#if it was the main goal it would be a better choice to write a human system rather than an AI operating within a similar to it framework

[logicpng]

hello! I'm a fellow Ukagaka developer (o/ hello from the Dream Team) and while looking at Aster's code, I noticed you were wanting a VS Code extension for surfaces.txt; kanadelab has published one such thing! Also, it's extremely cool to see a Ghost with a focus on multiplicity, from one plural to another.

oh!! that'll be extremely useful given I want to try doing more complex stuff with animations in the future! thanks for letting me know!

yeah!! aster is a bit of a vessel to write about our own plural experiences and write fictional ones twisted into it. in part our reason for the project is a subtle introduction to plurality as a concept to more people! primarily the goal is to just have fun with it, but if our work helps in the bigger picture it would be nice!

[paigemathews]

Whenever I actually sit down and start posting the next gen series, one of the things that I really wanna do is kind of... incorporate reader's choices into it? Not in big ways bc my plan is to write like a full season before I start posting episodes and that can affect it, but like. smaller beats.

One example is that I have an episode idea where there's a big emotional thing for three different characters and our resident empath has a discussion with each of them, but it's reader choice which scene we see. Another one is an episode where it's reader's choice for who gets hit with some kind of emotional puncture and just spews emotions everywhere. It'd be mostly character and relationship scenes for arcs that are already happening, but readers would have the chance to see their favorite or the one that they're most curious about up close on "screen." Not for every episode, but like. maybe once or twice a season or something. Idk, thought it might be interesting.

[alexanderwales]

Pitchposting: New Class on Death

Pitchposting is when you put up a partially fleshed out idea, free to a good home. I can't guarantee that I won't ever want to write this one, but you can't copyright an idea, so I think we're good, and if you wrote it, you'd do different things than I would do.

There was a web serial called Reroll that I never read, whose premise was that it was a time loop with superheroes where the protagonist got a different power each time they looped. This is a great idea, though I think I heard that there were some issues with the execution (and cannot speak to that).

The main thing that this gets you, the broad concept of "time loop with variation" is that there's always some opportunity for variation, which keeps the loops from getting too stale. At the same time, it opens up temporary paths that then close when the loop ends, raising the stakes for any given loop, which helps shore up the tension problem that time loops have. And because the powers will be different every loop, there's a real option for having "reveals" that are much more natural.

So the idea here is to take it and tweak it. Rather than superpowers, which I'm never a huge fan of, we do some kind of fantasy thing, and we do some kind of litrpg system with the main thing that's changing every time the protagonist's class.

You know that thing in Skyrim where you do a playthrough as a stealth archer, then another playthrough as an archwizard, then another playthrough as a warrior? This is something that I have never seen nor heard about in the litrpg space, and it seems ripe for someone to do it.

Our protagonist starts every loop by making a choice: what class are they going to take? And though the people and scenarios in each loop are always the same, this fundamental choice alters everything.

So you start with the protagonist in some kind of contained environment, since I'm strongly of the belief that a time loop story is better if it has some kind of cause to unfold slowly. Maybe it's a castle under siege, maybe it's a prison, maybe it's a ship about to make landfall, whatever. They're in dire straits and need to get out, and that first "discovery" loop happens either without any kind of power, or with a generic fighter class. They learn about getting experience points and levels and improving in skills.

And when they inevitably die, they get a choice of another class, or their class is randomized, or there's some kind of incentive to try something different, and they wake up in the same place they were, having forgotten all their old skills but keeping their memories, and importantly, with new skills.

The first time they get out of their contained environment, they fight their way out, but there are other ways: slipping past the guards using stealth, scaling the walls, or smooth-talking the guy at the gatehouse. There are maybe three different magic systems, and only one of them is usable in a single run, each locked to a specific class, each with their own peculiarities.

So in a given "run" we're getting:

More information on what a specific class does

More information on the world as seen through the lens of that class

More "progression" information that leads us toward completing goals and "permanent" widening of the world

Our protagonist slips into the warden's office as a thief and read the documents that implicate him in a scheme against the queen. He talks to the warden as a silver-tongued bard and get him to admit to an affair he's having with the prince consort. And after that, though the silver tongue is gone, the information remains, and getting out of prison is a matter of just saying the right words in a clumsy way to the right people, which works no matter which class the main character is wearing.

I think for me, a nascent novel exists as a constellation of scenes, the things that stand out to me as something cool and worth doing. Here, it's the context switching, meeting the same characters under different circumstances. The sly street rat is mistrustful of a mage, since there's an enormous class difference, but if you meet them on their terms they're warm and kind. The princess is actually kind of a terrible person, if you're not presenting as an aristocrat. You get a chance to look into the mind of the vizier and recoil in horror at what you find there.

I think it's important for the concept that the protagonist keeps rotating through the classes. If they lock in as "thief best class" then you're not leveraging the possibilities of the idea. And for this, you either need mechanical limitations (inability to select the same class twice, vital xp bonuses for switching it up), or you need carefully arranged possibility spaces that routinely encourage variation simply because that's how goals are accomplished.

One of the other things that I like about this idea is that whenever you write a litrpg, you have to ask "okay, but why is it a litrpg", and here, you get a lot of stuff that just doesn't really make much sense without it, and explores a videogame space that's underexplored right now. This is something that people who play videogames already do, switching things up to experience the story from a different perspective, getting all the routes. It's just a lit version of that.

[hellisharchive]

Heyoooo! You probably know me from messaging you but I wanted to ask if you could write a Vox x Fem!reader where reader just takes care of a really wasted but infatuated Vox?

﹒﹒﹒my queen

➤ 18+, drunk Vox, jealous reader, fluff fluff fluff, bathing

➤ Literally wrote this at 2 am and got done at 3 am, so not beta read <3 TYSM for the request! I hope you enjoy it!. AGAIN HOW THE FUCK DID I ACCIDENTLY POST THIS THIS WAS A DRAFT. I dont like how this turned out tbh

You and Vox were close, but you wouldn't dare say that you two were dating. You did have a small crush on him and was scared that confessing would ruin your fiendship. Little did you know he also had a crush on you as well, it was just unfortunate he was letting his business and brand take importance over his personal life. You were an honorary Vee and his best friend. Sure, Velvette and Valentino were his friends too, but you always got jealous as you watched Val and Vox act in such a romantic way with each other all the time. You always suspected that they were a thing, and even if they didn't have a label, you respected it. So, you always kept your feelings hidden deep down

. But you did need a break, it got so tiring having to watch and hear them act all cute and making sexual advances from the time to time. You've been ignoring Vox for at least two weeks, probably not the best choice but your emotions got the better of you. But tonight, you decided to get out of the tower and have some fun. You went to a pretty well known nightclub- not owned by Vox, a rare occurrence- to let off some steam. Your goal was to get laid by the end of the night with a convenientially attractive stranger, but life doesn't always work out as you want.

Yet, when Vel called you as you were about to get on the dancefloor with a hot bull, you dropped everything to take care of the television that was drowning his sorrows in alcohol. According to her, he kept talking about how he wished he could tell you something and how beautiful you were. You mulled over it as you walked back through the tower in your fancy nightclub dress just an hour earlier. While on your way there, you came across Velvette who looked very pissed off and scrolling through phone in the main living area of the personal living quarters. When she saw you, she flipped you off and rolled your eyes.

"Fucking finally! Vox has been throwing a hissy fit waiting for his queen to come and shut him up. Fuck you for taking so long, he's called me twenty fucking times asking where you were bevause he forgot he changed your contact info!" That was all she said before growling and walking away, signalling that you were going to handle this yourself like normal. You never let what Vel says get to you, that's just how she normally is. But he changed your contact info? What to? You've calmed down a drunken Vox many times before, but this time seemed bad.

"Vox?" You knock and call out before opening his door to find a very wasted man laying on his couch, hiccuping and looking incredibly sad. He was slumped over with a wine bottle in his hand, no wine glass, and the red liquid was spilled all over himself. Wine? Really? He got drunk on wine out of his entire collection? He's usually a fun drunk, cracking jokes and overall being the most funny in the room from the out of pocket shit he says. So seeing him so down makes you feel guilty for ignoring him. But as soon as he looked at you, his face lit up and a smile immediately popped up. He dropped the glass and stood up, trying to rush up to you. However, because he was so inebriated, he started to stumble, which caused you to rush up and catch him from his shoulders.

"My Queen! Where did you go? I missed you my sweet!" The comment about Vel calling you his "queen" you just passed off as Vel being Vel, but now he was calling that you too? Maybe playing into this fantasy would be best, drunk people are never rational and don't know what they're even saying.

"Well my king, I had a very important meeting with another kingdom to attend to. But you requested my presence immediately!" You spoke matter-of-fact as you navigated him to the bathroom, it was hard already with him being unable to properly walk, but he also kept staring at you, so he stepped over his own feet countless times.

"Hehehe...I like when you call me that. YOUR king. I'm your king! How lucky am I?" He giggled and that made your heart beat faster. How lucky was he? What was he talking about? Maybe this was just his drunk self talking, you knew he didn't feel that way, he absolutely had a thing for Val, not you. Gulping, you finally manage to drag him to the bathroom where you sat him on the toilet. He would be so sticky with all that wine that soaked through his clothes, so you were going to bathe him. Sure, getting him in and out his going to be a challenge, but you still cared for this man a lot and wanted the best for him.

"I'm getting you your pjs, do not move ok?" You started to leave the bathroom when he whined loudly, making a swipe for your wrist but missed as he looked at you with puppy eyes. Due to his television screen head, his facial expressions can get extremely animated, unlike normal sinners. His eyes basically took up his entire screen, only leaving a little bit of space for a pout. The sight made your heart ache.

"Don't leave again my lovely queen! I need to tell you something!" Sighing, you gave him a soft smile and walked back up to him. Picking up his hand, you put your other hand on top of his and gave him the most softest smile you muster..

"It is bedtime, my king, you must be bathed before heading to our bed. You can tell me once we retire" Our bed. Saying it made your heart do flips.

"Oookkk my beautiful queen! Hehehe you're so pretty..." He had a dopey smile as you walked away, heart hammering so loud it should have been echoing in the room. He thought you were pretty? Fuck- why does he made you feel this way? You knew that look too, it was a look of complete love. He certainly couldn't love you though, that has to be impossible. He was with Val, he had to be. Going on autopilot, you gather up his favorite pyjamas and mentally prepare yourself for going back into the flames. When you get back, he was still sitting on the toilet, giggling and staring ahead as he was talking to himself about how in love with him he was.

What?

He was drunk, he was drunk, he was drunk- why couldn't you even entertain the idea of him returning your feelings? Why was it so hard to accept that fact? Taking a deep breath, you walk into the room and he lights up again.

"My queen! Are thou ready to bathe me? You got my favorite pjs! And you have an amazing ass! There's a reason why I married you!" Freezing once again, you ignoring his comment about your ass in luei of the last thing he said. Married...you? Did Vox think you two married each other? The thought made you shiver and face warm with how amazing that sounded. Being officially tied to him forever, waking up with him together, and getting to love him forever. Standing up after finishing setting the dials to the right temperature, you looked at him and now needed to know more.

"And why else did you marry me my dear?" Battting your eyelashes with the most innocent face you could gather, you started to stip him of his clothes. You've seen him naked a handful of times which always made you incredibly flustered, but undressing him? It made you nervous, especially with how he's acting towards you.

"You're the beeeeest, like, THE best! You're so pretty and gorgeous and have SUCH a hot bod! But you're so so sweet and amazing and help me with everything!" Did he...did he actually love you? Was whatever he was doing with Val was nothing? Shakily manging to get him completely undressed, you stood him up to maneuver him into the large tub. Not trusting yourself to say anything more, you gently lay him down in the perfectly warm water and start lathering him up. You also never bathed him before, so your nerves were going to overdrive. He took your silence and silenced himself too, maybe he somehow knew you were really anxious right now. Taking great care in not getting water on his head, you see as his face turned from a happy one, to a somber one.

The rest of the process of getting him out, drying him off, changing into his pjs, and moving him to his bed was deadly quiet. You felt like you would be breaking some unsaid rule. Tucking him into bed, you left a glass of water and painkillers on his nightstand, turning off the big light and turning on the lamp. Sitting down next to his curled up body, you rubbed his back and felt conflicted. He's drunk as balls. He probably won't remember any of this. Getting up and saying goodnight, he yells for you one last time.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what I did wrong but I'm sorry. Is it Val? We aren't anything serious. I was too scared to tell you because you're so beautiful and I didn't want you to leave me. I love you" Vox looked down at his lap with a sullen expression. Heart hurting for the countless time today, you gave him a kiss on his screen and turned away with a smile

"Tell me when you're sober"

[arielleslipgloss]

It Girl Habits!!

(none of these photos are mine)

“You cannot live your life to please others. The choice must be yours.” - Anne Hathaway

Stay busy!! Do you see those it girls like Serena Van Der Woodsen scrolling on their phone all day? No, you rarely do. It girls are always busy doing something. So, therefore do some self care, study, workout, read, journal, go shopping, go on solo dates, hang out with friends, paint, have a dance party, etc. Do fun activities and take care of yourself. Another example of a busy it girl is, Elle Woods. Elle Woods wasn’t becoming one with the couch everyday. She had goals to achieve. She had people that doubted her to prove wrong. So get up! Start planning out your day or week. Start making goals!!

Have goals! You wanna know why you’re bored all the time? Well, it’s because you have no goals. You practically don’t have a life because all you do is sleep, eat, scroll, and repeat. You’re wasting time doing nothing. You could’ve had a clean room by now. Maybe you could have finished that book. Whatever it is, you could have had it. You could’ve been 1% better than yesterday. You don’t though because you have no goals. That time you’re wasting, can be used toward your goals. It can be used toward your dream life. Maybe, you do have goals? Yet you don’t even take action. What are you waiting for? For someone to do the work for you? No, get up and start taking action.

Be mindful of what you consume online!! Just like how who you surround yourself with affects you. What you consume online affects how and who you are. For example, listening to sad music makes you feel sad. Music is meant to tell a story that you feel deeply. You may not even relate to the song, but you feel as if you do. So, you become sad and continue to listen to sad music. When listening to uplifting music you gain confidence. You still feel like you relate to the song. Just with a more positive effect. As for what you watch and read. Don’t read/watch stuff that will put you down. Watch/read content that will help you.

Complimenting yourself every time you pass the mirror!! Some may say it’s cringy, but DO IT. Would you rather be cringy or be the best version of yourself? Exactly, so either say it out loud or in your head. Say it even if you might not believe it. Say it because you deserve it! Try to be creative with your compliments. Not all compliments have to be about your looks. It could be your personality, your thoughtfulness, how creative you are, etc. Also loosen up, be your own hype girl. When you see the mirror you could say, “Omg I look like the main character.” “Oh wait, I am!” Lastly, don’t forget to have fun with hyping yourself up.

Mediating or journaling when stressed!! When stressed we start to feel a lot of tension. So, that’s why meditating is so important to do when stressed. All you have to do is sit down and focus on breathing. Plus, It calms down your nerves, relaxes the mind, body, and soul. Not just that, but plenty of other benefits. Which includes, helps focus, betters mood, helps you sleep, slows down aging, etc. As for journaling, it’s practically free therapy! That is, at least in my eyes. All you need is a notebook, a pen or pencil, and yourself. Journal what’s making you stressed or anxious. Let all your emotions out, write freely. Your words don’t have to make sense. Nor do you need to have perfect writing. In fact, when you journal it may be all over the place. However or whatever you write, just let it out.

Expressing your gratitude!! Life is so beautiful and has so much meaning. So, either write down what you’re grateful for or thank God. You are so blessed to be here today. That is only just one thing to be grateful for. There are so many things to be grateful for, air, family, friends, your mind, being born as you, water, books, food, shoes, clothes, and so much more!! Express your gratitude everyday. It could be the most random thing like, a poster. As long as you’re truly grateful, then express it.

7. Having a low screen time!! Cliché, I know but it’s true. Your devices are consuming you. Think about what you use your device(s) for. Good examples are, for work, for motivation, tips, workout videos, inspiration, knowledge, and maybe even faith reasons. Now here are bad examples, procrastinating, sinning, hating on others, scrolling, because you’re bored, to watching videos of people that make you insecure, and lastly to cope with something. Which to clarify, trying to cope by using your phone, I understand somewhat. On the other hand, it could make what you’re coping with worse. I say that because there are so many studies on why our phone is bad for us. Seriously, so many and we are completely unaware of the damage it does. So for that reason, try to use your phone only for the good. I know you’re probably going to make an excuse. Which we all do and that’s ok, but please try.

8. Encouraging yourself to do better!! You should always be working hard to be 1% better everyday. So on the days you don’t feel like doing anything, encourage yourself. Show up for yourself, you will be so happy after. Lastly, trust yourself to get whatever done!!

9. Having a healthy sleep schedule!! For me, I try to aim for 8-11 hours of sleep. For others, it may be 7-10 hours of sleep. Whatever makes you feel the most well-rested should work. Just try to be consistent and mindful of the time. I also recommend to be off your phone for at least 30-60 minutes before going to bed. It will improve how you sleep a lot. That also being said, try not to be on your phone when you wake up either. It’ll help improve your health by a lot. Especially, the health of your brain and eyes. As I had mentioned, try to be consistent. Set a certain time to go to bed and turn off your phone. Then, get your lovely beauty sleep gorgeous!!

10. CLEANING!! The last habit is, cleaning. Now, I don’t just meaning cleaning your room or house. I mean even your body and mind. For starters, a clean room equals a clean mind. Therefore, stop procrastinating and start cleaning. Turn on some fun music and maybe even romanticize cleaning. Just make it fun and DEEP clean. I know someone reading this has been procrastinating on cleaning. You know who you are, so clean everything. Then, for cleaning the mind a little extra meditate. I feel like I already went over a bit about meditation. So lastly, for the body, take your showers consistently. Also, please wear deodorant. I see way too many people nowadays not wearing deodorant. Seriously, wear your deodorant.

“Always walk around like you have on an invisible tiara on.” - Paris Hilton

Remember, always apply lip gloss and stay pretty! Love you, dolls 💋

Info I used: https://reallifecounseling.us/blog/benefits-of-meditation

My Pinterest: @arielleslipgloss

[vigilskeep]

Do we know enough about how Crow succession and talonship works to believe it would be possible for Viago to take the seat of first talon either through some sort of non-violent coup in the absence of an heir to house Dellamorte or through marrying his kid (rook) off to Lucanis? Asking because I really don't know and would love to write something in that direction...and you seem a crow enthusiast...also love your blog

THEORETICALLY. yes.

we haven’t seen the talons shift directly, but they do shift, with regularity. house arainai was first talon in living memory and then fell slowly downwards to their current point where they’re struggling in and out of eight talon like a drowning man who keeps finding his way to air for just enough breath

the eight talons system, if you’ll allow me the tangent, is a really fascinating choice of fantasy hierarchy because it is such a clear hierarchy. among a bunch of ambitious killers whose prime goal is notoriety. you can only hold each position here if everyone below you is too afraid to do anything about it. what an anxiety trip it must be to decide whether to push someone down just one rung or to try to destroy them entirely; do you want to leave your rival with more opportunity or more motivation? but crow power is also all about theatre, all about perception—you are first or fifth or seventh talon primarily because everyone agrees that you are—so making a failed gambit for a higher talon has got to be incredibly damaging. which is a risky setup. it discourages attempts, but when someone does make an attempt, they will not be fucking around

anyway ignore all that we’re talking about soft takeovers today. okay so house dellamorte has a dying core family, theoretically. we’re making the assumption that no surviving young children from any branch of the family are mentioned because none exist. we have two heirs, neither very acceptable (my apologies to caterina’s delusions), both men in their 30s with (again, assumed) no children, and neither making much progress in that regard. (arguably dependent on player choice when it comes to lucanis, but since he can fall in love with and express his undying devotion to any kind of rook, we can at least say he’s not making that much effort.) within a generation the core family may die out. but that is a LONG TIME to wait. you still have to deal with the current ones, they’re pretty robust

lucanis is the current first talon as of the end of veilguard. can he be convinced to give this up and hand first talon over to someone better suited? i do believe it. mostly because i need to believe, for my mental health, that we can get him out of there. but he also now has a fairly bulky support system full of people who love him and will notice how bad this is going to be and convince him he deserves things like a life he doesn’t hate

as always your main problem is caterina. caterina is not going to allow a takeover, soft or otherwise, while she is still alive. caterina didn’t give up first talon when they murdered her children. there’s probably an emotional plot in here where she can be made to accept what she’s done to her family, far too late, but with time left to save just one by letting him go. on the other hand, i’ve also been experimenting with plots in my mind where she tries to quietly get rid of viago or romanced rook for having too much influence, with the added benefit on hopefully being able to steel & refocus lucanis on defending the house against whoever she frames. or plots where she blames lucanis trying to leave and not being the boy she remembers on his, you know, demonic possession, and attempts to forcibly remove or destroy spite. so. there’s potential ups and downs, here.

i don’t know how helpful rook de riva/lucanis is. most of your problem here is that everything that sets this ending up by giving the de rivas more power, and by giving any rook more power over lucanis, is something that in my mind would crank caterina’s wariness all the way up. house de riva surely has to move up from fifth already after the events of the game and look more like a contender, and i don’t think even caterina’s delusions about lucanis’ suitability for first talon could make her blind to the effect rook can obviously have. i definitely think she would delay on a marriage and have the power to do that

i think it’s worth saying that rook de riva at any point bringing up to lucanis the idea of handing things over to viago would be a hell of a conversation. i know lucanis never remotely suspects rook of any agenda and trusts them completely, and i know i agree with rook here, but you’ve GOT to see how “i love you and having power is bad for you and what you should do is hand it all over to my talon” sounds. i truly could not blame him for a bit of doubt here especially if caterina was around to suggest it

sorry this is a completely messy and disconnected response. i don’t even know if i had a point. you might have to wait for caterina to actually die? is that my point? i can see rook de riva/lucanis being helpful to ease a transition of power to house de riva then. i also think it’s worth pointing out that teia might be the better contender for all this out of the two lovebirds. what quietly makes teia probably the most dangerous talon in the crows, if she ever chose to be, is that everyone likes her. i’m not joking or trying to handwave crow politics, it’s a form of soft power and the result of her cultivated skill that nobody ever suspects teia of anything. even caterina treats her gently, and literally a talon who tried to murder all the others in tevinter nights was delaying murdering her because she was his favourite. if anyone can handle a gentler transition like what we’re talking about, maybe it’s more likely to be teia

[sundayeleith]

Leander theories : his route

On my last Leander post, I had a very interesting comment and my answer was getting so long I decided a post would be most digestible and it's more about Leander's route outcome which I've been itching to talk about more extensively. So here's the comment left by @bulletmedic !

I agree with this take, well mostly the first part. MC reacts very differently to Leander than the other 4. As I said in my previous post, they very firmly don't want to show or talk about their curse, yet look at them tell Leander anyways. Something is off and it's not bad writing, it was put there deliberatly.

As for the route itself, tldr : yes and no. I think Leander could fall in love with MC no matter what up a certain point in the story or that it depends on certain choices we make.

More under the cut !

Leander, Leander, Leander. Quite the man. I thought about his route structure and outcome so mainy times. As I said above, I have 2 ideas on how the route could go. Again I could be completely wrong but I'm not here to be right just give my 2 cents (and because I love talking about him dqojdqpojzdqzpoidjfqz).

First I want to talk a bit about Leander's goal. In v2.0, it's been made more clear that Leander wants MC's powers for himself, is it by keeping them alive or not. So the "basement wife" scenario wouldn't be impossible, especially if he falls for MC but his obsession around them and their power mix and twist into something more sinister. I don't think Leander is a yandere, or not one in the strict sense of the term but rather borders on the idea in a more complex way justified by the narative and his writing (not saying it's good, just saying that if written well and given logic explenation that could turn out better than just a plain classic yandere trope).

Now, the first posibility : he falls in love anyways but the ending we get depends on choices we make. My take is Leander will either chose his goal/plan or MC. Or try to stop the plan put in motion to save them and either fail or succeed. For the first one, I'd say if MC is too distant Leander won't hesitate too much to sacrifce them for his bigger goal and agenda. He'd hate it, but he needs to do what he needs to do. The second scenario works well with the first one and could be another bad end branching if he decides to save MC. Here I think if MC trusted him enough, he could succeed or something like that.

Then the other posibility : Oh that one would be absolute cinema. Imagine thinking Leander is falling for MC, that you made the right choices only for him to reveal he was lying this whole time and you got trapped. Oh the betrayal. Oh I would get my life if that's the case. The drama of it all. That could mean we need to get the right balance between being distant enough to survive and avoid an early bad ending but not to get a full bad ending either. Just like Leander, we need to play our cards right and chose when to open up and warm up to him in the right moments. Being receptive to his fake charms would get us in danger, while being receptive to a more authentic heart to heart conversation would get us more high in his esteem. Higher than a mere pawn at least.

He is such a complicated character in my eyes, he craves authenticity and a true bond even just friendship, but can't afford it. He can't let a single weakness settle in, and still he feels lonely to the point he tries to fill that void by being liked by everyone (tho he does so for his plan not just out of loneliness). Only to remember a friend to everyone is a friend to no one. Idk what his deal his I need to beat him to death

Me each time I try to guess Leander's motivations and main goal.

Hope that it made sense and was fun to read >:)

[writingquestionsanswered]

how do i make my writing more ‘mature’? i always feel like no matter how sophisticated i write and no matter every which way i change it up it always has a sense of being childish or juvenile.

Making Writing Sound More Mature

1 - Better Plot and Story Structure - One of the telltale signs of juvenile writing is a story that meanders, has no obvious plot or structure, has no conflict or has a protagonist with no goal. So, make sure you have a well fleshed out plot, with a conflict, protagonist goal, and which hits the beats specific to your story's genre.

2 - Three-Dimensional Characters - If you're writing plot-driven fiction, make sure your main characters have a fleshed out personality, stakes, motivation, goal, and compelling relationships with other characters. If you're writing fully or partially character-driven fiction, do all of the above, but also make sure your main characters have a relevant internal conflict and a thoughtful character arc.

3 - Well-Developed Setting and World - One common hallmark of juvenile writing is a lack of "sense of place" and under-developed world building. So, make sure you put a lot of thought into where your story takes place... not just the immediate setting of each scene, but the overall world of the story, or at least the parts of it that are relevant.

4 - Incorporate Literary Devices - Juvenile writing tends to be lacking in the use of metaphor, simile, symbolism, irony, themes, and motifs. So, make sure to include those, but also take the time to make them relevant to your story.

5 - Include a Broad Range of Vocabulary - One common element of juvenile writing is a reliance on limited, simple vocabulary. Don't be afraid to use a thesaurus to find more interesting word choices--just be absolutely certain to crosscheck your choices with a dictionary to make sure they are the right choice. Online thesauruses in particular are bad about offering up bad suggestions. Also, make sure to learn and use special vocabulary that is relevant to your story, genre, or setting. For example, if your character is a retired police detective trying to solve a murder on his stalled cruise to Alaska, you need to make sure you know the proper investigative terminology, because he will definitely use it. And, by that same token, you'd want to make sure you know cruise ship lingo as well. And, part of this, too, is getting better at description and the inclusion of emotional and sensory detail.

6 - Use Varied Sentence Structure - This is a big one... juvenile writing tends to use repetitive sentence structure, such as simple sentences (she stood up, she went to the window, she waved at the man), lack of subordinate clauses (Tad Smith, who was a seasoned and retired investigator, had looked forward to this cruise his whole life...), repetitive starts (every sentence begins with a pronoun, for example), uniform length (all short sentences, for example.) So, make sure your sentences are varied. If you read them out loud, you don't want it to sound rhythmic, but more like a complex melody.

7 - Show, Don't Tell... Most of the Time - Telling definitely has its place, but most of the time you want to show rather than tell, meaning that instead of stating things simply and directly (the sun was shining) you want to paint a clear but indirect image (dappled sunlight shone through the trees.)

8 - Avoid Cliche Phrases - Human language is littered with everyday phrases like "to each their own" or "better late than never." Generally-speaking, you want to avoid these phrases in your story, especially in exposition. If you include them anywhere, they're best spoken as dialogue by a character who it makes sense would say something like that. Likewise, be careful of cliche genre or character-type phrases. For example, villains who say things like "we're not so different, you and I..." or "I finally have you right where I want you!" These overused phrases tend to make stories sound juvenile and unpolished.

9 - Avoid Cliche Tropes - Another type of cliche to avoid if you want more mature-sounding writing is cliches of various tropes. Tropes on their own are a good thing, but when tropes are used the same way over and over again in a genre or type of story, they become predictable. For example, the super gorgeous protagonist who everyone is in love with, but they view themselves as plain and not special. Or the broken/hopeless/addict mentor character. It's not that you can't use any cliche tropes at all, just make sure your story isn't riddled with them, and do what you can to put your own spin on the ones you do use.

10 - Read, Read, Read - And I can't stress this enough... the absolute best way to improve your writing style and take your writing from juvenile to polished is to make sure you're reading a lot of fiction, in a lot of genres, by a lot of authors. Audio books, short stories, and poetry count, too. The more you read, the more you begin to: understand plot and story structure, recognize well-developed characters, easily envision complex settings and worlds, learn vocabulary and literary devices, become attuned to varied sentence structure, and learn to recognize cliche phrases and tropes.

Happy writing!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[blossomthepinkbunny]

I think one of the main reasons why people feel upset at Stella's writing and how she's portrayed is because she is treated in literally the opposite way to Valentino. Like, if you ask some fans for why Stella shouldn't have positive traits, good relationships (that aren't her fucking incestuous brother) or just in general humanizing moments, it's because she is an abuser and doesn't need to be a layered character. A lot of times people who come to Stella's defence, or just imply, that she should be written more complex (not just being an evil bitch just for the sake of it) are labelled abuser defenders.

However, when people imply that Valentino shouldn't have the amount of positive recognition he does (fanart, canon ships, merch, cosplays etc.) and how he is a lot of times downplayed even though he is a pimp and serial rapist(!), people say that abusers and rapists also need to be portrayed as complex people, or it wouldn't be realistic otherwise. Because abusers can be charming and funny and have good relationships with others and still be abusers (a statement I agree with in theory).

The issue is just that you can't have it both ways. Most shows who talk about abuse in some way choose one way or the other to portray their abusive characters. Either making them layered people with goals, ambitions, positive traits etc. or making them more one note bad guys. While the first approach is more realistic, there are pros and cons for either portrayal. The main fear of humanizing an abuser is, that their abuse might be overlooked or downplayed by the fans, which you especially wouldn't want of course with a rapist. It's a discussion that can't be applied to every show or movie and not one approach is definitely better than the other (imo).

But Viv seemingly can't or doesn't want to make a choice. And so we end up having Valentino, who gets regularly babied by the fandom, his sexual assaults being ignored because "he's just a fictional character, why does it matter if he's my favourite" and Stella, who ends up a comically over the top villain, who has always been an irrational abuser since the day she was born and always will be.

And I don't want to make huge assumptions, but I'll just say that I do think Stella would overall be perceived differently by the fans if she was a man. I'm saying this because while I mentioned Valentino being more complex as a character, if I remember correctly that's mostly the fandom's perception. In the show he is more flatout bad, but the fandom really likes him and Viv never positions herself in either direction, making some demeaning comments about Stella fans while posing with Valentino cosplayers and defending people who ship Valangel.

And don't even get me started on that stupid owl

[ordering-milk-at-a-bar]

The Apothecary’s Travel Guide Chapter 1

Quickly, before we begin, I want to set some things straight about this little fic series.

This fic will use Fem!Reader in both pronouns and body descriptions. I usually stick to gender neutral stuff, but this fic just works better with a female main character in mind (or at least I think so).

While I won’t be going into actual nsfw stuff (maybe in the future, I haven’t decided), this fic will still contain sexual themes and scenarios. This fic is meant for older teens and up. I don’t write with a young audience in mind, both for this fic and in general.

For those of you who are not familiar with The Apothecary Diaries (wtf are you doing here, go watch it), the series takes place in a fictional version of Imperial China. You don’t absolutely need to watch it to read this fic, but you will have a better understanding of things if you have (also, it’s just a really good show, very well written with one of the best female protags I’ve ever seen).

Also, this fic starts before Sunset, so the whole “Twilight is Wolfie” and “Hyrule can heal” things are not known yet.

–

It felt a little strange to be back in the busy streets of the pleasure district after spending months in the rear palace. But it was the good kind of strange. The smell of grilled meat skewers that you missed so much, the paper lanterns hanging overhead, people haggling for better prices in the street side shops, playing games on the side of the road, or drinking tea in teahouses. And of course, beautiful women calling men over to offer ‘special services’ in the many brothels.

It’s a sight you’re all too familiar with. Having grown up here, raised by the women of the famous Verdigris House, these things did not phase you. One would think that working in the palace would be quite the change of pace, but if there’s one thing that you’ve learned over the past however many months, it is that the palace and brothels aren’t all that different. A beautiful caged garden full of flowers for the emperor to enjoy looking upon.

In truth, if you had the choice, you would not want to have anything to do with the imperial palace, but given your situation, what could you do? You certainly didn’t ask to be kidnapped and sold off to the palace back then and you didn’t ask to be promoted to lady in waiting to one of the four highest ranking concubines. You were doing just fine as an apothecary back in the pleasure district, thank you very much.

You had originally attempted to stay low, worked as a simple, low ranking servant until your contract expired and then head home. You hid any signs of value that could get you promoted; you hid your ability to read and write, as well as hid your ‘true beauty’ so you wouldn’t become a concubine (even if a servant could only ever become a low ranking concubine). Any extra money you would have earned  from those promotions would just be swiped by your kidnappers, anyway. At least you still got paid for your regular work.

Had things originally gone according to your plan, you would have worked hard and been released within three years. However, now that goal post has been moved quite a bit.

But you shouldn't be thinking about work right now; it was your day off, after all. You were back home (after managing to haggle your way into them letting you leave the palace) and that’s all that matters right now.

I should get some radishes and chicken for soup tonight. You thought as you walked down the street of the makeshift market. You hoped that your father had been eating well. He was never all that good at feeding himself. If he was starving for a few days, the old lady from the Verdigris House would force something down his throat.

Speaking of the Verdigris House, you should probably head there later. Both to say hello to your ‘big sisters,’ but also so you could take a bath there. They’d likely want some medicine, too, now that you thought about it. The last time you delivered medicine there was the day you got kidnapped.

Heh. Even on my day off I’m running errands.

With your little morning shopping excursion done, you stuffed the ingredients into the basket you carried on your back and started heading to that familiar little shack you affectionately called home. Dad should be in the fields tending to the plants right now. Honestly, he was getting too old for that trek, especially with his busted knee, but you couldn’t deny that he loved that little garden he’s cultivated over the years. Not like you were any different when it comes to your passion for medicinal herbs. As your master, he taught you everything you know about medicine; what herbs work in which situations, what to use and what to avoid, how to make medicine, what plants, mushrooms and animals were poisonous and which weren’t, etc. He was a very learned man, having studied both eastern and western medicine. With a few more years of teaching, you might be as good as him, or you hoped so, at least.

Finally you reached the calm little neighbourhood you grew up in. It was on the very outskirts of the city, not even protected by the tall stone brick walls. Looking at the small sizes of the houses, barely larger than your average shack, told people that this was where the poor lived. It wasn’t much, but it was home. Truth be told, your father was an excellent medical expert, even having worked in the palace before from what you’ve heard, but for all his skill and knowledge, he had terrible luck, which is why he ended up living here instead of somewhere more fitting for his stature.

But when you got to your little childhood home, you were met with a worrying sight. A woman you didn’t recognise, worry and uncertainty written on her face, knocking on the front door of your home. That’s strange, did she need medicine? You didn’t recognise her servant uniform, but she seemed to be from one of the inns in the area.

You called out, catching her attention immediately. “Are you looking for the apothecary? He’s currently out, but I can leave him a message.”

“Please help, it’s a medical emergency! Someone’s been poisoned!”

Your face immediately turned serious as you dropped your belongings before running inside the shack to retrieve an emergency med kit. “Lead me to them.”

--

People had gathered around the doorway of the inn, clearly all in a panic, but not sure on what to do.

“I brought the apothecary. Please step out of the way.” The two of you moved past the seemingly small army of staff and patrons.

What you saw seemed to match what the woman had told you before. A man lying on the bed, restless, breathing erratically, hands clenching at the fabric of his clothes right over his heart. Immediately you entered your ‘work mode,’ practically diving next to the man. First, a physical check up.

You pried open the man’s eyes, looking into them; you checked his pulse and stuck a finger into his mouth. Judging from the spittle running down his chin and trace amounts of sick on the bed sheets and his blue scarf, it’s safe to say that he had vomited. Still, you pressed down on his solar plexus to induce more of it. It would help expel whatever caused this reaction, but it would also dehydrate him. There was a hrrk, and spit came pouring out of his mouth, which you wiped away with the bedsheets you had gripped.

Suddenly, a new man with brown hair and eyes came running through the door with what seemed to be a waterskin in his hands.

He was just about to offer the water to the man you were tending to, but you shouted at him: “Don’t let him drink that! Charcoal- we need charcoal!” The startled man dropped the item onto the floor, but recovered just as quickly, running off once again to retrieve the required item.

You repeated this process several times on the victim; making him vomit, wiping the bile away ad nauseum until nothing but stomach acid came out. The man was able to breathe much easier now, no longer hyperventilating. Thankfully, at your request, the charcoal had arrived just in time, which you quickly ground up with your mortar and pestle.

“This’ll be rough on his throat, but it’ll flush the toxins out of his body.” You spoke as you poured the fine powder into his mouth. Some of the men, who you assumed to be the patient’s associates, had gathered around the two of you, clearly worried.

“Wa… Water. Please…” Those were the first words you heard him speak, weak, but nonetheless a sign that he was recovering.

“Not yet. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to endure this a little bit longer.”

Though unhappy, he accepted and resigned himself to his scratchy and dry throat for the time being. Finally you were able to remove yourself from the bedside, letting the other men move the patient while the inn’s servant ladies removed the soiled linens.

First damn thing in the morning and I already have to deal with an emergency. I only just got back. You grumbled in your mind as you looked at your filthy hand. Ugh. I really need a bath. You sighed both from relief and exhaustion.

“You doin’ okay, Captain?” One of the taller men with brown hair asked while holding him up so he could stand.

The patient - now identified as ‘Captain’ - took a breath. “Much better.” He then turned his attention towards you. “Thank you. I was certain that I was a goner.”

“I am simply doing my job. There is no need to thank me.” Utilising some water in a pitcher that one of the servants offered, you wiped your hands with a damp cloth.

You then took out a wooden slip, wrote just a couple characters on it and handed it over to the servant woman who you first encountered. “Deliver this to doctor Luomen and bring him here. He should be by the south wall.”

With that, the servant gave you and everyone else in the room a small bow before leaving.

The man with a blue hat turned his attention to the patient, who had once again been laid down onto the cleaned up bed. “Now I know that stuff took you out; you didn’t even try to flirt with your “guardian angel”.”

“So that’s your impression of me?” The sarcasm in his voice was evident. “Glad to know that it took me almost kicking the bucket to change your opinion.”

--

Within about half an hour, the servant had returned, your father in tow. It took longer than you had hoped, but given your father’s age and condition, it wasn’t all that surprising.

He took a good look at the patient and asked some questions.

“I suppose you did an adequate job here.” He gave you his trademark gentle smile after he was done with his examination.

“‘Adequate’?” You ask, annoyed.

A man who you assumed to be the owner of the inn came into the room. “Thank you, doctor Luomen. You are the best medical expert one could ask for.”

“Don’t thank me. My daughter did all the hard work.”

“Tell me, how much do we owe you? Name your price.”

“There’s really no need-”

You nudge your father’s side with your elbow. “Can you pay rent this month?”

“Ah… Well, in that case, I’ll take the usual fee.”

This was one of his habits; undercharging for his work, or even failing to charge at all, much to your distress. You understood the desire not to take money from people who were already struggling to get by, but this was not the case.

A tall blond man in heavy armour came up to you, holding out a small-ish sack. “Please, allow us to reimburse you as well. We owe you a lot.” Seeing no reason not to, you accepted the item.

With that, your father and the inn’s owner head into another room to discuss payment, leaving you to gather up your tools.

From the corner of your eyes, you noticed a few of the men fidgeting nervously or giving each other glances. They obviously wanted to say something. You didn’t know why they were hesitating. Sure, you might have sharp, mean-looking eyes and you didn’t smile all the time, but there’s no reason for these numerous grown men to act like this around you.

“Can I help you?” You broke the ice. No point in delaying this.

The one who you assumed to be the leader cleared his throat. “Actually, we’d like you to answer some questions we have. We’re travellers from afar, you see, and we don’t know much about this place or nation.”

They came all this way here and they don’t know the first thing about where they are? “You’re in the country of Li, specifically in the capital city of both the nation and the Central Province. I’m not going to judge how you choose to spend your time, but if you wanted to go sightseeing, I wouldn’t exactly recommend coming to the pleasure district first.” You raised an eyebrow. Just who were these people?

You saw that a few of the mens’ faces had turned bright red when they realised where they were. “Ha! Told you that this is where we ended up.”

“Are you implying that you frequent these kinds of places, Captain?” It sure seemed like these two had a penchant for arguing. Even during the time while you were waiting for your father to arrive, you noticed that they kept butting heads.

“Enough, you two.” The oldest shot them a quick glare. “Either way, it’s good we left Wind with Four back at the city outskirts. Both because of the inappropriate nature of this place- no offence…”

You shrugged. “None taken.”

“... But so that they wouldn’t have to see you get in trouble like this.”

“You are the apothecary here, right? If so, then you should be familiar with people who have gotten injuries.” You nodded. “Have you heard anything about encounters with any strong monsters, particularly those with black blood?”

Alright, now you were really confused. Monsters? Black blood? Was this some kind of way of informing you of a new disease spreading among the troops of enemy nations? But if so, why not tell this to an army physician instead of a random apothecary?

“Can’t say that I have.” You spoke up after having given it some thought. “Though I have to admit that I have been working in the inner court for the past few months, so I’m not caught up on the goings on outside the palace walls. But if you are telling the truth, I’m certain I would have heard rumours.” Thinking back, Xiaolan - a girl you had grown a friendship with when you were a simple servant at the palace - sure loved her gossip, and if there was one thing she loved more, it was sharing that gossip with you over tasty snacks and food.

“Thank you anyways.”

While this conversation didn’t seem like it yielded much, it did get your gears turning. It was time to do some espionage- or rather, some investigating. Something you’ve gotten pretty good at lately, if you said so yourself.

“Please wait here while I get you some medicine.” With a quick bow you left the room. In truth you had already prepared the medicine while waiting for your father to arrive, but this was still a convenient excuse.

As quietly as you could you hid yourself behind the sliding door and pressed your ear against it. Sure enough, once the men in the room believed you to be gone, they started talking. Words like “monsters,” “eras,” “shadow” and others got thrown around as if it was common knowledge, yet it only served to confuse - and intrigue - you further. One thing was certain; these were not your regular, run-of-the-mill travellers.

Your earlier talk also gave you an opportunity to scrutinise their appearances. Given their unfamiliar clothes and armour, plus features like light coloured hair and eyes, and their utter lack of knowledge of where they even were, you assumed them to be from a distant land, the west, most likely. But that was before you noticed one curious detail that they all shared; pointed ears.

This one thing had you calling things into question. Sure, the world was a large place, but in all your years of studying medicine and the human body, you’ve never heard of any group of peoples with such a distinctive feature.

But now came the question of what to do. What were you going to do about this suspicious group? Should you report them in case they were here to cause trouble? To be honest, you didn’t want to get involved. No point in sticking your neck out for these strangers and possibly risk getting accused of treason. You’ve done your job, you healed them, and you’re about to give them their medicine and leave. There’s no need to let them occupy your mind anymore. You’d steer clear of them from now on. Yeah, that sounded good.

Finally, you pretended to have returned from your ‘excursion’ and knocked on the door. Given the sudden silence from the room, it was safe to assure that whatever they were talking about was not for others to hear.

Walking up to the Captain still in bed, you handed over a small paper bag. “Please take this for the next few days. It’ll ease your stomach and help with getting rid of any lingering toxins. I would recommend drinking it as tea.”

The one who you had identified as ‘Legend’ from when you were listening in groaned. “Ugh. This whole thing’s been a wash. You guys ready to head back to camp?”

A unanimous ‘yes’ was heard.

--

Ironically enough, you could not get those men out of your head. Was your intuition trying to tell you that there was something wrong with them? Or were you simply curious? They were certainly the most interesting people you’ve met in some time.

They had already left the inn and you had headed in a different direction. You did finally manage to get that warm bath you were looking forward to. And getting to speak to your ‘big sisters’ at the Verdigris House was nice. But still your mind was occupied with something else. Damn it, this was supposed to be your day off, but you haven’t been able to relax completely!

You kicked a small rock in front of you in frustration. Hopefully having dinner with your dad would help alleviate your problem.

Suddenly you felt an all too familiar feeling of being pulled backwards.

Well, this wouldn’t be your first kidnapping.

--

And Wars will have to suffer through that dry, ashy throat for the remainder of this fic- lol jk.

A.N Fun fact: did you know that other than Twilight (who has lived among humans for a long time), technically, Legend is the one who has interacted with humans the most? The people of Koholint Island had short, round ears, as did the people of Holodrum (Oracle of Seasons), Labrynna (Oracle of Ages) and Hytopia (Tri Force Heroes).

[randomreadingtimewithtsuki]

Hello pufavo you could headcanon in yu yu hakusho your girlfriend (reader) using your blouses 👕 staying one dress in her please I I would appreciate it ❤️❤️

Hello!

Thank you for requesting and i am sorry for taking so long!

From what i got from your request, you wish a scenario/ HC about reader wearing they boys shirt right? As you did not mention which character i will write for the main four!

Also, gender neutral, for inclusion :3 A bit short, though.

Reminder that YYH is not on the current list. I am writing this because idk, i felt like it, Please check the Rules page before requesting.

I hope this is of your liking please let me know what you think!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Yusuke

Most of the time Yusuke is wearing a white T-shirt, so it might take him a little awhile to figure out that is his shirt you are wearing,

Boy has tons of them, might even go unnoticed.

Now, if you try to wear one of his jackets, then, for sure he will notice.

At first he would be slightly confused. Why are you wearing his clothes?

But then he would get a cocky grin on his face and tease you about missing him so much you stole his clothes.

Be prepared for the teasing hell!

If you get too embarrassed and try to return it, he will turn it down.

Saying you look better than him on that jacket, but also complain you could have asked for it instead of just taking it.

Yusuke is lowkey very happy.

When you eventually return it, he will take a note of how it smells of you. He loves it!

From now he will tease you asking if you stole another clothes of his.

Kuwabara

Unlike Yusuke he has a bit more color range from his shirts, but still mostly white or black.

But Kuwabara will quickly noticed you are wearing his shirt.

How? It doesn't quite fit you. Whether is because is too big or too large? He can't explain, it just not fit you right.

Will get shy af and very confused too.

If you offer to return it, he will stumble on his words, but turn it down.

He will say ( or try to) that you look cute! He loves seeing you wearing his shirt!

Boy is beyond happy doesn't even try to hide it.

When you eventually return it, he will cherish that shirt - it smells like you. A bit weird? yeah, but you have no idea how happy he was!

Lowkey hopes you steal other shirts in the future!

He will be ready to lend you his jacket, at anytime too!

Hiei

Well, Hiei owns only black clothes that are tank top like.

But he will notice right away that you are wearing something that is his.

He will make a snarky remark asking if you have no clothes of your own to wear.

He doesn't mean to be rude or mean, it's just, an unexpected behaviour.

He doesn't know how to feel. What is this warm feeling?

If you try to return it, he will turn it down.

Saying that if you got, you probably need it. Will also tell you to shop for more clothes.

When you eventually return it, he will just stare at you and the shirt before taking it - doing a little hmpf.

Will ask you if you finally bought new clothes too.

But deep now, he did not mind that you took it.

If he sees you are cold, he will toss his shirt ( or cape!) at you. No words, just tossing it.

Lowkey hopes you do it again, will never admit it, but he adored your smell on his stuff.

Kurama

Probably the one of the most clothing choice.

Will also notice right away that you are wearing his clothes. Oh he knows just by one look.

At first Kurama won't say anything, just smile.

He finds it beyond adorable to see you wearing his clothes.

But he will eventually ask you " is that mine?" in the most random time possible to catch you off guard.

His goal? Make you embarrassed.

If you offer to return it, he will turn it down and say it looks a lot better in you.

He absolutely loves how embarrassed you got!

When you eventually return it, he will smile at you and thank you.

You can't tell by his expression but he is very very happy.

Because now his shirt smells like you, his favourite scent.

Like Kuwabara he will offer you his jacket anytime and/or he will gently place it on your shoulders and just smile.

He is dying to tease you about it again, he lives for your embarrassed face!

So be prepared for more random questions or answers if someone's asks why you are wearing his clothes!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you for requsting! i hope this was of your liking!

[chuelectrico20]

Another Movie Tails analysis

Yes, another one because I think his writing is interesting. This time it's about his relation to the Wachowski family now far warning it's more with Sonic and Knuckles but I got little tidbits with Tom and Maddie that I think are important.

Firstly it's important to establish that game Tails and movie Tails are different characters and that comes down to their introduction, movie Tails is way more independent and self-reliant. From the get-go, Tails is living on his own (likely away from his village no parents in sight or ever mentioned), and all his gear compared to his game counterparts' introduction mech and transportation is heavily weapon and defense-based(boomerang, ray gun, anti-gravity thing) so it's safe to say he doesn't hesitate to defend himself and how leaving his planet was an easy choice. Add to that Tails compared to Knuckles and Sonic had a choice to leave home, nothing like losing family or friends since everyone in his village thought of him as a freak, and if we go by the novel and Drone Home bits of dialog he was likely abandoned by his family. These are bits that I already went over in this thread about movie Tail Insecurities and why the way he acts in these films so read that if you want. The main takeaway now is what that means with his interactions with his family and I do mean family while Tails in his mind would hesitate to call anyone family because of how he perceives himself no doubt in anyone minds that they love the little guy as their brother and their kid.

Let's start with Sonic, iconic duo we know. Again though movie Sonic and Tails don't have that same type of bond like game Sonic and Tails, moreso game Sonic acts both as a guardian/brother/mentor towards Tails being that Sonic helped Tails by inspiring him to become better and practically raising him throughout their interactions to where now Sonic can crash over at Tails place whenever, a real special unbreakable bond. Movie Sonic is more childish and less of a guardian and more of a big brother who just wants to have fun with his bro more than anything and Tails gladly accepts this (as shown in Drone Home). Tails can come of more mature than Sonic and gets more annoyed by Sonics antics but as shown throughout movie 3 he understands that's just how Sonic is, Tails admires Sonic no doubt about it, them being so different compared to other aliens like them makes them get along and even if they can easily get on each other's nerves more easily compared to their game counterparts they still have one another back when it matters. Sonic loves having Tails around, Tails is basically the reason why Knuckles and Sonic get along, how Sonic survives his reencounter with Eggman, why Sonic starts realizing he has alot more growing up to do, he's the catalyst for so much and more importantly how Sonic realizes he has a family now.

"I'm really glad you're here Tails."

"I'm glad I'm here too Sonic."

Tails and Knuckles I'm really happy also get to have a relationship that's individual from Sonic. Knuckles actually shows a lot of respect towards Tails even after getting run over by him likewise Tails recognizes Knuckles as a powerful warrior known throughout the galaxy that plane scene between actually says alot on how Knuckles and Tails are willing to get along with anyone so long if they have the sane goal in mind and even then Tails is still hesitate with Knuckles (for obvious reasons lol) though their teamwork shines through in that final act of movie 2 even getting to team up to specifically distract Eggman. Afterwards they both get along extremely well, at the baseball end scene where Knuckles carries Tails on his shoulder, in Drone Home with Knuckles being so direct in calling Tails monolog sad, or movie nights where it's established how often Knuckles gets scared and automatically grabs Sonic and Tails hands out of fear (little detail with Tails already eyeing Knuckles hand even before he grabs it) no doubt they're comfortable around each other. The biggest show of their relationship is definitely when Knuckles comes to Tails defense after Sonic in an emotional state tells off Tails after trying to comfort him. It shows that Tails is just a kid at the end of the day even if he's mature for his age and Knuckles emotional maturity being the oldest of the 3 and the most experienced.

"Ha ha! He does look like a Pokémon! Pika~ pika~!"

The Team in general is important to Tails throughout movie 3. He’s the one that goes along with the name Team Sonic, the one that reprimands Sonic for going off on his own, the one that explains his dynamic with Stone as the gadget guy and the one that desperately tries to hold on to it after Sonic tells him off stating, "I thought the three of us were a team? I thought that’s what made us special?" Though after their argument and everything settles Tails and Knuckles save Sonic and when all three of them are together in the fields it shows how much they all truly care for each other. I think specifically Tails in that scene shows how much of a little kid he is, he’s so so small in Knuckles arms, he’s the closest to look like he’s about to cry at Sonic’s apology and the motion from both Sonic and Knuckles to bring it in without saying a word, yeah he’s found his home.

"How about, just Team."

Tom and Maddie get a section together because sadly Tails has the least amount of on screen interactions with them (Tails spin off Tails spin off Tails spin off please) but the dialogue in reference to Tails helps in understanding their relation to one another. The Wachowski’s obviously view the kids as their children as stated in movie 2, Knuckles spin off, and movie 3. Specifically in the Knuckles spin off when Knuckles is grounded after basically turning their living room into an arena Tails points out how Knuckles throne was made at of "our car" which is just a really sweet detail of how at home Tails feels. Then in movie 3 in the infiltration scene they’re the ones that follow Tails plan the most without pushback unlike the other two silly scene but they really trust Tails and his ideas. Before that the scene at the race Tom mentions his brothers and healthy sibling rivalry again showing how much they consider all of them their children and the comparison in Tom wanting to instill good values for all of them. And final tidbit in the German dub of Sonic movie 3 Tails calls Tom daddy in the final group hug scene aghhhhhh my heart.

I think movie Tails is seriously under appreciated and all too dismissed by many because of his standing next to the other characters with their moments but I hope again you see Tails is interesting in his own right maybe not with flashy or grandiose moments like the others but his smaller actions that move the plot of these stories and effects on other characters again movie 2 wouldn’t happen at all if not for Tails I just think he’s great and I know his family think he’s great too, and hopefully he also feels loved despite his insecurities.

[periwinkla]

How Takumi writes romance - and narumitsu thoughts

I feel the way he writes it is.... dare I say realistic? If dramatic. Which is also very realistic honestly. To be fair all AA characters are kinda.. dramatic themselves so any couple that comes from that HAS to be dramatic. Anyway the point I want to make is that I honestly LOVE the way he writes romance, like come on LOOK at the canon ones: -the Delites (crazy in love and also in general <- perfect AA couple example) -Maggey and Gumshoe (not a canonical couple per-se but canonically down bad for each other and also both kinda wild, one in a way the other in another.... it's left to interpretation whether they get together after AA3, but it is fairly hinted) -Mia and Diego (very realistic? love can be tragic, also love leads you to make bad choices sometimes) -that one wild tgaa couple (don't wanna spoil) -actually multiple tgaa couples This is unironically peak romance to me. We never see the actual development of these couples here. Takumi shows they love each other, he doesn't simply tell you by making characters confess or have cute moments together. You see them do foolish things for each other, you see them care. You see them being illogical and that leads to them doing bad, messed up things sometimes. When I think about that one discussion going around Suekane telling Takumi he wasn't writing the narumitsu scene right so he better scrap the scene (which is honestly a bit of an ambiguous info to be taken with a pinch of salt imo, but let's analyze this anyway) I think the main problem is that that's just not how he writes. It's just not! He didn't write AA that way and it shouldn't be forced like that. It would feel out of place. Like, look at this (obviously just trilogy stuff because that's what Takumi wrote): -Miles' very odd conversation with Iris -generally every poetics Miles spews in the trilogy... -his agreeing to doing something so incredibly foolish at the drop of a hat such as donning a defense attorney badge? (after an harrowing hurried flight over in the middle of the night) He even suspends his disbelief and still resorts to using an artifact that reminds him of the ugliest event of his life? -Phoenix's depression after Miles disappears...? He already wasn't accepting any clients after 1-4 (Ema had to force him) which I think was a mix of things (Mia's death, Maya's departure, the fact that he had accomplished his goal with Miles but apparently they didn't keep in touch?) but then after Miles' note it just went even worse - if Maya wasn't there to basically drag him around, what would have happened? How was he paying rent? Groceries? He wasn't working. How was he planning to continue living exactly? -Phoenix's I-am-the-only-one-who-can-save-him obsession is similar to Godot's I-blame-myself-for-not-saving-her, who has it over someone he canonically loves... and they're both very pretentious about it as well. While these are definitely character flaws, they show as I said that love doesn't always lead to logical and healthy thoughts or choices and sometimes it leads to you doing very messed up things… This is all way more telling to me. And of course I don't believe in a million years the games will ever make it a canonical couple, but in my heart they care so much for the other that all I can discern from this is that at least they canonically love each other. Was it meant to come across that way? Who knows. But sometimes your own creation gets away from you (also it's not like Takumi made AA123 all by himself, other people were involved).

[glitzglamgunpowder-if]

America's sweetheart path...

so there's different paths we can take? tell me more I'm intrigued 👀

Yup!!

So, this is the part where I need to restrain myself because I don't want to get all overconfident and not deliver on all of the branching. Here are my current ideas:

Circus -> Talent Stats:

Aerialist -> Singer

Acrobat -> Dancer

Clown -> Actor

Juggler -> Musician

It would take longer to code, but I could try to write it so that the circus talent and present talent stats can be chosen separately, and certain choices simply pair better together. But in my head, I don't know how much sense that makes because of how MC was well-known at the circus for that one main talent. So them suddenly switching to another feels kind of messy and illogical?

Personality Stats:

Angel's Blessing (Humanity) vs Devil's Curse (Cruelty)

Brains vs Brawn

Obedient vs Mischievous

Admired vs Feared

Fame vs Forgotten

Ethnicity Stats:

MC is ethnically part [Italian, Irish, Jewish] and choosing one will have an impact your backstory and interactions with some of the characters

End Goal Paths:

America's Sweetheart (Timeless Celebrity Ending; "You're a historical figure remembered favorably by the public!")

America's Most Wanted (Notorious Criminal Ending; "Your name will always send a chill down people's spines...)

America's Forgotten Idol ("I'm sorry, who are you again?")

[omamervt]

yo yo! ttrpg trick or treat!

I mean if you're gonna come at me with this I'm never gonna turn down a chance to talk about City of Mist and its spinoffs, the game I am the most normal anyone has ever been about anything. (if I understand the rules correctly, this is Treat)

ahem.

City of Mist is an urban fantasy noir RPG heavily inspired by Netflix's Daredevil TV series. It now comes in LGBT-themed Sentai flavor (Queerz!) and Cyberpunk flavor ( :Otherscape) as well, with a High Fantasy version (Legend in the Mist) in the works! It also has some pretty great community support, just look up City of Mist Garage on DriveThruRPG!

The thing this game does that makes it special to me is that player creation and advancement is almost 100% driven by character development, and it does it better than most other RPGs that I've seen that try to offer the same.

at character creation, you choose four Themes for your character. You use these themes to determine what kind of character you're working with, and what kind of skills their life experience might have given them. It's also how you can tie in fantasy elements and give yourself literal super powers.

Once you've chosen your Themes, you answer four questions about your character for each Theme. These become your Power Tags, which you use in place of stats to make your roll modifiers, as well as your Weakness Tags, which you or the MC can invoke to give you a -1 to a roll, or to add a complication to the current scene. (this also gives you an XP point in that Theme so it's worth it to you to let this happen.)

But the other thing that comes with every Theme is a Mystery or an Identity. The idea of City of Mist is that you aren't born with powers, you Awaken to them when a Mythos - an idea, concept, or character from a story - decides to enact its will through you. Examples from the pre-made characters would be Excalibur, the wealthy socialite who became the Rift of King Arthur after she finds the Ultimate Weapon, which manifests for her as a piece of jewlery that transforms into whatever she needs in the moment. But the idea of a Mythos never fully survives contact with reality, as your character is still the person they were before - someone with a life, family, friends, goals - an identity. Another of the pre-gens is Kit, a Kitsune spirit who manifested itself fully in our world, but has disguised itself as a teenage girl after falling in love with a boy. Her affections form an identity outside of her purpose as a Mythos.

You as a player have the choice between trying to live the life you had before by creating Identities for your Logos themes - things that anchor you to your life in this world - or by pursing mysteries for your Mythos themes - finding out what your Mythos expects of you, and then deciding whether or not to do it.

Progression in this is interesting because the main story will put your characters' identities in conflict with the will of their Mythos, as well as the needs of the group as a whole. As you play, you can decide that your character is ignoring their Mystery to the point that getting answers no longer truly matters to them, or abandoning their Identity to the point that they wouldn't recognize their old self anymore. The attention to the themes you advance the plot of will grant you new powers in those themes, whereas the ones you allow to fade away will eventually be replaced by new character aspects that became important in the meantime. And it happens entirely at your discretion - the MC can't tell you to mark Crack/Fade on a Theme, they can't force you to explore your characters' personal story arc, but doing so MAKES YOUR CHARACTER GROW AND CHANGE, WHICH IS HOW YOU LEVEL UP!

I could probably write a few more paragraphs about this game if anyone cared.

[lsunstreakerl]

ohhhh im sososo in love w/ ur worldbuilding in fmf !? like i am not joking it's been on my mind 24/7 and ltrly got me thru this exam ssn (which is finally over yayyy)

i finally have a lot of time and lots to yap abt and this ask is gonna go so many different places cus. i have an inability to stay on track. hope u don't mind <3

im v interested in a lot of things fashion-wise for both kingdoms, along side other topics but my current brain worm has been abt the wedding itself. i have to imagine that customs r very different up north compared to central (ricos kingdom is centre, right?) ones and one of the main factors for me is the prince consort's attire.

would max wear his own traditional attire to signify the relation between two kingdoms or would he have to conform to the verhoeven wedding attire? and does he get a choice in the matter? i think this is a pretty major stand-in or reflection of the progressiveness/conservatism of the laws, and by extension, the people there. or at least of the royal families. i have like a wedding attire design analysis cooking up im js waitinggg for that hint or nudge twrds it (other than the tailoring and measurements mention which were very a nice touch!) so i have some material to go off of and don't accidentally mess w/the writing flow.

and sparring clothes !! ohh im thinking abt sparring fits a lot. lightweight loose sweatshirts for consistent long practice hours, tighter fits and cleaner material for evaluation sparring (and some show-off), maybe leathers for max to demonstrate certain situations better i js know rico and townspeople would go crazyyyyy.

also im thinking fmf au where everything is the exact same except townsfolk have twitter. i don't know how. they js do and purely for the sake of treating the royal families how we treat f1 drivers (and all of stantwt yk)

(these r so fun to make shsjsksk wait i got a create a separate ask of js these)

anyway yeahhh yapping over !! love ur work as always mwah xx

CONGRATS!!! exam season is The Worst Thing Ever and I'm super happy and not at all jealous that you're free!

oh I'm such a worldbuilding nerd it's genuinely a problem. fmf is entirely self indulgent and that's just another example LOL. I have no problems with rambling asks :D there's technically spoilers for the wedding below but I put lots of thought into it so I think you should all read it anyways 🫶

wedding thoughts: there's a little bit of a mix going on here! for the actual ceremony, they've both got white suits. Rico's has chunkier gold embellishments compared to max, who has finer silver jewelry. (matching with his diadem that I talk a little about here.) there's an element of northern customs with both of them having white fur cloaks (a gift from the north in celebration of max- his people put a lot of their time and energy into getting the materials and constructing two of the cloaks. it's a clear sign of approval by his own people back home.)

cultural northern customs involve having to chase your partner down after the offered proposal in what is widely considered to be a fun, slightly horny "hunting" game. sure, you can propose- but if you can't even catch the person you're trying to marry, are you really a good fit? the chaser usually has to avoid traps set by the partner being chased, who's goal is to go without getting caught until the sunrise. when the partner being proposed to initiates the chase by running, it's a partial acceptance. full acceptance is given if they're caught.

central kingdom customs involve a very large festival-style celebration that features lots of bright colors, and clothing that's flowing and showcases movement for dancing. very big emphasis on marriage being a solid foundation and element of a healthy community, so any kind of union (royal or not) is celebrated with a bunch of enthusiasm. traditionally there's a lot of dancing through the day into the evening, and then the night ends when the townsfolk carry the newlyweds and dump them into the lake. (symbolizing the washing off of any past struggles or baggage, and that when they leave the lake together they're starting their new life as partners)

for the rico and max, they do both! the initial hunt after the proposal, and then the festival after the ceremony.

sparring clothes please I love your brain. generally soldiers wear lightweight clothing to practice (unless they're doing armor training) which max is fine with, but when he's teaching certain movements and evaluations he wears the leathers. there's lots of theories floating around why he does that, ranging from "he's trying to make us overthink it" to "it's a reminder of how different the styles are" it's actually just because his leathers are very well broken in and comfortable.

PLEASE THE TWEETS 😭 I was trying to decide what was making me laugh harder- "twitter for medieval magic devices" or the fact that max is on the phone reading off of a scroll. absolutely hilarious, thank you 🤍