#posting this after my pc almost died

[reginaldubel]

dinovember day 3: hypsilophodon 🥥

[gootarts]

as of 8/3, the most recently updated version of this post is here (it's a reblog of this exact post with more info added)

as a lot of you know, limbus company recently fired its CG illustrator for being a feminist, at 11 pm, via phone call, after a bunch of misogynists walked into the office earlier that day and demanded she be fired. on top of this, as per korean fans, her firing went against labor laws---in korea, you must have your dismissal in writing.

the korean fandom on twitter is, understandably, going scorched earth on project moon due to this. there's a lot currently going on to protest the decision, so i'm posting a list here of what's going on for those who want to limit their time on elon musk's $44 billion midlife crisis impulse purchase website (if you are on twitter, domuk is a good person to follow, as they translate important updates to english). a lot of the links are in korean, but generally they play nicely with machine translators. this should be current as of 8/2.

Statements condemning the decision have been issued by The Gyeonggi Youth Union and IT Union.

A press conference at the Gyeonggido Assembly will occur on 8/3, with lawmakers of the Gyeonggi province (where Project Moon is based) in attendance. This appears driven by the leader of the Gyeonggi Youth Union.

The vice chairman of the IT union--who has a good amount of experience with labor negotiations like these--has expressed strong support for the artist and is working to get media coverage due to the ongoing feminist witch hunts in the gaming industry. Project Moon isn't union to my knowledge, but he's noted that he's taken on nonunion companies such as Netmarble (largest mobile game dev in South Korea) by getting the issue in front of the National Assembly (Korea's congress).

Articles on the incident published in The Daily Labor News, Korean Daily, multiple articles on Hankyoreh (one of which made it to the print edition), and other news outlets.

Segments about the termination on the MBN 7 o' clock news and MBC's morning news

Comments by Youth Union leaders about looking into a loan made to Project Moon via Devsisters Ventures, a venture capital firm. Tax money from Gyeonggi province was invested in Devsisters in 2017, and in 2021, Devsisters gave money to Project Moon. The Gyeonggi Youth Union is asking why hard-earned tax money was indirectly given to a company who violates ESG (environmental, social and governance) principles.

Almost nonstop signage truck protests outside Project Moon's physical office during business hours until 8/22 or the company makes a statement. This occurs alongside a coordinated hashtag campaign to get the issue trending on Twitter in Korea. The signage campaign was crowd-funded in about 3 hours.

A full boycott of the Limbus Company app, on both mobile and PC (steam) platforms. Overseas fans are highly encouraged to participate, regardless if whether they're F2P or not. Not opening the app at all is arguably the biggest thing any one person can do to protest the decision, as the app logs the number of accounts that log on daily. For a new gacha such as Limbus, a high number of F2P daily active users, but a small number of paying users is often preferable to having a smaller userbase but more paying users. If the company sees the number of daily users remain stable, they will likely decide to wait out any backlash rather than apologize.

Digging up verified reviews from previous employees regarding the company's poor management practices

Due to the firing, the Leviathan artist has posted about poor working conditions when making the story. As per a bilingual speaker, they were working on a storyboard revision, and thought 'if I ran into the street right now and got hit by a car and died, I wouldn't have to keep working.' They contacted Project Moon because they didn't want their work to be like that, and proposed changes to serialization/reduction in amount of work per picture/to build up a buffer of finished images (they did not have any buffer while working on Leviathan to my knowledge). They were shut out, and had to suck it up and accept the situation.

Hamhampangpang has a 'shrine' section of the restaurant for fans to leave fan-created merch and other items. They also allow the fans to take this merch back if they can prove it's theirs. Fans are now doing just that.

To boost all of the above, a large number of Korean fanartists with thousands of followers have deleted their works and/or converted their accounts from fanart accounts to accounts supporting the protests. Many of them are bilingual, and they're where I got the majority of this information.

[note 1: there's a targeted english-language disinformation campaign by the website that started the hate mob. i have read the artist's tweets with machine translation, and they're talked about in the second hankyoreh article linked above: nowhere does she express any transphobic or similarly awful beliefs. likewise, be wary of any claims that she supported anything whose description makes you raise eyebrows--those claims are likely in reference to megalia, a korean feminist movement. for information on that, i'd recommend the NPR/BBC articles below and this google drive link of english-language scholarly papers on them. for the love of god don't get your information about a feminist movement from guys going on witch hunts for feminists.]

[note 2: i've seen a couple people argue that the firing was for the physical safety of the employees, citing the kyoani incident in japan. as per this korean fan, most fans there strongly do not believe this was the case. we have english-translated transcripts of the meeting between the mob and project moon; the threats the mob was making were to......brand project moon as a feminist company online. yes, really. male korean gamers aren't normal about feminism, and there's been an ongoing witch hunt for feminists in the industry since about 2016, something you see noted in both the labor union statements. both NPR and the BBC this phenomenon to gamergate, and i'd say it's a pretty apt comparison.]

let me know if anything needs correction or if anything should be added.

[danieyells]

Rui mizuki’s lines from Tokyo debunker if you haven’t yet PLEASE I will love you for all eternity

They’re edging me with the rui crumbs every chapter I can’t take it anymore

One flirty reaper coming right up!! And by right up i mean almost a week after you asked hhahaha

BUT YEAH WE DO GET A LITTLE OF HIM HERE AND THERE i wonder why he pops up so much. Especially for someone who allegedly tries not to be around other people much due to his deadly touch? Kinda sus--

also this is the first time i've posted all of someone's lines! not that i don't always end up posting 95% of them anyway, but for some reason some of Rui's were ordered weird(they're normally not entirely in order but they're usually sectioned properly, but for some reason one of his affinity chats was way in the wrong place) and I ended up closely paying attention to which one i was looking at and before i knew it i posted all of them lmao. . . .

Hello: (the first time the game is opened after that character is set as home screen NPC. Only happens once per day, unless the character is switched out and back.)

"{PC}, hey! Here's to another day vibing our way through curse twin life!"

You've Got Mail: (whenever there's something in the inbox, usually Arena rewards)

"Huh? Did you know you've got unread messages? Oh, that's why you've been leaving me on delivered! Ahaha!"

no that's just because my adhd makes me hyperfocus on things and it refuses to allow me to attempt to allot attention or energy to things it deems me not having enough attention span or energy or time for and i'm sorry--

Default: (requires no affinity, has no time constraints)

"Aw c'mon Ed, again? Why does he always leave his socks on the floor... It's actually exhausting picking up after him all the time..."

lazy sloppy vampire lol

"You look kind of tired {PC}, you doing okay? Why don't you stop by the bar later? I can be your shoulder to cry on."

"Hey! You on break now? If you're super nice and you're gonna come chill with me now, put your hands up!"

"{PC}...were you just checking me out? Hey, it's all good, don't be embarrassed!"

"Oof, Ed popped out of nowhere so I accidentally touched him and he died again. Now I have to carry him all the way back to the dorm..."

i love the face he makes when he says this lmao like he is so tired of Ed's carelessness!

Affinity 1: (between 5am and 11am)

"{PC}! Did you come here to see me first thing? No way! You just made my day!"

Affinity 2: (between 11am and 4pm)

"Aw c'mon, Ed, what are you doing sleeping out here? Didn't you just take a nap, old man? You're gonna catch a cold!"

Affinity 3: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"Oh hey, it's {PC}! Can't believe I ran into you here, so random! Guess we've gotta go on a date now, huh? It's like, written in the stars!"

i love flirty characters like rui lolol just. there's always More Going On there. and Rui starts off with More right off the bat.

Affinity 4: (between 8pm and 5am)

"I can touch the plants as long as I have gloves on! I mean yeah, I'm pretty sure the same goes for people, but don't you think it'd be scary to test it out?"

Affinity 5: (between 8pm and 5am)

"Come swing by the bar later! I'd rather watch a pretty face like yours while I work instead of a bunch of drunk guys."

Affinity 6: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"What? Ed was praising my good looks? I mean he's right, right? People always tell me my face is my only redeeming feature!"

but rui works so hard!? who's saying that!!

Affinity 7: (between 11am and 4pm)

"Oh sorry, I don't do the whole class thing! You go, I'm all good here!"

Affinity 8: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"Ouch! Aw man, that rose thorn just scratched my arm... Wait, nooo! My rose bushes are wilting!!"

it's so easy for him to accidentally kill anything lmaoooo

Affinity 9: (between 8pm and 5am)

"Are you out here by yourself, {PC}? Isn't that like not super dangerous? ...Wait, did that make sense? Whatever, let me walk you back!"

Affinity 10: (between 10pm and midnight)

"Sorry! A drunk customer broke a glass, so I'm cleaning it up! Everyone's a little pent-up lately, I guess."

Affinity 11: (between 5am and 11am)

"Watering plants in the AM is such a mood lift, right? Whoa, everything's blooming like crazy out here! Better get my pruning shears."

it's a testament to how well he takes care of these plants that they grow super well in permanently-night Obscuary, i think. 8'D

Affinity 12: (between 11am and 4pm)

"Huh? Look, you've got loose threads on your uniform. Give it to me, I'll fix it for you!"

Affinity 13: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"Hey, {PC}, did you eat yet? My door's always open! You can just stay the night after!"

damn already inviting you to stay over at affinity 13--just don't share the bed, you'll wake up super dead

Affinity 14: (between 5am and 11am)

"(yawn) Wow, I am dead tired... but I've gotta take a shower, make breakfast, and do the laundry before those two sleepyheads get up."

it takes a real man to be a single mother. . . .

Affinity 15: (between 5am and 11am)

"Oh hey, what's your poison? Wait, I mean, morning! Man, I tried to take my friend's drink order when we were hanging out yesterday too, occupational hazard I guess."

Affinity 16: (between 11am and 4pm)

"A mission? I'm good, thanks though! Oh hey, you should invite Lyca! He'd totally be into that!"

Lyca also probably needs them to pass the grade lol

Affinity 17: (between 10pm and midnight)

"No way, look at the time! Wish I could keep listening to you talk... Wanna stay over?"

Affinity 18: (between 8pm and 5am)

"Oh man, I'm sorry! I'm closing early, I've got plans with a friend tonight. It'd be awesome if you could come by tomorrow!"

Affinity 19: (between 10pm and midnight)

"Congrats on making it through another day, {PC}! I seriously admire you for working so hard. You're not doing this all for me, are you?"

Affinity 20: (between 5am and 11am)

"Morning! Whoa, you wanna help me with the housework, {PC}? It's all good, thanks though! The thought's more than enough for me."

c'mon, refusing help at affinity 20? let the pc be your little helper at least!

Affinity 21: (between 11am and 4pm)

"Obscuary looks like it'd be full of downers, but it's actually pretty lively in there, right? Not gonna lie, I def prefer it that way."

Affinity 22: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"Lyca's an open book, but the flip side is he says the darndest things... I feel like watching him is bad for my heart..."

he talks so much about his teammates, he really is such a mom. . . .

Affinity 23: (between 8pm and 5am)

"My eyes are red? Huh, that's weird... Oh yeah, I was cutting onions just now when I was preparing the appetizers for the bar!"

. . .idk this is pretty high affinity. . .you were crying about something weren't you rui. . .or romeo paid you in weed and you were getting tweaked up in the back of the bar

Affinity 24: (between 10pm and midnight)

"Oh, don't worry about me, I always sleep late! I'm down to chat till you drift off to dreamland."

Affinity 25(max): (no time constraints)

"Sometimes I wish I could've met you as a regular guy. I guess you wouldn't have given me the time of day if I had though, ahaha."

is it just me or. . .does it feel like he gets a little more distant as his affinity gets higher? like after affinity 17 it feels like he gets a little less flirty and a little more at arms length. . .like he knows his feelings are getting so strong that he might not be able to resist touching you, but he's too scared to do it even with the gloves on. . .so he tries to keep you a little further away. . .and then he admits it, he wishes he could be with you like a normal person, but if he were just some flirt in the street none of this would have ever happened. Poor Rui, he's cursed to be beloved but unable to give love how he wants in return.

Spring: (March-May) (between 5am and 11am)

"Oh man, so nice... The weather's like perfect this time of year, right? Wish we could just chill like this forever."

(between 11am and 4pm)

"Man, you wouldn't even know it was spring with how bleak it is in Obscuary! Aren't there any cuter anomalous plants out there?"

(between 4pm and 8pm)

"I feel like Ed's getting more senile every day... Maybe I should confiscate his tablet."

(between 8pm and 5am)

"So, what do you think of my spring-inspired cocktail? Almost as cute as you, right? I'm gonna add it to the menu!"

Summer: (June-August) (between 5am and 11am)

"C'mon! It's summer, how can the sun never rise in Obscuary!? I wanna get a tan!"

(between 11am and 4pm)

"It's not summer if you don't hit the beach! I used to go all the time back when I surfed. And then I'd pick up girls on my way home... Just kidding, I promise!"

why 'just kidding' lolol you're not together! this relationship is not monogamous even if you were!

(between 4pm and 8pm)

"Ta-da! I've got sparklers! Fireworks are fun and all, but there's something special about holding a light that only sparkles for a hot moment."

(between 8pm and 5am)

"It's so hot out, I bet the bar's gonna be a ghost town... Guess I'll send Harurin and Romi a PR message!"

reaching out to the local population of alcoholic ghouls to remind them to give him business lol

Autumn: (September-November) (between 5am and 11am)

"There's so many dead leaves this time of year, it's a nightmare keeping on top of them! But you can use them to make a fire and roast stuff. Gotta look on the brights!"

(between 11am and 4pm)

"Hey {PC}, when are you free? I have a date idea for us—a romantic walk to admire the fall leaves! I'll pack us a lunch!"

(between 4pm and 8pm)

"Oh damn! You look so cute all bundled up like that, {PC}! We've gotta take a selfie together!"

direct contrast to romeo who sees you in winterwear and calls you a fat slug kekw

(between 8pm and 5am)

"That piano anomaly makes the soundtrack for the bar! The song picks really tug at the heartstrings, right?"

Winter: (December-February) (between 5am and 11am)

"You're a little late today, huh? If you can't get up in the cold, I could be your alarm!"

just gotta be really loud since he'd be too afraid to touch you awake, since he actually wants you to y'know wake up--

(between 11am and 4pm)

"Oh man, how is Lyca so full of energy when it's this cold? You should take him to Frostheim and see if he runs around in the snow like a puppy."

rui pointing at lyca: that dog is my son please take care of him

(between 4pm and 8pm)

"Nothing like winter to make you miss the warmth of human touch... Oh, I'm good! Just getting to talk like this is all I need!"

BBY WE ARE ALL BUNDLED UP. YOU CAN HUG YOU'VE BOTH PROBABLY GOT ON AT LEAST TWO LAYERS JUST DON'T TOUCH FACES.

(between 8pm and 5am)

"Here, this Rui-original hot cocktail will warm you up! I'll blow on it for you, free of charge!"

is this the next step after gamer bathwater. host club host breath.

His birthday: (March 14th)

"Yeah, it's my birthday today! Oh damn, you're gonna celebrate it with me!? No way, I'm like, super touched right now!!"

Your birthday:

"{PC}... Happy birthday!! C'mon, birthday girl, sit down and chill out! This is your day, you should take it easy!"

New Years: (January 1st)

"Happy New Year! Want to start the year off on a high and come on a shrine date with me?"

Valentine's Day: (February 14th)

"Oh damn, are these for me? My heart! Is this your way of professing your love to me? Do I have a shot here?"

White Day: (March 13th)

"Ta-da! Happy White Day! This is for you! What's inside? You've gotta open it and find out!"

April Fool's Day: (April 1st)

"Guess what!? I finally broke my curse! Let's hold hands... just kidding! April Fools!"

this feels more like a joke on him than on you. . .a mean one at that lol

Halloween: (October 31st)

"Happy happy happy Halloween!! Trick or treat! Obviously I'm picking trick, ahaha!"

Christmas: (December 25th)

"Merry Christmas, {PC}! Oh man, I must be like, super blessed to get to spend it with you!"

Idle: (about 20 seconds without interacting with the game) (below 13 affinity)

"Hey, hey, hey! We finally get to spend some time together, it's illegal to take your eyes off me!"

(13 affinity and above)

"{PC}? You seem kind of busy, guess I'll take this chance to get some work done…"

Absent: (logging in for the first time in 2 or more days?)

"{PC}, you're back! I was worried you'd forgotten about me!!"

he's so flirty and clingy, but also he can't be clingy because he's scared you'll die if he touches you, even if he's wearing gloves. . .also surely your curse would cancel out his? Then again I'm sure a reaper i stronger than any other [living] anomaly out there. . . .

but. yeah. rui's a darling haha he just. he's another one of the 'i just wanna be a regular person, i wanna go back to normal' characters whose desire to just be a guy makes him special in a more fantastical world. i'm really looking forward to seeing the Obscuary chapter--probably like a month away, right? 'u'

[aaronsrpgs]

In Praise of Random Encounters

I'm in my "responding to frequently asked Reddit r/rpg questions" phase, so please allow me to defend the random encounter. This post is in response to everyone who goes, "Why do people use random encounters? They interrupt the flow of the story, and it doesn't make any sense to have something randomly show up and fight."

Did you know there was a Pokemon named after me?

In this post, I will argue against these strawmen, make a case for random encounters in certain games, and describe my favorite random encounter situations from my own games.

This disputation against random encounters can be broken up into three parts:

they interrupt what is already going on ("the story")

they are illogical

they're automatically a fight

I'm going to address these last to first.

Random encounters shouldn't jump right into fights. If used as intended, they come with an encounter distance, meaning sometimes you just see signs of the encounter, or you spot them from far away. And they should also come with what used to be called a reaction roll, which dictates how the encounter feels about the PCs. These were rolled on 2d6, which meant there was a bell curve that favored results in the 6-8 range, which were usually something like "wary" or "neutral."

Second, the logic of random encounters. If you're using them right, random encounters should make sense. They should only have a chance of happening in places where the encounters could be, and encounter tables ought to be chosen based on location. So you won't get a dire trout in a desert or whatever.

This last bit is the hardest one. If it feels like a random encounter would disrupt "your story," you're probably running a game whose underlying philosophies are opposed to random encounters, yes. It's probably also opposed to many other frameworks that were present in traditional/old-school rule sets. If your game has a pre-planned story or plot, if that plot requires a certain pace or order, and if the injection of outside elements would disrupt that plot, you probably shouldn't use random encounters.

(You also shouldn't use D&D or its cousins. You might also not want to have other players, since they can disrupt those plots. But that's just me being petty.)

A page of random encounter rules from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. This is a shitty example. I promise it's easier than this.

So when SHOULD you use random encounters? Use them if the game you're running is attempting to simulate a world that has its own logic and background that is not dependent on the player characters. Random encounters help show that the world is in motion at all times and that people and creatures move about of their own volition. They don't show up when it's meaningful to the plot or the other characters; they wander. They're random.

Another key component of this style of gaming is that they usually consider story as something that emerges from or comes after play. "Remember how we tried to cross the raging river full of electric eels, and you dropped your sword, and I almost died, but we made it across? That was awesome." These things didn't happen because they were important plot points predicted by the DM; they are the results of rolls at the table, rolls that are honored in their immediacy and only made sense of after the fact. Does this mean that you risk having a disjointed mess from which no pleasing story can emerge? Yes! But you also risk having a story emerge that no one could have planned, that is equally surprising and pleasing to everyone at the table.

This emergent storytelling is probably the greatest joy of the random encounter. Don't approach the encounter with, "It doesn't make sense that a goblin would be here." Instead, adopt the attitude of, "Let's figure out why this gobllin would be here." (And while you're at it, use that same attitude toward books you read and movies you see.)

A related aside: in some play cultures, the DM is considered to be someone who plans everything out and slowly reveals bits of story as rewards to the other players. As a DM, this can feel really stagnant, and it can be a lot to keep track of, and there is far less joy of surprise. Using dice at the table to introduce new elements can bring some of that fun back to the DM.

Everything I've said so far is a synthesis of dozens of rulebooks and blog posts I've read across a decade of running games, so please allow me to introduce a final element: my own experience with the joy of random tables.

In 2014, when 5E was coming out to great demand on the backs of Stranger Things, Critical Roll, and The Adventure Zone, I started running a campaign for friends and coworkers. There was no developed play culture around 5E at the time, no cottage industry of third-party developers. So in running it, I was drawing on what I had been reading for years: old-school roleplaying and story games.

So I prepped my starting town (doing way more work that I would today), including random encounter tables for the area. And when the players were out searching for some ruins and getting lost west of town, I rolled a random encounter. It was some gnomes. All the gnomes here had escaped from a gnome hell for greed, so they weren't exactly kind. And their reaction roll was just south of neutral, so they were a little surly.

A bad screenshot of my "west of the town of Wall" encounter tables.

They led the players to the ruins and waited, trying to trap them inside after they'd been run down by the undead inside. But the players overcame the trap and told the gnomes off. (They didn't want to get in another fight after going through the ruins; more emergent storytelling.) So the gnomes ran off, but they would remember this.

Flash forward to a different session. In the main mega-dungeon under the town, the players were exploring a new area. Another random encounter: the devil of gnome hell! It was a giant mole with masses of earthworms for limbs, and it was searching for its escaped prisoners. It threatened to kill the PCs unless they gave it a magical item. So Pepper the elf gave up his winged sword, which he'd found in the aforementioned ruins. He loved that sword.

And here's where it all comes together. The gnomes were trying to settle the land west of town, but the humans had a fort there. The players were going to that fort to get some information about the faerie realms. How could I show this situation in a way that would, as succinctly as possible, illustrate the tension while giving the players a choice on who to join? Well, the gnomes would be attacking the fort. This normally wouldn't be much of a battle…but the vengeful gnome from the ruins had made a deal with the gnome devil for power. And now he was wielding Pepper's sword, using it to fly over the fort walls and attack.

Pepper was pissed! He wanted his sword back! The other players were more interested in figuring out a way to stop the ongoing conflict between gnomes and humans. And the gnomes were split between wanting to peacefully settle their new land and get revenge on the players for driving them off from the ruins. Who would prevail?

I hadn't planned a story, but I had created a situation a story was likely to emerge based on the players' actions and the results of the dice.

Conclusion

This isn't me saying this is the only way to play. It's not the only way I play. In a short one-shot or a tightly paced, emotional game, I would never use random encounters. But they can be fun! And they (and their associated suite of rules) can address some of the issues that lead to DM burnout and genre predictability.

If you find me in the wilderness, I will fight you.

[2sw]

🖤Understanding Season 4&5 Sam🖤

long post, 30 gifs

sorry I don't care if my english sucks or not anymore. I live with the urge to defend Sam 24/7, that's what it's about.

this post looks weird on pc… recommend you to read on the app

Supernatural S1E01 Pilot // S1E06 Skin S3E08 A Very Supernatural Christmas S4E19 Jump the Shark

Do you see the parallels here? This is why I think people who say season 4 Sam was annoying also hate every other character in this show, they just don't realize that. It was not a big deal when other characters treated Sam the way they did, but when Sam started to mirror them you suddenly find it annoying? That's absurd. I know almost every filmmaking choice of this show is unfair to Sam and I hate that too, but still we audiences can see things from various angles and think for ourselves. And sometimes you need to see the story as a story, not something to take sides.

Supernatural S3E16 No Rest for the Wicked Supernatural S4E04 Metamorphosis

Sam lost his entire family at the end of season 3. He was full of remorse, and to make up for that he was literally following his family's footsteps. Sam became obsessed with revenge like John did after Mary died. Season 4 was about that vicious cycle, the tragedy of it. Dean sold his soul for Sam just like John did for him. Sam tried to be more like his dad and big brother and did what they taught him. And Sam's relapse was a part of the addiction cycle. But Dean locking up Sam in the panic room changed nothing, the final seal was broken after all. So Lucifer gets out, and the oldest family drama is about to start all over again. It wasn't about who was right or wrong. It was about the circle, a never ending story. The next season was about restoring trust in each other and seeking redemption, and Sam eventually broke the chain by sacrificing himself. That's what makes Swan Song the tragic ending of all time. (though it all comes back as the show keeps going on... but what is spn without The Codependency™)

So, yeah, it's beyond me how some people can't see the reason behind Sam's choices in this season cause the context was SO clear. If you watch the show, you can see how much Sam and Dean affect each other and how much both are affected by John in different ways. And it's natural because they are family. We are who we are because of everyone and everything that has happened in our lives, and same goes for every fictional character, including Sam. It's just as simple as that. Sam was just trying to live by his brother's will while battling with grief and loss. He had to keep on fighting without Dean. And the reason why Dean wasn't with him was because Dean sold his soul to save Sam and went to hell for it. It not only made Sam the sole survivor of the family but also made the very being of him their entire legacy. Starting with Mary making a deal with Azazel, every choice ever made in this family is what brought him there. As I said earlier, it's the cycle. And a consequence. In short, if it is a sin, I think it’s everyone’s.

Supernatural S4E04 Metamorphosis

Sam and Dean's fate to be vessels? Their destiny? It doesn't matter in the end. This show was always about fate AND free will. Free will was always there. You always have choices. Sam was the one who believed that most desperately so he became the one who broke the cycle. Even though it was only the last page, he ripped out the written fate anyway and wrote the ending himself. YES HE IS THE MAIN CHARACTER. And after everything he did for the world, the story made him suffer eternal agony with the Devil because he is also a tragic hero figure. (SIGH literally the character of all time)

You can see this all only as an observer, as an audience. For Sam, the only thing he could do at the moment was just find the person to blame―in this case, it's a demon named Lilith― and get revenge. And he was lost somewhere along the road, he became an addict because he couldn't do anything about his loved ones dying, but when he drinks the demon blood it gives him power and a sense of control. (aaaaaand I still don't get why writers wrote this as some kind of diabolical desire in 4x18. I get it sammy what the fuck would chuck know about helplessness)

You can say you wouldn't suck up the demon blood, that's fine, but this story was written in this way, and if Sam didn't do that, the story couldn't go forward. Why? Because he is the main character. (It always had to be you, Sammy!) And reminds you that if you want to watch a show with multiple seasons, you have to remember what happened before to understand what’s going on now. So please don't make up things in your head, just go back to where it all started. There are contexts in everything. Everyone is a consequence of each other, but we don't have to be bound to that fact. We have choices: to change, to make things better. That's why we should be kind to each other, and for that, I love and respect Sam so much cause he didn't let his traumas define him and always tried to be a better person. ♡

I'm not done yet!!! see also this:

Supernatural S3E04 Sin City Supernatural S4E04 Metamorphosis

Dean worried when Sam killed a demon with the Colt to save him cause it also killed a person who was being possessed, and it was 'cold'. But then when he finds out about the demon blood, he is so mad that he doesn't even care about the fact Sam was saving possession victims and just screaming in Sam's face "Use the knife!". It's so??? What is the logic here? This just proves it's always been about his feelings, not really about saving people. Is that an evil thing? No, I don’t think so. Dean is just a human, he can’t control what he feels. But if you use this to beat up Sam, I'll go feral then. Cause Sam is a human too.

And look at Ruby's masterful manipulation skill. Makes Sam feel guilty about everything, and comes back with what he needs when no one's left around him. She really was the best of those sons of bitches.

Supernatural S4E04 Metamorphosis

Seriously, what was Sam supposed to do? Everyone on this show didn't even bother to understand Sam and just decided everything he ever did was fundamentally wrong. Sam was using his own body to change the things outside of him, cause there is nothing he can do about the fact of his body, the blood in it. In life, there are things we can change and we can't. We have to live with that non-negotiable fact for our whole life. Sam learned this most painful way... And one thing about Sam is that he never let the unchangeable things make him give up the things he can change. It's not always a good thing though, cause Sam in s4 was very self-destructive. He was obsessive, and that is one of his problems. Sam is so stubborn and doesn't give up on anything easily. Actually this problem could be solved after s7 cause he tried to move on, but s8 happened… so it got worse, kept getting worse, and look what happened in s10. The most heartbreaking domino effect, I'd say...

Supernatural S5E03 Free to Be You and Me Supernatural S5E06 I Believe the Children Are Our Future

Anyways, back to the point. Unfortunately, Sam started the apocalypse. And what did he do after that? When the whole world tried to hunt him down, the devil wanted to crawl inside him, and an angel called him an abomination? He didn't give up there to remain that abomination. He didn’t surrender. Instead, Sam begged for a second chance. He wanted to atone, wanted redemption. He still believed in others even though he lost trust in himself. He believed there was still something he could do about it. Even when he was possessed by Lucifer, he fought till the end to save his brother and the world. And he did it. He was a fucking hero at that moment, sadly a tragic one too. But the important thing is: Sam Winchester represents hope. (I think Swan Song was a perfect ending as a tragedy. This show got weaker and weaker after s5 which kinda ruined the perfection, but I'm also so glad the show continued cause this message fits more hopefully in Carry On. I needed to see Sam rewarded with something better than eternal agony after all those additional tortures of 10 more seasons.)

One last thing, you know what's funny about Metamorphosis? Dean had nothing to say about the fact Sam saved more people than when they were hunting together, so he just went "That what Ruby wants you to think?" Dude what was going on in your mind. like that was what Ruby intended, he was right about that only by chance, but I still find it funny that Dean said that at this exact moment. And he does this a lot, attacking the messenger when he can't refute the message. He didn't have any rational reasons like Sam, he just didn't like it and that's all(and honestly I think this can be an actual reason too cause there's a history behind it which I talked about it here. I wish Dean had just talked to Sam and had a real conversation. but he never talks about his feelings, that's what Dean Winchester does. so… yep not gonna happen. also, if the brothers have a healthy relationship, that is not supernatural lol), so he brought up Angels and evoked Sam's religious guilt. And the Angels in question also turned out to be manipulative assholes later. Everyone makes mistakes, but somehow Sam is always the one who gets most condemned and blamed. Dean, On the other hand, is justified by the narrative so many times even when it is actually his fault. As I said, unfair. This is not even a Dean crit post, I'm just mad at unreasonable people and the way this show works in general.

I swear I was normal before watching this season. Sam's demon blood arc was what made me insanely fall in love with him, so when I found out all those hate for Sam… that really could be my villain origin story but instead I chose to be on tumblr, so yeah I believe love wins<3 ha what a way to end a post. sorry guys

[venriliz]

10 random facts about me

got tagged by @druidberries @alientown @papermint-airplane TY <3

u literally tagged the most boring person but that's probably what half of all people think of themselves, huh? °-° i might regurgitate some of the facts i used for my introduction post in the sims of tumblr community. i wrote a lot so i'll put a cut with the facts below here. °-°

my birthday is the 4th of july and when i was a kid (prolly like 5 or 6) i saw an american parade on the news on tv. after i asked my dad why these people are celebrating he literally told me that they're celebrating my birthday °_° i believed for several years that americans celebrated my fucking birthday bc i wasn't aware of independence day existing lmfao. my dad just loved fooling me V.V he might be dead but i'm still holding that grudge lol.

i'm kinda lucky to be alive i guess? when i was a kid i was hit by a car in what we in germany call "Spielstraße" which is kinda like a street in dense neighborhoods where kids are allowed to play freely and cars aren't allowed to go faster than 7 kph/4.3 mph. i don't now how fast the driver was but it probably was something around 30 kph/18 mph. i didn't have very bad injuries but still °-° i could've died.

i was a typical horse girl as a kid (i still like horses but i'm not riding anymore because i'm a very old 20-something with knee problems lol) and i was fucking INSUFFERABLE abt it.

i don't want to have kids or get married. i'm not one of those people who hate children like i love my nieces and my nephew BUT i have a lot of mental health issues and can't possibly take care of another life if i can barely take care of myself properly, right? marriage to me is just a weird concept. i can totally respect people getting married and if i'm invited to a wedding i'm obviously attending but i personally can't really subscribe to the idea of binding myself to someone with a piece of paper and it then being such a stupid process when it doesn't work out. also... it costs too much money lol

i have kind of an affinity for finding missing pets (i also photograph every missing poster i see so i guess that helps with recognizing them?)

i was NOT good at school like i kinda sucked and i can probably blame a mixture of mental health issues, trouble at home and also being a lazy teenager that just wasn't really built for school life lol. i barely managed to get the "Mittlere Reife" (if you're german u know what i mean. i could explain what that means but explaining the german school system would take years). english, german and biology were my only good classes. i absolutely hated math like we're lifelong enemies.

speaking of germany, i am from germany or to be more specific from the most northern region nearest to the danish border and i LOVE living here. the north and baltic sea are close to me and people here are usually quite chill. the only thing i don't like that much abt living here is kind of the regional cuisine bc a lot of it is fish and i don't like eating fish T.T

i HATE going shopping (i'm an online shopper °-° EMP my beloved) and my friends just don't take me with them on shopping trips bc they know i'll kill the mood by complaining like a child and wanting to go back home lmfao

the first sims game for me was the og Sims and i almost fried my dad's old ass pc playing it. my first vivid memory of the game was noticing that here and there random houses appeard out of seemingly nowhere. the goths got a new house that didn't fit their vibe for example lol. years later my dad told me that he used to play the game when i was sleeping and just built these houses lmfao. so i guess my dad was an og simmer oO.

i remember 9/11 (yes i'm old enough don't age shame me T.T). i was in kindergarten at that time and just came home from a friends house when the towers fell. i saw it on tv and even though i was very young i understood that a lot of people were getting hurt. definitely had an impact on me as a kid.

yeah that's it. i rambled a lot but yeah °-°

tagging @landgraabbed @olli-online @living-undead @moonwoodhollow @microscotch @crazy-lazy-elder-sims @aniraklova @tiallussims @skaterboi108 @faerun-s @cristalviper @none-of-these-days @fadingforrest @acuar-io @elderwisp @lilamausmaus @simpleratattack @azeterna @butteredfrogs @mmonetsims and everybody else who reads this! HA!

[utilitycaster]

You have such a way of articulating things I’ve been vaguely feeling into intelligent coherent statements. Would you care to elaborate on the way that how Laudna+Imogen “went canon” was a curse?

Hey anon,

Thank you! So this is the thing: obviously I tend towards a fairly critical and snarky demeanor, but like, the best way to put it is in the context of the impending Nein show. I, and most of the people I chat with who are also not feeling Imogen and Laudna's relationship, are not of the "if that PURPLE FLOATY HOMEWRECKER SKANK SHOWS UP I will EXPLODE and SCREAM and DIE" or "fjorester divorce" or pretending Yasha doesn't exist persuasion re: this relationship (or for that matter the WELL if Percy dies after 70 years of marriage to Vex and then she's with Keyleth for the rest of her life WE WIN type of person either). Like, honestly, there was a post advocating for a breakup, but I think it included within it an argument that they reunite after some time apart, and that's kind of the mood. I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed. There's no ship war to be had. I don't dislike the ship because of competition or some fundamental dislike of the characters, and I honestly would like to be able to like it, and the path for it to not suck would have been immensely simple. That path even still exists, though with every week it grows narrow and less smooth and far more awkward, but I think it will require a pretty serious out of game conversation that as far as I know hasn't happen, and I am not holding my breath given the lack of movement.

That's why it's a curse: the generic form of this curse would be "may your ship become canon prematurely, with with only one person really invested, and that person not actually prepared for it or expecting it, and may it have virtually no moments and exist in a very plot-heavy work where it is almost certainly going to be largely out of focus, after the groundwork when things were quieter was never laid, and may it be so close to being good but consistently miss the opportunities for that to happen."

Just to recap the issues, stripping away all the past snark:

It's never really felt like these were two people who had been best friends for two years. They've always felt like friends of circumstance - like people you meet the first week of college and kind of go around with so as not to be alone, or the only other person your age on your street. Because they were both extremely lonely they clung to each other...but they really don't actually connect with each other much in conversation other than just kind of blandly repeating how much they mean to each other and never showing it. They have no real boundaries or limits with each other, likely because of that fear of being alone, but they aren't exploring that in a Heavenly Creatures or Thoroughbreds kind of way either. There's virtually no sense of history - no inside jokes, no shared experiences prior to Zhudanna except for one throwaway line that, like many of their interactions, fell flat. Like...I don't actually think that it's bad to aim for a platonic female friendship and end up with an F/F ship but like. Beau and Jester had a great platonic female friendship that happened to also include Beau's brief crush. Imogen and Laudna didn't even sell me on them being friends, let alone lovers. They have always felt like oddly clingy roommates. Their respective interactions with quite literally every other PC - few of which I find romantic and many of which I find explicitly not romantic - all feel like they have more depth. Orym is explicitly not attracted to either of them and they've both had more meaningful and honest moments with him. Pun unintended but they both felt infinitely more alive during the party split when they couldn't just go to their dull gray comfort zone of each others' meaningless repetitive affirmations.

Zooming into that lack of boundaries and conflict, there's no arc. Once characters get together often the conflict resolves, but there needs to be a build to that point, and we simply don't have that. The two points where this could have happened were: the gnarlrock fight, had it actually played out, could have led to a deepening of the relationship and some honestly and character development but due to what I am again interpreting as fear of losing the other to the point of never addressing any of these points of friction, it just resumed the status quo. Similarly, as I mentioned, Laura flat out said she went in expecting to be rejected. I think that story would have won me over. I think that if Laudna had rejected her, and Imogen had to grapple with that (and, by extension, Laudna's justified anger and trauma from the Team Issylra didn't disappear into thin air) and they spend some time actually figuring out who they are as individuals and Laudna lets herself be more than a validation machine who pushes her emotions down, and then eventually they come back around to each other? I'd be unbelievably on board. And you can go back, to my posts and others, in which we were pretty harsh on the fanon cottage cheese (yes, I am going to try to make this happen) version but said "I trust Laura and Marisha to do this in a way that is interesting" and then they straight-up didn't.

Obviously this has the potential to change - I even think the next episode is finally a case of maybe bringing all the Delilah stuff to a much needed head which in turn might introduce something into the relationship - but man it's been a whole lot of nothing since they kissed. I think Laura's initiated every single conversation, as mentioned Laudna can't even reciprocate 5 minutes of dancing on a ghost pirate ship without wandering off, and they didn't even bother to take watch together.

Something I keep going back to, and which ties into the above, is Brennan Lee Mulligan's whole discussion of how important character creation is to story. The thing is, these characters were created as close friends. Why does this feel so lacking? Like...why do Kima and Allura, two NPCs, feel like they have more weight? Why did the platonic relationship of Molly and Yasha, for which Ashley wasn't even present, feel like it actually was a friendship of 8 months? Sam and Liam came up with an entire system of grifts! Why is literally the only detail we have from the time between leaving Gelvaan and the time arriving in Jrusar is that at some point Imogen and Laudna saw someone with nipple tassles, and that came up once, like 60 episodes ago? Why are people so frequently sold on say, Loquatius/Laerryn, which had less than 24 hours of gameplay over a single night in-game? Why does every single Circle of Needle and Thread member relationship feel more real? Why were Aabria and Travis able to convincingly play ex-lovers in a handful of episodes despite Aabria deliberately surprising him? Like...I am not saying preparation wasn't done, because it very well might have been, but it's not coming through at all and plenty of other people have managed to get across an existing friendship or relationship in a fraction of the time, within the same campaign, so it's not that the plot is moving too fast for it. And again, if prep wasn't done, or if it's not coming across, that's really fixable, but it hasn't been fixed. I think of the 4SD episode where, five or six episodes later, Marisha and Laura still hadn't talked about the relationship and it's like...yeah. We can tell. Literally a two hour trip to a cafe would fix this but god I don't think there's been one.

Anyway, obviously this was an incredibly popular ship, but it's honestly slowed down noticeably since going canon because...it's not that great, and there's not much content in canon. I think a big appeal of the ship was the anticipation and the fanon and now that it's canon...I suspect a lot of people are quietly realizing that actually yeah this is kind of all it is, at least for now, and something is going to have to happen to bring about a change.

And I hope so too - I joke about being a hater, and I am very much a critic...but this really is the realization of that post about being more of a dismayer than a hater. Laura's past two ships are probably my favorites, and Beauyasha is high up there, and even as Vaxleth isn't really up my alley it's sweet and it makes sense and has a lot of great moments. It really would not take a lot of work to make this ship good or at least okay and not...nothingness, but it does take some, and I haven't seen it.

[nopecho]

Aight so I saw your post about getting into writing and I do have a soft whitney story in my brain. Whitney assumes you're an orphan but you're actually Bailey's kid and they soften up in order to not die. If you're after specifics, whitney jokes about "meeting the parents", y'know some shit joke about you assumedly being an orphan, but you take them to the lotus flat and they find out that Bailey's your parent.

Alright this took me a few days, but I finally finished it! This is my first writing ask, and I had a lot of fun with it :) I added some personal headcanons and details. Have a good read!

Contents: M! Whitney, M! Bailey, F! Defiant PC. CW for typical Whitney insults. Other than that, it’s pretty vanilla.

It is cold. Way too goodman cold. You shiver into your jersey jacket- ideal for spring or autumn, but certainly not in a snowy winter. Your footsteps are barely audible as your feet sink into the snowy pavement, as your breath forms clouds on your face. You are just passing through the commercial alleyways, on your way home, when you feel a sudden tug on your long, silky hair. “Hey there, slut.” You don’t need to turn your head to know who it is. “What do you want, Whitney?” You reply. He tugs again, forcing you to come face to face with him. His shit-eating grin is the last thing you needed to see, especially since he was in a nice, warm leather jacket and you were freezing. “Nothin’ much.” he grabs your wrist, and starts dragging you somewhere. You notice it’s weirdly silent. It takes you a while, but you realize that he’s alone right now. Usually, Whitney is followed by his gang of goons. It’s almost uncanny, seeing him alone. “Where the hell are you taking me, jackass?” you ask, as he keeps dragging you. “You’ll see.” He takes you to a building, a metal ladder going up all the way to the rooftop. “Alright, gal. Climb up. It’ll be romantic at the top.” He pushes you to the ladder, as you roll your eyes. As you climb up, the freezing wind sneaks under your long skirt, creeping into your body. You cuss under your breath as you climb up. Once at the top, Whitney soon follows. He grabs your waist, pulling you close to the edge.

The view is indeed pretty. You can see much of the city from where you stand. The houses covered in white, the smoke coming out of the chimneys, the empty trees covered in icicles all make for a very calming view. “Pretty good, am I right?” Whitney says with a smug grin. “But that’s not why I brought you here today.” “Then what is it?” you inquire. “I want you to show me where you live. Meet the parents and all.” he then facepalms, in fake sorrow. “Ooooh, I nearly forgot! Your folks are dead!” He snickers, caressing your jawline. “How pitiful that whoever aborted you has died. Must be pretty pathetic, to live at the orphanage.” You look at him, confused. “And where did you hear that?” “What, that you're an orphan?”  “I don’t know where you got that. I live with my dad.” “Wait, you’re bullshitting me now.” You roll your eyes, annoyed. “Listen Whit, I don’t know who spread that nasty rumor. I don’t live at the orphanage, period.” “Then where do you live?” You let out an annoyed breath from your nose, and it forms a small cloud on your face. You point your finger to the general location of Barb Street. Whitney’s eyes widen. “Barb street? But that’s where the flats are.” “So what?” “No it’s just… nevermind.” You are getting annoyed now. “What, don’t believe me that’s where I live?” “Look, I didn’t think you lived in the same shithole as-” Offended, you grab Whitney’s wrist. “I’ll show you shithole. Come with me, you’re seeing my house right now.” You yank Whitney towards the ladder. “Easy gal! Geez, fucking relax for once…” He rolls his eyes, and starts climbing down. You catch up with him, and soon you’re both on the ground. You start walking Whitney towards your house. As you cross the bridge to the canals, Whitney is weirdly quiet and obedient while you’re holding his wrist. You don’t think much of it, as you drag him along. You soon get to the flat with the lotus doorknob. “Are you crazy, you whore?! You can’t go in-” You fish the keys out from your jersey pocket and open the door. Whitney is speechless. “Wait. You’re telling me you live here?” You just shove Whitney inside. As you enter your apartment, you catch Whitney admiring the location. It has neat wallpaper, the furniture is in excellent shape and is a bit over the top with the decorations, the floor has a thick carpet and the flat is overall very nice and well-kept. Whitney whistles. “Dang girl, I should try and extort you more money. Your dad looks like he’s filthy rich. How did ya even clean up this place so well?”

His eyes then fall to the shelves where the pictures are, and he pales a little. “Wait, is that…?” He picks out a framed photo. “What’s weird?” you ask, still pissed. Whitney is holding a picture of you dad and you, when you were about 12. “Bailey is your father??” He sounds shocked. “Yeah, so what?” “I mean… he’s the big boss here in town. He has quite the bad reputation.  That means I’ve been bossing around the big guy’s kid for months.” His gaze then softens. “Although he probably treats you better than the orphans. I’ve heard some horror stories about that Robin kid. Nasty stuff.” You shift uncomfortably. “I mean… yeah. I’ve heard some stuff, too.” You admit. Your defensive shell is cracking. “Honestly, the things my dad does there? they’re not too hard to believe.” Whitney looks at you, now seemingly concerned. “Wait. Your dad didn’t try and-” “No, it’s not like that!” you put your hands forward. “It’s just… He never really cared about me.” You hold your right arm. “He barely speaks to me. I have to do everything in the house, or else he’ll yell at me for having to hire help around the house. He won’t let me even buy a decent jacket for the winter. The only times he bothers looking at me, is when he’s scolding me for screwing up something. So it didn’t surprise me too much when I heard those stories. He just cares about his money.” Whiney looks at you, tilting his head as a hard to read expression forms on his face. “Can’t you just live with your mom then?” A long, long silence ensues as you look away. You didn’t like reminders of what happened. You feel a hand on your shoulder. The touch is gentle, warm. “Hey… I’m sorry.” Whitney? Saying he’s sorry? You look at him, puzzled. His face is… Soft. He looks almost as if he’s in pain. He notices your confused expression. “It must be hell to live with a dad that doesn’t give a shit about you.” He explains. “I know what it feels like. So… for what’s worth, if you need to talk about it? You know where to find me.” He looks around the house, seemingly uncomfortable. “Now, I’ll get going. Let me know when Bailey is available next time. I want to have two words with him.” He starts to walk out of the flat. As he stops by the door, he turns to bid goodbye. “I’ll see you tomorrow, slut.” the insult is almost said in an affectionate manner. And just like that, he leaves your flat. You are left speechless. For some reason, you feel like you know Whitney a bit better now.

[pip-n-chips]

how (some) DoL characters play Minecraft

Robin

Mainly sticks with the easy difficulty

Likes building things in survival mode instead of creative for the extra challenge

Has keep inventory on + mob griefing off

Plays multiplayer a lot (sometimes with local orphans, sometimes online), and can get quite competitive during minigames

Parkour is the bane of their existence

Has like 46 dogs in their main survival world

Scared of Herobrine (they know he's fake, but...)

Has thought about streaming their gameplay, but they need some encouragement from you in order for them to go through with it

The peaceful music from the game paired with Robin's commentary is calming, you might take a nap...

Whitney

Griefs your base with TNT and lava buckets, initially

Starts getting more creative with ways to fuck with your shit, you'd be impressed if you weren't so pissed

Got a friend of theirs to help them use cheats, but brags about it + takes the credit for themself

Has been banned from a handful of online servers, takes pride in the ever growing list

Builds,,, questionable sculptures

"lmao get good bro"

Basically a big troll lmfao

Throws their controller/hits their keyboard when raging (they strike me more as a console type of person, though)

Has a dog/cat/horse they name the same thing every single time (perhaps in remembrance of an old pet or stray)

Mickey

Almost exclusively* plays modded singleplayer

* Maybe they used to play with Robin or other orphans (before life got so much more complicated, anyway,,)

Has made their own mods + add-ons but hasn't posted any online

Fond of mods that add RPG + fantasy elements to the game (especially DRAGONS!)

Pretty good with redstone, they like making weird contraptions

Has a complicated + organized base

Sets up traps, hidden compartments + other secrets in their base even though they're the only one who'll see it

Tries to get all the achievements (vanilla + any that mods add) + collects and frames special items

Has a lot of commands memorized + knows how to use command blocks

Sydney

You introduce them to the game and they like it a lot!

It's funny watching them learn more about the game and what to do/what not to do

Punched a bee once and fell off a cliff trying to run from it

Dies a lot tbh, and you see death messages you've never seen before because of that lol

Corrupt!Sydney makes their character twerk (crouch, un-crouch, repeat), laughs at it every time

Surprisingly good at building, recreates locations from their favorite books

Only really plays it when you guys play together, though

If you're gaming together at their house, Sirris pops in to check in on you guys at some point and pauses to smile at the heartwarming sight (as embarrassing as it may be for Sydney)

Kylar

"What if I put my Minecraft bed next to yours? haha jk... unless?"

Has the most OVERKILL gaming PC setup you've seen (way too many screens, everything has lights, etc etc. looks pretty dope tbh)

Likes designing Minecraft skins! (there's like 10 separate skins of you in different outfits)

Plays heavily modded Minecraft, but will play vanilla or lighter mod packs with you

Definitely tried that one Girlfriend mod at some point

Has attempted a few speedruns (in the Top 10s for some of them!)

Gets SO excited when you tell them that you like Minecraft too (but it's not like they didn't know that already)

Alex

Doesn't have much time to play with their current workload

When they do, the most they do is play it as a farming sim (???) (you get them to explore more options to do in the game)

Becomes a BIG fan of parkour!

Downloads parkour + adventure maps so they can play it offline (farm WiFi can be unreliable)

Learns some basic redstone, mainly to improve their (in-game) farms

Automatic farms + mob grinders, though they still like the experience of doing it themself

Builds a Minecraft version of their real farm, excitedly shows it to you

Names some in-game farm animals after their siblings as a joke

Gwylan

Only plays offline because they live in The Forest ™️

Loves potion brewing! (they don't have an internet guide so they experiment with different combos all by themself, gets quite good at it)

Hoarder. Has so many items scattered across their chests, they forget what they do and don't have

Aesthetic matters to them a lot when choosing where to put their base + building it

Went to the End + defeated the dragon just to get the blocks there + the egg for decoration

1.17 (first part of the Caves And Cliffs update) is their favorite yet, all the new blocks and cave biomes make them go aaaaaaaaa

Felt so bad when they had to kill animals for food in the beginning, has a good farm system now though

Definitely keeps mobs you can't tame as pets

[cptapathy]

In the tags of a recent reblog you started to go into the lore of your icon, you had me at "Demon who's in a polyamorous relationship with a viking and a witch". So who is your icon? And would you do me the honor of telling me more about their lore?

Child of corruption,

destined to fall

The alchemists daughter

Abandoned and small

Past claimed by flames

And death and destruction

A future of danger

yet heart open and welcome

With lives on the line

Her mind held her tongue

Her lover was lost

When her feelings were young

Doomed to end

Yet others died first

She blackened her soul

To break their curse

Her family reforged

Her love kindled new

Her future in sight

Her drive renewed

I'm gonna edit this post on my PC when I get home from work for like layout and more art

Alarë Awarthiel meaning she-who-grows daughter-of-abandon

Later Vanya meaning fair or beautiful which was a name suggested by her witch girlfriend

She is a traditionally beautiful woman, with dark purple skin, long flowing brown hair, leathery wings, cloven hooves and a dump truck of a rack and arse. She underwent a bit of a corrupted transformation and her hands are now distinctly more claw like with glowing infernal tattoos up her arms, she has glowing magenta eyes and a dark scar across her face.

Are you ready for a (heavily condensed) lore drop, because this is a big ol lore drop below the cut.

First a bit of background, in this setting use of magic or "sins" corrupts a soul, functionally this means if you cast too many or too powerful a spell you risk becoming corrupted, or if you go about killing people. Get too corrupted, and you turn into a monster.

No One really knew how tieflings came about but, the were always more vulnerable to corruption and would almost always become monsters when they were in their mid 40s or younger. Usually the transformation would occur due to strong negative emotions. (Alarë was not aware of this curse)

Alarë is a tiefling, on her fathers side, she grew up in a small village where her father was the village alchemist and she took to botany and alchemy readily.

When she was 15, her mum died of a disease and her dad, broken hearted, became a monster. Alarë killed the monster that was her father to protect herself. She then ran away and for 6 years was a travelling alchemist, before heading north to find the origin of her curse and to maybe stop it.

On her journey, she met her two girlfriends

Sigrid arnaulf, city guard, turned eldritch ranger. OC of @rebockey

Sigrid is a muscly boat building warrior who is trying to figure out who/what to listen to and how to find her own voice. (Has very recently, it seems, come into her own)

Sigrid has bright red hair which has been shorn so short on the sides, although she used to have long braided hair and wode markings in various places across her body

The other girlfriend, Oksana Bosko, OC of @primalsavagery

Oksana is the weird, little, witch boy who hangs around and is also a midwife. She is blunt, argumentative and "off-putting" but an excellent medic.

Oksana has shock blond hair which has also be cut away at the sides and has tattoos of the phases of the three moons all across her body. She is also dog.

Together the three of them are founding a witch coven very soon to become the "Sisters of The Shifting Seasons"

So that's the light lore and descriptions now for the story

Alarë came to the forest with this group, she was head over heels for Sigrid pretty instantly, she was strong, kind hearted and friendly. Honestly kryptonit to gaining Alarë's affection,

Oksana was a bit different at first Alarë was afraid of Oksana, she was blunt and unsociable which had been a red flag in the past but eventually she began to see how much Oksana cared about everything and that melted Alarë heart

Oksana was murdered by another member of the party (after Oksana went werewolf and almost killed and definitely infected said party member) and Alarë became so enraged that she struck down the other party member and partially transformed into a monster her hands growing into claws, the markings on her arms in a demonic language appeared and her eyes began to glow.

For several weeks (IRL months) they did the oblivious lesbians thing, and were just pining at one another with moments like "you can share my tent if you aren't comfortable sleeping alone"

Together with the group she went to the home of some necromantic hags hoping to bring oksana back to life, the hags were unable to aid but in the end the barrier between the living world and the dead was broken and be returned Oksana's soul to her body

After her transformation Alarë started calling herself Uvanima, meaning monster, Oksana wasn't particularly happy about that and suggested Vanya instead.

When they reunited with Sigrid, she had been cursed with an uncontrollable desire to drink blood, so the other two stepped up to help her deal with the impulse

"We can let you feed on our blood,

we have a blood letting kit,

it's hot,

I mean,

not a problem"

Shortly after that the three began fucking on Sigrid’s birthday!

Since then they have formed their proto coven (this Wednesday is when it might be official) with Oksana being the medicine witch, Sigrid being the handywitch and Vanya being the homeywitch? (Cooking and keeping the Inn and making potions and stuff)

It's a big ol' chunk of text but I have been the soul of brevity in this description there's so much more to everything.

Thank you for asking and giving me the opportunity to splurge about my blorbo

[microscotch]

Girllll I've been spending my holidays with rereading Nobody's Home and I just wanted to ask, are Circe and Loki divorced? If so, what made you divorce them?

YUP the story is set post psp, and part of my backstory for the beakers is them getting a divorce!

so when looking at their relationship i tried to take everything into consideration that the pc and psp game gave to us. let me put a below the cut though so not everyone has to be witness to me inflicting the makings of chronic joint pain on myself:

we know poor nervous died at one point. the implications from both games about how he came to be their test subject are quite conflicting, but i went with emily and annies claims that he signed up to be their test subject for money, as it, from my perspective, tied better into explaining their current situation and provided more detail in general as opposed to maxis' sloppy memory distribution.

with their first subject, the beakers could to some extent rest on the risk a job like this entails and neatly detail it in the contract they had nervous sign to avoid charges as much as possible. in addition to that, they were able to throw a lot of money at preventing the sensationalization of it, but it did come at a cost: 1) selling the castle to make up for it and 2) circe losing her license and the hospital ceasing any affiliation with her. cut to the sad little paradise place house and circe only being hinted at doing 'business' by that time:

left with a less extensive financial repertoire, loki is eager to do whatever it may take to get his precious castle back, and, once he invented something he believed to be a future gold mine, secured some secret patents that will net him millions (quote: circe). with loki, by her assumption, not being willing to share the profits with her, it makes sense for circe to be uneasy and distrustful about this, as the two are already on less safe ground, both in regards to finances and the law, and now he wants to keep all the money he'll be making to himself? her secret about harbouring some underlying resentment for loki's independence and distinction is also pretty convenient here and can be used as an implication that she wasn't as lucky as her husband, particularly regarding him not facing repercussions the same way she did. circe, on the other hand, is having an affair. while that was a product of mind control and not her fault, neither she or loki know that. all that is being revealed to loki is his wife cheating on him. this is where they're left at. depending on the string of dialogue, loki will say that if anyone moves out, it will be his wife, cause it's his house.

after thinking about it, circe would most likely move out immediately. after all of that happening inc. circes slap interaction loop, i can't see either of them comfortable spending even one more night at the same house together. while it is revealed at the end of the game that newlow was mindcontrolling the citizens, we don't know when and how fast these news will actively be passed along, what investigations are being led, etc. - point being, the trifecta of the beakers still being in each others presence, these news reaching them by that time and drawing the correct conclusions from it is the best case scenario but, after the considerations given above, not the most likely one. especially because there's an urgent issue that would capture their attention almost immediately after the game storyline is over: gimi branko. unlike nervous where they could rely on a contract, they literally kidnapped this guy and kept him locked up against his will, and someone had to save him aka he can press charges and tell everything in great detail, with a witness to top it off. they don't have the financial resources to buy themselves out of that anymore (loki's patents aside, but as of now he hasn't seen a cent of that and sure wouldn't consider his wife given recent events), the charges are more dire AND they're at odds with each other.

so i totally had them rat each other out, both hoping to get the lower charge by placing as much blame on the other person as possible. even if gimi being gone were the very first thing they noticed after being at each other's throat, judging by the way they already talked about each other before both their suspicions turned out to be true, there's way too much mutual distrust that built up over a long period of time for them to suck it up for the occasion and not prioritizing their own asses. and thats the end of the evil couple.

[christiansorrell]

RPG Read-through: Himbos of Myth & Mettle

After my recent read-through of .dungeon//remastered (originally posted to Twitter), someone there was like "I really like your old read-throughs. Have you put those somewhere else for when Twitter inevitably dies?" I hadn't! So here is a read-through I did last year about one of my favorite releases from the last few years Himbos of Myth & Mettle! - Christian

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

Time to read-through one of the most fun games I've played this year: Himbos of Myth & Mettle by Maxwell Lander!

Right out of the gate, this game has such an exuberant, fun energy to it, and I like the voice throughout the writing. The concept could be done much more impersonally/traditionally, but it really wouldn't carry the same feel at all.

Straightforward d20 roll-under system with guidance to create drama and fun over everything else. I've played with the dice chain optional rule and enjoyed it! It's something I love in other games and it's fun to see its inverse here (smaller dice are better).

Interestingly, the system has a mixed success component as well - although you may not expect it with the d20 base. It takes something like your ability modifiers from a traditional game and makes that into a window of error that gets you success with a complication.

The magic system is a lot of fun here. Any himbo can use their Heart stat to attempt superhuman or supernatural things. You answer some quick questions to determine the cost and roll to see if you pull it off. There's an effect table too if things go wrong with some wild results.

The Heart system is a good encapsulation of what I enjoyed about this when I've had the chance to play it. It has this vivacious, positive, and often cartoonish energy to it where things almost always go big, in good and bad ways. It's very heartfelt (no pun intended).

Fun art (by Mary Verhoeven) and quotes throughout this book too. I wonder if these were real player characters from playtesting or maybe in-universe Legends of Himbodom?

One of the most memorable lists of player stats out there. It stresses letting players use most stats for most things. Doing something very courageous in combat? Roll Breast over Thighs. Flirting with an NPC to distract them while you pick their pocket? Roll Lips over Hands.

Death is rare, rather Himbos take Scars when they fall to 0 Heart (acting primarily as health but also "mana" to some extent). Each scar makes them more and more jaded, a bit more negative. After 4 scars, they retire - becoming a hero maybe (yes, heroes are bad here!)

There are special abilities, skills (gained from a lifepath system), and Heat (a bonus pool that reflects how sexy you are in the moment). I had a lot of fun with the special abilities in particular when I played.

D20 tables throughout help build the tone really well. It's clear what kind of characters this game is focused on after looking these over. I really like lifepath systems in games, and this one is surprisingly extensive. It's fun to roll a random character and see who comes out.

Tips section gives some guidance about trying to create a different type of story and different types of conflicts than you typically see in fantasy RPGs. I really like the take on Heroes here. It's a great twist on the genre (and is probably more accurate, honestly).

It's got two adventures in the back, including the 12th Annual Fresh Meat Games which was the adventure I got to play through at EFCon. It's a local festival and competition that the PCs join to test their mettle in front of big crowds. Lots of fun.

Nice little thing: there's a library check-out card holder on the back inside cover with little character sheets in it!

That's the game! It's a lean little book, quick to read and quicker to play. It's got a straightforward central system with fun twists and tables throughout to ramp up the drama and really the entire text just exudes a unique, over-the-top, heartfelt tone I love.

It's available digitally for $10 USD on Itch!

The hardback version is great - really nice quality, it has a ribbon and those cool sheets in the back! I'd recommend picking it up HERE.

Lastly if you'd like to hear more from me, you can do that in my monthly newsletter (includes an article, an RPG freebie, and a list of cool stuff from myself and others over the last month): https://meatcastle.substack.com

[a-d-nox]

Hiiii🧚🏻‍♂️

Can u speak about asteroid lacrimosa? That intrigues me so much, I can't find almost any information. I also would love to know how it would work in synastry?

I also have lacrimosa in scorpio conjuct venus and conjuct rising in asc pc in capricorn, that could give me a nostalgic look? or suffered? people ask me if i'm ok all the time lol also have chiron conjunct asc so yea anyways?

thank u for read love your blog sorry for the lenght 🌨️

lacrimosa, our lady of sorrows - mother mary (asteroid 208)

hi, i won't be answering the aspects portion of this ask because i do not respond to asks regarding asteroids i have not covered out of fairness to others and to the asker (it is for the best that you see where i may draw from when doing interpretation). after reading the my interpretation of the myth and you are still interested in your prior question please resubmit your prior question/ask!

on to mary.

Lacrimosa, Latin for "weeping" or "teary," is most often linked to The Virgin Mary, or "The Lady of Sorrows." The appearance of the phase "Lacrimosa" is linked to the Roman Catholic Requiem sequence "Dies Irae": "Lacrimosa dies illa / Qua resurgent ex favilla / Judicandus homo reus. / Huic ergo parce, Deus: / Pie Jesu Domine / Dona his requiem. Amen." In English this roughly translates to: "Tearful is the day / When risen from ashes / Guilty men are to be judged. / Spare him, God: / Pious (righteous) Jesus / Grant them rest. Amen." As a mini crash course: Mary is Christian derived figure referred to as St. Mary, the Virgin Mary, Miriam, Maryam, second Eve, the immaculate one, etc. In the Biblical section the book of Luke, Mary is visited by an angel while she is engaged to be married to Joseph, who is a descendant of Abraham just like Mary herself. The angel tells Mary that God has favored her and she is to give birth to God's son, whose name will be Jesus. Mary was confused because she was a virgin - the angel stated that the Holy Spirit would be upon her. Mary told the angel that she was God's faith servant and that what the angel said would be divinely done to validate her understanding. When Mary informed Joseph that she was to have God's son he continued, as planned, to marry her because he too was a loyal servant of God. Mary would later travel to Bethlehem and give birth to Jesus. Mary and Joseph had many more children - Mary appears again in the Bible when Jesus performs His miracles and to witness His crucifixion. Which brings us back around to why is Mother Mary called "The Lady of Sorrows." Mary's title of "The Lady of Sorrows" comes from the moment of his death, as she is said to have faced intense suffering/grief during the passionate death of Jesus. IN MY OPINION Lacrimosa in your chart can represent a) where you experience heartbreak, b) where you grieve someone you look up to, c) where you are innocent and trusted with a divine purpose, and/or d) what your greatest sorrow is.

i encourage you to look into the aspects of lacrimosa along with the sign, degree, and house placement. for the more advanced astrologers, take a look at the persona chart of lacrimosa!

like what you read? leave a tip and state what post it is for! please use my "suggest a post topic" button if you want to see a specific post or mythical asteroid next!

click here for the masterlist

click here for more biblical myths & legends

want a personal reading? click here to check out my reading options and prices!

[vvatchword]

Freewrite Traveler versus Alphasmart Neo 2

So I have an Alphasmart Neo 2 and a Freewrite Traveler. One of these cost me about $300. The other cost me $30. And I'm about to give you a review because I love one of these things more than the other.

The Alphasmart Neo 2 is from the 00s and was used in classrooms to help kids practice typing without the distraction of a computer attached to the Internet. They come with some basic little functions like a calculator and are powered by three AAA batteries. They have eight files that can contain 10,000 words each, can copy, cut, and paste, and you can go back into the document to edit. There are no Undo or Redo functions. To transfer the files to your PC, you hook up a cable while the Alphasmart and your word processor of choice are turned on. That easy. The batteries last for-e-ver. I'm taking about years. I am on my second set of batteries and I've owned this dealio for five years or so with almost daily use. This thing cost me $30 plus s&h a few years ago. Word has gotten out about these, so they're more expensive than that these days, but not significantly so--maybe $50? You'll see some being sold for $100 or so but that's ridiculous tbh.

At the time I purchased the Alphasmart, i had already backed the Freewrite Traveler on Kickstarter for about $300. I felt pretty dumb and wondered if I would regret my choice.

As it turns out: yes. I do.

The Traveler uses the same kind of screen as a Kindle, has three files of infinite words each, is rechargeable, and can back up your work to the cloud and send your files to your email address. It's sleek, small, and exceptionally cute. I just like looking at it. But after getting it, I couldn't help but compare it to the Alphasmart, which kicks its ass every day.

Recharging sounds fine, but it runs out of juice FAST. A full day's work will knock it out; I ran out of juice anywhere from three days to three weeks, depending on how much I was using it. Inevitably there is a point you forget to recharge and wham bam fuck you ma'am, it's going to take four hours to charge now and you can't use it if it wound down to 0% while you were sleeping. It posts to the cloud, which you'd think is great--infinite words! Back it up anywhere you find free WiFi!--but to do this, you need to sign up for Postbox, a service through Freewrite, which means that if the company dies, so does the cloud feature. You can also transfer your files via the charging cable, so they thought of this, but it feels dangerous and a little disingenuous, not gonna lie.

Unlike the Alphasmart, you can't copy, cut, paste, or edit. When I say you can't edit, I mean that you can't arrow up to some previous point in the story and add or delete. The point of this feature--and it is a feature!--is to emulate typewriters and encourage first draft flow. Problem is, that's just not how I write. For $300, or whatever it's selling for now, I want to be able to use cut, copy, and paste, maybe even redo and undo, and I want to be able to go back and add extra bullshit. Also, the full-sized Freewrite has a backlight, but the Traveler does not. Why does my $300 machine not have a goddamn backlight.

The Traveler also has a hint of lag and it drives me fucking crazy. This may not be a problem for you if you hunt and peck or are a slower typist, but I type almost as fast as I think. I have gotten up to 190 wpm before. Long story short, Traveler can't keep up--but Alphasmart can!

The Alphasmart is also more comfortable to type on and takes up about as much room in a bag as the Traveler does--just lengthwise rather than width-wise, if it makes sense. The Traveler is better for a purse, perhaps, but it's just bulky enough that I sometimes found it troublesome to make room in my bags. It's about the size of a clutch when folded up.

At one point, I got caught in a rainstorm while my Alphasmart was in my backpack. The rain seeped into my backpack and ruined a book. Meanwhile the Alphasmart was like lol whatever do you feel like writing queen?

Anyway, I'm going to see if I can't sell my Freewrite. I'd rather have a second Alphasmart rofl

[flowersandcandy06]

Long death from the net is long (at least like 2 months or so. Whoops o_o), so here's a very scuffed (a kind of long-ish) update post about what happened while I died

(...underneath the post cut, that is, because CLUTTER!!!!! yea👍)

Awwwwlriight caaammpers!! here's bulletpoint number one: I made a webcomic back in June- (WHAT!!!!!! 💥💥💥💥💥EXPLOSION NOISES BABIES CRYING etc etc etc-)

...yeah

Randomness is where I pretty much grow my dumb ideas at the wall (usually oc related stuff) and I do freak-all with the thing? And my friends and other people can join in and make entries too if they want to and I think it's so fun and stuff!!!! I LOVE RANDOMNESS RAHHHHHH-

Here's the concept art I made for it because "art block bad" and I have/had to destroy it,,,

...and here's the icon I made for the webcomic on ComicFury (host site)

Currently there's like 30+ entries that I (and my friends) have already made for it, and if I were to repost those entries each day to my online accounts, I feel that would take like..FOREVER to do. So I'm thinking that I either post all of the entries all at once, OR I post them every 30 minutes or so on my accounts.....ill think about it 👍

(here's the link to it, btw:

also I would like to add that you can comment on the pages with/without a ComicFury account, but if you want to subscribe to it then you gotta have an account. Just wanted to note that here 7_7)

----

Alright,, Number 2: I've updated my personal website a TON while I was away (mainly in the "decoration hell" section of it)

I've also made a new guestbook since 123 Guestbook DIED!! (rip) and I'm currently working on an art archive to put on there as well, so I'll let y'all know when that's ready 👍👍👍👍 [Link]

Also regarding "The Hole" project-thingamajig: I have an idea for it kind of like..."rebranding" it almost??? In my head???? But I haven't executed it yet. Somethingsomething rp with OC's with friends in the same vein as that one sonic sjw blog from aeons ago because the izzzyzzz's video is smeared into my brain, but also not so chaotic as that whole mess was, I think. Does this make any sense to you

[...and here's the link to the hole also]

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Uhhh NUMBER 3: I made a LOT(?) of art stuff while I was dead again - mainly Randomness stuff - but also edits as well, surprisingly enough considering how my electronic drives are literally on life support because of me pretty much (joke)

I'll post them after I post the Randomness pages I think....and I'll get back into the swing of things like how I was doing before B,)

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Number 4: While I was dead I've been sleeping in a lot, sweating very badly (I HATE SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), and oh yea skinning my PC because it's very fun and also I have the valve brainrot still (it never ends) and I gotta express that somehow. I'll post an image of what I've got when I hop on my laptop :0

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Number 5: what else do I add here uhh......oh yea- I've been into visual novels again since I played one recently and plan on playing the totally iconic ATASHINORIRI (banger game 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥) soon. I have so many game ideas in my head still but alas....I am just one girl....with a laptop on life support and whose tablet driver is broken (idk why) so MAYBE ONE DAY!!! but not today.................so sad!!!!

----

Ok that's it from me. Um. Have a swag video from YouTube since you read this thing the whole way through and uhhh yea. bye *explodes*

[melancholy-marionette]

The Shuddering Releasing Later Tonight (hopefully x3) - then I will go cry myself to sleep T_T

Sooo, I'm gonna do my best to still release my O2A2 project later tonight like I'd hoped to, buuuut, my PC is now defunct AGAIN >.< Firstly, *puts on happy face* meet Styx! Voiced by the incredible - Vivian Reed :D

Styx may have a feminine appearance with an androgynous (but feminine-leaning) voice, but, being non-human, doesn't actually have a gender!

Styx is the only entity you'll encounter in The Shuddering, and is almost a little too pleased to see you!

*reverts back to sad face*

Sooo, yeah, I currently don't have a working PC again T_T Thankfully, I was able to export builds of The Shuddering prior to it becoming unusable, but if there are any bugs, I won't have a way of fixing them :(

I'm now attempting to finish off the itch page & draft posts on the old potato laptop once again!

This is the 2nd new PC that's been sent to me after the 1st one was faulty and had to be returned, and as of yesterday morning, it is stuck in an endless cycle of BSODs with all different error codes. During troubleshooting, the memory diagnostics tool also flags critical errors with the RAM. The 2nd PC has been kinda dodgy since day 1 with it randomly failing to boot some days + audio crashing randomly and then refusing to play any media files with sound. It also hangs randomly when just browsing Windows Explorer.

I did contact customer support to try and get help with the issues, but they just told me to do a CMOS reset, which sounded terrifying >.< I don't wanna touch any of the components inside the PC cos I worry I would break them!

Since I was in the middle of otome/josei jam, I just left things as they were and did my best to put up with the weird crap going on with the PC, making backups each night out of paranoia. My hope was that I would make it through the jam okay and that maybe the issues would improve somehow. But nope, they just got worse >.< Now I'm stuck with a PC I can't even use. Sometimes it refuses to boot entirely, others, it boots, but then only stays on for 5-20 minutes before it dies again. I spent most of the day (and night) troubleshooting, but nothing helps.

Customer support says it's probably gonna be a case of sending it back again for repair... but I would really just prefer to have a refund at this point :( They've sent out 2 now that don't work properly. Why would I have any faith left that a 3rd would be better?

I just want my money back so I can buy a PC from somewhere else that might actually send one that works. Actually getting the company to refund me is going to be a battle though I imagine. One that I'm really too tired to fight :( I don't have a choice though because the stupid thing took me years to save up for, so I don't have the luxury of just letting it go.

I swear I should have just demanded a refund right away when the first one they sent me sounded like a goblin revving up a chainsaw was living inside the case as soon as you powered it on >.<"

Anyways, sorry, just needed to vent because I'm stressed and devastated at the moment by it all. It took so long to transfer all my files and stuff over, and I've lost a small amount of project data for both LOVESTARVED & The Shuddering :( My paranoia backups mean most stuff is safe for now, but it's still frustrating to lose anything.

Here's to hoping the poor potato can at least hold out to launch The Shuddering later! x3 But first, I need a big break because I feel sick at this point, haha.