#I love seeing people's names pop up in my activity and going :0 !!! I know that person's account!!!

[a-gay-bloodmage]

Hello! I thought I'd do a couple of polls on here to get a feel for how interested my followers are in the OC side of this blog. While I'm still getting back on my feet DA-wise and haven't been posting too much proper Original Character Original Content in the form of drawing or fanfic, I'm curious to know if anyone has a particular interest in learning more about any characters! I'll probably be doing more in the future!

Here are the recent Warden and Inquisitor write-ups I did!

Starting off with a simple question:

[tommyssupercoolblog]

Named after anyone? LMAO YES

Last time I cried? Like 2 mins ago. And it was over something rlly dumb 👍🌈✨

Kids? I love them so much but i literally cannot have them :) and also I don't think I'm emotionally equipped to raise a human. Or even like, be a teacher. But I will hang out with younger relatives and stuff, and like. Marvel at how fast their brains grow. Like bro will literally be the size of a small dog and then point to a cat and then pet the cat. LIKE. YOU CAN RECOGNIZE CATS. AND YOU CAN ASSOCIATE CATS. WITH AN ACTUON??? THAT IS SOME WHOLE ASS BRAIN ACTIVITY!!! YES!!! WE PET THE CAT!!! YOU'RE SO FUCKING SMART OH MY GOD THAT IS WHAT WE DO WHEN WE SEE A CAT!!!! WE PET THE CAT good job OMG I might cry. And then 2 years later I see them at Thanksgiving and they're so much bigger and have OPINIONS. What the fuck??? That's so cool??? I like kids in the same way an astronomer likes space I'm just like. "Woah that's sick I wanna study you you're so awesome. How did you do that. You're so small." They're like little mysteries to me....how are they so small and so growing....they THINK..... And one day they'll become like, a whole adult person???? the fuck???? Straight up witchcraft that a baby can become an adult human. Where are you hiding the adult human in that thang?????

Sports? No :( I like the aesthetic of rugby but I would cry so I can't do it. Someone else in the system was really into competitive bowling but I don't know much about it. I like being outside though, and I could see myself doing a very casual round of volleyball or something else for fun at a party but not being on a team or playing regularly. So....yes??? But only if my friends are there and I don't have to win and there is free snacks????

Sarcasm? I don't know how sarcastic I am tbh...but I would assume not a lot? Could be wrong. I know Seàn is very sarcastic tho and I love it :3

First thing I noticed Abt smthn; COLORS and texture/shape. Visuals. I see an object and I'm like "this is red and round and soft. This is black and hard and flat. This is gray and sharp and pointy." If it's an animal my first thought is "(ANIMAL NAME)!!!" And then color again, and then texture and size.

Eye color? Blu

Scary movies or happy endings? Happy endings :3

Talents? ART and designing things and being myself :D and so silly. Oh and colors :0 one of the main things people always point out to me about both my art and my clothes is colors. And also noticing things, I often point things out and then everyone is like. Bro I didn't even notice that what how did you see there was a lizard on that wall. And I'm like. Idk I just saw!!! LIZARD!!!! And then I point out six other animals and also that the neighbors mailbox was left open.

Place of birth? California and apparently that still affects us to this day because when I'm fronting and I speak to people they tell me I sound like I learned English from TV shows, and that's because almost all the Hollywood stars and Disney channel kids and everyone else is from California, and a lot of studios and filming places are in California, and a lot of pop stars are from California, and a lot of american media. Is made in, near, or by people from, California. I had an actual linguist tell me I sounded like I learned English from like Hannah Montana or something and I was like. Yeah because California

Hobbies? Art obvs but also YouTube and going outside and talking to people and wandering around places in circles just to look and products and get enrichment. And also GAMING I love playing animal crossing and Minecraft and things,,, yeas

Pets? I don't personally have any but we are currently living with our parents and sibling and there are two doggies :3

Height? Like 5'3? Maybe smoler??? Smol

Favorite school subject? None the school environment made it impossible for me to have fun even when it was a subject I liked and I would cry. But now that I'm not in school anymore I mostly learn about theatre and history for fun; although the history is always things like theme parks, pop culture, fandom culture specifically, old websites, defunct toylines, TV shows and music, It's like....media and pop culture history

Dream job? Being able to sell my clothes and other designs full time in my store with no other job and still support myself financially, and have like a physical location and also be able to actually control my own production so that I can 1. mark everything as gender neutral 2. Lower my prices 3. have sizes that go past 2x.....Printify please I know you've let me make thimgs that are plus size before why are so many of your options 2x or smaller only please printify please what do you want from me.

@septiccoffeefreak and anyone else who wants to join!! (I JUST tagged my other friends in another game so I won't do it here so they don't get overwhelmed :3)

tagged by @sabakos

named after anyone? A passed-on family member, but only for the first letter

last time I cried? Some weeks ago, I think? I'm not sure what about, I suspect my medication makes it harder to cry

kids? I like the idea of them, but it would be a major change in my life and I might mess them up. Also I'm not entirely sure antinatalism is incorrect; there's a nonzero chance of making someone who would've preferred not existing in the first place. Does that outbalance everyone else?

sports? Did Taekwondo from 11-18, taught for the last 3 years of it. Only sport I ever really liked or excelled at.

sarcasm? occasionally

first thing I notice about something? What it ought to be used for?

eye color? Green

scary movies or happy endings? Happy endings, I'm a weenie in scary movies, unless the focus is on more abstract ideas or horrors I can enjoy.

talents? Good at math/games?

place of birth? Florida

hobbies? DOTA, learning makeup, dance, reading, math (not as much as I feel I should)

pets? None at the moment

height? 5'6"

favorite school subject? Math. I was good at it.

dream job? Chief Quant of tinkering with little research and models and everyone respects my knowledge

tagging @tommyssupercoolblog @self-loving-vampire @thirteen-jades @lumsel

[oraclekleo]

Jung Woo Young (Ateez) Ideal Partner Characteristics based on Tarot Reading

Hello and welcome!

I’m Kleo and I’m here to present some k-pop related tarot readings to you.

Disclaimer:

I would like to state that all these readings have a purely entertainment nature and their purpose is to bring some fun into my and hopefully yours lives. I have never ever met any of the idols / actors / celebrities in my readings, I don’t know them personally. Tarot reading isn’t an exact science and I can never guarantee any of it. Most of it is my intuition mixed with fantasy. Don’t take these readings seriously and don’t base any important decisions on tarot readings only, use your common sense.

If you wish to request a tarot reading, please read the pinned post on my profile first to see the instructions on how to request. I only do readings for idols / actors / celebrities of 18 years of age or older. Requests for readings including younger people will be automatically dismissed. If you feel uncomfortable with these tarot readings, do not engage in reading my posts. Thank you for understanding.

Reading Info:

Rating: 18+

Reading Type: Single - Couple

Requested: Yes - No

Deck: Crow Tarot

Spread: Ideal Partner

Questions:

Body

Heart

Spirit

Soul

Time

Place

Full Name: Jung Woo Young

Stage Name: Wooyoung

Group: Ateez

Jung Woo Young

(Wooyoung - Ateez)

Deck: Crow Tarot

Spread: Ideal Partner

Body - XVIII The Moon

Wooyoung’s ideal partner is likely a person with some deeply rooted self-esteem issues. They might come as extremely shy, awkward and anxious. They are likely to wear dull and inconspicuous clothes, trying to hide in the shadows and corners. It might be caused by them being mistreated or shamed when growing up. Now they simply don’t feel comfortable in their own body and would prefer to hide from anyone’s sight.

Heart - 0 The Fool

Wooyoung’s perfect match might have issues when with people but they surely have a rich and meaningful inner world of their own. At heart they are curious and with a child-like enthusiasm. They might even come as naive and they surely are in a way fragile and soft at heart. They probably have rather exciting and adventurous ideas and can explore a variety of subjects with undying curiosity but they will forever feel like weirdos or outcasts.

Spirit - Queen of Wands

Wooyoung’s significant other is likely a spiritually very active and colourful person. They are likely interested in a variety of spiritual activities, they like to explore the unknown and combine and mix the philosophies. They are likely enthusiastic about these and can connect with people alike. It’s very likely that their yoga, tarot or wicca circle (or any other kind of group) is the only place where they are able to cheer up and express themselves freely.

Soul - 3 of Pentacles

Deep down in their soul, Wooyoung’s ideal partner is a skillful craftsman / woman. They have all those fantastic ideas but they are likely to bring them into reality as well when it matters to them. They are able to easily team up with people with the same interest and it’s very likely that any collaboration they are engaged in will come to fruition.

Time - 10 of Wands

Wooyoung is likely to meet his significant other in the time of need, when he’s busy with millions of tasks and needs someone reliable he could delegate some of his work to. It’s possible his ideal partner is his coworker or someone working in services, Wooyoung might hire them to help him out (do the taxes, organise a party, clean the house, design his living room…). He’s likely to grow fond of this person and maybe even get astonished why he didn’t notice them sooner (obviously because they were hiding in the shadows and corners as we said).

Place - VIII Strength

If Wooyoung decides to share one space with his ideal partner, it’s gonna become a safe place for both of them. Wooyoung is likely to encourage his loved one to open up a bit, get out of their shell and become more courageous. He’s not going to pressure them, though, only gently mending what was broken, empowering their self-esteem step by step. Their home is likely to be comfortable for both of them but very private. Wooyoung might be a popular guy but his home is his private lair and he’s likely to meet his friends outside.

This was actually pretty interesting. I wouldn't expect this kind of result for Wooyoung. I would kinda expect he will go for a wild extrovert to match him but seems like our boy has some finer and more complex taste.

Thank you for reading!

Hit the Like 💖

Comment! 💬

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[sixeyesgojo]

soon-to-be father

Summary: In which Gojo proclaims that he will be a father soon.

Pairing: Gojo Satoru x female reader

Word count: 993

Content warning: spoiler warning (reference to Volume 0 - mentions of Yuta and his OPness), slight suggestive themes but not too bad

A/N: Idk, I was bored at 3am. Didn’t expect this to become this long.... Also, I don’t exactly remember if Yaga already had a kid or if I just made that up in my head (I do know that he is a divorcee though), so let’s just pretend he has a kid in this one lol

Filing written reports about curse incidents to submit to the elders ruling the jujutsu world was a tedious task. Nonetheless, it had to be done by every jujutsu sorcerer working for Jujutsu Tech.

Returning to the office with a newly filled cup of coffee in your hand, you sat down after putting your warm beverage on the desk. Work was waiting for you, so naturally you got back to writing these reports as soon as possible. You were determined to finish all those reports. Not gonna work overtime today, you thought while writing away your findings about recent curse activity. 

Not much time passed after someone burst into the room loudly. You didn’t even need to confirm with your eyes – it could only be that person.

“State your business, Satoru. I got work to do, unlike you”, you shot at him.

“Woah, so rude! I am wounded,” the man exclaimed and clutched his chest as if he was in pain. “I came here to tell you the good news!”

The tall man settled down on the couch in the office.

“Guess who is going to be a father soon?” Satoru’s voice rang across the room.

“Is it principal Yaga again?” you asked without looking up from your papers once. “Nope, nope, nopeeeeee,” being the obnoxious person he could be, Satoru made sure to pop the ‘p’ of the last one particularly loud. “You are absolutely wrong on this one. Though I suppose I can understand where you are coming from,” he added, waving his hand.

“Guess again, guess again,” he demanded excitedly.

Finally, you shifted your gaze from your lame reports onto the white-haired sorcerer.

“It’s definitely not Nanami,” you stated matter-of-factly as you made your way to him to join him on the couch – the idea of working flew out of the window. You knew how your colleague viewed marriage and romantic commitments as jujutsu sorcerer. Who else could it be? There weren’t many male people involved in the jujutsu world with a connection to you or Satoru-

“I swear, Satoru, if you were going to tell me some higher-up will be father, then I will have you know that I am not interested in this information in the slightest.”

You pulled a grimace and made a gagging noise.

“No, no. Literally ew,” he suppressed a gag as well, “I may have a rotten personality – which you love, I just know – but I wouldn’t do that to you. I’m not that much of an ass.”

“Gosh, Satoru, just spill it already. I can practically see your tail wagging, begging me to ask,” you sighed. Now even you were curious.

If Satoru hadn’t worn a blindfold, there would have been a bright glint from his cerulean eyes. A million-dollar-smile spread on his face, pride emanating from his body.

“It’s me! I am going to be a papa!” He clapped enthusiastically.

Your jaw dropped. Wait what?

“Hold up, wait. What did you just say?!” you burst out.

“I said what I said!” he exclaimed. Was it possible for a grin to be even wider?

“Enlighten my confusion? When did that happen? Did I miss something, like something super important you forgot to tell me?” you asked, bewildered.

“Oh, you didn’t miss anything at all, sweetheart,” the man in front of you replied oh-so-casually, “I’m gonna be a dad and you’ll be the mommy.”

Thousands of emotions flit across your face. The way your level of confusion shot up by a million times clearly amused Satoru to no end. You wanted nothing more than to punch him in the gut if this turned out to be some sort of prank. Mommy?!?!

Nevertheless, you tried to play along: “Too bad I don’t remember consenting to be your girlfriend or anything of the sort.”

A delighted laughter filled the space, “Well, you didn’t exactly turn me down either, just now.”

“If that’s how it’s going to be, I will just say I have no recollection of ever sleeping with you, let alone being pregnant,” you retorted triumphantly.

“Touché.”

“Do you remember Yuta?” he suddenly asked.

“Yeah, like I would forget the precious bean I jokingly called my son, who only narrowly escaped the fate of being executed in his teenager years because his own power was too great and deemed dangerous by the old stick-up-the-ass people we call superiors,” you said flatly.

“Yeah, exactly that Yuta. I am very pleased to tell you that I’m adopting a new one! Meaning you have to help me raise him. Well, technically he will be my student...” Satoru started explaining. “...but you don’t sweat the small stuff,” you finished his sentence. He beamed at you, praising you for how well you knew him and all that stuff.

Well, duh. A new student, huh?

“So explain. What’s the deal with this one?” you asked.

“You see, this boy – his name is Yuji, by the way –  is also facing execution because he swallowed a special grade cursed object,” Satoru revealed dramatically.

“Then... if he is facing execution, that means the special grade curse incarnated but you cannot exorcise him on the spot for some reason,” you theorized, putting two and two together, and the man next to you confirmed your theory.

Satoru clarified further, “You hit the nail on the head. The poor boy seems to be the vessel of Ryomen Sukuna. I managed to postpone his execution until he consumes all twenty fingers though. He will be the third first-year student, so you have to help me!”

“The Double-Faced Specter, huh...” you mumbled to yourself, then your gaze was directed at Satoru, “to me, it sounds like you’re being troublesome again, you ass.”

“Oh please, I know you love ‘troublesome’,” he teased you.

“Yeah, I do. Otherwise, I wouldn’t put up with your sorry ass.”

“Ouch. Will you raise our son with me, though?”

“Oh hell, yeah. Count me in.”

Yeah, work could wait.

[rigelmejo]

Some September 1st Updates

the READING SPEED difference of a novel at my level! I read the first chapter of 撒野 yesterday and this author is at exactly my reading level right now. I hit 0-2 new words each pleco page, which is usually the sweet spot to either guess the word or if I look it up I can pretty quickly adapt to recognizing it in context. Its also the sweet spot where if I only rely on guessing for new word meanings, on a second pass through I can fairly well guess the meaning quickly. 

It was a 32 page chapter in pleco and I read it in 20 minutes. Compared to the 20 pleco page per chapter pingxie fic i just finished (like 124k characters! WOW I read and FINISHED that much!), which was taking 30-40 minutes per chapter (mainly because of number of new vocabulary per chapter being a bit higher). If I’d wanted to speed read saye I could have, I’d have missed some small details but I could have tried if I wanted.

Then I did a second pass later in the day with the audiobook just following along with the text. Realized 1. I knew most words in the audiobook and did not follow as well as i thought - but those first listen throughs without having seen the chapter I did manage to figure out the main character just broke up, just travelled somewhere, ran into a girl and somehow the girls brother showed and the two guys interacted a little and someone was being somewhat helpful, then the main guy met his father trying to ‘pick him up.’ Which is a true but very rough summary of what happens in the first chapter. By reading I could confirm the words I thought were names AS names, figured out WHY the girl was interacting with the main guy and that there were actually two girls in chapter 1, and figure out who helped who and who was the girl’s brother. Also somehow before I looked at the chapter text I never caught that the audiobook mentions a motorcycle despite me knowing that word and it SOUNDING like mota-che/motorche! it sounds like the word and i knew it and didn’t hear it! Then later following the audiobook with the text I realized another issue I had, is I’m not used to listening to soft voices with such faint pronunciations of the final sounds. I’m much more used to deeper crisper pronunciations and being able to rely clearly on initials and finals AS much as tones to recognize the words, whereas this particular audiobook i needed to mainly rely on tones and initials to figure out what word was what - that probably threw me off a bit. It’s probably good for me to get practice listening to such a different voice to what I’m used to. I have definitely learned the deeper the voice, the more I have a far easier time figuring out what’s being said. Also standard accent more like beijing but without a huge amount of ‘er’s just some, and taiwan accent are the easiest for me to hear when i’m not pa

For anyone curious, here is the audiobook for SaYe I’m listening to: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2w27tfjeeaySbMK272NpXwUtsBc-e3YN

Also here’s a chinese audiobook youtube I found: https://www.youtube.com/c/%E6%9C%89%E5%A3%B0%E5%B0%8F%E8%AF%B4%E5%90%AC%E4%B9%A6%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8Cyoushengxiaoshuo/playlists

Which includes The King’s Avatar: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTJaWZoVPdT1ZhIQIKxVci7fVEHr-oX6k

And ErHa: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsxEOGKlBMaFa6CS6Hf5ndy6qTtUL0Au_

Anyway, its a great book right now for reading practice. It’s very much around my level. I will probably stick with this author for a little while and solidify what I know/my base reading level. 

-

IN OTHER NEWS:

I am apparently living proof listening-reading, heavy emphasis on re-listening a TON in the background as you work or type or walk/drive whatever, works for learning new words. 

I re-listened to guardian chapter 1 audiobook at least 20-30 times by now, just a tremendous amount. Chapters 1-10 I’ve listened to at least 5 times by now random chapters at random days, and some probably also 20 times. 

I have listened to these chapters enough, that I can officially follow so much that I know nearly every freaking word I hear, I know it immediately on hearing in at least 3 different audiobooks, and the few ‘less familiar’ words I recognize a second after hearing (like hearing ‘audacious’ or ‘glum’ in english it just takes me a second to re-remember), and the very few still forgotten words/specific details I learn From those words I can actually pick up from the context of listening.

 I hear ‘powei’ and somehow forgot it AGAIN? Oh it means ‘rather’ in this context. ‘anli’ well i always hear ‘anlishuo’ as in ‘people say/generally speaking’ so ‘anli’ in this context must mean ‘generally/generally speaking.’ chuanghu? can’t remember it because i was just typing this JUST now and only hearing a few words from the audiobook in the background - well in context its obviously window, but out of context my brain said window and i just couldn’t remember if it was window or curtain but felt curtain had something more complex than ‘hu’ as the second half - just looked it up and my guess was right, even with no context which i’d have had if i’d been listening better and it had been clear it’s window, it still made me think ‘window’ immediately just hearing the sound. ‘xiang yi ge ren’ sounds like ‘looks like a person’ which is the next phrase i just randomly heard. ‘hua le yao ming’ shouted for their life/in awful terror? or that would be ‘huo’, so maybe ‘streaking toward him to take his life’? would make sense in context of a horror scene - i just looked it up and 划了要命 would be the second one. even IF i heard the wrong line, both of those are pretty close to a good guess in context and hua is the only unknown because without context i can’t place if it was hua or huo. i still confuse the words wu and wo for hold etc, but in context i can tell which one it is (wo is hold a hand, hold a face, etc). 

I’m genuinely at a point where I can just completely follow the plot through at least the first 20 chapters from listening. And for most scenes, follow every detail too including stuff like guo changcheng spending half a year not working at home after he graduated, being so afraid of the phone, da qing being fawning to shen wei when they meet and rubbing against his leg, the specific conversation details when da qing runs across zhao yunlan’s car in chapter 2, what zhao yunlan’s room exactly looks like, etc. Its super cool to be able to follow the audiobook so well I can follow the story and details even when I don’t have time to read! It’s so fun! And it was not very hard!

It took 40 minutes of upfront study where you set time aside to focus: 20 minutes to have a program read the chapter aloud while you either see unknown word definitions pop up (like in Pleco) or look them up with some click dictionary as you listen. 20 minutes to go through and listen to the audiobook as you follow along with the text. Then after that, just play the audiobook chapters you’ve done this with whenever you want, either paying attention like when going to bed soon or walking, or in the background like when cleaning or doing busy work or driving. Since background listening can be done easily whenever all you have to do is remember to click play when you want something to listen to. 

I’m honestly blown away by how much 3 months of studying mainly like this (which is quite fun and only requires me to carve out a small amount of actual study focused time) has improved my listening skills. I can now also listen to the 2ha audiobook okay and follow along (provided its a chapter I’ve read before so I have at least some prior context to help me out) - at least so far as that’s what I’m listening to right now. Basically, I can tell Guardian has both upped my vocabulary significantly and also improved my automatic recognition of many words I half-knew and learned since. 

I recently found a new Guardian audiobook read by a deep voice and its lovely (and utilizes music and echo for effects, its lovely to listen to) I hope the poster keeps updating: https://fm.qq.com/show/rd002ED4aN0mYz2L__

I’ve been listening to it lately.

---

Also! Directions for using Pleco Android for screen reader:

1. To get any page bookmarked online: 

Open a page in your mobile web browser you want to read. Click the menu, click share, click Pleco Reader (or ‘more’ or ‘...’ then Pleco Reader).

Go to Clipboard Reader. Now when you click text, dictate text megaphone will be an option.

*Since Clipboard Reader is free, you can do this to read in Pleco and have things spoken aloud with no money spent. (Though I find the Reader tool worth the money and add ons).

2. To have any text ‘dictated aloud’:

Go to Pleco’s menu, Settings, Audio, click ‘use TTS if no recording,’ then for Sentence Audio section area System TTS Setting click Speech Services by Google (you can also experiment by clicking other options I am just stating what worked for me, it didn’t work at first I had to make that my default TTS in my Accessibility-Talkback Settings menu on my main phone first and restart my phone before all this). 

Then click the area right below to mess with speed and sound of the TTS voice. 

(Note, to test if TTS is working you can go to any dictionary entry sentence, click the speaker next to the sentence and see if it plays audio. If it does not, you will get an error message and directions on what to change in your phone settings. That is what initially happened to me: I had to go to phone Settings, Accessibility, Talkback, TTS Engine, TTS Engine voice and settings. Pleco recommended I choose Speech Services by Google, and uninstall then reinstall the Chinese voice. Then restart the phone. That worked for me. An additional note: I have Talkback setting on ‘on’ and just have it in my toolbar to use if desired but am not actively using it. If you turn Talkback setting ‘off’ in the actual Settings area of Accessibility, I am not sure if it will affect Pleco’s ability to dictate). 

3. How to put it together: 

Now go to Clipboard Reader and read the page from the internet you wanted or text you pasted, or go to Document Reader and open the document you wish to read. 

Click a word as a place to start. Now you should see both the loudspeaker (for pronouncing the single word) and the Megaphone next to it to start dictating all text. (If your phone is weird like me, you may need to press the megaphone a couple times before the audio works).

If you wish to change dictation reading speed, simply hold down the megaphone and select the speed desired. 

Now that I’ve figured this out I really want to take pictures of my print book, make a pdf, and listen to all the changes.

(Now I just have to fix my weird dictionary in Idiom app and I’m all set on the new phone!)

---

All I’ve been doing the past august study wise is just reading pingxie fic and finishing, and listening to audiobooks. It’s been a busy time for me ToT

I do think it proved you can be lazy and still make some improvements though: 

1. Reading in Pleco (or click-dictionary tool of your choice): pick something and read a chapter a day (that’s what I did, obviously the easier this is the less time you’ll need, but aim for around 30 minutes a day and reading material closer to your level if you don’t want to read too long)

2. Listening-Reading Method something above your reading level that you enjoy. Should take 40 minutes a couple times a week to several times a week to hours a week, depending on how intense you want to get with it and how much you’re going to alternate/include the reading portion. I did like 1-2 chapters a week so I was only spending 40 minutes to 1.5 hours a week doing this, or 3 hours one week no time another week. This is definitely something where you can do 6-12 hours one month then coast on it for another month just repeating older material’s audio/re-reading sections (which is what I did with guardian, doing 22 chapters then switching to just listening to audio a lot). 

Once you’ve done a little L-R steps 2 and 3 (in either order, whatever works for you - and doing step 1 if you want more context prior to steps 2 and 3), then just make time during your days to play the audiobook chapters you’ve studied. You don’t need to be focusing every single time (although focusing on actually trying to follow the audio the first time you listen without text to aid you will probably speed up your comprehension a lot by giving you a lot of basic-context to help you comprehend more later). Aim to listen whenever you’ve got down time! Or time where you’d play music or some background youtube video or podcast - walks, exercise, drives, when cleaning, when browsing the web goofing off, when working if you have times when you’d listen to music with lyrics or a podcast in the background without issues, times when you don’t need to focus 100% on listening just putting it on to hear in the background). 

That’s all I’ve done for study since May. It takes me about 30 minutes 5 days a week, plus 1-2 hours listening-reading actively a week. So 2.5 hours plus 2 = 4 hours of active study a week. Sometimes more like 8-10 if I got really into reading something or Listening-reading to several chapters. Then after that (very easy to fit into my life 4-10 hours per week of study) I just play the audiobook whenever I have downtime at work (that’s usually 0.5-4 hours where I just let it play because I forget its on while working on spreadsheets, updates, emails, etc, or play the audiobook while messing around on the internet in my free time at home, sometimes I put on music instead), while walking so 15-30 minutes maybe 3 days a week, while driving far so maybe 20 minutes - 2 hours per week. maybe lets say 2 hours*4 days a week (I don’t remember to listen every day) so 8 hours random listening+1.5 hours walking+1 hour driving per week. That’s 11.5 hours listening in the background or paying attention plus lets say 4 hours of active study a week. So 15.5 ‘study’ hours for chinese per week - an average overall of ~2.21 hours of chinese ‘study’ per day. This isn’t counting when I get into weibo and goof off, get into some chinese show with no english subs and just start watching it (I watched 16 episodes of Humans cdrama in August which is ~10.66 hours for a total of at least (15.5*4 weeks = 62 hours + 10.66 hours -> ~72.66 hours spent ‘with chinese’ in August at minimum. 4 weeks*7 days = 28, so over around 28 days or most of august I did 72.66 total hours/28 days -> or ~2.595 hours of chinese per day as an average. So... my guess that I spend at least 1-2 hours on chinese per day as the average was a decent guess. Looks like I’m usually 2 hours to 2.5 hours daily as an overall average. It’s not that hard to get in that much without a ton of time in the day once you get some listening skills built up ToT Deciding to build up my listening skills has been one of the funnest goals in chinese so far.

Notes on Listening Reading Actively - it also doubles as increasing your exposure to listening to your target language, and the more hours the better even if its passive in the background, just more hours adding up toward your mind getting a better ability to parse the sounds of the language is going to help your overall listening comprehension in general. So even if you don’t pay attention much and can’t follow the whole plot and only catch certain scenes, you will be improving at least comprehension of: hearing words you know, hearing colocations and common phrases and recognizing more automatically which will help with speaking/writing indirectly and reading recognition of those things, overall ability to hear things correctly in different combinations and getting used to the common combinations. 

You will be surprised how much more you can pick up of plot and details the 3rd listen compared to the first, the 5th listen, the 10th listen. It’s wild. Like... I’m listening to the 2ha audiobook and even having never read it in chinese, just knowing basic context, the 2nd read through I caught so much more of the plot throughout just because I had forewarning of when scenes change a lot, what audio plays during some parts I recognized in previous listens, and so I have more focus for figuring out the new details I missed. Whereas the first listen, I didn’t always know WHAT the scene context was until I heard a familiar line or description I remembered from the english version of the scene, but on a second listen I now have a better guess at the scene the lines are probably taking place in before and after those lines I recognized in the first listen. And this continues etc each time you re-listen to something. (So yes, that initial context of knowing what you’re listening to with a previous read of its translation or target language transcript will definitely speed up comprehension pick up - but if you just wanna test what your basic listening comprehension to new content is then it works fine just going into new audio with no prior context its just more difficult at first lol until you build an idea of the context from listening).

The original Listening-Reading Method person did like 40+ hours a week, 8 hours most days, no wonder they made fast progress! They often included reading in some form (hence the name) and later translation, so they also were constantly working on listening AND some reading skills AND eventually often some speaking/writing skills. Doing it my way results in mostly listening comprehension of stuff you could already read to a degree, more automaticity in recognition, and for picking up new vocabulary both in listening and reading. I do extra reading on the side with other stuff to get more reading practice in an isolated way (since I’m trying to push my reading speed up above speaking speed). I always try to do it the way the creator originally intended, but I am not able to focus on things for more than 20 minutes at a time, 40 to a couple hours if I take a break every 20 minutes. So doing it 8 hours just doesn’t work out. 

---

I’m fairly happy!

I am on plan for my main goals that started this style study plan: 

1. Improving my reading level to get to start being able to extensively read actual danmei novels - we got there! I am at a reading level appropriate for SaYe at 98% comprehension when I checked, and at a bit above 95% comprehension for Guardian! I’m now continuing with that goal while adding on increasing reading Speed in general.

2. Improving listening skills so I have better automatic recognition of partly-known words from reading (working super well so far - I can tell because ability to watch cdramas in only chinese has improved noticeably and gotten much easier), and so I can start following the main plot and key details of audiobooks of things I’ve read before (working great for guardian, starting to work with other audiobooks provided I listen to the chapters a few times or several times if its brand new material I have no context for, however reading level matters and while things I have prior familiarity with are going very well - brand new materials are still quite challenging in that they require multiple listens for the full plot and several listens before I start picking up most non-plot-critical details). 

[tetsunova]

for an event people could send in characteristics about them and you tell them who you think their highest hq kin is and maybe a little hc about how they are similar and if it works best for a friendship or relationship?

or something shipping cuz that’s always fun

i’ve been saving this ask since 300 cause i loved it so much thank you anon😭

firstly thank you again for 500, we were at 400 just a couple weeks ago? that’s crazy lmao. so grateful for all the moots and followers that have been here since day one. we may not interact much but i do see your names pop up in my activity and i adore you for the support. hope you stick around <3

nova’s 500 lovers

Yet eyes this cunning want to grace their art; They draw but what they see, know not the heart. - sonnet 24

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (sonnet 18)

send in stuff about you, and i’ll assign you a kin, and match you up with someone !

｡ ★ • *｡ mention which fandom you want (haikyuu or jjk) and what gender you’d prefer to be matched up with

｡ ★ • *｡ what i need: your hobbies, what your day usually looks like, likes, dislikes and anything else you want to send in ! (optional: mbti and enneagram)

status: closed !

Ere you were born, was beauty’s summer dead. (sonnet 104)

appearance matchups ! send me a picture or two of yours, or a picrew that looks like you and i’ll assign you a kin and match you up with someone !

｡ ★ • *｡ mention which fandom you want (haikyuu or jjk) and what gender you’d prefer to be matched up with

｡ ★ • *｡ if you do it on anon please add and emoji so that you know it’s for you because i won’t be posting anyones pictures on here

｡ ★ • *｡ pictures will be deleted immediately after i’m done with the matchup

status: closed !

Not from the stars do I my judgment pluck, And yet methinks I have astronomy (sonnet 15)

your favourite haikyuu/ jjk boy is going to write you a letter! could be anything from a couple hundred words to a good five hundred words. male characters only.

｡ ★ • *｡ mention which character you want, the genre (angst, fluff or comfort), your pronouns, the nicknames/pet names you’d like the character to call you, your name/alais

｡ ★ • *｡ let me know what content you want it to include (compulsory for comfort, optional for others)

｡ ★ • *｡ i will have only 5 spaces for this one, only because i want it to be well written and not rushed. first come fist basis only.

slots open: 0/5

way to send in a request: you just go hi nova could i have a sonnet (insert sonnet number) please? + whatever i’ve asked you to send in.

any questions? feel free to ask

[out-there-so-it-isnt-just-me]

Hey guys...I have an idea if you aren't sad enough yet. I was struck by a painful comparison sort of crossover idea. It would never be canon, but  I'm mourning the end of Campaign Two, and I want to be sad and over-dramatic. Essek, but as Eliza from Hamilton in “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story.” But, it’s for the entire Mighty Nien. Some of the lyrics are so on point for a poor Essek who will probably outlive all of his friends (Elves still generally live longer than Firbolgs by a good 200 years). Anyway, enjoy.

MN

Every other founding father's story gets told

It occurs to Essek, during one of the many periods without one of the Mighty Nein (the time that he dwells on them the most), how unfair their whole situation is. They saved all of Exandria, and no one knows. They are amazing, and odd, and frustrating, and no one knows. They will die loved deeply, but not widely. He knows they prefer it that way, all things considered. But, everyone else who saves all of Exandria becomes legends, while the people he loves best will be forgotten, remembered only by him.

And that. That sounds unbearable. 

So, in-between the times he sees the Mighty Nein, he begins to gather accounts. He writes down stories from those they helped, or simply left an impression on.  The people who have met the Mighty Nein have an air about them that he gets good at detecting. They attracted the oddballs and the outcasts. And if they're entirely normal (whatever that means), then they usually get a certain twitch if you ask for stories about interesting strangers. About half the time, a certain blue tiefling pops up in them. He almost has a heart attack when he hears  “go fuck yourself,” in Jester’s cheerful voice, when he knows Jester isn’t anywhere near there. He ends up getting the kenku’s story, and the voices of his friends are weaved into it. Essek thinks the Mighty Nein are the best people in the world, in their own rambunctious way. Part of him wants the world to love them as he does, or at least have the option to. Everyone should have a chance to get to know them, even if it's just through tales. The world would be a better place for it.

...And when you're gone, who remembers your name?

Who keeps your flame? 

Who tells your story?

Who tells your story?

Who tells your story?

Once there is only him and Caduceus left, this becomes a more prominent part of how he spends his time. After...after a long, long period of mourning. He has so much life left to live without most of the people who made it worth living.

I put myself back in the narrative

I stop wasting time on tears

I live another 50(0) years

He stops hiding his past and bears his sins and his story to the world. Essek tells his story so their story can be appreciated to the fullest; his part in their story emphasizes the depth of their compassion and chaos. He tells his story, but not as himself. Essek continues to drift from town to town under a vast number of aliases. Everywhere he goes, he spreads his stories of his friends, some serious, most silly. He disguises himself so he can stay alive to do a little more good, tell a few more stories, to truly live the life his friends wanted for him.

...I try to make sense of your thousands of pages of writings

You really do write like you're running out of time.

Eventually, he gets his hands on some of Beau’s journals, Jester’s diaries, and Caleb’s research. Well, he always had the research, but he gets to the point where he can share it with the world. He slowly begins to share and explain their thoughts and personalities with excerpts from those. Maybe he also has letters that he shares parts of (though most of those, those words specifically for him, he keeps to himself, for himself). He wonders if they'd be angry at him for spilling their private thoughts. But neither Beau nor Jester filtered their thoughts very much in the first place, and he keeps anything truly painful out of the public eye. Caleb, well, Caleb was always about sharing his knowledge and research, provided it wasn't dangerous. And they were all dead anyway.  One of the last things they told him was to be happy. And talking about his friends, learning more about his friends even after they were long dead, that made him the happiest he'd been in a while. So he hoped they wouldn’t begrudge him this small joy he’d managed to grasp and forgive him, should it be necessary.

I rely on Angelica

While she's alive, we tell your story

She is buried in Trinity Church near you

When I needed her most, she was right on time

Caduceus isn’t particularly interested in being well known or famous, but he never shies away from telling a story about any of his friends. Plus, he thinks it’s a good project for Essek. It's a way to continue to show his love for them and keep them alive in the only way they can be now. When Caduceus eventually passes away, he joins the eight other graves (Veth refused to be buried apart from Yeza) that lay in a tucked-away corner of the Blooming Grove. There is one space left, nestled between where Caleb and Jester lay, but it will be empty for a long time yet.

And I'm still not through

I ask myself, what would you do if you had more time...

...You could have done so much more if you only had time

And when my time is up, have I done enough?

Will they tell your story?

He keeps adding to his tale; he stretches it longer and longer with every shred he can remember. But, even his memory, as long as it is, runs out eventually. And their story finally ends, but he doesn't. He throws himself into activities that remind him of them. He does a lot of gardening ( mostly tea, poisonous plants, and flowers). He teaches children some rudimentary dunamancy in his spare time, for Caleb. He messes around with alchemy a little. Eventually, he publishes the last of the research that he and Caleb worked on together; ones that took him decades to solve by himself. He even finds himself drawing a surprising amount of dicks on random surfaces near the very end.

Oh, can I show you what I'm proudest of?

...I help to raise hundreds of children

I get to see them growing up

The time that doesn’t go towards his now worrying amount of hobbies, he spends doing what he has done since the beginning: caring for the Mighty Nien’s true legacy. He looks after and visits their children. He takes care of descendants of Luc, of Jester and Fjord, of the random teenager that Beau and Yasha seemed to adopt completely on accident, of TJ, of the Clays, and of a lovechild of Kingsley’s that found out who his father was and then somehow found Essek himself to learn about him. In an embarrassing show of sentimentality, Essek always keeps at least one offspring of Caleb's very first cat. There is a very funny story about Caleb thinking the animal was spayed when it was, in fact, not. He visits the different generations every couple of years or so (he has a schedule). The drow makes sure they know the stories of their ancestors, the adventures of the Mighty Nien; he tells them it's all real. He gives them ways to contact him if they’re in danger, or need any kind of help really ( he has funds to spare at this point). Every once in a while, a few of them will get it in their heads to write him yearly updates. It’s nice.

In their eyes, I see you, Alexander

I see you every time

And when my time is up

Have I done enough?

Will they tell your story?

It is strange and painful to see the attitude and mannerisms of the Nein in the descendants who have never met them. It is wonderful too. His stories of the Mighty Nein have become well-known tales that no one can decide how much is truth and how much is fiction (it’s true, it’s all somehow, hilariously true). He preserved them in his own way, in the right way (time travel is something he thinks of with a growing hunger the more years pass between when he last laid eyes on his friends). But in these men, these women, these children, they are truly alive.

One little half-orc girl has Jester’s mischievous eyes and infectious joy. Another halfling man squints just like Veth when she's trying to figure out if someone is bullshitting her. There’s a boy who charmingly bumbles his way through most social encounters, as Fjord did. A firbolg woman who has Caduceus gentle smile. A tiefling girl with all the audacious bravado of Kingsley. A man with eyes just as piercing as Beau’s, and a tongue just as sharp. Even Yasha’s kind and gentle demeanor somehow shines through in one small boy, despite her having no direct descendants. He gets to see these flashes of his friends in those who survive them, and it thrills him as much as it cuts him. (Sometimes, when the current cat has ruined some item of his, the pleased look it wears resembles the quiet glee Caleb exuded after he pulled a successful prank, but he’s pretty sure that’s just fanciful thinking.)

One of the last things Essek does before he dies is fully publish, in print, the entire tale of the Mighty Nein. How they came together, every person they helped along the way. The love, the loss, the kindness, the chaos, every moment he could recall or record was put into this one account (necessarily stretched out into several separate books). There is only one set, and he hands it over to the Library of the Cobalt Soul in Rexxentrum. Then he goes on his lonely way.

Oh, I can't wait to see you again

It's only a matter of time

There are now ten graves, each one as unique as its owner, nestled in a small corner of the Blooming Grove. One grave has the dirt still fresh around it. And somewhere, beyond the Divine Gate, there are cheers and laughs and cries of joy as the Mighty Nien become the Mighty Nine once more.

fin.

MN

It’s my head-canon that by the time Essek dies he’s practically a mythical figure among the select families he looks after. It's  to the point that in certain locations ( that have a lot of Nein remnants) he becomes a local legend, the guardian angel of nien (no spelling specified and with no real distinction of what that means), with skin like the night sky who drifts (literally) through towns and helps those who meet a certain requirement, unknown to the general populus. There are rumors that certain people have bestowed upon them a token they could use to call upon the angel’s aid. Of course, the people who have the tokens (sending stones or something similar. IDK how he would get that many wondrous items, but I focus on satisfying narrative not, like, plausibility) know Essek and know that he has died and that the tokens no longer work, but for a while they keep them as heirlooms, to show the love of one drow wizard for the friends he had long, long ago. Eventually, one of Veth’s descendants sells off their set because sending stones are worth A LOT, and the money seemed more practical. They have their stories; those are enough. 

And before anyone complains about the Kingsley bit, I felt compelled to add a smidgen of Kingsley content because Essek loves Jester and Jester’s with Fjord and Kingsley is with both of them for years. I’m sure they get to know each other well enough that seeing traits of Kingsley is vaguely nostalgic and warming, even if it lacks the depth and love he feels for everyone else. Also, there’s no convincing me that Molly/Kingsley doesn’t have at least one illegitimate child running around from various trysts, he was basically the Scanlan of this campaign. It goes with the hedonistic vibe he gives off.

Also, is it normal that I completely designed the Nein’s burial site in my head because I did? Like I imagine they’re all spaced out in a circle. It’s almost like a stone gazebo but there’s not really a roof; it’s just a group of nine pillars that support a stone circle. The entrance is the Traveler’s door with dicks around the edge, and each of the nine pillars/supports is designed to look the knowing mistresses staff. The stone circle is covered in carvings of storm clouds and lightning. Wires are strung across the center of the stone circle to form the symbol of the Cobalt Soul. Not that you can see the wires, because vines have been grown all around them. Once you step through the Traveler’s gate, you’ll find yourself on some kind of rough mosaic floor, with depictions of a peacock, a pyramid, a snake, a sun, a moon, and (oddly) a pirate ship. The mosaic is made up of buttons of various materials and shapes. In the center is a saltwater pool/spring (depending on how magical we can get idk) and floating above it is an eternal flame encased in some sort of dunamancy magic that doesn’t  actually exist that keeps it floating and eternal. Look I'm running out of ideas.

I can’t imagine what everyone’s grave marker would be, but I’m pretty sure Yasha’s is a simple stone that says "YASHA NYDOORIN: wife of Zuella and Beauregard Lionette," and the place where’s she’s buried is just covered in wildflowers that spread outside of the gazebo to encircle the structure entirely up to the gate. Also, everyone has a stone tarot card by their grave with the picture and designation that Molly gave them. Beyond that grows a weirdly dense thicket of trees and bushes that make finding the Nein's resting place rather hard. It’s said only the descendants of the Nein’s family or those favored by the Wildmother (or Traveler, Or Ioun, or Storm Lord) can find their way to them. And one tree, directly behind Yasha, is dead, struck by lightning who knows how long ago. 

And they’re buried in this order: Yeza/Veth, Caleb, Essek, Jester, Ford, Kingsley, Yasha, Beau, Cad. I know there’s a good chance that a) Kingsley would just eff off and die somewhere unknown and b) Cad would probably want to be buried with the rest of his family, but shhh let me dream.

[snarktheater]

Ready Player Two — Opening Cutscene & Chapter 0

Hello again.

It’s been a while. I haven’t been active on this blog since, fittingly enough, Ready Player One. I was going to do this sooner—even had an alarm set up and everything—but then, it turns out, I’m feeling so much negativity about the world in general that a book just pales in comparison.

Seriously, I had to scrap this post’s entire intro because it’s not even 2020 anymore as I write this. And you know, maybe that’s for the best. I’m not really in the mood for doom and gloom and bitching anymore. I uninstalled Twitter from my phone a while back, I’ve been doing good at my daily writing sprints, my biggest fanfic project concluded on a positive note from people I didn’t even realize had been following it for years.

So I don’t know what this is going to be like. My commentary, I mean; I’ve heard echoes of what the book is like, so I’m not expecting a surprise there.

The book opens right after the end of Ready Player One, in a “Cutscene” where Wade recounts to us what happened after he won Halliday’s contest. It also assumes you remember exactly who the main characters of the book are, which is a bold move for a sequel that came out almost a decade after the original.

Technically, I could just look up the details I’m fuzzy about. But also, I think it’s more authentic if I don’t. I trust my memory enough that if I’m wrong, it’ll be in subtle enough ways that it’ll almost be a private jokes between all of us. An “if you know, you know” sort of error system. And I don’t think there’s anything more true to the spirit of this book than that.

Shoto had flown back home to Japan to take over operations at GSS’s Hokkaido division.

So Wade starts his tenure with nepotism. Wasn’t Shoto really young? Why is he qualified to run anything?

Aech was enjoying an extended vacation in Senegal, a country she’d dreamed of visiting her whole life, because her ancestors had come from there.

You know what, I’m not touching “send the token black character back to Africa.” This isn’t my lane.

And Samantha had flown back to Vancouver to pack up her belongings and say goodbye to her grandmother, Evelyn.

Why is she saying goodbye? Why, she’s moving to Columbus to be with Wade, of course! It’s not like there was anything else in her life. Was there? And why isn’t she referred to as Art3mis? I’m pretty sure Wade found out all of their offline names in the last book, and the inconsistency mildly bothers me.

These three sentences are back to back, by the way. Someone—I forget who—once described Ready Player One as a book that’s fun to write a wiki about, because it’s got fun concepts to summarize about until you realize that all the emotional connective tissue you need to turn a list of things into a story is missing, and that’s roughly how this first page feels.

Hell, the first line of the book is Wade telling us he remained offline for nine whole days after winning the contest, but by the end of the second paragraph we’re already to him logging back into the OASIS to "distract himself from [his and Samantha’s] reunion.

I’ll give Ernest Cline one thing: it feels like he wrote this opening nine days after the first book and did about as much maturing as a teenage boy would do between the two books.

Way more time is spent describing Wade’s OASIS rig, or the in-game planet where the climax of the last book happened, than anything else in this introduction. He is immediately greeted by a crowd of adoring fans who have been waiting over a week for him to come back in the game, because they’re all grateful that our protagonist and his friends restored their avatars after they were annihilated by the Sixers.

You’d think the adoring fans would serve some kind of purpose, or that something would happen, but no. Wade immediately goes “ew, people” and teleports away, since he essentially has ultimate powers within the game. With a caveat: the powers are actually coming from the Robes of Anorak he’s wearing, and I’m mentioning that in the hopes that it will pay off sometime in the book’s future, assuming Cline at least learned to do that. But still, let’s not skip too fast the fact that we introduced that crowd of adoring fans for no other purpose than to tell us they’re out there, because it fits right in with the last book’s attempts at saying as little as humanly possible in as many words as possible.

Anyway, Wade went back into Anorak’s study, where he arbitrarily checks out the Easter Egg he got at the end of the last book, and finds an inscription on it. I was dreading another riddle, but no, it’s just straight-up instructions to a vault in the GSS archives, so Wade logs off and goes to check it out.

Of course Halliday had put [the archives] [on the 13th floor]. In one of his favorite TV shows, Max Headroom, Network 23’s hidden research-and-development lab was located on the thirteenth floor. And The Thirteenth Floor was also the title of an old sci-fi film about virtual reality, released in 1999, right on the heels of both The Matrix and eXistenZ.

I’m equally shocked that it took two whole pages (on my ereader) to get to the first slew of references, and that one of these references is from 1999. I didn’t know we were allowed to think of anything that isn’t the 80s. Speaking of which, I’ll spare you the whole paragraph, but the book does feel the need to explain why it’s vault 42.

Inside the vault, there’s another egg containing a super-fancy and advanced OASIS headset. The egg also has a video monitor that plays a video message from James Halliday shortly before his death.

But despite his condition, he hadn’t used his OASIS avatar to record this message like he had with Anorak’s Invitation. For some reason, he’d chosen to appear in the flesh this time, under the brutal, unforgiving light of reality.

That oh-so-important message? An infodump about the headset’s working. He called it an OASIS Neural Interface, ONI for short. It basically lets you experience the OASIS through all your senses with sensory input just like the real thing, you know, that thing Wade had to get a fancy suit and massive rig to do in the first book. And yes, Wade does spend a paragraph or two comparing it to other works of science fiction. Of course he does.

More importantly, it also records all the sensory input into a separate file, which can then be replayed over to re-experience said sensations, or live someone else’s experiences. Halliday tries to frame it as a tool to generate communication and empathy, seemingly all without acknowledging the potential creepiness of that. But hey. Who knows. Maybe that’s because this is the setup stage, and it’ll pay off eventually.

I also wondered about the name Halliday had chosen for his invention. I’d seen enough anime to know that oni was also a Japanese word for a giant horned demon from the pits of hell.

Add “reducing Japan to anime” to the list of things the book has failed to improve upon. By the way, the narration insisted on spelling out ONI letter by letter earlier, so it’s weird to make that link now. It’s also just kind of inelegant to just tell us “this is the symbolism behind the name”, but that’s just the sort of thing I’ve come to expect from this book.

Anyway, the reason Halliday kept this for his successor to find is he wants Wade to test out the technology and decide if humanity is ready for it. Why Halliday thinks the most glorified pop culture trivia / video game competition qualifies you for such a decision should be a problem, but sadly, a lot of billionaires have said and done a lot of dumb and eerily similar things in the past few years since I read Ready Player One, so actually, I can’t fault the book for that one. Tragically, our fates really are in the hands of people who should rightfully be cartoon villains.

To his credit, Wade does question Halliday’s motives in keeping this under wraps at all rather than releasing it himself. So hey, maybe it really is setting something up.

Wade goes back to his office with the ONI, and we’re treated with this lovely piece of narration:

I was grateful that Samantha wasn’t there. I didn’t want to give her the opportunity to talk me out of testing the ONI. Because I was worried she might try to, and if she did, she would’ve succeeded. (I’d recently discovered that when you’re madly in love with someone they can persuade you to do pretty much anything.)

There’s a lot to unpack about the implications this has for their relationship, but it’s way too early in the book for me to editorialize when one character hasn’t even been on the page yet. So I’ll just leave it here for the record. Hopefully you see the problem without me needing to point it out anyway. If not, feel free to hit my inbox.

So Wade, confident in the fact that Halliday would have warned him if there were any risks to using the ONI, decides to try it out. Even though he immediately follows up that statement with this:

According to the ONI documentation, forcibly removing the headset while it was in operation could severely damage the wearer’s brain and/or leave them in a permanent coma. So the titanium-reinforced safety bands made certain this couldn’t happen. I found this little detail comforting instead of unsettling. Riding in an automobile was risky, too, if you didn’t wear your seatbelt…

Wade. My dude. What the fuck is this simile. And why don’t you see that maybe a machine where you’re forcibly trapping yourself inside a virtual reality might be dangerous? Hell, when I said this was setting something up, I was expecting something vaguely interesting about the potential breach of privacy, or how you don’t need to literally walk in someone’s shoes to feel empathy for them, or anything substantial, but now I’m worried it’ll just end up as “man, sometimes science fiction machines will scramble your brain, isn’t that weird”?

Like, I don’t know, to me “it will put you in a coma” sounds like a good reason for Halliday not to release the ONI. Maybe we can still make it into a commentary on how corporations will sell stuff they know is directly harmful if it can make them a profit. Who knows.

The book waffles on about more risks, and the mechanics of how the ONI activates, and the warning disclaimer when it does turn on. Specifically, there’s a time limit of twelve consecutive hours, after which you’ll be automatically logged out, because yes, using the thing for too long can also cause brain damage.

Gregarious Simulation Systems will not be held responsible for any injuries caused by improper use of the OASIS Neural Interface.

See, now there’s the sort of thing that could be a source for commentary, but no, instead it’s thrown in there like it’s nothing and Wade glosses over the entire warning, and instead keep wondering why Halliday didn’t just release the ONI if even the safety disclaimers were in place.

By the way: this whole system has apparently gone through several independent human trials already, so I’m finding it hard to imagine that it’s actually a secret Halliday took to the grave as Wade says. Unless he also had everyone involved in those trials killed afterwards. Or maybe they all ended up with brain damage which rendered them incapable of talking about it.

And before you think I’m being unfair and maybe we’re supposed to understand that ourselves even if the protagonist doesn’t, I’ll remind you that the book didn’t trust its reader to know what the number 42 is a reference to, or what an oni is, even though I don’t think anyone in the target audience wouldn’t know about these two things.

There’s also the fact that, since this book came out, a video game did release with a scene intentionally designed to cause seizures, and it had countless fans flocking to defend it over that fact. So you’ll have to excuse me if I’m not assuming this book’s stance on whether your video game console causes brain damage and possibly coma is actually a bad thing, or just an acceptable risk.

Wade certainly seems to think so, since he agrees to the terms of service.

As the timestamp faded away, it was replaced by a short message, just three words long—the last thing I would see before I left the real world and entered the virtual one. But they weren’t the three words I was used to seeing. I—like every other ONI user to come—was greeted by a new message Halliday had created, to welcome those visitors who had adopted his new technology: READY PLAYER TWO

Well now that’s just silly.

And that’s our opening cutscene. And while this post is already long enough, I feel like I have to go on to chapter 0, because it feels like barely anything has happened so far. We didn’t even introduce any new character motivation or conflict, or a mystery to set the plot into motion, unless I’m supposed to think “why didn’t Halliday release this?” counts.

So Wade is back into the OASIS, and tells us about how much more real it all feels thanks to the ONI. I especially have to question how he can smell or taste anything—both of which he tells us he can. Like, who coded that? Did Halliday implement every single smell and taste himself, without anyone noticing? I hope you don’t need me to tell you that’s not typically how features are added to a large-scale video game.

If it feels like I’m nitpicking at the logic of the book, even though I always say I’m not very interested in that and would rather talk themes, it’s because I am, because there isn’t much else to discuss so far. Wade is happy about tasting virtual fruit. That’s the scene.

He tests out if he can feel pain, but no, the ONI reduces pain (a gunshot is translated as “a hard pinch”). On one hand, good, it would be a nightmare otherwise. On the other hand, I sort of hope there’s a setting for that in there, because otherwise, you just lost an entire clientele of kinksters.

This was it—the final, inevitable step in the evolution of videogames and virtual reality. The simulation had now become indistinguishable from real life.

Ah, now we have some juicy themes. Because if you think this is the inevitable final step in the evolution of video games, I invite you to look at literally any other art form, and what happened to them once hyperrealism became easy. Hint: they didn’t stop evolving, because it turns out realism isn’t the only goal one can achieve with art.

The realism discussion is not a new one in video games, mind you. In case you’re out of the loop: most of the big-budget blockbuster games (“AAA” as they’re known) are aiming for hyperrealism nowadays, and it results in development teams being forced to work in horrible conditions (known with the equally horrible euphemism of “crunch”). And, because it turns out that 1) humans working themselves to the bones isn’t healthy and 2) racing for realism with little to no vision besides it makes for poor creativity, a lot of these games come out as disappointments. Oh, there are hordes of Gamers™ who will defend them to the bitter end, but inevitably, in the months following release, the defense cools off while the criticism keeps on going, because the defense was a knee-jerk reaction born of a mix of people hyping themselves up for a game they hadn’t seen that much of yet, then attaching a part of their identity to liking that thing.

Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that this throwaway line feels like it comes from someone who is so out of touch as to accidentally support a world view that has in fact resulted in the biggest part of the industry stagnating artistically while growing more toxic for the people working in it. All the while, more and more independent games come out every year, proving that that realism is nowhere near the most important thing to making a game good, and that you can achieve much better results with a small team.

What I’m trying to say is: watch Jim Sterling’s channel, they’ve been bleeding out subscribers since they came out as nonbinary and make much better commentary on this topic than I could, and play Hades.

Back to the book, which sadly hasn’t become any more interesting since I decided to go on a tangent. Wade tests the ONI functions some more, all the while musing on how he knows Samantha would disapprove but that he doesn’t care, because what loving relationship doesn’t consist of that?

Among the functions, he tries the ONI files, the aforementioned recordings of someone else’s experiences. Specifically, a woman, which Wade tells us by telling us he suddenly has breasts, I suppose because Ernest Cline saw that subreddit about men writing women and went “I want a piece of that”. Oh, and also, those sample files were recorded from real people, in the real world. And yes, this goes exactly where you think it does.

SEX-M-F.oni, SEX-F-F.oni, and SEX-Nonbinary.oni

Look, I actually started writing a complaint about the boobs thing, and I deleted it, but now Cline is doing it on purpose. So, here goes: I saw a quote from this book on Twitter that looked like Cline attempting to make up for Wade’s casual transphobia in the first book. It wasn’t good, but it at least sounded like he was trying. So to immediately get this is…a lot? Let’s go for a lot.

I can almost excuse the use of “M” and “F”. You gotta name your files and you could excuse a non-exhaustive list. But…nonbinary? On one hand, I want to know what Cline means. On the other hand, I don’t think he can come up with an answer I’ll find satisfactory.

We are thankfully spared from finding out because Wade has just lost his virginity to Samantha a few days ago and he’s 1) not ready for this and 2) pretty sure this counts as cheating. You could make a case that this is more like porn, but I can see that this is more of a personal distinction anyway, and I can respect that one. Plus, you know. I don’t want to find out.

Wade logs off, and he can’t tell the difference between the OASIS with the ONI, and decides this will change the world. And then it’s back to the “how did he do it and keep it a secret”, even though Wade now finds out in the documentation that this had been in development for twenty-five years, basically since the OASIS launched. So it’s not really that it’s a secret, so much as there are a lot of people under very strict NDAs out there. Or, again, they’re all dead and/or otherwise incapacitated.

The ONI is the product of the Accessibility Research Lab, and Wade tells us about other stuff that the lab has produced using similar technology, mostly for medical purposes.

GSS patented each of the Accessibility Research Lab’s inventions, but Halliday never made any effort to profit from them. Instead, he set up a program to give these neuroprosthetic implants away, to any OASIS users who could benefit from them. GSS even subsidized the cost of their implant surgery.

Look, it’s nice that you want Halliday to be the good guy through and through, but it’s kind of hard to take any social commentary seriously when you think this is how a billionaire is made. Hell, even when he shut down the lab and fired its entire staff, he gave them a big enough severance package to set them for life. You know. Capitalism!

Hey, remember when Samantha said she was going to end world hunger if she won the contest, a thing billionaires right now could be doing, but aren’t, and she is now the co-owner of GSS? Yeah, I kind of hope the book remembers that too.

Speaking of the co-owners, the book just completely skips over the debate that our four main characters have over whether or not to release the ONI to the world. All we know is that they voted, and the vote goes in favor of releasing it. I mean, why have characters who could have opinions and feelings that could create a discussion? That might make us care about them! And who wants to care about characters in a story?

We put them on sale at the lowest possible price, to make sure as many people as possible could experience the OASIS Neural Interface for themselves.

What exactly is “the lowest possible price” here? Your company literally owns money. Like, OASIS money is real money. There is literally nothing stopping you from giving them away, especially because what you’re giving away is access to the platform you’re already running for a profit.

It’s almost like, even trying to make “good billionaires” out of its protagonists, the book can’t stop and actually make them significantly good.

Oh, I should mention. If you thought my Ready Player One review was angry at capitalism, wait until you see what the past couple years have done to me.

Anyway, once they his 7,777,777 simultaneous ONI users, a new riddle shows up on Halliday’s website. Because yep: our plot is apparently not about the implications of releasing the ONI, or any of the potential ideological discussions associated with that, it’s another riddle. Oh boy, do I wish I’d known that.

Seek the Seven Shards of the Siren’s Soul On the seven worlds where the Siren once played a role For each fragment my heir must pay a toll To once again make the Siren whole

I cannot wait to have the book give me just not enough information to solve the riddle until it’s solved by the book itself. That was so much fun the other…what was it, five times? Six times? Something like that. Wade already tells us the Siren might be Kira Morrow, because her alias was named after one of the sirens of Greek myth, so I can’t wait for that plot point to stick around. It was so fun to hear all about this man pining for another man’s wife the first time!

So this is the “Shard Riddle”. People are apparently convinced it was made by Wade and his crew as a publicity stunt, but of course, they know that that isn’t the case, and they also don’t know what that riddle is supposed to lead to. So, that’s great. We have a puzzle, and we also don’t know what the stakes are. All we know is that Wade wants to solve the puzzle essentially because it’s a challenge.

We skip over a year, and Wade tells us about how IOI collapses and gets absorbed by GSS because of the ONI’s launch. Remember IOI? They were the bad guys, so I guess we have to cheer?

GSS absorbed IOI and all of its assets, transforming us into an unstoppable megacorporation with a global monopoly on the world’s most popular entertainment, education, and communications platform.To celebrate, we released all of IOI’s indentured servants and forgave their outstanding debts.

On one hand: good for the slave. On the other hand: not gonna cheer for a monopoly, you guys.

Another year’s skip, and now 99% of the OASIS users are using the ONI, and yes, that includes trading their experiences with one another too. And I guess we’re still hand-waving any possible problems associated with that technology, because the technology is made so that all recordings must be shared and played through the OASIS.

This allowed us to weed out unsavory or illegal recordings before they could be shared with other users.

How? Do you know any of the problems associated with content moderations on the current platforms? I don’t know if I want to point to Youtube’s extremely faulty algorithm, Twitter’s complete apathy towards its Nazis, or Facebook doing moderation by making underpaid staff watch all potentially problematic content, which resulted in serious psychological damage to said staff.

You can’t just say that as if it solved everything. The chapter later says this is handled by an AI called “CenSoft”, and as an AI engineer myself, let me tell you: this is not going to work. Again: Youtube is the way it is for a reason.

It also let us maintain our monopoly on what was rapidly becoming the most popular form of entertainment in the history of the world.

And again, monopolies are totally a good thing as long as it’s in the right hands!

When I’m implying that the book does not care for any of these potential problems, I mean it. These enormous ethical issues are sidestepped in cold narratin, and we just keep going on introducing new slang that I hate, but have to quote so help you keep up.

“Sims” were recordings made inside the OASIS, and “Recs” were ONI recordings made in reality. Except that most kids no longer referred to it as “reality.” They called it “the Earl.” (A term derived from the initialism IRL.) And “Ito” was slang for “in the OASIS.” So Recs were recorded in the Earl, and Sims were created Ito.

There. You have been infodumped.

In the midst of all this (still extremely dry) exposition about how this changed media, we also get this tidbit:

You could take any drug, eat any kind of food, and have any kind of sex, without worrying about addiction, calories, or consequences.

Now, I was going to rant about this, but then, a page later, this happens and spares me the trouble:

I’d struggled with OASIS addiction before the ONI was released. Now logging on to the simulation was like mainlining some sort of chemically engineered superheroin.

So, you are aware that addiction isn’t just possible, but extremely facilitated by this. But sure, no worries! It’s perfectly safe! Because our protagonists are good.

Also, remember how the last book ended on a weak attempt at having a moral that maybe the real world is good, actually? Yeah, Wade tells us the ONI helps poor people live enjoyable lives in the OASIS. So. Fuck that message, I guess. It only applies if you’re the literal wealthiest man on Earth.

And me? All my dreams had come true. I’d gotten stupidly rich and absurdly famous. I’d fallen in love with my dream girl and she had fallen in love with me. Surely I was happy, right? Not so much, as this account will show.

Aside from the aforementioned returning OASIS affiction, there’s the Shard riddle that Wade is now obsessed with, to the point of offering a billion-dollar reward to anyone with information about the riddle’s answer.

I announced this reward with a stylized short film that I modeled after Anorak’s Invitation. I hoped it would seem like a lighthearted play on Halliday’s contest instead of a desperate cry for help. It seemed to work.

On one hand: good, Wade finally has a character flaw that the book actually acknowledges as a character flaw. I can work with that. On the other hand: this is all told to me in such a dispassionate that I am dreading how the book will handle this character flaw. Which is to say, I’m not expecting it to be very good.

(For a brief time, some of the younger, more idealistic shard hunters referred to themselves as “shunters” to differentiate themselves from their elder counterparts. But when everyone began to call them “sharters” instead, they changed their minds and started to call themselves gunters too. The moniker still fit. The Seven Shards were Easter eggs hidden by Halliday, and we were all hunting for them.)

Especially when this is something the narration feels is more important to tell me about.

Anyway, skip another year, and a gunter finally leads Wade to the First Shard. Solved that riddle, I guess. And wait, wasn’t part of why IOI was ~evil~ in the first book that they were paying people to find the Easter Egg for them? How is this any different, Wade?

And when I picked it up, I set in motion a series of events that would drastically alter the fate of the human race. As one of the only eyewitnesses to these historic events, I feel obligated to give my own written account of what occurred. So that future generations—if there are any—will have all the facts at their disposal when they decide how to judge my actions.

And that is the end of our chapter 0. And can I just say: what a mess already. I don’t think my snark can properly convey how utterly devoid of emotion this book’s writing is, and that alone is honestly more of a turn-off than anything else in the book so far. Even, knowing that I railed about it in the first book, I still feel newly unprepared for it. And it’s not like this double-prologue is making me hopeful that the book will show an ounce more critical thinking—or decent fucking humanity towards marginalized groups—as its predecessor.

So, that’s a lot to look forward to! For the sake of my sanity and schedule, don’t expect me to do such big posts every time. I’ll probably do one chapter a week from now on, if that. We’re in for a long ride, but I hope it’s worth it, at least.

[that-was-anticlimactic]

oKAY BUT AVATAR FROZEN AU (ft. Zukka)

I was listening to Frozen on Broadway in the shower and it literally won’t leave my head y’ALL (sorry this is long, but I didn’t know how to do the read more thing because I suck so if anyone knows how, please lemme know!)

Katara: Elsa

Sokka: Anna

Zuko: Kristoff

Aang: Olaf

Azula: Hans

Druk: Sven

The Trolls Are: Iroh, Toph, Suki and Kyoshi Warriors, Mai, Ty Lee, Jet and the Freedom Fighters, maybe Yue idk yet

(Cabbage Man is Oaken)

Okay, so I know Sokka is the older sibling and Katara has Anna’s trust, but Katara is the last Waterbender in the SWT so

idk I’m still working it out since as soon as I got out of the shower I started typing this, but I think Katara and Sokka were a family ya know with Hakoda and Kya and Katara had her bending but the Fire Nation was still like iffy so they didn’t publicize it

Sokka thought it was SO COOL and always wanted to play with her powers ya know? They probably created Aang together, not sure about that yet anyways

Katara hits Sokka with her powers (ice maybe?) on accident and he’s dying, they go to “the trolls” but what imma call White Lotus and Yue is there or she was but had to give herself to the moon, but the moon spirit saves Sokka, has white strip in his hair like Anna, they wipe his memories of Katara’s bending

Katara is sad and scared and terrified so she shuts herself in her room and will not go penguin sledding or fishing or anything with Sokka and now Sokka is sad

Hakoda and Kya are eventually like Katara needs to learn how to control it or just rid of her powers, let’s go to the NWT and see if there is a good chi blocker or a master for Katara to learn from

they die on the ship, probably Fire Nation

(also, the war is still technically going on but also not? Not as intensely as it was in the show, but like, it’s there)

I’m not sure what to do about the chief stuff, so we’ll ignore that for now

It is Sokka or Katara’s coronation, Sokka is excited because he can leave their palace and Katara is not excited because she still doesn’t know how to bend or control it

Sokka runs into Azula and now let’s talk about the Fire Nation for a second

Ozai is still ruling, Ursa is gone, Zuko was banished and Iroh went with him

Ozai did burn Zuko’s face, probably for the same reason, so Iroh took Zuko and they went to the Earth Kingdom and met up with other people who had been hurt by the Fire Nation and they became a family and Zuko eventually leaves and finds an egg and it’s Druk! They become besties but Zuko leaves kind of for the same reasons as in Zuko Alone

Ozai is pretty pissed at the Water Tribes because they’re thriving or something and wants to rule them so he’s like “Azula, go hit on one of the siblings and make them love you and then marry them and I can- I mean, you can control the SWT and NWT”

and she’s like “dope I shall bring destruction onto their land eventually” because poor girl is getting manipulated:(

So, Azula and Sokka run into each other, Azula is a terrible flirt but so is Sokka and they bond over how terrible they both are at human interaction and Sokka is like “yeah after I turned ten, they never let me leave the castle so I have zero friends”

and Azula is mentally like wait I have no friends too:(... but is like “yeah I feel, I’m only the Fire Nation Princess, but it’s a boys only club, ya know? So no one takes me seriously”

and Sokka is like “you... I like you...” and definitely starts crushing and asks her to do an activity and yada yada yada

someone gets crowned, idk who yet

Azula and Sokka spend more time together and Azula is like “wow he is so starved for affection that if I asked him to marry me he’d probably say yes Father what kind of mission is this this is so easy”

so she tries it out and he’s like “SURE” and they tell Katara and she’s just not having it

“Sokka! The Fire Nation killed our parents!”

“Yeah, five years ago--” (or more, idk timeline yet) “--besides, this would be good treaty-wise and politically, ya know?” (so I guess this means Katara would become chief? Idk how that happens but we’ll figure it out)

and Katara is just “... SOKKA you just met this girl. Also, she’s Fire Nation!”

and he’s like “well you aren’t in charge on me so imma do whatever I want”

and Katara is like ahhhhh and he ends up pulling a glove off and she waterbends and everyone is like hbfvrvunyuibtuy wHAT

and Azula is like “ooh so there really is still a waterbender left in the SWT...”

Katara runs away and accidentally freezes everywhere she goes (for purposes of plot convenience, she goes to the Earth Kingdom without knowing it and freezes that too I guess? She’s pretty powerful, y’all

and Sokka is like “I gotta go after her!”

and Azula is mentally lie death mission, that gets him out of the way “sURE! I’ll stay here:)”

so Sokka goes and runs into Zuko and Druk

“Dragons are better than people, Druk, don’t you think that’s right?”

and he sees Sokka struggling to paddle a boat or something, again, don’t have land and stuff figured out here yet

Sokka basically annoys him into helping him

(and Zuko won’t admit it, but he kinda liked Sokka’s vibe and was like I haven’t spoken to a human person in years is it selfish to want this? He’s not disgusted at my scar...”)

Zuko does not tell Sokka that he is a fire bender, he mentions he used to live in the Fire Nation, though

Katara makes maybe not an elaborate ice castle, but she is like “LET IT GOOOOOOO” when she finds open land and just makes it so pretty and guys imagine Katara in an Inuit-style Elsa dress? Wouldn’t that be the most gorgeous thing??

Maybe she misses home so she remakes her village out of ice, maybe if she’s lonely (because Katara really hates being alone but she’ll do it for the good of her people) she’ll make ice sculptures of people from the village like her mom and dad and Sokka

also ya know what? No, I don’t want Katara to be completely alone. She finds Momo trying to hide from the cold and takes him in so it is Katara and Momo

Sokka and Zuko are riding Druk, but he’s tired so they aren’t super high, and Sokka is explaining what happened to Zuko and Zuko starts laughing because “you planned on marrying someone you just met? From the Fire Nation?”

“You’re from the Fire Nation!”

“yeah, it sucks. Why do you think I left? But seriously? That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in three years!” (because I just decided it has been three years of him alone)

and Sokka doesn’t mention that it’s Azula yet because Zuko was already laughing at him but wait Zuko has a really cute and precious laugh--

they talk a bit and Sokka kind of mentions the strip in his hair and how it happened because he got pneumonia as a child and almost died but the moon spirit saved his lifeand Zuko doesn’t know how the frick to respond so he just “... that’s rough, buddy”

Actually, imma take back something I said earlier, they don’t make Aang, her unleashing her powers shakes the earth or water or something and the iceberg pops up and Zuko and Sokka find it and Sokka is like “Imma touch it”

and Zuko goes “wait no don’t touch i-- you touched it” and Aang pops out and is like “HELLO!”

and they’re like who the frick are you?

and Aang is like “I’m the Avatar, Aang”

and Zuko and Sokka just :0

or maybe Katara and Sokka like created him as a kid or like believed he would come back to save them and that kind of like manifested into what happened? Idk but somehow, and maybe more plot convenience, he knows who Katara is, maybe the monks told him she’d be his waterbending master before he got trapped?

“Katara? you’re looking for her? I’m looking for her too! She’s the most powerful waterbender in the world and I need to learn how to waterbend!”

“Woah cool! You should join us!” says Sokka

and Zuko facepalms because “sOKKA again with the people you just met!”

and Sokka is like “I just met you”

“Fair point”

“besides, you guys are some of the first people I’ve talked to in like 5-8 years!”

and Zuko and Aang get kind of quiet because wow now that Sokka mentions in, that’s super true for him, but also true for the both of them... they’re all lonely

so Aang is like “okay let’s find Katara!” and they talk and stuff on the way and Aang mentions being excited to visit the Fire Nation and see Kuzon and all of his airbender friends and Zuko and Sokka just ??? then it hits them that oh boy he’s been in that iceberg for a long time--

so Zuko tells him and Aang is big sad and goes into the Avatar State or something and idk imma come back to this

plus also more friendship bonding happens and more feelings between Zuko and Sokka happen

they eventually reach Katara and they’re all like wow this is gorgeous

and Aang is about to walk in and stuff and Zuko stops him “maybe Sokka should go first? Since she’s his sister?”

Sokka goes into the village, finds the one that looks like their house / hut / palace, sees Katara and they both start crying and hug each other and Katara goes “I’ve missed you so much”

and Sokka is like “why did you leave? Please come back, I’ll help protect you from the Fire Nation! No one will get to you!”

and Katara is like “that’s not what I’m worried about” and her eyes flicker to the white strand in Sokka’s hair. “I don’t know how to control it and I don’t have a teacher and I’m dangerous.”

“I have some friends who can help you find a teacher! Aang and Zuko!”

Aang hears his name so he runs out and is like “Hi, I’m Aang, the avatar, want a hug? You look sad”

and Katara is like this boy is a sweetie and must be protected at all costs so no hug from em because I hurt those I love:(

and then Aang says “The monks told me about you! It was like a hundred years ago, but they told me Katara would be my waterbending teacher! You’re the most powerful waterbender in the world!”

and she laughs and almost believes him but “No, no I can’t control it. What if I hurt people?”

And Aang is like “we can learn together then!”

and Sokka and Katara talk more, Sokka is like “please come back, we’ll protect you from the Fire Nation and help you find a teacher I need you I miss you” and Katara wants to so badly

but she says no

they talk and Sokka mentions that basically everywhere is frozen and Katara is just ???? and Sokka is like “please, you can unfreeze it and people will see you aren’t a threat!”

and Katara flips out, they argue a bit, she hits him in the heart on accident and screams so Zuko and Aang (who left) run out and see Sokka on the ground and Katara hyperventilating and Zuko helps Sokka up and kind of has to hold him up for a couple minutes and he begs Katara to come with them because she’s his baby sister and he’ll protect her and she’s crying and her hand instinctively touches her mother’s necklace and she tells him no and that if they won’t leave, she’ll make them leave and then Aang and Zuko start begging her too because Zuko just met her but he knows that she’ll play a huge role in stopping the war and that she is incredibly powerful (and also she’s so kind when she isn’t accidentally being dangerous, he thinks-- based off of the stories Sokka had told him and the look on her face after she struck Sokka

Sokka says no and Aang and Zuko stand firm beside him so Katara makes a giant sky bison named Appa or something who chases them out of the village and they all end up falling into the freaking cold water and Sokka helps pull Aang and Zuko out since he’s the best swimmer and we love Zuko but he’s kind of a terrible swimmer

and Zuko goes “thank yo-- what’s with your hair?”

“My hair? We just gout out of the ocean, you should see your hair”

And Aang pipes up with “no, your hair is white”

“Wait it’s what? Does it look bad?”

“... no?” - Zuko

Sokka goes “you hesitated you think it’s baddddd”

and Zuko says “no, no, not like that... it’s because your sister struck you, isn’t it?”

and Sokka thinks and realization kind of dawns on him “I never had pneumonia...” and it hits him and he groans “that’s why she stopped playing with me! We need to go back, I need to talk to her--”

and he falls as he tries to get up

Aang and Zuko share a look and are like “yeah, no, you need help or you’ll actually die again”

Zuko suddenly is like “wait? the moon spirit saved you that one time, right? maybe She can do it again! Come on! I have some friends who can help you!”

while all of that is happening, Azula is planning on assassinating Katara and the people of the SWT and visitors from the rest of the world are freezing so she’s like “I guess I’ll go stop her since she must have killed my fiance”

some others go with her and they find where Katara is hiding out and Azula kills Appa:( and faces Katara with her people

Katara easily get the others out of the way and then it’s her and Azula

“I don’t want to hurt you!” Katara says

Azula puts her hands down and says “I don’t want to either. Just come with us, fox the weather, and we can help you”

“Why should I trust you? Your nation has wanted to kill me for years!”

“mmm fair point”

they fight a bit, Katara ends up getting knocked out and they take her back and lock her up

going back to the trio and Druk, they’re going to the little corner of the Earth Kingdom where the White Lotus is and Sokka’s hair is getting progressively more white and he’s getting more cold and Zuko is starting to panic so he says “I’m going to show you something, but you have to promise not to freak out”

so Sokka nods and Aang is chill with it because he doesn’t hate firebenders like the rest of the world

so Zuko creates a fire and holds it close to Sokka who does indeed freak out and crawls to the other side of the dragon

and Aang is like “wow! That’s so pretty! Can you teach me that? I need a firebending teach too! It was going ti be Kuzon but...”

and Zuko goes to Sokka again and says “I didn’t want you to hate me. I’m not evil or anything like Ozai. You’re freezing, please, let me help you warm up.”

and Sokka is silent then says “I trust you” and Zuko kind of pulls him in and wraps his arms around Sokka to warm him up and Aang looks left out so Sokka tells him to join

and all three are like “wow. This is the most human contact I’ve had in years... it’s nice”

somewhere here I think would be a good time for Sokka to ask about Zuko’s scar and so Zuko tells the story and Sokka and Aang are pissed and ready to kill but before Sokka and piece together that Azula is his sister, they arrive

Zuko is like “hello, Zuko here! But you guys probably knew that, or at least Toph will-- oof!” because Toph runs at him and gives him a super hard hug and suddenly the White Lotus is surrounding him and are like “how are you?” “where’ve you been?” “we missed you!” etc, etc

and Zuko is like “haha I missed you guys too but um, I’m actually here for something else... he helps Aang and Sokka off of Druk and Toph immediately feels the change in their heart rates when Zuko helps Sokka and Sokka leans against Zuko so she goes “you got a boyfriend!”

cue matching looks of horror on the two’s faces and suddenly everyone is interrogating both of them and Zuko is like y’all!!! He needs help! Where’s Iroh?

he is ignored:/

“Zuko looks grumpy and he acts grumpy but really he’s a sweetheart and mushy!” says Ty Lee

“make sure you give him lots of hugs and attention because he will not tell you when he wants it” Suki says

and Zuko’s whole face is red and it’s the funniest thing Sokka has seen and he’s so invested in all of these people and their stories and wants to stay forever but then remembers Katara and Zuko finally is like “IROH!”

Iroh comes and sees Sokka and he’s like welcome back

and like at this point Sokka can barely stand and Zuko is supporting all his weight

and Zuko is like “you helped him when he was younger, please help him now!”

and Iroh is sad “there is nothing I can do, nephew. The moon spirit is generous, but to touch the same thing twice... an act of true love is the only way to fix this”

and Zuko gets sad and says “your fiance”

and Sokka kind of mutters “... yeah... my fiance” because now after spending a week minimum a month max with Zuko, Aang, and Druk, he definitely has feelings for Zuko but he’s confused

and everyone else gets sad and Toph is confused because she can feel their heart rates

but Zuko sucks it up and helps Sokka back onto Druk and they set back for the SWT and all Sokka is thinking is for Katara for Katara for Katara for Katara... was she right? Maybe I was too fast with Azula... but we connected and she wanted to talk to me and... for Katara for Katara...

so Katara is locked up and Azula is like “this would have been fine if you did not put up a struggle. If you surrendered peacefully we would not have to resort to this”

and then leaves because she hears that Sokka is back and Katara is like “I’m a monster, but so is Azula and I need to find Sokka and apologize and fix everything I’ve done, even if I die” so she escapes because Katara is cool like that

Zuko and Azula see each other and it’s awkward, but she sees Sokka in his arms and she realizes that he didn’t die and her idiot brother helped him they make eye contact and Zuko can kind of tell what her plan is in her eyes but Azula feigns worry for Sokka and grabs him from Zuko’s arms before he can stop her and Sokka is like “Azula...” and she’s pretending and stuff and then she sees Aang and her eyes widen at his tattoos and Zuko shoves Aang behind him and says “You aren’t taking the avatar to Father. Just save Sokka, he doesn’t have much time left”

her eyes linger on Aang with interest but she turns and leaves and sets Sokka down in a room and Sokka explains it and tries kissing her but she just laughs and is like “oh, if only there was someone out there who loved you” and in his hazy and near death mind, Sokka understands it all because he may be naive, but he’s clever

“You’re Zuko’s sister”

“I am. You really were so trusting and naive to fall in love with the first person you see.”

“I’m sorry”

“What?”

“Zuko told me about your father... I’m sorry he’s manipulating you.”

and Azula shrieks, lights her hands on fire and is just barely able to stop herself from burning him, makes sure the fire in the room dies, mentions killing Katara and Zuko and capturing Aang, then locks Sokka in the room

and Sokka is crying because he should have listened to Katara and he just wants her to be okay and he can barely move, he can’t do anything to protect her from problems he caused and Aang is going to get hurt and he misses Zuko

and Zuko misses Sokka and Aang is like “okay, something’s up”

Zuko tells him about how Azula is his sister and he doesn’t trust her and that he thinks he loves Sokka, or has feelings for him at least

Aang goes “do you think Azula really loves Sokka?”

“... no”

“then we need to turn around. Druk!”

Azula tells everyone Sokka died because of Katara and that they nee to kill her and his last words were marriage vows

the door handle rattles and Aang comes in and Sokka shakes his head and he’s crying and says “you need to get out of here, she’s gonna kill you”

and Aang is shaking his head and saying “no, don’t worry! Zuko is here and he’s on his way! It’s storming really bad outside right now and he’s fighting off some guards, but he came back for you” and Aang helps Sokka up and out of the room but guards see them and Aang stays behind to fight them

Katara stumbled upon Azula as she tries escaping and they start fighting, kind of like the Agni Kai fight and it’s really epic and cool and stuff and then Azula says something like “stop fooling around and wasting everyone’s time. I am now the ruler of the SWT and I am ordering you to stand down!”

and Katara goes “ruler... where is Sokka?”

“Sokka? Oh, he returned weak and cold. His heart was frozen. Your brother is dead because of you”

and Katara falls to her knees and cries and Azula is like “ha weakness time to kill”

and Sokka sees Zuko and he’s “running” to him but then sees Katara and Azula about to kill her and jumps in front of her despite Zuko’s pleas and Sokka is frozen and when Katara looks up and sees what happened, she loses control and freezes Azula like she did in the Agni Kai and the storm dies down and Zuko and Aang run to her and she’s clinging to Sokka and crying and so is Zuko and then sibling love and he comes back

Zuko is like “love. It doesn’t have to be a kiss.”

and they hug and Sokka is back to his normal self except his hair is still white maybe, but he introduces Katara to Zuko and Aang formally and they all hug and then the White Lotus comes and Toph and Suki and Mai and Jet are all sad because they missed the fight but are happy that Sokka’s okay and Azula is still kind of there and idk what they do with her, I’ll come back to that, actually, maybe Azula manages to escape

but so it would end kind of ambiguously because Ozai is still there and the SWT is untrusting of Katara still so they have to flee maybe and they return to the White Lotus hide out and Zuko and Sokka have a moment where they are like “hey I think I like you”

then Sokka and Katara have a great sibling moment

and that’s how it ends

okay wow that was long and took an hour and a half to type but y’all this would NOT leave my head!!!! I feel like this doesn’t have enough Katara in it, so know that if I actually made this a thing, there would be a lot more Katara and more sibling moments and Zuko and Aang and White Lotus and stuff but uhhh yeah idk if this has been done before but it was living in my mind rent free (p.s. Mai and Ty Lee do have a history with Azula in this AU and there would be an Azula redemption at some point)

if anyone has any thoughts or feelings or anything to add, please do:) I wasn’t sure if I should make Sokka or Katara Elsa, but I went with Katara because she had the powers and Zukka happening worked better with Sokka as Anna, idk

[wihlybt]

I keep seeing posts on here and YouTube about "Season 2" this, "Season 2" that. There doesnt need to be a second season to begin with, but I'll tell you the reason so many people think we absolutely need one:

What do Taiga and Ryuuji talk about?

What do these two do when they're not on camera?

For that matter, what does Taiga do when she's on her own?

We get to see so much of them being stupid teenagers together, constantly screwing up and failing together, like a bootleg Team Rocket, and it make us root for them, and want to see them be HAPPY together, but we never see them just BEING. What common ground do they hold? How do they pass time together? They both clearly share mutual interest as far as clothes and food go, but the one time they actually discuss "fashion", it's just in passing, in service of introducing Ami.

Out of the main 5 characters, Taiga is the least developed, with the other 4 having clear interests or potential paths to follow with their lives. Ryuuji enjoys cooking, cleaning, fashion, and interior design. Ami is a model and her mother was an actress. Both Kidamura and Minori both have strong interest in athletic endeavors, with Kidamura being a scholar additionally, with clear intent to follow his senpai to America. Shit, even Haruta and Noto give their two cents on what their futures may hold, working with their parents or going into publishing respectively. Taiga is the only one who never shows any active interest in anything other than sitting her pretty little ass in front of the TV and eating whatever Ryuuji puts in front of her. Believe it or not, there are two filler episodes dedicated to Kidamura and Minori's development when we get nothing on Taiga herself, those Episodes being the Photo episode and helping Minori at work, and those episodes grate on me to no end due to their dispensability and irrelevance. Even when the prospect of "the future" is brought up in the story, her response is "I'm rich, so I don't have to do anything," and every time I see that scene, I wanna grind my knuckles into her cute little skull. Throughout the entire run of the show, she never does anything of her own volition, she has to be pushed or dragged into literally anything. We aren't provided with enough information in the slightest to picture any events that would follow that adorable final headbutt to her future husbands face, and that's why people THINK they want a season 2.

Even in the Visual Novel, which is sort of an alternate reality dating sim, where Ryuuji can end up with almost anybody (including his Mother and Ms. Yuri), the ending doesn't provide us with much to go off of. In Taiga's "True" Ending, we skip ahead a few years, where Ryuuji is an up and coming interior designer, and Taiga is pregnant with his triplets, as they return to Japan from their new home in Italy to visit Granny Yasuko. Everyone's super happy and successful.

This ending SUCKS.

As much as Taiga about to pop being stuffed full of Ryu's babies fills me with immeasurable joy, it's TOO happy an ending for our stupid teenagers. The whole show is them struggling together. I don't wanna see them rich and fancy, I wanna see them be normal, working class people, making ends meet and enjoying the small things in life. There's actually, in my opinion, a far better ending where Ryu ends up with KIDAMURA, of all people, where they make a Bros.-Before-Hoes style pact, and they work together to buy out Ryuuji's apartment complex and renovate the bottom floor into a restaurant, The Dragon Diner, where Granny Yasuko can retire and live in peace while her son and his best bro thrive and grow up before her very eyes. And who do you think is their number one customer? Wouldn't you know, it's Taiga, who's miserable watching Ryuuji and Kidamura be happy without her. The final line in the ending is Taiga wistfully asking herself where she and Ryuuji went wrong, Ryuuji not hearing her under her breathe as he gets ready to go work, serving nutritious meals at reasonable prices.

I love this ending so much more than the Taiga ending, because, while they're not a couple, Taiga and Ryuuji are still TOGETHER as we knew them in the show, and Taiga isn't going anywhere, as she makes it clear in her usual stubborn way, declaring herself Ryuuji's number one customer, and telling the bros they'd be lost without her. It fills me with hope, that, even if they're not "together", the two are still inseparable, and those triplets might still be in the future for the two, just not right now.

Ideally, I'd like for these two endings to be mashed together, where, Ryuuji and TAIGA buy the place they fell in love, renovate the bottom floor into a restaurant, The Palmtop Tiger (now named after the proprietors wife), and they work as husband and wife, with the retired Granny Yasuko helping raise the babies. Forget "Interior Design" in Italy, I wanna see Ryuuji make a name for himself the way he made his wife fall for him, with his cooking and hospitality. I wanna see Taiga develop some responsibility and support her husband, rather than just be dead weight as he supports both her and Yasuko.

TL;DR: The only reason people think they want a season 2 is cuz Taiga and Ryu have 0 couples chemistry, and we have little to no information to satisfyingly picture their future together

[its-sixxers]

please tell us about your HoK and Martin's relationship. I was wondering what their dynamic is like

Aaaah oh boy get ready for a wall of text haha.

tl;Dr tall awkward ranger lady falls in love with nerd priest because they both feel like outsiders and connect over that + their ability to help the other grow and embrace parts of themselves they've tried to silence

and their great great x whatever granddaughter ends up the dragonborn

actual storyline below

So my Hero of Kvatch is named Vaka. She's a Reachman - she has mixed Breton/Nord ancestry and her family line is from the Reach in Skyrim. They're traditionally at odds with regular Nords and Bretons, fighting to keep their territory. They're not well liked. Vaka has never actually lived among the people of the Reach - she was raised by her father, a hunter - but due to her ancestry faced scorn in Skyrim and has remained an outsider most of her life. She ends up in the Imperial Prison for illegally hunting on Imperial land. Vaka is a ranger and a hunter and an outsider, she doesn't much like engaging with civilization.

While initially they’re somewhat suspicious of each other - the native tribes of the Reach are known Daedra worshipers, and the faith of the Nine doesn’t like that much - they find that neither really fulfill whatever stereotypes they’ve been told. They end up getting along quite well - he can share a comfortable silence with her and she offers insight into a culture and life he's never known. Through her Martin's also able to engage in the part of himself he's ashamed of in a healthy way. Dude used to be a Sanguine disciple and I hc him joining the religion of the Nine as his way to repent for the things he did when following a Daedra, and also a way to restrict himself from any temptation. Vaka shows him it's possible to enjoy life, liquor, and song without falling down the hedonistic slippery slope.

Essentially their dynamic boils down to him giving her a home and place in society, letting her feel welcomed and not a freak. She helps him have a healthy understanding of his own humanity and through her he's able to start to enjoy life again. They're both awkward and self isolate and bond over that. She helps him slip out of Cloud Ruler Temple and takes him on camping/adventure trips, educating him about the landscape and flora and having fun teaching him how to shoot a bow. He’ll sit by her bedside while she recovers from injury and read her tales from history or debate philosophy with her. Cooking together is an activity both of them love.

Vaka is also a bit taller than him (woo Nord ancestry) and to Martin's surprise he's into it. ;D

They go from close friends to each having massive crushes on the other, but Vaka's own self esteem prevents her from acting on it and Martin's got duty and responsibility as Emperor bearing down on his shoulders and thinks it's his own selfishness and the darker side of him that wants Vaka. It's not and he knows it.

After the siege of Bruma and Vaka getting out of the Great Gate alive, there’s a big celebration held after. In he height of euphoria at their success and survival Martin and Vaka end up sleeping together. Both realize their feelings for the other but they've got Tamriel to save first, and you know how that goes for Martin. ;-;

Vaka handles her grief with anger and by throwing herself into dangerous situations, so when a portal to the Shivering Isles pops up shortly after Mehrunes Dagon's defeat she yeets herself in there. It’s not until her armor can’t strap on over her thickening torso and Sheogorath himself bursts into laughter that she realizes she’s pregnant. It really cuts down on her self sabotaging instinct. It doesn’t stop her from kicking Jyggalag’s ass and freeing him.

When she is offered the mantle of mad god she takes it, thinking that as a daedric prince she's as close as she'll ever be to seeing Martin again. She figures out how, though they’re only allowed to meet very rarely because, y’know, the whole Aedra/Daedra thing.

Vaka and Martin’s son is born in the Shivering Isles, but Vaka leaves them to raise him in the wilderness, just as Vaka herself was. She refuses to let the Blades touch her son and only tells her son that she’s the Mad God when her son realizes that her mother doesn’t age. The mystery of her father is left for her son to discover on his own, and by the time he does he has 0 desire to try wrangling the title of Emperor. Not that anyone would believe him, either way.

Several generations pass, and by the time Alduin wakes up Martin’s Septim blood finally manifests in the dragonborn herself. Makes sense that the descendant of the man who became an avatar of Akatosh would be the one who had to destroy a corrupted avatar. At least to me. ;)

if u made it this far u are a blessing that’s my whole oblivion feels storyline

[countessofbiscuit]

For the ask thing: N, T, W for tcw :)

ヽ(゜∇゜)ノ

N: Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom.

An appreciation for how massive the GAR really is — even if you subscribe to the ridiculously low-balled canonical size of the army, Fives has no reason to be chummy with everyone, ffs. If Anakin and Obi-Wan weren’t attached at the hip, Rex and Cody would hardly ever lay eyes on each other because there is such a disparity in rank (which should indicate a wildly different brief, but lol, this is TCW, where a marshal commander leads from the trenches and a mere captain has a seat at the strategy table). Obviously, this is just a personal gripe: I don’t actually care how people choose to approach the GAR in their stories, this is all about having fun … *I* just have more fun reading fics that are somewhat grounded in realities.

Mating cycles/heats — idk it just seems to me that this fandom with a plethora of alien species to play with doesn’t explore reproductive diversity and weirdness enough. 

Tolerance of clonecest (or whatever the hell you wanna call it, I use that term as shorthand; whether or not clone-on-clone maps onto IRL incest taboos is an essay for another day) — it’s just … it’s interesting to me that folks are more squicked by the possibility that two identical walking war crimes may frot because they have no one else and find some small measure of comfort in each other than, idk, the brutal realities of their lives where death, mutilation, and maiming are omnipresent — and this pervasive idea that clones are the Goodest Bois just out there wearing flower crowns and frying only droids all day makes me : \ This isn’t an exhortation for people to just ‘get over’ their squicks, but I do believe in examining them. 

T: Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending? 

Headcanon: Cody is not a born-again Mando nor does he have any time for whatever watered-down Mandalorian bullshit filtered down from the Spec Ops wing. 

Question this headcanon first sought to answer: Why doesn’t Cody wear a kama? 

Id-scratching Justification: He loves this thighs.

Plausible Justification: He likes his legs to be unencumbered for roundhouse kicks. 

Solid Justification I’ve adopted from kaasknot: He earned his advanced-recon stripes in ARF not ARC school. 

My Meta Justification: The line clones do not adopt Mandalorian culture or language wholesale. 

I can’t even qualify this with “call me a RepComm snob, but …” because there’s even LESS foundation for the clones-are-vode idea in the new canon. From where would they have imbibed it? Outside the brief nod to Fenn Rau’s pilot instructor days on Kamino, new canon has not given us any reason to believe the line clones had Mandalorian trainers. And even if you discount new canon’s Jango-is-not-a-Mandalorian heresy, Kamino would not be at pains to emphasize their products’ connection to a culture so perennially at odds with their client (the Jedi/Republic). 

Upon deployment, really almost anything goes; but to say that clone culture wouldn’t hold up pretty firm in the face of other galactic cultures is a little demeaning, and however much people absorb in their search for identity, why would the clones have immediately glomped onto Mandalorian concepts? Why not Corellian? Or Kuatian? Or Chandrillan? Or hells, even Force traditions? Someone may have pointed out to the odd clone, “hey, y’all were made in the image of a notorious Mandalorian!” and set some wheels turning, and sure, Boil was resourceful enough to do his own homework and decide that he quite liked the precepts of a certain group of Mandalorian paramilitary extremists and wanted to slap their sigil on his helmet, but there’d be such a diversity of osmotic experiences in an army of millions/billions spread out across a galaxy that I simply cannot buy the idea that the clones all woke up one fine day thinking of themselves as Mando or Mando-adjacent. 

Setting aside new canon, which I find deathly dull, I prefer RepComm, with its assertion that many of the RCs are born-again Mandos after their sergeants (indeed, the Republic almost has a fifth-columnist problem in Spec Ops with the True Mando influence of the Nulls and certain Alpha ARCs), but the average line trooper view of that mentality is “y'all are a fucking cult.” 

The line troops would identify firstly as brothers and soldiers of the Republic, and they would’ve had close to 0 touchpoints with the Prime Clone. In fact, many might resent the connection, especially deeper into deployment (“What has Mandalore ever done for me? They're a bunch of loose cannons — if they aren't refusing to lend a hand, they're actively leading Sep militias for pay. Fuck the lot of them,” etc. etc.). It would have required a shitton of cultural and linguistic leakage from the Spec Ops wing for the bulk of the line troopers to know even more than a handful of words in Mando’a at the time of Geonosis. (I can believe swear words would’ve been adopted hella fast, if only to fill a vacuum.)

But again, the army is not a monolith, and I am fully on board with the idea that some Alpha ARCs made it their mission to teach Vode An to every unit they came across and the sheer epicness made it wildly popular, and that they spread certain words and concepts (vod, shebs, di’kut, Manda, oya, kara, kandosii, etc.) like a rash. Or a company or two got teamed with a Mando sergeant and two squads of RCs for a month and were belting out “Coruscant'a aden mhi” by the end of it. Or a division found itself with an Alpha-ARC XO when their Jedi General's CC got popped two weeks after Geonosis and Alpha-89 wouldn’t rest until every trooper knew Dha Werda Verda by heart and backwards. Just … show me the work — why should I accept that Bly speaks fluent Mando’a in the bedroom? WHY? Invest me in your clone-culture worldbuilding!

ANYWAY, to bring this back round to my die-on-this-hill headcanon about Cody … he doesn’t like kamas or feel compelled to wear one. Setting aside fun Cody-was-an-Alpha-trained-spec-ops-intern-for-a-month-and-hated-it backstories aside, I just don’t think the dude had the time of day for all that the Manda are watching us warrior brethren, hold your buy’ce high vode, one tribe one dream osik. His identity is wrapped up in overseeing the Third Army and serving as General Kenobi’s right-hand man; on balance (if we’re trying to be realistic, see: above), Cody interacts more with natborn officers and Jedi and fellow CCs than your average ground pounder trooper, and Obi-Wan and Republic officers certainly aren’t going to wax lyrical about Mandalore anytime soon. Obviously, Marshal Fucking Commander Cody is well within his rights to read whatever he wants and talk to whomever he wants and adopt whatever beliefs and language he wants. He has all the resources at this fingertips and clearance that would probably make a lot of natborn admins in REPINT weep. But I don’t personally see him going Mando, though it amuses him to watch Rex try :p The minute Cody earnestly starts using Mando’a in a fic, I’m usually out.

W - A trope which you are virtually certain to hate in any fandom.

Hmm. I spent a good hour’s walk thinking about this and came up blank. Hate is a strong word anyway, and if it’s well-written, I can be sold on anything. But, I can almost guarantee I will never click on ABO unless it’s been recc’d or written by a friend. Not because I have any moral objection, just that it doesn’t interest me and good characterization is often lost to the mandatory ABO dynamics.

… on the flip side, I will ALWAYS click on Fuck-or-Die :D

[bitchiha]

HC of Kiba, Shino, Choji, Neji and Lee playing animal crossing. Do they do it hidden from others or not? Their islands, favorite activities, group interactions (especially) and other things you like.

A/N: Yes!! Thank you for requesting this!! I love writing little fun things like this. I haven’t gotten a chance to play animal crossing on the switch because I was saving up for it w/ my job and everything, but now that Corona has shut down my province I can’t actually buy the switch or Animal Crossing 🥺 I watch gameplays for like hours on end tho and my friends never shut up about it so I know enough to make these HC’s I Hope lmfao and I’ve played it on my DS and phone for timee so I’m educated dw

✎ Animal Crossing x Naruto Characters!

Kiba Inuzuka

He was so pumped for animal crossing to come out. Probably used man the beast clone justu in the game store to make sure that he got his hands on a copy.

He won’t hide that he plays Animal Crossing, he’ll be such a confident douche about it. Once he’s got a fly outfit and he’s starting to get gains he will flex his island to anyone, especially Shino.

He would pick an island in the northern hemisphere and he wouldn’t even strategize tbh like he’s just excited

He would name it like “Dog Land” or “Akamaruville” or some shit like that

He’s the type to read all the things the characters say out loud. Will also 10/10 respond to them.

He’s so excited at little things “look akamaru! It’s a stick!” “Oh shit! Wow! It’s a fishy!”

Or when the seasons change he is so hyped

Hates Tom Nook (greedy capitalist) and also hates Eugene

Starts calling people by nicknames from animal crossing. “Sure, Bunyip!” “Sure thing daddio!” And only the other ninja who play Animal Crossing will get it

Everyone else will be like: (;-;) shut the fuck up dog boy did you just call me “daddio?”

His title on his animal crossing passport is “photogenic animal” I felt the need to include this information

Sometimes I don’t even know what the fuck Kiba does on animal crossing like he just messes around all the time

I think he’ll like fishing a lot tho

Despises the snooty or cranky villagers like he wants to pop one at them through the screen

Having interactions w friends on Animal Crossing can either be fun and friendly or super passive aggressive

Him and Shinos interactions are so ducking passive aggressive like Shino is hitting Kiba with his bug net and Kibas like ?? And Shino will just be like “there was a bug on you” like bruh

Him and Chojis interactions are friendly at first until he realizes how much better Choji is doing than him and he gets so aggressive so Chojis like: aight imma head out

Refuses to let Rock Lee get into his island and it makes Lee so ducking mad bc he wants to flex on him, but Kibas ego will be so damaged so he refuses

Anyway, his house is literally what a 12 year old boys house would look like. Like there’s clutter everywhere the only clear path is the one to his bed

Also whenever he uses the vaulting pole thing he pisses himself like he thinks it’s so fucking funny

I’m sorry but Kibas character will look like a rat like it will look so ugly

I feel like he has like one braincell when he plays this game

Shino Aburame

He’s so secretive about it at first, like this is Shino Aburame, he’s supposed to be this cool mysterious guy

So he will not let anyone know about it, until kiba accidentally finds out

Like they’re on a mission and they’re in their tent sleeping. Once Shino thinks everyone’s asleep he whips out the Switch and starts playing. Then Kiba rolls over to face him and is like “I KNEW IT”

Then Kiba tells everyone else

They’re Animal Crossing rivals now

He’s got a Southern Hemisphere island and he strategically picks his island in a way that he’ll (in real life terms) be able to have access to bugs... but it’s a game, no point in explaining it to him tbh

Like he only strategizes on the game for bugs. Probably talks to himself whenever bugs are involved in it

He doesn’t read the captions out loud, he’ll read them in his head like normal person

Names his Island after a bug species or “Bug Landia”, “Bikochu Island” <- as tribute to those filler episodes lmfao

Starts talking like K.K. (The dog w the stupid ducking guitar) and tbh it fits his personality pretty well, minus some of the hippie energy, but still.. sometimes Hinata and Kiba look at eachother like: is he good?

Will talk like K.K. When fighting enemies and sometimes they’ll stop and be like “did you just quote fucking K.K?” Sometimes it pisses enemies off even more

Also hates Tom Nook, Kiba and him will put their rivalry aside sometimes just so they could gang up on him

Like they’ll just yell insults at him through the screen and think they rlly did something amazing

His fav activity is obviously bug catching!! He gets so hyped when he catches a bug.

If he’s playing the game outside and you can’t rlly see his face bc of his outfit, it will look like he’s spazzing, but in reality he’s bursting with joy bc he caught an uncommon bug

Likes the cranky villagers.. idk why he just gets a kick out of them

His little house thing is bug and tropical themed, he lowkey should be an interior designer

Shinos character will resemble a bug. Don’t know how, but it will.

Choji Akamichi

Loves animal crossing almost as much as he loves food, it’s a close second

He will talk about Animal crossing with anyone, like he thinks everyone is dying to know about his island

One day Sai made eye contact with him for like 2 seconds Chojis dragging him over to his Switch like “oh hey Sai! I seen you looking at me and I figured you must be wondering what I was doing. So I’ll save you the time and just show you instead.” Sais just there like: wtf?

He’s neutral on the capitalist pig that is Tom Nook, Infact, he thinks he’s kind of nice. Poor Choji, so naive.

His island is in the Northern Hemisphere and he doesn’t really strategize it too much bc he doesn’t take the game as seriously as the rest of them like they’re really out here with survival tactics? My G..

Like he doesn’t take it as seriously as Neji and Lee, but he still is doing better than all of them in the game

Anyways, he’ll name the island after his favourite chip brand / chip flavour

Lives for interacting with the other islanders!! Loves Lily and Pashmina bc they’re so nice.

The sisterly and peppy villagers are his favourite

Favourite thing to do is collect fruits and get cool foods. Aside from that, I would go with bug catching as a close second.

Hosts everyone who plays animal crossing for the coolest funking hangouts poor Neji has to sit there and pretend he doesn’t play

Like he is so creative about it to and he’ll think up games like playing musical chairs or hide and seek that they can all play together

Probably results in Lee and Kiba getting into a fist fight irl and accusing eachother of cheating

His house has butterfly themed stuff in there as well as cool food things

Tenten is the only one who doesn’t get pissed tf off when she sees how fly his island is, like she’s jealous, but she isn’t like Kiba and Lee

Chojis character will look so adorable like idc his is the cutest one out of everyone’s

Neji Hyuuga

He first sees TenTen and Lee playing it and he acts like he doesn’t like it, but there are fireworks going off inside his head, like the game looks so fire

So he buys it secretly and he is obsessed, he will deny he plays it if anyone asks though

He wants his islands name to be something thought out, like it takes him 5 days just to name his island.. Only for him to settle on some shit like “Leaf Island” he wanted to name it Byakugan Land but his pride wouldn’t let him

Definitely respects Tom Nook. Like Rock Lee and him both treat the game like a survival tactic so he respects Tom Nook as a superior, even if he has some greed problems. He’s still a superior and he must be adressed with respect >:0

Will get worked up when he overhears Shino and Kiba trash talking Nook and it takes every bone in his body not to knock them out, but he doesn’t want them to know he plays so he refrains

I’m not gonna lie he tries to use his Byakugan when he’s fishing in animal crossing so he can see what type of fish it is through the water and it pisses him the fuck off when it doesn’t work

Like he’s just playing Animal Crossing at like 3 am and you hear him whisper shout “Byakugan!” And then he punches the air bc it doesn’t work

He changes his passport title to “Nook Inc’s Island Dweller”

Nejis favourite thing to do on animal crossing is probably fishing tbh. Like yes it does aggravate the absolute fuck out of him sometimes when he keeps catching the same worthless fish over and over again, but he enjoys the rush of it

His house is all white, like only white furniture idk why

No group interactions, only w Hinata who he made swear she wouldn’t tell anyone he plays

Def critiques her Island and in her head she’s like :0 bruh I’m ur only Animal Crossing friend and youre gonna critique my fucking island nah bitch not w your ghetto ass all white stinky looking cottage

I love Neji I’m sorry but this shit is too funny for me

Neji wants his character to look as much like him as possible, but can’t find the right hairstyle

His drip is fire tho like his outfit is so nice even if it’s all white as well

Rock Lee

Kiba and Shino might be rivals, but they both equally despise Rock Lee on Animal Crossing

Treats it like real life.

For example: since him and TenTen are friends he’s like “me and Tentens islands are Allies”

Has declared war on Kiba and Shino so many times and they’re like?? Dude you can’t even start a war like wtf

He is so competitive though LMFAOO AND HE MAKES HIS CHARACTER WORK OUT. Like he makes him run laps every morning and it doesn’t even benefit him in the game at all... anyways

His island is in the northern hemisphere for sure and it’s named “Power of Youth” or something involving the word Youth

Uses his Nook phone to take pics will all the islanders he stumbles upon

“Good evening, Lily! Let’s take a picture together, the sun is shining in a way that perfectly accentuates your features!”

He also talks to islanders out loud and reads their captions in designated voices for them, it annoys the shit out of Neji

Jazzes the shit out of his Passport like his title is “horizon bound patron” and his little passport comment is “THE POWER OF YOUTH!”

Takes the Nook miles quests so seriously. “I will complete three quests today.” Thinks of them as missions and so he gives them the same energy

Probably calls Nook “Nook-Sensei”

“right away Nook-Sensei” or “you can count on me Nook-sensei!” Whenever Nook asks him something

Rock Lees fav activity is literally just completing whatever a character asks him to do. Like constantly does quests and enjoys it. Wtf

If there is workout furniture on animal crossing, best believe it’s in Rock Lees house

He gets so pissy when Kiba won’t let him on his Island

Invites everyone to his island and forces them onto a tour of it.

Also his character looks so fucking similar to himself that it’s eerie

Kiba will make fun of him for it (Shino will probably join in too)

[paradise-creator]

Hellooo!! I love love LOVE the diamond box matchup you did!! You're amazing!! Your blog is incredible!! Now I'm here for a romantic haven box Haikyuu matchup pls🥺

Appearance: My name is Kay! She/her, black, straight, 5'1, I have a slightly athletic & curvy-ish figure (lol idk), short-ish hair(like mid-neck), dark brown eyes, shoe size 9, I like to dress comfy so I'm always in oversized hoodies, sweatpants, sneakers, sweatshirts and shorts. I like colorful clothes too, high waisted jeans and shorts and boots. I'm not very fashionable but I try lol.

Personality:

Basics: infp-t, Hufflepuff, Taurus sun, scorpio moon, sanguine, chaotic good, ambivert.

Some positive traits: I'm optimistic, friendly, energetic, organized, enthusiastic, observant, happy, open-minded, loving, encouraging and inquisitive!!

Some negative traits: I'm annoying, perfectionist, insecure, forgetful, easily distracted, kinda lazy, argumentative, too nice at times and clingy.

I love learning new things!! Currently I'm learning Korean, how to draw, how to paint and songs on the saxophone.

When I'm up for it, I love fun physical activity!! Going for a hike, going to the gym, bungee jumping, mountain climbing, going camping and etc :D

Although I love going out, nothing beats lazy days at home. I can spend hours by myself and still be happy. When alone I usually sleep or watch a movie/anime or practice my drawing or saxophone or try and learn something new!

I have a horrible memory and can never remember important dates 😭 I've forgotten my own birthday a few times (rip) so people can get mad at me for missing appointments, forgetting birthdays and other important days. I try my best to organize everything necessary on my phone calendar so I can be reminded.

I love seeing people happy! Nothing can fulfill my day more than knowing I put a smile on someone's face! I usually try my best to help out anyone who needs it and to the best of my ability! This has led to me getting taken advantage of in the past but I can't help but try and make others happy. I've developed a thicker skin and some trust issues as I've grown up because of it.

I love hyping my friends/family up!! Do you need a boost in confidence? Here I am, ready to help you remember the absolute king/queen/royalty that you are!! I'm usually very energetic and enthusiastic about many things and I love spreading positivity around!!

My love language is physical touch! So touch is very important to me in my relationships. Though I am insecure so I tend to think that I smother the people I care about with too much affection idk lol. I live for hugs and cuddles and hand holding 👉🏿👈🏿 but because of that I feel like I'm very clingy and annoying skskfksjd

I'm introverted in nature so although I mean usually full of energy and love making new friends, I can't do it for too long lol. My social battery runs out really fast and I have to hide away and recharge before I can be fully social again, otherwise I won't be my best self. I treasure personal time and understand when people need time for themselves too.

I love spontaneity!! I love living in the moment and doing stuff just for the hell of it!! Wanna go on a road trip? Dance in the rain? Build houses for charity? Go to McDonald's at 2am? Go on a long walk? SIGN ME UP!!

I can also be lazy and unmotivated to do stuff. If something doesn't interest me, I'd find myself incapable of doing it or I'd do it with great difficulty. I'm one of those 'do something when inspiration/motivation hits you otherwise it'll be absolute shit' types.

But when I do have motivation/inspiration that's when my perfectionism comes in and I have to do it in the best possible way and anything less is an insult to me, my family, my ancestors and descendants lmaoo. Unfortunately I subconsciously set a very high bar for myself which can be overwhelming and stressful but when I manage to produce work of that quality, it's very satisfying and rewarding jshkshdhsj

I have more to add but I feel like this is getting way too long 💀 lemme just move to the next section heheheh

Hobbies: I LOVE listening to music, learning new things, watching movies/anime, sleeping, reading, writing, playing saxophone (I'm still learning tho lol), swimming, drawing, journaling, making friends, and cooking!

My music taste: any type of rock (punk rock, grunge, j-rock, metal), pop, KPOP, RnB, jazz, dubstep, lofi hip hop, rap, trap, krnb, anime OP's and bangers from: Elvis, the beach boys, Queen, Khalid, Ateez, Harry styles, Kendrick Lamar, p!atd, mcr, fallout boy, Nirvana, BTS, mxmtoon, Marianas trench, twenty one pilots, stray kids, Jay Park, crush, Dreamcatcher, Skrillex, MJ, troye sivan etc

Fun facts:

I'm more of a cat person but I live dogs and think they're adorable!!

I have four piercings and I plan on getting more soon!!

I'm a night owl, and get super grumpy in the mornings especially when woken up unexpectedly >:/

Although I love making friends, I only have like 1/2 super close friends and like 20+ acquaintances lol

I want to get a tattoo soon but idk what to get :(

I'm super addicted to coffee (rip) and if I don't take some for some time (like a week) I'll get the worst migraines and I won't feel better until I drink some coffee 😭

That's it!! I hope i wrote enough stuff!! Did I leave anything out? If you need more pls tell me and I'll send another ask :D Take your time!! I'm in no rush. I'll patiently wait even though you get writers block or have a large amount of asks 😌 pls stay safe and healthy!! Drink lots of water, sleep well and have an amazing day/night!! 💙✨

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Hello and Welcome my Starlight!

The Haven box includes:

- Match up

- Sun drop

- Journal of Feelings

- 3 am shenanigans

───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ───

I'd match you up with

Sugawara Koushi, Vice-captain of Karasuno

───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ───

Sun drops

- OKAY so like, as I read your description I thought of Akaashi or Yaku or Sugawara

- Me being the indecisive author I am had trouble picking

- But then I remembered that you loved to do spontaneous things.

- And that's when I realized that Sugawara is THE ONE

- You two would be deemed the "3 am couple"

- Or in the team it would be "Epitome of Chaos"

- He takes care of you

- He will alway remind you that you don't need to be perfect

- Insecurities? BE GONE

- Nagativity? BE GONE

- That's basically his motto

- He is both your mom and partner in Crime

- did I mention he will take care of you?

- CUDDLES AND KISSES FOR DAYS

───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ───

Journal of feelings

- Once this man realizes that you LOVE physical affection. He will give it to you. EVERYTIME HE SEES YOU

Kay entered the gym to watch her boyfriend play. She tried sneaking in and so far it has been great. She thought she was off the hook but then felt a familiar arms wrapped around her waist. "I found you~" Sugawara said with a smile.

- You both would often plan pranks and majority of the times, it would succeed

"Okay okay, so what are we doing today?" Kay asked the silver haired male. "Oh~ maybe we can scare Asahi or anyone for that matter with a beetle?" Sugawara suggested. "That's--no," Kay responded.

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3 am shenanigans

It’s 3 am in the morning. Almost everyone is fast asleep or in their homes, well almost. The night sky is littered with diamond in the sky. The streets were silent but it was comforting. A few people walked here and there. And a few cars passes by there and here. “What are we doing up so late?” A silver haired man said as he yawned. “We’ll be going to Mc Donald’s! What else?” The female responded as she smiled at him. “Is it even open at this time?” He asked. “Koushi, darling, it is open,” Kay, the lover of our beloved silvered male man said as she smiled. Sugawara chuckled and held her hand, the smile on his face was evident. “You know, we should be sleeping by now right?” He said as he pulled her closer. “And so what? I wasn’t planning on sleeping early! I slept the whole day yesterday and missed the chance to hang out with you,” The girl responded.

A small blush appeared on the male’s face and he giggled. “That’s very sweet bu-“ He was about to say but was silenced by the girl. “That was very sweet but we could’ve done this later on or tomorrow. Well, sorry to break it to you, Love. But, we are here,” She said as she pulled the male inside the fast food chain. And soon enough, the two got their orders and enjoyed their meal. “I don’t know why but this hits different,” Kay said as she eat a French fry. “It really does. Especially since you are here,” Sugawara stated as he patted her head. Now, she was the one blushing. As the two chatted, the other customers and staff glanced at them every now and then. None of them were annoyed at their interactions. On the contrary, they enjoyed watching them,

Some felt envious of their relationship. Some dreamt to have something like that. And others remembered the times of old. The two were so sweet, it’s almost too much. Laughter and chattering echoed through the building from both the couple and the people around them. Then they were dub the “3 am couple” as the two would often venture in that restaurant at 3 am in the morning.

───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ───

Author's note

I'm so so sorry for the long wait! This week has been hectic. Anywho, I hope you enjoy this matchup~ and thanks for requesting!

[austinpark]

⌠ MILES HEIZER, 22, CISMALE, HE/HIM ⌡ welcome back to gallagher academy, AUSTIN PARKER! according to their records, they’re a SECOND year, specializing in LINGUISTCS, CULTURE & ASSIMILATION + RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT; and they DID go to a spy prep high school. when i see them walking around in the halls, i usually see a flash of (multi-tasking, a new hair color every few months, being the resident parent friend, cracking jokes to change the subject). when it’s the (cancer)’s birthday on 06/25/1998, they always request their PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE from the school’s chefs. looks like they’re well on their way to graduation. ⌿ spirit, 19, she/her, est ⍀ @gallagherintro​

What’s up? Name’s Spirit and I’m going to be haunting the dash! Hope you got the Ghostbusters on speed dial! Anyway, let’s get down to business and I’ll tell you all about Austin under the cut. (Trigger warnings for mention of an injury as well as anxiety!)

So, Austin is from Georgia (a true Southern gentleman) and the Parker fam owns a farm! Spy work is the family business, but so is helping out with the annual Halloween hay ride and ringing up costumers after they’ve perused the market as well as the bakery in search of apples, berries, vegetables, and various homemade sweet treats.

Generations of Parkers before his father were spies while his mom’s family had a few scattered around the family tree, herself included. But as soon as children entered the picture, they retired from active duty and instead told heavily edited tales of their missions before bedtime. Of course, if a Parker doesn’t want to become a spy nowadays, that’s more than alright. Mr. and Mrs. Parker weren’t interested in pressuring their children, thank you very much. That still didn’t stop Austin from setting his eye on the prize and that prize would be following in their footsteps as a spy.

As he grew up, Austin became a pretty well-rounded individual. He was a straight A student in the classroom, did some volunteer work with his family, dominated the soccer field, loved taking coding classes, and practically blazed a trail for his cross country teammates to follow. Whenever the time came to play review games or to create teams in gym, more often than not, Austin was nominated as captain. Even his classroom rivals had to admit that he knew what he was talking about and trusted him to call the shots.

(And yes, Austin himself would agree with the label of classic overachiever. Of course, what his classmates didn’t know was that around junior high, he was diagnosed with generalized anxiety after the symptoms started popping up. Apparently it ran in the family. Who knew? Thankfully, his busy schedule helped with keeping his mind occupied and he learned coping methods from his friends who also had G.A.D.)

He attended the same spy prep high school that countless Parkers before him had attended, his parents and older siblings included. “Another Parker,” the faculty joked amongst themselves when his freshman year started. No malice was intended, but all the same, their jaws dropped one by one over the course of four years. He matched his loved ones’ accomplishments first then turned right around and blew them out of the water.

Austin graduated and just like he’d been reassured countless times, acceptance into any spy academy was practically guaranteed. So, he enrolled in a New York based academy and never looked back. Until - as the story goes - tragedy struck.

A wild night out with friends didn’t end all that well. Someone got the bright idea to hold their birthday party out in the woods and a game of truth or dare sent Austin climbing up a tree. He swallowed his anxiety then climbed until he reached one of the highest branches. When he started to climb down was when things went wrong and long story short? Austin was rushed to the hospital with a serious injury to his left leg.

After physical therapy and the news that he’d probably always have a limp, he returned home to Georgia with his tail between his legs. He threw himself into helping out around the Parker family farm and even enrolled at a nearby college where he majored in computer programming then participated in quite a few hack-a-thon competitions. The night of his college graduation, his mom took him aside during the little party they’d had in his honor.

He’d grown up hearing about her time at Gallagher, but what she said at the end of all the familiar stories took him by surprise. She’d heard that they were going to open up the academy soon to everyone. “I know you revised your life plan after what happened to your leg sweetheart,” she told him. “But just give Gallagher a try, okay? See if that old fire comes back. You don’t have to be in the field to be a legendary spy.” So, Austin made a promise to his mom that he’d give Gallagher a try and enrolled.

And fast forward to the present day where only lady fate knows what will happen this year!

Personality Time!

Austin’s clever as the devil and knows just how to put his smarts to good use either in the classroom or by making jokes that go from 0 to 100 or bright to dark in the blink of an eye.

He can also be something of a smartass when he’s really on a roll joke wise.

But on the other hand, he’s also a gentleman. Has great manners, uses sir/ma’am/mx, whole nine yards really.

Total parent friend! Austin’s quite content to hang back from the action in order to keep an eye on his friends and do the best he can to keep them out of trouble. Plus, on a day to day basis, he’s always checking on them and making sure they’re taking care of themself. He’d totally take the fall for them in the event his friend landed in trouble, even if it would make zero sense for Austin to have committed the crime, so to speak.

Not exactly (read: nowhere near) the most forthcoming when it comes to his own troubles and will straight up change the subject/do whatever he can to avoid involving people in whatever the hell is up with him at a given moment.

Capable leader! Like I said in his bio, he knows what he’s talking about more often than not and knows exactly when to call the appropriate shots.

There are moments where the anxiety does kick his ass though and on days where it’s really bad, he’s more withdrawn/quiet than he normally is. He’ll also be pretty jittery and on-edge, even irritable if something or someone pushes the right buttons a few too many times.

He’s okay with change as long as he’s able to maintain some form of control. Dyeing his hair is a type of change that he’s okay with and lemme tell you, his hair color changes at rates similar to a certain member of a certain Australian band if you catch my drift.

Connections!

Best friends (aka squad) - You just can’t go wrong with best friends! Regardless of how they met, these characters are thick as thieves with Austin and they make an unstoppable team when they put their heads together. When they’re not sending memes in the group chat at three in the morning of course.

Family friends - Perfect for a character from another legacy family! Whenever their families got together, this character/these characters were often grouped with Austin.

Rivals - Friendly or not, let’s just say it’s a near constant battle of wits and ‘anything you can do, I can do better’ whenever the opportunity arises.

Hook ups/FWB - Austin’s pansexual, so anything’s possible to say the least! Maybe feelings sprung up since they started getting together, maybe it’s just strictly an affair born out of physical attraction, the chips will fall where they may.

And that’s all I got for now! Please feel free to message me and we can get to working something out! Thank you so much for reading all of this and I am so, so sorry.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #282

“daddy’s flown across the ocean / leaving just a memory / a snapshot in the family album / daddy, what’d you leave behind for me?”

What is your favorite type of dance? I like modern dances, especially those unusual or creepy with unique music. They’re the dances I look forward to watching in dance competitions. Do you find making scenes in public fun? Oh fuck no. Lemonade or pink lemonade? Pink is Supreme in so many ways. Where do you feel safest? At home, especially if Mom is here. Have you ever been to a gay pride parade? No, but I’d love to. Would you take your dream job if it were out of the country? No. I don’t want to move to Africa. What do you like to do when you're home alone? HAHA okay so I almost exclusively watch Unus Annus when Mom isn’t home because I will almost without a doubt cackle at least once, and… explaining why I’d be laughing would be WILD. UA is a fucking gift & I’mma miss it when it’s gone. What kind of music calms you down? My best bet is nostalgic music that I hold very close, like Ozzy. The soundtracks to SotC and SH2 are also magical when it comes to soothing me. Who did you last go to a park with? Uhhhh… probably not since I took family pictures for someone. Got some nice ones. Have you ever been robbed? Thankfully, no. Are you working, a student, both, or neither? Neither, and at nearly 25, it’s fucking humiliating. I’m thinking of appealing my disability case (you very rarely get it the first time), but of course self-doubt and anxiety just slaps me across the face again and again by asking, “Do you really need it?” That shit is agonizing. Very highly regarded people in my life agree that it’s realistic for me, at least at this moment, while I sort out my mental health. I don’t plan on being on it forever, fuck no. But right now I am, no matter what anyone says, a leech in my home. What's your favorite holiday? Christmas. I prefer Halloween’s “vibe,” of course, but I am much more excited and just thankful at Christmastime, especially now as an aunt with children who *understand* the holiday. Their joy and excitement is enough of a gift to me. It’s always really hard on Mom because she’s convinced she doesn’t do enough (she cries at least once like… every year), but my sisters and I always reassure her. It’s also a nice opportunity to see Dad and my stepmom, also with my sister’s family, and once again we get to see the kids so happy. But enough about them; what I love most about Christmas is I generally am able to put my troubles into perspective and take the time to remember I am, in the big picture, lucky to have what and who I do. And SNOW!!!!! If you can’t tell I’m stoked for Christmas. Do you prefer male or female friends? Both are great, but I’m more relaxed with female friends because of the whole “scared of men” ordeal. What's your favorite dessert? Biiiiihhhhh lemme get my hands on ice cream. Do you ever go on chatroulette or omegle? Noooo, I never did. That shit creeps me out. Besides, I’m shy. What kind of tea do you drink? None. Do you know anyone in a gang? Not to my knowledge… What color is your fridge? White. We decided to use the fridge already in this house versus our old one. Is your phone mostly on vibrate, silent, or ringtone? It’s just about always on vibrate. Do you own black sunglasses? I don’t own any sunglasses. Are you currently looking for a job? Fuck if I know. Not actively, but if something suitable magically popped up, I’d definitely pursue it. Do you watch MTV? No. Do you like to tell people who you like? Historically, I tend to keep my mouth shut about it to people who know that love interest unless explicitly asked, and even then, it depends on if I think they’ll keep their mouth shut. How often do you braid your hair? It’s too short to be braided. I very rarely had it braided beforehand. What color is your microwave? Black. Do you wash your face in the morning when you wake up? If I remember, especially if I’m groggy. Are you interested in the ocean? No more or no less than the average person. What's a big turn on for you? Keeping physical stuff outta this, I’m just such a fuckin sucker for being authentically romantic lmao. Have you ever thought about being a teacher? Heeeeeelllllll no. What's the first thing you do when you turn your computer on? Close out of the stuff that automatically pops up after it starts. Do you drink Gatorade? Ugh, ew, no. Do you hate when people replace 0's with O's? EX: 9:OO AM. Lol no, it’s honestly aesthetically pleasing in some formats. Did you hate riding the bus? Some of my best school memories are the long bus rides home w/ Jason so uh- Do you ever use XOXO in texts, letters etc..? Nah. Has anyone ever told you they liked you to your face? Yeah. Have you ever touched an elephant? No. Reading or writing? Writing. Do you have a childhood nickname? Mom called (and sometimes still does lakjdf;alkwe) me “Twinkie.” She gave sweets-oriented nicknames to all her kids. Have you ever had a Moon Pie? UGH they’re gross. I have this faint memory as a kid of a sweetheart babysitter my sisters and I had always offering us banana moon pies as a snack or dessert, idr. I’ve always hated anything banana-flavored. Has your car ever had troubles? N/A What's your birthstone? Amethyst. Would you join the navy? I want nothing to do with anything remotely related to war. What's your favorite board game? Battleship. Do you like chess? I’ve never played it nor even know the rules. If you’ve ever tried drugs or alcohol, what was your reason for first trying it? I was absolutely parched after a long, sweaty walk and was offered it to “try” by my mom without me knowing it was alcohol… the “WAIT NO STOP” from everyone was so quick lmao. It was just hard lemonade, so nothing super serious. Do you think you could ever have an abortion if you unexpectantly turned up pregnant right this second? I probably would. There is no fucking way I can emotionally handle carrying a baby right now. But I’d feel like absolute shit, even though I’m pro-choice. I just don’t want to picture myself in that situation. Is there a situation where you caved into peer pressure and regretted it? Probably. Although generally, I’m very resilient to peer pressure when it comes to something I really don’t want to do. What is your favorite video game console? Why? PS2, of course. I think the best games came from that era, many ahead of their time. Example, the original Shadow of the Colossus graphics massively pressured the limits of the software, and it still to this day blows me away. Sure, you have some lag in return, but the end result was just magnificent. I seriously, seriously, seriously hope I’m able to play the remake one day. When you lost your virginity, were you sober? I was. As of this minute, what is going through your mind? How I need a change and purpose in life so motherfucking badly. Where’s the last place you went? I was riding around with Mom, doing some errands. Are both of your blood parents still in your life? Yes. When was the last time you went apple picking? Never. Do you have a good relationship with your cousins? We don’t really… have a relationship. We don’t talk, we just kinda “exist” knowing we’re related. What was the last kids movie you saw? I watched some of Hotel Transylvania 3 with my niece and nephew. Do you know anyone who was born in Africa? When I was still in college, there was at least one guy in my class who was. Tutored me in math. Patience of a saint, haha. Have you ever been to an internet cafe? I actually have zero clue what that is. Has the year gone quickly for you so far? I’ve barely discerned 2018-2020, if I’m being honest with you. It’s just a lump of time where I’ve done jack-all. I mean yeah, school fits in there somewhere, but mentally I wasn’t in a wonderful place and haven’t been “happy” for a long time. My mental state has been the same for a few years. How many siblings does your significant other have? N/A Are you one of those people who can drink vodka straight? Oh, I hiiiighly doubt it. I loathe the taste of alcohol. Do you share a middle name with any of your friends? I legitimately have one of the most basic white bitch middle names in America, I know tons. How many pairs of jeans do you own? None. Do you know the name of the pharmacist at your local drug store? One, yes, considering Mom worked there before the cancer and is still in touch with this pharmacist. What flavor is your toothpaste? Mint. Are you sleepy right now? I think I’m permanently sleepy. Do you like crime films and tv shows? Not especially. Are you bitter about anything? Many things. What was the first online account you remember having? Neopets. My older sister helped me set it up when I was somewhere around eight. Do you use emojis? More than I used to. I’m gradually converting from emoticons to emojis, oof. What was the last type of soda you drank? Mountain Dew. Do you remember much from high school? I probably remember too much from high school, if I’m being honest. I remember far too much in far too much detail during the almost four years I dated Jason. Where would you go for the ultimate honeymoon? Probably the Bahamas, mostly for the pink beaches, aha. It would also be an incredible photography opportunity. Do you know anyone who has a strong accent that is hard to understand? My former best friend’s dad was so southern that yes, I could barely understand him whatsoever. If you had to get a tattoo tomorrow, what would you get? If you mean a fresh, new one and not a glow-up on the Mark tribute tat I’ve mentioned five thousand times, a tribute to Teddy featuring his portrait, pawprint, and the Powerwolf lyrics “and we’ll meet where the wild wolves have gone.” I’m going to be picky as a motherfucker about the design itself, though, so realistically it probably wouldn’t be tomorrow since I’d probably commission people to draw in varying styles. Ugh, I need that tattoo gun, my man. What was the last podcast you listened to? Do you listen to it regularly? That would be 4 Peens in a Pod (it’s… not a porn I swear, it’s Fischfuck and the boys lmao). I’m waaaaaaaaaaay behind on it, though. I watch so many different things now that I’m behind on like… everything I watch/listen to. Are you on a first-name basis with your boss? (or last boss if unemployed) I think I was with all of them? What was the last thing you wrote in a Word document? This survey. Because I combine short ones into Big Boys that I usually don’t finish in one go, I save my progress on it. Who do you miss and what do you miss about them? I miss a number of people and would rather not retrospect on them. What were the best and worst costumes you’ve ever worn? *shrug* Do you know anybody who is gay and married? I think so. What did you last take painkillers for? A headache. Are there any hobbies you want to get back into? Ugh. A whole fucking lot. I’ve thought quite a bit recently on how I miss video editing, but I just don’t have the motivation and dedication for that anymore. Have you ever shared a home with a friend? Yes. What’s the craziest or weirdest place you’ve ever slept? Nowhere that strange at all… Probably just like, the floor, but even then with blankets and stuff. What did you have for lunch today and who made it? I haven't had lunch yet. Are you allergic to anything? How did you find out? Pollen is pretty obvious, while serious discoloring and itching let me know I was allergic to silver. Have you ever been on a date with someone you met online? How was it? Yeah, I was visiting her for a couple weeks. It was nice. Who was the last very physically attractive person you saw? In ~real life~, probably some friend on Facebook. Do you know anyone who is deaf? We recently found out actually that my youngest niece is deaf in her left ear due to a massive buildup of fluid in it. I’m so ready to hear about her reaction to hearing normally once it’s taken care of. Has there ever been a person you regret ever being friends with? Probably at some point. “Ever” makes this question difficult. Do you think you have a good understanding on love? Yes. What do you think of your parent(s)? I love them both immensely while acknowledging their flaws. What celebrity do you think should of never become famous? I don’t care enough to think on this honestly haha. Did you ever get into the Twilight saga craze? What about the Harry Potter craze? Neither. What's your opinion about Katy Perry's song "I Kissed a Girl"? It was bold for its time, for sure. I’ve never minded it. Actually since coming out as bi I’ve known that this song has to be included in the recession dances of my wedding if my partner is female lmao. Do you believe in heaven? If so, what's it like? If not, why? I hope there’s some sort of total bliss after death if you’re deserving of such, but I don’t know. I definitely don’t know how I actually picture it. Even if there’s not, well, I’m assuming I just won’t exist anymore, so I wouldn’t be able to care anyway. Sometimes I hope that's the case. What email service do you use for your main (or only) email account? Hotmail. Did you ever believe in the Tooth Fairy? Yeah. I remember there was one time where “she” didn’t trade my tooth for munz and I was so mad lmao. Mom apparently forgot and slipped something under the pillow while I was getting ready for school. How I fell for it, who knows man, kids are wild. How do you feel about Taco Bell? I’m not a Mexican food fan, really, but I do love their cheese (with or without chicken) quite a bit. The cinnamon bite things are bomb as FUCK, too. I’m still mad tilted they took potato products off their menu tho because I used to destroy the fiesta potatoes. How often do you go on to YouTube? I’m like… always on it. Not focusing on it at all times, but something’s in the background. Back when Spongebob Squarepants was famous, were you interested in it? Well of course, man. What's your dream pet? Ugggghhhh a sunset morph ball python, probably. Buuut I’ve seen some over $2k with their rarity. More realistically, I really, really want a Brazilian Black tarantula. And an arctic morph hognose. I want a lot of pets. ;_; Who's been your favorite teacher growing up, and why? God, I have a lot, honestly. All things considered, the answer is probably Miss Tobey, who was my physical science teacher in high school. She’s an extremely close family friend now involved regularly in my family’s lives. She can be… difficult and says shit before thinking, but we love her nevertheless. What's your favorite fairy tale? Fuck outta here if you say Shrek isn’t one. Do you have a favorite pen? Uh, no… I barely ever use pens anyway. Has a child ever asked you a question you found difficult to answer? Yeah; it happens sometimes with my niece and nephew. Name five books you've read in the past year. I think I’ve read the first three Wings of Fire book within the same year, and I’m currently on the forth. Other than those, I started The Testaments by Margaret Atwood, but only got through the prologue I think before my focus shifted onto WoF. I still plan on reading it at some point, though. ^Are any of those books your favorite? No. The prequel to The Testaments, The Handmaid’s Tale, is very high up there, though. Are you a person that enjoys re-reading books? Not at all. Once I read it once, I’m done. There are VERY few books I’ve reread, and most of those were children’s books from when I was little. Do you have a favorite talk show host? Don’t watch any. Which sounds the most refreshing: a hot shower or a cold one? I prefer hot showers unless I seeeeeriously need to cool down. Have you ever made your own soap? No. Can you sleep with socks on? UGH NO. When was the last time you were pissed beyond belief and why? Ummm good question. I don’t know about *that* mad. Maybe when Ashley’s mother-in-law shared a massively homophobic article that condoned conversion therapy on Facebook that resulted in me removing her from my friends and RAGING to my mom about it. That was forever ago, though. Do you have a favorite candle brand? No. What is your opinion on taxidermy? I have… very mixed feelings. If the animal was hunted for sport, then it’s fuckin disgusting; you literally killed an animal with the intention to show off the fact you’re a goddamn murderer. On the other hand, taxidermy of naturally-deceased animals can be educational, and even… artistic sometimes? I don’t know. I can’t really pick one stance over the other. Would you ever want to own a body part in a jar? Actually, yes, particularly of fetal animals (that WERE NOT killed for the sake of displaying), but for the same reasons above, I’m not sure if I would *really* do it. They are incredibly interesting to me, more so than taxidermy probably, but yeah, I still question the morality of it. What is the worst thing you have ever done to your own hair? I don’t think I’ve ever really done a “bad” thing to my hair. What qualities of yours do you think could potentially harm a relationship? I’m very clingy and, in the beginning, very paranoid that you’re going to leave. Have any of your childhood habits carried over into adolescence/adulthood? I had AWFUL separation anxiety from my mom for a very long time as a kid, and I guess that evolved into my extreme inability to handle loss well, maybe. I’d say they’re at least somewhat related. What is the first band that comes to mind when I say 'dark'? Cradle of Filth popped up first. As far as relationships go, what are your biggest deal-breakers? Abuse, arrogance, and distrust probably top the list. Be honest: do looks really matter to you? Nah. It’s nice to be physically attracted to my partner, but it’s not a must. Have you ever done something simply because you were of age? No. Do you think it's worth it to tell someone you had feelings for them when you don't have them anymore? I mean, what’s the situation? Are you hanging out, talking about relationships casually? I’d say it’s fine then if it’s relevant to the conversation. I don’t think it’s worth going out of your way to tell someone you liked them if you don’t anymore, though. Have you ever done something you once thought you'd be too chicken to do? Y’know that ride at fairs where you go up really high on a circular thing with other people and then drop abruptly? That. I screamed like a mf lmao. I had to put a lot of effort into not yelling “SHIIIIIIIIIIIT” lmao. What's a food you love but don't get to eat very often? Stuff involving shrimp, ig. What's your favorite mythical being? Dragons! Have you ever felt a baby kick? I don’t think so, and I don’t want to, considering it’s fucking terrifying to me. I can’t even see a baby move without screaming and wanting to hurl. When is the last time you did something truly fun, and what was it? Who the fuck knows… What is the worst thing you've ever done when you were really angry? Said things I shouldn’t have. Are there any pills you take on a daily basis? If so, what? A lot. I can’t be bothered to go through all of them. At what age do you first remember feeling butterflies in your stomach around someone? I’m not sure. Do you feel that way around anyone now? I don’t think so. What is your main heritage? German or Irish, idr which is more prominent. What is a song that you hate to admit you like? “Bitches” by Hollywood Undead came to me first lmao. What inspires you to get off your bum and do something productive? More than anything, watching inspirational YouTube videos. What part of your body have you had the most problems with in your life? I suppose maybe my ears? I had tubes put in as a kid, I had an absolutely agonizing ear infection once, I had earwax adhered to my eardrum, and they've always been STUPID dry and flaky. Are you watching your weight? Like a hawk, but it doesn’t seem to matter anyway. :^) Have you ever become really good friends with someone you found online? Most of my closest friends I’ve met online. What is the coolest tattoo you've ever seen? You’re asking the wroooong person, lol. I’ve just seen way too many… Have you ever created anything artistic that you're proud of? If so, what? Lots of things; drawings, some writing, photographs, video edits… What do you like on your hotdogs, if you eat hotdogs? Just ketchup and mustard. What is a subject that makes you uncomfortable? Sex. What is a subject you can talk on and on about and not get sick of it? MEERKATS and MARK What is the worst thing someone could do to you emotionally? Tell me I’m weak. Or that my mental illnesses truly do make me unlovable. Just essentially do fucking not make me feel what Jason did. What is the worst thing you've ever done to someone emotionally? Said some extremely mean and potentially scarring shit.