#c: morals aren't my game

[grogusmum]

November: Mourning Moon

A Conversations with Dead People Companion

This one probably does require reading the original fic; you can find it here

FRANKIE MORALES X F!READER with Holly

W/C 1400ish

WARNING: angsty, dead wife, ghost, that's about it.

A/N Welcome to my very late November installment for @yearofcreation2023 (a fantastic notion by @oonajaeadira.)

Frankie climbs the steps of the 400-year-old cemetery, this time with his daughter, Julieta. Snow has been falling for a good twenty minutes, and last night's snow crunches underfoot. It’s not unheard of to have snow in November in the Northeast, even if it’s becoming more rare. It’s been a little more than a year since Frankie’s first visit with Holly. It only takes a moment before she falls into silent step with them. Slipping between them, as they seem to have left space for her, she takes each of their gloved hands in her bare ones.

“I'm so glad to see you, my loves.”

“Holly,” Frankie sighs. “Missed you, babe.”

“Mama!” 

“Oh jellybean, I'm so glad you came," Holly brings her daughter's hand to her cold cheek, then turns to her husband, “You came.”

“Yeah.”

“But not just to say hello.”

“Yeah,” Frankie looks at his wife, looking just as she did in life. This isn't going to be easy. “I've- I-”

Holly smiles, right up to her eyes -

“You've met someone.”

Frankie just gives a tight smile, she always makes things easier, he should have remembered.  His eyes go bright, and he rubs his face with his free hand. 

“Darling, that's truly wonderful. You deserve it, Frankie. And you deserve a mama.”

“I only have one mama, but I like her,” Julieta says. 

as they reach the top of Burial Hill the wind kicks up, snow swirling unable to decide which way is down. They are alone, no dog walkers, no couples taking in the view. It's beautiful but cold.

“We just wanted to tell you that. I don’t know, I couldn't just… not without your blessing.”

“You know my answer,” Holly says, giving Frankie a chilly kiss on the cheek, he shivers and smiles. “Tell me all about her.” 

Frankie tells Holly where you are from, what you do… how he feels when he's with you. Julieta shares stories of the first time you came to her soccer game, and how you make the best hot chocolate- with a quick apology, meaning no offense to Holly’s cocoa. To which Holly gifts them with the hearty laugh they love so well. 

“You aren't offending me, jellybean, it comes from a box!  But watch out, I hear the Swiss Miss gets migh-ty jealous!”

“We told her all about you. She wants to come and visit,” Julieta says, swinging Holly's arm as they walk and hold hands.

Holly looks at Frankie, then at Julieta-

“Me me? Or my -” Holly nods at the white gravestone a few paces away. 

“I told her I talk to you a lot, and about that time last fall…” 

“You did?”

“Yeah, and she wasn't weirded out at all. She doesn't expect you to come to her- make yourself um… known. She just wants to put a wreath on your grave, pay her respects.”

You sat in the little coffee place on the main street, mindlessly stirring your tea, watching the windows for Frankie and Julieta. The wreath you made of blue spruce, juniper berries, pine cones, and of course, holly, a wide white grosgrain ribbon tied in a single fluffy bow sits on the seat next to you. You don't expect to see Holly. No. But you figure she'll hear you… you thought about all the things you wanted to tell her, trying to imagine being at the receiving end of it. As if you are the one who lost her life, the love of her life, and the apple of her eye… you close your eyes, a small tear slips down. 

Are you being weird? Performative? 

Just then you see the two most important people to come into your life, saving you from spiraling.

They wave. Frankie gives Julieta some money and kisses her head, then comes to your table while his daughter goes to the counter. He kisses your forehead and sits, “Jules is ordering us a warm-up. It's freezing up the hill. The wind.”

You nod, and another sneaky tear rolls down.

“Hey,” Frankie's brows knit together, “are you- did something happen?”

Frankie looks around for the culprit. You huff a smile at his protectiveness. You found yourself a bulldog, complete with soft, sad brown eyes, who loves his belly rubbed.

“I'm just- it's an emotional day. I guess.”

“I guess it is,” Frankie nods.

After hot chocolate and coffee (and the cookie the size of Jules' face), everyone is warmed up and bundles up to climb back up the hill.

Holly keeps her distance this time, watching the three of you reach the crest of the hill. Frankie puts his hand on your lower back, guiding you on the snow-covered brick path toward Holly’s stone. Holly pines for that hand, warm and solid on the small of her back, just one more time. Pearly tears spill over. She isn't jealous, well, that's not true. Holly is envious of you; she's just not angry with you. She feels swindled, but not by you. You are again bringing joy to her husband and child, love and care that Holly can not provide anymore. She's grateful for you, just incredibly sad for herself. 

Holly pops over to the stone, their destination, and continues observing you. You have kind eyes, carrying a rueful smile. At least now it is, understandably, but Holly can see the shadow of crinkles around your eyes and laugh lines. You have a lovely wreath. If Holly had to picking one out of a million for herself, she would have chosen that one. 

You look at Jules and kiss her brown curls; they look at Frankie like you're looking for some help. He gives your hand a squeeze.

“It's a beautiful stone,” you murmur. Frankie puts a little rod, like a shepherd's hook, in the ground before it. Since it’s so early in the season, the ground isn't frozen hard despite the snow. Then, you hang the wreath on it. 

“Thank you for your family,” you say, and then cringe a little; Frankie kneels next to you, taking your hand in his. He nods.

“I'm…” you look at them with pleading eyes.

Julieta takes your other hand and introduces you. You kiss a thank you on her temple.

“I just wanted to come and give my respects, to um, tell you that I love your husband, and your kid here is a delight. By the photos all over the house, I can see she is the perfect combination of the two of you. I just wanted t-to assure you that they will be cared for, I hope nearly so well as when they were with you. Because, I can see your love everywhere in that house. The nursery room mural you painted full belly pregnant with Jules here, Frankie's shown me photos of your gardens. And the recipe book you put together b-before… everything, so Frankie could make all his and Julieta’s favorites. I can't replace you, of course, no one can. But I hope - well, I just-”

You look up at the white stone, your knees cold in the snow but your face hot, trying to find the words.

Holly moves to stand behind the headstone, looking down at your worried face, and puts out her hand. You blink. A graceful hand suddenly appears before her stone, right between the carved words wife and mother. Your eyes slowly follow the wrist, then arm, to the face of Holly Morales. 

After a small gasp, you take her outstretched hand and stand. Frankie and Jules slowly follow.

“Thank you for loving my family,” Holly says, placing her other hand over yours. You can feel the seeping cold through your glove, but you feel no reason to shiver. Her eyes are so full of love and gratitude and grace. “I am entrusting them in your care.”

“I do,” you say, “I mean, am, I will love and care for them with all my heart.”

“and let them care for you, and love you,” Holly so wisely adds.

Tears prick the corners of your eyes.

“I will.”

Holly looks at Jules, hand grazing her cheek. Her eyes travel to Frankie's, his tears falling freely. Unnoticed, the snow had stopped falling, and sunshine fought its way past the clouds.  Only noticed now when a shaft brightened the hill, causing a swirl of snow caught on the wind to sparkle like diamonds. And in that shimmer of snow and light, Holly is gone.

Frankie presses a kiss to your temple.

“She likes you.”

THANKS FOR READING! 💚

Year of Creation: the Wheel of the Year Masterlist

MAIN MASTERLIST

If you care to be tagged for any of my works, my taglist form can be found here! I've added my Year of Themed Creations Series

[sanguinaryfreaks]

WELCOME !¡

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I interact from here for @sangylittlespace, @sanguinarywriter and @sanguinaryclaws

Hi! We are Sanguinary Freaks Massacre you can call us Gore or Visceral, we use any pronouns (and neos) but prefer shi/hir. Our collective gender is transmascfem and sexuality is omnigay, quoiromantic and ambi, the body is latino and intersex. We are 21 years old and are a C-DID system of a lot.

System terms: System, collective, pwDID, multiple, alters, headmates, littles.

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[pt: do not interact. end pt]

Basic DNI criteria (homophobic, transphobic, racist, etc)

Transmeds, radqueers, etc, etc

SH, ED or gore blogs

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Sexualize age or pet regression

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Syscourse blogs

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Believe in "doubles"

Anti good faith identities / "contradictory" labels, including mspec lesbians / gays (neutrals or without opinion are okay)

Believe that transfem alters can't be in an AFAB body or transmascs can't in an AMAB body.

Empty accounts

BEFORE YOU FOLLOW

[pt: before you follow. end pt]

We don't mind minors following us and interacting with us outside of dms

We have our own complex opinions on endos (syscourse neutral), depending on the alter and the day we might accept endo neutrals to follow and interact but don't bring endos/pro endos to our account please

Know that if we follow you is because we want to be friends so feel free to DM us (we are too scared to dm first dnjakckwkd) !!!

We have alters from problematic sources, if you don't like this go away

We like problematic media but we don't support their creators or the media itself (like buying the games or watching the show on the legal sites). If you're gonna be morality police and tell us that we are still supporting them by just liking the media (we cant control a hyperfixation), feel free to block us, we don't care

Please don't try to start fights with us, we will just block you and ignore whatever you sent us, this is our safe space, please respect that

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Don't try to force us to change our name or source separate, we aren't doing it for a reason. We also use names respectfully and would never disrespect the culture.

Sometimes we reblog stuff about the yandere stereotypy, we have bpd and we use the term for ourselves

We call ourselves freaks (because we can and we want), if you don't like this fuck off, we don't care

Interests and more

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Special interests: Psychology, system terms, xenogenders, Simply Plural, art in general, horror in general, etc.

Collective interests: Honkai Star Rail, Wuthering Waves, Death Mark, Danganronpa, CoTL, Red Dead Redemption 2, My Little Pony, Fear and Hunger.

Tagging system

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#sanguinary vent — me crying and hating my life, if you don't want to see it block the tag

Extra:

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Credits:

DNI banner: @/seraphim-coinz

Other blogs:

System terms coining blog - @cdd-system-terms

System help sideblog - @cdd-system-help

Alterhuman archives sideblog - @true-alter-human

Funnier with BPD sideblog - @funnier-with-bpd

Personal alterhuman sideblog - @sanguinaryclaws

Hoard sideblog - @sanguinaryhoard

Regression sideblog - @sangylittlespace

Writing sideblog - @sanguinarywriter

Witchy blog - @sanguinarywitch

Jane's sideblog - @sanguinaryjane

Sparkle's sideblog - @sanguinarysparkle

Robin's sideblog - @sanguinaryrobin

[egg-emperor]

Game canon Eggman is pure evil y'all, rest assured to my fellow evil Eggman enjoyers. He's never acted for any reason that wasn't fueled by his evil/selfish intentions. I've carefully analyzed him in all of his scenes for hours and hours for years and years. I don't need to theorize, speculate, or insist on personal interpretations to get to this conclusion because I specifically go by what the games tell and show me undeniably.

I analyze very literally, not abstract or based on how I feel about it, only literally what I can see and hear. I feel this avoids a lot of unnecessary confusion and complication and it can actually be this way and yet still have a lot of depth to it to explore despite this. I don't see appeal in straying too far with the what ifs rather than the literals that are deliberately blatantly presented because the former is when bias can seep in.

But I know some probably think, "If you think I'm biased because I don't like pure evil Eggman so I don't want to see him as such, why aren't you biased for not liking less than pure evil Eggman? What if you're just seeing what you want to see?" But with the way I only go by what's blatantly there to see and hear in the games themselves in bold explicit forms, I feel I avoid any chance of bias.

I don't like to admit this but when I was younger, I had some incorrect interpretations about Eggman. Yes, even me. XD I never thought he was this completely good and caring guy but I definitely didn't have the most accurate understanding of who he was, how he'd act in certain situations, and what he is or isn't likely to say or do. A lot of my own personal biases at the time were to blame.

Years of heavy studying and analysis got me to where I am now. And I realized he said or did the exact opposite in the games to what I thought he'd do or wrote in my silly private fanfics back then. So I started to look at him neutral and unbiased, without expecting or wanting anything specific and letting it influence my perception. Only exactly what I could hear him say and see him do instead.

I rebuilt my understanding into what it is now and ever since, it has stayed completely consistent. Every new piece of media just reaffirms it or gives me new stuff to add that tracks and doesn't contradict the old in the slightest. I'm still having new revelations, discoveries and eyes opened to new things about him but they only further prove, develop, and strengthen my understanding now.

This was all done by me just shutting off these biased parts of my mind and letting the game canon show me who he was, not by my own personal desires and influences. Then I realized I was such a big fan of what I understood him to be, all of my desires turned into loving game canon Eggman for exactly who he was and wanting him to stay the funny pure evil bastard he is. And he does! 💜

But yeah because of that, even though my old perception years ago certainly wasn't the same level as those that spread misinformation of him being way nicer, softer, and morally good than he is in the games, I know what it's like for bias to influence me in some ways. And those little things I believed then are far different from what I know now, so this isn't an example of me being biased lol

I'm very happy that I came to fully recognize, embrace, and appreciate his funny but very much pure evil self! And one of the main goals of my blog besides expressing my passion, is to help people learn more about him and understand him too because I swear, your enjoyment and appreciation of him can grow so much stronger when you do. I love when I'm told I've helped with that!

But if you really don't like that he's pure evil because it makes you uncomfortable, that's fine. But there's a difference between not wanting to see it because you don't like it and what happens in the games. And if you don't like game canon Eggman like that, I have a lot of respect for you if you admit that and just do something different in your fan stuff, without claiming it to be fact.

But game canon Eggman canonically being a funny silly but very evil and threatening bastard man personally fills me with immense joy and it's why I adore him so much. It's endless fun and entertainment! 🥰💜

[ultranerdygirl]

idk if we should give specific fandoms in Ask game: unpopular opinion edition but hmm 🤍 for sanders sides and ❤ for gravity falls?

🤍: Which character is not as morally bad as everyone else seems to think?

Sanders Sides: I wanna say Virgil bc I've been seeing a lot of hate for him recently and I will NOT stand for people slandering my favorite boy. He's literally the embodiment of anxiety, cut him some slack. But also...Patton, I think?? People have given him a lot of guff for everything that went down during SVS: Redux and don't seem to realize that morality in itself is multi-faceted and flexible a lot of the time. He was confused and hurting. And going back to Virgil-- obviously he's gonna be pissed at Patton for being friendly with Janus. The Light Sides were so hard on Virge at the beginning of the series because he was "bad" and "evil", and now... well now, I can understand why Virgil is upset. He's probably hurt because it took a LOT less time for the Light Sides (specifically Patton) to "accept" Janus as a part of Thomas and Janus didn't have to undergo as much emotional growth to be accepted. And we don't know Virge's whole history with the Dark Sides. There could've been a time in C!Thomas' life where Janus could've been lying to Virgil a lot and causing his anxiety to go haywire (gaslighting comes to mind-- and I say this as someone who loves Janus-- he could've made Virgil feel worse by trying to deny his existence at all. "Of course Thomas isn't anxious. It's all in his head.")

...holy fuck, I had a lot of Sanders Sides thoughts. It's been a hot minute since I've thought super hard about that series. XD

❤: Which character do you think is the most egregiously mischaracterized by the fandom?

Gravity Falls: Honestly, both Mabel and Dipper. And a majority of their decisions/reactions to stuff can be explained by the fact that they are twelve years old, going through puberty, and siblings don't always get along. They're gonna argue, they're gonna hurt each other's feelings. It happens. They are also SUPER traumatized by the end of the series and that also contributes to their paranoia and some of their inherent selfishness. My feelings on this aren't as complex as the Sanders Sides ones, tbh.

Thank you for asking!! :D

[clavissionary-position]

Ikepri but it's Who Wants To Be a Millionaire

Keith: Uhghghhhh PHONE A FRIEND!

Clavis: Whoa whoa whoa! Calm down, haha! You just got here. We haven't even started

Keith: I'm sorry. May I phone a friend for moral support?

Clavis: You may, but you'll be using up your lifeline

Keith: Siri, call Mr. Gilbert

Clavis: Hahaha, unfortunately that's not how this wo--

PA System: Calling Mr. Gilbert

Clavis: What in the...?

Gilbert: Hello, Clavis. Hello, Keith. I knew you would call :)

Clavis: Why is this suddenly a zoom call? Why is your background just your webcam regressing infinitely into oblivion?

(100 Gilberts laugh in unison)

Gilbert: Isn't it obvious? The only way to win a mind game is to play mind games

Keith: Wait, I read the scribble on my hand wrong! Licht is under the 'friend' column, not Mr. Gilbert HELP ME

Alter-Keith, in his mind forest: (facepalms into a tree)

Gilbert: Ouch. I'll help you anyway though, because I'm a good friend. The answers are A, C, C, D, B, B, B, B, B, C, A--

Clavis: Cut to commercials! Cut to commercia--

---

Clavis: Why are you on this show? Aren't you already a multi-multi-multi-multi-billionaire?

Silvio: *props legs up on the screen* Let me ask you something. When you're short on change, where do you go looking?

Clavis: Hahaha! Are you telling me this show is your equivalent of a living room couch?

Silvio: *snaps* Quit the chit-chat. Time is money.

Clavis: I'd love nothing more, but your foot's covering the first question.

Silvio: My foot's on my screen, not on yours

Clavis: Yes, but my screen is under maintenance tonight

Silvio: My screen doesn't have the answers though

Gilbert: I have the answers though

Clavis: *stage-whispering to Cyran* Why is he still on the call!?

[teaveetamer]

Cap: *writes a blatantly sexist, racist, homophobic fic that is immensely popular and influential in the fandom and that many people have explicitly said made them feel uncomfortable when reading it*

Raxis: he's completely innocent everyone who says he ever did anything wrong are just hysterical liars with victim complexes

Moonlitboar: *says that they wanted Lambert to be more morally ambiguous and said they thought Sitri was happy in untagged posts that literally maybe a dozen people max ever saw*

Raxis: THEY DESERVED TO GET CANCELED THEY FUCKED AROUND AMD FOUND OUT THEY’RE AN ASSHOLE but i never did anything to them but i know who did but i won't tell anyone who that is BUT I'M COMPLETELY UNINVOLVED i just know exactly who is involved in this TOTALLY JUSTIFIED C A N C E L A T I O N (and totally not harassment because harassment is bad but cancelation to the point of harassment is fine)

LITERALLY what was the game plan here. His own logic makes it sound like he's actually completely down with Cap getting "canceled" AND he sounds like a blatant liar. Why couldn't he just shut his mouth for once

From the very beginning, no one on Tumblr has done anything that would break his personal definition of "normal" fandom participation. We're "harassing" Cap for talking about his fic and meta posts, but if you bring up Raxy's aggressive disregard for the block button, and how he disregards people directly asking him to leave them alone, he will be the FIRST to say "you put it on the internet so you have no right to be upset about me criticizing your dumbass takes".

He will stomp his feet and throw a tantrum if you say anything even remotely critical of Cap's fic's actual racist, sexist, and homophobic undertones, but Moonlit had one milquetoast opinion about Sitri and Lambert and they "deserve" a brutal cancellation. By his logic Cap should have been cancelled about a thousand times over by now; I'm giving him one cancellation for every use of "girls" to refer to grown women.

He will consistently justify his mistreatment of people with "but someone bullied Cap first" even if the person he's literally harassing has had nothing to do with Cap ever, but if you bring up what he demonstrably did to Moonlitboar it's "how dare you, you shouldn't 'mistreat' me for this thing I demonstrably did and even if I did do it then it wasn't my fault because they deserved it :/"

The truth of the matter is that Raxy doesn't give a shit. His "rules" for engagement are literally just "I should be allowed to react however I want whenever my feelings are hurt, and you should only be allowed to react in a way that doesn't hurt my feelings." Except this man is quite possibly the most fragile human being I have ever encountered and everything hurts his feelings. He genuinely thinks saying "I think Sitri lived a good life" is equivalent in hurtfulness to "I think it's okay to make genocide 'jokes' on your posts". Because the Sitri thing hurt his poor feelings, but well if someone tells me it's funny to remind me that my family died in the holocaust it's not his feelings getting hurt, so who gives a shit, just don't make him look too bad and he doesn't care. I wish I were kidding but that was LITERALLY his primary concern in that situation.

Not "hey talking about how genocide is cool is fucked up" or "hey maybe stop telling the woman who just told you that her family was impacted by the Holocaust that genocide is really funny and something to joke about"

Nope, it's "shut up you're making us look bad, and look now you woke Nilsh up! Don't you know I worked so hard to harass him into leaving social media!"

Like be for fucking real dude, you aren't slick. I can sum up everything you need to know about this guy's attitude in two images:

His logic looks like a mess of spaghetti because it is. Because he works backward from a conclusion ("I should be allowed to do whatever I want and no one should be allowed to do anything I don't like") and he inserts justifications as he goes, with no regard for whether or not it actually makes sense. He went from "Moonlit deserved it because they had bad takes" to "Moonlit was actually harassing me" to "I didn't actually do it anyway" to "I know exactly who did it but I won't say but it wasn't that bad" to now, apparently, "there's a conspiracy against me". He just relies on no one looking closely enough at him to notice the clear pattern. If someone does suss it out he tries to harass them into shutting up about him or he tries to delete evidence of his past logic and behavior (all the better if the person he's harassing deletes everything too, because then he can just make shit up).

The thing that really gets me is like, just how clearly unable to function he is without someone he absolutely hates to bounce off of. Does he even make original posts, or does he just constantly whine about other people's opinions? Every post I've ever seen from him about 3H, even the ones that aren't reblogs or don't have screenshots included, are like 99% "someone had an opinion I didn't agree with! Allow me to debunk it!" posts. The other 1% are recycled talking points from other people's metas, which he writes like he's got a 5,000 word paper due tomorrow that he hasn't even started and he's trying to see how much "slightly reword the wikipedia entry" he can get away with.

And not even speaking just about Raxy, but this is what pisses me off so bad about certain people in fandom. They feel empowered to harass and bully the genuinely awesome, creative people who actually make things. Those people leave, and then they have the audacity to sit there and whine about how the fandom is dead, no one is making anything, everyone left for greener pastures. They suck the life out of vibrant communities and leave nothing but a hollowed out husk. It happened with a ton of fan artists and authors in 3H, including some I'm friends with, who just had to get the fuck out because of the damage it was causing their mental health. And before he says it, no. Saying "Cap's (a white man) fic has some kinda racist and uncomfy undertones I wish he'd take some criticism to heart and correct that" is not the same thing as stalking someone and sending death threats because they have a different opinion about your favorite character. Holy fuck.

Like hey wanna know why no one wants to talk about 3H anymore? Because of this shit. Because saying "I think Lambert doing Morally Complex things is Morally Complex and therefore interesting" is the kind of opinion that can get you harassed into leaving the fandom entirely.

[br0-k3n-sch00lb01]

(tw: blood mention)

Aubrey’s voice was getting rough from so much yelling at people.

“Did you hear me?! I SAID GET UP AND GO AWAY!!” She hit Basil hard over the head with her nail bat. He was already curled up on the ground. He couldn’t think of anything except the pain he felt all over. He saw dark red in the vibrant green grass. He had a coppery taste in his mouth. 

“...A-Aubrey… I c-can’t… just please… give it back…” He said, his words slurring from the blood in his mouth.

Aubrey screamed with rage.

“GET OUT OF HERE! THIS IS OUR SPOT! I DON’T KNOW HOW YOU FOUND IT, BUT YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO BARGE IN!!” She smacked him with her bat again. 

He pushed himself off the ground, his ears ringing. She started to walk towards him and he stepped back. He felt the wood of the dock under his feet. Aubrey had tears in her eyes, but whether they were sadness or anger, Basil couldn’t tell. Aubrey clenched her fist.

“You’re the worst, Basil! HOW DARE YOU SHOW YOUR FACE TO ME AFTER WHAT YOU DID?!” She shrieked.

“Aubrey, I-” Basil started.

“I HATE YOU!! GET AWAY FROM ME!!” Aubrey screamed and shoved him. He slipped backwards off the dock and plunged into the deep, cold water. 

He wanted to accept his fate. So, in his cold and fear-induced haze, he closed his eyes and faded into the silence of the water.

Basil didn’t die. Not even close. 

He opened his eyes. He was in his bedroom, wrapped in a blanket, and dressed in fresh clothes. It was dark, and when he looked in the mirror, he hated the person who looked back.

—

“I think Aubrey is like a gladiolus.” I said, without thinking.

“A what?” Aubrey said.

“A sword flower,” I explained. “They represent strength of character. Someone who is honest, with strong moral values… someone who stands by their convictions… so they remind me of you because you’re always true to yourself.” I rambled.

“Wow, you gave Aubrey her own designated flower? Do I sense a crush, perhaps?” Mari teased as she continued braiding Aubrey’s hair. 

I did think Aubrey was cute, and I did like her, but not like that. 

“N-No!! I have flowers and plants for all of you, not just Aubrey!!! I don’t have a crush!!” I exclaimed. Sunny set down his video game and laid down with his head on my lap. I smiled and petted his hair. Mari looked at me curiously.

“Well… what do you think Sunny would be?” She inquired.

“A white tulip,” I said, much too fast. “Tulips aren't very flashy plants. They're not too big or small, not too elaborate or flamboyant. If I could put it in another way… I guess I would say that… they're comfortable. Simple, modest, and perfect. Like Sunny.” My face went red as I finished speaking. “And I don’t have a crush!” I said, so quickly and desperately they all knew it was a lie. 

—

He felt warm at the memory. It was a disgusting, awful, humid kind of warm. Not a nice warmth. He felt sick. 

He stumbled into his connected bathroom, hunched over the toilet, and threw up.

He sat in his garden, staring at the plants. A memory came to him, overtook him, and he fell into it without resistance.

—

Aubrey laughed at him.

“You’re not gonna win Sunny over by calling him ‘simple,’ yaknow.” She teased. They were walking home.

“I already said I don’t have a crush, Aubrey!!” Basil squeaked. 

“Are you suuuure~?” Aubrey giggled.

“No, I’m not sure!! But I just CAN’T have a crush on him! I’m not one of those people!” Basil said, bursting into tears. Aubrey put a hand on his shoulder.

“Oh, Basil, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.” She said calmly.

“I… I can’t be gay! My parents- no EVERYONE- would hate me!! I just can’t!!” He wailed.

Aubrey sighed.

“We wouldn’t hate you, Basil.” She paused. “Actually, can I tell you something?” Aubrey asked.

Basil nodded.

“To be honest… I think I like girls.” 

—

Basil poked the gladiolus in front of him absently. He found it funny, how Aubrey had told him that all those years ago and now called him a freak for being gay. 

Jesus, what a homophobe. She didn’t deserve to call him slurs for being different. He hated that. It was basically racism. 

Aubrey hated people just for being different. She probably hated Kel for having different skin. She probably hated Sunny for being a shut-in. She just hated everyone.

[taggedmemes]

SENTENCE MEME ⟶ THE OUTER WORLDS / PART FOUR always feel free to tweak the sentence to fit your muse.

'sounds like someone poking into somewhere they shouldn't be got into a spot of trouble.'

'you've got an ear for intrigue and a nose for money.'

'that's how you know your weapon loves you back.'

'time stood still. i was aware of nothing but the smell. it could have been days.'

'i'm just going to hang in the back and try not to touch anything.'

'it's a- a game we play, he and i.'

'you're going important places, i'm sure. big, exciting, important places.'

'it's personal business, i'm afraid. miserably, terribly personal.'

'i'd like to drown myself in work.'

'makes it hard to trust outsiders. you seem different.'

'couldn't've done it without your moral support.'

'if you could find some way to solve this without violence i'd prefer that.'

'a little advice? before you start telling lies, get a feel for who you're talking to.'

'sounds complicated, but profitable.'

'hey, careful with the 'c' word around here.'

'be seeing you. make sure you aren't followed on your way out.'

'i'm sorry, am i causing a scene?'

'he's a brave idiot with a penchant for getting himself delayed... sometimes by dates, usually by bandits.'

'i'd rather not die early of an infectious disease, myself.'

'no need for her to be worrying herpretty little head about me.'

'i'll be fine. so long as i'm left alone.'

we can discuss this like the level-headed folks we are.'

'awfully cold-blooded of you. though i admire your backbone.'

'alas, the only collateral she has is... her organs.'

'i guess it's better than losing your organs, but...'

'if you were that stupid, you deserved to get caught.'

'is this what carbon monoxide poisonin' looks like?'

'speaking for myself, i am not of a mind to be murdered by a psychopath who plays with fire.'

'keep talking. i like the sound of your voice.'

'the principles of the universe dictate that sometimes we must appease others to keep from being roasted alive.'

'we had a carnal understanding a few years back, and she wanted me to have something to remember her by.'

'that's bureaucracy for you. piracy with a smile.'

'just try not to piss off any of the jesters.'

'you don't got a thing to worry about. you know, aside from fires and such.'

'i have the pleasure of making life or death decisions on a shoestring budget.'

'i can also be a real hard-ass.'

'the scoundrel deserves a light beating at least before he kicks off.'

'we keep the community lubricated with a steady supply of booze and unconventional erotica.'

'it's a real romantic poem. made my chest hurt kinda.'

'you weren't joking about being a pirate.'

'you probably don't need my diagnosis, but he's definitely dead.'

[raspbeyes]

ace good character question mark (not really morally but yes)

(another one of my longer ones, this one more self-indulgent than actually analytical sorryyy i might just be spouting off stuff already said)

okay out of the gate i love ace as a character and i had to just spit out words into the void of why such an asshole of a character just rose to the top of my list of fav drdt characters

now drdt definetely has a lot of assholes in its cast: arturo, arei, j, charles, and recently teruko herself as of chapter 2. now while i do love the latter three, i cant help but say i dont really love arturo and arei as much and find their asshole tendancies more aggrivating

SO WHY ACE? what did he do? out of anyone, he's the one who's become actually more of an asshole compared to ch 2. at least teruko has ch 1 and a reason for being a jerk, j has her redeemable moments and isnt inherently bad, just coarse, charles was redeemed as was arei, and arturo hasn't done anything that made him inherently worse from ch 1 (i can hear u say "what about the whole j thing?" and my point still stands ... he's still just as insufferable lol). meanwhile, ace has turned from a comedic relief who swears profusely to an actual bully, who while still is probably just bite, actually threatens nico's life several times during ch 2.

i think its the sparse moments of "calm" between his hectic swearing that makes him so much more compelling to me. when a character, especially a character as far gone and stubborn as ace shows these slight moments of awareness of themselves, i think it reveals so much to their character beneath surface level without overtly doing a full reveal, making them sm more interesting to me. what makes ace compelling is where the expectations of his supposedly hot headed demeanor dont add up

rambling time ~

ace has a strange relationship with his talent. for someone who is a red headed, athletic, and foul mouthed character is already signing the alarm bells of a leon kuwata character. those three major traits signal to some sort of pride ace would have for his talent. and while in some ways he is like leon in that he doesn't train much, its actually ace's fear of failure that keeps him pushing past his fear of horses. ace has a habit of supplementing one fear for another, like how he overcame his fear of levi with his fear of the killing game. but at the end of the day, ace lives not by any level of cockiness like his brash character design may suggest, but rather by constant fear.

though ace is aware of his cowardice, as seen in his dialogue in ch1, ep2

Ace: Damn ... I know I'm scared of everything, alright? You don't gotta point that out to me. I wanna overcome my fears, but it's really fuckin' hard!

Right away, when called out, ace admits to knowing of his flaw and even more, he wants to improve! it's wild that a character who seems so bull-headed would even comprehend the thought of self-improvment, especially coming from ace. ace doesn't just have the desire to be safe, but he also has the desire to grow past that mindset (though clearly not enough to actually change). moreover, his line of saying how teruko doesn't have to "point that out" will show up again later

i dont have much to say on the trial outside of the obvious ace being a dick and going along with popular concensus. tho his outburst on levi is interesting. especially where he calls levi a coward

Ace: That's right. Shut your damn mouth, you coward -

I wonder how ace now is the one calling levi a coward when ace previously was terrified of levi. he seems especially peeved off by levi's peacemaker attitude the most. honestly, this is some good ol' fashion projection. Ace is well aware he's a coward, but he calls out levi for somehow the same thing.

personally, i think ace is pissed off that someone as intimidating as levi manages to maintain his anger and fears when ace cannot. We know Levi has a darker past that we aren't aware of and with the slight collpase in his character after ace's sharp remarks, it's clear levi isn't as much of a pushover as he lets on. ace noticed this from the start due to his own paranoia - which is why ace feared levi intially sm - and seeing levi somehow being the better person infuriates him. he wishes to be better, but when he fails, seeing levi further rubs salt into that wound.

a clear but inevitable change occurs within ace from chapter 1 to 2, with the creator (i believe i cant find the screenshot sorryyy) mentioning that ace hasn't been dying his hair red like he usually does to hide away his grey hairs, probably due to the stress. out of anyone's reactions following min's exection, ace's is the most vocal

Ace: Get me the fuck out of here! I don't want to be here anymore! Someone, anyone out there, please help me!!

Because everything, from the body discovery, to the trial, to the execution, were all something ace feared would happen and kept wanting to deny by having outbursts and trying to gain some short-term joy in picking fights. but now, every one last of his fears have been proven true, justifying all of his negative emotions. next we see him in chapter 2 is believing the food eden and levi prepared is poisoned and jumping to the conclusion teruko died when she arrived early.

during the motive reveal, ace says off-handedly

Ace: You've been nothing but a complainer this whole time, Teruko, and that's coming from me.

Again, small detail, but shows ace's awareness that he often complains. just adds to how ace views himself.

Tho more concerningly ace says later

Ace: You know what, fuck it! Fuck this motive, fuck investigating, fuck this killing game, I'm just going to walk around randomly and get my head blown off by whatever's waiting for us. Who cares! Buh-bye!

I will touch on this more later, but here we get the first glimpse of ace's self-destructivness. perhaps in some desperate way to escape his fear of death and everything from the last chapter, ace chooses apathy as the solution to facing death

during teruko's exploration at the gym, ace constantly brings up levi's threat from the trial. but unlike before, where he might cower away, ace shows no fear in snatching levi's stretch band and running away. it seems that while before ace may have wanted to improve by following levi, seeing levi do something ace would have done while facing no reprucussions from the rest of cast drives ace mad. after all, levi did threaten to actually harm ace, while ace only makes cowardly attempts to fight, but somehow people are way more willing to look past levi compared to ace.

however, after teruko calls ace "utterly useless" and "volatile, a coward" and "will die quickly" ace comes rushing back into the gym

however, when confronted and teruko only doubles down on her statement, ace is taken aback before saying

Ace: Tch, I should have realized it from the start. In this killing game, everyone is out to get me. Especially people who love picking fights with me, people like you and Levi (side note: in all of my talk of his self awareness, ace still doesn't realize he's the one starting fights smhh). I can't believe I wasted my time with all that dumb shit like arm wrestling and running around screaming at meaningless stuff. I was fucking stupid to not take this killing game seriously from the start. I'm done with being everyone's kickable scaredy cat. The only thing I should do is look out for myself and myself alone.

His previous awareness of his cowardly-ness now has transformed to self-loathing, as he is angry at himself for not "taking the killing game seriously". it sure seems like he did, judging by his fear of it; but it seems to me he more means trying to let himself get caught up in miniscule conflicts to distract from bigger problems. in some ways, it's like teruko in which ace tried to open up (not a lot, mind you) to distract from the looming fear of dying. but now that it has been confirmed, he feels like he has been played for a fool. his awareness of his "scaredy cat" label further intrigues the audience, because it seems ace truly does loathe how much of a coward he is, but is unable to truly overcome it. before, he seemed more willing to openly express it, and his desire to change, exposing himself slightly. but now he realized how much of a weakness that was for him, as pointed out by teruko, so now ace is determined more than ever to mask his fear with more destructive tendancies.

next we see ace is with what becomes the start with his rivalry with nico. we do get a hint in chapter 1 of ace picking on nico, but here, it fully explodes to actually bullying.

when asked what set ace off, nico recounts how he mentioned that if ace keeps on yelling, people will "keep thinking you're dumb". now idk when this happened, but likely right after teruko said pretty much veratim what nico is warning ace about happening. with it already proven true, ace is already prepared to fire back and now direct all his resentment towards his classmates of their perception of him on nico.

Ace: You all think I'm damaged in the head. But more than that ... Levi, Teruko, Nico, Veronika, and everyone else. You all think you can say whatever the fuck you want to my face, right? I'm stupid, irritating, a good-for-nothing, and a spineless coward. Is that what everyone really thinks of me? And it's fine that you drill it into my head over and over again, because you think that I'll forget about it in 5 minutes like you do? Ha! Ha ha ha ha! You're sooo funny! So fucking funny, did anyone ever tell you that? You think I act like this for fun, and then I go to bed and sleep soundly at night, you dumb piece of shit?

THIS! THIS IS WHAT MAKES ACE SO COMPELLING! Because as much as it seems like Ace is rejecting what everyone is saying from the list he made of negative traits, I'd argue only Teruko hands-down affirmed what Ace says about himself. Levi apologized multiple times, Nico further explained he meant it as constructive critcism, and well ... idk Veronika is just thrilled so she doesn't care. Honestly, while it might be true the cast thinks that of him, only 4 people have mentioned it, and two already apologized. But that was enough for ace, because form this dialogue alone, it inadvertenly reveals this is how ace views himself constantly

that's why i love ace's character writing. he can outwardly seem like such a jerk (and he is, no denying that) from being a coward, but with his dialogue, it reveals so much about it without him ever uncharacteristically acting vulnerable. he fully weaponizes his own self-hatred and chooses to instead reframe it as everyone else's full hatred of him. he is constantly hating himself, but at the same time, it conflicts with his want to be seen by others better. due to his own self hatred however, he believes that everyone already looks down on him, which creates its own self-fufilling prophecy

(SPOILER FOR THE RECENT EP 9) this even connects with his relationship with food. while jockies do develop eds due to the strict weight limiations to correctly ride the horse, that quickly can spiral to body image issues, and thus how people view them. ace's ed likely further adds to his hatred to not just himself but his own body, an ed that is further justified by said talent. moreover, we know previously how it is his fear of being viewed a failure that pushes him to become a jockey.

but instead of being able to better himself, he chooses to project and cover these self-loathing thoughts as not just his own, but everyone else's. and with nico - someone ace despises due to nico being the coward ace likely fears he is seen as (get it ... scaredy cat ... cuz ... cuz nico looks like a cat ... hehehe ill see myself out) - to point it out to him right after being told off by teruko is what broke the camel's back for him.

moreover, with how ace questions the others about him choosing to act the way he does "for fun" hints to the actual lack of control ace feels he has not just on the world, but himself. he cannot find anything in himself to like, but because he doesn't know how to be better, he's left constantly internalizing it. it may be why he constantly causing a stir and lashing out, in order to never be left alone to think about it like he would at night

it may be why ace threatens to "bash" veronica's "brain out", so veronika, in all her psycho analysis, only points out the surface level fear of the killing game pushing ace to act the way he does, treating ace like a coward. and he is, but ace knows that more than anyone else about himself and the constant treatment of him as pathetic infuriates him because in his eyes, they all aren't pin pointing anything ace doesn't know about himself that he may be able to control.

(tho before i continue on, just know whatever i've been rambling on about is not a justification of any of ace's actions, especially him being a massive asshole to nico, only due to his own insecurity and not because of nico himself. while ace didn't deserve to be attempted-murder-ed for it, he is the one who took the first shot and people have the right to be upset, especially nico. pls dont take this post as me justifiying ace's actions or his words at all T^T he's an intersting characters and i just like watching characters cause interesting conflicts)

During the cafeteria scene, when david intervenes in ace exposing nico's secret, ace says

Ace: Tch. Of course. You always need people like David to save you from mean bullies like me, huh? What a pathetic weakling. The truth is, you're nothing but a spineless whelp who can't stand up for yourself.

Nico: Why are you so cruel?

Ace: Go ahead and cry. Let everyone swoop in and help you.

Nico: You're ... You're the worst.

Ace: Yeah? And?

Ace refers to himself as a "mean bully" and accepts the label as "the worst" from nico fully, showing how he plans on only "looking out for himself". Ace is aware what he is doing is wrong, which is interesting from the bully archetype.

And as others have mentioned before, his line of calling nico a "pathetic weakling" feels less just directed at nico, but more himself. Ace, in his perspective, finds it unfair that Nico has aroused others' pity while ace only manages to drive them away (here's a thought: don't start a fight first chance u get lol). he believes that nico and him are both equals in terms of "patheticness" but nico, in ch 1, is sought after by xander and teruko (something ace interjects into). In some vain way to gain an edge over what ace views as his worst qualities, ace antagonizes nico, but it only leads to more people supporting nico (obviously lol). we'll see often ace referring to nico as a coward, 100% projecting.

but after david, hu, and nico run out the cafeteria, i think ace's interaction with rose is particularly interesting and definitely worth looking into.

Rose: Ace, you definitely went too far.

Ace: Haah? You wanna go --

Rose: You're doing it again. How do you have so much energy to fight all the time?

Ace: Tch - Look, I just ... I struggle to control myself sometimes when I get angry. Or something.

Levi: Still, that in no way warrants what you said to Nico -

Ace: Oh, like you're one to talk. Why am I sticking around this dump? I'm leaving.

I have to wonder what Rose said that caught Ace off-guard. this is speculation, but initially ace seemed fired up to fight. But when Rose instead poses a question rather than a statement of ace's character, it's what manages to cool him down enough to admit his own anger issues. In a way, Rose may have been a lingering question Ace often thinks himself, and for Rose to verbalize it manages to cool Ace down. But when Levi makes a statement about ace, that and what ace views as levi's hypocrisy is enough to put ace back on the offensive (or defensive... idk he's just angry all over again)

now onto nico's attempted murder (also have to say this, but omg i love ace's va, Seth Raffield. especially during ch 6. bro put his everything to sound actually in pain its incredible work all throughout!)

while most of ace's reaction is in line of what you'll expect ace - hell anyone really if they were nearly murdered - to say (ie swear profusely and scream).

however, for once, ace is offered help from levi and eden (idk about teruko lol but ig she gives advice in telling ace to give up on finding nico.

Ace: Don't bother. I'd rather bleed all over my room than accept any sort of help from you.

Levi: Don't say that. Your injury is serious. If you don't get medical treatment right now, you're going to make your situation worse -

Ace: Then I'll let it get worse! I'd rather die alone than accept your help! It's inevitable anyway, so why should I take your pity on top of everything else I have to suffer through?! Don't talk to me ever again!

Levi: ...

Eden: Don't say that ...

Ace: You know ... Heh. I've always wondered which is worse, dying young or living a long shitty life of suffering. But it turns out neither of those options are as bad as this.

Teruko: What's 'this'?

Ace: Don't ask stupid crap. And also? Go eat shit. [Ace proceeds to pass out]

This always confuses me. LIKE WHAT IS 'THIS' REFERRING TO? The killing game? Being murdered? Nico getting away with murder??? WHAT AHHH?

It's so puzzling I cannot for the life of me figure out what ace is alluding to by what is so bad from dying at nico's hand. Whatever it is is clearly important since teruko points out ace's vague phrasing BUT I CAN'T FIGURE IT OUT!! ( T^T )

Though from what i do know, ace clearly still holds a deep resentment for levi, rather wanting to die than get his help. And that's a huge jump from ace of ch1 who was terrified of death, and perhaps he still is. but we did see early in ch2 after the motive reveal this self-destructive attitude he has adopted since the min's execution.

He fully accepts his death, calling it inevitable, which may be even more true for ace's case with the understanding of his ed. with his body "falling apart" and eds being known to get in the way of a body being able to properly recover, ace's paranoia of death becomes something not just delusion but a constant reality for him. Death is always present in his mind, with it seeming he has spent a long time questioning whether dying young or old is better or worse.

I don't have much to say as of newer material since it's pretty expected of ace's reaction. tho its really jarring how people are fully unwilling to accept the possibility nico attempted to kill ace WHEN HE WAS CLEARLY INJURED. it's wild. i can't say i agree with him fully going after nico during the investigation, but i cant say i think ace is in the wrong since LITERALLY NOBODY IS WILLING TO BELIEVE ACE, not even eden nor teruko choose to back him up on what they saw.

so uh tl;dr (don't blame u)

soo ...yeah ace cool character maybe? idk if anything i really said was anything ground breaking i just had to compile them all together in this big ol' post. ace is a character who idk resonates with me in all of his frustration. a lot of what he says feels like a very human feeling of knowing his wrongs but feeling powerless to make a change, creating a cycle of bitter frustration. it's what really makes ace stand out, as while at first he appears to be a one off hot headed joke, ch 2 takes the breadcrumbs laid out in ch 1 and truly expands on the implications it means. He's the bully trope, but instead of bullying out of confidence, he bullies from insecurity. And not just that, he is very aware of it and hates himself for how he acts. A bully who wants to do better but can't control himself is just intriguing and i cant wait to see more ace development

now anyway ill be off in my sacrifice circle to manifest survivor ace

[olderthannetfic]

Hogwarts Legacy anon. Honestly not even inaccurate on the living under a rock thing. I won’t say I follow JKR or Harry Potter news well. It’s not my fandom. But the posts are confusing to say the least and tend to lack any middle ground on people’s morals or the perception of them. Or whether said people should even believe randoms on the internet who have a tendency to spread lies and over exaggerations. When most everything on the internet is posted with oversimplification upon further research, it makes the rest doubtful as well.

The fact of the matter is, how in the know are you about the game or JKR (other than the occasional Twitter scandal) can you be if you aren’t perpetually in the state of researching everything you know? Or if it’s not even near your interest? Someone buys you a Harry Potter game, what do you do? Tell them to fuck off?

My question aims more to how is JKR any different from the many assholes who create or work for other entertainment, that don’t get the same level of outrage? Or the outrage gets replaced by another story to come later. And should the outrage be lain on, yes, the usually ignorant customer? Doesn’t that turn them away from even hearing the valid arguments out?

This question is more in reference to JKR involvement with said game. Probably valid criticism on the game, idk, I don’t know much about it, other than the visuals. And yes, I am coming from a place of ignorance on this matter, but from my perspective I just see a lot of shaming and a lot less information.

Though I still don’t understand vilifying people who buy the game because a. They don’t have any reason to believe internet people b. How likely are they to even know? The only reason I’m sorta in the know is because I spend too much time on the internet. C. Again why vilify for ignorance when you can teach instead of bitch?

(This is a sincere ask, by the way, filled with many days confusion. I do apologize if this is a bit ranty.)

--

We discussed this whole topic of "How complicit am I in JKR's suckitude?" extensively on my blog a while back. You can scroll back a few months if you want to see. The game was discussed at length then (though prior to anyone having played it).

As for why we would bitch instead of teach... dude... exactly how much of a tireless saint do you expect others to be?

If someone ran around using the n-word because they "just didn't know", would you give them a pass? What about if they loved their golliwog doll from childhood? Whose job is it to tell them to stop being a complete ass in public?

Yes, yes, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar, metaphorically speaking. (In reality, vinegar is one of the best ways to murder the shit out of flies, but I digress.) However, the fact is that randos on the internet enjoying their own space aren't free teachers who owe people things. They're reacting with wrath to a piece of propaganda by some fuck who wants them dead.

You're busy and haven't had time to do research. Fair enough. But everyone else is also busy.

Hogwarts: Protocols of the Elders of Gringotts, as that other post called it, is reportedly not at all subtle in its flagrant antisemitism.

One reason people are frustrated is that most non-Jews simply cannot be bothered to learn the very most basic information about antisemitic tropes. This isn't subtle stuff, nor is it hard to learn if you browse wikipedia instead of screamy social media posts.

I agree that tumblr, twitter et al. are bad places to get information much of the time, but that doesn't mean information is unavailable.

[teensywars]

Why Tiny-Scale Wargames?

For me, a wargame succeeds or fails based on how it makes me think. When I look down at the pieces on the table, am I thinking about strategy? About the drama of my little guys? Or am thinking about little plastic toys on a table?

The default scale for miniatures games is just close enough that you can see your individual figures doing things. That makes sense. The companies want to sell toys, so you want to make a game where the toys do cool things.

But, once you zoom out far enough that individuals no longer matter, something amazing happens. Your perspective shifts, and you begin thinking of your little tabletop battle in the same way you'd think of a real battle. The game is no longer about individuals, but lines of battle, flanks, and C&C.

Space Marines in Epic Armageddon don't win because Lieutenant Ironpecs is really good at hitting things with a sword, they win because they follow orders when other armies would be struggling with morale.

Battles in Drop Zone Commander aren't won on shooting, they're won by seeing ways to use the terrain to create a place for your transports to land.

Darth Vader may be terrifying, but in Star Wars Armada, he's one guy in one TIE Fighter among hundreds.

That's something you can't get from squad-scale wargames, and that's why you should care about games with tiny miniatures.

[10holmes]

Thanks for the fanfic ask game qs, now it's your turn! :D

I hope these aren't too many qs, but I'd love to know your thoughts:

C, K, M, S, T, V, Y

Thank you :)

Yay! Thanks so much for asking! So excited to answer these questions 😍🙏🏼🎉

The full (very long - sorry!) answer to be found below the cut! 😁

C: What character do you identify with most?

Oooh that's a tricky question... I think I can't boil it down to just one character but a blend of characters? I think the characters I tend to stan and ship are a good indicator bc I usually fixate most on ships and characters that somehow speak to me or that I relate to.

For example with XueXiao, I really identify with Xiao Xingchen in the way that he is kind and helpful to others and follows this ideal of wanting to make the world a better place and leaving the mountain for that, aka a place he could stay placid and content in, to instead do something about the injustices he knows about in the "real world", even if that means facing hardships and pain and struggles.

As for Xue Yang, I really relate to him and see him as my deepest darkest side if I could throw my morality over board. I am someone who whole-heartedly proclaims "eat the rich" and means it, so if I was any more like Xue Yang in the way not to give a fuck, I'd also just kill the people that hurt me or others and go unhinged... 😅🙈 Slight difference between us being I would not kill indiscriminately and for the fun of it or for the slightest offense but really only target corrupt rich people and super capitalists and fascists that have it coming for them 🤭

K: What's the angstiest idea you've ever come up with?

I really don't want to spoil anything, but it has to do with an alternative chapter / ending I came up with for my LiuJiu A/B/O fic. I love happy endings as much as the next fanfic reader but sometimes I just want to make myself and others hurt. And this one will hopefully make my readers scream.

Also there's a XueXiao reincarnation fic WIP I can't wait to post. It's nearly finished and I wrote it while listening to Tom Odell's "Another Love" on repeat - which should give you enough of a vibe to imagine the angst level of this fic. I'll just say this much: unrequited love 🤭👍🏼

Sorry I can't be more specific but I really don't want to spoil anything more😅🙈

M: Got any premises on the back burner that you'd like to share?

Maybe it's because I'm too young to know that phrasing or maybe it's a native speaker thing but I had to google what this meant first and hope Google got it right 😅🤣

My WIP file is massive... To give you a glimpse: Next to the ones mentioned above I've also started:

- an angsty post-canon Beefleaf fic, where SQX is haunted by a hanging ghost and made to kill herself but HX intervenes and they start their journey of reconciling, don't know if I'll ever finish it...

- a VegasPete vampire / vampire hunter AU based on a Tumblr prompt and gif-set post but I'll very likely never continue that...

- a LiuJiu AU where SJ is present during the events of SVSSS and LQQ knows SY is an imposter and now tries to bring back SJ into his former body. This has angst and hurt written into every line. Sadly it's merely all in my head...

S: Any fandom tropes you can't resist?

Enemies to Lovers always hits! It's my jam!

Also the angstier the merrier! Hit me with the feels, the pain, the hurt, the agony! Doesn't even have to have a happy ending, I'm a sucker for being emotionally destroyed and also emotionally destroying my readers (though I tend to give them a happy ending at least) 😈🤣👍🏼

And, like you, omegaverse is my guilty pleasure - the smuttier the better 😏

And speaking of guilty pleasures I also have to say monster-fuck AUs are on the menu as well... There have been some really good SongXueXiao ones, I've read. Didn't know that was something I'd ever be into - my 14 year old self would probably be appalled. But here we are 🤣🤣

Soulmate and Fated Pair AUs are something I like to dig into as well.

And I'm also really into mermaid AUs. Especially when one is human and the fic gives off The Little Mermaid vibes.

T: Any fandom tropes you can't stand?

I don't know why but any modern day AUs especially High School AUs... I just can't read it. The most I will do is mob boss / mafia or reincarnation where they slowly uncover their past, but if canon events are set in modern times/contexts I don't really like it for some reason 😅

But I'm actually quite open to a lot of fics and it's mostly not the tropes I can't stand but characterisation or writing style 😅🙈

V: If you could write the sequel/prequel to any fanfic out there (not you own) which would it be?

Bruh... What a difficult question... I haven't ever thought about writing continuations or pre-quels for existing fic as I love them the way they are and mostly just in between imagine possible canon-divergences if the characters had made different choices...

But I guess, from the top of my head, I'd like to write a sequel to "Mark of Jasmine" to give LiuJiu an alternative or reincarnation happy ending because they've really been played in that one... 🙈😅

Y: A character you want to protect?

So many. All my little blorbos and meow meows. On the top of that list - obviously - Xue Yang. But I'd also step in front of my best bois Loki and Shen Jiu to shield them. They deserve so much better 💕😭

Now thanks again for the ask and for reading this long-ass reply, it was my pleasure 🤣

[dominiquewritesthings]

How I Plan My Characters

1. What is their moral compass? For the fantasy, mystery, and science fiction genres, this is super important. Define the main character's moral compass and use that to define what choices they make. Though this is very popular in building a character in Dungeons and Dragons, I don't see why it can't work to the advantage of all authors out there. Feel free to understand how your character will navigate the world and understand the people around them.

2.  What are their personal struggles? Everyone struggles with something. Personally, I like to pick something that I've been struggling or have struggled with and make that thing my character struggles with. I find it a lot easier to be vulnerable and work through whatever it is when it's not actually you; however, if you aren't comfortable with that feel free to pick something different. All you need to know is what kind of impact this would have on the main character and the surrounding characters. Even if they don't know, they may notice a shift in personality or routine in the main character. 

3. What are their favorite things? Of course, this doesn't have to be the focal point of the story, but it can be helpful to know that your main character loves waffles for breakfast and can eat pizza for 3 meals a day for a week. OR maybe every weekend they cuddle up and watch Death Note. This gives their character personality and helps you write them better in the long run. Personally, I have a favorite pen (Pilot G-2 07), they last so long as well. 

4. What do they do for fun? Having hobbies is human. The only reason I wouldn't give a character hobbies is if they're a workaholic and spend most of their time there. It doesn't have to be extravagant, sometimes people like reading and having quiet time while others like rocking out to music. Some people have one time-consuming hobby or a couple of small hobbies. Personally, I play the violin, play video games and enjoy reading. 

5. How do they interact with their friends? How you interact with your friends says a lot about you as a person. Have you ever seen someone project their insecurities on their friends in real life? What do you think about them? Now imagine your character doing that. What if your character cared for their friends as if they were their children? What if your character ways flirted with their friends? All of this you need to think about before writing dialogue. 

6. Are they an open book or guarded? Things in someone's life would make them guarded. If they feel like no one would be interested in what they have to say, or no one listens to them normally. They may be less likely to tell others about their personal life; however, if this doesn't happen and people seem to be receptive to the character, they may consider themselves to be an open book. You can even blend these two stereotypes by asking a character who is open about a lot of things but is extremely guarded when it comes to their home life. 

7. Are they close to their family? In reality, family is not important to everyone. Some families can be manipulative and abusive towards other family members and can make it hard for them to feel accepted and close to their family. But, some people have a great relationship with their family and love spending time with them. Just remember, if you write something about abuse or manipulation, be sure to add a trigger warning for those who suffer from this in their own life. 

8. What clothes do they like to wear? This is one of my favorites! A lot of people love expressing themselves with their fashion. For me, I like wearing cozier clothing so I can focus on the task at hand. Others may like wearing New York Street Fashion because it's popular in their hometown, New York City. There are so many possibilities so don't limit yourself. 

9. What is their personality type? Everyone has a different personality, but it's always fun to start playing around with different personality types to keep your characters diverse. Personally, I'm an Advocate (INFJ-A/INFJ-T). Of course, you may love my personality but it's one of the rarest ones so you can't use it too much. Don't worry, 16personalities.com explains all of the personalities in detail. What I like to do is take the test as if I were the character. Don't think about the answers too hard though, because you should be answering them quickish, as the website advertises the quiz to take 10 min. It can't hurt to pick one main character trait to focus on, especially if you're writing a tragedy. This is important to know. This could be a tragic flaw and something that will eventually bring them to their downfall or something happy that her friends and family love them for. Either way, this should be something that should entice the reader to keep reading and make the reader love them!

[corporatefallout]

My ideas so far on who the managers are in the AU!! (Notes left on some btw)

Prester Virgil

Long time Minutemen soldier. Paranoid, aggressive, self centered, and stubborn. He's generally both a helpful hand and also terrifying at times.

Brian

An Institute scientist in the Robotics division. Egotistical and heavily book smart which has him acting on statistical means than emotional. But not street smart in the slightest. One step into the wasteland and he's probably dead in a week.

Misty Monsoon

A loner that lives on the island of Far Harbor. Besides the wild life, Mary is her only friend around here. Since most had either died or succumbed to the fog. She's somewhat in hiding too...

Mary Anna

Exploring the island, Mary studies the biology that was made from the environment and radiation. With the help of Misty as well. She's not one to head into violence and would rather act more emotionally or thoughtfully.

Cosmo Kuiper

One of the dangerous gangs and richest you never want to mess with. Having people running for their lives or for their caps. Most of their money comes from Chem sales, mercenary assistance, and of course... loans.

Holly Graylle

A knight of the Brotherhood of Steel! (Cause she's a...) Stationed in the Capital Wasteland. Within the groups sent out for missions, she is the one to be leading and directing. No one is doing anything without her word and say.

Chip Revvington and Spruce Campbell

(I'm having troubles with them, slightly. Help)

A duo mercenary team who works on their own terms. If the caps pay well and if they're up to the task, they'll do it. Morality ranges really, since sometimes old habits die hard. Close as brothers and will defend each other.

Tawney C. Esta

(Saw the perk "Sandman" and got the idea...)

The sandman of the wasteland. Assassinations in the night and it's only done if the money is right. The kills done aren't aligned by good or bad only, it's just business. Asleep in the day and awake in the night.

Belle Dama

(I'll be honest, the term "long distance relationships" got me thinking sniper rifles and she is a phone... so-)

A professional in the Regulators! Working by the uses of a trusty sniper rifle. Despite how... uhhh, dangerous she may sound, she's quite the opposite. Looking after the younger ones and caring towards others. Staying firm on her morals of course.

Benjamin Biggs

A medic in the wasteland and looking for hire. Certainly good at his work and well experienced than most doctors you'll meet out here! Although he enjoys the latest talk going around when stopping in town of course.

Buck Ruffler

The luckiest gambler you'll meet and has probably been kicked out of a lot of casinos by now. He's lucky to be alive. Honestly. Also high on jet-

Graham Ness Payser

The hotshot of the Strip in New Vegas! Bragging, unbearable, and his own number one fan. Picking up quite the fame and yearns for more excitement in his life. His aim is bad but he's a fast shooter!

Flint Bonpyre

A nervous explosives and incinerary expert who is also not afraid talk his mind. (Sometimes.)

Dave Brubot

The star of the stage! Able to charm his way into your heart. With his charisma, he could easily make his way anywhere and have the ability to persuade. (I'm kinda having trouble with him, help)

Cathal

Okay I'll be honest, 100% inspired by the pictures of people's game having him show up everywhere. That's him now. No matter which bar or place you stop at, Cathal is there and knows what you did. No matter what. Like the Gman except not interfering with events. Just a joke character.

And that's it!! They will be edited and changed in the future, of course. So nothing here is permanent! Some characters I'm having trouble regarding what I want for them or on who/what they are. I accept ideas regarding them, yes yes.

Also- some of them definitely won't fw each other at all. On the lines if faction, beliefs, and morality. Or pre-established beef, lol.

[dragonflight203]

ME1 replay, Luna and post conversations:

-That it triggered conversations with Kaidan, Ashley, and Liara was a surprise. I did not realize Luna would count as a trigger. Their dialogue usually only updates after main missions.

-Also, I'm slow. I always thought Liara's triggers were odd, because the other alien conversation triggers would occur after UNC worlds. Liara's triggers after main missions because love interest triggers occur after main missions.

-The path of relays are interesting. Argos Rho and Gemini are right next door, but you have to go through four relays to reach the other.

Luna:

-Hackett says Shepard is still part of the Alliance military. I wish we knew more about how spectres are supposed to operate. A spectre being a part of their species military appears to be a conflict of interest.

Or maybe it's not? The Hierarchy military is the Hierarchy government. So maybe the Council sees no issue.

Still, as a consultant you ultimately answer to your company. So if a member of a military is on loan to the Council as a spectre, they ultimately answer to their military.

However, Udina and Anderson repeatedly emphasize that Shepard only answers to the Council now. They should remember they're human, but humanity can't tell them what to do.

Doylist answer: I don't think Bioware thought this through all the way.

Watsonian answer: I suspect Shepard was supposed to get a great deal of additional training on what being a spectre means, did not because Nihlus died, and the Council is waiting to see what they'll do as a test.

-Hackett is very emphatic that the VI is not an AI. How can they know that for sure? Are the fail safes not responding not a clue?

-Pluto's orbit was circularized as part of recovering the Charon Mass relay. How the hell did that work? Aren't planet orbits determined by gravity?

-Making the Sol Mass Relay be Charon was a clever way to incorporate Pluto into the game even after it was no longer delcared a planet

-The Codex entry for the Prothean ruins on Mars show the same aliens as the ones for Illos. Javik's design was definitely a retcon.

-All the wealth of the colonies are flowing back to Earth... Are the Turians just eating popcorn as they wait for Humanity's Unification Wars to start?

-As you go through each bunker, you're slowly killing the AI. What's it like to have your body destroyed limb by limb?

-I wish Tali had dialogue for this mission. You'd think she'd recognize a an AI gaining sentience, or have opions about putting down rogue machines

-Insanity is hard. Tactics: Stay in the hallway to better control enemy approach.

-This mission is so sad. The AI throws everything it can to stop you, but you just keep systematically dismantling it. Poison gas, kinetic barriers... Those don't do anything. It's just a last ditch effort to survive.

Garrus:

-Most black market trade can be ignored. Well, at least C-Sec knows how to prioritize.

-There's an Elcor diplomat that was a serial killer. More of Bioware making each race three dimensional. Most Elcors in the game are very kind.

-Ah, Garrus. My beloved corrupt cop. "Interviewing". The game doesn't even hide what this means; if you select a dialogue entry about "interviewing" Dr. Saleon, you ask if he got what he deserved.

-Garrus, just why did the Turian you were "interviewing" start bleeding out of nowhere?

-Garrus has such moral outrage against criminals, but so little actual concerns about the innocent. He hates what Dr. Saleon does, but is willing to sacrifice numerous innocent lives to stop him. Garrus, do you actually care about innocent people? Or do you just hate evil ones?

-I don't think it was an accident that Garrus told Shepard about Dr. Saleon as an interesting story. He was gunning to have Shepard go after Dr. Saleon from the start. This was just a convenient opportunity to do so.

Ashley

-Ashley, I am so sorry for you. Your writer tried, but you are the victim of so many poor choices.

-She tells Shepard so much about her family, but still conveniently leaves out everything about Shanxi.

-If Mike hadn't asked Sarah about sex, Ashley would have worried he thought Sarah was ugly. Just, agh. Let's put this down to it being the 2000s.

-The part where Sarah doesn't want to go to the authorities about the near rape is sadly quite believable and still very common. She's not wrong that reporting it would likely hurt her more than help

-And Sarah hugs him at the end after he tried to rape her, then tried to beat her up after he confronted her later. This is supposed to be heartwarming and show the strong backbone of Williams women. Why, Bioware, why

-And on top of lines that easily come off as racism and a story with numerous sexism issues, the game makes her the only religious human that I can recall in ME1. It's like the writer was trying to put every possible target on her back.

Wrex

-Wrex is so old. Not surprising that he has burnout.

-Krogan burial grounds are sacred. Maybe they're the reason why archeological digs can't be performed at grave sites?

-For all Krogans are comfortable with violence, Wrex is clearly traumatized by his father's betrayal and killing him. He shows a lot of vulnerability in this conversation.

-Even after getting his armor back, there's nothing left for him on Tuchanka.

-We meet Wrex at his lowest point, wondering the galaxy as a mercenary after failing to help his people. It's good to know it's only for him from here (barring certain choices in ME3)

Tali

-The writer sure mined a lot from this conversation in future games, didn't they?

Tali will probably never server on the admiralty board herself

People like her father have enemies, and would use Tali to hurt him

-Quarians place a high family on family and ancestry. They even engaged in ancestor worship. Maybe it's the Quarians that are the reason burial sites are sacrosanct

-Quarians are insular. Even if Tali stopped Saren, her people won't care much

Yet you can use Tali's actions in ME1 to rally the crowd for her in ME2. Retcon, or Tali underestimating how much her actions would improve public relations for her people

-Quarians abandon their criminals on planets, but are annoyed that others have such a lower opinion of them. Folks, I understand why you do this, but surely you can recognize the cause and effect?

Kaidan

-I forgot that Brain school killed kids. Damn. Kaidan's been through a lot

-Wow, this is my first time romancing Kaidan and the dialogue is very different. Usually the second converstation is another infodump. Here's there's very little of that and much more personal talk.

-People frequently say that Kaidan doesn't open up to unless you romance him, but I feel I learned more about him in his non romanced dialogue than his romanced dialogue

Liara

-Just how sheltered is Liara? Does she have much experience with living aliens? She speaks to Shepard like this is her first time actually interacting with non Asari and it's causing her eyes to open up - like a kid from a small town going to college for the first time. But she has a doctorate!

-She thinks humans have an advantage because they're short lived, so they have to fit more life into their short time span. I think this is the human writer showing through. No one says this kind of thing about Salarians, and they live a fraction of a human lifespan.

-The rest of the galaxy sees humans as bullies than run over other people to get their way. Frankly, from what we've seen so far I don't think this is wrong.

-Is the only time that Asari are monogender come up in the Codex and as an option when Liara hits on femshep? I wish Bioware had done more of this. It'd be interesting to run into an Asari sick of dealing with humans treating them as a woman.

-I don't know if this is a Bioware problem or an Asari problem. I'm leaning towards Bioware.

Me: Kaidan is special

Liara: But we are too right?

If I'm generous, it's because Asari are supposed to be comfortable with polygamous relationships. But there's conveniently no dialogue option to discuss that, so it comes off as Liara ignoring the fact that I'm gently letting her down.

Codex

-The entry about Human Military Doctrine strongly comes off as blatant propaganda.

The other species are totally impressed by us, guys! We're very special and despite being newcomers to space totally showing them the best tactics and how to protect colonies!

Meanwhile: We don't need to heavily protect each colony. We'll leave small garrisons to scout. If a colony is in trouble, we'll send reinforcements.

*Eden Prime is massacred* Humanity to the Council: WE MUST BE AVENGED

The Council, in their heads: Have you considered actually protecting the colonies that you are developing in territory that is so dangerous no one besides the Batarians is willing to develop?

In the background:

Ferrus: We call for Aid!

The Alliance: We'll send the new human spectre. We're sure they'll get around to you eventually.

Edit: Fix spellings

[that-angry-noldo]

For the character ask game, would you do Finrod and Finarfin, please?

Of course!!

Finrod

I absolutely love Finrod's aesthetic. He's a snake he's a himbo he's antropologist he's a shiny he's covered in blood. just. top tier

I've actually just remembered this but I did invent a name for him! Tyelpenimer, Silver Shadow, is a name Maglor gives Finrod in my werewolf au

I love fanon vision of Finrod, especially appearence-wise. He definitely wears loads of jewelry, loves laughing and is a sweetheart. However fandom is also 100% WRONG. I don't love it when Finrod's portrayed as this perfect unproblematic cousin, or as holier-than-thou person, or as an optimistic ball of sunshine. My beef is probably with "holier-than-thou", mostly because I picture Finrod as someone who's pretty much able to see his own mistakes and to be fully aware of his wrongdoings. That's why I hate when C&C or, God forbid, Sauron are pictured as having moral high ground because "at least they're aware they did wrong things and aren't hypocritical"

Finarfin

HE'S A LEGEND HE'S AN ICON AND HE *IS* THE MOMENT

the man the myth the blorbo

HIS AESTHETIC ALRIGHT. he's a noldo by heritage, vanya by mother and teler by choice. no one does it like finarfin

NO ONE GETS HIM LIKE I DO (/jk)

No but for real, fandom does him dirty. I rarely see him as something more than a background character, and even then, he's usually kind, quiet and forgiving. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure he posesses these traits, and I love that in him, BUT THEY'RE NOT ALL THAT CHARACTERISES HIM!! he's sad he's lonely he's hurt and he's angry!!!! and he has SO much potential. honestly it makes me sad there's not much aracentric fics

his hair glows in the dark. during war of wrath it glows constantly. i will take this headcanon into my grave and make tolkien canonise it

there's not much fanart of him which is a shame, though the fanart that exists is spectacular

there's like ten lines about him in canon. i based my entire personality around those ten lines. can you tell people find me weird

yes fanon is MEAN to him. I still remember vividly his description as a mommy boy, crybaby and a coward, all in one fic that claimed to be "objective" and "historically accurate". i also came across a take that pictured him as a corrupted power-hungry character, worse than both his brothers. though also fandom mostly ignores him which is just as mean because it makes me sad (/lh)

THERE IS SO MUCH PROJECTION. i'm sorry he's just a character that matters a lot to me

all in all. 10/10. the best character ever written, second to maybe hurin. exellent brainrot material, top tier. if you talk to me about him i Will cry of happiness.