#THAT'S IT FOLKS I'M OFFICIALLY TOO FAR GONE

[lil-artist-blog-fandoms-ocs]

DCA venom au

Chapter 1

The one where the reader goes out hiking and stargazing, but things take an unexpected turn.

alien DCA x human Reader (qpr)

Warnings: pessimistic thoughts, thoughts of death(not graphic), thoughts of war(not graphic), description of sickness

This would be just another day of your life. Would be, if you didn't take a few days off to go hiking in the nearest forest. What were you even doing here? The ground is hard, the campfire smells not as good as people say it does, the forest creatures make all sorts of noises.

And the freaking s'more is just a sticky, sugary disappointment.

You lick your fingers, trying to clean up the sticky goo of the burned marshmallow. Your fingers taste gross. You abandon all hope and go for some baby wipes to deal with it.

A good question. What were you doing out here, so far away from civilization and your favorite small grocery shop that has this wild variety of instant noodles? You wouldn't even consider going away from your work, but this coworker wouldn't stop nagging you. Something about "very good thing happening", or how did she say it? Doesn't matter. She shouldn't be so much into those fancy cards.

A small breath left your lips, the night air was crisp and fresh, making your body shiver a bit. You move a bit closer to the campfire.

This whole trip was a big waste of time, the comfortable routine you've carved for yourself was ruined, and now you also had dirt under your nails.

The night wind blew softly, making the trees and bushes rustle. Almost sounds like a whisper. Or steps of an animal. Spooky.

You wondered for a moment if there were wild animals here. That'd be a dumb way to die: perish only because you didn't check if there were bears or wolves or something else in this area. Not that you'd care if you died. Nor would anyone really. You felt bad for the poor soul that would find your b-

You bite on the fried mushroom and burn your tongue. You hiss, snapping from the dark thoughts and covering your mouth with a hand as if it's gonna help you somehow. You really should learn to wait sometimes.

Fried sausage. Fried potatoes. Fried mushrooms. S'mores. What else do you remember hearing other people eat during camping? … You couldn't remember. Oh well. You were full anyway.

The night sky was clear. Some white dots were visible even when you were sitting next to the campfire. After some thinking, you decided that you don't want to skip the stargazing and threw a blanket over yourself.

You settled on the ground a few meters from the fire. Air felt so much colder already.

But the stars? Oh, they were beautiful.

Your eyes had gazed upon this vast nothingness filled with sparks of light. The human frame so tiny and insignificant in comparison. And yet it felt like this nothingness wanted to crash down at you like a tidal wave. To pull you in, to swallow you whole, to have you amongst its tiny dots.

It was breathtaking, to say the least.

You were alone. So, so alone. All these stars were alone. Millions and billions years away from each other. From you. You were far, far away from everyone. So far away for so long.

You wondered if you still had your light.

Another soft sigh left your lips and the world went dark for a few long seconds.

You tried so, so hard to not let your thoughts drift off and spiral. You were alone and there were a lot of ways to do what the voices in your head would tell you. You didn't want to ruin the day of some random ranger.

You opened your eyes, meeting the stars above once more.

Wait, was it just you or one of the stars became brighter? And bigger too. What's-

In a blink of an eye, the flash brightened the sky before disappearing just as fast. The air shook and made you jump when a loud BANG exploded somewhere to your side.

The war had started, you thought. A missile must've misfired and fallen in the forest. In a few moments you'll be covered by the energy wave, or whatever it's called, and you'll be gone. And no one will know you were here and became one of the victims. You closed your eyes once again, waiting for the worst.

One second. Two. … Minute. Two minutes…

Why is it taking so long?

You opened your eyes when you smelled the scent of burned wood.

A faint, barely visible trail of smoke followed from the depths of the woods. You didn't notice how your body moved on its own. You got up to your feet and went where the smoke was coming from.

Earth was soft and a bit creaky under your shoes. Little pebbles clanked softly with each step you took. You went deeper into the woods, led only by the faint smell of burning. Then, you saw it. The tops of the trees ahead were broken. The black tainted the torn branches. You followed the trail of damaged trees until you stumbled upon….a rock.

You blinked.

The rock was neatly sitting in the crevice of its own making. Some grass around it still had some splashes of red in it, you quickly made your way to step on those sparks. You didn't want animals to die in the fire. The ground was warm, you could feel it even through your shoes. In the dim moonlight you could see clouds of steam come off the rock.

That's when it hit you.

That wasn't a missile. That was a meteor. Or a comet. Or an asteroid. You never learned the difference. It didn't matter anyway. There was a freaking space rock right in front of you. A real rock, right from the skies above. As real as can be.

You could hold in a little squeal of happiness that left your throat.

You quickly stepped closer to this big space rock to take a closer look. You couldn't see it too well, since you failed in being logical and didn't bring a flashlight or your phone. The moon light was all you had.

It had a bunch of holes in it, kinda reminded you of a sponge. You hesitated before touching it, just to see what kind of texture-

You, once again, failed as a human being, as you touched the scolding hot space rock that burned grass around it. Good job.

But you still were able to feel some of it. It was weirdly smooth, like pebbles or glass shards that were left in a moving water for long. You weren't sure what it meant, but guess smooth is better than sharp. You'd be burned and cut. How fun it would be...

....

So, you saw something fall from the sky, but it's not like there's any danger or anything. Go back to the camp and enjoy the last few hours of your trip, right?

Wrong.

You wanted that space rock.

That space rock was calling for your weird fascination with cool rocks. And how cool would that be to have a literal space rock in your collection.

There's only one small problem.

This rock is half your size.

You stood there, looking this boulder over and trying to come up with a way to get it home so it could be a part of your collection. You clearly couldn't bring the whole thing, but maybe you'd be able to bring a piece?..

Oh, what if it's one of these cool rocks that people smash open to reveal pretty crystals inside. Geode, was it? You'd probably die from happiness if that was what it was.

You grabbed the nearest branch that looked sturdy enough. First time it hit the rock with a quiet knock. You hit harder. Nothing happens. You hit once again. The branch breaks, almost hitting you in the face.

Okay, so a stick won't work. Maybe another rock will?

You quickly find a rather big rock with sharp edges. You hold it securely with both hands as you take a stand.

Breathe in. Smash. Again, breathe in. Smash. Once more, breathe in. SMASH.

The boulder cracked loudly and you dropped your tool to pry it open, cursing the hot surface. But there were no crystals inside.

It looked as if you tore a sponge apart, the holes you saw on the surface went all the way through the rock. It was black on the inside. Wait, is it wet?-

....

You woke up when the sun was right above your head, effectively blinding you. You sat up, looking around. You were right where you were stargazing at night. All your stuff just as you left it, you even had your blanket on.

What a weird dream. But no time to dwell on it, you didn't like wasting time out here. Touching grass and watching nature wasn't enough to solve all your problems. You need your job and the comfort of your routine.

Stuffing some leftover fried mushrooms and potatoes in yourself as a breakfast, you quickly gather up your belongings and clean up after yourself. The trip back is long, but uneventful, except some dizziness you felt closer to the end. But you never moved so much before, so you figured that was as normal as seeing dark circles when you stand up a bit too quickly.

Surely, when you make it home, take a shower and have a good 18 hour long nap in your bed you'll be fine. And the management would be so happy to know that one of their nameless employees that took a week off would return only after a couple of days.

….

You make it home in a cold sweat. Your limbs feel like they're made out of overcooked pasta, you're dizzy as if you took a few turns of riding on a rollercoaster and you feel so sick that you think all your inner workings want to escape your body and leave you behind as an empty shell. The work can wait, looks like you've got severe food poisoning.

Damn mushrooms, you knew you shouldn't have trusted them.

The next day comes and goes in a haze. Time doesn't exist as you fall asleep and wake up a dozen times.

You tried eating, but anything that entered your mouth was pushed out by your raging stomach, so you were hanging only on water and bread. You cursed the mushrooms you ate on your trip for a hundredth time as you stood on your knees in front of the toilet bowl.

You'll never accept any food from the coworker that is into taro cards.

You're barely able to stand up to wash your face and mouth, hoping to get rid of the bitter taste. You splash some cold water on your face and then-

"How long is it gonna last?"

You jumped, startled by the sudden voice that came seemingly out of nowhere. You glanced around, paranoid that someone was in the bathroom with you, but you were alone.

"We can't eat, I'm hungry."

You jumped again as a slightly different voice whined in your ear. You were still alone. There was a long pause, before you sighed and whispered. "I guess I finally lost it. I have hallucinations now..."

"Hey, we aren't hallucinations! How rude." The voice calls.

"That's what a hallucination would say." You answer into nothingness. Well, if you were loosing it, might as well make the best of it.

Your left hand moves on its own and lightly slaps you on the face.

"Real enough?" A slightly huskier voice chuckles in your head. Pain feels real. That freaks you out a bit.

"That's my hand." You protest.

"Our hand." Both voices respond.

"Am I possessed by the ghosts of the soviets?"

No answer. For an alarmingly long time.

"No." Was all they answered.

"What are you then?" You ask, wondering what your hallucinations are gonna say.

"We're yours. And you're ours."

You were too sick to deal with it, so you went to lay down in bed and continue being miserable.

"What does it even mean?" You grunt, plopping yourself onto the bed.

"That means you're stuck with us, human." The higher voice called out suspiciously cheerfully.

You just groan. "Great, I'm having food poisoning and a bad trip."

The voice in your head grumbles, as if offended that you didn't stop thinking it was just a hallucination.

"That's not actually food poisoning." The huskier one says. "That might be because of us."

"Yup, your body doesn't want us here!"

"Too bad we can't leave."

"It can't get rid of us! We're bound now!"

You groaned once again, their chirping just making your headache worse. "Can you shut up for a minute?"

"Oh, do you still feel sick?" The chirpier voice asks.

You grunt in response, rubbing your eyes.

"Hm, maybe we can help with it…"

....

You don't remember anything after that.

The only thing you knew when you opened your eyes was that your body wasn't trying to get rid of your organs anymore. When you came back into this world and checked your phone, you noticed that a day was erased from your memory. It takes you some time to process everything, but you guessed that everything was just a weird fever dream.

You turn in your bed and take the phone in other hand to scroll through the news, just to see what you missed while fighting with the sickness. You thought how odd it was that you started hearing voices. It's been a long time since you had auditory hallucinations.

Anyway, you're just glad it's over now-

"Do you feel better now?" The voice in your head calls out cheerfully.

You drop the phone on your face.

[sublimecatgalaxy]

hi, can u do a request where maddy got jealous of something and ended up shouting at the reader (soft) which made them cry.

I love this just because this is how she would truly react in a situation like this. She's not exactly the most calm or the most rational lol.

"She was looking at you like she wanted to swallow you whole." Maddy hisses the minute we step out of the store and I feel the once happy expression fall from my face the minute her sassy attitude fills my ears.

"Really? I thought she was just being nice?" I feign stupidity, not wanting to get into a big blow out on our one date night of the week and have my whole night ruined and dignity crushed in a public place.

"Are you that fucking dense? She wanted to fuck you." Maddy scoffs with a bitter smile, eyes turning to slits as she glares at me.

"Maddy, you were right there with me, holding my hand. She obviously knew I was taken." I pause, spinning around on my heels to look at her, fed up with her trailing behind and pissy attitude. She just shakes her head and looks down at her phone, prepared to give me the silent treatment until I apologize.

"And she obviously didn't care."

"I think you're overreacting, babe." I say suddenly, taking Maddy completely off guard as her eyes lift to glare at me, cheeks reddening at my accusation.

"Oh so now I'm crazy?"

"What? I didn't say that." I huff, burying my face in my hands with a loud groan, hating that we keep going back and forth and back and forth- obviously out of and abandoning anything resembling a honeymoon period.

"Tell me how you really feel! You think I'm this jealous, raging bitch, right?" She steps up to me, officially throwing me off my confident game as a tear trickles down my cheek and I desperately hold a hand out to her to get her to stop.

"Maddy, stop." I beg, reaching up to bat my tears away as a look of realization passes across her face that she's indeed gone too far once again. "If she was looking at me, that's out of my control. You know me, you know I want to be with you, what more do you need."

"I need women to stop looking at my girlfriend."

"Then get mad at her next time!" I laugh through tears and Maddy rolls her eyes, reaching out to me to tug me into her arms, firmly hugging me as a silent apology.

"Fine, fuck."

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[mjrtaurus]

I'm confused, is he trans or no? Because you say he had Luffy but also refer to him as male in the childhood posts. I'm sorry if i seem disrespectful, i'm still learning about trans stuff.

No problem! It's good to learn!

So the whole Sir Crocodile is Trans thing isn't canon, but it's a very common theory with quite a bit if evidence to back it up. The Crocomom/Crocodad Theory typically goes hand in hand with the Trans Crocodile theory, too. It also isn't canon.

So, officially, as far as we know, canon Crocodile is a cisgender man- meaning he identifies with the gender he was assigned at birth- until further notice.

I headcanon Crocodile as a trans man and as the one who gave birth to Luffy. It's safe to assume that whenever I am talking about Crocodile in a post, he is trans and Luffy's parent.

Now as for referring to him as male in his childhood, I headcanon that he knew he was a boy by the time he was four, which is not outside the realm of possibility in the real world. Kids have a sense of identity all their own, and not all identify as the gender they were assigned at birth. What they do with that information is between them and their parents/guardians. A trans child is not put on HRT- hormone replacement therapy. A trans child is not given sex reassignment surgery. A trans child- if they are fortunate enough to recieve any treatment at all- is put on puberty blockers. This has no detrimental longterm effects, and allows the child to feel at least a bit more comfortable in their body until they are old enough to actually recieve HRT. Again IF they are fortunate enough.

As for the pregnancy. Trans men can get pregnant. They can get pregnant even when undergoing HRT. The only time a trans man 100% can't get pregnant is if they were infertile to begin with, have been totally abstinent, or have had a hysterectomy.

Crocodile was out as a trans man by the time he got pregnant, but he still had a functioning uterus and ovaries. Typically the chances for pregnancy during HRT are pretty low, but they aren't impossible. And typically HRT is put on hold if the recipient is pregnant. Crocodile did not know he was, due to Luffy being a cryptic pregnancy. Iva not following medical protocol to test for pregnancy beforehand is a testament to the broken system in One Piece that mirrors our own in the real world. Trans folks often can't get the help they need safely and legally due to a lot of fearmongering against them from people in power who want to demonize them simply for being "different". Iva is not a medically licensed doctor, therefore protocol isn't exactly a thing to stand on. However, if they knew Crocodile was pregnant, they would not have gone through with the HRT until further notice.

But back to one of the original talking points, being pregnant doesn't mean a trans man is no longer a man. Pregnancy does not effect the identity of a trans man. There are trans men out there right now, many even on this site, who have given birth and still are men.

It can all seem a little confusing when you're still learning, so be gentle with yourself. And most of all, thank you so much for being willing to learn.

I would also like to be clear that I am not trans myself, so if anyone reading this is, and I have failed to relay certain information in a respectful way, or have left some crucial information out entirely, please correct me on that in a reblog, an ask, or a reply. I am still learning, too, and I want to treat this topic with the respect it's due.

[doberbutts]

Do you do/train for/compete in any dog sports with your dobermann? Would you recommend a dobermann for a beginner sport dog? Thank you!

Yes, Fenris and I are currently training in a protection dog sport called mondioring, or just mondio for short, and we'll probably pick up a few obedience-only titles in IGP (used to be called IPO, which used to be called schutzhund, another protection dog sport) along the way to support the United Doberman Club (which is mostly IGP-based tbh). I debated AKC obedience and rally but honestly right now my focus is mondio because I like it more and he seems to be doing really well in it. If we hit a wall we may switch tracks. But so far he's got nothing but compliments, so I'm not really worried about it.

As for whether I'd recommend dobes for a beginner sport dog, it sort of depends what you mean by that and what sport. I have had 4 dobermans total thus far. Only two have done anything in sport due to temperament of the other two, and of those two neither has actually accomplished anything in competitive sport. Creed had a mock BH under his belt (preliminary title to begin competing in IGP), but it wasn't an official trial so it doesn't count, and he's been gone for the past 2.5 years. Fenris just turned 13 months and being a young puppy I'm honestly in no hurry to put any titles on him- he passed his puppy temperament test and that's all I've done with him thus far because I am deliberately taking things slow with him. (and I didn't even enter him in the temperament test, his breeder did because she was showing her keepers at the same event!)

So... I mean... it's not like I'm a seasoned competitor. To the folks at training club, I'm a beginner too. And to my knowledge, Fen's breeder's foundation bitch was her beginner sport dog- his grandmother. Far be it from me to discourage you if you feel it's the right fit.

However, I will say that if you are wanting a doberman you should be committed to the doberman, vs if you want the sport you should be committed to the sport. What I mean by that is- if you are looking to really excel and have a nice dog right off the bat for your introduction to a sport, you may want to consider breeds more suited to the sport you are thinking about playing in. There's nothing wrong with getting a border collie for agility, or a golden for obedience, or a shepherd for IGP, or a malinois for mondio. But if you want to get a doberman, then commit knowing that your journey will likely look very different from those who chose more in line with the breeds that do well in their sport of choice.

The doberman was never intended to be a sport dog. It was intended to be a personal protection dog. That doesn't mean dobermans can't do well at various sports- in fact many dobermans excel at many sports! But it does mean that you're probably going to experience different challenges in your training than your fellow competitors, and you should keep that in mind instead of feeling discouraged.

[electricfied-wolf]

So... you've been reblogging a lot of Starlight Express onto my dash and I feel like it's about time I ask what it's about? What I'm picking up is that it's... humanoid trains?

Whatever it is I must admit it's piqued my curiosity

OHHHH BOY YOU'VE ACTIVATED MY AUTISM CARD I LOVE TO TALK ABOUT STARLIGHT EXPRESS. Ooookay, there's a lot to talk about, especially because a new non-replica production like JUST opened in London. I feel like I'm gonna ramble a lot so we're gonna put it under the cut and I'm just gonna blab until I feel I've explained it well enough. First of all I should note that I am explaining just off the top of my head, if you'd like more info the Starlight Express wiki is run by some very committed folks and as far as I know every word on that wiki is true. Also if you'd like more photos you're gonna have to go there bc GUESS WHO LEARNED THE LIMIT FOR PHOTOS IN A SINGLE TUMBLT POST IS 30? ANYWAY ONTO MY RAMBLE!!!! And be warned, it WILL BE VERY LONG. CLICK AT YOUR OWN RISK.

What is Starlight Express?

Starlight Express (often abbreviated to Stex by the fans) is a musical produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber (yes the CATS guy) that revolves around a child's toy trains "coming to life" and having a big ol' dramatic race. They've got an underdog, a couple bad guys, train god and romance. Pretty much everything. Most productions are more song filled than dialogue filled. It has its roots in Thomas & Friends and some of the earliest stuff had a Cinderella type of thing going on (not surprising I'm sure), the plot is actually pretty easy to follow once you get used to it. Starlight Express is performed SOLELY on roller skates (not counting lndn24's scooters for the Trax and Control) for the entire duration! And in such heavy costumes too! The show has been performed since 1984 and has absolutely ZERO signs of stopping as the Bochum, Germany production is still being performed and as I stated above, there is now a non-replica production running at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre in London. And if you don't know what that term (non replica) means, it essentially means they are not using the traditional costumes for the show that John Napier designed and are taking quite a few liberties with a newer plot and characters to make the show something much more unique as compared to its replica counterparts.

An older version of Rusty and Pearl in the John Napier style (left) VS. Rusty in the style of the London 2024 production standing with ALW (right) _ I specify 2024 London as the show was originally produced in London but also got revised so there's like three London Stex productions I could be talking abt lol, though the costumes have gone through some pretty drastic changes even in the replica productions.

Electra's more recognizable costume (aka the more compact mohawk version of red/blue Electra) used up until the rehaul in 2018, and the one currently used in Bochum's performance of the show (aka used from 2018-now). The same character and both replica, but still different! Over the course of the many years these trains have shared our earth, I'd say that Greaseball and Rusty are amongst the few that haven't changed that massively over the course of the show (again, NOT counting the current non-rep). This show has indeed graced the US and was even performed on Broadway! Unfortunately, us Americans are really really boring apparently because the show (while still wildly successful) did not stick around here in the states. It is still however beloved by many and that is the sole reason why it has stood to be seen for 40 years: people can say the show was made on drugs and that its "weird" all they want, but Starlight Express has a bigger community than you'd think, and it is incredibly well loved by those in the community. We are VERY devoted to our trains. Despite everything though, it has never gotten a pro-shot and the only fully versions available for streaming (...in terms of official audio for official streaming) on places like youtube and spotify are the original 1984 London Cast Recording and "The New Starlight Express", aka the revised London production's album released in 1993. There is also the english and german version's of Bochum Starlight Express' "Ich Bin Ich" otherwise know as "I Am Me", but no other parts of that production have been released for streaming. You can technically stop here and just go on to the wiki and stuff but if you wanna spend like an hour listening to my infodump I AM going to keep going.

The Characters

Before I touch on the story (a much shorter section I assume) I feel it is important to explain the characters, as there are a LOT and they change depending on each production and long story short yes I am nowhere dear done with this post. The characters can be broken up into groups of which I'll introduce them by. I also cannot really do London 24's characters which I wish I could bc I'm dead obsessed w/ it but it literally just opened a little while ago so the only sharable photos of other characters I got are fuzzy and from the megamixes or backstage pics. So unfortunately no cameos from those guys in this post but trust me THE WEMBLEY PARK PRODUCTION IS SO GOOD. Uhm anyways. First I'll mention the Trax/Racing Marshals, no speaking roles and very simple costumes compared to the other trains. They're simply there to wave the flags for the races and perform other tiny tasks to move the show along, as well as doing some very cool stunts that the other performers cannot do due to the absurd weight of the main costumes. They're just as important as everyone else!

The Marshals (Bochum 2016) *note, I'm mainly going to use Bochum photos to show off the costumes because they're just usually better quality The Humans: Usually disembodied voices (with exception from two productions) our only humans are a little kid named Control, and their mom who is simply known as Mom/Control's Mom and also has an even smaller role than her child as she only comes in at the introduction to put Control to bed. Control is OBSESSED with trains which grants us the plot of this musical, over the course of the show they order the trains around and narrate the races, but (up until recently) typically don't play an active role in terms of properly interacting with the trains. They are, as their name suggests, the Control for the trains. In Bochum's performance 2018 and onward Control mentions having a grandmother who is hard of hearing, but to my knowledge said grandma is only brought up in that specific production. The National/Competing Engines: For pretty much every production excluding WP's, the non-main character racing competitors have been international trains from across the world. However their names and some of their designs have been changed over time, and the French engine even switched genders in the 2018 Bochum rehaul. I am excluding the doubles from the tours because this'll take all day if I don't. _______ The French engine- Essentially from the beginning up to 2018, Bobo the TGV. In/after 2018 in Bochum, Coco the Eurostar. Arguably the most changed of the nationals, originally a male character (Bobo) she was changed to be a female and even given a blue color scheme which Bobo usually never had as he was typically seen with orange colors in Bochum.

(Bobo (Bochum) and Coco) _______ The Japanese Engine: Originally Hashamoto (misspelling of Hashimoto but technically that's his official name), later changed to Nintendo in 1992 for all english language productions but still Hashamoto in Germany, and from 2018 onward in Bochum known as Manga. All three are labeled as Shinkansen bullet trains.

(Hashamoto (Bochum), Nintendo, and Manga) _______ The Russian Engine: Turnov the trans siberian express has literally just been Turnov this whole time and really he's hardly changed aside from his costume having to have its chest symbol changed due to obvious reasons. This poor guy has suffered greatly due to political stuff even all the way back in 1987, though I will avoid getting into that here.

Turnov (Bochum 1991), Turnov (Bochum 2018, ft. Manga) _______ The German Engine: Weltschaft originally, later named Ruhrgold, the german engine is the InterCity Express (ICE). Like Turnov he hasn't really gone through many major changes other than the original switch from Weltschaft to Ruhrgold, though the two are presented with very contrasting personalities.

Weltschaft (Bochum 1991, ft. C.B.), Rurhgold (Bochum 2018, ft. Espresso) _______ The Italian Engine: ESPRESSO! He's a fun one, very similar to Bobo in that they're both pretty flamboyant european engines. Not really similar to Coco though. Espresso's a silly fella, flirts with the audience sometimes. His design has also been pretty consistent.

Espresso (Bochum 1988), Espresso (Bochum 2021) _______ The British Engine: Our pathetic failure king <3, aka the engine that literally never races as he usually breaks down before he's meant to race. Like every time it's got to be one of the most consistent plot points across 40 years of showtime. Even through three different transformations this british loco cannot escape it. Originally named City of Milton Keynes, later Prince of Wales upon the opening of the broadway production, and in 2018 hit the stage as Brexit. Yes, you heard me. They named the British national engine Brexit, and no none of us are particularly proud of that but it is how it is. At least he's got some charm!

No images of Milton are available atm, Prince of Wales (Las Vegas, 1993), Brexit (Bochum, 2018) _______ OKAY WE'RE DONE WITH NATIONALS. We can talk about the important ones now.

So next I'll move onto our main trio of engines. Rusty, Greaseball, Electra. Lots of design altercations over the years but no name changes and basically no role changes. However, the most recent production involves a female and wlw Greaseball as well as a canon they/them Electra! We'll go engine by engine, talk about our trademark "old steamer", and then I'll move onto the cars. _______ Greaseball, the world racing champion of Union Pacific: Heavily greaser based with muscles that make coaches and freight cars alike swoon, Greaseball is a black and yellow diesel and one of the antagonists of our plot. He's the world racing champion at the start of the show. Dating Dinah (both at the beginning and by the end despite some issues) the dining car, VERY proud of himself and pretty damn self absorbent in pretty much every production. He is also NOT that nice. He was pretty terrible in the very original plot back in the day BUT DON'T FEAR! They very quickly edited those plot points and made him less terrible and more of just a really pompous jerk. Bochum GB is actually such a goofy guy by the end. His female counterpart in the new production doesn't lack her meanness either! She's just as big of a jerk but also just as big of a softie by the end of the show. Truly, the same in every universe. Being a girl and a lesbian does not destroy her asshole tendencies and I am glad for that. Let gay girls be jerks too!!!

Greaseball (London 1984, ft. Pearl, Dinah, and Ashley), Greaseball (Bochum, 2021, ft. Caboose)

_______ Electra, the engine of the future: QUEEREST PRE-2024 STEX CHARACTER WHOOOO? Despite never having been fully confirmed (at least up until recent) to be any specific non-cishet identity, Electra the electric engine has been an icon for the girls and the gays since day one. With he/him pronouns but a slightly feminine name and physical demeanor, it's clear he was made to represent a less traditional form of gender presentation as he has been played by actresses in the past too, though primarily has been portrayed by male actors. Andrew Lloyd Webber even once referred to Electra's main song, AC/DC, as "transgender electro-pop". Not to mention the casting notice for the 2019 Bochum cast having described Electra as 'gender fluid / androgynous'. Electra has a pack of "components" aka his freight car entourage who follow him around and sing his praises. He is also one of the antagonists, though antagonist is a bit of a strong word as he isn't as hardcore as Greaseball or our villainous railcar. He has more beef with the diesel than our main character as well, stealing his girl and the show at every opportunity. And also aggressively zapping him as often as possible. The only thing they have in common is that they're full of themselves, they want Rusty out of the race, and they want to win. No photos for Electra I gave him his spotlight earlier in this post. Though do remember that the newest version of Electra (got a little sleek helmet instead of hair, super pointy costume, blue and silver colors) is NOT he/him, they are they/them and so is their current main actor! Electra is accompanied by an entourage of "components", aka shiny and fancy freight cars that bend to the engine's every whim. Pre-2018 the components are Wrench the repair truck, Joule the Dynamite Truck, Volta the freezer truck, Krupp the armaments truck, and Purse the money truck. Post-2018 the components are Wrench, Volta, Joule, and Killerwatt the security truck, Krupp and Purse are no longer present. It is also important to note that pre-2018 Volta is portrayed as very feminine meanwhile post-2018 Volta is meant to be much more masculine. No photos for Electra they got photos earlier in this post and I'm trying to save myself from hitting the photo limit. Same for Rusty. _______ Rusty, the steam train: WOOO WOOO! WOOO WOO! Say hello to the titular bitchular that everyone loves. Seriously I've never seen a Rusty hater. Our main character and a timeless gem of the show, he's a pathetic wet cat, he's rusted and falling apart, and he meets god. The perfect man! Rusty obviously has the greatest arc over the entire story, he's our underdog and incredibly charming in all his forms. Overtime some actors have played him up as sassier while others amped up the wet cat energy (Looking at you, Javeen), but no matter how he's played you will feel sorry for him and likely fall in love with him. He's so overconfident at the start but is very quickly brought down by the other engines, fear not though, because he's the main guy!! I'll yap more about his whole thing in the story section. _______ The old steam engine: Had to make the title gender neutral w/ these guys bc GUESS WHO ELSE GOT GIRL'D IN 2018! Poppa, or in terms of Bochum 2018 and onward, Momma, is Rusty's mentor and the only other steam engine in the show. Quite stubborn, preachy in more ways than one, but ultimately good at heart. They're the engine that pushes Rusty to race and encourages Rusty to seek faith in the Starlight Express (Eyyyy title drop!). Most of this engine's role is story related too so I'll save that for then.

Poppa (Bochum, 1997, ft. Rusty), Momma (Bochum, 2018, ft. Dustin) _______ The freight: For the convience of I'm afraid to hit the word count, we're gonna lump the cars into whole sections. Minus one specific member of the freight due to plot significance. Anyway the freight!! Lots of people are big fans of them and I can't blame them. Though they went through a few changes here and there, they're usually a pretty consistent group (once again, minus 2024). From 1984 to 2003 they contained the boxcars aka the Rockies, then productions between 2003 and 2018 included the Hip Hoppers, with the 2018 rehaul marking the return of the Rockies to the show. All productions included Flat-Top the brick truck and Dustin the big hopper, and while Dustin does play a significant role in the show...there's a certain sixth member that plays the greatest role of all the freight. _______ The Red Caboose: Though his Bochum rehaul design spells out "brake van" on his shoulders (even though brake vans aren't cabooses, rant for another day) and he's gone by the Red Caboose for far longer, most know this beloved boy as CB...buuut the version that is widely marked as CB isn't technically CB! That was his original name in regards to the radio codes he used throughout the show- "10-4, smokey bear!" -C.B., 1984 "10-7, gone to heaven!" -Included in the segment after the first run of the final race -but his original name was dropped upon the entry to Broadway, from then on he was just the caboose, and he continues to be so to this day! No matter the production...or at least the ones he's in, he sticks out from the start as one of the guys to keep your eye on. And I'm sure you caught that, that's right, he's not even in every production! Though he is in most of them! His role is another plot heavy one so I'm sure you get the deal by now.

CB (London, 1984), Caboose (Bochum, 2006) _______ The Coaches: The girls, the lasses, the women, etc etc!!! Full of lovely ladies (again, not mentioning 2024's changes) and honestly the true stars of the show in my eyes. In this group is where you'll find our other main character! But would you believe they've also undergone swaps? Originally it was Pearl the observation car/first class carriage, Dinah the dining car, Ashley the smoking car, and Buffy the buffet car, and it remained that way for a long time...but there was an odd period in which Ashley was replaced with a sleeping car named Duvay, though Duvay didn't last very long in the grand scheme of things. Upon the 2018 rehaul, Buffy and Ashley were replaced with Carrie the luggage van and Belle the bar car. Belle actually shares her name with a coach that was present all the way up into the broadway production, though not really used afterwards. Belle the sleeping car was a companion to Poppa and while not part of the main quartet of coaches would usually appear with the other girls for Girls Rolling Stock! Broadway did OG Belle dirty but that's another rant for another day. Again, for simplicity's sake, we'll only individually cover the gals you absolutely gotta know about. _______ Pearl the observation car/first class carriage: Pearl girl!!! Very near and dear to me, our secondary main character and Rusty's love interest. The label for what type of coach she is varies from production to production, all you need to know for certain is she's a super shiny new coach and Rusty is absolutely INFATUED with her...but she's her own coach too, and she's not as quick to settle as he is. She makes it very clear that she wants her choices to be her own and she's not going to let someone else make those choices for her no matter what. She has her own little arc too. While in older productions Pearl is painted as being new but still having an established bond with Rusty, newer ones (aka bochum and london's current shows) paint Pearl as a completely new coach who doesn't know anyone and literally just got here, making her and Rusty's relationship a bit more fleshed out...but we'll discuss that more later!

Pearl (Bochum, 2011), Pearl (Bochum, 2019) _______ Dinah the dining car: HARD to not just ramble about how much I adore her. I am her she is me we are the same person, ESPECIALLY her 2024 variant same taste in women fr. A southern accented (usually) dining car, Dinah is Greaseball's partner with honestly a very inspiring little arc of her own, she's emotional and devoted to her partner but is not to be mistaken as someone who can't stick up for herself, because she makes it crystal clear that she's not someone to be pushed around. She was given even more of a powerful and independent personality in the 2018 rehaul/london revival, but she's always had fight in her from the very beginning!

Dinah (Bochum, 1993), Dinah (Bochum, 2018) AND WHOOPS TOO LONG OF A POST FOR TUMBLR. I'M GONNA HAVE TO PUT THE PLOT IN THE REBLOGS HOLD ON TIGHT. EDIT: I AM GOING TO HAVE TO MAKE A SEPARATE POST NOT A REBLOG BECAUSE TUMBLR WON'T SAVE THE REBLOG AS A DRAFT.

[obigem]

"Are you sure all of those tricks will work?"

"Of course they will. DeShawn folds every time after just one. My guess is Jai will melt like puddy in your hands just as fast."

The girls quickly wrapped their boys 101 cram class as the start of dinner approached.

"Now remember, stay confident, coy, but not too coy, coquetish, but not overtly sexual, and laugh at all his jokes, but with a giggle, not too over the top. And for the love of Watcher do not snort. It's not cute"

"Oh gee, I'm never going to remember all that." Cordie moaned.

"If all else fails, bat your eyelashes. It doesn't work with every girl, but you got those big disney princess eyes. Any guy would fold over those."

"Wait, you never told me my eyes were huge. Oh no, what if I look like an alien?"

"Cordie, babes, dial up the chill. You're fine"

"You look super cute, Jai's going to fall all over himself for you, and you'll officially have your very first kiss."

"You think so?"

"I know so! Now give me a hug, I'm meeting D at his place for a study date while his mom works and the rest of his folks are here tonight."

"Since when do you study outside of school?" Cordie looked at her BFF suspicously.

"Since I got a new stick of fruity delicious lip gloss I really want to test drive. Now no more questions. Hugs, hugs now!"

"OK." Cordie giggled as she gave her best friend the biggest hug ever.

"Now my mother believes I'm studying at the library with a tutoring group, so—"

"I'll text you 10 minutes before the Reynolds are about to head out so you can make your way home without getting caught."

"Thanks, bestie!" Jordie gave Cordie an extra squeeze.

"But Jord, don't do anything I wouldn't do, and if you decide to anyway, please use protection."

"First of all, the list of things you wouldn't do is far too long. Second of all, D and I haven't gone all the way yet."

"Really?"

"I have very specific plans worth waiting for."

[fallloverfic]

TGCF donghua Season 2, Episode 10 thoughts

This episode T-T T-T T-T T-T. Spoilers for the show and the book below. CW reference to suicide.

The dude being racist to An Le looks vaguely like a love child of Feng Xin and Nie Mingjue (the donghua version) roflmao. Animators have made little references to The Scum Villain's Self Saving System this season so I would not be surprised if someone snuck in a reference to the Mo Dao Zu Shi donghua, too lol And this is similar enough to at least one Meng Yao + Nie Mingjue scene that I can see why they'd do it here.

So the Xianle goons licking their lips is because, I imagine, whatever was in that pouch Qi Rong brought An Le infected them or maybe it was these actual soldiers or something. Makes it less mmm... Strange. Having seen recordings of an attempted assault on a principal government building with government officials inside and what bloodthirsty folks bent on literal murder of said officials get up to around that, I mean I guess it's not that..... strange......

Someone here let me know that the servant/friend is the same official from S02E01 who ran past Xie Lian to help Lang Qianqiu, which makes sense! I totally forgot he showed up then and wondered after S02E07 if he was An Le acting funny (though by the end of S02E09 he is clearly not). He does show up in the novel in that S02E01 scene, but he's not named so far as I can tell, and I don't think we see him in Yong'an flashbacks like we do here. It's neat to see the development of this side character, and how some officials reward people who support them in life (besides Xie Lian and Yin Yu).

Xie Lian seeing the guy nervously looking for Lang Qianqiu and then being like: -sigh- young love is such a trial. You should spend more time studying the blade!

Oh shit, we get a preview of Xie Lian's parents' suicide. Wow. Will we get the donghua that far please T-T

I'm just in love with Fangxin's cape. It's so beautiful trailing behind him.

I'm sorry but An Le screaming in the same way Nakahara Chuuya does whenever he's mid-Corruption in Bungo Stray Dogs made me laugh so hard roflmao Unexpected (and likely unintentional) cameo lol

Imma keep saying it, the animation in this episode is really good. The fight scene is wonderful. When they go back to Qi Rong cackling is good. The show is just pretty.

Qi Rong: "Why is everyone here so fond of crying!"

This man is tired. Can't you do a little mass murder and gloating in peace? Honestly. Hard times.

Qi Rong: "You want your parents? I haven't gone asking for mine yet!"

Aw Qi Rong, babe...

Qi Rong got anime slashed. Who could have foreseen??? /end sarcasm

Xie Lian having a sad moment about Qi Rong, thinking he died. I'm wondering what the crying scene is from, or if that's something new. Qi Rong did cry I think in one flashback (I think where he's complaining about something) but this looked sadder? And less "spoiled".

Xie Lian sadly reaching out for Lang Qianqiu T-T

Xie Lian: "Is the truth so important? . . . What's the use of him knowing that? If I killed a few less people, would that make my reasons more justified?"

I really do love this so much. Just... sometimes the truth isn't important. Sometimes the truth is more painful/results in a worse outcome. Being bluntly honest isn't always the answer. You could argue that Xie Lian sacrificing himself isn't the answer either, and it's better overall that Lang Qianqiu knows things, but I love how this story brings up this idea, that maybe ignorance was better. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, and Xie Lian did still intentionally murder two people, as part of a cover-up.

Also, "You'd rather be right than be loved," is something I think about a lot from personal experience. It's not Hua Cheng's intention, but this kind of thinking can lead down that path so easily.

Hua Cheng really feeling that "fucked around and found out" part of this whole thing. Like I don't necessarily disagree with his goal here, and Xie Lian's plan is kind of well... imperfect (to put it lightly). But I do think this is a nice moment of Hua Cheng realizing that yes, he is Xie Lian's #1 fan, he is Xie Lian's strongest believer, and Xie Lian clearly cares deeply for him in return, but this does not mean that Hua Cheng understands Xie Lian perfectly, or knows all his thoughts (does Hua Cheng know a lot about him? Yes. But Xie Lian hides a lot of what he thinks, and has done so throughout his life). When thinking about Hua Cheng, I often think of Sosuke Aizen's line in Bleach chapter 170: "Admiration is the state furthest from understanding."

Unlike other people, Hua Cheng sets himself apart by not forcing his views on Xie Lian or trying to get Xie Lian to change to suit him, and he's realizing, "Oh shit, I fucked up with that here, didn't I," because in his quest for justice, to protect Xie Lian, he did just what he hates other people doing (to an extent, it's not nearly as bad as other folks). One thing I love so much about their relationship is how much they listen to each other, and learn from each other, and how Hua Cheng tries to see Xie Lian in ways other people don't. Even here, he's seeing Xie Lian (I really love that they focused so much on Hua Cheng's expressions here, even if he's not visually doing as much as Xie Lian, it's the little clear signs of upset that mean so much). He's not interrupting Xie Lian, he's not arguing his case (though to be fair, he already mostly has). He's trying to learn and be better. They recover from this because of that. And I love that about them.

Xie Lian: "I deserve whatever punishment I get and I can't die anyway. So why not put all the blame on me?"

T-T Crying in the club, folks. This man...

Xie Lian realizing he's being mean to Hua Cheng and apologizing got me T-T He's so scared of himself and what he's capable of - and incapable of, given all his work to try and save lives and mend old anger has come to naught, and he can't fix it. He always doubts himself before others. The scars of Bai Wuxiang are all over this episode, and Xie Lian himself, figuratively and literally. All this episode I cry T-T

Xie Lian's Chinese voice actor has done such a good job. Everyone is amazing (Qi Rong's VA doing amazing), but dang, he is phenomenal this episode. You can really feel Xie Lian's desperation and sorrow.

All in all the subs were also better this episode! They still call Qi Rong the "Green Immor" for some reason, but outside maybe one slightly awkward sentence, I think it was okay! But that doesn't necessarily mean anything cause they've been good and then got worse again lol

An excellent episode. Truly phenomenal. I think one of my favorites, particularly for this ending bit with Xie Lian and Hua Cheng talking to each other.

Other episode thoughts for season 2 (didn't start till episode 3):

S02E03

S02E04

S02E05

S02E06

S02E07

S02E08

S02E09

S02E10 (you are here)

S02E11

S02E12

[notsocheezy]

V-Day - Under Transition Indefinitely

That's what UTI stands for, right?

Oops, guess not, and I've probably got one. So now I'm swallowing red dye pills three times a day to kill the bladder pain and pissing popcorn butter for the bargain. Not to worry, folks, I've already dribbled into a cup and the lab specialists are growing a culture to figure out what's going on.

Frankly, though, I'm even more concerned about if it's not a UTI. Because then... What do I even do? Without the bladder painkillers - which aren't meant for long-term use - I literally won't be able to sleep. After peeing, I felt like I had to pee worse!

In other news, the stitches continue to be a pain in my crotch. One of them is just dangling there, an inch-and-a-half out, easily pulled by mistake. It's horrible. And it's been a struggle to dilate with the second size, too. It feels like I'm jamming into bone, no matter how far apart I spread my legs. I'm doing my best and it's just not enough.

I also haven't slept very well lately, for obvious reasons. Constant pinching and pulling and burning and swelling will do that. I'm exhausted and relatively hopeless. Maybe if I set a goal of sorts, I'll feel better when I reach it, so let's make it official and say, "I will be happier when my UTI is cured and all these unending ramen-looking stitches are gone."

Yesterday marked a whole month since surgery and I've seen my friends maybe five times since then. I miss having a life.

[sonicasura]

Okay... What the absolute fuck happened with Tales of Arcadia-Trollhunters section while I wasn't active in the fandom?

After ROTT debacle, I sorta drifted away partly cause other fandoms had snag my interest and Netflix was being an unplayable ass. So today I get a Troll!Jim sketch popping up in my feed while scrolling through Resident Evil, Welcome Home and Linked Universe posts. I liked it then check out the tag only to see a huge clusterfuck of other stuff.

Another tie in series? And the ugly bomb that is Beast Jim. Whoever came up with this design, no offense, but it looks like an offbrand male troll version of the Tinkatink line from Pokemon. Now I'm all for monsters as they interest me more than human characters. Especially if written well. Hell, I'm a monster hugger of the monster loving spectrum.

Half Troll Jim is a fine beastie fella in design although the premise... it's a mixed bag as a whole. Beast Jim, absolutely not. With the half troll, you can see the resemblance to his original human form. Anytime a transformation is unrecognizable it's for the purpose of a mystery or to tell that they are too far gone.

You aren't supposed to see the man behind the 'monster' until its too late. A dear companion is now a threat, one you might have to put down. The mystique and realization delves into horror or sorrow. Beast!Jim's design does not have anything good going for it except as a example of what not to do. Just look! 👇

This 'Beast' doesn't feel Jim to me in general. His design is awkward and pisses off my artistic side as I seen way better troll designs for characters. Whether it be official artwork from the series, a different series or by passionate artists. Beast!Jim just feels like he been made with no care and love, a STAND IN for something better that never came.

I am definitely catching up on the series then redesigning Beast Jim. This is a travesty that will not be forgiven. I got enough aqua green color pencils as the color scheme is going first for obvious reasons.

That's all I have for now. Until next time folks, I'll see you back at Arcadia. Here's my reaction to Beast!Jim summed up by Nightmare Luffy.

[kchasm]

Ryu Number: Risto Mejide

Risto Mejide is a Spanish music producer, known also for his appearance as a judge on a number of reality talent shows. He's known for his harsh and caustic criticism, making him something like a Spanish Simon Cowell—

Okay, listen. I'm going to cop to this: I didn't know who Risto Mejide was a week ago and I still mostly have no idea. Everything in that last paragraph I got off a couple of Wikipedia pages. No, the reason you're seeing this Ryu Number post is because I played History Warriors, and by gum, I am going to wring this utterly minuscule drop of value out of that arid desert stone. I can't have suffered for nothing, right?

History Warriors is not a good game.

History Warriors is a fighting game in the sense that I Spy is a competitive activity—yes, that's true, but if it's the highlight of your local tourney it's a sign that something has gone terribly wrong.

The plot of the game is as follows: After the fall of Nazi Germany, Hitler was secretly tucked away into some sort of suspended storage. Now he's awake, and he's gotten access to time travel technology, which he's used to pull a number of famous historical characters (William Shakespeare, Cleopatra, Abraham Lincoln, Joan of Arc, Che Guevara, Shaka, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Napoleon) to the present day with the end goal of irreversibly mucking up the timeline. Not exactly high lit, but as far as an excuse to get a bunch of disparate characters at each other's throats, it's at least more creative than another martial arts tournament.

Unfortunately, History Warriors—and I've said this already but it bears repeating—is not a good game. It's a bunch of free-to-low-cost assets compressed into a weeping mass by a developer, "Clipstories, Inc.," which is almost certainly just a handful of folks in Spain who know each other. Characters all have the same standard attacks—a high punch, a low punch, a high kick, and a low kick. There are special projectile moves but attempting to view the manual from the Steam page redirects to the game's official site (as much as anything about this game can be called "official"), which... doesn't exist anymore.

The computer-controlled characters do know how to use the projectiles, of course. The projectiles are, incidentally, completely unavoidable, too large to jump and too low to duck. Can you block? You can block. The input for blocking is also the input for backing up, which is a fighting game norm, except that in History Warriors when your character is moving backward they aren't automatically blocking, as far as I can tell, so effectively what happens when you press back is that your characters blocks for a second and then starts walking backward defenselessly.

(I freely admit I might be slightly wrong there, but like hell I'm going to go back and analyze the mechanics.)

When two characters' attacks meet—two characters hit each other at the same time, in other words—rather than the attacks canceling each other out, they both go through. This means that the victor of the round is essentially decided by which character has the longest limbs (balance is a thing that happens to other fighting games). A further hampering comes in the form of hitboxes that have been placed, to put it charitably, unpredictably. Often floating an appreciatable length off from the end of a fighter's limb, in fact.

My main strategy in beating this game was to get in my opponent's space first thing before they could start throwing their impossible-to-avoid projectiles and spam a kicking to the shins. It barely worked, but it worked enough that I could get through each playable characters' lineup of opponents... after a lot of game overs, anyway (you don't have to start from the beginning if you lose—thank goodness for small favors).

The worst offense, though, after all this, is that the game isn't even entertainingly bad. Sure, on the surface—and especially with its awfully silly concept—History Warriors seems like the type of Bad Video Game that'd be perfect for some streamer to make fun of playing for a couple hours. But with every character essentially an identical fighter save for reach and the quickness with which strategy devolves into slurry, the whole damn thing is just a slog.

To wrap up this thesis: History Warriors is a bad game, and I think I've made that as clear as I can. But this is the internet, and the internet is chock full of productions of terrible quality that don't deserve a critical haranguing, stories and games and songs and videos that might accurately be called flawed or even subpar, but which were put together by creators who, for what skill they lacked, worked with sincerity and a motivation sourced from the joy of creation. I firmly believe that that's admirable in its own way—that it's behavior that ought to be encouraged, even through the stinkers.

That said—

There is no universe where this was worth fifteen dollars.

...Oh, right, Ryu Numbers. Uh, when you beat the game with a character it turns out they can't go back to their original time, so you get a still image showing what they're up to in the present day. Lincoln runs for President again, Napoleon streams video games, Che's at Occupy Wall Street—it's all very uninspired. When you beat the game as Mozart, he ends up on a talent show with an MS Paint mic.

Copyright infringement is a thing that happens to other developers, so the judges are clearly identifiable as being from Got Talent España, the Spanish version in the Got Talent franchise. From the fourth season, it seems.

See? Same digs.

Admittedly, my knowledge of the Spanish language begins and ends at "biblioteca," but Wikipedia tells me that this judge lineup consisted of Risto Mejide, Edurne, Eva Isanta, and Paz Padilla, so barring it turning out, I don't know, this particular episode had a guest replacing him and I couldn't tell because I'm garbage at facial recognition or something, Risto Mejide has a Ryu Number of 2, or 3 if you don't like Minecraft.

You know what's worse? This is probably the quickest way to get to Che Guevara, too.

[enbyleighlines]

Leigh plays Tellius prt 9

It's time to get the knight ring from Naesala!

I love Ike's attitude here. That being said, I did make the decision to have Janaff talk to Naesala, because there's no way that I'm going to fight Naesala. I like to imagine that Janaff did it of his own volition.

This map took me waaaay too many tries, because I was determined not to kill any crows. The crows did not make this easy for me. Additionally, drawing Naesala out without him destroying any of my units proved to be... a bit of a challenge. Finally, I just used Tanith's recruitment skill to summon some nameless NPC's to do that job for me. Sorry, random pegasus knight! Your sacrifice will never be forgotten.

A man with a killer axe attempted to attack Nephenee, but I gave her vantage, and she decided to one-shot him with a crit of her own. Oh, Nephenee, you absolute bloodthirsty menace you.

Time for the big reveal! I forgot this happened so soon.

Gosh, such a powerful visual. Poor Elena and Greil. They both deserved so much better.

Some people typecast Titania as the team mom, and I have no objections against it, but I think her sass is terribly underappreciated. I love how often she beefs with Soren, who at this point in the story looks like a literal child.

Two points here:

First, I (ironically) love how Mist's medallion is stolen the morning following Ike and Volke's conversation. If only Nasir had stolen it a little earlier, Ike would have had a very different reaction. Like, yes, family heirloom, it sucks that it's gone, but it's not the end of the world.

Second, I (sincerely) love how Ike is allowed to be a bit of an asshole sometimes. Like, when he gets stressed out, he lashes out at people. He gets cranky and irritable, like in that conversation with Jeorge about battle tactics. And it makes sense. He has a lot to shoulder during PoR, and he never asked to be put into any position of leadership in the first place. He's allowed to be angry and bitter about it.

I always forget that, on top of their prejudice against laguz, Daein is also anti-immigrant. Really, the toxic patriotism of Daein feels so painfully familiar at times. I feel like someone could write an entire essay on this subject. Additionally, I wonder if Jill has experienced anything like this, or is it different because she was born in Daein?

Man, I both do and don't feel for Shiharam. Like, okay, he's a good man. But he's also a man who allowed his daughter to participate in laguz hunts. I know it was all for the purpose of gaining the king's trust, but still. He kind of made this bed for himself. I don't know. It's such a complicated matter, and I like that he's a complicated character. My feelings about him just keep flip-flopping all over the place.

Gotta love Soren's pragmatism! I love how he deeply understands how society functions, while also being critical of the systems in place. I feel like you usually see this sort of pragmatism from characters who are rich and full of themselves, blaming the underclass for their own misfortune. Soren knows why things are the way that they are, knows that, because the people rely on nobility for protection, there is a huge power imbalance between nobility and the common folk. As he says earlier in Begnion: "From the moment of our birth to our final dying gasp, we commoners know we are not allowed to defy the upper classes."

So while Soren's lecture here is extremely brutal, I don't think it comes from a place of bad intentions. In his eyes, Elincia is naive and inexperienced, and has thus far been ignorant of the true horrors that the average Crimean has had to endure. He is angry because he cares. He is angry because he's worried about the future of Crimea.

I'm just... I love Soren. As Ike says, deep down he's a big softie.

And I finally got Mist to second tier! With this, I have officially gotten all of my main units to class up.

The Talrega map was a walk in the park compared to the previous one. I basically had a small group (which included Jill, Ilyana, Rolf, and Astrid) squat by the houses in the upper left section of the map, and their only job was to destroy as many wyvern riders as possible.

Everybody else just rushed towards the boss at top speed.

Next time: time to lay siege to Daein Keep!

[jizzlords]

@madefate asked: ❝ So, hey uh - ❞ Not all of Blitz's confidence is gone - it's just that with reality setting in there's a little more hesitation. Though, of course, that leaves room for the intensity of earnestness - the fear and anticipation that comes with potentially touching something real that you simply don't want to fuck up. ❝ - I mean, I think I've been picking up with Fizz has been putting down - ❞ ( blatantly putting down ) ❝ But would you - actually want to ... uh ... with - y'know. Me ? ❞ / unprompted, always accepting.

The way Asmodeus' stride slows when addressed: looking over his shoulder to find none other than impish assassin seated (looking pretty lonely, if you ask him!). Grinning wide, he's redirected his attention and swiftly joins Blitzø's table. Nevermind the eyes on them throughout the club, it's not important.

❝ Heh, 'bout time you've come around. I was beginning to think you were getting a case of cold feet. ❞ Ozzie was no stranger to dabbling in "dropping hints" with select souls. Nothing more but a quick bang between him and Fizz from time to time. But an old friend of his boyfriend's? To officially join? Ooh baby, the idea has merit! He actually loves watching Fizz drop the hints (it's something to do with watching his baby at work of luring folks in). More the reason he supported Fizz to do the honors of invitation (even if it took a few tries. Nothing wrong with desiring certainty).

❝ Heh heh! We-ll, any friend of Fizz's is definitely a friend of mine! If you're picking up what I'm putting down. ❞ Head cants to the side, obviously checking out Blitzø's demeanor. Yeah, he's real cute. He can envision the three of them getting into some serious shit. ❝ You're pretty bad at this. ♡ But don't worry, I got you. ❞

He's offering one of his hands from over the table, talon tapping his own cheek. Ozzie's barely taken his eyes off of Blitzø but the way his grin widens implies... ❝ You're almost as bad as Fizz is with keeping a low profile over there. ❞

Tail swishes across the floor giving Blitzø time to adjust what's going on (should he actually take the hand Sin offered) and maybe scope the jester not too far from them. Super low-key.

❝ To answer your question, babe — ❞ a little more bluntly this time, ❝ I'd love to actually ... y'know. You. Heh-heh. ❞ yeah, he's teasing Blitzø's way of approach but the laugh that follows means this is light-hearted amusement.

❝ So what do you say? Should we give Fizz something to get excited about? ♡ ❞ the way Ozzie subtly leans forward implies something like a kiss. To really seal the deal.

[steel-forged]

Faith and Integrity

I've decided I'm going to post the backstory for a D&D/Pathfinder character I intend to play in the future. Posting it here because it might actually interest people and help spark some motivation to write more of it. Part 1/10.

Small towns often lived and died by the honor and integrity of the people living within them. Their willingness to work, to communicate, to share. To stand up for one another, to invest in the common protection of everything they held dear. To trust that your neighbor had intentions as clear and pure as your own. It didn't always make for an easy life, but it could very easily make for a good one.

Integrity wasn't a town on a main road. Nor was it far from one. Wasn't quite the smallest town, but definitely didn't capture the title of city. It was a place that seemed to occupy a middle ground in several senses of the term, happy to exist as it was. Traders came, goods left, and often times the most exciting news in a week was a birth or someone getting sick. A place most people could recall fondly, but just as easily let slip from their mind once they had moved back onto the road.

If there was anyone within Integrity that held to the ideals of a small town more than anyone else, it was Faith. Faith was a woman who made friends easily, who moved through town with a smile on her face. She had a kind word for her neighbors, a gift for her friends, and a sense of right and wrong that often set everyone back on the correct path when they were near enough astray. Integrity didn't have a judge, not a proper one, but everyone knew you could take a problem to Faith and she'd see it sorted out right proper.

Of course, no woman is an island, and beyond the friends she made, the unofficial arbiter of the town had a husband and a son all to call her family. Moreso than she had called anyone before that family, anyway. See, her folks had done their duty some years back, standing up to the local bandits during a raid on the town. Pa had caught the wrong end of a rusty sword, Ma not far behind when she caught a horse's hoof or two. It was a painful sight all around, but she refused to drop her gaze over it, carrying on in their name as everything they hoped she could be.

When her boy had reached his tenth winter, Integrity happened upon a problem. A significant one, unfortunately. Every week, the counts of the town stores were wrong. Counts too high. Items too few. Everything accounted for going in, things missing coming out. At the rate it was happening, the townsfolk would be left mighty hungry until next harvest without quite a bit of trading. That seemed to be the worst of it, at least for a time.

Once the stores started growing thin, Integrity turned to trading with caravans passing the town by as much as possible, but even that proved difficult in short order. First goods from the town stores, then people began to take notice that their personal valuables were vanishing as well, dramatically reducing their ability to barter. Despite the best efforts of the guards and their captain, none of the missing goods could be found anywhere within the town. No one had them. No thieves had been seen. It was as if a ghost had begun haunting them, intent on bleeding the good folk dry bit by agonizing bit. This might have gone on until Integrity ran dry, if not for the indignation and determination of Faith.

She embarked on a personal journey, a quest to discover the truth about what was plaguing their fair town. Faith spoke to neighbors, she spoke to victims, she spoke to officials. The deeper she dug, the more she found that didn't add up. There were never any signs of break ins. Never any cries of alarm until the morning light. No patrols ever found anyone trying to get in or out, meaning that the thieves had some secret way in or out, or were being helped. Try as she might, there was nothing to be found that would point her in the right direction.

Nothing until the day someone handed her a letter, asking her to give it to the captain of the guard. It had a strange, rolling weight to it, like that of a coin inside. Wasn't unusual in and of itself, but by happenstance, the light managed to slip through to reflect off the brightest coin she'd ever seen. A piece of platinum. Far more than anyone in Integrity had ever seen. Well, to say it raised her suspicions would be an understatement. Something was up, she was sure of it. Once she found a private moment, she opened the letter, planning to apologize later if need be. Turns out, she didn't need to. The letter confirmed fears she hadn't even considered. The captain was the culprit. The shiny coin his payment in exchange for sneaking bandits in and keeping the guards away. It all made sense, of course, who else could pull all that off?

So, as always when she had a problem to solve, she confronted it head on. Faith confronted him, using the letter as proof of his wrong doing. Despite his sins laid bare, her threats to reveal the crimes to the town as a whole, the man seemed calm. Frightfully so. It simply went unnoticed beyond her righteous indignation. This was, in fact, all part of his plan. Once Faith started poking around, it was only a matter of time before he would be caught, so he planned for it. Planned for her.

Faith never had a chance to reveal the truth, even staged as it was. The captain had another letter already made up, but instead of implicating him, it was her that gave these criminals access. Her that kept the guards at bay. And what better cover up than to investigate herself, searching for any loose threads? The only missing piece was the payment. The platinum. With such an admittance in hand, the captain called Faith to his office to discuss things. When presented with her crimes, she became unruly, throwing accusations of bribery and misconduct. Got out of hand.

Or, that's the story Integrity was told, anyway.

With the town's best arbiter being the one standing trial, the captain acted as judge, jury… and executioner. For treason against Integrity, Faith was sentenced to death. Her resistance to arrest led to her falling off of her horse as it ran, dragged by the ropes that connected them much longer than anyone could say through the bumpy paths among the trees around the town.

That's the story that was told, at least.

The captain only stopped his hard ride once her golden hair had been dyed crimson with her own blood. Eyes too swollen to open anymore. Breathing out red as much as air. When all was said and done, she couldn't even form the words required to tell him how much she hated him. Couldn't lift a hand to show him her thoughts. Couldn't swallow her own teeth to cry out. All she could think about was how she had been betrayed. How justice had failed that day. How her friends, family, neighbors would continue suffering the touch of phantom thieves without knowing who caused their anguish.

And that was the last thought she had.

[kariachi]

Fic! I realized that this au I threw out a bit ago would hit even harder in an 'Argit is a Tennyson' au so, I had to combine them, alongside a few other aus because I'm god here.

There is A Lot going on all at once for the cousins.

~~

“You want the annoying news, the more annoying news, the bad news, or the worse news?” Somehow, this immediately topped the list of disconcerting things Ben had said to her, and with the way their lives had gone in the past several years that was a high bar. She was forced to put a bookmark in her textbook and head out into the hall.

“Okay,” she said as soon as she was alone, “just give it to me in order.”

“We have another cousin.” Alright, that one was annoying news. Now shocking anymore, not since they’d gotten old enough to learn about their grandpa’s exploits. Fuck, Uncle Manny and his family were only part of the family because he’d hunted down her dad in search of a connection.

“Does it not end,” she groaned into the phone, rolling her eyes.

“Apparently not. He’s Erinaen and according to Rook they tend to have litters so, probably one of a lot we don’t know about.” Gwendolyn groaned again. “Which is where the more annoying news comes in- he lives in Geilla Bohln, has for years, and Grandpa’s known he was out here. All the higher ups knew he was out here, apparently.”

“Seriously?!” That was taking it a bit far. At least Uncle Manny lived in the Midwest, but to have a relative less than an hour away and Grandpa still keeping it all a secret- Fuck, it wasn’t even like he had the ‘alien’ thing (and she was going to have to look up what an 'Erinaen' was now, joy) as a good excuse, not when they all knew they were hybrids now, and the masquerade had dropped over a year ago. But then, what was their family made of if not secrets. “And this isn’t the bad news?”

“Are you surprised?” No, not really, just… She heaved a sigh. “So, there’s a good side to all this- you know how the Incursean Invasion just got fucking steamrolled by the folks out there? Apparently, a big part of that was him, so hero stuff runs in the family apparently.” Joy. “Problem is, he’s used that to get political office and now I’m banned from Geilla Bohln.”

Gwendolyn froze. Pulled back her phone to stare at it. Brought it back to her ear.

“What?”

“Yeah.” You could hear the forced grin in Ben’s voice. “Plumbers got all sorts of official paperwork saying I’m not allowed in the town and they’re on thin ice. So Patellidae goes ‘they’re your grandchildren, you handle this’ to Grandpa, suddenly the two of us and Rook are heading to this guy’s office to try to make him see reason.”

“He wouldn’t see reason, I take it.” Clearly got that from Granny Rita’s side of the family.

“He had a powerpoint presentation ready with every reason why I am not allowed to go heroing around ‘his colony’ any longer.” Okay, at least he was organized. She’d thought that came from her mom’s side of the family. But then maybe it came from his non-Tennyson side too.

“So, what happens if you do anyway? I mean, I doubt the Plumbers are going to stop you, and your fans can’t be happy with this.” Ben barked a humorless laugh.

“Oh, that’s where it gets fun,” he said through gritted teeth. “He’s got Kevin 11 on his payroll. Introduced him as his. The guy was stood to the side during the whole meeting, watching like we might cause trouble.”

That, more than anything, was enough to knock the air out of her lungs. Kevin fucking 11, the guy who had tried to murder them way back when? She didn’t know whether it was worse that he lived so close or that he was working for, and potentially influencing, a relative. It would certainly explain Ben getting banned from the town…

“That is an actual nightmare,” she said before any more cohesive thoughts could form in her head.

“Yeah, it is. I spent the whole time half-ready to go for the Omnitrix, and I don’t think it made a good impression.”

“Well, what can he expect when he’s got a known killer stood in the corner?” Running a hand through her hair, she wracked her brain for a way to fix this and found nothing that didn’t involve fighting Kevin again. And she’d thought her relationship with Sunny was bad, this was going to be a whole new branch of antagonism.

“I can’t even tell anybody else,” Ben lamented on the other end of the line, and it hit her with a sourness in her chest he was right. “I mean, can you picture my mom? She’d want to invite him over for dinner so we can all ‘reconcile’ or some shit…” She could picture it, and the idea of letting anybody, even a relative, that associated with Kevin 11 that close to one of the civilians in the family sat wrong in her gut. But if they said anything, that was exactly what would happen. Their only choices were to risk it, or to keep another of their grandpa’s million self-serving secrets… With another groan, longer, more aching, she leaned back against the door to her dorm.

Fuck her life to shit.

[lilflowerpot]

I'm like a bloodhound that seeks worldbuilding fuel and worldbuilding fuel only— one time I was like “...the fuck is a matriarch tree” and then hours later came back out the other end, head buzzing with mycorrhizal fungi and plants that apparently have eyes. Or I'd sink so many hours just listening to YouTube videos about various mythologies (OSP in particular is a favourite haunt of mine)— I just can't help it. No wonder I zeroed in on you from the first post I saw, lol. I still can't remember what that post was about but eh.

I commend you so much for being so meticulous with the science stuff despite it not being your forte! I try sometimes but... I get lost in all the words and it's hard to focus because my brain would much rather be munching on history or something. How do you get yourself to focus??

I absolutely relate to you about thinking too much about your AU and fleshing it out a lot, I think it's impossible to be normal about your passion projects! That's just how creators are.

Fun fact, I was also the person who sent in the ask about whether the Archivist can also be the Imperial Consort! I'm gonna have a field day with LB, I can tell.

A question for you, what would be the procedure if a Galra were to pass away faraway from home in space, faraway from a planet, would their remains be preserved to be brought home and then the traditional procedures can happen? Or would the act of holding off a Galra's reunion with Sa by holding off the funeral be considered rude? Daibazaal (the home planet of the Galra) is gone, right? What are the current practices for the folk that live on the ships?

And oho, a new culture/science post coming up??? 👀👀👀👀👀 I'll definitely be looking forward to that!

— I probably need a signature of some kind, don't I

[1][2]

anon this is SUCH a mood actually

As to how I get myself to focus, I'm truly flattered that you think I have control over such a thing, but the truth of the matter is I just chase the intense serotonin high of whatever task is presently delivering it until that is no longer the case, and then I move on to the Next Fascinating Thing......... y'know, like a neurotypical person.

((this is a good part of the reason why some asks remain unanswered for a greater period of time than others, because I physically cannot force myself to craft a proper response to anything until my horrible little goblin brain deems it shiny enough))

The archivist/consort post was also you???? Damn, okay, you've really been single-handedly fueling my worldbuilding as of late haven't you asdvsvcdghsvdfk your contributions are all very much appreciated ♡

So as I said in my post on galra funeral rites, the only phenotype that culturally favours burials over cremation are the Dox, due to their major religion—Eiyyka’an—dictating that just as the jungles in which they historically made their home provided for their people in life, so should they, in exchange, provide for those jungles in death. Of course, Daibazaal is no more and the Empire extends far beyond the confines of a single planet besides, but the ultimate site wherein their body will be laid to rest is usually one of three places. The most traditional is Feyiv, as for the modern galra this has been their official homeworld for (according to my calculations regarding galra lifespans) over sixty generations, and this choice is particularly popular for aristocratic families who boast a personal plot of land that has been cultivated with the flesh of their ancestors; the most common is whichever alternative imperial planet they personally grew up on, as that would be considered the planet that they predominantly owe their flesh to as the place that sustained them in life; the least common (but not unheard of) option is one only really taken by those who spent more time in artificial colonies than not, which is to be buried in the greenhouse of said artificial colony to provide nutrients for the fresh produce.

This last one, as I'm sure you can imagine, is controversial in some circles—particularly for the Jaev who believe that the body must be delivered to Sa's embrace whole for the deceased to have any chance of triumphing in what is considered to be their final battle, thereby proving themselves as worthy of being revived as one of Her chosen—so it is of course required for Imperial colonies to make note of whether any given food (be that plant or animal) has been cultivated on galra burial sites.

This brings us neatly on to the Jaevaji Faith as the major Aalk religion, the followers of which embalm their dead by slathering them with a special clay that is then engraved with the deceased's greatest deeds, before traditionally lowering them into one of Daibazaal's great lakes of magma. Again, with Daibazaal being long gone, one could use any volcano in an Imperial territory of their choosing, usually one with some significance or tie to the family, and though this may draw out the death rites of a given individual depending on how far away they are from one of these locations, the embalming process (with a little help from a cryopod if required) does an excellent job of preserving the body for as long as is necessary. The most popular alternative, however, is simply launching the prepared body directly into the closest star, as while it's less traditional, the general feeling is that if their ancestors had this option available to them, they would have thoroughly endorsed it.

Finally, the most widespread method of disposing of the dead as popularised by both the Byal & Kyx: cremation. All imperial territories, artificial or otherwise, will have a crematorium in the vicinity—the profession itself is a highly respectable one—though these can vary from the more traditional funeral pyre, to that with which humanity is more familiar. After the body is reduced to ash, where the family chooses to disperse them is incredibly personal, and while many choose to return to Feyiv, or another Imperial planet if they deem that their home, it is equally common to simply scatter their loved one's remains out amongst the stars.

[kinosternon]

20 Questions

Got tagged by @marezelle (like a month ago, whoops) and this looks fun, so I'm gonna try it!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Officially 37, unofficially 57-ish (I have a lot on anon right now, plus some semi-ancient FFN stuff posted under a pseud)

2. What’s your total AO3 words count?

Apparently, 644,538.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Kind of a lot? One "it's complicated" fandom which I tend to stay on anon for, especially lately; a fair bit for a very specific corner of Free!, also for Natsume's Book of Friends. Voltron's an ex-fandom but I had fun with it right when it started; there's a handful of other anime I've cycled through. I've got an Undertale longfic I'd really like to get back to one of these days. Lately, a whole bunch of stuff for the 9 Worlds series by Victoria Goddard, which is both amazing in itself and also has my favorite fan community to date.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Names Gone Before—my one and only Adventure Zone fic, and a oneshot, but apparently it was a hit lol

Chasing Silver, Chasing Gold—my beautiful monstrosity of a love letter to the characters introduced in the third season of Free!, and which came out too late for most of the English-speaking fandom to notice it very much (this goes for the show itself and also the timing of my publishing🥲). I am so grateful that so many people have managed to find it regardless!

Equivalence—aforementioned Undertale longfic. I really want to finish it one of these days, but I know what's coming in the last arc and it intimidates me. XP

Omimai—of all my Natsume fics, I'll admit I wouldn't have figured this to be the top one. But I guess Natori is a fan favorite, and I do appreciate that it's very solidly a gen fic that gets a lot of love regardless.

Like trust falls from towers—aforementioned s1-era Voltron fic. It was an experiment to get me posting more, I had fun with it while it lasted, and I got some truly wonderful comments and support from folks reading along while I was working on it. I still go back and reread it sometimes, and I think it was pretty good.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I always try to! I want to show appreciation and make sure people know that going to the effort it takes to write a comment means a great deal to me.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

That's a tough one. Probably Pistachio Christmas Tree, as it's a snapshot of a really rough time in the POV character's life and doesn't really show any signs of things getting better for him anytime soon. (All my angsty endings come from canon compliance, lol)

OH. Or Chasing Fingerprints, which is a Nabari no Ou AU oneshot that I wrote back in high school. I wrote it under some weird constraints and don't really like it all that much, but the ending is ambiguous and deeply angsty.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

That is also weirdly difficult to say! Snapshots for Natsume, Slow your breath down (just take it slow) for Victoria Goddard's novel Plum Duff, and turning in your hand for At the Feet of the Sun (also by Goddard). Two of those three are wintertime fluff; I enjoy that subgenre a whole lot.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No. I've occasionally had some slightly weird interactions, but overall I'd say even those were well and enthusiastically meant.

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Occasionally, and I'm not sure what kind it'd count as. Insecure, possibly? (me or the characters, either-or XP)

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Only two so far! The weirder one was my first-ever fic, where I technically crossed over Twilight with both old!Who and new!Who. Then there's Clowder, which crossed over two of Yuhki Kamatani's manga from pretty different eras and genres and which I'm pretty darned proud of.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge, no.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I had someone ask once, a while back, but at the moment I don't remember which fic it was, or if I ended up hearing how it went.

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

...If adding to a bredlik compilation counts, then yes? And I've also done a fair bit of writing to requested prompts for gift exchanges and the like, which isn't the same thing as cowriting but which feels at least a little bit similar.

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

Oh man, how can I choose? 😭 At the top this has to be a tie between Miharu & Yoite (Nabari no Ou, QPR extraordinaire) and Yukito/Touya (Cardcaptor Sakura, TRC, etc). But also Merthur was my first ship-ship. HiyoIku (Free!) for writeability and general fucked-up-ness, but I'm not always 100% sure I ship it, tragically. Natsume and Tanuma for the same uncertainty minus about 90% of the toxicity, whee.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I'm not going to say "doubt," but uh. A couple of "it's complicated" fandom pieces (especially the ones I originally meant to be series) and also the Undertale longfic. Also some 9 Worlds WIPs, but I haven't started publishing those ones yet, either.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Characterization is a big one—it matters a lot to me and also I've been complimented on it. Fic is my love letter to canon and so I tend to focus on what I love about canon the most, which is almost always the characters' interiority and/or relationship dynamics. I also think I'm usually fairly good at matching the tone of the original, though admittedly the translation aspect of anime stuff gives me a bit of leeway there.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Logistics. I will forget who I put in a room over a certain number of characters, and explaining how people get to and from things (or even appear in a scene) is a terrible chore. (And that's just people—my track record for items, especially furniture, is even worse.) I suspect that my overall pacing also suffers from this because coming up for practical reasons for scenes to start can be difficult.

Also scene transitions, because I write things out of order. :B

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I probably won't, for several reasons. For one, I feel like without a dedicated beta, my errors would be immersion-breaking for anyone with high enough Japanese proficiency. Also, on the other side of things, presumably most of my readers wouldn't be able to make the jump from English into Japanese (which is the only other language I'm remotely able to write in), so accessibility would be an issue. That said, I've occasionally tried to factor in what I know about Japanese and "translate" (at least a bit) to adjust how I write dialogue, when writing fics based on anime.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Doctor Who/Twilight, lol. (I cared a lot about them both, okay? Also I thought trying to mash up their canonical vampire mythologies would be funny! And I was definitely right about at least one of those things.)

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

Oh this is also mean. It's gotta be Chasing Silver, Chasing Gold though. It kicked my ass but I also put my heart and soul into it, and its length, completion, and the responses I've gotten to it have all combined to profoundly affect how I see myself as a writer. (Which may sound a little suspect, but the thing is, I spent years massively looking up to people who could write longfic, most of all to people that could do so and finish. It meant so so much to be able to join those ranks myself, whether or not I manage to do it again someday.) It genuinely feels like one of the most significant things I've done with my life, and it's something I think I'll always be proud of myself for managing to write through to the end.

Annnd done! I'm gonna tag @octopus--writer just for fun ;)