#its relevant to me... in that I'm traveling rn

[felassan]

r/dragonage (Reddit) post titled "Jeff Grubb: Dragon Age: Dreadwolf scheduled to release in late 2024." Post text: "Dreadwolf to be shown this summer and planned release later this year, Bioware is internally confident on the release date. Anything could change of course." Source: [link] Clip: [link] "Credit to: u/IcePopsicleDragon for posting this in r/GamingLeaksAndRumours."

[source]

In episode 339 of Game Mess Decides, Jeff Grubb had the following to say on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf's possible/rumored release window [transcript]:

Question from chat: “Hi Jeff and Mike, when will Dragon Age 4 be shown and released?” Jeff: “Yeah, I mean, I expect it will probably pop up this summer. I don’t know when it’ll be shown is the real answer, that’s the, let’s get that out, I don’t know when it will be shown. I assume it will be shown sometime this summer. Could happen at any time though. It will be released this year [2024], last I heard. That is, and they’re pretty confident about that, doesn’t mean it’s a guarantee, could slip, but right now, internally, they expect to release it later this year, which is why I took it in Fantasy Critic”.

[source (timestamp 35 mins 20 secs), clipped version]

(there were no more mentions of Dragon Age or BioWare during the episode)

[zanarkandfayth]

Writing asks! Pls answer 2, 7, 11, 17, 23, 25, and 37. And if there are any others you'd like to answer, then please tell me about those too!

02 Anything that you'd like to write but feel like you're unable to? ooh, I have an immediate answer for this but I'm not sure how to word it. like… can't just say "plotty fics" because my fics have plots. can't say "fics where the conflict is external" because some of my whump fics are also that. but, hhh… those kinda fics that have those things but the plot is, idk, complicated??? with lots of foreshadowing and plot twists and dramatic/adventure-y stuff is happening. like I would LOVE to write some kinda time travel fix-it fic AU for ffxv that takes elements from canon but has its own interesting/intriguing plot where original things that aren't just a rehash of canon slightly changed happen, but I really struggle to come up with any strong ideas for that kind of thing. or like when I used to be in the csi/criminal minds/psych/house fandoms, I would have LOVED to write casefics but I'd never manage the mystery aspect of it. if any of that makes sense? I also feel the same way about horror fics, I've read some fantastic ones in the ffxv fandom and I'd love to write something of my own, something involving ghosts/haunted places, but I can't really come up with ideas and I also don't know if I'd pull of the creepy aspect of it all.

07 Your favourite ao3 tag. you would think it would be hurt/comfort or angst or whump, but no, underage/non-con combo, my beloved. love me some projection and coping.

11 Three tropes that are fine but overrated. Okay so I've spent most of the past hour before answering this looking at fanfic trope tier lists and browsing posts on the ao3 sub about overrated tropes trying to find ones that would fall under this for me, and the only conclusion I can come to is that I don't have any. because for me, I only (unfairly lmao) consider a popular trope overrated if I dislike it/hate it/just don't fucking GET it 😅 like enemies to lovers. absolute yawn. don't hate it but it does nothing for me and I don't genrally read it. I do not get the appeal. but it feels SO popular rn, I see it talked about a lot on reddit and tumblr and I'm so tired of it lol. so it just feels completely overrated to me. (and no, my dear mutuals who like enemies to lovers, I don't mind your posts about them. exceptions are always made for moots.) but like, say… only one bed. it doesn't make me lose my mind and I don't seek fics with it out, but it's a fine trope. really enjoy a good only one bed fic if it comes my way. therefore, would never call it overrated.

17 Past or present tense? Why? I can do both but I love the immediacy of present tense these days. also love that it's more like I'm in the character's head following along with them as things are happening to them, seeing them have thoughts and say things in real time, rather than being narrated a story that's already taken place.

23 Dialogue or description? Why is the other one so hard? I genuinely love both equally and don't find either overall difficult 😅 however, I will say that since I have aphantasia, I often find it hard to remember to include visual descriptions lmao. like I can describe emotional stuff so easily and probably get too wordy about it, but describing a character's appearance or what their surroundings look like??? even when it's relevant to a scene, I often forget. a lot of it tends to get added in after the fact, usually when I'm halfway through a scene and realise I need a damn description. and it's because when I'm reading my brain just glosses over descriptions like they're not there because they mostly do nothing for me. so I usually have to force myself to take note if it feels important. though I do like nature descriptions because those are easy enough to have an idea of so I dismiss those less. they also naturally make it into my writing more haha. so if I had to pick between one, it'd be description for that reason, but I don't really struggle with the actual describing part of it.

25 Is writing the whole thing beforehand better or worse than writing it as you go? oh, this is such an interesting question because I feel like my answer would be so different ten years ago, and even more different still twenty years ago. but at twenty-five years, I'm honestly not sure anymore that one is better than the other. it just depends on your needs and maybe the fic? because, well, I'll use my here's to the fall series. on the one hand, posting it as I wrote it ended up being really stressful for me because it got so much more attention than I expected and I started putting pressure on myself to update regularly. literally fucking APOLOGISED to people during grey skies for needing to take a break from writing/posting for awhile when I'd fucking downed a bottle of pills, as if I was letting everyone down by needing to put my mental health first lmao. I could have avoided all of that stress if I'd pre-written the fics*. on the other hand, the ending for shadows growing came from a reader comment, as did some of the scenes in grey skies and the side scenes that made up ties. I'd never have that if I'd waited to finish the fic before posting. I might never even have finished shadows growing if I'd waited, because I may never have come up with an ending on my own.

I will say whichever one I go with, I have found it immensely helpful for me to have an outline first, because that's kind of my version of a first draft. sometimes I may not have the whole thing outlined when I start writing, only partially, (like with monsters) but I still know roughly where I want things to go, and how it ends. if I don't have that much, I won't even write.

*don't worry, I have long since remembered again this is just a hobby and if someone is upset that I don't update regularly or abandon a fic, not my fucking problem 🤣

37 Do you research before writing or while you write? Is it fun or boring for you? either while I write or while I outline! usually both lol. not in initial plotting stages tho. and I'd say most of the time it's fun for me :D I just have to be careful not to get too in-depth with some of it or go too far down a research rabbit hole, because then I start obsessing over needing everything to be accurate all the time and that just starts fucking the sun* out of it. did that with a digimon fic and that was definitely a big contributor to why I ultimately abandoned it. looking up the date your scene falls on so you can have the exact time the sun set in tokyo that day and make the character's clock say that as he's checking the time and noting the sunset is just a liiiittle unhinged. but it's what I did.

*I meant sucking the fun obviously but the way I accidentally wrote it first is so funny I'm leaving it anyways thank you for the ask!! always fun to do <3 no bonus answers because I'm tired now lol

[definitelynotshouting]

Ok so hi, hello, hope you’re doing well. Your hunger AU has hooked me and I have questions if you’re up for answering them. Or if they’ll be answered later that’s fine too.

1) Just how did the confrontation with Grian being outed go down? As far as I know Martyn doesn’t really have much proof that it’s Grian behind the games besides what he’s inferred from the Listeners but even then how does he back that up to the others? Did he just announce “Hey, Grian’s behind the games that traumatized us!” and everyone just agreed?

2) So now that Xisuma and the others are on the opposite side of the Dev Crystal, who’s in charge of Hermitcraft?

3) Speaking of the Dev Crystal, the single player turned multiplayer server is closer to where the Watchers are (I think). Did Grian’s moving around alert them to where he was, or is he still moderately safe?

4) Is it possible for a player to jump to a server connected to another Dev Crystal?

5) Will we get insight to how the non-Hermitcraft members reacted to the news (besides Jimmy)?

Thank you in advance 😌

Omg hello!!!! Im doing alright, a bit under the weather so thats why replies are so insanely slow rn 💀💀💀 but otherwise im doing good!!! Im so excited you like hunger au :D genuinely this never gets old for me to hear im just so excited all the time that people like it so much

The confrontation with Grian is something i haven't fully hashed out yet, but i'm currently rotating ideas around for exactly how that went down. It's definitely more complex than Martyn just telling them-- i just haven't taken the time to tease that out of my brain just yet because the exact how hasn't been relevant yet. Once i get that sorted tho i'll likely make a post for it :]

Nobody's really in charge of Hermitcraft, tbh, and Xisuma isn't much of a leader to begin with. Sure, he does necessary maintenance and code wrangling for them, but he's definitely not in charge of the community and wouldn't want to be anyway. The hermits are pretty self-governing, they're doing just fine without him!!

Closer is a bit relative, the server that Grian and co are on right now is around the.... edge of the "middle ring" of servers, so to speak??? So its not the farthest out, but it's a bit more inward in its placement than the Hermitcraft server is. The Watchers haven't been alerted, though-- full disclosure, im not putting the other Watchers in this fic because i want the main focus to be about recovery. However, they might appear in other related stories if i decide to write them!!!

I wanna say both yes and no to this. Or more accurately, not on their own, unless they're a very skilled code wrangler. I've briefly mentioned "tears" in the Greater Code before in-fic, and those sort of act like wormholes or extremely long-distance portals-- although in functionality, its less of a tear and more like taking two folds of stretched out fabric and moving them to sit next to each other. That's how people can travel to other server clusters, and i think stuff like that is mostly set up on city-server hubs like Hypixel or MCC

We will!!! We will absolutely be getting that insight within the narrative-- i plan to touch on every life member's reactions and feelings at least once in the fic. Which is a bit of a tall order but 😂😂 this is gonna be a loooong fic, so i'll have the time to do it

Hope this answered your questions!! :D thank you for stopping by to ask them!!!

[folliesandfolderols]

Writing prompts days 35, 36

From this prompt list. If you've read this far, I'm not sure you need any explanation, but the short version is I hadn't written any fiction since 2019, I set a goal to write at least 150 words/day in 2024, and this list was my way to restart. Also I abruptly decided on day 2 I would write an entire Tim/Damian story connecting all the prompts, because I am Good at Judging My Limits. /sarcasm Anyway, I finished the rough draft a while ago and am now unlocking the old entries as I edit.

Read from the beginning here, or on ao3 here

Days 32-34 here

***

44. "You're really messing with my head here."

***

A week later, Tim remembered to check the scheduling program and tweak the frequency of assignments for Damian. When he reviewed the results a week after that, he was half-surprised, half-resigned to see that Damian had manually revised his availability to be more frequent than ever. Oh, well. His work wasn’t noticeably suffering on either the civilian or vigilante front, so Tim supposed he didn’t have a right to talk to him about it.

He did switch things up a little, just to stretch out of his usual patrol territory and keep from getting bored. Damian somehow always being on the opposite end of the city wasn’t an intentional side effect, but given the givens of their hook-ups, it probably wasn’t a bad thing either.

A month after the last time they slept together, Tim’s phone buzzed at 2 AM with a message from Damian. Are you at home? I want to discuss some new information on the case with you.

Tim, busy putting together a spreadsheet comparing weapons distribution epicenters in various cities with local businesses that had suspiciously healthy bottom lines, frowned at the text. just send it over i’m busy working on another lead rn

No answer for five minutes, so he followed up with and we can text about it then if its urgent

Another five minutes, and he had nearly forgotten they’d begun the conversation, but then his phone vibrated again. Very well. I will share the file with you as soon as I’m sure it has all the relevant information.

Tim replied, thx, and got back to work. 

They were able to turn the entire case over to the CBI within a few days after that, which was pretty satisfying.

A few weeks later, a sudden buzz of conversation that started at the elevators on the R&D floor of WE and slowly spread to Tim’s desk had him surreptitiously raising his head above the divider to behold Damian navigating the bullpen. Tim’s heart jumped into his throat at the sight of him gliding through the cubicles. Even fluorescent lights couldn’t make Damian less handsome. He looked like a panther released into a lab rat’s maze. 

Damian drew to a halt at his cubicle and said, “Drake. A moment?”

“I thought they were brothers,” Tim heard someone whisper. The person they were talking to shushed them.

“Sure,” he replied, and followed Damian to one of the rarely-used conference rooms.

Damian shut the door behind them and then frowned as he truly looked at Tim’s face for the first time. “The circles under your eyes are darker than usual.”

Tim rolled his eyes. “Thanks, Damian, it’s nice to see you too. The mission with Kon went great, and I just got back a couple nights ago. Appreciate you checking in.” He was tired, though, so he leaned on the table before asking, “Did you come all the way from Finance just to give me the bad news about my appearance?”

“No.” Damian shook his head. “Father and Todd had an argument last night after Father interfered with one of Todd’s interrogations. They both had already taken gunfire due to Father’s intervention. Accusations were exchanged, and now Father is, not to put too fine a point on it, sulking.”

Tim sighed and rubbed his temples, fighting off a sudden headache. Bruce and Jason acting like gigantic children together was hardly a reason to interrupt his work. “So what else is new?”

“Father had already planned a trip to a planet that will require four weeks of space travel to reach before their altercation. He’s not at his best after last night, either mentally or physically. I don’t believe Todd truly expected to affect him, but Father is self-flagellating nonetheless, not to mention the bullet wound.”

“Goddammit.” Tim rubbed his temples harder like the pressure would dam up the pain. As far as he could tell, in Jason’s brain, Bruce was Zeus and Satan and Orion all in one body—the notion of him being vulnerable didn’t seem to register. “Fucking great. Okay, what’s the plan? What do you want me to do?”

“Go talk to Father. Persuade him to put off the trip. If he believes you don’t know about his argument with Todd, he might be more susceptible to the suggestion.”

Tim slid off the table to his feet. “Is he in today?”

“No, he’s at the Manor. He’s planning to leave tonight, so speed is essential.”

“Got it.” Tim made to walk past Damian to the door, but Damian reached for his elbow in a light grip, pulling him closer.

“Drake. Are you truly well?” His eyes searched Tim’s face as if he were investigating a crime scene.

The Oud-Al-Janaid Damian always wore surrounded them both in a subtle cloud of fragrance. Tim swallowed, fighting down the Pavlovian urge to press his face to Damian’s neck, chasing the scent to its source. His dick started to take notice of the provocation.

“Yeah, no, I’m fine,” he remembered to say. “Just tired, is all. Nothing new about that.” He waited, but Damian didn’t move. “You need anything else?”

Damian didn’t start, but the way he dropped Tim’s elbow had the same air. “No. You should leave without delay.” He stalked from the room, not waiting for a reply.

Tim went straight from the conference room to the parking garage and headed for the Manor. He found Bruce in his room, grimly putting together his travel supplies while moving with more deliberation than usual. Bruising extended from beneath his sleeve across the back of his right hand, and finger-shaped welts blazed across the front of his neck. He looked up when Tim stood in the doorway. 

“Tim.” He set some socks on top of the pile of underwear. “I haven’t seen you since you got back.”

“Yeah, I’ve been busy.” Tim leaned against the door jamb. “Damian mentioned you’re going off-planet for a while?”

“Hn.” Bruce turned away and kept moving clothes into his suitcase. 

“Do you have to go?” Tim took care to keep his tone light. “Seems like there’s a lot going on here on this planet, and in our city, that could use you.”

Bruce sighed. “It’s a solo mission, or at least it's solo travel until I meet some of the Lanterns out there. Not many of the Justice League are suited to three months in space with the majority of it spent alone. They’re . . . social.”

“Hmm.” Tim straightened up to walk closer. “Hey, why are you moving like that? Did you get injured?”

“Yes.” Bruce still didn’t pause, or at least he didn’t till Tim stood between him and the bed where his suitcase lay open. “Tim.”

“Bruce,” Tim mimicked him. “Someone else can be lonely for three months. Someone who isn’t moving like he can’t find his Bengay.”

“Sitting still in a ship—" Bruce began.

“Isn’t recovery,” Tim finished. “Injuries can be exacerbated by weird space shit, you know that as well as I do because you taught me that. Why are you so essential to this trip?”

Bruce stared at him, silent, for a long moment, the muscle in his jaw working. Finally, he sighed. “It’s about Colu.”

“Wasn’t it blown up?” Tim asked.

“Essentially, yes. But there are refugees, as well, and there are associated problems the Justice League let go unaddressed that need to be resolved in a neighboring star system’s single liveable planet.” 

Tim stared at him, then shook his head in what he wished was disbelief. “This is about you still feeling guilty about breaking the Source Wall, isn't it.” Bruce, predictably, made no answer. “Fine. What’s the name of the planet?”

Bruce picked up his tablet from the nightstand, tapped it a few times, and handed it to Tim. “You can’t pronounce it without a bisected tongue. See for yourself.”

Tim scanned through the information rapidly, then looked up. “I can handle this.”

Bruce frowned. “I can’t ask that of you.”

“You’re not asking, I’m volunteering.” Tim set the tablet down on the nightstand again. “Getting off-planet for a while isn’t the worst thing I could do, as long as you don’t think it’ll leave the patrol rotation too skimpy.”

“That won’t be an issue, no.” Bruce seemed to be struggling with words he didn’t want to speak, but in the end he won. “I know you’re capable of carrying out the mission. You’ll have to leave tonight to make it there in time.”

“No problem. I’ll go home and pack and be back in an hour.” Tim headed for the stairs without waiting for Bruce’s reply, pulling out his phone as he went. Opening his thread with Damian, he texted, mission accomplished hes not going

Damian liked the message just before Tim climbed back into his car. True to his word, Tim was back and ready to fly to the Watchtower to catch his ride within an hour.

His phone vibrated again while he was doing the mission precheck of the cockpit. Damian’s name popped up on the screen. Tim opened the message to read, Todd refuses to come to the Manor, naturally, so we must meet at your apartment to discuss our next steps.

Tim’s mouth twisted as a pang of guilt bounced around his ribcage. He was running out in the middle of the drama and leaving Damian to deal with it, which was shitty of him, but in this case he had to choose saving Bruce from himself rather than helping Damian. 

sorry i wont be back for a while gotta take care of some aliens

He launched from the docking bay, and away from cell signals, before Damian’s reply could come through. Assuming there would’ve been one.

After he passed Uranus, he uploaded the Arabic course he'd bought to pass the time and got started. Improving his fluency wouldn't be a bad idea.

The trip took a little longer than expected, and was far more tedious than Bruce had led him to expect. Tim nearly cried in relief when he was finally able to type Earth’s coordinates into the navigation system. 

His dreams on the way home were populated by everyday moments with the rest of the family, half-remembered interactions set to a nonsensical narrative. Sparring with Steph, meeting Cass and Duke for ice cream, crashing with Bruce through a skylight into some goons’ heads.

Kissing the back of Damian’s hand while Damian fucked him, his weight pressing Tim into the mattress. Ant euyuni, whispered hot against his skin, tender with affection, but this time he knew what the words meant.

Tim woke up with Damian’s murmured “Drake” still in his ears and his hand already on his cock. He stroked his way to a confused orgasm moments later and stared at the ceiling, dumbfounded, until the proximity alarm forced him to clean up the cooling mess on his belly and get up.

Dick had texted him regularly during his absence, a fact he discovered as soon as he got in range of Earth satellites and started receiving messages on his cell again. Most of them were better be ready to get whipped back into shape with me after all that space muscle atrophy type of things, or the mid-air selfies he knew made Tim laugh. One, however, was a picture of Damian giving the camera a direct look while seated behind a cake blazing with what Tim assumed was twenty-one candles. The message with it just said birthday boy—don't forget to wish him a happy belated when you get back, which was Dick being Extra Big Brother since he knew Tim tended to forget basic social niceties like that.

Tim rubbed the ache in his chest absentmindedly with the heel of his hand as he scrolled down farther. He needed to check the oxygen monitors and then his heart rate, make sure there wasn't anything seriously wrong, but the pain was probably just due to the lack of aerobic exercise since he'd been on the ship.

Kon's text tone was sounding regularly as the phone loaded more of the messages he'd missed. Reaching the bottom of Dick's thread, Tim tapped onto Kon's instead. The first message he saw was a picture of Jon, arms wrapped around Damian from behind as they both hovered mid-air in costume. Jon was planting a kiss on Damian's cheek while a tiny smile that Tim knew was involuntary curved Damian's mouth up. Kon had screencapped Buzzfeed's coverage of the picture, as witness the bolded headline below: "Why This Pic of Superman and the Artist Formerly Known as Robin Broke the Internet Today." 

Kon had sent the screencap accompanied by a gif of Damian in his baby Robin days that had been a meme for five minutes, swinging his katana and screaming in silent rage while the caption read "WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK."

Looked like Damian had left the Robin mantle behind once and for all. And that Jon and Jay might have called it quits. Or maybe their relationship was open.

Tim frowned. The chest pain was getting worse and now his throat felt like it was closing up. Some sort of anaphylactic reaction, maybe? Hopefully not. He moved to the tiny medical bay and ran a quick diagnostic, but nothing of concern popped up. Well, he was almost ready to dock with the Watchtower, so he could get checked out there. He texted back, jon has literally wanted to kiss damian since b4 he even knew he was bi, why are u showing me this????

Steph had texted him a lot, too, mostly selfies with various Gotham clusterfucks in the background while she threw up ironic peace signs in costume, and a few of her and Cass looking like they were literally trying to meld into one person. He hearted a bunch of the pictures just to let her know he was back.

Bruce had sent a couple of messages, the last one reading Let me know as soon as you're back on-planet. Your absence is felt on patrol, which was as close as he'd get to admitting he missed having Tim around.

There was one message from Jason. Hey. Lmk when you're back. I've got an update on some loose ends from the weapons trafficking case.

A beep from the cockpit told him the Watchtower's automated systems were trying to make friends with Tim's ship controls. He got them re-acquainted and then headed to the single berth to get his bag as the autopilot docked him.

Once he'd returned to the surface, Earth's gravity grabbed his bones and held them like an internal vise. He swayed a little on his feet as he walked to his car from the base, wishing he'd thought to bring a wheeled suitcase instead of his gear bags. He sat behind the wheel and turned on the engine, but took a second to text Jason back before he put the car into gear. He'd thought they'd wrapped up the weapons trafficking group with a neat and pretty bow for the CBI. Hearing they'd left some loose ends dangling chafed his pride.

Kon called him by the time he'd hit the highway. "Dude, welcome back! I missed your skinny ass."

Tim grinned. Normally he avoided voice calls like a death sentence, but for Kon it was worth making the exception. "How're things?"

"Pretty good. I'm hanging out with M'gann in a few but I wanted to say hi. You've been gone forever. I hope you worked out whatever was eating you so you can stick around for a while."

Tim shrugged even though of course Kon couldn't see it. "Nothing was eating me. I just like to keep busy now that I'm not working at WE as anything but a contractor anymore."

"Bullshit. Something happened. I know the regular Tim Drake flavors of overwork and this one was Overwork Plus, Bonus Angst Edition. But hey, I know sharing what you're thinking and feeling is really high up there on the Things You Like to Do list, right below root canals, so I'll drop it before you turn back around and head for Mars."

Tim's stomach clenched with pain. "Yeah, yeah, you know I really wanna bare my soul when I've been back on the planet five whole minutes, but right now I'm starving so I'm looking for the nearest Big Belly drive thru. Will you be at the tower anytime soon?"

They set up a time to meet up the following weekend, and then Tim hung up so he could order. Once he got the food, though, he picked at the fries in a desultory fashion, the cramping in his stomach not doing much to spur his appetite for some reason.

A text notification from Jason popped up on the car's screen. Tim tapped the bubble, keeping one eye on the road. The uninflected AI voice announced, "In the group with you and Damian, Jason wrote: We've got a problem. The remnants of the weapons-running org revamped itself and merged with another, smaller operation. They've got new contraband now and it's human. Would you like to reply?"

Tim's veins abruptly felt as though they'd been injected with ice water, and he couldn't decide if it was because of the message itself or because Damian was included on the thread. "No," he breathed.

"Okay," the AI responded.

It was just that it would be awkward. To have their first real interaction after Tim being gone for so long happen over text. He'd done a good job of avoiding thinking about it during his trip and now Jason had . . . texted them both. Like it was nothing.

Because it was nothing. As far as Jason knew, they were fine.

Actually, he was right, Tim reminded himself. He and Damian were fine. It wasn't like they'd had some sort of argument. They’d made their limits clear before they'd ever started and Damian had respected Tim’s so thoroughly that he’d barely had a real conversation with him since he'd thanked Tim for an educational experience.

Tim suddenly found himself wondering exactly in what areas he'd educated Damian besides the obvious.

While he'd been trying to talk himself down from the metaphorical rafters, Damian had responded in the thread. Tim tapped the screen again. "In the group with Jason, Damian wrote: This can't be allowed to continue. I've noticed an uptick in the human trafficking at the harbor. We can collaborate upon my return to Gotham tonight. Would you like to reply?"

Tim set his jaw. "Sure."

"What would you like to say?"

"I'm on my way to the Nest right now. Do you guys want to meet there later?"

"Your message reads—" Tim hit the Send button before the playback could continue. "Sent."

Within seconds, Jason texted back, "Sounds good."

Damian's reply took a little longer, but when it came through, it read, "Acceptable."

It was only when he heard the words that Tim realized he'd expected Damian to refuse. He reached to tap the cancel button onscreen. The AI responded but he wasn't paying attention. "You're really messing with my head here," he muttered, which was probably unfair.

"Your message reads: You're really messing with my head here. Send it now?"

He'd hit "reply" instead of "cancel." "No."

day thirty-seven here

[justsomeoneintoomanyfandoms]

Hi! Could I receive a male matchup for Honkai Star Rail and Genshin Impact, please? If they’re open! Thank you!

Pronouns: she/her

Sexuality: Straight

Zodiac/MBTI: Taurus/INFP

Appearance: I’m quite short and petite at 5’2 lol I’m also very fair skinned. In general, I’m just told I’m rather frail looking (ppl have told me I look like a doll bc of my baby face and pale skin 😭).

Personality: I’m rather shy, quiet, and anxious around people I don’t know too well. I think I come off as sort of on edge a lot. But once you get to know me and I’m comfortable, I open up more. I love to ramble about anything and everything I find interesting (I try not to but I get a little carried away sometimes lol). I love to learn new things and learn MORE about what I already know which is why I love documentaries and video essays lol. I think I may talk too much sometimes, so I try not to talk too much to strangers as to not scare them off lmao. I have trouble making friends because of my shyness, but I just try to keep myself busy instead! I like to try to think positively :)

Hobbies: singing (non-professionally), rhythm games, video games, and watching video essays/documentaries especially true crime and horror. I’m also studying Psychology rn and hoping to become a neuropsychologist in the future! I love learning about the brain and its effects on behavior.

Likes: my hobbies, cute things!! (dogs, babies, kittens, etc.), pastel colors, cute fashion/jewelry

Dislikes: emotional immaturity, bugs (terrified of them), a lack of empathy but also logic, hot weather

Also idk if it matters but I’m hard of hearing as well! I hope this isn’t too long :’) Thank you in advance for the matchup!

Hi Anon! Thank you for your request! I hope you like your matchups!

In Honkai Star Rail, I match you with...

(I'm not super familiar with Jing Yuan yet so I'm sorry if this is a bit out of character.)

I think your best match would be Jing Yuan. He's emotionally mature and is also very logic based; things that you value in a person.

Thinks your interest in psychology is admirable. As a General, Jing Yuan needs to understand the thoughts of both the people under his command and his enemies so he's fairly knowledgeable about psychology himself.

If you have any questions about psychology, run them by him. There's no guarantee that he'll have the answers but the chances of him having at least some kind of answer are high.

Thinks your adorable for liking cute things. He usually has to deal with things that are less than cute (like swords, war, and the aftermath of fights) so you're a nice breath of fresh air.

Jing Yuan loves listening to you sing. He'll hum along with you if he knows the song but he doesn't want to block out your voice. He thinks you've got a lovely voice and he wants to hear as much of it as possible.

Following on from this, he also loves listening to you ramble about your interests. He may not seem like he's listening sometimes but when he gifts you a piece of jewellery you mentioned in passing a few months ago, you can be sure he's always paying close attention.

In Genshin Impact, I match you with...

You and Kazuha are the quiet couple that people love hanging out with!

One of the best listeners in the entirety of Teyvat. He'll only interrupt occasionally to make a comment on your story or ask a relevant question.

He pretty knowledgeable about a wide variety of things because of all of his travelling and he's more than happy to talk about them with you. It expands your knowledge, as well as his own.

Kazuha will write poetry about you and your interests. He'll leave them in places where he know you'll find them.

He'll always sign his poems to you as "Your Secret Admirer", even though it's pretty obvious they're from him. He's just a big romantic at heart.

Will make jewellery for you. He can never find the perfect piece when he's out and about so he'll just make it instead. That way he can put all of his love and affection into his gift as well.

Will get rid of bugs for you. They don't bother him but he doesn't want you to feel uncomfortable.

Kazuha would love to sing with you. He's got a good voice, albeit a bit soft and he'll always harmonize with you well. He also knows a lot of songs so no matter what you start singing, he'll soon join in.

[anarmorofwords]

I kinda wanna write a better version of tlh where Tatiana is still insane but there's no Belial bc that makes zero sense to me

In this version there would be:

Kamanna done correctly with actual genderqueer rep and not toxic relationships

Barbra and Oliver bc fight me she didn't die

Genie and Filomena bc I love them and all the lightwoods are queer

The gracelet doesn't even happen bc I refuse to write that

Grace is pretty much still the same but she breaks off their(hers and james') relationship bc she notices that he loves Cordelia

No bad James. He's not a shitty person to Alastair, and he doesn't treat Cordelia like a sex object

Anna puts a stop to Kellington and Matthew's relationship before it gets serious. She also tries to get him to stop drinking all the time

Alastair apologizes around seeing them again for the first time. The merry thieves are a little reluctant because of some of the things he did but they don't actively try to keep him away from events that they're at

Matthew notices how Alastair looks at Thomas and locks them in the sanctuary with Genie and Cordelia's help

Grace gets badly injured due to a mistake in necromancy and Christopher helps her treat it without letting people know

Lucie meets Jesse, and falls in love ofc, so in order to bring him back successfully she asks Malcolm to train her in using her magic

Matthew opens up to his mom about the incident. She doesn't blame him at all and instead apologizes for often putting her work before him

Matthew finds out about Charles and Alastair because he found Alastairxs break up letter to Charles

Matthew, the mother hen he is, decided to attempt to murder his older brother, only being stopped by James who had been there at the right time

Kamala ends things with Charles and tells Anna that she still loves them and hopes that she will give her another chance

Anna told her that they needed time to think, and that she is worried how Kamala's reputation will be affected if anyone besides their friends and Anna's family finds out

Kamala respects her decision and doesn't contact her until Anna's ready to talk about things

The merry thieves don't ignore Christopher and they actively listen and help him

The merry thieves also aren't terrible to Grace bc they realize she's been isolated alone with Tatiana and 1) she might not understand what's saying/doing is wrong or 2) that sometimes she's trying to push them away so her abilities don't accidentally make them do something

Good tid parents

James and Alastair being respectful to each other despite personal differences

Matthew, Alastair, Kamala, Christopher, and Grace being besties, or as I call them, the neglected squad

No fetishizing mlm/wlw

Domestic cuddles and taking care of the other one when they're sick

Jesse/Lucie/Matthew pairing bc I love them and I refuse to pick between lucie/matthew and lucie/jesse

Christopher teaching Grace the elements(at the time) on the periodic table

Tatiana dies at the end yay

It's very unpolished and I'm open to b hearing any feedback and/or suggestions that anyone may have

The idea came to me and I decided it would be best if I told someone before I forgot

hi, I'm sorry it took so long,but I wanted to properly answer this and I keep having either internet connection issues or little time

DON'T BE SHY, WRITE THIS 👀

In all seriousness tho... THIS IS ABSOLUTE PERFECTION?!? I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO START I AM UTTERLY IN LOVE WITH THIS IDEA, I NEED IT

Look, I've been on the verge of rewriting ChoI, and I keep saying I want someone to write a TLH that will live up to its potential, but I've never actually came up with a proper idea for it, and you?!! YOUR BRAIN DARLING THIS IS GENIUS

ok hold up I'll just react to each and every single one so

yes please?!? I mean it started off so sweet in EEV?! Also actually genderqueer Anna and not dancing around the subject like CC is doing now?! That's what they deserve, and that's what we all deserve too

yesss please. also just,,,, Barbara, the feminine, not-wanting-to-fight-which-doesnt-make-her-less-badass queen that she is, getting the page space and appreciation she deserves

that's actually brilliant?!? it would be so great, just imagine the new girl arrives for her travel year and Genie is completely awestruck. I'm so invested in Joshwood it's difficult to imagine not having them, but this is actually the only valid alternative?!

ok that's fine. I think it could still happen and be done well, but tbh for now... the gracelet doesn't seem to have done anything relevant to the plot itself? I mean yeah it messed up James's life and Jordelia, but what did it give Belial? Tatiana? nothing. It makes no sense atm.

could be! maybe she's still encouraged by Tatiana to befriend/seduce him, but without the gracelet it doesn't work out? or maybe James somehow manages to realize that she's in danger and he actually like,,,, kidnaps her? idk idk

yes. YES. just,,,,z James is a sweet compassionate literature nerd who accidentally makes a good leader and he actually cares about people, and not just judges them from his high horse; he does still have hero syndrome, but he's kind and respectful and overall a good character

ANNA INTERVENES ABOUT KELLINGTON PLZ. PEOPLE ACTUALLY NOTICE MATTHEW'S STRUGGLES. JAMES DOES, TOO, BECAUSE THERE'S NO GRACELET.

ok yes, so what about: basically TMT don't harass Alastair and accept his apology, and realize they were also being stupid and mean at times at the Academy (especially Math). Matthew doesn't want to accept Alastair's apology, because of The Sin, but his behaviour alerts the rest of TMT and they inquire what's wrong and he tells them about the sin and that's how he later tells his parents (because his friends encourage him) and as you say, she just hugs him and reassures him it's not his fault; so after that Matthew slowly begins to heal and accepts it wasn't Alastair's fault, and also since they've kind of adopted/started including Alastair in things, he can't help but notice he's actually changed and he even starts to grow fond of him

then like you said, Matthew notices Thomas likes Alastair PLEASE HE SO WOULD. I'm not sure about the Sanctuary, if it actually happens (I'll get to why later on), but him and Lucie get really invested in the matchmaking schemes, they include Genie/Kamala because these two are friends with Alastair (both? Or at this point only Kamala?) but they also share some Moments during their scheming/talking about love 👀 (yes I'm a Fairdale shipper, I think it's time to expose myself lol)

Which leads me to (sorry I'm going off order rn) YES YES YES LUCIE AND MATH PLEASE. A FELLOW SHIPPER, HELLO, NICE TO MEET YOU. But since we're actually fixing him then we can give Jesse a personality and I'm totally down for poly Math/Lucie/Jesse

Lucie seeking Malcolm's help in secret, morally gray heroine style?!? no, it's probably not legal. but also has there ever been a Shadowhunter like her? If the Law doesn't expect such situations, it can't really forbid them...

Plz Matthew ready to strangle the carrot when he learns about their relationship, YES. sure, maybe he's still not the biggest fan of Alastair, but he's seen how much the boy's been through and starts to develop an attachment to him, and besides, NO ONE DESERVES TO BE GROOMED AND TREATED LIKE THAT. He's SO MAD at Charles, and he confronts him about it - remembering Kellington as he does, and it makes him sick to think his brother would do the same thing to someone. Maybe he gets very emotional over this and later finally tells his friends about Kellington? Maybe they didn't know before, only Anna did? So when they all realize what was happening then they comfort him etc? Or maybe it's just Alastair that learns now, and the others knew before, and they share a bonding moment over that?

Injured Grace seeking Kit's help is a genius idea I didn't know I needed

Kamanna giving each other time and space and deciding they need to question their relationship and figure out if it actually makes sense would be great. Anna realising she's very privileged and Kamala doesn't have those same opportunities, and also in general realising coming out should never be pressured or forced. Just,,,, Anna being self-aware and respectful towards Kamala. Well-written Anna. Plz. Also Kamanna is actually developed and not just "in love" because,,,,, they're attracted to each other? Maybe even remaining friends while Anna makes up their mind?

yeah just TMT being more compassionate and less judgy because they're not written by Judith so her bias isn't projected onto them

It's not a want, it's a need. They adopt Alastair and Grace eventually. Like, maybe not literally - although, Grace? - but you know what I mean.

I think they all should just have various friendship dynamics and switch between them, because people need more than one friend group

no fetishizing, no watching your brother make out with his lover, yessss

yes domestic cuddles, affection, taking care of wounds, all those things. plz.

Gracetopher bonding over science yes

obviously. or maybe she's imprisoned?!

ok, now for some more notes/my ideas etc., if you don't mind:

I actually think Belial could still be featured? After all, I don't think Tatiana could do much on her own, and since she seeks help from demons, it makes sense to include a Greater Demon as well. But Belial would have to be a stronger villain, written better; I'll think more about this

if that was the case, the serial killer plot could still happen, but be done better. and it would allow for a scenario I talked about with @littlx-songbxrd to happen, where it's Alastair who's falsely accused of murder. It creates a great opportunity to explore some things, because we know Alastair is much more likely to be seriously suspected, considering all the prejudices and bad rep his family has and all that

...what do you say to well-written Jordelia? 👀 Cordelia hasn't been obsessively in love with James since childhood, she only had a crush then. And now that they meet again, she's fond of him but not in love, not straight away. They're both grown up, and different people, but as they spend more and more time together, they fall in love. What if Cordelia gets to flirt with some other boys first? What then. What if she ends up choosing James, instead of going for the only boy she's ever had feelings for and idealized since childhood. What if we even make it friends-to-lovers and have James be a little jealous at some point?! but not in a possessive awful way, just "oh damn oh no"

Now I won't know peace until this exists BUT THANK YOU

[ackerman98]

The state of the SnK timeline

(plot holes ahead)

One thing that has left me very confused and that honestly doesn’t make sense to me about the ending is that according to this chapter, Eren had to let Dina eat Carla due to idea of the timeline remaining on the right course. What I'm struggling with is the sudden idea of fate being determined because of Eren using the founder, and reconciling that with him controlling Dina to save Bert, and also with other interactions Eren has had in past events. That's what I don’t get. Even worse, this reveal was added in the final chapter in such a vague way that we’ll never get answers. Am I the only one who finds this absurd?

We have had multiple chapters where the past was interacted with when Zeke and Eren entered paths. Isn't Grisha paths hugging Zeke and telling him to stop Eren via paths a huge intervention regarding fate/timelines? Isn't Eren being present at all in chapters 120-121 a problem regarding him influencing fate/timeline? This reveal in 139 would basically mean Eren telling his father to stand and fight back then was just an act, and Grisha wasn't influenced at all by Eren because that would cause the problem of leading him to affecting fate/timeline. If Eren had already set the future out for them once he got the founder’s full power then he shouldn’t have had to do that. (By Eren having to actually persuade his father to do it, we got the impression that Grisha could have just refused if he wanted to).

Think about it, this reveal basically cheapens everything. It means that Eren had a hand in all that happened till the final chapter and yet this was his solution? With Dina's case, its extremely illogical as having the near omnipotent reach of the full founding power at that point in time, he simply had to reverse Karl Fritz's decisions by interfering with him, thereby changing present reality into one that doesnt require him inheriting any titan power to begin with. (Or, better yet, if the founder had that ability all along, why didn’t the first king just use it?! I’m honestly baffled rn but anyways) So it makes absolutely no sense from a logical pov for him to do what he did. Apparently, he couldn’t do that, because the titans wouldn’t disappear unless Ymir saw Mikasa kill Eren. (Even though Eren didn’t even know about this being Ymir’s true intention so this begs the question, was Eren never actually in control? Did “fate” just control everything and lead him to getting killed by Mikasa, including his train of thought since birth?) sigh

If he did this then it is basically the bulk of the grandfather paradox. The basic idea is asking whether a man can time travel to the past and kill his grandfather, since he already exists in the future. This new feature of the founding power is very similiar to time travel so the paradox is relevant in explaining it. There are 2 mechanisms to address this paradox at hand through the scientific way and the anime way, either;

1.) The past cannot be changed due to the certainty of future events. This basically means that since future events are bound to happen, then the past will always happen in a manner to ensure that the future will remain the same. If a man goes back in time and shoots his grandfather, somehow history will ensure that his grandfather survives the encounter until he is able to sire his next generation to ensure that the man will exist in the future. However, this means that Eren does not need to do anything to the past, because it will automatically correct itself to match the future, so he wouldn’t even need to intervene with Dina's case. Since the same logic has to hold for consistency, that would be the same for Grisha's case as well, and Grisha would have stolen the founder even without Eren's prompt. This happens to also be the consensus for this theoretical situation. If thats the case, its utterly unneccesary for Eren to intervene and send Dina against his mother, because history would will that to happen. This development in 139 adds an unnecesary element to his character and makes one question whether he actually enjoys the violence of his actions or is only forced to do them because he had no other choice. The series prior to 139 suggests otherwise though, that he does have real influence over events of the past. But I can accept the possibility that its just a smokescreen, and the real point is that everything is predetermined, which point 1 takes into account of and explains how it would work out. Assuming that its not predetermined, we can move on to point 2 to see why Eren's actions were also unneccesary:

2.) Adopt the idea of parallel realities to avoid confronting the grandfather paradox. This is an idea explored in Stein's Gate. It’s a commonly accepted logical go-around used in animes to justify the ability to change the past through time travel. Basically when the past is changed, the current timeline splits into 2 realities, one where the present is changed according to the new past and one that remains unchanged. We also take it for granted that the main character we are following would then exist in the new reality while the MC created from the reality split will exist in the old one, just like Stein's Gate's Reading Steiner. In that case, there will be no paradoxes in either realities as they do not share the same past. I imagine this would be how the logic behind changing the past through time travel would be implemented to if that was what the author intended.

In that case, once again there would not ever be a situation where Eren actually had to send Dina against his Mom.

In summary, there would be no logical paradoxes that would arise from "changing reality" because it either cannot actually be changed like described in point 1, or a convenient mechanism can provide a way around confronting the paradox like described in point 2. I do not speak on behalf of the author and I wouldn’t know what his intentions behind the whole past memory thing was, but whether he’s trying to illustrate that everything has been predetermined by fate or the opposite stance, there really was no good reason for Eren to send Dina away from Bertolt, since in both cases it would be unneccesary. I feel like it was just added for shock value more than anything.

If you explain the time travel as a fixed timeline or “it was all fated to happen” then you get a problem... Why did Eren need to make happen something which already happened? He has no reason to influence the past now, not like he was trying to prevent his mother's death in that instance.

It honestly kind of feels like lazy writing, you could justify ANY story by just saying "it was because of fate". It just seems a way to justify stuff in a way that makes the story itself seem “untouchable” when really it’s a big contradiction. Eren doesn’t even know why he did it now, he just “had to”.

Now one thing Eren controlling Dina does explain is this one Bertold shard amongst Eren’s memories. However, as I’ve explained, the consequences of the Eren controlling Dina idea coming true are much worse for the story than that memory shard never getting explained and just being left alone for speculation.

I believe that the best solution to this problem would have been to say that Dina was an abnormal titan who ignored Bertold just because. That’s pretty much what abnormals are like... they do abnormal things. nuff said. And then, the reason for Eren seeing Bertholdt from Dina’s perspective in that memory shard could simply be that the founding titan allows its user to see through the perspectives of every Eldian and titan, including ones that lived in the past. (So basically reliving the memories of Eldians and titans that existed in the past.) This makes sense- the founding titan is stated to be the coordinate which connects all Eldians. But, whilst Eren can see things in the past, NOT have Eren be able to change what happens in the past and control certain events, since this is just a pointless and flawed mechanism in this story. Sure, it’s not the most mind-blowing explanation, but it actually makes sense unlike what we got and is consistent with the rest of the story. Honestly, we didn’t need the Dina panel at all in this chapter.

I guess I’ll just accept it as a paradox/plothole, since it makes no sense, and suspend my belief there. I’m not sure if I’m missing something or if I’m just being an idiot (if so someone please explain), but I have no other explanation.

TL;DR The explanation for Dina eating Carla and ignoring Bertold should simply have been that Dina was an abnormal. Nothing would have to change and it makes sense, unlike the paradox we now have. Now that 139 has introduced this new founder ability, a plot hole has been created. Other than shock value, there really was no good reason for Eren to send Dina away from Bert or for Eren to tell Grisha to take the founder when these things would have happened without his interference due to everything being fated to happen. Adding this detail in ch139 was completely unnecessary and a big plot hole- if not the biggest one in the series, and the worst part is that it was so easily avoidable.

[cosmicoceans-fr]

Personal Lore Stuff

General Edition

First a disclaimer: A lot of my lore is just gonna be tweaking things about Flight Rising/Sornieth that I just don't like/vibe with, so if that'll bother you I advise not reading further.

Disclaimer part two: Some of the stuff mentioned here may already be canonical and I either A. haven't read about it yet (in which case feel free to shoot me the relevant readings ^^), B. I'm incorporating and expanding on it, or C. Incorporating and altering it.

Punctuation usage note:

Parenthesis () are used to signify a related but seperate thought to what they're grouped with.

Brackets [] are used as a form of authors note.

Now to begin: This is largely just going to be one chaotic info dump of all the stuff living in my head rn so I can come back and organise/edit it later but also so I can link it in my pinned cause I use verbiage that relates to my personal lore and figured this'd help anyone who might be confused.

Auction House is now:

Travel Listings

Name is a work in progress but the basic idea isn't.

The current system of dragons being put up for auction didn't really sit well with me [I understand it's function as the FR game itself goes don't at me please] so after some mulling it over I settled on Travel Listings!

The general idea is that dragons who are looking to relocate either to a new Clan within their own flight (flight AH) or just anywhere on Sorienth (Site-wide AH) can post the travel costs for them to do so with their stuff. When a Clan who's willing to sponsor the fees for the dragon posts them the dragon is then able to move in with the Clan!

This helps maintain the autonomy that dragons have as established in canon lore as well as giving the world a fun "new" mechanic [in my opinion at least]. In addition is use this as a basis for my pricings. If I consider the cost listed alongside each dragon as travel costs it let's me make some base costs guides based on things like breed, gene rarity, eye rarity, and in the event of a one-on-one arranged travel fees the cost for "luggage" (ie familiars, outfits, etc. which, btw, if you arrange for a dragons travel with me directly they'll almost always come with luggage).

The above is why I might seem to price travel fees a little weirdly and while I'm ok with the prices being a little funky I do want to be fair so if I unintentionally price something outrageously please let me know! ^^

Familiars

Familiars being listed as and treated as items within the game canon bugs me a bit as many of if not most/all of the familiars are canonically described as having sentience (sentience in this case meaning being living) them being treated as items isn't great for me.

Similar to Travel Listings I'll price/talk ahout/treat familiars with the same/similar verbiage. Familiars get travel fees as well albeit less involved than dragons might.

Familiars will also be treated as thinking beings who've choosen to come stay with our Clan for xyz reasons within lore contexts.

This leads me into my next bit:

The Coliseum

I'm not 100% posi on the canon lore surrounding Coli stuffs but the stuff I've developed whilest grinding in it as follows:

The Coliseum was started by [unestablished] as a way for dragons and beast clans to, hopefully, find some common ground.

Each coli arena/area is a neutral sparing ring/arena set up in each of the diff regions.

All who come to them agree to leave past issues/agressions/conceptions at home and have acknowledged that they are there to learn from eachother, as well as to have a good time. Each person who enters the Coli area agrees to do their part to ensure a friendly and (relatively) peaceful enviroment for all participants.

To be chosen to represent your Clan in the coli is considered a high honour by most involved and the importance of its neutrality is widely established/acknowledged. In the spirit of this many participants, dragon and beastclan alike, will bring gifts/offerings for their opponents [the coli drops]. Some participants might even find that they vibe/work really well with a clan/it's members and as such will choose to return with those dragons to their clans [familiar drops].

Due to the nature of the Coli its generally frowned upon for participants fo significantly higher levels to enter a match against participants of much lower levels [lack of exp gain], the exception to this are for teams who have come specifically to share their knowledge with those at lower levels [this parts honestly just so I can grind lower levels with my lvl 25s and not feel so bad about it 🤣].

Aaaaand that's about all I've got at the moment, there's other stuff that's dragon/breed line specific that'll be its own post(?).