#i am trying but i am.....realistically its hard for me to just connect with people :((((

[toruvi]

you ever go through a period in your life where everything is just changing so much and you dont really adjust well to change but you also dont want things to stay the way they are but you also get kinda sad bc even if things were shitty there were still some things that were comforting but those things just arent as comforting anymore but you dont know what can comfort you now so you’re desperately trying to hold onto what was while also hoping for something new and its jusgdfhgntjkdgrgfwelrkgjflkhjg AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[gayemoji]

hello world i personally dont know how to feel about call me what you like but i bet if somebody yelled at me about it thatd convince me

[buwheal]

[You've Got Mail!]

You can now send your favorite salesman emails!! YAY!!

Here's some rules and information about the askbox.

First and foremost;

I try to answer as many asks as I can, but I will not answer every single one. Sometimes I just cant do anything with it that will work realistically with the perimeters of the world, and I apologize!! Its nothing against you guys!!

(Unless you break the rules ofc.)

So if you dont see yours after a long while, it’s probably something that wont work, sorry! You can always send more than one ask whenever and see if that one works instead!

Besides that, here’s the rest of what you need to know!

[RULES] :

Spamton physically PRINTS OUT each "email", so dont send asks that have a physical interaction. Sorry! Thats just how i decided to set up the world/situation, and is not really anything against you guys :-)

(more of a request than a rule tbh) Preferably try to send real questions or statements. most joke asks are funny, but are surprisingly hard to create an in character response for. You can still send joke asks if you really want to, just dont expect an answer X-P

I know he may be a personification of spam emails... BUT DONT SPAM!!! I mean it! It clogs the askbox and is a real pain. You can send him more than one ask, though, as long as you arent repetitively sending a ton in a short burst!!

Dont be sexual or romantic, please! Even "As a joke". I dont like Spamton like that and it makes me uncomfortable, plus I can't really answer that in character in a way that wouldnt provoke more of that. Thank you!!

Be respectful and patient!! I am just one person doing everything, lol, and this got far more popular than anticipated, so i will take a long time. I try my best to get at least one out every other day but i'll need breaks eventually!!!

I cannot spawn or give/spawn/materialize things for/to Spamton if you ask because of the way it’s set up. You are really just lines of text from a computer to Spamton, BUT... You can still do a lot if you think outside the box. or,, errr,, outside the computer. Kind of. Your words and your actions affect him and his reactions to you, so word it correctly and you can get him to do something or say something. Hes not stupid though, and he CAN usually tell when your intentions are... less.. than good.

[INFORMATION] :

[YGM!] is technically an AU!!! not only do the events of the game not occur, but this is also set before then!

Asks are put out one a day, regardless if i have more than one, UNLESS i need to connect two(or more) to complete one event.

I am one person doing every ask and every unique frame of art, so expect 1 ask (If youre lucky, two) maybe every other day Monday-Friday depending on my workload per day. I have weekends off so more asks, around 2-3, CAN (but usually arent) be done for future use.

This is just for fun!! I am using the askbox to exercise my drawing consistency, Spamton's personality, and the way he speaks and responds to different situations! This is a way I am using to improve my understanding of him as a character, so it wont be always consistent as I am growing and learning!

Just a little disclaimer, he WILL be mean. He is a sour, nasty, grumpy, bastard and I am absolutely not opposed to him responding as such. Just keep that in mind when sending an ask if you dont want that!

If you want a common outcome, talk to other people about it! go crazy! I dont mind long threads on my posts if you want to create a plan. Infact, I can even help and tell you things occasionally!!

What you say to him DOES and WILL affect the way he responds. Trust is lost far easier than it is gained, so keep this in mind. It is possible to regain his trust, but still hard. He is not a trusting person to begin with and being mean certainly doesnt help. BUT.. I am not opposed to being mean. Infact, they are quite fun to do. Either way is entertaining for me, so do as you will. YOU can choose to hurt or help him.

Using tone tags, while not required, are really helpful and assist me in understanding the intention in your ask if you think it may be interpreted another way! (i.e. sarcasm) :-)!!

I pick and choose asks depending on his situation, or if i have a good idea for a response, so you may need to wait a bit before i can get to yours!! Ones that i have an idea for take priority, especially when its to progress a scene. Or, alternatively, i am saving your ask for something i have planned.

I WILL reuse frames and poses to get these out faster and for my convienence :-) especially for the frames where there is no need to change his pose! So like.. dont think too hard about it lol.

Also, i prefer if you specify if the ask is for me /or/ Spamton. I do still do normal asks, lol. If its for me, just let me know!! I can usually tell, but most asks will be interpreted as for Spamton. I appreciate ones that start with his name before said thing is asked/stated specifically!! (i.e. "Spamton, __ __ __")

I wont be consistent with the way its answered. Sometimes it's one panel, sometimes its a couple panels, or sometimes they're animated gifs!! It varies depending on what i feel, so if youre lucky you can get a gif, lol. Those take longer usually though. Ive mostly switched to a gif formatting rather than multiple panels in a comic style, for the formatting! The animation quality can vary :-)

Thats about it!! Have fun!! ^_^

[utilitycaster]

Any thoughts on FCG's first commune with the Changebringer?

LOVED IT.

I think my initial frustrations with FCG are extremely well-documented, but I've been a huge fan of FCG exploring faith - as I've said elsewhere, for all this is a robot flipping a coin, it's genuinely one of the more thoughtful portrayals of how grappling with religion as an institution and a philosophy actually looks like. Like, for all FCG has professed so much belief, his first question is "are you real".

I've loved all the explorations of religion on Critical Role, to be honest, and have found that they've covered a wide range of experiences - but until this campaign, it's always fallen into two categories:

people who have been followers of a deity since childhood (Pike, Jester, Caduceus)

people who have been rescued by or made a promise to a deity for something incredibly important (Vax, Yasha, Fjord; to a lesser extent Vex and Scanlan; this is also where Deanna falls)

FCG is just here because they're exploring! They're here because they didn't know how to feel about the fact that they were, demonstrably, put on this planet as an assassin, and killed many of their friends, and the same person who told them about the Care and Culling also said "hey, change and reinvention and finding a different path are possible; I believe this utterly, and here is the token of my belief." He's not really asking for anything other than "is there someone out there who sees me as more than what I think I am." Honestly, while it frustrated me earlier that he had no source for his powers? It means that this is truly entirely coming from him. Like, I don't think it lessens the devotion of other characters that they have gained benefits or abilities from their gods or feel they owe them something. But it's also fascinating that FCG is not (for example) like Fjord, trying to find a way out of a bad deal, or like Vax, trying to save someone he loves, or like the characters who have had cleric powers reliant on their deities from such a young age that it is central to their identity. This is purely voluntary.

In some ways, it's the most realistic depiction of real-world religion because like...man, I don't know if anything's out there. I do not believe there is an old dude in the sky, and I think religion, when it is at its best, is a consolidation of a community-oriented philosophical and moral framework that we hang on a made-up anthropomorphic entity because abstract concepts are hard and concrete things are easy and ritual is grounding. I don't think I will be struck down by lightning if I eat bacon, and especially as someone who has something of a "do what feels right" approach to what practices I follow I in fact know I won't be struck down by lightning if I break some. And yeah, it's an arbitrary accident of birth and circumstance that I am the religion I am. But also, I don't get Guiding Bolt out of it, so it's a wash.

However, unlike me, or any of the many people who fall neither on the "I believe this utterly" or hard-line atheist scale but rather somewhere in the vast in-between, FCG worships a god we know is real and actually gets to ask them some questions. And when they do all they ask for is whether the Changebringer is real, and sees them, and what they can do, and that's an incredibly beautiful moment. Commune is one of those spells you can use to try to just get answers and none of this is about that. It's just about a connection. And particularly in the wake of what FCG has just witnessed, and the fact that the gods have withdrawn slightly, it says a lot that this worked.

[villiedoom]

About worldbuilding

My style of worldbuilding is observation, feeling and perception, allowing the world to grow on its own, favoring ideas that resonate with me personally over those that are logical and realistic. It is important for me to see, feel and then - to understand what my world and characters wants to say and show me, and not to be their designer.

Because of this, I care little about the biology of the creatures, what they eat and why they look so strange. I don't know much about them, but I allow them to be mysterious, although I am always glad to finally see and understand some details of their life and nature.

«One of my favorite ideas/scenes is about wandering in the snowy mountains. It’s like a journey through the afterlife, lonely and very personal. Climbing the mountain, where the only obstacle on the way is the mountains themselves - snow-covered and cold, with blinding blizzards, and threatening steep slopes. One wrong step - and you will fall down and die. Or freeze to death»

This is purely emotional and feeling, there is no question of whether this is real for the character or not, and why this lonely Vaeraf went to the mountains if it is so cold and dangerous. These mountains are a symbol and a metaphor for his life, feelings, difficulties he faces, and his way to the top of the mountain - to the goal, to the sky, to realize something, to overcome difficulties.

Simply put, the emotion and feelings that I experienced from my stories or when I met, for example, a Vaeraf person in my imagination or dream, are more important for me. In my art, I want to share these feelings, and not to build and describe their biology in detail. I also don't try to give all the characters I meet detailed biographies or stories. I only know these characters who are my close friends, just like it works with people in real life. What makes my characters so dear to me is my personal relationship with them, and I love them as persons that live in my mind.

Sometimes I worry that my way of creating and showing my world is wrong or stupid, because I noticed that the vast majority of people interested in worlds and creatures are more designers and "scientists" than people for whom personal impressions and feelings are way more important. But I no longer want to try to change myself, my art and my world into something that is not close and not interesting to me personally.

I remember such an idea that there are two types of artists - architects and gardeners. Architects build their world and stories according to the rules, trying to do everything well and right, they intentionally plan, build and control every detail. Whereas gardeners let their world grow on its own, but take care of it and choose which grown ideas they keep and which they uproot. In that case, I'm a total gardener who also tends to let things just grow and die on their own, even if it turns into overgrown chaos. It is important for me to feel, experience and analyze this chaos as it is, but at the same time - to love and take care of those parts of my world that are important and dear to me.

Only this way feels natural to me and keeps me in touch with my world and art, and I sincerely love this way of working with the world, even if it is hard and sometimes inconvenient to explain things to strangers. But my art, characters and my world are inherently connected to my feelings, experience and mental state, and I do not want to destroy this connection for the sake of some "true" worldbuilding just because my way is different.

~~~

Update: (I decided to add and supplement these my comments in the post)

I also want to add that it doesn't mean that I don't try to analyze and explain things from my world. It's just that my focus is different, it is important for me to feel and understand Vaerafes as persons, so I focus on their perception, feelings, morality, philosophy and psychology, trying to understand how they see, think and feel, while their nature is part of their personality. But I rarely share it because it's usually too personal - for both me and my characters.

It may be their understanding of the world, their morals and values, their relationship with each other, and also - my own relationship with them. While their world as a whole is just the world they live in, I don't study or detail it as seriously and in depth as my characters' stories, which are quite personal and can be quite metaphorical. Besides, I have some different worlds/alternative universes with different stories and ideas. Some of them don't even have the idea of being at least a bit realistic/scientific.

It's not about worldbuilding only, but also about my personal interests. Things related to philosophy(?) and psychology, as well as symbolism, self-exploration and self-expression in art, are more interesting to me than the scientific side of nature and wild animals. I like science, and sometimes it's interesting to think about my beings from that perspective, but that's just not my focus and I still perceive it from a more philosophical point of view.

I would say that the truly "scientific" side of my world is the very fact of having a world and living characters in the head of me, a living animal being of the human species. Therefore, knowing me and my interests, I would rather dig into the learning more about these weird natural processes of my mind, to know what it is and how it works, than into what these fictional creatures eat and how their digestion works, heh.

This is just my personal perception, understanding of things and interests.

~~~~~

Thank you for reading ~

[shiftingstoner]

I seem to have run into a pattern now every time I think about/attempt to shift.

Me: *lays in bed and starts mindlessly thinking while listening to music, attempting to keep a mental note of how long I was daydreaming* (Around the time I either start forgetting what I started with or whenever feels right)

Me: *starts thinking about walking in my IR room from a 1st person POV*

Me Thinking: "Okay so my bed is here, it feels nice and soft, very comfy. There is my desk with my art tablet and my two monitors. My closet is here..." Me: *really getting into the space of my IR room. Starting to drift away from my CR body, dipping into (hopefully) the void state*

Me: *Starts getting excited and can feel the excitement in my being*

Me: *Mind slowly drifts because of the idea of excitement. Starts thinking about why I want to shift to said IR* (Not always necessarily bad)

Me: *Start to think about IR partner/future partner, slowly turns into daydream. Now not actively thinking and staying in the moment.*

Me: *All of a sudden opens eyes and it is the morning in my CR. I had fallen asleep without knowing* Me: "FUCK I DID IT AGAIN!!!"

Now I know that for some people it's important to try and not shift to you IR for your partner/future partner. In some ways it could help you not put your IR on a pedestal and really connect with your IR, making it feel more realistic. And stuff like that. Like the idea that your IR isn't just your partner kind of thing. But between you and me most ALL of my IRs are partner oriented. What can I say I get attached super easy and fast. I mean I have maybe 3 IR that are not solely for a partner(s). That is my singer IR, my off grid IR, and an IR I like to call my justice IR. I originally created my off grid IR for the purpose of attempting to shift to an IR that is NOT partner oriented, because I like the idea of living off grid but in my CR that it WAY far in the future for me, if its even possible. Anyway, but I can't help myself and always drift back to attempting to shift to (currently my Spooky Month IR) a partner oriented IR. And time and time again this kind of shit happens to me! I can't help it! I am a heavy daydreamer! I always maladaptive daydream! Its just kind of hard for me not too, especially when attempting to shift. Like I said that is why I created my off grid IR, because I don't exactly daydream about off grid life so I would always actively think about and visualize that IR. I just wanted to share this with the community thought it was funny and wondered if this kind of stuff happens to other shifters.

[toastytoaster22]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged by @wingsonghalo

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

47!

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count?

753,979 holy shit

3. What fandoms do you write for?

These days just Mob Psycho 100, but I have written for Digimon Adventure and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle as well.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

A little surprised by number 5 here! its such a teeny fic compared to the others.

Issho 2. Break 3. A Mother Muses 4. Socha 5. Stars on My Ceiling

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try! There was a big gap in 2022 where i had a newborn and zero time and energy, but usually I try to get a thank you out to everyone.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I'm the "happy ending guaranteed" author so very few of my fics end sad, but I do have a Digimon fic called Hugs Are Like Vitamins that is an exception to the rule. Very sad ending.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

The end of Issho is probably the most satisfying ending, but I am unsure if its the happiest. Honestly, Stars on My Ceiling is cavity inducing. Effervescent is also painfully sweet. Chapter three of Into Bloom. all of these are pure fluff.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Extremely rarely. It has happened, and I don't engage. Deleted! Goodbye!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

You know, I don't consider Leaps and Bounds smut. Its a fic that has a lot of explicit sex in it, but the story is about learning to be comfortable in the bedroom. If the sex is sexy, that's a bonus hahaha

10. Do you write crossovers?

I haven't yet, but I think about them sometimes...

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge. Here's hoping it stays that way.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Two, I think! Break was translated into Russian by @teawithbread!!! Thanks so much!!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, I think I would be a nightmare to work with actually. I have had people ask and I politely decline.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

I am not very into romance in general, so I have to say TeruMob. They're basically the only ship I care about. I enjoy the idea of TaKari in Digimon but more as soulmates... could be platonic or romantic. They are inseparable no matter what.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

My Never Hopeless sequel, A Dream In The Dark. UGHHHHHHHHH its only on ff.net bc i am so ashamed of dropping a project. I do still have the BINDER i wrote all my notes in though so perhaps when I am 80 I can dig it up and finish it.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Children! Hello! I write realistic children! And connecting readers to memories they forgot they had, apparently. Its a frequent comment topic.

I'm very good at describing hard to describe emotions and I think my pacing is good. I like writing endings that punch you with a final line to tie it all together. I'm a sucker for that shit.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I slow down dialogue with a few too many movement descriptions, I think. I just really like body language aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I am too tired to really think this through. For the most part, seeing as I am writing for shows that are originally in Japanese, I try to keep food names accurate. I try to translate words unless they have no english equivalent like genkan. Foyer or entryway doesn't feel the same? I also tend to keep specific titles in japanese, seeing as they can get awkward or clunky when changed to english equivalents.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

On Ao3 it was Digimon and that's all you're getting out of me.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

I love all my children equally (Issho). But no seriously Break is insanely good and when i have Nightjar finished I will feel like its my new favorite child. Usually its whatever the last thing i wrote was.

UUUUUUUUU Tagging @ygodmyy20 @sodasexual @babovens @and-devi-remains @fizzy-champagne

[erodasfishtacos]

The Bet

prompt: yn wagers a bet.

warnings: smut, pain kink, 18+ minors dni

i write for FREE - I am also trying to steer away from paetron so everyone can have access my stories - so if you would like to support my work, you can donate here.

if you liked please reblog, recommended, like, and come talk to me about it! (this is what motivates me to continue writing)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It’s always about pushing each other to their limits.

If people thought Harry and YN would settled down, not be as risky and overall psychotic once they had children - they were wrong.

Now it doesn’t happen as much as it used to because they have always and will always put their children first and they both enjoy being a little family more than anything.

But they’ve never lost the spark that pulled them together in the first place.

They were at the warehouse, babies are home with their trusted nanny and an army of security guards - they rarely were away from their babies.

Harry has trouble concentrating and feels itchy when he’s spent too much time apart from his children, he has trouble doing anything but worrying about them.

He barely goes fifteen minutes without checking the security cameras.

YN is directing their men to move a massive crate onto a truck when Harry saunters over to her, phone in hand and putting it in front of her.

“H, I’m a bit busy-“

“Just look real fast,” Harry insists, moving the phone even closer, “They’re bein’ so cute. Look at Beau sharing his blocks with Ollie. Do you think they’re getting tired yet? S’nearly bed time. If Patty doesn’t get them to bed soon, m’calling and bitching her out because we’ve told her how important their routine is.”

YN squints her eyes at him, wanting to be annoyed with him but he’s so a good father to their babies that she can’t.

They both get overly anxious about their children but Harry is by far more of the worry-wart when it comes to them, YN is a bit more realistic and relaxed.

YN loves how she can watch her husband go from literally blowing someone’s brains out to worrying that the bath water is too hot and he drains the tub to get the perfect temperature four times.

The babies had been a handful lately, in their terrible twos, and YN was craving some time with her big, bad, aggressive, rough husband tonight.

“You need to get out of dad mode for a bit,” YN hums with a sultry smile, leaning forward and connecting their lips - he automatically kisses back and is surprised but opens his mouth when YN’s tongue pushes its way through.

Harry’s hand moves to her hair, knitting in and yanking back hard, YN could have moaned in relief at the pain.

There he is.

The switch hadn’t been difficult today.

“You think you can just hang all over me in front of my men?” Harry hisses in a dominant tone, the one he knew his wife was begging for, “Already put two babies in you and you’re still so desperate for me to fuck you.”

“Kiss me,” YN complains brattily, easy to fall into these roles with him because she knows she’s so safe with him.

“Kiss me,” He parrots in a taunting tone as he pulls at her hair again, “If I wasn’t so possessive, you’d been down on your knees with my cock kissing the back of your throat.”

Holy fuck.

He’s so hot.

“A bet,” YN gasps out between shocks of tingling chills, her eyes fluttering a bit, “I bet you that I can get Niall yell before you could.”

Niall rarely ever raised his voice, it was a decent wager.

Harry’s eyebrow raises, his crooked smile making his dimples pop, and he almost looks boyishly cute for a moment.

“What do I win, when I win,” Harry drawls, already cocky as his hand moves from her hair to the back of her neck and gripping the skin there.

“I’ll put on the skimpy little lingerie outfit you bought for me when we get home and use the paddle on me,” YN offers because she knows he’ll agree to anything if he gets to see in her sexy underwear and use the paddle - they rarely use it because it hurts so good she can barely sit after.

“Deal,” Harry breathes out, determined and he crudely reaches down to give himself an adjustment as he twitches at the mere thought.

“You haven’t heard what I would win,” YN titters with a smile, leaning forward to kiss the hinge of his jaw, “I get to tattoo your bum. YN’s property.”

Harry doesn’t look amused but he’s not turning down a potential paddle session, “Already got your name tattooed down my fuckin’ neck. Nobody sees my arse but you.”

“It’ll be nice to look at when I eat it,” She says innocently before gasping in surprise when Harry lands a hard smack to her backside, “What was that for?”

“My hand slipped,” He lies with the same innocent tone she’d just used, “Deal, brat.”

They shake hands before Harry softens just the littlest bit and brings her left hand up, kissing her wedding band before stalking off.

He doesn’t know she already has a plan.

Harry tries it first, finding Niall and demanding that he moves the heavy crates he just moved to another spot.

“But…” Niall groans unhappily, his shirt was drenched is sweat, “What’s the difference between here and two feet over?”

“I think it looks better,” The leader replies, unbothered by Niall’s annoyed expression as he leans against a shelving unit.

“Bloody weirdo..” Niall mutters under his breath before being to pick up the first wooden box to move.

When two other men try to come help, Harry stops them and shakes his head, “Niall doesn’t need any help.”

Niall eyes bug out at that but he just shakes his head and continues to complain under his breath as he works.

Harry thinks he’s getting somewhere, confident he’s going to win when a deafening boom echos through the building and the box currently in Niall’s hands falls apart.

“Motherfucking shit!” Niall screams in surprise as he realizes YN shot that box he was holding from the side so it didn’t hit him but it was still close, “What the fuck?”

“Target practice,” YN smirks with a pleased look as she stares at her husband before lowering the revolver down again, still smoking.

Harry is begrudgingly impressed.

Niall’s still losing his shit when Harry stands up, ignoring him and the other men rushing to see the commotion.

YN winks at her husband before turning on her heel, glancing over her shoulder, and telling him, “Let’s go home. I got a reward to redeem.”

-

YN is focusing intently on his plump but small bum as he lays on his stomach on their bed, the needle pressing the dark ink into his skin.

“Fuckin’ cheap,” Harry grumbles, hissing when she digs a bit deep before readjusting, “You had that all planned.”

“Yeah,” She agrees easily, “I really wanted to tattoo this on your ass.”

“You know I would have let you without a bet,” Harry rasps sweetly, he was so fucking gone for her - he’d let her tattoo her name on his forehead and he’d wear it with pride.

“So good to me,” She leans down to kiss his bare shoulder blade before continuing, she wasn’t skilled and it was more painful than a normal one with a professional.

“Oh fuck,” Harry moans when she hits a tender spot and he can feel how hard he is against their bedding, resisting the urge to rut forward.

“Knew you’d get horny,” YN chuckles lowly, “Almost done than you can come, okay?”

“Yeah baby,” Harry murmurs in his slow, drawn out speech - nearly slurred with how turned on he is right now, “Want t’come.”

As soon as she puts down the gun, Harry is wriggling until he’s kneeling - his mouth finding her and begging, “M’close, just need your hand, brat.”

“Sucha slut,” YN coos teasingly but obliges, wrapping her fingers around him and beginning to twist on the upward stroke like he loves.

“M’not,” Harry bites back, abs jumping as he gets close, takes his wife’s bottom lip between his teeth and nibbles.

“Oh really?” She challenges and what she does next makes Harry come on the spot, she reaches around and smacks him hard on the arse, right over his tattoo.

He mewls out in pain but then pleasure is coating every inch of his skin as he begins to come into her palm, pushing his hips forward as he moans.

When he comes down, Harry’s so loving, always does after he gets even a little subby, slips his hand into her panties and murmurs sweet nothings as he makes her come.

“Never have to wonder why m’so obsessed with you.”

“Best I ever had. Can’t believe I have you forever.”

“Only person who makes me weak. Have me on a fuckin’ leash, pet.”

[meeblo]

A Light Spark in Darkness

(Spoilers for the full story of A Light Spark in Darkness)

As the title alludes to, I finished reading through A Light Spark in Darkness earlier today. It was, as I'd heard it would be, quite good; more than just being good, however, it surprised me in the ways it was good.

I'd heard that Goldenglow was depressed, that she really went through it in the event, but I wasn't expecting the manner in which it happened. I was expecting it to be more narrative suffering, well written but not realistically arbitrary. Seeing her instead have to deal with the indifferent cruelty of circumstance as all that she had managed to carve out was burned away entirely due to a conflict that she was not (yet) involved with at all. I also didn't expect it to happen so early in the event. I expected it to happen halfway, but instead it caps off the first vignette.

This is a good way to segue into the next thing that pleasantly surprised me: the story's structure. Telling it nonlinearly like they did, following different PoVs through fragments of the events and going further in time with each one, was a fascinating way to tell the story that worked very well. Apart from the initial vignette, every other one benefits from the dramatic irony of knowing key events that will happen because you have seen them in the other vignettes.

Back to the story, there were some things that definitely stood out to me. Goldenglow, on the edge of committing suicide, is talked back from the edge by a dying Haze. Neither knew the others' connection to the Green Spark or the fire. Haze saves Susie, and then in turn Susie desperately tries to save Haze. The whole sequence of scenes is an excellent demonstration of both of their characters. Haze knows what it's like to have her dreams destroyed; she lost everything in the witch's forest. She knew what needed to be said to keep Susie from jumping. It's her kindness and care for others that keeps Susie going, and it's her kindness that has her push so hard to try and save Haze.

It was great seeing Grani again. It was very satisfying seeing her push back against the corruption in the local guard. Quercus was likewise interesting. But the real standout I haven't mentioned already was, of course, Red. He was great every time he was on screen.

I was definitely taken off guard by the main story connections and implications the event had, especially in its last vignette. Taking place prior to ep10 but after ep8, we hear about things like the dukes all moving towards Londinium. Reunion remnants have arrived in Victoria, and are making transactions with none other than the man himself, Cannot Goodenough. They score a new method of transportation, and Elba (please Hypergryph I am begging you for an official TL of the op team a1 manga, the fan TL I found only goes up to ch6) catches up with an old friend. It seems like Cannot's partnership with Reunion here is what might lead him to get the prospective investment system tech from Djikstra. Or at least, that's what I headcanon; one of Cannot's lines when the investment system crashes mentions a "Mr. D."

At first Cannot was just the funny suspicious merchant who shows up in roguelike gamemodes and takes a nonsensical currency no one else seems to use, but the more he appears in events like this and Vigilo the more I wonder if he genuinely might be critically plot important in the grand scheme of the story. He clearly has a grand agenda behind the scenes. He works with Rusthammer, Rhodes Island, and Reunion, all for the sake of finding people willing to change the existing world order. He wants the people of terra to stop their petty wars for power, territory, and control, and turn their attention towards the real threats like the seaborn writhing beneath the waves and the demons in the far north, as well as something mentioned to be deep underground. Who is he, really? Are those the blood tentacles of a vampire sarkaz, or something else entirely?

Tangents aside, this event story is very good. Arknights continues to impress me with its story at every turn. Goldenglow out of ten, I will be buying her skin.

[alertarchitect]

Full disclosure, this is a long one. It's also a vent post. I'm mainly writing this out to help get the thoughts and feelings regarding this kind of organized and out of my head, makes dealing with them just a little easier. Maybe it'll help you put to words your own thoughts & feelings on this kinda shit, too, and if it does, I'm glad my screaming into the void at least helped out someone other than myself! After all, if anything I say, write, or do ends up helping at least one other person, then maybe I'm doing something right :]

Sometimes having long-time special interests in an ongoing franchise FUCKING SUCKS. Perfect example - I am both a big Halo nerd, and really enjoy the overaching lore of Bungie's connected worlds (with how Marathon, Pathways into Darkness, Myth, Destiny, and even the ways Halo originally connected before it had to become its own thing thanks to Microsoft). Here are the ways that currently sucks:

The state of Halo Infinite, the most recent Halo game, both currently and at launch. At launch, you had a buggy mess, with multiplayer that barely functioned, lacking feature parity (even just on the multiplayer side of things, not counting the campaign) with Halo Reach, a game from 2010. Currently, 343i has admittedly fixed a lot of the launch issues - there's more customization than the game has ever had before (still not as good as Reach's customization imo, but at this point I've given up hope on any multiplayer AAA game having that level of customization for free ever again), the desync issues (in my experience) are no longer happening, and it has the most powerful Forge mode in any Halo game to date. The flip side of that, though? Egregiously horrendous monetization, an armor core and coating system that both hurt the customization more than help, and a drip-feed of content with little to no communication from 343 on anything past the most recent update. Not to mention the issues that come from a focus on "Live Service" bullshit.

The issues at 343 Industries itself, which come part and parcel with the massive issues related to Microsoft as a company. Massive megacorporation, horrible management, staff getting screwed over, crunch culture, and more - it just goes on and on.

Halo 5, despite its generally negative reception, is horrendously inaccessible to those of us that want to experience it as a piece of history and/or try out the multiplayer. A perfect example of how little companies care about game preservation, despite the decent track record 343i has had in that respect thanks to the Master Chief Collection, its PC release and addition of Halo Reach, and the efforts to find, occasionally recreate from almost nothing, and implement lost & cut content in the MCC titles.

Being a fan of Bungie's overarching stuff... really bad when you are at PEAK investment into their stuff, namely my Destiny 2 hyperfixation, and they not only announce that their new Marathon game is going to be a fucking EXTRACTION SHOOTER, and thus unlikely to have one of the most interesting things about Marathon in it (that being its lore) while also being very hard to get into thanks to people treating that kind of game as a massive sweat-fest, but also suddenly lay off a bunch of employees (when previously they had a good track record of treating employees decently...) due to Square Enix levels of profit overestimations of Lightfall, the BEST SELLING DESTINY EXPANSION EVER only getting 45% of the expected sales. Because why be realistic, right? Just fuck over employees, that certainly won't hurt us in the end!

The fact that, despite ALL OF THIS and my moral convictions against the shitty nature of this stuff, my dumbass brain still wants me to just spend spend spend on it anyway because of how much of a special interest Halo & the Bungie lore are to me - it almost hurts. I generally prefer fantasy stuff, but I can't stop myself from loving the lore and stories associated with this stuff. I have to fight myself every goddamn time I have money to not fall into the traps. It's easier with Destiny - I uninstalled it, replaced my PvE needs with Warframe and Risk of Rain 2, replaced my PvP needs with Halo Infinite, and just keep up with the story from a distance. But now that Halo Infinite is back in my life? I love the gameplay, hell I'd go as far as to say it has some of the strongest gameplay in the series (though some modes could use a bit more work, for example the Infection mode just isn't as fun as the Infection from Halo Reach), but the monetization just... AAAARGH it hurts me that I want to spend on it, both for customization and to have little goals to work towards in the (thankfully well-implemented due to them being available eternally) battle passes.

I just want to be able to love something that's been so central to me for so long - I played a cracked version of the CE PC demo for countless hours growing up, to the point that to this day I know the mission Silent Cartographer back to front from memory & could do it in my sleep, and associate Blood Gulch with countless memories of Halo's multiplayer from how often I'd play it with my sister, and to add onto all of that Halo Reach is one of my favorite games ever made, period - without caveats and moral hangups. I just want to love something without justifying it every time I think of it, both to myself and others.

I know this is a massively first-world issue, having the luxury to whine about my Favorite Things going through years and years of getting fucked by their own successes driving them into corporatism, but it still sucks. Obviously not as much as other issues both myself and others deal with, and DEFINITELY not as much as the horrible shit people are enduring in several parts of the world, but just enough for me to want/need to vent about how much corporations like to shit on the little rays of sunshine that we use to feel better about life.

[glitchdollmemoria]

preemptive warning for discussion of violence, abuse, and sexual assault in the links ahead

one of the many frustrating parts of schizospec paranoia is that, when it comes to more realistic fears, it gets hard to tell whats The Mental Illness and whats actually justified, at least to a degree. people with schizospec disorders are more likely to be the victims of violence, with some estimates claiming those with schizophrenia are 14x more likely to be victims of violent crimes than they are to commit violent crimes and twice as likely as the general public to be victims of violent crimes, and people with "severe mental illnesses" overall have been repeatedly reported to be at a much higher risk of being the victim of violence.

when you account for other factors which can put an individual at further risk of violence and abuse - physical and intellectual disabilities, race, gender, sexuality, or religion for example - you can easily see that theres plenty of fuel for persecutory fears.

when you account for the fact that schizospec disorders, especially their paranoid symptoms, can be exacerbated and even partially caused by trauma such as being the victim of abuse, and the revictimization rate for victims of such mistreatment, even more fuel is clearly being added. schizospec symptoms can easily mesh with symptoms of ptsd, resulting in paranoid fears that are, to some degree, based in factual events in a persons life.

so, with the way schizospec disorders muddle up our thought processes, it becomes especially difficult to know whether our fears are based in any form of fact or not. i experience fears that people are obsessively attracted to me, because ive been mistreated by past partners and by those who i wasnt involved with like that but who still took their own feelings for me too far. its difficult for me to discern whether people are actually attracted to me, and wanting to harm me because of it, or if its all just my synapses misfiring. i simultaneously have a constant feeling that the people around me are scared of me or see me as less than a person, and are therefore planning on causing me immediate harm or working behind the scenes to ruin my life, but these fears draw on actual experiences of being told im scary or pitiful or lesser, having people actually make efforts to hurt me in one way or another, so on and so forth. i am not the only one experiencing this, im confident.

and then you factor in the fact that those of us with schizospec disorders are most often socially isolated to some degree - the dsm even lists social isolation and difficulty maintaining close relationships to be a symptom of schizotypal personality disorder, for one thing i remember off the top of my head. were seen as strange, unnerving, unnatural, our behaviors are abnormal, we dont connect with others the way we "should", we communicate in confusing ways. every day i feel as if i have an aura emanating off of me that other "normal" people can sense, that tells them im a threat. and so it becomes increasingly difficult for us to find support, for our symptoms, or for the aftermath of discrimination and violence. we often arent truly "people" in the eyes of non schizospecs, rather were psychos, crazies, potential killers. we become collateral damage, acceptable targets. and it becomes easy to brush off our concerns for our own safety, because its more convenient to chalk things up to us just being delusionally paranoid rather than putting in the effort to actually examine the situation and the facts of how dangerous life is for mentally ill people.

i know that my thinking is disorganized here, and im doing the "flowery language" thing because its a serious topic and its hard to put into more succinct terms than dancing around what im saying. so i hope that what im trying to say is actually coming across clearly. my point is that im tired of second guessing myself and never knowing whether my fears of persecution are based in fact or not, and im tired of the social isolation that comes with this shit. im tired of feeling like if anything happens to me its going to be brushed off as just symptoms and not a real problem that matters to anyone except me

EDIT 8/19/2023: because i got reminded of this old post, i want to add that since posting this ive realized i also have npd. usually i keep my npd talk to a side blog because im not super comfortable talking about my symptoms on main, but i do want to add the clarification that the paranoia i talk about in this post is ALSO very very heavily tied to my npd in addition to my being schizospec. and in a way that makes me feel even more vulnerable, because people with npd tend to be villainized and treated as if our problems are just exaggerations to get attention. so when you combine the stigma against both conditions... its fucking rough out here, idk what else to say.

[lesbianrobin]

im so sorry i just need to say something and i feel like youre one of the very few reasonable people in the stranger things fandom and i just. honestly. is it just me or have people latched onto the hanky code thing WAY too hard with eddie even though it was like fully not intended coding by the wardrobe department and also. barely makes sense for the character at least in my eyes idk like maybe it Is just me but i feel like a twenty year old high schooler from rural indiana wouldn't be some kind of bdsm expert who's well versed in gay culture and flagging like that. like yeah its fun that the double meaning is there w/the hanky bc eddie Is very much a homosexual but i feel like people just latched onto it as if it's canon gospel with zero thought as to whether it would make sense for him (or his relationship with steve which is a whole other can of worms) but. yeah sorry for rambling just Yeah

oh no yeah i totally agree!! i like joking ab it and i'm not opposed to the idea of eddie like knowing ab the code but i don't rly think it was intentional and i don't think that eddie is like a hardcore bdsm dom at all dkcndncnf. like. i am a firm virgin eddie believer because he is a goofy little gay nerd in rural indiana who spends all his time playing dnd or guitar or selling weed out of his lunchbox. even if he IS flagging intentionally i do not think he has any practical experience.

my personal favorite interpretation of the hanky came from my friend sarah @steveharrington this isn't like anything she posted but she had the idea that maybe eddie learned vaguely about hanky code but not rly any specifics and he got So excited about the idea of flagging in any way that he just went out and got a black one bc it matched his usual outfits and he started wearing it without much idea of what it Means bc he wanted to have a connection to the community. i just think that concept is adorable.

another interpretation i enjoyed a lot is from the fic the affliction of the feeling where eddie is a virgin who thinks he knows what he's into but very quickly discovers that he in fact does not. it is explicit fair warning but i figure ur okay with that judging by the content of this ask lmao.

ultimately i think of the hanky as like something fun to play around with but i wish people didn't take it so far because it's definitely like. not rly in character. even setting aside whether or not he'd realistically be well-versed in hanky code yknow the thing is that eddie has this sadistic DM persona but when he's with chrissy or steve or any of his other friends he's always so genuinely sweet and playful and goofy in a way that just. does not scream sado top to me. eddie hates when his friends are upset or uncomfortable and he'll do anything to make them smile. i rly cannot see him being like taunting and sadistic during sex vnfncnfnc like sorry but he's a nerdy little virgin and he would be giggly and awkward and sweet.

nobody asked but personally i think his first time eddie would try So hard to be sexy and cool and his partner (steve bc i am a steveddie warrior and this is my post) would be like What are you doing and he'd be like uh seducing you and steve would be like no the fuck you are not you're acting like a pornstar who failed theater in high school and eddie's like ouch :< and steve is like look just relax can you just be eddie right now and eddie's like aw yeah... :')

anyway. sorry about all of that fkvjfjcjf basically i totally agree with you i think people latched onto the bandana wayyy too hard for what it is. thank you for the ask!!

[m1ck-miffs]

Where did I come from? Where did I go?

Hello little people who live in my computer! Its been so long! So long since I've been here.

Most important things first, No One Saves You is still a thing! It's still happening. I've been secretly keeping it on life support in my little bunker. Things are different, some things a lot different, some things a little different but it is different (and hopefully better written, whoever let me write that first dumpster fire should've been jailed.) I'm no where near having anything ready to present but I felt like cleaning up my old blog, so here I am! Call it spring cleaning or something.

Where did I go? Eh, life. I've done a lot of things in the past two years. I graduated high school, I started college, I got a job, I quit my job, I got a new job, I learned to drive, and I learned to do my taxes. I've worked on my story through all of it but it wasn't my priority, turns out being a semi functioning adult is really fucking hard. Who knew! I'm back in the writing seat but I make no promises.

Where am I Going? Well, lots of places! I graduate with my associates in English this summer, I'm moving to a whole new city, starting college again, and I've got about 8 million things I want to do all at once. I'm learning to take it slow...it's a work in progress.

Okay, okay what you're really here for: to hear about this goddamn story. I figure I'd update you on some changes I've started, under the cut (in case you like surprises.) Think of it like a behind the scenes stage access.

ps. If you were hoping I studied the blade how to code during my two year absence, you're going to be severely disappointed. I am unfortunately still a writer first and a coder second (or maybe last lmao.) So this tumblr and my twine will remain ugly, so sorry (I'm not that sorry.)

Okay, so, there's been a lot of changes, especially to characters. I feel like my previous characters were too flat? One dimensional? Under-planned and underutilized? Sound like they were written by a 16 year old? Maybe all of the above. I'll go through them and tell you a bit about the sparkly new and improved people I've pulled fresh out of the oven.

Missy (They/She): Missy has changed, not a ton a ton but some. They're still mean but a little less intensely so. Their design has been altered and I think I've made them more three dimensional and a little less of a rich whinny unlikeable asshole. Their background has has some minor alterations but their main changes have been physical and trying to make them less of a caricature. Missy remains mostly unchanged, Missy is eternal.

Miles Tellez (He/Him): Miles has had some minor design tweaks, I'm still trying to decide if I'm giving him a rat tail, but most importantly Miles has had some major personality changes. He's a little less of a sad pathetic meow meow and has more of a backbone. I've tried to make his sadness more realistically believable. He felt a little cartoonishly anxious and sad so I've worked to make him more mature and competent. His background and home life has has some major overhauls but it's mostly details. Mostly just made him less of a crybaby.

Avery (Gender Selectable): Dead. Jk, I completely changed her, so she is kind of dead, I guess. She's not even Avery anymore, she's Jordan. Jordan B. Bowings. I felt that Avery was too flat, too timid, I never connected with her the way I did other characters and I think it was obvious in the way her whole personality was 'cold leadership role.' So i completely scrapped her and started over form a clean slate.

Jordan Bowings (She/Her): Jordan is very different than Avery but retains some of the traits that I had given Avery. She still holds a leadership role but instead of cold stoic leader she's more confident and bright. She's very competent, independent, and warm. She has a lot of elements form Avery's background that I just tweaked. Overall I connect with her way more than I did Avery and I'm really excited to show off more of her.

Bones (Gender Selectable): Bones has changed a lot. It doesn't feel like it to me but they have. They used a pirate aesthetic but that is dead and gone (thankfully.) They're still walking talking human disaster but they used to be a lot colder I'd say they're more friendly now but not in any good way. They're friendly like someone who is trying to scam you is friendly. I've also made them a lot sadder and angstier IDK it just felt right. They're basically a whole new character.

Crash (She/Her): Dead. The content that she was supposed to be in got cut from the story. It just wasn't necessary and was causing bloat. I kind of just wanted to write about cars and the desert and that is quite literally the only reason her character existed so she is gone from the story my apologies.

Blitz (They/Them): Ironically one of the few ROs that people have actually met. Generally remains unchanged but that's not surprising since I've actually has Blitz as a character since at 5th grade. They've had a lot of time to be fleshed out.

LiveWire (He/Him): A whole new character. I felt like the cast needed a few metal heads (literally.)

Rayyan Sobhi (Gender Selectable): Remains somewhat unchanged but their backstory and history with the MC has been tweaked. I think they may go through some more changes because I'm not entirely happy with some aspects of their character but It won't be anything too drastic. I also just decided I'm changing their first name, Its now Nour Sobhi.

The plot has had some changes. it's nothing too crazy just some plot holes that needed to fixed small things like that. I've also started rewriting the story! It still needs a lot of work and I haven't even finished chapter one but I intend for there to a lot more branching choices with different outcomes. this of course makes writing it take so so much longer but ultimately I think the game will be more enjoyable because of it.

Thanks for reading my rambling! Let me know if you've got some ideas, questions, or concerns. I am all ears!

[criminalmindsgonewrong]

hunger games anon here and yes!!! so many connections and references it was so overwhelming when the dots connected. i loved lucy gray so much (and im a long time fan of rachel zegler (since she was a junior in hs making yt covers in her bedroom lol) so i am so excited to see her play lucy (and it feels like the PERFECT casting, even just reading the book she is who i pictured).

spoiler for the hanging scene as well but i thought there was absolutely nooo way snow would let it happen. but then again i also thought surely he wouldnt ever ACTUALLY record and send the audio off to the capitol, either. :/. and when he took advantage of the plinths and their money at the end???? ouchhhh.

and when sejanus cried out for his mom..... oh it basically killed me. i put my book down for a good 30 minutes and just processed it.

honestly tbosas might be my fave in the entire series (with catching fire being second). but arguably my favorite thing abt ballad is that we can see snows actual descent into evil, into the snow thats present in the main series.

the way it starts off with him as just a poor, scared kid trying to make his dead parents proud and him having to make sacrifices to get there, to the way he took such pride in his capitol and home without ever realizing it was the capitols fault he was poor and scared and without parents in the first place.

then the way it shifts to him realizing using people to get what he wants is the *only* way to get what he wants, and seeing him accept that, and seeing him use it to his advantage.... sickening.

maybe because its so realistic in the sense that i understand what his thought process was and it really shows that under correct circumstances, that type of thing could happen to anybody.

literally just bone chilling idk.

sorry for writing an actual essay in ur inbox, none of my friends are into thg so this is basically all the thoughts ive kept to myself abt this book for like a year LMAO

yess rachel is great casting!!! unsure about snow's casting bc i dont know the guy, but i'm sure he'll be great! i am very excited about hunter schafer as tigris!!!!

i actually meant the first hanging scene, the one the song is based on!! that connection was just, it overwhelmed me. but yes, i did not expect that for sejanus </3 snow taking advantage of his parents at the end really did sum up how far he had fallen. there was also a line about how he'd taken back the money he sent to tigris and the grandmama, which just summed it up for me. i'd honestly love just a whole book dedicated to tigris because her line about 'be kind coryo, try not to look down on people who had to choose between death and disgrace' hit really hard, and implied so much about her character. how did she go from his most beloved cousin, to helping the mockingjay? i would love that story.

also never ever apologise for an essay in my inbox, i love it!!!!

[marypsue]

I realise you haven't been enjoying season 4 very much, but i thought you might enjoy my newest ST related hobby, which is thinking about an AU where Bob survives season 2 and goes to Russia with Joyce and Murray to break Hopper out of jail. I personally think this is the funniest possible timeline and would have some incredible character dynamics/interactions.

If you were gonna change one plot point from ST, which do you think would have the best knock-on effect on later seasons?

Oh I'm absolutely going to be adding that scenario to the 7-11 taquito roller in my mind, thank you! Any AU where Bob survives is a good AU, and also I am dying thinking about how absolutely, incandescently confused Hopper would be about him turning up in the USSR like 'what, like it's hard'?

I love every single time people underestimate Bob Newby because he is kind and cheerful and goofy and intensely normcore and a lil fat and a bit of a scaredy cat, until the stakes become real and he immediately steps up and turns out to also be brave and inventive and kind of a badass, and leaves everyone who hadn't expected it from him and had only seen what they expected to see scratching their heads. It never fails to delight me. (I am still only at the end of s4 episode 4 so I don't actually know how they managed to resolve the whole Russia-rescue plot in canon, but now I am absolutely going to be finishing out my watch thinking the whole time about what would be the most ridiculous, absurd, infuriating, hilarious way to work Bob into it. Excellent watching-season-4-faceplant-itself-directly-into-a-wall-over-Cold-War-xenophobia coping strategy. Delightful.)

If I were going to change one plot point, in canon, with the intent that it would be a) something that could realistically happen canonically in a Netflix show between 2016-2023 and that its knock-on effects would be as well, and b) something that would have the most general positive effect on my opinion of the series...hm. That's a tough one. Because I can think really easily of thematic things that I would change, or characterisation things that I would change, but those would both require changing a lot of plot points. This is a much bigger challenge!

I am going to say that the plot point I would change...would be in season 3, where it turns out there are Russians in a secret basement under the mall. Dustin and Steve and Robin and Erica can keep chasing what they assume are Russian spies throughout most of the season, but something isn't quite adding up. They find their way into a secret sub-basement, and find the source of the Russian message Dustin intercepted - only to discover that it's all been a false flag operation, because the lab got shut down in disgrace after season 2 and Nancy and Murray's expose, and now they're having to study the Gate (and try to recreate it) in secret with plausible deniability of their government connections if they get caught. Things get considerably more complicated and less jingoistic, it's tied back into the theme of season 1, and there's like at least 25% less Murray Bauman.

(And then, even though season 4's plot isn't really all that affected by the events of season 3 beyond Literally The Last Episode, we have no boneheaded bullshit involving Russia in s4, and any sympathy that the boys might have tried to cultivate for the assholes at the lab who abducted children and raised them in captivity, being experimented on against their will, without human connection except that which was used to manipulate them in order to use them as weapons would be just patently absurd, so maybe they wouldn't fucking do that. And also maybe I wouldn't have to endure any more Murray-with-a-funny-Russian-accent cardboard cutout 'characters'. One must imagine a better world, or how else can it become?)

[literalite]

i’m not that same genshin anon, but what are your opinions on fontaine so far!?

HEYY NEW ANON LETS GET INTO IT 💪🏼💞

(spoilers for the 4.0 archon quest obviously 🥰 also massive block of text and this was me trying to keep it brief idk this has been the most interesting genshin has been for me in a hot sec)

i ammmmm not a fan of the new pneuma/ousia system.. ik they gave us lyney and hydro traveller have that inherently but to be totally frank i dont appreciate being basically told to build characters that i dont actually want to 🕊 if they had to implement this i would have preferred that all existing playable characters have an affinity toward one or the other that only triggers inside the borders of fontaine. bcos there (from how much of the region ive seen so far) doesnt seem to be a super solid lore reason as to why only fontaine characters and inexplicably the traveller have exclusive access to arkhe system it just feels unnecessary i dunnoooo. tbh tho i am being sort of nitpicky with this like i dont Need to have arkhe using characters in my party to do decent i can just tank it

i like the nation design! it feels very exciting. ratiowise it feels a bit awkward to have so much of the nation dedicated to the ocean, would have loved an extended sewer system that went into the sea as well so u could access it from both inside the city and in the sea. im a big fan of the steampunk aesthetic and i do wish they'd leant into it a bitttt more as opposed to the art deco. i like grunge sue me. i love the aquabuses and i wish there were more of them but perhaps a bit faster 😅 not the most entertaining mode of transport but my graphic settings arent the highest so i could be missing some of the scenery aspect of it

ok onto the archon quest. to my surprise i actually enjoyed it i thought it was silly and over the top but not in a wholly offputting way. like was it goofy and did i have to suspend my disbelief very hard yes but when i managed it i still had a fun time. childe getting knocked out in one go by neuvillette was def a highlight to me as well as pretty much all of navia's scenes she's such a cool character i really connected with her i think and i hope she comes back for more later down the line and we get some more background on her and clorinde's relationship (or lack of one? not sure what their deal is specifically but giving off immense toxic yuri which.. YESS) before clorinde killed her dad. i appreciated the balance between the expected lighter portions of the quests with the darker themes and stuff (the prophecy, lynette's trafficking, the injustices that the so called nation of justice metes out to its people) i think it was handled decently. all the characters felt like that had a solid reason for being incorporated into the quest itself (my main issue with sumeru's archon quest was how it felt like it was just introducing us to as many characters as they could just for the sake of it and no actual plot reason *cough* dori) and all were realistic and nuanced enough to hold their own in the overall sequence of events. VERY invested in the next installment of the quests in the next update in a way that i don't think i've been since the disappointment that was the final truncated and weirdly paced parts of the inazuma archon quest, sumeru felt like a whole new writing team finding their feet in genshins lore and this nation's quest has so far felt like they've def found their footing

i like lyney and lynette and freminet, theyre a really interesting set of characters and everyone who called them being fatui is surely very pleased with themselves gfhjkl i do find i guess for lack of a better word child soldiers as a narrative point really compelling to me (coughs in sunao kimura), and their clear loyalty and "love" towards arlecchino feels like it will pay off in a big way later down the line, for better or for worse. i did not see lyney being groomed to be the next "father" of the house of the hearth coming so when i looked into all of their voicelines that genuinely surprised me and opens up a lot of questions as to how the harbinger structure works or at least how arlecchino's place in the harbingers works. does this mean if/when arlecchino dies lyney takes her place as a harbinger as well or is her position as harbinger separate from her position as "father"? theyre making the fatui a lot more interesting to me personally as the plot goes on which is a good thing because i was really not into the whole two bit villain thing they were pushing in the really early parts of the game

in terms of who im going for i would like neuvillette i am not immune to lame dude with long hair. to be honest. also if navia has a good kit i might go for her actually because she was a stand out character in this archon quest in a way i really was not expecting like at all so. big fan of her