#i think when i do this with non-character dialogue tho i do it because i want there to be like....

[isekyaaa]

The writer equivalent of trying to figure out if something looks better one pixel to the right or left is trying to figure out if something should be worded, "She was truly happy" or "She truly was happy."

[musubiki]

Has...Oscar tangled at all with the merchant before? Maybe made an impression that made the merchant think "wow this kid is actually kinda annoying" ? It also makes me think, okay if oscar is mentored by madame springs and he succeeds her, that would certainly be a heck of a way for them to be "worse than her."

Nosy persistent conspiracy theorist who wants to uncover your true nature AND who's also trying to run you out of a business in the healing sector? I'd start losing my patience. Tho this is assuming oscar's penchant for the weird lives on even in older age

you know...this is definitely something i need to explore more because!!!! true!!! he is going to eventually replace madam springs, and that means on some level, oscar will know the merchant beyond "npc guy who sells things with limited dialogue options"

for now (and throughout most of the story) oscar is just "the apprentice." madam springs is always still the one to interact with the merchant, and you see oscar just kinda smiling and listening in the background waiting for them to stop bickering.

BUT when oscar DOES interact with the merchant (in a non-buyer-seller context), he IS worse. but its in the "I'm a better healer than madam springs and also she charges too much for the work we do imo." so hes even WORSE competition. and i think this is the only way to actually irritate the merchant, is if you start interfering with his business in a way where he cant oppose you.

lore fact: the merchant really does have the best goods at the best prices!! hes the kind of npc you would see on RPG guides about "if you need [item] you need to / should get it from the merchant because hes the only one that sells it / he has the cheapest price and refresh rate." and the ONLY one who can beat him (not even for everything, just for healing items) is madam springs. so her business is the ONLY thing that is mildly a threat to him, and he hates it. i dont think you see him get irritated at anyone/anything else except her!!

(and he cant steal her formulas or kill her either. "Her business patented the formula before the fall of the witch king, so I'm assuming he can't legally take it and sell it in his own shop." --Sulluvan about madam springs and the merchant)

on the note of oscar trying to uncover his true nature, oscar is smart enough to not mess with it. its mochi and lime who almost fucking die trying to uncover it, against the advice of EVERYONE telling them to leave it alone. the only reason they didnt die is that the merchant spared them because he knew they both still had a part to play that hadn't come to pass yet. (also i want an episode that delves into who/what he is without my main characters dying LMFAO). so after that incident, mochi and lime both tell oscar and the guild about it, so he leaves it alone

(side note: at the moment, lime is actually the one in the guild who knows the merchant the best, strangely. i think its the black canvas thing about him, that whatever magic the merchant uses that prevents people from questioning his nature, it doesnt work on lime. and by "knows him the best" i mean he gets a bit more cryptic dialogue from him than the others)

[kind-of-a-shitty-wizard]

hiii i got a little insane over haskills characterization in the other elder scrolls games / material. teehee rambling abt these ^ quotes under the cut (long). also im not that serious abt any of this tbh im just glad haskill appeared in any other elder scrolls material at all LOL

OKAY. okay. about these quotes. idk why other TES media does this, but in these quotes from elder scrolls legends + the interview with haskill it seems like the writers are pushing to give the impression that haskill slightly resents or is even indifferent to his position / the isles / sheogorath ?? (unless haskill is being a little bit more flippant or hyperbolic than usual...?) which is characterization that is NOT what i got from playing oblivion at all skdskdjfn

like... when i played oblivion i thought it was very clear that haskill prefers to be in the isles, serving sheogorath, more than anywhere else. (<- i think this is actually the reason he's technically "mad" even tho he seems sane outwardly. if you enjoy being among madmen it probably means you're mad yourself ykwim). i think haskill does like the isles, his ass is just reserved abt it, like he is about everything... yknow just like jeeves, whose character he's been compared to lmao:)

i think unfortunately some writers take his annoyance with the player and his slight second thoughts about sheogorath's plan in oblivion, and mistakenly assume that he's just annoyed at his whole position. haskill does have his moments of exasperation, but the thing is it's usually only exasperation and it never verges into anger or bitterness or resentment like the top quotes seem to indicate. for example, haskill says this abt his idea of you mantling sheo / the clowns debacle:

^ This quote is a good reference point for haskill's view on sheo bc its pretty much the most critical-of-sheogorath quote from oblivion i can recall, and it tells us a lot of things. in this quote he expresses some exasperation about the clown idea (because he's a prissy bitch who doesn't want to get his outfit dirty /affectionate) and shows some apprehension about one of his lord's ideas (because it involves you, and haskill doesnt like you). but these 2 points he has beef with aren't really reflective of sheo himself but of other issues - ie he doesn't directly question sheogorath. and IN THE END Haskill defers to sheo's judgement because haskill trusts him and values sheo's ideas. in all of his oblivion dialogue, this is the most critical toward sheogorath he gets, and he never outright insults or shows resentment toward him or the isles like in the above quotes bc his loyalty to sheogorath eclipses it

on the contrary (and i dont know why the writers for non-oblivion elder scrolls content dont seem to see this??), theres so much evidence that haskill actually does, you know,,, enjoy being in the isles. here are just some snippets i can think of:

"the isles are hardly a place for anyone, really" <- i BEG to differ, Haskill likes it here, he likes listening to prisoners being tortured in xedillian, he likes wearing his ridiculous frilly high collar outfit emblematic of the fashions of the isles, he doesn't care about morality and it suits him just fine that it doesn't matter here!! (the end quote might be him being a little facetious about relmyna but to be honest i wouldn't be surprised if he thought decency and morality WERE provincial notions because he certainly has no problem killing people lmao). and again, to enjoy doing these things / being around madmen probably says something abt haskill being mad himself. lol

not to mention he likes a bit of joking around. which i imagine sheo does a whole lot. when YOU rib him a little he says this:

his derision in the first bit i think indicates, "i cant believe you would joke around at a time like this," and the upturning of the "very good" i think indicates, "it was a good joke / maybe they could mantle sheo after all". he's not all dour - he appreciates a good joke, especially from (someone who's about to become) his Lord!!

and going a little deeper into haskill actually liking the isles... haskill clearly holds what sheogorath and the isles represent (chaos, free will, individuality) very highly. a good example of this is when you ask him about dyus, and he gives this snarky reply:

^ he says this with such VITRIOL its so funny :p and the amount of disdain in this line indicates (to me) a real conviction in his belief in the free will, chaos etc that sheogorath represents.

this is why i dont think this quote makes sense. "i cant remember why i put up with [sheogorath]" <- haskill wouldnt say this bc he understands fully why he puts up w sheogorath, and his own convictions in sheo that lead him to keep doing it, and even if this quote is him being hyperbolic, i dont think he'd joke about his faith in sheogorath like that because, yk, one of his characteristics is that he's extremely loyal, and moreover he never said anything to this effect in oblivion sdkjskdjs

him having a strong belief in what sheogorath / the isles represent is also evidenced by the language haskill uses when talking about sheo. whenever haskill mentions him, there is an element of poetry and respect to his words that shows that haskill thinks about him highly at the very least:

^ haskill constantly stresses sheogorath's intrinsic unknowableness and power and unique wisdom in a way that feels very respectful. saying "to attempt to fathom [sheogorath's will] is a foolish endeavor" shows that he knows there are unexplainable aspects to sheogorath that he takes note of, respects, and knowingly keeps his distance from... he gets sheogorath and reveres him (at least more than most others or the HoK). in these quotes especially, it feels a bit like hes trying to illustrate how impressive sheogorath is to the HoK, hyping up his boyfriend if you would. who said that. and combined with this respect is (i believe!!!!) a deep care. he is invested in the isles and sheo and wants to help them out of more than just duty. he gets fearful and even loses his composure at some points in the story when sheo/the isles are threatened which i think indicates that he deeply cares for them both!!:

i think this is a care that, combined with the respect he has for sheo, makes it really unlikely for him to get more than exasperated with his behavior and verge into resentfulness. i dont think anyone truly understands sheogorath, not even haskill, but haskill respects sheo as a god, and also gets him in a more familiar/personal way i think - like the way that a cat owner loves their cat but gets exasperated with it when it gets its head stuck in a tissue box. he doesn't angry or anything because he understands that it's the cat's nature to get stuck in the tissue box / sheo's nature to be wild and unpredictable and messy. (the difference being that sheogorath is an all-powerful god cat..... do u see my vision???)

anyway this got crazy long JHDSHFSD... to finish i wanted to look at this extra bit of characterization i found that was wild to me:

^ like. i truly dont get where they got THIS characterization LMAO sheo constantly calls haskill faithful and smart and knowledgeable in oblivion, he practically begs you to summon haskill for help, hyping up his boyfriend so to speak, they care for each other your honor so of COURSE sheo trusts haskill to do his job. what are the legends writers doing in there!!

ANYWAY dear god this got long im going to bed <3

[alder-saan]

TAG GAME!!!

thanks to Mother™ @yourlocaldisneyvillain for tagging me

1. how many works do you have on AO3?

1... I only posted one work since I was writing on tumblr before haha

2. what's your total AO3 word count?

6199 :) just one work

3. what fandoms do you write for?

on tumblr, Agent Carter only

4. what are your top five fics by kudos?

Well...

Of Scars and Fresh Blood first?

5. do you respond to comments?

yes! always (or almost) that's why I have as many kudos as comments under my only fic posted there

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

well...

Of Scars and Fresh Blood?

And it might stay in this position since the ending is... Well it's a major character(s) death soooooo

7. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

always the same even tho it might change :)

8. do you get hate on fics?

nope (or not that I'm aware of?) people seemed to like my fic haha :)

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

I do. But I call it the pwtmp. Porn With Too Much Plot. Last time I tried I had 6k words of plot and no smut yet so I'm not very good at it.

10. do you write crossovers? what's the craziest one you've written?

nope, never, I might do it one day (I just want to see Dottie from Agent Carter meet Dottie from Phryne Fisher's murder mystery :))

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

nope (or again, not that I am aware of)

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

yes, I did it myself for an old fic in the Gwen Fandom, I translated it in French. But I stopped because no one was reading it.

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

I am actually trying to do it even tho it's complicated with my lovely @tanith-rhea

14. what's your all-time favourite ship?

uh... An obscure ship from Blake and Mortimer (not Blake/Mortimer, but Blake/Nastasia) I wouldn't say it's my favourite, because... I don't really have a favourite, but it's the ship I think I spent the most time thinking about it (I still do nowadays even tho I was in middle school when I shipped it loool)

15. what's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

A Larissa x non-binary! italian! reader I was writing and I know some of you (@dianneking) is waiting for me to finish it. I will (I hope)

16. what are your writing strengths?

I think I'm good with tension and pacing? Also, Mother™ said that I have "the sense of drama" and I'm happy with this.

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

dialogues? I don't know I always feel like it's not natural for people to say this. (and also I always have the blank room syndrome)

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

Idk, if it's translated I'm ok but if it's not (and I don't understand the languages, like wtf Carterwood fandom, stop writing whole sentences in Russian, I'm learning it but I cannot understand everything) well I'm like "what's the point in writing this if I don't understand? Why did you do it, you could've just said nothing" Also, please. Stop it with French or ask me. I'm willing to help you with French but don't post something in French without proofreading because there are A LOT of English sayings that are REALLY weird (in a creepy-pedophilic way) in French (all the things including "girl" or "boy", like PLEASE DO NOT TRANSLATE "MY DARLING GIRL").

19. first fandom you wrote for?

warrior cats

20. favourite fic you've written?

Of Scars and Fresh Blood

tagging idk man, just consider yourself tagged if you see it

[verybadatcardgames]

Let's go Pegasus and Yuugi-boy for 002!

Yuugi

How I feel about this character: This card game nerd deserves all the good things to happen to him. He needs a break. Seriously.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: I ship him with the Dark Magician and I 1000% blame @yearslateforyugiohshippings for this. I also think Yuugi/Jounouchi is cute and I sometimes I read Rivalship fics.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Anzu, to be honest. I personally don’t like the idea of Yuugi being the “fallback” plan for her, and I just see them more as friends as adults rather than romantic partners.

My unpopular opinion about this character: I don’t think I have any unpopular thoughts? Because I don’t think about Yuugi enough to have unpopular thoughts I’m sorry 😔

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish we could have seen more of him in GX. What with him being the canonical King of Games and all, he should have had more involvement in the Dueling Academy. Then again, that could be because he was busy designing games by this point, or Seto was just super salty and never invited him. Probably the latter.

my OTP: Alliumshipping. Again, I blame @kampfkewob.

my cross over ship: He would totally have a crush on Zatanna. You know it’s true

a headcanon fact: He never returned that naughty VHS Jounouchi lent him in high school, and it was lying somewhere on a shelf, forgotten, in a closet, until his mother found it when he was a grown adult with a career abroad. Cue embarrassment when his mother sends him a care package with various belongings, VHS tape included. Yuugi sends the VHS tape back to Jounouchi as a birthday present. Jounouchi opens the birthday present in front of Mai and Shizuka. Mai laughs at the label. Shizuka secretly steals the VHS tape after the party. There is immense disappointment upon realizing everything in the video is censored.

---

Pegasus

How I feel about this character: He is a lanky pompous pasty elitist jerkface pretty boy with Peter-Pan syndrome who has never had to do a day’s honest work in his life, and instead of accepting the fact that life can be cruel and unfair, he broke down and retreated into occultism, cartoons, and alcoholism. 10/10 absolute favorite disasterpiece of a man I love him

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Romantically? Cyndia, Isis, and I wager Siegfried has a huge parasocial crush on him

My non-romantic OTP for this character: I do like Toonshipping as a non-romantic ship. I can see Pegasus feeling legitimately bad about everything he’s done to the Kaibas and trying to make up for it over the course of several years in little favors and grandiose gestures. While Seto had his own villain arc and can empathize on some level about motivations, I cannot imagine him ever forgiving Pegasus for what he did or having romantic feelings for him, nor do I think Seto should forgive him at all (because, as much as I do like Pegasus, I don’t think he deserves forgiveness from Seto and he isn’t owed forgiveness just because he expresses remorse). Going to bed out of anger and resentment is totally on the table tho

My unpopular opinion about this character: More headcanon than opinion, but I don't think Pegasus really knew Cyndia that well as a person. I don't doubt he loved her. What I doubt is his own memory in regards to Cyndia's own wants and needs.

He takes the time to write in his journal about his dreams and aspirations, yet despite her being the love of his life, he doesn’t write a single sentence about Cyndia’s? We don’t get anything about her hobbies, her dreams, her aspirations, her life, or even her own dialogue?

The Doylist reasoning can come down to: Takahashi and the series writers didn’t make up a backstory for Cyndia beyond her being a motivation tool for Pegasus. However, I propose the Watsonian reasoning in that Pegasus was self-centered and oblivious to what Cyndia wanted to do because he was more invested in the vision of her being his wife, instead of being invested in listening to her and paying attention to her needs as an individual.

That said, I’m still a Roseshipper and I do love this tragic ship. :’D

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: It did happen in canon, I’m just mad we didn’t get a whole episode dedicated to it: His duel with Doma-era Mai. I would have totally loved to see her talk smack and absolutely rip him a new one during their duel right before she took his soul. Listen, I love Pegasus, but after all the fuckery in Duelist Kingdom, he had it coming.

my OTP: Pegasus/Mister Crocketts.

What? Oh. Oh, I see. Just because Isis is my all time fave and I've written fanfic and drawn fanart and have several WIP folders of headcanons and theories about Sightshipping, y'all think it's my OTP.

But let’s all be real with each other: Mister Crocketts was serving Pegasus tea in bed long before he met Isis in a hotel room in Egypt. I’m just saying

my cross over ship: Not a ship, but a crossover: I feel like Pete White from The Venture Bros is a distant cousin and Pegasus calls him whenever he needs a deejay for a party.

The family resemblance is uncanny

a headcanon fact: His mother is a fiery Cajun woman who is the premiere wedding planner in all of Las Vegas, and he went to Catholic school.

[hypervoxel]

hiya, for your ask game: 🍬🍄❄️🧩. love to stalk your blog by the way <3

🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character

Gotta be honest, once I get into a fandom I will leave the main tags as soon as I find my niche and a group of blogs to follow and a few Discord servers to join, and not venture out into the main fandom again. Idk what's popular. I have complained about many takes, but I am also very forgetful so.... Uh, Vox is asexual, Alastor is actually a terrible person (affectionate), Valentino absolutely has a tragic backstory (and is still so evil <3 ), Velvette is literally The Worst and kinda a pick-me girl (I love her), Charlie doesn't understand how to help people and it is detrimental to the people she's trying to help (I also love her). Carmilla is so ridiculous and I don't understand shipping her with Velvette. I don't get Husk (derogatory, but only slightly and mostly in a 'I don't think his writing was consistent, and he was used - as many characters on this series were - as more of a plot device than a complete character in his own right. His dialogue was thrown in to tell-not-show aspects of other characters in a way that felt inorganic to me, which turned me off of his character almost completely' way). Boom, there, so many unpopular opinions <3

🍄 ⇢ share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings

Velvette is so connected to phones and apps and things of that modern tech nature. Therefore: Velvette also broadcasts and recieves radio waves, but only those in the Bluetooth spectrum. She can AirDrop memes onto Vox's face (or, in canon, call his TV head directly, bypassing his phone). Vox is so absolutely not replacing the quiet ease he and Alastor used to share with their similar thinking/perceiving/broadcasting methods (it's alll radio waves) with Velvette. Totally. Totally. His past relationships would never~ cloud how he treats her.

❄️ ⇢ what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best?

Well first of all Me I'm writing it!! So incredibly slowly and badly, but I am writing it nonetheless 😤 I actually have two or three or a dozen ideal dream ideas rattling around in my brain. Obviously, my beloved Damaged Nerve where I throw 20 ideas I enjoy together into one fic (or at least talk about doing that bc. I am always getting distracted instead of updating it). Service shark Vark!!! The VoxVal non-consenual consensual non-consent (it makes sense to me)! Velvette!! Vox killing angels with his bare hands! And getting an arm and half his head cut off (he gets better immediately bc he is all easily replaceable parts)! Charlie and Vaggie watching a Sinner attacking Exorcists right before Charlie was supposed to present her rehabilitation project and having to defend ideas, which is suddenly made even more difficult for her because now it looks like Overlords are planning to fight back against the Exterminations, and he didn't win but neither did the angels, so maybe Hell can fight back against Heaven (wasn't that why the Exterminations happen? Because Heaven is afraid of them uprising? Well, maybe they should be afraid...) Vaggie fallen angel feelings (those were her sisters and she's so bitter about them and she's so scared for them)! The timeline of Exterminations being moved up and Vox getting blamed for it! (Sinners who were previously excited about what he did turn against him bc of the backlash from Heaven and from other Sinners.) Carmilla hating the Vees! Inane and uniformed, smug wannabes! (She still killed an Exorcist for real tho, and Vox only wounded the ones he fought. She thinks she's better than him because she fought to protect the people she loves. Vox literally also did that, except it wasn't people it was a shark. She'd hate that too.) VoxVal horrible terrible no good very unhealthy relationship! VoxValVel also horrible relationship <3 They love each other, they can't live without each other <3 None of them are allowed to leave this ship, even when it's sinking <3 Vox won't lose a partner again; no one else can leave him like Alastor did.

But right now I've been working on a Vox & The Vees-centric rape recovery (or, well, there's not much recovery happening yet. It is just a long and drawn out breakdown where they madly scramble to resecure their power and influence and become more powerful so no one can ever hurt any of them again, and become so codependent) fic and it is everything to me and I do not have it really plotted out, I just have so many Thoughts and vaguely connected scenes for it that I bother people on discord with (hi to any people on discord reading this. Thank u for listening <3 )

Also I am (thanks to your ask about Vox's biology from earlier), daydreaming about a fic I have lovingly named Planned Obsolescence (tho I'm gonna have to make sure no one's taken that title yet) about Vox upgrading himself and upgrading himself and upgrading himself and he can never stay satisfied because the world marches on and he has to march with it, he can't be left behind because he needs to be the one innovating and leading. And upgrading himself.

🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?

Look I'm looking for things that are so specific that if a fic looks like it might be somewhat about what I want, I'll read it. I will click away if you call Alastor a w*ndigo tho.

Wait I thought of something else and then this next part got long and it's also about rape, so I'm throwing it behind a read more

Also!! Holy fuck I just remembered but I've run into it twice now. The Implication that rape is worse when it happens to someone who is already sex repulsed. Like specifically in these scenarios the rape was not a punishment not an attempt at corrective rape. Like, that I would get, actually, if the motivation itself was a hate crime, which adds a whole other dimension to worry about. But, no. That wasn't. I can't even articulate the poor taste it left in my mouth, it's just. Why would you make a character more horrified to learn their friend was raped after they also learned that their friend is ace? "He never would have wanted it-" hello?????? Yeah! That's why it's called rape????

(But also - while I do absolutely love reading about sex repulsed aro/ace characters (lol they're so me) - oftentimes a big part of what I am looking for in a story about rape recovery is a character struggling with the fact that their body did "enjoy" the physical sensation. That sex is supposed to happen with someone you love/are attracted to/trust, and this was a perversion of it, and it fucks up how you view future sexual relationships.) (And like, the physical sensation being pleasurable while your mind feels only disgust and repulsed is. An aspect that I feel like many can relate to, not only sex repulsed aces. Unless I'm projecting??) (Of course, recovery from the perspective of a character who was sex repulsed and remains so is also so so good.) (In general, it's a topic that needs to be portrayed with a kind of nuance and understanding that is often hard for an author to find the right words for. I'm sure I've even written thing poorly here, and inevitably said something that will be hurtful to a person with a different perspective than my own. Sorry! But such is the reality of everyone being individuals, unfortunately. The things that bring some people comfort will cause other people distress.)

[zombolouge]

twenty questions for fic writers

tagged by the incomparable and enchanting @icescrabblerjerky , and you caught me while I'm already comparing writing stats for other things so this fits in well with that task ;)

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 19 baybeee

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 2,319,545. I am. Verbose.

3. What fandoms do you write for? Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Legend of Zelda, Ace Attorney, Mystic Messenger, and then I wrote the novelization of the song 6969 by Ninja Sex Party and a Caduceus character study for CR.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Indefensible (Ace Attorney) has 1,234 (HA!)

As Bright as the Stars (Mystic Messenger) has 1111 (ALSO HA)

Tearing Down the Heavens (Dragon Age: Inquisition) has 730

Hundred Years in the Making (LoZ: Breath of the Wild) has 627

We Are Ferelden (Dragon Age: Origins) has 271

Genuinely really surprised none of the Mass Effect fics are in this category, I'm so proud of those XD

5. Do you respond to comments? Absolutely always, whenever possible. lol I will also ramble at anyone that asks me questions.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Probably The Traveler, which I warn you from the very start has a sad ending. It's Dragon Age fic retelling the stories Solas tells of his time dreaming in the Fade, with the trappings of a Doctor Who theme in which he travels through the fade with a series of companions.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Uhhhhhhh I think probably We Are Ferelden comes closes to a happy ending? Eventually I will give my DA series an actual happy ending though. Most of them end either bittersweet in some way or as a sort of non-ending ending because I know the story continues.

8. Do you get hate on fics? I've gotten a wee bit of hate on the Zelda fic, Hundred Years in the Making, but it was fairly mild. I don't really respond to it much though because it's hard for a stranger to say something that will actually hurt my fee fees XD

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Oh yeah, sure. Most my fics contain smut of some kind. I don't really write smut without plot, though, it's gotta be a natural part of the narrative or I just lose interest.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I have not. I just haven't thought of one that caught my attention enough to want to write it down.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I'm aware of. I have had some lines and suggestions used, but usually that's with credit. lol now I HAVE had jokes and things I've said stolen but that's a bit different.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Nope! I'd prob be open to it but I'd deffo want credited as the OG author.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yes! I think it's been orphaned now though lol

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship? I CAN'T CHOOSE THIS. But prob Shakarian.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? I will finish all my WIPs, how dare you doubt me. (The Traveler would have been my choice for this but I FINISHED IT NOW MOTHERFUCKER)

16. What are your writing strengths? Words....go many. Big words. lmao honestly I don't ever really know. I think I'm good at characterization.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Brevity.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? I do it sometimes, but usually make an author's note that it's done with shitty translation software so it will not be Authentic. (if I were putting it in a novel I'd prob pay to have someone look it over, but fic is free and thus my resources put into it are limited lol)

19. First fandom you wrote for? I'm gonna assume the AU crossover I wrote for Pokemon/Dragonriders of Pern/Zelda/Narnia when I was 9 does not count. lol it was Dragon Age tho

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written? My Mass Effect series, I think. I love different things about all my fics, usually because I was doing different things in all of them, but A Name for the Stars trilogy is something that I'm most proud of. Almost every scene in that serves a plot purpose and I wove a LOT of different things together to create one cohesive thing, and I think if you can get through all of it, it has the biggest bang for the buck. Also I burned that realllll slow XD

I will tag @jusbeinkt and @kesla and @literarypeachtea and @tinkeringteacup (do it if you feel like it, no pressure here frens lol)

[noirvette]

kyle! + robot! reader who's like jenny [my life as a teenage robot]!!

woahhh this concept is so cool, love this request. also my life as a teenage robot was one of my fav shows growing up sad nickelodeon kinda fell off now.

also the more i write for kyle the more i fall in love with him like 😭 im not complaining tho

cws: none! fluff References to season 19 of south park Aged up characters!

Was skeptical on becoming friends/near you at first I can't lie.

After the whole thing with Leslie when he was younger, he's probably pretty skeptical about robots/non human yet humanoid beings in general

However he thinks you're cool, I mean you have no malicious intent and you're well, a robot, so he's gonna stand afar for a while and just keep his distance.

It isn't until he sees you actively protecting/defending someone that he realizes..damn you're a good person.. robot?.

At this point he'll actively seek you out now, forgo his past skepticism he wants to get to you.

Call it the geeky nerd superhero fan in him, but to actually save and protect people while being a humanoid robot is like.. freaky cool to him.

Thinks its cute how you're trying to fit in with trying to be a "human" teenager as a robot

Considering how kind and sweet (and somewhat naive) you are, Cartman always tries to get you to join in on his schemes (some people never change), however Kyle always prevents you from going along with it.

He finds himself falling in love with you (and cursing himself a bit because "God damn it Kyle you did it again, you fell in love with another robot") because of these traits (you protecting people, being kind, fun, etc)

This won't stop him from following his feelings though, at most he might just find it awkward on how to confess to you, but if you confess first then he's all for it. (Might save him from a heart attack of trying to figure out how to ask you out).

When you two actually start dating, Cartman will relentlessly make fun of you both, it's just how he is unfortunately.

Kyle kicks his ass though. He can handle Cartman making fun of him, but making fun of you is a line he wouldn't ever let anyone cross.

Stan's chill with it, yk that tiktok audio thats just "woh hoh.. rock on freaky bro" yeah that sums up Stan to you guys.

Most of South Park is accepting of you being a robot anyways, to them it's like another day. They'd all met Leslie before (and some crazier things too), so comments on making fun of you is pretty rare for you to experience.

Instead you get a lot of people trying to use you for whatever they need; and Kyle often has to remind you to just sit down and take a break once in a while, that South Park won't explode if you take... a.. breather..?

You do help protect their town of course (For shits and giggles I always like to imagine the superheros are still going strong), Mysterion is forever grateful to you.

Speaking of superheros, you and Kyle are a super hero duo. Sure you may do most of the work, but he's there to hype you up!!

Like the stendy or creek dialogue in TFBW, he's cheering you on as you fight

"Woah! Good hit babe!"

"Kick their ass baby!"

Among other things

[rayclubs]

Hey I was just wondering, so you have any tips for pacing when you’re writing your fics? I only ask because I’m having a bit of trouble with it at the moment, and you never seem to linger too long or gloss over things too quickly in yours. Anyway that’s all, hope you’re having a great day!

Yeah! I mean, I'm sure as hell no expert on pacing, god knows I struggle with it A LOT, but I feel like I've learned some things over the years that I can share, and then maybe it'll help somebody!

The advice I've seen a lot in variations is "always have everything planned". Every scene has to make sense. Every bit has to contribute. Every line needs to be important. Always have an ending in mind. Yadda yadda yadda. Well, I'm some type of neurodivergent and I really can't do that at all, I rarely have any more than a setup, a bit in the middle, and a vague idea of a fade-out 90s song ending - if not less.

The way I go around this is: if you don't know how to write a scene, don't write it.

Characters are at Point A, but I need them to travel to Point B. The scene of them traveling is a goddamn pain in the ass. How do I write it? I don't. I say "At Point B, they-" and continue the story.

Another good trick is to remember that you are writing in a non-linear space, meaning you can skip over things and then come back.

Sometimes when two things don't work one after the other, I swap them and see what happens. Sometimes I combine them - like, in the last chapter of Blank Slate, I was supposed to write Heavy meet Pyro, the Scout, but I thought Pyro and Scout at the same time would be more exciting. Dunno if it worked as intended, but I like it better.

Setup and payoff is also good. When you introduce something - that's setup. When that thing resolves - that's payoff. Thespace between them is like a circle, the setup and payoff are giving your text a li'l hug. For a good example of this see my fic Close Call, it's packed with these. For a simpler example see Speak Up, it's got like three or four circle, like a matreshka. I can do a detailed breakdown sometime but it feels kind of obnoxious, I'm a bit, uh, shy about my writing.

Another thing I love is using sentence length to communicate scene energy. Short sentences for action, long structures for instrospection. Long to short for sudden stops and accents, short to long for scene transitions and timeskips. Also, intersperse long dialogues with action blocks to create smaller sections with more contained dialogue topics that are easier to follow.

Cutting useless dialogue is always good. I like to say a line is no good if you can't tell who's saying it without a dialogue tag, but you can't always follow that rule. Still. Good to keep in your head.

Dialogue order, too! If Character A and Character B are talking, and A is saying a line in Paragraph 1, A's next line will be on Paragraph 3. If you have A's line on 1, B's line on 2, action on 3 - well, you can't put A's on 4, you need another action on 4 so A lands on 5. I hope this makes sense. If it doesn't, let me know and I'll go more in detail. I try to always follow this rule, at least within one scene, sometimes across scenes - it really helps cutting out unnecessary dialogue tags that clutter the text.

I think I do this thing where I overexplain everything. Honestly still not sure if the dialogue between Spy and Sniper near the end of Close Call was obvious to everybody or so obscured in round-about hints that nobody got it. But it's fine! Generally I think you want to have your audience figure some things out, I think. Not restate the same clever plot point many times beause you fear people won't get it. Just say it once and pray to god. It takes some major balls tho, if I'm being fully honest.

This is getting long so I'm gonna close with: write what you're excited to write! If you're not excited about writing a scene, don't think "How am I going to write this?", think "How am I going to avoid writing this?". Kill the first draft servant in your brain, it's only malicious non-compliance from here onward.

[mangora]

Finally watching episode 9 so here are some live notes:

•Aiden falling over when Tess gave him the water bucket was a peak visual gag

•Alec??? Alec hello???

•Yul with Kai’s shirt…toxic yaoi scraps…

•Oh my god fuck this guy

•Grett you poor baby holy shit???

•LETS GO RIYA GO OFF QUEEN

•Riya looked up to Grett omg…

•FUCK HIM UP ALEC oh my god I hate Yul Grett needs to dump his sorry ass

•I don’t really know how I feel about how they’re portraying Gabby’s mental health. Idk it’s just kinda off

•I love Jake but how much longer are we going to do this TomJake subplot fuck me it’s so boring

•The Ally and Jake beef is kinda sucky too. Also what’s Jake been doing for the last nine episodes if not trying to improve? Wh

•Jake I could fix you

•Tom’s totally lying about his boyfriend huh

•YEP okay

•Also Aiden and Tom bonding over their scars is kinda cute

•Tom still thinks about him??? Okay we’re getting somewhere I’ll let them cook

•Emily I love you so much Emily. Trevor too. Power friendship

•Girl why are you eating a raw carrot. Creature

•I’m still sad that we didn’t get any real Jake/Ellie interactions after they set up a rivalry between them in season one. Come on. Toxic friends. Or rivals who can’t let go of a past platonic bond

•When are we going to get a non-elimination episode it’s been like eight eliminations in a row now I think

•Jake…buddy…

•FUCK EM UP GRETT

•“Ok ok I’m sorry” immediately when Ashley tells him what to do. He’s such a lapdog I love him

•TESSALLY CRUMBS

•JAKE!! FUCK YEAH KILL HIM!! HE’S SO BACK!!

•I’m so proud of him

•Tom <3 I don’t really like him this season but he’s still my cutie patootie yk

•ALLY BABYGIRL YOU DID IT

•Can you guys tell who my favorite team is yet

•I feel like Gabby isn’t really acting villainous yet. Kinda let down on that front tbh

•Yul kinda seems vaguely attracted to Tom

•If Riya goes home…

•Why has no one voted for Yul yet

•Sorry but when did Grett like make up with Gabby? Wouldn’t it make sense for Gabby to still hold a grudge against her for season one? She holds grudges, we know she does, she did it in season one and she’s doing it now

•Listen I get Gabby’s anger but Tess, Aiden, and Tom are right like all of these people would betray Gabby at any other point given the chance and Alec fucked Ellie over multiple times

•Man I miss their friendship actually

•IF RIYA GOES HOME…

•OH MY GOD IS IT TESS

•FUCK

•ONC stop voting off some of your strongest characters before the merge challenge fuck off I’m so sick of these eliminations

•Gabby kinda ate tho

•“Someone say bye to Ally for me” sobbing

•Gabby you’re so babygirl I’m going to miss your friendship with Tom so much

•OLIVER’S BACK

•Wait are Tom and Jake going to talk next episode then? I mean I guess I’m excited but…also not really because it’s probably going to end how it always does. With them just moping and not resolving anything. Augh

Overall the episode was okay I guess? Animation is wonderful as always but I’m really sick of the same like three plot threads being drawn out and of an interesting character going home every single episode without being fully developed beforehand. I feel like the writers— as much effort and love as they’re putting in— aren’t very organized and could use a lore Bible or a clearer outline, because some plots and character arcs are just dropped randomly, and some aren’t resolved in a very sensible or well-paced fashion. That’s not to say the writing is entirely bad, the writers clearly have some good ideas and the dialogue gets better every episode, but I think they need to balance the story better and plan out what they’re going to do with each character more effectively— it would also be nice to have some more relationships between characters instead of each character having 1-2 focal relationships with a few vague allies or enemies outside of that, considering how much time we have left with the season still. But that’s just a matter of preference on my end, I <3 complex relationship webs.

[wilddragonflying]

Alright, tagged by @tiltingheartand and I'm writing this on mobile bc otherwise I'll forget so forgive any typos/weirdness!

How many works do you have on AO3?

247, however a bunch of those are from the Collaborations series! It's a series collecting all of the fics that @queerpeasantchic and I have written 😁

Total AO3 word count?

3,093,324 (2,065,618 of which is from the aforementioned Collaborations)

What fandoms do you write for?

Ahahahahahaha ummmm

9-1-1, Roswell: New Mexico, Baldur's Gate 3, Fallout (as a whole), Detroit: Become Human, Sandman, Avengers, Stranger Things, Borderlands, MCU, Teen Wolf, Dragon Age, Far Cry (specifically New Dawn), The Witcher, Overwatch, House of Ashes, Harry Potter, Skyrim, Mass Effect, Justice League, Kingsman, The Quarry, Wonder Woman, How to Train Your Dragon, Buzzfeed Unsolved(don't think I actually published anything for that one tho)

Honestly like. If I'm in a fandom, odds are I WILL write a fic for it at some point

Top five fics by kudos?

A Question of Pack (Teen Wolf, sterek, canon-compliant thru I think s2? Been a while since I've reread it, but people are still reading it! Collab w/ @queerpeasantchic)

Between the Drinks and the Morning (Witcher, Geraskier, PWP)

Rumor Has It (9-1-1, Buddie, 5 times people thought buddie were divorced + 1 time they realized they want to be married)

What (Not) to Tell Your Friends (Teen Wolf, Sterek, established relationship w/ sex-repulsed ace!Derek where the rest of the pack finds out sterek have never had sex and meddle; another collab w/ @queerpeasantchic)

Two Steps Forward (9-1-1, buddie, Ramon and Helena come to visit after Ramon's retirement party and they misunderstand buddie's relationship, featuring Ramon trying Very Hard and not quite hitting the mark, but acting sincerely)

Do you respond to comments?

I will if there's a question or if the commenter is being a dick - odds are I'm more likely to respond if they're an asshole because I like tearing them apart them freezing the comment thread and deleting any other comment attempts 😂

Fic with angstiest ending?

Oh jeez I don't know I don't...... think I've ever done a non-happy/hopeful ending?????

Fic w/ happiest ending?

.... see above 😂 most of my endings are happy!

Do you get hate on fics?

Yepper-ooni 😂 I actually have a couple of fics that were motivated entirely by some idiots who didn't understand the concept of 'don't like don't read' when it comes to messed up characters having messed up relationship dynamics 😂

Do you write smut?

I sure do! Surprise myself with it sometimes, but sometimes you just gotta sit down and bang out 6k words about your favs banging

Craziest crossover?

Hmm I don't typically do crossovers, but I did write a couple leverage/supernatural fics way back when I started writing & posting fics; that's the only one coming to mind right offhand

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of!

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Ye! Or at least, had some where a request to translate was commented lol

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

See the very first answer 😂 I co-write loads of fic w/ @queerpeasantchic but I also like to talk about my WIPs w/ people like @tiltingheartand who is wonderful to bounce ideas off of and who has provided much food for thought & inspo 💖

All time favorite ship?

Oh God that's a toughie 🙈 I gotta say either Parker/Hadison/Eliot, or buddie, or maybe sterek???? It's so hard to choose

WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

Oh Jesus *guiltily glances at google drive* there are.... way too many 🙈

Writing strengths?

Hmm I like to think I'm good at digging into a character's head and showing the internal thoughts

Weaknesses?

Anything requiring a physical description 😂

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

If the POV character knows the language, I'll usually put it in italics w/ a note about which language it is, but if not, then I'll describe the other speakers' mannerisms/attitude as they speak

First fandom you wrote in?

Erm I think that might've been Warrior Cats, *way* back when I first discovered fic!

Favorite fic you've written?

Without a doubt, Supplementations and Upgrades! This is a fic inspired by a Tumblr post wondering what if BioWare *had* gone with the apparent original idea of the geth bringing Shephard back to life for ME2. I wrote the first chapter as a one-off with my Shephard, Rochelle (biotic ping pong ball of death), and then the idea just wouldn't leave me alone! Ended up being over 230k words and honestly it's my biggest project to date and the one I'm most proud of 😁 I constantly re-read it, and have commissioned art for various chapters from @defenestratin! (With plans for more bc I CANNOT get enough of how they draw Rochelle 😍)

I'm gonna tag........... @queerpeasantchic @systlin @inexplicifics and anyone else who wants to give it a shot 😁

[yuniex07]

but Welch made Tav dialogues choices based on pro ascension is all about seeing Astarion as sex object. That’s the problem. Welch already decided all Tavs who chose ascension see Astarion as sex object. Welch only talked about sex object regarding Ascended Astarion.

The way this writer tried to " teach " a lesson was pointless from the begining tbh. From the begining Astarion makes a lot of induendo to the Player character, offers, and pushes for the player to agree to have sex with him. His double meaning banter/aiding lines. EVERYTHING about the character is sexualised. It makes sense this person was only in charge late in the development of the game because the way your character react at that point of the story makes no sense!

Personally, my experience was this one:

Got interested in baldur's gate from tiktok videos, and some mentions of the game from my FC companions in FFXIV. OFC i got moslty non context thristy Astarion videos on tiktok and you know what? i was not interested in him at all . I was like, "why are people simping for him? he looks old, ugly, the guy with a beard looks better, but isnt my type either, might go for one of the girls first" (oh that poor past version of me would probably laught at my present version)

So i played the game without context, and not even liking Astarion's looks. I consider myself a pretty impartial person leaning towards what i consider fair and just, having no experience in DND, my character would be more like a neutral good character of sort? (tbh, i don't see the point of having aligments when the choices of a person will depend on soo many variables. The trolley dilema anyone? )

Anyway, i fell, HARD for this pixelated man, because of his charisma, his sassy comments and his attitude. As he was undercovering more about him, i was more and more facinated, I was struggling with his approval, because even tho i wanted to romance him, i was still making the choices that i considered right! (which people usually relate to being a good character) Long story short, he did proposed at the party and i was able to romance him. My character wanted to help everyone and she did. The game portraits the ritual as somehing that will realy improve his life with no downside for him(not talking about the cost here).

So when getting into the ritual, analizing all the information the game game me up to that point, not knowing what will happen after, and thinking on all the posibiliies of this decision. I could only conclude that 7000 spawns were too dangerous to be liberated, Astarion would be free from his master and from all the vampirism downsides, and he had wanted from the begining the power to take his own decisions and mistakes, own his life and his body. (the persuation check being only for Astarion and non of the other companions was interesting... i would not try to persuade him to do something he was asking for from the begining) He had the full support of my character. And i was happy after the ritual, he sounded confident and finally able to act without fear.

So when the long rest scene played i was put off by the dialog choices and TAV's expressions(they fixed them now but not during that time) my character seemed like trying to lecture him and put the blame of a decisison they BOTH agreed only on him(same from the companions like what?? i did it too you know?? why are they angry at him but not me?) then the "spicy" scene happened (it was a pleasant surprise for me i had no idea it was from this route so it proves once again that not everyone Ascends him just because you want to sexualize him) If you think about it, is not even THAT sexual when compared to other companions is pretty tamed.

In conclusion, that writer has some several issues that needs to be addresses and tried to use the game to try to feel better with themself or scape remorse from all the social opportunities they missed for not been able to socialize properly and idealize fiction over reality durning their younger years.

[kyogre-blue]

Finally went back and did Inazuma act 2 on my alt. I forgot how short it is. There's like... four conversations, two cutscenes, and that's it.

Although there are a lot of small issues with the logic and they fall down hard in terms of the pacing of the character arcs, I will stand by my opinion that Inazuma is still a far more interesting story than Sumeru.

Sumeru is just... some evil dudes, of whom we see only one, want to make a god, and for this they choose... Scaramouche? Who is a non-entity except when he vomits out his backstory. And Nahida is there, don't you feel sorry for her because uuh reasons. Don't even get me started on the pointless diversions of going to Ormos (why), the dream loop of time wasting (just tell me the answer up front), and the entire pointless whatever out in the desert (literally exists just to provide one lore cutscene and waste our time).

Inazuma at least has a potentially interesting conflict, characters who have their own varied stakes in it, and they even use NPCs better.

I didn't have any particularly notable observations on second pass, but I did find these points funny:

There's a bunch of small "???" moments if you use your brain while watching this, including the entire situation regarding Thoma being a public sacrifice (???) to mark the 100th vision taken. Like, why did they tie him up, did he resist? Why was he not using a fake vision, like it's implied Yoimiya did to get around the decree? What are the political implications of all this, because it's very interesting if you think about it? In general tho, it's just hilarious if you remember that Shinobu and Itto both did not have any reaction to losing their visions, so maybe Thoma isn't even slightly in danger here.

That said, the escalation is pretty good. I do like the concept.

Teppei is actually pretty cute. And I do think they tried to make you care about the war via both the civilians in act 1 and the soldiers in act 2.

I still find it hilarious that the culmination of act 2 is a "fight of honor" where both sides select "their finest warrior" for "single combat" and then Sara sends three different randos to fight us. I think during the third fight, the resistance troops start complaining that we're doing consecutive battles, but it's dialogue during the battle, so I'm not exactly going to be able to read it, you know? In general, it's worth noting that this duel of honor isn't meant to have any actual stakes. It's just for moral and intimidation, which is why they still have a big battle afterwards. This is in the text, but it's very counterintuitive, so it feels bizarre.

During the cutscene where Kokomi appears, Beidou says she hopes Kokomi can help pay for all these mercenaries she hired and Kazuha calls Gorou an old friend. This is uh sure some interesting implications, but it really does not do an adequate job explaining why the hell they're here. Kazuha's characterization and supposed arc are a shit show in general, of course.

I do recall that the writing quality, such as it is, plummets in act 3. They probably needed 4 acts, realistically, one for Watatsumi and Teppei, one more for returning to Narukami, but I guess at this point they wanted to have the same schedule as Liyue's release? It really did not work out.

[hearteyesmcgarrett]

20 questions for writers! Thanks @frostysfrenzy 💙💙

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

46, which feels impossible to believe

2. What's your total ao3 word count?

97,544 (which is also hard to believe)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Primarily Stargate, Leverage, and Hawaii Five-0, but there will be more Grimm fics coming

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Five Times Parker Proposes (ot3)

You Save Me (mcdanno)

I've got my heart (strung up on clothing line) (mcdanno)

In this moment, you are everything (mcdanno)

Kiss the boy (eliot/hardison)

I actually didnt realize these were the top 5, and im kind of surprised. tbh I'd say I've got my heart and five times parker proposes would be my faves out of these 5

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes!! I adore comments and try to reply to them all

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I basically refuse to write angsty endings lmao but I guess reading up on black holes just for the long term emotional consequences? or I could see myself dying for you because they clearly got Fucked Up

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

I refuse to write a non-happy ending alkjflskjdf but oh i love the glow delights me

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not so far, tho one turned out to be... a Topic in a discord server

9. Do you write smut?

yup! the stargate kinkmeme changed me as a person

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've ever written?

I have done one, which was a leverage/h50 crossover purely for my own enjoyment

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that i know of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

not that i know of

13. Have you ever co written a fic?

No, but I'd be down with certain authors

14. What's your all time favourite ship?

tied between mcdanno and mcshep and leverage ot3 honestly

15. What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I haven't even started it but i have a stargate baseball AU tentatively planned out

16. What are your writing strengths?

honestly i feel like when i feel a character I feel them and the dialogue is very in character and plausible

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

i am incapable of writing anything longer than like 2 chapters

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

i feel like it often comes across weirdly (when done by someone who doesnt speak that language) so i avoid it. there are some characters and situations where it is done well, but i avoid it

19. First fandom you wrote for?

CSI Miami i think? yes i know thats embarrassing

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

honestly im not sure. maybe ive got my heart? its such a good trope and i love those two idiots so much

also i was doing this while watching a hockey game in another tab and without fucking fail, they scored every time i was on here. I MISSED FIVE GOALS what the fuck

anyways, i think all of my writer friends have already done this??? so if you haven't, consider yourself tagged

[ajdrawshq]

Is there any non-spoilery way you could talk about how isat isn't just about timeloops? because like I do want to check the game out eventually for sure if only because indie fun times but I'm busy for a while before I get the time and tbh I'm just not as curious because I don't know how it's gonna break that formula (also ngl no colors makes me lose 50% interest because I like. looking at colors. lots.)

UHM OK WELL UM. hm. how DO i do this without spoiling anything. im very not good at describing things especially things i Really enjoy so how do i put this . hold on i might need to look at some reviews so i know how to words. ok

as a disclaimer i havent fully interacted with a lot of (if any??) media that has timeloops so i cant say for certain what it does differently from similar media that makes it stand out from others. at the same time ive never seen something that is so directly About Timeloops in this way even if i consider stuff ive heard about in passing but i could be wrong (madoka n utena come to mind ?). ill try to think abt the things that arent Just timeloop related plus the stuff u mentioned and hope that helps it feel more interesting and less generic?

i think one of the main things i can say is that it Really makes you feel what the protagonist is feeling. more than anything ive ever watched or played or whatever . and thats saying a LOT given how much i empathize with protags in games. and its not even just an empathy thing here. both the story progression and the gameplay work in such a way that you experience pretty much everything the same way they do, while still having their own personal stuff u can learn about of course

on that note tho. that is actually something to be careful of for a few reasons. i know ur generally pretty good with darker content so i doubt thatll be a problem for u here (its not that bad tbh but there is IS a warning when u open the game/look at the steam page and it aint lying) but. due to the nature of timeloops. it CAN get tiring and this is very much intended. and this helps a lot w the story and themes in a way that its. like. think how kh days does repetition on purpose. its a lot like that (although i had way easier of a time getting thru isat than days? i cant remember how u feel abt days' gameplay but i think it was positive ? either way getting thru isat was way more bearable than days imo). it does do a good job at balancing this with a couple mechanics that mean u dont have to repeat everything all the time (i had like. Very few actual full loops by the time i finished) and theres ALWAYS new things happening, even if ur super thorough with everything. its pretty easy to do things at whatever pace u feel like and if u wanna focus on the main story only to make it easier it wouldnt take too much away from the experience (tho i do encourage talking to the npcs at least a few times), and theres always a goal to work towards. also dialogue skipping and the banana peel are ur best friends

sort of adding onto that. it really, really helps that u are sharing the experience with the protagonist. not only does that help u relate to them (even if u dont share as many traits w them as i do akvdjsn) but theyre probably the most beloved character in the game and for good reason!! its really fun to see their interactions with the rest of the main cast and the npcs, and watch them all develop in different ways throughout the game. and my goodness all of the characters are beautifully written - at first ur kinda thinking ok its a ragtag group of sillies in an rpg whats new. but their personalities and relationships and hobbies and problems and everything about them is just so well done.. they feel so natural. human even. every conversation feels real to me. one of the main themes of the game is the concept of change, and each of them represent and approach it differently, both positively and negatively. its hard not to fall in love with them as individuals and as a group because they just have so much going on, even the ones i didnt expect to like at all!!

the worldbuilding is also a fun spin on fantasy rpg worlds. it mostly revolves around the area u play in bc well. of course it does. but its vv interesting to learn about all the different cultures within the world and how they interact with and build on the themes of the game. theres all sorts of queer stuff going on and its all handled like a love letter to people who relate, and i can feel it even with what i dont relate to at all!! the way "magic" works and the ways people use it in battle and everyday life is super cool too, makes the whole thing feel a lot more believable and realistic :3 i dont wanna talk abt any specifics bc its more fun to learn abt this stuff ingame

OH AND THE TEXT.. EFFECTS?.. idk what to call that but the way dialogue (both internal and external) is written and programmed is funky as hell (affectionate). it was weird at first bc oftentimes (mostly for humor) its like. almost the way i type actually?? which feels strange in a legit game but it Works. it works so well and adds tone and vibes and a Voice in a way u usually cant get in a game without any voice acting. deltarune is also good at that but this one does it differently enough for me to consider it unique

HAVE I MENTIONED THE ART STYLE i love the art style . its so charming and expressive especially all the talking sprites n battle portraits. simultaneously silly n adorable while fully capable of being serious. and creepy. anyway look at the sillies i love them n their designs dearly (especially Siffrin (1st on the left) and Mirabelle (2nd on the left))

also on that note, the lack of colors....... i both totally understand being put off by that (i also love looking at colors n this part made me feel weird abt it when i was thinking abt getting it at first) and personally enjoy it? without saying anything spoilery (bc its really not), its just another part of the worldbuilding and themes that i now find really fun :3 should be noted that i usually have an anti blue light filter so it mightve been easier to look at w the yellowish tint going on. maybe it even looks better that way ? kinda reminded me of old films now that i think abt it.. neat!!

as a last thing i couldnt quite insert somewhere else. it is equal parts a comedy and a tragedy, and it is so, so effective at accomplishing this. the humor is fantastic and adds to the games' and characters' personality, every tragic moment is . for lack of a better word or phrase. absolutely fucking delicious. and i adore how well it can shift from one to the other gradually or in an instant, or just be both at once!!!! yippee!!!!!!!

aaand thats all i can say. i have no idea if that cleared anything up BUT i encourage u to give it a try bc i do think youd like it in the end. u probably wouldnt finish it as fast as i did but that might be a good thing jfbskndj but yeah!!!! in stars and time!!!!!! its good and i love it!!!!!!!!

[party-in-eldarya]

Playing ANE ep 10 p2

Before you start reading: this is not the best ANE episode, by any means. Not my best review either. I think this is where the problems begin for me: the action part is almost non-existen (because what we do here can be almost called “slice of life”), and interactions are superficial, spare and with 2ndary characters. I did not enjoy this episode so far and it shows. 

Off we go to see Purriry. 

 This season we waste so much maana of chaotic Erika’s thoughts, repetitive sentences. Thus we should not waste those dialogues lines on characters that are not the main focus. I know that it would make Eel and Eldarya seem even emptier (is that even a word? looks weird to me), but I am in the middle of season and I haven’t exchange single meanigful conversation with Lance nor Nevra. I barely know those guys. In the middle of season. 

BTW, it is ridiculous: we have spent 3 days on training, and whole week on designing outfits. PRIORITIES!

So what is the thing that Erika is into? I swear to gods, Beemoov made the blandest MC ever. The only thing that turns her on is sacrifying herself. 

Hear, hear! A member of Erika’s family who wasn’t evil and with whom she spent some time! But it’s not like she miss them, no. 

It is not surprising? What is surprising is why you are shocked about it- after almost a year spent on Eldarya you should know this feeling by heart. Unless you didn’t talk about Earth with anyone, then... What happened with faeries who knew Earth? Nevra knew Twilight and Ykhar surely wasn’t the only faery fascinated by our culture... 

I kinda like her spirit. She is confident, excited about her job. Erika tho... we spent lots of maana od Erika panicking over outfits. She cant, she doesnt know if she is able, what ifs, what if nots. Boring! And lame. She has whole week for this task, why such reaction during first 15 minutes? It is def not fun to read those thoughts. I know, I know- she is humble. But... uh, this is not nicely written, and it is not interesting, I feel like I am wasting maana. 

I still think that whole (long) scene in the shop was rather dull. Sure, there was a rather nice moment where Puriry showed how passionate and serious she is about fashion which was a nice contrast to our bland, stiff and  dissociating Erika, who, I will repeat, is only interested in training with sword and dying for Eldarya. But I dislike the part where Puriry was dissing Earth for having outfits that fit all occassions (not true btw, but Erika sucks at explaining things, what’s new). This, dear Beemoov, could be a nice moment for Erika to fire back a fierce answer about pollution, fast fashion and how to be  sustainable. Quite fashionable topic if you ask me, something that Beemoov likes. But no, our MC is staying quiet, afraid to anger the cat, but in her head she repeats how she dislikes being called “a barbarian”. Sweety, you could ask Puriry to stop or you could explain to her that we do not have one outfit that fits all. Insead you chose being dumb. Worm has stronger spine than Erika. Important person my ass.

Morover, I do not think that those CATS are important enough for plot to waste precious maana on them. In TO it had some sense, as we used to pay for movement not dialogues- so having many side characters just made world more vivid. It also worked with longer season. Here, with this ‘new” maana system it is really cruel to force us to waste maana on boring conversation, when I, in the middle of season, still don’t know what kind of person Lance is. Or what was Leiftan’s plan. Or things like that. What Beemoov could have written here is Karuto’s romance, to build up some tension and raise the stakes for final episodes, but Beemoov failed here. 

After day of work I decided to walk for a while- because I LOVE eldarya at night. The arts and sprites deserve better story. 

Erika meets Aldaric, and that conversation is weird which is a given with this character. This time it’s not good type of weird tho. 

He didn’t believe in mermaids and no one told him that at least 3 stayed in Eel for years. Do they even talk in Eel? How do they communicate? Mermaids weren’t rare race, so I am sure that at least is still in Eel... unless the Guard is as deserted as it seems. That would explain why same characters are sent over and over on missions. 

Not to mention that whole conversation served nothing, unlike last one, when Aldaric shared with us his “carpe diem” motto, which was meant to help Erika cope with destruction of Eldarya. 

Same, Erika, different reasons tho. Wth was this conversation for? We already knew that sylph is ditzy.

Anyway. We didn’t learnt anything from this conversation, and it was pointless. It wasn’t even that charming? 

So far I have spent way too much maana on semi-racist conversation with Puriry, pointless chit chat with Adalrik/Aldarik/avatar guy with wings. For my personal bingo I need my familiar. 

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu. What for, beemoov? What is the reason and goal? 6 maana on gems like this one:

But hey, we got those bits of “romance” we were promised: 

Considering that in TO Leiftan openly admitted he hated humans with all his black heart he won’t be thrilled. Unless ofc the writers lost those notes about him.

Erika, from me to you: 

You dumbass. 

Beemoov. I genuinely like that you are trying to mix romance and action bits and I don’t think that romance happening via Erika’s thoughts at this point of story is bad- so far I enjoy it in this episode. Would prefer if it was written during our little walk, so I could marvel at your superior backgrounds instead of reading Alda Adal the blue guy’s nonsense. You know, black background is not inspiring, but that’s fine. Please work harder on “action” parts kk? Puriry and Blue Guy parts could be better. 

We fall asleep wondering on marvelous bond between me and Leiftan (8 maana for my love btw) and we woke up to this abomination: 

It’s 12 maana spent on familiar vs 8 spent on my LI. PRIORITIES. 

And we are gonna measure all our friends, at least that’s what Erika thinks. And let me ask this question: why? I see why Erika was asked to help Puriry with designs, but why it’s her to take part in measuring? This is a bit... too much? Surely someone could be uncomfortable? Not Lance- since he is walking dick-naked around Eel with no worry in his orange head and probably not Nevra. But Mathieu? Leiftan? We do not know if HC would be comfortable to be gropped by her subordinate, surely, SURELY everyone would feel more comfortable to have it done by the usual, PURIRY. Who, btw, is not doing sewing herself- she has Jamon and ... Karuto? I guess? to do that work. I know whole scene is a fanservice, I like fanservie if it makes sense. Like LI and Erika making out while waiting in Puriry shop or something. Let’s see how the scene goes, but next time. This piece is really not good, but so it the episode. My depression hits again, the world is cruel, and it’s me playing this episode rn: