#it'll probably be a big favorite of mine for a while

[yandere--stuck]

NEED to know your thoughts on a yandere bill cipher

⚠️ Listen, pal, I KNOW why you're reading this. You've got a crush on YOURS TRULY! That's right, buddy, the cat's outta the bag! Well, not like the cat was ever really in the bag to begin with. What? Didn't think my all-seeing eye would spy you making goo-goo eyes at artistic depictions of me? AHAHA, aw, hey! Nothing to be embarrassed about. It's not like I can blame you, I mean, have you met me? A winning personality, great sense of humor, beautiful singing voice - I'm a total catch! And between you and me, you have better taste than the rest of your species’ population.

👁 There are probably numerous reason why you like stuff like this: The obsession, the possessive behavior, the VIOLENCE. Sure sounds like romance to ME! But as for you… Is it the abandonment issues? Lack of validation in your life? Feeling misunderstood and ostracized by the world? Loneliness? A desire for an escape into a fictional world? Or are you like me? Is romance just no good without the true passion of twisted devotion and obsession? There's no need to LIE! We're kindred spirits, you and I.

⚠️ I know just how you feel. You've been kicked down, laughed at, and made to feel small. You've gone unappreciated by blind MORONS who wouldn't know greatness if it melted their eyeballs out their ears. Because you are MEANT for greatness. You are meant for something more, and I bet it burns you to know that. That you're better than all of them. That they're nothing without you, and they DESERVE nothing. They deserve to BE nothing. I know just how you feel because I was in your place. Surrounded by flat minds in a flat world with flat dreams. HA, and I sure showed them. WHO'S LAUGHING NOW, HUH? ME!!!!!!

👁 The point is, I know you. I've had my eye on you for quite a while, kid. Q U I T E A W H I L E. And might I say, out of all the flesh bags that have clogged my vision over the centuries, YOU'RE clearly the best looking outta all of ‘em, hot stuff. But looks aren't everything, of course! You've got a personality to match. Gotta admit, it's cute how you get so invested in your interests, the little hobbies you pick up, just watching you go about your day is like the universe’s greatest reality TV show starring my favorite person in the multiverse! OH, I could just decaptiate you and nuzzle your fleshy little head in an approximation of a kiss right now!!!

⚠️ So, c'mon, just let me in. Shake my hand! Let's make a deal. No matter how big or small! And it’s not just for the purpose of liberating your dimension, no. I want to really get under your skin. To feel what it's like to be in the body of my favorite person. As close as two beings can get, closer than you can get with unworthy specimens of your own kind, more intimate than any experience in the world. I want to be that close to you. Because you're mine. You're MY HUMAN and NOTHING WILL CHANGE THAT. Y'HEAR ME?

👁 So, you might as well accept that you and me are destined, kid. The signs are all there. So, if I were you (and I could be, if you'd just let me), I'd do this the easy way. Because right now, there's two ways this can go down. The easy way: You summon me, and we make a deal. Anything your precious human heart desires - and more! You'll be my precious human pet, my puppet, my toy. Mine to own and have rule beside me! You'll prove everyone who put you down wrong! Anything you want - love, money, fame, worship, vengeance - it'll all be yours, and I'll give it to you. Because I want you to be happy. Because I want what's best for you. Because I’M the only one who actually cares about you. Everything you wanted will be yours. And there'll be an eternal party to celebrate our eternal love… Or, you could do this the hard way. Cause I'm gettin’ outta here one way or another. And when I do, well… I don't think you'd like being locked up in The Love Cage to be TORTURED until you reciprocate my feelings and see the light. I'd say I wouldn't want to, but that'd be lying. So, it's probably not a good idea to give me more of a reason to. So, whaddaya say? You know you deserve the best. Shake my hand and join the winning team. Either way, you're mine.

[hjinnie]

things enhypen does that make your heart go wild.

enhypen x gn!reader! fluff! masterlist

✩ heeseung!

kisses you at red lights. TELL ME HE'S NOT THE TYPE OF BF TO KISS YOU AT A RED LIGHT, GO ON, I DARE YOU. he's SO that type of boy. he'll be driving, one hand on the wheel, the other one holding your hand on top of your thighs. you're chit chatting about something while soft music plays on the background. and then he stops at a traffic light, looks at you DEEP in the eyes, and just kisses you, in the middle of your sentence. I COULD GO ON AND ON ABOUT THIS, I MIGHT ACTUALLY WRITE SOMETHING.

✩ jay!

brushes your hair out of your eyes. OKAY i'm so soft for this man, and i know he will be talking to you and just 🤭 put your hair behind your ears, or brush it back! and he'll be so nonchalant about it too, like he will do it so much, eventually it'll just be normal and expected, so whenever he's around, you barely touch your hair.

✩ jake!

hugs you and keeps you on his arm for as long as he possibly can. he is the type of boyfriend to just come up to you, wrap his arms around you and STAY THERE. like just stand there like this 🧍🏻but with you. if there's people around, they will probably stare at you and be like 🤔

✩ sunghoon!

makes BOLD eye contact. i honestly think it'd be so intimidating to have him just stare at you like 😃 not in an weird way, but in a gut wrenching, heart warming, lovey dovey, "i'm so whipped for you" way. but he would do it like all the time!! you're having a conversation about trees and he'll be like "yeah, i like green 😃👀👁️👁️"

✩ sunoo!

watches your favorite show. i just know sunoo would watch your favorite show so you two can talk about it. gossip girl, grey's anatomy, friends. you name it, he watches it. and then he will get so excited about it and become a big fan! loves the show almost as much as you do 🥹

✩ jungwon!

plays with your hair. imagine just laying on his lap after an exhausting day and he just starts braiding your hair lightly, while listening to you rant about how your coworker is so stupid. and then you end up falling asleep and he just stays there, like a statue, to make sure you'll stay sleeping. top 10 dreams of mine.

✩ niki!

does stuff just because. OKAY hear me out. you two will be doing something and he'll randomly just give you a peck, and when asked why he'll go: "just because." IDIAURJJSHR!! OR OR you're watching tv, and niki will come behind you and mess up your hair, laughing at how adorable you look like that, and his explanation will remain the same.

[papersnakepress]

I had a message the other day asking (among other things) what kind of tools and equipment I use in making books, and as it's something I like to go into detail on, I realized I couldn't fit everything I had to say in a message so it's getting its own post. With photos!

Disclaimer that I'm not a professional bookbinder, I'm entirely self-taught and probably have habits and practices that would drive a pro nuts. I'm no authority, but these are the things that have worked for me, and maybe you can adapt them to work for you too.

This post will not cover: storage options, materials like board and glue, or equipment specific to one narrower aspect of the hobby like embossing or gilding. It is also not a tutorial on how to make a book, though I am covering things in more-or-less the order I use them in during the book-making process.

This post will cover: What I've found useful, what I've regretted buying, and some things you can co-opt from other, more common hobbies. A lot of it you may already have in your house. Some of it is for beginners, some is nicer equipment you might want as you get further into making books. They are not separated, it's just a list and some description.

Keep reading below the cut; this is gonna be a very long one and there are a lot of photos of everything.

If you want to make books you will need access to a printer. I'm not going to go into detail on this part and I didn't take a photo of my HP (not the best brand, but that's a long discussion in and of itself). Once you've got your pages printed and it's time to fold it into signatures, it helps to have a folding tool like these:

Folding tools can be anything as long as they're smooth and flat. The one on the left here is an actual bone folder from an art supply shop, but the center one is a plastic leatherworking tool that I got at Hobby Lobby, and the one on the right is an agate burnisher that I got from Amazon. None of these cost more than $10, and you can also use the edge of a pen (as long as it has no rubber grip or cap/clip) or the back of a spoon. Or your fingers, but the tools make it faster and the folds are more precise. I once worked a job where I had to fold maps, and all my coworkers were wondering how I did them so much faster and why mine were flatter than everyone else's, and it was because I'd grabbed a sharpie and started using the back end like a bone folder.

Once it's folded, you'll need to poke holes for sewing. I use one of these:

Left is, again, an actual bookbinding awl from an art supply store, while the center one is a paper quilling tool and the right one is a beadwork awl, both of which came from a big chain craft store. The bead one is my favorite; it's a good size and very stable. The quilling thing has too long and thin of a blade and it's wobbly, and I don't like the tapering on the bookbinding awl. It tends to make the holes in the middle page too big, and the outer ones too small. Again, these were cheap, about $10 each, but you can also use a sewing needle stuck in a cork, or a thumbtack or pushpin. If it's pointy and rigid, it'll work.

This isn't a requirement by any means, but I've found I like having a punching cradle for the hole-poking step. I got this 3d printed one from a fellow bookbinder, who was designing their own and made this one as a prototype. There are a lot of tutorials on how to make a punching cradle, or you can buy them online from several different vendors. They don's all look like this, and you can make them from wood or cardboard (though those don't usually have guide holes). If you're just starting out or this doesn't appeal, you can just use a paper template like the one on the far right. The cradle helps get the holes lined up and evenly spaced, and I've never liked this step so anything that makes it faster and less fussy is a win. If you use this kind, check that your hole-poking tool fits in the guide holes--the binding awl pictured above doesn't, but the other two do.

We've made holes, so let's stitch them up. These are just regular sewing needles and beeswax, to make your thread less prone to tangling. You can get both of them in any store that has a sewing department. There are dedicated bookbinding needles, like curved needles, and some binders like them, but I've never gotten the hang of the curved ones and they aren't necessary, especially when you're just starting out. If it fits through the holes you made, it will work.

Once it's sewn, you probably want to squish your new text block so it's flat. I've got a laying press that I bought a couple of years ago when I was first getting started. It was marketed as a book and flower press, and it's honestly not the best. I would probably not have bought it if I had known that it wasn't essential to the process, and I mainly use it now when I'm squishing a text block and still want to use my work space, because once it's tight I can move it somewhere else. You can really use almost anything for squishing as long as it's heavy and flat and rigid on one side, like the stack of books in the right-hand photo. Textbooks, encyclopedias, art and photo books, and comic book omnibuses are all great. I've seen people use all kinds of things, like paper-wrapped bricks and doorstops, and there are tutorials out there to make your own press out of cutting boards if you do want one.

If you like your books to have smooth, flat page edges you're going to have to trim them. This is a book plow from Affordable Binding Equipment, and it was the first piece of actual expensive equipment that I bought. Not all plows look like this; I think the design is unique to ABE, but I've never used the traditional kind. In the interest of full disclosure, you can also trim edges with a sharpened chisel, which is much cheaper and can be bought at any hardware store, and some binders love this method. I do not love this method and have had zero regrets about caving and getting the plow. Very easy to use but does require some grip strength. Not pictured: the setup for sharpening the blade, which isn't hard but requires a bit of space and a small sheet of plate glass that you have to source yourself. Even with that, I still prefer it to the chisel. That said, this is not an essential step and you can leave your books with a "sawtooth" or deckled edge. Most of my early books have them, and some people just like them better than the flat ones and never learn to trim them. As another side note, some tutorials will say that you can trim your edges flat with a knife. You can't. Maybe on a pamphlet you can, but if it's more than 10 or 20 pages you just can't. It will look terrible.

If you're going to use a plow, you've got to have the right kind of press. The one I talked about further up the thread is the wrong kind (full disclosure: I did use it with that press turned on its side, before I bought this one. But it's harder, more time-consuming, less comfortable, and less safe. Don't be like me). So here's a photo of my finishing press (also from Affordable Binding Equipment). I bought it so I could make backed books, but I use it for trimming too. The top part here has a narrow tapered section for backing, but if you flip it over it's totally flat, which is what you need for trimming. Not pictured: the stand that it came with for backing, or the c-clamps that I use to attach it to the desk for trimming. Again, though--this isn't a requirement for bookbinding. This is a later stage that's entirely optional. On the subject of backing, though:

You don't need special equipment to round the spines of your books, but you do for backing. Left image is the set of backing boards I got from, once again, Affordable Binding Equipment, and on the right is a backing hammer from Hollander's. Neither of these are essential. Even if you get the boards (which have to be used in a press with a tapered edge, like the one directly above) you can actually use a regular hammer as long as the front part has no scratches or gouges. This one is a backing hammer, the primary difference being that it has a wider, convex head than a regular household hammer, to make the kind of glancing blows needed for backing a little easier. Honestly, I'm still learning how to use these and I'm not very good with them yet. Comes of being self-taught, probably. I don't think youtube is the best vehicle for learning this part, but it's what I have and I'm making do. Not every book is going to benefit from backing, either; it's primarily for helping mitigate spine swell.

Okay, time for my favorite repurposed equipment hack.

It's bookends. Regular bookends that I've had for ages and that probably came from Ross or some other place that doesn't even sell craft supplies.

Want to keep the text block upright while you glue it? Bookends. Want to sew some custom end bands but your text block keeps falling over? Bookends. They won't provide pressure for squishing, but if you just need to hold something upright while you work on it, bookends are the answer. They hold up books, it's right there in the name. Having said that, you want some with a little weight to them, like these agate slices, so they won't slide around. And you want something with a smooth finished edge like these, so they won't scratch up your text block or leave dents. I have other sets but these are the only ones I use for this purpose, and they're better for it than anything else I've got.

Moving on from making the text block, let's look at what I use to make covers.

It's appeared in the background of most of the other photos, but here's a photo of just the desk surface covered in cutting mats. I really recommend a mat to protect the surface of your furniture and keep your knives from going immediately dull. I've got a big one that covers almost the full surface, and a small one for when I want to be more mobile. I started with just the small one and it was good until I started working with larger sheets of paper. The big one was bought largely for convenience but I have no regrets about it. They're self-healing, non-slip, and you can get them in the sewing section of any big craft store.

I'll be honest, I am not big on knives. I've got a regular box cutter for trimming board, and a razor knife for paper and cloth, and that's it. There are a lot of kinds and really all you need is one sharp blade for board. Paper and cloth can be cut with scissors if you want, though I find I get more consistently straight lines with the knives. Also pictured: Metal rulers and a T-square. You want a metal ruler for this. Plastic will flex and wood won't lay flat. Ideally you want one without a cork backing (my 18" one has this problem) and with the tick marks etched in rather than printed (my 12" one has this problem). For larger sheets of paper and cloth, the 18" one is great, but you can get by with the smaller one. The T-square is for making right angles; mine is plastic and only 12", and I really wish I had a longer one that was metal. These are drafting tools and you'll find them in the section of the craft store that has easels and sketch pads and they're usually pretty cheap.

This is an adjustable compass. You can probably get these at craft stores but I got mine on Amazon. It's for measuring hinge gaps and the width of spines, both essential for making sure your cover fits your text block and your hinges open the way they should. Both of those are incredibly frustrating situations, and this thing makes it so much easier to avoid them.

Things to spread glue with! Any old paintbrush will do, though I like to have a few different sizes and textures on hand to choose from. I like the big one for cover boards and casing in, the mid-size ones for doing turn-ins, and the little fellow for details and touch-ups. I don't care for foam brushes because I find them hard to clean when glue is involved, but if you like you can use those. The metal thing on the left is a micro-spatula, and I did have to special order it from an art supply place but it was cheap and it's very helpful to have on hand for when the brushes are too thick, for doing turn-ins on rounded spines, and for separating pages if you decide to learn edge foiling. Not essential, but recommended.

One thing I neglected to take a photo of is my crepe eraser. Despite the best intentions, no matter how careful you are, you will at some point get glue where you don't want it, where it will be visible on the finished book. This is where the crepe eraser comes in; you can use it to remove dried glue from cloth or (to a lesser extent) paper. Very annoyingly, none of the craft or art supply places I went to had even heard of these and I had to get mine from Amazon. It was cheap (under $10) and I strongly recommend getting one.

Once your cover is made, you have some options. You can leave it blank, hand-letter or draw an image, stamp it with ink or embossing powder, use a stencil, or do what I usually do these days and make a cover graphic from HTV. I've got a cricut for this (though they're not the only kind of cutting machine; it pays to research other brands) and a mini heat press (I want a bigger one, but I got this one cheap because the box is messed up). A lot of libraries have cricuts you can use, and you can use a regular iron to apply the HTV. Getting it to stick is a bit tricky, but that's true no matter which tools you use. Not pictured: a cutting mat, different than the kind shown above, necessary with most materials you can cut (mine came with one, they're about $20 at most craft stores, and they're lightly sticky to keep your materials in place while it's being cut). I don't know if other brands require them, but cricut does unless you're using their Smart Materials (I have never used these). If your library has a cutting machine, they will also have the appropriate cutting mats. Also not pictured: weeding tools. Weeding is when you remove the bits of HTV that you don't want in the final image, usually the spaces between letters and such. The negative space, if you want to get artsy. The special tools cricut sells aren't necessary, you can use an awl or needle and the dull edge of your knife blade, but I have a set of theirs and I like mine.

I didn't take a photo of it, but sometimes I use embossing inks and powder to make cover designs and text. You only need a heat gun for embossing powder, it takes up way less space than the cricut does, and it's cheaper. I got mine free from a family member so I don't know what it cost initially, but cutting machines are a really big expense; the cricut is my third most expensive piece of equipment, after the finishing press and the plow.

Good god I think that's everything. It sounds intimidating, I know. And it sounds like it takes up tons of space in your home, and to be honest it can, but it doesn't have to. The first dozen or so books I made, I made completely to my satisfaction with tools and materials that fit in one 12x16" moving box. If you love the hobby and can make the space, the bulkier items might be worth it down the line, but especially when you're first getting started it's smart to keep things low-cost and compact. Most of the basics are simple and your fellow bookbinders are delighted to share their shortcuts and substitutions if you ask.

The end! I hope it was helpful, @cardassianexpats! I did warn you it would be wordy, lol.

[esotheria-sims]

Hi!

I really like your creations and good looking game. May I ask how you managed to made it so "perfect"? Which computer do you use with wich OS and gpu?

Hi! Gosh, thank you so much!

I wouldn't know about my game being "perfect", but I'd say I've managed to accumulate a well-curated mix of cc and mods that work well together!

(Long reply under the cut!)

The secret is to constantly be on the lookout for cool cc (old or new) that fits your game, and to keep testing and trying until you've found the perfect balance.

You gotta have a general idea about the kinda aesthetic you're going for and start from there. Are you playing a modern hood with a touch of magic? Get the right cc. A medieval fantasy world? Get the right cc. A grungy desert dystopia? Get… well, you catch the drift. Want to play all of the above? Multiple dedicated cc folders are a thing, too! But as with everything else, you gotta Get The Right CC.

There are tons of posts, videos, blogs, and even sites dedicated to themed or general cc recommendations, so I won't make this long post even longer by listing them. But one general piece of advice I can give you is to comb through your favorite simmers' blogs/channels/pages/discords/etc. and see what they recommend. Some simmers have a Masterpost where they list all the mods & cc they use in their game. Most people have a WCIF tag on their blogs (here's mine!)

Also, remember to thoroughly comb through all the big cc sites and forums such as MTS, Garden of Shadows, PlumbBob Keep, SimPearls, HellHasSpoken, etc. I probably sound like a broken record on this one, but old sites and forums contain TONS of cc (some of it pretty iconic!) and it'd be a real waste to skip out on them.

As for my own PC, it's pretty mid-tier by today's standards. It's a Win10 desktop with an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 CPU, 2x16GB RAM kit, NVidia GeForce GTX 750 Ti, and 120GB SSD + 1TB HDD. Funnily enough, I remember a similar ask from a while ago wondering about the same thing, and lemme tell ya, my specs back then were… nothing to write home about. 😅

Which brings me to my next point: you don't actually need a high-end PC to play The Sims 2! This is a fussy old game, and from what I've seen in the community, how well it'll run on a given computer is… kinda random. At this point, I feel like the game relies on voodoo and spite more than any particular hardware configuration. Which is actually good news, because it means you can have a pretty game (and take pretty pics!) even if you don't have a beast of a computer!

[cheekinpermission]

hello! I was just wondering, do you have any advice for getting so many gems in Twst? Also thank you for your wonderful art, I enjoy looking forward to see what you draw next :D

Buy them

Just kidding! I've only made one purchase for TWST. It was less than $10 and was way back in the beginning for some kind of deal or something.

My 16k gem stash is the product of two years of grinding and selective pulls. I really wish I could say I had some kind of hack but that's really it. I'll talk about how I approach spending resources in the game, though, if anyone finds that useful.

As per usual, I ramble so it'll be under the cut!

1. Pick a favorite character

HEAR ME OUT I KNOW ITS HARD BECAUSE ALL THE CHARACTERS ARE GREAT! But it helps a lot if you're limiting who you're willing to pull for instead of every pretty card that comes out.

Personally, Riddle is my favorite (+ Grim but he's not really a concern card wise) so I'm committed to getting all of his cards. I'd really hate if I couldn't get one of his cards that I really want because I spent my keys / gems on a card that I only kind of wanted. So that's something to think about if it helps keep things in perspective.

All my Riddles!! (I definitely don't have a favorite Riddle shhh)

For example, I absolutely love Ortho's Fairy Gala card. I think it's one of the prettiest in the game! But I didn't pull for it because Ortho isn't a favorite character of mine.

It works the opposite, too. Kalim, Vil, and Ruggie are among my favorites but I've passed on a lot of their cards for one reason or another. I passed on Tsum Kalim because I didn't like the groovy, I passed on Silk Adorned Vil because I didn't like that it didn't have an attached vignette, and I passed on Camp Vargas Ruggie because I didn't like the event itself. While I really love these characters, I'm picky about which ones I'll pull so I don't miss out on a better one later.

For characters that I like quite a bit (top 5 ish), I'll use their free ten set you get on their birthday to try and pull for them. If I don't get them within those ten pulls, I accept it and move on.

I also want to say that this method has allowed to me to get pretty much every card that I've actually wanted. I can even pull for characters that aren't among my favorites (e.g. Idia who has THE BEST SSRS FOR SOME REASON??) and still have a big gem safety net.

I don't pull super often, I don't think, but I've gotten everything I've wanted so I think it's a fair trade-off.

Given my gem stash, you might be able to get away with collecting for a dorm but it'd have to be one of the tiny ones (Scarabia would be excellent because Jamil has almost no SSRs rip)

2. Plan ahead of time using JP TWST events

One of the biggest advantages of JP TWST releasing events way before Eng TWST is that we know what's coming ahead of time so we can plan accordingly. Obviously, this won't work if you're trying to save gems on the Japanese server.

You'll have to be okay with spoilers for the English server, too. At least enough to know if a character you like is in the event. I like to look at the card art and groovies, personally, as those will influence my decision if I'm on the fence.

SPOILERS FOR JP TWST EVENTS

I know which cards that I need to save for in the future:

Riddle’s Swimear SR

Ruggie’s Clubwear SSR

Rollo's SSR (pending available keys)

Riddle's Bloomquet SSR

Vil's Luxe Couture SSR

Vil and Malleus's Tsum SSR (pending groovies)

While we don't have a definitive schedule for a lot of these, a lot of them you can kind of guess.

For example, Riddle's Swimwear SR is part of Stitch's event which seems pretty summer-y to me. It'll likely come out in June or July of this year. Clubwear cards come relatively quickly so I'm anticipating Ruggie's Clubwear SSR fairly soon, too. Gotta make sure I'm saving right now for those bad boys.

Rollo and Riddle will probably come around the same time (Aug-Nov) so I've got a bit of time to build up my collection of keys again.

The others just got released in Japan so they'll take awhile before they reach us and I'm not too worried about them just yet.

SPOILERS DONE!

I think of it like going to the grocery store with a shopping list. Stick to the list and you know you can't overspend!

3. Don't pull for dorm cards

"That's easy for you to say, Cheekin. Riddle is your favorite character and you can get his dorm card for free at the beginning of the game!!"

Why, yes. Yes, you can. Thanks, Riddle!

(Ngl I might've caved and done it for Riddle but ONLY Riddle because he's my fave :D)

Now that all of the dorm uniforms have been released, dorm showcases aren't really a thing but in the event that they do a re-run I would avoid spending keys / gems on them. Same goes for the standard show case. Neither are worth it, IMO.

Dorm uniform cards will always be in the SSR pool regardless of the event, so I think it's better to just take your chances and collect them slowly overtime. Of course, the odds of getting the one you want aren't super high but you'll amass quite a few dorm cards just by pulling for event cards anyways. You're bound to get one you like eventually.

For reference, I've gotten Dorm Idia, Ortho, Vil, Jamil THREE TIMES, Kalim, Azul, Ruggie, Jack, Trey TWICE and Deuce TWICE as a byproduct of pulling for event cards. I wasn't trying to get them but they're here now and I love them for it <3

---

And that's about it! Nothing too groundbreaking. The biggest thing is knowing when to stop. Sometimes when I'm on that gacha grind high and I want to pull just cause it's been awhile since I've gotten an SSR, I'll tell myself to do it later because 99% of the time I'll just forget and it'll never happen!

I have been burned by too many gacha games in the past that I refuse to let it happen to me again in TWST (cough Obey Me COUGH)

Here are all my SSRs so you can judge for yourself how effective it is. (Or if its worth it)

I genuinely have no clue what the average number of SSR's a player who has been playing for over 2 years like me has, but I'm comfortable with what I've got. I've gotten all the cards I've wanted and most of the cards I was interested in so I think it's worth it.

tldr: be selective about your pulling, plan ahead, and resist the urge to pull constantly

Thank you for your kind words about my art!! (And if anyone got to the end of all this WORD VOMIT thanks for listening! Reading. Whatever.)

[primamchorus]

People I want to get to know better

Tagged by @upatreewithoutaharness; thank you \ o w o /

Tagging: @ubejamjar, @sasslett, @ainyan, @sylaurin, @semper-miles, and anyone else who wants to do it! (no pressure, though!)

Last Song: Far Away by Red Vox -- I might have been trying to lose myself in some feels, because this song is such a release for me. It took me a while to realize why it feels so powerful to me and for me, and it's because, to me, the lyrics speak of reflection and letting it be okay to change as a person, that even if the experiences linger and last, it's okay to move forward, and it's okay to look back to see how much you've grown. Favourite Color: Contrary to what one might think, my favorite color is crimson and darker reds in general. Hard to believe when so many of my characters are very much Blue-Coded™ Currently Watching: I had a mind to watch Inside Out 2 later if I could. Last Movie: My partner and I watched SpyxFamily: Code White last night! Sweet/Spicy/Savory: I am a big sweet tooth. I love sweet flavors, and, uh...if my family history is anything to go off of, probably need to cherish it as much as I can while I can. But I also really love savory flavors as well. Spicy...ehhhh...habanero is about the hottest I can tolerate. My partner got the least spiciest buldak from one of our Asian markets when we lived in north Texas, and I don't know if I want to find out how spicy spicy is for Koreans if a two pepper rating on the package made me rethink my life choices. Like! It was delicious! But holy shit. Relationship Status: It'll be mine and @blossomblade's 14th anniversary this Halloween. Still unmarried, but it's really not a big deal. We may as well be. Current Obsessions: It's still Nomin and Estinien. I'm still very much active posting all kinds of things about my ship and how much I love them over at @paintedscales Last Thing In My Search History: ... :D "surrogate parents -pregnancy" -- I was very much looking for any other ideas for today's FFXIV Write. (Don't worry, I got it, and it should be going up soon)

[ardenrabbit]

Do you have any advice for keeping motivation going when writing longer fics? I’ve tried a couple times to write longer fics but my motivation almost always dies out quickly even when I have ideas galore. I get really sad that I’ve never written anything over like 14k 😭

Aaaah idk if I'm qualified to give writing advice but I'll try! If these don't work for you, please ignore them!!

I think my best advice might be my favorite technique: WRITE OUT OF ORDER. Think chapters ahead and write scenes or even just snippets for things toward the end of the story you have in mind, even if you change the outline and end up cutting those scenes later. If you need, have a different doc just for writing future scenes or put the snippets under a cut at the bottom of your wip doc. It'll give you a goal to work towards and help you think about the story as a whole. So just, I guess, pick the scenes you're most excited about throughout the entire story and start with those, and the rest will follow as you get excited about the scenes that fill in the gaps. Don't be afraid to write messy. Nothing is wasted; even the scenes that you cut help you explore and process the ones that stay.

I think I'm kind of just obsessive as a person and I get writing blinders, like. I'm cranky if I go too many hours at a time without writing, so I'm almost constantly writing on my phone. If you only write on your computer and find yourself losing momentum, maybe try writing on your phone whenever you have an idea for accessibility's sake? It could keep your story on your mind and keep the juices flowing.

Another thing is to REREAD YOUR WRITING. Start from the beginning of your fic and just reread what you have, and the inertia might help you remember or come up with what happens next. This kind of goes hand-in-hand with the general "write what you want to read" and tbh it helps you fall in love with your own writing.

One of my weaknesses is that I get too many different fic ideas, so I keep ONE doc per fandom with just blurbs of different AUs separated by line breaks lol. That helps me keep the runaway ideas contained, and if there's one that gets too big because I can't stop writing for it, it graduates to its own doc and becomes an active wip (I still have too many tbh but I'm trying to just stick with the ones I'm posting for now).

If you have ideas galore for one wip you want to work on, write them down in a list, no matter how disorganized. When you're IN your passion for writing that idea, get down as many scenes or even just blurbs you like about it while the energy lasts. Hopefully that can help hook your attention on it, because you'll have already devoted attention to your favorite parts of it. Don't try to organize the ideas as you go; you can clean up later. Don't even worry if the scenes conflict while you're still playing around with them. Just create and write freely while you're feeling the height of your motivation. And don't worry!! Even if you lose motivation for a while, it doesn't mean it won't come back!! Don't let a loss of inertia make you feel discouraged!!

So I guess in summary:

1. Write the scenes you're excited about, regardless of order or outline, and cut and organize later

2. Keep your wip at your fingertips

3. Reread your writing

4. Contain the other wip ideas

5. Losing steam for a while doesn't mean the end!

I hope this contains something helpful for you! Everyone's writing process is different and mine's a mess, but it's a fun mess.

Honest to goodness, do you have any advice for me on writing oneshots?? Probably my biggest downfall is that I can't wrap oneshots up neatly and finish a short work. I admire people who can take an idea and conclude it efficiently. 😭

[banicraft]

hey i just wanted to say that this is my favorite resource pack probably ever, even if it isn't out yet!! i absolutely adore all the custom models you made and i don't think i could choose ONE favorite thing even if i tried so im gonna list some things i really like: - the little tuft of wool on sheep heads - the offset snout on the pig - the brown mooshroom having lines as markings while the red ones have spots (THAT WAS ACTUALLY GENIUS) - the stars on the phantom's undersides - PIGEONS - the custom model you made for the skeletons!! it never sat right with me how minecraft skulls have the exact same shape as a regular head - BLUE FISH!!!! MY ONE TRUSTED FRIEND THE BLUE FISH FROM MINECRAFT - all of your vanilla shulkers PLUS the pride shulkers - the "little guys" as the spawn eggs!! they're all so cute!!! - making the zillagers bluescreened villagers was SO SMART - vending machine witch !!!! what more could you want in life?? i'm not even normally a big fan of "cute" resource packs, i feel like a lot of them try too hard, but there's just something about this one that really scratches an itch i didn't even know my brain had! i will ABSOLUTELY be finding a way to use this pack when it comes out!! if i have to take all the textures and port the models over to java myself just to have a chance to play with them then i will!! oh also if you've done the bat already can you please send me a link to them if you answer? i love bats i wanna see what you did with it :D

Ello! And Thank You so much! It really means a lot to me that this personal project of mine is enjoyed by so many more people than i could have ever imagined!

i do have plans for a java port, tho it'll take some time after the bedrock release since i havent messed around with java edition much

also, here is the bat you asked for:

[exbex]

I wrote to you about this in the comments of 'and I will stick by you' but I'm back again with more. I hope this is ok and not weird or annoying. "But Sam figures the essence of Bucky can be found in the room Bucky claimed as his study." That line is the heart of what's held my attention about that fic for weeks. I've filed it under "a seminal work" because it's inspired me to write something though for a different fandom. I finished that fic yesterday then went through other fics in that fandom (only 2) and remembered why fan fic gets a bad rap sometimes. I've been spoiled by my favorite writers in the Sambucky and IWTV fandoms and you're one of them. You replied back to me (ateerys) that you wrote the portion of Sam in Bucky's study because you wanted to ease readers into Sam reading the fictional story Bucky wrote for his creative writing class. Though probably not a big deal to you, it's had me in a chokehold since the last week of October. The essence of someone being made obvious through their personal space isn't the profound part, I guess, but maybe the way you wrote it and it being something I hadn't come across before. I even thought through my personal life and remembered one time I spent time in someone's room while they walked off to do something else and kind of doing what Sam did. So once I remembered a personal experience and reread your fic, I started to write my own (I hope this is also ok). I don't think mine will have the same effect on readers that yours did on me but I tried and like it well enough.

I went through fics in that fandom to see if my writing was along the same lines as what people have been reading for a few months and see that it's a tad bit different so it'll be interesting to see how it's received when I post it. In conclusion (😌), this is a bit of a thank you and a kudos in a paragraph form since I can't leave another one on the fic itself. And me telling you that it's hard to read fics in other fandoms sometimes after reading good ones like yours.

First, this is more than okay and the opposite of weird and annoying. Not to be dramatic, but this just made my month and my heart has grown three sizes. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me. I will most likely be reading this message appropriately 87,000 more times and grinning like a fool. “So once I remembered a personal experience and reread your fic, I started to write my own (I hope this is also ok).” This is also more than okay. I was definitely influenced by Questinwitchface with the way Bucky makes a space for himself with a study (“The Promise of Cheesecake and a Decent Wine”) My writing has been influenced by countless other fanfic writers along with profic authors. It’s the highest compliment, imo, to receive that my writing influenced another writer. Thank you so much 🥹

[iapetusneume]

so i don't go here, but you seem really into warhammer right now, so tell me about your favorite wh40k fic you've done. pick something you are particularly proud of.

For this, I went only with my one-shots.

I was torn between Actions Speak Louder Than Words and The Gift of the Rope. I'm going to go with the former, as I think the story behind writing it is probably a bit more interesting.

This story is my most... well, pretty much everything of my 40k fics, besides subscriptions. Most kudos, most comment threads, most hits, most bookmarks. It has since been translated into Chinese (with my blessing). And let me tell you, I had so much anxiety writing this story.

See, the 40k fandom has an exchange at Christmastime, and it's named after a holiday in canon that happens around the same time, called Sanguinala. It's a really wonderful time because it's one of the few 40k-exclusive exchanges, and a lot of people participate who don't usually do exchanges. Among the many amazing writers and artists, participating in this exchange is one of my favorite artists in the fandom. And I thought to myself "Becky, what are you going to do if you get them for your assignment?" And I was like "haha there are like 30 people participating, what are the odds?"

So you can guess what happened. I got them for my assignment.

For the prompts, they had three options. I was only really familiar enough with one of the prompts, so I knew immediately what I was going to write.

So in canon you have these 18 demigod-like characters, called primarchs. And they had a civil war (the sides referred to Loyalist and Traitor) and some of them died and some of them turned into daemons and some of them have gone MIA.

And since you don't go here, I'm going to give you the extreme cliffnotes version of why their prompt was a big deal.

Fast forward 10,000 years. There's only 1 known Loyalist primarch in the current canon for a while who is awake and active... until very recently. A second one is no longer sleeping MIA, and these two primarchs have a history. They are, in fact, 2/3rds of my favorite triad, and the triad is one of my absolute favorite romantic relationships in the fandom.

And whether or not one ships them, so much of the fandom is looking forward to them seeing each other again. We don't know when it's going to happen - but we're hoping that it'll be in a novel in the near future.

40k, in terms of writing fic, is a fandom on the smaller side. There have been a few fics written about this supposed reunion, but I think there were only two when I wrote mine? And the ones written were not smutty, and my fic was going to be smutty.

And my anxiety was getting really bad, and I had writer's block. I'm not as current about a lot of the events in "the present" of 40k. I was afraid to get something wrong.

So, in my last ditch attempt to get inspiration, I picked up the novel that had recently been released that talked about the primarch who recently returned. And its one of the best books I've read for 40k. And I found out later that the author is queer, and it is obvious that he crammed as much queer subtext as he possibly could.

And the very end of the epilogue was what I needed to start writing.

My anxiety didn't vanish because I was writing, but at least I was making progress. Which at this point there was less than a week left before assignments were due. I did not have time to second guess myself. Two friends in the fandom were pre-readers for me, and reassured me it was good.

And I submitted my assignment on time, but it wasn't a version I was super happy with. But then I had a week more to come up with a better ending and edit my submission.

Christmas came around, and the recipient loved it.

This fic deals with aging, and I compare and contrast what we-the-readers once saw them as, to their new reality. How it might manifest. And as their bodies have changed, so have they. They've been through so much, and no one really understands what they're going through but each other.

This fic also gave be a massive confidence boost in regards to my writing, and how I engage with the Canon. 40k is hundreds of novels, with plenty being contradictory. And then there are the things one ignores because its dumb. And then all the AUs one writes because one's favorite character died, and yes I understand the narrative significance, but I love him and want him to be happy. ANYWAYS. My knowledge of current events in the canon were not great, and I knew the recipient knew a lot more than me. That didn't stop them from loving my story.

40k is really unlike any series I've written for before. When I wrote for anime/manga, I could say "this is based on [x] version." When I wrote for Dragon Age, I could say "this is only off of the games," and people would understand the scope. 40k is so nebulous, I'm still honestly figuring it out. And I sometimes wonder if the desire to "know the canon" is a barrier to entry for other writers.

I took a giant chance with this story, and I'm still feeling the benefits.

[bungouchronicles]

Introduction

Hi! I'm Aria and my pronouns are She/Her.

I've been on Tumblr for awhile but never really made an official blog for posting but there's just so much I wanna say so I thought "I'm bored on the bus, lets commit to Tumblr".

I don't really know what I'll be posting except that it'll probably be mostly related to bungou stray dogs as it's my current obsession (and has been for the last 3-4 years-). I do like to both write and draw too so I might post some of my work aswell.

Favorite posts of mine:

Soukoku and their views on humanity

Dazai hates going to the doctor, Yosano hates having him there

Dazai and gift giving

Akutagawa and the man dressed in black

Fyodor and what the future might hold

I love to love

Fyobram nonsense

Fyodor and "that man"

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

Here's some general information about me and what tags I use under the cut ⬇️

Things I like

- Bungou stray dogs (wow you could've never guessed)

- Moriarty the Patriot

- Genshin Impact

- Kamisama Hajimemashita

- My little pony: Friendship is magic

- Anime

- Manga

- Reading

- Writing

- Art

- Music

- Anything creative really

- Philosophy

- Psychology (sometimes)

- Classic Literature

- Theater

- Character/story analysis

- A bunch of other anime series I haven't mentioned

- Honkai star rail (though I haven't gotten that far)

- Just a bunch of things, I love deeply and easily

- Vampires

- The Stanley parable

- Spider-man

- Just super heroes in general

- Goth music

- New wave

- New romantic

- Post-Punk

- Yk just cool 80's synth music

Things I dislike/Hate

- Horror (I like the scary vibes but I can't handle actually scary stuff)

- Gore (I don't mind blood)

- Extreme Violence

- Sharks (big teeth)

- Mirrors (creepy)

- Just general bad things (stuff like racism yk)

- Probably more things but I can't think of anything rn

- Proshippers!!

-----------

I'm happy to receive asks but know that I won't respond if it makes me uncomfortable so yk, be normal.

I might edit this in the future if anything changes or I remember something I should've added but forgot to but until then this is all.

Edit:

Right I use tags! So far these are my tags:

#aria indulges the voices Which is just general stuff like random thought etc, I am planning to take that more organized at some point though.

I also have:

#aria reblogs I don't think I need to explain that one haha

And:

#aria answers asks That one is pretty self explanatory too

#Aria analyses Which is like story and character analyses

Edit 2:

I now also have:

#Aris writes

While I'm at it I'll add another one too since I'll most likely use it in the future:

#Aria does art

And:

#Aria theorises

Bye bye! <3

[katielovably]

Don't cosplay, but I might try Edd from Eddsworld. He's an easy one plus Bean (my cat) can be Ringo. They're the same breeds, and cola isn't hard to get along with a green hoodie that isn't that hard, along with us both having brown hair. The problem is that I get anxious when I record myself. But it's something to work on. 👍

I'll move on from Eddsworld soon but I like it brings back memories of my childhood (God that makes me sound old, I'm only 27) but Eddsworld was made while I was in elementary school and high-school (hell, Tom quit Eddsworld when I graduated)

My brain is also thinking about doing a fantasy Edd because I saw a perfect cloak

Anyway, I might try doing cosplay this year like Percy Jackson's half-blood cosplay (probably a Poseidon and Hades maybe Zues kids (can you tell I like the big three) maybe another like Demiter because she's another favorite of mine along with a hunter of Artemis (because she's another one of my favorite goddesses) and Eddsworld cosplay and other cosplay that's similar to that. I'll try to lose weight as well... I'll try to keep this promise and add pictures to show and make stories for the Demigods. Who knows? I might make friends doing it. I'm hopeful and excited. It'll be fun 🩷

[ne-spivay-ranenko]

Jukebox January: Day 1

So I saw this prompt game from @esskuesli and considering that one of my favorite things to do in the world is gush about music, I thought it'd be fun to do it! I have a feeling that this is going to heavily lean on artists I listen to a lot and know their entire back catalog, but I want to share music that's really me.

Day 1 is songs starting with A. Let's go!

Aijā - Sudden Lights

The song that Europe did dirty. I need to drag everyone who didn't vote for it in front of sad Andrejs and tell them to apologize. I love, love, love how when you listen to Sudden Lights you can tell they started in music school together, because the 5/4 to 6/4 transition in this song is everything. 5/4 is a fave time signature of mine because it's got this unsettling feeling, you can make it feel like you skipped a beat or added one, while any time signature in 3 has this gentle, rocking feeling to it. So switching from the verses where he's singing about how he doesn't believe in the beautiful world anymore, to the chorus where he's telling you not to cry, and then the lullaby-inspired ending--this song is so good from so many perspectives. Go listen to Sudden Lights. Do it. Now.

A sem ti povedal - Joker Out

The buildup of this song is so good, one of my favorite things in the whole world is songs that start out minimal and build to a big ending. I love this one because it doesn't have the drop between verses and chorus, it keeps building through the song, starting with just guitar and then adding in the whole band and then adding more and more layers of guitar and then finally another layer of vocals, so good in every way! Plus I love the little bit of Spanish guitar in it, as someone who had a brief phase of trying to be a classical guitarist as a teenager.

Absinthe - I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME

Every iDKHOW song has such a fucking good groove and I think this is exactly what you get when your frontman (and only man, now, I guess) is a bassist. Why this one specifically? It's not the point of the song, I know, but as someone who was really, really into Les Mis as a teen, I love a good mention of absinthe.

Anna Sun - Walk the Moon

This one's here, of course, because it's about me. 😉 I actually love the lyrics even if they didn't mention my name: "We got no money but we got heart/We're gonna rattle this ghost town" is such a lovely line!

Always You - Depeche Mode

This one's from their newest album, which is such a melancholy yet beautiful album, some very dark moments (the album has a lot about the pandemic, war, and death of Andy Fletcher) and yet these moments of love and hope, and this one is all about that love. Depeche Mode are the absolute best at creating this all-encompassing atmosphere with their music, the emotions are layered into every note, and so I feel it in my heart that "There's always you/The light that leads me from the darkness", which is especially powerful coming after People Are Good if you listen to the album in order (I love to listen to albums in the order intended, because there's artistic intention to that too).

For some reason A is a really hard letter, but B... let's just say tomorrow will be a whole bunch of my absolute favorites of all time. Like, it'll probably get so long I have to put it under a cut. (I don't have an explanation for this.)

[quillheel]

𝟗 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐢 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 !

last song i listened to : AUDIT by WeevilDoing, it SLAPS and its stuck in my brain. Ruler of my Heart by BL8M and Rubyeye for the show Alien Stage also lives rent free in my brain i'm THIS ( pinches fingers together ) close to adding Ivan to this gd multimuse. I love him so much. ( Luka is also a fave of mine but no one beats Ivan <3 )

favorite color : big fan of warm colors, neutrals and weird blue-greens <3 ik thats not One specific color but shhh the heart wants what it wants

currently watching : uhhh i'm soon to start rewatching black butler & starting dungeon meshi!! i've also been watching a playthrough of laika: aged through blood over the course of a while as well as planning to get around to watching final fantasy 7: advent children after finally finishing crisis core, but i'm not sure what i'd qualify as Currently 'Right This Damn Second' Watching. probably the persona 5 playthrough I've been watching slooowly with friends!

last movie/tv show i watched : ALIEN STAGE on youtube, i just watched it ( as of feb 26th ) earlier tonight!!! movie wise, I'm not sure, probably across the spiderverse!

spicy/savory/sweet : sweet!!!! love sweet stuff, but also a big fan of spicy and savory :] absolutely HATE savory sweet and spicy sweet though for some reason

relationship status : single as hell lmao GBRHKGNRBTK i'm open but like. shrugs. it is how it is BHKGTRB

last thing i googled : if we're talking in general; 'across the spiderverse' cause I couldn't remember if it was into or across the spiderverse when mentioning the above, if we're talking QUESTIONS; 'how to fuse orthus with dodge slash persona 3 portable' because I'm really bad with the fusion requests in portable and then spent way too long and way too much money doing this persona request BGHKRTB

current obsession : PERSONA PERSONA PERSONA PERSONA PERSONA alien stage PERSONA i'm so rabid over persona in general but especially 3 and 5, the former because I've actively been playing through p3 portable, but YEAH i've been gnawing on it relentlessly for Months now, it's probably been like. at least half a year or something. ( alien stage mention bc i rlly like it and it's been encouraging me to get back into watching anime/donghua/hanguk aeni bc GODDD i rlly like the premise, the vibes of the characters and the animation it SLAPS and it'll probably torment me for a little bit now )

tagged by: @digitalworid ty!!!

tagging: idk who have done this so if u want to do this or are within sight of something grey, go for it!!!

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms' Brute Grail Front Review #6

hoo boy, looks like caesar's just completely ignoring the grail war format now. we'll make sense of this ridiculousness below the cut.

Know Thy Enemy

so right off the bat, we've got a big focus on mobility this time around, with Cu Chulainn and Summer Okita making a surprise face-heel turn, as well as Nagao Kagetora, Alexander, and Ushiwakamaru to really seal the deal. We've also got Assassin Emiya who feels kind of left out, though he can move in quick bursts.

this team isn't really defense-heavy, but they move fast, and thanks to Emiya and Alexander they can hit hard in quick bursts.

Who to Bring?

this time around we're at a serious numbers disadvantage, with only one assassin, two sabers, and an extra class to work with.

first things first, we need to get these fuckers to stay still for five goddamn seconds. that's why we're getting a helping hand from your favorite kaiju and mine, Kingprotea!

KP's got a massive reach, so even the speediest enemies trying to stay out of it will have their work cut out for them. on top of that, she can smash up the ground to slow down most enemies while using her big ol' bigby's hand to ground Okita. thanks to KP's size she can also move at full speed while grappling medium creatures- that means she can just pick up two enemies and hand deliver them to her allies for easy pickin's.

but we're still at a big disadvantage with numbers- the action economy is big in this game, and without any caster servants it'll be hard to summon any help...

unless you're Jason.

Jason relies on his friends a lot, and thankfully his build comes with a lot of ways to bring them to the battlefield. summoning Herc is probably a risky move, but the enemy has more people, so he's more likely to hit them! genius play, no notes.

but y'know, I'm still not sold on us having the numbers advantage. if only there was some servant who was actually a ton of people, and could deal burst damage to take out the enemy dpses quickly! oh hey Hundred Personas, didn't see you there.

if the enemy wants to play hard to get, that's fine! HP here can just create more copies to throw their way, no sweat. and of course having a sneak attack to match Alex's and Emiya's smites doesn't hurt either. I mean, it hurts them... you know what I'm saying.

finally, we need another cheap saber and our options are gilles de rais, the guy who we're fighting against, or Bedivere. that's not even a competition.

the good news is Bedi's another burst damage god, and he's great at helping out the rest of the team too! he's got multiple stackable smites, as well as a champion challenge to lock enemies in place!

[criticalrolo]

level one, prep, and tpk; secret and heart for sigrun

Level One: What was your first experience with D&D? How did you hear about it? What was your first game like?

My first experience was DMing a one shot LOL

I had just gotten really into critical role in 2016, and was nearly caught up, when some of my friends (who didn't know I was currently Hyperfixating On DnD) actually casually brought up that they'd never played dnd before but it sounded like fun. They just needed someone to run the game since no one there really knew the rules. Cue me jumping into the conversation being like, "HAHAHAH HeyyyYyy you guys wanna play some dnd and need someone to run it? as it JUST SO HAPPENS, I know the rules and would LOOOVE to try running a game hahahaha..."

So I prepped more for that one shot than I ever did for any session ever, it was a level 1 4 hour game where I made everyone character sheets, bought dice sets for everyone, and had them clear out a wizard's basement filled with giant rats. It was REALLY fun, no one seemed to catch on that i ALSO had no idea what i was doing, and afterwards I asked if they would be interested in a Longer Campaign. I had a couple takers, and that first campaign ran for probably about five sessions before the school year ended, so nothing too wild happened, but after that I got some real games set up and ... here we are several years later :)

Prep: How much prep work do you do? How far out do you prep?

I do like... 1-3 hours of prep work before each individual session. And even then, it's mostly like... finding maps and stat blocks for NPCs. I go into each Arc that I run with a general outline in mind for what big beats I want to have happen, but otherwise I let each session progress based on what the PCs decide to do. It's definitely a combination of laying down tracks vs improv on the fly, but so far it's worked out for me! Having a really loose style has definitely helped make the story feel organic and player choice-oriented while still keeping things moving in the direction I'm hoping it'll go. And it gives flexibility for when players do things WILDLY unexpected!

TPK: Have you ever had a game go completely off the rails? TPK? How did you adjust?

I've come CLOSE to some TPKs but the players juuuust managed to squeak by, which is always my favorite kind of vibe. It's way harder to plan for that than you'd think when you've been DMing for 7 PCs for so long LOL

Honestly I don't think I've had anything go completely off the rails, or even really come Close to being that out of control? I've definitely had players make WILD choices that altered the course of FUTURE sessions, but my DMing style allows for a lot of flexibility I think, so I've never really been. THROWN by anything if that makes sense. I always LOVE it when the players make choices that Alter The Narrative Entirely.

My favorite example is when a friend of mine playing a cleric who was devoted (by accident) to Chaos, decided at the last second, in game, to NOT accept the help of their Chaos God and decided to just DIE instead. We had worked out a plan for her corruption arc!! It was going to be sick!! But apparently in the moment, during a big fight against a really difficult Boss, she looked around at her friends and decided her character would actually rather die than become corrupted and potentially break the world/hurt her friends. it was INSANE and COMPLETELY changed the next arc of the campaign since Ethros. DIED and couldn't be revived. And I loved it and we worked out a whole new arc for Ethros later :)

Secret: Is there anything that you know about your character but your character doesn’t know? What is it? How did you come up with this secret?

AUGH YES -- this was actually something that happened in game. From her backstory, Sigrun's village was attacked by raiders and she nearly died in the assault. She was healed by a strange figure she didn't recognize, swore an oath to what she Believed To Be the old gods to get revenge for them, and then this figure gave her Daisy and sent her off to safety.

NOW SIGRUN DOESN'T KNOW THIS... but that figure was actually her dad Osvald. who was sent forward in time by the Old God of Negentropy. to fulfill his wish to protect her. So I was playing Osvald at the time in a mini campaign, got this wish, and wished to Protect Sigrun. Then the DM narrated Osvald getting sent into the future, and I realized it was a scene from SIGRUN'S backstory, and I promptly lost my mind casting cure wounds on her and find familiar to give her Daisy. it was SOOOO GOOD

Heart: What drives your character? Do they have a theme, question, mission, etc. that they’re holding onto? How did you pick it for them?

Sigrun's character absolutely revolves around the theme of Family, in all its messiness and love. What do you do when the people who raised you tried their best but couldn't give you what you needed? How do you feel about them? How do you deal with people leaving, with being alone, with them going off without you? What do you owe family, if anything?

She has this mission to rescue her family members (yes I do this backstory in different variations for like. all of my PCs. dont worry about it) who have all been taken by this interdimensional raiding group, but something she doesn't admit to herself is that she's somehow trying to rescue her Dead Father too. And maybe she's trying to rescue herself? She's got insane abandonment issues from the various family members Leaving (by choice or by force), and I think there's a part of her subconscious that desperately wishes someone had come back for her when she was little, so now she's trying to act out that wish by Rescuing Everyone Else.