#that name is a lot more unique and will keep me from having the exact same name as everyone else

[chaotic-aro-incarnate]

Having an incredibly generic name is both a blessing and a curse because on one hand it's always confusing when people have the same name and there's always jokes about how I must be in the witness projection program or something but on the other hand in the increasing loss of privacy via the internet and the worrying lack of anonymity for people online anymore means that I am near impossible to find online.

I could post my full legal name online (I wouldn't I'm not an idiot) and no one could dox me because there are thousands of people with my exact name. Hell I could even give a general location to where I live and people would still struggle to find me because it's a major metropolitan area with millions of people living there. There's been a moderately famous person in the last 2 decades with my exact same first and last name (I've had people get confused and think my middle name is the same as the famous person's. It's not. It's another generic name.) Any future employer running a scan on me online better hire a private investigator because I'm near impossible to find. Not because I'm super off the grid or anything, but mainly because my legal name is one of the most generic placeholder names available and to try to find me through all of the other random people is a Herculean task

[raggedytiger]

ragatha/agatha and pomni/penny human hcs!

(r)agatha:

is an english teacher!

yes she still loves horses. she used to ride them, & she loves old western movies.

owns cowboy hat and boots.

analytical and loves long & winding conversations.

has a very happy cat named sandwich.

patches her own clothes, doesn't have kids but if she did she would embroider their names into their belongings.

she still plays cello, she loves music in general, probably sings like an angel.

can't do any mathematics.

can drive, but like a lunatic. somehow has never had an accident though, so it's fine.

probably has a cute little baby blue/yellow car now, but definitely had a beat up offroader truck at some point that got put to good use. or maybe she still does, i'm not the boss.

total lesbian, a bit of a heartbreaker but not intentionally (women just keep falling for her)

goes to town/neighbourhood/community meetings. likely is/was in a knitting circle

absurd number of quilts in her home

pomni/penny:

is an accountant as we know, and cannot cook for shit as we know.

no pets she can barely take herself for walks. is more similar to a cat, but had a dog growing up. would love a collie or a dalmatian probably.

would name the dog something stupid like Thermometer Johnson.

she can drive, but nervously.

really quick thinker, like impressively, unless she's under HUGE amounts of stress. is literally always thinking at 100mph.

no sense of interior decor or personal style. all practical, kind of butch. really does kill a suit.

very much lesbian but not fully to terms with it. probably had short-lived relationships with men in which she was 'content' but didn't really care for it. seeing agatha as agatha for the first time was probably a crazy punch to her little gay heart. not to mention the cowboy gear.

autistic

watches 90s anime to wind down

listens to every single genre of music. passes a lot of time with headphones in, slowly making her way thru the entire world's discography

owns no band merch or anything though she just listens

can't sleep without a fan on, thunderstorm 12hr audio, blackout curtains, weighted blanket, water nearby

does not sleep a lot

both of them (going to call them pomni and ragatha for convenience):

didn't immediately recognise one another. i havent got an exact idea of how they reunited after getting out, but there were tears.

bonded in a very rare and unique way - they got to revel in the newfound joys of real life again. they got to eat delicious food, go on long, unobstructed walks in the real sun, be warmed by it, chew on ice cubes and shiver at the pain, listen to each other's heartbeats, listen to real music, read real books, smell soaps and flowers and sauces. they went to the supermarket together and read all the labels, and bought one of each type of fruit to try between them, and smelled all the candles, and touched all the blankets. spent a lot of time holding hands and kissing and i'm sorry to say, probably having sex, because holy shit, i'm real, you're real, we're real

now live together in ragatha's apartment, after pomni moved out of her small and confusingly-furnished flat.

both of them feel inadequate from time to time. this is resolved by a stern-but-loving talking-to.

sandwich likes pomni very much. pomni doesn't really get cats, but loves sandwich a great deal, and enjoys letting her sleep on her lap.

ragatha is very pleased to see her girls getting along.

ragatha cooks, pomni chops the veg. she often doesn't fuck it up

pomni cleans a lot as a 'thank you for letting me live here, i love you'. she's very much acts of service, ragatha is words & physical touch <3

they watch a lot of movies together. depending on how long they've been stuck, they might have culture to catch up on

ragatha wants to have a house with a garden one day. pomni starts germinating seeds from their fruit & veg like a weird science experiment. ragatha is delighted when she is presented with a baby tomato plant.

clothes are shared. ragatha's are bigger, but most of pomni's are ill-fitting anyway so it can go both ways. ragatha likes to dress pomni up in different outfits and have her do a little fashion show. pomni pretends not to savour the confidence boost.

pomni starts sleeping more

[nothorses]

#idk i have thoughts about the 'binar v. nonbinary' distinction. i think there is a reason#that trans people get degendered when they use binary pronouns#AND wrongly gendered when they use use gender neutral pronouns#for example

i'm intrigued by these thoughts would you like to share more about these thoughts

I think I'd boil it down to like... specifically the idea of "binary trans" people as a class.

I very firmly believe that the oppression of nonbinary people ("exorsexism") exists and is a real form of oppression, and I believe that experiences with it- and the ideological foundation it rests on- are unique and worth discussing. I think nonbinary people have unique experiences with oppression that are necessary to listen to and understand, and that it is to everyone's benefit to include in those perspectives in larger conversations around trans justice.

I specifically take issue with the idea that there is a group of people that can easily & universally be differentiated as "binary trans" in anything but how those people personally identify.

I think that, socio-politically speaking, the only people that are truly classed as "binary" are 100% gender-conforming dyadic cis people. When we're talking about transphobia as a concept, we're talking about a system of oppression meant to punish people who stray from the gender binary. Historically, anyone punished under this system was included under the "trans" umbrella: gender-non conforming cis people, drag kings and queens, nonbinary people, intersex people, you name it. We are all gender outlaws; we all exist outside traditional understandings of gender, and we are all punished for doing so.

Now, we can narrow the scope quite a bit; I do still have the ability to "pass" as my gender, which is not an option to a lot of nonbinary folks. I can get a gender marker that accurately reflects my gender, and I can go "stealth" in a way that doesn't cause me a lot of dysphoria. I absolutely acknowledge that there are experiences I do not have, and oppression I do not face, and I should take care to listen to the people who do face them.

The problem for me here is that like, none of those things are exclusively "binary trans" experiences either. Plenty of nonbinary people are not strictly outside of every binary gender, or outside of comfort with a binary gender presentation. Such is the enormous multitude of nonbinary identities, and the unknowable vastness of human experience.

The other, perhaps larger problem for me is that I also do not strictly have a "binary trans male" experience. I mean, least of all because I have still at this point spent more of my life identifying as nonbinary than I have as a trans man- but also because I'm still trans. In a lot of ways, I'm not actually viewed as "binary"; I am clock-able enough that I'm pretty regularly degendered by even incredibly well-intentioned cis people, for example. My grandma is confused about my gay relationship; she very much does not think it is gay or straight. Anyone who knows I'm a trans man does not think of me as a woman or a man; they think of me as something entirely outside of the binary, and they treat me accordingly.

To go back to the tag you're quoting: I think binary trans people using binary pronouns are degendered for the exact same reason that nonbinary using gender-neutral pronouns are misgendered. People don't want to recognize us as the genders we are. They don't want to validate an experience of gender that lies outside their tidy little gender binary.

Again: this doesn't mean that exorsexism isn't real, or even that "there is no such thing as a binary trans woman/man". That's not what I'm saying. I want to keep having discussions about the unique experiences nonbinary people have, and the unique ways in which transphobic society treats and targets them, and the unique oppression they suffer, and why, and how we can fight that.

I also don't think I'm the first person by far to point out that maybe the idea of The Binary Trans Experience should be problematized a little bit, and I think there's something to be said for the funky space that "binary trans people" occupy on the good-little-gender-conforming-cis-person to nonbinary continuum.

[bogleech]

Ok but I have seen you talk about this so many times, even referencing it in your old cartoons, so I gotta ask - when and how did you fall in love with neopets, like that?

Wait, is it that obscure now? I didn't know a single person from its inception to roughly 2010 who didn't have a neopets account. It was the single biggest gaming-esque name on the internet for years. Celebrities casually mentioned playing it, it got mainstream marketing tie-ins, it had plush toys people waited in line to buy up and a TCG made by the same company as Magic the Gathering. It's not that I especially "fell in love with neopets" like it's a niche thing but that there was a time it was almost outselling Pokemon, so it's just another huge cultural phenomenon that was a big part of everyone's lives during my teens to twenties, and hits my special interest in creature design since it has THOUSANDS (beyond the pets alone) ranging in quality from extremely creative to just plain heinous. I personally only got invested in it when they introduced the mutant pets, though, because it started out having almost like a "rule" against making any pets that were "ugly." They'd joke about it as a prank for instance, and originally only featured the mutants as part of a storyline they never intended players to actually adopt. They even had a fake alternate version of the site with fake "adoptions coming soon" and somehow didn't anticipate the userbase genuinely wanting the slime creatures.

The Chia and Aisha were my favorites but mainly the chia because that kind of "scuzzy" creature was already my own design aesthetic, polar opposite of the site's established style and reminded me of if Jeff Goldblum got fused with a tardigrade instead of a fly:

Is that just me? I feel like the tardigrade similarity jumps right out but I think it was an accident and they were possibly actually thinking of the rotting giant from Nausicaa:

The fact that they intended its design to be unlovably ugly and were surprised anyone wanted it only made it more sympathetic. Eventually they made mutants available and I got fully invested into playing, at the time having to spend hours a day on their little flash games until I could afford a mutant after months of labor. But then a couple of years later they just abruptly decided they really didn't feel like having its design around anymore and "updated" it, which back then was automatic for all pets owned by all players with no going back:

It had unfortunately been fairly common that they'd just completely, totally redo a pet like this with no warning and no user poll to make sure it's what anyone wanted. You just had to pray they never did it to your favorites.

All the other mutants in that earlier image would also get completely changed or never released at all. They still kept some of the other "gross" mutants and would make even grosser, so that wasn't even part of the reasoning. Just the random whims of mad gods I guess. I think what killed the game for a lot of people was actually when they did this to basically everyone at once, standardizing almost all the pet artwork so they could wear clothes in their new dressup system. It wasn't as drastic as replacing a sludge guy with some kind of hairy leaf guy but it did eliminate hundreds of technically unique designs from the site, and I found someone else's examples they put together so I thankfully don't have to do it myself:

If anyone's not familiar enough with neopets or didn't figure that out from the last paragraph, the ones on the right are just recolors of the same exact art as all members of their species with added accessories (now wearable items) Players used to work hard to get pets they wanted based on their unique poses and personality, but you could only keep the original art for a small number of these. The customization feature kind of attracted a different new fandom, from what people say, but it never approached a fraction the site's peak, which is probably how the brand wound up getting sold to some NFT bros who aren't even involved in the site itself and supposedly never even spoken to its remaining staff outside some business emails? This is unrelated to the brief period it was bought by scientologists and the siterunners had to fight back against their propaganda leaking into it. I really didn't expect to turn this response into a mini article, I should really just make a thing on bogleech.com about it sometime. Some of my tumblr mutuals to this day are people I met through the neopets fandom and probably have equally lengthy memories/complaints.

[dailyadventureprompts]

Drafting the Adventure: Dungeons Without Walls

I love the idea of dungeons, but there was a significant portion of my life as a DM where they didn’t feature in my games. While Pathfinder and 5e provided a great framework for character building and tactical skirmishes that I could build story on top of, neither was really great when it came time to detour into a  dungeon. My players tended to get confused when we headed out to plunder the local ruin or cave system, spending a lot more time figuring out where they were and what they should be doing than actually doing anything. 

The problem as it turned out was limited information.  I had a picture of the dungeon in my head/notes but I couldn’t telepathically infer that to the party, and the back and forth questions where they tried to orient themselves within my mental labyrinth ate up a lot of session time prevented us from attaining that snappy pace that every table needs to keep the players invested.

Recently though I had an epiphany about overhauling exploration in d&d, and wrote up a whole post detailing how you could build and run wilderness adventures the same way you could a heist or a murder mystery. Because I was already writing a series about dungeon design it didn’t take long for me to realize that this exploration overhaul was 100% applicable, and could solve a lot of the delay and confusion my players usually faced on their next trip underground.  Spoilers: it worked amazingly.

 The key to this overhaul was giving my players enough information to see the dungeon as a sort of abstract checklist, and then giving them the power to investigate and check things off that list in whatever order they wished, when they enter a new level of the dungeon they get a new checklist to fill out which still keeps that sense of exploration. Folk love checking things off lists, and I as a dungeonmaster love it when players engage with the content I’ve spent so much energy creating even if it’s only poking their head in the door to realize they want to run away as fast as possible. Likewise, designing the dungeon this way let me tackle much larger concepts without having to sweat the details of filling up every little room as I would have to in map-centric design.

To summarize my exploration mechanic as It applies to dungeons:

During Design: After you’ve got the dungeons’ major concept, you divide it into unique “zones” (essentially what might be levels in a regular dungeon) with an interconnected theme, mechanic, or threat.

Each zone has a number of points of interest, which can be anything from trails to follow, odd sights they might investigate, to full complexes of rooms that you’ve mapped out. You don’t need to map out the points of interest otherwise, they sort of float abstractly within the zone 

When players enter a zone, they become aware of its name and general descriptor, as well as how many total points of interest are in that zone. They also become aware of some points of interest immediately to serve as landmarks and give them a direction for their exploration, but most remain undiscovered until they venture off the path and start checking out their surroundings. Hidden among these points of interest are the doors that lead to zones deeper within the dungeon, encouraging the party to explore in order to progress.

During Play: When the players enter the dungeon, one player is appointed as the surveyor, who’s job it is to keep track of the zones, fill out that checklist, and check things off when the DM tells them that they’ve fully explored a point of interest.

Rather than needing to be aware of the exact room layout, the party just need to know what zone they’re in and what options are available to them, Because this information is delivered in the form of a checklist with empty spaces, the party know exactly how much of the dungeon they’ve explored, what’s left to explore, and when they’ve cleared out an area.

Lets take the image above as inspiration. Say the party is trying to make it up to the tower, you can easily see a progression of zones and maybe imagine a few to go alongside them:

Ruins & Foothills: The first area, filled with the remnants of an ancient civilization. Picked over by looters and now a home to all sorts of wildlife,

Mountainside: The obvious next goal, but locked off behind a challenging climb, Filled with hazards that threaten to knock the party back down to the foothills if they’re not careful

Caverns: Secret area accessible only if the party explore a cave on the mountainside, or make a beeline towards the old aqueduct landmark in the foothills, realizing it might be easier than the climb. 

Spire Foundations: The door connecting to the foothills is guarded by a complex puzzle and arcane ward, but the party might be able to sneak in through the caves where erosion has caused a breakthrough into the cellars.

Spire Peak: High among the clouds, the party’s prize is somewhere here.  Access to the upper sections of the tower are guarded by a territorial sphinx under arcane compulsion, though the party might just be able to skip that fight if they figure out the riddle to make the portal mirrors work in the foundations.

Trying to design all this by pencilling it in on a gridmap would take weeks, to say nothing of the headache it’d cause you trying to make things fit together and fill up empty space with content. Designing it first as a sequence of zones and then filling those out with interesting fights, puzzles, and encounters is the work of an afternoon or two. Likewise, its easy on your players: five zones with six to ten points of interest is far easier to tackle when you can make a checklist and see how much progress you’ve made, despite the fact that the area they’re exploring is quite vast. 

I hope you find this as useful as I have, and if you need a more concrete example of how it might work, don’t worry, I’ll have one of those for you in the coming days.

[lesbianjobutupaki]

Art practice by trying some other artist's styles that I'm a huge fan of!

From Top Left to Bottom Right:

@ghostishere0 - the original reason I started this doodle, as I wanted to draw a "shepherd lovers squad" and their OC (who I don't know the name of F) was the perfect fit for it.

@luminesparkz - the best interpretation of Pom pikmin. If I were Mr. Nitendo, I would make them the official comic creator along with the manga comics.

@marblyso - If I was a little more unhinged and made a shrine to Erma Shepherd, it would be mostly marblyso's art of her, it's my absolute favorite Erma depiction <3

@rexscanonwife - another OC that I don't know the name of, but she makes such a cute pair with Shepherd and has such cute art that why not, let Shepherd have multiple canon wives at this point.

@citruscrisp - I think this is secretly Alph in an alternate universe where he makes comics about himself, because citrus has Alph's character SPOT ON, and also loves to put that boy in a situation (which I am happy for, I enjoy seeing that boy in a situation)

@daisythecomic - oooaaaaaaaaaa they look like little mice people they look so soft and sweet I love them so muuuuuuuuuccchhhhhhhhh

@louie-posting - I can't not include actual Louie Pikmin on this list.

@kiwilittle - the soft, the sweet, the one who makes the best family style art, really making me wish I was an inch tall so I could go to holidays with the olimar family, also their wife design is so cute that if Olimar didn't already get it I would shoot my shot for her m a a m

@pikbugz - really nails the soft aesthetic that makes pikmin such a calming series, and their coloring style is so soft and good that it gives me the ratatouille nostalgia flashback moment.

@splitster - more than just the wraith au guy, they are the one who makes incredible and funny comics; I've seen so many fics with the rescue corps where I can pick up that yes, this trait came from a splitster comic, and that's a GOOD thing. Made me actually LIKE Dingo, the nerve.

@diesaur - I can't do diesaur's incredible, unique art justice, they are amazing at using geometrics and have the best charlie (his little teefs...)

@solluxander - Cars, one of my favorite pikmin Ocs I've ever seen! Collin deserves a slightly unhinged sentient fluffball boyfriend, and I always love seeing the new ways Cars will interact with him.

@sillypikmin - all hail the best pikposter, who I'm still convinced is an actual leafling living on actual pnf-404, literally every time I have a bad day I look at drawings of Moss and feel better.

@eggpathy - thank goodness they came back to give us old man yaoi. I keep their drawing of olimar kissing the pikmin good night on my phone and look at it before I go to sleep and so far I have yet to have a single nightmare.

@the-knife-consumer - the only person I trust with Louittany, toxic yuri my beloved, I just adore their beasty brittany design so so much, I wish I could have a small brittany to live in my house...

anyway they have the best headcanons for our beloved blorbo hamster people

@natibranch - there's a voice line of Louie going "wa-ha!" in this really cute sing-song voice and every time I see any art by natibranch I hear that sound in my head as a little burst of serotonin, they just nail that exact feeling so so well.

@pikked-min - Another of my favorite Pikmin OCs, Yuva! A really interesting and unique character concept with a lot of thought put into the worldbuilding, followed by a strong unusual personality that had me looking at the pikmin world through a new perspective entirely. Please, someone, give them some sunglasses. Read the fic it's so good

@ssserf - artistic and deep while still somehow looking like official nintendo tm art, genuinely the best at the pikmin proportions, how could I resist trying my hand at the classic amazing beautiful Brittany Fruit Sweater moment, literally SO iconic

@kashi-pon - while I was working on the part of this that was just kashi's various highlife dresses there was a part of me that wanted to dedicate the rest of the space to paying homage to the joke comic of Louie lifting his skirt to show Olimar that he's wearing shorts, except this dress....well......

@diamondwerewolf - the reason we got louie in a little bunny outfit anyway, and thus why we got kashi's dress version. you single-handedly turned Louie into a tumblr sexyman, how could you

[blueskittlesart]

i see discussion abt the traveler in the notes of a reblog and i think it’s very interesting you say that bc honestly i think it’s the amount of disconnect present in The Twins Themselves and The Player that intrigues me but also intensely frustrates me. it feels like “the traveler”/you as a person playing the game and lumine/aether/the twin chosen are two separate entities and honestly that could be Really interesting if it was acknowledged and could fit in nicely with some of the vague themes of otherworldly/fourth-wall breaking stuff and personal autonomy they’ve got going on. but Nope! i think this is yet another issue of the Gacha Mechanic too in a way bc honestly all of the instances of x character bonding with The Traveler ends up pissing me off REAL bad lmaooo. i would much rather there be some kind of genuine distinction in the twin’s dialogue too bc the whole idea of. “oh this character you are playing is Their Own Character but also they have the exact same story interactions and dialogue as their twin” is just. Eeufhhh. maybe this is just a lot of personal issues i have with the setup because i am someone who not only enjoys lore but also characterization and character interactions with other characters and the world around them and i am not a fan of when a You The Player character is thrown into that. sorry for dumping this here i just need to let out these thoughts somewhere

I think what it comes down to is that on launch hyv was worried about player immersion but reluctant to commit to a true silent protagonist. in most actual gameplay, the protagonist twin functions as a silent protagonist, meaning a blank-slate character with no autonomy, completely at the mercy of the actions the player chooses for them. (the only exception to this rule is A-plot quests which directly involve their sibling.) But in the A-plot of the story at large, the twins, regardless of which one you choose, are NOT blank slates in any sense, and that's what leads to the disconnect during gameplay.

Silent protagonists are a method of storytelling unique to video games and they're specifically a vessel to further player immersion, the idea being that a player character whose backstory and personality are unknown or nonexistent is much easier to insert one's self into, thus creating a more immersive experience for the player. I think that this was probably the original intent behind the twins, at least to a certain extent, and is likely at least part of the reason that hyv is still keeping all their story cards so close to their chest--the more we learn about the twins, the less our chosen twin functions as a silent protagonist. In a game with so many playable characters that AREN'T blank slates, hyv may have worried that having no designated player-insert character would break immersion from the get-go. However, the story planned for the game at large relied on a protagonist that was, from the very beginning, NOT a silent protagonist. the twins have personalities. they very obviously have backstories and pre-game relationships with each other at the very least. they have NAMES. The fact that genshin has you 'name' your character who quite literally already has a canonical name and gives you no reasoning behind that is one of the most glaring examples of this weird inconsistency in the writing imo. It almost seems like they want it both ways. they want a perfect silent protagonist for player immersion, but they ALSO want a protagonist who is tied up in the story because of their history and relationships and personality. and it doesn't work, because those two things are fundamentally incompatible. you cannot allow your players unlimited choice in the actions, thoughts, and feelings of your playable character while also requiring that character to make certain choices and have certain feelings and relationships for the story to progress. The result of attempting to do both is a story which promises unlimited choice to the players and then jerks them along in one direction anyways, which only results in frustration and immersion-breaking. there are plenty of ways to do a non-silent protagonist in a video game without sacrificing the player's experience, but what genshin has done is given us this weird worst-of-both-worlds combo that just. does not work.

[bestworstcase]

penny was the winter maiden for two days.

ozma has been reincarnating for centuries, if not thousands of years.

assuming that the maiden cycle depends on the exact same metaphysical process (which is in itself textually uncertain, given that the maidens are non-conscious entities said to separate from the host’s aura at death and cleave to another whereas ozma’s reincarnation works by combination of his aura with another—as described, these are explicitly different mechanisms, and because the different outcome of the two cycles (one overwrites the host, one doesn’t) are explained by this difference in mechanism, i see no real reason to question the overtly-stated differences in what is happening when a maiden finds a new host vs when ozma is bound to one), the notion that penny could have—in two days—achieved some mastery over the reincarnation process that has eluded ozma for, again, thousands of years, is… nonsense?

it’s the most grasping-at-straws out of a lot of very straw-grasping penny 3.0 theories and the premise is, more or less, “ozma has been needlessly murdering his hosts for thousands of years because he’s too stupid to realize that he doesn’t have to do that.”

when like. ok. listen to me.

in the lost fable, ozma takes control within seconds of landing in the new guy’s head. he’s not able to answer the question “what’s your name,” because he doesn’t know. jinn talks about ozma traveling for years before seeking out salem. he’s with her for years; they found a kingdom and have children. through all of this time, there is nothing to suggest that ozma has another presence in his head—until his reflection speaks to him, and he physically recoils in pure shock.

i think, when this began, there was no “merge.” ozma just landed in someone’s head and erased them, almost completely, right away.

in v8, oscar says he doesn’t like using magic because it makes the “merge” happen faster, and oz answers “i don’t blame you.”

many lifetimes ago, ozma either divided his magic or carved the divine blessings out of his soul and gave them to four young women who had helped him. the maidens persist as non-conscious entities who confer magical powers upon their host without, in any way, corrupting or taking over the host consciousness. meanwhile oscar is still holding on—by his fingernails, perhaps, but he’s still alive and himself—and he feels that using magic erodes him faster.

do the math.

at some point, ozma worked out that the divine magic he carried was killing his hosts, leaving behind just a reflection that monitored him to keep him in line. so he tried to get rid of it, by giving portions of that magic away, and it worked, even if not to the extent he might have hoped. the maidens are ozma’s best effort at sparing the lives of his hosts.

(reading between the lines of how oz phrases it to the kids—“i reincarnate, but my memories stay with me”—in combination with his obvious projection of his own suicidality onto salem? i’d bet that ozma was hoping to destroy his own consciousness when he did this, too, so that his future hosts would receive his remaining powers and inherit the task but not him.)

it’s a mistake to look at the resigned acceptance ozpin has now and assume that it’s representative of how ozma has always felt about his curse; the whole point of him as a character is that he’s been ground down and slowly corrupted in the gristmill of this curse over thousands of years.

and it’s also, frankly, a mistake to take penny clocking blake as a faunus because she saw blake’s ears through the bow in infrared or penny figuring out that ruby can carry people with her semblance after 1. ruby flew with penny in volume two and 2. several months of ruby demonstrating abilities in training that she’s been doing since v4 without consciously registering that she’s doing them, like splitting to go around obstacles, to mean that penny is uniquely insightful or good at “figuring things out” in general. she has superhuman sensory capabilities (infrared vision, aura-scanning) that give her an advantage in perception of certain situations, and she’s fairly book-smart.

that doesn’t make her capable of solving ozma’s Divine Curse after sitting with the maiden powers for Two Days in a war zone. lmfao

[ixtaek]

May as well post my TotK rewrite ideas which I largely was freewheeling while playing with my sister then tried to write while half asleep.

Under the readmore because it does get long and ramble-y due to being written while I was sick.

Rauru is Hylian and explicitly descended from the Link and Zelda in Skyward Sword, Sonia is now Sheikah (who are native to the surface). There are no Zonai.

First parts of the story basically the same. Zelda vanishes. Link gets a new arm. Ganondorf suavamente (sorry my siblings and I have been watching a lot of terminal-montage lately)

Rauru is a little more proactive telling you about the imprisoning war and directing you to find new Sages. He appears more often in the plot to greet the new Sage. Also you keep the master sword and with each stone you reclaim, it heals more.

Lightning is removed—Riju is Sage of Spirit because that's what the Gerudo were originally. Instead of Mineru surviving till the present as a Sage, Paya is the Sage of Shadow. Mineru is still a character though!

The memories shown to you by the Sages as you gather secret stones vary more—they show the struggles their people faced and their interaction as individuals with Rauru and Sonia. Each faced unique hardships, which almost parallel the disasters occurring in modern Hyrule but not exactly, before pledging their people to join Rauru’s nation and them becoming a Sage and using that power to save their people.

Mineru is a researcher studying the Sheikah tech—it’s implied or outright stated she is the nexus of the “new” tech we get in the game. She still put herself into a machine, but she is immobile and acts like Cherry as a source of Ancient Hylian Tech weapons.

The Divine Beasts are crashed around Hyrule, as well as the Sonia-Rauru shrines and temples. This isn’t plot relevant it just bugged me. Also some shrines will have puzzles that are already completed—this is randomized on each playthrough. At least one boss will be missing a chunk of health when the fight starts. There’s no explanation as to why.

The underground is now more populated—there’s at least one proper town down there, with wandering merchants and quests…. But almost every friendly NPC is a ghost. It’s hard to tell till you talk to them though, so Yiga still blend in. It quickly becomes clear the ghosts range in eras (maybe some even resemble NPCs from former titles?) but most are from Rauru’s era. All of Zelda’s memories are in the Depths.

Penn still exists as does his quest (see below). But Kass does too. Because I love him.

Here’s where I actually plot: Back in the imprisoning era, Ganondorf emerged as a threat. The Hylian king, accompanied by his Sheikah wife, had the blood of the goddess needed to seal him, and managed to do so without using the Master Sword. This elevated him to a hero status, and the various leaders swore fealty in exchange for his aid in lingering crises. All was well, and a child was even born, named for her fabled ancestor, Zelda. Unfortunately, the praise began to swell the king’s head. He became more demanding, wanting to build a grander Temple of Time to secure his legacy, raising portions of land to recreate his ancestor's home (Skyloft), exacting larger tributes to build his castle, and eventually letting his suspicion of the Gerudo lead him to declaring them outcasts and trying to slay the Gerudo sage. Sonia stood against him, and in his rage at her “treason” he struck her down. Rauru went mad with grief, revealing the sacred stones to be a method of controlling those whom he gave more power to. Realizing the danger of the king’s madness, the princess’ Sheikah nursemaid spirited baby Zelda away to keep her safe. Enraged at this kidnapping and believing that Sonia’s people would try to avenge her death, he used his Sages to betray the Sheikah and kill many, which is the betrayal that led to them adding the tear to the crest. For years he ruled as a bloody tyrant, leading to the ghosts in the underground, before he was opposed by a mysterious Sheikah warrior, one whom he called “the Sheik”. The Sheikah rebellion grew, stopping the Sages and rallying the people behind Sheik. In a desperate move, Rauru released Ganondorf and tried to control him through his sacred stone, but both were sealed under the king’s castle by Sheik herself, who of course was the now-grown Princess Zelda, Rauru’s daughter. You find all of this out by discovering (your) Zelda’s memories—when she fell into the Depth she was gravely injured and put her body in stasis, but because she was in the Depths her ghost was able to split form her body to roam freely and research this. The shrines that you’ve found finished and bosses that have health missing are her handiwork. The Penn sightings aren’t evil Zelda (or at least the ones that aren’t Yiga…) but people literally seeing her ghost. She didn’t talk to Link because she knew seeing her like that would distress him. You reunite her with her body and the Sages heal her, then go face Ganondorf. The fight is normal at first, except Zelda and the Sages get to help till Ganondorf knocks them all out except Zelda. But instead of the Dark Dragon, Ganon suddenly crumples… and the Sages rise up and attack you instead. You and Zelda fight them off and Rauru appears, wondering how you can be bathed in his power but still keep your wills. Zelda asks what he hopes to accomplish, and he dismisses her, saying he is creating the Hyrule he and Sonia deserved—one where his will is absolute over all, till even death will bend to it. Zelda pleads with him, saying Sonia wouldn’t have wanted this, but he grows delusional and confuses her for Sheik. Saying she’s made a mistake, he seizes control of her through the sacred stone from the beginning of the game and turns her into the Light Dragon, which becomes the final boss. The reason he could not overcome Link was Fi—the sword of evil’s bane rejected his control while absorbing his power the whole game. You fight the Light Dragon, and as you hesitate to land the killing blow, Sonia’s ghost appears and turns Zelda back with her Time power, with the overwhelming power Rauru had forced into her snapping back to him. Rauru reaches for his wife, being consumed by the power coming off Zelda, but she refuses his hand, not for what he did to her, but for what he’s done to everyone. You catch Zelda as in the end of the game. Also you get to keep your house. That was messed up man.

[oldeazeroth]

I was hearing a lot about the Hardcore WoW challenge & decided to give it a try. I wanted to share some of my thoughts here because I think some of the people who follow this blog might enjoy the experience as well! The post ended up being kind of long so please feel free to ignore if you’re not interested.

For those who don’t know, Hardcore Classic is a fan-made game mode in the same spirit as an ironman challenge. There are several rules but the main ones are 1) character death is permanent 2) you cannot ask for help or group with others (outside of very specific circumstances), and 3) you cannot trade, mail, or use the AH. Everything you use must be found in the world, crafted by you, or bought from a vendor. There is an addon that can be downloaded to verify your run. It can be played on any server, but many people chose to play on the public WoW servers that fans have adopted for the challenge, because you can only complete dungeons and raids with other HC players under the HC rules. More info can be found here - https://classichc.net/

At first I thought it sounded nuts, but gave it a shot because I had nothing to lose. I created a character with the exact same class/race as my first WoW character (I was even able to snag the same name), and as I spawned into Mulgore I almost immediately understood the appeal. There were so many other players around doing the same challenge. The game felt shockingly alive because of how active the server was. But what was really amazing was how the hardcore restrictions changed the way I experienced the game & took me back to the first time I ever played.

I have a distinct memory from my first character, a Tauren Druid, and leaving Mulgore for the first time to make the trek to Crossroads through Camp Taurajo. That walk felt so intimidating, seeing level ?? thunder lizards standing off the side of the road. I feel like I probably held my breath until I finally made it to Crossroads. Today, if I were to create a new Tauren on a classic era server, though I would have to make that same walk, I would not feel that fear because the game no longer has that same mystery for me . The thunder lizards are only level 20, and if I die, it’s no big deal to corpse run and try again. But under the Hardcore ruleset, that’s not an option. If I die, that’s it. I found myself making that run with the same level of caution that I gave it during my first ever playthrough, keeping my eyes peeled off both sides of the road. And feeling safe when I finally got to Crossroads. That alone was an amazing feeling to experience again!

As I started to level up in the Barrens, I reached a point where the quests were starting to out level me and decided to make the trek to Silverpine to continue. I was level 13, making my way to the Sepulcher. I was nearly there, and went off path to gather some herbs. Out of nowhere, a Son of Arugal, a level ?? elite, appeared. It was over before I could react and I felt so defeated.

A few days later, I got the motivation to delete the character and begin again. Another Tauren Druid. I leveled my way back to the same point where I left off in the Barrens and thought, either I can play it safe here and grind a level or two, or I can head to Silverpine again and be on my guard this time. I opted for Silverpine to prove to myself I could do it. I got there and completed some quests, constantly watching my back the whole time. As I walk towards a cave I saw him in the distance once again, the Son of Arugal. I noped out of there immediately, ran halfway across the zone and grinded out the few bars I had left to level. As soon as I dinged, I hearthed out of Silverpine for good. It left me excited though, that I was able to face Silverpine once again & learn from my mistake the first time. It was not only exciting to navigate around it, but it made the zones themselves feel like unique places once again, each with their own obstacles & traps.

I’m only level 14 now, and I’m realizing every zone from here on out will likely have it’s own Son of Arugal lurking in the shadows. I doubt I will make it to 60 because I don’t have a ton of underlying knowledge about the world, but for the time being the experience so far has been worth the time. It’ll be painful when my character inevitably dies but at that point I’ll feel okay putting away hardcore mode for a bit.

I don’t intend on writing posts like this in the future, but wanted to share because I know there are so many people who feel nostalgic about the game. This game mode really has the potential to bring some of those feelings back into the game, and at least for the time being, the servers are well populated and feel just as alive as they did back then. Anyway, thanks for reading!

[egg-emperor]

Maybe that question was somewhere already, but, how your selfinsert and eggman met? What was the first Impression on each other?

Btw i ship you two because i can name no one who would understand him better than you! :D and im always happy to see you on my dash.

Omg thank you so much, it really means a lot to me that you think so, that's a huge compliment with the effort I put into understanding his character and it makes me so happy that you ship us! I'm glad you enjoy my posts and I hope I can continue to deliver 😊💜

I have a lot of different first meeting scenarios that I like to daydream up and write, so I have multiple first encounter ideas of different times and ways it takes place (like depending around/during what game's events I imagine it taking place for example) so I don't set a single solid timeline or plot in stone overall. All the what ifs are endlessly fun to explore!

But there's always the same basis at least which I've talked about a bit throughout my blog but it's been a while and it could've been told better, so I'll happily share again. I like to make my s/i as accurate to me as possible, so I base it on how I came to love him in real life, biggest difference is I'm in the universe the beautiful man exists in for real!

So here we go:

I lived in a small place with a simple life that I found boring and eventful, I longed for adventure and to see more of the world but didn't have the means nor the confidence to get out there if I could. So instead I'd learn about the outside world, admire it from afar, dream of a more exciting life and just hope that it would somehow come one day.

When I was old enough to understand, I'd hear stories about Eggman and his past crimes and the latest news through my desire to learn about the world. But for as long as I'd been alive, he hadn't targeted the place I lived because it was small and insignificant, and it hadn't been caught in the crosshairs of him targeting anywhere nearby either.

But the things I heard from others with experiences before I was born and stuff he was still doing in the present and how common he was in the news caught my interest. I started keeping track and learning of his terrible crimes and atrocities in the past. I knew I should be horrified and disturbed but instead I was moreso curious and fascinated.

The way he'd seemed to have been everywhere and done everything and made such an impact on the world, as negative as it was, was impressive to me. He was the exact opposite of myself living in the middle of nowhere, never doing anything that interesting in my life, and nobody ever knowing who I was and being an outcast and it pulled me in.

I started collecting news coverage that existed and closely following all new stuff. My favorites were photos and footage, whether photos of him during his schemes or videos from when he'd broadcast himself onto devices while making threats or just to mess with people- which isn't something he'd done on a global scale since I'd been alive.

When exactly this took place and what it specifically entailed varies in my multiple concepts but at some point, I do finally get to see him on TV live when he hijacks it! I know I should be scared, it certainly is startling to see him suddenly pop up, make demands and threats, and talk about a world under his control. I know it's very bad and dangerous.

But I couldn't help but be excited to finally get to see him live and finally feel like a part of what's happening to the rest of the world too after years of just hearing about it! While I don't fully acknowledge and admit it to myself, my heart isn't just racing from fear, it's uncontrollable excitement too and I'm mesmerized watching him do his thing.

There are things I can't help but find fascinating and impressive, admirable even. Such as his theatrics, confidence, and crazy desires. Even though he was terrible, dangerous, egotistical, and greedy with it, he did it in such a unique and fun way. He was entertaining to watch and everything he was capable of was as impressive and exciting as scary.

His determination to keep trying and following his dreams and his enjoyment in his terrible crimes shows passionate devotion. The way he builds robots with awesome crazy designs and theme parks, carnivals, circuses, casinos, etc is so fun and cool despite how malicious it is. It's charming how he'll be himself and follow his dreams no matter what!

While I don't admit it to myself, I find him very handsome too. I subconsciously have a big crush on him and I'm admiring him more by the days. I know he's bad all along but he's so charming and entertaining about it, I can't help but be hooked and he makes me feel dizzy! He lives such a crazy, fun, eventful life and I wish I had that too.

Eventually after the broadcast hijacking, Eggman visits multiple locations and deploys his robots to scour areas for useful resources. I live in a place with lots of land and woodland in universe too and I go there a lot for walks and to just wander around and think and dream of traveling the world far beyond this, since I don't have much else to do.

When walking through the woods I hear the sound of a motor and mechanical noises. I peer through trees and bushes and see a Motobug driving along the grass! It's looking for animals and trying to round them up for Eggman to use because he needs a very big army for his new plan. I'm so delighted to finally see some of his tech in person!

Despite the danger, I get as close as I can for a better look and admire how well designed, creative, and fun it is, and how well made it is with such high quality. It's clear that he's very smart and imaginative and I see it for that instead of just "stupid silly toys" like others do. It's cute for a dangerous killing machine and that's part of the charm to me!

I enjoy it a lot for it being the closest I've ever gotten to him a sense, as it's something that he's created and I've finally been lucky enough to see it in person. And after getting to witness him on TV live too, dreams of mine are coming true. I'm finally a part of something he's doing and it's bringing so much more excitement to my life!

And knowing how unpredictable he is, one can never know what he might do next! And that's thrilling to me, though I should be afraid with the terrible things he's capable of, I'm instead always eager to find out because this is huge, finally being one of the locations on his radar for the first time since I've been alive. I finally get to experience it!

I'm very pleased with that encounter with a robot of his. I don't report it even though I should, I just let it go and do its thing. Nobody else finds out his robots were scouring the area to report on it and I like keeping the secret, knowing something about Eggman the rest of the public doesn't. And I didn't want them ruining it before it's truly began.

At a later date, news breaks that Eggman is attacking the city that I live just on the outskirts of and I'm in disbelief! Before I can even properly hear all the details of the report, for the first time I don't wait to hear every precious detail like I usually do and instead rush out because it could be a once in a lifetime thing and I can't miss this!

I don't even worry about the danger nor not having confidence to go out when there's probably a lot of people despite usually being uncomfortable, I just need to get there and see what's happening, that's all that matters to me. I manage to approach the scene as closely as possible while still keeping distance from the danger and heart of the chaos.

I climb a building and hide behind a tower on the roof and can see there's fire and shooting and explosions in the distance as robots are attacking, the action is gripping and gets my adrenaline up. But what makes my heart race faster is when I hear something in the sky and look up to see the man himself in his Egg Mobile watching it all!

I barely get to see much of his face as his back is to me watching it from a distance himself too, but closer than I am. But I can see enough of him to see that he has a big smile on his face, looking very smug and laughing. Just that and the fact that he's really here has my jaw drop in awe and then smile uncontrollably at his infectious joy!

After standing there watching, I don't expect him to look over his shoulder, he must've been looking for the best area of escape when he was done and he looked into my direction! He actually sees me and just as he notices and perks up in curiosity to why I'm there on my own, I run. He puts it down to me being scared and I didn't look to be enemy forces coming to stop him in my casual wear.

That moment was so small and brief but it stuck with me for weeks after. I keep replaying the sight of him admiring his robots wreaking havoc and the sound of his laughter. It was deeply precious to me to finally get to see him in person and be so close to him, albeit still many feet away but we were really there together in the same place!

I start to imagine how things could've gone differently if I'd stayed. Would he have questioned me? Would he have attacked thinking I was going to try to stop/report him or just for fun and to make sure nobody goes unscathed? I would've found all of those potential scenarios cool! But unfortunately I ran because I felt I had to. Still, I treasure it.

For a while I think that's the last of being lucky enough to get to catch. I mean getting witness a broadcast hijacking, then seeing a robot in person, then the man himself? That's way too much luck! I'm appreciative of what I got to see and will treasure it forever. Things seem quiet for a while after all the chaos and it looks like he's done with the place.

It's been a while since I last went to that certain woodland area for a walk and decide to go again and at night because it's been hot and because I'd like late night peace and privacy in my quiet place. Part of me hopes to see a robot or something even though it's unlikely they'd still be around when he's seemingly done with his work here.

I'm walking, listening to music, entertaining myself with my thoughts to avoid disappointing myself and- suddenly I bump into something and fall back. Never in million years would I ever expect to look up and see none other than Eggman! My glasses fell off when I fell and when I put them on and see him clearly, I still can't believe it!

We both didn't notice each other in the dark, with me looking down and Eggman's shaded glasses making it even harder to see in it. He squints and looks down at me through the darkness and teasingly says "What are you doing out here this late, little boy?" He has a playful approach and smirks because I look stunned and he's amused.

He thinks I might be scared but I'm actually just frozen in awe that he's really right there in the flesh in front of me. I finally pull myself up but still feel stuck in place, unsure of whether I should run or not. I also don't know how to answer his question and just manage to mumble that I was out walking and my breaths sound shaky.

He strokes his chin in wonder with a "hmm". Something about me is familiar. It quickly clicks with him as he connects the dots, not only did he catch me watching during his attack on the city, he also saw me in a Motobug camera when reviewing the footage to see if it saw good land to build on and that's how he knew this was a good place for it.

He points this out to me and says we finally meet at last, then asks if there's any reason he keeps seeing me around. I don't want him to get the wrong idea and think I was trying to spy on him and gather information to try to stop him so despite the shyness, blush in my cheeks, and small smile, I say I'm a big fan and have admired from afar for a while.

He's smart enough to still be wary in case it is a trick but at the same time he can't help but smile at that as he says "I'm pleased that you recognize my brilliance." His confidence and happiness from the ego boost he gets from that is precious to me. There's a funny warm feeling in my chest seeing the pleased grin that slightly tugs at his cheeks.

He's just as handsome in person as the videos and pictures. He has a gleaming white smile, cute big pink nose, and big magnificent fluffy mustache with soft round cheeks hidden behind it. He's so big and tall with his big round belly that looks soft and cuddly, big bear paw sized hands and feet, and long sleek legs. He looks like a big bear of these woods!

He looks stunning and I can't help but admire it. Eggman can certainly tell that my admiration is genuine by the way I look at him as I get lost in his beauty and don't realize how obviously I'm gawking. And there's no way I would've known of the hidden camera in the Motobug but I looked so happy and fascinated while trying to get close to it to admire it.

He can't let me roam around after all that I've seen in the past few encounters of him and his creations. Sure I didn't report it before but he'd rather assure the chances of it happening are zero. So he asks me to come back with him and says that if I enjoy his work so much then I should come serve him. I can't believe my ears and accept immediately!

He's surprised that it was that easy and is used to having to make demands and threats, so he's happy to see such enthusiasm. While I know I should be afraid to go away with such a dangerous infamous man, it would be a dream come true! I'm instantly ready to go away with him and don't need any prep. I get in his Egg Mobile and away we go.

The idea is that I stay with him while he works on the land by the woods that he took an interest in after seeing it in the Motobug footage. It's a good place to find animals for his robots and build a new base as it would be well hidden. I'm useful to keep around because I know when people are unlikely to be around to potentially stumble upon the site.

His first impression of me is that I'm a funny fan of his and that my admiration is pathetically cute and most importantly useful and ego stroking. He finds my eagerness to help him, keep him safe, and make sure he doesn't get caught very valuable for him, and how I become a servant in happily bringing him things he needs whenever he asks.

My feelings on him don't just remain the same as when when I first started to take an interest in him, they get stronger. Getting to know him for real and finding he really is as charming and admirable as I saw him is a delight. And it gets harder for me to escape the fact that I find him very attractive for his strong personality and beauty.

He still keeps a lot of secrets from me he can't have me knowing just in case but getting to learn anything and seeing around his base and his creations is a great joy. Especially when the man himself is proudly showing them off to me. He likes how I share multiple of his interests, love to listen to him talk, and gush over it and praise it all highly.

Eggman was ready to entertain any delusions that made me a fan but is pleased when he finds I know exactly who he is, what he wants, and how terrible he is but specifically admire and support it. I love him as he is, want him to succeed in his selfish goals, and get everything he wants. It feels good to be understood and loved for the real him.

My loyalty and enthusiasm making me useful to him and boosting his ego makes him consider keeping me around for longer, after he was initially planning on letting me go eventually. It would also be best to make sure I never have the chance to tell anyone else about him after going to know him on this level. And I don't want to leave anyway!

I have to keep proving my worth so he knows he made the right choice and that my admiration is real for sure and not just a really convincing agent, though there's no way it could be faked to this degree. Despite his caution we get along well and get closer and he's more certain and likes having me around to serve him and stroke his ego.

Things progress from there and I start faller for him harder and he enjoys having me as his assistant and servant more over time. It eventually leads to point where we first become intimate, when he takes the last step in assuring that I'm definitely not an agent and 100% real in my love for him- by asking for me to kiss him hehe 🥰💜

[nanowrimo]

3 Things NaNoWriMo Taught Me That I Didn’t Learn In College

NaNoWriMo can teach you a lot about writing, especially if you’re not used to writing novels! Ellen Relac talks about three valuable things she’s learned as a NaNo participant.

I concentrated in creative writing with a short story emphasis at UCLA. My technical writing improved greatly and my prose was able to develop its own distinct and unique style because of the amazing instruction I received there. However, writing a novel brought up three challenges I had never encountered in my short story career.

1. All the ways long form writing differs from the art of the short story

The short story process often entails a fight to keep said story short. You can’t dwell on irrelevant events or dabble outside the scope of the story you’re telling. I have often had to take out entire extraneous scenes to let my short stories stand on their own and affirm my confidence that they contain all the information they need to be a story worth reading.

I’m used to the compulsive concision of a neat short story, as well as my own personal habit of delivering exposition through breezy lines that cover entire seasons (“Spring turned into fall, but Jessie never once looked out the window to notice the change”). The contrasting challenge of filling an entire novel with things happening forced me to do the opposite of condensing my plot and let it breathe.

Recognizing the challenge of filling the page (of the hundreds of pages—in my specific case, 197) doesn’t even begin to get at the mounting challenges of continuity. If you, like me, enjoy throwing in random details as flavoring, you’d better remember that that second-chair flutist is named Cormac Ingalls and that he and Sierra are two years older than the protagonists.

Sometimes during NaNo, it felt frivolous to add scenes depicting idle conversation or day-to-day interactions. Allowing myself to recognize these scenes as pivotal opportunities for characters to develop was key to my understanding the art of the first draft.

2. The uncomfortable truth that being “good” is the wrong goal

Writing a novel in a month is a Herculean endeavor. I think the well-adjusted writer considers themselves lucky if they make any progress that feels substantial during NaNoWriMo. You don’t have to hit 50K to make potentially life-changing progress. It’s natural that doubts crop up about the quality of your writing, but do not let this dissuade you from accomplishing the amazing task you’ve undertaken! I truly would not have finished my draft if I had allowed myself to go down the rabbit holes I occasionally eyed of “this book probably sucks.”

Bottom line, it’s okay to suck sometimes. But you’ll rarely be any good if you don’t make peace with the possibility of sucking first.

3. You can write so much more than you think!

Focusing on the short story in college allowed me to hone my writing abilities with a micro-lens. I had to embrace the exact opposite of this in Nano.

I’ve gotten away before with letting a story flow out of me the two days before it was due and giving just the palest skim of a revision before finalizing it. NaNoWriMo demands much more.

It demands that you cajole yourself into writing the bare minimum on days when you would rather bathe in Elmer’s Glue than hit your word goal. It demands that you get your laptop out on the Wifi-less commuter train en route to a weekend visiting friends so you don’t fall too far behind. It demands that you carve out a five-hour day to slog through the 3000 words you need to make up on the following Monday. It demands that you are creative, clever, and extremely persistent in problem-solving. It demands an astonishing level of self-discipline and tenacity. It demands a set of triage skills (mostly to save yourself in those moments when your book appears an irredeemable wreck).

Rising to this challenge, though, pays infinite dividends. You emerge from the process of drafting a book—particularly your first—insanely proud of the difficult thing you’ve done. It gives you enough confidence to qualify as one of the best cures for imposter syndrome imaginable. NaNoWriMo gives you a community to cheer you on, a particularly satisfying word-tracking meter, and best of all, the indescribable boost that comes from doing the would-be impossible. It’s probably far more possible than you think.

Ellen Relac is an LA-based actress, writer, and photographer originally from the southwest of Connecticut. This year, she's kept busy graduating from UCLA, producing a film (https://www.instagram.com/bedtimefilm/) and tackling her first novel. Current favorite books include Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, The Firekeeper's Daughter, and Daisy Jones and the Six. Photo by Hadis Malekie on Unsplash

[terezis]

how Did you like nona tho?

short answer: i liked it! i didn't love it. as of this exact moment, having read it twice, i think that nona the ninth should have been pruned mercilessly and put into a very long alecto. (breaking dawn is 756 pages! they could’ve done it!!!) it didn’t need to be its own book, and does not do enough to justify itself as one. 

that said: it was still pretty good!!! 

long answer: i’m gonna be spicy first and then talk about what i liked LOL... spoilers under the cut

most of my criticism here comes back to the fact that this was originally meant to be the first act of alecto the ninth. you can tell. i definitely feel like i have read the beginning of alecto. like, don't get me wrong, most of nona stands on its own as a story, and it's a fun read; but you could have cut a good third of this book and it wouldn't have changed anything. 

we spend a frankly OBSCENE amount of time on nona's daily life when we could have gotten the picture in forty pages... and for all that she's deeply invested in her home life, her time at school, and her friends, the book fails to make ME care, which is disappointing because i know tamsyn muir is capable of doing so.

i mean, in the first two books everyone was uniquely delightful and felt like they could be the main character of a different story. it was hilarious to watch gideon interact with silas and colum; i love the original lyctors. but why should i care about beautiful ruby, whom i cannot distinguish from the other one, what's his name, born in the morning? we suffer? hell, even the angel???

you could replace pash with any nameless rebel and the story wouldn't change overmuch; the fact that she's apparently wake's niece has no relevance, except that it makes her hate zombies more… but most people in this book do, so who cares. what’s the point.

likewise, details and subplots that, in previous books, would have become relevant to the larger story at some point, don't seem to matter as much in nona. is that because they're going to be addressed again in alecto, or because they actually don't matter? i can’t tell.

take for example: hot sauce’s burns. compare it to something like abigail's backstory; it's a minor detail, but her interest in lyctoral history ended up spooking cytherea, which got her murdered, kickstarting the main conflict of the first book.

am i being too nitpicky here? did it not feel like those burns were supposed to be more relevant than they were? especially after we learn that she thinks edenites are too soft, so she hangs out with a fringe group implied to be responsible for the zombie burnings? but neither thing ever comes up again. is it just flavor? 

also consider: the different factions of the blood of eden, namely the hopers, who we’re frequently TOLD are major obstacles to the characters’ immediate goals, but who we rarely see become a problem. we suffer says it’s hard to convince them of anything, but they never really refuse her in any meaningful way. what are the stakes? is this the same group who previously killed 18,000 cohort soldiers with a space nuke? where's the oomph??? 

i feel like all of the above is also exacerbated by the fact that the entire book is told from nona's pov, and nona just does not give a single shit about the larger conflicts happening around her. it's not her fault. if i were her, i don't know if i'd care either. but as a result she spends SO MUCH of the book away from the action, which sucks when the best parts of this book are when she actually gets to be involved. 

i loved when she snuck out to talk to varun; when she listened to cam's tapes; when she and hot sauce ran off to see the broadcast. those parts fucked!!! i liked when she got to throw a tantrum!!! it was spooky!!! let her loose!!! i guess she has been let loose now, but it would've been nice if it had happened sooner.

look, i know this is a lot of criticism for a book i keep saying i liked. i really did enjoy it. harrow the ninth also had to grow on me, and u know i love that shit now. i like when a book is a puzzle, and the locked tomb is one of those thousand piece motherfuckers. right now nona gets a 6.5/10 from me, but mayhaps that will change on another reread.

anyways here's my highlight reel:

i was thrilled when gideon woke up and made a joke about stealing palamedes' girl

it’s so fucked up that ianthe wore babs' body like a little suit (complimentary) and when that body hugged corona omg. recall the last time the sisters saw each other. so fucking juicy. i love her

i LOVED the nun. pre-res anastasia? when she did the thing with the gun??? delicious

the thing with anastasia's bones at the very end Intrigued Me Deeply, and i want to know more about her relationship with alecto

the part where pyrrha told nona about her terrible shirt made me cry, which is funny bc the shirt had a sex joke on it

THE PART WHEN AIGLAMENE TOOK GIDEON'S FACE IN HER HANDS AND FLINCHED BACKWARDS BECAUSE SHE RELEASED SHE WAS LOOKING AT A CORPSE, AND SAID THEY KILLED YOU, AND GIDEON JOKED ABOUT IT, AND AIGLAMENE TURNED TO HARROW FURIOUSLY FOR LETTING GIDEON DIE, OW MY HEART

did not expect gideon to do a kill on crux, liked it, liked how she reacted to it, still don't think it's really gideon as we know her though

like she was MEAN. she was so sassy!!! i know she is sassy in general, but she was like NICE sassy in the other books, why is she acting like the villain version of herself, the stuff she said about becoming john's cavalier was so fucking weird, i don't think it was a front??? but why would she want that??? she was so MEAN

i hope she and ianthe are actually friendship bracelet wearing buds though like imagine when harrow finds that out. hilarious

i REALLY liked the fucked up nun. like a LOT

[pinkanonwrites]

About my “Twist boys become animals” requests!

Hi everyone! I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback and a lot, lot, lot of requests to do more of my fics about Twisted Wonderland boys being transformed into their representative animals, all of which I’m very excited for! But I was wondering if there were any ways to organize this a little bit better, so here’s an idea I had.

Rather than waiting for every single character to be requested, I figure I’d just make this into a series I continuously work on throughout this blog, interspersed through other answered requests! I’d keep going one at a time, tackling Twist boys being accidentally transformed and their unique interactions with the MC until I’ve covered them all. This method does have some pros and cons.

PROS:

Every Twist boy will be written for, at least as far as main boys! I haven’t decided on teachers/ RSA students yet, but every named student at NRC will get their own, unique fic.

It’ll be much easier for me to organize the fics, and decide who I want to write for next, without burning myself out on the concept entirely. I’ll feel more able to take breaks between each fic than I would if they all came out at once and in a row.

I could let you guys vote on who’s fic you wanted next! There’s a few already lined up, but after that we could hold a vote! I’d pick between a few I was particularly excited to get writing, and let you all vote on who’s you’d most like to see next.

CONS:

I won’t do any duplicates of any of the boys, so if I wrote one boy as one animal and you wanted to see the same thing but as a different animal, you’re sadly out of luck. Maybe I’d still do a few short headcanons, but honestly there isn’t too much that’d be all that different. There is at least one boy I’ve already received duplicate requests from, with two very different animals as the request, so I’d be picking just one of those to actually turn into a full fic.

I’d be picking out the animals for the remaining boys instead of you all. Honestly that’s a pro for me because I can start brainstorming way, way ahead of time, but some people may want the joy of picking out the exact critter they want their fave Twist boy to become.

What do y’all think? I’d really, really appreciate your feedback in this, so please don’t be afraid to reply on this post or send me an ask! Even anonymous, if you’re feeling shy. I’ll take everyone’s thoughts into account. Thank you so much!

[leehopehocarat]

You make my World Freeze 💙✨💫🫂

Chapter 1 | Mr. & Mrs. Tastebuds

When one of your names is said in conversation, a beaming smile is sure to follow on each of your faces...

You and Han Jisung are best friends, soulmates, the literal Ying to each other's Yang.

But could you be more than that.....

Synopsis: Sarice had moved to Korea to continue to pursue an education at one of the best Universities there. Like any other day, she walks into the local cafe to get her regular "unique" order. When it turns out, it's not just unique to you, but to The 4th Gen Ace himself, Han Jisung; who just so happened to be standing next to her taking his order at the same time as you. From there a friendship bloomed, but other feelings trickled in that may put a thorn in her relationship with him.

Sarice and Han Jisung

When one of their names are said by the other, or by someone else in conversation, a smile that beams brighter than actual light itself appears on each of their faces.

~~

I had moved to Korea years ago to start university and begin pursuing an education in Korean History and language. Growing up in a place like NYC, discovering new cultures was a norm. But my love for learning and my naturally inquistive nature led me to being fascinated with details about any culture, and what made it unique.

So I decided after gaining a degree in Anthropology, it was time to go global. And Korea was number 1 on my list.

Now, I have been a fan of K Pop since 2NE1. CL stole my heart and I wouldn't even attempt to try to get it back from her. Then there was Shinee, Big Bang, Girls Generation, 4 Minute...... the list goes on!

As of today, my Ult Groups are Stray Kids, BTS, Ateez, and Seventeen. I found each of these groups in times in my life where I truly felt it was destiny for me to find them when I did. And for that reason, they all hold special places in my heart.

~~

It was almost the end of my first year in uni. I was honestly expecting myself to struggle a lot, but I managed to pass my classes enough to keep my A- average!

I had gotten an earlier than usual start to my day to make sure I had a bit of extra time to just sit and chill at my new found favorite cafe. It's also conveniently a block away from campus, so it's a win win for me.

I walk inside the cafe and get hit with lavender, cinnamon, and ground coffee in my nostrils. I never get tired of feeling like I'm stepping into a quaint cottage with those scents in the air. Brick walls, stained cedar wood tile floors with matching tables and chairs, and an endless rotation of tropical plants. The cafe screams comfort corner, and it's why it's become my favorite.

I make my way to the cashier and am greeted by Lisa, who always somehow manages to be the one to be at the register when I come in the cafe and place my order. But I ain't complaining, cause I swear she put's magic in the Hazelnut Cold Brews when I order them. She's around my height (5'10"), an asymmetrical bob cut with a shego green color dye, and a slim built. She has a sweet and genuine smile, cause she really loves her job and it shows.

As if by a freak accident, as I'm telling my order to Lisa, a deep but soft voice says word for word my exact same order. It legit took me a moment to realize that my voice wasn't doubled but that there was someone next to me placing their order at the same time I was.

I stare bug eyed at Lisa and I was legit frozen. My social cues went out the window as my anxiety started kicking in. Lisa flashed a reassuring smile and gently motioned her head to the side, signaling for me to turn and look at whoever it was next to me. I took a shuddered deep breathe, and slowly turned to the left to get a look at who apparently, has the same taste in food as me. It was a man. Chocolate brown frays of hair were peeking out from under a black beanie. Black/Brown boba eyes that shined like the reflection of light off a creek in spring time. Cheeks that just made me want to pinch them, they were round and looked so soft (I didn't by the way, even though I REALLY wanted to). He wore an oversized, baggy, black distressed shirt, paired with baggy, flared bottom jeans, and chunky platform converse. My eyes made their way back up to his face, and I realized who I was standing in front of.

Han FUCKING Jisung!

1/3 of 3racha, the production, rapline and Ace of Stray Kids.

I was internally screaming!!

I didn't realize how zoned out I was until a small, deep toned chuckle left his lips.

"I-I I'm sorry. I-I just didn't t-think someone would have the same taste in coffee as me." I somehow manage to get those words out my lips, and I'm mentally slapping myself on the forehead for my stupid stuttering. My eyes went straight to the floor that I wish would just swallow me up at this point.

"Well......" He says with a pause. My head shoots up to see him looking at me with the warmest smile. "That just means we have superior taste buds." He had such a reassuring look in his eyes, that it melted away any bit of embarrasment that was settling in my body. With that, a small smile appears on my face.

"Well Mr. Superior Taste Buds......" I reach my hand over to grab my order from off the counter, that was actually sitting there ready for a few minutes already. "I have a bit of time to spare and would love to hear your take on food, care to join me?" My smile widens and I give him a wink. I DON'T KNOW WHERE THE FUCK THE WINK CAME FROM, BUT A BITCH WAS BEING BOLD THAT DAY.

His eyebrows shoot up and his eyes slightly widen at my sudden showing of boldness. He was quite impressed and deep down inside thankful that she made the first move, cause his heart was RACING.

A small smirk comes across his face. Keeping eye contact with me, he reaches his hand out to pick up his order from the counter. "That would be nice, Mrs. Superior Taste Buds." He winks back at me and puts his hand out for me to grab it.

AXZVXBHEJHOESHVKJSGHR

WHAT DO YOU MEAN MRS.?!?!???!?!

With no hesitation, my hand finds it's way to his. As our palms touch, a warmth surged through my body and my cheeks felt hot. Now me being a black woman, I don't usually have a visible blush.

BUT BABY............ THIS MAN HAD ME MELTING

His thumb gently rubbed over my fingers and knuckles. "I'll take you to my favorite table to sit at." He turns towards the back of the cafe leading the way. I turn my head to quickly steal a look at Lisa who was SHOOK at what just happened in front of her eyes. "WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THIS TOMORROW" she silently mouths to me, and I give her a quick thumbs up, turning my head and my attention back to Han.

~~

From that day at the cafe to 3 years later. I'm in my last year at university and best friends with Han Jisung.

Life has been nothing short of amazing, especially with gaining 7 brothers, aka the other members of Stray Kids. If I'm not hanging out with Han, I'm on facetime with Channie as he's in the studio and I'm studying, spamming Lee Know with Cat memes, roasting red carpet celebrity looks with I.N, having a personalized gym routine made by Changbin and having him occasionally join me in working out, trading obscure recipes with Felix and trying them out together, dance practice video calls with Hyunjin, and Seungmin volunteering himself to be my tutor while he tells me random Korean history facts. Needless to say, these boys have added so much to my life. But with that, there's a burden I've been carrying the whole time.

Han being an idol has its challenges, but we've created a system that still allows us to have quality time with each other. Today is one of the days where I get to chill with him in the studio. What he doesn't know is that I've surprised him with his favorite, his go to order from the cafe that we met at, along with a slice of chocolate cheesecake.

I make my way into the JYP building and greet the different staff members I bump into on the way to the floor the studio he's in is on. I finally make it to the elevator and immediately slump against the wall, a groan of a held in sigh leaves my mouth.

I've been in love with Han Jisung since we met in that damn cafe. It's grown into an overflowing bucket that always tries to make itself known when I'm around him, but I put a lid on it.

I really did try not to fall in love as quickly as I did but..... can you blame me?!?!?!

He laughs with his whole body but makes sure to land gentle touches on me when I'm sitting next to him during one of his laughing fits.

His eyes put fairy lights to shame, when he talks about anything he's passionate about. And it's always followed by deep conversations that I adore.

And he just always knows how I'm feeling; He's fucking psychic I swear!

He knows when to hold my hand, caress my cheek and brush strands of hair out of my face.

AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON HIS HUGS!

Time stops whenever I'm in his arms. He's my safe place.

On nights like tonight, I usually just sit in silence in the background working on assignments, while he's working on a song. Being in silence together is probably one of my favorite things I do with him. But tonight, if there is silence after my plan of pouring out my heart to him..... then I hope to God the earth actually swallows me whole this time.

~~

Hey Guys!

This is my first time writing a story like this, and I'm honestly proud of myself for taking a step into trying something new for myself.

This story was inspired by a Character AI chat I actually have for Han, lol

I accept constructive criticism but rudeness will not be tolerated!

I hope you all enjoyed the story!

TAGLIST:

@adestayskz

@semi-semiisbae

@guqsnfics

[rubylarkspur22]

Questions and answers below the cut. Manga spoilers are featured.

1: MPCS(🌙1) and AMSG(🌙2) Ranhime(Michikatsu's wife), Uta, Sumiyoshi, and Suyako; What are your opinions and relationships with the Tsugikuni twins?

Ranhime(MPCS): Well, I've certainly adjusted to their presence. Yoriichi's quite a peaceful presence and Michikatsu doesn't get into trouble. I can't deny that I'm curious about what Michikatsu is like as a human.

Ranhime(AMSG): Michikatsu's an excellent sparring partner, and his determination is admirable. His brother seems nice enough, though I will admit we don't talk much. Yoriichi's certainly unique, I'll say that much.

Uta(MPCS): They're super nice! I know I can talk for a long time, so I try not to talk everyone's ears off, but Yoriichi is actually really nice about it. He listens, even to the most random things I can babble on about. I'm not sure what my exact feelings for him are, but they're nice. Michikatsu's pretty nice, too. Even as a demon, he looks out for his family, and it's very sweet of him!

Uta(AMSG): *squeals* Yoriichi is so cute, and I love hanging out and chatting with him! He's so nice, and his presence is so comforting! I never expected that from a demon! And Michikatsu is such a great brother, working so hard to help Yoriichi become human again!

Sumiyoshi(MPSC): We're pretty good friends. I've carried Michikatsu what few times Yoriichi was injured, and talked to both of them. They're nice. Even if Michikatsu tends to be a bit... overprotective at times.

Sumiyoshi(AMSG): Michikatsu's a bit rough around the edges, but actually pretty nice when you get to know. Yoriichi startled me the first time I saw him. I mean, a demon walking around in the daytime? Not something you see on a normal day. Then again, things have been anything but normal since meeting them. But they're my friends, and I'm willing to fight for them.

Suyako(MPSC): Yoriichi's very nice. I don't really interact with Michikatsu much, unfortunately, but I'm sure he's just as lovely to be around as his brother and friends!

Suyako(AMSG): They're both very nice. Yoriichi's been super helpful while his brother and friends are recovering. It took a little getting used to, but his presence is far from unwelcome.

2: S&TF(💕) Uta; What was your encounter with Muzan like, and do you and Yoriichi have any children?

It was pretty scary. I mean, the progenitor of all demons, right in front of me?! Especially after seeing all those organs inside of his body! *shudders* Those are images that are never leaving my head. How does Yoriichi see that sort of stuff every day, and not be fazed by it?!

And yes, Yoriichi and I do have a baby. Only because he got home before the demon could hurt me and our baby, but still! Her name is Megumi[kanji for blessing], since we both felt that the gods had given the three of us a rather large blessing to survive that night. We haven't had any kids since, though. Yoriichi's injuries mean he can't fight, and I'd feel bad about setting aside the responsibility I picked up as a Demon Slayer to have another baby.

3: S&TF Shinobu and Genya; How did you feel when you found Kanae and Sanemi in the aftermath of their battle against Upper Moon Two?

Shinobu: Well, I was definitely terrified when I saw all the blood. But I was grateful Kanae was alive. After that I went to focus on patching up Shinazugawa to keep an infection at bay. It took a lot of work to keep him alive in that time, and he almost didn't make it. It was honestly a bit of a blur after I realized how badly he was injured.

Genya: I was... terrified. I'd heard about the Demon Slayers, and stumbled across one who mentioned 'Nemi. It took a lot of asking around, but I found my way to the Butterfly Mansion. When I heard he was in critical condition and needed surgery, it just made me so much more scared. I thought he'd die before I got to apologize to him for what I said. I'm thanking the gods every day that he pulled through, and I'm glad Tanjirou and Inosuke were there to keep my head in the right space while 'Nemi was recovering.

4: To MPCS(🌙1, I know it says 2, but the commenter informed me it was a typo) Tsugikuni twins; What are your feelings on Ranhime and Uta?

Well, they're both lovely young women. Ranhime and I are amicable, though we don't interact particularly often. It seems Michikatsu's heart rate tends to pick up around her recently, so he seems to like her.

*betrayed gasp and growls*

Uta is lovely. I quite enjoy listening to her talk, and could probably do so all day, if we had the time. Maybe we will, someday...

Hmph. Mmph mm-hmph!

5: Mirrored Sunset(🔄) Douma; How is it, taking care of the Kamaboko Squad? Have you ever had to pick them up from prison?

Oh, they're lovely. And I haven't had to pick them up from prison once, thank goodness. Even if Ume and Inosuke can be a bit rowdy. But that's just who they are as siblings!

[Unfortunately, I can't answer question 6, as I haven't fully decided who's on the Kamaboko Squad in either of the Tsugikuni-Kamado Swap AUs... Sorry!]