#well im still not...THAT into it. it's the world building that im meh about. and this isnt a criticism against this specific story per se

[stargazingpsychotic]

Well, I'm back. I say as I return to my middle earth fixation, which is wonderful, I love it, but solely the books, and I'm also still going strong in Takahashi's xeno universe, so this is going to get busy

[sinistergooseberries]

SALAAR (SPOILER ALERT)

continuing my tags from a previous post (sorry 😭 @deadloverscity) : like i said, i do think salaar is a good story so far. I like the world-building, I like the tribe coalition system that becomes a background for our story, and i like the fact that varadha and deva are in a toxic yaoi relationship.

im not gonna lie tho, i just haaaate the cinematography and lighting in prashant neel's movies. it's always a bad time there. It's like slapping a vignette over every frame of the movie, and it takes away any colour whatsoever. I understand that he wants to go for a dark vibe, but trust me, dark vibes can be achieved even without making the entire movie dark and invisible. I literally cannot see the actors doing any action! It's bad! It's not enjoyable. As a typical Telugu moviegoer (and assuming the movie was made for a predominantly telugu audience), I enjoy a somewhat vibrant colour scheme. So far, in all of our movies and even the mega movies (if you have watched RRR and Baahubali) there is a lot colour and imagery going on in the movies. I think in Prashant neel's cinemas, all of this is taken away. He has a set of colours that appear in his films consistently - which are black, grey and red. This colour scheme i feel, if repeatedly used, can be a bit boring and may take away the vibrance of the story. the stark contrasts (imo) do not emphasise the story, they overshadow it. still, take this w a grain of salt.

However, considering the fact that this is just his fourth film, ill cut him some slack. But man, if he is going to make movies for a telugu audience, i hope he lets go of the vignette filter.

next, the worldbuilding. i like it - here is a country that is completely separated from india, yet dictates certain aspects of it. i like that they chose an isolated place that evolves in parallel with the mainland, but retains the values of the tribes, making this place mythical and real at the same time. i was really intrigued by the tribe lore - about how the mannars ousted the shouryangas, and how rajamannar basically went against his own father's rule-book and is now facing dire consequences from bharava, whose tribe has the right to the throne right now. i also love love love loveeeeeee the fact that deva is the rightful heir to the throne - and also also the fact that whether he knows about this or not is left ambiguous. i love how this adds another layer to amma's hatred of khansaar and OH. MY. GOD. chef's kiss i love it.

as a personal taste, i don't like violence and epic fights tm overshadowing the narrative, which i feel the movie does. however, kannada film-making might be different. idk, i havent seen many kannada films other than kantara and kgf. the former is good i absolutely love it - the story is fantastic, the fight scenes are chumma, ufff i can praise it for days. the latter is pretty meh for me.

another thing i love about the movie is.. well, varadha and deva. dude, what is up with telugu guys unintentionally making queer movies these days? what is up with that yallll??? ohmygod. when i tell you that i smelled the romance im not lying. dude. dudeee. the whole friends to enemies to (maybe) friends/lovers arc theyve got going on? oooh baby i can feel the fanfics writing themselves. the whole soaked in blood-fighting-together scene? it was a miracle i wasnt jumping up and down on my seat. the dialogue in that scene 'i have friends more handsome than you' and then varadha getting kinda jealous and shit. lovely. the whole don't touch him thing that deva has got going on - baby boy just kiss him. and man. it's beautiful tragic and im writing a fanfic.

soo yeah this is my rant about salaar. im expecting something from it lol.

[dear-ao3]

the saga of saphs terrible, horrible internet

so my friends and fellow romans, as some of you may know, i am currently at home while i wait to go galavant off to the other side of the globe for my study abroad. being at home presents a great many challenges that i will not get into at this time, but the top one is the internet connection.

now i am the proud owner of a 2017 macbook and an iphone se. the macbook was bought refurbished 3.5 years ago and the phone was bought new last august when my iphone 6s finally crapped out 2 weeks into junior year of college. i take....decent care of my electronics. and, this is an important detail here, the phone has an unlimited data plan.

i have never had a problem with this phone. it works great, occasionally it buffers in certain spots on campus that are kind of dead zones due to the buildings being massive blocks of concrete, but it always works, even despite the shitty school wifi i have because i can turn the wifi off and use data. the computer hates the wifi a little more, but i can still usually get it to work with minimal issues.

until now *cue dramatic music*

i have to be at home (my parents house) for a grand total of 18 days. which is not very long. and while at home i had some stuff to do, all of which required me to have an internet connection (fighting the financial aid office, talking to brad, researching grad school, purchasing textbooks, buying the last couple things i need for my trip, etc). i have also had to be in quarantine (long story) so essentially i have been confined to my room.

the internet has always been a little bit meh in my room, with certain spots not working the best (due to the fact that i am furthest from the router) but this is the same room that i took zoom classes from for 2.5 semesters, plus a summer class and a j term class with 0 issues, so i was confident i could make it work.

well. i was wrong.

the first two days went fairly normally. but then, a steady and rapid decrease in internet quality began.

and yes, i am aware that me complaining about internet quality is a very first world problem, but i am stuck in a house with my parents and it is miserable and i just want to facetime brad.

on day three i became unable to send a text message unless i was connected to wifi.

on day 4 i could only connect to wifi if i was standing in one specific spot in my bedroom and even then it didnt always work and would usually drop off by the time i walked back across the room

on day 5 facetime stopped working

on day 6 even standing directly next to the router didnt do anything and plugging into our sole ethernet cable only provided me with mediocre internet

on day 7 i had a mental breakdown and watched youtube all day at 144p complete with buffering that added a good 10-20 minutes to any video.

on day 8 i told my dad that in my deeply unprofessional opinion something is deeply wrong with our router and he said well its just cause your room is far away from it

on day 9 (today) i walked downstairs to get my up of tea in my big christmas tree mug and my dad said "our internet is being very slow, i am going to have to look into it"

oh

wait

you mean

to tell me

that the internet

isnt working?

golly goodness gosh

i didnt know

its not like it took 3 minutes for the blank post im writing right now to load and 30 minutes for a 10 minute youtube video to load and that i get kicked off the wifi if i so much as tilt my phone slightly to the left

its a miracle i havent gone insane yet i swear

[shalikneez]

fourth wing thoughts (no spoilers):

while reading:

- MIRA IS HOT she reminds me of totk zelda

- xaden scares me lowk

- why is xaden so mf big. HUH?! enormous ginamanasaurus motherfucker. in my head he’s 5 foot 10 inches and sleeper bod. next question

- i know rhiannon is sexy. need more of her!

- omg chronic illness mc YES

- violet is so cool lowk like acknowledges her weaknesses ✅ improves herself ✅ isn’t annoying ✅ isn’t a bitch unless ur a bitch to her first ✅ smart as fuck ✅

- bitchass jack barlowe reminds me of nacho cheese doritos.

- dain more like DAMN why don’t u shut the hell up 🤣

- dain is so protective savior complex core like bro has no faith in her aaaahdhdh honestly i would have snapped sooner because like why is he always talking like she’s a child and needs to be saved

- xaden on the other hand is always hyping her up. which is great but occasionally he goes over the top imo . we get it ur down bad my guy

- she’s sooooo silly calling xaden out in public all the time

- so happy dain x violet romance didn’t last. he reminds me of chaol from throne of glass

- ngl thought violet was gonna be the whiny shy useless mc but the whole book up to 60% is all about her getting stronger and cooler and hotter and she’s confident and figures her shit out without complaining

- i loooove her and her sibling’s relationship. it’s so real ngl. book of brennan is so cute. brennan and mira, and mira and violet. i love them.

- violets armor from mira is so cool ik she looks hot in it. fan art better slay

- NAOLIN MENTIONED ‼️‼️

- if she says “rippling muscle” or “he’s so beautiful” one more fucking time—expand ur vocabulary girl 😩

- dain bruh stfuuuuu bro is so annoying he probs looks like this 🤓

- so many cliches but all the cool world building and shit balances it out so well like i don’t even mind that much

- yeah she’s gonna get a special dragon obvi

- i was right 🤭

- dragon descriptions make me 😁😁😁 it’s so httyd and so much detail and care put into it i love it

- dragon world building is so 💗💗

- tairn the dragon u are so cool to me

- i want a dragon

- i miss mira

- xaden is so cool. reminds me of a wolf

- TAIRN IS SO UNSERIOUS 🤣🤣 sarcastic ass dragon

- MATES LMAOOOO so sarah j maas coded

- LIAM IS SOOOO CUTE so puppy dog :) sawyer too

- oh the telepathic connections. it’s so sjm up in here

- telepathy aspect is cool tho i like how this author writes it <3

- why r the dragons getting hot and heavy 🥵 🤨

- omg kisss!

- MIRA OMYGOD I LOVE U I MISSED U SO MUCH MY WARRIOR QUEEN

- ngl around 70% it’s not as entertaining as all the deathly challenges and trials from the beginning

- omg violets power 😮 im a slut for opposite aesthetics

- oh. not a fan of the monster dick sex. uncomfy lowk. good for them though 👍

- ok politics. i don’t care that much.

- OKAY CLICHE DIALOGUE I SEE YOU it’s so weird i’m not even that bothered by it when normally i would be

- this is becoming more romance than death-defying war college stuff :/

- lovers quarrel. lovers share trauma. then lovers make up. idgaf!

- me when the romance book is romancing 😐

- basic adult romance dialogue! welcome back. how are you today

- more monster dick sex. how lovely.

- xaden’s muscles keep rippling. bro stay still!

- man what kinda sex is rebecca yarros having 🧐👁️

- omg plot

- omg TENSION! BETRAYAL! TWISTS!

- oh the climactic end-of-book battle. ngl none of these details are processing in my head. what fight?

- i know someone had to die but why that particular person. man :(

- i’m sure this battle and strategy and action scenes are so slay. i’m dissociating tho lol

- aw xaden likes her so much. simp

- CLIFFHANGER 😮

overall: i liked the first half better than the second half. first 50% was soooo addicting. i loved the world building and dragons and war college and challenges so much but i’m just not a huge romance person. like the romantic buildup is amazing but afterwards i’m just meh. of course there was the expected tropey/ cliche/ booktok moments BUT most of it was overshadowed by how great the other aspects of the writing was. i dissociated at the end and didn’t really feel attached to violet or xaden or even the dragons (this is a me problem) but i think the ending is great set up for book 2 (will probs give it a read). like u can tell where the book is going but then the author does something unique to make it a little different than other books in this genre, so idk how many surprises book 2 will have. the fact that i read this is in less than 24 hours says a lot though. i hope mira comes back :D

[jqmalikhsgib]

midnight sky

two

it’s only been three days since you did the most craziest thing in your life. you didn’t regret a single thing, though!

zayn had went back home yesterday. it was his turn taking care of his daughter. you understood, not ever wanting to come between the two of them. you knew first hand, kids come first! it’s exactly how you treated your students.

you looked down at your hand and smiled. zayn had given you the most beautiful ring you’d ever seen. giggling to yourself, your phone starts to ring.

your eyes furrowed seeing an unknown number. you ignored it before getting out of bed and getting dressed. you head downstairs, walked to the nearest train station, and waited patiently.

when you get to your destination, you head straight to your classroom. your phone goes off once more. frowning, you decided to answer the call. “who is this?!”

“im sorry, miss yln. it’s taryn, zayn’s assistant!”

“oh—no, it’s fine. im sorry. is everything okay?”

“yes! we just need to go over a few things. nothing bad! zayn just wants me to make sure you’re good. do you have a good time to meet?”

“im pretty busy monday through friday. the only available time i have is the weekend. is that okay?”

“no, it’s great! i could meet you at your apartment if you’re comfortable? i just don’t wanna overwhelm you.”

“that’s actually perfect! do you need my address?”

“zayn could give it to me. ill see you soon miss yln. or, well, miss malik now.”

you blushed as the phone call ended. soon your first period class started piling up.

“lets get started!”

the weekend came quickly. you were waiting for zayn’s assistant while you graded a few papers. when you heard a knock on the door you weren’t expecting zayn as well.

“hi, babe.” zayn kisses you gently. you smile before allowing both zayn and taryn into your apartment.

“this is a surprise. i thought it was just gonna be your assistant.”

“meh, thought id come by since khai is with her aunt.”

yn points to her living room table before they all sit on the couch. “sorry, not exactly a fancy joint.”

“i like it!” zayn shrugs.

“so, what’s this all about?”

“we have to go over somethings now that you’re married.”

“like?”

taryn looks at zayn. “your life’s gonna change completely, baby. i just want you to be prepared of that.” zayn grabs your hand.

“once the world finds out, your social media following will rise, you’d receive many direct messages from strangers, paparazzi’s gonna follow you, and obviously it comes with some hate comments. we want you to be mentally prepared for that change.” taryn states.

“it’s why we brought some good information on therapist around the area. that is if you continue to stay here,”

“why wouldn’t i stay here?”

zayn looks at taryn once more.

“we even found a few private schools you could teach at! some elementary schools. zayn has told me how you wanted to teach elementary kids! it’s in pennsylvania. more secluded there.”

“we could even get a new farmhouse in case you don’t like ours.”

“wait,” yn takes a deep breath.

“i know this is a lot to process, but it’s the necessary steps to keep you safe. if you still want to continue staying in new york we could find places more secluded and schools more private for you to teach, yn.” taryn states.

“i just—i never really thought about everything. i love being with you, and i don’t regret marrying you, but my life is changing quickly. we’ve only been married for a week, zayn. i thought we’d keep our relationship private for as long as we can.”

“if that’s what you want, we can do that.”

“but it’s gonna be completely difficult.” taryn finished.

“how so? celebrities do it all the time, right? it’s not hard to keep things low key, yeah?”

“not hard but it’s not easy either. soon enough people will notice. sometimes they’ll see zayn come in and out of this building, they might see the two of you enjoying a private moment, might get ahold of your social media afterwards, and you’d be surprised what fans could find out with a simple google search.”

you sigh.

still not understanding how drastically your life was gonna differ, you’re afraid of change. it’s why it was so difficult for you to leave home years back. you didn’t mind change.

you just tried to avoid it as much as you could. on top of that you still haven’t informed your family. your mom would be livid she missed your wedding, let alone getting married to someone who’s practically a stranger.

on top of that, you haven’t told zayn about something you’re sure he should know. you didn’t want him to look at you differently or regret the decision of marrying you.

“i—could we maybe try and keep it private for a few months? just so we could enjoy our honeymoon period? i just don’t want people to know just yet. plus id like you to meet my family first. i wanna meet yours as well. is that okay?”

zayn smiles.

“of course, babe! whatever you want. you don’t need to stress, okay? taryn, the other thing?” zayn looks at her.

taryn smiles as she hands you a black debit card. you frown. “what’s this?”

“what’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine! i put your name on my bank account. you can use this card whenever you need anything, baby.”

“zayn, i don’t need your money.”

“i know, but i want you to have this. even if you never use it!” zayn states.

“you’re already trying to spoil me, huh?”

“he does that! always give, give, give. could be a real pain in the ass sometimes.” taryn gently pushes his shoulder.

you smile lovingly at him. “im gonna head to see bobby. she’s expecting me. you two love birds enjoy your night.” taryn smirks before leaving.

zayn smiles while you blush. he kisses you passionately. it wasn’t like you didn’t enjoy kissing him. he’s an amazing kisser! but you needed him to know before anything happens. you pulled away quickly. zayn frowns.

“what’s wrong?”

you get up and pace around. “i—before anything goes further i need you to know. im not exactly experienced.”

“what do you mean?”

you sigh. “i mean, i had been saving myself for the right person.”

his eyes widened. “you mean, you’re—”

“yes, im a virgin, zayn. is that—is that okay?”

zayn gets up and grabs your hand. “baby, it’s okay. and if you’re not ready ill understand, okay? i just want you to be comfortable.”

you sigh in relief. “thank you, zayn. most guys aren’t so accepting. it’s why i was nervous to tell you.”

“guys are dicks! i however am a man, baby.” zayn smirks.

you blush once more. “could we maybe, cuddle tonight? i—im ready but i just—im also not. does that make sense?”

zayn hums.

“anything you want, ill be right behind you, love.”

the two of you walk into your bedroom before holding one another and falling asleep in each others arms.

[confessions-official]

i was gonna write a long anon rant about something a previous anon had said but actually? im choosing kindness.

i love The Outer Worlds.

its not a perfect game by any means, i have a good amount of criticisms of it. i think the story lacks nuance, i think the fact that anticapitalist and antifa choices really only dick over a bunch of innocent people every single time is total horseshit, but the writing and characters are so good and fun that i cant even be mad about it for too long.

every companion you can have is insanely compelling and charming. a religious vicar you help through his religious trauma and hangups about his religion. a naive, poor blue collar sports fan whos gungho about kicking down capitalism and the fascism in the colony. an aged, charming hunter whos clearly hurt by something in her past and wields a massive lazer minigun who you can help confront her trauma. a fucking janitorial robot fitted for battle that sprays acid on people. a shy engineer who names every single machine she works on, whos quest is to literally get her a cute girlfriend. a smug, pirate-like medic whos sassy and sarcastic and loves picking at the rest of the crew.

its a really good "babys first political" game honestly. i think its a good precursor to something like fallout: new vegas (theyre made by the same studio after all (kinda)) or disco elysium. it starts getting the ball rolling in terms of politics in video games and making you think about your own positions on topics and what you would actually do. it prepares you for concepts like that to be explored better in other games. i think this is both a point for and against the game, because it kinda fails at making people think about the choices they actually make, there kinda are just "right" options in my opinion, that the game even pushes you to. instead, its more about making you think about why those decisions are being made. which, i think, is still pretty valuable.

the writing is really charming. every voice actor with any decent role tends to do their job pretty well. if it wont be a mind blowing experience for you, id hope its at least fun. btw if you like melee builds invest in science as a skill, theres a really fun science weapon for melee users and its how i have the most fun in my builds (since the shooter mechanics are meh?) (melee is also actually fun in this first person shooter, like, they nailed melee combat in this one) (also dont get spacers choice edition, i dont know if the fact that it forces your fps to like 30 on pc is fixed or not LOL)

.

[thedeafprophet]

Prophet's Opinion On F.F. Gebrandt's Prelapsarian Exhibition

Prefacing this of course that this is all ~just my opnion~, some may hate what i liked and loved what i didnt. But i thought it’d be fun to type up a review. 

What I liked

As always I love the world quality events, there’s always something so fun about every body working together towards one goal! This shown strongly in the clues section, seeing everyone work together to solve them all in the first 4 hours and having a doc put together for people who arent keen on puzzles was fantastic :]

I really like the items from the event, i think the affiliations are great especially for my midgame characters. Always good to have more endgame stat items. And im super curious about the neathbow option hehe gotta get my boxes together. 

I also loved the art for the event. The overall promotional art was so well done and I loved the area art of the museum so much. And i was so very very happy to see the full art of the neathbow. Illegal pride flag my beloved.

It was cool to see F F Gerdbrandt featre more heavily in a story. I always really thought she was a neat character so its really cool to see her feature more.

I also loved the.. i think it was 4th?... stage where we were getting the items to solve the problem, i liked how it was split between big endgame things, but also still provided an oppurtunity for newer players to contribute. 

Mechanics wise in general I thought it was pretty good. Pacing is always hard with these kinda of things, but it worked out pretty well to me. 

(also the 1:1 pennys reward was pretty sweet ngl. love that sweet sweet cash money)

What I didn't like

I'll be honest, I found the overall plot lackluster. I get more annoyed when I think a plot had potential and blew it, and that was the case here. The build up with the museum and the machine and time was interesting - and then meh

(this got long, putting the rest under a cut)

I didnt feel the stakes at all. I get not every event should be city ending based, but you’re going to break a law as big as time and just. That. idk. I didnt really feel like the statues were a threat. I’m also just not that big on second city lore which probably doesnt help matters.

Character choices were not present or just weak in general. There was pretty much no callback to player choice beyond maybe BaL for a couple clues, and one specific ending of one specific ES, which is rated overaull as a not highly ranked one so its weird it keeps being featured. And i wont lie, I was pretty annoyed that doing the second city war could only get a clue if you did that specific ES. like come, seriously? If that war was supposed to be foreshadowing then this just kinda feels almost rude. 

There was just... no further wrap up on the plot with time either. Like didnt more stuff happen then just the statues? Maybe more will happen later idk. Its just after the disapointment that was new years I wanted more. 

All of this put together made me care very little about the plot. If this Event was an ES i’d put it on a lower ranking, as ES are often a mixed bag, but idk i kinda expected more from the new big event. I know it was always supposed to be smaller the GCO, but eh. I think a better story could have been worked out. 

I think the Empress' part was weak at best. I don't care at all about her unless it's bringing her to justice for the terrible and selfish things she's done. I dont care about Victoria and Albert at, like sorry your cousin died or whatever,

And also like,,,, okay I have no qualms with historical fiction lmao but the RPF of such a prominent real person is always weird to me so I'm always put off when text heavily features of the Empress. That was a real person, who did real, horrible things. Makes it less fun when she does more bad stuff in game, compared to other villains in the game who are purley fictional.

And the whole thing gets kinda weird all together when you think of the long history from the victorian era to now of british museums and the items they take and...yea. oof. leaves a weird feeling with me I wont lie. 

Anyway this is long enough already lol, ill stop here. 

As far as Im aware the past two events have been experiments so I hope this one ran sucessfully for collecting data on stuff for the game. Excited to see what comes in the future, and despite my qualms I am still beyond thrilled over the new content we got. 

[elvesofnoldor]

.

[snickiebear]

Hi bby! 1, 2, 3, 6, 16, 27, 29, 33, 35! 🖤

mittens!!! loml!!

1. From one to five stars, how would you rate your writing? (No downplaying yourself!)

oh goodness... um, i’d say a 4?? yeah, that sounds about right, only because i often make so many tense mistakes and even when i edit there’s always something to fix. and just,,, im still learning a lot (aren’t we all). plus, sometimes the stuff i put out needs so much more work (see: my recent shisaku fic... i want to tear it up and put it back together.. ugh.. also wt&r, just everything)

2. Why do you write fanfiction?

OH GOODIE! i just... well, i wrote a lot when i was twelve-fourteenish, then kind of on and off through the years. never really had anything to ground me and get me to take writing seriously. and then i found naruto and sakura who has so much unused potential and it just made me so angry to see her treated that way. 

point being, the naruto fandom (more specifically the sakura fandom) rooted me down and allowed me be able to grow as a writer even though i’ve only been posting since january my writing style has changed so much, and i can physically feel myself becoming a better writer. 

plus, i just love it. the thrill of being able to use these characters and pairings and do what i want with them?? i drink it up, i love it!!! its so freeing and such a great way to really dig deep within writing itself. 

3. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

i think its just the way i word things, you and a lot of others call it poetry but meh i just call it fancy words or word vomit from my brain AHAHHAHA

also, my thing is God Killers, God Eaters, and Angry Wrathful Women at this point, so maybe thats another thing?

but honestly,,, i have no clue... you’d have to ask my lovely readers, im so thankful for them 😭

6. What element of writing do you find comes easily?

plot probably. this changes often though. usually when i have an idea, the rest comes to mind and i jot it down and come back and change things and stuff, so thats usually pretty easy tbh... at least for now LMAO

and inner dialogue, inner struggles, showing the entire internal thing. its fun writing that angsty part of a story, the small insights into a character’s mind, how miserable and alone they feel. or, perhaps how happy they are, overjoyed and at peace. 

OH AND WORLD BUILDING. i pride myself so much on my world building. i honestly think thats one of the better things im good at! just weaving small details into the text, and subtly building a world within your mind, oh i love it so much!!!!

16. Any guilty pleasure trope(s)?

mmmm nothing really comes to mind? men simping for women who could kick their ass? tho idk if thats really a guilty pleasure....am very fond of same age aus, sometimes mafia aus too... ummm,, yeah

(probably big dick tenzo tbh... and the fact that kakashi’s face is a legal weapon AHAHAHA,,, and broken, vunreble men. also, shattered, all consuming women.)

27. What’s the nicest comment you’ve ever received?

oh god... i cannot chose! you, ele, al, and hika leave the kindest comments, and literally any comment on the things i write just make me so so so so so HAPPY. i just them more than kudos tbh. 

but! one comment on the intimacy of being understood i always come back to. it was left by GuardianMars and they wrote that the fic was like a “love letter to the pairing.” and that well. i think about that comment all the time. 

there have been so many others comments that have utterly touched my heart and that i will go to read on terrible, horrible days and i value ALL comments. especially those who say “i’m rereading this again” or “i’ll read anything you put out” that just. there is something so intimate about that, that utter faith and loyalty that i do not know what to do with. 

its so touching and makes me truly believe in the good of the world. 

29. Have you ever gone outside of your comfort zone for a fic? How did it turn out?

yes! i am attempting to get better at writing smut because ol&w is going to have some fucking in it so i experimented in that shisaku fic and just..... yeah idk man. idk... its something i do want to get better at cause, meh why not? and i want to write some good porn for my readers damnit! HAHAHA 

33. Is there anything you wish your audience knew about your writing or writing process?

hmmm,,, probably that i stress so much and yet so little at the same time? allow me to elaborate! i stress so much about whether my writing is actually good or if people are just being nice LMAO and also posting, i get cold sweats and a thumping heart and yiKES

but also, i enjoy writing so its like “fuck you (jk ily guys) imma write what i wanna!”...do you see my issue? HAHAHA

also, im a planner. most of the time, and a lot of the details in my more serious fics (ol&w) are blink and miss details but they’re important and i LOVE foreshadowing!!!! like yes, i will vaguely mention something and itll simply come back with a vengeance! 

35. Ramble about any fic-related thing you want!

aaaaaa okokok thank you for this ask LMAO i just love talking about writing and rambling (as i often do,, im a long winded person, im very sorry)! 

but anyways! my summer semester just started up and i’m taking three purely online classes and the college im attending (im a dual enrollment student; meaning a high school and college kid,, taking advantage of the system!) fucked up my schedule so! im taking two TWELVE WEEK CLASSES that will end in AUGUST???? and then my fall sem starts five days later so... no summer break for nadia! yay...

writing will be very slow and updates will be too, which i am so sad and frustrated about because i’ve finally hit a paved road and now we’re driving into the forest! all bumps and bruises damnit! BUT worry not! i (as i said above, am i severe planner. every day has a plan, i am also an avid lover of lists also. i have lists for EVERYTHING) am working out a schedule so that i can get all my school shit done as soon as i can (while not failing) and write while hopefully not burning myself out.  

ol&w is such an intricate fic and im truly trying to give it the justice it deserves,,, im just hoping that my dear readers can bear with me HAHAHAHA there is honestly so much going on in that fic; shikamaru’s development, the underlying plot, the hate to love build up, the world building, and then laying down the foundations for the next fic (because yes, this is supposed to be a trilogy.. question is; will i be able to write it?) (answer: maybe. hopefully. i desperately want to but it might take some time.)

BUT ASLO i have so many oneshots i want to write! kisame week! kakashi week! kibasaku long fic! and not to mention my og work that i plan on rewriting and putting up on ao3 because a few people showed some interest. there is just so much to do and write and i am itching to do it all! but. well, but school, and the exhaustion of insomnia, and the weight of stress, sigh. 

shit sucks, it is what it is. but writing is like my safe haven and i just love pouring all myself into my fics and then baring my soul to you all and you take a peek and decide to keep looking. that is my favorite part of this little pocket of tumblr. 

this was not really... fic related? more like a dump of issues! so sorry about that AHAHAHAH 

anyways! thank you so much mittens! :)))))))))

pick my brain!

[red-archivist]

I’ve had the night to think about it and while there were some things I didn’t like about the finale, there was a hell of a lot more that I did. thoughts beneath the cut

- I was genuinely surprised the episode was as short as it was, and I think that worked against it a bit

- It would have been nice to hear georgie, melanie and basira in the tunnels and know what was happening from their perspective

- I really dislike the final confirmation that the web is sentient. I liked the interpretation that the fears were these powerful but mindless things and that humanity was the driving force that caused most of the terrible things in the show. for the web to be literally pulling the strings leaves me a bit meh

- Following on from that, I hate that the fears won! and that’s part of the tragedy i know, but the fears can function as a metaphor for capitalism and i hate that the note we leave them on is you cannot stop them, you can only pass them on which is a huge bummer imo

- overall, any issues i had were with tragedy on the grander scale of things

- TRAGEDY ON A PERSONAL LEVEL, ON THE OTHER HAND

- i love love love that jon’s fatal flaw as a tragic hero is what damns him, he cannot leave well enough alone, he has to break the table with the axe, he has to dive into the coffin, he has to try to kill the fears

- i also love that martin knew, he knows him, and he had to go behind his back to rally the others just as jon went behind his back to do the damn thing in the first place

- the fact that jon changes his mind at the end. he thinks he can kill an entire world but he cant let a person he cares about die in front of him. he will willingly sacrifice himself but he has to keep other people safe 

- listen. listen. the sheer romance of stabbing your lover in a collapsing building cannot be overstated. that is delicious

- i adore the ambiguity of their fate, im glad we as audience aren’t privy to it. could they be dead? sure. personally i firmly believe they ended up in whatever world the fears did, and they have to live the rest of their lives with what has happened, ty for that gift jonny

- THEY WERE TOGETHER, NO MATTER WHAT THEY’RE TOGETHER!!!

- other details i enjoyed:

- jon. killing. jonah. im glad we got him coherent and begging for his sad little life. im glad jon did it with his own two human hands. fuck you magnus, rot in pieces

- rosie getting out. martin was scared that jon wasn’t really there anymore but him freeing rosie is evidence of him still being himself more than anything 

- speaking of jon becoming the pupil; hot jon rights, monster jon rights, loved the voice effects

- i like that basira’s was the last voice we heard. idk why it just felt nice.

- hooray for the admiral!

- simon fairchild being beaten to death by an angry mob is, like everything else about him, objectively hilarious

- overall, v v happy, great show, would recommend, def going to relisten and cry a bunch

[fmdjaewonarchive]

hi besties! i’m here with a q3 schedules post that has been a few hours in the making because i’m Stupid and have no braincells so this took a long ass time. below the cut i’ll detail most of what my muses are getting up to both with their groups and sprinkle in some relevant personal bits and pieces as well, personal schedules, character development and what not. this is a plot call for all my muses but yena and minah specifically could use a little more love, just throwing that out there! i also have a bunch of the base prompts still unfilled, might you be looking to do any of those you can find them here! to plot, please like this post, slide into my ims or hmu on d*sc*rd: huang renjun supremacy#5703

jaewon: 

okay first off july is jaewon month, his birthday is the 14th he will insist on being lowkey about it but tbh does that ever work out?

right after his birthday he’s holding his first ever solo concerts, on july 16th & 17th, anyone who is close friends with jaewon is most definitely invited and he will be very happy if they can make it because he’s both very nervous but very proud of it

july also has the dimensions company photoshoot, i’d love to do something there, mae him work with someone he doesn’t like or someone he’s not that familiar with possibly?

jaewon will be in an awful mood tho, just tryna vibe with unity and suddenly dimensions is like SIKE champion comeback BITCH

he will be bitching, he will be grumbling, he will be complaining

not to mention jaewon haaaaates 100, like, he was neutral enough about jopping (eventhough he still thinks ‘jumping and popping’ is STUPID) but 100 he absolutely hates as a song and he will make that everyone’s problem, anyone that spends time with it or even worse he runs into while promoting will not hear the end of it 

he will be a bit placated working on 90′s love but it won’t do much until champion schedules will truly come to an end

yuanjun: 

charm is mainly doing a lot of touring, especially in july/early august so he won’t be around much for that time but after he will return with souvenirs and big stories about his adventures in japan

i might elaborate some more on the charm tour but that will be in a bit, i’ll come back to that at a later time

after that there will be a lot of comeback work for semi;colon

he’s excited for home;run though, living his best theatre kid life

will be annoying everyone at the bc concert, would love to do something there, he will be bouncing all over the place probably

at the end of september charm will be at the hallyu dream concert like a Lot of artists, plenty of opportunity to have meetings there

and throughout the entire thing, all bc artists are workin on the documentary as well and as yuanjun is an annoying little social butterfly he might pop up in unexpected places while people are filming their things?

minah: 

oooooooh boy minah is busythis woman hasn’t had any sleep in god knows how long and that’s not about to change anytime soon

july and a part of august are filled with hurtlocker promotions and lipstick has a super super super busy festival season so if anyone finds themselves at one of those, odds are lipstick is there too

she doesn’t really care much for hurt locker but the reception is good and minah is very happy with that, she’s relieved to see lipstick still makes such a splash as a group

on top of all of that she’s preparing her own first full length album which she’s releasing on the heels of lipstick promotions, preparing for that is stressful, promoting for that is stressful but the album is super dear to her and she will be very proud that it’s out into the world

the bc concert also happens and honestly, she really likes their setlist (minus party) and she’s super excited to perform as lipgloss again, that’s been a while, she’ll be in a good mood there even if she is tired

filming the documentary will be a lot as minah is doing 50 things at once but at least she will be around the company building a Lot working on things

yena: 

gal.actic’s ten year anniversary happens and yena is just like... meh okay? honestly it’s kinda insane to her that gal.actic is still around and its not like she’s necessarily happy about the fact that they are

but hey it happens and gal.actic has some fanmeets which is a lil weird to yena, gal.actic doesn’t do a lot of concerts or fanmeets and it’s always a bit... odd for her to see how many fans they apparently have? 

at least the fanmeets ask very little performing on her part other than 5 songs (which tbh she all doesn’t want to perform with maybe the exception of a, also someone like u is kinda meh but she still doesn’t really care?)

for gal.actic related work the fanmeets will be kinda positive in yena’s book but don’t expect any overwhelming enthusiasm

the rest of the time she will go straaaaight back to complaining about the stupid festival performances, about the stupid comeback they’re preparing for, about stupid dimensions entertainment not just disbanding them already 

will be taking any excuses she can to sneak out of deepened choreo rehearsals, please enable her, or scold her, either one works

luckily her solo career isn’t exactly on a backburner either, she has some modeling going on, some photoshoots, some brand stuff, and if anyone asks how she’s doing or what she’s doing she’s more likely to bring those up than gal.actic

for the dimensions photoshoot the same applies as for jaewon, i’d love to use the opportunity to get her to interact with labelmates she hasn’t worked with at much, unlike jaewon tho she will actually be in a pretty good mood doing it, she loves photoshoots v much!

[princeharukoji]

2HA REVIEW/ THOUGHTS

SPOILERS AHEAD

So where shall I start? I really liked this story. Book 1 and 2 was a slow burn. I didn't mind it. Because we need to see Moran's personality changes, the love blossoming between the 2 main lead. It was slow, but did a great work. Because actually in the beginning (not Taxian Jun, but the reborn Moran) I couldn't stand the MC...well okay maybe I couldn't stand TXJ actually 😂 but the thing is real. I really liked how every character i disliked slowly started to like, love, and then wanted to protecc 🥺 Ok Chu Wanning has my heart from the beginning to the end. But I disliked Moran, Xue Meng, Nangong Si, Nangong Xu, the ghost girl from the start, Jiang Xi, Mei Hanxue. And I love them all. I even wanted a heart breaking Xue Meng and Jiang Xin father and son moment aaaaaaa. But what I got in the end was a knife in my heart by seeing Xue Meng get to know about Jiang Xi's adooted son 😭 So actually every character I was uninterested I became interested.

I get to like Moran more and more, and wanted them to be together. When Chu Wanning died, i cried. Twice, bc first the present Shizun then the previous Shizun life were taken away. But when Moran learned the truth about wontons, when he went to catch CWN's soul to the underworld...when his affection started to bloom again. Oh God, i could see sparkling eyes, and red ears Shizun.

After 5 yrs Shizun wake up. Ok so tbh the thirst they got made me crazy. At least it keot going on like 40 chapters and i was like OMFG HORNY TEENAGERS 😂 I couldn't bear their pain and thirst hahaha it was a long way to get togetheger. But they live was blooming, it got deeper and deeper.

Tho we were half at the story and they get together... Tho CWN didn't know Moran's secrets yet. Definetely it can't be a happy end like this... I started to train my soul, from now on it will be hell. And yes, actually hell happened through the 3rd book.

Nangong Si and Ye Wangxi storyline broke my heart. I wanted them to be happy together so much they would deserve it. Xue Meng's parents were so strong, they amazed me especially the Madam with her sacrifice. There was a lot of time when I thought YES go and get them. When Nangong Xi told his story I wished he could get his revenge. When Sisheng peak fall I wished they would let the world end. The 3rd book was amazing. I didn't mind that i couldn't breath. It was full of actions, it was fast, it was running at full speed, and I liked it. I liked that I couldn't read at one moment because I was hungry reading and scan readed a lot of things to get to the important part so i had to stop but i couldn't.

Until the last 2 chapters. Because the last 2 chapters gave me a headache. Chapter 309 made me cry I cried so hard. The reborn Moran's death was through 3 chapters. I felt my heart was taken out. Seeing CWN care for him and when he died he didn't want to let it go... I cried like a child. The whole situation with the judgments, the humiliating... It was hard to read. CWN came to save him I.... I cried. The same reborn technique can't be used twice on a soul, and Shizu already made him reborn in the previous life. When he gave his spirit to the body and made the same thing like TXJ in previous life to keep his body alive, until they're living the other's body won't rot- i kinda sensed that it will be used. But after his spirit core were fused in TXJ, the emperor met Moran, give his reborn memories to the 10 yrs old dead body and his soul, I was afraid his soul will merge in that body. But Taxian Jun has one soul, and he changed too, saved everybody and saved Shizun. When he was dying I asked my phone "HOW WILL THIS BE HAPPY END ITS OVER HIS BODY WILL TURN TO ASHES".

And then he woke up at a demon palace. Plot armor. Not dead, not alive. In one chapter "the last card" ironically REALLY is a last card. We get to know that not just Shi Mei, but Mo Ran is actually ACTUALLY A SPECIAL BUTTERFLY-BONED BEAUTY like WHAAAAT 😂😂 you... You can't just throw something so special so randomly. It doesn't work like that. It's totally a PLOT ARMOR! I can think that Taxian Jun was made to look like a demon but... It is not enough clue in the story to make me feel that it is a well builded line.

And the other thing.. why I have mixed feelings is the split personality. Like Moran and Taxian Jun exist. Both of them in one person. Mo Ran is too good while Taxian Jun is too agressive and possessive. This is why i would love to see his personality fused, like a normal human. It was a bit meh. I don't really like it. I would like to see a bit more agressive and possessive Moran, who is grey. Not just 3 days good Moran and 1 day his Majesty. But I will see how will this threesome work in the extras...

+1 Chu Xun'a story was really good, i thought it will be more into it, when they met in the underworld too, I really love how everything is connected!! And the thing that Chu Wanning is a divide wood spirit..... And áll the tree puns.... I cry 😂

I have to mention the antagonist too. Well from the start I didn't liked him. Shi Mei was fake. So fake I could see it. I had a feeling he will be the protagonist, and I spoiled it to later too. His story... Did not touch my heart so much. I thought I will like him, but I just like the present and alive Shi Mei! He chosen a different path. But previous shimei, Hua Binan....he was cruel. He didn't care about humans, just demons, and after knowing her mother story... It just didn't hit the right spots. He wasn't that much of a grey character i love.

This is it for now, maybe i will edit it, or write a part 2 when I feel it. I really love this story, I dont know what to do after it, tho i still have the extras fortunately. I can't wait the cdrama from it, Im so excited to see my 2 fav Shizun and disciple!!

PS pls feel free to talk to me, I don't really have ppl near me who read it, so im happy to chat about it with anybody 😭

[ask-hws-germanys]

Building off 2 other anons, I'd like to add my 2 cents if you're still taking advice and if not feel free to just delete this.

Most of your characters feel more like OCs than Germany alts, but while to me that makes a lot of sense since say if I were to meet a version of me that was born and raised in a different world completely different from my own, he would have a pretty different personality, depending on your theories of nature vs nurture when it comes to building a personality.

But because a lot of the alts feel like OCs (like I would not have thought Aster or Theobold to be versions of Germany if not for the name qnd description of your blog, while siren Germany and LT are more obvious as versions of Germany), sometimes people just don't know how to interact with them. While some OC blogs take off in the fandom, it's usually historical hetalia blogs or blogs that used to be for cqnon characters but were turned into OCs later because the artist left the fandom but still liked their muse.

IMO this isn't a bad thing, it's just one thing that might add an uphill battle for interactions and fan involvement, so I like the ideas of showing more Germany and Lutz to help out on that front.

I agree it's hard to know your audience, and while Tumblr has the set-up to be the best site for interaction, it just isn't for several factors I'm sure people who've been here longer and know about trends more can say better than I can. And as a fellow ace, I get being uncomfortable with the simping thing and want to say don't push yourself in that direction if it makes you uncomfortable.

By what I've seen with blogs that have come and gone, I usually saw the best interaction on blogs that leaned into humour and historical/cultural blogs. For more plot-heavy or backstory-heavy blogs, I usually saw them as part of collaborative AUs, where they helped each other by sending each other questions or interacting with each other, which got people to ask more about what would happen. Independent AU plot-driven blogs usually struggle, from what I've seen.

For this one blog, whose not in the Hetalia fandom anymore but most people knew their PH as being a hws OC before they left the fandom a good while back, I've seen them take questions from Facebook, so they've been cross-posting there. I've also seen people cross-post on DA, taking questions from the comments there as well as Tumblr. I haven't seen people do it with IG or Twitter, but I stayed away from the fandom on those apps even before the more recent drama.

So I rambled a lot, I'm sorry, but here's my bullet points.

- More Lud and Lutz as others said

- AU blogs aren't always popular, which there unfortunately isn't a fix for. It's more information to remember that interaction will unfortunately be lower than you hope BUT

- Cross-posting elsewhere can help get more eyes, and it gives you a good idea on where people are more likely to engage. Just a heads-up that you'd have to figure out how to change up the format for each site.

Good luck, and I hope your muses can find the love they deserve!

The weirdest thing is I always saw the opposite (aus being more popular), but I could never stand historical hetalia so I probably have blinders on in that regard. Nor can it really be helped because I'm not here for gritty IRL history. Not like I can't touch on it but it's just not my forte I like the AU side of the community I just find it more fun.

Dont worry Im used to low numbers and low interaction

I don't have anywhere else to cross post, I'm not using twitter, I have an Insta but the whole problem is that most sites other than tumblr dont let you view things in chronological order anymore. So I feel like it would only cause even more confusion. I only really use discord and tumblr. Maybe I could try making one of those ask blog discord a lot of people have? Meh.. who knows.

A lot of people are saying the number of characters is intimidating and at this point I'm very tempted to cut the cast down, I'll see what happens at this point.

[velociraptors-dont-lie]

My way

Pairing : Din Djarin x OC

Blurb: When something bad happens it’s unsure what one will do in the face of something new and scary. For one such as her, the role seems small, unimportant and yet she’ll do it all her way for the child in her care.

A/N : I wasn’t gonna post this because it seems a bit too ...meh. i dont even have a proper vision for this yet but...im sure it’ll come to me. i got into the star wars universe recently so im a bit uneducated which...kinda works for this story actually. Lemme know any thoughts though. 

Warnings: None? i don’t think in this chapter

Part Two

Chapter One: Arrival

There's a Galaxy not too far away.

It's beautiful. It's everything she could have possibly asked for and it's right there in her sights. It feels almost as if she could reach out and touch it, so close and yet so far away. So many things it could have been, yet it was a simple yet complex Galaxy that caught her eye in the dark space around her.  

Sighing, she looks away from the hunger-inducing chocolate bar and continues to work with her higher-paid...male coworkers.  

They bustled and ranted from all around her, flanked from all sides as she tried to figure just why they didn't treat her with the same respect other females in the workplace got.

Perhaps it was her clothes, her blue hair? her choice in jewelry perhaps? Everything about her seemed perfectly normal, she was fairly normal, kind, and helpful...so why did they seem to hate her so much?

Maybe it wasn't hate so much as indifference. They did thank her when she brought their coffee or tea and they did say please when they asked her for stuff. She smoothed down the black pencil skirt as she looked upon the notes and files on her desk.

The place of her work wasn't entirely for the simple. Sure there was the usual lab work, science work involving different studies, the particular area in which she was interning for, was Space.

Time and space.

The small team of scientists were working on several theories and tests all at the same time. Files from new technology to new ways to travel in space came through her desk each day.

Never had she thought something quite like this would be obtainable.

Pens, rocks, different fabrics, all of which had gone through the test of teleportation into space. The landings were screwy, some rocks landed in the dead nonexistent atmosphere, forever suspended.

Others had landed on different planets. Only discernible if the tracker still worked.

Three hamsters had died in transportation, more had suffocated in space...she knew which idiot had forgotten to put them in a sealed oxygenated box.

There were more failures than successes and they were no closer to their goal of finding out what lay on the other side of a Galaxy.

The day had started off like any other. She pined for her chocolate, pined for her soft fuzzy socks and warmth of her bed. As much as she loved that she had gotten into one of the most wanted lab spots as an intern.

She wished she was more than just an intern.

The light pink shirt she wore blended nicely between her blue hair and black pencil skirt; black heeled shoes completing the air of sophistication.  Everything seemed fairly normal except for the people.

They'd never been like this. The workplace always used to be kind and safe, now she just felt odd and scared. It was silent and they all looked at her with passing glances, hoping she wasn't realizing that they were staring sometimes.

It was awfully suspicious. All-day they'd be secretive, more so than usual and it was really starting to creep her out. So she reached down and picked up her bag from the floor, heading for the first reception out of the building.

''I'm heading home for the day, I don't feel too good.''

''Of course, Nora. I hope you feel better. Oh! quickly before you go-'' Nora rejected the urge to roll her eyes. Anticipating the gold medal run for Talking in the Olympics for England, Nora was ready for her feet to be aching, instead what she felt was entirely different.

The woman was still talking as the pinch in her neck subsided, Nora's eyes falling shut immediately, the world going blank as she fell back into the waiting arms of a coworker.

Well, Ex-coworker.

Waking up was a feat in itself. She felt hot, courtesy of the fact that they had stuffed her into a spacesuit, where they had acquired the thing or where they had put her favourite pair of shoes were the questions on her mind.

Aside from the obvious 'what the fuck are they doing to me' question in big bold letters, screaming itself in her head. At least it was before the realization set in.

They'd thrown her into a spacesuit without taking off her underclothes, her skirt bunched uncomfortably under it, she had no socks on in the giant boots. The vacuum-sealed room had only one exit and it was locked tight.

Though it wasn't entirely empty. She was there yes, but so were her shoes and her bag. ''THose are for you to keep in event you end up somewhere...alive.''

The head of their little team spoke on the other side of the glass. He used to be kind, he used to smile all the time and now he just looked evil, devoid of any emotion.  

''Please don't do this!'' It wasn't hard for them to hear her, the helmet's comm was connected to the entire room and she could hear her echo. ''I'll die!''

''Nonsense. You're the best human candidate we have for this test.''

''I never fucking volunteered! Asshole!'' She pounded her fist against the window, the fight in her was dead but she was going to act as if she had any chance of getting out of that room. ''People will look for me. They will miss me!''

''There's nothing to look for here. You left early after suddenly coming down with an illness.''  Anita's face fell, her own excuse being used against her so all her friends would think she was just another missing person.

''Fire it up.''

She could feel the rumble beneath her feet, the telltale startup of the machine. They actually going to do this. ''No! This is inhuman! Monstrous! Please don't!''

Ignored, the head starting barking more orders, muffled and incoherent as he turned off the comm connection. The lights in the room flickered, computer screens and phone screens, electricity could all but be seen in the air.

This was new. Something they seemed to have done behind her back. The normal machine never took so much power to be used, and she wondered just what needed so much power.

The answer came in the form of a strong wind. A pull from behind her and she could see that her bag was moving towards it.  

Space. In the palm of their hand, contained in this tiny room. They had opened a portal nearby to the andromeda galaxy, or it so seemed like they had done it. Anita couldn't actually see the galaxy, nor any galaxy or star, just the vast darkness of space.

Anita gathered her grey bag, shoving her shoes into it as she turned back to the window, banging on it in fear as she pleaded with them to stop this. Pleaded with their humanity that she would stay silent about this if they just let her out.

All her coworkers stayed still, neither moving nor blinking at the show of science in front of them. Whatever force of gravity was pulling her away was getting stronger, her instant hold on anything was pure instinct.

Though it was not strong enough. The gloves didn't allow for the same grip she would have had without them on.  She felt her hands slipping and when she eventually had been pulled from the bar.

The loss of gravity felt strange, as though she were in an elevator, her entire being felt weightless but it still terrified her to no end. On the edge of hyperventilating, she suddenly felt the sucking vacuum once again before Gravity dropped her to the ground.

Anita felt relief, eyes closed she thought perhaps the machine hadn't worked, that it had turned off and failed. On the contrary, The machine had worked too well.

The room she was in was empty. The scientists were baffled and the entire building was dark, everything within a five-mile radius was dark as the power had been used for the machine. The only thing that told the scientists that it had worked, was the lights they checked when they managed to get everything back on.

When Anita opened her eyes, the relief vanished and fear had returned. The ground underneath her was not white and tiled, it was brown and...sand, her helmet had cracked and she hear the air whistling through the tight gap as the wind blew.

She'd had been dead if she couldn't breathe the atmosphere so it had to be at least similar to Earths atmosphere. She was warm, too warm and she didn't know if it was because her heart was pounding or because of the sun looming overhead.

Wrenching off the bulky helmet, Anita worked on stripping the heavy and hot suit from her body which left her in just her smart work clothes and a labcoat. Anita's cries were loud, no one was around to hear them and she had to let out some of the emotions she was feeling.

She couldn't believe they had done that to her. She had worked with them for months and thought she was their friend. To be thrown away so easily wasn't something Anita was used to and crying in the middle of a desert, barefoot and at risk of cancer was something she never expected to be doing.

She picked up her bag, heels poking out the edge, and hugged to her chest. the only familiar thing around her wasn't going to leave her sight.  The sand was hot on her toes, tears still falling as she stood to her feet and wondered which direction to walk in to find any sort of civilization or place to set a base up.

She hadn't known how long she had been walking, sand was stuck to her feet as sweat dripped down her legs. Flyaway blue hairs stuck to her head and she wished she had more than the tiny bottle of water she bought on the way to work.

She was scared, alone, and had no way of knowing where she was. She hadn't seen anything more than a random frog-like thing hopping around. The racing heart and mind were only just starting to calm down when she heard shouting in a foreign language.

Something shot at her, just barely missing her toes in the sand and Anita screamed. Falling to her knees and throwing her hands in the air as non-threateningly as she could possibly get.  Hands roughly grabbed and shoved down behind her back, forced back to her feet and to walk in a direction different to the one she was going in.

''Please, I don't understand!!''

The strange beings that had seemed to take her prisoner continued to force her forward. Only 4 of them but the glimpse of red and green skin was enough to make her realize she didn't want to see them.

''Quiet!''

Something in her dropped with relief that they seemed to know even a little bit of English. She half thought she could perhaps reason with them, try to get them to let her go in any direction they were not in.

The feel of a gun barrel told her not to speak again though. Anita regretted not doing so as they walked over a large dune, an encampment sitting there looking all...suspicious to her.  More of the people who had captured her were walking around it, seemingly keeping guard of the place which only further cemented the fact that these were not good people...things.

They took her in and snatched her bag from her, one looked through it while the other pushed what looked like a metal egg towards her.

''Hey! B-be careful with those!'' Though scared, her phone was terribly expensive and she still wanted to keep all her familiar items from home even if some of them wouldn't work here.

The one with the gun like weapon jabbed her with the barrel and made a sound that told her to be quiet. pushing the metal egg into her thighs with more force. ''You care for it.''

''Care for what!? Is this thing alive!? It's an egg! Hey, now that is super duper expensive!'' Overwhelmed and jabbed once again with the gun barrel, Anita watched helplessly as the one with her bag dropped her perfume back in it without a care. She hoped it hadn't broken.

''Care for it!'' Hardly any other option at the end of a weapon, Anita wrapped her arms around the egg and held it close to her hoping to appease the thing talking in broken English. The other one threw her bag back down to the floor and they both left together, the large metal door shutting behind them heavily.

Evidently her only way out of the room, Anita had little choice but to sit on the floor and observe the metal egg she was given. It was white, but very clearly bashed up with a slit down the middle of the top end.

Anita squinted at what looked like buttons on the front of it. Gently tapping her painted fingernails on the metal, jumping when she heard a cooing sound muffled from within; her mouth made an 'o' shape at the realization that the egg itself wasn't alive, but there was instead something alive inside it.

She didn't want to open it. What if it was like those other things. What if it was scaly or had horns and sharp, what if it bit her entire hand off and she needed a metal hook to replace it!? Laughing at herself, Anita hovered her finger over the button counting to three before pressing it quickly and shuffling away on the off chance it would bite her.

The cooing sounded again, louder now it wasn't covered by the metal. Anita opened her eyes and glanced at it, thoroughly surprised by what she saw, for one, it was green...

And utterly adorable.

''Oh hiiii.'' Whatever it was cooed again at her tone and Anita held her breath, heart pounding for a completely different reason now. ''You've been kept in this pod thing like this the whole time?''

She questioned mostly to herself, as it seemed not to be able to speak actual words. It tilted its head, large green ears the size of her hands flopping a little at the tips and it made another sound as it reached its hands out to her.

Anita could almost burst out into tears, it wanted to be held and it looked so heartbrokenly neglected. She immediately swooped it from the weird metal bassinet thing and cradled it to her chest, wondering if her heart could break anymore when it closed its eyes and tapped its small green finger to the sound of her heartbeat.

''Oh honey, they've been treating you horridly haven't they?'' at this, it's hands bunched in her lab coat. The creature was obviously quite frightened, confused as to why it was so important to the other things and Anita had chosen her path in this new galaxy, right by this child's side for as long as it needed her.

''There's no need to be afraid anymore. I am your mother now and I will protect you.''

[sp-ud]

i finished dr2! it was so good! i was so happy when makoto, kyoko and byakuya showed up, it was just so cool!

i really like how they made the choice to leave not because of hope or despair, but because they wanted to move forward and create their own future. it was a nice way to end the game, and i’m glad hajime seems to have not completely disappeared as the ending implied? it was nice to see chiaki helping them one last time as well

my favourite case has to be nagito’s. it was just so clever and the realisation of how he’d set up the murder was so horrifying. it was a lot of fun to play through

i guess i’ll have to look into udg next!

danganronpa endings are always so good. i think the only "meh" ending is the dr3 anime :p

oh yeah, each of the main games has a different "vs" theme. "hope vs despair", "past vs future", and v3's is a tad of a spoiler but its pretty good too. im not sure if udg has a different "vs" theme i cant remember off the top of my head.

oh and yeah hajime's still there, its elaborated on a bit more in the dr3 anime and the ova (ive still never watched the ova actually). and chiaki honestly #1 homie. she just loves her friends.

nagitos trial is probably my 2nd fav of the whole series, my first is the 5th trial in v3. nagito's trial is just like, so interesting and really cements how smart he is.

and ye udg is pretty good. my personal opinion is that its both the best game and the worst game in the series. the worst is mostly about certain aspects of the writing while the best is because the protags my beloved <3

i honestly think it'd be cool if we got more "another episode" like spinoffs in the series because i just love exploring more of the world building of the dr universe.

[mysterious-crimson-lotus]

in your opinion is boruto the anime better or the manga? Im thinking of starting it too but the anime just seems so meh idk why

Hello, and thank you for asking! 

Long story short, the manga is better. It’s rather good and fun to read, and is currently number 2 on Shueisha’s Manga Plus app (second only to One Piece, which it often overtakes). The anime is... it’s getting there. 

If you want to know why I think that, click “read more” and see my explanation. There aren’t any real spoilers, but I’m hiding it in case you don’t want a “review” to colour your perspective before you even get in (if you do). If you don’t care, then go ahead. 

Here’s an interesting thing to note. See, usually with a manga, if it’s adapted, it’s usually just copies the source as it is, with a few omissions, alteration and additions. Maybe there are filler episodes that are ultimately not canon. Boruto is special in that there is manga canon and anime canon. There are entire anime-only arcs (basically, the majority of the entire anime) that are considered canon (there are still fillers though). 

Focus and pace: The manga is very focused; it has the main storyline and it sticks to fully, with little to no meandering, tangents, etc. While it allows for a cleaner story, it makes it feel really fast at times, like everything is happening one after the other in quick succession. It feels like there isn’t enough time to breathe. This rapidity lends well to its action and fight scenes, which are exciting and are clearly given a lot of attention. In contrast, a lot of the anime-canon arcs still feel very sluggish, which makes the anime, for me, very slow. Painfully so, at times. When it picks up, it’s great, but overall, it does tend to drag (it is getting a bit better though). It makes up for this by allowing for more time to look at side characters, including old gen, and does so to varying degrees of success. Ino, Shikamaru, Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke are obvious favourites of the Boruto anime team. Team 8... Sigh. They got, as I believe is the scientific term for this, shafted (my boi Shino especially). 

The overall plot of the manga is very interesting, but as I said before, this doesn’t carry over to the anime very well because of how slow it is. The fillers and the anime-canon arcs do often have fairly interesting premises, and have interesting ideas, but have predictable outcomes and very few consequences (though they do help us connect more with manga characters that otherwise don’t get enough attention). The manga’s overarching plot is rather unpredictable, on the other hand. But again, they traded excitement and focus for detail and introspection. You don’t connect with the characters much outside of the core ones. 

Then there’s art. I’m personally the kind of person who usually doesn’t care about the art or animation style (it’s not a deal breaker for me). However, judging from my sister (she refused to read the wonderful Kaguya-sama manga simply because she disliked the art of the first few chapters), the art can be a big deal for people, especially considering that this is a visual medium. In that case, I will have to admit that the Boruto manga simply does not visually appeal to me. I won’t go as far as to say I hate it, but I have my fair share of problems with it -- especially early on (the only character that I think was drawn well is Naruto). I don’t know, it might be my Kishimoto biases kicking in. The anime, on this front, takes a victory, but the animation quality is fairly inconsistent. And I will have to confess that I’m a sucker for the early Naruto (Waves arc) animation. Doesn’t work as well when you have aliens flying about, but still. 

Essentially, the manga is better. It’s actually really good. But its strengths come from its interesting shounen plot and the action and the excitement. The ideas are fascinating. The world building is good; it’s a bit lacking at the moment, especially in comparison with Naruto, but then again, Naruto had longer, plus Boruto is ultimately a sequel. In terms of morals, relationships, attachment to characters, and art, I find it a bit weak (but that’s just my view). As for the anime, it’s slow, can’t maintain energy levels, helps lead up to manga events and characters but overall feels inconsequential. I don’t want to call the anime garbage or anything, it honestly does have some excellent content, can be really fun, and it is getting better, it’s just that there’s too much that feels like it was dragged on for no reason. They both have very specific problems other than the ones I mentioned, but those are closer to spoiler territory.

Anyways, hope that this was helpful! (if you read it, of course). These are just my own thoughts, so if anyone who sees this wants to disagree or add their own views, please feel free (in a tasteful manner, though. Boruto does tend to be fairly controversial). 

Conclusion: read Spy x Family. No controversial anime, no expectations. All awesome. 

Me when I see Shino in Boruto: