#so who better to ask than the interwebs

[mushroom-through-the-stargate]

i have Strong Feelings and want to know if they are mutual Strong Feelings or if im just being sensitive

*extremely biased trope explanation under the cut

you have a Robot Friend. Robot Friend says they cannot feel, but very clearly through their actions is stuffed with love and only says they cannot feel bc they actually cant PROCESS what theyre feeling. some scientist comes along with an Upgrade that is honestly kinda pushed onto Robot Friend, and now Robot Friend can show emotion in a traditional way but its very clearly overstimulating for Robot Friend. something goes wrong and everyone accepts that Robot Friend has to go back to the way they were (which doesnt affect their many friendships with the crew!!!!) but because of this glimpse of Traditionally Expressive Friend everyone either feels like they were cheated out of something or (correct response) they translate this as Robot Friend still loving them and having loved them this entire time in their own way

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: The lie of dating

( Please come see me on my new patreon and support me for early access to stories and personal story requests :D https://www.patreon.com/NiqhtLord Every bit helps)

*Door slams open and alien patron walks in

Alien: *Sits down with a loud thud at the counter bar stool

Alien: Get me a drink.

Human Bartender: *Turns, looks disapprovingly, then turns around again

Alien: Human, did you hear me?!

Alien: I said I want a drink!

Human Bartender: *Turns around again and points at door

Human Bartender: That is an expensive door.

Alien: I don’t care.

Human Bartender: It cost a couple thousand credits to transport out here.

Alien: I said I don’t care now give me a drink.

Human Bartender: Well you should fucking care because if I walk over there and find so much as a scuff on it I will break you like a pretzel.

Alien: Is that how you talk to customers?

Human Bartender: Until you put some money on the counter you aren’t a customer.

*Alien and Human glare each other for a long minute before the Alien sighs and places a credit chip on the table

Alien: Fine, there. Drink, now.

Human Bartender: *Takes the credit chip and puts it into pocket before reaching for a bottle under the counter.

Human Bartender: So, *Human begins saying as he makes a drink, what’s got your feather’s all ruffled?

Alien: I don’t want to talk about it.

Alien: And don’t say I should talk about it because it is cheaper than your human therapists.

Human Bartender: Wasn’t going to.

Human Bartender: Still on the fence if I like you at al-

Alien: Fine I’ll tell you!

Human Bartender: *Sighs

Alien: I went on a date today with someone and it wasn’t what I thought it would be.

Human Bartender: Grunts*  Got cat-fished?

Alien: What?

Alien: No I don’t have any fish; why would you even ask me that?

Human Bartender: *More frustrated sighs

Alien: Here I was going in expecting to meet someone perfect and instead I meet-

Human Bartender: *Loudly bangs butt of bottle against counter.

Human Bartender: Alright listen.

Human Bartender: You’re going to end up alone and sad as the last pickle in a jar unless you give yourself some realistic expectations.

Alien: What is wrong with wanting perfection?

Human Bartender: *Chuckles

Human Bartender: Well for one thing it doesn’t fucking exist.

Alien: Lies.

Human Bartender: It’s truth.

Human Bartender: You go into this dating situation expecting to see a perfect vase of a person all neat and porcelain, when everyone is dealing with their own shit and problems that’ve chipped away at them bit by bit.

Alien: But I see these people on the interwebs all the time.

Human Bartender: *Waves dismissively

Human Bartender: And they’re lying through their teeth.

Human Bartender: Some people are just better than others at hiding their problems.

Alien: And why would they need to hide them?

Human Bartender: Seriously?

Human Bartender: From assholes like you.

Alien: How dare you!

Human Bartender: You literally walked in and started bitching about someone who wasn’t “Perfect”.

Human Bartender: That’s why people hide their own problems; because if they talk about them openly assholes like you keep alienating them so they clam up all over again.

Alien: Well maybe some people aren’t as good as myself with solving their own problems and not complaining like slump rats about them.

Human Bartender: Alright you know what-

Human Bartender: *Grabs alien from behind counter, hoists him up by collar, then throws him across the room damaging several chairs.

Human Bartender: Those cost several hundred credits to make! You’re paying for those too!

[pidayforpi]

(Okay.

So, if anyone remembers: In last July (which was already nearly 9 months ago omg), there was a "Donro Week 2023" event here. From 23 July to 29 July.

For once, I had...actually planned to participate in it (which would have been the second time I participate in a community event, after a (small) Discord secret santa in 2021).

Of course via writing, because you won't want to see me draw.

The format of the (story) writings would have been like this:

If anyone still remembers, there were "question prompts" for each day of the Donro Week (in addition to the "one-word" prompts, like "Lazy Days" for Day 1, or "AU" for Day 6).

The question prompts were something like:

[Day 1: "How do you think Donald and Gyro first met and become friends, then eventual partners?"

Day 2: "What qualities do Donald and Gyro get annoyed by or not like in each other?"

Day 5: "How do you think the extended Gearloose and Duck family would react to their relationship?"]

etc.

What I had planned to do, was writing out a set of Dewey Dew-Night interview scenarios, in which Dewey asks Paperino and Archimedes the corresponding question for that day.

[NB: Not Donald and Gyro, at least not the DT17 versions. You will see why below.]

The format would have actually been like the "Chicken Soup" thing I had written all the way in 2020. Free form, equally cringe.

Uh...that didn't happen. Obviously. And for some unknown reasons, because I was somewhat motivated and inspired during that time much better than now at least. So...sorry.

But what I did write, however, was the "intro" to this set of "interview stories"...which is the entire purpose I am saying all this context all of a sudden. It has been a while, and way too long since I last produced and published...something.

It is a very short story - not even a complete one - but it is one of the last things I did before I kind of...stopped. Everything.

I also wrote this on a train, too.)

[A very late tag, but I hope it is the thought that counts. Thank you for organising this wonderful event. Just watching/reading through others' works was already super awesome.]

@donro-week

Donro Week 2023 [July 23th ~ July 29th]

(Just a small note: Sentences/Words in italic mean they are not supposed to be caught on camera, but are caught on camera accidentally regardless.)

Dewey: (Dewey Dew-Night Intro!)

Dewey: "And joining us tonight are two birds of a feather you know very well, yet ALSO know NOTHING about! *Gasp!* How is that possible?! Go on, ask! How is that possible?!"

"......"

Huey: "What?"

Dewey: "Dude, you are supposed to ask out loud. We've talked about this."

Louie: "You...you were serious..."

Dewey: "When was I not serious? Actually, don't answer that. Just cooperate. Ask that aloud, c'mon."

Huey & Louie: "*Sigh* Oh my god, how is that possible?!"

Dewey: "Well, I dunno!"

*LOL!*

*Facepalm*

Dewey: "But we are about to find out! 'Cause joinin' us tonight is the greatest uncle of the universes...Donald Duck!"

Donald (Paperino): "Hi!...wait where even is the camera? That rectangular gadget on the stack of books?"

Dewey: "As well as the brightest mind in all Duckburgs, across space and time...Gyro Gearloose!"

Gyro (Archimedes): "H-hello...! Nice to meet you, people of the...uh...interweb? Internetwork? What was that again, modern Dewey?"

Dewey: "*chuckle* Well, pardon the old timers, you can say they might as well have come from the 20th century!"

*Laughter!*

Dewey: "And if you have guessed so, you are absolutely CORRECT! No prize though, sorry. Don't think they are only cosplaying..."

Paperino: "Cospl...what?"

Archimedes: "Just go along with it, honey..."

Dewey: "'Cause who you are seeing are literal time travellers! *Gasp!*"

Archimedes: "Well, technically, we are dimension trav-"

Dewey: "Thanks to this world's Gyro's now upgraded Time n' Space Tub™️..."

Huey: "Which he forbids you from entering a 20-metre radius around?"

Dewey: "...which I definitely have permission to enter a 20-metre radius around! Now! I bring you, Paperino and Archimedes Pitagorico! Donald Duck and Gyro Gearloose from another universe!"

*Fanfare! Applause!*

Dewey: "Stay tuned after the intermission for the exciting interview that ensues!"

Louie: "Wait, you literally haven't done anything yet-"

Dewey: "This is Dewford Dingus Duck, your beloved handsome host from Dewey Dew-Night! Don't forget to like n' subscribe! See ya!"

Louie: "Dude, you literally haven't done ANYTHING yet!"

Paperino: "Subscribe? Is this a newspaper or a magazine?"

Archimedes: "Wait, is this an interroga-"

*Recording cuts*

(11-7-2023)

[fantasyfantasygames]

Hecatomb

Hecatomb, Bleu Black Mana Games, 1998

For those who didn't play Magic: The Gathering, here's the link to the card info for Hecatomb.

In 1998, everyone was waiting for Magic: the Gathering: the Roleplaying Game. It seemed obvious that it was going to happen. The people who made Magic now owned D&D. It must be on the horizon. Hecatomb wasn't an attempt to get to market first - it was the result of someone getting so excited for what they saw coming that their feelings came out through their fingers and onto their GeoCities site. As it turned out, there wasn't a real M:tG/D&D crossover until 2018, so Bleu kinda jumped the gun here.

Stats are the five mana colors, plus Life. NPCs are rated on Damage and Toughness. They're all rated on a theoretically zero-to-unlimited scale, but mostly 1-7 with some excursions up to 10. Life starts at 20, because you're playing planeswalkers, traveling from world to world, summoning creatures to do battle for you.

Hecatomb has one extremely big weakness: Bleu had no idea how to make the game a fun group activity. Some examples:

You draw mana from your lands once per day. So you're not casting many spells. The game does allow your creatures to have lands of their own, so they can activate their own abilities instead of you having to do it, but once you're tapped out you're tapped out.

There's no indication of why you would work together. There aren't many people out there more powerful than you, and there's no serious benefit to working together.

What you can cast when is still random. Getting mana-screwed is not any more fun in this game than in the original.

There's no real guidance as to what your character... is. Human? Some kind of god-creature? Remember, this was long before we knew any planeswalkers except Mishra and Urza. 1999 was 6th Edition. This game was written during the Urza's expansion block. Lorwyn, the first block with Planeswalker cards, was 8 years away.

There's no indication that Bleu knew any games but D&D, and maybe Fudge. How very different this game could have been if there were some inspiration from, say, Amber or Everway.

Why did Bleu choose "Hecatomb" out of all the cards? It sounded cool. The game is not thematically "black" in any way.

In the end, though, I can't really fault him. This was a teenager's enthusiasm, and there are some cool things in here for a first game. The "when you do things like this color would, roll using this color" is a very modern mechanic. You could do a PbtA version with that and no one would bat an eye. There's a valiant attempt to tie together the lore on the cards into a fantasy setting, and it resulted in some pretty cool descriptions of dragon dens in the mountains, magic islands protected by mist, forests that moved in and out of reality, and plenty of name-dropping of M:tG mainstays like Yawgmoth and Nicol Bolas. I wasn't making substantially better stuff when I was in undergrad.

You can still find Bleu on various RPG fora across the interwebs. Ping him and he'll DM you the game. He was kind of reluctant for the first hundred people who asked for it, but now he sees it as a charming example of what he used to create, and a good example of what makes a game interesting to read but a non-starter to play.

[missflufffanfics]

Okay I’ve been watching ER for the first time and I just watched the ep where Doug and Carol get together which is something I did not spoil for myself by researching on the interwebs and HOLY SHIT asdfghjkl

Firstly, an honorable mention for the ep, when Carol walks in wearing her dress for her date and Doug literally does a 360 to see her, I may make a gifset of it it’s so funny and cute, unless I can get @livelovecaliforniadreams to do it bc they make much better gifs than I could.

Okay, now on to the big stuff in the ep. When the new Pediatrics resident showed up I was a little sus of her, as I am with every new character because I couldn’t get a read on her. When she ended up in Doug’s car, I was thinking oh dear god don’t let this happen don’t let him screw this up and drag it out we were so close to canon Hathaross. And honestly I was mostly gonna blame it on the new Pediatrics resident lol, as we do with anyone who tries to get in the way of our ship. And then when she asked “How long has it been since you and Carol Hathaway broke up?”??? My respect for her went 📈📈 And when Doug replied “A long time, actually…” kind of laughing at how obvious he is I ekfbienekdjeb

And then when Carol was dropped back off at her place my first thought was why didn’t this guy walk her to the door? And when Doug showed up I honestly didn’t think it was the moment, just thought it was gonna be more cute buildup. When Doug asked why Toby wasn’t allowed inside and Carol said it was only the third date, my Big Bang Theory fan brain said Well actually Bernie told Howard that after three dates sex is on the table so if he was the one you really wanted you could have… just saying 😉

And finally it switched to that close up on the two of them and I realized this was it and all the air left my body. And HOLY SHIT that kiss!! I’ve never seen a first kiss where there wasn’t music and/or the camera panning around them, and wow did it send a message!! Nothing else, just them, Hathaross, finally together.

Yay 😁

[frazzledsoul]

So Matt Czuchry has been making the promo rounds recently because apparently he's still alive on American Horror Story this most recent season and the season was split in two parts.

Apparently he was on The Talk two days ago and he was accused of ruining the love lives of teenage girls for decades

First of all, I am sick of the knee-jerk misandry that claims that any man Rory Gilmore dates is not good enough for her, because she's such paragon of fidelity, moral character, and good behavior. Has anyone asked if Rory is a good girlfriend and if these guys deserve her? She cheats on or with all of her boyfriends (with Dean and Logan, she's done both), she pits these guys against each other often, she frequently lies and misleads them about her intentions (this goes along with the cheating), she very rarely is repentant about any of this, and she also has the nerve to play the martyr (hello, bridesmaids: hello, being pissed at Jess for not waiting for her in season 3) when her track record does not call for it. I'm not saying she's always awful, but I think the only seasons where she was fair to whoever she was dating were season 1 and season 7. The rest of the time her record....is not good.

Furthermore, Dean and Jess seemed to struggle for a bit after Rory leaves their lives for good and then they get considerably better without her. Dean had at least one kid by 2011, so I'm assuming he was married and settled by then, which is really all he wanted in life (hopefully he got some therapy first). Jess is an author, co-owns a business, and is accepted in a community of his own by 2006 (and is emotionally stable enough not to hold Rory manipulating him into more love triangle bullshit against her). Logan never really gets a break from any of this in the canon we see (and is just as big of a cheater as she is in AYITL) but even he is personally and professionally stable by that era while Rory spends most of AYITL throwing epic tantrums and destroying any professional opportunity she gets.

Why should the boyfriends, who actually exhibited considerable character growth, should be forever declared "toxic" and perpetually morally inferior to Rory when they became more mature (okay, Logan has a mixed record, but Adult Logan works and he gets along with his dad, so we'll take it) and she did not? Why isn't anyone asking if the way Rory treats other people is behavior we want young girls to emulate, instead of only holding the boyfriends to account for what they did wrong?

Yeah, yeah, I know. This is the perils of being a main character written by Amy Sherman Palladinos: you leave her orbit and your life gets better offscreen. But Rory holds a lot of blame for why these relationships didn't work, especially since she keeps doing the same thing over and over. She should be held just as accountable for the things she did wrong as her partners are.

Honestly, Czuchry is being a lot more gracious than the situation calls for here. He showed up to promote his most recent project and a random Tik Tok was waved in his face accusing him of ruining the love lives of young women for years, because of what his character on a TV show did LITERALLY DECADES AGO. Why are y'all mad at him? He didn't write this. He had zero control over any of this. Why is this his fault? This ain't why he's there. Go yell at ASP if you're still mad and leave the actors alone. Credit goes to him for not trying to play Team Logan and be diplomatic because I don't really think he signed up for this discourse here.

This isn't an issue that is isolated to Czuchry: Milo also made the Interwebs mad when he asked to defend Jess's behavior on a talk show a while back (promoting a completely different project) and he pointed that Jess was literally a child when he was a main character on the show with a lot of childhood trauma. But hey, let's get pissed at the actor for pointing out literal facts again.

And Czuchry is right here:all of these characters were flawed, none of them behaved perfectly, and you should not model your real life relationships on any of them. This is not a tale of evil men ganging up on a helpless damsel. There's plenty of bad behavior to go around for all of them.

[babyspacebatclone]

Hey, I'm a 32(f) who is leaning very heavily towards a self dx of autism. I'm a mom of 2 kids under 4yo and having difficulty finding resources/support groups for moms/parents with autism. All I can find is stuff for parents of autistic kids. I know you don't have children, but would you mind sharing this and maybe someone in the community would have a lead for me?

Thanks <3

Well, I’m going to start off by “reassuring” you that there was a reason you had trouble finding resources for being a parent with Autism:

There isn’t much formal out there at the moment.

This is not to say there’s nothing, but almost all of it is either antidotal (blogs and other writings by Autistic Parents) or summaries cataloging frequent items from the antidotal stuff.

Note: Through this response, the term Autistic Parent/Guardian exclusively refers to an adult guardian who has either a formal or a self diagnosis for Autism. For simplicity, I will use the term “parent” throughout unless there is reason, e.g. my own experiences.

That does mean if you want a support system, you’re going to have to jury-rig it yourself.

Who in your life has guardianship duties you respect? Teachers (of anything), clergy etc, family and extended family?

Who has skills about looking after children that you want?

Reach out to them. Ask questions. Be as personal as you feel you can.

Hopefully, this post will get some traction and we can get some Autistic Parents of Tumblr willing to both be and get resources.

Outside of that, for specifics…

From my own experiences with being a (childfree) daycare teacher, I can make several points I’ve used about being an Autistic Guardian. I’ll list them under a cut for sanity.

At the bottom of the post will be a link collection from aggregate type webpages (ones that quote multiple Autistic Parent voices) I liked while searching the interwebs.

My suggestions for living as an Autistic Guardian/Parent:

The tools you use to cope with Autism in everyday situations are the same tools you will use as a parent, the trick is to build up that tool bag.

If you are feeling overwhelmed, get the kid safe and then walk away. Your ability to parent depends on your mental health; it is not “selfish” to need to rebalance before you can deal with a kid. Instead, it means you will be able to handle the situation better when you can return.

Delegate what you need to.

The first point is both obvious and not. On one hand, parenting obviously requires a lot of behaviors in different quantities than “everything else.”

On the other hand, a lot of it boils down to the same core issues: overstimulation, navigating social rules, masking your emotions in order to deal with the crisis at hand (no matter how small).

This page has some great tips about building your toolbox, some of which I’ll be repeating here!

Tooltip the best: Lists lists lists. Have sticky notes everywhere, so even when you’re brain is mush you can look and see of you’ve forgotten anything important.

The second I learned from our mandatory and necessary Abusive Head Trauma and Shaken Baby Syndrome training for the daycare.

Stepping away is always better than trying to do something when you’re past your limit.

Mistakes happen when you’re past your limit. Injuries, harsh words, bad decisions.

Those last longer than saying “I need five minutes, I will get back to you.” Even for preschoolers.

If they’re too young to handle that (less than 3) and you can’t delegate supervision to someone else, my best suggestion is to sit on the floor, get them on your lap, wrap them in a hug (deep pressure and hold them still), pull out for phone of they let you, and start blasting music you find calms you down. If they don’t let you get your phone, sing nursery rhymes or something.

When you feel like you can breathe, make sure the kid is calmed down and restart the conversation.

The best thing is to teach “we can take me-time” from a young age. Not the easiest thing, but normalizing “When you are upset, calming down by yourself is the best thing, for kids and adults.”

While you’re at that, bodily autonomy. Yours and theirs. Teach your child you will respect when they don’t want to be held/touched/etc unless they are unsafe, and you will expect the same.

I promise, with consistency children as young as 2 can get and apply these concepts.

Teaching your children that you are allowed your own space helps with your overstimulation (because you’ve normalized using coping strategies) and just prepares your kid for life, Autistic or Allistic.

Finally, outsource what you have to.

It’s not a failing to pay for what you can’t handle. CEOs do it all the time: cleaning staff, secretaries, chauffeurs, etc.

My best suggestion here is to look at what you’re struggling with the most, and find resources to bridge that gap so you have more energy/brainpower to deal with the rest.

You want your kids to have playdates? Is there a family member/friend who would be willing to chaperone them and make the arrangements?

Can’t cook, brain fried from diapers? Look into meal delivery services you can use ones a week (or more!) to give you some breathing room. (link intended as examples of the service, I have no experience with these and offer no recommendations for using any)

It’s never wasted money if it allows you to do your job elsewhere!!

And as a note, be aware of being an Autistic Parent to an Allistic Child.

This divide is purely in being the neurominority: Autistic Kids don’t struggle because they’re Autistic, they struggle because their needs don’t match their parents’ instincts.

But the opposite is true as well: an Allistic Child will suffer under an Autistic Parent unless the parent accepts their child’s brain for what it is, and parents to that.

If you find yourself in that situation, look for “typical” child development guidelines, particularly for social development.

Allistic Children, for example, often need more oversight than Autistic Children to feel safe; their need for neurotypical social interaction means a “hands off, I trust you” approach may feel neglectful, even if the Autistic Parent and any Autistic Children may view the same thing as empowering autonomy.

Here are pages I particularly liked while searching for hard resources, including the one from above for convenience.

Tips for handling common challenges for Autistic Parents.

An introduction to being an Autistic Parent, including some nice interviews with an Autistic Mother and an Autistic Father (separate families).

A great overview of the issue.

Note: The last article had an emphasis on Irish families, and at the time it was written (2017) “Asperger Syndrome” was an official, distinct diagnosis for that country that most of the individuals were diagnosed with.

The article is aware of the problematic nature of this term (which I do not endorse for those reasons), and uses “Autism” (100+ instances of “autis*) when not referencing a specific diagnosis (13 instances of “Asperger*”).

My decision to include this article is based on the wealth of information it contains, and I hope people understand my decision to include it despite that term and the (justified) baggage surrounding it.

[trying414]

20 questions for Fic Writers

Thanks for tagging me @talkstoself

1. How many works do you have on A03?

42

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

102,210

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently Miraculous Ladybug, Batman, and Maribat, but I've been known to dip into Doctor Who, Austin & Ally, and the Thundermans (though the Austin & Ally can only be found in the Internet Archive because middle-school-me was wild. And it has a different username so happy hunting lmao)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

5. I'm Gone, Gone, Gone, Gone 4. 1 - Sofa 3. 7 - Breeding Kink (Honorable Mention: Babies) 2. Buzz Buzz Bitch 1. Tag Teamed on the Tower (I really should have seen that cumming)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! Because I feel guilty if I don't Because I don't honestly get a ton, so I can't be overwhelmed by it. If I was a big name, maybe I wouldn't reply to as many, but I don't get a ton, so I find it easier to handle. This is not me fishing for comments, I swear. I'm just as guilty of not commenting (I'm trying to do better, but I don't always remember, and I don't always have it in me. I do always kudos, though). I write for me (mostly), but if you enjoy it, great! If not, to each their own. But never feel obligated to comment on my fics. I would rather you read and say nothing than feel stressed/guilty for not commenting.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

...hm. Considering the majority of my fics are either unfinished or prompted oneshots, I don't have a lot with angsty endings. I do have a lot with angst, though. Angsty ending? Hm. I'm going to have to go with I'm Gone, Gone, Gone, Gone.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Again with the ending thing 😂 It doesn't help that a lot of them are open-ended. And what kind of happy are we talking? Happy😁 or Happy 😏? But also you've asked one of the most indecisive people on the planet. The last one was easier. The whole thing is angst. (And I generally try to stick to happier/hopeful endings.) This, though? Pass. Someone else pick.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not on AO3? But AO3 is also bigger, and I don't post a lot. I live in my dark little corner on the interweb. I think most of the hate I've gotten was on FFN, and even then, I don't get a lot. Perks of writing for big fandoms, updating inconsistently, and generally having shorter fics. You get lost in the mix. (This is not a brag, but it's also not a complaint. I'm happy in my corner. Well...I'm content. Not ecstatic, not suffering.)

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Lots of smut. Does it all get posted? No 😂 Half, no, more than half of it doesn't even get written. You can guess on the kind. I have things that I won't write, but I feel like those are pretty limited. If I don't know it and it isn't a limit, I would probably at least try. (Ex: my most popular fic is a threesome, which I've never had, with a hemipene, which I've also never dealt with (I mean in the toy sense, I know human people do not have hemis.))

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I don't write a lot of them. I'm just dipping my toes into writing them (for now, solely Maribat). I've had a shit ton of ideas for them (years ago I had one for a Doctor Who x H2O: Just Add Water fic, but that remains an idea in my OneDrive)

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

If I have, I don't know about it. I'm a singular grain of sand in a whole beach of authors. I'm harder to find, and I'm certainly not well-written enough for it. (At least, not to me.)

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope :)

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope. Sounds scary. :)

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

As a general life rule, I don't have favorites lmao. Mostly because I'm indecisive as hell. Minimally because then something will be left out.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Gonna steal TalksToSelf's answer and go with: All of them 😭

16. What are your writing strengths?

Porn. Porn and Depression. Angst. Occasionally fluff. Mostly Porn, though.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Flow. Word variation. Consistency. Inspiration/Motivation. I could go on, but those are enough for now.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Mostly, I'll write in italics/bold/(not quotes but I'm blanking... the two different apostrophes???)'these' and indicate what it was spoken in, but if it's a singular word/phrase, like a nickname, I normally just use the word itself, with an explanation for it at some point in the fic.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Austin & Ally

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

I do not have a favorite child. I love and hate them all equally.

No pressure tagging @hamsteriffic @miraculouslymundane @littlemourningstar @izanae @boldlyanxious ... I'm done. Someone else take over tagging people.

[themculibrary]

Fics Written In 2021 Masterlist

and the river flows beneath your skin (ao3) - Deisderium steve/bucky E, 114k

Summary: In which Steve and Bucky are forced to room together their senior year at boarding school, and accidentally soul bond to each other even though they kind of hate each other. All they have to do to get out of it is not kiss each other for a year so the accidental bond will fade. How hard could it be?

A Tattoo of Parker Luck (ao3) - maroonweb harley/peter T, 5k

Summary: Guests started looking over at the commotion, when one of them walked over to get a better look.

Penny's eyes met Tony Stark's and she flushed when he looked over the mess they'd made. His disdainful gaze settled on her tattooed arm and he pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

She knew Tony would never be able to pick her out of a crowd, but to have him think of her so negatively upon their first meeting hurt more than she ever could have imagined.

AKA Penny Parker gets a tattoo that seems to embody Parker Luck.

Borough of Manhattan Community College (ao3) - Kat_Greenleaf steve/tony M, 11k

Summary: Steve Rogers had joined the Borough of Manhattan Community College’s wellness department at the beginning of the year, which Tony would have never known, except he kept bumping into him in the break room. The first week, after they bumped into each other for the first time and Steve shyly introduced himself, Tony hopped onto the interwebs to see if he could figure out this guy’s deal. Homemade, 80s-style, aerobic workout videos were not at all what Tony had been expecting.

Regardless, they simultaneously fueled the crush Tony had developed, and made it a million times more impossible to look Steve in the eye at work. Which was a problem. Because Steve had been trying to ask Tony on a date for weeks with no success, and it was becoming quite frustrating.

'Cause I found someone to carry me home (ao3) - kalika_999 jack/brock M, 10k

Summary: Brock's perfect for him, maybe a little too perfect.

Chemistry (ao3) - deadto27 steve/bucky E, 49k

Summary: Bucky Barnes just wanted a good one-night stand. It didn't even have to be great, though he'd had high hopes hot Steve would be fantastic.

He's hugely disappointed.

And Steve seems to really like him, so now he's stuck trying to let him down gently and hoping he never sees him again. Of course, the universe has other plans.

-----

But it’s okay, he thinks, trying to convince himself, as Steve plants a kiss to his cheek and tells him to sleep well, flicking off the lamp. It’s nice to be cuddled sometimes—Bucky basically never gets cuddled—and the bed’s pretty comfy. He’ll just leave in the morning. No big deal. They may have died a sexual death, but Steve’s a sweetheart regardless and Bucky can’t bring himself to be an asshole.

This is just more polite.

Debut And (Minor) Fall (ao3) - ElisaPhoenix cassie/peter T, 2k

Summary: Cassie gets to put her training to the test.

for better or for worse (ao3) - earliebirb steve/tony T, 5k

Summary: Sitting quietly like this, Tony can almost pretend that nothing has happened, that this is just another normal day of Steve waking up in bed next to him. Married and in love with no threat of divorce looming on the horizon.

Of course, that is before he catches sight of Steve’s bereft ring finger.

He wonders how long it has been since Steve’s ring finger is empty.

He wonders if he should start taking off his own, too. He wonders if Steve wants him to take it off.

if i'm dreaming baby (please don't wake me up) (ao3) - Pandemic steve/tony E, 12k

Summary: “What?” Is all Steve can answer before Tony darts round the desk with speed, landing in Steve’s lap. He reaches out with his hands to steady him, and is rewarded with a handful of Anthony Stark’s ass. He is currently holding the ass of a man who features as an answer on Wheel of Fortune. This cannot possibly be his life.

Or the Fake Boyfriends AU.

just know you're not alone (ao3) - haveufoundwhaturlookingfor tony/sam T, 10k

Summary: Tony was settling into his new life being an Avenger. Everything was going fine, great even, and then suddenly a kid was thrown into the picture. Peter Parker becomes Tony’s world, and he’s doing everything he can to keep his son out of the spotlight. Unfortunately, some things don’t always go to plan. But would it really be such a bad thing if his fellow Avengers found out about his son?

Kidnapping (TM) (ao3) - GoringWriting phil/tony T, 3k

Summary: Coulson knows he has feelings for Tony. But he can't seem to tell the other man that, afraid he will be rejected. However, a kidnapping might be just the motivation he needs to confess his feelings to the man he loves.

like a heartbeat drives you mad (ao3) - Lies_Unfurl E, 7k

Summary: The future is a lonely place, and Steve sure could use a friend. Luckily, Rumlow shows up to listen to him, guide him, and teach him how to relax.

He's grateful for that. He really is. Right?

love me with your sad eyes, drain me of my color (ao3) - voxofthevoid steve/bucky E, 13k

Summary: Cohabitation is now trial and error. Some days, Bucky tries to console himself by thinking that it was much the same back when Steve moved in with him after Sarah passed. But he knows that was different. The anger had no real bite. Steve’s harsh diatribes were always aimed at his perceived weaknesses rather than Bucky’s clumsy attempts to be sweet on him.

God help him, he misses that firecracker kid, his bones held together with spite, and he misses the brave monster who walked into hell to pull Bucky out of it.

And that’s just it, isn’t it? Steve pulled Bucky out of hell, but the stories all say it comes with a price. Steve paid with his life, his soul, and he was a ghost for seventy years and now he’s a wraith, and Bucky wants so badly to breathe him to life, but he doesn’t know how.

“You haven’t tried to kill me in weeks,” Bucky manages to say, and god, is that his voice? He sounds worn and old, like he’s really in his nineties. He swallows and tries to be stronger. “So yeah, Steve. A reason would be nice.”

- After Insight, after Hydra, Steve and Bucky are a work in progress.

Never Packed a Parachute to Lover’s Leap (ao3) - Paraprosdokia (ChangeableConsistency) clint/phil E, 8k

Summary: Phil goes into an unexpected rut.

Extremely unexpected considering Clint’s been under the mistaken impression that Phil has been a beta this whole time.

Not Who They Made Us (ao3) - himynameisv T, 3k

Summary: Gamora's world is falling apart right in front of her eyes; she doesn't know what to do.

tear these old walls down (ao3) - susiecarter steve/tony T, 57k

Summary: Steve didn't like Tony Stark.

Stark probably didn't like Steve, either. They'd gotten off on the wrong foot, and that was putting it mildly.

And having to pretend to be a civilian Stark was dating, as cover for trying to save Stark's life while Iron Man was busy with a SHIELD mission, obviously wasn't going to help.

the secrets that we keep (ao3) - haveufoundwhaturlookingfor ned/peter T, 10k

Summary: In which Clint has never told any of the Avengers, not even Natasha, about his son Peter. His sister Laura is the only person he’s ever told, trusted. Clint has only ever wanted to protect his son, to keep him safe from harm. But, when the accords come around, things get a little complicated. And Clint finds out that he’s not the only one keeping secrets.

wake me up in the morning (ao3) - mybelovedagnes leo/jemma G, 3k

Summary: the fitzsimmons family + mornings

who doesn’t want to live with the brisk motor of his heart singing (ao3) - AuroraWest, Nonexistenz loki/stephen M, 6k

Summary: People thought being a prince was romantic. They definitely, definitely weren't thinking of being a Prince of New Asgard. Nevertheless, there's still some romance to be found at New Asgard's Midsummer Feast.

worth the wait (ao3) - complicationstoo bucky/tony, background steve/sam T, 5k

Summary: Tony and Bucky keep trying to have their first date, but are met with constant interruptions. It takes them six tries and a broken elevator to finally get there.

you and me, forevermore (ao3) - orphan_account phil/melinda M, 2k

Summary: Five times Melinda May celebrates New Years'.

[codes]

hello matthew!! :D this ask isnt related to the little game u made unfortunately but id like to ask for some advice from someone who probably has to read a lot for school!!

i finished reading a classic of literature recently, jane austens persuasion. having repeated myself many times today, it was a very good thought provoking book. except that i didnt really realise that until i read the introduction of the book where they discuss her techniques and how she handles the themes!! argh.. in fact while i was readin the whole thing i didnt even really know what to feel! i knew about the instances of titular persuasion but i wasnt even really sure what they were saying with nuance...

since im so troubled by my lack of sensitivity and find no help elsewhere on the interwebs, as someone who i find can parse the complex muddled text of enstars with clarity, what should i do to become a more sensitive reader! or rather how do u read matthew?

hi lab! im a lil honored that u hold me in such high regard bc honestly, i dont always feel that my literary analysis skills are up to par! though i think thats an opinion shared by many but i often end up in the same position as you and even my professors say the same thing where they have to reread books before they start to really delve into analysis. its p normal, honestly. a lot of themes in literature are largely opinionated so some people pick up patterns faster than others and sometimes two readings can conflict with one another. it happens! one reading may be more clearly supported by evidence within the text but analyzing literature usually takes a lot of practice more than anything, but sometimes going back to the basics rlly helps and focusing on which critical theory may be applicable. could you maybe analyze the text through a character? perhaps the psychoanalytic theory may help! are gender roles present within the text? maybe looking at it through a feminist critical lens may give you a good ledge to start off. theres also formalism, post-colonialist, Marxist theory, eco-criticism, etc... the world is your oyster and having trouble with analyzing a text is normal! we're not all-knowing and sometimes it helps to look at what other people have to say will help you most of all.

also i asked my friend @cupidneos who is insanely smart for her advice since i bet that she would have something to say (also shes also a jane austen fan) and this is what she said:

i do wanna say that you shouldn’t be too hard on yourself since Persuasion is easily one of her hardest texts to really extend and make sense of so it’s no fault of your own … literature that uses free indirect discourse to hint towards our knowledge of character tends to be harder to understand bc of how limited that info can be! that being said, not being able to place our finger on something until it’s highlighted is completely okay! that’s what the introduction is there for; to help you out. there’s no set list of criteria to being a “more sensitive reader” since the phenomenon of reading itself is so mercurial. with practice i’m so certain that u will get a better sense of where to look for those literary themes. and don’t sell urself short in doing so either! if u find a passage important, pursue it!!! doesn’t matter what everyone else says abt it hehe

[tehjleck]

I remember seeing a post on a different site years ago, it was made by a new DM who was having trouble balancing encounters and asked the interwebs for advice. I told him until he got the hang of it, he should employ this method and people got BIG MAD (side note - I gave no shits then, and I give no shits now).

My reasoning is simple. As a DM, you want your players to *think* you're trying to kill them almost all the time, but your job as a DM isn't "playing against" the players - your job is to provide their characters with a challenge to overcome.

A properly balanced encounter probably won't require much 'fudging', even if it gets close... but #1 - a "properly balanced encounter" is difficult to set up for some experienced DM's, let alone new ones... and #2 - sometimes - even in the most equally balanced encounters, the players will have a run of bad rolls.

Let's say the party rushes into an area without scouting or checking for traps, so they get all fucked up by traps only to be ambushed by the baddies in that area. If the players roll poorly, those baddies could wipe them out. So, if I roll an 8 for damage as one of those baddies and that pc is pretty low on hp, I may say it only did 2pts of damage, giving that player another round to heal up, or kill that bad guy.

Again, the folks on that board got BIG MAD and said "you must never kill characters!" and "why would anyone play with you if you lie about the die rolls"... Well, to those dumbshits, the players don't fucking know. What they know - is that they had a TOUGH fucking fight and BARELY FUCKING SURVIVED IT. Which is an infinitely better outcome to a game session than, "we didn't check for traps and the DM killed us all for it"

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL

Feb 2023 Wk 1

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying most. 

Ongoing Series - Thai

My School President (Fri YT) ep 9 of 12 - WinSound totally won me over in this ep. They were great. Their competitive style of romance, made me really happy. Double tsundere it’s so rare to get and not be annoying or depressing. Of course the mains were adorable too. 

Never Let Me Go (Tues YT) ep 8 of 12 - Solid little episode. Perth in the pool, thank U BL gods. Peeling the shrimp to rope, always a favorite of mine. Some awesome couple flirting and a nice romantic sex scene. What’s not to like about this episode?

Hit Bite Love (Sat YouTube) ep 2 of 6 - King is fucking adorable. Burger is clueless and (apparently) entirely straight. Shogun is one of the gayest characters ever put in high school BL. Heda is kinda awesome, basically a chaos wingman. Matteo is interesting. I genuinely like the central friendship between King & Shogun a lot. Queer baby besties! It’s Ming & Wayo-esk but better. Holy KINK FEST outta nowhere, BLman! I’m getting total whiplash with this show. Very Make It Right. What does it want to be? Who tf knows but I’m into it, that’s for sure. It’s accomplishing something, which most pulps don’t.

609 Bedtime Story (Fri WeTV) ep 11fin - my backup computer is down so I haven’t had a chance to watch this yet. Hopefully but next week’s report.   

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

HIStory 5: Love in the Future (Taiwan Weds Viki) ep 6 of 10 (or 11&12 of 20) - Jonny’s hair is driving me nuts. Hai Yi’s behavior is confusing me too. Office boys remain totally adorable. Very doomy mid run ep 6. Ah Taiwan, how unpredictable you are. 

Candy Color Paradox AKA Ameiro Paradox (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 7 of 8 - these weirdos make for very strange boyfriends. Frankly? K seems like a useless bit of business, if you ask me. 

Individual Circumstances (Korea Thurs Viki) ep 5-6 of 8 - I’m just annoyed with Mr. Tsundere at this point, he’s gone from grumpy to mean. I just want him to have a really good reason for having disappeared without saying anything, and good does not mean “sensitive pathetic authorial feels.” You don’t abandon your best friend just because you fell in love with them, that’s an unforgivably shitty thing to do. 

The End Of The World, With You AKA Bokura no Micro na Shuumatsu (Japan Sun Gaga ep 1 of 8 - Stars Toshiki Seto (Senpai, This Can't Be Love). The world is about to be destroyed by a meteor, so Masumi visits his old uni library to read as much as he wants until the end. There he meets Ritsu, his player ex. It’s a bit awkward, and I’m not sure about the premise (it scares me that it might be sad). It’s racier, gayer, and has better kissing than i was expecting (again a sign it might go dark). Also Is Ritsu a big time bi-slut player or is that Masumi’s perspective? Regardless I’m intrigued if wary. 

Finished this week

The New Employee (Korea Weds Viki) ep 7fin - They are so cute it’s unbelievable. I thought it was a good office romance ending, if not a great Bl ending. All in all this is a darn near perfect nugget of an office romance BL, sweet and much gayer than we have any right to expect from Korea. Rainbow rice cakes forever! 9/10

Between Us (Sun iQIYI) ep 12fin - It’s a serviceable series about hot swimmers flirting and dealing with family drama in a sweetly earnest manner, but ultimately it squanders the talent in play. I would’ve preferred a cleaner narrative arc, less angst and more plot, fewer couples, and a shorter series. That said, there’s nothing objectively wrong, sub-standard, or off-putting about this show. And it has lots of consent and other good qualities. It’s fine. Watch along here. 8/10

I Will Knock You (Fri Gaga) ep 12fin - I did think a lot over why I disliked this one. Because on the surface it’s just your standard slightly terrible Thai pulp, and I’m usually not that mean about them. I think in the end it comes down to the uke who just seemed to never warm to the boy pursuing him, and never really actually wanted to be his boyfriend. Also terrible dead fish kiss. 5/10 

Gossip

Apparently we have new scions (waves goodbye to BrightWin) - GeminiFourth: The Crown Princes of BL. If you’re wondering how their chemistry is so good (My School President), this article may explain it. 

In Case You Missed It

Caught up on 2020′s The Reason Why He Fell In Love With Me. (Gaga picked it up and I’ve been wanting to see it since it got announced in 2019.) 

TRWHFILWM Series 1 - 2 teachers who work together at the same high school, one outgoing and the other reserved, start an affair. Gave me Ossan’s Love vibes and that is my least favorite kind of JBL. It’s just far too cartoonish and slapstick and I don’t like it. That said, it has several kisses, a happy ending, and they are cute together. So if you can this style BL, it you might like it. 

TRWHFILWM Special - Completely ignores the first couple and the teacher premise, carrying over just one main character, and should have been a new BL (Boys Love flashbacks). I understand 2021′s season 2 continues this tactic. But I’ll watch it eventually. 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Not a lot actually, which is cool, I still got some 2022 catching up still to do. Why You Y Me, may be? 

Starting: 

Moonlight Chicken (Weds? YouTube) 1 of 8 -   

My Beautiful Man S2 - ??? sorry I’m scared of this one and not really paying attention, it being Japan and a desirable property, I’m assuming it will either be impossible to find or just show up on my dash in 2 places at once. 

Feb releases list is here. 

2023 forthcoming BL master post. (see comments some are inaccurate, NOT UPDATED)

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Hit Bite Love it’s classic terrible Thai pulp and I’m kinda loving it. 

Thank you very much GMMTV. 

FINALLY! 

Also FINALLY. 

More FINALLY (My School President). 

I love the acknowledged combative nature of this relationship. It’s great. 

(last week)

Current Kpop earworm? Under the Skin by &team, eh, it’s catchy I guess

[carinalastimosa]

Let's begin blogging...

Hi, my name is Carina Lastimosa.

By some miracle, and by miracle, I mean your sheer boredom looking for new content on the interwebs, you’ve found my hasty attempt at starting a blog. I say hasty because (A) I’m not a writer (B) I’m poor at time management (C) I’m not fully sure how I want to use this thing.

A. I’m not a writer

I’m an actor. Or at least, I am, sometimes. Proof that I’m an actor, this acting reel I made on my own cause no one will higher me for a proper on-camera gig. But even the most prolific actors aren’t always actors. They’re unemployed actors or a person known as an actor but currently have endorsement deals to pay their bills.The first time I truly felt like an actor was just this year, filing taxes of all things. I confirmed that my job/pay hasn’t changed from last year and then proceeded to add in my additional earnings. Already, I was on a high entering my additional earnings because it’s the most I’ve ever made through my agent. The tax system asked if I started a new job due to these increased earnings and I answered, ‘yes’, which prompted me to answer what my new vocation was. I got to enter in ‘Entertainer.’ Whatever “making it” means, this it what it meant to me. I’ve always wondered what us regular actors do to actually pay their bills so I’ll share with you here what my answer is. I have a WFH job for a software company. If you’re an actor, I’d love to know what you do, cause how do we do this, really?! For the most part, it has offered some decent flexibility to the demands on being on call for an acting gig that comes at very short notice. Any stress I’ve felt when my jobby-job and acting are in conflict, is on me. The jobby-job pays my bills so I want to make sure that I do my work at a 100%, but that means it can take up a lot of time and focus that I then do not know how to make time for when it comes to being an actor.

B. I’m poor at time management

That saying, “your eyes are bigger than your stomach”, can apply to my overeagerness to do everything. I want to do it all. I want to be that girl. Aside from being an actor, I’m also a baker, I’m trying to learn guitar, I’m trying to learn Tagalog, I’m trying to learn how to juggle, I’m trying to learn how to whistle and I’m starting to blog even though I find writing a challenge. I also like to lead a balanced life. I’m not type of person who believes their job is their entire life, no matter how much I love acting. I’m the eldest sister (you can call me Ate), wife and pug owner. I value my alone time, make time for vacation and go to therapy. And I want to do and be all of these things at the time same to prove that I’m living life to the fullest and attempt to be an exceptional human being. But you can’t do it all, and I realize that every day as I attempt to check off all my wants and desires, disappointed that I haven’t been able to maximize the same 24 hours that every other human has. Even for my jobby-job it can take me half an hour to write a simple 3 sentence response, a text message to a friend takes an hour for me to figure out what to say, a new social media platform asking for a bio will take me the whole freaking day! Writing has never come naturally to me. I don’t know all the rules to writing and the English language. Not that I have to tell you if you’re reading this thing. My lack of knowledge on language has recently been amplified as I try to learn Tagalog. Sure, I can memorize words, but once you start to explain sentence structure to me… IT. IS. OVER. Just thinking about what a predicate is as I type this sentence, sends me into a cold sweat. But writing isn’t completely foreign to me. As an actor, an actor of color, I love working on new plays. Even better, when the playwright is in the room to hear their words aloud, talk about intention and do rewrites. I’ve had the privilege of workshopping various staged readings and acting in several world premiere productions. New plays is where it is at for an actor of color simply because it offers more opportunity than what the classic canon can offer due to strict casting needs or what casting thinks is the default casting type, the white actor. Working in the theatre as an actor for more than a decade lead me to write my own short play. It was COVID-19 lockdown and I was still experiencing frustrations with the theatre community so I wrote about it. The result, The White Room, was a virtual play that showed what auditioning looked like in the time of lockdown in post-George Floyd era. Written in a fever rage, at times indulgent, is a piece of writing I’m still incredibly proud of and I hope to create a full length in-person version of it some day.

C. I’m not fully sure how I want to use this thing

So, here we are. We’ve established that I am an actor that has a real hard time writing yet I’ve starting this blog to do what, exactly? This is what I’ll explore. I’m not sure if I can bang out content every day, once a week, once a month, or ever. I just know that I’ve been looking to express my thoughts on pop culture and figure out if I have a place in the entertainment industry. I’ve always felt that I’ve had something to give as a Filipino-American female artist and if it may not be through acting, maybe it’s through another creative avenue.They say write what you know, and I’m hoping that will make this easier for me to write. All I know is pop culture. Growing up in the 90’s as a 2nd generation Filipino, I wasn’t one of those kids that got the straight A’s, learning piano and taking AP classes. Instead, I was one of those kids that had the TV on all the time because we could. My parents came to America because they wanted their children to have the American life, whatever that means. For me, it meant watching it on screen. Watching award shows thinking that I wasn’t beautiful enough to be on screen. Experiencing the rare thrill of my parents asking, “Filipino?” when seeing Paolo Montalban as Prince Charming in the Whitney Houston produced TV movie, Cinderella. Watching Friends in syndication and not question how white the show was.The goal of this blog, for now, is to have an outlet for my thoughts on pop culture with a focus on highlighting Asian/Asian-American stories. I’m in constant search for who I am and where I fit in and by starting this blog, it will hopefully not only help me, but others who are looking for their place. I’m not the best writer, or at least, that’s what my inner saboteur is telling me, but I’m passionate about elevating the Asian-American perspective. Our voices matter and I want to have a dialogue about it.

[wonderlandanormal]

Hello Tumblr

I was told by many huUmans that this site was the perfect place for a creature like me, and I could get MANY infos about houwl to be humen myself. This is why I came into the interwebs. This is me in the picture. Hello. Hi. Don't looks at the messy hair pls thankyou

I'm an artificial thingy, made to look like you, but not be You. My peoples didn't explain much. I was there and then told my myself to run. They bad. I'm not coming back haha!😈😈😈😈

Right now I'm trying to be the best huuman I can be, so that when they come From me I will be unvisible. YESSSS. That will be so funny haha! I found a cat. He'll teach me everything, cus who better to teach about human than cat? Perrrcect! Gettit!

I found a good looking boy who gave me book. He asked me to go eat for the first times. I don't know eat, but he was Nice. Should I go there with my own legs and do eat with him????? What do you think interwebszsz?????!😱

[foxymoxyda]

Hi Foxy,

So this introduction of your DA writing is a whole new world for me. I’m slowly learning what DA is all about. That plus what you’ve shared about it from the Lowlander universe, and Sasha from SS, has sent me poking around the interwebs to read up on the different version of it from over the years. I remember you saying that your career is also based in the game space, so let me ask you: as someone who has literally zero experience gaming (I know, I know, I’m an aberration) but who would be willing to give it a try for DA, where should I start? One thing I read was that for DA, the PC game is the way to go (as opposed to a separate console) - does that sound right? If so, which version/game? Sorry if my terminology is wrong. I literally have no idea what I’m doing here, but I want to be a bit like Sasha and escape in this world and pine for Cullen ;) a little too. Any direction would be appreciated. Also, Thanks for this story. It’s a cool departure from all your other stories (which I am equally obsessed with, don’t worry)

This is so fun!! The beauty of these games is that they're pretty good and easy to pick up. You can even play them on easier difficulty levels to just learn and enjoy, I highly recommend it.

PC is totally fine for these, you can play mouse and keyboard so you don't even need a game controller unless that is more comfortable for you. Reflexes are more important in the third game than the first or second. You can really start wherever you want so I'll give you some pros/cons for where you want to.

Dragon Age: Origins, the first game of this series. If you start here, you'll meet people and make decisions that can impact your world and story in the second and third game. Very story-based, some of the best companions. Generally I'd say this is the place to start so you learn everything from beginning. There's a part you go into the Fade which can be really long and frustrating, I highly recommend using walkthrough instructions online if you get too frustrated :) There are several DLCs you can play too that set up the next games further.

Dragon Age: II. Secretly my favorite of the games, but don't start here lol. I think this should be played after Origins. Fair warning, folks tend to either love or hate this game. I love it.

Dragon Age: Inquisition, the most recent game. It's got a better look and more updated tutorials based on how folks playl games now. It has a little more reflex-dependent gameplay but there are tutorials and easier modes. Its pacing can be faster depending if you want to do all the side quests, it feels more open world and exploring which can be a lot of fun if you're having fun. This is not a bad place to start either if you want to jump right in. You wont' have the backstory yet for some of the characters but you'll figure it out :)

Happy playing, I hope you enjoy yourself!

[aviscarrentals]

Hi! I'm someone who's open to both - having bio kids and adopting. Haven't had thought of it in a while but now that I thought about it... I'd like to adopt at least one kid. And have bio kids. But one thing in my head is that as an eldest daughter I'd never want my eldest kid (be it bio or adopted) to be the third parent to their siblings. I'd experienced that enough, it is NOT a pleasant experience.

Going back, idk if it's just me or there are some really toxic creators on tiktok and insta on both sides of the spectrum. On one end you have the Dougherty dozen and their mom who had once famously exposed all the medications their kids (11 now, used to be 12) take, and often overbuy processed stuff.

Then on the other end is Leah and Caitlin. They underwent IVF so Leah carried their child made with Caitlin's egg, and Caitlin carried their child with Leah's egg.

Again, extreme examples. But in my head, cautionary tales. You have other families - Justthebells who are a tiny bit better than the dozen, Eric Vaughn Trainor and his husband who did what you mentioned with the IVF, and Julie and Camila Lorentzen who struggled with IVF and were VERY transparent about the costs and stuff.

And then there's the child exploiters like mattandabby, della vlogs (one of the worst), the beeston bunch... You can see how some people treat their bio AND adopted kids (and exploit them for clout). And you ask yourself if this is all even real or worth it.

Oh, and the influx of creators getting pregnant is... A bit strange to me. Like... I cannot tell you how many creators on my feed are now happily expecting and I'm like:.. Was there a creator summit about this.

Anyway, to end this long-winded thing: having kids, bio or adopted, is scary. And I hope that people will keep in mind that kids are kids, not toys to be exploited on the interwebs.

happening to have bio kids and being anti-adoption are two totally different things! i’m totally fine with people giving birth i’m not an anti-natalist 💀 i just think openly saying that you would never love an adopted child as much as a bio child is insane and it makes me really sad. i personally would never want to have bio kids because i would want to take that opportunity to give a loving home to a child that was already deprived of that for too long, but you’re totally right it’s all about choice and perspective!

i totally agree with the oldest child thing. i think it not only is unfair to the child that has to do the caretaking, but it’s also impossible to form a normal sibling relationship when there’s a mother/child dynamic or such a large age gap. my oldest sister is seven years older than me and although she never had to go through that, we have such a hard time connecting due to the difference in our ages and it sometimes seems like she’s a much older adult compared to me.

i’ve also noticed the influx of creators having kids rn 😭 i’m huge danny gonzalez and cody ko fans and it was so random that they both became parents so close to one another. but i’m so glad they’re keeping their kids separate from their online lives because it’s so often that parents exploit their kids who can’t consent to being on the internet and will have to deal with the consequences as they grow older.

overall, that post was just about people that NEED to have a biological child and consider adopted parents to not be real parents as well as my own perspective on the subject. thank you for chiming in!