#write yourself a love letter

[folkloregirlfriend]

hiiiii quiz

[bottombaron]

wait.

if Nandor knew that the only way to reverse the transformation was to kill the vampire that sired Guillermo...

he was going to travel the world...with his best friend...go back to his home...turn Guillermo at the banks of the Tigris

in s3 finale, after Guillermo had cornered Nandor, proving he can have violent intent towards him, Nandor says, "yes, yes. this is what I've been waiting for. you've passed the test"

but he wasn't talking about being a vampire...

he was talking about what he would have to do after...

[compacflt]

my apologies if this is too simple or juvenile or personal a question but HOW did you become such a proficient writer? and do you have any tips or pointers to keep in mind? i know you must do a lot of reading and a lot of writing, but your skill is just incredible to me. your prose!! your cadence!! when we get around to talking about it is genuinely one of the best things i've ever read and i'd eat it if i could!!!

this ask was so sweet thank you!! rly made my day when i needed a boost. Hope you don’t mind i took a couple days to think about it cause no one’s ever asked me for writing advice before

idk how i became a “proficient” writer bc I really don’t write that much. something about my fic gave me brainworms and i went into overdrive but that’s…not my usual MO. which is why it’s weird for me too. admittedly i am studying english/creative writing as my second major at uni, but i haven’t learned anything in any of my classes you couldn’t learn by just reading and writing on your own. honestly i should’ve stuck with my IR major instead, i find structured cw classes a complete waste of time. but here are some little tips i thought of that would’ve helped ME:

This is more a “do as I say not as I do” because I’m really bad at habits like this, but keep a diary. You can write about the big events (went to the store, did homework, got laid etc.) but that’s boring—focus on the details (watched someone at west side market throw a glass bottle of olives at a rat, broke a pen and permanently stained my dorm desk and won’t get my deposit back which pissed me off because I move out in a week, this guy’s breath smelled like lemon pledge and it made me wonder if he drank window cleaner before kissing me etc.). Real life is really interesting! How can you write about interesting real life in an interesting way? It’s a good way to practice. You don’t have to do a big reflection at the end of the day or anything. It’s okay to jot down something you saw & then immediately forget about it. It’s the act of figuring out how to translate life into words that’s important

If you type, learn how to type FAST. This is just my experience, but I think typing faster makes your cadence, clause length, dialogue, IDEAS flow better/more naturally. We think in words/sentences, not letters.

This is a super lame tip that’ll make you roll your eyes, but read poetry. Poetry is all about how words/ideas/images sound and interact with each other. Don’t get hung up on one poet—im not really recommending any for precisely this reason—read poetry you love (for me, Ada Limón, Jack Kerouac, Frank O’Hara, ghazals etc) AND read poetry you hate (for me, Rupi Kaur, Emily Dickinson, Whitman, etc)! Read all genres you can get your hands on. (I think there are like “great poetry anthologies” you can find for free online if u don’t know where to start. Also you can’t go wrong with subscribing to/reading a variety magazine like the NYer. It’s pretentious but it exposes you to all kinds of weird topics, ways of writing about them, etc.) Figure out how certain combinations of words and punctuations make you FEEL, and why, and why the writer chose (or not) to make you feel that way. Figure out which literary sounds you like and which ones you don’t. For me, i figured out that I REALLY like alliteration, comma splices, zeugmas, the rule of three, and

“he’s [verb]ing again… yeah compacflt’s characters are [verb]ing again… big shocker”

If you have an idea for a piece, figure out what it is you really want to get out of it—to say something? to experiment with a different style? to see your fav characters do something? to have fun?—and then figure out how, on a technical level, you should write to match that goal (this is where the poetry training comes in handy). If you’re just writing to have fun, don’t listen to any writing advice (incl. mine), because most of it is bullshit and over-generalized and will make you feel bad about yourself. Just take the advice that you think will work for what YOURE trying to write.

But if you’re writing to explore some political idea, then you should think about HOW to best write about that idea. What would be a convincing story/allegory/scene to engage with this idea vs. not convincing. I talk on this blog all the time about how disappointed I am that my very-adult-grown-up attempt to deal with the dynamic of “immovable internalized homophobia vs unstoppable falling in love anyway” is rendered a little childish/immature by some pretty unconvincing plot points like the characters buying a house together—I really should have considered how that plot point would interact with the characterizations I’d built already (hint: poorly). You can think of writing as kind of a military structure if that helps—you have strategy on the overarching campaign (plot/character growth/allegory/theme) level, the battle (scene that advances the above) level, and the tactical (sentence-level construction/syntax/wording) level. They all have to work together. If a scene is failing to properly engage with the idea you’re trying to convey, you’re losing a battle that will weaken the overarching campaign. Same thing if you choose a weird word in a sentence/write in a style or tone that’s weirdly out of place with your idea—it makes your engagement with the theme/idea less convincing. just try to be purposeful and consider your strategy on all levels of your work as you’re writing it!! At the very least it’ll make editing easier lol.

But then again when I read my own writing from just a couple months ago I cringe out of my skin, so like—just also accept that it’s a process and we’re all just making it up as we go along. Be proud of being embarrassed of your old work, because it means you’re growing. Own that shit. When I finished writing WWGATTAI i thought it was the best thing I’d ever written, and maybe it was. But since the day I finished working on it, it’s the worst thing I’ve written since then. That’s a great feeling. Not to be like writing grindset obviously bc it’s supposed to be fun—but if what you want is to get better at writing, the strategy is to WRITE a whole bunch of shit, and then own your embarrassment about how much you’ve grown since you started. And know you’re still always growing and learning. there should never be any “goals” where skills are concerned 👍🏽

[dolceaspidenera]

Our Personal Take on Baldur’s Gate 3

Foreword

After many hours of gameplay and the initial excitement about Baldur's Gate 3, it's finally time to switch back on our brains' critical and analytical parts and express a more articulated opinion on the game.

Even though it’s likely that this letter will only reach a few people, we’ll try to get our thoughts out there for anyone to read.

DISCLAIMERS: what follows is intended as constructive criticism towards the game from fans who have little to no experience in game development beyond what is publicly and generally available, alongside a small taste of it during the academic career of one of the writers. This letter was written before Patch #1. If in the meantime, anything we've pointed out has been corrected, we'll be more than happy about that! 

Also, this post has no intention whatsoever to belittle Larian's effort, to whom goes our greatest appreciation and gratitude for making such a beautiful, rich, interesting, fun game, which respects us fans and consumers beyond what the market has led us to expect from other game-development companies. This game is simply beyond greatness in a gaming landscape filled with micro-transactions, poor and recycled content, washed-out stories, and live services, it’s clear how it's a work of passion down to the last single, accurately crafted detail. 

All the praise the game is receiving is absolutely well deserved, and since most of the good stuff has already been said, we've decided to focus our attention on the type of content we’d like to see more and that we felt there was a lack of.

We'll be discussing the following topics:

Interactions with/between companions;

Skill checks management;

Party management. 

Lastly, this post has been cooperatively written with @myopic-skull, but in the following, the singular first person will be used to enhance the experiences of each player.

Thanks for reading and sticking with us; we hope you will appreciate our ideas and points of view and beware of the long post under the cut.

Interactions and Dialogues

Scarcity of Dialogues Between the Main Character and Companions

After many hours of gameplay, I've been feeling a lack of dialogue with the companions. 

I must admit that I am one of those people who would gladly spend hours talking to everyone in the camp at each chance they get, while I understand that other people don't care about this aspect of the game and skip most dialogues to get back to the gameplay. Still, I think that dialogues are a fundamental aspect of RPGs.

Of course, worldbuilding and plot — of which there is definitely no lack in Baldur's Gate 3 — are also pillars of this genre, but after all, the strong relations you tie with the other characters and the affection towards them are what make you feel deep inside you that your choices have consequences, and that those consequences carry a huge weight, that let you realise that the stakes are high and that they would affect someone you've grown fond of and care about.

Please, Larian, grant me the possibility to spend more time with my companions, talk to them more, and get to know them better. It's frustrating how each time I go back to the camp, I'm hoping to read new dialogues and discuss the recent events, just to end up reading the same old default lines. I'm not saying that the characters are uninteresting or badly written. Quite the opposite! It’s because they are such interesting characters that I crave to know more and to discover every little detail about their stories and personalities, and above all else, to spend more time with them.

⚠ Spoilers about Act 2 ahead! Astarion's backstory is incredible. I love how Larian handled such a character. I've loved the revelation that for him, sex has been weaponized, that it's been a traumatic experience about which he never had any freedom of choice and that it's become second nature for him to use it to manipulate people. Also, I love that Shadowheart's story touches on topics such as religious trauma and how many small details about her she reveals to the Main Character — such as her fear of wolves, her favourite flower, etc. These are just a couple of examples of the fantastic work I think Larian has done. End of spoilers ⚠

The problem is that these discoveries and interactions are spread over way too many hours, especially in Act 2, while Act 1 seems denser. The evolution of relationships with the characters doesn't develop organically through many conversations that let you know more about them. It's mostly dependent on their personal quests, leading to many hours of silence or irrelevant dialogues, eventually leaving the feeling that the pacing is off. Even after huge events, there's been a lack of comments by the companions, usually only a couple of lines where you don’t get to answer anything.

Scarcity of Party Banters and Dialogues between Companions

I know it may not look like a big part of the game, but the small interactions between party members can go a long way regarding their characterization and building a sense of cooperation and group dynamics.

Sadly, despite the over 100 hours of gameplay and having reached Act 3, most of the time has been spent in total silence when it comes to the companions. Maybe just three to four interactions in the beginning, but definitely not more. Nevertheless, I can't be sure not to be experiencing a bug that may be causing this problem. In fact, I'm curious to find out what other people's experience has been when it comes to this, because I'm suffering due to this lack of interactions.

Thinking back to games like Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect — which I believe Baldur's Gate 3 to be the closest heir of — there were many more episodes where the party would talk to each other, helping with the immersion in the game's world. Moreover, they helped to flesh out the characters, to make them feel more real, and they were ultimately fun to listen to. This has always been one of the facets of this genre that I loved the most, and it's sad to experience so few interactions while playing Baldur's Gate 3. This feels like a missed opportunity, especially given the huge potential of its wonderful characters and the amazing voice actors who give them life.

The dialogues between Morrigan and Alistair in Dragon Age: Origins were extremely fun and entertaining, giving the illusion that the characters were more than a bunch of polygons and some scripted lines. Not to be forgotten are also the exhilarating interactions between Zevran and Wynne or Shale's rants against pigeons after spending centuries as a statue. And can we not think about the embarrassing and beautifully cringe conversations in the Citadel's escalator in Mass Effect? And these are just a few examples. They may seem like small details in the grand scheme of these games' massive plots, but these details are what make us care for the characters, what we think about with a smile while reminiscing about these games, and what makes these characters feel like old friends who made us laugh, cry, and think. It's strange how Larian has thought of so many other great details with Baldur's Gate 3, but has ultimately skipped this particular aspect of the Role-Playing part of the game.

Just to put it into perspective and give a better idea:

Dragon Age: Origins has almost 3h40' of banter. Party banter | Dragon Age: Origins

Dragon Age: Inquisition has close to 5h30' of banter. Party banter [complete] | Dragon Age: Inquisition

Baldur's Gate 3's early access appeared to have around 20 minutes of banter, and most of it is now in Act 1, while Acts 2 and 3 are especially empty. Party banter | Baldur's Gate 3 [Early Access]

Mutual Exclusion of Character's Interventions During Dialogues

I'm frustrated by the fact that the intervention or the comment by a party member during a dialogue prevents any other comments from any other party member from happening, especially when we know that there won't likely be any others when the dialogue is over and that probably nobody will react to it. I don't feel like this adds to the replayability of the scene or of the game. I think it just gives the sensation of missing out on content and the chance to get to know the characters better. Also, the interactions are so randomised that by reloading the game, we might hear the same line over and over again before someone else says something different. This is different from the feeling that choosing a different answer may open up new paths and lead to a different outcome. This is just a feeling of missing out on content and being locked out from all the possible experiences.

For example, I recently had to reload a dialogue due to terrible dice rolls — I know. Please don't judge me. The Dice Gods have hated me enough already while playing D&D irl. - The first time, I heard a comment by Shadowheart, while the second time Astarion, whom I'm currently romancing, expressed some concern for my character in his usual sarcastic, subtle way. If I hadn't reloaded, I would have missed this small but cute and interesting detail, which is also narratively significant.

Also, there are little to no interactions between the characters in this sense. The dialogue between Astarion and Shadowheart during the scene with Abdirak, Loviatar's follower, is exhilaratingly funny, and I would love to see more interactions like this one.

I love how each character is extremely supportive of the others when something big happens to them. But this is only shown when explicitly interacting with them, never in a spontaneous way between them or through party banter.

Skill Checks Management

We're a party and we're working together: why, for example, shouldn't the big, strong, muscular barbarian be able to intervene when the situation calls for some intimidation or the strength to kick down a door? I really miss this feature in the game, which would help a lot in conveying the sense of teamwork and of belonging to a real D&D-style party.

Party Management

Let's face it, it's tedious to manage the party.

Instead of relying on a quick and easy interface like the one from Dragon Age: Origins maybe, managing all the companions, swapping the equipment, levelling up, and changing who's part of the actual party is a hassle. You need to listen to the same couple of lines every time for each character. This can be fun the first few times, but it gets increasingly tedious as the game progresses.

Closing Remarks

Once again, we'd like to point out that we're exceedingly satisfied with the game. We love it and think it's worth every penny we've paid. Also, Larian deserves all their praise for building such a special and huge game, so far from what the market mistakenly thinks we deserve.

For many years, we hadn't experienced such eagerness to play; days go by thinking about the moment when we'll be turning on the PC, launching the game and getting back into the story. We had surrendered to the idea that, unfortunately, our love towards cRPGs didn’t align with that of most people and the market. We thought we would never play anything like Dragon Age: Origins, Pillars of Eternity, or Divinity Original Sin ever again.

These criticisms stem from our love for the genre and the game itself: we would love to spend more time with it and with its incredible characters.

So Larian, please, we beg you on our knees crying, grant us more content about the amazing characters you gifted us 🙇‍♀️🛐🥺😭

With love, MT, L and whoever agrees: fans of yours ❤

[meetthesoldier]

i love u objectum headcanons

[anastacialy]

y'know, i keep making a habit of swinging my bat at hornets nests, but i have to say i'm getting so, so tired of people complaining about shows not making perfect sense when they aren't even close to done. we're four episodes into this season of doctor who. we're four episodes into this season of bridgerton. and yet in both fandoms i keep seeing people whine that such and such didn't make sense or it wasn't explained all the way and by god you guys i think maybe explanations might come later in the season. this is something most viewers will recognize as being called a 'plot.'

[passthroughtime]

today i’m thinking about “different first meeting” kuwagami scenario where kuwana is acquainted with kaito beforehand, BUT not as friends, but as fuckbuddies at most. maybe, even just as a one night stand.

yagami comes to kaito’s apartment because he couldn’t reach him or something, and sees another new guy coming out of his shower; this isn’t news for him that kaito occasionally hooked up with random women and men alike, with preference in the former. yagami pays kuwana no mind and actively deflects any advances from him, thinking that kuwana sees him as another fuckbuddy of kaito. yagami doesn’t fuck around that much, and definitely isn’t in the mood to find somebody to stay the night with: they have an urgent case, and there isn’t any other thing on his mind at the moment.

while kuwana falls in love with yagami at the first sight. sure it’s weird to fall for a business partner of the guy he just fucked and isn’t going to remember for long. but, yagami is perfect, in some stupid way. kuwana says something dumb, gets rejected, and his hurting heart tells him he can’t let yagami go. he hasn’t felt this way about anyone in years.

so, he starts to hang around kaito much more frequently, they may even be called friends at some point. yagami thinks they are dating; this is the last thing kuwana wants him to think.

although, they click with each other pretty quickly; with all the annoyance, it’s fun to bicker with him, rarely being serious, picking on him and being picked on in turn. but it also frustrates yagami, because he sees that kuwana doesn’t really care about kaito (the amount he'd expect of the guy kaito is together with). while kuwana sees that yagami worries for kaito, and thinks that it’s in that way. once, he, heartbroken and losing hope, asks what yagami sees in kaito (as a possible romantic partner), but words it badly and is understood even worse. yagami falls out with kuwana, and they stop talking altogether.

yagami sulks and is very upset, because he thought they had something special going there, even if it was just a mutual interest, which wouldn’t turn into anything else. kuwana stops talking to kaito, explaining to him that it was because he couldn’t bear to be with yagami in one room when he hates him so much. his words kind of insinuate of kuwana’s feelings for yagami, but kaito doesn’t catch the hint.

some time passes, and yagami and kaito talk about kuwana. yagami says that he regrets so much cutting kuwana off from his life. kaito remembers what kuwana said, tells it to yagami as word for word as he could remember, and though he doesn’t understand what’s wrong, yagami sees kuwana’s message clearly.

yagami can’t reach him by his number (it’s out of service), so he comes to his house in ijincho. he isn’t home, but yagami waits for him. approaching his house, kuwana sees him sitting on the steps and asks, “did you not cuss me enough?” and everything he says is openly antagonizing. yagami tries to talk to him calmly, but with time kuwana, unyielding, starts to piss him off. yagami says something along, “and here i thought you’d want me to apologize to you” and storms out the house with an intention to drink this anger away and come back.

kuwana isn’t able to stop him (when he tries, yagami punches him in the nose so hard kuwana sees stars, and it starts bleeding), but he finds him leaning on the railing in the nearby parking lot, with cheep beer in his hands. “you didn’t escape far. feeling guilty?”, kuwana asks, meaning his injury. “yes,” yagami answers, meaning the argument that lead them to stop talking with each other.

kuwana asks to share his beer with him, to which yagami complies, and jokes about them having an indirect kiss. “so childish,” yagami says, “we are long past the age of indirect kisses.” “do you want an ‘adult’ kiss?” kuwana jokingly asks, falling into their playful type of talking naturally. “yes,” yagami answers, and kuwana hears no ridicule in turn. he kisses him and tries to say that he wanted to kiss him for as long as they know each other.

“i knew that all this time,” yagami interrupts him, “but i didn’t want a kiss from somebody who isn’t serious about it.” after kuwana’s question of what has changed, yagami answers, “because now i also know you want more from me than this, or sex, or whatever. makes kissing you a lot less disgusting.” kuwana laughs, and yagami steals this sound with another kiss.

[falldogbombsthemoon]

Happy Pride Month!! :D

HELL YEA HAPPY PRIDE MY GUYSSSS

[sevenyeargap]

so i keep seeing posts about both performative activism and people saying that it's "okay to take a break from posting about genocide for mental health reasons" and i feel like some people are confusing activism with "triggering yourself on purpose by constantly doomscrolling to prove yourself youre Doing Something By Reblogging Posts on Tumblr Dot Com". and i also think that some people see activism as this really impossible thing to do/something impossible to do if you're disabled and or poor but that's not true? and while, yeah, it is going to be more difficult if you're disabled, because of many reasons, but you also don't have to become an asylum lawyer or whatever to make a difference. you can volunteer whenever you're able to at your local food bank, save some money (even if it's like 10€!!) and donate it to ngos every month, go to protests, it's not that hard i promise and it WILL make a difference

[clandestine-sadboy]

You wanna know how I know I love you more?

We are officially separated but I can’t sit and talk bad about you. I have absolutely zero interest in diminishing your character, hurting your heart any longer… zero interest in wishing you any harm… or going out of my way to make things harder for you. I haven’t even let your toxic actions deter me from my feelings about you.

I prepared myself to live without you. I made myself feel okay with waking up alone. I spent days upon days in my head and still I find myself missing you as a person- I find myself wondering what you’re doing. I ask myself questions, like how could I have kept this from happening? And that’s the moment I gave myself even a little bit of grace; I came to realize that it didn’t matter what I wanted… it never really did. But I’m hoping you’re happy though. Even tho you wish me ill, I just wanted you to know I don’t regret any moment with you. I just miss you.

But I won’t force love anymore. I’m sorry I did this to us.

Trey K.

[rimouskis]

came across a letter a friend wrote to me in high school and lol. lmao. l o l.

[bylerpoet]

we got will giving mike a painting. now i need mike to gift will one of his poems

[liones-s]

a long time ago I used to write love letters to strangers. I liked doing it, and I miss it so I’d like to do it again. If you’d like one, inbox me a few little things about yourself and I will write you a letter

[rawraminirawr]

Inspired after seeing this quote on just-another-broken-soul

[pinkfey]

Why do so many people vote yes on the Dorian and Wyll poll? Dorian is pro slavery? Wyll has better morals than that, lol.

real and true real and true !! nearly every dragon age character has at least ONE eyebrow raising moment (because shitty writing lmao not because the writers want to actually dissect and deconstruct any of the complexities of their characters biases) so it probably never stuck out to people

[euniveve]

my 2024 resolution:

finish TPHD

finish TLRA

write that political enemies to lovers ayato/reader

write that modern au figure skating & kyudo hyper fixation fic zhongli/reader

take a break where I can sleep for 16 hours

and hopefully not break my back