#please everyone be invested in this... I spent way to much time on lore for a semi shitpost clan LMFAOO

[mommyclan]

do we know how recent the great divorce was?

Okay... I have been thinking on Mommyclan lore lately. It is decided! I have the general layout of how I'd like the story to go but-!

There are certain things I cannot say yet.... because I've decided to tie Cheetahchirp's secret backstory with Mommyclan's lore and it's past involving Daddyclan and the Great Divorce...!!

You will all be able to find out more when I have free time to make an askblog for Cheetahchirp! And then anyone interested in lore can try and get hints from any questions she answers! >:]

One thing I will confirm though!

Mommyclan is, literally and canonically, in the process of becoming a clan. Having no leader, deputy, or meditators are all part of the Mommyclan "story". In the present, Mommyclan is not yet complete. They are still pondering who their leader should be... perhaps arguing amongst themselves or waiting on a special sign from Starclan that has never come even after so many moons?

Why is Mommyclan building itself? Did the Great Divorce somehow leave it destroyed or was there some other disaster that has left them leaderless and without Starclan's guidance....?

I'd love to hear your theories!!! >:3

[c6jpg]

natlan 5.0 brain dump

i did this in a lot of small chunks so i already forgot all of my detailed thoughts so i'm gonna try to keep it brief

general environment/exploration:

first off music and scenery is 💯💯💯

i particularly like how much wildlife there is and i really love the saurian gameplay (for me its hydro > dendro >>>> geo)

i feel so awful every time i accidentally kill a capybara they should be immune like the rhinos

it makes sense that there isn't "one huge city" like the other nations since natlan is composed of tribes, and each tribe looks like it gets a decent amount of attention, but i was still kind of disappointed by how small the stadium of the sacred flame feels in comparison for being the "main" area. i feel like they could have done a lot more with it

archon quest:

tldr; it was... not good? or at least very underwhelming? especially coming off fontaine/sumeru which had incredibly strong opening acts

act 1 was particularly like. whatever. felt more like a kachina story quest that rolled right into a mualani (but npc-focused) story quest

like for how important the pilgrimage is it just felt so. underwhelming and anticlimatic. yes yes i know kachina is precious and everyone loves her but i wish we spent less time doing kachina support group and focused more on the pilgrimage itself like can we at LEAST see some of the other playable characters participating instead of just hearing about it in passing

literally was soooooooooo fucking annoyed with the entire atea plotline. i wrote a whole rant in my first write up but basically that entire arc only existed so that they could bring back the purification plot device which WE HAVEN'T SEEN SINCE MONDSTADT

i was just incredibly annoyed with how that was all handled lol atea is also just such a non-character how am i supposed to care about her. she didn't even die in the end!!!

also mualani's tribe's whole thing being super stereotypical hawaiian tourism left a really bad taste in my mouth i wanted to get out of there as fast as possible

act 2 was weird because like. i felt like they were saying a lot of things that were like "this is a serious national crisis" but it didn't... feel that way? and a lot of the lore itself was pretty glossed over

i think a problem with the natlan story is that you need the first acts to set up the stakes but we just spent the first act gallivanting around with kachina/mualani and then when they DID get to the "main problem" in act 2 it just info dumped so hard to the point that i. didn't care?

pacing in general just felt all over the place

the only investment they gave us is through caring about kachina and i guess hating the abyss/not wanting a nation to be destroyed on principle but idk. especially with the "nah we gotta wait for the last 2 heroes first" the stakes are Not there for me

reminded me of when nahida was like "yeah i needed you to figure this out for yourself bc if i told you directly your head would explode." but at least that one was fun/could just chalk it up to nahida being cheeky and didn't like. prolong the plot for too long

SHOW US DON'T TELL US DAMN IT. i might just have recency bias but i genuinely feel like natlan might be one of the worst cases of telling and not showing as far as archon quests are concerned

also capitano's appearance felt so random LMAO he really showed up, said some cryptic shit, got his ass beat, and then left. at least the cutscene was cool?

chasca girl i'm shaking crying throwing up somebody get that girl a full pair of pants and brown contacts PLEASE

i find it interesting how detailed/fleshed out chuychu (chasca's sister) is, both in terms of design and personality/character. it kind of felt like they originally intended for her to be playable but turned her into an NPC instead

also citlali is definitely some kind of faruzan situation where she's old but young looking

night kingdom was cool i guess nothing really to say here. i am very interested in the wayob lore though especially in regards to how it ties into the rest of teyvat/why natlan has particularly weak leylines

i feel like mavuika's younger sister might also become relevant in the future... in a bad way. like the insistence to not being forgotten/seeing mavuika again, the fact that mavuika doesn't "really" know what happened to her. also she also got a pretty unique npc model. or maybe she won't be brought up ever again idk

in general that whole reminiscence sequence with mavuika was like. fine but again you just info dumped the shit out of me i have no emotional attachment to feel anything about whats going on right now???

also we all know that was fucking ororon at the end with capitano like lmao come on. but im willing to bet both he + chasca are the last two heros bc like. who tf else do we have left LMAOOO

capitano was supposed to be cool but he's just giving goofy villain right now. sorry capitano fans they flopped so hard with him in this act

[beels-burger-babe]

All is Fair in Dice and War

***Soooo, @bagelsinatoaster I love this request. However, you didn't specify which board game and as I am a huge nerd I decided to take some creative liberties and combine this with another idea I've been meaning to write which is: MC introducing the demon bros to Dungeons and Dragons. I certainly had fun with this and I hope you like it!*** Summary: Leviathan's world is flipped upside down when MC tells him there is a game that basically allows him to be the Lord of Shadows in real life!! He demands that his brothers join him as MC introduces them all to the chaotic shit show that is Dungeons & Dragons. For once, it was a peaceful day in the House of Lamentation. Lucifer was lounging in the living room with a cursed record playing softly in the background. For once, Satan had willingly joined him and was sitting by the fireplace, thumbing through a book on the human world. Belphie had been passed out on the couch when he arrived and was still laying there with an impressive puddle of drool collecting near his mouth. Even Asmodeus and Beel had joined in, with Asmodeus gently humming to himself as he painted his nails and Beelzebub happily munching on a snack as he enjoyed the sight of his family getting along. Yes. It was perfectly quiet and peaceful, and Lucifer didn't even have any traces of his regular migraine. But of course, nothing good lasts forever. Everyone jumped as the door slammed open and a wide-eyed Leviathan dragged you into the room. The two you very closely followed by Mammon loudly complaining. "Oi! You're gonna hurt them! Cut it out, Levi!" Lucifer sighed and closed his eyes, momentarily mourning the peace that he had just barely begun to enjoy, and closed his book. "Leviathan, let MC go. What are you freaking out about this time?" Lucifer regretted asking the moment the words left his mouth. Levi looked at it with the expression he only ever got when his limited edition Ruri-Chan merch arrived; his eyes were wide and glittering with excitement while his face bore a grin so large that Lucifer was surprised it didn't rip his skin. The third-born was practically vibrating as he let go of your wrist and pushed you forward. "Tell them! Tell them about the game!"

You laughed at Levi's excitement and casually rubbed your wrist. "I was just telling Leviathan about a game that we play in the human world called Dungeons and Dragons-" "You get to make a fantasy world that everyone plays in, and everyone makes characters. You can be a wizard and cast spells against a huge monster! Or a war hero fighter that has been betrayed by his brother! Or a noble knight who is looking for his lost kingdom! And the best part is that it's real!" Levi interrupted, nearly jumping in place as stars danced in his eyes. You put your hands out towards him to try and calm him a bit. "Well, not entirely real. It is played in person, but it's a role play tabletop game, meaning it mostly relies on the players' imagination. That is unless you have thousands of dollars to spend on 3D maps and figurines of your characters." Levi's eyes grew even wider, if possible, as he started shaking his hands up and down. "I CAN HAVE A FIGURINE OF A CHARACTER THAT I MADE?! GAAAAAAAAAHH!" A pillow flew across the room and hit Levi square in the face as a now awake Belphegor glared at him. "Will. You. Shut. Up?" the Avatar of Sloth hissed as a dark dangerous aura grew around him. Beel gently patted his twin's head in hopes of calming him. Leviathan pouted as he noticed no one else seemed to be getting excited about it. "C-Come on guys! This isn't even a video game! It's a thing that we can all do together and personalize it to be something that everyone will like. It'll be fun! Right MC?" You nodded as you gently tossed Belphie's pillow back over to him. "Yeah. I love D&D. I played it all the time in the human world. There's action, suspense, and even romance if you really wanted it," a couple of the brothers perked up at that. "I could put together a one-shot for you guys to try it out if you'd like? I'll help you make your characters, and we can all get together for an evening and play it sometime in a couple weeks." The room went quiet as everyone thought it over. Most of them had no interest in the game itself, but if it was organized by you... "I'm in," Beel decided with a nod. "I think it will be fun. All of us trying something new; it could be neat." Satan casually flipped a page in his book, "The creative aspect of it is definitely appealing. We'd be the masters of our own fate, and that most certainly piques my interest." Asmodeus smirked as he put the cap on his nail polish. "And you said it could be whatever we want? My, one might say that this game could help our wildest fantasies come true~" he made sure to wink at you as he giggled. Belphie, who had only just got back his pillow, scrunched up his face in disgust and launched it at Asmo. "Don't make this weird Asmo," he looked over at you and shrugged, "So long as you do all the work in putting together the character thing, sure. Why not?" Mammon looked over at you from the corner of his eye. "Ya mean to tell me, that you can make it so I'm some awesome, rich, and powerful prince?" Asmo scoffed as he pushed the pillow off his lap. "Please Mammon, even the world of make-believe has its limitations." Mammon blushed as he growled at his brother. You just chuckled and teasingly elbowed his side. "Don't listen to him, Mammon. There is a set amount of how much money you start out with depending on your class and background, but I'm sure we can find something that will make you happy." The second-born blushed even more as he grumbled quietly under his breath. Lucifer tilted his head in thought. "I suppose that if everyone else is playing, naturally I must as well," he stood and began to make his way to his office. "I look forward to seeing what you come up with MC." The next two weeks were spent planning and carefully figuring out the details of the one-shot and the characters that everyone was going to play. Levi was, of course, the first one who came to you to build his character. The two of you spent hours going through the Player's Handbook and sourcebooks to find the perfect build to recreate the Lord of Shadows. In the end, you put

together a human fighter that you gave a couple magic items to make Levi's vision really come to life. It seemed basic, but for the Lord of Shadows, it was perfect. The moment the two of you finished, Levi dove to his computer and ordered a custom-made mini that looked exactly like his character. Satan was genuinely interested in the game, especially after he learned about all the lore and rules behind the different classes and races. You had just been chilling in your room one day when the door burst open. Satan stood there with wide eyes holding a copy of Volo's Guide to Monsters. "MC, why didn't you tell me there are cat people?!" You chuckled, knowing exactly where this was going. "They're called tabaxi, but yeah, they're basically cat people. Would you like to play as one?" He scoffed and snapped the book shut. "Is that even a question? Of course, I'm playing as one." After some discussion and bouncing back and forth between classes a couple of times, Satan settled on a tabaxi druid; that way he not only looked like a cat, but he could speak to them as well. After a few days of you spending time with his brothers focusing on getting their characters ready, Mammon came to you wanting the coolest, most epic character ever. At first, it was clear that he wasn't fully invested in the process, but as he saw the customizable options and all the cool stuff that his character could have, you got his attention. You ended up designing a golden teifling rogue (you tried to tell Mammon that teifling usually wasn't yellow, but he gave you such a sad look that you couldn't say no) that was decked out with piercings and gems all over its horns and tail. He tried to act like he wasn't that excited about it, but one day during class you caught him doodling what looked like a stick figure version of the character on his sheet with a big smile on his face. Asmodeus came in shortly after Mammon finished,

insisting on having the most charming and beautiful character there was. You tapped your chin at the request. "I mean, stereotypically bards are extremely charming and...well seductive...almost too seductive. But that's only thei-" Asmo had hearts in his eyes before you could even finish. "That's what I want to be!" You sighed and made a mental note not to include any dragons in the session as you marked Asmo down to be an elven bard and helped him create his character sheet. You hadn't heard anything from Lucifer for nearly that entire first week, until one day as you were lounging in the living room, he walked in holding a stack of resource books. "Ah, MC. I've been looking for you. I wanted to inform you that I will be playing a half-elf multiclassing as a paladin and hex-blade warlock." You blinked at him as he put all the books down in front of you. "O-Oh. Would you like help putting together your character sheet?" He just grinned and began to make his way out of the room once more. "I've already done it. I must admit that this was quite a bit more interesting than I thought it would be," and with that he was gone, leaving you to try and figure out what had just happened. With only a few days left until the one-shot, you had to go find the twins and get them to make their characters. Beel apologized like crazy for you having to track him in down in order to get his character made. The poor guy was in the middle of peak Fangol season and had completely forgotten. Once the two of you sat down in the kitchen with an empty character sheet in one hand and snacks in the other, Beel gave you his full attention. He put a lot of thought in his character and wanted to make it really good since he appreciated that you were doing something that they could all do as a family. He bashfully decided to play a halfling. Not only did the little creatures share his love for food, but he thought it would be neat to try being small for once. His class was also a surprise. After carefully flipping through all of the class options, he had eventually settled on a cleric. "They're the healers, right? This way I can help the others if someone gets hurt." You gave him a huge hug then and there. Belphegore, on the other hand, was not so easy to work with. "Belphie, come on. Just flip through the book and choose something!" He groaned into his pillow and rolled onto his side to glare at you. "I told you I would play if you did all the work for me. Me flipping through a book is work. It's not happening." After an entire hour of trying to get him to cooperate, you gave up. In retaliation you made his character a goblin barbarian, just to drive in the fact of how much of a brat he was acting like.

Finally, the day came for you all to play the one-shot, and much like you expected, it was complete and utter chaos. You had tried to maintain some structure and keep everyone on track, but it was hopeless. Levi and Satan were taking the game seriously and, Diavolo bless them, were the only reason their party was making any progress. Mammon was trying to pick-pocket every non-player character that they met while Asmo distracted them by flirting. This worked great for them until Mammon got caught and would've died from the resulting injuries if it wasn't for Beel. Speaking of Beel, the poor fella was trying his best to do well in the game but kept getting confused by all the rules and different stats and modifiers. Belphegor spent most of his time, trying to explain it to his twin, but in the end, Beel accidentally ate his dice and Belphie passed out on his shoulder. And then there was Lucifer. He had been mostly quiet the entire game. Surprisingly, he let Levi and Satan take the charge in any investigations and puzzle-based interactions, but he did so with a smirk. You had a funny feeling in your stomach that he was up to something, and you were right. It was the final boss. Satan and Levi were on the edge of their seats, having worked so hard to get the party to this point. You smiled, knowing that one of the best parts of D&D was finally taking down the big bad. In this case, you had prepared a beholder for them to fight. It would be no easy task. The fight should have required them to work together in an epic battle of wits, magic and melee attacks. Only, when everyone rolled initiative, Lucifer went first. The eldest smiled as his eyes sparked menacingly. "For my bonus action, I'd like to use my hex blade's curse on it, which allows me to add my plus four proficiency bonus to all damage, and makes any rolls of nineteen or twenty critical hits. I will then use my long sword with divine smite at third level to attack him and attack him again using my extra attack," barely giving you time to process what he said, Lucifer rolled his dice twice. "And that would be a nineteen and a natural twenty, meaning they're both criticals due to the curse. That should hit, yes?" "Wha-" You could only watch as Lucifer, now with twice the amount of damage due to his critical rolls pulled out a disgusting number of dice and rolled them all. And of course, with his luck, they all rolled high. "So that's 90 points of damage plus the extra damage from the curse and the bonus from my duelist ability per attack, brings this 102 points," he smugly perched his chin on top of his hands as the table gaped at him. You gulped and looked down at the beholder's character sheet, "Y-You just took o-over half of his hit points in one round..." His grin widened at the information, "What, like it's hard?" You never got the chance to finish the game, as Satan burst into his demon form and pounced on Lucifer, the eldest laughing like a mad man, while Levi tore up his character sheet in a fit of jealous rage. Levi never asked to play with everyone again after that. ***This was just so self-indulgent and I just- I loved it. It combined two of my favourite things and I have never been happier. This was more crack than fluff, but either way, it was fun and I hope you nerds out there enjoyed it 🥰 Thanks again for the request @bagelsinatoaster!*** Taglist: @mimik248 @roseytoesy @ester-is-here

[thatringboy]

Me to me: Nooo don’t make an Inazuman oc you already have two OCs from Liyue and Natlan who you said you’d revamp and besides, you’re probably going to lose interest in this one soon Also Me, getting way to invested in Inazuma lore: HEY EVERYONE COME MEET MY NEW OC HIIRAGI YORICHI, A HYDRO SWORD USER WHO’S AUTISTIC LIKE ME

Link to picrew used for profile

Buried Beauty

“My duty is first to the people of my homeland, then the Kanjou Commission. Make no mistake, Baal must be stopped, but not at the expense of the people.”

The firstborn son of the Hiiragi Clan who’s name means “first gift”. He grew up in Sumeru Academy, but has returned to Ritou to take up his father’s yoke over the Kanjou Commission

General Information

Name: Hiiragi Yorichi

Age: 28

Affiliation: Hiiragi Clan

Birthdate: January 17

Starsign: Capricorn

Constellation: Thesauros Sepultus

Weapon: Sword

Vision: Hydro

Voice Claims

CVA: Zhang Jie

JVA: Tasuku Hatanaka

EVA: Kyle Phillips

Voice Lines

Good Morning: Hmm? Oh, yes, greetings Traveler and Paimon. Sorry, I didn’t see you there… I’m not much of a morning person

Good Afternoon: Did I miss lunch again? Eh, oh well. Traveler, wanna run by Miss Ryouko’s to get some food?

Good Evening: If I don’t get back soon, Chisato will certainly send someone out to find me

Good Night: Can you get back on your own? I’m afraid that I must return to Ritou for the evening

When It Rains: Quickly! The rain will cover our tracks!

When It Snows: Huh? Wow it got cold fast! Better go find some shelter before I accidentally freeze us

When It’s Sunny: Be careful, our enemies can see clearly in broad daylight

Favorite Food: Mmm, I could go for some Mondstat Grilled Fish right about now… I had it once during their Ludi Harpastum Festival that my Senpai took me to one year and I’ve just fallen in love with the flavour!

Least Favorite Food: Is… is that cabbage? No no, there’s nothing wrong, just don’t expect me to eat any. Why? Well… I don’t like the texture at all! Eating it feels like slime going down my throat which closes up my airways and then that sensation makes my brain feel like someone shoved a wet blanket between my ears and wrapped it around my brain! Please… never make me eat cabbage…

About: Vision: My Vision? How did I get mine? Well, since you asked so nicely, it appeared to me in a dream during the end of the first year of the Sakoku Decree. I had cried myself to sleep because of the anguish I felt coming from those who had their Visions stolen - those who I had sworn to protect as a Clan Heir - and I cursed out Celestia for allowing this to happen. In my dream, I appeared before seven giant thrones all glowing with elemental magic. In the blue throne sat a woman who gave off so much power that I could not gaze upon her. Yet, her words always resonate in my heart: “Your loyalties may change, but never change your principles. Do no harm to others, but do not let harm fall upon you and those you love.” When I woke up, the Vision was tucked under my pillow!

About: Kanjou Commission: One day, it will be my duty to oversee the Kanjou Commission. Am I ready? Probably not. Do I have a choice? Also no. I just want to make everyone proud… but how can I do that when father has already deemed me an embarrassment to the Hiiragi Clan simply because of who I am?

About: Sumeru Academy: The Academy? I grew up there! Fourteen years I spent roaming the halls absorbing all of the knowledge I could! *Sigh*… maybe if the Travel Ban gets lifted, I’ll show you around my old stomping grounds!

About: Ritou: I’m friends with some of the guys at the Outlander’s Trade Association. What do you wish to see? Want to head by a jewelry shop? Get some food?

About: Interests: Wanna know a secret? Deep down, I’m an alchemist at heart! Anything alchemy related, I’m sure I can be of use! It’s my special interest! Did you know that the luminescent spines of a firefly can—wait wait no I’m sorry. Father says that people get bored of my ramblings, my apologies for wasting your time…

About: Swords: You may have noticed that my sword technique is different from the samurai of Inazuma. That is because I learned how to use my blade at the Academy. I forged this blade myself when I turned twenty. Would you like to hold it?

About Ayaka: Miss Kamisato? I’ve met her once and she seems nice, but I still feel uneasy around her. But maybe that’s just me

About Raiden Shogun: You want to know why I refer to the Shogun as “Baal”? Well, that’s because I didn’t grow up in a place that calls her the “Raiden Shogun”. I’m used to my peers referring to her as “Baal” and I’ve yet to drop the habit. Also, I don’t have much respect for her, but don’t tell anyone that

About Ayato: Never met him, but his description gives me the creeps! Never appears in public, leaving his little sister to do all the work? The nerve of that guy! O-oh… that sounds like me? Ehe-he… oops

About Yoimiya: Oh Miss Naganohara! She makes the best fireworks! She and I are actually a lot alike. What, you don’t see it? I guess that comes from me spending a lifetime hiding my inner enthusiasm while she never quite grew up. We should go to the next firework festival to see her, I’m sure she’d love that! But… from a distance please. The popping noises from the fireworks hurt my ears

About Kaeya: The Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius, huh? I’m curious to see how the pieces fall into place… what was that? Oh, it’s nothing… just gossip from some old colleagues

About Diluc: Diluc? Who’s that? Owner of the Dawn Winery? The Ragnvindr Clan? Nope, doesn’t ring a bell. The Darknight Hero? Of course! Why didn’t you just say that?! Yeah I know who you’re talking about now! What? He’s got a Vision too? I guess that guy’s just full of surprises

About Childe: So, that weasel is actually a Fatui Harbinger? Why am I not surprised... O-oh when did I meet him? After I graduated from the Academy. Did I sound too surprised about his identity? Sorry, when I knew him, he used a different name

About Albedo: Ah… the son of Rhinedottir. His master actually attended one of my lectures when I was younger in secret. I think they were using an alias during that time but I spoke to them in private. It was interesting to learn different things about ancient alchemy techniques from another land. I think Albedo is currently an alchemist in Mondstat, right? I’ll visit him when the Travel Ban is lifted to exchange notes

About Klee: Klee, daughter of Alice? Eh, I haven’t heard good things. I’m not a big fan of explosions... but that doesn’t mean that she’s a bad kid! I’m sure if I met her, we’d be friends

About Lisa: Minci-Senpai! We worked together a lot at the Acadmia! Why did I call her senpai when I’m older than her? Well, because she’s the Grandmage!!! Everyone knows how smart and powerful Minci-Senpai is! Once, she tasked me with finding ways to preserve pure Electro organisms. So, I coated the inside of a jar with Hydro Slime condensate so that her Electro roses can continuously be charged by the Hydro energy… Sorry, I’m getting carried away

About Mona: What, do you think that all Hydro users who practice magic know each other? Well, I do know Miss Megistus, but you can’t assume that! I met her and her master once during a lecture on fortune telling with the use of elemental abilities. Now that I have a Vision of my own, I will see if I can implement their techniques into my own practice

About Sara: To be perfectly honest, I’ve never met her. We may be the heirs to our Clans and our respective Commissions, but I’ve never had a conversation with her. Naturally, as a Vision holder and she as the spearhead of the Tenryou Commission, I am her enemy. However, as the heir to the Hiiragi Clan, I must keep up formalities. Besides, my dear sister Chisato is being courted by another member of the Kujou clan, Kujou Kamaji, and I don’t want to do anything to ruin that. You won’t turn me and my Vision in to her, right?

About Cyno: Ah, Master Cyno, one of the smartest members of the Academy. I owe a lot of my development to him. I don’t think I would have finished my Thesis paper on the eighth nation without his guidance

About: Names: You know, my name means “first treasure”, but despite such an endearing name, my father has yet to reveal my face to the public and claim me as his heir. He was also the one to send me away when I was a boy to Sumeru because I was not like other children. Was I meant to be gift to my family? To the other nations? Was I an unwanted gift? … Oh, sorry about that. I don’t usually get dark like that! Tell me, Traveller, what does your name mean?

About: Politics: Ugh… Sakoku Decree this, honor the Commissions that, I don’t understand any of it. If I’m ever left in charge, I’m sure that I could handle the bureaucratic side, but the people side? I get overwhelmed when talking to people I’m not comfortable with. I shut down mentally, fumble over my words and eventually I end up having a panic attack and Chisato has to pull me from the room. My father thought that I would have grown out of those outbursts when I got older, but I’ve only found a way to mask my behaviors. But you’re different, you haven’t looked at me like a child nor spoken less of me simply because I’m different, why is that?

About: Family: My mother passed away while I was gone, my father Shinsuke is the head of the Kanjou Commission and my younger sister Chisato is his main assistant. When my father gets upset, Chisato is always the one who has my back and in turn, I’ve begun escorting her secretly to Kondo Village to meet with her secret lover, Kujou Kamaji. I guess that’s what siblings do for each other, we protect each other from everything because no matter what we go through, no matter what arguments we have, we always will have each other. Ah, Traveler! I didn’t say anything to make you upset, did I?

About: Khaenri’ah: … You ask a lot of questions, don’t you? What do you think I know about that cursed place? Yeah, I wrote my Thesis paper on Khaenri’ah, but that was a while ago and I’ve learned my lesson. Now, the only connections I have to that place are hearsay from lecturers, rumors at the Academy and the plucked plume of a proud peacock.

About: Time Gap: Huh? Oh yeah, I went to Sumeru when I was seven and studied there for fourteen years. Uh… what did I do for the missing five years of my life before returning to Ritou? Ehe-he… I don’t think I’m allowed to say everything, but I can tell you this: that’s the time that I met a disgraced Knight, a bloodthirsty child and learned how to wield a sword. I was able to travel with them while writing my Thesis paper. Ah… how time flies when working with like minded people

This is the most thought I’ve ever put into an OC, I hope you like him!

[waywardnerd67]

Be Mine

Title: Be Mine Summary: All of (Y/N)’s friends were getting married while she was traveling the country killing monsters. As all the invitations flood her P.O. Box, she decides to ask her hunting partner for a huge favor. Paring: Dean x Reader Word Count: 2607 Rating: E - Everyone Warnings: Fluff/Slight Angst Square Filled: Fake Dating Bingo Card: @spndeanbingo​ A/N: None

Check Out: SPN Dean Bingo Masterlist

You are cordially invited to…

Lauren and Michael, Renee and Michelle, Allie and Caleb, Theo and James

“Fuck. My. Life.” (Y/N) whispered opened the fourth wedding invitation for the year.

She was at the point in her life that all of her friends were settling down with significant others while she was fighting the things nightmares were made of. Taking out the R.S.V.P. card, she stared down at the million dollar question she had been thinking about for weeks.

____ Yes I will be attending with a guest. Guest’s Name: ____________________

She could not remember the last date she had been on since most of the men she met she left sleeping in their beds in the morning. The life of a hunter was not one where you could have real attachments to anyone. Which is why being partners with the Winchesters worked perfectly for her. They had the same beliefs about hunting, except for Sam who had found a hunter to fall in love with. Most times, (Y/N) was happy with how her life was but right now is when she missed having someone to be with.

“Hey, you ready?” Dean called into the Mailbox Store.

(Y/N) gathered the rest of her mail sighing, “Yeah.”

They were driving back to the Bunker after another dead end of finding Chuck. They had dropped Sam off halfway on their trip home for him to meet up with Eileen. (Y/N) sat in the passenger seat, re-reading the latest invitation.

She heard Dean chuckle, “Another invite? Jeez, how many is that now?”

“Four. Four weddings to go to all within a month of one another. That is four different dresses. Four lousy dinners. Four different tables in which I know nobody and can’t talk about what I really do for a living.”

“Four open bars.” Dean smiled, finding the only positive in the whole thing.

“True and hopefully four chances to find a hot guy to get laid.” She smirked, glancing over to see Dean’s hands grip the steering wheel until his knuckles were white.

She shrugged it off deciding to go through the rest of her mail. Once they were back in the Bunker, Dean walked off towards his Dean Cave while (Y/N) decided to do some much needed laundry. Sitting in the library, she pulled her phone sending a text to her friend.

“Got your invite! Can’t wait to celebrate with you!”

The response was immediate as her phone rang, “Girl, it will be the party of the year! Please tell me you’re bringing a date.”

(Y/N) rolled her eyes, “I thought weddings were the place to get drunk and find your true love?” Her phone started to ring.

“(Y/N), you haven’t RSVP with a date to any of the weddings. You. Need. A. Date.”

“Theo, you know me and dating have been on the outs for a long time. I’m a love ‘em and leave ‘em before they wake up kind of girl.”

He laughed, “Where that has its benefits, aren’t you lonely? Traveling around all by yourself and no one to come home too.”

“I love my life babe and I wouldn’t change it for anything. Now, tell me all about the suit you chose because I know it has to be to die for.”

She knew exactly how to get Theo off topic and spent the next thirty minutes listening about all his wedding plans. As she was changing out her laundry, she found one of Dean’s flannels in her bag. It was by far her favorite one he wore with the red and black buffalo pattern. Bringing it up to her nose, it smelled just like the leather of the Impala and fading scent of Dean’s natural musk. The mixture made her head spin slightly as she walked off with it to her room.

(Y/N) had been with the Winchester for nearly five years after a werewolf had killed her husband and she was on a revenge path. They had helped her kill off the pact of female werewolves killing men in her hometown. After learning about monsters being real, she knew that hunting them was where she was meant to be. Sam had been more accepting than Dean at first, but once she saved him from being a Djinn’s juice box. She proved how serious she was about being a hunter.

Of course, she was not immune to the Winchester charm and feelings for the elder brother developed quickly. (Y/N) pushed all feelings deep down and only when she drank alone did they sprout up momentarily. She was surprised that she found her mind wandering to thoughts of what Dean would be like at weddings. She imagined him in one one of his nice FBI suits charming all the bridesmaids and drinking whiskey all night long. The thought of him being her plus one made her stomach buzz and heart race. Quickly, she pushed those thoughts aside reminding herself that he did not have attachments and nor did she.

Over the next three months, (Y/N) attended three out of the four weddings. She came walking in fairly early from wedding reception number three. Dean and Sam were sitting at the map table with a few lore books opened.

Dean let out a cat call, “Hey sexy, you’re home early.”

“Yeah, just didn’t feel like staying plus the bar was only free until a certain time and no single men to take advantage of.” (Y/N) hopped up on the table crossing her legs in between the two men.

From the corner of her eye, she watched as Dean’s piercing forest eyes traveled the length of her body and then sucked his bottom lip between his teeth. An all too familiar ache hit her hard as he averted his eyes from her.

Sam cleared his throat as he stood up, “I think I’m going to get a few more books. You do look beautiful, (Y/N).” he leaned down kissing her cheek.

“Thanks Sam.”

She hopped down kicking off her shoes, “Well I’m going to wash off all the girly crap and relax in my room.”

“O-Okay, if you… uh feel like watching a movie later I’ll be in the Dean Cave.” He stammered watching her every move.

She nodded walking off to her room. After a shower and putting on comfy clothes, she decided that a movie with Dean would be nice. She did not want to be alone after watching all the happy couples at the wedding. Sure enough, Dean was in one of the recliners watching her favorite horror movie. One thing she loved about Dean was no words were needed with him. There was never an uncomfortable silence between them.

Even though it was her favorite movie, her eyes kept going over to him. His long body stretched out covered in gray sweatpants and a black hoodie. She found her body urging her to go over and snuggle with him. Her heart beat encouraging the same thing to go be with him. Her mind screaming to stay far away and protect herself from heartache.

Then her mouth opened asking a question burning on the tip of her tongue, “Hey Dean, do you think next weekend you would come with me to my friend’s wedding?”

He looked stunned for a moment then smiled, “Absolutely.”

Her heart leaped and she hid her face with her hair as it burned hot with happiness. The wide smile he had on his face was mirrored by her own spreading across hers. Over the next week, she tried to distract herself from the upcoming evening she would be spending with Dean. Saturday, she had hardly seen him at all as she spent most of the day getting herself ready. She tried hard to push away any expectations or hopes as to what could happen, but something felt incredibly right about going with Dean.

Slipping on her one shoulder white dress and the last touches of make-up, she walked out to the library. A small gasp escaped her lips as she walked in to see Dean standing by the stairs talking with Sam and Eileen. His lean body was dressed in a fitted black tux. The jacket fitted snug over his broad shoulders and biceps. His hair was over to one side and as he turned his bright olive eyes connected with hers.

There was a tense moment of silence before Sam elbowed him, “You look gorgeous (Y/N). Right Dean?”

He nodded as his eyes trailed down her body, “You’re beautiful.”

The words were barely above a whisper floating into her ears making them burn, “Thank you.”

She continued her path towards Dean as Sam stepped away saying goodbye. He swallowed hard, gently brushing a rogue strand of hair came loose.

“Come on sweetheart, let’s go get drunk and dance the night away.”

The wedding was beautiful as Theo and his husband recited their vows and sealed the ceremony with a kiss. The reception kicked off as waiters came around handing out champagne. She watched in amazement as Dean charmed and dazzled every person he spoke to. Theo caught up to her at the bar as she was watching him talk to a group of Theo’s co-workers.

“Girl, where have you been hiding Mr. Hottie? Good god!”

She started laughing, “I didn’t want you stealing him away from me.”

He rolled his eyes at her, “As if I could, he hasn’t taken those dreamy emeralds off of you all night. Now, tell me the truth… how is he in the sack?”

She averted her eyes to the floor as her silence answered his question.

“Hold on, back it up a moment,” He placed both hands on her shoulders as she took a sip of her whiskey, “You’re telling me that you have not fallen to your knees and climbed that man like the mighty, thick, hard tree he is?”

(Y/N) nearly spatted her drink out, “Theo! No, believe it or not I have some self-control and I really don’t know what this is. We work together and I don’t want it to get weird if this dating thing doesn’t work. He may not be into me that way.”

His eyes looked over to Dean and she followed his gaze finding his piercing eyes staring right at them, “Oh honey you blind as a bat. That man wants to ravage your body and tonight is as good a night as any for him to take you to church”

“You’re terrible. Get your damn drink and find your husband. Leave my love life alone.” She rolled her eyes as he held his hand up to the bartender.

“Baby, someone has to invest in your love life since you won’t,” He grabbed his drink then kissed her cheek, “You look gorgeous and I love you. Now, go over there, drag tall and handsome into a closet and suck him up like a vacuum.”

Theo walked away as her jaw hit the floor. Dean walked over with his eyebrow perfectly arched in curiosity, “Everything okay?”

“Y-Yeah… yeah, just my dear friend…” she downed her drink, “spitting truth at me as usual.”

He chuckled then held out his hand to her, “Care to dance?”

The slow, sensual love song began to fill the room as Dean led her onto the dance floor. Slipping his hand over her hip pulling her against him and clutching her other hand within his. His cheek rested against her temple as they began to sway back on and forth. For the first time since losing her husband, she found herself completely relaxed. His body was firm and strong caging her in with a sense of security. The few days stubble tickling her skin as he lowered his head slightly. Then his beautiful, husky voice flowed into her ears.

Darling, so it goes Some things are meant to be Take my hand Take my whole life too For I can't help falling in love with you

The lyrics were like an arrow piercing her heart. He looked down at her searching her wide eyes before they drifted to her lips. His tongue darted out over his lips as they slowly descended towards hers. Suddenly, the song switched to heavy bass and quick pace as bodies began dancing around them.

“I have to go.”

She stepped out of his arms threading through groups of people until she found the doors leading outside. The cool night air hit her burning face as she ran out into it. Her chest heaving as she desperately tried to catch her breath. Small gasps of hot air turning into puffs of mists as her chest ached from gulps of air filling her lungs.

“(Y/N)?”

She flinched hearing Dean behind her, “I-I’m fine. I just needed some fresh air.”

A blanket of warmth covered her shoulders as he placed his jacket over them, “What did I do wrong?”

She turned around hearing the defeat in his voice. His eyes downcast and shoulders slumped forward with his hands stuffed in his pockets. He looked like a child who was just scolded for breaking something.

“Dean, you did nothing wrong. You’ve been perfect this whole night. Everyone, including Theo, thinks we’re this happy couple madly in love,” she paused as he looked up smirking, “but we’re not. We’re partners who hunt monsters together and kind of friends.”

Dean took a few steps closer to her, “Kind of friends? Other than Sam and Cas, you’re the only other person I trust completely in this world. Said that is a bit more than kind of friends.”

Rather it was the whiskey and champagne flowing through her or pure desperation she found the feelings she had long buried bursting from her lips.

“That’s all we’ll ever be. Just friends. Just partners. Forever stuck watching you sleep with woman after woman and me being sickeningly jealous of them for catching your eye. I know you don’t see me that way and I get it if it’s weird knowing that I have feelings for you. Feelings that I have bottled up and buried deep that I’m just word vomiting all over you. Oh god…”

(Y/N) turned away from him as tears slipped down her cheeks. Her heart splitting in two as the truth slipped out into the world for all to know. Hanging her head in shame from even allowing the hope from this evening to breach her defensive wall. Agony and guilt and shame weighing her shoulders down and making it hard to breath once again.

His large hands gently grasped her shoulders, turning her around slowly. His hands gliding up to her face just as his lips firmly pressed against hers. They were warm and surprisingly soft and all too tempting to keep falling down the rabbit hole he was creating.

Pulling away, “Dean…”

“Shut up and be mine.”

“W-What?” She stammered not believing what she was hearing, “What did you just say?”

Dean flashed his famous charming smile that she had seen many women and men fall for right at her. Her heart pounding against her chest and knees trembling.

“I said, shut up and be mine. Haven’t you noticed that I haven’t been with anyone in almost a year. Ever since that damn haunting in Iowa City when you almost died. The thought of losing you tore me apart. If Cas hadn’t been there to save you then I don’t know…”

She pulled his lips to hers silencing him before whispering against them, “Shut up and be mine.”

“I’m all yours beautiful, I’m all yours.”

If you enjoyed this story then check out my Masterlist!

For updates please follow #waywardnerd67fics

[pikapeppa]

Year-end Writer’s Round-Up: the 2020 edition

Tagged a million years ago by @mythicaitt​ and @lostinfantasies38​ - thanks friends! I have finally put aside a chunk of time for this, since I am a nerd who likes to get accurate calculations. 

I will preface this by saying it’s been an insane year, and I know many people’s creativity was sucked dry by, well, everything. I find my emotional escape/comfort in writing fic, so I just... I dunno, went nuts with writing this year. To that end, I’ll keep most of this post below a cut for those who don’t want to see my “stats”, but with an open invitation to participate for ANYONE who does want to share their writing achievements for the year, and a tag for those writers that I know for sure were active this year: @crackinglamb​ @barbex​ @solas-disapproves​ @elveny​ @alyssalenko​ @nug-juggler​ @musetta3​ @cartadwarfwithaheartofgold​ @iarollane​ @in-arlathan​ @charlatron​ @queen-kass-the-writer​ - NO PRESSURE TO PARTICIPATE OR TO READ THIS AT ALL, THOUGH.

Word count and smut count table (i.e. NERD ALERT):

(Here’s a masterlist of all my fic, if any of the fics in that list strike anyone’s fancy and they want to find and check ‘em out.)

There are a couple of things missing from this word count that I only posted on Tumblr, a couple of Solas/Nare drabbles and a piece of Orsino/Hawke smut, but I’m too lazy to track those down right now. And I have another unposted chapter of Inadvisable that’s about 10k words… ANYWAY, MOVING ON.

New things I tried this year:

I jumped headfirst into a few Dragon Age rarepairs this year! I’ve always loved rarepairs and have particularly enjoyed writing them for Horizon Zero Dawn in the past, so it was a pleasure to take on a few this year:

Felassan x Lavellan in The Love That Grows From Violence

Sten x Yara Mahariel in Fall Into The Tide

Samson x Roman Hawke for my soulmate @schoute​ - a ship that I never even saw coming and that hit me like a ton of bricks in the feels.

I also took the plunge into theorizing and sorting through Big Lore this year for Dragon Age — something I’ve avoided doing for years. I usually don’t like doing very deep dives because I’m a canon-compliant sort of girl, and the idea of getting attached to a theory that might end up being wrong makes me feel itchy. But when I started writing a Felassan-centered fic, I had no choice but to try and figure out the big lore since YA BARK-EATING BOYFRIEND KNOWS THINGS. I spent 10+ hours sorting through DA meta, both canon and fanon, to try and come up with something cohesive for that fic that feels as canon-compliant as possible, so that was definitely a cliff I didn’t mean to jump off of, LOL.

I also took a jump into writing a fic with three simultaneous and interconnected relationships in Inadvisable, my modern university AU with @elbenherzart​, which includes relationships for Solas, Abelas and Felassan. I was super excited but SCARED to do this: how to keep all three relationships interesting and exciting when the narrative keeps moving and flowing between the three relationships and the six characters who all know each other in different ways? Luckily, I had the wonderful Elbenherzart cheering me on and encouraging me with all the BEAUTIFUL ART she’s done for the fic, and I’ve been really enjoying it!

Fic I spent the most time on: 

Um, it’s probably a tie between two fics: The Love That Grows From Violence (Felassan x Lavellan) just because of that Big Lore deep dive, or Lovers In A Dangerous Time (Fenris the Inquisitor), which I finished earlier this year and took a long time just by virtue of the fic length and THE AMOUNT OF FEELINGS I HAVE FOR FENRIS AND RYNNE HAWKE.

Fic I spent the least time on: 

Wake Up, a quick oneshot featuring Varric and Solas, which I keysmashed in a couple of hours after the most recent DA4 trailer was released. 

Favourite thing I wrote:

Oh my god. Everything?? Writing is my escape and my pride and joy, so I love everything I write. All my rarepairs were absolute delights this year. Finishing Lovers In A Dangerous Time was bittersweet since I now kind of feel like I can’t write any further Fenris/Rynne until DA4 comes out. But Felassan has become my darling toward the end of this year and I’m thrilled to have brought a handful of wonderful readers down the Felassan rabbit hole with me. 

Favourite thing I read:

… I… have once again failed and read basically nothing this year. I started to read Pressure Point by 17734 on AO3 and really enjoyed it for a few chapters before I just… ran out of steam. Not because of the fic, because it genuinely was great —  the smut in the first chapter just about killed me, STG — but because I realized this year that, with very few exceptions, I don’t have enough emotional space to invest in fics with long intricate plots. I’m a fucking goblin who just likes to read smut, so I lose interest quickly if the fic isn’t strongly smut/romance-centered. 

TO THAT END, I do have a couple of smutfic recs:

Force of Nature, a Stenwarden oneshot by @minionripley: Maker save me, this was soOoOoO good and in-character for StennySten.

Provided It Tied You Down First by JadeLavellan on AO3: Solas and Trevelyan go to a Tevinter sex party for recon reasons. Oh my god, guys, IT’S SO GOOD.

Writing goals for next year:

Honestly? I’m not gonna make any. I’ll just go where the winds of inspiration take me, and where the winds of others’ whispered suggestions take me as well. 

To that end, I have to make a few shoutouts to people who have inspired me this year, either with their art or suggestions or encouragement (read: ENTHUSIASTIC SCREAMING): @schoute​ @elbenherzart​ @whatomen​, without whom a huge chunk of my fic this year would not exist; and @lethendralis-paints​​ @ashalle-art​ @slushrottweiler-blog​ who gifted me with beautiful fan art this year and made me want to weep. LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH. 

Wishing everyone a safe and happy new year filled with love, warmth, and most of all, with hope. If anyone else wants to join in and share their achivements, please do and tag me so I can see what you’ve been up to!

- Love from your friendly neighbourhood Pikapeppa xoxo

[itsclydebitches]

I've never played WOW, but my friends into it. I might as well try. Any advice for someone who's never touched a MMO?

Oh, fun question! It’s actually hard for me to think of things I’d have wanted to know when starting out because I started playing MMOs around age... 9? So in some respects I grew up alongside the genre, rather than trying to learn it after the fact, but some things I’d highlight about WoW now is:

Don’t worry about your race/class. There is SO MUCH about the “right” and “wrong” way to create a character, but at the end of the day you should choose whatever interests and appeals to you most. The caveat to that is that picking a tank or a healer class will put a bit more responsibility on your shoulders  — whether you like it or not at times  — so just be aware of that. Some people like taking on a specific role, others (me) do not. There are also classes that are better suited to soloing as much of the game as possible, if that’s something you’re interested in. 

Regardless, you will have to play with others eventually. If your friends are already into WoW it sounds like you have a good community/potential guild to turn to, but I’d recommend waiting until you feel confident in playing your character before entering groups with strangers. Frankly, the WoW community can be pretty damn toxic. I’m no expert, but I’ve played it long enough to feel confident in my abilities and I’m still cursed out by pissed off dungeon groups if we wipe. Raids will expect you to have learned the fights via youtube prior to coming in and when many inevitably haven’t (because it’s a game and homework shouldn’t be required lol) they’ll start yelling too. PvP is just a mess of accusations and slurs, depending on how badly it’s going... so yeah. I don’t want to make it sound like WoW is made up of nothing but assholes, but there are enough to make an impression. It’s something to avoid if you’re not feeling up to it, but given how much of the later content requires working with others, wait until you’re geared, have a good handle on your class, and are in a good head space before diving in. Or stick to playing with friends. 

Speaking of friends, if you do want to play with them I’d recommend picking their faction (Horde or Alliance). That will allow you to visit each other in major cities, help with the same quests, queue up for activities together, etc. Though the story has moved away from the Horde vs. Alliance rivalry recently, the gameplay still very much divides them. 

Check out everything you can (without getting too overwhelmed!) WoW has a LOT going on and while very little is required, much of it is beneficial while also being easy to miss, just by virtue of there being so much to do. Pick up any quests you find, explore as much of the world as you can, talk to NPCs, save the loot you get, etc. You can always get rid of something  — drop a quest, destroy/sell an item  — but it’s a bummer if you just go and sell everything only to realize you actually needed all that stuff for something else. So go slow and check out your options before making decisions. 

To help with that, I recommend WoWhead and Icy Veins for info, or just good old-fashioned plugging the thing into google with “wow” next to it. How often do I look stuff up? Constantly. MMOs don’t have cheating culture the way a single-player game might (I mean, there’s absolutely cheating, just not in the same way), so don’t be afraid to just google anything and everything you want. The comment sections of a page are your best friend. Whereas the official description may give you an overwhelming amount of information you don’t actually need, player comments tend to focus on what others really want to know: here’s where to find this NPC, yes this quest is bugged, make sure you do X before Y, etc. WoW has become a lot more accessible over the years in terms of helping players figure things out, but it’s still confusing at times, so make use of any resource you please. 

Another “cheat” is to use addons. I’d recommend grabbing WoWMatrix which will allow you to (safely) download addons without any of the hassle of putting it in the correct folders. I’d recommend Bagnon (makes all your bags open as a single window so you can see all your loot at once), Bartender (allows you to customize your action bar), Coordinates (puts a tiny, movable coordinates button on your screen which is basically necessary at this point to find things. Players will almost always provide coordinates when giving locations), HandyNotes (provides lots of info on your map, like how you go about summoning a rare mob), Pawn (helps you compare gear to see what’s best for your class/specialization), and if you do any PvP, Healers Have to Die, or HHTD, which marks all healers with a cross so they’re easy to spot in battle (always kill healers first! :D). WoWMatrix is SUPER easy to use  — just search for the addons you want via the application, download them, delete if you don’t like ‘em, and open it once in a while to “Update All” — and the various addons you can use are an absolute godsend. They make playing the base game that much better. 

If you’re someone invested in the story side of games, lore is going to be very weird here, just because WoW is 16 years old and you’ll be entering into the 8th expansion. I’ve played WoW since it came out and I don’t know wtf is going on a lot of the time lol. So just roll with it, or if you’re interested, make use of wikis, the novels, etc. But it’s not the sort of game where you’re in trouble if you have no idea who this person is or what battle they’re talking about. Just accept whatever they want you to do and pick up the story wherever you came in. 

You’re going to die a lot. A lot, a lot. That’s fine, everyone does. Again, not the sort of game where that’s a problem. Just know that you can either return to your corpse (flying there as a ghost) or rez at the graveyard you appear in if you’re willing to deal with a bad debuff for like 10 minutes. Also, all armor has durability that goes down over time, but it goes down faster the more you die, so you’ll want to repair (finding an NPC with the anvil icon) soon afterwards. 

There’s lots of little things to learn like that: a brown bag icon means you can sell to this person, blue exclamation marks are quests that will reappear daily, items with a gray name (as opposed to white, green, blue, or purple) are pretty much just junk and you can always sell them... there’s a lot. Pick things up as you go, keeping in mind that you’ll be given SO MUCH INFORMATION and no, you’re not going to learn it all at once. Part of the fun is figuring stuff out and seeing yourself improve. Feel free to ask questions too (there’s a chat box and you can speak to an entire zone at once), though frankly it’s a 50/50 chance whether someone will give an actual answer, or just roast you lol 

If you ever want to play “seriously,” I’d kinda recommend learning WoW with keybinding early on  — AKA, creating button shortcuts for various spells/skills so your mouse is only used for camera movement and targeting, rather than wasting time looking for the action you want to click on. I say “kinda” because I don’t do that. At this point my click method is too ingrained in my muscle memory for anything else, but I recognize that I’m in the minority for saying that’s an “okay” way to play. 

Anything is okay though. Do whatever. I mean, the above aside, literally my best advice is to just throw yourself headfirst into the game, accept that you’re going to mess so much up, shrug, and have fun with it. I spent an hour of my life running a Tourghast floor today... and then wasn’t able to beat the final boss. So I “wasted” that time since I didn’t get the loot, but who cares? It was fun! Literally do whatever and don’t let any of the assholes get to you. Someone sends a message you don’t like? Block them (right click their name in the chat box to get the option). Group is making you uncomfortable? Leave. Don’t know how to do something? Google it! The best thing about an MMO is also the most overwhelming: it’s a whole world with (almost) endless options, so though that freedom is exciting, it also means you have to curate your own experience. It’s a bit like being here on tumblr. Figure out all the nuances at you own pace, lurk as long as you’d like, and if someone is being annoying, google how to keep them out of your inbox. 

Idk how helpful any of these tips are, but I hope you enjoy it!! 😊

[thegospelofnagisa]

Magia Record: Outsider Critique and Formula

I had a problem with the episode too and glad you pick up on a formula. Tbh it’s because nothing was accomplished for the sake of baiting a cliffhanger ending. And I’m talking as someone who has NEVER PLAYED THE GAME so I hope fresh eyes are insight. (So please forgive me if I misspell anyone’s name or miss something)

I’m seeing the formula is “pan out the episode as much as possible with exposition and filler, having the characters get nothing done, so that we can create a big cliffhanger shock twist to end the episode on.” Because episode 2 felt the same way (I felt wow the episode has 4 minutes left already nothing happened????)

Yeah Iroha meets Tsurono, but who is Tsuruno? She owns a Chinese Restaurant but all we know about her is that she’s loud and eccentric, even Yachiyo (who CONVENIENTLY shows up like Homura would maybe I’m missing something there) makes a comment that’s why she’s not friends with her yet they don’t even bother showing their history or anything, we just see her being eccentric. I don’t mean to offend anyone that’s a fan of Tsurono, but from an outsider perspective there was nothing interesting about her and they don’t develop her, she felt like a random quirky anime trope that was tagging along even the episode was focusing on Iroha and Yachiyo, like what was even her wish? Come to think of it they never get in to the girls wishes only Kaeda which is strange, that’s a huge part of the series not every girl has to have a secret wish. I’d assume Tsuruno just wished for her and her family to run a Chinese restaurant or bring foot traffic to her family’s restaurant and the side effect is that it’s not the best food. (Now if she said it and I missed it I’M SORRY)

In Madoka when characters came along they felt genuine to the point you wanted to know about their stories. It felt like a show about real girls making wishes with dire consequences while being on an adventure, Things happened, things changed, we warm up to the characters organically, and we’re moving in every single episode. The anime was so seamless in that regard that it was easy to compose it in to two separate movies. Here I don’t even know what’s going on, it’s usually just static, I only want to see what happens to Iroha and Ui, as I actually really like her and the set up to her story. She’s a refreshing magical girl protagonist in my opinion and feels like a real person

It’s bothersome too because we just spent 3 episodes getting invested Momoko’s group, then suddenly they vanish, which it’s obvious they’re trying to group in the entire game cast in 13 episodes, which is why the show should have at least had 20. I’d like to get to know these girls before introducing 5 more. I feel like they’re taking the Sailor Moon Crystal route, inserting characters without expanding on them expecting the audience to know who they are since a pre-existing material is around. Even the scene with that blonde girl I didn’t understand why she was yelling at Iroha when nothing was shown, and I’m reading seeing she likes everyone to see her as beautiful or something. You’d only know that if you played the long RPG game.

I’d say the worst part of the episode? The grocery store scene. It was jarring. I’m going to quote Nostalgia Critic here and call it a big lipped alligator moment. Even though the build up to it was fantastic, they built the whole thing up like that was related to the episode’s plot. It’s never mentioned again. Yachiyo is all surprised we hear chanting as she’s trying to tell Iroha code, as if that’s where the rumor really is. Nope it was just a random witch battle. All it did was conveniently fast forward the day to night because of the time they spent there and Iroha having taint, which can be argued that could have happened in any scene in any way that wouldn’t have paused the episode’s plot. They could have literally just made day in to night, have her look at the moon or dusk making her realize. They could have put the witch battle at the start, Beginning with Tsuroni (maybe running in to her since it’s established they aren’t friends) and Yachiyo shopping at the store in that macabre sale setting hinting at Tsuroni that its a witch barrier like she did with Iroha. It would make sense too since Tsuroni runs a restaurant and would be shopping for groceries. have Tsurono (meet) and Yachiyo in the store, finding the witch where Iroha in trouble there (trying to find her sister in Kamihama of course), then follow with Iroha being tainted from feeling useless in battle, and follow with the restaurant scene nursing Iroha back to health, where the rumor could be put in to play. Erase the meeting at the adjustment center where she just gets a flier of the restaurant, and pointlessly placed battle, but that would mean finishing the plot in one episode instead of a cliffhanger.

Tl;dr I feel like they’re stretching the episodes with needless padding to bait cliffhangers to get people to watch the show (even teasing Mami and her not showing up at all is pretty low brow, the actual ep didn’t have a cliffhanger so they just threw that in last minute) and being cornered by having to adapt 8+ magical girls in to an anime. really hope by the end of its airing I’m wrong, and that it’s a masterpiece, because I love the art direction to pieces and Iroha. Even the music is pretty even though Ms. Kajiura is gone. Again I’m sorry if I miss anything because I never played Magia Record (no matter how much I tried I couldn’t get in to it, sorry) but a die hard Madoka fan. And no, I’m not begging for characters to die like a lot of fans are doing, I just want a memorable enjoyable story.

I do respect that the show isn’t throwing obvious fan service which turned me off from the game, I was expecting so much worse, and that there are interesting girls and lore. I love the idea of a magical girl counseling/adjustment center and powerful beings that are pointless to fight but are needed to fight to save people. Even the little Kyubey is unnerving and creepy when it’s revealed Kyubey can’t enter Kamihama. And again the imagery is so spot on from the witches, to transformations, and symbolism (the pictures of Iroha that imply Ui was with her and the half room gives me chills, hell the ending theme with Yachiyo in the elevator is so unsettling). I am enjoying the journey so far and will watch till the end, and really hope my critique is wrong by the end of the airing. Thank you.

----

This is an interesting thing I recomend people to read because, it does shine some light on an aspect of MagiReco that should be adressed and it is that the anime DOES sin a little of being a bit too reliant on you having a previous knowledge from the game, I absolutely agree with that.

Not to the level of Kantai Collection which is flat out imposible to follow if you have not played the game and you won’t be able to understand why some characters dying or doing stuff matters so much, but MagiaRecord does rely on that, I mean they freaking spoiled people BIG with the endcard of episode 4 for fuck sake, it’s EVIDENT there is a mindset in there to not take new fans perspective into account, I am hoping they will find a way to make it all work fine as the series goes on (It can happen).

[arcadeigannon]

ok but like you were wrong abt the article, like you clearly didn't read it

this is so funny because i actually specifically went and took the time to read the article before i posted anything Because the headline seemed like the perfect kind of quote to be used out of context as clickbait lmao. sorry that i didn’t do a full rhetorical analysis of all the nuances in the statement the russos made about a movie i dont actually care about

but if you want my In Depth Take:

there you go, there’s a screenshot of the full quote.

“but the way we work as filmmakers is we have to satisfy ourselves first and foremost…that’s how we’ve made every one of our marvel movies and it’s how we’re making this one”

let’s get this out of the way first – i can’t actually be Wrong about this because it’s a matter of opinion. maybe u disagree and fine whatever that’s your prerogative. but i’m saying that i, as a filmmaker, as a writer, as a screenwriter specifically, and as an audience member think it’s lazy and even selfish to take the privilege of being able to contribute (more than once!) to the canon and lore of a story, characters, and universe as significant and fantastic as marvel, and use it to just. tell whatever story you think is Neat.

like. let me also establish that this isn’t about me being mad because i’m a marvel stan because i could not care any less about marvel films anymore. i don’t care. I Don’t Care. but using marvel as a way to explain my point: we’re talking about a whole UNIVERSE of stories. it’s part of why comic book films are so difficult bc film canon obviously doesn’t have the versatility of comic book canon. and no you’re obviously not going to be able to fully realize that in film no matter what because it’s a different medium, but when you’re in charge of handling DECADES of history for DOZENS of characters and you have SO many incredible comic book writers and artists who came before you and already spent time lovingly shaping this world and these stories, then i think there’s SOME degree of responsibility there!

so when u come in and go “here is The Marvel Film……i think its exciting for me personally and that’s the best i can do :)” it’s like… lvkfovofgbfg you’re literally getting paid millions of dollars to do this and you’re using it as an opportunity to write glorified fanfiction? alright. (that’s not a dig at fanfic either. honestly. fanfic authors care more about their work than some of these guys lmao)

no SHIT you’re not going to please everyone, OBVIOUSLY when you’re creating something it should come from a genuine place and it should be something that you’re invested in and believe in and sometimes that means tuning out outside opinions, again this is what i DO i KNOW how it works but there’s also a difference between. a fucking passion project. and the culmination of what, over half a century of collaborative storytelling? you’re not only essentially saying “fuck you i do what i want” to millions of fans but you’re saying it to all the artists who spent just as much if not more time and care on this before you to get it to where it is.

do i think they’re intentionally trying to brush off fans or whatever? obviously fucking not i’m not stupid and i’m aware it’s not necessarily that deep but when this is just like. reflective of the kind of stuff i have to deal with in this industry on a daily basis – mediocre people getting praised and rewarded for doing the absolute bare minimum or even less – it touches a nerve u know!

same problem as joss whedon. same problem as rian johnson. all they care about is Their Story. that’s a valid position a lot of times! yeah! but u don’t fucking get that luxury when a) it’s something that’s SO much bigger than you culturally b) it wasn’t even your fucking story to begin with

[getoffthesoapbox]

[VKM Spec] Ridiculing VKM 18

As expected, Hino’s obsession with dreary funerals continues.

Obligatory disclaimer for my anti-fans: This post is zeki criticism, vkm criticism, hino criticism, and anti ky. Please blacklist those tags accordingly.

Scanlations can be found in the usual places.

The Good

Gotta give credit where credit is due!

Hallelujah! Kaien Cross bites the dust (literally) at last! Praise the heavens! At last, one of the cancers of this story has been eradicated! Screw you, Hino, for trying to make him more than oozing pustule he was. (And LOL @ that guy facepalming in front of his coffin, who the hell is that anyway, I want his autograph? XD)

Kaien’s melodramatic “woe is me, what a shitty way to die” and then his pathetic “oh a girl is finally crying for me after all this time!” dramatics were hilarious. Like...how sad of a person are you that you’re relieved any girl is crying for you at your death?

Ren is a girl. I repeat: Ren is a girl. At last we can put to bed all that nonsense.

Ren is null!Zero’s and Yuuki’s child. I repeat: Ren is null!Zero’s and Yuuki’s child. Farewell, fantasies of test tube babies and clones and in vitro. Not only that, Ren was clearly conceived in the usual fashion of conceptions, not via any Zeusian head-births or immaculate conceptions. 

Null!Zero lived to raise Ren. I repeat: null!Zero lived to raise Ren. At least the “null!Zero can’t have anything Kaname doesn’t get” rule no longer applies. 

Kaname is too much of a chicken to look at the photo album of a man who worshipped him. Methinks nu!Kaname has received some intimations about how much of a shithead he was in the past. Makes me think better of him.

Kaname is actually interested in someone from the past who isn’t Yuuki and what that person might think of him. Also that he actually genuinely seems interested in finding out how much Ai suffered from Kaien’s loss and is trying to empathize for the first time in his life. 

Ai finally showed up for a funeral. ‘Bout time, since she didn’t even bother to show up for Yori’s. 

The little girl the Prince was living with is not the mayor’s daughter, thank god. 

The mad scientist got a stylish cameo! 

And that’s about it!

The Bad

Perhaps I should rename this section to “The Stupid”? I’ll have to consider it.

Hino forgetting her own lore and that pureblood blood can cure wounds and illnesses--see Shizuka with Ichiru. Ai was right next to Kaien--she didn’t need to offer him vamprism, she could have just fed him her blood. For him to die in such a stupid fashion, despite how great it is, is positively mind boggling given the established vampire lore in this story. 

Hino retroactively trying to act like Kaien meant something to these characters when he’d routinely fucked them over in order to rescue his precious Kaname. 

Yuuki boo-hooing over Kaien dying when she didn’t bother to spend any time with him during the 100 years of life she had to enjoy his company.

Kaname’s unexplained “curse” on Touma that came out of the clear blue nowhere with no foreshadowing or set up in order to “justify” Touma’s insane behavior. Hino’s just phoning it in at this point. 

Touma is the Prince, snooze. Boring and obvious and a narrative dud. 

The “Mayor” is useless and already under arrest, and why the hell does anyone even still care about him?

Kaien’s funeral was a joke and got more panels than Yori’s, which is ridiculous.

The timeline is fucked. Ai was acting last chapter like a bunch of time had passed between the mad scientist kidnapping and the Ren pregnancy being discovered, yet the little girl is still the same age. Either she’s a vampire or Hino has no clue what the timeline is.

Instead of talking about how excited they are to meet Ren, Yuuki spends most of her pregnancy screentime rehashing bullshit about Ai’s childhood with Ai. We already spent 6 chapters on Ai’s childhood Hino, you might want to give us some time to enjoy Ren for once yeah? 

Yuuki whining about Kaien and Yori not being there is a complete joke. Bitch, please, you waiting seventy years to get in bed with your side piece is the reason they’re not there with you now. You have no right to complain because this is your own fault. You squandered the time you had with your precious people.

Null!Zero’s apparently barely there as a father figure since Hino didn’t care to show him in more than one panel with his child. 

The Ugly

All of the ugly this chapter was packed in at the end, appropriately.

Hino just completely excised null!Zero from the family. In the montage of raising Ai images, Zero doesn’t even get a panel with Ai or Yuuki--he’s separated in his own itty bitty panel as if he’s still an outsider in his own family.

No sex scene, no waiting for the baby scene, no naming Ren scene for Zeki. That’s a pretty low blow to make us wait all that time and then skip over everything, Hino. Fuck you, too.

Zero’s and Ai’s little argument at the end would be cute if we’d actually gotten some fucking answers as to why Zeki didn’t get together for an entire human lifetime, but no, Hino doesn’t care to tell us why, we can just make the answer up for ourselves!

Whether Hino intends to “make good” on this implication or not (and my bet, given how gross Ai and Ren act in the future, is that she’ll make good on it), it is utterly reprehensible that Hino made Ai have a sexual attraction to a fucking innocent baby. We all know the VK/VKM world has established that vampiric hunger the way Ai experiences it in VKM 18 is sexual in nature. Hino trying to act like it’s cute there at the end is not ever acceptable. It was not even remotely acceptable when Kaname did it, and it’s not at all acceptable now just because the girls are sisters. Just like slapping Aidou, child grooming is not appropriate or laudable behavior. Ai having a sexual interest in her baby sister is not okay.

And last, but certainly not least, null!Zero and Yuuki approving Ai’s interactions with Ren without having any concerns is deeply disturbing to me. Hino trying to play this off as a cute and normal happy family is even more troubling. I’m very concerned about how this all is going to play out in the future. 

General Aside

@vampireknightmeta brought up a few ways in which Hino might be able to salvage the story as it is now in our private conversations, but I will leave any public speculation on future positive developments to her should she choose to share them with the fandom at large. 

At this point in time, I myself have no interest in speculating about potential positive narrative developments because Hino has shown time and time again that she’s happy to sink lower than even the lowest bar I set for her. I’d rather be happily surprised by Hino saving this story on her own and just laugh at her bumbling in the meantime rather than investing my heart into trying to uncover the “secrets” of the story of a repugnant and morally bankrupt failure of a writer. From now on, I’ll only be speculating about worst case scenarios, the worst I can possibly imagine, and maybe Hino will do even worse than that just to prove to me that there’s no low she’s above sinking to. 

As such, if you’re looking for positive theorizing, you won’t find it here until I see some significant improvement in this sorry excuse for a story. Please look elsewhere for your hit of “positivity.” 

Crackpot Theory Corner

Can’t end this debacle without some crackpot theories. Here’s what could happen that could make this story sink even lower than it has already sunk!

Null!Zero might actually get suspicious of Ai’s “attentions” to Ren, but he’s going to die before he can stop anything. =P Null!Zero does still seem to have some fatherly instincts.

Null!Zero is up next for being killed, probably next volume. We’ll probably have a funeral or two every volume, because that’s totally what everyone’s reading for!

In the chapter where null!Zero dies, we’ll have Ren dying in the future while protecting Ai or Kaname! Gotta kill off dem pesky Kiryuus!

When Yuuki meant “short time after Zero” when he died in VKM 4, what she meant to say was “null!Zero died 20 years after I screwed him and I put myself to bed for 900 more.” Hence, “short time.” Time’s relative, doncha know.

After Ren dies, Kaname and Ai will mourn, then resurrect Yuuki to ease their sorrow and the Kurans will live happily ever after. 

Yuuki never intended to marry Zero, and that’s why she let Yori die before getting together with him officially so Yori wouldn’t have to know Yuuki loved Kaname and not Zero (why, only Hino knows). The wedding Yori and Aidou were waiting for will happen after they’re long dead with Kaname and Yuuki instead. 

The baby from Yuuki’s dream is her second kid with Kaname, a boy who she’ll name Zero. Ai will imprint on her new brother and the horror will start all over again with a new generation, this time blessedly free of Kiryuus, who are all dead.

Oh, and the Vampire King will never be found, because who cares. ;)

Until next time, see you later!

[house-vexile]

Looking For Role-play - Master List

In the effort to put my feet back into the water with more vigor, I’ve made another quick reference list of my characters and the best way to engage them. I recently passed 800 followers (Welcome new people!) and I figured I was way overdue for this. For ease of scrolling, the LFRP snippets will be under the cut (Sorry mobile users...I know the read more line doesn’t always work in the app...). 

All characters listed below are on Balmung unless specified otherwise. 

Thank you all!

Ranya Vexile - A Vylbrand native and business owner, Ranya is a very strong willed woman with a sharp tongue and little patience for foolishness.

Hooks:

Are you a craftsman or guard/mercenary? Ranya might have work for you.

Limsan native? Ranya’s family has spent near all of its history in that area.

Do you like books? You haven’t seen her house. She collects them.

Any individual with a disciplined lifestyle, or a driven mindset.

Important things to note:

Ranya is not available for romantic engagement, as she is a taken lady.

She can be a very intimidating lady out the gate. Proceed with caution, please.

She HIGHLY dislikes Garleans. 

Phenalyn Talavaine - A kindhearted healer and artist who sees and hears far more than she lets on. A gentle soul with a hearty dose of nervousness.

Hooks:

Do you like nature? Animals? Plants? Spirits? Phen will love to chat.

Do you like history, particularly captured in ruins or in art forms? She studies these sorts of things.

Healing magic is always a safe way to go with this lady. She’s quite adept.

Have you traveled the world? Been to faraway places? She’ll LOVE hearing about it.

Important things to note:

Phenalyn’s romantic intentions are focused on a particular gentleman at the moment. Please don’t engage her with the intention of romance.

Scared to role-play with me, or intimidated in any way? Phenalyn is by far the easiest/kindest of my characters and would be a good starting choice.  

Y’asmina Malha - A tribe witch with a fiery spirit and ritually branded skin. A bit of a wildcard...and a woman seems to be too aware of the preciousness of life.

Hooks:

Do you like adventuring? Mina is the curious sort who likes the sensation of spontaneity.

From a tribe? So is Mina. Doesn’t have to be the same tribe, she’s still likely interested.

Is your character more rough around the edges? All fine by Y’asmina. She likes the more...weathered, morally questionable sort.

Important things to note:

Y’asmina and Y’raos (mentioned next) are siblings. You will likely deal with one if you engage the other.

Similarly to the others, please don’t bum-rush her for the sake of ERP. It won’t happen.

Y’asmina deals in some rather arcane, dated magics. Some of the darker variety. That doesn’t mean she’ll talk about them outright.

She is prone to attitudes. Please proceed with caution.

Y’raos Nunh - A brooding, hard-working and intense male from the Jaguar clan. Due to some...unfortunate circumstances, he is now the leader of his clan branch.

Hooks:

Tribe life. Raos is the leader of a clan currently recovering from some bad leadership by the hand of the former Nunh. He’s open to conversation regarding it.

Parenthood. Y’raos is the father of four children, three his own and one adopted. He loves his family, and respects a family-minded individual.

Vylbrand - Y’raos and his people recently completed the move back to their former home along the beaches of La Noscea. One might have seen their developing village.

Important things to note:

He’s a bit grumpy out the gate, and is a man of few words. But he talks, I promise!

Y’raos is married. Yes, that is rare for Seeker tribes. That said, he is not open for ERP, even under the pretense of lore. Please do not seek him out for it.

Khai Tumet - A quiet, unapologetic huntress who has returned to her home with the hopes of restoring her tribe name. 

Hooks:

Xaela culture is always a safe way to go with Khai. Just don’t insult it and she might talk to you.

Hunting is also an easy topic and a quick way to get her to talk.

Painting. Khai paints quite a bit, and while she isn’t classically trained or interested in learning, she enjoys sharing the passion.

Important things to note:

Khai is by far my hardest character to engage. She will not leave the East now that she is home, and she is blatantly disapproving of Eorzean ways. Proceed with caution.

Khai also has some social/mental quirks that may come off as aloof or dismissive. These are intentional, and with investment, it will become clear as to why she acts the way she does.

Shoniin Kahkol - A travelling shaman of the Kahkol tribe, interested in gathering the lost of the Steppes and guiding them home.

Hooks:

Xaela culture also works with Shoniin. He’s familiar with all of the tribes, and is willing to teach people who care to learn.

Magic. While he may not care to learn the ways of others, he has an interest in the way other aether users channel their skills.

Jewelry and body modification - Shoniin is heavily pierced, enjoys piercing/making jewelry, and is able to tattoo those who desire it...albeit in more primitive ways.

Important things to note:

Due to the nature of his personality and more hidden details, stories involving Shoniin can often drift towards darker themes. Buyers beware.

While Shoniin is polyamorous and pansexual, invested story would be necessary for me as a writer to even consider a relationship of that sort between him and another character.

I also have other, more minor characters available. However, I am not on them often so a shorter description will be listed below:

Arty Surefoot - Smuggler, airship pilot, transporter, black market dealer. She’s a wildcard.

Y’nala Jaliz - Grandmother to Y’asmina and Y’raos, she is a very old woman with very old magic.

Nikolai Barlaas (Mateus) - A silent man from Thavnair seeking a new life...while keeping the past in the past.

A note about the writer:

I have alts. This means I will not be constantly focused on a single character. I do, however, play quite a bit and do play most of my characters equally. 

Scheduling things with me is best. While I don’t mean to formalize the process, I work a LOT during the day and am very exhausted in the evening. Scheduling things helps me make sure I get to squeeze into everyone else’s time!

I am on the east coast, but that won’t stop me from making accommodations for your time zone. I am up super late most nights, and weekends have no sleep schedule at all. So don’t let my location dissuade you!

I can do discord RP, but due to the fact that I work all day, replies will be slow and likely 1-2 times a day maximum. I also prefer in-game RP if at all possible.

Drama happens, but be ready to talk about it. I do not have time for drama, and would prefer a role-play partner who is able to maintain open communication rather than letting issues fester.

Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this. So sorry it’s as long as it is!

[bluering8]

do the fandom ask thing for all the versions of star trek you've seen

So that’s… TOS and TNG then (we could also countnu!Trek/AOS but… let’s not count nu!Trek/AOS).

I’ve also seen Two Whole Episodes of Voyager (the one where B’Elannagot split into her human and klingon halves because that’s how species works inStar Trek I guess, and the one where Doctor McHologram wrote a story andeveryone was real mad about how they were portrayed in his story so they wrotea story where he sexually harassed his patients because that’s how solvinginterpersonal problems works in Star Trek I guess) but I don’t think that’senough to Count.

the first character Iever fell in love with:

TOS: Spock.

TNG: Data!

a character that Iused to love/like, but now do not:

TOS: Uhhh probably Spock also? It’s not that I dislike him now so much as I’ve justkind of lost interest in him as a character. I find vulcans to be pretty boringoverall. I adore serious-businessstoic characters, but usually what I love about them is that they’re just assilly as everyone else, only in different ways. You don’t get that withvulcans, they’re like obsessively solemn and take themselves too seriously atall times.

TNG: Oh, definitely Wesley. I quite liked him for the firstcouple of episodes, and then things degenerated rapidly and now I’m at thebitch-eating-crackers level of he doesn’t even need to do anything wrongbecause I’m willing to take his mere existence as a personal insult.

a ship that I used tolove/like, but now do not:

Uhhh I don’t know man, I haven’t spent enough time aroundTrek fandom to get jaded on any of the ships yet.

my ultimate favouritecharacter™:

TOS: God, I don’t know. I don’t feel mad super passionatelyabout any of the TOS cast. Scotty? Scotty’s fun, I like him okay I guess.

TNG: DATA!! My boy, my son, my cinnamon roll, my perfectwish-fulfilment character because who doesn’twant to be an autistic robot man with super strength and a job he loves and apet cat and a dorky boyfriend??

prettiest character:

TOS: Uhura, absolutely.

TNG: Depending on how you define “prettiest”… Tasha Yar isabsolutely the most attractivecharacter, she could break both my arms and I would thank her for the privilege.Geordi is probably the nicest to look at,there’s something so utterly pleasing about the proportions of his face. He isShaped Like A Friend. (Special mentions go to Data and Picard, who have thebest noses on the ship. Neither of them have particularly fantastic noses, butI have to take what I can get where I can find it. Where are all my big-nosedbeauties, this show is not catering to my aesthetic preferences and I feel personallyattacked by this.)

my most hatedcharacter:

TOS: Again, I just don’t feel mad super passionately aboutany of the TOS cast. Who don’t I even like? This is the sound of me realising I’veforgotten like 90% of TOS.

TNG: It’s cliché to hate Wesley, but… guys, I really hateWesley. Also I kind of dislike Troi a lot. Apparently she gets better later on,and I’m not yet at the stage where I loathe her utterly and there’s nothing shecan do to redeem herself, so maybe hopefully one day I will stop dislikingTroi? That’d be neat.

my OTP:

Data/Geordi. That’s it, that’s the ship.

Uh you know what, also Odo/Quark. I don’t know fuckinganything about DS9 but I follow enough people who care about the goolawman/trashgoblin bartender ship that I accidentally started caring about italso. They’re horrible gross jerks who hate each other and they should getmarried so they can go around being horrible and gross and hating each otherfor the rest of eternity please and thank you.

my NOTP:

I don’t really… care enough about shipping to dislikeanything. Data/Yar maybe? I don’t enjoy this ship based entirely on twocharacters having fucked once under the influence of Weird Space Drugs, whichYar then indicated she very much regretted and would not have done sober.

favourite episode:

TOS: I… can’t really remember any fuckin’ TOS episodes. Orlike, I can remember them, but I can’t remember how I felt about them (and myfeelings would certainly have changed by now given that it’s been years).

TNG: S03E10 (The Defector)!! I loved the oneshot NPC and Ienjoyed the plot a lot and I got very emotionally invested in everything whichhappened. I’ve already talked about this hereand here sowe’ll move quickly on before I accidentally another outpouring of love for RomulanDefector Guy and his character arc.

saddest death:

TOS: Spock! The impact was kind of dulled because I knew he’dbe coming back, but it’s still that moment which really really drives home so fucking hard just how much Spock andKirk mean to each other. There’s something so fucking glorious about a death scene where all a person can do is sit andwatch helplessly.

TNG: Am I allowed to say Jarok? Am I allowed to care about aoneshot NPC so much that I consider his death to be the most tragic thing inthe series so far? It’s not so much that I’m sad he died, just that… you havethis character who’s betrayed the planet he loves, he’s lost his familyforever, he’s given up everything,and he thought he could live with that because he did it all for a Cause andnow he learns that it was all a lie and he really did it all for nothing? Likeouch, yeah, just pull my still-beating heart out of my chest and fucking step on it. And then like, hedies because that’s the simplest way to tie up his plotline and you never haveto think about him again and Okay Then.

Other than that, Data’s death was Very Sad because I love myrobot son. Yar’s death was not really sadbut it was Upsetting because god dammit Yar deserved better!! She was too coolto get randomly offed by Goo Man, this is bullshit.

favourite season:

TOS: I think Iremember S02 being particularly good? Who Knows man.

TNG: I. Argh. Fuckign. I’m going to say S03 because it wasthe one I watched most recently and like, a “season” is a really big shape, Ican’t hold shapes that big in my tiny meat brain. But this one had RomulanDefector Guy and Q being de-Q’d and Data having non-drugged sex and Datagetting kidnapped then attempting to shoot his kidnapper to death thentransparently bullshitting Riker when asked about it, and those were all thingsI enjoyed happening. But then S02 also had a lot of things I really enjoyedhappening?? I don’t fucking know, my guy.

least favouriteseason:

Instead of answering this question I spun my chair incircles singing along to Charmless Manand I suggest you do the same. Seasons are really big and there’re a lot ofthings which happen in them!! I don’t have the memory for that sort of thing.

character thateveryone else in the fandom loves, but i hate:

I… don’t really hang around in the fandom enough to knowwhat the general opinion of the characters is, I just sit here in my own littlecorner and enjoy myself.

my “you’re a piece oftrash, but you’re still a fave” fave:

Q!! Also Lore. My faves are always trash, loving Data asmuch as I do is very unusual for me.

my “beautifulcinnamon roll who deserves better than this” fave:

D A T A!!

my “this ship iswrong, nasty, and it makes me want to cleanse my soul, but i still love it”ship:

I… can’t think of anything. That’s weird, I usually hitbedrock on Problematic™ ships within the first fifteen minutes and spend therest of the show attempting to dig myself Even Deeper. Uh, does Bruce Maddox’screepily transparent crush on Data count? I think that should count.

my “they’re kind ofcute, and i lowkey ship them, but i’m not too invested” ship:

TOS: Spirk! It’s a good ship, I enjoy it, they shouldtotally get married, but you won’t catch me lying awake at 3am staring at theceiling and gently weeping to myself over how much I want these dumbmotherfuckers to just kiss already.

TNG: Data/Q. I’m not sure whether or not anyone else shipsit, but watching S03E13 (Deja Q) convinced me that it’d be cute. They both havean outsider’s perspective on humanity, Data’s patient and forgiving enough todeal with Q’s feather-ruffling bullshit and would generally be a calminginfluence on him I think, and if you take lifespan disparity into account thisis probably the least depressing ship for either of them.

[queen-of-deans-booty]

Book of Angels

Characters: Castiel x Reader, Dean, Sam, unnamed children, Mable (OC)

Word Count: 3,319

Warnings: flansgt, more fluff than angst, like a lot more fluff, unexpecting ending (nothing bad, just didn’t plan for it, is all), I think that’s it

Request by @stay-in--place: Could you make a casxreader fic where cas meets the reader in a bookstore the reader owns and he goes there a lot to see her

Summary: You’ve always been the quiet one, working on your book and running your own bookstore. Until one day you feel eyes on you and it’s the stranger you’ve seen for the past week but you don’t know him. But you have a book of Angels and he’s suddenly familiar...

Author’s Note: So, I got carried away with this one and the ending that you will read is not what I had in mind. It just happened. Sorry this took so long to be out. Ana, I hope you like your request! If you want to be an Angel or a Queen, pop me an ask!

Feedback the glue that holds my writing together

Tags at the bottom

All your life, you’ve been alone. It was a choice you made. You lived alone, you drove alone, you even went out alone. It wasn’t like you were anti-social or anything, you enjoyed time out with your friends but you preferred to be alone. It was peaceful, you didn’t have to worry about pleasing anyone else and you were in control of everything.

You were also your own boss, owning a very successful bookstore. You owned the only local one that people came in for when they needed books to read. You had a big bookstore with all kind of books and knew almost everyone that came in.

You lived in a small town and knew almost everyone in town. Besides owning the bookstore, you were a writer, always writing on your free time. You had a degree in Creative Writing and you’ve always wanted to write fiction. It’s what you thought was best for you.

So, in order for you to write accurately yet creatively, you started reading lore books, researching the mythical creatures in them. It helps you a lot and you got to learn about really awesome creatures. If only they were real.

You only lived a few minutes from your store, yet, you spent more time in your store than at home. You found the days relaxing, seeing people come and go, buying or renting out books for them to use. It was comforting, really.

“Now, you know there is no rush for you to bring this back.” You said to Mable, the elderly woman that lived next to you. You saw her the most since her children and grandchildren don’t visit her often and she tries to busy herself with books.

“Oh, you’re too kind to me sweetheart.” She said with a smile and you bagged her books up for you, handing it to her.

“Have a great day, Mable.” You said sweetly before watching her walk out of the store. You looked up and you made eye contact with the mysterious stranger you’ve been seeing for the past week. You didn’t know who he was and that was strange for you since you knew everyone. The most mesmerizing thing about him was his bright blue eyes and his dark hair.

He always wore the same trench coat and suit every time you saw him and yet, he never came to talk to you. He just stared, looking at you with such wonderment. You held his gaze for a bit longer before looking away to look at the document on your computer.

You were in the middle of writing a book about angels and then you realized you had a reason for stopping. You needed a book on Angels and it’s one that you were in the middle of reading but you always put the books on display in case someone needed them.

You looked up but instead of seeing the color blue, you didn’t see the mysterious man anywhere. You shrugged and walked out from behind the desk, weaving your way through the aisles until you stopped at the lore section. You looked over and saw a very tall man with long, chestnut hair reading a book on changelings.

“Sorry, excuse me, I just need to get in there.” You said to him and he looked up from the book and looked at you. You frowned, not recognizing him either. Maybe him and the other guy are here on vacation or something. But why stay in this small town instead of somewhere nice like L.A. or New York?

“Sorry.” The man said, his voice deeper. You blushed a bit and grabbed a couple books on Angels and smiled down at them before leaving the aisle. One of the drawbacks form being alone all the time is not having experience with men. You’ve been on dates before but rarely.

No one really takes interests in a librarian these days. You weren’t unattractive or anything like that, just when men hear you like books better than people, they lose interest in you. It’s their loss, honestly. You are a pretty amazing person, if you say so yourself.

You knew this store like the back of your head and you could walk around with a blindfold on and not run into anything. The only problem is people and you didn’t know how they were going to react or where they were going to go.

Which is why you ran into someone, almost dropping your books.

“My apologies.” The voice was so deep and raw, you looked up to see who is belonged to. Your breath hitched when you saw it was the man who had been staring at you for a week. His blue eyes were so much more hypnotic up close. The words seemed to get lost, not finding their way from your mouth.

“Are you alright?” He asked. You nodded, blushing when you realized you haven’t said a word to him. He was so attractive, you lost thought.

“Y-yes, sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going.” You held the books tighter to your chest.

“It’s alright.” He said, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

“Cas, I got it.” The man with the long hair said. Cas? Hmmm it suits him but you figured that wasn’t his full name.

“Excuse me.” Cas said before maneuvering himself around you. You blushed and nodded, looking back at the men who were talking. You bit your lower lip and walked away, glad that you at least knew his name. You walked back behind the counter and sat down, opening up the book you were in the middle of.

You started reading, knowing that Cas and his friend might come to you to check out a book so you didn’t get too invested in the book you were reading. Your eyes flitted across the page until you came across a name. Castiel.

You frowned, staring at the name, thinking why it was familiar to you besides it being an Angel name. Castiel. Castiel. Cas-tiel. Cas. Wow, the man you saw might be named Castiel which was awesome because that suited him even better.

“Excuse me?” Your eyes snapped up to see the man with shaggy hair and Cas looking at you.

“Yes, sorry, I was in my own world.” You apologized, closing the book before grabbing the books they wanted.

“It’s fine, I completely understand.” The taller one said with a smile.

“Would you like to buy it or rent?” You asked the men.

“Rent, if that’s okay.”

“Do you have a card we could use as collateral?”

“Sure, here.” The taller one dug around for his wallet and handed you the card. Jefferson White. That was the name on the card, yet, he didn’t look like a Jefferson.

“Are you Jefferson White?” You asked, ringing up the book.

“Sorry?”

“You don’t look like a Jefferson, is all. I’m Y/N.” You handed back his card to him before pressing a few buttons on your computer.

“Uh, no, that’s my brother. I’m Sam and this is Cas.” Sam said with a smile.

“Cas?” Your eyes looked at the quiet man behind Sam. “Like the Angel.”

“What?” Sam said, his body tensing at this. Cas was staring at you with an expression you couldn’t place.

“I’m assuming Cas is short for Castiel? I’m sorry if I’m wrong but,” you grabbed the book you were reading and showed it to them. “I do my research and there is an Angel named Castiel.” You blushed when neither man said a word and you quickly finished the transaction before bagging the book.

“Yes, Castiel is my full name.” Cas said, watching your every move.

“Right, well, sorry if I was prying. It gets very lonely in here. You have one week to return this book or you’ll be charged the full amount.” You said, Sam taking the bag from your hands.

“Thank you, have a nice day.” He said, turning and leaving the store.

“Yeah, you too. Bye Castiel.” You said with a small smile. He gave you a smile before following Sam out. You sighed and looked out the window to see both men get in an Impala. You saw the driver was a male with spiked dirty blonde hair. As soon as Castiel got in the back, he peeled out of the parking lot.

Well, that was strange to say the least.

A few days had passed and you still hadn’t seen Castiel or even Sam in here but you hoped when they brought back the book—if they did—then it would be Castiel. Even after the meet you two had, you couldn’t get him out of your mind. He was just so mystifying.

It was closing time, the store had been closed for an hour and you were just tiding up the store, putting stray books back where they belonged before you could vacuum the floors. Most people were good about putting the books back where they found them but not all the time.

You grabbed a stack of returned books to place them back on the shelves, walking through the aisles. You were down to your last book and as you turned around, you ran into something hard, losing your balance. Two strong hands grasped your arms and you looked up to see the blue eyes you couldn’t get out of your head.

“Castiel… How did you…?” The question died on your tongue, your eyes looking from his eyes to the door which was still shut.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude. I know you’re closed but the door was open.” He said. You looked at the bell that was on top of the door and frowned a bit when you didn’t hear it ring. You realized how close you two were and he let go of you, taking a few steps back.

“What do you need? I’m kind of busy closing up.” You said, trying to calm your racing heart.

“The book you checked out to me and Sam, about changelings?”

“Yeah, what about it? Please tell me you didn’t ruin it.” You said, your heart falling a bit at the thought of a ruined book.

“Oh, no, nothing like that happened. But, you know a lot about them, right?”

“I know a fairly good amount about them. Why?” You asked, wondering why he was asking about the creatures.

“Where would they keep the kidnapped children?” He asked as if this were a real thing happening.

“Castiel, they aren’t real, you know that, right?”

“Just humor me.” He said, completely serious.

“Fine, they usually keep their victims in a dark place, somewhere underground or hidden from public view.” You said, trying to remember what you read.

“I understand that. What I’m asking you is where in this town would you think they would hide them?” You looked into his eyes to see if he was joking and when there was no sign of humor there, you sighed. You just decided to play along, to see where this was going.

“Well, there is an abandoned factory just down the road. I know they have a basement where they kept their machines that would be a good place. There isn’t much around here that would be suitable to hide children in. Everything is visible to the public.”

“Great, I appreciate your help.” He said, turning to leave but you stopped him.

“Wait, you’re going to tell me what this is about?”

“I’m sorry, I can’t.” He said, looking behind you and suddenly, you heard a crash. You looked behind you to see some books had fallen off the shelf. You looked back to Castiel but frowned when he wasn’t there.

You looked at the front door and didn’t hear the bell ring when he left. You rushed over to the door and went to open it to see if he was still out there but frowned when it was still locked from when the last person left your store.

The door was never open in the first place.

You had to figure out what was going on. You sighed and grabbed your bag and your keys, unlocking the door to leave, turning the lights off. You locked the door before you walked to your car, getting in before driving to the factory, knowing Castiel was going to be there.

He wouldn’t have asked you if he wasn’t going there. You drove to the factory, gulping when you saw it was pitch black. You hated things that were scary but you weren’t a coward. You grabbed the flashlight you always kept in your car, out, and locked the car before walking to the factory.

You walked inside and looked around, not seeing any sign of Castiel. You sighed and closed your eyes, telling yourself that your fear was the only bad thing. There was nothing scary here, there was nothing bad going on here.

You walked to the basement, remembering coming down here as a kid. The factory itself closed a few years ago and your dad worked here so you knew this factory well. You walked down the stairs, not hearing anything alarming.

As you walked further, you heard a crash come from the other side of the basement and you knew it was a bad idea coming here. But, you wanted to know what Castiel was up to. You walked to the room and peered in, gasping at what you saw.

You saw the men you saw earlier with kids huddled in the corner, scared for their life. Then the other three fighting off a woman. You walked further into the room to potentially help when you stopped. What if these men were trying to kill the woman, making the children watch. What if they wanted to kill you.

You saw Castiel walk to the woman when Sam had her in a hold. His eyes shone blue and reached to the woman, putting his hand on her forehead. She gasped and Castiel glowed a bright white, killing the woman instantly, making her turn to ash.

You looked at the wall and gasped when you saw the shadow of two big wings. You dropped the flashlight you were holding in shock and the men’s faces turned to you. Your eyes widened and you turned around, running out of the room.

You didn’t get very far because when you were almost to the stairs, you ran into a hard body, the same body you ran into at your store. You screamed and hands closed around your arms to steady you. You looked at Castiel, frightened of what he was.

“How did you…? Please don’t kill me.” You said, very scared of him. How did he manage to make it here before you?

“I won’t hurt you, I promise.” He said as if that would make you feel better.

“What are you?” You asked, getting out of his grasp, taking a step back. You heard footsteps and turned around to see Sam and another man walk to you with the children in between them.

“Look, Y/N, let’s get these kids back to their families and we’ll explain everything.” You looked at Castiel to make sure he wasn’t crazy or anything but you nodded.

“Okay. Sure.” You said, looking at Sam who gave you an apologetic look. You watched as the kids rushed after Sam, eager to get home to their parents. You looked at the other man and he had a stone hard look on his face as he passed you. He glanced at you before moving on.

You had a feeling his name wasn’t Jefferson.

The kids have been returned and you didn’t want the men to know where you lived so you came back to your store, glad that you were going to get some answers. And they weren’t the ones you wanted to hear.

“So, wait… you’re Castiel, the Castiel? An angel?” You asked, looking at him. He nodded but didn’t say anything.

“Yeah, and we’re hunters. I’m Sam Winchester and this is my brother Dean.” Sam said, leaning against one of the tables. You looked at Dean to see him nodding at you.

“Okay, you hunt bad things? Like, the things I read about in my lore books? They’re all real?”

“Yes, they are. I’m sorry you had to find out about this.” Castiel said.

“Yeah, me too.” You said, chewing on your lower lip.

“Alright, there is a bar nearby that is calling my name. I’m going, anyone want to come with?” Dean said, walking to the front door.

“Yeah, I’ll go.” Sam aid, following his brother.

“Cas?” Dean asked, looking at him. Castiel looked at you and he kept looking at you even when he answered Dean.

“No, I’ll stay here.” You smiled at him but Dean shrugged.

“Alright, you know where to find us.” Dean left the store and Sam looked at you.

“Sorry about all of this, Y/N.” Sam followed his brother to the car before they left the parking lot. You looked at Castiel, wondering what to say next.

“I’m sorry for intruding on your life like this.” Castiel apologized.

“No, it’s fine. I actually, uh, noticed you here for a week, just watching me, I guess. I never had the nerve to go up to you and talk to you.” You said, a bit shy by this.

“Why not?” He asked, taking a few steps to you.

“Well, you’re very attractive and I didn’t know you. You are so mysterious and I think that kind of intimidated me a bit. I’m glad I met you.” You said, smiling at him.

“I’m glad I met you.” He said. You looked up at him and smiled, realizing how close you were. You decided to take a leap of faith and leaned up, kissing his cheek.

“What was that for?” He asked, looking at you.

“For saving those children. I know most of their families and they’re good people. They didn’t deserve this happening to them. But you saved them and so, thank you.” You said with a smile. Castiel didn’t say anything and you looked away.

“You’re welcome to stay but I need to finish cleaning up.” You said but you were cut up when Castiel pulled you into his arms and kissed you. Your eyes went wide but they closed quickly. You kissed him back but he pulled away as quick as he came, afraid that what he did was wrong.

“What was that for?” You asked in a whisper, looking into his eyes.

“We have a connection, no? Or am I reading this wrong?” Castiel said, worried he got it all wrong. He still doesn’t have a grasp on the whole human emotions thing.

“No, you got it right.” You said, pulling him down for another kiss. He gripped your waist with one hand, the other weaving into your hair to hold you in place. If 24 hours earlier, someone told you that you would have fallen in love with an Angel, you would have called them crazy.

Now, you’re glad you did.

“And that is how I met your dad.” You said to your daughter, brushing her hair away from her eyes.

“Mommy, I love that story.” She whispered.

“I do too. It’s the best one.” You said with a laugh.

“When is Daddy coming home?” You sighed, knowing she missed him. You missed him too. He hasn’t been home in a week, claiming he had to do work in Heaven. Your daughter knew he was an Angel and has been since she was adopted.

“Soon, baby. Now, get some sleep and I’ll tell you more stories when you wake up.” You kissed her head and she snuggled into her bed more.

“I love you mommy.”

“I love you too.” You got up and turned off her light, walking out of her room.

The Queens:

@maddieburcham1 @ginamsmith  @mogaruke @whit85-blog@inlovewithbja @spn67-sister@kdfrqqg@jarpadandjensenaremyheroes@roxyspearing@supercalifragilistic26 @mishamigose@cobrakai1967 @essie1876@wishedworld @crispychrissy@laqueus-ludovicus @nostalgic-uncertainty @jerk-bitch-and-an-angel @potterhead1265@starswirlblitz @untitled39887 @ta-n-ja@deans-fallen-angel-boy @scarletluvscas @notnaturalanahi@tahbehonest @stay-in–place @dreaminofdean @posiemax@donnaintx @mikey1822@alexandriajanae4 @li-ssu @just-another-winchester@obsessivecompulsivespn @emoryhemsworth@newtospnfandom@mizzezm @goldenolaf25 @jessikared97@wh1sp3r1ng-impala@charliebradbury1104 @queen-of-moons-peace-out-bitches @becs-bunker

My Angels:

@helllonearth @duubaduu @fightmeandmy100fandoms @casifrr @kristendansmith @codyshany316​ 

[ramajmedia]

The Most Divisive TV Shows Of The Decade | Screen Rant

These are the most divisive TV shows of the decade. The 2010s has seen some major shifts in the TV landscape, moving from the Golden Age of Television into the Peak TV era, and with that have been changes viewers consume TV, and thus how they react to it as well.

Thanks to social media, there's been an increase in die-hard fandoms around TV shows, such as Rick & Morty, and it's never been easier for fans to express their opinion - and in particular their displeasure - about a certain TV series or specific episode. And while this decade has seen a lot of TV shows both good and bad, there has also been a number that have been controversial and split opinion, whether over their entire run or just in the final few seasons.

Related: The Best TV Series Finales of the Decade

It might be a case that there's a TV show critics hated but audiences clearly loved, or a series disliked by fans but that received great reviews, or otherwise a TV series that absolutely no one could agree on, but everyone argued about. From 2010-2019, these were the TV shows that tore people about and proved extremely divisive.

Aaron Sorkin is rightly revered as one of the all-time great screenwriters, especially when it comes to TV, but he couldn't please everyone with The Newsroom. Airing on HBO from 2012-2014, The Newsroom chronicled life at a fictional cable news channel, and attempted to portray the rapidly-changing world of news long before the term "Fake News" became so ubiquitous. However, despite a great pilot episode, the series continued to divide both critics and fans: there were those who loved its strong political messaging, and others who found Sorkin's decision to tackle whatever topic was on his mind in a way that meant he won the argument. Stirring stuff that spoke to the heart of news and real-life America, or self-satisfied and preachy? When it came to The Newsroom, no one could quite decide.

Hemlock Grove often feels like Netflix's weird, forgotten little show. It was part of its first slate of Original Series, but while both Orange is the New Black and House of Cards went on to have length-run, critical acclaim, and plenty of awards, Hemlock Grove was canceled after three seasons and didn't leave too much of a mark. Produced by Eli Roth, the horror series was unsurprisingly shlocky, and critics were largely put off by the series' tone and gore, with Hemlock Grove's Rotten Tomatoes score at just 38%. At the same time, it developed something of a cult following, with fans enjoying its horror elements, universe building, and characters and performances, holding a much more respectable 64% audience score on RT.

HBO's Girls largely garnered strong reviews over the course of its six-season run, but that didn't stop it from being both divisive and controversial among both critics and viewers alike. Following the lives of four female 20-somethings in New York City, Girls was quickly praised for its humor, fearlessness, and the fact it was so authentic in portraying female relationships. Conversely, it also brought a lot of controversy over its lack of racial representation despite being set in NYC, and there were arguments about Girls' approach to feminism too. A big part of Girls' division was creator and star Lena Dunham herself, who can divide people, and it was often the cast that if you liked Dunham, you probably liked Girls, and vice versa.

Related: The Best Movie Endings Of The Decade

When ABC decided to revive Roseanne, which had been a hit in the 80s and 90s, it at first seemed like a masterstroke: 18 million people watched the Roseanne season 10 premiere, and critics generally approved of it too. It was a return to the classic sitcoms of old, but most seemed content with what it was offering - yet the division came because of Roseanne Barr herself. An outspoken supporter of Donald Trump, Roseanne was already proving divisive because of her political views before she made racist remarks about Valerie Jarrett on Twitter, causing ABC to cancel the series. While many critics and analysts praised the move and condemned Barr, there were plenty of supporters who believed it shouldn't have been canned and that Roseanne instead should've remained on the air, causing more division off-screen than it did on-screen.

The Walking Dead is one of the biggest TV shows of the decade, and with that kind of fanbase - especially when it's a series with beloved source material and a whole lot of violence - is bound to come some division. Despite its huge ratings numbers, The Walking Dead has often been somewhat overlooked by critics and awards bodies, but it's also caused plenty of arguments among its own fans too. There are plenty of moments, from almost all of season 2 to deaths of characters such as Beth, but none better showcase how divisive The Walking Dead can be than the Negan cliffhanger at the end of season 6, and the season 7 premiere that followed. The latter was decried for being needlessly violent, but its defenders will simply tell you that's The Walking Dead, and while the ratings have dropped off now, at its height there were long arguments about whether it was actually any good.

Star Trek: Discovery was the first new Star Trek TV series in over a decade when it debuted back in 2017, so there was already a lot of pressure riding on the series from the outset. Aiming to put its own spin on Star Trek, Discovery was largely praised by critics, but its first season especially was very divisive among Star Trek fans. There were arguments that it "wasn't Star Trek", and some fans disliked new elements such as following a lead character who wasn't the captain, or just the personality of Michael Burnham in general, while others found it to be a fresh, exciting take on what's come before, exemplified by its Rotten Tomatoes scores: its 82% with critics, but just 43% with audiences.

Iron Fist was perhaps the MCU's first true failure, and certainly of Netflix's corner of the Marvel universe, which had looked as bulletproof as Luke Cage. Iron Fist's first season was roundly panned by critics, being savaged unlike anything else in the MCU for its weak fight choreography, poor plotting, and Finn Jones' performance among other things. However, there were still plenty of Marvel fans who enjoyed the series and defended it from the criticism, evidenced by season 1's critics and audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes being 20% and 73% respectively, although things did improve slightly in Iron Fist season 2. There are people who'll say Iron Fist is the worst thing the MCU has produced, and others who'll say it's not even the worst of the Netflix shows.

Related: The Best Superhero Movie Performances Of The Decade

Starting off as a Batman series without Batman, Gotham has long received decent-enough reviews from critics, but where it's proved most divisive is amongst DC fans. Despite featuring the vast majority of Batman's key supporting characters and rogues gallery over the years, Gotham played things extremely fast and loose when it came to established Batman canon - or at least, mythology - and fans weren't always receptive to the changes, especially things like messing around with Ivy's character or having Barbara lead the League of Assassins. Other changes, such as Penguin's character, were more warmly received, but there was generally a divide between those who enjoyed Gotham's new twists on Batman lore and those who rejected it changing such core aspects of the character.

How I Met Your Mother was popular with fans and critics for the majority of its run, although things did take a turn in later seasons when the CBS sitcom started to run out of steam and drag out elements of its story. Its final season took that further by being set completely over a weekend, but it was How I Met Your Mother's series finale that made it so truly divisive. By quickly killing off the Mother and having Ted end up with Robin, a lot of fans were furious with the idea that they'd wasted so much time invested in the show only for those last twists. At the same, the HIMYM finale has been defended for its story, being true to life, and nailing its other aspects too, but nonetheless it remains one of the most controversial series endings ever made.

Lost may have only aired one season this decade, but that was enough for it to become one of the most divisive TV shows of the 2010s, because it was one of the most divisive seasons of television of all-time, and that's certainly true of its finale. Even prior to "The End", however, Lost season 6 was polarizing among fans and critics alike, with "Across The Sea" perhaps the most divisive episode of the series' entire run until the finale, hailed as both the best and worst of the show. And then there was the Lost finale itself, which was loved by some fans, despised by others, and spent most of the decade as TV's punching bad and go-to example of a bad finale.

13 Reasons Why is another of those shows that was always going to attract controversy, since it deals with topics such as teen suicide and sexual abuse, but few might've predicted just how divisive it turned out to be, with its first season in particular leading to strong opinions on both sides. Did the depiction of Hannah Baker's suicide go way too far, or was it important to show it? Did the show handle sexual assault delicately, or terribly? Is it sending the right message to its teenage audience, or dangerous for them to watch? Both sides of those debates have, and continue to be, argued by critics, fans, medical professionals, school officials, classification bodies and more, making 13 Reasons Why Netflix's most divisive and controversial series so far.

Related: The Most Divisive Movies Of The Decade

It's tempting to say that all of Game of Thrones' backlash started and ended with season 8, and it's true that the final season was the one where the controversy and division boiled over: where petitions were signed, the internet raged, and many declared the TV show ruined while quieter corners of the internet tried to defend it. But Game of Thrones has long been divisive. Certainly, from season 5 onwards, when it really started moving past George R.R. Martin's books, it's been less universally praised, and even before then there was some division amongst show-watchers and book-readers, alongside controversy and anger over its depiction of sexual assault and lack of diversity. Game of Thrones is the biggest TV show of the last 10 years, so it's not much of a surprise that it's also the most divisive TV series of the decade as well.

More: Game Of Thrones Has Replaced Lost (As TV's Punching Bag)

source https://screenrant.com/divisive-tv-shows-decade-2010s/

[wishfxljikan]

THE POSITIVE & NEGATIVE: MUN & MUSE

fill out & repost ♥ this meme definitely favors canons more, but i hope oc’s still can make it somehow work with their own lore, and lil’ fandom of friends & mutuals. multimuses pick the muse you are the most invested in atm.

tagged by stolen from: my best friend, @nuclearshxgun tagging: Absolutely everyone

MY MUSE IS.   canon / oc / au  / canon-divergent / fandomless 
 • is your character popular in the fandom?  YES / NO.  (IDK?) • is your character considered hot™ in the fandom?  WELL… / NO / IDK. • is your character considered strong in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK. • are they underrated?  YES / NO.  [By literally every AMAZING OC I’ve seen (love ya all!) • were they relevant to the main story?  YES / NO. • were they relevant to the main character?  YES / NO [In my canon, no, but in general, yes.] • are they widely known in their world?  YES / NO • how’s their reputation?  GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL HOW STRICTLY DO YOU FOLLOW CANON? Well, I mean, not strict at all, actually. Grovyle’s just this massive blank canvas, there’s a tiny bit of character building for him in the main games, but I’m mostly head canon driven and not canon, the PMD games are just a baseline for the character. SELL YOUR MUSE! (aka try to list everything, which makes your muse interesting in your opinion to make them spicy for your mutual.) 


As stated above, Grovyle’s pretty much a blank canvas, and since I’m that big slut for character and worldbuilding. I can go off and say maybe hundreds of headcanons ranging from small snippets of information to massive things he’s done and learned.  My version of Grovyle is, like all other previous portrayals of Grovyle, unique. We’ve all got our own takes on what our favorite gecko has been up to. So, even if you don’t like my version, there’s still many out there can can fit your needs (shoutout to literally every Grovyle I love y ou guys!) Honestly, I don’t give my portrayal enough credit where it’s due, but, you know what? I love him to death, the sheer fact that I’m legitimately vibrating with hundreds of little ideas all the way up to massive storylines, that a couple of friends have taken apart of, it’s something I want everyone to know. I. Am. A. Slut. For. World-building.

NOW THE OPPOSITE! (list everything why your muse could not be so interesting (even if you may not agree, what does the fandom perhaps think?)

To be honest, I put myself down, a lot, I kinda have issues with putting my Grovyle out there, I always think that he’s not interesting in the slightest, that he’s boring to write with (no matter the compliments) Also the PMD community has been really dead up until recently, which I’m really proud it’s coming back, I’ve been really lonely in this community, and I don’t think my muse would be good outside of PMD, other than the tiny slice of life things, mostly because I don’t think he belongs anywhere else.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO RP YOUR MUSE?


Just the pure love I have for the guy, I felt him on a personal level, and this entire time since the first time I encounter him, I’ve loved Grovyle to utter death.

WHAT KEEPS YOUR INSPIRATION GOING?


As stated above, honestly like..just the sheer amount of roleplays I have on discord with @nuclearshxgun and other people for Grovyle. There’s always a fresh idea hitting us, and even if there’s like 15 different unfinished roleplays, just goes to show that I’m stocked up on story-based roleplays, and I’m not running out anytime soon. SOME MORE PERSONAL QUESTIONS FOR THE MUN. • do you think you give your character justice?  YES / NO. • do you frequently write headcanons?  YES / NO. • do you sometimes write drabbles? YES / NO.   • do you think a lot about your muse during the day? YES / NO. • are you confident in your portrayal?   YES / NO. • are you confident in your writing?  YES / NO. • are you a sensitive person?  YES / NO. [Can I say both?] DO YOU ACCEPT CRITICISM WELL ABOUT YOUR PORTRAYAL? For the most part, yes, there’s somethings that I can’t handle which is deep criticisms about headcanons I’ve spent..years at this point making, but those ones, 99% of the time weren’t..constructive, just..shitting on it.

DO YOU LIKE QUESTIONS, WHICH HELP YOU EXPLORE YOUR CHARACTER?   
 Gimme ALL of the questions! It’s upsetting I don’t get any because haha pmd dead community, but, PLEASE, if you have worldbuilding questions or anything really I will literally go on for HOURS about it.

IF SOMEONE DISAGREES TO A HEADCANON OF YOURS, DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY?  
 For the most part, no.

IF SOMEONE DISAGREES WITH YOUR PORTRAYAL, HOW WOULD YOU TAKE IT? 
 I wouldn’t care because I’d usually point them towards another literally amazing tm Grovyle roleplayer but sadly most of them have disappeared and I fuckin’ miss em.

IF SOMEONE REALLY HATES YOUR CHARACTER, HOW DO YOU TAKE IT? 
 Honestly, I don’t need someone to tell me my character and how I play them is hot garbage because I always tell myself that every fucking day

ARE YOU OKAY WITH PEOPLE POINTING OUT YOUR GRAMMATICAL ERRORS?   


Do it, Cowards, it helps the both of us in the long run.

DO YOU THINK YOU ARE EASY GOING AS A MUN?  

If you get past the fact that I will literally gush about my muses to you all day, every day, without stopping, and share with you ideas, thoughts, plotting ideas, and more, without stopping, just like with how much I love my muses and your muses, then yes, I am easy going.

I’m kinda just, fucking vibrating with ideas with really only like at max 10 people to share them with? (In the tumblr side of things, at least) I usually don’t get to be this active in my hobbies because s o m e o n e in my life is the worst person ever.

[operationrainfall]

Title Code: Realize ~Wintertide Miracles~ Developer Otomate (Idea Factory) Publisher Aksys Games Release Date February 14th, 2019 Genre Visual Novel, Otome Platform PS4, Vita Age Rating T for Teen Official Website

Code: Realize ~Wintertide Miracles~ is the third and newest installment in the Code: Realize series. This time around, much of the story is Christmas and winter themed. The full cast of ~Guardian of Rebirth~ and ~Future Blessings~ makes a return here as well as some brand new characters. What makes this title even more special is the fact that it was localized in North America on Valentine’s Day. For the purposes of this review, I’ve done my best to avoid spoilers from the first two games. Despite those efforts, the events of the first game and the usage of some alternate timelines in this one made some references unavoidable. If you’ve not played the first two games, please consider doing so or, at the very least, have a look at our ~Bouquet of Rainbows~ review first. Now that those formalities are out of the way, let’s jump right in and take a look at what makes this installment memorable.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Code Realize: ~Wintertide Miracles~ is spit into three distinct segments, each of which is represented using the different parts of a Christmas tree. At the very top of the tree, we have a series of triangle date events. Each of these lasts a little less than 30 minutes and features two different bachelors vying for Cardia’s attention. Since there are five different suitors to choose from, a total of 10 combinations exist here. There are also three special, not so romantic events involving the supporting cast of the first two games. All 13 segments take place directly after the base game and assume that the marriage scenarios of ~Future Blessings~ never occurred. There is no conflict and these exist purely for the sake of romantic fan-service.

The second tier of the tree consists of five different romance routes, each following a different male member of Lupin’s team. Similar to the above scenarios, these events assume that the marriage routes of Future Blessings never happened. What sets these apart though is that instead of taking place right after the base game, they all occur after the alternate route involving Finis from the second. So in that sense, they take place after Blessings but only include Finis’ route as canon. Having said all of that, the purpose of these routes is for Cardia to spend her first Christmas with one of the five gentlemen in Lupin’s crew. Each event is around 1.75 hours in length and they all involve Finis to some degree as well. These are followed up at the end of the game (once all other content is completed) with special epilogue events. These epilogue events are less that half-an-hour in length and involve Cardia marrying one of the bachelors (again).

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The final series of story scenarios occupies the space at the bottom of the Christmas tree. These include alternate events involving Sholmès and Finis as well as an all-original route that I will discuss separately. The Sholmès route is much in the same vein as the romantic routes discussed in the second tier above. It is separated from those due to Sholmès not being a main character. Finis’ route on the other hand explores what Cardia’s life with Finis would’ve been like had his route been followed in the previous game. In this timeline, he comes to live with her in her mansion in Wales. Sholmès’ route also takes place after Finis’ route from the previous title. They are also both around 1.75 hours in length.

While still part of that third tier on the tree, our main event is the all-new Cantrella route which takes place during the events of the first game. This route stood out to me for a few reasons. Unlike all the others, this one takes place during the main events of the base game, adds a considerable amount of lore to it, and sets the stage for further events to follow. At just over 4 hours in length, it is also the longest route available this time around. It follows the story of two new characters: Cantrella and Miles Strand. Cantrella is a world-renowned songstress whose voice captivates everyone in the main cast as well as a mysterious baron who wishes to kidnap her. When he makes his first move, Cardia and the gang immediately choose to involve themselves despite their ongoing troubles with the Twilight organization. This route is most comparable to Shirley’s route from Future Blessings, but it’s shorter and (I’d argue) more compatible with the main story. While all of the other content was nice and enjoyable, Cantrella’s route was really the star of this show for me.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

My main issue with this release is the confusing mixture of alternate timelines. Because there are a number of different paths from the first two games being thrown into the mix, it’s rather difficult to follow at times. There are many occasions where things from the first game need to be re-explained to Cardia since she has not yet encountered them. For example, in some routes Cardia has yet to make contact with the members of Idea. Aleister’s backstory is also a bit fuzzy, since some of the events from the first game show you his villainous intent while others do not. To that end, he may either be seen as a major nemesis or just a former adversary. I appreciate the fact that the developers used some of the alternate routes of the previous games to help expand the story, but without a flowchart to follow, keeping track of the events was difficult at times.

That’s my second issue with this title. Just like its predecessors, there is no flowchart of events to be found. While the decision points here aren’t nearly as story critical as those in the base game, it still would have been nice to reference a backlog of the choices that I made. When revisiting scenes that include decisions, your previous choices are highlighted to help guide you, but unless you write down which scenes contain which decisions, it’s difficult to go back and try different paths later. This is by no means a game-breaking issue, but I’d like to see some form of flowchart implemented in any future releases.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Luckily, Wintertide also shares some positive similarities with the previous games. Namely, the artwork and sound design are once again top-notch. Indeed many of the same assets have been carried over from the the first two titles. There are a number of new Christmas-themed backgrounds and character portraits added in too, but the bulk of the artwork remains the same. The pieces that are new fit right in with the existing ones. The same can be said of the music, which is mostly more of the same. The most notable changes include some new tracks for Cantrella’s scenario. These also feel right at home alongside the existing music.

Overall, my feelings on Code: Realize ~Wintertide Miracles~ are a bit mixed. For those like me who find themselves already invested in the series, I feel that this title is a welcome edition. Its biggest downside is the fact that the Cantrella route is only 4 hours. Having said that, her route is perhaps the most memorable to date outside of the main story. It manages to expand on the lore of the base game without retconning any of those events and fits quite seamlessly with all of the other pieces. It’s also separate enough that it can stand on its own. All together, I spent a little under 23 hours with Wintertide. I would’ve preferred some of the more involved stories to last a bit longer, but at a modest price point of $49.99 for the standard PS4 edition, I can overlook that. I would highly recommend this title to anyone who has already played the first two. If you haven’t yet played those though, I’d suggest doing so before making the decision to pick this up.

[easyreview cat1title=”Overall” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4″]

  A review copy was provided by the publisher.

REVIEW: Code: Realize ~Wintertide Miracles~ Title Code: Realize ~Wintertide Miracles~