#also the whole 'your piece could burst in the kiln!!!!!' is true but it just goes to show that they're not DRYING THE PIECES OUT PROPERLY

[engagemythrusters]

don't get me wrong: the great pottery throwdown is one of my favourite shows ever. HOWEVER it is absolutely a show for non-ceramicists.

[hollers-and-holmes]

15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20 for the writing asks :D

A stack of responses, all delayed! (I’m feeling the need to go back through your blog and figure out if there are any of these you DIDN’T answer so I can pounce on you with them)

15. What do you consider success in writing?

Right now for me success would look like being able to consistently produce content, and to execute a longer-form idea and have a polished, completed novel-length piece (and then start over and do it again with a new idea, and again after that). I feel like I currently have a nice little bucket of screws and bolts and various whirlibobs and thingamgigs and some tools in my toolbelt, and I can tinker together a fairly decent little robot dinosaur. But I would really really like to be able to tinker together a whole spaceship with warp speed and lazer canons.

16. If your writing had a colour palette, what would it be?

Currently? Sort of muddy tintype post-medieval-apocalypse grunge with the occasional steampunk patina. Except steampunk isn’t the right word. I haven’t thought up a good word for whatever it is we’ve cooked up. But it tends to be a bit bleak, with hopefully the occasional burst of light through the clouds.

17. If you had to continue/create a sequel to an old piece of writing, what would you pick?

I wrote a longish thing called Valiant under my other pseud that I’ve had the most requests for followup on, so probably that. It ended a bit abruptly and on something of a cliffie.

18. What’s on your writing bucket list?

I would really love to be able to write a give-you-whiplash plot twist that has been meticulously and elegantly set up all throughout the body of the novel. But I’m not sure if my mind is orderly enough for that 😆 Overgrown rose-garden style storytelling seems to be more my MO these days. Nothing tied up too neatly. I would need a really good proofreader or three to make it work.

19. If you could have a wish related to your writing come true, what would it be? (and don’t use this question to put yourself down!

Honestly, I would love to just have the mental clarity/discipline to work very hard and diligently through the chunks of time I carve out to write, without getting distracted or overthinking it or whatever. Similar to number 15. Just to be able to consistently churn out material.

That, and only once I accomplished that, maybe a chance to go through the Camperdown Writer’s Kiln program….

20. Which do you prefer—drafting or revising?

Revising is easier for me in a sense, but only if it’s spit-and-polish late-draft style. Actual remodel-the-entire-West-Wing serious structural revising tends to stagnate me badly. So maybe drafting? But revising is also far easier to do in the midst of many interruptions. I think I would have said drafting, easily, back when my days were ordered to my own leisure and I had no one to serve but myself. Now it feels so wonderful just to have sand in the sandbox that revising it feels like a leisure itself. I just need to get better at shoveling sand and not worrying too much about quality, and then both would probably become more enjoyable.

Thank you for the asks my friend!!

[lokiarsene]

More PQ2 liveblog thoughts–this time with no salt!

Ryuji acknowledging that what Kamoshida did wasn’t just physical abuse, and that what he put Ann through was even worse than that, was really refreshing to see, especially since the base game did very little to actually show Ryuji understand and acknowledge and care about Ann’s feelings and what she suffered. Any hope of development he had once Kamoshida was apprehended just went out the window, so kudos, PQ2.

Akechi telling Ryuji and Ann, who are particularly vocal about how much they hate Kamoshida (with good reason!) that he understands how they feel is…. painful. Very painful. Especially since what set them off is how absurd it is to think of a whole city built around the idea that Kamoshida is a hero. Of course Akechi would understand how that feels: the entire country of Japan thinks his piece of shit father is a good man.

I painted a tile red by accident, and Ann chimed in by saying it was a nice color. Of COURSE she’d like the color red. ;_;

I can’t believe I forgot this, but the contrast of Akechi having Bless/Light skills, and Joker having Curse/Dark? I love it. I love it a LOT. To me this is the most clear sign that Akechi really did have the capacity for goodness in him, that if he hadn’t been mistreated and deprived, he’d be the true hero his childhood self clearly wished he could be (see also: Robin Hood). And with that line of thinking, I find it equally fascinating that Ren’s innate talent is Curse/Dark.

I don’t pay much attention to the P5 fandom, but from what little I’ve glimpsed, people seem to have this misconception that Ren is some uwu cinnamon roll, when this is so damn far from the truth I really wonder if these people like,,, actually,,, paid attention to the game they were playing. Ren’s ultimate persona is Satanael. It shoots the Demiurge in the fucking face. His whole shtick is a gentleman rebel intent on purging corruption and impurity from society, and he does this while being affiliated with Dark himself. I think a lot of people, even some Akeshu shippers, may overlook Ren’s own capacity for darkness and controlled viciousness in the name of justice. People who evade the law must be dragged screaming back to the rule of law. There’s a reason why his dynamic with Akechi is as compelling as it is, and it’s because they are absolute equals, cordial rivals with similar powers, motivations, and yes, even inclinations.

I’m just saying, if people are able to see Akechi’s potential for being different/better than what he was, then the same can be said for Ren in the reverse. And by some accounts he really is quite questionable, though I’ve previously discussed the moral ambiguity of forcing a conscience onto the minds/hearts of people instead of allowing them to go to it willingly. Personally I stand with Akechi on the matter–FORCING change on someone, no matter how corrupt they are, is a problem unto itself. But I also agree with Akechi in that some people are so corrupt they just need a good killin’ though, so… y'know. Grain of salt and all.

All-Out Attacks in this are ALSO adorable. God I’m enjoying the look/style of this so much more than I did Q1, weirdly enough.

Boy I did not in any way at all miss Justine and… what’s the other one. Christine? Something? Oh no, it’s Caroline. Whatever. I didn’t miss them, and they are by far the lamest of the Velvet Room attendants. Anyone have any ideas as to why Ren’s VR attendants would be children? Because as far as I know in the other games, except for 2, the VR attendants were some reflection of the Wild Card user themselves. The VR attendant was either someone who would be their peer, someone they could learn from, or, with Yu and Margaret, a guiding figure, stern but helpful. And then Marie showed up so… whatever, I guess. I guess Yu learned how to listen to terrible poetry from a tsundere goth or something? Not sure.

I haven’t quite figured out how/why Justine and Caroline–and then Lavenza–can in any way relate to Ren, and part of me wants to say they were actually meant to be Akechi’s VR attendants if he were a true Wild Card user. Children with two different personalities with a strong sense of justice that doesn’t yield no matter what? That fits Akechi quite well. Those attendants then merging into a gentle but determined, soft-spoken girl who only wishes to find the truth and reveal it? That fits Akechi too. It reflects a gentleness/softness, a purity that he lost too soon.

When I put it that way, I can kinda see how they would fit with Ren, who is also seeking the truth because of his muddled memories (which is so convoluted, oh my god, don’t get me started), but they make so much more sense if I think of them as leftovers that were meant to go to Akechi first. But since Akechi isn’t a Wild Card user…. womp womp.

Mona’s outburst that Ryuji should respect Justine and Caroline, then backpedaling to say no, he doesn’t know them, but [respecting them] “just feels right” is………….. really interesting. He says they have something “unwavering” within them, and when they look at him, he gets the feeling he just has to listen to them–“there’s something deep in my core, this feeling that screams ‘I have to do what they say!’ wells up inside me.” IN TER EST ING.

And FINALLY your whole crew can join you in the Velvet Room! Takes me back to P2 days.

Akechi: “Still, two Personas at the same time? I’m impressed. My hat’s off to you, Ren.” FDJSKLFDSLK AKECHI YOU BRILLIANT MOTHERFUCKER

!!!

AND NOW MY BUDDIES CAN HAVE MULTIPLE PERSONA

FUCK YEAH FUN TIME

And Justine/Caroline speculate that the power of the Wild Card is changing to adapt, since “another with the power of the wild card is here as well.” I’m guessing that refers to the P3 or P4 protag?

After playing other JRPGs, I realized something about the Persona series that stands out and that I really enjoy: how talkative your teammates are. They encourage you, cheer you on, compliment you for an attack, express fear if you’re hurt; they thank you for the help you give them, they comment on how much health or SP they lose–it all feels that much more engaging and exciting.  Plus it’s a small but really special way to show off their personalities and just how they work together as a team.

OH MY GOD

MY GAL MINAKO MAKING THE BEST FUCKING ENTRANCE

THAT’S MY GAL DSJKLAFJSDKL LET ME PUT HER IN MY PARTY DFJSKLFDaaa AND THE BATTLE MUSIC CHANGES TO P3-STYLED MUSIC WHEN SHE’S HERE JKFDSAJKLFSDAJFLSDJFKLSD OH MY GOD I WANT TO CRY

This is the kinda fanservice I live for, idc. The kind of fanservice that is fun and harmless, that just makes the story exciting. Because who doesn’t love a good crossover?

Oh my god hearing the P3 music again makes me want to tear up. Y'all don’t know how special P3 is to me ;_; It means so… so so so much. And seeing her again, and hearing this music, just fills my heart with so much painjoy that I want to cry.

I GET TO NAME HER? DFJSLAKFDSKL I JUST BURST INTO TEARS. I KNOW THIS IS RIDICULOUS BTIA FKJDSL SHE’S JSUT SO SPECIAL AND!! ATLUS IS FINALLY ACKNOWLEDGING HER!!!a

As a side note, I’m really touched to see Akechi interacting with others that aren’t in the PT. He is genuinely kind to them–a pleasant boy indeed.

“I watch the news pretty regularly, too.” Considering how many times you can check the TV in the dorm in P3, and that SEES would keep an eye on the Apathy Syndrome cases, she’s not lying. Good on Atlus for putting that in there.

Watching Minako bond with Futaba over headphones, and be so kind and friendly, just… warms my heart. THAT’S the P3 protag I know and love.

//THE POPCORN MAKER IS A TRANSPOSITION KILN, LIKE FROM DARK SOULS 3 FADSJKLFDS// THIS IS THE GREATEST GAME EVER MADE

Justine and Caroline confirm that the other Wild Card user they sensed was Minako, which I suppose makes it canon (sorta?) that Akechi is not a Wild Card user, and that his two Persona are likely a special case, caused by the severe split in his motives and in his heart thanks to Shido.

Persona fusion in this is really cute! Justine and Caroline slowly merge the film, do a dance, and butterfly wings sprout from their backs!

“But nothing’s certain in this world, and this problem isn’t going to solve itself.” I FUCKING LOVE YOU, MINAKO.

Watching Futaba struggle but still go through with trying to reach out to Hikari, to explain how difficult it was for her to socialize and share her time with others, also makes me look at P5 in a nicer light. I really did think Futaba had one of the better S-Links, it’s just that pedophilia bullshit that was a GIANT RED FLAG distracting me from the rest of it. If her S-Link had something like this instead–Futaba finds a girl who is like her, and wants to help her since she understands exactly how she feels, but she wants Ren’s help/advice with it–I would have been much happier.

YOU CAN PUT MINAKO IN YOUR PARTY OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Her Japanese voice is adorable by the way–so bright and friendly and warm.

[pain-somnia]

Can I Be Yours? [3/?]

Rating: M

Summary: In which one of our heroines is very distracted

first | previous | next

Chapter Three: Jumbo Slices and Metro Fares

As much as Satsuki enjoyed painting and welding, her favorite thing to do was lampwork. She found it relaxing to mold glass into the intricate sculptures she designed. To use fire to bring her ideas to life.

“A fairy?” One of the students observing her asked. She gave him a slight nod, keeping her eyes focused on her heated glass rods.

Satsuki didn't work with assistants but occasionally some of the apprentices would come observe her at work. Because she was mainly a private artist and worked on the commissioned pieces at Glass & Iron, she worked on pieces that were more enjoyable to observe being created.

It was good learning experience. The apprentices would learn new techniques they wouldn't typically use for the stuff they would make for Glass & Iron. At least not for a long, long time.

“Did they ask for a pink haired fairy?”

Satsuki blinked rapidly, trying to process what the apprentice had said. Considering how focused she was she couldn't believe that she had used the pink glass rod for the petal dress on the hair of her fairy sculpture. The original plan was all clear glass with the only color being on the dress and wings.

“It looks nice. Prettier. More girly?”

Satsuki raised a brow at the boy. He flushed red and stammered out an apology.

Everyone knew she was sensitive about the fact that she was one of the only women that worked at Glass & Iron. One of them worked in welding and the other woman occasionally assisted on large commission pieces but mostly worked on making the colored glass they used in the shop.

There once was a rumor that Satsuki got the better jobs because she was sleeping with Kakashi. It had infuriated the other women. It was insulting. Satsuki mostly found it annoying.

She didn't care what people said about her personally. Her skill spoke for itself and the men in the shop were just jealous that they weren't as talented.

It also didn't really affect her that people thought she was sleeping with her old teacher. She knew it wasn’t true and so did Rin, Kakashi’s wife. It only irritated her when Kakashi caught wind of it and burst out laughing. He patted her shoulder and sighed out the rest of his laugh.

“Are you even interested in men?”

Satsuki prepared to seal her fairy by running it in the kiln. From what her client had told her of her daughter she knew that the pink hair would be a nice surprise.

“Are you done for the day? Want to go grab a bite?”

Satsuki paused in the middle of cleaning up her work area and noticed the younger man still hanging around. There was a blush dusting his cheeks and she groaned inwardly. She had assumed that his attention was purely professional. It wouldn’t be the first time she had caught the eye of one of the apprentices. At her age it wasn’t new anymore that she attracted people with her looks but it didn’t make it any less unwanted.

“Are you even interested in men?”

Satsuki couldn’t really say she wasn’t interested in men. She could at this moment to deter the hopeful apprentice but it wouldn’t be entirely truthful.

She just never really thought about them. It was the same with women. It was odd how high her libido was considering she wasn’t attracted to either gender sexually. Usually whenever she was in the mood she didn’t really know where to turn to.

Like being hungry and opening the door of a full refrigerator and finding nothing to eat, her older cousin Shisui had joked once.

Satsuki avoided relationships because she wanted to avoid sex. Yes she had a high libido, but she couldn’t just sleep with someone and she knew it could cause a strain in a relationship with someone. There wasn’t a guarantee that she would engage in a sexual relationship with a person just because she entered a romantic relationship with them. She had never felt comfortable enough.

Correction: she never felt comfortable before.

There was comfort the other night apparently, Satsuki thought dryly.

When Satsuki calmed down from her─not so─minor moment of panic she had curled up on her side under her kitchen table and looked back on the events of that night that she could remember.

She remembered:

Pretending she didn’t already know Sakura Haruno’s name.

Drinking whiskey like it wasn’t god awful without Coke, feeling like she had something to prove to pretty green eyes and a pleasant smile.

Soft fingers down her bikini bottoms and really dirty words falling from a cute mouth.

Satsuki had gotten drunk around rather friendly people before. Sometimes she wondered if Kiba even knew what he was humping when he drank. But she never fucked anyone that wasn’t herself while inebriated.

But apparently she got well acquainted with Sakura who had previously just been a pink haired stranger.

A stranger who had at some point had her face between Satsuki's thighs.

The more Satsuki tried to will more memories all she could imagine were a pair of green eyes shimmering with mischief and a saucy grin before said grinning mouth lowered to give long teasing licks, humming in delight as a small pink tongue added pressure with each stroke.

Satsuki felt heat crawling down her face to her neck. She didn't want to analyze the fact she was probably fantasizing more than recalling memories.

“I'm going home,” she announced to no one in particular, nodding to herself and with her hands on her hips.

She grabbed her canvas one shoulder sling backpack and her utility jacket and left her studio. She shut the door and locked it preparing to stay out of Glass & Iron until her head was cleared of any intrusive thoughts.

“Okay…?” The apprentice stared dumbfounded through the studio’s windows as Satsuki just left, completely forgetting he was in the room. . .

Satsuki glared at the strip of paper in her hand with its cutesy fox design. No matter how adorable, the single day fare card was no replacement for her metro card.

She had filled her card with twenty dollars before she lost it and owning the pass gave her discounted trips. Which she forgot about when she bought the ticket. Satsuki hadn't put enough money on it and couldn't leave through the exit stall.

Groaning, Satsuki dragged her feet to the insufficient funds machine so she could put more money on her ticket to pay off her fare.

Satsuki would have reported her card missing if it weren't for the fact that she had procrastinated registering her card and couldn't get a replacement with the funds she had added. She had a problem with procrastination. Satsuki could make orders and complete them ahead of schedule, her focus intense on her projects, but everything else fell through the cracks.

As she approached the surface she debated whether she should finally go grocery shopping or order takeout again. As the escalator ride was approaching its end she decided that she wanted to go to Jumbo Slice. Her mouth watered thinking about the cheese and the tomato sauce. A pizza slice bigger than her face would be the perfect end to her day.

After she purchased her slice she rolled it into a burrito shape and wrapped it in the foil they served it in to protect her hands from getting sauce all over them. She didn't mind the heat.

Munching on her pizza burrito she thought back on Sakura. It was an intrusive thought. Satsuki was meant to try and forget her but she couldn't help but picture Sakura in her pretty, neat clothes grabbing a greasy slice of pizza in the middle of the night.

Satsuki rolled her eyes and shook her head of the image. It was highly unlikely to happen. Sure it would make sense that someone like her with her busy schedule would stop for a quick bite to eat but that didn't seem like Sakura.

Satsuki felt safe making that assumption remembering an inebriated Sakura talking about her meal prepping and how she found mason jar salads to be super cute.

Satsuki snorted. Once that girl started rambling it seemed like she would never stop. She just flowed from one topic to the other taking up most of the conversation, something Satsuki was grateful for.

Satsuki was awkward and never knew what to say. Whole conversations could go by without her saying anything just for lack of knowing how to jump into the conversation properly.

It was something her older brother Itachi never had a problem with but apparently didn't get carried on to her. Itachi was aloof when he was a lot younger, unable to get along with kids his own age. He grew out of it as he got older and was actually quite charming.

Satsuki was not. The hardest part of her apprenticeship with Kakashi wasn't learning any techniques but learning how to speak to clients. She appeared aloof to many people but it was more anxiety of having to be around others than her being cold and distant.

She was a happy and friendly child according to her family. She was just horribly shy with strangers. Satsuki spent most of her youth hiding behind Itachi or her mother's leg.

Which may explain why her first instinct was to bolt when she noticed she was naked in bed with an equally as naked Sakura.

Not equally as naked. Didn't look anywhere the same when they were naked. Sakura was softer. Curvier. With a much nicer--

Satsuki choked on a bite of pizza.

What a great time to start noticing stuff like that.

Satsuki finally reached her apartment and punched in her code to buzz into the building. One of the first things her father insisted on when she moved out was an apartment with good security. He said he was even willing to help with rent if it meant she would be properly secure.

Satsuki refused the offer. She didn't need a doorman or a security guard at night. Especially not with all the training she had gotten growing up from her father who was a combat specialist.

God, she was glad to be in her own apartment, her own place where her father wasn't around to make her workout all of the time. She hated exercise so much. She preferred sketching with her mother over running miles and weight training.

“Hey Artemis.” Satsuki greeted her cat. Artemis rolled on his back and let out a big yawn. “Bet that's all you did today.”

Satsuki shuffled into her kitchen and put her kettle on the stove. Artemis followed at her heels, meowing loudly. He rubbed against her ankles when she stood in front of the cabinet that housed Artemis’ wet food cans and treats.

“A diet is a diet Artie.”

Satsuki let her tea leaves steep longer than necessary, making it strong and bitter. She poured her tea into a glass mug and carried it over to her balcony. She cringed as she took a seat, eyeing the way her potted forsythia was withering away, the yellow petals now brown and littering the concrete. Satsuki told Yamanaka that she wasn’t good with plants but she wouldn’t hear any of it and insisted Satsuki needed something other than her succulents to brighten up her little deck.

Yamanaka’s friends with Sakura…

Satsuki stared blankly into space. It was starting to get ridiculous how easily her mind drifted in her direction. She didn't want to think about her. Thinking about her made her think about how she wasn't suited for relationships and how she sort-of-kind-of wanted to be in one but there was no hope for someone like her.

Satsuki scowled and drained the rest of her tea.

I'm going to go to sleep and that's the last time I think of a pink haired cutie.

Satsuki pinched the bridge of her nose and muttered a string of curses. It was going to be a tough task. . .

Satsuki was ready to bang her head against something. How did she lose her fare ticket? She was so sure she had put it in her wallet.

What's worse is that she put the exact amount she was going to need and hadn't made any mistakes in the total fare.

Sighing, Satsuki dragged her feet to the fare card dispenser, ready to press the buttons more aggressively than necessary to purchase a new ticket.

Before she could pay for the card there was a breathy voice trying to catch her attention.

“Excuse me?”

Satsuki shut her eyes tight and turned around slowly. She opened up her eyes and almost screamed when she saw that Sakura was standing there holding out a metro pass outstretched in one of her pretty manicured hands.

“I think this belongs to you.”

Satsuki was sure there was a God of some sort and that they hated her.