spell cards.

Tōshō is thought to have been created as a counterpart to Amaterasu (天照大神), the "Great Goddess that Illuminates the Heavens". Note the similarity between the names, especially when considering Azumaterasu.

Tōshō is said to be the ancestor and guardian of the Shogunate family, while Amaterasu, is said to be the ancestor and guardian of the Imperial family.

Additionally, the Imperial family was based in the west then, which is theorized to be the reason Tōshō is specifically tied to the east.

The name is likely a reference to the fact that Tenkai was one of the two dictative powers in Mugenri, much like how the Imperial family and the Shogunate were the two ruling powers of Japan.

It may also be reflective of the barrier shop and the Senri Shrine being together in charge of the whole of the Mugenri Barrier, Azumaterasu in charge of the "inner" and the shrine in charge of the "outer" barrier.

History and Role

As previously mentioned, the barrier shop is quite old, apparently with a "long and honorable history" to its name.

While we know nothing about said "long and honorable history", it is not impossible that the "particularly famous barrier builder" that Tenkai Zuifeng apparently descends from relates to this.

In terms of physical appearance, JynX compares it to the Kyoto State Guest House, an expansive Japanese-styled mansion.

Below: Entrance of the Kyoto State Guest House.

As a side note, I really recommend checking out other images of the guest house, it's extremely gorgeous and the entrance honestly does not do its beauty justice. (Official website and Twitter account)

It's fairly clear that JynX considers it a fairly powerful and influential establishment within Mugenri, and this is especially notable in its role to "maintain and repair the 'inner' Mugenri Barrier".

To this end, each barrier builder at the shop is assigned to a particular section of the barrier, which they are in charge of. This is why Tenkai showed up in the RMI extra stage, as the part of the barrier that broke was under their jurisdiction.

We don't know much about how the store operates, but it seems reasonable that anyone who wants a barrier set up can request their services, just as Jinbei did when asking for someone to repair the Mugenri Barrier.

Hierarchy and Tenkai Zuifeng

Here we examine the hierarchy within Azumaterasu, and perhaps more importantly, how it impacts Tenkai Zuifeng as a character.

Hierarchy and Power Balance

While it's not exactly clear, it can be seen that there seems to roughly be 3 hierarchal levels within Azumaterasu: The old masters of barrier building at the top, the average barrier builder below them, and the apprentices at the bottom.

Of course, it's quite likely that there are more distinct divisions of roles within each level as well, perhaps there's a shop owner who lords over everyone else, for example; and the division between senior and junior members as found in Japanese culture would almost certainly exist as well.

Tenkai within the system

Moving onto Tenkai, outside of Azumaterasu, they are "One of the Old Dictators". Their subjugation of Mugenri alongside the ex-head priest of the Senri Shrine, Tsurubami Senri, earning them great respect from its people.

Yet within Azumaterasu, Tenkai is but an "apprentice barrier builder", likely owing to their ineptitude at repairing barriers, despite their talent at creating new ones.

Adding to this, power harassment, the use of one's higher position of power to harass and bully those at positions below you, is apparently quite rampant in Azumaterasu.

We see this in how Tenkai's teachers and superiors often give them barrier repairing jobs, which they claim are to "train Tenkai to overcome their weakness," when in reality it is to attack their prestige.

This culminated in Tenkai's insubordination when fixing the Mugenri Barrier in RMI out of frustration towards their superiors, where they "arranged a very small prank with the barrier," likely altering it slightly rather than returning it to how it exactly was before.

Tenkai as a character

This leads to what I personally find most interesting about Tenkai as a character, and what I think is an important part of their character arc: Their transition between two roles, two stages of their life.

Their role as "dictator" has already reached its peak and come to an end with Tsurubami's departure, leaving them with their role as a "barrier builder" which they have ample room to develop.

They may have several impressive barrier-related feats to their name and be descendant from a famous barrier builder, but their immaturity with the craft (or perhaps even in general) is still evident.

In BPoHC, their character is focused (when not busy expounding lore or reacting to the situation at hand) on their struggle to pull away from the whole dictator business.

They still keep tabs on potential threat to Mugenri, they get involved in the incident even though they didn't plan to, they spend their free time spying on people with bird names, etc.

It's very often that Tenkai is viewed as an "other" to Tsurubami, one half of a whole, and it's certainly not untrue with how much they talk about and miss Tsurubami, and I mean their title even stresses this.

But I think viewed on their own, Tenkai is interesting as a character transitioning from one major stage of their life into another. This is of course triggered by the departure of their dear friend Tsurubami, but its effect ripples much further as well.

It is as they move away from being the "great dictator over Mugenri", that their role as "barrier builder of Azumatersu" rises into prominence, and I for one am quite curious whether they'll settle into this role or find something entirely new for themself.

Ending

That finally concludes this analysis on the barrier shop "Azumaterasu", we don't have much, but it's surprisingly deep when you really look into it.

I did accidentally veer off to talk about Tenkai a while lot, though I wanted to to put my thoughts somewhere anyways, and this post is as good as any.

Though I do apologise if the Tenkai section comes off as rather incoherent, it's quite late at night and I suddenly thought about all this midway through the hierarchy section, hehe.

Also, I did kind of brush past the whole "Buddha manifesting as a local Japanese deity" thing but that's opening a whole other can of worms that would easily double the length of this post.

I'm not opposed to talking about non-Len'en stuff at all, and in fact I have quite a lot of Japanese mythology-based stuff done as well (see here), so feel free to shoot those questions my way too, if you'd like~.

That's a lot more ending notes than usual but now we've finally reached the end. As usual, I hope you enjoyed~! :)

[leam1983]

Anticipation

Welp, the last nail's been set. My cooler's ordered, so's my case. I have everything else. Now all I need is time, and an extra pair of hands. Thankfully, I've got two of those.

An able-bodied PC builder and Network Admin wouldn't really need to make an event out of turning Thermaltake's latest open-air mid-size ATX case into a bleeding-edge gaming and video editing rig, but my prerogative is that I get to wait for one of Sarah's off days to order a couple pizzas. One of the pairs of hands won't be Walt's, my unpacking some of our calling centre's miniPCs in front of him frightened that bit of him that's eco-conscious. As yes, playing around with computer hardware is probably the least carbon-neutral hobby you could hope to have - especially if you're in one of those corners of North America's East Coast where FreeGeek or its equivalents just don't exist...

Now, the flip-side of all this is parental disapproval. You'll remind me I'm forty, a tax-paying adult whose only remaining ties to his progenitors are affective and genetic, and someone who now makes enough in two weeks to cover for everything, but the fact is that no amount of prior investment in three different share and bond portfolios is enough to assuage the Motherly Unit's impression that I've just burned a fat chunk of change. Nevermind how it doesn't concern her, she's long-since aced the ages-old martial art of Saying and Doing Nothing, but Doing These Two Things in Exceedingly Angry Fashion. Ever since she figured out the total cost for my parts list, she's been distant, self-effaced and physically closed-off. Dad took it in stride - he knows what I know, monetarily - but this is coming three years after my last build.

To be honest, I'm also worried, but for different reasons. It used to be builds I put together could last me ten years or more. Within eighteen months of my current setup, I'd noticed weird hitches and frequent FPS drops in the oddest of places. For all the tests I carried out, I came to the conclusion that Windows' provided backend is thicker than ever - even with debloat scripts used. The problem is you sort of need Windows to take advantage of something like an RTX 4090's full potential, as we're nowhere near native ray tracing on Linux. My workflow in DaVinci Resolve was chugging along - at 32 GBs, and I've never needed to render things in 4K - even if my 109000K's twenty cores were still more than serviceable.

I'm putting it down on a mixture of Windows bloat and bad silicon lottery, but three years with an enthusiast-level build is not long enough by my standards. This one needs to last me ten years or more - or bust - as I can't morally justify this kind of expense, even if I can afford it.

As it is, we're looking at a Rocket Lake i9 11900K with 64 GB of Corsair Vengeance DDR4 RAM, two 2TB Sabrent Rocket 4 NVME SSDs and my laptop's old no-name 1TB NVME as a third drive. It's video signal provider will be ZOTAC's RTX 4090 Trinity, all of it powered by a Corsair RM1000x PSU. Seeing as I've gone with one of Thermaltake's P-something-or-other Pro cases and that the resulting finish is quite test bench-like, I'll only be using the Corsair H150i Elite's three fans as the system's onboard cooling. The GPU's going to have free range of the open air around my desk, and the case includes what's needed to go for a vertical mount on the card. The resulting finish should be quite snazzy...

Now all that's left is my wrangling the niggling sense of guilt that hangs around for a few days after I pull a stunt like this. My inner Fun Police is particularly tenacious, my Internal Gestapo being ready and willing to prowl my brain's crevices for any trace of enjoyment. I wouldn't call myself excessively scrupulous and I never insistently project disapproval onto a convenient moral avatar - but it has happened in the past.

To some go the oddly fun mental projections of Cistercian monks admonishing them for their self-affirmation (see @scrupulosity-comics for more) mine's always taken the shape of a cigar-chomping mafioso cartoon weasel; effectively a forgotten member of Who Framed Roger Rabbit's Toon Patrol, more or less Don Vito Corleone with an elongated snout and a thing for permanent sunglasses. Don Weasel Biggs, head of the Biggs Cartel in my homebrew RPG setting, is money-wise, abrasive, rude, well-meaning, brutish and occasionally as kind as a caress dealt with fine-grit sandpaper - and he never fails to comment on how much of a maroon I am, when it comes to spending cash...

I guess I have an inner Scrooge, too - the suggested default would involve throwing every single cent from every single paycheck into something other than a bigger rent check split in threes...

Oh, well. A few hours in Faerün and eight or so spent in the land of Nod should shut the both of them up.

[50yearsofqueen]

Fun with Comments! A Super Simple Guide

Comments are brilliant. They support and encourage writers and artists, they are a great way to connect with people and make friends, and often enough they spark the idea for the next fic or fanart.

And the best thing is: comments don’t have to be long and complicated to work their magic. Here are some ideas for short and simple comments that will still put a big smile on a creator’s face.

The simplest comment ever

❤️

One emoji is enough for a comment? Yes, it absolutely is! However, emojis work great in strings:

💔😭😭😭🙏😥 (Sad)

💕😊💕🥺💕🤗💕🥰💕 (Fluffy)

🔥🔥🔥🥵💥 (Hot)

...or combination with and with some general praise

💖 I absolutly love this! 💖

That was so hot! 🔥🥵💥

I want to leave a thousand kudos! 🙏🙏🙏

And why not throw in a keysmash and allcaps:

😍 askdjfhaglglafdhkjg THIS IS SO CUTE I CANNOT!!! 💕

If you want to be more specific

You can say what’s your favourite part of the story:

Your descriptions are breathtaking/beautiful/creative/evocative/poetic/hilarious...

This is a wonderful take on this character/their struggles/this particular situation

The world-building in this AU is fantastic! I love all the details!

'Idiots to Lovers' is one of my favourite tropes, and you wrote it perfectly!

The dialogue feels so real, I could hear it all in my head!

Or you can quote a bit of the story you particularly liked:

"And then they rode off into the sunset together" What a perfect ending!!!

"She curled up on her bed and didn't hold back her tears any longer" 💔😥

You can say what the story made you feel or do:

This made me cry/smile/dance around with joy (be careful with explicit sexual reactions, unless you know the author is fine with it)

I stayed up until 4 in the morning just to finish this.

I'm an emotional mess after reading this.

I laughed so hard I scared my cat!

I have been in that situation myself, and your description really resonated with me.

I was having such a bad day, and your story really cheered me up/comforted me.

You can talk to the characters directly...

Noooo, don't just walk away like this, he loves you too, you idiot!

OMG BRIAN!!! 😂

...or to the writer:

I'm so happy you chose this prompt!

Looking forward to the next chapter! / Can't wait to see what happens next! (if it’s a multichapter)

Thank you for sharing this with us!

And keep in mind:

You can totally repeat what other commenters have already said!

You can totally leave the same or similar comments on several stories!

Don't worry if your English isn't perfect! We don’t mind, honest! ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

For more inspiration:

Comment template

Emoji-based comments

Comment starters

An excel-based comment builder

Advice for commenting novices

And another How-To

So, this is the 'Do' side - but what about the 'Don'ts'? If you like, you can read more about that under the cut.

What about critical comments?

Look at the author's notes. Does the writer specifically ask for criticism?

In that case - and that case only! - you can leave a critical comment. Make sure that your comment contains praise too, and that your criticism is constructive (”concrit”). Constructive means that you offer the writer a concrete idea of how to improve their story, like:

"Freddie is spelled with -ie, not y."

"You change from past to present tense halfway through - its better to choose one and stick with it."

"If you change the dialogue from [this] to [that] during the love confession, it would sound more natural."

Here's an instructive tumblr post on what concrit is and isn't: x

What if the author doesn't ask for critical comments, but I still want to tell them how to improve the story?

Don't. Writers become better writers mainly through writing. Unsolicited concrit can be incredibly disheartening, and may put people off writing and sharing their work - and then they won't ever improve. Here are some detailed posts about why sending unsolicited concrit is not a good idea: x x

If you want to help writers with their fic, leave supportive comments and kudos. Encourage them. Tell them what works. If you're up for it, you can also make it known that you're open to beta people's fic. It's a lot of work, but it's very rewarding.

What if a fic really upsets me?

Did the author not use an archive warning when they should have? Did the story contains a really common trigger that wasn't tagged (a racial slur or self harm, for example)? Did a g-rated story contain porn?

Then see if you can find a way to contact the author privately (click on their Profile to see if they've got an email-address or tumblr link there) and send them a message, off anon. Explain the issue without insulting them or assuming the worst about them, and ask them to make the appropriate changes. In extreme cases of missing archive warnings and misleading ratings, you can report a fic to the archive.

However, be aware that there is a lot of room for interpretation. Some people might rate something "teen" where others use "mature". Some authors tag "dubious consent", where others would use a "rape/non-con" warning. Some authors prefer to tag everything under sun, while others feel it's giving the story away. Tags are voluntary, so make your point, but be prepared to let it go if the writer replies with, "No, I'm not going to change my tags."

In the context of this event, feel free to contact @quirkysubject or @emmaandorlando, and we'll see if there's a way to moderate.

If you're upset because "I hate it when character X is written that way" or "that entire trope is overused and sexist" or "this pairing shouldn't exist" or "why doesn't anyone write about this thing I'm interested in?" - find a place to vent your feelings that is not the fic's comment section. Go rant to a friend who you know shares your views. Pour all your rage in a google doc and then don't post it. Give a 15 minute lecture to your cat. Write the story you want to read yourself.

[spectralclover]

people have definitely already said this but seeing as mr smajor lurks on here somewhere, i'm gonna say it too so he has a higher chance of seeing it maybe.

Put grian and dream on an mcc team at some point. Please. Not only would it be fun to see, but I think it would have benefits for both of them! More detail, and explantions behind my reasoning below the cut. Sorry if I word any of this wrong!! And of course, no hate to either of them, i just genuinely want them both to improve and have fun!! :D

We all know Dream is really good at PvP, and tends to thrive in PvP games during mcc because of this. We also all know that Dream tends to give a bootcamp to his teammates before an event to help them improve. Grian can also pop off in PvP games! But, and I think he's said this himself, PvP is not his specialty. Once again, this isn't to say he can't pop off - he isn't the dreamslayer for nothing, afterall!! He has also majorly improved as time has gone on, notably (from my view at least) with the crossbow. Now then, Grian with whatever skills and tricks Dream teaches at his little bootcamp sessions would be absolutely unstoppable. He'd improve at PvP a little more, and maybe he'd be more interested in the PvP games during mcc!!

On the flip-side of this, Grian is the CEO of Build Mart. He's a fantastic builder in general, but his strat in Build Mart is absolutely top-tier. I don't know if Grian would be the type of person to give a little bootcamp before an mcc, and I also don't really know if he'd properly be able to considering Build Mart isn't on the practice server, but I do know he practices with his team at least, so I'm sure if somebody asked he'd help them! We all know Dream very much dislikes Build Mart, which is totally valid. Everyone has a game they really don't like, it's just how things are (for example, for me, that game is Sands of Time. Wonderful game, it just overwhelms me so I have to zone out and do something else whenever it's played). If he were teamed with Grian, maybe Grian could teach him the strat? Help him improve. Who knows? Maybe Dream may have a little more fun in Build Mart as a result?

Basically what I'm saying is, Dream and Grian have their strengths and weaknesses. This isn't to say either of them are bad players - they're both incredibly skilled. But, if they were both on the same team, maybe they could help and teach each other, improve together, and hopefully, have more fun in games they aren't particularly strong in or fond of. It would be a win for both sides, I feel.

In events like mcc, I just want to see everyone have a good time. I want everyone to improve and I want everyone to win (although obviously, I cheer for specific teams but that doesn't mean I won't be happy if that team doesn't win). If Grian and Dream were to team, even if it were just for one event, I think they'd both benefit greatly from it. Once again - this isn't to say I think either of them are bad players or that I dislike them. I am a fan of both of them, love their content. Please don't think I'm trying to hate on either, I assure you that isn't my purpose; this is just an idea I'm sure many people have had, and I'm explaining my reasoning behind it.

If you read this far, thank you so much for reading this and thinking about my points!! Means the world to me. Hope you have a great rest of your day/night!!

[asimpforizuku]

Mystic Messenger and Minecraft

A simple thought of,“What if the Mystic Messenger characters played Minecraft?”, led me to have that amazing “Oh my-” moment and write. I personally like Jumin so it made me laugh imagining what he would be like, so I hope this brightens your day as well! 

Note: I couldn't really think of a scenario for Zen so I just included some of the things I thought he would say. 

Yoosung:

 GAMER BOI

Was still is addicted to Minecraft so he knows literally everything about the game 

Ya'll be out here fighting the Enderdragon an hour or two into the game 

If you play more chill then it's pretty domestic 

His building skills kinda suck so it'll be up to you to build the house

He builds box houses 

He often goes out to fight mobs and collect diamonds and will invite you to come along if you're into that 

He's the type of player to scream and rage when he accidentally falls in lava

“OMG. Y/N, I found DIAMONDS!!” Yoosung yelled, eyes wide as he maneuvered his character to get to the diamond ore.  “That's great Yoosung! Bring it back to make some armor!” You cheered, hyping him up from the other side of the couch. Moving away from your choice of device, you shuffled closer to him, peering at his screen. “Let's go to the End after this. We gotta defeat the Enderdragon and get the glory. I bet Seven hasn't even-”  “Uh-I don't think you should be standing on top of the ore-” You began to say. 

“It's okay, I've played Minecraft before Y/N, I know what I'm-AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" 

A blood curdling shriek was let out by none other than Yoosung himself. His screen was filled with red and he tried to get his character out of the bubbling lava. Soon, his screen turned red and displayed the words “YOU DIED". He proceeded to dramatically slump, causing you to watch him with mild concern. “I had my golden apples, the saddles I found, diamonds, diamond weapons...” Yoosung sighed gloomily, listing out all the valuables he was carrying with him. In no time, he bounced back up and started angrily huffing, glaring at his screen that he threw to other couch that was across the room. Finding his petty anger a bit funny, you accidentally let out a small giggle.  “EXCU-”

Zen:

Spends an hour picking out his skin 

It has to be perfect just like him

 He's not really ambitious so he doesn't really care about the bosses and stuff

He would fight them to become your knight in shining armor though

He prefers to adventure around to find flower fields and take pictures 

His house is covered in flowers and he gets mods to add paintings of himself and mirrors 

Never goes near the cats in the game 

Your house with him is STUNNING

Literally a castle

“Omg babe, look at the flower field! It’s beautiful! Like me <3" 

“Is that a c-AAAAAAAAAA" 

“Zen, what are you doing?” “Look at the painting of me Y/N. It's art"

Jaehee: 

Master builder 

Builds the best house you've ever seen

It's not big but it's not small

It's cozy

It’s in a spruce forest so it's beautiful when it snows 

Farms and has a lot of food which she shares with you 

You guys get a dog that has it's own room 

You also live near a village so your little family often visit and trade

I don't know Jaehee very well so I can’t imagine situations with her or what'd she say 

Jumin: 

Does not know how to play

Very interested in the villages and trading 

Goes through all the villagers to see who has the good deals 

“Hm. I quite like this individual's offer. 15 potatoes for an emerald is a fair trade. I enjoyed doing business with you.” 

Tames all the cats he sees 

Cat boss with a whole army of cats I hope you built a big enough house to hold his horde 

He's not very interested in the other aspects of the game so it'll be up to you to handle the building, mining, and fighting 

I feel like he'll start to warm up to playing after awhile

For now, he'd play with you when you asked, but he doesn't particularly enjoy it 

“Excuse me, I think-” You heard Jumin say to his screen as you looked up at him.  “Jumin, what's wrong?” You asked as you heard the serious tone of his voice.  “This person is trying to rip me off Y/N! They are asking for 2 emerald and 5 fish in exchange for 5 cooked fish which is outrageous.” Jumin said, disbelievingly.  “It's alright dear, there are just some villagers like this.”  “No-I will not allow this person to try to swindle me like this! I will set them straight.” Jumin said as he moved his character to move closer. “Jumin-”  A click and the sound of a grunt was heard as the villager flashed red and bounced backwards.  You both stared at each other. Gray eyes widening in shock as you looked at him with surprise. “My hand must have slipped-" Jumin said as he tried to explain, turning to you. Watching his screen, you saw the hunking form of the iron golem turn the corner to set its beady red eyes toward your direction.  “Jumin run!!” “Wha-” 

Seven (AKA Saeyoung, 707, Defender of Justice):

Carbon copy of Denki and Bakugo 

Has ALL the mods 

The world you play in is CRAZY it's not even considered Minecraft at that point

Defeats so many bosses

Ya'll have a castle, but prefer to live in the huge rocket ship that he built in the sky 

The castle becomes a cat castle with how many cats you guys have 

Gets a mod so that he can take you to go to space and see the stars

[twocopper]

Very flattered that my advice is one of your first two likes on this blog! Here are a bunch of questions for you, as an expression of my admiration and hope for your success:

Are you a Dungeons and Dragons only sort of person or have you played/run other systems as well? What are your thoughts on those systems?

When running a dnd game, what's your usual style? Are you more Rule of Cool or tough but fair RAW and RAI?

Are your games more in person or more online? Thoughts on terrain or VTTs?

What thoughts on the various adventures and campaigns for 5e? Any favorites you've run? For homebrew, are you more of a world builder or a single story builder?

Looking forward to seeing more from you!

Dear swordshapedleaves,

Thank you for writing in! We very much appreciate the kind wishes and would love to answer your questions--- and, if all goes well, to do so in a way that might offer some helpful advice to readers who are pondering these matters themselves. Also, the method you shared for prepping NPCs was excellent advice, and I'd recommend that any readers who are tired of frantically improvising NPCs when the party decides to go on a shopping trip go take a look! But without further ado, let's get started on your questions.

Currently, I primarily play D&D 5e, but I've played other editions as well as other systems in the past, and I have a list of systems I'd like to run/play in. My first time playing was as a kid playing with my dad's group, which, if I recall correctly, was D&D 3.5, though I was young enough at the time that, if I'm being honest, most of the rules went over my head. The first set of rulebooks I read was for D&D 4e, which, while I know many people have their complaints about, I think has some underappreciated aspects, some of which I think are very useful even for people playing 5e. In particular, 4e had a lot of unique abilities for player characters and monsters that can be great inspiration for making homebrew content in 5e. Additionally, I'd recommend the D&D 4e Dungeon Master's Guide 2 for anyone looking for DMing tips, but particularly for novice or intermediate DMs looking to improve their skills at encounter design and group storytelling. The first few chapters in particular are a great resource, and the content discussed is easily adaptable to any other edition you might be running, as it focuses more on concepts and how to apply them rather than specific mechanics. In terms of other systems, I played Numenera for a few months shortly after it came out, and I really enjoyed the space for creativity in character creation and roleplay, despite the relatively small selection of mechanical features to choose from I felt like it was much better suited to creating unique and interesting characters than D&D tends to be. I have the rulebooks for Invisible Sun and Blue Rose, which I'm very excited to try out at some point, but I find in-person games vastly easier for introducing a group to a new system, and I haven't been playing in-person over the past couple of years due to the ongoing pandemic. Honestly, I don't think that D&D is the best system for any one specific aspect of play, but I play with a group that likes to run a variety of different styles of campaigns, and if we found the best system for every game, we'd spend so much time learning new systems that we'd never get a chance to play. I love the versatility and breadth of resources available for D&D, and honestly, making homebrew to replace rules we dislike or fill in underdeveloped aspects of the game is part of the fun for me.

When running for my typical group, I tend to aim for the stricter side of the midpoint between sticking to the RAW/RAI and following the rule of cool. Some of the coolest moments I've had in my games have come up when players have noticed a combination of rules that allow them to do something totally ridiculous, and I think there's a particular feeling of victory the players can get when they feel like they've outsmarted the game, and I think leaning too much into the rule of cool can override that. I'm perfectly happy to add houserules or remove rules that the table dislikes, but outside of that, I think the main times I tend to lean more towards rule of cool instead of RAW/RAI are when following the rules would get in the way of the narrative and the enjoyment of the game, but I try to avoid creating those situations. I'll adjust my plans to create opportunities for players to implement the cool plans they have, but I don't like letting players ignore rules on a whim. I'm not here to use the rules to ruin the players' fun, but I think the rules are a valuable resource for the DM, and I lean into that a lot. One of the best encounters of a campaign I ran a few years ago was built mainly around the rules for spellcasters concentrating, and it wouldn't have had the same impact if my group wasn't expecting me to be strict on the rules. That said, if something isn't explicitly against the rules, I tend to be a lot more flexible, as long as my player can make a good argument for it. And if someone at my table really wants to be doing something that the rules don't make space for, I'm often willing to give them a homebrew feat or item that they can use to accomplish that goal. If I'm setting up restrictions for my players, I want them to find creative ways to use the rules to outsmart me. My players are free to reference any books they like unless I state otherwise, and if they come up with a way to exploit the rules that is truly overpowered, then I'm perfectly willing to let them do it, even if it means bypassing the obstacle they're trying to deal with. However, if a player keeps trying to use the same method to solve every problem, I houserule it away. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this method for every DM, and I honestly wouldn't even recommend it for most DMs, but I'm the most experienced player in my group, I like researching niche rules, and D&D has been a special interest of mine for many years. If the players can find a way to exploit the situation that I didn't already plan for them to find, they earned it.

All my games are currently online at the moment due to the pandemic and having moved several hours away from most of my group, but even before that we were mostly online for convenience. I vastly prefer running in-person games, but for playing I tend not to have a strong preference, and I'd rather have an online game that regularly happens than an in-person game that rarely works for everyone's schedule. In terms of VTTs and terrain, I like some VTTs--- my group is using foundry at the moment and I like it so far, but I've tried some I didn't like--- and I think fancy terrain for in-person games looks incredibly cool but is a pretty high time and/or money cost for what it provides. When I was running in-person I had an erasable grid that I would draw basic outlines on, and some miniature terrain details like trees that I picked up from the diorama section of Michael's that I would place on the grid if I wanted more detail. I could see maybe making a fancy terrain set-up for the final fight of a campaign, or for a location that I knew would be prominent throughout one or more campaigns, but it's not something I've ever felt the need to do thus far.

I've played in a number of the hardcover campaigns as well as adventurer's league modules for 5e, but most of my games with my current group tend to be homebrew. I'm planning to pull heavily from Strixhaven for a campaign I'm planning to run in the future, and I find the piety rules in Mythic Odysseys of Theros very interesting, but overall my favorite pre-made content to run has been some of the adventurer's league modules. In particular, some of the CCC (convention created content) adventurer's league modules make fantastic one-shots. For homebrew content, I put far more time into worldbuilding. For me, if I know what's going on in the world, who the people in power are, what they want, and how they plan to get it, the stories end up forming naturally. I'm also lucky enough to have a great group of players who give me a lot to work with in terms of their characters' backstories and goals. Overall, I find that in almost every circumstance, if my players go in an unexpected direction I can improvise story beats if I've done detailed worldbuilding, in the same way that I might figure out how my character will react to something while I'm playing. I can't, however, easily improvise a complex world from a story outline without taking away player agency. Since I tend to improvise a lot when I'm DMing, I try to make sure my worldbuilding is solid so that I can set the stage for the players. If I run for less experienced players, I usually prep story beats so I can guide them along if they are having trouble thinking of what to do, but with my typical group, I often start with a one or two session adventure that could lead in a variety of different ways, and start a very basic outline for the rest of the campaign after that--- which usually just consists of what the main threats the party is likely to be focusing on in different segments of the campaign will be.

I think that about wraps it up, so I hope you enjoy the answers, swordshapedleaves!

While there's not as much actual advice here as we often aim for, we still hope that some of our readers may find it helpful with D&D-related issues you may be trying to solve. If not, feel free to send in an ask!

Click the Get Advice button to tell us what's on your mind, and we'll happily provide our two copper on the matter.

[liodain]

Oh hey! Consider this a humble request for J, L, and O from the writer asks. And if you’re feeling extra generous for X, a prompt of ‘strange beauty’ with whatever fandom/characters/ship strikes your fancy.

Hey you 💙 thanks for the questions!

J: What does writing mean to you?

My first foray into writing was kind of nonstandard in that my hobby was writing room/item/npc descriptions for a MUD (the text-based telnet precursors of the modern MMO). Back then I didn't even think of it as "writing" as such, since they were separate if interconnected chunks of text that averaged about 50 words a piece, so like... not exactly a book, was it? (I figured out eventually that what I was doing was environmental storytelling, don't worry 😅)

My satisfaction with it wasn't so much the narrative anyway though: it was the freedom to build a world that I wanted my character, and my friends' characters, to inhabit. The admin side of this particular MUD was largely hands-off, there were no specs and barely any documentation and the guy in charge was bordering on Timecube levels of weird (and retrospect, was some kind of unwell) — builders were given free rein to generate whatever content we liked so long as we could figure out how and that it fit the aesthetic of the game, which was kind of nuts in retrospect. Someone would go "hey lio (this mud is the lio origin story btw) I want to explore some caves", so I'd build some caves for them to explore, and die in, more often than not — there'd be a bunch of clues scattered around that suggested they should probably get out of there before high tide. When was high tide? The fisherman on the beach would tell you, if you took a moment to talk to him. Writing meant an ability to shape the world into one I wanted to spend my time in. And boy, did I.

This was back in 2000. I didn't write any narrative prose until 2009, when I fell into my first real fandom at the tender age of, uh... 27. I'm not particularly good at quickly converting my feelings into thoughts and articulating them, as 1) anyone who's tried to talk to me in real time and/or irl and 2) how long it's taking me to reply to these asks will attest, lol. Writing is an effective way to share what it is about a character or ship or canon that grabs my attention (/obsession), and a way to satisfy that urge to talk about them, only instead of trying to have a conversation or writing meta, I can write a story instead. Show, don't tell, quite literally. So for me, as well as a way to get lost in a world and characters I enjoy, writing is also a way to...idk, feel part of a community with people, but with a buffer that can compensate for my fumbling interpersonal skills, thus saving us all a lot of embarrassment, lmfao.

L: What advice would you give to other writers?

I'm not sure I can say anything here that wouldn't be regurgitated Le Guin or just straight up hypocritical 😂 I don't think I'm in a position to be imparting any words of wisdom in a general sense.

But for writing in a fandom context specifically — this. AO3 has done a lot to protect freedom of expression for fans, but also visibly quantified success and/or popularity, then made it sortable. Hits/kudos/comments are far from an objective assessment on the quality of your work but it's still easy to lean into that external validation and get the value of it all tied up in that shit, and that's a miserable place to find yourself. I 100% recommend getting rid of those numbers.

O: What motivates you to write?

I have an idea in my head and I cannot rest until it is not in my head any more, and about 50% of the time, have inflicted it on everyone else like a cursed videotape. Sometimes it's a(n often stupid) joke or dialogue exchange that I pack a fic around, other times it's a scene that expands itself naturally because I want to hang out with the characters for longer, or it's a trope that interacts with the specifics of a canon/character in a way I find interesting. The rest of the time it's just habit; I write excruciatingly slowly, but even 200 words a day still results in a fic a month on average (recent months are an outlier adn should not be counted). I love exchanges in theory, but tend to stick to treats or game for art requests as a safety net because I don't trust myself to finish something on time. Like many writers, I put a not insignificant number of skill points into procrastination. Psst hey wanna see my spreadsheets?

I will cop to a degree of contrarianism as well, but I think it's fair because while I love a good old well-worn trope, I do genuinely prefer a few things that fall outside of wider fandom preferences as well. When I read something that makes me go "oh, this again?" and then write the opposite or a subversion, I'm doing it because that's what is more interesting to me, and it's what I want to read.

X: (strange beauty)

I WILL GET BACK TO YOU ON THIS ONE 🤣

[thetonecontrol]

Interview with Electronic Audio Experiments

Righteous Ryan: When did you decide to become a builder and what motivated you to do so?

Electronic Audio Experiments: Even before I taught myself how to play the guitar I was always interested in what makes instruments work, so naturally I was a pedal nerd as soon as I learned what they were. After studying electronics for fun on the side (took a couple extra courses during undergrad and then read books on my own) it became a natural progression of my interests to start tinkering with my own. I did a few tagboard clone builds before I realized I wanted to have more control over the design process. And that's still my primary motivation: I love the design process with all of its challenges and room for artistic decisions.

EAE as a company formally started in approximately winter/spring of 2015. In February of that year, Boston was slammed over 5 feet of snow. I spent a lot of time in my crummy basement apartment eating frozen pizzas and breadboarding what would eventually become the Longsword V1. I used it on a couple records I was a part of (Perfect Moments by Tiny Fractures and the Native Wildlife s/t - both on bandcamp, for the curious) and that generated enough interest to do a release that summer. The rest has been a whirlwind!

RR: What motivates you to create original circuits?

EAE: Short answer - it's really satisfying to me, basically my favorite pastime.

Longer answer - I love the challenge of making something from scratch that hopefully lets my personality come through. I should qualify; I am not reinventing any wheels here. Designing "from scratch" is like building something out of legos. You can't really design new pieces (which leads some of the more cynical folks out there to say there's nothing new under the sun) but there are lots of building blocks and lots of ways to arrange them. The artistic merit is in the details, and the fun is in the thrill of the chase. It's an obsessive process but endlessly gratifying.

RR: Are you currently working on anything new?

EAE: Oh god, too many things. Here's a sampling:

Halberd - this is a drive which started as the preamp block of Sending, but heavily mutated into its own thing. It features pronounced treble attack/clarity, stupidly high output, and a strong second harmonic response. Been "finalizing" it for a while but I'm trying my damnedest to release it this summer. (If you want to hear a rough demo of an earlier iteration, check this video out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpGgzl3lOgs)

Sending V2 - I'm trying to add some features while I do an SMD conversion - mostly modulation and CV control over delay time. Currently on the back burner while I get the Halberd sorted out.

Hypersleep - this is my weird multi-tap chorus/vibrato/reverb-ish thing (nb: this is also in Ian's video linked above). It's also on the back burner while I get the Halberd sorted out. I really want to put it to production but it depends fully on whether I can source enough MN3011 BBDs to make it happen. If I can get enough to build 50 I'll do a limited run, but I'd really prefer to do 100 if at all possible... so we shall see what happens.

Super secret collab with Electrofoods Pedals - stay tuned, I am very excited

Surveyor - IVP side of the Dude Incredible, will be released later this year. It's ready to rock.

Various contract designs - Caroline Somersault (just wrapped up), Caroline Megabyte (working on the second round of prototypes), Dunable Eidolon (close to done, just needs some code fixes), another 2 or 3 projects all TBA.

RR: What is your design process like?

EAE: Whenever I design something new I have to answer two questions. 1) does it exist already? and 2) does it address a need or want in my own sonic pursuits? For instance, drive pedals will reflect my tone in whatever band I'm currently in. If it's already been done I can go buy it. If it hasn't been done then the work can begin.

If the design is simple or contains simple building blocks I often go straight to the circuit board layout and if necessary, debug from there. I can often turn a project around pretty quick if that's the case. If I'm not sure whether or not a building block will work, I can try simulating or breadboarding. Circuit simulation is extremely powerful but requires interpretation of the results, which also sometimes differ from reality. Breadboarding is great for audible characterization of a new idea, but the added parasitic capacitances can dramatically alter the frequency response of a circuit - especially a high gain drive or something with lots of complex filters. So there's usually a loop of steps where I move between a breadboard, circuit simulations, and a working prototype until everything works out. Sometimes I just have to resort to plain old math to get what I want.

The first pass of design is a go/no-go check. Does it work? Once it does, I refine it until it can produce sounds I truly like. This is also the step where I do the most work to address noise, oscillation, unwanted artifacts, etc. The final step is to identify which controls I want to keep, and then I determine the tapers/ranges of those controls.

Once there's a working prototype I do extensive beta testing with friends, local musicians and engineers, etc. When testing at home I can lose sight of how good (or not good) a prototype sounds. So a sanity check helps! Once this feedback is incorporated into the process we can go to production. At that point we get the artwork done and start working with our local SMD shop to get boards going.

RR: What's your setup (guitar, amps, pedalboard)?

EAE: I've been awful about maintaining a static setup. I realized that when you're not in a band you can just buy whatever sounds good instead of worrying about serving a song or particular mix. I have a wide assortment of guitars and amps that I use to test pedals during the R&D phase but listing those won't really tell you a coherent story. BUT I started a new band and we're tracking a record (we just did guitars + drums at GodCity) so I can tell you all about the gear I used for that. It's a post-metal sort of outfit so there are lots of heavy sounds but lots of unique mid-gain tones as well. This is also a great chance to plug some work by my friends...

Guitars - Travis Bean TB1000S, which is essentially vintage correct after some restoration work at Electrical Guitar Company (new bridge + pickups). Sounds like a piano. A very angry piano.

My very heavily modified Classic Player Jazzmaster with EGC JM500 pickups and a Robot Graves neck. It can do pristine, chimey cleans or a savage clang depending how much gain you use.

Amps - Traynor YBA1 MKII - Basically a marshall-ish amp with really big transformers. I modded the preamp to roughly superlead specs, but it's got way more bandwidth than a typical marshall.

Traynor YBA3 - not mine, lives at GodCity. Was extensively modified by my friend Scot from SnK pedals, who is also a gifted amp tech. It's loud and clean with a sound that's almost like an ampeg.

For cabs we mostly used an emperor 6x12 with an assortment of speakers. The mic was placed on a Texas Heat.

For my own use I have a pair of Joe's TL806 cabs (Thiele 1x12 design) with EVM12Ls.

Pedals - Halberd proto - great for slamming tube amps!

Electrofoods Oprichniki - the highest gain big muff variant around. I don't even know if it should be called a muff variant because of how twisted and souped up the circuit is. It is an absolute beast.

Dr. Scientist Frazz Dazzler - another extraordinarily high gain fuzz which sounds like absolutely nothing I've ever heard. It's a nice contrast to the more scooped flavor of the Oprich.

SnK VHD - a high gain distortion, used extensively for lead parts especially. Super tight and clear.

Sending V1-ish prototype - also has a tone control. It works ok I guess. Still very much a work in progress!

Lastgasp Misty Cave - weird drone-y reverb/flange thing? Hard to describe. Sounds heavenly.

Hypersleep proto - for room-ish reverb

Red Panda Tensor - Used for a particularly glitchy "solo"

Dirge Slowly Melting - I saw the end of the world, and it was terrifying

Lots of other stuff - I forgot!

Other - Yamaha FX500. The ultimate digital pad machine.

Roland RE-501 Chorus Echo - my drummer owns this, holy hell it is magic

My modular synth - a whole goddamn mess of its own

[scifigeneration]

Don't shoot! That drone overhead probably isn't invading your privacy

by Stephen Rice and Mattie Milner

Is this drone a threat? ungvar/Shutterstock.com

The first commercial medical drones are taking flight in the U.S., delivering blood samples and other medical specimens from a clinic to a lab in North Carolina. Right now, they’re just on one hospital campus and not flying over private homes or businesses. But that’s coming soon.

In our research about consumer perceptions of aircraft, we’ve found that in general, people don’t want drones flying over their homes. Helicopters and planes are less of a concern, because they’re usually so high and far away – and people who live near airports are more worried about noise than being spied on.

People see drones, however, as different. They often carry video equipment and are sometimes hard to detect due to their small size. In addition, they can hover for long periods of time, whereas manned aircraft tend to move along quickly. Most people we’ve surveyed express some fear about drones – or their operators – violating their privacy by hovering nearby and potentially videotaping them. That has certainly happened.

We have found that women are generally more concerned than men, particularly when they assume that the drone can take photos or videos. Some people have been so concerned about drones – especially when they lack clear indication of who owns them or are afraid the government is spying on them – that they’ve shot down drones flying over their yards. There are even some companies developing anti-drone weapons designed specifically for these situations.

Not yet available for public use: DroneDefender.

So far, shooting down a drone has not been punished as harshly as shooting at a manned aircraft. The Federal Aviation Administration has tried to address some public concerns with rules governing personal drones and commercial drone flights. But if drone use is really ever going to take off – both privately and in businesses – the rules need to be a lot clearer for everyone.

What are drones allowed to do?

In most communities, there are not explicit rules on what drone operators are and aren’t allowed to do with their aircraft. The FAA’s general rules ban drones from flying more than 400 feet above the ground, or over people, or above public events. Operators also have to keep their drones in sight at all times.

Drones that are flying for legitimate reasons are usually going to follow a logical path associated with their purpose, like following a pipeline route, surveying property boundaries or examining construction sites. They may hover from time to time, to let operators get a better view of something, but they probably aren’t spying on you – unless they clearly violate reasonable expectations, like following you around a neighborhood or hovering right outside a bedroom window or above a person sunbathing in the yard.

Not every drone flying near your home is feeding video to a peeping Tom. It’s worth remembering that there are, in fact, legitimate reasons drones might be flying around near your home.

Do you hear sirens?

Police agencies around the country use drones to assist with documenting crime scenes, help with event-security planning or assist officers with a standoff. Even though these drones are government-owned and usually equipped with cameras, most likely they’re not trying to invade your privacy.

Drones deliver lifesaving blood to patients in Rwanda.

Police, fire and medical services are very interested in using drones for rapid responses to emergencies. They can fly medicine and equipment into areas where ambulances, and potentially even helicopters, cannot easily go. In Rwanda, drones can deliver a package of fresh blood to anywhere in the western half of the country in less than an hour.

Drones can also help responders plan rescue efforts, identifying areas hit hardest and finding victims in need of aid. People in the affected area can even communicate with drone operators by holding up signs for the cameras.

Is a neighbor’s house for sale?

When listing a home for sale, real estate agents typically arrange for a professional to photograph the home, which helps showcase it to potential buyers. Some agents – for some properties, like larger estates – may want to include aerial photos of the house and land. In the past, this was usually done from a helicopter, at the cost of several hundred dollars.

Now, though, it’s cheaper and faster to fly a small drone above the property. To get the best views, the drone may need to fly off to one side, potentially hovering over a property next door. But if used legitimately for real estate purposes, the cameras are pointed toward the house for sale – not toward the neighbor’s windows.

Is there construction nearby?

At times, drones can visit high places on construction sites more easily than people. Dmitry Kalinovsky/Shutterstock.com

Construction companies sometimes use drones to make sure employees are working safely and using tools properly. Drones can also inspect work in high areas that are hard to reach, like roofing details. In some parts of the country, builders are putting up huge suburban developments and keeping an eye on everything with drones. When they fly from one building site to another, they might pass over finished homes that are already occupied, on their way to check out the work at neighboring properties.

Do young kids live in your neighborhood?

Parents may also want to remotely monitor their children at nearby properties like parks. Some parents who may have been reluctant to let their kids explore the neighborhood are finding comfort with drones to help them keep watch. Some schools are also using drones to keep an eye on kids during recess and sports activities.

Are you expecting a package?

Delivery drones aren’t yet common, though they’re being tested in various places around the world. Many companies want to use them to deliver packages, pizza, medications and other items. Within a few years, drones may be buzzing up and down local streets, ferrying all sorts of items to and from homes and businesses. This may be annoying at first, but every drone that goes by means one less car on the road – and less pollution, less traffic congestion and safer streets for cyclists, pedestrians and your children.

One’s overhead right now – what to do?

There are plenty of other perfectly innocent and legal reasons a drone might fly low over your home or yard. Recently, a man was arrested for shooting down a drone that was being used by members of a community group to search for a missing dog.

If you suspect someone is using a drone to spy on you, you should know that under federal law, it is illegal to grab a gun and shoot it down, even if the drone’s operator is violating state laws about where and how they can fly. Some legal experts argue that self-defense should be a legitimate reason, but this is a gray area. So before reaching for ammunition, think about staying out of trouble.

If you’re worried the drone might be invading your privacy, or about to do so, you should be able to spot the operator, because they have to be able to see their drone. If you can get a photo of the drone, the police should be able to track down the operator because most drones must be registered with the FAA and clearly marked with their registration number.

And of course, if you feel under immediate threat, call 911.

About The Author:

Stephen Rice is an Associate Professor of Human Factors at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Mattie Milner is a Ph.D. Candidate in Human Factors, also at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

This article is republished from our content partners at The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

[youinmyhoodnowson]

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[sometimesrosy]

I'm sorry Rosy but I don't see the character development for Octavia at all, she hasn't developed at all in 4x10. The conclave served the minor plot purpose of putting Octavia in charge and to kill few grounder characters they needed to get rid off in style(so to speak). And cyclical nature of plot this season is so exhausting to me: find the solution-lose the solution, repeat and rinse.... How do you think Octavia's character developed in 4x10?

 It isn’t really cyclical, it’s not a closed loop, it’s a spiral where everything that has passed affects what comes next. And it’s making a statement about how the past taints or enlightens the future. 

This isn’t incidental, in a world that the past destroyed and the present is trying to reform so that there actually IS a future, particularly since they keep replaying the mistakes of the past.

The difference this season is that instead of just repeating the mistakes of the past, they are learning from them and changing them and transforming the outcome.

I think one of the big reasons they are able to do that is because they are able to lean on others, get their help, take their advice, take off their tribalistic blinders and realize it’s not just about THEIR people but about all people. 

We aren’t just trying to save everyone’s lives this season. We are also trying to save their souls. It’s a story of salvation AND redemption.

Calling The Conclave a minor plot point really confuses me.The grounder-skypeople conflict has been the underlying, major conflict in the whole show. They are learning how to get along and doing a rather poor job of it. It was kind of a culmination of everything since they landed on the ground. 

Is it because you see the end point of “We share the bunker” and it looks the same to you as Clarke’s suggestion before the conclave? So to you, nothing happened because they could have done it without the conclave at all?

Well, see. A story isn’t just “the king died, the queen died.” A story is “the king died, the queen died of grief.”   It’s not about how the story ends, it’s about how the story got there. It’s about WHY the story got there. The grounders agreeing to a sensible plan is a different story than the grounders being unable to get past their tribalism and generational wars to cooperate with their enemies in order to save everyone’s lives and only agreeing when they are about to lose everything and have been beaten by their traditional methods of justice and leadership.

Clearly, the struggle of the show is not over. The struggle is not saving everyone’s lives. The struggle is not becoming a monster to do it. The struggle is creating a new world that is not ruled by those old ideas. We see Clarke and Bellamy struggling to be redeemed for their sins, and Octavia too, but it’s even harder for a whole society, for humanity to stop turning to their old, destructive patterns. That bunker is going to have problems, because the people in the bunker are going to be replaying their old mistakes. They have not learned. 

Everyone cooperating and sharing the bunker peacefully is a much different story than everyone begrudgingly sharing the bunker, after battle, treachery, insurgency. It’s not a minor plot device. It’s THE STORY.

So what role does Octavia have in that? How does her character develop? I think part of the problem you might be having is thinking that The Conclave caused the character development. It didn’t. It revealed the character development that has been happening for the last two seasons. From Octavia wanting to run away from Arkadia, resenting Lincoln for wearing a guards jacket, taking Bellamy for granted, trying to get people to follow her, losing what she loved most (which was not just Lincoln, but also faith in Bellamy), her toxic tendency to lash out in anger which resulted in the deaths of people she cared about, which caused her to lash out more, creating a vicious cycle that was pulling her down. turning her towards vengeance, shutting off her feelings, and having her on the edge of becoming that monster for many episodes. 

And yet. She has also served as a solution many times. She was the one who, wanting to run away and leave everything behind, turned back to save monty, recognizing that she was not alone and she was one of The 100. She’s the one that pulled everyone back into a team. Octavia is a bridge builder. As she has always been, trying to reach out to the other side and unify them. Clarke is too, but it works differently for her, because she comes at it from the top down, working with leaders, while Octavia reaches for the people, learns their ways and language. She’s kind of like a combination of Clarke and Bellamy that way. Interesting. 

This season had her working WITH the sky people, despite feeling separated from the Ark. She used stealth and murder to solve things, which she probably wishes she had done the last season. But back to that salvation/redemption thing, she was losing her soul to save the people. When she died, and came back, she called Arkadia home. This was a moment where she recognized that as much as she hated it, as much as it was a place of horror and fear and abuse and imprisonment for her, it is still who she was and where she came from and those were her people. This was significant. However we saw that the lesson did not stick, as her choices with Ilian led to the destruction of their salvation. And we saw also the clear danger of Octavia becoming Pike, her demon. 

Remember the call back. Kill your demons? Yeah it doesn’t work. The demons are inside of you. And Octavia’s real demon was never Pike, it was the specter of her childhood. So we get to Ilian, and like Clarke did with L, she finds a character who is similar in sins, his vengeance destroyed their salvation, and she ‘makes peace’ with this shadow self, and there is sex and for a while she decides to forget who she is and go and be a farmer, which did not work. Not only because they fought her, but because pretending you are not who you are isn’t the way to redemption. 

Okay so that brings us back to the Conclave and Octavia agrees to fight for her people, although she says she’s just doing it for herself and she’s ready to go out fighting. But that’s not really true. She doesn’t know it yet, but she finds out as it goes. 

The Conclave helps her realize a few things. One, that the thing that makes her who she is, Her Demon, it turns out, The Girl Under The Floor, is the thing that saves her. This is who she is, not just a thing to hide from or lash out at, but a strength in itself. Her weakness is her strength. (Oh interesting, Clarke’s weakness, her love, is also her strength.) Also she learns that she is NOT alone. Kane advises her. Bellamy tells her to remember where she came from. Indra advises her. Ilian saves her. Roan allies with her. Each character continues to play the role that they have played in the last few seasons with Octavia, and because of them she wins, and saves everyone. Salvation, not redemption. Except for her. Octavia discovers the beginning of her redemption through the recognition of the things that make her who she is. Not the least being Bellamy’s love. She is finally at the place where she can recognize it and accept it again, because she’s done all that development over the course of the last FOUR seasons. 

This sets her up as the warleader of bunker. Okay. That makes me roll my eyes. But this is the way the grounders work, and with 1100 of them, they have the  might in that bunker and Octavia as warleader of… did I hear Indra call it One Kru? she might be what keeps them from killing each other. Is she a good leader? NO OF COURSE NOT, but she’s been learning from Indra, Kane, Bellamy and Clarke and Lincoln and Luna, also Pike and Lxa, both about what to do and what not to do. And she’s going to have to learn more, because they’ve decided that a barbaric conclave is how good leaders are decided. She has already admitted that she’s not a leader. We haven’t even seen the next episode yet and it’s already canon. But she’s being put into that position.

If you want to understand Octavia, and I’m assuming your ask is to actually try to do that, not just write her off the way people have been doing, you have to go back to when you stopped paying attention to her, or farther, and figure out what you missed. Because Octavia has FINALLY been getting character development and the conclave was the realization of that, the culmination, and if you missed it, it’s because you didn’t see what was happening to the character. Octavia is an IMPORTANT character and her character development is part of the plot. So even if you don’t like her (which I don’t, really) you have to pay attention to her or you’re missing part of the story.

And I know you’re missing some things, maybe refusing to see them because they don’t fit your interpretation. But if something MAJOR like the conclave, is written off as a minor plot point, then you are DEFINITELY going off of a misinterpretation. If they just wanted to kill off characters, they could have done it at any point. These deaths had meaning. For Octavia, for the plot, for deeper symbolism. In order, I think that would be Ilian, Roan, and Luna, not solely but I see these meanings for each. None of those are minor plot points. All of those are incredibly integral to the story. 

Why couldn’t they just have Roan cooperate with Clarke? Because of betrayal and anger and  mistrust and tribalism, which he’s been dealing with the entire time. Why couldn’t they have kept Ilian out of it? Because he was there to help Octavia through her journey. That’s his purpose in this show. Don’t like it? That’s just the way stories work. Minor characters are there to support major characters and Octavia is a major character. Why Luna? Why did she turn into the dark? Because she was broken and she fell. She’s another tragic hero who started off with a beautiful world and lost it through her tragic flaws. She came from the same toxic society that is holding this conclave. And she saw nothing better in the ruthless torturers of skycrew. Same as Polis. 

This. is. what. happens. Not everyone makes it through. Luna did not make it through. Jasper did not make it through. Octavia fought through. Raven fought through. Bellamy and Clarke continue to fight through. And sometimes their fight seems hopeless and sometimes they are doing the wrong thing. But they keep fighting.

Octavia is a fighter. She learned how to use the strengths unique to her and she won. THAT is the most important character development for Octavia in the Conclave. She stopped fighting herself, who she was, where she came from, her past, and she pulled together all her lessons and all her people (Bellamy, Kane, Indra, Ilian, Roan, Lincoln, Clarke) and she fought for all of them. With all of them. And that is how she won.