#(not creative enough to make that leap I guess)

[sleepdepravity]

Started thinking about musical songs and also reigen and now I’m ruminating on reigen having bialystock energy……

[yaseraphine]

pick a card 3 - something you need to hear right now.

Last day where the Sun is in Scorpio. First day where the Sun enters Sagittarius.

The month of November is always a tough month for everyone. This pick a card is aimed to give some guidance through these dark times. Scorpio energy can be sometimes overwhelmingly intense and gloomy, but it holds great power. Use this energy to die peacefully, and shed your old skin. Like a phoenix, we will all rise from our ashes.

Words of encouragement, healing messages and a tiny bit of reality checks are what this reading will bring you. Hope it resonates.

Pile 1 

The World, 2 of Wands, Knight of Wands, Page of Swords, 10 of Swords (Rx), Queen of Pentacles (Rx?)

Top of the deck : 8 of Cups

Bottom of the deck : 2 of Swords

Life path 7 / Life path 11

“You don’t drown by falling in the water, you drown by staying there.”

“Do what makes you fucking happy”

additional quote : “Do what makes your soul shine <3”

Right off the bat, there is a sense of urgency in walking away from something and making a firm decision. I think you have been in denial about something in your life, avoiding it by trying to live a “normal life”. You’ve been focusing on your day to day tasks as a distraction but something has been at the back of your mind for a while now. And when I say for a while, I mean at least two years, or one year. It is something that you have, overtime, subconsciously suppressed because at the time this thing, career, job, creative endeavor,.. was important to you, but you did not have (or thought you didn’t have) enough knowledge and resources to take methodical practical steps towards it. I am picking up that this might have been something that happened slightly before or during the pandemic (2019/2020). The World fell out of the deck, and this card indicates the completion of a cycle, an ending. After it, the 2 of Wands fell, which indicates future planning, progress, decision and discovery. I feel like the message you need to hear is that now is the perfect time to start this project of yours, or at least plan the practical actions you need to take over the course of the next few months to accomplish it. Don’t overthink over certain details and possible technical issues. There is a fire inside of you that you consistently turned off, thinking and hoping that the embers would eventually die out. The problem you are currently facing is that they never did. You might have an Aries North node. Being assertive and independent doesn’t come easy to you. Starting projects and following your instincts without second guessing yourself is hard. You tried to manage your truest and deepest desires but I feel like this past year, the desire to let it all out, probably influenced by the Lunar nodes being in the sign of Aries and Libra, urging you to just go for it, intensified to the point of suffocation. 

Your spirit guides are urging you to take this leap of faith, to walk confidently towards that goal like The Fool, without worrying if you run the risk of falling from a ravine in the process.

They’re telling you to start slow, to take a step by step approach while still keeping a strong mindset. You will come out victorious only if you’re able to keep pushing through the obstacles. What awaits you is a slow and steady marathon and growth. You can do it !

Oracle cards from the Green With Oracle pulled for you : 

16 - Memory / Rosemary => Leo energy

“Deeper levels of connection with people, concepts and plans are all areas that Rosemary works with. You are reminded to ensure you are in touch with your inner wisdom, paying heed to the past, and have cleared what needs to be released. Listen to your intuition as it is calling to you at present, but be wary of gossip or becoming tactless or too forceful.”

5 - Grounding / Potato => Virgo energy

“Explore the deepest, innermost areas of yourself and situations, as potatoes indicate energies that are calling you to look again at what you may have once missed and will help to bring stability. If you are looking for an answer, try pulling back a little to let things settle on their own first. Challenges at the moment may include ignorance, self-centeredness and forgetfulness, so make sure you are compassionate and focused.

You are called to use all the knowledge you acquired overtime to finally take action. You’re currently ending a cycle. You have enough wisdom to make a plan that will lead you closer and closer to tangible success. Trust your intuition and inner guidance. Don’t make rash decisions, but be decisive.

Just realized these two cards have the same message in the guide book ! This is a crazy coincidence. I used it many times and never paid attention. I didn’t even know two cards could have the same message. This is crazy lol.  Let me share the quote with you : 

 “When the world wearies and society fails to satisfy, there is always the garden”

Pile 2 

2 of cups, 3 of Pentacles, Queen of Wands, Ace of Wands, The Star, 2 of Swords, Page of Pentacles 10 of Pentacles

“The same light you see in others is shining within you too.”

(there are a lot of references to light, stars,shining,;. throughout the reading. Are you drawn to space ? or the galaxy ? You’re probably a huge astrology, and/or astronomy nerd. You are probably also a huge dreamer. Maybe drawn to the idea of being a starseed. You might have strong aquarius placements, or a populated 11th house. Pluto finally going in Aquarius this week is going to grant you so much luck and recognition ! You are about to step into your power for the next 20 years. Like a rocket, you are about to fly towards the stars. Are you ready for the take off ?  

“Don’t let the ugliness of others kill the beauty in you”

Something you need to hear is that you are about to be blessed by the universe ! Shooting Star by XG just started playing !

“Babe, if I give it my all, will it pay off?

Workin' overtime, no days off

All these shootin' stars in the dark (Yeah)

All these shootin' stars in the dark, make a wish (Yeah)

Takin' off from the ground, it's amazin'

So outta this world, I'm in space

Now I'm goin' up, headin' to the stars

Wouldn't trade it out for another life, no

Yeah, we ridin', ridin', ridin' on up (Woo)

So shinin', shinin', shinin' for sure

Ooh, ah, I'm lookin' so lavish (Shinin', shinin', yeah)

Ooh, ah, put in work like it's a habit (I'm lookin' so lavish)

It's a big move, every day's like a dream

Makin' big moves as I should 'cause I'm a queen (Ooh)

Ooh, ah, I'm lookin' so lavish

Ooh, ah, yeah, I bet you can't imagine (Oh yeah)”

You are shining on your way towards the stars. You are currently in your Queen of Wands and Ace of Wands energy, (Million Dollar Baby just started playing, you’re really sure of yourself and goal oriented right now).

You are bursting with confidence and assertiveness. You are determined towards your goals. You are in a “work hard, play hard” type of energy. If it’s not currently happening, you are about to have a huge burst of popularity on whatever you’re currently working on. Could be any project, a youtube channel, a business : there are a few people that are well respected in the industry you're aiming for that are eyeing you right now and that are about to offer you a contract/ a deal/ a collaboration. They have been probably on a hunt for someone like you for a while now and they were probably starting to lose hope until they came across your page/work/profile. They see you as a Star, you’re unique and like The Star in the tarot, you represent hope and faith to them/to their business/ association/school/company. They see your raw potential and they are going to help you refine it. 

Right now, you’re probably more focused on your work/ career/ school and nurturing your friendships, going out. You’re basically active in your social circles and this is benefiting you a lot ! 

An additional message you need to know is that you’re attracting a soulmate! It’s not necessarily a romantic soulmate, could be a friendship, a mentor.. Whatever the nature of this relationship is, it is going to fill you up with even more joy and hope! Your spirit guides are so proud of you and of all the work you have been putting in lately. Even though it was hard, you stayed patient and worked diligently towards your goals and desired reality. You did a lot of shadow work, tried your best to let go of the limiting beliefs that were holding you back. The Universe wants to tell you they are about to reward you.

Oracle card from the Green With Oracle pulled for you : 

40 - Positivity / Marigold : Leo energy (again you are shining and radiating confidence! Your solar plexus chakra and sacral chakra might be in overdrive currently! You are the main character in the play that is your life.)

 “A better understanding is indicated and a reason to be more optimistic about outcomes and the roads to get there. There are opportunities for nurturing encounters and a general aura of happiness pervades. Marigolds help us focus on the positive aspects of even the most difficult events. Your inner child may need to come out for a play, and be sure to take creative invitations. Be wary of not having all the facts and of emotional blockages.”

Pile 3

TW : this pile is a bit sad and angsty.

Before I pulled any cards for you, I already felt your energy overlapping in Pile 2’s reading. Your energy was really intense, deep and melancholic. Sad songs started playing, which completely contradicted pile 2’s energy (which was overwhelmingly positive). You are probably going through a really tough period right now and your soul is desperately crying for help, praying for a hand to come and save you. You have been having really painful realizations regarding your past, especially your childhood. You’ve recently realized that the child inside of you was buried alive. You’ve recently realized that you lost your essence. While growing up, you accommodated to the world around you, what people expected of you, what was “normal”, what was acceptable. By bowing down to other people’s expectations, you let your true self die slowly. You’ve been on autopilot for a while now, completely numb and empty. There is a bit of mirroring between this pile and pile 1 of suppressing one's authentic self and desires. 

Right now, you feel that your heart has been almost rotting inside. You lost all of your passion and your spark of life. But, don’t worry, what you need to hear now is that this painful realization is what is going to set you free. It is the first step towards a really deeply healing period where you are going to reconnect with your inner child. I heard : “The truth will set you free, but first, it will piss you off”. Did you read my last reading by any chance ? I am getting the energy that you chose pile 2 and 3, both or just one, or that you would resonate with those two piles for some reason. Don’t hesitate to check it out, you might find some comforting messages I heard ! 

Now, let me pull some cards for you. I don’t know why, but I felt drawn to use different decks than the ones I used for the first two piles. So, your pile will have different messages (no message from the Green Witch oracle for you)

 [took a little break before going to your pile. You probably need to slow down on your day to day tasks. I know it’s really hard in the productivity obsessed capitalist world we live in, and it is a huge privilege to be able to have enough time and energy to spiritually reconnect with ourselves, but this is what your spirit guides are urging you to do. You’ve got this.]

For you, I used the Occult Tarot and the Heavenly Bodies Astrology deck.

I only pulled 2 cards, one per deck (it was supposed to be like that but more cards sneaked in while shuffling haha) I feel like you need just a simple check up.

Cardinal - Instigation, Bravery and A pioneering spirit => your lost spark and childlike innocence will soon be reignited by a deep healing period. A new beginning is coming for you, but it will take some hibernating time before it comes. 

Sagittarius - Optimism, Exploration and Freedom

Trine - Angelic Support, Harmony and Perfect Flow

Reconnect to your higher self and spiritual side. Disconnect from the direct, yet understandable, dissatisfaction you feel towards life. Your embers that were slowly dying will relive, just trust the process, enter the deepest parts of yourself and keep exploring with positivity : your angels will guide you. There is a team of spirit guides and angels that are proud of your progress. Even if you don’t see it, they do and they want to tell you : There is light at the end of the tunnel, keep on walking.

The Hermit and the Ace of Swords :  The truth about your past came out, now is the time to meditate on those realizations and integrate them. Alchemize the pain in wisdom. You are about to come out stronger than ever. Isolate yourself, or at least try to keep your peace and have a lot of alone time (without completely stopping socializing altogether, humans are social creatures, connecting with people is important for our wellbeing) to ponder, analyze, decrypt all the patterns that you’ve been repeating. Reconnect with your inner child, look at photos of yourself when you were younger, delve deep into your childhood and childhood wounds. Maybe try to find what your attachment style is, anything that stems from your childhood that has been making you stuck in a rut these past years. Maybe, if you can, try to heal the relationship you had with your parents/parent or primary caregiver. Try to understand the nature of you guys’ relationship to see how it affects your self worth now. You've got this, trust me.

here is a link to my ko-fi.

[belovedspector]

Written in the Stars

Pairing: Steven Grant x gn!reader (implied Marc Spector x gn!reader and Jake Lockley x gn!reader)

Word Count: 800

Summary: Steven doesn’t have a birthday. He takes the task of choosing one very seriously.

Content: Fluff, one use of a pet name (love)

A/N: This follows Leap Year, but it’s not necessary to read that first. I don’t know a ton about astrology, so I’m learning as I go. Enjoy! :)

Masterlist

“Here it is!” you say triumphantly, pulling a purple book off one of Steven’s lower shelves.

Steven takes the book in his hands gingerly, as if it’s something sacred. “Why do you have this, anyway?”

You shrug. “My college roommate was really into astrology and tried to get me interested, too. I just never got rid of it. It’s sentimental, I guess.”

Steven nods, already flipping through the pages as he makes his way to the couch. “So, what signs are Marc and Jake, again?” he asks, not looking up.

You join him on the couch. “Both Pisces, oddly enough,” you remark.

He hums. “Maybe I should be, too.” He quickly consults the table of contents before flipping to the page on Pisces. “‘Empathetic, imaginative, creative,’” he reads. He skims a few more pages before saying, “It’s all a bit vague, innit?”

You laugh. “I guess it is, yeah.”

“Well, you can turn on the telly or grab your own book, if you like. This will take me a bit to get through.”

You stare at him. “You’re not gonna read the whole thing, are you?”

He looks back at you, confused. “How else will I know what sign I am?”

“I don’t think it’s that serious,” you say. “Jake just picked a date he liked.”

Steven just shrugs. “I’d like to see what the book says, I think.”

“Alright,” you say with a shrug of your own. “Knock yourself out.” You scooch towards the other end of the couch, where your latest read is waiting on the end table. You turn on the lamp and settle in.

Steven’s a fast reader. In the time it takes you to slog through a few chapters, he’s closing the astrology book with a satisfying thump. “All done,” he announces.

You close your own book after marking your place with a bookmark (a slightly crumpled receipt counts as a bookmark, right?). “And? What’d you pick?”

“Virgo,” he says.

“Yeah?” you ask, interested. “Why’s that?”

Steven finds the appropriate page and reads, “‘Intelligent, analytical, hard-working.’” He looks to you, his confidence wavering. “That…sounds like me, right?”

You offer him a kind smile. “I think so, yeah. Did you pick a date?”

He shakes his head. “Not yet.” He briefly looks down again. “Says here I can do any day from the twenty-third of August to the twenty-second of September.”

You hum.

“Wait a second…” Steven trails off, grabbing his phone out of his pocket and typing something in.

“What?” you ask.

“Aha!” he says. “Twenty-fourth August. That’s what I want my birthday to be.”

“How come?”

“Tomb Buster premiered on that day in 1990. I reckon us Steven Grants should have the same birthday,” he explains with a grin.

You can’t help but match his smile. “August twenty-fourth it is, then. I’ll add it to my calendar.”

He closes the book again and hands it back to you. “Thank you for lending that to me, love.”

“Any time,” you say, taking the book and returning it to its spot on the bookshelf. You glance at the clock. “Ready to start on dinner?”

“Sounds good to me,” Steven says, standing up and following you to the kitchen.

After dinner has been taken care of and you’ve watched a movie, you’re in the bathroom getting ready for bed. You can hear Steven talking outside the door. You assume he’s conversing with his alters.

When you exit the bathroom, you see Steven standing at the fish tank, bottle of fish food in hand. He doesn’t seem to notice you as he continues on speaking. You realize he’s talking to the fish.

“Maybe I should’ve picked Pisces, Gus,” he muses.

Gus II and his two tank-mates, Tom and Jerry (named together by Marc and Jake, despite Steven’s protests), swim around in slow circles, seemingly waiting for Steven to feed them.

He shakes the bottle, watching the flakes drop gently into the water. “Then all three of us would be the same. And Pisces is fish, innit? It fits.”

“Steven!” you groan playfully. “You can’t just change your zodiac sign!”

“Why not?” he counters. “I just picked it today. There should be some sort of trial period, right?”

You snort. “Maybe, but I like the day you picked. It means something to you.”

“Alright, fine,” Steven says. He bids the fish good night before following you to the bed.

You settle in under the covers and say good night to one another. Your eyes are closed when you hear Steven ask into the darkness, “Do I get a cake for my birthday?”

You smile to yourself. “If you want one.”

“And presents?”

“Of course.”

It’s quiet for a moment. Then, “What about balloons?”

“Whatever you want, Steven,” you say fondly. “Whatever you want.”

A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Please feel free to let me know what you think. :)

[waltwhitmansbeard]

3, 8, or 10 with dorym please? Whichever sparks your creativity more!

8. letting them collapse against your chest the second they make it through the door after a hellish day i didn't know which ask meme you were referring to so i guessed lol. setting this in a hypothetical post-c3

Zephrah makes Dorian nervous. It's not the people—every person he's met here has been the nicest person he's ever met in his life, and they've all gone out of their way to make him feel at home. It's not the culture, either, which is much quieter and more peaceful than the Silken Squall, just the way Dorian likes it. It's not not the rift to the Elemental Plane, but he's pretty sure that the Ashari have that covered, so he's not too worried.

It's Orym. He's a hero of them realm, a Very Important Person, not just to the Voice of the Tempest, but to all of Exandria. So is Dorian, who is technically—not technically, Orym would say, you're a big damn hero—but here, it's all Orym, all the time. And Dorian is not complaining; it's about time the world gave Orym his flowers, and besides, despite being a performer, Dorian's never reveled in the attention of others.

But all eyes being on Orym means that Dorian's actions reflect on him, and he's terrified of fucking things up for him. Orym has a big position with the Tempest Blades now—Dorian's definitely been told what it is, and he definitely can't remember—and the last thing Dorian wants to do is embarrass him or make the other Blades wonder where he found this blue dork he brought hom.

So mostly he stays home, the little cottage Orym once shared with Will and now shares with Dorian. There are echoes of Will all over the home—his winter clothes in storage, his training sword leaning against the fireplace, his aftershave beneath the bathroom sink—and Dorian is still figuring out how to settle in without erasing his memory. He's learned a lot about Will through the things he left behind, and he's bummed that he's never going to get to meet him. He's pretty sure they would have gotten along.

Like now, when the door to the cottage swings open and a haggard, exhausted Orym limps in, his Sentinel Shield dragging behind him. Dorian leaps off the sofa, where he had been noodling on his lute, a love song he now feels more qualified to sing. "Orym! Is everything okay? You look..." Better to let that though trail off than sound like a dick.

Instead of answering, Orym crashes headfirst into Dorian, who drops to his knees to hug him properly. He can feel every tense muscle in Orym's back loosen as he sighs into Dorian's chest. Dorian cups the back of his head, the other hand splayed across his back to keep him close. "Oh boy, you've had a day, haven't you?"

Orym tips his head to the side just enough to murmur, "I've been through worse, but gods, it doesn't feel like it."

Dorian presses a kiss to the top of Orym's head. "I'm sorry." Then he says something so wholly out of character that he catches himself by surprise. "Need me to crack some skulls?"

Orym stiffens, and Dorian could kick himself. Crack some skulls? Dorian has never said such a thing in his life, and now he's freaked Orym out, because he's a moron who doesn't know what he's doing—

Orym snorts out a laugh, straightening up to smile wryly at Dorian. "Y'know, Will used to say the exact same thing to me, whenever I was cranky."

Oh. "I...didn't know that."

"It's nice to hear it again." Orym kisses his cheek. "I think I'll take a rain check on the skull-cracking. Want to join me for a bath?"

Dorian's face instantly goes hot at the suggestion and warmth in Orym's voice. "Um, yeah, of course. You go run the water, I'll grab us some wine."

"Sounds good." And Orym kisses him again, on the lips this time, tired but smiling. As he trudges off toward the bathroom, Dorian stands and walks shell-shocked to the kitchen. Pulling wine glasses down from their cabinet, he finds himself thinking of Will—or maybe to Will, as if he were praying. Thanks for showing me what to say.

"You comin'?" comes the call from the bathroom.

"On my way!" Dorian pops the cork on a bottle of red, breathes in the fragrant bouquet. I just want to take care of him. I think we both know how much he deserves it. He heads toward the sound of running water, and he swears for a moment he feels a strong, broad hand rest on his shoulder. Dorian smiles, and he thinks that maybe he'll be able to do right by Orym after all.

[grapenehifics]

Making of Monday: Can't Stop the Suns Part 1

(I am thinking SO positively rn that I am calling this part 1, like I will remember to actually write more. YMMV; we'll see how I do.)

I'm hard at work on the concluding chapters of Pick Up the Pieces right now, and working on Pick Up the Pieces means I also need to do a fair bit of rereading An Uncivil War, so it's very much on the forefront of my brain, and also I have yet to participate in a single MoM, so: here's some backstory on An Uncivil War.

Okay I actually need to back up even farther than that, all the way to Solsbury Hill and February 2020. I started Solsbury Hill - it wasn't called that, then; it didn't have a name, just 'weird doc file/outline I'll probably never finish because I don't have a track record of finishing creative writing projects, ever' - and then the very next month I started working from home AND season 7 of Clone Wars premiered.

To get ready for season 7 - and because I was home a lot more during the day, now, and didn't have to commute to work - we decided to do a rewatch of Clone Wars season 1 through 6. And you know how we joke about plot bunnies, and why they're called that? That the hardest idea is your first one and once you have that the ideas just keep multiplying? So, I'm sitting on an outline for what would become Solsbury Hill, and we're watching Clone Wars, and we get to season 5, and the episode with Ahsoka's trial, and I think to myself, huh. That's weird. Why is Obi-Wan acting like that? Why is he not sticking up for our Padawan? If he had, I bet things would have turned out differently. Ahsoka might not have left the Order. Anakin might not have turned to the Dark Side. Clone Wars is full of all these little things that individually might not be enough to push Anakin over the edge, but they start stacking up, collectively...

From there, it was a pretty easy leap to, 'what if Obi-Wan left the Order instead of Ahsoka', and that created this whole domino effect because Anakin would obviously leave with him, right, and Ahsoka was getting kicked out anyway, and now I've got this scenario with three Jedi on the run in the middle of a war.

And that was fascinating to me. Once I started thinking about it I couldn't stop. But I was also getting really into Solsbury Hill, at that point, so this new story needed to take a backseat. I dumped a bunch of notes into a Word doc and went back to my AU.

It turns out, though - and this was the first time I'd learned this about myself - that I liked having both an AU and a canon project going at the same time. Solsbury Hill and An Uncivil War both used such different parts of my brain and required a different skillset and researching vastly different things, and if I got bogged down in one it was nice to be able to switch to the other one and hack away at that one for a while. So I ended up, from early 2020 until August 2022 when I posted the first chapter of Solsbury Hill on AO3, working on both projects nearly simultaneously, although obviously Solsbury Hill (despite being three times longer) got to the finish line first.

For a long time - almost three years - An Uncivil War was just called, An Uncivil War. And it had this expansive outline that I just kept cracking away at, and whenever I came across something cool in another piece of Star Wars media or another show premiered or I read another book I'd think 'Ooh, that's neat! That's going in the fic!' and I'd add it to my to-do list. And at some point I looked at my word count and realized I was pushing 100k and not anywhere close to the end of the story I wanted to tell.

So, I started thinking about sequels, and series. I had (still have) this outline, fortunately, and there was one pretty obvious stopping point at what was then the mid-point of the plot. (I say, 'then' because it has since, of course, expanded. It turns out I'm very bad at guessing word counts.) So I took half my outline, dumped into a brand-new doc, called that one Pick Up the Pieces, and wrote the 'ending' of An Uncivil War, as much as possible, as if it were the ending, just in case I for some reason never got around to writing Pick Up the Pieces.

Because it was important to me that An Uncivil War be able to stand on its own. It's got a beginning, a middle, and an end, and the end calls back to the beginning, and the main threat to the characters is resolved, and they talk about what they're going to do next but even if that was the only story you had, it should still be a satisfying conclusion (or, at least, I hope it is).

But it isn't the entirety of the story I wanted to tell. Because they originally were one big story, I actually had maybe half of Pick Up the Pieces already written by the time I started posting An Uncivil War, so while the first part took me three years to write, the second has technically only taken me a year, but I was definitely not starting from scratch.

I also - and this should shock absolutely no one - was once again wildly off in my word count estimate. Pick Up the Pieces is, right now, already as long as An Uncivil War (120k), and I've still got three chapters left to go...plus a bunch more things in my outline I haven't gotten to yet.

So, in true Star Wars tradition, I'm now plotting a part three! Pick Up the Pieces, like An Uncivil War before it, has a logical ending point, so it will wrap up there, but the plot will move merrily along to the next thing on my to-do list, which is in fact the same to-do list I've had since March 2020. (It's a good thing I love this story so much or I would have quit long ago.) Part Three, at the moment, is tentatively titled Sometimes Fate Steps In, and I'm really, really sorry to have to admit that that's where all the smut is going to be. (I know. It's Solsbury Hill all over again.)

(I do love it, though. I feel like I should...apologize, to my fics, somehow, for having a favorite? I do have a favorite, though. It's this series. I love it so damn much. This is the one thing I write where, if you told me right now that I would never get a single comment or kudos on it, I would still write it anyway, because I just get so much enjoyment out of researching and writing it and re-reading it.)

(Which is not to say you shouldn't comment on it. Please, please do! You will absolutely make my day, week, month, year! But I love it enough to do it anyway.)

[bcbdrums]

Fave character from an oldy show / fave line from Soul Eater / how would u handle it if u were the Tweebs' music teacher?

i see you.... heheh thank you for the ask.

How does one choose...between their children... No seriously this is hard. Top choices I'm stuck between are Adam Cartwright from Bonanza, Al Calavicci from Quantum Leap, H.M. Murdock from The A-Team, or Spock from Star Trek. I love them ALL for very different reasons, but they all have things in common. Dark and angsty characters with difficult lives (in different ways) who struggle to overcome things and never quite achieve their peace... And...while the character I've spent the most time on is probably Spock, I think ultimately I have to go with Adam. I suppose I relate the most closely to him, because his struggle is so human and relatable to many. A good upbringing not without challenge, a steady adulthood offered to him...but he simply is never satisfied. And we never get an ending for him in canon! So he appeals to me and my creative side, both as an exploration of himself and as a way to process through some things of my own. Al, Murdock, and Spock all a semblance of peace in the end or at least we're told they get it (some more than others/in unique ways) but Adam just...vanishes, and we never truly know. So I guess he'd be the fave pick. (But how can one choose a favorite child, heheh.)

I chose from the anime because I need to re-read the manga (even tho I do have a favorite manga moment). And I must give must preamble to this... So you know how from Death the Kid's very first introduction he's falling on the ground and having fits about possibly having done something wrong, leaving something asymmetrical (which...symmetry for him is symbolic of the balance between good and evil, which he as a Reaper must uphold), and in these fits he has he calls himself worthless garbage and he's basically given up in all of these situations and his weapons have to talk him out of it and it takes a lot of effort? And these moments are always played comedically right up until one moment... His final moment of development in the anime, right before facing down against Asura... After first he thinks he can't help, then Lord Death is defeated, and so he resolves to protect the world. He has one more of these self-deprecating rants, but...this time it's spoken to this dad, who he thinks could be dead. This time it's not calling himself worthless for a lack of symmetry, but not worthy to be his father's son... You really feel the weight of everything he's been going through up to this moment. BUT...this time... Instead of declaring himself worthless and that's the end of it, Kid says, "Maybe I don't have what it takes to do this... But... I can try!" That's my favorite line from Soul Eater.

I'm thinking of them at their age in the beginning, as ten year olds. So first of all they'd be percussionists in the 5th grade band cuz they'd get to do a variety of things. Since that wouldn't be enough, I'd give them extra (optional of course) challenges to learn some solo pieces for percussion. And knowing they'd wanna take everything apart and make new things, I'd also hang around with them after school to show them instrument maintenance on all types, explain how all the things work. And if I had some instruments broken beyond repair (we often do and keep them for spare parts) I'd let them play with those in whatever way pleased them. Lol they'd likely make their own frankenstein'd instrument... Or do chemical experiments on the brass since there's some toxicity risks.... Yeah. And that's just band (but I'm tired now so that's what you get lol). Meanwhile, I'm operating on the assumption that they are good, well-behaved kids at school unless they're either bored out of their minds or the teacher is lousy.

[oddygaul]

Spiritfarer

This game was a weird experience for me. I wanna say that a story like this is more about the journey than the destination - and that’s copacetic narratively, as the unfolding stories of each of the passengers are far stronger than the capital p Plot the game builds towards - but from a gameplay standpoint, the journey itself largely felt like a tedious timesuck, and I kept finding myself wishing we could get straight to the point.

Let’s do a compliment sandwich here.

The overall vibes are immaculate, and the world of Spiritfarer is incredibly cozy. The dialogue is delightful - and not only with the main characters! Even the random villagers always have something charming going on. I think the last time I was actually this enthused to talk to minor NPCs was A Short Hike.

They’re not always cheery, either; the game has a lot of that old-school Animal Crossing edge that got sanded away over the years, where characters are actually allowed to be abrasive or even straight up dislike you. Spiritfarer has multiple passengers that, upon meeting you, are anything from fully disinterested to straight-up jerks. Some of them will warm to you over time, as in the OG Animal Crossing, but some will just never really like Stella all that much… and they will loudly, vocally share that fact with you. Even some of the friendliest, most open characters sometimes need their space. This wider spectrum of interactions goes a long way toward making the characters feel real and engaging, and it’s something I’ve missed in this space for a while.

The art and especially the animation work is absolutely stellar, too. Each of the characters have strong silhouettes, and the animators really make the most of each design’s unique attributes: Stella’s big wide-brimmed hat puffing up when you use it to glide, the Everlight’s infinite transformations into whatever’s handy for the current situation, Bruce and Mickey’s big guy little guy dynamic*, Gustav mightily leaping from floor to floor. A 3D game with this concept would likely stick to a handful of rigs for the characters and keep their movement simple, so I give a lot of credit to the Spiritfarer team for going the extra mile and putting such care into making the passenger animations lively and creative.

*Well, this one is only fun until you find out the why behind the dynamic

Daffodil is the cutest fucking name for a cat btw

Unfortunately, despite how fun they’ve made the basic movement, the actual gameplay bits get pretty tiresome. It turns out that much of the moment-to-moment gameplay is actually doing chores on your boat, and they start to feel like chores remarkably quickly; while running, jumping and ziplining all feel great, most of the production minigames, like watering plants or smelting, are tedious and time-consuming. 

For the first third of the game or so, you’re unlocking new building minigames regularly, so they all feel somewhat novel. Plus, the density of the early game lends itself to a constant multitasking that feels satisfying. You’ll set your boat’s navigation system off to a location, then decide what form of crafting or farming will be the best use of your time; the result is a great “just one more turn” loop that's pretty engaging. The thing is, due to the length of the game, the pacing simply doesn’t stay that tightly engineered. You’ll run out of new buildings and minigames to unlock, start to get tired of the ones you’ve done dozens of times, and have to return to the same islands to farm materials over and over again. 

I will say, I quite liked the cooking system. There was something satisfying about guessing what different ingredients would pop out a new dish, and the illustrations for all of them are cute enough to make the experimentation feel worthwhile.

And unfortunately, this pacing inconsistency applies to the story as well. At first, you’re running into new faces constantly, and at any given moment will have half a dozen passengers on your ship, making it feel like a lively community. The rate of new passengers slows down dramatically, though, and for much of the back half of the game I had only 2 or 3 passengers aboard, leaving the game feeling empty and rote. 

This is not an easy problem to solve - it’s gotta be near impossible to keep the pacing curated if your game is this long - but maybe Spiritfarer didn’t need to be this long? 30 hours is fuckin HEFTY for this kind of game. I dunno, it’s certainly possible other people found the management sim side of things engaging and equally as worthwhile as the character interaction, but to me it mostly felt like busywork keeping me from the story bits, so my patience for it grew thinner and thinner.

For the first half of the game or so, I had a running theory that Stella didn’t actually know any of the passengers, and these people were being enchanted by some sort of Spiritfarer glamour that presents you as someone they’re comfortable / familiar with. The game makes the truth clear as it goes, but a part of me really likes that idea of the ferryman taking the form of someone that can put the departed’s minds at ease. I think that’s how the reapers in Dead Like Me work..?

Now, the reason my frustration with those elements was intense was because boy I got invested in these characters. A few missed the mark for me (I’m sure everyone who plays this game has a different group of passengers that really pushed their buttons and those that didn’t), but so many of them were memorable and heartbreaking.

Gustav, with his desperate hope that the transcendence of art can outlive any individual, really speaks to some existential crises I’ve gone through myself

Alice, who in her old age finally has the means to travel and go on the adventures she always wanted to, only to be betrayed by her failing body... I literally watched this happen to someone close to me weeks before playing this, so the moment was a gut punch. And then that development is tied into the gameplay, by making you move Alice's house to the ground floor because she can't use the ladders anymore, and you have to walk her out to the deck and back every day... inspired, and soul-crushing.

The reveal that the reason Bruce does all the talking and initiates all the pair's movements is because Mickey's been in a coma the whole time... broke me. And then Bruce decides to end his own life because he can't bear to go on alone anymore? Jesus, man.

Okay, I get that I'm a mark for any story touching on Alzheimer's, but Beverly's depiction of the disease was particularly brutal. The Alzheimer's I've dealt with was a very language-based version, so Beverly getting halfway through a sentence and realizing it wasn't right, saying things like "Just give me a moment" or "Let me just take a little break and I'll finish" then giving up in resignation... fucking hell. Too real.

In general, the amount of spirits whose arcs aren’t resolved when they go out is rough. Despite being a work that’s clearly focused on death from the start, Spiritfarer initially feels like it’s going to be a somewhat sanitized look at the topic. You’re going to take these spirits to the door of oblivion, sure, but we’re going to get complete character arcs, we’re going to work through trauma, and people are going to go through the door when they’re good and ready. And for the first few passengers, that’s true… but things get dark quick. Bruce’s tale, as previously mentioned, ends with him killing himself. Atul, one of your most easygoing, dependable passengers, simply disappears one night, never to be seen again. Jackie, who embarks rather late to start a journey of self-improvement, gives up halfway and straight-up tells you he can’t find anything about himself worth living for and suicide is all he deserves. Spiritfarer even twists the knife by letting us read some of his journals afterwards, showing he feels a deep regret and self-loathing for his past actions… he just can’t find any way to live with them.

This is what I respect the most about Spiritfarer’s musings on death, I think. Rather than dressing everything up in neat metaphors and giving you emotional catharsis, it’s not afraid to show death as sudden, as unsatisfying, as desolate, as lonely. By presenting itself so whimsically, it gets the audience to let their guard down so the hard moments hit them with full force. I wish they could’ve had the confidence to lean on those moments without feeling the need to pad the time in between with monotonous crafting systems.

[talkingperfectly-loud]

Okay! So, I’ve finally watched the Netflix Live Action ATLA and gathered my thoughts! Spoilers under the cut…

Overall score: 7/10

Overall thoughts: I was actually pleased! I wasn’t going in expecting it to be like the original series, and I was really excited to see how they would tell the story, what they would keep, and what they would change. I think that they did a great creative job melding a bunch of story lines together in a way that made sense, but, on a negative note, they did miss some key character beats that ranged from baffling to unforgivable. I loved this cast, and I think they all embodied their characters so well (Dallas Lui as Zuko?!? Hello?! *Chef’s kiss*). Deliveries were a bit stilted (to be expected with young actors just starting out), but I actually found it endearing, and they’ll only get better with practice. The bending wasn’t nearly as punchy or fun to watch in live action (especially the water bending. Oof), but it was leaps and bounds better than the Movie That Must Not Be Named. Below are the major takeaways:

Things I disliked

- Making the discovery and freeing of Aang completely passive. In the animated show, this was brought about BY Katara and Sokka. Their characters and their bickering, which caused Kataras rage, which caused her to waterbend, which caused her to free Aang. In the live action, it just… happens? Randomly? Nothing caused it, and it was a much weaker moment because of it.

- They took away Zuko’s crucial moments of mercy. Yes, they have him save the 41st, and yes, they have him hesitate during his Agni Kai with Ozai… BUT he was about to burn Katara on Kyoshi island? When she was down and unarmed?? At the North Pole, he was about to burn Zhao, who was also down and unarmed?? Absolutely not. No. No way. He wouldn’t even burn Zhao in the original show, because he knows what it’s like to be burned and despite his rage, he is a good person. There is absolutely no way he would be willing to harm someone who is unarmed.

- Sokka not explicitly asking Suki to train him. We NEEDED to see that humility where he asks for their help, not just him staring wistfully through the door and her taking pity. Humble him!!!!

- Sokka not being involved in the Jet storyline. I know that Katara is more obviously the choice to get involved here (love interest, etc), but Sokka and Jet are foils! They are both young men tasked with protecting people they love. Not having Sokka’s moment where his skepticism and independence saves the day is such a loss for his character. This could have even been kept in the Omashu storyline, with Sokka evacuating a building before a bomb goes off, etc.

- Why the literal heck did Bumi himself come to the front of the palace to receive the inventions from Sai?? What the hell even was that scene??

- Cutting the Haru storyline. This episode is crucial for Katara, who has WAY too little to do in this show, tbh. Her rallying the earth kingdom prisoners, and encouraging them to fight back is so so so important. I think they tried to move this to the Northern Water tribe storyline (when she rallies the women) but we don’t SEE it!! It happens offscreen!!!!

- Minor, but the blue spirit mask looked kinda dumb. I wish they had taken inspiration from real kabuki masks and made it more scary.

- I personally feel that Ozai is TOO personable in this adaptation. I’m guessing Daniel Dae Kim probably had a lot of say over the portrayal of this character, but I don’t think they made him dark enough. Ozai is cruel and that is CRUCIAL. He is abusive and manipulative, and hateful. Framing Zuko’s banishment and mutilation as if these were deliberate “learning moments,” rather than cruel, unjustifiable abuse is character assassination.

- Azula isn’t Azula. No shade to the actress, but the script has her written as a hot-headed, temperamental teenager desperate to prove herself. That’s ZUKO! Azula should be able to make grown men per their pants. Do her bidding. She can command armies. She never lets you see her weaknesses or her walls. She is cold, calculating, and terrifying. She is 13 steps ahead of you. Live action Azula loses her temper during a fight, talks back to Ozai (?!?!), and whines to Mai and Ty Lee about her frustrations. That’s not Azula.

- The “ice moon” thing at the North Pole? Why? Why aren’t there any spirits in this world? There’s no need to change that.

- Zhao’s death!?! What the hell was that!?!? No no no no no. Absolutely awful in every possible way. Where was his karmic justice?!? Why introduce the Fog of Lost Souls if you weren’t going to show Zhao getting pulled down into it?!? Where was Zuko, offering him mercy, despite everything? Where was Zhao’s pride, refusing his hand?? Furthermore, you make Iroh of all people a murderer?!? Fine, you could have him intervene and push Zhao into the water like he pushed him down after the Agni Kai in the original series. But to kill him?? Unprompted?! In cold blood?! Zhao wasn’t even his opponent!! Horrifying and disturbing. Unforgivable.

Things I loved

- The order of events. I actually love starting 100 years in the past and not making it clear what is about to happen. I also love that it isn’t clear just how long Aang has been asleep for! I love love love that dramatic irony if you know, and the reveal if you don’t.

- Aang stealing Zuko’s notebook. Finally, it’s explained how the gaang knew Zuko’s name lol

- Aang & Iroh meeting and chatting on the ship when he’s captured! It’s such a small scene, but felt so reminiscent of their conversation from Book 2 that it made me happy.

- Suki being so awkward!! Yes girl!! You have clearly never flirted before and it is obvious! I also loved having her mother be the matriarch of the village. Makes total sense tbh.

- Fleshing out Omashu! I love that they combined Jet & the Mechanist here. It makes Omashu feel more real, and it’s a natural place to put these storylines. I think this was really well done. Also bringing Iroh & Zuko into the story here was seamless, and worked to further both their characters (Zuko choosing Iroh over Aang, Iroh sacrificing himself to save Zuko)

- Having Bumi be an angry old man. This is controversial, but if we put aside Legend of Korra for a second where canon says Aang and him stay bffs, this actually makes a lot of sense. It’s not fair that Aang got to be asleep for 100 years. Bumi, as he said, had to struggle and suffer during that entire time. I’m glad that not everyone is like “it’s okay, it’s not your fault” because it kind of is!! I’m glad they had someone to actually hold him accountable a bit!

- Aang and Zuko connecting during the Blue Spirit episode. Aang making Zuko smile! Them joking! Them feeling pity for each other! The star-crossed friendship of it all! Gorgeous, gorgeous scene.

- Expanding on the theme of friendship vs. isolation. It’s such a key theme in the animated series that flies under the radar, and I really like how they took it and seemed to run with it.

- Azula collaborating with Zhao. It makes so much sense, since Zhao is just some rando tbh?It sets up both the Dai Li storyline and sibling rivalry nicely in season 2.

- Having Zuko’s crew be the division he saved?!?! A stroke of absolute genius.

- No Kataang!! I’m so sorry, but I honestly always felt that any romance in the original series was gratuitous, odd, and oh so Western. This is a story about children at war. I’m glad the romance is taking a back seat.

- Having Pakku see Katara for HER, rather than for her grandmother!! I always hated that in the original show! She fights her damn heart out and he still won’t train her UNTIL he sees her grandmother’s necklace. It always felt like the age-old blight of men not being able to care about a woman unless they have, or can image having, a personal connection to them (What if that was your mother, daughter, etc). I LOVE this change.

- Katara rallying the other women!! Pulling up everyone!! This is such an obvious change I can’t believe they didn’t have this in the original show. As I said, though, I do wish we saw her speech to them. That’s such an important character moment.

[tworegimesof]

It’s me again, your biggest spammer atp lmao.

One of the reasons I love your stories so much is because you write relationships, romantic or otherwise, so beautifully. I loved your depiction of Aoba and Anko’s friendship in On a Distant Star - their bond transcends the usual human connection. That’s very rare to find, especially in a male-female friendship in writing.

It’s glorious to read about the messiness and complexity of interpersonal relationships in all their twisty beauty - especially when done by an author who knows the ins and outs of humanity. You can make a reader love even the most random background character who’s appeared for, what, a page? Their idiosyncrasies, their flaws, and their passions all shine through in your writing.

Not to mention that I LOVE your rarepairs. As for Raidō and Kurenai??? Hoooo boi I never thought I’d ship it more than her and Asuma 😂 (seeing the three of them and how they interacted in Storms, being so beautifully in character, was a treat. I wanna ramble more because there is SO MUCH). I didn’t even know sai/tenten existed until I discovered one of your fics and that sent me down a rabbit hole asw ahshshshs.

I’m so sorry for the long-winded essay I just wrote you 😂 I’m running on three hours of sleep and am jet-lagged as fuck. Not to mention I had to sit at my laptop for the better part of a day and hammer out two assignments due on the same day. So I apologise for any lack of clarity herein.

Anyway, I hope you have a lovely day! ☺️

Ah, it's not spam! I have Tumblr because I know readers sometimes feel more comfortable connecting here rather than leaving a kudos or comment.

I think I'm kind of a boring writer. My best stories don't have a lot in terms of plot, and mostly I just write what I want to read because I like so many rare pairs. I think we all want to feel a deep connection, platonic or romantic, and for some characters, like Aoba and Anko, I think them being very close friends makes more sense than a traditional romantic entanglement.

I think you're giving me too much credit lol I have just read a lot of books and seen messy people in action. I feel like I abuse the man versus self trope all the time, but that's what I'm really interested in, is how we lie to ourselves and betray ourselves to our own detriment. And the background characters are easier because there's more room to play around with them, and potential readers aren't invested in them the same was as they are with popular characters. Writing Kakashi puts my stomach in knots, but characters like Asuma and Raidou are easy peasy, because I know enough to make guesses and can be creative.

LOL Raidou and Kurenai only started because I thought it was lame for Kakashi and Asuma to be her two options. Raidou was just cute enough and you could see the leap between him to Asuma. LOL I'm never getting away from Storms. It's a mess in a lot of ways and there are things I would change, but from some of the comments I also feel like the people who needed to read it found it, so it stays. I just think that Lovesickness will be better, and a fuller picture of what could've happened.

I will maintain, until my dying day, that Sai and Tenten aren't a huge leap at all lol.

I don't mind the essays! And I definitely know what it means to be jetlagged and a student. I most certainly do not miss either. Thank you so much for reading and leaving such a sweet comment, take care!

(And find time away from you computer, learn from my mistakes and save your eyes and posture lol).

[naranjapetrificada]

3, 4, 17 for the fic writer asks! <3

Thank you ❤️❤️❤️

If you want to play, pick your fic writing question(s) from this list!

I already answered 3 here, but as for the rest:

4. a story idea you haven’t written yet

I guess it depends on what you define "written" as? Like if written means "finished work" then there's the captive/different first meeting AU I was working on before my current WIP that should count. The preliminary work I did on that was the first time I ever thought a longfic was possible, and I want to circle back around to it eventually because I think I've got a fun twist on the captive trope in mind.

Another idea that fits the description above is a fic of a fic, the incredible In Favor With Their Stars. I've got a couple paragraphs of prose and in line with the way the original story is written, some command lines written as well. The idea for it is existentially devastating though so I'm not sure I'll ever be able to write it. I was lucky enough to get to talk to mxmollusca about it and they approved/encouraged me to keep going so idk, someday.

If you mean something I haven't done work on, well, I guess the closest thing I have to that is something I was thinking about when the season 2 teaser first dropped. It was going to be shortish piece in the vein of "let's just get it out of our system" smut where Ed spent the whole time desperately trying to capture it all in his memory, to the point where he wouldn't really be experiencing it at all. The more we learned about the season, the less viable the idea seemed so I eventually scrapped it.

17. talk about your writing and editing process

Well. Talking about the latter is going to be much more concrete than the former, so let's get that out of the way first.

As someone with not one, but two creative writing degrees, I can tell you that actual CWR classes are incredibly hit or miss. My experience was such a mixed bag, including how much better most of the teachers I had in undergrad were than in grad school. It was one of those undergrad teachers who gave me the one piece of writing advice that I've never, ever abandoned: during the revision process (emphasis on "vision"), instead of tweaking an existing document, try rewriting the new draft in a brand new doc.

Maybe it's not something everyone needs to do, but it's something I very much have to do. I do it every time, without fail, and my writing is the better for it. Once I actually start it's hardly a hardship for me, although that probably varies person to person. The quality of every aspect of my writing grew by leaps and bounds once I started doing it. It forces me to truly look at my work in a way I can never really see it otherwise.

As for the writing process itself? That's a lot fuzzier. In some ways, I'm still figuring out what that means for me now that I'm exclusively writing fic. Because my relationship with the experience of writing has fundamentally changed, I guess it makes sense that the way I do it might too.

That's doubly true now that I work from home on a schedule that's not exactly 9-5. I don't have a set time to sit down and do it, nor a daily word quota. Some days I write nothing. Some days I write 50 words. Some days I write 5000. The days I write nothing are usually days I never got around to opening whatever my working document is, because once it's open I'll usually have something to say. I'm sure if I worked more consistently I could work faster, but that would come at the expense of sustainability. In order for writing to be sustainable for me right now, it can't not reward me for it somehow. I have to be enjoying myself or I'll grow to resent it.

[autisticempathydaemon]

Heya! Here for the match up thingamajig :) ty for doing this, it sounds really fun. go through this in your own time, i know these asks get long 👍🏽 i'll try to provide some useful information here lol Hm. Ok I get two of the mbti personalities on repeat everytime i take the quiz, either INTP (logician) or ISFJ (defender). Right now, it's ISFJ, though I'm able to speak my mind well enough. Idk what my enneagram type is. My friends have called me loyal, stubborn and strong on multiple occasions. Also that I have a "spine of iron", and I take pride in that. I'm the one in the party that pulls everyone in to dance. I love parties, booze or no booze. I'm a social introvert, if that makes sense. I'm good with a crowd but I don't make friends easy. I'm restless sometimes, it manifests as zoomies and tons and tons of art. I've even made art for the fandom :)

As for the song, I've had Rigamarole by ROZET on loop for a while now. Specifically the chorus, "' 'Cause I ain't satisfied, you ain't satisfied, You know I can't lie, You know I'm bored out of my mind, 'Cause I ain't satisfied, you ain't satisfied, Same thing, new day, man, I'd rather die."

My imaginary friend was the guy that leaped over buildings alongside the car :) more than just picturing him running along the ride, i used to pretend he was real and make conversation.

I like my name, but if I had to change it, it'd be Surya. The hindu god of the sun. I've always kind of taken the celestial body as an example for what I should do. To keep burning and keep shedding light, constantly. I like how you can't stare at the sun for too long. I love the moon, but the intensity of the sun speaks to me.

Now to the redacted questions : I lack appeal for Marcus tbh. Idk why, I've tried, he hasn't stuck. I'm platonically attracted to David Shaw, which apparently is an obvious guess. He's a big man in terms of capability, what with being the alpha to the most famous pack in dahlia. I don't wanna befriend him because of his power - I have this thing where I try to make friends with people who I think are better than me, people that make me uncomfortable in my own pride. I think he's capable of shaking me up because of how he handles intense responsibility alng with everything else.

My favourite playlist rn is my "current favs" one lmao. a bunch of screamo rap and trap rock. Idk it's a phase i think.

And last but not least - my guilty pleasure media is bf asmr 👍🏽

Okay, you’re going to think this is just because of the Sun and Sunshine metaphors, but hear me out, I promise, I swear there’s SO many reasons I want to pair you with Elliott-!

The way you describe yourself socially, the kind of friend you are, makes me imagine you and Elliott as just the It Couple, especially at parties. Elliott also strikes me as the social chameleon type who fits in well, balancing that intro-ambivert vibe of mood making and knowing when he needs time alone with you to recharge. It’s that lovely friends to lovers image of y’all being that couple that never makes anyone feel like the third wheel because you’re so genuinely fun to be around.

I also like the bit where you mentioned surrounding yourself with impressive people you admire, because Elliott is so cool. He’s, like, a government-contracted Defensive Dream Designer which must require skill, ambition, creativity, all that jazz. I can see that pairing well with you and your art. Imagine him taking you into dreams and helping you construct visual models of your ideas, bringing them to life for you to recreate, the two of you making art together!

Song:

Hush, hush, the world is quiet/ Hush, hush, we both can't fight it/ It's us that made this mess/ Why can't you understand?/ Whoa, I won't sleep tonight

I like this song for y’all because of the fun, “will they, won’t they”, undeniable tension vibes of it; like, the opening line is literally “I kind of want to be more than friends.” It’s perfect! I also think it’d be a fun party song for dancing, in my non-party going opinion, and Elliott strikes me as an alt/indie kind of guy, so this seems like the genre he’d like.

Runner-Ups:

I like Guy as a runner-up for you because I think he also has that restless energy and bright, sociable nature that would make y’all the absolute best party guests, However, I love Sam as a runner-up because one, “loyal, stubborn, and strong” is also how I’d describe him, Two, I am obsessed with pairing vampires with partners who radiate strong Sun energy, okay, there’s nothing like it.

note: thank you for your patience, I hope you like your results! 💖

Read this post and send me an ask if you’d like a match-up of your own! 💌

[a-god-in-ruins-rises]

Opinions on banning AI "art" and sending the people who thought it was a good idea into the depths of hell where they belong? Also merry Christmas

merry christmas to you too! sorry for the late reply. i passed out shortly after my last post.

lmao. i definitely get this sentiment. it's something i felt too at first. it's just instinctive. and rightfully so in my opinion. i think it's a good instinct to be wary of new leaps in technology. because i /am/ a lover of technology but i also think it's something that needs to be approached wisely. and this instinct is a part of that. it's good sense.

but no, i don't think we should ban ai art or send its supporters into the depths of hell. lmao. i'm not sure what your main hesitation is but i think for most people it's because they think ai will run artists out of business and it'll just create soulless art. i think this actually underestimates humanity.

i think artists are going to take a hit at first. but they will adjust. they will find new niches and new artforms. and i do agree that ai art will probably seem soulless. so i think it will be up to humans to give it soul. i can imagine artists using ai to create a bunch of concepts and then refining it into a finished product. i think this will make the artist's life easier. i think it will also make (some) art cheaper. and i think it will make art more accessible to more people. and i think maybe it will replace some of the more tedious art jobs but i don't think ai will totally replace art altogether. even if ai-generated art starts becoming predominant in an industry. i think humans are just inherently creative and like creating art and i think humans will continue to prefer human-created art and be in awe of human skill.

i think that ai generated art will have less value than human-created. i think there will be laws mandating that ai-generated art has to be disclosed that it was created by ai. and human created art might be in more demand /because/ it has more soul. people can sense that sort of stuff and it's something people care about. i think using ai-generated art for /concept/ art might be more common. but i think the refining and polishing of the finished work will probably continue being done by humans. i think art done for its own sake will probably still be mostly human dominated. i mean like art in museums that are sold for thousands and millions of dollars. i can't imagine people paying that kind of money for ai-generated art. but art by a prestigious artist with their own unique styles and ideas? easily.

these are just guesses and i could be wrong about some of them but i don't think i'm wrong about humans being creative and resilient and that they'll just find new niches. we're kind of in an unpredictable moment right now and it's hard to tell how this will affect art in the future precisely. but i just can't imagine humans not finding ways to create art. i feel like art is so fundamental to our humanity. and i feel like with every new tech that's developed there is always these types of predictions. that it's going to destroy art. like photography or something. but it didn't art is still obviously alive and well. even "photorealistic" art is a thing. though now we opt to just get a photograph taken instead of having a portrait painted. so that's one way in which art took a hit, arguably. but also there /are/ still people out there that do portrait paintings.

honestly, i actually wonder how much portrait painting took a hit actually. because i feel like it was probably never super common. you'd need to find a skilled enough artist and his prices were probably high enough to exclude most people. the advent of photography just made portraits more accessible. more affordable for people who otherwise couldn't afford painted portraits. just speculation though.

so yeah, in the end, i get the hesitancy. but i think things will turn out okay. i believe in the human spirit.

[ben-talks-art]

Thoughts on every "Across The Spider-Verse" trailer

(Spoilers)

I think there is enough footage of the movie by this point to say whether or not this might be for you or not.

Overall first impressions... This looks good! Music seems to be just as good as the first one, style seems to be just as good as the first one, humor just as good, dialogue just as good, characters just as charming.

This basically feels like just more Spider-Verse, and Spider-Verse was great so that's hardly a problem... For the most part.

I personally do have a few very small, tiny issues with the first movie. The first one being that I'm kinda mixed on Miles' voice. Not to say I think it's bad but sometimes I just feel like it could have a little more punch to it.

His voice for the most part seems to be this constant very chill, very cool, very relaxed mood, which works for when Miles is acting chill and relaxed such as when he goes "Nah, I'll find my own way", but other times such as when he goes "Everyone keeps telling me, how my story is supposed to go" I don't know, to me it feels like something's missing, like he could put a just a little more emotion on it.

This was something that I felt during the first movie as well. When Miles needs to be chill and cool he works great, but when he needs to be really emotional, really angry, really excited, and so on, I feel he could go just one extra step to make his lines hit harder... But that's just me.

The second thing I hope they improve a little from the first movie is the action.

The action scenes in Into the spider-verse, whenever they have to swing and jump and move from one place to another, are great. Like the "Leap of faith" scene, that is just a perfect scene, one of my favorites in any movie. When it comes to the movement, everything is flawless. But when it comes to the fights? Maybe I'm alone in this but I barely remember most of the fight choreography of the first movie.

I remember what the fight settings are, the escape from Dock Ock's lab, the fight in aunt May's house, Miles vs Kingpin while the collider goes crazy in the background...

I can remember where the fights are happening and why... But I can never remember what each character does in each fight or how they beat their opponents.

Aside from the "Hey" shoulder touch, a lot of the fight is just wild brawling that kinda starts mixing together after a while. Maybe its because I have the memory of a fish but I just didn't find these fights very remarkable.

Only reason I mention that is because to this day I still haven't seen any Spider-Man media that had action scenes on the same level as the Spectacular Spider-Man show.

I can remember how each fight in that series went because they are all so unique and creative and I really feel like Spider-Verse has what it takes to create the same level of fights.

I really hope this movie isn't just a lot of swinging action and has actual fights in it. The scene with Miles running away from thousands of spider-men looks amazing, but I want to see him actually trying to battle with someone in some creative ways that take advantage of his agility and stuff.

Miguel looks really cool.

Maybe its because I'm a sucker for claws and for characters that act in such a feral way but anytime he's on-screen shoving his claws on the walls and using his arms to run I just can't help but love it. Dude looks like such a beast!

I guess some people might be upset that he's acting like an antagonist but so far he doesn't seem to be unreasonably evil, just someone with a lot of stuff to take care of and a lot of people to manage.

He seems like someone under a lot of stress and I find that very relatable.

Mayday looks adorable. Also, f*ck One More Day.

I'm really excited to see if they're going to talk about whether Spider-Man was born from the loss of Uncle Ben or the Love he received from Uncle Ben because that's a topic I really feel would be perfect to be talked about in a Spider-Man media.

Are heroes born from their tragedies or are they born from something that allows them to overcome tragedy?

I really want to see this theme explored.

Miles' new design looks cool but I think I'm gonna miss his older costume where you can see the traces of the paint sprayed over one of Peter's suits, and I'm specially gonna miss his hooded-with-shoes look.

Designing costumes for Miles must be the best job ever cause that kid looks good in anything.

Just looks at his Ps4 suits. Trying to mix up the colors red and black with a spider theme always ends up in a cool result.

Overall, "Across the Spider-Verse" looks really fun.

Crossing fingers for the action scenes and the topics being discussed.

I don't know if it will be exactly what I want it to be, but even if it isn't, it still looks like it's gonna be a pretty enjoyable experience. Super hyped for it!

[soul-dwelling]

I wonder if the "war arc ending" thing used allways to be the case in shonen. From Naruto to MHA to OP in the future and even partly Soul Eater with the whole clone army thing - guess its a logical conclusion of ever growing stakes and powerlevels, spectacles that need to leap over all what came before.

Naruto may not have needed to be a war--but then again, you have villages in territorial disputes, inspired by the history of ninjas used in warfare, so it's kind of hard to avoid that as a plot trope.

Same with One Piece: it's a pirate story, it has a navy, it has a world government, it's kind of hard not to bring up war.

MHA is divisive for me. Superhero stories don't strictly have to be war stories. And I'd too sour to treat the ongoing war arc(s) well, as I can't believe how badly the Pro Heroes dropped the ball on all of this (not preparing enough, not enough heroes, not having more contingency plans, somehow just letting Re-Destro or, rather, his clone, show up at their offices and not having a plan to contain him before he killed someone).

Superheroes have been in war stories (they have been used repeatedly to drum up support for war efforts). But that's not quite how MHA went about it...

...Although, given the post-January 6 2021 climate we're in in the US, I end up looking at the war arcs and realizing, "Ah, okay, this is what happens when you have some really evil fuckers doing fucked up shit to government officials--and a government too incompetent or so destroyed from internal rightwing forces that it can't respond in time, got it."

To its credit, maybe Fire Force ending without a war exactly, or saving the final moments for mostly talking it out and re-directing any action scenes not to a fight but the action film equivalent of painting a blank landscape was more creative....and that is about the nicest thing I can say about Fire Force compared to all the other series I just mentioned above.

I don't get why Soul Eater ended with a war arc. I can accept that Ohkubo had in mind a fight against Asura and Crona planned far in advance, to have them be the titular soul eater.

But Asura had since faded away for so long. Who cares that we now have him confronted finally?

And even when considering that Justin and the Clowns had been popping up for awhile, what actually were they accomplishing? What was Asura's goal here? Did he just want to be left alone? Was he planning to bathe the world in madness to get back at dear old dad? That arc felt like it needed more build-up: showing an actual set of steps Justin and the Clowns were following would have helped, having Asura appear in one other arc and actually doing something in that arc to hamper the DWMA would help, foreshadowing earlier that Asura had something in common with Death and Kid would have helped.

Otherwise, the war arc to me felt like an action figure fight: "Here's my Maka Albarn action figure, here's my Crona action figure, I'm going to knock them into each other for a fight before I just have them kiss and make up."

I'm not ignoring what good these war arcs can do. Bakugo finally apologizes to Izuku. We see Black Star come into his own. We say goodbye to Lord Death. All of that works. But nothing about those strike me as needing a war to make them happen.

And that's not even getting into when your war story is more like a GI Joe story rather than a response to actual real-life wars, assuming a silly fantasy story is going to handle such a response well. (See the odd Iraq invasion reference by Kid in that one chapter.)

If you're going to do the war to raise the stakes, fine, that can work. As I said, the stakes going up so that Bakugo is finally forced to apologize and Black Star gets to vomit up a laser--that all is fine. I guess what I want is a war arc emerging out of the characters' arcs and their interpersonal relationships. Is Toga's internalized trauma exploding out in a sea of Twice really needed for a war arc? Does that work at giving closure to how she regards Twice, the League, Ochaco, and Izuku? I don't think so, it seems unfocused with so much other stuff going on. Endeavor versus Dabi? Sure, that seems more suitable. Whatever is going to happen in a fight between Izuku, Shigaraki, All Might, and All For One? I guess that is inevitable.

But these are individual battles, not what I consider to be part of a larger war. Wars, I tend to think, are long-lasting affairs, small battles, insurgencies, isolated instances that foment more discord, weaken one side, lead to more desperate measures. You want an actual war arc? Watch DS9. I don't see it happening with the examples mentioned earlier, not in a more strict definition of "war."

About the only time I think the looser definition of a "war" worked was in something like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003, Season 5--where it's just, "Hey, we need to grab every last single character, hero or villain, we have ever met in this series, to work together for a final attack on the Shredder--because if he wins, all of us, hero or villain, are dead." The stakes are that large that we call that a "war," even when it's just one final attack, not a long set of battles. Sure, it's fanservice--but it was a hell of a good amount of earned fanservice.

Or, maybe war arcs suck. If you're going for spectacle, just go for a tournament as your finale, like the Cell Games in DBZ or in Yuyu Hakusho.

[little-pondhead]

The Phantom And The Chimera

[TW: Bugs. Lots of bugs.

"Example" = verbal speech

"Example" = mind speech

"Example" = ghost speech

Example = thoughts/ASL

I don't know which version of the YJ this is; I'm just throwing things into the void and hoping they stick.]

---

“CHIMERA! THE WEST SIDE NEEDS HELP!” Kid Flash screamed as he zoomed by, wielding the world’s largest butterfly net. Chimera, or Dani as she liked to be called, spat out a string of creative curses as the wind whipped her loose hair around, blinding her momentarily. 

“I’M A LITTLE BUSY!” She screamed back, voice raw. Fire breath wasn’t one of her natural ghost abilities; it always took a noticeable toll on her when she used it. She was a little worried that soon, she wouldn’t be able to use it all. The battle was dragging on far too long, and soon Dani knew her teammates would start to fall. Ancients, why did she let them come on this mission?! Dani didn’t have room to fight, to grow. This whole thing could have been over by now if she had space to properly throw hands. But Danny had drilled it into her head not to go all out when humans were around. Not only did they find the supernatural instinctively creepy, but the destruction a halfa could cause was astronomical. It simply wasn’t safe, and Dani wasn’t strong enough to create shields like her original could. So this is what she gets for learning how to breathe fire, Dani guessed. 

Sparks crackled at the back of her throat as Dani inhaled again. Despite not needing to breathe, oxygen was the key to creating fire, so she put her lungs to work regardless of the ash in the air. Something in her core shifted until she felt a little click in her jaw, and suddenly, a white flame was spilling past her lips. She pursed her lips to narrow the flame and aimed straight at the source of her frustration. The giant bullet ant clacking its mandibles at her, screamed and dissolved into a thick pile of fresh ash. 

Shit, I’m going to fucking kill Undergrowth. Dani thought, panting. Even if the Ancient had nothing to do with the enlarged and exotic insects currently besieging half of Ohio, she wanted to slap him anyways. It was all hands on deck for this disaster, and really, Dani just wanted it to be done and over with. If only her template was here, then maybe it’d be over faster. 

“STILL NEED HELP!” Wally zoomed by once more, his net filled to the brim with bright red butterflies that Dani instinctually knew were toxic as hell. She shivered, not bothering to reply to the teen since he was miles away by now. Instead, she cracked her neck, took one more breath, and promptly leaped hundreds of feet into the air, straight towards their group in the west. The sky was absolutely filled with flying bugs of all kinds. Butterflies, moths, hornets, bees, flies, and mosquitos were all buzzing around her in a frantic rage. It made Dani feel like she was stuck inside some sort of beehive. More than one thin feeler tried to grab her, but Dani let loose another mighty blast of fire, making herself a tunnel through the bugs so she could stick her landing. 

Why didn’t she fly, you may ask? Using her ghost abilities in her human form was limiting. Sue her. 

However, Dani still knew how to control her descent even without the aid of flight. She demonstrated this by twisting to the right and landing right on the head of another bullet ant with a resounding squish! Ant bits flew everywhere. Superboy, AKA Conner (her boyfriend), just glared at her as he wiped off goop from his face. 

“You couldn’t have done that sooner?” He asked, deadpan. “We’re a little overrun here.”

Dani just giggled silently and signed, I’m here now, darling. Isn’t that enough?

Conner shook his head and helped her step out of the ant carcass. “Well, it’s not like anyone is seriously hurt yet. Is your voice okay?”

Yeah, I’m just tapped out on fire breath for now. We’ll have to commit arson the old-fashioned way.

“You mean the most romantic way?” Conner nudged Dani’s shoulder, chuckling at the renewed light in her eyes. Dani was all about showing affection whenever she could, even in the middle of a battle. And if Conner was turning this into a sudden date, she wouldn’t complain. So without another thought, Dani and Conner leaped back into the fray, trying to make up for the lack of numbers through sheer determination and torches fashioned from an ant’s leg and Dani’s hoodie sleeve. They danced around each other like they’d been fighting together for years, not a couple of months, covering the other’s blind spots and becoming a whirlwind of destruction. Dani pulled on her core more, firing thin ectoblasts with a scary accuracy and severing the heads off of ants and beetles. Conner kept the space above them clear and frequently met insects head-on in the air as they swooped toward the earth.

Eventually, the pair stumbled across Miss Martian, who was on the verge of being overwhelmed, both mentally and physically. 

“Chimera!” She cried when she spotted them, breaking down into thick tears. Dani darted forward to punch a giant ladybug, sending the damn thing flying back. 

“It’s okay, M’gann!” Conner shouted, tackling a locust out of the way. “We’ll handle this!”

“They are all so angry.” M’gann sobbed, collapsing into Dani’s arms. “I just-”

“M’gann.” Dani focused hard on projecting her thoughts, and luckily, the telepath picked up on it and connected to her mind. “You’re going to be okay. Here, I got some extra earplugs. Take them for now.” She awkwardly used one hand to fish out the little yellow pack of disposable earplugs she always carried in her pocket and helped the martian put them in her ears. It didn’t help much with the mental noise, but it did help dampen the noise from the battle. Hopefully, it was enough for M’gann to regain control over herself. Dani heard a skittering noise from behind her, and without looking, she shot an ectoblast over her shoulder, demolishing whatever had tried to sneak up on them. 

M’gann sniffed but did her best to calm herself quickly. “I’m sorry, everything just got to me for a moment.”

“It’s fine, girl. That’s why you have teammates, right?” M’gann gave Dani a shaky smile. “Now, while Conner is busy being our knight in shining bug guts, can you pinpoint the source of their anger? There must be a hivemind behind this mess.”

“I’ll try. Give me a moment.” Dani nodded and stood up, returning to punching ugly insect faces while M’gann focused. 

“ ‘Knight in shining bug guts’? Really?” Conner gave her a nasty side-eye. He did, in fact, have bug guts smeared all over his body. 

Dani gave him a shark-like smile and returned to crunching hard exoskeletons under her fist. Aqualad joined them at some point, informing the group that Robin had been pulled out by Batman due to injuries, and was instead directing their backup toward the battle. 

Like it’s not already all over the news. Dani thought ruefully. She could hear the helicopters hovering just outside the bug zone, taking live videos for all the world to see.

After several moments, a ripple of something itched at the back of Dani’s brain, and she easily let M’gann into the surface of her mind to establish a larger mind link. “I’ve discovered the source of the hive.” The Martian informed the group. 

“Fucking finally!” Wally cheered through the link. His faint voice indicated how far away he was, and sure enough, moments later everyone shivered as he left the range of the mind link and his presence disappeared with a twang!

“Report, Miss Martian.” Even in the mind link, Batman’s voice was gruff and dominating.

M’gann grunted as she scrambled upright, trying to stay with the group. The other three focused on creating a ring around her so she could relay information properly. “These are Earth-born insects, pushed to rage and enlarged using means I am not familiar with. The hivemind traces back to a small grove of trees just north of here. The trees themselves are controlling all these bugs and seem to be fueling this blind rage.”

Someone’s link stuttered in shock. “Trees?” Kauldr’ahm voiced what everyone was thinking. “How can trees be behind all of this?”

“What kind of trees are they?” Conner added on. 

M’gann was quiet for a moment. “I am unable to attain that information. I’m too unfamiliar with Earth’s flora and fauna to figure out which one it is. The trees are semi-sentient, however. They just keep repeating a few words.”

“What are they?”

“Er…give me a moment. I’ll try to broadcast what they’re saying.”

A sick, slimy feeling over Dani as M’gann opened her senses even more. They didn’t connect to the trees directly since that might compromise the mind link and, by extension, the heroes themselves. But even with M’gann as a buffer, the absolute stench of rot rolling off the trees' minds was so horrific that Dani almost threw up. She was sure she would have if she was any closer to the grove and unprepared. She wanted to cut off the connection immediately, to burn the whole battlefield no matter what damage it did to her throat, and then scrub at her skin with boiling hot water until it was peeling. But Dani had more control than that. So she stayed quiet, silently gagging as the mind of the trees pressed against her own. It was like a creeping rot, trying to suck up all she had to offer. 

“Pando.” The trees whispered. “Rot. Help. Pain. Pando. Pain. Rot. Pando. Pando rots. The rot. No. Pando rots. No. Pando. Pain. Help. No. No. No. Help. Earth. Help. Undergrowth. Help. The rot. Help. No-”

Looks like Dani got to beat up Undergrowth after all.

M’gann suddenly flinched back from the mind of the trees as if burned. Physically, she was sweating from the effort and shaking worse than a leaf in a strong wind.

"Isn't Pando that giant super organism of aspens in Utah?" Conner asked, bewildered. "What is it doing all the way here in Ohio?"

A sudden new presence gently forced its way into the mind link, startling everyone before they could discuss anything more.

“Well, I'm not sure what super organism you're talking about, but I do know another one of those words.” Mused a very familiar voice. “Undergrowth is a huge nature freak of the highest order. I’m not surprised this is his doing.” 

Batman let his displeasure be known. “Phantom, if you know-”

“DANNY?!” Dani screeched into the mind link, not minding the flinches of those around her. 

There was a heavy pause, and then, “Holy shit, Dani? Is that you??”

“You bet your momma’s living fudge it’s me!”

“What the fuck. What are you doing here?? Where are you???”

“I’m with the west group right now. Why-” Danny suddenly left the mind link, making her blink. “Okay, damn. Guess he wanted to say hi in person.” That last part wasn’t meant for the others to hear, but of course, questions started pouring in like water through a sieve, so she disconnected too. 

It was easy to find Danny’s core. Even as a human, Dani would always be able to find what was hers. Danny was hers, and she was Danny’s. They were the same, yet completely different people. Stretching out her senses after so long felt nice. Her core was already singing by the time it had connected with Danny’s, which greedily sang back. She hummed, deep and low in her chest, standing proud and tall as Danny came in, speeding like a rocket. She jumped last minute to meet him mid-air in a crushing hug. 

“Moonshine!” Danny gushed, spinning her around with no regard for the bugs closing in on them. Ope, never mind. A glowing green dome appeared over the group, easily blocking the horde of insects from reaching them. 

“Danny!” She trilled. Since her vocal cords were still damaged from her fire breathing, ghost speech was the most convenient way for her to talk. And now that a fellow ghost was here, why should she limit herself to human languages? Her original caught on immediately and started cooing back at her, sounding like a breaking glacier. 

“Moonshine, what are you doing here? Are you okay?” Danny frantically tried checking her over with a concerned eye, but Dani just batted his hands away with a fierce blush. 

“I’m fine, Danny! I just lost my voice for a bit. And didn’t I tell you I joined Young Justice?”

Danny shook his head. “What?! No! You only told me you got a crush and that you would try to get closer to him. You were pretty determined about it.”

Dani shrugged, pointing at a very confused Conner. “Ah, oops. That determination led me to join the YJ, and now I’m dating said crush. His name is Conner; he’s a clone, like me.”

Conner suddenly found himself under the very fierce gaze of one powerful Phantom, who seemed to know his girlfriend very well. All he could do was swallow and wave awkwardly, hoping the bug guts (still) on his face didn’t change the hero’s opinion of him. Conner was a smart guy. He knew his girlfriend was a clone of someone powerful, just like he was. He didn’t know exactly who she was a clone of, and he never bothered to ask. They’d only been dating a few months, after all. But seeing her right next to Phantom, the mysterious new Leaguer who could easily defeat Superman, Conner’s own template, it wasn’t hard to put two and two together. While Dani had pitch-black hair and stormy blue eyes and Phantom had snow-white hair and toxic green eyes, he could easily spot the resemblance between them. The same upturned nose, high cheekbones, and inhumanly large eyes all pointed toward Phantom being his girlfriend’s DNA donor. They even floated the same, with their knees slightly bent and arms ready to block at a moment’s notice. Now only if he could understand what they were saying. 

Danny sniffed and turned back towards his kid sister. “Isn’t he Supes’ kid?”

“Yeah.” 

“I approve. This will piss off big blue so much. The only thing you could have done better was date one of Bat’s kids.”

“Ewww, no!” Dani threw a sluggish punch at Danny’s arm. “Not only does that entire family reek of rotten ectoplasm, but their dad is a creepy stalker who has beef with a clown. He’s weird. I bet he’s even hounding Miss Martian right now about what’s going on.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that.” Danny looked down and gave M’gann a thumbs up. “Tell Batsy we’ll handle this! I flew over the horde earlier, and most heavy hitters are concentrated in an abandoned field up north. So there should be plenty of room for us to go ham ‘n cheese on a few magic trees.”

“Oh, thank the Ancients.” Dani sighed. “I wouldn’t have been able to handle this without you. Too many squishy humans are around, and I can’t make shields like you can.” 

“I’m sure you would have been fine, kiddo.” Danny chirped a few times and gave her a noogie, making Dani indignantly squawk. “Come on, do you want to go as that or change?”

“Mmmm.” Dani hummed, giving her teammates a quick appraising look. “I’ll change once we’re far enough away. You’ll have to carry me till then, I can’t fly very well like this.” 

Danny obliged, allowing the little gremlin to climb on his back as he slowly expanded the barrier around them, ready to take off immediately. “Have you been staying in your human form this whole time? You might be out of practice.”

“I might be.” Dani sighed and laid her head against Danny’s back. They shot into the air, breaking the barrier and zooming through the swarm of bugs so fast their wind trail made insects tumble from the sky. “They know me as Chimera here. Since I have a lot of Vlad’s features, I can pass myself off as one when they ask about some of my abilities. I also had Dora teach me to fire breathing and-Oh! I gotta show you how good I am at ecto-blasts now! I can get them so small they can pass through the long end of a straw. It’s really fun. And-” 

Danny smiled as his youngest sister rambled on about everything she wanted to show him. Despite their sparse virtual communication, it was easy to get lost in a conversation when they were together. Even in the middle of a battle! Just two ADHD halfas info dumping about their lives to each other before splitting and forgetting to text each other for six months. It was a system that worked for them, and he wouldn’t change it for the world. 

“-Oh, and by the way.” Dani flicked his forehead to make sure he was paying attention.

“Hmm?”

“Why are you even here? It didn’t sound like you knew Undergrowth was involved until Miss Martian linked us to the trees.”

Danny blinked, coming to a slow stop. “I never told you? I joined the Justice League last month.”

“Ancients, Danny.” Groaning, Dani slipped off her brother’s back and transformed mid-air, giving him a sour scowl. The grove of trees they needed to nuke was a few dozen feet below, twisted and grasping at the air with sharp branches. The stench of rot was so pungent both halfas just simply had to stop breathing. Undergrowth knew they were there; Dani just rolled her eyes, ignoring the whipping branches. “You’re such a hypocrite!” 

“Oops?”

---

[This is just a one-shot but if someone wants to add to where I left off, I would be most grateful. I'm just clearing out my drafts right now and don't have the energy to write an actual fight scene.]

Honestly, I think the funniest way to go about a dpxdc crossover with Danny and Dani is for Dani, during her wanderings around the world joins the Young Justice team. And then Danny is recruited to the Justice League. Neither of them have any clue the other has joined a superhero team until the Justice League and Young Justice happen to run into each other on a (very) chaotic mission, and as soon as Danny and Dani spot each other they start screaming something in an eldritch language in excitement at each other, hug, and then take down whatever Big Bad is threatening everyone in ten seconds flat. Then they refuse to explain how they know each other, because it’s funnier that way

[letterstodreams]

A Conversation with Possibility

I am going to indulge in a free-association ramble, because I think it might help keep my creative flame alive, to keep this blog alive, to lead it to its ultimate purpose. But I guess this might be a very idle, what's the point kind of post. I need to get them out of my system, sometimes, maybe. Sometimes they seem to have much more point and purpose in retrospect than I realized while writing, but we'll see.

I am afraid my writing isn't very good, but I don't want to worry too much about that. I seem to enjoy re-reading my writing sometimes, and other times not, and depending on my state of mind the same thing I wrote can appear good or awful. I wanted to create stories that are beautiful but I'm afraid that I won't have the focus, energy or time to do that. I wanted to be readable to others and enjoyable for them to read, if anyone ever read this. But it will be more like a journal type of thing, maybe something others can enjoy, but not the kind of things most people would probably usually read for fun, I guess.

And I wanted to write this in a way that would preserve my privacy, and to be able to appear as someone who won't be too judged too often. And as someone whose tastes and personality and lifestyle do not cause a bad taste in peoples' mouths, or make them think, meh, not for me, she's not like me, I'm not interested. Making them feel like they don't enjoy what I say, so much or at all, just because I'm not like them. I'm weird, tacky, dull, dumb, boring, or just too plain different than they are. My tastes, my style, my personality, all might appear annoying and odd or unrelatable to many, so I wanted to somehow make it appear ordinary, not because I think it's wrong as it is, but because it's not important to me to assert my personality or uniqueness, right here in this subject matter. The important thing is the lessons I can share, that go beyond personality or individuality, to something in common with many people, across many different sectors of reality and humanity. But I don't know if I can avoid bringing my oddness into it. It might be too difficult or impossible to pick it apart from the rest of it all.

I wanted to write about all the ways I think the characters in my mind might help me change my life. I wanted to make it into some inspiring story or some kind of fast-paced adventure, where I'm leaping into change, or at least planning how to do that, figuring it all out. I wanted to maybe talk of the tiny steps to take too, that will change my life until it's where it needs to be, somehow. These are the things I want to make into exciting or exhilarating stories for others, and for myself, too.

But I'm afraid no matter how I portray it, it will be just me, boring, odd, outsider, misunderstood, unpopular, alone, again. And if I am to be happy for what I can give, rather than what I can receive, this might work, but can I really be happy that way? Can I let go of the need for recognition or understanding, but just give what others want or need? Can I be content, or will it be enough for me? Can I be happy to change for my own self, to write all this for my own self? Or will that not work for me because I need understanding, help, insight, perspective, from others? But what if the perspective I need from others is something they just can't give? What if they can't see me clearly enough to give the perspective I need, whilst my own perspective is so very distorted too? We all tend to need others to help us even up, balance out, and clarify our perspective of things. But for some who are so far beyond the norm, it seems no one can see us, and we have no help seeing more clearly.

So I'm afraid this blog will end up going the way of so many of my other blogs- turning into something too distorted, too self-focused, too stagnant and lacking answers or solutions, lacking real action and direction. There was a good reason I took a break from blogging for a long time since losing the place where I felt a tiny bit more heard. I realized the need it served was questionable, to say the least. The need maybe was real, but whether it served the actual need effectively was a big question mark. It never felt real or clear just what was going on.

I don't even want to hear what others have to say about my writing. I've been profusely complimented on my writing before, especially by teachers in high school, but that was so long ago that maybe I've lost much of what I learned or whatever talent or creative flow that helped me write well, back then. But I've also seen plenty of writing criticism which I disagree with in writer's communities. Much of what others like or dislike reading is completely different from my own tastes. I only want writing criticism if it will create writing that I myself would like. So even the idea of wanting to write better just feels like a question that hangs there, can I even know what to do to write better in a way that I even care about? And if not, can I make this writing start to feel less like an endless string of words that is a burden sometimes to tangle through and extract the good ideas again, if there even are any such good ideas? What feels important one day can seem so insignificant or confusing the next, sometimes. What I thought was the solution to my problems can seem dull, ineffectual, impossible to implement. Some earth-shattering epiphany jotted down and reread can appear like jargon, incomprehensible and vague.

But I'm going to try and see if I can somehow piece things together, turn them into a different angle and configuration and make them work and make more sense, even if it means that I must throw a lot of things out and change the whole plan or approach I thought that I was going to have. Truthfully though I have had many great insights and strides made in my life through my journals and blogs. But it needs to be more, or so I hope it can. My life crawls forward but circumstances sometimes surge ahead and I feel I might be stranded if I can't progress faster and further than I've been going for these so many years now, struggling to do all I can. But there's got to be a better way. Or, maybe there is, at least.