#I've Only Just Gotten To Level 22

[lunarthing159]

ALRIGHT

I CAVED

WynnCraft Blorbo Time

Introducing; Castor! My Fire-Mastery SharpShooter Archer Who Refuses To Wear A Shirt Under Any Circumstances. And No, Out Of The Starting Trio Of Tasim, Aledar, And Him.. I Don't Think He's Ever Had The Group Braincell.. He's Like- An Orange Cat To Me-

@wassup-its-e , Your Posts Did This To Me, Witness What Your Actions Have Done /aff

[dedalvs]

When will humankind learn the lesson of its hubris and begin to heal itself? Also can you recommend any undergraduate or graduate level resources (textbooks etc.) for learning about fiction? I already read Writing Fiction by Burroway. Thanks in advance

January 14, 3182. Make a note of the date and return to this post when it comes.

To your second question, I've never read anything on writing fiction, only writing in general. I've found something valuable in every book on writing, even if there were things in the book I found less valuable. For example, I read Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg, and while there was much of it I didn't care for, there are some passags that have stuck with me 22 years later. When it comes to writing guides, I think the best thing to do is read what interests you while understand that what you are really doing is building your own writing guide inside you. You're absorbing what you find personally meaningful and using it to create your own personal styleguide that, like it or not, you'll be following for the rest of your life. Rather than rejecting that, and trying to decide which text will be the text that tells you how to write, embrace it, realize that you are going to do what you're going to do, and then try to work within that framework. That is, if that's what's happening, how will you approach a styleguide? What will it mean to you to read a very didactic text (i.e. "All serious writers must do x; no serious writer every does y") vs. a loosey-goosey one (e.g. "Dance naked in the garden of your creativity and allow your flowers to bloom!")? What are you looking for in these texts and what will you do with information or strategies that you find valuable?

Returning to Writing Down the Bones, I have to say I found the book to be mostly woo. It was more a kind of self-help/empowerment book than a book on writing, in my opinion. But there is something in there that I'm sure I'd heard before but which finally resonated with me. Specifically, it was the way she articulated that it really, truly doesn't matter what you put on the page when you're drafting. Drafting is not the time to reject. Even some idea comes to you that you find absurd, illogical, thematically inappropriate—whatever. It's not the time to push it away. Indeed, it's wasted effort. Editing and revising is the time to question. If you're writing, you shouldn't let anything stop you—even your own brain.

Why it took till then for this idea to take root, I don't know. It could be how she worded it. It could be that it came at the right time. Perhaps I was more open to new ideas when I was reading this book. It may also have something to do with a transition that had taken place for me in writing. After all, when I started high school, I was not regularly using a computer (we'd only just gotten a computer that stayed at home). When I started writing, I wrote by hand—on paper. It's a much, much different thing to edit and revise when you're writing on paper than it is on when you're working on a computer! I mean, digital real estate is cheap. When you're writing by hand, it can literally hurt to write seven or eight pages—and then to discard them in editing! Right now I'm working on a novel draft where I've decided an entire section needs to come out. If I'd written that by hand?! I can't even imagine.

I guess the tl;dr of it is I don't have a specific text to recommend. Rather, I encourage you to look around and grab anything that interests you. In doing so, though, I encourage you to approach it differently, focusing on what in it you find valuable, without either wholly rejecting it or feeling you have to follow it to the letter like an Ikea manual. I even found something valuable in C. S. Lewis's The Abolition of Man, which I honestly can't believe I read.

If you'd like some fiction advice that may be generally useful no matter what you're writing, this is what I can offer:

A valuable skill to hone is being able to read your work as if you have no other knowledge of it. In other words, you need to be able to read your work like a reader. One of the most difficult things to do with fiction is to cut. You usually have a lot more characterization, a lot more plot points, a lot more detail, etc. than end up on the page. The important question is if you cut something, will the reader notice? Will it actually feel like something's miss it, or will a reader never notice? Mind, I'm not saying that as a writer you can't tell if something is superfluous, or that anything you cut will be superfluous. I'm saying sometimes even if you cut something important a reader will still get the impression that what they are reading is whole and unedited. That isn't a good thing or a bad thing: it's a neutral thing. The question you'll have to answer is what is this whole that the reader is getting, and is that whole something you're satisfied with?

Get multiple rounds of feedback from many different readers. I say this not because it's vital, because beta readers are important, because you have to have multiple perspectives on your work, etc. None of that. Getting feedback from many different readers is a form of self-care on the part of the writer. I was deathly afraid of feedback as a young writer. I welcomed praise, sure, but anything else felt too painful to bear. This changed when I took a short fiction class at Berkeley. Suddenly a short story of mine wasn't getting one round of feedback: it was getting fourteen. And not just from the professor, but from fellow students. This was a minor revolution for me in terms of accepting feedback. If I were to take, say, one round of feedback, certainly there would be some praise, but there would also be notes like "awkward phrasing", "why did x character do y?", "this is unclear", "too much description", etc. These things would burn me. I would seethe reading them, and it would hurt so deeply. But! Imagine that one of them circles a paragraph and writes "too much description" and then the other thirteen readers say absolutely nothing at all about that paragraph—maybe one even puts a smiley face next to it. THAT puts the criticism in its proper context. Maybe your writing isn't too bad! Maybe there isn't too much description. Maybe that particular reader just wasn't vibing with it, and maybe that's okay. And then let's look at it from the other perspective. Say thirteen out of fourteen papers have a sentence marked and all of them say things like "huh?", "what's this mean?", "confusing", etc. Guess what? The sentence is probably confusing. And for some reason if everyone's saying the same thing it hurts a lot less. It means, yeah, you probably made a little mistake, and that's okay. It's not one person singling you out, and it's not the case that they don't know what they're talking about. I can't emphasize enough how freeing it is to look at reviews of your work if you have a handful or more to draw from rather than just a single good friend.

It's okay to write the fun part first. You may have a plot device you're really excited about, but to get there, you have to introduce your characters, have them get together, have them go to a place, meet someone else, etc. And it may take time and energy to write all that. You may feel pressured to get through that before you get to the part you really want to write. You certainly can, but you do not have to. I don't know if younger writers can appreciate exactly what it means to have a computer. You can write a little bit now and literally copy and paste it into some other document later. Try doing that with a typewriter! You can write something like "Insert paragraphs later of characters traveling to x location". You can even drop a variable in there so it's easy to find with the search function later (e.g. "ZZZZZ insert scene description here"—now you just need to search for "ZZZZZ"). You can put it in a different color on the screen so it's easy to find when scrolling. You can paste a freaking photo into your document! It's extraordinary what you can do with a computer that you couldn't do in years past. You've got a ton of options. But most importanly, when your work is done, no one will know what order you wrote it in.

In fiction, nothing has to happen. Villains don't have to be punished; heroes don't have to win; characters don't have to have a specific arc that comes to some conclusion. Honestly, one of the tropes (if you can even call it a trope) that I find most frustrating in sequels for movie franchises is after the characters are introduced, they take a few character and assign to them the major story conflict, and then for the rest, they give them a mini arc. It's like, "Mondo 2: Exploding the Mondoverse sees our hero Larjo Biggins take on new villain the Krunge as the very core of the Mondoverse is threatened with destruction! Also, Siddles Nuli learns its okay to be left out sometimes and she shouldn't get her feelings hurt, and Old Mucko learns that even though technology is advancing, sometimes good old fashioned common sense is just what the doctor ordered!" If you get to the end of your story, and you feel it's done, you don't have to panic if you suddenly realize we don't know whether Hupsi ever made it to Bumbus 7. It's okay if Story A is resolved but Story B is not.

I don't care if you used Trope A in your new story even though you used Trope A in your past seven stories and neither should you. Seriously, you think anyone was complaining when Agatha Christie put out another mystery novel? "Oh. Mystery again, huh? Gee, we were all hoping you'd write a book about the struggles traditional fishing villages are facing in the wake of industrial modernization." No we fucking weren't!

I hope you find some of this useful. Whether you did or not, though, be sure you enjoy what you're doing. If you are, you're doing the right thing.

[whatbigotspost]

At my Tues trivia tradition w/ my friends this week, one of the questions asked us to produce the top 10 US based social media sites w/ the most daily active users.

Some other team put tumblr on their list and the quizmaster made fun of them for it and said, "wasn't it fun before tumblr died" and I said to my team, "yeah I'm not even a daily active user there anymore" and one friend audibly gasped because I've been tumblr girl to them for well over a decade.

So yeah, I guess this is my way of telling y'all I'm not tumblr girl anymore. As I've gotten my AuDHD assessment, I've uncovered some really unhealthy stuff I was doing and reducing phone time/news consumption has been critical for me.

For almost 2 months, I've took my "screen time" on this app from 4 hours a day to ~0 simply by deleting the app and only using desktop. It's meant I basically went from "always on" to checking like 1-3 times a week to see what's in my activity. I'm at a place where I don't really look at my dash anymore. Maybe like 15 mins a week? It wasn't even a process of like weaning myself more and more. I just kinda cold turkey-ed it w/ the app deleting. I was at what I'd say was a very unhealthy level of use (I got a reality check by starting to track screen time.)

Deleting this app didn't result in me shifting my phone time elsewhere, too. It basically means I went from like 6 hours phone time a day on average to 2. My partner of 22 years almost cried tears of joy when I told him I had done this. I was about 3 weeks in before I revealed it and he was like "OH MY GOD THAT'S WHAT HAS BEEN DIFFERENT" because that man has said more times that I can count how much he wished I wasn't on my phone so much missing out on stuff he's saying to me or life that's happening around me.

I love tumblr. Always will, it's change my life in infinite ways (just 1 relevant example: would I have known to go get an AuDHD assessment w/o it? FUCK NO) but I've just had to change my relationship w/ it for my own well being. Figured I may as well let y'all know that's what's up for me lately.

I don't plan to delete or anything. I'll just be slow to reply and infrequent to post now. It feels good.

[mimisempai]

Masterpiece

Summary

When Crowley challenged Aziraphale to sketch him live, he didn't expect the angel's conditions: to choose the pose, the location, and what to wear. 

Or how Aziraphale draws Crowley half-naked...

Notes

Having been a little busy today, I've just finished this light little story...

Day 22 : Blushing

On Ao3

Rating T -  1204 words

"Crowley, stop moving now." 

Aziraphale had just given the order to the demon without even looking up from his sketchbook.

Crowley took the opportunity of the Angel not having his eyes on him to roll his eyes and reply, "Angel, when I agreed to pose for you, I never thought you'd be so serious and bossy. And especially that I'd have to stay half-naked on that couch for so long."

The demon was proud to have managed to say that without moving an inch.

Aziraphale finally looked at him and sheepishly replied, "I'm almost done. Aren't you too cold?"

Crowley responded with a shake of his head, earning another scolding look before the angel returned to his sketches in his notebook. The demon thought back to what had gotten him there and knew he had only himself to blame.

He'd been surprised that he'd never seen Aziraphale draw, but his notebook had filled up with recent drawings of him, Muriel, people on the street, and he'd asked the angel about it. Aziraphale had confessed that he often drew from memory, and most of the time when Crowley was asleep or away.

Of course, Crowley, unable to resist, had challenged him to draw a live portrait of himself.  

At first, the angel had refused, but at Crowley's insistence and coaxing, he had agreed, but on one condition, which Crowley had accepted without even knowing what it was, so pleased was he that Aziraphale had agreed.

If only he'd known.

The angel's condition was to choose the position, the outfit, and the location. The first was fine, the last too, but the outfit...

The reason the angel asked if he was cold was because Crowley's only garment was a white sheet that covered him to just above his hips and fell in soft folds around his legs, leaving his upper body bare.

Aziraphale said quietly, not looking up, "It won't be long now, my dear, I promise."

Crowley smiled indulgently, he was a little cold to be honest, but the satisfaction of seeing Aziraphale absorbed in something he loved, and being the subject of it as well, made him forget that little inconvenience.

He asked, "Will you show me when it's done?"

Aziraphale nodded and replied, "It's the least I can do if I'm already putting you through it."

He bit the end of his pencil before continuing without looking at the demon, "Now shut up, you're distracting me."

Crowley frowned and replied, "When I talk, I distract you, but you don't mind that I'm half-naked?"

The angel replied as he drew, "Why should that distract me, I'm used to drawing you, I know your beauty."

He didn't realize that his words had unintentionally made the demon silent. Besides, if he'd looked up at that moment, he would have had to add a detail to his drawing, a small shadow on the demon's cheeks, which had just blushed at the words the angel had just spoken so casually.

Crowley had regained his composure when Aziraphale looked up at him again. The demon had to keep from smiling too much, since the angel didn't want him to move, but he was amused by his level of concentration. 

He was really starting to feel cold, but he did his best not to move, even though he longed to pull the sheet over his shoulders.

To distract himself, he studied Aziraphale's face and soon became fascinated by all the facial expressions the angel was making as he continued to sketch, looking up and down at his notebook periodically. 

Crowley couldn't help but smile fondly when Aziraphale suddenly put down his pencil and lowered his notebook, saying softly in an uncertain voice that contrasted with his bossy tone from earlier, "I'm done.

Crowley gathered the white sheet around him and started to stand up, eager to see the drawing. But Aziraphale stopped him by raising a hand and, standing, said quietly, "Stay seated, it's me who's come to show it to you."

When he reached him, Aziraphale pushed aside the few books that had been part of the background of his drawing, sat down next to Crowley, and pulled the plaid from behind the sofa, unfolding it and wrapping it around the demon.

He kissed Crowley's temple softly and said gently, "Thank you for indulging my little whim," before putting an arm around the demon's shoulders and holding him close.

Crowley, happy to feel the warmth spreading through him, snuggled even closer to Aziraphale and playfully replied, "Well, Angel, I'm the one who wanted you to draw me, so I only have myself to blame. Come on, show me now."

Without letting go of the demon, Aziraphale bent down and grabbed the notebook, handing it to Crowley, who opened it to the last page.

The demon couldn't hold back a gasp of surprise.

Misunderstanding his reaction, Aziraphale asked worriedly, "Is it that bad?"

Crowley shook his head, unable to speak for a few moments, then replied, "Angel, it's... it's gorgeous."

He was in the pose Aziraphale had asked him to take, but instead of on the sofa, he was on a fainting couch, his upper body resting on the stack of books as Aziraphale had arranged it. 

He asked, "Why this particular pose?"

Aziraphale blushed as he replied, "Well, one day I came across a photograph of a sculpture of a woman in that pose, and it immediately reminded me of you. So when you challenged me to draw you live, and I agreed, all I could think of was to depict you in this manner. Thus, my condition."

Crowley, still in awe of the drawing, nodded and asked, "And the name of this sculpture?"

Aziraphale replied, a small amused smile now on his lips, "The icing on the cake, my dear, is that it's called the Allegory of Astronomy.

The angel couldn't help but laugh at the astonished look on the demon's face. 

Then he turned serious again and said quietly, "I'm glad you like it."

Crowley said quietly, "I really like it," and then asked, "So, how does it feel to paint me while I'm present and awake?"

Aziraphale pretended to think and mischievously replied, "Well, it's harder because you're very talkative and you move around a lot."

Crowley exclaimed, "You really are a bit of a bastard sometimes, you know!"

Aziraphale chuckled slightly and replied, "Seriously, it's interesting because of the light and all the things I don't take into account when I draw from memory, but, what was difficult..." He paused for a moment and a cheeky expression spread across his face as he continued, "...was resisting the urge to get up and kiss you."

Not to be outdone this time, Crowley raised his head toward the angel and replied with the same playful expression, "There's nothing stopping you from doing it now."

Aziraphale didn't hesitate and closed the distance between them, pressing his lips to the demon's in a lingering, tender kiss.

And, before allowing himself to be swept away by the sweetness of the moment, he thought that no matter how perfect his drawing might be, nothing could beat the perfection of holding the subject of that drawing in his arms.

His beautiful demon.

_________

Still not beta'd

Still not my native language

Still hoping you'll enjoy this story  🥰

Still thanking you for bearing with me 😝

Ineffable Growing Love series : here (After season 2)

Ineffable Husbands masterlist : here (Before season 2)

[pissterdaniel]

Thank you so so much for the ask @fern-foxx, I would love nothing more than to info dump <3.

PREPARE FOR 6130 WORDS THAT WILL MAKE YOU REGRET EVER ASKING ME TO DO THIS!

First things first, I have spent the last 4 hours formatting a response to your ask, only for tumblr to turn around and shit itself, and not let me post it. So I am restarting and trying it in the form of a proper post.

I think I had too many photos and links. So have put all my links in a linktree for your and tumblr's convenience (otherwise this post couldn't happen). Will just do a number coding system.

I have only gotten into figure skating recently. It started when some friends got me to watch Yuri on Ice and it's all been downhill since then.

The competition series I've been watching is the Grand Prix. This is on from October to December and is an elite level competition.

There are 2 programs that each skater competes, and I will go more in-depth later. But basically, there is the short program which is first - this is 2:40 +/- 10sec and the free program which is 4:00 +/- 10sec.

There are 6 qualifying events across the world, and skaters will be assigned either 1 or 2 competitions depending on how well they did at World's in March as well as some other criteria.

The competitions and when/where they were held this year:

Skate America - Oct 18-20 (Allen, TX)

Skate Canada - Oct 25-27 (Halifax, NS)

Grand Prix de France - Nov 1-3 (Angers)

NHK Trophy - Nov 8 -10 (Tokyo)

Finlandia Trophy - Nov 15-17 (Helsinki)

Cup of China - Nov 22-24 (Chonqing)

These are held in the same country every year (in 2022 Finlandia replaced the Rostelecom Cup in Russia for obvious reasons). The Junior Grand Prix has 7 qualifying competitions held between August and October and the locations of these change every year.

And then there’s the final:

Grand Prix Final - Dec 5th-8th (Grenoble, France)

The final is held in a different location each year and hosts both the seniors and juniors.

There are 12 skaters in each competition, and they'll get points based of how they place. At the end of the 6 competitions, the top 6 with the most points will go to the final.

The points:

1st - 15pts   2nd - 13pts   3rd - 11pts and so on... until 7th which is 4pts and 8th - 3pts.

There are various tie brakers in place, the first 2 are highest placement and if that ties -> highest total score (the list really keeps on going there are so many in the event all the tie brakers are tied).

Okay, now you understand how the Grand Prix works, we can go a little more in depth.

The Assignments

I said that these are based off of their placements in World's of the last season. The top 12 are guaranteed 2 assignments, the top 6 of these are called "seeded skaters." These are carefully assigned so that #1, #2, and #3 don't face each other at an assignment, and #4, #5, and #6 don't face each other. You can imagine that it would be unfair to have all the top skaters at 1 competition.

I made this helpful table to show who the top 6 at World's were in the men’s category:

The first number was their total score, second their short program, 3rd their free program, and then it has their 2 assignments. Shoma Uno placed 4th but retired that season so it bumped everyone up and the free spot went to Deniss Vasilijev. I won't share my women's table cause it is a total mess with several dropping out last minute.

The top 24 on the ISU (International Skating Union) world standings and season's best list also get 1 spot. Once all of those spots are filled, there is this sketchy ‘Host Pick’ rule. The host country of a competition gets to pick 3 of its own skaters to be at its competition. This could be giving someone with 1 slot an extra assignment or giving it to a local skater to draw in crowds. But the thing is, host picks don't have to meet the minimum score requirement?!?!? More on that later...

Other things that will put you in the pool for assignment consideration - are if you medal at the junior grand prix and are moving into the senior division. Or if you are a previous seeded skater who didn't participate in the last season due to heath/injury. After that, they look at the top 75 season's best list who meet that minimum score requirement.

The minimum score requirement is different for every division and changes every year. It is calculated by taking ⅗ of top score at the previous World's. In my table you can see that Ilia Malinin won with a total score of 333.76, so the minimum score for men in the 2024 Grand Prix is 200.26. (This year it was 133.77 for women). This minimum score also must have been achieved at an official ISU event (world championships, grand prix series, challenger series).

It is also worth noting that there is a limit of 3 skaters representing the same country at an assignment. Though there can be more than 3 if they make it to the final. See this year's final being 5 Japanese Women + Amber Glenn from the USA.

Now I want to tell you about the program requirements (for single, senior skating).

The Short Program

duration: 2:40 +/- 10 seconds

jump elements: 3

spin sequences: 3

1 step sequence

Both men and women must perform a double or triple axel, and a jump combination with 2 jumps. In addition to this, men must perform any triple or quadruple solo jump, and women any triple. The solo jump has to be different from the ones in combination. Because of their body shape, men can generally make more rotations in jumps than women, barely any senior women do quads after their body changes.

Both men and women must do 1 spin with a flying entry (any position), 1 combination spin with at least 2 different types of spins (camel, sit or layback). For the 3rd spin - spin in one position, men do either a camel or sit spin with 1 change of foot, and women can do any position but no change of foot. The position has to be different from their flying spin. As for rotations, for it to count you need a minimum of 8 rotations if you are not changing your spinning foot, and 6 if you are doing a change of foot.

The step sequence is a showcase of difficult steps and turns across a large surface of the ice, usually lasts at least 30 seconds.

Spins and step sequences get a level between 1 and 4 based off how complex and well executed they are. With 4 being the best and the standard for high level competitors.

The Free Skate

duration: 4:00 +/- 10 seconds

jump elements: 7

spin sequences: 3

1 step sequence

1 choreograph sequence

Both men and women must do 1 axel at any point. There is a maximum of 3 jump combinations allowed, with 4 other solo jumps. Most of them will do a jump sequence, which is when the second or third jump in a combination is an axel. Only 1 combination is allowed to have 3 jumps, the rest can only have 2.

Only 2 triples or quads can be repeated twice, of that, you can only repeat 1 quad (but can repeat 2 triples). This is to stop people from just doing their most high scoring jump over and over, this rule is colloquially known as the Zayaking rule. Elaine Zayak did 4 triple toe loops at World's in 1982 and it was changed after then.

As for spins, for both men and women it's 1 spin combo, 1 spin with flying entry, 1 spin with only one position. Change of foot and flying entry are optional extras for all spins, there are no restrictions like with the short program. 6 rotations must be achieved in the fly spin and spin in one position, and 10 rotations in the combination.

Step sequence same as above.

The choreograph sequence needs at least 2 artistic skating movements such as the spiral, spread eagle, or my personal favourite -  The INA BAUER.

The Ina Bauer

Amber Glenn (USA) Cup of China free skate 2024, my gif

You can see the blades are parallel, the leading foot faces where you're going, and the knee is bent. The other leg is straight out behind you, slightly staggered. Most of your weight is on the front foot, and it requires really good turnout in your hips. It is named after Ina Bauer (b.1941 d.2014) a German skater who invented it. Did you know that this Friday the 13th is the 10 year anniversary of her death? Catch me at the rink doing as many Ina Bauers possible. Anyways, there are 3 different types of Ina Bauer, the easiest being inside Ina Bauer meaning you are on the inside edge of your blade and go in a circle like this:

^ This is my very beginner level Ina Bauer, I don't quite have the strength/balance/flexibility to move up the Ina Bauer food chain yet, but I have only been skating for a few months and will master it one day.

There's also an Ina Bauer on a straight line. Then there’s the hardest which is on the outside edge, this is a very good example:

Cha Jun-hwan (KOR) 2023 ISU World Team Trophy free skate (1)

See his Ina Bauer goes along the outside of an invisible circle, and mine faces inside? And a straight Ina Bauer is just a straight Ina Bauer, like the one Amber Glenn is doing in that first gif. You don't have to do it in a layback position, you can just have a straight back for it to count. It's not about back flexibility but rather hip flexibility. RAAAAGH INA BAUERS, I live for them.

One of my favourite moments from this year's Grand Prix is when Kevin Aymoz of France does an Ina Bauer into a triple axel in his free program!!!! How cool is that?!?!

Kevin Aymoz (FRA) Grand Prix Final 2024 free skate, my gif

Skaters get more points on jumps if they include a difficult entry/exit, so this boosted his grade of execution (more on that later!) It's also a good example of an Ina Bauer with the straight back. Kevin Aymoz is one of my favourite skaters, he's a bit of a gay icon.

Now I will tell you about...

JUMPS

There are 6 types of jumps you'll see in professional skating. Most of them will be triples, except for the women's axels where doubles are more common. Men will do some quad jumps but very few will do the harder ones like the flip, lutz, and axel. Then there's Ilia Malinin of the USA who can do all the quads and make it look effortless. There’s also the occasional double as the second/third jump in combination or as a solo jump if something has gone really wrong. (Solo doubles aren't even allowed in a senior short program)

All jumps look the same in the air, and land on the same foot backwards with an outside edge. What makes them different is the way you take off. There are toe jumps that use the toe picks, and edge jumps which use your edges.

Diagram (2)

You can see that the figure skating blade is not flat but rather curved in a sort of arch shape. If you are leaning inwards, you'll be on your inside edge and outwards on your outside edge. The toe pick be spiky so you can stab it into the ice to launch you far and into the air. Consequently, if you lean too far forward on your skates you can trip over your toe pick and fling forward (I have done this many a time). You are also supposed to land on the bottom part of your toe pick and then place your foot down. But if you land too far forward on your toe pick you also fly forward (I couldn't walk after I fell like this on Saturday lmao).

Most skaters will jump and spin anticlockwise, so the following information applies to them. But for the few that go clockwise, reverse the lefts and rights.

The 6 jumps, separated by type are -

Toe jumps:

Toe Loop (T): Right outside take off. Entered from turn. Left leg extends back, toe pick strikes ice.

Flip (F): Left inside take off. Entered from turn. Right leg extends back, toe pick strikes ice.

Lutz (Lz): Left outside take off. Entered from a long straight 1 foot glide. Right leg extends back, toe pick strikes ice.

Edge jumps:

Salchow (S): Left inside take off. Entered from turn. Legs sweep to form / \ shape.

Loop (Lo): Right outside take off. Left leg crosses over right, X shape.

Axel (A): Left outside take off. Only jump that takes off forward. Entered from back outside edge, left leg steps forward, right legs swings through to launch you.

For counterclockwise jumpers, all jumps land on a back right outside edge. Which means for jump combinations (where your landing edge has to be your take off edge) there are only 2 jumps that can be used as the second/third in combination. These being the toe loop and loop because they take off from that right outside edge.

This is unless a Euler jump is performed. This is a single jump used in combination to connect 2 jumps as it will take you from the right outside edge to the left. Interestingly, from the 2026-27 season onwards, Eulers will no longer be allowed in the short program, only the free. They will also no longer count as a listed jump nor add any base value to jumps (currently worth 0.5).

I've mentioned jump sequences in the free program requirements, but to expand on them. They are when your take off edge is different from your landing edge. I.e a small step is done so long as it doesn't disrupt the flow. Though since the 2018-19 season, only axel jumps are allowed as the second/third in a sequence. Also prior to 2022-23 sequences would only get 80% of the total base value for the jumps, but now it's full value.

It was also only in the 2018-19 season when the number of jump elements in a men's free skate went down from 8 to 7 (women's was already 7), and from 2026-27 onwards both disciplines will be going down to 6. That same season in 2018-19 the men's free skate went down from 4½ minutes to 4.

I should have mentioned this before, but figure skating seasons are from the 1st of July to the 30th of June so they span 2 years (not really, but that’s why I am using '2018-19' etc). The season starts with the Junior Grand Prix qualifiers in August - October, then the senior Grand Prix qualifiers in October - November with the final in December. December to January is when most countries hold their nationals. January is also the European championship. February has the 4 Continents (which is everyone BUT Europe), and March is the World Championships. When the Olympics are on in Februarys the 4 Continents are moved to January.

There's also The Challenger Series which is a step below Grand Prix. These competitions are required to take place between August 1st and December 15th. There are several competitions worldwide, but they don’t have a final. Sometimes Grand Prix skaters will compete in them to boost their rankings as they count towards the season's best list and can be where you get your ISU minimum score requirement that we talked about earlier.

Redirecting this back to jumps, here is a table of base values. You can see them ordered from lowest to highest to give you a sense of what’s easier vs harder.

Speaking of base values, I think it's about time I introduced you to...

The ISU Judging System

Now this can be EXTREMELY confusing at first, but in time it will make sense, and I hope I explain it well enough.

Both the short and free scores are broken into 2 sections. You have your Technical Score (TES) and your Program Component Score (PCS).

Technical Score - every element you perform has a base value (BV) that is added to your score. This is the easy part. Now where it gets complicated is with the Grade of Execution (GOE). Each judge (there's usually 7 - 9 in big comps) assigns a number between -5 and 5 based off how well it is executed.

Now bear with me here...

The highest and lowest GOEs from the judges are discarded, and the rest are averaged. The GOE average is then multiplied by 10% of the BV. This is your final GOE for a skill, this number is then added to the original BV to give a final FINAL score for a skill.

EXAMPLE:

The quad lutz had a base value of 11.5.

The 1 and 3 are discarded. (Highest and lowest)

(2+2+3+2+2+2+2) /7 = 2.14 - the average GOE

11.5 x 0.1 = 1.15 - 10% of the BV

2.14 x 1.15 = 2.46 - total GOE

11.5 + 2.46 = 13.96 - final skill score

Personally, I love how much maths is involved!! It's fun to just calculate these things even if the score sheets give you the final skill score anyways. It is really exciting once you understand how all of this works!! (yes, I am autistic if you haven't guessed already)

I would also like to note, that the current +/- 5 GOE system used to be +/- 3 but was changed in the 2018-19 season to make improper technique and falls have a bigger impact on scores.

Now the program component score (PCS). There are 3 categories: Composition, Presentation, and Skating Skills. A brief definition of all of them: Composition is the connection of your skills, use of the ice, and understanding of how the music relates to your program.

The standout example of this that I have to show you is from Kaori Sakamoto's free skate, I just LOVE how her jump take offs are on beat to the music!

Kaori Sakamoto (JPN) Grand Prix Final 2024 free skate

She actually got the highest PCS score out of the women in the Grand Prix Final!! It's easy to see why.

Presentation is engagement and expression with your music, and I guess general prettiness? Skating Skills is "a good range of steps, turns, and movements with blade and body control" tbh, I don't have a good understanding of what these look like, I guess it’s just vibe based. This is like an artistry score. It is just as important to have graceful skating that tells a story, as it is to have good technical abilities. The judging system and jump base values are always changing to try and balance this, and there a few systems in place to make this possible too.

Before 2022-23 there were actually 5 PCS categories, the 2 they got rid of were transitions – “intricate footwork, positions and movements that link all elements”, and interpretation (of the music) which I don’t fully understand, how many categories do you need in order to judge if a skater understands the music lol. This also meant that the factors increased in 2022-23 as they axed 2 categories.

So, for each of the 3 PCS categories, the judges assign a number between 0.25 and 10, and it goes up in increments of 0.25. Just like with the GOE, the highest and lowest numbers are discarded, and the rest are averaged. These averages are then added together and multiplied by a factor.

This factor is different for every discipline, because it is supposed to be as equal to the TES as possible. The women's factor is lower than the men's because they generally have a lower TES. And the short program is lower than the free skate because there are less technical elements.

The factors are as follows:

Mens Short Program: 1.67

Mens Free Program: 3.33

Women's Short Program: 1.33

Women's Free Program: 2.67

(the factors for pairs are the same as women's)

Let's look at Kaori Sakamoto's GPF free skate as an example, specifically her composition score:

The 8 and 9.5 are discarded, and the average is rounded to 2 decimal places equaling 8.93. This process repeats for the other 2 categories. These numbers are then added together (8.93 + 8.82 + 8.86 = 26.61) and multiplied by the factor. In this case, the women's FP is 2.67, so 26.61 x 2.67 = 71.05.

The maximum PCS possible:

Men’s short program: 50.00

Men’s free skate: 100.00

Women’s short program: 40.00

Women’s free skate: 80.00

Hopefully now you have a better understanding of how the judging system works! There is a little more to it, I will go into more into detail now. If you look at the detailed results from a competition you may see various symbols/letters next to skills. I will tell you what they mean and what they do to a score:

q - Jumps landed a quarter rotation short, doesn't affect base value, but will give you a negative GOE. The 'q' was introduced during the 2020-21 season.

< - Jumps landed between ¼-½ rotations short. Results in only getting 80% of the BV.

<< - Jumps landed more than ½ short a rotation. The jump will get downgraded. A 3Lz with a << will only get the BV of a 2LZ.

e - Edge call on a flip or Lutz. Remember how the flip takes off from an inside edge and the lutz an outside edge? Well, if you do it from the wrong edge, you will get an edge call and only 80% of the BV.

! - Edge warning. This means there was an unclear edge take off on a flip or lutz. There is no reduced BV, but the GOE will be less than 0.

V - For a spin that does not meet requirements, like a lack of rotations or variation in position. 75% of BV.

F - A fall. -5 GOE. There is also a -1 deduction for your first and second fall, a -2 for third and fourth, and -3 for 5th fall onwards.

+REP - Used if you do more than the allowed 3 combinations or 2 combinations + 1 sequence in the free program. The first jump will get 70% BV and everything after that doesn't count. It is also used for repeated single jumps; they'll also get 70% of BV.

+COMBO - You will see this in the middle of a combination. It happens when the skater steps out after landing a jump and still takes off for the next jump. Remember the point of a jump combo is to take off from the same edge you land on. This results in the following jump having no value.

* - Invalid element, skater receives 0 points. This is for any element that breaks a rule. Like a single or double solo jump in the SP, an extra jump element done (only 3 in SP and 7 in FS allowed), repeating a certain triple/quad jump in the FS more than twice, if there is no axel done, the last jumping pass will be invalid too. Also used alongside +REP to invalidate extra jumps in combinations. Before 2016-17, an invalid jump in a combination would invalidate the entire combination. And from 2026-27 onwards, the same type of jump can't be included in the FS regardless of rotations (currently more than 3 of the same jump can be included if you do 3 triples and a double for example).

x - This is the only good symbol! It is placed after the last jump element in the SP or the last 3 jump element in the FS (provided they are in the second half of the program). It adds an extra 10% to the BV of your jumps. As the program goes on skaters will get more tired so are rewarded for doing difficult stuff at the end. Consequently, this system was heavily abused until a rule change in the 2018-19 season. It used to be that all jumps in the second half would get the extra 10%. You can then imagine people would just stack their programs to have all the jumps in the second half. This was then changed to better balance program composition.

There are also other deductions besides falls. It's -1 for every second up to 5 that your program goes overtime. -1 for costume parts falling on the ice, -1 for costumes that don't meet requirements, -1 if you take more than 30 seconds to get into your starting position after your name is called, -2 for illegal moves (back flips were recently legalised, if you want to watch programs with back flips, I recommend Adam Siao Him Fa of France).

If you do want to watch figure skating, I will quickly explain what the thing in the top left corner is. It's relatively straight forward

The squares at the top represent the 12 elements that make up the free skate (short program will have 7 squares). The green means they successfully performed an element, the red means they performed it, but it got a negative GOE. Now you also know what it takes to get a negative GOE thanks to the information above ;)! If there is a dark grey, it means it’s under review still (?). This bar will fill up as they go through the program.

It will tell you the most recent element performed, as well as the BV for it, and their GOE. This is the GOE after that multiplying the average by 10% BV nonsense. Under this you'll see the skaters TES go up throughout the program, and underneath it is the leader's TES.

AND THAT CONCLUDES THE ISU JUDGING SYSTEM, THAT WAS A LOT BUT HOPEFULLY YOU GET IT NOW!

I will also share with you a helpful table I made in preparation for watching the Gran Prix Final. It has the finalists with their assignments, how they placed with qualifying points, and their total score earned in both assignments. As well as their personal bests and age. Interestingly, the men and women have the EXACT same average age of 21⅔. Which is super interesting cause usually the women tend to be younger than the men. Though this year the minimum age for the senior division was upped to 17. Last year it was 16 and before that it was 15 for quite a while. This was to protect minors more because of how intense it got with doping etc. I think it's a great change because I don't want to see tiny children when watching seniors, its also unfair cause the younger women can go hard out and learn quads before their body changes which is dangerous.

Adam Sia Him Fa qualified in 4th but had to drop out because of injury, Mikhail Shaidorov was 7th so he got moved up to replace Adam.

I really love looking up the skater's profiles on the ISU website, because some of them have the most insane listed hobbies. Check out Camden Pulkinen. Emo ass king.

Now I want to tell you about some of my favourite skaters!

Kevin Aymoz - France

Kevin Aymoz (FRA) Grand Prix Final 2024 gala exhibition, my gif

I have talked about him before. I love how dramatic his programs are, they have a lot of flair and camp energy. He was at Skate America and Finlandia Trophy and made it to the final! Unfortunately, he fell a few times and came last. He did get bronze at the 2019 GPF though! Did you know in 2021 he was in a French documentary called Faut qu'on Parle (we need to talk). It's about 6 elite athletes who come out for the first time and share their experiences of being queer. One of his listed hobbies is "catching pokémon" okay icon.

Amber Glenn - USA

Amber Glenn (USA) Grand Prix de France 2024 gala exhibition, gif credit below

LOOK AND HOW GORGEOUS AND HOT SHE IS. First off, SHE WON THE GPF CAUSE SHE'S SO AMAZING. Her assignments were Grand Prix de France, and Cup of China. Amber is a mental health advocate who is also queer and has ADHD, I love her so much. At the end of competitions, they will sometimes hold a gala exhibition. This is a showcase that some of the competition skaters partake in. It's a chance for them to do whatever program they want without the pressure of being judged - it's truly just for fun! Amber’s gala this year was to HOTOGO! Would definitely recommend checking it out. Here are some gif sets of it here on tumblr (3 4 5). Her hobbies are Magic the Gathering, anime, and cosplay. (It's funny cause when a skater lists anime as a hobby, you just knowwww they've seen Yuri on Ice. In this case, Amber worked with the creative team on the movie before it was cancelled). She was also the second American woman to land a triple axel at World's, the first ofc being Tonya Harding. Amber is a little bit of a legend, at age 25 she's kind of come out of nowhere and is starting to skate really well consistently. It was so cute when she found out she won the GPF. There's a camera where they can see the other skaters in the back, and the Japanese women did her FS finishing pose. It was such a sweet moment of amazing sportsmanship between these women. I will put a link to the clip posted on reddit here (6).

Matteo Rizzo – Italy

Matteo Rizzo (ITA) NHK Trophy 2024, my gif

Assigned - NHK, and Cup of China. He's just a silly guy. For starters, his SP music is a song called "Two Men in Love" an extremely gay love song. But then his FS music is.... "Fix You" by Coldplay? It's the contrast that I find so funny. His hobbies are Formula 1 and "airplanes" I too love planes. All of these things combined made him stand out to me as a bit of an icon. He also kind of looks like Christophe Giacometti from YOI, he's got the eyelashes for it. The gif is from the kiss and cry after his skate when he did this super funny gesture that absolutely sent me. What can I say, the man loves cars.

Jason Brown - USA

Jason Brown (USA) NHK Trophy 2024 short program, my gif

Skate Canada and NHK. Did you know that he came out as gay on Dan's birthday in 2021? My friends and I joked that Brown was fitting name cause he was dressed like a shit for his SP in that gif. I call him JJ if he slayed, cause his energy and mannerisms + the way he addresses the audience reminds me JJ from YOI but if he were gay. Also has a super camp gala exhibition, and won the junior GPF in 2011.

I love the galas that have a gimmick. Like Mikhail Shaidorov who did a Kung Fu Panda one in a giant panda suit. He somehow managed to land a triple toe loop in that costume too! Mikhail is a really good jumper. This season he made history by becoming the first skater to land a quad as the second jump in combination with his 3A + 4T!!!

Mikhail Shaidorov (KAZ) Grand Prix Final 2024 exhibition gala (7)

He also has assistants come out in his gala and for the Grand Prix de France, Amber was one of them!

Amber and Mikhail Grand Prix de France 2024 exhibition gala (8)

Where you can watch the ISU stuff will depend on your country. I can watch it all for free on the ISU Skating youtube channel since I am in New Zealand and no other broadcaster covers it. The youtube videos are geo blocked in countries that have networks with a monopoly over the rights.

If you are also a fan of Yuri on Ice, I have some cosplay content recommendations too (if not, just skip this). I have fallen IN LOVE with these 2 particular cosplayers (Vehn and Svatti - yt channel: Weeb Chapel) who had a YOI skit series, here is the playlist on youtube (9). Svatti who plays Yuri also does a hilarious Chris which you can see in their Kiss Marry Kill in Character (10).

Cosplayer Svatti as Christophe Giacometti in "Yuri!!! on Ice KISS MARRY K-WORD!" youtube link in linktree, my gif

Svatti's Chris is also in the background as a voice in the Viktor and Yuri Google Questions Interview (11). Now I don't usually consume Otayuri content cause I find their age gap weird, but they have a gorgeous Otayuri CMV (cosplay music video) that I keep on watching (12). I have also started just watching all their other cosplay content. YOI is the only anime I've seen, but I really just love Svatti and Vehn (former username Mishkali) so much I'll watch anything with them. They are so attractive, and my gender envy is off the charts with everything they do, and Vehn’s Victor drives me fucking crazy in the best ways possible THE ACCENTTT. If you know of them or watch it and want to chat HIT ME UP!

My favourite CMV however is this one (13) by Rintamasuunta. The production BLOWS MY MIND DUDE. Even if you haven't seen YOI you should still watch it. The sets, costumes, choreography, ah too good. One of them is even an actual skater and you get to see them do parts of the routines in costume! I keep rewatching it time and time again.

One last Yuri on Ice thing - Joel Minas on youtube has recreated some of the programs in full. It is just so impressive to see them bought to life. Here is his playlist (14)

And there we have it folks!! There's a lot more that I could have included, I have so many more thoughts. I'm sure y'all are familiar with the feeling of being in the trenches of a hyper-fixation. You ask for an info dump; you get an info landfill that took a couple days and many MANY hours to assemble (WORTH IT!). I may or may not have taken it a bit too literally when you asked to hear what I've learnt so far WELL HERE IS EVERYTHING. Are you regretting your life choices yet? If you or anyone else has any questions or wants to discuss figure skating, CONTACT ME PLEASE I LOVE TO YAP (evidently)!!! Also, if you have managed to read all of this you are insane, and I love you.

I still spend most of my days thinking about skating. I am at the rink 2-3 times a week and have started lessons. I hope to get really good at it someday. Researching competitive figure skating is so so so fun! I just love learning about the all the rules/the technical side. I have so many pages of notes. Finally, I will link some resources I found helpful if you want to do some further reading.

They’ll be in the linktree (sorry it had to be like this, tumblr just couldn’t take it) https://linktr.ee/pissterdaniel

Resources

15 Brilliant youtube video that breaks down the 6 jumps with examples to help you identify them

16 The soyouwanttowatchfs website has a lot of guides for people getting into figure skating

17 ISU Technical Panel Handbook 2024-25

18 ISU Technical Rule Book 2024 (160 pages of goodness)

19 Table of base values (a couple of seasons old as still has 5 PCS categories listed, but should (?) still be valid, it has +/- 5 GOE so is after 2018 but before 2022. I feel like one of those people who works out the date a globe is from, which honestly, I’d be into because I love geography (it’s the darn autism again isn’t it)).

20 Extremely detailed table of base values 2024

21 Short program outline

22 Free skate outline

23 The ISU website in general, good for detailed scores and skater profiles

Lmk if there are any issues with the links OR IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS, I'VE SAID IT BEFORE AND I’LL SAY IT AGAIN PLEASE CONTACT ME

Okay that is it, I just want to get this out there now, getting this from my word document to a successful tumblr post has taken 7 hours dear lord.

Hope this is a sufficient info dump @fern-foxx, it’s 6130 words. Thank you for your ask xxx

[yzeltia]

FFXIVwrite2024 22. Convergence

Characters: V'anille Tia, Wuk Lamat, V'mauhli, Krile Baldesion, Alisaie Leveilleur, V'tenpe Tia, Bakool Ja Ja, Galool Ja, Koana, Mewazunte, Zereel Ja, The Citizens of Tural, U'rahn Nuhn Expansion: Dawntrail (Spoilers for Level 99) Rating: G Summary: V'anille and Koana finally say the words. Notes: Thank you @dapperpea for the prompt! Dialogue used from Level 99 Quests

“Ooooh! You’re so beautiful Anille! Koana will be stunned,” Lamaty’li let out, eyes wide as V’anille looked at himself in the mirror, his mother settling in his circlet atop his head.

“Agreed. You look lovely. All eyes will be on you,” Krile added.

He flushed lightly, turning to look over his shoulder at his soon to be sister-in-law before grabbing at his robes. “Thank you Lamaty’i. Krile…Though, don’t you think this might be inappropriate with everything going on?” he asked, attention drifting out the window where only days ago had Alexandrian ships threatening their advance in the sky, thinking on the night they’d started to become a family.

“Zoaal Ja had become unimaginably powerful. It was only with  Anille's help that we managed to defeat him. And now I have a responsibility to the people of Alexandria. And above all to Gulool Ja,” Lamaty’i said as V’anille followed her, Koana’s hand bumping into his own now though unable to commit to taking it. Gulool Ja looked up to Lamaty’i, letting out a little surprised gasp as she turned and beamed at him. I promised, didn't I? I wanted us to become family. And it isn't only out of obligation. Since I've gotten to know you, I've come to really like you.”

Gulool Ja smiled back, nodding at his aunt. “Right.”

“You too Anille! After everything we’ve been through, we’re already as good as family,” she sang, reaching out to put his hand into Koana’s.

“What!?” Koana let out while Lamaty’i raised her brows at him with a mischievous grin.

“What do you mean, “what”? The more family you have, the merrier, don’t you think? Come on, let’s head to the barrack,” Lamaty’i laughed while winking at V’anille. “Like Papa did by taking us in, I want to make my family bigger! You wouldn't mind some extra family too, right, Anille?”

Koana let out a sigh, squeezing V’anille’s hand lightly before turning to the give him a small smile before turning as Gulool Ja stopped in front of them to look up at them. “I'd like to be family with you too, V’anille.”

“I’d like that too,” V’anille responded in turn before gesturing up toward Lamaty’i as she strode ahead.

“This is the perfect time! It will be good to raise Tuliyollal’s spirits and ensure everyone in Tural can celebrate and go home with full bellies,” Lamaty’i sang.

“Lamaty’i has the right of it. Sometimes a large celebration is just what a city needs after a tragic event. Something to lift people’s spirits and unify them,” V’mahuli said, putting her hand on her son’s shoulder. “Everything you do now will be in the scope of Tural. The people love their regency here. They will share in your happiness and sorrows just as have done theirs since you’ve arrived.”

“All of…Tural. How many people did you invite Lamaty’i!?” V’anille asked, turning swiftly towards her.

“Well, everyone!” Lamaty’i laughed as V’anille stumbled then took a seat again, looking rather pale.

Alisaie lounged in her chair, fussing with her dress before sitting up to look at Lamaty’i. “This does seem well timed. On the precipice of us pursuing Sphene and in the wake of Zoraal Ja’s defeat. This isn’t just for Tural is it? Koana is rather practical.”

“What? He’d never do that to Anille! He loves him with all his heart. In fact when I want to stop him talking about Sharlayan and I ask about Anille so he’ll get flustered and stop talking to let my ears rest,” Lamaty’i said, getting a laugh out of V’mahuli.

“Well, it wouldn’t be fair to say this wedding was wholly his idea,” V’anille reminded her, finding the strength to sit back up again.

V’anille held himself as he looked out toward the sea, the sun setting on the horizon. 

“Begging your pardon, Anille, but might I have a moment ere setting forth? In private,” Koana asked before jumping as Lamaty’i patted his back.

“Oh! Are you going to give him the the thing,” Lamaty’i asked eagerly.

Koana’s ears flattened before he straightened up, face slightly flushed. “Yes, I had thought to save it for later, but in light of these recent developments, I feel now is the time. As Lamaty’i says…I have something for you. Please come with me to Bayside Bevy.”

V’anille swallowed then followed, heart racing as Koana offered his hand as they made their way down the steps toward the shopping district. Lamaty’i followed, escorting Gulool Ja behind her. “Hehe, I hope you like it,” she taunted while her nephew looked around all the shops in awe.

“Are these all shops? It’s so different from Solution Nine,” the boy marveled. 

“Most of them are. If you see something you want I’ll see if I can get it for you,” V’anille offered with a little smile, getting an wide eyed smile from Gulool Ja as his head swiveled about to see if there might be something he’d like.

“Aw. That’s so sweet,” Lamaty’i said, “Isn’t Anille sweet, Koana?”

“Yes,” Koana answered briskly before stopping in front of a stall tended to by an older Tonawantan man. “This is it Anille. Tuliyollal is safe in no small part due to your valor. As a token of our appreciation, I have commissioned special equipment for you and the Scions. While it is inadequate as an expression of gratitude, I pray it will serve you well in your coming mission.”

“It apparently incorporates foreign technology. Leave it to Koana to request such a thing, eh,” Lamaty’i laughed, patting Anille’s back.

Koana pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Mewazunte yonder has the equipment in his keeping. Just say the word, and he will bring it out.”

“Thank you, Koana,” V’anille said with a small smile, turning as Lamaty’i made a noise of disapproval.

“Surely you’re not going to leave it at that,”she protested.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Koana said, keeping his gaze elsewhere.

“What about the ring!? I thought you were giving him the ring,” Lamaty’i said, stamping her foot as he tail gave a little flail.

Koana looked down, eyes wide as his cheeks tinted from embarrassment. V’anille staggered himself, hand over his mouth as he too felt blood rush to his face. “A ring?”

“Yeah. He had it specially made with the same sort of jewel he used for my own. Yours has a much deeper meaning though I think. C’mon Koana! You made it this far,” Lamaty’i said, moving behind her brother to give him a push toward V’anille.

Koana stumbled from the push before pushing his glasses back up on his face again, avoiding V’anille’s nervous gaze. “It’s as Lamaty’i said. I have commissioned a ring for you. I had intended to give it to you after the ascension ceremony; however, at the time I did not think I would be elevated to that of the Vow of Reason. Then with everything that came after there was never a good time…and with you pursuing Sphene it still feels like this comes at the wrong moment,” he started, eyes flitting back toward his sister briefly before lowering onto one knee. “Yet this is the moment we have. Anille, you traveled the salt to be reunited with me and made my home and family yours. I am not well versed in matters of the heart, but I do know that my life has only been richer with you in it and that I could not bear having a sea between us again. If you will have me, I would pledge to stay by your side and ne’er part again.”

Anille swallowed, turning Mewazunte as he brought out a small box with an emerald ring. “Koana…of course I will…”

“You didn’t Lamaty’i,” Alisaie laughed out.

“Well, I was just trying to help. Koana was going to do it eventually,” Lamaty’i protested. “I mean, Anille is already family. This is just going to be a party for it and gives him a fancy title. We’ll call him The Reason’s Promised, or something.”

V’anille laughed too then stood back up. “I don’t need a title. I am just happy to be accepted.”

Krile smiled, swinging her legs on her chair before climbing up on it to pour them some champagne. “Well, I think it’s a lovely story and one that is very apt for our Dawnservants. Come, let’s have a drink before the event starts.”

V’anille nodded, striding over in his robes to take a flute and down it before perking his ears right before a knock sounded out. Turning, he watched as the door opened, his father striding in followed by Bakool Ja Ja.

 “Anille! Son, you’re beautiful,” V’tenpe breathed out, the gruff looking man’s eyes watering at the sight. 

“Now don’t you start. You’ll have the entire wedding to be a mess,” V’mahuli sighed, handing her husband a flute of champagne.

“Um. Here. I saw these flowers growing by a cenote and my mom helped me make them into a corsage,” Might said, approaching Wuk Lamat.

“ I thought they’d suit you,” Mystic added, handing Lamaty’i a box that held a glowing blue flower and ribbon inside.

“Oh! It’s so pretty! Thank you Bakool Ja Ja,” she said, clawing open the box then fitting the corsage around her wrist.

Bakool Ja Ja nodded and rubbed the back of Might’s head as he recoiled bashfully, trying not to take up too much space as he watched Lamaty’i happily show off the flower to her friends. 

“Well, we came to get this half of the party to let them know everything is ready down below,” V’tenpe said, moving back toward the door.

“My dad is performing the ceremony,” Bakool Ja Ja chimed in.

“That he is. Let’s get everyone to overlook and get ready for the ceremony. Anille, I’ll come get you in just a moment,” V’entepe instructed, ushering the party out the door leaving Anille alone.

Taking a breath, V’anille wandered to where the champagne was to pour himself another glass, downing it quickly before shuddering. His life had changed so fast, and everything seemed so precarious for all of it. Now, with Koana ahead waiting for him, it seemed like it had all meant to be and that worrying about whether the other would accept him or not had been entirely silly.

He looked at himself in the mirror, touching his chest before looking through the reflection as his father walked in and shut the door. 

“You ready Anille,” he asked.

“Yes, father,” V’anille answered, turning and coming to his side.

“I hope you don’t mind but I gave Koana the present I intended for you,” V’tenpe said, leading his son out of the room and into the hall. “I intended to give it to you but I think it suited him a bit more.”

“What was it,” V’anille asked, letting his ears twitch as the sound of music echoed toward them.

“Your grandfather’s pocket chronometer. You never held much interest in it and it seemed to fit the lad’s aesthetic. If you’re fussed about it he’ll be more than happy to give it to you.”

V’anille shook his head. “No, that’s a perfect gift for him…thank you dad.”

“Heh. No need to thank me. I was actually caught up in the moment. He offered to help your mother and I get settled in Shaaloni. Asked if we’d help them build up their railways and teach folks engineering and combustion. If your mother is up for it too, we’ll be moving, settling down nearby to keep an eye on y’all.”

“Really!? That would be amazing,” V’anille breathed out before hugging his dad tight.

“Oh good! I was worried you’d be horrified by the prospect of us hovering around. Though, it’d kill me to cross the street from our future grandkids. Gulool Ja too, he’s the best little assistant now. Keeps me flushed in electrope,” he hummed.

“Grandkids. I think you’re getting ahead of yourself,” V’anille breathed out.

“Well, you’re going to adopt right? Koana seemed to like the idea.”

V’anille held his breath a moment then shook it off, rounding the corner to find his friends and family lined up and waiting for him. Koana stood in the middle, dressed up in a white suit and smiling softly in his direction before looking down as Gulool Ja tugged the hem of his jacket and handed him the rings a bit prematurely.

There was a brief hesitation from V’anille, not that he didn’t want to go forward, but that he was finding himself on the verge of tears. He wandered forward with his father, getting a kiss on the top of his ear from the man before having his hand placed in Koana’s hand while Zereel Ja cleared his throat and began to speak.

V’anille couldn’t concentrate on the words, lost in Koana’s violet eyes as he smiled softly at him. He nearly forgot to breathe as they stood their hand in hand in front of their loved ones, uniting two halves of Hydaelyn somehow in the process. Koana smiled then brushed his hand through V’anille’s hair as it came to give him to say his vows.

“It is no secret that I went to Sharlayan and fell in love; however, I had not expected to do so beyond their culture and technology. Anille, you crossed The Salt to be at my side, and when I foolishly refused you, you joined my beloved sister in her bid and stayed loyal to her. Even when I realized the errors of my ways, your loyalty to my family outweighed your need to be reunited. It was then I realized you were the one to be by my side,” Koana said before his eyes widened, “And it’s at this moment, I realized I’ve never said it aloud. Anille, I love you.”

V’anille laughed lightly, tears rolling down his face as he squeezed on Koana’s hand. “Did we really get all the way here before saying it? I love you Koana, and Tural. When I came here I was so afraid…but as soon as Lamaty’i figured out how I felt I immediately had a sister and partner in crime. I’m standing here with you, the love of my life, because of her…You so often ask for us who travel with her to take care of her, but, today I’m going to make my vow not to you, but her.”

V’anille turned, smiling as he reached out to take Lamaty’i’s hand. “Lamaty’i, I promise to love and protect your brother for as long as I live. To make sure he doesn’t get lost in his work and takes breaks. To always stand by him and support him.”

Lamaty’i snuffled as tears and mucus ran down her face. “Anille,” she whined before pulling him into a tight hug, cracking his back a bit as she choked out a sob.

Koana watched, letting out an amused laugh then shook his head. “Lamaty’i, may I have my fiance back?”

“Right. Yes, sorry,” Lamaty’i apologized, releasing V’anille.

Zereel Ja cleared his throat. “Well, if you’re finished. I decree that what has been converged here never be torn asunder. I present to Tural, the Vow of Reason and his Promised. You may now kiss.”

Koana smiled then put his arm around V’anille’s back leaning in to kiss him as their friends and family cheered. A chorus of cheers came down below, Tural erupting into cheers before singing out “So smile and let the rainbow sing!”

V’anille smiled, moving to the railing to wave down at the people below, Koana holding his waist as he let tears of joy run down his face, soon joined by Lamaty’i and the rest. Turning, he held onto Koana, looking up at him. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Koana cooed, leaning in to kiss V’anille again.

[socialistexan]

So, like, regarding current shit storm

I've seen screenshots from her posting near nudes, (basically her hand was covering what would have been full nudes, I could try to find again, I happened on it randomly on some person's blog) so if staff wanted to, they absolutely could point to that and say it's a ToS violation to prevent the idea that it was a transition timeline that was the reason she was flagged.

However, just the past week I've seen multiple cis women (and a cis man) post pictures that are at the same level of nudity or higher (including one just today), not to mention all of the p*rn bots that spam every tag known to this website with nudes of cis women constantly.

So for staff to say that picture from her is what got her flagged, they would have to acknowledge that their moderators are implicitly saying that trans women's pictures are inherently more sexual and a violation of ToS.

Hell, I had a picture of me in a bra and long skirt be flagged almost immediately, but I see cis women wearing lingerie all the damn time. They're rarely ever flagged.

If pred had a history of harassment, it would seemingly be in Staff's best interest to be as transparent about it as possible to ward off any other ideas on what could have gotten her terminated. I've been real careful about what I've said, done, and posted since then.

But to do that, they would that then have to acknowledge that the high levels of harassment that trans women face is not at the level of violating ToS, or that they are selective of who to terminate when it comes to harassment. Or they expose that mass-reports of blogs is essentially the only viable tool for terminating someone, which commonly weaponized by transmisogynists to pick off trans women they don't like.

So really Staff is fully in a catch-22 here. Either they get to have the narrative stay out of their hands giving just surface level platitudes that just throw fuel on the fire or they try to control the narrative by being specific but open themselves up to being exposed for hypocrisy or poor moderation standards.

And that's not even mentioning the mess that their own CEO just piled on them while he was supposedly on vacation for three months.

[bucky-h0e]

Yes, I used Lilo and Stitch to quote the family that Bucky makes in this fanfic. Honestly, I think it just fits them so well.

There is a taglist, just respond if you'd like to be added! These are headcannons and scenarios revolving around Bucky and Human! Alpine. I'll be used she/her pronouns for the character and there will be a vague description of her in some scenarios.

Enjoy the series!

Serendipity Masterlist

Main Masterlist

How Bucky Met Alpine

It all started when Steve went back to Peggy. Steve was Bucky's family and now he was on his own.

He and Sam worked together sure, but that didn't mean there wasn't any tension there.

They definitely weren't on the level of living together, so Bucky found a place in Brooklyn after he got is pardon.

Quiet, the landlord didn't ask a lot of questions, cheap. It was perfect.

Almost perfect.

There was one neighbour that seemed to annoy him, though they'd never really talked before hand.

They lived opposite each other, so it was a surprise they hadn't seen each other before when Bucky was viewing the place

He'd seen a glimpse of her on moving day, lugging boxes onto his floor and dumping them inside the open door of the apartment.

On his second, maybe third run up from Sam's car - not that there was actually that much to move in - the lift had been occupied so instead he went up the stairs.

He was a super soldier, it's not like it would tire him out too bad.

Walking through he door, he caught a glimpse of his neighbour.

A young woman, maybe 21? 22? Long hair, wearing an all white outfit

In New York? That was brave.

She kicked the door closed behind her before he got a better look at her but he didn't care, he was more annoyed at the fact he had a young neighbour.

he didn't know if he'd be able to handle loud music and parties every night

he was stereotyping of course he knew that but he couldn't help it

a young girl living on her own with absolutely no parental watch, you just know there's going to be some sort of rebellious action

little did he know, his neighbour was a social recluse

and very

VERY

nosey

so nosey in fact that whenever she hears Bucky's door go, she's up and looking through her peephole wondering what the fuck is going on

she's bored and this is her only form of entertainment because how does this man function

she never sees a lot of groceries, never sees any takeout's delivered to his place, and only ever sees him with his friend or with Yori

and yes, of course she knows Yori

they gossip together on the weekends when they do their laundry at the local laundromat

but she knew who he was, knew who James Barnes used to be, what he used to do, who he lost

she knew he was on his own

like her

so, why couldn't they be on their own together?

she had watched him adapt his life from war to peace, and felt bad that he had no one to talk to about it

yeah she was a kid but she wanted to help her neighbour

she just couldn't figure out how to interact with him

not like she could just knock on his door and say "hey you have trauma and I have trauma lets bond over trauma together"

that would just be way too mentions of trauma

she could say "hey I've been watching you for a couple of weeks and you seem just as depressed as me lets be best friends"

but that would more than likely end up with a door slammed in her face and a restraining order

luck was on her side when one day, her pizza was delivered to the wrong address

she'd been waiting for an hour, normally she wouldn't have even gotten it delivered, she would have gone out to get it herself but the poor baby has a cold

fuck going out

she heard the knocking on the door and couldn't help but get to her feet and look out the peephole at the two people in the hallway

she may be on deaths door but she'll be damned if she doesn't know what on earth is happening right outside her door

"Yeah this ain't mine"

"bro c'mon just pay for the pizza, my boss will kill me if I get this delivery wrong"

"it's not mine, i'm not paying for it."

opening the door she grins because finally

her pizza is here

and she can interact with the Bucky Barnes

"it's mine"

she tried to seem cool

really she did but there's only so much you can do when your face is all red, snot dripping down her nose and her hair in a greasy messed up bun at the top of her head

the pair looked at her and she handed the delivery boy the money, sniffing hard as he left

"...."

"...."

neither of them had closed their door, neither of them had spoken

somehow they had gotten into a staring competition

it's really no wonder because we know Bucky loves those

but Alpine was STUGGLING

"Why are you staring"

"...."

"Dude seriously"

"...."

"Okay you're making me sweat, can you stop?"

she starts panicking and opens her pizza box to stuff her face, not taking her eyes of him

"See what you're making me do? Stress eat. this is all you, i can't stop staring- will you just blink?!"

she felt like she was in an interrogation

like all her deepest darkest secrets would come out

and some of them did

"OH MY GOD FINE I STOLE THE COUPONS FROM MRS GALWAY'S MAILBOX BUT SHE DOESNT EVEN EAT SHREDDIES SO IT DOESNT MATTER"

what

the fuck

bucky can't help the quirk upwards his mouth does, a small chuckle leaving his mouth before he can stop it

"This is really uncool of you man, why are you laughing at my MISFORTUNE"

"you steal coupons i don't think you can really talk about being 'uncool' kid"

This girl all but choked on the pizza slice she'd been stress eating

Bucky Barnes just called her uncool

the

audacity

"I am the coolest person in this building"

"you just confessed to to theft"

"so?"

"i didn't even say anything to you"

silence

braincells hard at work trying to reply

"....I-..... shut up"

"What's your name kid?"

"You called me uncool, you don't get to know my name"

she turns and closes the door, Bucky laughs and does the same

they managed to somehow bump into each other even more after that, with Bucky asking if she stole anymore coupons and Alpine challenging him (and losing) to staring contests

it always ends with her telling him to fuck off and closing the door annoyed that he wins

does he get paid to stare or something

she practices in the mirror because god dammit she will win one of these days

she loses to her reflection

how is it's even possible she doesn't know

but she swears at that mirror every day for a week after

he still asks for her name, she still doesn't give it

annoyed that he called her uncool and hasn't even apologised for it

or taken it back

"Seiously, I can't keep calling you kid, you gotta have a name"

"I'm not telling you my name, you'll just have to guess."

too much effort

with a frown he shrugs

"Fine, I guess I'll just call you.... Alpine"

"You just named me like I was your pet, shocking behaviour Sarge."

That was when he realised she knew who he was

she knew who he was

and still talked to him

he can't help but keep his distance after that

but, she keeps watching him nonetheless, making sure he's looking after himself

he still doesn't eat properly, she thinks

and it annoys her

if he starves to death before she wins a staring competition

she will kill him

it all came to a boiling point when he came home, mumbling angrily about his therapy session and about having no food in the fridge because he was too annoyed to go to the store after the session

his door slammed close and she stopped for a minute

she'd never seen him that angry

so, with all the determination a 21 year old can muster to care for a 106 year old

she cooked him dinner

it was simple, she'd say if he asked

she'd cooked to much

that old cliche

but in reality, she had no idea what she was doing

in the end she made some sort of chicken fried rice

it wasn't much but it would do

when Bucky heard the knocking on his door he contemplated not even answering

probably a lost delivery boy

when it happened again

and again

and again

until

"OH MY GOD ARE YOU FUCKING DEAD?!"

a genuinely panicked screech from the hallway

groaning he opened the door and stared at the girl, catching her hand before she could bang on the door again

"You're very persistent"

"YOU'RE ALIVE THANK GOD"

she nearly went to hug him, but he stopped her by putting a hand on her forehead, keeping her at a distance

"You're a weird kid"

"Shut up and come eat dinner with me, I made too much"

and he would have said no

but she looked genuinely upset at the fact she thought he was dead, a hand resting on her heart

"..."

"i'm taking silence as a yes."

with that she grabs his arm and drags him to her apartment, barely letting him close the door

Whilst she went about sorting out their dinner, serving it up and getting them some drinks

in the meantime, Bucky took a look around, awkwardly, as you do

it was a normal apartment for someone living in their 20s. Not too clean but not too messy, nothing indecent thrown around the place. a few empty cans but that was it

mail on the counter in the hall

Bucky took a chance and glanced at it, maybe he could get her name if he just looked

Alpine

what the fuck

"What are you doing?"

man drops the letter and looks like a deer caught in headlights for about three seconds, looking at the grinning girl

wait- grinning?

"You're a bit late sarge, I looked at your mail the first day you moved in."

what

the

fuck

"You looked at my mail?"

"You can't exactly talk now can you? now come on, foods up."

they sat and ate the dinner she cooked together, talking and getting to know each other, teasing about the fact she thought he was dead

it was nice

it felt like... he had Steve back

he had a family

but he couldn't help his curiosity

"You aren't... scared of me?"

she shrugs

"You could have broken my whole damn arm when i tried to hug you earlier, you're not a monster Sargent Barnes. I trust you"

there it was, the words he'd always needed to hear

you are not a monster

he nods silently, looking up at her as she takes their dishes to put in the sink

"Hey kid?"

"yeah old man?"

"You're pretty cool, y'know that"

"..."

"Nice try, I'm sticking with Alpine"

"Damn it"

[basu-shokikita]

Kloktober 2023 Day 22

Sea Horror or Cosmic Horror

Mkay so I tried my hand at cosmic horror for today. Since I've never written it before, I looked up a playlist on Spotify and everything to get in the mood so I hope this is somehow decent LOL

Featuring Skwisgaar because he's my favorite subject to expose to existential dread <3

Everyone was chatting, drinking, laughing. They had groupies on their laps, amusing them, ready to fuck them at a moment’s notice. It was the end of the first phase of the tour and they wanted to celebrate.

Skwisgaar looked at the corner of the table. Rough, worn-out, dulled... It was old and should probably be replaced.

He swallowed heavily as his bandmates clinked their glasses together. He should be having fun with them, but the dread was peeking at the pit of his stomach, crippling anxiety threatening to come out like foam from a sink.

He had failed a note at tonight’s show. Yeah, okay, in all his time being a guitarist there had been plenty of moments where he had to improvise. A lot of occasions where he had to lead unforeseen circumstances. A little distraction, a little mistake (mostly by Toki) and he had to change up his playing a little. No big deal. He was a pro after all.

Tonight, though, he had been too slow. His fingers have been too clumsy, he hadn’t been able to reach the note in time. Nobody else noticed, though, as he had been able to mask it in time. But he knew he had failed.

And yesterday he had failed a note during rehearsal, too. Only Nathan picked up on it, but didn’t say anything. At the end of rehearsal, he had given Skwisgaar a pat in the back in reassurance and left.

So that was two mistakes. In two days.

He had never fucked up consecutively in his entire career.

Skwisgaar’s eyes picked up on a weird shine on his right hand and he brought it closer for inspection. It was the light shining over his skin, a small smear on the back of his hand. 

He rubbed on it with his other hand. He must’ve gotten stained with makeup. Yet, when he looked again. The smear was still there so he kept rubbing.

The smear didn’t move, didn’t go away. 

When he brought his hand to his eye-level, he realized it was no smear. Rather, it was a wrinkle. A very small wrinkle, yet a wrinkle, nevertheless. It must’ve appeared very recently because Skwisgaar hadn’t seen it before and nobody paid more attention to his hands than himself. 

He stood up, accidentally knocking his knee against the table when he did. 

“Skwisgaar?” Pickles called him.

“Just goingks to beds.” He said, walking away. “Ams tireds.”

The group mumbled and whispered. He overheard one of them calling him a weirdo and a basket case and then they went back to laughing.

He didn’t care, he was used to it. Most importantly, though, his ears were ringing, smothering the sound from outside. 

When he got to his room, it felt like he had walked a mile distance. And when he picked up his guitar, it felt at least thrice as heavy. Already weirdly exhausted, he sat on his bed to play.

After a few seconds, though, it became abundantly clear it wasn’t coming right. The notes were off, his fingers were slow, his pace was erratic. It was all wrong!

It was all wrong!

Frustrated, he tossed the guitar to the side and looked at the wrinkle on his hand. It had grown bigger. In fact, it was still growing and starting to cover his hand and arm, getting faster with each second. 

Skwisgaar dropped his arm, breath hitching yet ultimately unable to do anything as the wrinkle, now a black hole, consumed him. 

He found himself in space. In front of him there was a gigantic guitar, the size of a skyscraper. Just standing there, completely still despite not being supported by anything.

Confused, Skwisgaar walked to it, like a moth drawn to a light. There was an old, decrepit man staring back at him. He was balding, his face was full of wrinkles and he had no teeth. His skin was full of spots and moles and he looked frail and bony, like he was on the verge of death.

It wasn’t until Skwisgaar leaned in closer that familiar blue eyes stared back at him. He gasped with horror but, before he could do anything, his body started falling downwards, towards the infinite void. Closing his eyes, he braced himself.

The next time he opened his eyes, he was in a white room and there was nothing in it, besides him and a gigantic brown eye. Unblinking, it bore right at Skwisgaar and, when he tried moving, its stare followed him. He couldn’t explain why, but it was fucking terrifying. He was scared out of his wits of this huge, powerful eye. But there was no door, there was no exit. Just him and the eye.

“You’re done.” A voice thundered in the room, reverberating inside Skwisgaar’s chest. Skwisgaar knew it was the eye’s voice because those three words felt like a death sentence. He gazed at his hands and saw they were disintegrating like sand. Looking at the eye, he tried asking for mercy but his voice wouldn’t come out. The eye finally closed and with it, all light left.

He was tiny and he was stuck. Actually, he had no idea if he was tiny and looking up. The stars and planets were conversing with each other, unaware of him, and light and speed flowing in multitudes he couldn’t comprehend. Skwisgaar wanted to be up there, with them so he started trying to move. 

It was making a disgusting noise and he was sure he was covered in something sticky and gross. Like glue or slime, though he couldn’t see quite clearly because it was dark. He kept struggling although it felt futile and when he raised his eyes, he found the entire galaxy had turned to him. The chatter had ceased and, despite having no eyes, Skwisgaar could tell they were judging him for disturbing them. 

That he didn’t belong.

When he looked down, he discovered the slimy thing was his own corpse. Several corpses of himself in fact. Liquefied and turned to a viscous mass, they were all him. A never ending ocean of his corpses. They were all him.

They were all dead.

He was dead.

Skwisgaar awoke in his room and saw his guitar tossed to the side of the bed. It was vibrating and inviting, a holy bright surrounding it. Skwisgaar stared at the instrument with fear, unsure whether he wanted to pick it up or not. Ultimately, he decided not to postpone the inevitable and stretched an arm to grab the Gibson by its neck.

Heartbeat thundering, Skwisgaar swallowed when he put it on his lap. He was aware the incessant panting came from his own mouth, yet found himself unable to stop it. He closed his eyes and made himself a promise before his fingers started to play.

It was all the right notes, all the right sounds. It was a melody. 

It was…music!

Skwisgaar’s eyes opened with surprise as he glanced down at his fingers. He still had it. The speed, the rhythm, the grace…

Relieved to the point of tears, Skwisgaar hugged his guitar, face nuzzling against its mast.

He was not done yet. 

[marciabrady]

I'm seeing so much disdain for the OG Snow White (film but mostly heroine) in discussions about the remake. I'm floored, almost every popular Disney film has issues, even the beloved 90s era, and they continue to go without much criticism but people are acting like SW is Gone With the Wind level problematic. Even saying Snow White doesn't have fans??

I'm just convinced these are zoomers who have a tendency to think bc something isn't popular with them it's not popular with anyone else. Snow has been beloved for 70+ years, people who got to meet Adriana were excited, Snow has merch and little girls like her toys. This people must live in a bubble.

https://twitter.com/clairelizzie/status/1691275648252141568?t=w3O-dsZPmwxBWHMMhdO_NA&s=19

https://twitter.com/agronification/status/1691653020860207134?t=5SZ5k43I-POhugW7tex5uQ&s=19

And unsurprisingly a lot are men who think any woman who does housekeeping and likes romance is a useless drip.

Sorry Marcia but I had to vent 😭 nobody I know fights for Snow like you. Even Cinderella gets more respect than Snow and I'm happy she gets some but Snow White went through literal murder and being on the run. Could any of the badass princesses handle that?

First off, thank you so much for calling out that "nobody I know fights for Snow like" me because I've literally considered it my life's work and it's frustrating that so many creators have stolen my intellectual content and made a huge audience off of it, while only stealing some of my points and not understanding the heart of what I'm saying and what I've been saying for my entire life (which is well documented on this blog; contrary to what certain people are saying about Snow White defenders, no, I didn't just selectively start to care to cosign on outrage on Rachel; I literally had a reaction to her horrible takes when they came out last year and made several posts about it).

People are defending Rachel in a way that, I feel, is infantilizing her and removing autonomy from a literal millionaire adult in her 20s. A grown woman made harmful comments and was disrespectful about a film whose historical impact is extremely profound (again, feel free to IM me about this because I have so many thoughts and don't love when they're stolen, so I'm being more guarded about what I'm saying now). And instead, people are turning around and excusing her hateful comments- which have even gotten the son of the original director of Snow White to speak out, at 91, saying his father and Walt Disney would be "rolling in their graves"- and they're saying things like "Rachel's just a 22 year old kid, guys, who's parroting what Disney is telling her! Don't blame her for what she's saying, she doesn't even know what she's saying!" and "she's right! Snow White IS old and outdated and awful and no one cares about Snow White!" Which is...

Most of the people speaking out on this and defending Rachel don't like Snow White, so why should their opinion matter? They're displaying that they have no insight or understanding of the source material and then they want to step on the people that actually do like the character by saying we aren't valid. First off, it's no secret I don't like Belle- did you see me running my mouth about how she was misinterpreted by Emma Watson? No, because she isn't my Princess and I'm not a fan of hers. I wasn't telling everyone "who cares, Belle is obviously the worst princess and CLEARLY has no fans" because that's not right and it's not my place. Us Snow White fans have literally always had to deal with people hating on her and misunderstanding her. She's perpetually maligned and the butt of the joke and I think that's why it's all the more imperative that we got someone who understood the character and was her protector, her defender, and brought her value and respect upon her legacy to a whole new generation of people who had been hating on her for years. And instead...we get Rachel who wants to change everyone about the character, admittedly didn't like her growing up, is misinterpreting the source material to an alarming degree (saying the Prince was a stalker is soooo wrong and even her implications that women aren't valid if they are romantic is sickening and misunderstands the movie; it's not called Snow White and the PRINCE it's called Snow White and the Seven DWARFS), and inspiring people to claim the only reason critiques are happening about the horrible comments she made is because the world, in 2023, can't handle a successful woman...like cut me a break

Let me start off by saying this. To all the people who think Rachel's comments are funny and never liked Snow White in the first place, and are calling her just a dumb cartoon character, she is the product of a legacy Adriana Caselotti upkept her entire life. She is the product of blood, sweat, and tears- the basis for which this entire company was built upon. It's one of the most culturally impactful films of all time- without Snow White, there are no Disney Princesses, there is no Disney Parks, there are no Disney Live Action Remakes- there's no Disney. And guess what? She has more value than just being an "outdated classic." In her original movie, she does display leadership qualities, survives years of abuse and forced labor, homelessness, misogyny, multiple murder attempts, and she endures. Both her character and her legacy. No one can deny her, the first female animated character to have a star on the Hollywood walk of fame, her impact on the film industry, on the Disney company, and on multiple generations of fans- from bonafide Hollywod A-Listers like Clark Gable and Carole Lombard who literally CRIED at a "stupid cartoon character"'s death and countless youngsters trying to get by during the depression, to adults who see themselves in Snow White to this day and a whole new crop of youngsters who find joy in Snow White's song. She isn't just a thing of history and of inks and paints- she is a product of so many people's talented labor and love and input, and if she wasn't, she- like any other material property- would've faded away with the passage of time, long ago.

Again, as much as I'd love to continue going into this, my creative content has gotten stolen so many times. But I do have more to say and I'm planning on doing it in a special project, on a much larger platform. I'll update you all on it when it's ready to be shared, but I'm doing something that will hopefully resurrect love and reverence for Snow White to the mainstream and will make all of the hard work and research and studying I've accomplished, over my entire life, come to fruition in a way I'm so excited about 💗

[izicodes]

do you have any advice for someone who kinda "failed" to break into tech and is still in the medium-level for learning. i feel like i've spent so much time (years) on this but haven't made much progress. how do i really get into it and stay in it? love your blog btw. i'm tempted to start one of my own but my projects are a mess and ugly 😭

I'm sorry to hear that you feel like you haven't made much progress in breaking into tech. It's important to remember that everyone's journey is different, and it's never too late to start or improve. But then again, you have spent years learning and you want to into the tech industry.

The obvious advice would be don't give up. My dad has been studying to get into Cybersecurity since the early 90s and he just got into the industry this year. He never gave up - family to look after and he could study like the other students in his university course because the large majority of them were single 18-22-year-olds who their only responsibility is themselves. Don't give up and don't compare yourself to other people.

You've got to look at what has been holding you back. Health issues, work issues, money? Can't study full-time or even part-time if you need to pay the bills.

Even if you can, are you consistent with your studying? We all know consistency is key. Studying for one week but don't study for 2-3 weeks won't work. I know the type of learner I am - if I don't code or study every day, even just for 30 minutes, then my tendency to procrastinate will increase a lot and it'll all go downhill from there.

Know your strength - build on the skills you are good at. Believe it or not, I know a developer I met in a discord server who only uses HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to build websites and webpage themes for clients as a freelancer and he's doing really well. It's because he realised that he's really good at those three basic languages and he worked really hard to excel at them. Expand on what you know best.

On the flip side, you could look at job postings around where you live or nationally in your country and see what skills/languages/technologies they ask for the most for hiring developers. Example: I live in the UK and a couple of months ago when I was actively looking for a new Frontend Dev job, I saw that Vue.js, React.js, and PHP (besides the usual HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) were asked for the most. If I wanted those jobs, I would learn those technologies, create a few projects to showcase my knowledge in them, and start applying. That could be one way to break into the industry.

Another way would be certificated. Bootcamps, online courses, or in-person courses like university or community colleges. Yes, they say that you don't always need a university degree to get into tech but some kind of education you've gone through that is tech-related e.g. Google courses or the Frontend Dev course that Meta is providing (paid). My colleague completed a computer science degree but he then did a bootcamp and he completed and that's how he landed the job where I work. So even graduates are getting further education. If you can't afford the massive fees, Udemy is a great place to get courses. And don't be shy with the Havard CS50 course videos they have on YouTube - free and you get a certificate free as well!

The advice I give might not work if you haven't identified why after all these years you haven't gotten your foot into the tech industry. This is no way intended to be rude, but if another person who had the same amount of time you studied, and they have gotten a tech job in that time, what makes you different? Goes back to what I said about the things that are holding you back. Some of the reasons are inevitable like health but you need to keep making that effort!

If you need help, you need to ask. Find a mentor or support group. Having someone to guide and encourage you can be incredibly helpful. Look for a mentor or join a support group where you can connect with others who are also learning and growing in tech. You can search for them online, some people offer advice for CV/Resume help or real "getting into tech" advice on places like Fiverr or Upwork or just google for some consultants online. They would cost obviously but if you're really struggling, this might help. After completing bootcamps, they tend to help you get your first job etc so they might be worth considering!

The last bit of advice is do you have a portfolio? No no, like a proper one where you feel confident enough to give to family members, friends, and potential employers? No? Either learn to build one (free of charge) or hire someone to build it for you (costs money) A portfolio is a great way to showcase your skills and projects to potential employers. Even if your projects feel messy or ugly, focus on highlighting what you learned and what you accomplished.

Obviously, I gave hints of advice more towards Frontend Dev because that's what I know more of but you can alter the advice to whatever niche in programming you're into. Remember, breaking into any field takes time and effort. Stay motivated and focused on your goals, and don't be afraid to reach out for help or support when you need it. Good luck!

** I'm not the best at giving advice but I hope this helps 💗

[queenharumiura]

21,22,25 (For the topic meme)

[send a number for me to talk about one of the following topics!] ||Accepting|| @universalskyworld

21.) Your current RPC

I suppose I can say that there have been good things in this RPC and bad things. Compared to how it was many years ago, I do think it's gotten better. However, there aren't that many of us around anymore, which is the sad trade-off. Though, if I had to choose between having a lot of people around and having to deal with people being mean, not communicating well, trying to cancel someone, etc-- yeah... I'll take having less of us around.

If I was asked this 3 months ago, I would've said that I think that this RPC is doing really well and it's a very comfortable place. At current? I cannot honestly say that I feel the same way. I still think highly of the RPC, as I feel all the people I interact with are good beans, but I can't say that I feel very safe/secure, sometimes.

-

22.) Another RPC you're a part of

lol... um... I'm not in another RPC, not technically. I have a few RP blogs of canon characters... but I'm the only one with those characters, so a fandom doesn't exist. There is just ONE (1) canon muse that I have who belongs to a fandom that DOES exist, but I hardly interact with the fandom at all, so it's hard to say that i'm part of the RPC. I actually interact more with cross-over OCs than anything.

I've said it before in other OOC posts which fandom I mean and why I left it. To put it bluntly, I don't like blatant art theft, and I won't associate with someone who hurt my friend. I will not associate with someone who bullied other people. I won't associate with people who made my friend bawl her eyes out for hours and was a wreck. It was such a big chunk of the fandom that I left. I'm a LOONEEEE WOLF.

I'm happier without that fandom =w= I say that but I do still interact with some people from the series. I'm just very picky.

-

25.) Your Character

Phew... there is so much that I could say and a lot that I've probably said in the past. I'll make this one pretty simple: She is my lil bean. My sweetest jelly bean. I love her so much and she gives me LIFE. I just adore her for how cute she is! She's got a troll aspect to her which appeals to me.

She's got a high loyalty stat as well as being high motivation. She's smart, she's active, and she's very caring. Not only that, but she's also got a lot of potential for things- whether it be fluff, or angst. I like that about her, and the fact that she carries herself well. She's pretty mature about important things while a bit childish on others.

She's got nuance to her which makes her a very fun character to think about. I love to ponder over her character and how I think she would've developed if we were shown more post-canon content. The absolute QUEEN OF MY LIFE, hence the username lol.

Oh, secondly, my friends have said that I'm very like Haru- hence she means a lot to me on a sentimental level as well. We have some similarities as well as many differences. She's very social and loves going outside. I stay home and internally hiss at people (ie very antisocial). Haru loves cooking and does bake on occasion, and I don't trust myself with the oven, lol. We are both very chaotic in our imagination.

We do like to be sarcastic/teasy to our friends. We both speak in third person a lot. We're both very similar in height lol. We both somehow find ourselves getting into trouble all the time by being clumsy or something.

[rottish-shifting-journey]

Shifting and Humanizing my DR

This is simply something I think will help me realize that shifting and my desired reality itself are real, just as real as where I am now. I suggest reading the tags for sensitivities before continuing!

Significant Times I saw while writing; 11:11, 12:34, 2:22

When it comes down to it, in the long run, what I know is that I want a restart or someplace where I can more truly be myself without as many difficulties. And as much as it is for me, I don't want to view it as just an escape to another place. I want to view it as where I truly want to go and that is why I have spent a lot of time undecided about which place to go to. There are so many flaws in so many places that I simply thought it might never work for me and I've realized that's the issue, I've pushed myself into not believing it. No matter how many people I see who have successfully shifted some corner of my subconscious blocking it out and calling it fake, and I need to rewire it. In doing so I'm going to be listing real situations that would or could happen in my realities as a sort of reminder that everyone can shift and that sometimes the mind can be a tricky place.

Think of it as a script and me restating and highlighting what drove me towards that reality, refreshing my mind and rejuvenating my passion for wanting to go. While I am aware of people's experiences in new realities with trauma that mainly is part of my experience of learning life from other perspectives and I in no way undermine it, however, it is up to me what I choose to let happen in my reality.

-

Raine Lace Willows - My Hero Academia

Starting as far back as I can remember I was a quiet child, keeping to myself as I played with my toys. My parents were usually at work, busy, as my sister was doing school work and keeping me company most days. Mika was and always has been a good sister even when I had my moments of being the brat of a sister I can be sometimes.

Moving further into my life I got my quirk, which did initially terrify me as a child, believing that there were shadow monsters in our house (much like the mythical "hat man"). My quirk was not a mutation of my parents' quirks, because my mother was quirkless and my father had only a weak fog quirk. In my earlier years with my parents in America I never really sought out the idea of being a hero, sure I saw them on the T.V. all the time, but I never really wanted to be like them.

I started going to school and as much as I was ahead of my age level I was fairly silent. I kept to myself, read books, and drew in the outliers of all of my papers when I was finished. I kept myself out of trouble being considered as more of a "Golden Child". I made few friends and kept fewer. Mika was finishing High School and working by the time I was in third grade, she had a steady life but stayed with our parents to take care of me while they were out working most of the time, she took the night shifts.

However, a lot happened after I was done with fifth grade. I had become prone to nightmares, not necessarily caused by anything major but I woke up in tears most nights, for reasons I can't even remember now. I sought comfort by sleeping in Mika's bed when she wasn't home. In the end, the worst happened, my quirk activated whilst I was asleep, Shadows spread around a majority of the house and ended up breaking cords that were in outlets causing sparks to fly and a fire to set near my parents' bedroom.

By the time Mika had gotten home she could see the fire in the house, our parents' room engulfed as she immediately called the authorities to send over firefighters. Even though she was told to stay put she ran inside the house looking for a way to get us out, I was now awake due to the loud ringing of the alarms going off in the house. Stepping outside of Mika's room to being face to face with a wall of flames that crackled and overtook my parents' door.

Mika had spotted me and pulled me from the house as I was in shock for the most part, not registering what had just happened and what we had just lost. When the firefighters arrived a few ambulances were trailing along with them, I was sat in the back of one being looked at wrapped in a shock blanket, as the firefighters pulled Mika aside while they wheeled out two large dark bags from the house. She looked despaired as she had a conversation with them, looking back at me every few sentences.

Skipping a few weeks later there was a small funeral between family and close friends of theirs, and the reading of their wills. I had spent the past few weeks after Mika explained to me that they had died sullen. I felt burdened by guilt, horrified when they told us that the cause of the fire was a wire being ripped from an outlet, knowing then that I had unintentionally been the cause of this.

As the wills were read out, Mika and I were left with almost everything apart from small sentiments that they willed to close friends they'd had since childhood. The savings they had, the property, and the majority of items that had survived the fire. The night of the fire, Mika had received news that her job offer had been accepted, however at the moment that was one of the lower priorities. Between getting custody, and keeping us both alive, she had a lot on her hands, the wills of our parents however were just what she needed though to handle said costs.

We went to a court meeting a few days after the funeral, the judge asked questions of Mika to determine whether she was truly qualified to handle caring for another human being's life. My life. She had explained then that she had a job with higher pay in line, however, that job was in another country, Japan to be exact. She had always dreamed of going there, especially for work, she had even been teaching me some Japanese over the years while we hung out when our parents worked. So I already knew quite a bit, and going to a new place would also be a great reset of scenery especially after the events that had taken place in the last month.

Mika explained how she had set up a savings account with the money my parents gave me in my name to accumulate more until I was responsible enough to handle my own money and the court had ruled her fit for guardianship and she gained sole custody over me. It took only a month before we were moving to Japan. Settling in the Shizuoka prefecture in Mutsutafu, a small two-bedroom apartment, a decent living space especially to reset in. School would start in almost two weeks, having to study Japanese with my sister every day until then. She decided that the easiest thing would be to have me go to the closest school, Aldera Junior High.

I was anxious and disillusioned when it came to classes, most of them were in full Japanese, even with me being a transfer. I had a translator in classes with me to try and keep me up to date on what we were doing but it was overwhelming for the first few months. It didn't help that Japan had a more dense area and that villains were more common to see in the populous than back in rural American towns. Seeing that firsthand was rather odd, I had never seen them fight with my own eyes rather than on a screen, it was more inspiring than I had previously thought, and it reminded me of when my sister pulled me out of the house even though there was a raging fire.

I thought about it when I was in classes and when I walked home... Maybe I wanted to be a hero, much like my sister was to me and much like the heroes on the streets of Japan were to everyday citizens. I started looking more into what it took to become a hero, most trained and studied in Hero Schools, U.A. being the most prominent school in Japan alongside Shiketsu. I watched through clips of the top heroes recognizing All Might from some American news clips and his work in America. I soon made close friends with someone who had a similar liking towards the pro and a fascination with becoming a hero despite being quirkless.

His name was Izuku Midoriya, him and I became friends during the middle of my first year in Junior High. He had a tendency to ramble on about heroes and I didn't really mind, it made it so I had to think of what to say less and it practically forced me to learn Japanese for a lot of the subjects, while he would speak English a lot for me he had a habit of slipping back into Japanese mid ramble. Nevertheless, he helped me a lot with learning what I needed to, while I helped him if he struggled with any English.

What we figured out after a while of hanging out was that we lived in the same apartment complexes, he was in building two and I was in building three a floor above where he was, I met his mother, Inko. A kind soul who also met my sister, she acts like a mother to us as well, inviting us over for meals, Mika and Inko offering to help watch us when the other was busy, mainly when Mika had work. Inko knew the struggle of being a lone caretaker so they stuck together.

We went through Junior high together and it was fun for the majority of the time although in our final year, there were quite a few jabs at him from his childhood friend, rather I considered him a bully, Katsuki Bakugo whom he called Kacchan. It was hard to see, and I heavily regretted being silent, I was petrified of the man myself though, I watched him throw his notebook out the window, and I panicked. I froze up internally my feet guiding me away from the argument. I found myself down by the fish pond where the notebook landed, seeing it sit in the water. Overwhelmed with guilt, I grabbed it out of the water and used my shirt the best I could to dry the pages and save what there was, waiting there for Midoriya.

I saw him sulk down around and his eyes down looking for the book before I came over. I handed it over to him with an apology for not helping, however, he rejected the idea that I needed to even apologize not a lot of people would step in on something like that. I was awkward for the majority of the day after that and as a way of helping myself get over it, I decided to make him some of his favorite food which I learned when we had dinner together a lot of the time was Katsudon.

(TBC)

[ghostintheheadset]

watchmojo's top five headphones_haver fics of 2023 (not clickbait)

I'm looking at my 2023 stats on ao3 and fandom disparities are really funny to me lmao, my main fandom at the moment is fe3h, and of the 22 fics I posted this year, 19 of them were fe3h.

All three of the non-fe3h fics are my top three most kudos'ed fics of the year:

It goes without saying ofc that these numbers don't really matter, if I was only doing this for the kudos I'd be writing m/m genshin fic, and it's not really surprising why the numbers are the way they are- both my Pokemon and Zelda fics were posted within a few months of the game coming, and gwitch is also relatively new and I was writing for far and away the most popular ship. Meanwhile, 3h is now past the 4 year mark, and largely m/m dominated while the majority of my fics are f/f. While I would certainly enjoy all my fics getting popular, seeing the numbers like this makes it easy to remember that engagement isn't a metric of quality.

(In that vein, Falling is probably the fic I spent the least amount of time on this year, being impulse-written in about 2 hours. Sometimes niche fics you pour your heart and soul into can't reach the same level of popularity as wider-appeal stories you wrote much more quickly, and that's okay)

That said, though, I am happy with the fics that made top 2. There's something satisfying about my first and last fics of the year being the most popular, and I am very happy with how the both of them turned out. They're both representative of the themes I like writing about and are both wholesome yuri, so I think they "belong" in the top 5 as much as any fic could be said to.

Numbers 4 and 5 are kind of a surprise to me- Pegasus Knight Dysphoria is a gen fic about a trans girl and Someday is an f/f rarepair. Of the 19 (wow) 3h fics I've written over 2023, these are not the two I'd expect to break into the top 5, but it's a pleasant surprise that they did!

Anyway, none of that actually matters beyond being mildly interesting to me specifically. Onward to 2024:

According to my stats page, I posted 126k words of fic in 2023, which averaged out to a little over 10k words a month or about 345 words a day. Not bad! Looking to get those numbers up next year though. If I don't, then that'll be okay, but 126k is the Word Count To Beat if possible.

I would also like to do some more fandom events! Apparently there's a FE rarepair week happening literally right now that I wasn't aware of until yesterday. Hoooopefully I'll be able to see more of that kind of thing now that I'm here, as they've always been a lot of fun when I could participate. I'm not leaving 3h just yet, but I would like to branch out a bit more- I definitely have more gwitch fics lined up, and I'd like to also branch out a bit and write for some other fandoms I haven't gotten around to yet.

Big writing goal is to finish Together We Ride, and also work on it more consistently. I was putting off starting it for a while because I wanted to "wait for a good time", but I realized if I kept that up it would never get started. Considering I started it in April and there's currently 7 chapters, it was in fact "not a good time", but! I am committed to seeing it through in the upcoming year.

That's about it I think. It's been lovely writing fic over the past year (and a great way to unwind from the Grad School Stress), and I'm very much looking forward to exploring more next year.

(might do a roundup later today of some fics from this year I really liked we'll see)

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #279

I played a lot of Dead Cells today. I started with a number of really bad runs; my rhythm was off and I was kind of sluggish. But then I got all the way up to the final boss; this time, I decided to go to where The Hand of the King is, because, just beyond him, there is a door that can only be opened if you have 5 Boss Cells active. I have 5 Boss Cells.

I didn't take a picture of being at the Throne Room, where The Hand of the King lives. But I did get a picture of me at the biome just before it, at High Peak Castle:

As always, I went through the biomes thoroughly, collecting everything I possibly could.

...I got my ass handed to me by The Hand of the King. 😕

Well... that's all right. I probably don't have as much practice with fighting him as I should; I usually go for The Servants and The Queen anyway; they present an interesting parry challenge!

The rhythms of The Hand of the King are strange to me, and he's got bomb attacks, the projectiles of which cannot be parried consistently. And then he's got this "pound-the-ground" attack that makes spikes of dirt come up from the floor, and neither of these can be parried. The rush attack can be parried, but you still get thrown around anyways, and... jeez, but he's really just... kind of annoying.

...So after I got my butt kicked by him, I decided to go to the training room. I set the difficulty level to the appropriate spot, selected the gear I usually use at the levels I usually use them at, with the right modifiers and everything. I set my stats to the recommended total. And I kept fighting him until I was satisfied with my success rate.

Once I was satisfied with my success rate, I lowered my most important stat (Survival) by one point. Then I defeated him again. I lowered my Survival by one more point. I defeated him again, and then I lowered my survival by even one more point.

The recommended total is 38. I had set myself to 4 Brutality, 4 Tactics, and 30 Survival. Things became significantly more challenging when I lowered Survival to 27. When I can consistently defeat him on 22 Survival, I think that's when I'll attempt another run.

One of the best ways, I think, to improve at this game is to give yourself limitations, so that when you do it for real without the limitations, it'll seem easy by comparison. One of these days, I want to be able to defeat all of the bosses without getting hit, while using my favorite gear.

I do know that I could make things easier on myself by using different gear, and by using a play style that does not require so much precision. But... I wanna be able to succeed with a rhythm that feels good to me, even if that makes it a little more difficult than normal to do.

...I wonder if you'd like this game. I imagine you'd get all the way up to 5 Boss Cells pretty quickly, what with your smart, adaptable brain and your amazing, lightning-fast reflexes. I'm playing at a bit of a disadvantage from the outset thanks to the dyspraxia; it's taking me a little longer to improve than it would an ordinary person. But that's okay. I don't mind.

Oh! by the way... the Japanese copy of The Neverending Story arrived today at my house...

...I guess it must have gotten a little beaten up in transit.

Still, it's a very pretty ruby-red book written in Japanese; I imagine that means you'll be able to read it, perhaps a little easier than you might be able to if it was in English.

...As impossible as it is, you're welcome to pop by my house and read it if you want to. But... since it's impossible, I'll settle instead for asking those very important people to send it along to you, if I ever see them again. Maybe by then, I'll have some other random odds and ends for you, too.

...I've had just about no creative drive lately. It's been really disconcerting. I thought about another music box for all of like 5 seconds a number of weeks ago, but...I just... I dunno...

...Is any of this stuff even getting to you...? I really don't know...

Well... hm. I guess I ought to start getting ready for bed. I've got entirely too many appointments tomorrow - psychotherapy, physical therapy, and... I think that's it. But it's still entirely too many appointments. The fact that I need them at all is kind of frustrating; it wouldn't be the case if I was a more "normal" person.

...But then again, if I was a more "normal" person, I wouldn't be able to relate to you to nearly the same extent that I do now. I wouldn't trade that for anything. So I guess I oughta try to be a little less cranky about the fact that I'm not "normal".

I love you. Please stay safe out there. Make good choices. And try really hard not to eat weird things off the ground, okay? Hahaha...

I'll write again tomorrow. Count on it.

Your friend, Lumine

[puddlesl1me]

The Mending Enchantment in Minecraft

I've had this thought for a while now, and I figured it'd be good to share it with the endless void to see if it gets picked up anywhere. Here are my thoughts on how to fix mending in Minecraft. Be warned, this post is VERY long.

TL;DR: Add mending to the enchanting table, add an option to refresh the enchantments in the enchanting table without having to use the grindstone, and potentially add a way to increase odds of getting a specific enchantment.

Imagine this scenario: you've just gotten diamond tools, you're super excited to use them, and you do. It's great. They're faster than iron, and don't break as quickly. But, they do eventually break. They're now on their last legs, only 13 durability on the pickaxe and 22 on the axe. You've switched back to iron for the time being, but want to use diamond tools again. How do you fix this situation?

There are 4 main options:

- Repair them in an anvil with diamonds

- Just make more tools

- Buy new tools from toolsmith villagers

- Get mending books to repair them

Repairing them is fine, especially if you don't anticipate playing for much longer (eg. you're about to beat the Ender Dragon), but otherwise is a bit wasteful. It also gets more and more expensive in terms of xp as you repair more. And good luck repairing netherite tools like this.

Making more tools can be even more wasteful, especially if your old tools are enchanted. You have to go through the process of getting the tools all over again.

Buying them from toolsmith villagers means having access to villagers, and being able to level up at least one toolsmith villager to the required level. That's a pain.

Mending is the most enticing. Keep your current tools, and have a infinitely renewable way to repair them. It's the best solution. However, mending is also awful to get.

It's a treasure enchantment, which means you can't get it with an enchanting table. Loot tables such as structure chests and fishing can be good, but are incredibly unreliable. They contain every other enchanted book as well, so you'd have to get lucky to get a mending book specifically. Villagers are a renewable way to get the books, and are usually the least painful.

Despite being the least painful, however, they still manage to make the experience incredibly dull. Assuming you have villagers, you sit there with one nearby, destroying and replacing a lectern to hopefully find a mending book in their trades. This can take 10 minutes, or 2 hours. That's not even taking into account getting the emeralds to buy the books, which also takes a long time and usually involves a second villager at the very least. Past this, if you want to get different enchantments guaranteed, or other things, a villager trading hall is a necessity. You're now spending many hours on this project, that most likely will be repeated in every world that you get to this point.

Suffice to say, villagers are in no way the ideal method to get mending books. But because villagers are so useful, and mending books so necessary for long playthroughs, this process is the most common way, by far, to get mending books.

This is all because mending books are a treasure enchantment.

If mending books were available via the enchanting table, this wouldn't be nearly as much of a problem. It's still RNG-based (which I'll get to later), but provides an alternative viable method to get mending books. In particular, it allows casual players to get mending without needing to go through the villager process. There's still the problem of needing to make an xp farm, but most players need to do this anyways to get enchantments onto equipment (also it takes less time).

Like I mentioned, the RNG of the enchantment table is still a problem. If mending was moved to the enchanting table, this would still be a major improvement. But I'd also like to suggest some improvements to enchanting while I'm here.

First, for a small change, add an option to refresh the enchantments without enchanting an item. One of the bigger issues with enchanting is that there's a lot of time waste from having to refresh the enchantments over and over, then exiting the menu to use a grindstone on all the enchanted items so you can do it all over again. It's a large waste of time, and is one of the worst parts of enchanting. Adding an option to refresh the enchantments that's built into the table would be very beneficial. 1 xp level and 1 lapis, to match the first enchanting level requirements, and it completely refreshes the enchantments. More resource conservative players can still use the old way to save some xp by using the grindstone, but it provides an easier option for more casual players.

For a much bigger, and more complex change, I suggest allowing modification for the probabilities of certain enchantments through what I'm calling catalysts.

These would be items that, when placed in a certain slot in the enchanting menu, increase (or potentially decrease) the odds of getting certain enchantments. As an example, ice would increase the odds of fire protection and frost walker (assuming that's also removed from the treasure pool), but decrease the chance of fire aspect. Gold increases the chance for efficiency, but decreases the chance for unbreaking. Obsidian increases blast protection and protection, cactus increases thorns, etc. There could be many items to increase or decrease many different enchantments, but the point is that there's a way to alter the probabilities for enchantments.

This is important because, as enchanting table use grows, players will continue to complain about spending hours at their mob farm, trying to get all the enchantments they need for their gear. Giving a method for adjusting the probabilities would appease the players, at least a little.

An additional change for this, although not nearly as necessary, would be to allow for bookshelves to be imbued with these catalysts. It would give the nearby enchanting table the corresponding permanent bonus, albeit at a reduced effect. Or better yet, make a new endgame item that does this, but only one of this item can affect an enchanting table (I'm thinking something above the enchanting table, using a spore blossom and other items that make it endgame. The catalyst would be in the crafting recipe, so you have to make more if you want to have access to different bonuses). This single endgame item would provide the full bonus, since it's an endgame item and there can only be one affecting the probabilities.

Now, how does this work with mending? Surely with a powerful enchantment, it would make sense to either not improve the enchantment odds at all, or have a very endgame item increase the odds. And I would agree, to a point. Mending is very useful in the beginning of the game, and getting it before beating the ender dragon is common. Having it be locked in the end dimension wouldn't be very useful, and wouldn't solve the issue. Rather, I believe the solution is to give it a normal enchantment probability, but when an enchanted item gets more than one enchantment.

To be a little bit more clear, let's say you enchant a sword with a level 30 enchantment. It says sharpness 4, cool, that's what you want. You enchant it, and you get the added bonus of knockback 2, or unbreaking, or something else. Mending would be in this pool of enchantments, but not in the regular pool. This would mean that it isn't visible when looking at the available enchantments for the item you're enchanting, but is available as a potential additional enchantment.

This guarantees that all players are able to get the enchantment, but it's still difficult. Still based on RNG, but a little RNG is fine. A potential option to allow it to appear as it's own enchantment would be to use dragon's breath as the catalyst. Why? Because dragon's breath is kinda useless honestly, and I think it should get more use. Xp bottles may be more appropriate, but they're difficult to get without villagers (which we're trying to avoid).

I realize this isn't without problems, but, in my opinion, this would be a better alternative to using villagers. People who like villagers can still use them, and they're still better for getting what you want. But those who dislike villagers, or are tired of repeating the same task every playthrough, are given a different method to obtain a near-necessary item.

Thanks for reading, and I'm sorry this was so long. Please let me know any ideas you have regarding this, and/or how I could have improved this post (i have no idea what im doing on tumblr)