#half baked series

[rainbow-flavoured-skittles]

blue food in celebration of the pjo show!!

[almayver]

Hanahaki disease phumpeem AU where the petals show up after Kluen appears

That's it, that's the post I don't have more I just felt the need for angst in this fine Wednesday

[galedekarios]

hi! sorry to bother you, do you know if the dialogue where gale says to mystra “because i’ve someone else to live for” happens only during his origin? i never heard that with my tav and can’t find it in the parsed dialogue i’m very confused 😭

you aren't bothering me at all!

i checked the files again because i only got that line during gale's origin playthrough as well, and i found that extremely disappointing tbh because it is a beautiful line.

it's why i included it, despite it not 'officially' being in gale's romance in this gifset that i made a while ago:

the parsed dialogue files have this for an origin gale playthrough:

Mystra: Gale of Waterdeep. You look well. Gale: Mystra. Please - I have so much to explain to you. Mystra: There is much unsaid between us, but time runs ever short. I've been watching your journey here. Your triumphs. Your temptations. Your doubts. Mystra: You discovered what lies at the Heart of the Absolute - the Crown of Karsus - and you disobeyed my instruction. Why? Gale: Because I have someone else to live for. ORI_State_Partnered Avatar or Companion is in an exclusive relationship Mystra: I know. Your union is one I find surprising, but you are your own man and it is not the worst choice you have made, after all.

the devnote says avatar or companion so i'm thinking the line was perhaps meant to be in custom tav playthrough at some point during development as well.

however, checking the same conversation in the file meant for a custom player, yields only this:

the line is completely absent here, nowhere to be found, while most other lines that are in a gale origin are also in a custom tav playthrough. in fact, i think it's the only line that's not there, too.

so that likely only leaves the following options: it was cut/chosen not be there for a custom tav, or it was forgotten to be implement for a custom tav.

since it's not the files for a custom tav, we can be sure that it's not a bug that we aren't getting this line from gale.

[valerieofavonlea]

Alright who's ready to overanalyze how povs are broken up from a Stormlight 5 update from over a year ago? Spoilers for the entire series, including preview chapters for KoWT

So our POV blocks are as such: Szeth and Kaladin, Dalinar and Shallan with Renarin and Navani, and then Navani, Adolin, and Venli with their own things going on.

Let's dive in. Szeth and Kaladin is easy: Shinovar field trip.

Shallan and Dalinar aren't as intertwined, but seem to go together. Dalinar will be prepping for the contest of champions, and it seems Shallan is going after Ba Ado Mishram to find her before the Ghostbloods do. Navani I would expect to be helping Dalinar. Renarin is also in here so I wonder if he (+bridge 4) might be going with Shallan. That'd be an interesting group.

Jasnah is off on her own again. Not terribly surprising. Wit seems to be heading out to find an old friend (Cultivation?) for help, and I want Jasnah to go with him. Imagine how much we could learn about the greater cosmere

Venli is with the singers and will have her own plot again. I'd also expect her to meet up with the rest of the main cast towards the end for any big climax

And then, hey Adolin, whatcha doing by yourself over there? I think it's quite interesting that he's been separated from the main plots. Most of the theorizing for the last few years puts him with Shallan for the BAM plot, but that doesn't actually seem to be the case here. If you've ever been privy to any of less hinged Stormlight theorizing then you know he's my #1 pick for Odium's Champion, and imo separating him from the rest of the cast is a good step towards that end. In any case I think this is the first time he hasn't been playing support to Kaladin/Shallan/Dalinar's plots. Make of that what you will. I can see Dalinar sending him off on his own little mission

Anyway here's my two cents. Feel free to add

[halfbakedideas]

doing research into trauma responses (the flight, fight, fawn, freeze one specifically) and had a Thought

i could be wrong, but aziraphale would probably gravitate towards the fawn response.

[afterthegreatunknown]

random pre-canon moment with some sbg members (all eighteen or older here) that is a combination:

a hot summer is something not many people want to experience. this goes especially so when the hot summer day drives everyone indoors and being indoors isn't help at all, even if you close the blinds and drawn the curtains to limit the sun's ray and heat. luckily, the invention of the air conditioner and the fan makes being indoors enjoyable.

unfortunately, monty montgomery's air conditioner is broken, and he only has one working fan. as such, everyone is taking turns sharing the fan. still, everyone is wearing clothes fitting for the weather. almost everyone, but he isn't currently in monty's place at the moment and that is the opinion of the people indoors: monty, frank, kit, bertrand, and miranda.

monty is currently in a t-shirt and loose shorts. frank is also in loose shorts, but he's wearing a sleeveless shirt, having taken off his button-down shirt on account of the heat. kit is wearing a tied crop top and jean shorts, with her hair in a messy high bun. bertrand has his button shirt undone, and elected to strip down to his boxers on account of not wearing shorts today, with his pants in a nearby corner.

miranda, the lucky girl, currently has the fan. wearing a camisole and workout shorts (her outer shirt she took off), she lies on monty's sofa with the fan blowing on her face. miranda won her turn with the fan on account of winning the latest round of fuck, marry, kill; her answer was fucking dorothea s. markson (not to be confuse with s. theodora markson, her sister), marrying gifford, and killing captain robinson (widdershins' second chaperone)

as monty lies on the floor with frank, kit, and bertrand, all of them having an ice pack on their foreheads -or chest in bertrand's case- miranda continues to lie on his sofa with her eyes close. it's a comfortable silence in the apartment. nearly everyone would have fallen asleep if it wasn't for one thing...

"aha! that's it!" shouts miranda.

monty takes off his icepack, and sits upright. he sees miranda sitting upright also, positioning herself to see the others on the floor.

"what's it, miranda?" asked monty.

kit, bertrand and gustav follow suit, removing their ice packs and sitting upward to stare at miranda.

"i just thought of a new combination in our game on who gets the fan!" miranda smiles at them, devilishly so.

"oh no," say monty. "i don't like that look of yours."

"something tells me that smile implies our choices this round are worser than the last," says kit, pushing up her glasses. "but i'm in. who do we have to pick from?"

"you're being rude, snicket. we should wait for widdershins to come back," says frank.

"i agree with frank," says bertrand. "it's unfair for widdershins to be excluded and lose an opportunity to have the fan."

"i was implying that with widdershins picking up our lunch, we should wait for our food before we play our game," says frank. "but your reasoning is a hell of lot better than mine."

what frank said is correct. widdershins is the one in their group not wearing clothes fitting for the weather, at least in their opinion. he's wearing a light blue button-down shirt -though his sleeves are rolled up and the top two buttons are undone- and brown loose pants. he unlike the others, made no complains about the hot weather.

and that is why widdershins was elected to pick up their lunch.

"oh bertrand, don't get yourself in a twist!" miranda waves a hand at him. "he'll get his chance! you just have to wait to say your answers until he returns!"

"but that means we have the advantage of having to think over our answers, while widdershins will possibly get only a minute or so," bertrand argues.

"bertrand, while i understand your concerns, do remember that this is widdershins we're talking about," says kit. "remember his philosophy."

"he who hesitates is lost," answers bertrand.

"or she," adds in monty.

"exactly!" miranda snaps her fingers. "that means widdershins wouldn't need to think that long to give his answer. ergo, the rest of you are in the clear on hearing the choices."

bertrand doesn't say anything, but he nods his head in agreement.

"since we have everything settle," continues miranda, "let the game round begin! fuck, marry, kill: ghede-"

"ghede!?" interrupts frank. "you pick her of all people!?"

"says the one who gave us gifford in the last round," mutters monty.

frank gives a nasty glare at monty, and then a hard smack on the arm.

"anyway," continues miranda, "as i was saying! fuck, marry, kill: ghede, mr. clovis baudelaire-"

"miranda," interrupts kit, "you're making this too easy. we all know which one beatrice's father deserves."

"we should grateful that beatrice inherited his looks, and not his personality," says bertrand.

"you all need to remember that i'm not done yet," says miranda. "fuck, marry, kill: ghede, mr. clovis baudelaire, and...ishmael."

hearing the last name drop, everyone froze.

of all the volunteers, ishmael was the one they never expected. their generation has such a hatred -or extreme dislike from those who are trying to be polite- for the old man, the four young adults didn't expect miranda to bring ishmael's name up in their game.

everyone is in too much of a shock to make a proper response or complaints of frustration at miranda. speaking of frustrations, miranda quickly crosses her arms, and glares at them all.

"is no one going to yell at me for including that old coot?" asks miranda. "no cussing me out? nothing at all?"

no one still speaks.

"since you're all going to be quiet," continues miranda, "now would be a good time for widdershins to show up."

knock-knock-knock!

"everyone, i'm back! i got our lunches, aye!" shouts a familiar voice.

"well shit," says miranda, standing up now. "i got bless with the gift of prophecy from apollo. don't worry everyone. i'll get the door."

miranda leaves the room, leaving everyone still in their place. the four of them hears miranda unlocking the door, and widdershins stepping in. not long afterwards, the two of them return. widdershins is carrying two large paper bags, one in each hand.

widdershins stares at them all, and then tilts his head. "what got their tongues?"

"my choices for the newest round of fuck, marry, kill," answers miranda. "give me the bags, widdershins. you should sit down. you been in the heat, after all."

widdershins does exactly that, taking a spot between monty and frank. widdershins stares at each one individually, and then twiddles his thumbs. "are they that terrible of choices?"

"depends on how you look at it," says miranda, her voice coming from the kitchen. "well, since you're here, it's now your turn to hear them. fuck, marry, kill: ghede, mr. clovis baudelaire, and ishmael."

widdershins blinks a few times in rapid succession, and then stares at everyone. "that is certainly a combination of choices, miranda."

"i know." miranda comes back to the room, and sits back down on the sofa. "but that is the aim of the game, widdershins."

widdershins turns his attention to miranda. "i suppose so." he then curls up a lock of his hair up like parentheses. he stares at a random spot somewhere for a moment, and then lets go of his lock of hair.

miranda gives a brief glance at bertrand. it's an 'i told you so' glance, for she next says, "i assume you have your answer?"

"aye. gave it some thought too," answers widdershins. "for me, it's fuck ishmael, marry ghede, and kill clovis baudelaire."

seconds later, everyone sans miranda speaks up at last.

"please tell us you're fucking joking," says monty softly, voice so soft it's hard to hear.

"what the ever-loving FUCK," shouts frank, voice bold and loud.

"what are you fucking thinking!?" yells kit, voice hinting great disappointment.

"i must again reiterate: 'fuck' in our game context means sexual intercourse," states bertrand, as if he's reading a dictionary definition.

"aye. i stand by what i said," answers widdershins, standing up. he brushes his hands on his pants, and claps his hands. "i'll tell you my reasoning over lunch. aye, i'm starving. i hope the chill cucumber soup isn't warm. josephine says it's one of the best things she ever ate, aye, and i want to eat it the way it should be!"

as widdershins walks to the kitchen, everyone stares at one another, still horrified with what widdershins said with little hesitation.

miranda is biting her lower lip, eyes wide. kit has her hand on her forehead, looking pale and haunted. frank drags both of his hands down his, and gives a muffled scream. monty runs both hands into his hair, and screeches softly.

bertrand is the only one who has a resemblance of calm. he stands up quickly, and then buttons up his shirt. then he walks over to the nearby corner where his pants are at.

"regardless of our associate's reasoning," says bertrand, putting on his pants, "are we in agreement that whatever we answer, widdershins wins this round?"

"aye," say kit, nodding her head.

"agree," says miranda, blinking a few times.

"no one is going to beat widdershins's answer," says monty,

"of course no one is," says frank. "it's hard to beat the answer of a hypothetical old man fucker."

[volfoss]

Good news... French toast casserole tomorrow :3

[amanesknife]

The Perks of Being a Deus Ex Machina

So I recently binged The Perks of Being An S-class Heroine/ A Transmigrator's Privilege and I need to talk about it or I'll implode.

I apologize in advance because this is gonna be a long post as I can't stop hyperfocusing on it and I need to scream into the void ([tumblr]).

This series honestly has one of my favorite uses of an overpowered MC in a while. I've also seen a lot of people complain about Ailette being too powerful and how much it hurts the story. I've only read until ch170 in the webnovel so I could be wrong but I don't think that's really the story they're trying to tell.

Ai is our main character but she's not the correct main character. She's so strong and gets so much help from the system that nothing poses a real threat to her. I can see how that could be boring for some people. But she was never supposed to be in this story. It's heavily implied that if Tesilid dies in her timeline, the whole world resets again without her ¹ (under spoilers) and it'll be like her version of Ai never existed (Manhwa ch31). It's not just about how well she can survive, it's also about how well she can protect Tesilid. Suddenly this story becomes an escort mission. She's Resident Evil 4 Leon and it's game over when Ashley dies. Or more aptly, she's Gandalf, trying to protect the self-sacrificing Frodo as he journeys to Mordor. It doesn't matter how powerful she is, if Tesilid dies anyways. She can't just leave him alone to kill the big bad on her own, either - Tez dies from like 500 different causes in the original story.

!! Webnovel spoilers under the cut !!

In my opinion, the story doesn't really start until Tesilid's regressions start (which probably won't be until s3 in the manhwa). For some people this is understandably too long. But it's really only a power fantasy during the tutorial period; when she finally gets to meet with (1)17th Tesilid, she turns into a walking Deus Ex Machina. It makes for an interesting dynamic imo, since Tez's powers are so restrictive and he has little choice but to be a self-sacrificing pushover. He even goes so far as to tank for her when he thinks she's about to take a killing blow. On the other hand, she’s all-powerful with a questionable sense of morality. It's like if Ai was Saitama (another Deus Ex!) but he dies if Mumen Rider dies. You know it'll all work out when they arrive, but it's incredibly tense if they're separated. It's cool to read a story from the protector's point of view for once- to see things from their perspective as they try to keep alive the main characters always running around trying to get themselves killed. Especially since we basically already know that there's virtually no way for Tesilid to succeed alone. Ailette has virtually all the power to help Tez and she thinks she knows how, but the farther we get into the story the more we learn that she probably doesn't understand as much as she thinks. Does she know how to end the loops? Or that Tesilid can loop again to a previous iteration? It's a mystery wrapped in power-fantasy skin.

¹ When Reed repeatedly kills Tez before the end of the tutorial, the whole world resets. This suggests that time in this universe revolves around Tesilid and it doesn’t flow for others if he’s dead.

[libraryleopard]

Adult fantasy novel

In a war-torn world, two elven sisters–a general and a diviner–are exiled from their home and discover a hidden fae court, beset by a curse and long-thought to be only myth

Afro-Arab-inspired world-building, queernormative, lesbian main character, disabled main character

Read as an ARC

[celenawrites]

ik I said I'd be working on the Mafia AU fanfic I have just released and am planning for TF-141.....but a/b/o au....the trust issues, the abandonment, the exclusion from the pack....the slow burn, the care and pack bonding......the eventual groveling.....I-

[shipwreckedcomedy]

Shipwrecked Comedy proudly presents: A Half-Baked Commercial

A Sleepy Hollow Public Access commercial for Half Baked Bakery, featuring local star Trevor Trinkets.

Half Baked was created for Sleepy Hollow by our executive producer, Michael Walsh, and this in-world commercial is a Kickstarter Perk.

Headless: A Sleepy Hollow Story - Available in full on Shipwrecked Comedy's channel!

[thats-my-passion-right-there]

I finally saw the mean girls musical (the movie one) I have so many fucking thoughts oh my god

[halfbakedideas]

so i wrote this good omens & doctor who crossover where the tardis gets accidentally parked inside azira’s bookshop back in january, but now i want to write another one where they meet another iteration of the doctor.

i’m thinking either 11 or 14. most likely 11.

[gone-series-orchid]

i'm sure some meaning can be gleaned from the fact that in the coates scene in plague astrid is surrounded by powerful male figures (little pete, orc, drake), two of which she has no physical power over. she's helpless in that situation, only regaining some semblance of control when brittney emerges and she can use her intellect to attempt to persuade her. then astrid launches little pete (the most powerful one of them all and the most vulnerable), thereby gaining some overall control of the whole situation by relinquishing her only bargaining chip. there's no conclusion to this btw i'm just thinking

[misskamelie]

What do you know, I may be able to finish this project in a timely manner

[inkingquills]

Kim is obsessed with Porchay, and Porchay is obsessed with Kim. I love them