#i still haven't played the game yet tho. waiting until i have

[viksalos]

the pentiment soundtrack is pretty good. it’s got those hildegard von bangers

[seventh-district]

Making Incorrect H:SR Quotes Until I Run Out of (hopefully) Original Ideas - Pt. 4 - Nuthin' but Boothill Edition

[Pt. 1] [Pt. 2] [Pt. 3] [Pt. 5] [Pt. 6]

[zegrasdrysdale]

[ wrapped in red ] j. drysdale

day five of malia’s christmas fic marathon

paring : Jamie Drysdale x fem!reader

summary : (Y/N) surprises Jamie with his Christmas gift early when he gets back from a rough east coast roadie at four in the morning

warning(s) : smut ! oral (m receiving), p in v penetration, unprotected sex (pls be careful), whining, light hair pulling, use of pet names during sex

author’s note : this is me trying to catch up w the schedule lmaoo anyway … enjoy (even tho i definitely got a little carried away with it. i was having a moment and let the moment take over)

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The horn sounds through the TV, signaling the end of the game. The Ducks lost to the Devils at the Prudential Center 4-2, and it was Jamie’s first goal back after missing nearly 30 games. He probably isn’t feeling the best right now.

Yet she knows exactly what would make him feel better. She's sure he will appreciate his Christmas gift a little bit early. She's been excited to give it to him since she got it right after he left for the road trip that has kept him away for a week.

Now might be the perfect time since he might need to relax a little bit. She knows her boyfriend so she knows exactly how to help him relax after a rough roadie. She even tells him that she'll wait up for him to get home so she can surprise him.

ʚ jamie baby ɞ - 10:29 pm flight doesn't leave until midnight so you don't have to stay up for me. i won't home until 4. pls don't be up until 4 in the morning, baby. i'd feel so bad

i love you and i'll see you when you get up in the morning, okay ? i won't be good company when i get home and i don't want to ruin your mood

Her plan doesn't change from Jamie's texts. All it does is tell her that he really isn't in a good mood after the road trip. She can take a four hour nap and be fine by the time he gets home. She needs to be wide awake for when she gives him his gift.

The gift also needs a little prep so she'll sleep until three, drink a cup of coffee to wake her up, then get ready to give Jamie his gift.

She's pretty sure his mood will change real quick, especially since he's been gone for a week. They both are a little desperate at this point.

An alarm is set for three in the morning to give her an hour to do what she needs to do. She only needs an hour to prepare the gift. A cup of coffee, a shower, a shave, hair, makeup, and a small snack isn't going to take more than an hour.

For her nap, she wears one of Jamie's Ducks hoodies because they're insanely comfortable. She sends Jamie a text that says goodnight and for him to have a safe flight.

(Y/N) is shaking with excitement as she lies down in their shared bed for her four hour nap. The look on Jamie's face when he sees what he's getting for Christmas is the only thing that causes her to fall asleep.

The sooner she falls asleep, the sooner the alarm will go off and the sooner Jamie will be home.

She dreams of his reaction.

༺═──────────────═༻

A screaming alarm wakes her from her light sleep. It's still completely dark outside and there's a dim light coming from her phone while the alarm goes off. She turns it off and sits up with a stretch.

(Y/N) feels very refreshed though, and she definitely needed the little nap if she is to make it through the night. She allows herself a few more minutes before she goes and makes a cup of coffee.

While the coffee brews, she tracks Jamie's flight. They haven't landed early so she can still definitely pull off the surprise. The team plane is scheduled to land in a half hour. Then it's baggage claim and a fifteen to twenty minute drive to their apartment in Anaheim.

After coffee and a few pieces of toast with strawberries and Nutella, (Y/N) takes a shower. It's a full shower. She shampoos, conditions, shaves all necessary areas, washes her body, and exfoliates her face.

All while Taylor Swift is playing from the Bluetooth speaker on the sink counter.

(Y/N) loves listening to Miss Swift while she showers. Sometimes she listens to it while showering with Jamie, and he gets very into it. That's Trevor's doing though. Trevor is a bigger Swiftie than she is. Sometimes.

It's quarter to four when (Y/N) gets out of the shower. She checks to see where Jamie is and finds he's still at the airport. His location says he's outside though so he's probably headed to his car. She needs to hurry up if she's going to pull this surprise off.

She wraps herself in a towel and secures it under her arms so she can do her hair and light makeup. She blow dries it until it's pretty much straight then runs the straightener through it a couple of times to make sure there is no wave or curl to her hair.

She puts foundation under her eyes to hide the circles that have formed and all over her face to hide any blemishes. She puts on red lipstick and does a natural smokey eye look.

When she looks at Jamie's location, he's on his way home. There are about ten minutes until he's going to be walking through the door and she still has to go get the actual gift out of the closet. She curses to herself and makes her way back into their bedroom after disconnecting her phone from the speaker and turning off the light.

Inside a box in a closet is the gift. It's a red lingerie set that she tried on once when she was with Jamie. He said he really liked it so when he left for the trip, she went back to the store and bought it.

The sleepwear lingerie is made of lace and mesh. The cups of the nightgown part of the set is made of lace and is practically see through. Below the cups is completely see through. A matching mesh G-string will be worn underneath the sleepwear.

(Y/N) looks in the full length mirror against the wall and finds a hot, confident version of herself. Usually she doesn't dress like this, but it's Christmas so she figured it could be Jamie's gift since he liked seeing this set on her.

Somewhere in the apartment, a door softly opens and shuts with a nearly silent click. She makes a beeline for the bed and turns on the lamp beside the bed so Jamie gets a very good look at her when he opens the bedroom door.

There is a sigh and footsteps that are getting closer and louder. She tries to lay on the bed in a way that Jamie will get a good view of her as soon as the door opens. She has just decided on a position when the door slowly begins to open.

Jamie sticks his head into the room and looks right at the bed. His eyes immediately widen and the door swings completely open. His jaw has dropped to the floor and he nearly drops his bags on the ground.

"I- what-," he stammers. She smiles as he tries to find the words. "I don't understand what's going on here. (Y/N), I thought I said not to-"

"Wait up for you?" she finishes. "I didn't. I woke up at three so I could get ready to surprise my boyfriend since he hasn't been home in a week." She allows her eyes to travel up and down Jamie's body. He's tense but it's hard to miss how tight his pants have gotten at his crotch area. "Maybe put him in a better mood because he seemed very cranky after the game."

He shifts his weight between his legs before he drops his luggage by the door. "I am," he tells her. "I mean, I was. I don't think I am now." His eyes travel over her body. "Holy shit, baby."

She slowly gets up off the bed, making sure to show off every part of the set. Jamie's cheeks get red as he watches her walk up to him. She smiles when she is standing in front of him. "Merry Christmas," she says to him. "Decided to give you your present a little early. You said you liked this on me so I went and got it to wear for you on Christmas but then you had a rough road trip. Surprise."

Jamie's quiet, but she can see that he's trying to hold back. His hands are shaking, itching to touch her. "I don't know what to say," he tells her. "Fuck, (Y/N)."

"How about you don't say anything?" she suggests. Her fingers grasp at the collar of Jamie's game day suit jacket. Slowly, she pushes it off of him and he shivers despite wearing long sleeves under the jacket. "How about I help you relax? Let you enjoy seeing me in this while I suck you off. Promise you won't rip it?" He immediately begins to nod.

His eyes are on her fingers as she works on unbuttoning his shirt. She untucks it from his pants to finish unbuttoning it and her eyes meet his. "I wish I could come home to this after every roadie," Jamie softly admits. "I think I'd score a hat trick if I knew this was waiting for me at home."

(Y/N) undoes his belt without looking at what she's doing. It hits the ground with a soft thud. "I'll see what I can do," she replies. "Maybe if you get a hat trick then I'll be waiting for you like this when you get back." Slowly, she sinks to her knees. She is so thankful that the room has carpet. Her knees are definitely grateful. "I'll be waiting on my knees like this for you."

A soft whine passes Jamie's lips when she pulls his cock out of the confines of his suit pants. "Fuck," he groans as she takes him in one of her hands. She presses soft kisses to his hipbone, trailing closer to his dick.

She licks the bright red tip and swirls her tongue around it, collecting the drop of precome that has already formed. She looks up at him as she takes him in her mouth. Jamie sighs and puts his fingers in her hair to probably keep himself upright. She takes as much of him in her mouth as she can then begins to move her head.

Giving blowjobs has never been something she's been particularly good at, but Jamie has helped her improve her skills since they've gotten together. His reactions and the sounds that come from his mouth let her know if she's doing a good or bad job.

Even if she were to give the worst blowjob in the world right now, she is pretty sure that Jamie wouldn't care.

He's already barely here.

One thing she knows drives Jamie crazy is when she hollows out her cheeks and lightly sucks. She tries it once and Jamie's hips buck forward. (Y/N) knew that was going to happen so she relaxed her throat so he wouldn't choke her with his dick. Jamie lets out a soft groan that's mixed with a whine. Her hands fly to his thighs to let him know to relax.

"Keep doing that and I will come a lot sooner than we would both like, (Y/N)," he warns her. She looks up at him through her eyelashes and sees how flustered he is. His cheeks are bright red and his bottom lip looks like it's been gnawed on. "Fucking eyelashes. Fuck."

She smiles as best as she can around him.

Despite the carpet, her knees do begin to hurt. She glances up at him before pulling off his dick. There is a little bit of lipstick on his hipbone where she kissed him. She smiles and looks up at him.

Jamie slides one of his hands around to the back of her neck and puts his fingers in her hair. She stands up and Jamie drags her in for a filthy kiss. She hums against his lips and pushes the unbuttoned shirt off his shoulders. He lets the fabric fall to the floor around his feet.

"Love being on my knees for you," she mumbles between kisses. "I wanna ride you though."

A whine comes from Jamie's throat after her comment. She smiles and turns them so she can push Jamie onto the mattress.

The kiss breaks and he falls onto his back with a grunt when she pushes him in the direction of the mattress. She pulls off his shoes and socks before pulling his dress pants off. Jamie scoots backward further onto the bed as she pulls off his pants and boxers together.

Jamie's eyes are wide when she crawls on top of him. She straddles his waist and cock. Jamie's hands run up and down her thighs for a second as she leans down and kisses him. This kiss is hungry since she has gone a week without kissing him. She's missed the feeling of his lips against her. It drives her nuts every time he goes away for more than a few days.

There's a light pressure over the G-string that she's wearing under the sleepwear. A soft moan comes from her throat as Jamie's thumb circles her clit over the mesh.

He breaks the hot kiss and she rests her forehead against his. "As hot as this is," Jamie begins to say. "I need to be inside you so either take these off or move them to the side because I'm minutes away from coming and I don't want to make a mess of your new outfit."

(Y/N) quickly sheds the lingerie set until she's completely naked. A smile forms on Jamie's lips before he sits up and attaches his lips to her jaw. Her fingers are in his hair. When he hits the sensitive spot right under her ear, she lightly pulls. His thumb is back on her clit and she whines.

Needing relief, she grabs his dick and lines herself up with him. He looks up at her and she kisses him. It's a softer kiss than the kisses they've already shared tonight, but he licks into her mouth and it intensifies.

Slowly, she sinks down onto him. There's a familiar pressure as he fills her up. "Fuck, Jamie," she mumbles against his lips.

"Feels so good around me, baby," Jamie tells her. "Fuck."

It's only seconds later when he's completely inside of her. Jamie's hands find her waist and she bites at his bottom lip before pulling away.

Their eyes meet and Jamie begins to roll her hips against his. Her lips part and soft pants pass them. Her hands fly to his jaw and she holds on like it's life or death.

It feels so good to be like this. It's rare that Jamie lets her take control in bed but she loves it. Even now, he still has some control while she's riding him. His hands are on her waist and helping her move.

She puts her hands on his chest and pushes him back onto the bed. His head hits the pillows and she speeds up her movements. Rolling turns into bouncing on Jamie's dick.

The room is filled with the sounds of the bed squeaking beneath them and skin on skin. She's letting out quiet moans as she throws her head back and enjoys the feeling of Jamie moving in and out of her at her own pace. Jamie even lets out a soft noise or two.

"Riding me so good," Jamie tells her. "Riding me like the good girl you are. Fuck, baby."

His words alone are enough to make her come, but she holds back until he comes first. He's the one that needs to relax so she's focused on his pleasure first. She'll come when he comes.

Then his thumb is back on her clit and she isn't sure how much longer she can go.

"Want you to come first," she pants. "Jamie."

Jamie pulls her down into a kiss full of tongue and teeth.

She's so close. Her legs are shaking and sore from doing all the work. Her clit is so sensitive and she's worried she'll come.

"Fill me up," (Y/N) says against Jamie's lips. Even her voice is shaky. "Wanna feel you come inside me. Please."

A groan and a whine pass Jamie's lips as he finally lets go. He comes inside of her as soon as she comes back down on his cock. He uses his thumb and pointer finger to play with her clit and it's not long after that when she comes.

White paints her vision and she comes with Jamie's name on her lips. She throws her head back for a second before she collapses onto his chest.

She isn't sure that she's ever came that hard in her life. Her body is spent and her breathing is labored.

When she comes to, she's laying on the bed and the bathroom light is on. Jamie appears from the bathroom with a cloth and he begins to clean her up. She can feel his come running down her legs and it's a little uncomfortable until he wipes it away.

"That was the hottest thing I think I have ever experienced," Jamie admits to her. "I'm so fucking lucky."

"Now I have to get you a new Christmas present," she mumbles. Her voice is already slurred with sleep.

Jamie throws the cloth towards the laundry basket and climbs back into bed. He covers them both with the blanket that will need to be changed in the morning.

"I think that was the best Christmas present ever," he softly tells her. "You can worry your pretty little head about it in the morning. Right now, we're going to go to sleep and sleep in then I'm going to return what you did tonight by fucking you when you wake up."

Oh, she should be wrapped in red more often if this is how Jamie is going to react. Maybe next she can wear one of his Canada jerseys with nothing on underneath and see how he reacts to that.

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MAIN MASTERLIST

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taglist : @dancerbailey3 @fanboysfangirl @dasiysthings

[http-finnick]

𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 - 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐫

finnick odair x fem!reader

cw: teasing, sexual jokes, flirting, just a fun drabble.

request: still feel like asking requests is weird but i rly like ur blog so🚶 Could you do a Finnick Odair x Reader were they meet/actually talk for the first time in that scene where Finnick talks to Katniss in that horrible bare-chested outfit that makes him look like a draft and then he eats pure sugar like ew 💀 after having that weird interaction with her he comes over to us and introduces himself and is all flirty with the Reader and the Reader actually flirts back what totally startles him but hes into it and Katniss is just like ???

you stood in the tight gown as you brushed the horse's back with your fingers, thinking about how you wished to be out of your 9-inch heels and back home.

your reminiscing was cut short with a scoff so loud you could've mistaken it for the bell chime that was supposed to announce your descent into the capitols viewing

you turn to see two of the most iconic capitol celebrities out there, Katniss and Finnick. you watched as they chit-chatted (more like monotone fighting) when you couldn't help but almost scoff yourself at the atrocious thing Finnick's stylist put him in.

you must've stared too long because his dark green eyes met yours as he popped a sugar cube into his mouth before walking over to you

"Hey Y/n" he says, leaning on the carriage as you're still hung up on how he said your name so smoothly you almost mistaken him from back home

but there was no mistaking Finnick Odair from someone back home. no, not with how he looks, talks, and even that glare in his eyes that almost makes your knees weak.

that's because Finnick flirts to see how weak you are. to see how easy you are, not for sex. but for the game. for the kills.

"Finnick, was it?" you say playfully, about everyone knows who he is, especially someone who has been in the games before

he laughs before grabbing another sugar cube from his pocket and messing with his between his fingertips, his eyes lingered on your body and you couldn't help but feel tense

"last time I saw you, you definitely weren't wearing a dress like this" his eyes darken on you. curse your stylist for getting the tightest dress out there with a slit so high you walked like a stick to not show anything

"cant say the same for you, you seem to always have your tits out" you grin and he couldn't help but laugh at your banter, not everyone plays into him every often

"Hopefully next time you'll be the lucky one" now he's closer, staring you down as a grin slowly meets your lips

"Hopefully we don't have to wait till next time" you couldn't help but feel immediate satisfaction as a shocked look fills his eyes yet that ionic smirk stays plastered on his lips

"See you, ally" he winked before running off, you let out a breath you didn't know you were holding as you look ahead to see Katniss giving you what you can only describe to be a "what the fuck was that" face

you shrugged before spinning on your heels to start the way up on the carriage.

and when you stood with your tribute going at high speeds with people screaming everywhere, you couldn't help but see some dark green eyes staring right at you.

an: ahhhh I missed you guys so much! I've been so busy so i haven't been able to get back into my thg mindset even tho I'm obsessed with it lmaooo. being brain-rotted with thg and just being by myself makes me more quiet and happy and but because of the holidays, it's made me have to be more talkative and hyper almost. I haven't had time alone until his moment and I look back at how I was before with shock and sadness because I want to go back to my bubble :((( you know how when you talk to people you have to pretend you care to be nice so you make up a fake you? that's how I feel right now by myself, and that would be fine if I was sad or mad but I'm so neutrally fake happy it hurts. it'll pass overtime but it's gonna be hard because i have to do it again tomorrow and for the rest of the week ((more family time)) like ahhh i wanna be my old self by myself lmao. anyway!!!!!!!!! Thank you for the request! it makes me so happy you like my blog sm and this was so fun to write!!! mwah ily! <3

[goodluckclove]

An Interview Series

Stop Two: A Private Room with @cssnder

When i thought to do this, Cassander Di Angelo was one of the first people I knew would make for good conversation. What resulted was something far more vulnerable on my end than I ever expected. She was kind, insightful, and intelligent as always, but I had to wait a few extra days before posting the log from this stop on my journey.

Join us as we discuss the nuance of identity in person, online, and on the page, and the reasons for why we do what we do.

If you want a closer look into Cassander's fascinating voice, I highly suggest signing up for her Substack. It's free, and you'll get direct access to her writing once it's developed! Now join us on this stop as we meet Cass somewhere quiet and secluded.

Now Playing: You Want it Darker by Leonard Cohen

It was a small, private, room of a quite picturesque sort. No bed, no television. There was a green sofa (one of those hideous things one could only find on sale the day following the death of an elderly, the kind you'd think smell of death but for whatever reason your girlfriend loves it), an antic wooden desk that stood grotesquely in the middle of the room, and an innumerable number of bookshelves. It wasn't much, and yet, the room seemed full.

The most interesting part was not so much the furnitures dressing the room but rather the few other details that were not of real interest when taken separately but created a striking picture when assembled together: the half-played game of solitaire spread on the floor, a selection of colourful ties hanging from the back of the sofa, papers all over the desk and piles of books everywhere but on the shelves.

The window was left open. And, in the morning fog, the sky turned into a pious white while the earthy smell of oak trees filled the cold November air. Melancholic, like a sad tune sang among magnolias.

where are we right now?

In a nameless town where no one knows me.

it's certainly a literary environment. i read through your entire blog so far while i was waiting to talk to you.

I used to be much more active on other platforms — Twitter, mainly. But as time went by, I learnt to love privacy and staying away from social medias. I think Tumblr is the platform I am the most active on, if that says anything about my relationship with the internet.

i have some mixed feelings on your content that i think would make for good conversation if you're open to it.

Sure, tell me.

so we've both been writing for a decade or longer. it's been fourteen years for me, and i think you said it was ten or more for you. would you say your practice up until now has also been very solitary? Yes, definitely.

i got the feeling. i can't cite the exact post, but i read something where you dove into your style of observational nuance, the aspects of strangers you take note of. And i immediately related, as someone who works the same way by instinct, but i found myself cringing. it felt like you were describing something deeply intimate about the creative process that you weren't supposed to put to paper. What I suppose i mean to say is that, after ten years of writing alone, how much do you still work to be understood by others? And to what extent?

Quite frankly, there are times where I feel like I don't really understand myself — maybe it's because I am only twenty-three, perhaps I haven't been human long enough yet to feel too sure on my feet. And I suppose, because of that, I do not expect anyone to understand me.

God, am I aware how it sounds so pessimistic but you know I do not mean it that way. I simply do not want to put unfair expectations on people simply because, in my mind, I was sure they, this person specifically, would understand me. If that makes sense? Plus, there are so many sides of us. I don't think we ever understand ourselves a hundred percent. So how could other people?

it's a strange juxtaposition to have that mindset and also be a writer and actor. someone might assume those are two mediums where the person is a vessel meant to relay an intent of some kind. to be comprehended, so to speak.

I think I do not necessarily want to be comprehended but rather offer something to other people — a minute of distraction, them feeling seen, or simply some inspiration. It's not to much about me but rather about them?

I remember something Margaret Atwood said in one videos. I saw it a long time ago so it's not verbatim, of course. But she said that once a book is out in the world, it's not yours anymore. No matter the message you put in it, everyone will interpret it as they want. Of course, it's better if they get what's written as you've written it. But you also have to accept that, most of the time, everyone will take what they want and leave the rest.

are you lonely? creating art as just an offering to the world sounds to me like the objective of someone who's either fulfilled in separate relationships or so lonely they've given up on escaping the feeling.

What other reason do people have to create art?

to be seen to some extent. to share a message that's important to them. to release something from within themselves. to process a color they're worried only they can see. or to just give a story to the world. no reason is better than the other.

I'm not lonely. But I do feel bored and stuck, though. Like I'm not living enough.

you do seem to cultivate some sort of Life Aesthetic from how you describe things. you know, black coffee and earl grey tea. classic music on a record player. violin and card games. russian literature, possibly in dog-eared paperback. the kids online would call it “dark academia”.

Yes, I love those and while I suppose what you say is true to a certain extent — I do love aesthetics as long as I make the rules for my own — I do not want to feel stuck in it. It would be hell, and it shouldn't be so serious. I love a variety of things — Nu metal, black leather, Barbie movies and animes like My Hero Academia.

it's odd how we only show certain parts of ourselves in different spaces. i don't think anyone reading your blog would peg you as a nu metal fan. i feel like i just uncovered a major scoop.

I supposed many of us feel like they need to have a more distinct aesthetic or some sort of brand. Even subconsciously so. I think, even if I didn't want to, there would always be different versions of me in my novels because I base everything on my feelings, me, places I've seen, people I've known. Oliver and his melancholy and need to live something, anything, is one version of me. If I were to write a book about a wanna be singer, it would also be a version of me, little me from the past who wanted to be a singer too. I think the version of me I put the most is my emotional self more than an aesthetic.

can you describe your emotional self?

Intense. Very often, I feel like my heart is too big for my body, you know. But it's also very important for me. If there's one thing that would make me more unhappy than to be overwhelmed by emotions, it's apathy. [Laughs] God, you must wonder what kind of weirdo you're interviewing.

no i'm actually quietly having an existential crisis in my discord server. this is very enlightening. is that something you think is present in the current novel you're developing?

Oh, definitely. I am really into stories fueled by the characters' emotional worlds. Oliver is a mess of self-doubts, of pressure to live something and feeling scared he'll never get to, of wanting to please at all costs. Wilhelm is apathy and the secret desire to let loose just to see what happens. It is safe to say I've always prioritized the emotional quality over the plots and events themselves.

i was supposed to have you introduce yourself. do you think you could maybe pitch your novel for new people?

My novel Thus Saith The Lord is set in Prague, in 1987. The story focused on a young student named Oliver, who's bored of his life and wishes for more in some sort of Bovary-way. He drops out and flees his monotonous home town in the countryside to move to a big city and finally live his life. Unfortunately, things do not turn out the way he hoped. Eventually, he ends up practically poor there and lonely and despises his new way of life. However, he goes on to befriend a guy who, with his connections, helps him integrate his Catholic school, thus pushing him to continue his studies. Once there, Oliver becomes morbidly fascinated by one of his classmates. What started out as a simple friendship quickly turns into obsession and desperation as the lines of morality become blurred.

As for me introducing myself: My name is Cassander, I am a twenty- three year old writer and aspiring actress from France.

assuming this draws a new audience to your blog and substack, what could they expect to see from you?

Anything in terms of medium — novels, poetry, short stories. Quite frankly, there's a melancholy feeling that permeates almost all my work. They can expect that already. As well as stories with immoral and horrible characters, intense emotions, terrible decisions, and existential themes. Do not expect anything tender or joyful, I've never been good for that sort of things.

and since you claimed you'd give yourself 10 years to write thus saith the lord, i feel like people are in for a pretty intense journey.

that's all i have to talk about. i could speak for much longer but i don't want to take up too much of your space. mind narrating my exit from this little room to close us out?

The teas had been drunk, and the conversation had died. Not an unpleasant silent, but rather the sort of satisfied ending, like after a good meal.

Clove got up. “That's all I have to talk about. I could speak for much longer but I don't want to take up too much of your space." They said.

A kind and polite ending to our conversation. Although it wasn't like I had plenty of people waiting at my door or a full schedule. I nodded, before walking them to the door. We exchanged our goodbyes, and as they walked away, I remembered these words by Shakespeare that I knew by heart:

“And whether we shall meet again I know not. Therefore our everlasting farewell take: For ever, and for ever, farewell, [trustees]! If we do meet again, why, we shall smile; If not, why then, this parting was well made.”

previous stop

[elliespuns]

wait so when you film all those scenes with the mod, can you go back to certain parts in the game without replaying everything? Like for the david scene did you have to play the whole game up until that point to film it lol

Yes and no. It's not that difficult, yet sometimes, it's not so easy either.

It depends on what scene you want to do.

Firstly, it's useful to finish the game before playing with the mods. This way, you can choose from whatever cutscene you want to use the manual camera in. If you haven't finished your game, the cutscenes will be adding themselves gradually based on where you are in the game, which is a bummer if you just want to play with the mods.

Not to bother with this, I downloaded a mod that completed the game for me, so now the game has saves that are 100% complete, and it allows me to do whatever I want and choose whatever I want.

But there are still downsides to all of this. It depends on what you want to use the manual camera for. If you want to use it in cinematics, it's easy. You just go to the section "cutscenes" and choose the one you want to work with.

But if you want to use it in one of those in-game cutscenes that are not listed as the original ones (for example, the 'we stick together' scene, the giraffe scene, David choking Ellie, etc.), you actually HAVE TO play the game to get there. The worst part is that even if you go to "encounters" in the main menu, it doesn't do the scenes, so that only allows you to play certain parts of the game, but after you slay all enemies, it ends without the in-game cutscene that should follow after. So there's really no other option than to choose a chapter that is closest to the scene you're looking for and play it until you get there.

Don't worry, tho. I don't really waste time with the real gameplay when I need to do that. The debug dev menu is not just about the manual camera; it allows you to use mods in the game that make you cheat, which is sooo helpful when you need to get somewhere quickly.

What I do every time I need to play is activate an "undetectable player" mod that allows me to just sprint forward and pass all the enemies without them noticing me. So instead of playing like a dodo, I get to the part I need almost immediately. I have to fight/shoot sometimes when the game requires it to move forward, but the fun thing is that once you're undetectable, the enemies yell at you because they're programmed to, but they still can't see shit even if you're up close.

Also, I learned that it's very useful to manually save your game right before you know the little in-game cutscene starts, so whenever you need to play it again, you just load that part of the game and you're right there and you don't have to play again.

And yes, the David part was the real bummer because the original cutscene starts when Ellie is already smashing David's face, so whatever is before this, you have to get to it by playing. And as you know, this chapter is too long because you switch between Ellie and Joel, and it was nerve-wracking, but I did it!

[riding-the-sunset-bird]

hello!! this may be a weird question but have you got any tips for replaying (the base game)?? even tho i make up a whole new mc and choose different things it still gets a bit boring..

Hello~!

It's not a weird question at all! I totally feel you sometimes because there are moments that can feel a little restrictive. Games will inevitably have limitations and that's why you've seen me do multiple Shopping edits from the MC's opinion on the snail they watched to being able to skip the magician and get a different scene to replace it. There are also some other edits I've neglected posting about.

What it comes down to, I think, is either changing your relationship with Cove, getting a different Cove personality (so if you've gotten a Warm one, go Cold, and same with Sporty/Studious) but also doing moments out of order.

For example, if you usually go from left-to-right, go backwards and see if there's any dialog you haven't yet seen.

When you say "the base game," I also assume you don't have DLCs or aren't interested in them (or maybe you mean you're avoiding the Derek/Baxter DLCs)? I'll still bring up some as they tend to be the best comparisons, but yeah, I'd say avoid moments that don't have notable diverging paths.

Smaller things are like... telling Cove about the deal in Sandcastle can also lead to a little conversation in Shopping if you ask about his dad giving people money, whereas larger are that you can choose not to tattle on Lizzie in Grown Up and get an entirely different scene that's shorter but where she's thankful towards you. In Wave, you can have an extra conversation with the moms about their relationship if you choose "You weren't sure what you were going to do; he was surfing and you didn't know how." and can choose to stay on the beach instead of surf or the reverse if you'd done that before.

In the Step 1 ending and Wave, you also can choose not to stick to Cove at all and get a couple scenes you might not've seen before. I'd never really recommend going for a full Indifferent one, but you can do a technical slow relationship by staying on Fond but not sticking close to Cove until later on (waiting until Step 4 to confess and propose to Cove is also hilarious if you have the patience for it).

Diverging paths are usually more reserved for the DLCs (examples being Barbecue when you can stay with the family instead of the kids and get a conversation with Cove about his fish on Fond/Cush, Runaway where you can stay/go with Cove which basically changes the entire moment, and Sleepover where you can either leave with Cove, let Cove leave himself, or convince him to stay on Fond/Crush), but there are still little things you can do.

I think it's also important to figure out why you're replaying the game if you're bored. If it's specific moments that you feel won't change much, then skip them or subvert the moment entirely (by not engaging with the plot, for example in Ghost you can choose not to investigate the noise and get a scene with the moms instead followed by Cove in the morning). I'd also recommend playing the Our Life: Now & Forever demo if you haven't already to get an experience similar but different (it also has more replayability due to how you can split/choose between Tamarack and Qiu).

I may be able to help further if I could understand your mindset for replaying even if you worry about boredom. Like, if you're doing it just to search for new dialog/scenes, you can use the Skip function, blaze through the game, and it'll stop skipping when it spots new text if you have it tuned to that in the Options.

[lastoneout]

hi idk if you're a huge kalos fan but how are you feeling about the direct

I haven't watched it yet, but ngl Kalos wasn't my favorite OR my least favorite pokemon game, I was pretty neutral on it overall. My main complaint was how annoying the map was to traverse before you got fly, but aside from that it was fine, introduced some cool pokemon and had a decent plot. Tbh for the next Legends game I would have preferred Jhoto, but eh. It's not a huge deal to me.

My real issue is that it's a little hard to get excited about it when I know how bad crunch is at Game Freak and that despite saying they were reevaluating their tight release cycle bcs like, ScarVi was borderline unplayable at launch and Arceus got abandoned the second they were done with it despite being the most popular game in years....I just have no faith that this game will be good, or at least it won't be anywhere near as good as it has the potential to be :/

I hope I'm proven wrong tho, and I don't think it's wrong to be excited about the game, something something no ethical consumption and I'd be a major hypocrite if I told people to drop any game company that has bad practices bcs almost all of them do, I just can't get hype. I was really, really hoping Game Freak would slow the hell down and stop making new games for a couple of years, put all of their focus on gen 10 and release that maybe in 2026 or 2027, but nope gotta make that money even if the games we release are falling apart at the seams and our devs are working on two or three projects at once.

And like, given the current trend in decreasing quality I'm genuinely unsure if the game is even going to be functional enough to be worth playing, especially since I figure to hit a 2025 release they probably started working on this right after Arceus came out, and there has simply not been enough time to make this game good. Plus there were a lot of points in ScarVi where I legit just wanted to put the game down and stop playing entirely bcs the graphics and glitches and framerate drops started to make me annoyed and dizzy, and once I was done with the main story I lost like all motivation to keep playing(I like finishing my dex, I did it in Sw/Sh and Let's Go and have almost done it in BDSP and Arceus, but I don't care about ScarVi's dex at all), and I haven't even bought the DLC yet. Tbh I'm probably not even gonna pre-order this, I'm waiting till it's out to decide if I want to buy it or not.

Anyway sorry to be a buzzkill, I don't fault anyone for being excited, I've loved Pokemon for more than half my life, it helped me meet my fiancé, it really means so SO much to me, so I get it, but like....I think I love the series too much to get excited for this. Seeing what Pokemon is turning into is just...painful and sad. I hope y'all enjoy it tho, and who knows, I could be wrong, maybe it will be fantastic and super polished and we can all breathe a sigh of relief bcs they got their shit together! That would be nice.

Edit: I do want to say I'm glad it has been 3 years instead of the usual 2, and I'm VERY glad they didn't announce gen 10, but unless the scope of this game is narrow as fuck and they also don't release until like November-December 2025 AND this team was NOT the same team who worked on ScarVi's DLC that is still not enough time to make a game with the scope they've been establishing as their new baseline. TOTK took SIX years to finish. Elden Ring's DLC was built on top of an existing game and it still took TWO whole years just to make it. Most open-world games take a really, really long time. Adding an extra year is great, but they need to be taking a lot longer than that between games. This is a step in the right direction, but it's not enough to inspire confidence.

[tierra-paldeana]

GET TO KNOW THE MUN.

what made you pick up the current muse(s) you have?

from the moment i saw rika, i fell in love. basically the same experience everyone else had when they saw her in game - thinking she was a boy, and then having your world rocked the moment you discovered she was a girl hahaha. ever since that day she became a very big source of comfort, as someone who considers herself gnc. matter of fact, rika as a character makes me feel so cozy she raises my self esteem and makes me even prouder to be gnc hahah!

but i also had that instinct of mine of 'what if i take her and make up her backstory and give her trauma'... i waited until the DLCs came out to start developing stuff though.

is there anything you don’t like to write?

anything related to non-con. also sorry but netorare and related topics are also a no. i'm prolly missing stuff but those are the things i hate the most off the top of my head-

is there anything you really enjoy writing?

i love shipping of all kinds (platonic, romantic, familial, etc), i love putting my characters through anguish and angst only to get sweet catharsis and comfort by the end, i love fluff a ton, and also character exploration rps (i'm not sure how to describe it tho-)

how do you come up with headcanons? 

i feel them as i go. sometimes i see something that causes a thought to pop into my head and i write it down. other times i'm simply listening to music or doing something else, i start thinking and connecting dots, sometimes even from canon info from the games, and i start making up theories and stuff- however, other times i come up w a hc that i apply to most of my muses by virtue of me already being biased by other things-

like rika being 10% feral? that's because i'm a fucking furry---

do you write in silence or do you play music? 

i got some playlists and random ambiance videos that i pop in and listen to in the bg, especially if i'm writing something that necessitates a specific mood that i have just the right music for. usually they're not songs (as in, sung, with lyrics) otherwise my brain gets distracted and i can't concentrate.

do you plan your replies or wing them?

i try to plan them, but it depends on how i'm feeling most of the time-

do you enjoy shipping? 

i FUCKING LOVE shipping, as i said earlier-

what’s your alias/name? 

akai!

age?

26

birthday? 

may

favorite color?

orange and blue!

favorite song? 

most songs by owl city, i'mma be honest.

last movie you watched?

alice in wonderland, with a friend who hadn't watched it

last show you watched?

currently watching the pokemon anime!

last song you listened to?

a horse with no name, by america!

favorite food? 

pasta, chicken fillets with pepper sauce...

favorite season?

summer!

do you have a tumblr best friend?

not yet- this blog's still in its infancy, i think haha, and i haven't interacted with anyone outside of @laprimera on discord cause i'm super awkward and don't just give my discord away, despite considering myself an ambivert- i might start giving it out more tho once i can get over myself ><

tagging: feel free to steal this lul

[lakemichigans]

sooooo my wifi has been out for nearly 24 hours and despite it making me go a little insane, it DID give me time to finish until dawn! i was a lot closer to the end of the game then i thought i was, goddamn, and i think i only had? two? deaths? chris and josh. wait no thats wrong, mike died in the explosion. i might do a replay if my wifi doesn't come back soon because im at a serious deficit of other stuff to do rn, EA app wont let me open sims 3 bc its not connected to wifi 😭 i enjoyed it a lot more than i expected, but i kinda dislike how much it didnt really tie up jess and matt falling into the mines? like they both crawled out together but then it just ends there, they didn't meet up with anyone else which kinda stunk. i do wanna do an everyone lives run really bad tho, i think i know what choices i have to make for the most part?? i know for everyone other than josh because the butterfly effect for it was SO VAGUE "sam missed a crucial piece of information -> josh didnt recognize hannah on time" girl WHAT does that even MEAN but yeah okay ill stop rambling now djwjfkqkq

oh interesting!! i'm not surprised that josh died, most people don't find the crucial piece of information on their first playthrough (i'll tell you where to find it under the cut if you don't want to be spoiled!)

but i totally agree about jess and matt! when they were developing the game, jessica was supposed to ALWAYS die during mike's chase sequence, but then they decided they wanted each of the characters to have the option of survival, so they added that short jessica segment towards the end. but this is where i think until dawn fails miserably at satire. they have the "blonde slut" being punished for promiscuity and the token black character who is widely regarded as the easiest to kill by accident. it's like they're making fun of those archetypes without doing anything subversive about it. so the reason why jessica & matt feels lackluster is because it most definitely was an afterthought. they kind of assumed both of them would already be dead by this point :/

i'm actually fine with the police interviews being the only ending, although i would've loved to see some of the stronger relationships reunite ;-; there's a little bit of variation in the interviews depending on what choices you made and who died. knowing that the characters themselves haven't reunited yet (they're still asking about each other in their interviews) makes it a little better for me because at least i don't feel like i missed anything off screen, if that makes sense

also i'm so curious how you got chris killed?? ashley didn't lock him out did she? chris has a lot of possible death scenes but imo they're pretty hard to get organically so i'm always interested when i hear that he died in a blind playthrough

how to "save" josh:

when you're playing as sam and wading through the water with mike in the mines, you have to walk to the left (i think) of the water wheel and there's an extra area. HIGHLY recommend you find it because it explains a lot about the game!! it bothers me that they made it optional and the totem that hints at it is sooo vague

[gavinom123]

POINTS @ YOU. zeno. yttd. witchs heart. eloquent countenance. end roll. elevator hitch ‼️ horror rpgmakers moment SO TRUE. i am literally going thru yr art tag to grab more of them to get into like walking on a star unknown & shtdn.

ONE question i have tho. where would one find cell of empireo playthrough . is this several part fanmade eng translation yt channel my only hope / hj

also if you have any other recs PLEASE share i am doing grabby hands @ you … in exchange i could bring some of mine i have been brainrottign So Bad

The subtitled translation on youtube is the best we have currently, yeah. Until very recently playable english translations weren't allowed at all, but now the guidelines have apparently been updated to allow one iirc? I know of one english patch in the works but it's going to take a while since coe is a rather long game with a looot of assorted documents to translate!

In terms of recommendations... hmm... i definitely recommend SHTDN when you get the opportunity, i know you mentioned looking into it already but it's still one of my personal favorites haha. Definitely a bit walking-simulatory but I love the dialogue and devopment between agape and goyou to bits kajhsdkjh If you're looking for more rpgmaker games specifically, I'd recommend Flesh, Blood, and Concrete, as well as HELLO, HELLO WORLD! Both of these are complete and somewhat short, though HHW does have a sequel coming out called hello hollow world, as well as a game in the same universe that just released called Noir:Noah, though I haven't looked too much into those yet since I'm waiting on Noir:Noah's english release haha.

Though in terms of games in my art tag, there are a few without english translations! I have a machine translation setup which, while scuffed, works well enough for getting the right idea of what's going on.

There is also one that i just wouldn't recommend under any circumstances ever buut every time i talk abt it people try to look it up so i just won't lol

I'm always down to hear your recommendations! I love getting new games to play hehehe

[honeymouthedtales]

definitely season 2 is game of thrones level intense. all the sex and heart seizing action? *sobs and screams into the void* yeah. season 2 is what the draws in new viewers. they haven't read the books but the tiktoks are crazy and that's enough for them to start a "omg should I have read the books first?" debate because of course the production of the show is gonna fuck up a little (I'm sorry, it's true).

maybe they change an important character to another actor (not markhyuck tho, but maybe mks father - wait but I think they make him hot/ter and now people are being questionable when it comes to him. "mark's gotta relax, his dad's not that bad" because he's a fucking charismatic dilf now and they make a fanbase for him🙄. but the ones who read the books will never turn soft or putty for that man😒 we had to shove food down our throats to keep from crying at the university dining hall when mark confronted his dad about never caring about him, we will never recover!

or they omit or add something that feels kinda off (I'M SORRY!😭) like too much sex. they actually have sex in Johnny's love nest! can you believe it?! like THAT NEVER HAPPENED, is what people are enraged about on twitter. and everyone's mad at the network for making mark disrespect johnny that much further but surprisingly it Segways into a johnmark duel-turned-brotherly-makeup episode. and maybe you consented. Against your will it becomes one of the highlights of the season. you might reveal you regretted it immediately and it's one of the reasons you didn't want to adapt it, because they would try to add or take away stuff, even though you were glad the resolution was done well and you're in a love-hate situation with the outcome because THAT STILL NEVER FUCKING HAPPENED.

it's like the best fucking season yet. it's what people remember and compare to the next coming seasons. it was just that legendary

I think Donghyuck's first heat interlude definitely starts out the third season. It happened in the islands and the third season is in the islands anyway

the third season doesn't have a full picture yet, so of course the daydream ends with episode 2 season 3, with dongsook rescuing mark from the water prison, only to end up having to unarm Yangyang with his hands and his sexiness. (I can't make myself daydream about the chapters after the water prison until ch58 unfortunately, they're still solidly 'on paper' for me). But maybe I'll do this again once the full tone of the arc is done playing out. this has been fun🤭

I'm going to sleep now

(I wrote this at 2am but didn't know if Tumblr would let me post the whole thing so I had to cut it in half lol)

how did you even manage to post all of this when another anon had to cut it in seven little asks fjehdsfjd

okay it’s very cute that you’re planning all of this, it makes me laugh so much

NOT THE SEX IN THE LOVE NEST OMG jhny would never forgive them ;; you’re so right about me i would be extremely bitter if a scene that i didn’t personally put there became the highlight, it feels like someone manipulating my son, is this what parents feel like when their son is dating the delinquent biker and doing stuff their parents never thought they could do? ;;;

also lol mk’s father was always hot i said it on ccs many times, it’s just, dh hates him so much, and mk is blind to anyone who isn’t dh, so there’s no one there to talk about how handsome he is lol we still hate him, he’s pretty garbage, toxic sparkly trash :)))

thank you for doing this, i’ll wait for part 3 after the arc ends <3<3<3

[thegeminisage]

hello Jackson the cat i hope you get a nice sunny spot!!

Celeste is very fun so far but thank fuck for the assist feature >:( i got to the hotel when i stopped playing last. the chase sequences are my enemy. only times I'm turning on invincibility. EXTREMELY delighted by the slow game speed feature and dash assist like WOW. i love games with assist features. there needs to be more. Control and Celeste are the only two coming to mind, but I've heard Hades has it as well so

my pc is fine, mildly frustrating bc i couldn't get my new mic to work with discord for a friend call 😡 i just had surgery tho so I'm trying to be gentle on myself. my sister said the nurses said as i was being wheeled out of the room i was saying "I WANT TO TALK ABOUT BLOODBORNE" so. glad to hear i was staying on brand lol

Celeste is very funny so far though. like girl. why the fuck are you climbing a mountain with no gear. GIRL WHY. WITH NO CELL PHONE EITHER??? actually I'm going to play some today i think. or maybe slime rancher.

i want to try beating bloodborne soon tho, its been a while since i played and i miss the characters. even if i want to shake some of them until their lore falls out, specifically an npc hunter named Antal who iS AN ENIGMA. WHAT IS YOUR LORE SIR. GIVE IT TO ME.

ahem. anyways. ive been wanting to get a ps5 anyways for Ratchet & Clank (hello childhood...) and for when the ps4 inevitably dies so perchance i will look into it sooner rather than later.

anywyas off to coffee and some Celeste!!

- dl anon

THE HOTEL LEVEL MY BEHATED. that's actually the level that made me put the game down initially! i had to turn assists on to beat it but i don't like how the game went "yeah but it's SUPPOSED" to be hard so i quit out of shame. i had to come back later w/o assists and i finally did it by...ignoring all the strawberries from that point onward. (weirdly, now it's one of my favorite levels - definitely some of my fav music in a soundtrack that already fucks.) even then, i just barely made it to the end of the game, and i'm still stuck on the dlc levels 😭 maybe i'll turn on assists for those...celeste is absolutely batshit but i love her. i wish i could climb a magic mountain with no cellphone and live to tell the tale!!!!!

also wait i have slime rancher on my wishlist is it good. what do you Do. is it online multiplayer bc idk if im ready for all of that. also i BOUGHT HADES i bought it for 2 reasons. 1. my brother recced 2. my favorite dragon age fanfic writer moved to writing hades fic and i wanna get in on that. i haven't started it yet though my backlog of games is sooo long rn. i finished superliminal yesterday and tried to do the lake but our power blinked and corrupted my saves and idw start over so maybe i'll just get a refund :(

i hope your surgery went well and that you are recovering and i am sooo glad you are staying on brand even while drugged. the last time i had dental surgery i apparently talked about castiel for half of the ride home. embarrassing :/

[sl33py-g4m3r]

wonder if I'm playing cookie clicker wrong?

cause I was waiting to ascend until I got enough heavenly chips to follow an ascension guide; now I'm just kind of going until I feel I have enough, which idk how many that is.

restarted cause I forgot to back up my save on my jump to linux, and haven't ascended yet this game~~~

I'm just buying stuff to get achievements when I can, and letting the wrinklers just sit there for like a day before switching in the best pantheon thing for wrinkler spawn/popping, wait until they come back, and swap the 15% cookies per second if you don't click golden cookies, and just leaving it alone like I was doing last game. tho at that point I'd let the game go on so long, and I didn't want to break the veil, so I just let the game idle and did what I'm doing now.

felt like I hit a wall at that point tho~~

is the late game when you can use the veil just pure idle? or is it better to break the veil and play actively? cause I idled for months and still felt like I was hitting a huge wall...

what's the best setup for end game? tho currently not there yet obviously.

current new save has been going almost a month at this point~~~

[cnovelartreblogs]

How to Read Manhua on Bilibili: Legal, Free, and in English

In my posts on this blog, I keep sharing screen caps from manhua I've read on Bilibili, along with the link to read it yourself, but I know:

This blog doesn't have all that many followers.

It's one thing for me to post the link and quite another for people to realize just how easy this is to do.

Considering how often I see English-speaking MXTX/c-novel/c-drama/donghua fandom peeps screaming and begging for more content, I'm now begging you in return:

STOP SLEEPING ON THE BILIBILI APP!

If you want more danmei content, fully legal, entirely free, already translated, you literally c.a.n.n.o.t. do better than using the Bilibili app to read manhua. That's not to say this is a perfect method - their translations are...um...wanting sometimes? (Shout out to the four pages in a row I recently read where someone broke in to a residence and every time the breaker-inner was mentioned they were called "the intrud") But it's still ALL THERE, FOR US, ANYTIME, and the more eyes the manhua in the apps gets, the more content we'll get, so please, PLEASE, if you're out there thirsting for danmei content, DO THIS.

Wondering how?

Well, I've got you covered.

WAY 1: The Bilibili Manhua Website

I know I said "get the app" but honestly you don't even need an app to do this! You can read on Bilibili using any web browser.

The website is Bilibilicomics.com.

It looks like this:

Yes, you're reading that right: there's an entire section of BL.

There's also an entire section of GL!

There are 38 titles in GL and 121 titles, yes ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY ONE titles, in BL.

AND there's het stuff, and non-romance stuff too!

New episodes general come out weekly or biweekly, though a few things are daily. The website is often a few chapters ahead of the app (which I actually didn't realize until just now - Chapter 55 of Legend of Exorcism, for example, came out today on the app, but it lists 60 episodes as available on the website. Which, considering the cliffhanger I just read... *eyes emoji*...though apparently in other cases there are more chapters on the app than on the website, so ymmv.)

The best-known title available (again: FOR FREE. OFFICIALLY. LEGALLY. IN ENGLISH) is Tian Guan Ci Fu. When you go to a specific title's page, you get this...

...and reading it is as simple as selecting the chapter you want, clicking it, and et voila! Just scroll down and read to your heart's content!!

NOTE: SOME CHAPTERS WILL HAVE WAIT TIMES. More on this shortly.

WAY 2: The Bilibili App for Android

I personally have been reading primarily from the Android app, since I have a Samsung Galaxy phone and a lot of time sprawled on my couch while my kids watch cartoons.

You can download the app from the Play store - here's a link, for what that's worth.

It looks, essentially, like this (I'm logged in so mine looks a little different than non-logged-in, I made an account even tho you don't actually need one):

If you don't want to make an account, you don't have to. If you choose to, as you see it'll try to guess what other titles you might like. tbh I have no idea how good these recommendations may be; I'm still reading/catching up on the specific titles I wanted to read so I haven't had to try their recommendations yet. But, there's definitely some stuff that looks interesting (that top middle one definitely looks up my alley...)

You can also "favorite" things (again: EVEN WITHOUT AN ACCOUNT) and it'll store them in your library and make a red dot (like you can see on the above screen cap) when something has an update you haven't read yet. For example, here's my Favorite list, which helps me keep track of what I'm reading and enjoying (or, well, in one case I'm more "wtfing" than "enjoying" but hey that still counts).

There's even a weird, like, "dress up" side game??? So like, every chapter you read there's a chance the app will drop a "card" and you can use the cards to dress your avatar up, and there's a whole crafting system built in? It's. A little odd. But, considering I recently quit my Love Nikki addiction after 3+ years, it's nice to get a small hit of pointless dress up.

Yes, my avatar is currently wearing San Lang's shirt.

The point is, again: this app is free to download, and incredibly easy to use, and even has a fun pointless side game.

BUT. There is one "but" here. See the Coins: 0 Top Up right below my randomly assigned username?

There is an optional pay system. What does it do? It reduces wait times.

Some titles, but not ALL, have a "built in delay" that kicks in at some point. On some, it seems to start when you're "within 5 chapters of the most recent" (that's what's happened with Global Examination and TGCF, for example). For others, it seems to be arbitrary - for A Single Strike of Shimmering Frost, it kicked in at chapter 40 even tho there are, like, 80 something chapters up. Regardless, it always works the same.

The system functions using wait times, and it has 5 tiers that are always the same.

Tier 1: You must wait one minute before you can read the next chapter. This tier is rarely an issue; the count down sometimes (but not always??? it's weird) starts when you start a new chapter, and it almost always takes more than one minute to read a full chapter, so this tier is often "satisfied" before you even get to the next chapter.

Tier 2: You must wait six minutes before you can read the next chapter.

Tier 3: You must wait one hour before you can read the next chapter.

Tier 4: You must wait six hours before you can read the next chapter.

Tier 5: You must wait twenty-four hours before you can read the next chapter.

I initially thought this system functioned as "once you reach Tier 5, you're just stuck there and can only read a chapter a day" but it's turned out that's not the case - A Single Strike of Shimmering Frost having 40+ semi-locked chapters has given me the chance to actually test this a bit. In fact, what happens is:

The first time you hit a "wait delay" chapter, it puts you at Tier 1 and you have to wait a minute. The next chapter, you up to Tier 2, the next to Tier 3, then Tier 4, then Tier 5...and then it cycles back to Tier 1. So, with a little care and planning (which I almost always fail at) I can time reading something with many wait-delayed chapters such that I can read 5 chapters in one day, then I have to wait a full day, then I can read 5 more chapters.

Here's how it looks when you've done your waiting in purgatory and can now read on...

...and here's how it looks when the sad trombones play...

Now, I mentioned I'd circle back to the coins? THE TIME HAS COME! Because, look - for 17 coins, you can read on instantly!! Alternatively, if you're willing to share on social media, you can also skip (I have no if that's something you can do over and over, or just once, cause I haven't tried - you can skip the wait time once for free). This begs the question, then...is 17 coins a lot?

And the answer is...

...eh not really, no. Ten bucks will get you the ability to pay 17 coins many, many times (58, to be precise), but honestly? I haven't spent a penny yet and I've caught up on 7 different titles and am steadily reading through two more (one of which hasn't had wait times kick in yet, I just can only read so fast).

All of which is to say: yes, there's a pay system, and tbh, I'm probably going to throw them a few bucks not because I care about the wait times but because I'm getting so much enjoyment out of reading these titles and I want to support them a little (I also bought the print version of the TGCF vol. 1 and will likely buy the other volumes, and I once-upon-a-time paid to watch TGCF s. 1 streaming as they came out). With a little patience there is absolutely zero call for spending even one penny to read as much of this cornucopia as you want.

WAY 3: Download the Bilibili App on Apple

I don't have access to an iPhone and don't feel like grabbing my tablet rn and I've hit the Tumblr image limit anyway, but the Apple app looks about the same as the Android app, and you can download it HERE.

Basically: use the website, or download the app for whichever platform you're using, and READ, READ, READ!

So, what is there to read?

I'M SO GLAD YOU ASKED!

(okay, cutting to a read more)

I've been reading on the app pretty regularly for like two months (prior to that I was only reading TGCF, and only when I remembered, which was rarely), but I'm juggling a lot AND reading other stuff too so I am far from having explored the wide range of options. I can, however, highlight a few I think are likely to be of interest to a danmei-reading audience. Note that of these, I've only read the novels for TGCF, TYQHM, and Daomu Biji, which means that I only know as far as the manhuas have covered for the rest - I haven't read farther than that yet.

A. Tian Guan Ci Fu by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu. The one, the only - this is the official manhua with art by Starember. It tells the story of newly ascended god Xie Lian trying to navigate the intricacies of the heavenly bureaucracy, figure out his place in the world, and understand why a sexy guy in red keeps showing up in his life. (Worst synopsis ever award goes to: ME!). The English translation is currently on episode 77, which has Xie Lian and Hua Cheng in the gambler's den. A volume just ended, which means it's on hiatus temporarily - there's usually a month or two break between volumes - so it'll be back soon!

B. Global Examination by Mu Su Li. Based on the book Global University Entrance Examination, featuring art by E Zi. Global Examination is a story set in a dystopian near-future about a world where groups of people are randomly selected (read: kidnapped and forced) to participate in an "exam" where they have to answer extremely complex puzzles. If they succeed, they get to live and become one of the people who administer the exam. If they fail, they die. Despite the premise sounding dark, it's really not been so bad and I've been reassured it won't become so. The story itself focuses on You Huo, a recently selected examinee with amnesia, the other people in his examinee group, and Examiner 001, who clearly has some kind of history with You Huo. If only he didn't also have amnesia, we might even know what that history is...

C. Dinghai Fusheng Records and Legend of Exorcism, both based on the books of the same names written by Fei Tian Ye Xiang. The art for Dinghai Fusheng Records is by Qianerbai (who has also done a lot of work for the Mo Dao Zu Shi audio drama) and for Legend of Exorcism, it's by Warp. These stories are set in the same 'verse, at least several hundred years apart; it's a xianxia high-fantasy setting, and the main enemies are resentment monsters and demons (...or are they? dun dun duuuun). Dinghai Fusheng Records takes place, chronologically, first, and occurs a couple hundred years after a calamity caused all qi to fade from the world - there are only mortals, and no one can cultivate. It follows Chen Xing, a young man born with a gift, as he seeks his protector - Xiang Shu - and others, and they encounter (surprise!) unspeakable evil. Legend of Exorcism takes place in the "future" of Dinghai Fusheng Records, and focuses on Kong Hongjun, a half-demon boy who has received a summons to join the Exorcism Department, as he explores the mortal world for the first time and gets to know the others who have summoned to join the Department, especially the mortal leader Li Jinglong.

D. Daomu Biji titles, originally by Nanpai Sanshu. There are two DMBJ titles on Bilibili right now, though both only have a few chapters, and the website lists them as "on hiatus." I've read them both, and am not entirely sure what's up with one especially, but... Grave Robbers' Chronicles starts where Book 1 starts, with changes of course but it's quite recognizable as the initial "Wu Xie is brought a silk scroll and gets curious and then Wu Sanxing gets involved" plot line. The Grave Robbers' Chronicles Seven Dreams is...odder...and as far as I can tell is an alternate canon/AU which starts with a "what if" of "what if the Zhang's were incredibly abusive, raised child!Zhang Qiling themselves, and Wu Xie and he met as kids." It's. Um. Extremely weird. And not for those sensitive to kids getting beaten bloody. But I'm still hoping they'll release more than 9 chapters, if only because I'm curious.

E. A Single Strike of Shimmering Frost, based on the novel A Sword of Frost by Yu Xiao Lanshan. This one opens with the Prince Ji Yanran approaching Sect Master Yun Yifeng, who runs a sect of spies and information collectors, to ask for help finding an item that has been stolen from the palace. In exchange, he promises to give Yun Yifeng the cure to an ailment that plagues him. Problem 1: he doesn't actually have this cure. Problem 2: everywhere they go people start dying. Problem 3: catching feels for the pretty Sect Master. Despite having the trappings of xianxia, this story has actually thus far been a sequence of murder mysteries with politics-related causes.

F. Saved the Public Enemy By Mistake by Liu Muqiao. If this is based on a novel, I haven't been able to track it down. It's xianxia; demon immortal cultivator Liu Jianghe shows up, nearly dead, on the doorstep of famed doctor Lu Jiu who is just trying to live a quiet life in seclusion. Not knowing who Liu Jianghe is, Lu Jiu saves him, and thus stumbles into a mess of politics and history he doesn't understand...but nothing is actually how it seems, there's amnesia and hidden back stories galore, there's a heavy side plot of sword lesbians, and honestly I've read like 50 chapters and I'm still a little lost but the art is pretty and I really need to read the reveal on the two MCs history together so I'm sticking with it. Warning that it's got a fair amount of blood and gore.

G. Those Years in Quest of Honor Mine by Man Man He Qi Duo. A historical (non-cultivation) setting focused on politics, machinations, and the long history and deep love between Zhong Wan - former top-scorer on the national exam who lost his position when his adopted father was accused of treason - and Yu She, of dubious parentage and believed by most people to be the bastard son of the Emperor. I loved the book for this, and finding out that the manhua was on Bilibili is a lot of what drove me to download the app.

So - that's everything I'm currently reading: 6 titles inspired by explicitly BL danmei titles, 2 based on other books I like that aren't BL, and 1 BL that just looked interesting and my taste.

There's SO MUCH MORE, seriously. I'm going to be reading on this app for months and still finding more, I'm positive of it.

But unforth, I hear you say, there's some other manhua I want to read! What about Mo Dao Zu Shi? What about Erha? Are those on Bilibili? Can I read them? And the answer, sadly, is no. Those two are published by Kuaikan, which does not offer free legal English translations at this time. But! I am holding out hope that if the audience for Bilibili grows, other manhua publishers will see the profitability in emulating them. I cannot guarantee that anything we do will result in this happening, but I do feel pretty confident that if we don't read with the options currently available, we sure ain't likely to get more options.

SO. GO FORTH. READ THE THINGS I'VE MENTIONED. READ OTHER THINGS. COME BACK AND TELL ME WHAT YOU LOVED SO I HAVE SOME IDEA WHAT TO READ NEXT.

PLEASE.

I'm begging. GO READ MANHUA!!!

RIGHT NOW.

ON BILIBILI.

(and signal boost this post to get other people to do the same!! help the small fandoms grooooow! I really just wrote all of this so I'd have someone to scream with about the current awful that is the recent chapters of Legend of Exorcism PLEASE WE ALL NEED SQUEEMATES COME READ!!! THE THINGS! THEY'RE GOOD! WITH PRETTY ART!)

[rkgk-art]

Okay second try, so I doodled my MC for @lemonade-if 's game and I wanted to show these here and talk a bit about her :D

I had lots of fun doodling and coming up with a design, though I might still change some stuff around, we'll see.

Uh, I wanted to put it under a read more for people that don't wanna bother but it seems like it doesn't work, so I'm sorry _(:'3/ L)_

Anyways, here she is!

Her name is Hisakawa Kotone (久川コトネ), going by the stats we got told she'll most likely be:

Genuine and a tiny bit sarcastic, playful, charming, bold (general with people, shy in romance), emotional, positive and lawful.

She's friendly and respectful towards others (especially authorities and people older than her).

But she's got a foot-in-mouth personality, meaning that she talks before she thinks and may say something unintentionally dumb rude.

Academically she excels in scientific(?) classes like math and chemistry and the likes but is only average in everything to do with languages and literature.

I have no idea which club I'll make her join atm. She's athletic but I feel like you need to really commit for any of the sports clubs which sounds like a total bother. Cheering is not her thing, at all.

Art and Kotone aren't a good mix, she might be able to doodle some chibis but that's the extend of her artistic abilities. While she's sociable enough for journalism, in case they need to interview people, they better not let her handle the articles for the papers...

Kotone can play instruments tho I haven't decided which ones yet and is good at singing (though certainly no pro), but music club still sounds a bit boring to her. She wants to do stuff like that for fun, not for school.

Still, journalism or music might be the most likely to be chosen.

I forgot if it was explicitly stated in what sort of environment our MCs live? Like, a house or in an apartment complex? Though I guess judging by the example we've been given it sounded like the parents wanted to reason with their child that they moved places a lot because of commute and "rent being cheaper", so I figure money might be a topic and our MC probably lives in a tiny apartment complex now.

Does that mean no pets? My cat loving Kotone will cry.

I like giving my OCs significant birthdays (like holidays) so I decided on December 25th for Kotone. Since I also think smol girls are cute she's 161cm.

As you can see with the doodles I loved putting her in all sorts of clothes and hairstyles. She wears all sorts of stuff as long as they're comfortable and/or cute. Her go-to hairstyle is two braids and she loves long skirts/dresses which she pairs with sneakers.

Also I put her as some of my fav LINE stickers I might have a LINE sticker addiction which I thought fit her personality as well. I had more but I didn't bother drawing them all lmao. I like the smug one (bottom) and the fox the most, heh.

I'm a seiyuu lover (though mostly for the guys) so I wanted to imagine one for her too. I'm not too sure yet but I do really like Ohashi Ayaka (Angelina in Arknights) so I might go for her.

I'm a lazy ass so I usually don't make multiple MCs for IFs and just reuse my one MC for all the ROs. It's going to be the same here, but I typically have a "main RO".

I don't have one here yet because I like all the tropes the boys seem to represent (bad boy/delinquent, genki boi, notorious flirt and the kuudere stoic one) so I'll wait and see until I know more about the guys :3

While Kotone is not interested in the girls on a romantic level I do hope she can become BFF with all of them. Hopefully they can hang out a lot :D

Are sleepovers possible? She'd love those xD

I'm seriously looking forward to getting to know everyone. Not only the ROs but all the other important characters too (like Sensei).

I also can't wait to see what adventures my idiot daughter will go on Ｏ(≧▽≦)Ｏ

This story and its characters live already rent free in my head _(:'3/ L)_

To everyone that made it this far, thanks a bunch, you're amazing! I'll give you a virtual hug--as long a you're comfortable with that of course.

Also as a bonus, here's the one colored piece from above but with a different hair color. I didn't undecide yet at that point if I wanted Kotone to be blonde or pink I'm still a bit unsure I guess

But I thought pink-ish hair might be a bit TOO shoujo manga...which would actually make sense given this story's setting but still LMAO

I think that was the most important stuff I wanted to tell.

So...baiibaii!