#also wanted to practice body comp

[oorangesoda]

More Shane to quench the thirst 😮‍💨

You cannot convince me this man isn’t exclusively a sweat pants wearer, sorry I don’t make the rules :/

[ladytamayolover]

‘ᴍʏ ᴅᴀʀʟɪɴɢ’

An innocent little fluff of fem!readerxKyojuro Rengoku.

premise: They are cute parents with cute kids

“Kyojuro!” You basically screams, running over to your husband. “I thought you would be gone forever.” You cupped his face as he held her close to his chest.

“How is my lovely wife? And our lovely children?” He says, as he ignores the deep cut on his arm. He had just gone in his last mission, ever, after two children, that’s what it took to get this passionate man to retire. He wanted to do so sooner then later, but slayers have had a downfall in numbers recently, but he finally decided he deserved it.

“Natsumi, stop pulling your fathers uniform, it’s going to rip.” You says gently. Your daughter, Natsumi, was pulling at her fathers outfit attempting to get his attention. Natsumi looked just like you, except had Kyojuros eyes. Eyes softening, as Kyojuro looked down at his daughter, scooping her up.

“How are you my dear?” He says as she giggles as he spins her around, before hugging her tightly.

“I’m good Otousan! I made you a drawing! Let me get it.” He puts her down as she scurry’s off. Her long H/C hair bobbing as she runs to the home.

“Kouki is in the garden my love.” You say. Staring at your husband, the warm midday sun shimmering down on you two as he waits for Natsumi to return. “I will go fetch him. He will be very pleased to see you.”

“Kouki can finish playing whatever he’s doing in the garden, let me have a moment with my wife.” Kyojuro says before taking you, to hold you in a tight embrace. His body heat projects from off of him onto you. In such a warm manner everything seems to glow. Everything seems to fade in a gentle, warm, blurry glow. Just him. His arms wrapped around you, being squeezed close to him. it’s all that matters in the second. The moment, of pure silence, quickly touches you, a cold, salty tear runs down your face. How you missed him.

“Otousan! I got the drawing.” Quickly the scurry of your small daughters feet comping closer, thats what drifts you from the moment. Peering down at her art, you truly are amazed. It’s a simple water color drawing, simple, just a flash of warm reds, oranges, and yellows, but even then you are immediately reminded at your husband.

“It’s wonderful Natsumi! I love it!” Kyojuro takes the piece your daughter is waving in his face, “It’s a masterpiece, right my love?”

“Couldn’t be more correct.” You say nodding towards him. Nothing but joy submerging you. “Natsumi, will you please go get your brother?” Calmly leaning down to get closer to eye level with your daughter. She enthusiastically nods and scurry’s away. “She acts so much like you, Kyo.”

“You think?”

“Oh, definitely. She’s loud, enthusiastic, and passionate, and, stubborn.” You say teasingly, as Kyojuros face gets flustered.

“I am not stubborn! But I take the others as compliments and gladly accept them! But I am not stubborn!” He says, louder then usual, but he always speaks loud. Biting your lip so you don’t break out into a laughing fit, you take his face in your palms, kissing his check, so he’s less red from embarrassment, now red from your touch.

“My darling, if you weren’t stubborn you wouldn’t be so persistent about how you aren’t.” You tease, a bit more obvious this time. Deciding he will lose against you, Kyo simply kisses you. Warmth. Suddenly you were drowning in warmth. The aura he gave off was warm, calm, and loving. What you would give to be there with him, like this, all day, each day. And now you can.

“Otousan!” Suddenly the pounding of larger feet, but still small compared to you and kyojuro, hit the ground. Looking over you see a miniature Kyojuro, also known as your son Kouki.

“Kouki, how are you?” Kyojuro says as he gently pats his sons flamy hair.

“I am good! I have been practicing with the training sword you got for me, I am ready to become a slayer! Just like you!” He beams, your son was more reserved, sweet, but liked to experience life a bit more quietly. Unlike his father and younger sister. Though, when he was with his father, he was louder, more impulsive, and very bold. The affects your husband made on everyone’s lives for the better would forever amaze you. How could someone be so perfect?

“I am sure you will be ready to train a bit more seriously soon. Let’s go see you in action then shall we?” Marching off the two identical men went off to a clearing in your property. Noticing a slight tug on your kimono you look down to see your daughter.

“Okaasan, can we make Sakura Mochi?” Natsumi was starring up at uou with her large, flame eyes, you could melt at the gaze of your daughter.

“How could I say no? Let’s go make some and then watch your father and brother train.”

[666writingcafe]

Solomon: A Horror Movie

Inspired by the following reblog from @kimiko-dear: Solomon appears in front of people with a special dish he made just for them--the horror doesn't end after the jump scare.

Not gonna lie, kinda ran away with this concept.

It was his greatest experiment yet. He bought a bunch of ingredients that many people--even the cashier at the grocery store--warned him to not mix together. Ever the scientist, he wanted to know why he received such warnings and what would happen if he disregarded them. As it turns out, the ingredients in question had magical qualities that, when combined, came out in cursed ways. Thankfully, no one died from Solomon's experiment, but he made sure to record the results of each of his test subjects (or victims, depending on who you ask).

Since MC is his beloved apprentice, he spared them from his diabolical experiment, although he made sure to tell them all about it in great detail (which makes MC quite uneasy).

He also does not perform this experiment on Luke: a, because he's the angel equivalent of a child; and b, because Solomon knows Simeon would do unspeakable things to him if he hurt Luke in any way (things that would make him wish he was dead).

Speaking of Simeon, the angel is Solomon's first subject/victim. The sorcerer prepares what appears to be a simple sandwich and presents it to his roommate by sneaking up on him as he's in the middle of writing. The sandwich causes Simeon to experience random chills.

Barbatos knows that this is coming from a mile away and tries everything in his power to avoid Solomon. In the end, though, the butler finds himself trapped in the castle's kitchen and has no choice but to consume the paella thrust in front of him. He starts developing spots all over his body.

Solomon sneaks Belphie's cursed enchilada to him while he's sleeping in the attic. MC tries to warn the youngest brother to not eat the enchilada, but by the time they get to him, it's too late: Belphie is now a talking toad.

You know that one character in a horror movie that's screaming their ass off as the villain is chasing them? That's Mammon as soon as he hears Solomon's footsteps. Only the two of them know how the calzone ended up in his mouth, but the entire House (and possibly anyone within a 100 mile radius) hears him screeching that he's developed elephant ears.

There are times where Asmo is sharp as a whip and other times where he's a huge airhead. Unfortunately for him, Solomon catches him in one of his ditzy moods, and he happily accepts the chimichanga that the sorcerer prepared for him. Like Mammon, his screams echo throughout the House as he discovers that his nose has turned into a snout (and not a cute one, either).

Solomon almost gives into the urge to prepare a dish for Diavolo but ultimately decides against it. As soon as MC hears about this, they practically sprint to the castle and into Diavolo's room. Not only does MC need a break from the insanity unfolding around them, but they absolutely intend on punishing Solomon for his actions and wants the demon prince's help in making sure justice is served.

MC receives text updates from Solomon about his next three victims. Beel ate chili that made him shoot up three feet, Satan's sushi performed a gender swap on him, and the cake Levi consumed turned him into a living, mute statue.

And then MC gets a call from Lucifer that makes them see red. You see, Solomon prepared the eldest brother some soup and left it in his office with a note forged in MC's handwriting. Lucifer was just tired enough to not question it too much and consequently ate the soup; now, he's hallucinating. You see, due to the trauma that Lucifer has gone through during his existence, anything he hallucinates turns nightmarish real quickly, and so he's basically sobbing as he's relaying to MC what he's seeing.

Diavolo has to physically stop MC from hunting Solomon down and tearing him limb to limb. While the demon prince thinks that MC's fury is completely justified, he believes that the sorcerer deserves a more drawn-out punishment where everyone that consumed his abominations gets their due revenge.

[toasterbunnicula]

Mass Effect Character Sexualities because I want to project

(Partly headcanon, bi-ased, personal opinion)

Ashley: straight, formerly homophobic until she realized that most of her Normandy crew mates were gay

Garrus: bi energy, its simply unfair to our gay guys for such an amazing and hot character to not go both ways. Ive also seen too much Garrus/Thane/Shepard fanart to see him any other way

Liara: obviously bi, I hc that she was confused when she first encountered homophobia because it simply doesn’t exist in asari culture (closest thing is the asarixasari stigma)

Wrex: for some reason I see him as bi? I have no idea where I got this but I want to see a tough, old warrior casually mentioning being into both men and women and not caring at all about it (even though I think krogan culture probably wouldn’t approve)

Tali: for my sake as a helpless bi simp, I see her as under the umbrella, but doesn’t realize it. Like me before I came out, Tali would say “yeah she’s really pretty and I want to hang out with her and hug her and stare at her but I’m not gay or anything.” You are. You are gay. I think it would be in character for her to completely miss the fact that she’s into girls as well as men

Joker: straight. The kind of straight to make jokes about his friends’ sexualities, but not mean anything by it. He goes to pride every June with his wife EDI (who I will get to)

Jacob: I honestly can’t believe that he was originally intended to be bi, I just can’t see him into men unless I squint. It’s hilarious that they tried to make his male romance more like Brokeback Mountain so it’d be accepted

Miranda: I’ve seen a headcanon on Pinterest about Miranda having internalized homophobia because it doesn’t line up with her view of genetic perfection, something she’s established to be insecure about. I think it would make perfect sense for her character. I think it’s easy to see her as a lesbian practicing het-comp, especially with how awkward her initial flirting with Shepard is, but there are more scenes in her romance that feel authentic than there are that feel performative, so I’m inclined to say she is bi/pan/omni/etc.

Mordin: I’m pretty sure his asexuality is canon. I also think that he’s aromantic as well, but can objectively assess beauty/attractiveness well. For example, his film noir short story in the Citadel DLC involves a hookup with Aria. I personally believe that is him saying “yeah, she’s attractive, and if I were into women, I’d smash”

Zaeed: he gives off straight uncle who would punch a homophobe for you but otherwise doesn’t know how to interact with you after you’ve come out and tries a little too hard to acknowledge your sexuality but it’s definitely well-meaning (think the “anyone could be they!” scene from Brooklyn Nine-Nine)

Grunt: straight and supports his bi parents (Shepard and Garrus/Thane/Tali/Liara), wears rainbows at Pride for them, and regularly headbutts homophobes

Jack: I’m forever salty about them erasing her pansexuality. Also she and Miranda should’ve kissed

Kasumi: also gives off pan energy. She definitely feels like the type to not care about gender at all- as long as they’ve got muscles, that’s all that matters to her

Thane: pan energy

Samara: as established, Samara is bisexual

Legion: ace, non-binary (goes with people using he/him based on its masculine voice, pronouns are they/it)

Kelly: she said so herself, she doesn’t care about race/species or gender, all that matters is the person 💖💛💙

EDI: something about Sentient AI Who People Initially Don’t Trust Until She Gets A Humanoid Body That People Can Better Associate With Her reads to me as a trans allegory. Obviously, she’s not trans, but the vibes are there. Many times, people are suspicious of trans women until they transition and pass more as cis, which is similar to EDI’s story. She learns more about herself after her body changes, and others start to appreciate her more and have an easier time referring to her with she/her pronouns. As for her sexuality, she doesn’t seem to lean any particular way to me. She doesn’t seem like the type who’d use labels, even though it would make sense for her to “categorize” herself. I’d say she’s unlabelled- definitely into men, with her relationship with Joker

James: as much as I wish we could get gay gym bro representation, James is great as he is, being a masculine straight guy who’s best friends are openly gay (Cortez) and bi (Shepard)

Traynor: lesbian (canon), definitely into women who can crush her head under their heel but also has a dominant side herself

Cortez: gay (canon)

Diana: that annoying and popular bi girl you secretly had a crush on but didn’t want to because she was intimidating and popular

[tk-duveraun]

COMPLETE: Luo Binghe is SO NORMAL about Shen Yuan

12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, Part 23 here

Read up through even numbered parts on Ao3

AO3 LINK IS TO CHAPTER 1, THIS WORK IS COMPLETE.

Part is below the read more to avoid spoilers for anyone who was waiting for this to be complete before reading.

Luo Binghe's brilliant idea for making Shen Yuan his wife was simple: marry him. Despite living in a world where, supposedly, homophobia didn't exist, Shen Yuan's POV in IRS made it clear he had a debilitating case of comp het. For example, he would constantly try to set Liu Qingge up with various ladies: both butch and femme.

This was in direct contrast to the fact that he was dual-cultivating with Liu Qingge twice a month to keep the Ice Mites in check.

And what annoying revelation that was from Snowball. Luo Binghe's eye twitched so severely that his eye almost fell out of his face. Without-a-Cure had just been a cover. After all, Shen Yuan's suppression array only worked on a static location, so if he wanted to travel he had to dual-cultivate to keep Linguang-jun from controlling him.

So, really, by removing that excuse, Luo Binghe had accidentally trapped his beloved on Qing Jing Peak. A small mistake and one that would be forgiven in light of the fact that Shen Yuan was never afflicted with Without-a-Cure.

Which could, ironically, be cured by dual-cultivation with a Heavenly Demon. That was likely why Zhuzhi-lang was introduced so late into the story and why he didn't even get a taste of Shen Yuan's flower, unlike almost every other man in the cast.

So to get around Shen Yuan's bizarre inability to see himself as a romantic prospect, Luo Binghe would marry him first and then win his heart.

Luo Binghe's proposal had several nigh-irresistible benefits for Cang Qiong Mountain. While the sect didn't believe thirteen to be an unlucky number, it was extremely unlucky to break with established traditions. They had too many Peak Lords and Shen Yuan's martial siblings were chomping at the bit to somehow disqualify Shen Qingqiu.

Of course, Shen Yuan would never allow his brother to lose his place. And Snowball revealed Yue Qingyuan only pursued Shen Yuan because his actual beloved was unavailable in Shen Jiu.

Snowball refused to tell Luo Binghe why the sect leader couldn't manage to seduce Shen Jiu despite his power, wealth and prestige, but promised he'd have Shang Qinghua whisper the right things in the right ears to make it happen.

("Oh, so now you care about his privacy?"

"He's real now.")

Therefore, Shen Yuan marrying into the Demon Realm would bring Cang Qiong Mountain back to one lord per peak, appeasing the other Peak Lords while also spitting in their faces about wanting to get rid of Shen Jiu.

Further, a formal alliance with the demon realm would mean a formal trading agreement. Cultivators could only drool over the rare ores and plants only found in the demon realm. Shen Yuan would easily trade something he valued as little as his own marriage in exchange for a few panacea roots for his sect.

And lastly, a grand production and wedding between Luo Binghe and Shen Yuan would allow Shen Yuan's best friend to tell his martial siblings about his own decade plus marriage.

Okay, so he was also throwing Snowball a bone. Despite living a full life in the modern world, Snowball had also had a full life as a demon and growled at the mere suggestion Shang Qinghua didn't belong to him, body and soul.

Shang Qinghua's plan to lure out Linguang-jun was essentially just to sit and wait for him, so Luo Binghe constructed his proposal while waiting. In practice, Shang Qinghua and his network of demon lackeys were planting gossip in the right ears to draw Linguang-jun's undivided attention. Shang Qinghua had rallied hard for this strategy because it meant he got to set traps for the man who tormented his husband for years.

Luo Binghe didn't begrudge him for it. Shang Qinghua was somewhat terrifyingly creative with his traps. It had to be something in the water of An Ding.

The gift Luo Binghe planned to send with his proposal to Cang Qiong Mountain was Linguang-jun's severed head along with Xin Mo's hilt. Apparently, the cursed sword was so very cursed because it had the ability to destroy the entire world. Why? Snowball had no good reason.

He'd needed Luo Baixiao to dissolve into a maddened wreck after Snowball changed his mind about who was going to actually marry Shen Yuan. But by that point, he'd already decided Luo Baixiao was part Heavenly Demon and therefore something that could drive him mad had to be apocalyptically powerful.

When asked why Luo Baixiao was being replaced after all of the buildup, both published and deleted, Snowball said only, "You're too loud."

"I'm not the Original Goods."

Snowball hadn't replied, or even changed his expression, but Luo Binghe had a terrible urge to throttle him regardless.

But destroying Xin Mo was easier said than done. After months of painstaking research, Luo Binghe decided it would be best to trap the sword in Huan Hua Palace containment arrays and then destroy the array from without with demonic energy; the containment arrays were specifically designed to obliterate anything inside if breached by demonic energy.

At least, the ones used to seal Tianlang-jun were.

It was while inspecting the arrays on Bailu mountain that Luo Binghe came across Zhuzhi-lang.

"Cousin," Luo Binghe greeted the grotesque creature.

Zhuzhi-lang's body undulated twice before he gave a facsimile of a nod.

"Cousin, it's likely that with my blood I can help you reach a form from which you can more easily communicate," Luo Binghe said. He offered his left hand, palm up.

However, Zhuzhi-lang hesitated, sniffing Luo Binghe's hand, but not baring his fangs.

"You were a general before I was born, I assume you could cast out my blood if you really wanted to," Luo Binghe added. He wasn't sure that was true, given that his body was originally write as the main love interest, but as far as he knew, he and Zhuzhi-lang were the only two half-Heavenly Demons to make it to adulthood, so how could his cousin know differently?

Zhuzhi-lang bit into Luo Binghe's palm and cleverly took the opportunity to infect Luo Binghe with his own blood. Mutually assured destruction. Well, Luo Binghe hadn't planned on hurting his cousin anyway.

It took an afternoon, but as the sun was beginning to set, Luo Binghe was handing a spare robe to his cousin. He'd made Zhuzhi-lang look perfectly human, only for his cousin to assert control of the transformation and take on what was apparently his preferred form.

"Thanking Cousin. Will Cousin be helping Junshang?"

He and Snowball had gone back and forth on the issue of Tianlang-jun. On one hand, he was both extremely powerful and impossible to control. On the other, if properly handled, he'd destroy Huan Hua Palace and manage the Southern demon lands.

So Luo Binghe answered Zhuzhi-lang's question by handing over several books. They were copies of the manuals describing the containment arrays holding Tianlang-jun. Critically, they were copies of the Old Palace Master's personal masters, his notes included.

Though, notes was a word used extremely loosely because they were mostly enraged rambles about Su Xiyan and the indecent acts he either performed or wanted to perform on her. Frankly, Luo Binghe didn't want the details, even though she wasn't actually his mother.

Zhuzhi-lang scanned the first book before nodding and leading Luo Binghe into the mountain and through a narrow path his cousin had painstakingly dug to Tianlang-jun's semi-alive remains.

----

Even though Luo Binghe had wanted to have his alliance marriage before the destruction of Huan Hua Palace, Xin Mo proved more resistant than originally thought. Tianlang-jun graciously offered to use a Xin Mo containment array bomb to explode the gilded complex.

Luo Binghe only agreed after Zhuzhi-lang poisoned their water supply. The poison only affected children and those with low cultivation, but presented as a terrible disease. Some whispers planted, as usual by Shang Qinghua, led to everyone but the senior cultivators temporarily evacuating the sect.

Luo Binghe was alone with Tianlang-jun when he handed over the bound sword.

"Ah, if I hadn't already known you weren't my Xiyan's son, this soft-hearted nonsense would have proved it," Tianlang-jun said.

A System window appeared, but its message only got two characters in before corrupting and fading out.

Luo Binghe froze, eyes wide.

"Little gods like that always like to meddle. They also always come back," Tianlang-jun said. His smile turned sharper, more pointed and more demonic. His demonic qi rose, not like a flare, but like a flood: twice as powerful and inevitable. "Tell me, boy, did you do anything to Xiyan's son?"

Luo Binghe had never been so afraid in his life. It felt like there was no color in the world except for the red of Tianlang-jun's eyes and zuiyin. He tried to swallow, but failed because his throat was too dry. He coughed and it felt like needles piercing his lungs.

"Well?"

"I… made a deal with the… god. It was going to reward me for my actions, but I told it to give the rewards to… his soul."

At once, the oppressive aura disappeared. Tianlang-jun clapped Luo Binghe on the shoulder. "Good boy. Try to be less squeamish in the future, though. Xiyan would have burned the place down."

Luo Binghe nodded and wordless passed over Xin Mo.

----

While Luo Binghe's proposal for Peak Lord Shen Qingchun explicitly established that the Northern Demon Realm was not associated with the South, he included the copies of the Old Palace Master's manuals with Linguang-jun's head anyway. It would assuage Shen Yuan's gentle conscious.

Yue Qingyuan and Shen Jiu were harsh negotiators for Shen Yuan's hand, but they saw the prudence in having a Heavenly Demon on their side just in case Tianlang-jun wanted revenge about Yue Qingyuan for his role in the sealing.

Shang Qinghua shed actual tears how badly the bride price bankrupted the North, but Luo Binghe didn't care. Snowball had given him a list of plot devices and panaceas they would sell once Luo Binghe had Shen Yuan at his side to help retrieve them.

Not that Luo Binghe needed help, but Shen Yuan would delight in traveling and seeing the creatures and sights of the world. It was just another part of his seduction plan.

Given what he knew from IRS, Luo Binghe was confident Shen Yuan could be convinced to consummate their marriage after the ceremony, but he barely considered that. He wanted Shen Yuan to climb into his bed of his own accord, no matter how long it took.

Besides, when Luo Binghe helped Shen Yuan out of his palanquin at the palace in the Northern Desert and saw his beloved in the wedding robes he'd designed down to the bead and thread, he knew his heart was full enough to wait as long as it took.

Luo Binghe hoped Shen Yuan could see the happy tears in his eyes through his veil. "Come, husband. The rest of our lives awaits."

[writing-frenzy]

Here come SI off the rails :D

Brain worms have arrived and shored up some of my remaining will to dream once more :D

And of course it dreams up a way to maybe, maybe give our favorite traumatized imaginary shield character a reason to actually smile and mean it. (Maybe?)

And of course, I forever fell in love with the SI OC trope, soooo weeeeee, buckle up everyone and thing, this one is gonna be a doozy.

First off, our SI boy was playing HSR, trying out a full imaginary team comp of Luocha, Walt, Aventurine, and Yukong when sudden, traumatizing death. It is not pretty, it is horrible, it is scaring, and it literally almost breaks our poor mc's mind; how can they not ask, beg for someone, anyone to save them?

It's a good thing (or is it) that something does.

Whether it is Aha on some sort of new kick, a manipulation of destiny, or even a certain Mother Goddess at work, our poor soul gets taken into a new world; but not as they were. Their mind and body were too broken when they were transferred, so the being had to get creative.

So, they took some inspiration from the team they were playing in their most recent memories, taking from doomed versions of themselves who were willing to trade for their own wishes in turn (and oh, how many were doomed in all the paths; there would always be one with a simple wish to fulfil easily.)

So, the MC becomes a meshed form of the Imaginary team of Luocha, Welt, Yukong and Aventurine: he is a good height, about 5-9, not six foot because Aventurine and Yukong are shorter taking it down a bit. He has Welt's brown hair, but it seems to be a bit messy and longer, what with all the hair styles, which he has to braid to keep in order and less annoying. And for all he seems human, he actually does have Foxian ears and tail, along with most of the bloodline perks, but hides it with illusions and tricks for reasons. His skins is tanner and kissed beautifuly by the sun, and his eyes are really cool, being a mixture of Aventurine's shape and style, but with the other three's colors. he also looks late 20's/early 30's just imagine him with welt's eye lines because the character maker doesn't have that. (The glasses are there for reasons and this is him illusioned because the ears were just not meshing for me.)

As for the eyes, I tried my best TT^TT (headcannon that most Avgin's eyes are usually in shades of brown to gold, with rarer shades of darker purples and even green at times, going with how Avgin means Honey and all, so with Kakavasha being born with not only bright beautiful eyes, it also has blue in them like water? and it rains? yeah, no wonder they thought he was blessed.)

But yeah, with his appearance over, now we get an interesting little bit about him; his path is Remembrance :D how? he has no clue, only that his memories are pretty shitty now, he knows random ass stuff (gifts from the other four; my guy know so many loopholes now for the IPC) he instinctively knows how to use his powers, just has to practice with control, but what was his favorite food? his dream in life? his actual name? nadda, zilch. He does know his power is literally a mixture of all four of his Imaginary team, allowing his skill to produce shields that also buff and/or heal his allies, with them disappearing can either randomly heal, buff, or do nothing before they go. His Ult is a mixture of Luocha's, Yukongs, and Welt's, doing incredible damage while also debuffing his enemies to hell and back, and even letting his team heal like with Luocha's. This doesn't even count in the terrifying follow up attack, that randomly does whatever the fuck it wants to :D tiny black holes to devour enemies? shower of golden rain that heals allies by draining the enemy's own life? this is only scratching the surface~

Yup, our boi is a OP beast :3

Did I forget to mention he came to this world with half the damage he got from his death? So it's very lucky where he ended up; a few years before the Avgin's genocide, luckily found by the tribe where they took him in, who while hesitant about the stranger, couldn't turn him away, then felt well they didn't when they finally opened their eyes to see they were one of them. Even if he's of mixed blood, he is still one of their own and came back to them, even as harmed and damaged as he is.

Not to mention just how talented and powerful he is.-

The wise woman watches, with her guard, as the stranger to their ways learns with an appetite like starving dog, so keen and willing to continue struggling on even with the barest of scraps. It is a kin to someone struggling with quicksand, finally finding some leverage that can save them from demise just in time, light entering those eyes once more. But like a beaten dog, they shy from most touch, hesitant and still, eyes watchful as they take in all threats to their self before they settle into a long wait, ready to attack.

It makes it both tragic and amazing, seeing someone so strong, someone she has seen break rock and stone with but a thought, so obviously broken, but willing still to heal. She knows her guard would like for this stranger to become part of the guard, to let others know of his strength so that they can better themselves and their people.

But the wise woman did not live so long to be wise as she was with simple thoughts and hopes like those; she saw signs everywhere, she has read omens in the sands and wind, reads the bones with ease; besides a select few, no one knows of their stanger's talents.

She names him Sarth, for his always thoughtful ways (and to hide within sight, just that for all his power, it is his mind most terrifying of all.)

(He was found under the stars for protection and warning, waking only when the stars for secrets was high in the sky. She sees how gentle, ever so kind their stranger is for the children, and she makes her decision.

She finds she will never regret it, traitors in their mist, the men in the black uniforms abandoning them, telling their stranger to please, please, if nothing else, save their children and ill away from this mess. If nothing else, she knows that at least the 452 with him will live.)

-so yeah, I have feels about those still being missing being 3,452 people; i just yoinked a chunk for myself, my guy Sarth covering everyone with his ridiculous powers, stealing a ship he found (interestingly, it was an illegal drug merchant who was currently being killed, so it would be a long, looooong time before someone notices one missing ship that was destined to be scraped because of damages and age over the years.) My guy is desperate, knowing of the discrimination they will face from practically everyone in the universe, not knowing who to ask or even if there is anyone willing to aid them; the IPC is shady as heck, he doesn't think Himeko has fixed the express yet, and their ship is running on luck, prayers, and Yukong's memories and knowledge of flying through even worse with even more tragic of conditions.

Sarth could really, really use a break right now; everyone with him at that.

Then in walk some Fools; Sarth somehow not only impresses them, he even tricks them, getting one fool, who goes by as Tricky Trickster, delighted (because what's more delightful then tricking others? Himself getting tricked in new and innovating ways. After all, how else could one learn to better themselves?)

So, my guy is able to enter in a game of high stakes with the Fools; he has 6 chances to win his people the chance to live well, with food in their bellies, chances for education, no worries of threats, the complete secrecy of their survival, all that good chance... here is the thing; he has to win at least four games, because the hightest amount of people that can be saved per game is 113 people, so yeah, four games would equal the 113 peeps. (he doesn't count himself; he can at least get along in this universe, he has power and tricks on his side, he can do what must be done; all these sick, injured, or too young? they can't.)

So he plays the games, winning two at first, getting 226 from there... only to lose the third game; what he loses is decided by random on a wheel, with him in the end nearly ending up practically blind, his eyes basically just for decoration now... he almost loses the fourth, but by chance actually wins, getting another 113 people. but this luck doesn't hold by the fifth game, this time he loses 20 years of freedom, to begin after the games are done and to serve in the Tavern. the last game is done with bated breath, the last 113 people's lives hanging by a thread, when MC pulls off yet another miracle; he uses the memories of harmony and abundance, sealing with preservation to gain back what little sight he can to win the game, saving all 452 people that came with him. there is much tears, crying, sobbing and mourning because once more something is taken from the Avgins but they persevere, many promising that they will do what they can for him in turn.

(In the end, they find an interesting item, one that can channel things with multiple paths and contain it, shaping to whatever the owner needs. Those are now shaped into glasses for Sarth to wear so he can see, only able to be removed by himself. it doesn't feel like much to the Avgins, it feels paltry for all he has done for them, but Sarth loves and adores anything he gets from them, to the honestly little mudpies from the kids to even the gems others offer; his favorite is the company they offer.)

So yeah, in my head, when the Trailblazer enters the planet of Festivities, my guy is near the very end of his service term, with maybe a year or two left.

This is so far what I have for him, but I must say; he gives off Dilf energy like hard core and the thirst for him is real :D

[solarfyn]

bittersweetness of a moonflower

⊹ chan & changbin centered

⊹ rated gen, less than 1k words

⊹ canon-comp, takes place the night before they move dorms

also available on ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/58259686

Changbin doesn’t expect to see him in the kitchen this late, sitting at the counter, his laptop the only light in the room. Or maybe he does expect it. Maybe his body woke him up because he knew, deep down, that Chan would be up. [Or: The night before they move out.]

Changbin doesn’t expect to see him in the kitchen this late, sitting at the counter, his laptop the only light in the room. Or maybe he does expect it. Maybe his body woke him up because he knew, deep down, that Chan would be up.

“Hyung.” He makes sure to say it softly. Like he’s talking to a wild animal.

People often say he’s too gruff. His eyes are too sharp, his voice is too loud, his body too intimidating. Too much, too much, too much.

Changbin knows Chan would never think so. Sill, he smooths out the corners of his words. For his hyung. 

Chan looks up. His eyes look unfocused, his wild hair hidden under the hood of one of his many black pullovers. The blue light of the laptop makes the bags under his eyes seem ten times worse.

“Changbin-ah. Why are you up?” He yawns, entire face scrunching up. He looks small like this.

“Knew you were doing something stupid again. Felt the tingle.”

Chan chuckles. It sounds half-hearted. Too forced. Too tired. Changbin doesn’t like it.

“You should go back to bed. I still have some things to do.”

Changbin crosses his arms. “Can’t it wait until morning?”

Chan sighs. “I just want to—” he gestures vaguely—“soak in the vibe, y’know?”

The vibe doesn’t seem like a very good one. There are boxes stacked against the walls—the place is practically empty. And Changbin’s sure that the kitchen seats are less comfortable than being in bed.

So why is Chan so determined to stay awake here of all places?

“Hyung, I’m sure the vibes are better in your bedroom.”

“I guess so.” Chan still makes no effort to stand up. “I like it here, though. I’ll miss it.”

Suddenly, Changbin understands. It’s not just insomnia this time. Chan’s afraid of things changing again.

He did the same thing a few years back—waiting until the last possible moment to take that damned blue curtain off its hooks. Everything had been packed up, boxes and boys crammed into the vans, when Changbin noticed that Chan wasn’t with them.

He found him sitting with his back against the oven, staring at the blue curtain, completely silent.

Chan doesn’t talk about his own feelings very often. Or at least, the deeper ones. Every once in a while, though, he confesses.

In that moment, in the presence of the blue curtain, Chan had whispered to him that this dorm was the most permanent home he had since he was a child. It was a constant anchor—every day was spent with the promise that he would come back to the same people in the same dorm. It wasn’t necessarily the place that made it feel like a home, but the eight of them together in one place.

Changbin understood. The old dorm had felt cozy and warm—unlike anything he’d experienced before. His childhood home was marble tiles and sparkling countertops and the quiet echoes of his own steps. It didn’t have Jisung’s clothes thrown everywhere, or Felix’s three hundred cables keeping his computer alive, or Seungmin’s sniffly snores. It didn’t feel alive.

The split into two dorms had been necessary. They were outgrowing the single dorm and it really was for the best. It’s not like they wouldn’t see each other every day—the new dorms were only five minutes apart. Changbin knew Chan was aware of it. But the eight of them had learned too much about each other while sharing each other’s space. Coworkers turned into friends turned into family within those walls. Changbin now knows that Minho’s face looks round and puffy in the morning when he eats ramyeon before bed. Jeongin sometimes skips his skincare routine when he feels lazy. Hyunjin takes more time picking out the colors in his paintings than writing lyrics.

Chan gets lost in his head and needs someone to pull him out of his thoughts sometimes. Changbin is happy to do so. He’ll keep doing it, so long as Chan needs him. After everything Chan has sacrificed, this is the least he can give back.

Changbin had helped him pull off the curtain that day. Folded it up and pressed it into Chan’s chest. Gave him a squeeze on the shoulder and led him into the car.

He’ll do it again, as the dorms split into four this time.

“Channie-hyung. Let’s go to bed.”

Chan blinks slowly, processing the words. “Together?”

“‘Course. Can’t leave my hardworking leader behind.”

Chan smiles a little. This time, it reaches more towards his eyes. Changbin can work with that. He closes the laptop, the harsh blue light going out with it.

They’d be swallowed in the darkness if not for Changbin turning on the flashlight from his phone.

He leads the way down the hallway for the last time, making sure Chan is right behind him.

[xavierck]

An art question for you! I'm wondering if you have any advice/direction/insight into character design?

To elaborate: I'm a 3D artist (novice), and I'm interested in making my first humanoid character, but I have a hard time modeling anything without reference. However, I cannot draw people, and I certainly cannot design a character, but I'd really like to model a character that is mine, y'know? (I want experience with every part of the process!) To point at an actor in UE5 and say confidently, "*I* made that from scratch! :D"

I know that drawing people is a matter of studying anatomy, gesture, and all that, but design is a skill completely beyond my ken.

Thanks in advance for any wisdom you can share!

This is a very multifaceted question, so there are a few answers depending on your goals:

If you're trying to become a professional artist

If you're just trying to get better at art for yourself

If you want to be a generalist

If you're trying to become a working professional artist:

Most of the time as a professional, you're most likely not going to be concepting a character as well as modeling them.

If becoming a professional 3D character artist is your goal, then focus less on learning design and more on learning how to implement existing designs. In most cases you'll be working from someone else's concept art, and your expertise comes in how you implement things like a sketchily-drawn belt buckle, or interpreting how a given shape should be translated from 2D to 3D.

The best way to practice things like this is to work from lots of existing concepts and begin to understand how 2D artists tend to interpret what will eventually become 3D shapes.

Additionally, you'll benefit from learning things like anatomy, clothing construction, and how different materials bend and deform as they move across the surface of a character's body.

You don't need to know how to draw extremely proficiently to be a good character artist, but learning to draw will absolutely help you in the long run, so I'd highly recommend doing things like taking figure drawing classes and practicing drawing people.

If you just want to become better at personal art:

If your goal is to just make nice stuff for yourself, you'll still benefit from the above advice. However, learning to make better art for yourself also depends on you finding a style that fits your taste and vision for how your art is supposed to look.

Finding your style is all about understanding....

...Your taste in visual design

...How you represent objects, and the shortcuts you are comfortable with when representing them

Developing your taste is an active process, and isn't just "What's the thing I like?" Developing your taste in concept and 3D (and all art, really) is actually "What's the thing I DO like, what's the thing I DON'T like, and WHY do I like or dislike those things?"

As you develop your taste in art, you're also going to want to keep practicing so you can better represent the things you enjoy.

If you want to be a generalist:

First off, before anything else: Being a generalist is HARD.

Really, really hard.

As in, generalist positions simply don't exist in most companies, and the ones where they do exist are extremely rare and generally exist in the form of either indies or mobile studios.

If you want to be a generalist, you need to practice both 2D and 3D skills, and my suggestion would be to get very comfortable jumping between 2D and 3D for concept work. You can get an immense amount of mileage for concept art and illustration by doing super rough blockouts that you then paint/draw over.

For example, here's a rough 3D blockout I did to give myself reference for a very complex scene:

And here's the finished illustration:

If I had tried to draw that entirely freehand, it would've taken me literally weeks, and it would still look wrong. Building a blockout and rendering it took away a lot of the guesswork, but still left me room to reinterpret as needed.

You can do the same with less complex things, like getting general proportions for a character, then drawing over the top.

The same points from the above points stand if you want to be a generalist, but with the added wrinkle that it's going to be super tough to get a job doing it unless you're really fast and really good at both concept and 3D.

Further resources:

If you're dead set on designing your own characters, look to the best concept art out there and try to make things at the same quality bar.

That's really all there is to it.

(Additionally, make sure you're looking at actual concept art as reference, rather than illustration. Things like League of Legends splash images, or big brushy mood pieces generally aren't concepts, even though a lot of people think they are.)

To get yourself into a mental mode where you're thinking like a concept artist, try to replicate what you see on model sheets for characters from animation and games.

Model sheets help explain how you're supposed to see and construct a character, and as a 3D character artist you're going to have a unique ability to see where some of these model sheets might go wrong as you work with them.

Disney and Looney Tunes tend to have excellent model sheets:

For games-specific model sheets, look no further than the work of Sandra Duchiewicz and Rinehart Appiah on Total War: Warhammer:

Presenting your work in a way like you see above will drastically reduce the mental work of coming up with a good design because you're trying to come up with some shapes that work well from all angles.

I hope this is helpful, and good luck!

[duckprintspress]

How to Write a Great Query Letter

Part 2 of a 2-part series of guest posts by Alec J. Marsh. Part 1, “Why Query Letters are Good, Actually,” came out last week; you can read it here!

Alec is also the author of Duck Prints Press’s forthcoming novella To Drive the Hundred Miles, about a young man coming home for the holidays and finding more than he expected. It’s coming out December 21st, 2022. They know what they’re talking about, as an author and about a writer-writing-about-writing, so read on and learn!

Now that you’ve read the first post in this series, and had a week to reflect on it… are you convinced yet? Are you ready to acquire the most important marketing skill of your career? Great! 

If you’re primarily interested in how to pitch to Duck Prints Press specifically, there will be a full post about that coming out in the near future. But I promise, these skills will help you whatever your writing aspirations are. 

1. The Really Boring Part

Most queries open with a paragraph called “metadata.” This is all the marketing stuff that you need to get out of the way so your agent/editor knows what kind of book it is. This includes 

Title: Self-explanatory 

Length: This is vitally important for traditional publishing. If you are a debut author and your story isn’t within the accepted range, you’ll get automatically rejected by most agents. There are very good industry reasons for that, but discussing that’s a different article. If you want to look at the averages, check out this link.

Genre and age range: This is practical for marketing and readership purposes, and it also puts the summary in context. 

Comparative (or Comp) Titles: This is a tricky one, and a full discussion on selecting appropriate comparative titles could easily be its own separate blog post, but the short version is that you should pick titles that your book can be compared to. That can be descriptive—"Supernatural but set in Eastern Europe"—or genre—"For fans of Tamora Pierce"—or even trope based—"Sunshine/Grumpy romance set in a world of danger and magic." There are a ton of options, but the main point is to position your story in the market and make it easy to pick up quickly. 

Logline: This serves a similar purpose as the comp titles do and is meant to sum up one cool part of your story. It doesn’t have to sum up the entire story. For example, Gideon the Ninth sounds wild if you try to summarize the plot, but I’ve been able to convince all my friends to read it by saying simply, “it’s about lesbian necromancers in space.” That’s all you need! In casual conversation, this is often called your “elevator pitch.” Imagine you’re at a convention and you get into the elevator with your dream agent, and you have only the length of the elevator ride to sell them your novel. What do you say? That’s your logline.

***Both comp titles and logline are technically optional, and you don’t need both of them. It’s better to write something unique than to waste the space putting something in just because you think you need it. 

2. The Biography

This usually goes at the end of the query. Don’t overthink it. If you have any credentials, put those in; relevant credentials can include past publications, editing jobs, or a creative writing degree. Then write one to two sentences that make you sound interesting. For example, I say that I like long walks in the fog (because I write moody fantasy) and have a history degree (because it inspires my fantasy world building). 

3. The Body

I left this until the last because it’s the hardest and most important part. A killer summary will make up for dull metadata and a lackluster bio. But if the body of your query letter is weak, no MFA in the world will save you. This section should be 300 words maximum.  

Your simplest formula for including what needs to be in this paragraph is four sentences: LEAD, OBJECTIVE, CONFLICT, TWIST. It’s simpler than you think to write the first draft. I promise. Let it be terrible, get it down, then edit it to a fine shine (much like you’ve already done with that novel!). 

Lead: This is your main character. Name them and describe them by including their profession, skills, or other plot-relevant details. 

Objective: What does your main character want? Try to make this as specific as possible. “Longs for  acceptance” is vague and generic. “Wants to be accepted into the Book Guild” is specific and gives a reader clues about their personality and the setting. You can put in some information about motivation here too. Maybe her father was also a bookbinder and she needs to redeem the family name. 

Conflict: Now we’re getting to the meat of it! Why can’t your main character get what they want? Again, try to be specific and don’t leave it to platitudes. If the bookbinders just don’t like her, that’s generic. If they don’t like her because they think she’s as corrupt as her father was and will bring ruin to them, that’s something a reader can really dig into. We have themes implied now! We understand this is a story about family ties, redemption, and preconceived notions, and you didn’t even need to spell that out. 

Twist: This is the most nebulous part of the query. The twist can be a real plot twist, like her discovering that the bookbinding guild also sells occult books. It can be a cool thing about the setting, like the bookstore being on an airship. It can be the romantic subplot, if she falls in love with her rival apprentice. It can be the historical inspiration, if the book is set in a fantasy world reminiscent of Renaissance Italy. In short, what makes your book special? What’s going to prompt people to shove it in their friend’s faces? It’s similar to the logline in that way. 

You can also put the twist at the beginning of the body paragraph, if it’s really cool. You can weave it throughout. You can put it at the end in a mic drop moment. Just make your book sound cool. That’s literally all this is! 

And those three sections…are basically it! Doesn’t sound so scary now, right? Oh wait, it still does? Okay, then, here’s some more tips to help you!

Write down everything you need in a query in whatever order works for you. I do it like a sad, clunky mad libs just so it’s all on the page. It’s a lot of pressure to include all this important information AND make it pretty in one go. 

Ask your beta readers to help! It’s hard to summarize your own stories when you’ve been living inside them for months. I’ve helped so many friends with their queries because they wrote something perfectly serviceable and technically correct that somehow still made their story sound frightfully boring. (This is not a condemnation of their skill as writers. The skills needed to write queries are completely different.) 

Don’t use rhetorical questions. This is mostly personal taste, but I think they’re a waste of space. “Will she follow her heart?” is sort of useless when 99% of stories are about people following their heart. “She must choose between her ambition and the chance at true love” is so much more clear and includes more conflict. 

The body of your query letter actually only needs to include the first 30-50% of the story in most cases—enough to leave the reader/agent/editor eager to know what happens next, and no more. This isn’t true if the twist is necessary to understanding why the story is exciting. Can you imagine trying to sell Gone Girl without including the twist that it was all a set up? That twist took the story from generic true crime to something truly original. So to some extent, you’ll need to use your judgment, but there’s rarely any need to try to fit the whole plot into that 300-word paragraph.

Above all, be specific. 

Do not shy away from giving spoilers (again: BE SPECIFIC). “She finds information that may change everything,” are seven words that tell you nothing. If you say what the information is (“she finds a note from her father that makes it clear he was framed”), you’ll leave the reader desperate to know what the outcome will be, begging for the rest of the story. 

Get the query competent and coherent, and then leave it for at least a week. This is good editing advice for any story, but it’s absolutely vital for a query. Because they’re so short and so much rides on them, every single word you write in the query has to be useful, and every sentence has to be clear, concise, and intriguing. Don’t rush this; it’s better to go slow and get it right then hurry along and face a pile of rejections. 

Have a query beta reader who hasn’t read your story. Make sure it makes sense with no context. Revise it again. Leave it for another week. (I’m sorry. But I’m not really.)

I know this sounds like a lot. Query letters are hard, and the pressure makes it harder. Writing culture loves to hate on them, for good reason. But you learned to write a novel, something that takes years to master! You can learn to write a query letter too. I won’t pretend it’s easy, but it is a skill you can learn, and it’s worth it! With a single page, you can convince people to buy your book, and that’s magical! 

-

You can learn more about Alec here; you can learn more about To Drive the Hundred Miles here, and read a teaser here. And, you can check out Alec’s two already-published erotica works Heart’s Scaffolding and Study Hall.

Who we are: Duck Prints Press LLC is an independent publisher based in New York State. Our founding vision is to help fanfiction authors navigate the complex process of bringing their original works from first draft to print, culminating in publishing their work under our imprint. We are particularly dedicated to working with queer authors and publishing stories featuring characters from across the LGBTQIA+ spectrum.

Love what we do? Sign up for our monthly newsletter and get previews, behind-the-scenes information, coupons, and more!

Want to support the Press and get lots of our stories? Consider backing our Patreon or ko-fi monthly at a level that includes free stories, and read your fill!

[study-with-aura]

Wednesday, January 10, 2024

This is the fastest update I have made in maybe forever. I am currently eating my dinner, and in a few minutes I will have to get ready for dance and then my brother will drive me and then I will get home around 9pm. I forgot how fast Wednesdays were, even last semester!

I had my first robotics class session today, and I really enjoyed it! We are learning how to program robots and we will even design our own robots by the end of the course! It's eight weeks long. There are some who are enrolled that are slightly younger than me and then three of us are around the same age, which is nice. My best friend enrolled in it with me, and so we are utilizing it for our Senior Robotics badges.

In other news, I forgot to pull back my top throw blanket before taking the photo, so you will see the throw blanket I have on top of my unicorn blanket. Sometimes I get extra cold at night, and it helps to have it.

Until tomorrow studyblr community! I hope everyone is having a great start to their semester!

Tasks Completed:

Geometry - Reviewed arc measures + learned about chords + practice + honors work

Lit and Comp II - Reviewed vocabulary + finished writing my paper + read the news

Spanish 2 - Copied vocabulary on the body

Bible I - Read Numbers 36

World History - Researched and completed the Enlightenment Thinkers chart

Biology with Lab - Read more about genetics + watched a video lecture on genetics and Mendel's experiments

Foundations - Read more about love + did my daily workout on Lumosity + wrote the body of my "how-to" speech

Piano - None today (these will be Mon, Thurs, Fri, Sat, and Sun)

Khan Academy - None today (more than likely will not be doing KA on Wednesdays as I'm short on time) :(

Duolingo - Completed at least one lesson each in Spanish and Chinese

Reading - Read pages 137-170 of Chaos Theory by Nic Stone

Activities of the Day:

Ballet

Variations

Extracurricular class on programming robots (which I can also utilize as part of the requirements for the Senior Robotics badge set for Girl Scouts)

Journal/Mindfulness

-

What I’m Grateful for Today:

I am grateful that my brother is still here because he is leaving so very soon, and I do not want to think about it yet.

Quote of the Day:

Life is a book and there are a thousand pages I have not yet read.

-Clockwork Princess, Cassandra Clare

🎧Lyric Pieces Book X, Op.71 - 4. Peace of the woods - Edvard Grieg

[middlespacekingdom]

it's wild that in quiet moments as i reflect on winding down a long high-level competition belaying career i realize that i've learned to never be cocky

i've done cocky in the past and usually for reason

it's because i've done a few things really well in my life...some say i've been the world's best at some things

(honestly, who knows if i've been "world's best" at anything, but i've always felt that i've had to do better because i've always manufactured areas and reasons to be better)

but sometimes cocky best serves a particular situation or a particular activity

not belaying...belaying, man...one bad belay, one lapse, one poor judgement, one missed safety check can ruin your career and will absolutely destroy your reputation

and reputation is all that matters in high level competition belaying; when world class athletes at world championships say, "I was hoping I'd get you" OR "Oh, now I can go for it!" OR when the entire Male Junior Championship finalists beg you to belay their category...

reputation makes champions

one bad belay and you just have to bow out of the activity and become a "fan" because all trust is gone--people whispering behind your back that you've lost it

one bad belay and athletes who used to do the riskiest shit because you were on the other end of the string now perform worse because they don't know if you can catch risky anymore

reputations are built from repetitions: repetitions make reputations

reps make reps

and people who know apparently really know and will tell you so

just this weekend and mostly on the field of play as i’m either taking athletes to their approaches or settling them down after:

a Collegiate athlete asked me how i got so good

a Collegiate athlete thanked me for being at the event and said it meant a lot to everyone

a Collegiate athlete told me that i was his first belayer at his first comp

the Youth Qualifier Head Setter told me i was his first belayer at his first Elite Comp

a parent walked up to me to, "…just say I wanted to meet you and also thank you because I've seen you everywhere"

but best of all, a young Youth Qualifier demanded of me, "Now don't deck me!"

my colleagues may have laughed but i respected her and respected the moment and i assured her that i would belay the best i could

we're morose goofballs all of the time and we're whiny divas some of the time but we're still not cocky about belaying--we may perform cocky but it's not about our belaying

we know that confidence serves us better than cocky

we also have to decompress sometimes and that sometimes becomes extremely silly--everyone knows this

what people don't know is that the best of us are absolute belay nerds; students of the art, intellectuals, artists, dancers, the like

what people don't know is that the best of us spend time practicing comp belaying and we are constantly bolstering our minds and bodies (apparently reflex and agility training is belaying too)

to belay

the greats just walk away when it's their time to walk away on their very own terms like Barry Sanders or my mentor

i'm still learning from my mentor

safe • consistent • professional is the only three things that matter--skill, instinct, reflex, and performance are all wrapped into those three words: safe • consistent • professional

[isocertification123]

How does ISO 22301 certification in Malta process? 

How does ISO 22301 certification in Malta process? 

ISO 22301 Certification is a scientific and complete method businesses in Malta can use to ensure the efficacy of their business organization continuity manipulation gadget (BCMS). This Certification demonstrates a strength of will to retain essential business company functions on foot during disruptions, lowering downtime, and being resilient in the face of surprising situations. Certification typically includes several critical steps: practice, papers, software program software, audit, and Certification.

Recognize ISO 22301:

Before beginning the certification technique, businesses in Malta need to become acquainted with ISO 22301. This consists of statistics on the requirements, thoughts, and tips provided within the criteria for developing, enforcing, keeping, and constantly upgrading a BCMS.

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Leadership willpower is critical for riding the certification technique. Top control wants to actively aid and increase a tradition of business enterprise continuity within the employer. This consists of assigning obligations, allotting assets, and ensuring that employees understand the need for organizational continuity at all stages.

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Organizations need to do a radical void assessment to determine the present-day situation of their industrial company organization's connection competencies in evaluating the ISO 22301 requirements. This examination permits an understanding of regions that require safety and leads the system of an implementation approach.

Documents:

The BCMS office work is one of the most critical elements of ISO 22301 certification. Malta's corporations must expand rapid and speedy guidelines and strategies that are normal with the standards. This consists of threat exams, industrial company effect estimates, and a provider connection plan outlining how critical operations can be maintained throughout outages.

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With the documentation in the region, groups must enforce the BCMS in all relevant departments. This includes training employees, comprehending programs, and incorporating organization connectivity techniques into everyday operations. It also involves growing conversation channels to ensure stakeholders are informed during a disaster.

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An inner audit assesses the enterprise's compliance with ISO 22301 requirements. This includes an independent evaluation of the BCMS to ensure it works as planned. The internal audit aids in figuring out nonconformities and areas that may require rehabilitative action.

Administrative Evaluation:

Leading control conducts an expert testimonial for the BCMS based chiefly on internal audit findings and high-quality, relevant data. This evaluation ensures that the BCMS aligns with the business enterprise's tactical dreams and identifies regions for development.

Certification Body Audit:

Once the internal strategies are in the region and the industrial organizationorganization is confident in its ISO 22301 compliance, an out-of-door certification authority is engaged. The certification enterprise conducts an impartial audit to ensure the BCMS meets the requirements.

Certification Decision:

The certification body selects whether or not to certify ISO 22301 based on the audit findings. If the employer successfully meets the wishes, it receives the Certification, indicating its determination to organizational connectedness.

Continual enhancement:

ISO 22301 certification isn't a one-time success; it requires regular willpower to non-forestall development. Malta's companies must regularly look at and improve their BCMS to answer to changing situations, developing threats, and instructions learnt from beyond incidents.

To summarise, Malta's ISO 22301 Certification way includes a tactical and based approach to establishing and retaining an efficient BCMS. It calls for leadership self-discipline, complete documentation, implementing organizational connection practices, non-unusual tracking, and a perpetual development mindset. Attaining and retaining ISO 22301 certification demonstrates a company's commitment to growing specific business agency connections and its ability to withstand disruptions.

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[salaciousslut]

Youre making me blush 🫣 now i gotta get strong enough to lift up a full grown adult its only right ☺️ and good! Im glad its not too cold!! Tho it sucks you cant get all dolled up in your winter clothes :( where im at we dont have much humidity so its been real cold for those born and raised here (i have been freezing tbh)

You have no clue how needy that made me, please bite me and leave marks everywhere holy fuck <3 and jesus christ youre so precious, like i feel a bit evil for the things i wanna do to you 🥺

Well! I hate to say it but if i get you drunk enough to pass out I'll still force my strap in you. But don't worry on missing out, you'll get a video of it anyways 🥰 I'll make sure you'll see how nice my cock looks in your pussy <33 only thing that sucks is that i cant cum in your pretty passed out body and i want to so fucking badly 🫣

Im also a floor person!!! Its actually so smart that you have a lil nook for yourself, like im jealous i didnt have that idea 😭 do u name your stuffed animals?? I wanna know bc I do >:3

I love that crocheting has become stress relief for you!! I like when creative outlets are also emotional ones like that makes me happy. You got a practical skill that also helps you out i am looking at you with love in my eyes and admiration in my heart 🥰

Tbh my favorite part of the day was getting back home, my job is literally so boring!! As for my intrests im a huge dork tbh. I love video games and Hades is my favorite game at the moment. Im also a huge animation buff, i love anything animated from short films on youtube to anime to fucking BoJack Horseman (i love that show, and u can kill me for that). And i also have strange interests like theology, religion is just so interesting to me. Oh and last lil fun fact abt me that i can think of: I almost went to college to double major in psychology and comp sci.

nooooo let me keep you warm then!!! im like w lil toaster oven with how warm i get. some come over!!! but i feel you! im not meant for the cold.

i loveeee evil!! i support evil!! i love being a chew toy and repaying the gift!!

ughhhhh please i would watch that video over and over again!!! plus i wanna watch it with u hehehe!!and we can try hard babe because its gonna happen, we gonna get u to cum in me dont worry. scientists will figure it out. ill figure it out!!

come to my nook then hehehe!! i can fit one more person!! and no i dont name them. im sooo baf with names so i just stick to their official government names. but now i wanna know the names of your stuffed animals!!

omg what if i told u i loveeeee watching other people play video games?? its literally my fav pass time and i just really like all the graphics without actually having to put in effort to try and win. so i feel like that goes hand in hand with animation right?? idk i just love visuals sm but i love that u love them!

omg sooo cool! religion is such an interesting topic so i would totally listen to u with heart eyes too!!

hehe i love psych!!! i have a psych minor and those were some of my fav classes!! i wanna teach u about them now

[electricbluebutterflies]

Jess/Leto + cuddles after being touch-starved

Late-era, PG-ish, also on ao3. Also this finishes up the second prompt-comp which means I've turned out 100 ficlets for these babes and... somehow not burnt out on them yet, still definitely projecting a bit, still having a very good time.

It’s been two weeks.

She’s survived longer – not by much, and not recently, but she has. Logistical separation makes Jessica uneasy no matter how justified, always the worry of what might go wrong without her, different fears now than she had fifteen years ago but-

Her partner has stayed on-planet, and spared her from having to pay attention to some particularly boring administrative tasks, and it is important that he occasionally be seen without her, and nothing went wrong on her side, nothing even remotely interesting, and she knows all of this for what it is, and still the distance feels most wrong as it ends.

She’ll get the necessary details of what she missed later, some directly and the majority in overheard conversations. It’s been a while since she’s had a good reason to haunt certain hallways, long enough that she suspects some of the guard don’t even know what she was like before she was made soft, before-

Jessica is well aware of all the comparisons that get made between herself and various tamable animals, and she ought to be more bothered by them than she actually is, but… how could she deny her own reality? The fact that she has tamed herself is irrelevant; it looks better on all sides if her partner is somehow blamed, even as that risks him, even as-

She is too present for the return, quiet but visible as she always is, a particularly sharp look as she waits for her moment. There have been no emergencies in this place practically structured to run itself, no need for any protocols, nothing in the cultivation of their son that cannot be put aside for a few hours if not a few days, nothing-

It is wrong, on every level of her judgment, to prioritize her heart. She does so anyways.

“I need a moment,” she says when she has opportunity, when it is obvious enough that everything remains peaceful on the other side too. She ought to start with formalities but she hasn’t in ages; everyone close enough to hear knows exactly what she is and likely a good guess of what she wants, and-

“You have never just needed a moment,” her partner replies. “I…”

“Not here, of course. If we could…”

She knows every private space in their compound, and a good guess of which her partner will decide is most convenient for whatever she’s up to. Still something of a walk upwards from the dock, still enough time in near-perfect silence to note what she needs to know about the trip on a domestic level. He doesn’t sleep right without her and it shows, she’ll do pressure points later and perhaps for the next few days to make up for it, and the adoration in his eyes is rarely so obvious and deep and-

“Will this do?”

The compound was designed centuries ago by some ancestor who kept a much larger household; the space in question hasn’t actually been an office in generations, Jessica suspects, but tradition so often wins over efficiency and-

“I’d be content in a closet,” she murmurs.

It’s enough permission to get his arms around her, and she is always amazed by how well their bodies fit, how natural it is to fold herself into perfect empty spaces. Her partner expresses affection with touch so much easier than she does, even now, and she… at best understands the intent. She does not initiate, but she can ask for what she wants and know she’ll get it and-

“You should’ve come,” he breathes against the side of her face.

“Don’t give me options if you don’t actually want me to take them. There was no good reason for me to go and-“

“You could’ve done your exploring.”

She laughs despite herself – she has done very little to maintain her partner’s innocence, and yet some days he still amazes her. “You mean accidentally gone somewhere I wasn’t supposed to and gotten into it with some creature who’s predisposed against me because you won’t-“

“You do have your tendencies, love.”

The endearment is just uncommon enough to make her fragile, enough to make her thankful that proximity hides her face because willpower isn’t going to hold her back for much longer. He has found and broken almost every limit she has, and out of that made her love him in return, out of that-

“It was better that I stayed. If I’m going to be bored, at least I can be bored somewhere no one else is stupid enough to get in my way.”

She can practically feel his silent prayer against whatever cosmic force put her into his life, but the hands on her back are still as gentle as ever. “That is… not a bad point.”

If she wanted to spar, she’d also point out that he’s always consistently affectionate after a separation, and she’ll wring a few weeks out of this one, but that’s something to make use of later, not now, not-

Her head turns and she takes a soft kiss, allows her longing to flow through her body. The bittersweetness of desire, of being so bound to another living being, to a point where it has become almost too much of her identity and someday this will leave a wound but not now not yet not-

“How long do we have?” she breathes.

“Have you ever actually cared for anyone else’s schedules?”

“I do try to be mindful of yours…”

For this she gets a look like he’s not sure how much he believes her – aware of, yes, but just as likely to wreak havoc when she wants something or is just understimulated or-

Even now it’s all too obvious that neither of them ever really prepared for this domestic-partnership thing. Even now the voices in her head remind her that she was made for respectful distance, not true intimacy. Even now, even in these little moments, she defies.

“Two weeks,” she murmurs. “Two weeks of slowly realizing just how big our bed is when I’m alone in it. Two weeks of doing everything I could to summon the sense-memory of your hands on me and it still wasn’t-“

“Does it make you feel any better to know I had the same set of problems? That every day felt longer as I tried to accept that you were not at the end of it?”

“You could have actually asked me to-”

“Is that what you want? To make me one more person who needs something from you?”

She’s quiet for a moment, considering responses, the only way out is through and-

“You do need things from me, love. As I do from you. It’s different if I-“

“Still goes against what we have become. What we should’ve been, perhaps, but-“

“I am giving you permission,” she breathes, taking another kiss. “I trust you more than anything, you have seen that reflected in all of my days for over a decade, and… if my presence would be a comfort to you, I will bite my lip and behave impeccably.”

“You’ll do one of those, but I’m not quite sure about the other.” Affection in his voice all the same, and the embrace shifts and tightens. “And I’ll try to hold you to it.”

They both know he won’t. They both know that the next time a similar situation occurs, he’ll give her a choice and more likely than not she’ll make it on her own judgement. They both know-

“You need me,” Jessica repeats like it’s the most real thing in the world. “We steady each other. Isn’t that enough reason to-“

“You loathe social obligations and you’re not near as subtle as-“

“Only because you know my tells. People I’ve never met would have no idea of my misery.”

He lets it go, and they linger in the quiet until the edges are worn off, until the shared desperate need is met enough for them both to function outside these walls. Their reunions have become softer as the years have passed; there was a time when this encounter would’ve involved desperate pawing at each other, but they are older and more familiar now and such activities can be saved for their bedroom in a few hours and-

She would’ve run circles around anyone she could’ve been paired to, she’s well aware. At least this one knows. At least this one loves her even more for it.

“I assume I’ll see you later?” he asks, somehow a question as he lets go of her.

“Of course. I wouldn’t… I do keep my routines with or without you.”

“If you…”

“You missed nothing vital, love. On any front.”

The absolute trust is mutual – they are nothing if they are not one and the same – and he takes her hand to his lips before they reenter the wider world. “You would say if…?”

“You know I would. Nothing…”

Always the unspoken, always the potential for plausible deniability, but… none of that either, she says in the safety of her heart. Nothing. Just cultivated routines and quiet longing and-

“And you were heard when-“

“I didn’t need to pull rank. I’m not ambitious when unsupervised.”

���Good.”

[midnights-call]

For the WIP game: Forest Green!!

(dealer's choice which wip)

Okay this is perfect because I get to talk about how much I hate the concept of genre in fiction in modern writing

Basically, I do not like genre nor do I like having to classify my works in a genre. See, if you were to ask a dozen people the difference between high and low fantasy, and then look at a few different sites online, you would probably never get the same answer twice. What we may all think genre is often isn't what certain resources, publishers, and professors would tell you, and even those three often conflict. Really, in our modern day climate of having a subgenre for every little thing and then also having everyone interpret those subgenres entirely differently means that you will never have a true consensus on what a genre is anymore

Yeah yeah, you might be like "but Riley, everyone agrees high fantasy is all dragons and elves and magic" and to that I say, not true! Places I've looked at and people I've spoken to have leaned more into the idea of high fantasy being something that doesn't take place on real earth, which would then mean that LotR is not high fantasy because JRRT insisted middle earth is just earth a really long time ago. But when that's brought up, there's backpedaling and then other fiction where there are dragons but no magic or magic but no dragons is brought up and you can see how all of this leads to the big realization of "what is genre, really?"

And the answer is that genre has changed so much in our modern climate that it's hard to say. Back when the OGs of genres, like Frankenstein and yes, LotR were coming out, they were laying the framework and people conformed heavily to them, and genre worked perfectly fine! But then when people were starting to push the boundaries and add new twists and flavors and combos of genres, things got a little messy and now we are at a point where, by some people's definition of low vs high fantasy or science fiction, LotR and Frankenstein don't count despite being the archetype, the original, the reason certain writing exists at all

And with these perceptions come these limitations on ideas. The publishing industry is a fucking nightmare, especially in the time of social media marketing and media illiteracy. I have seen so many writers who have more "formal training" than I do because they had stricter teachers or went to very intensive programs while I cannot tell you what the fuck a participle is. But this has given me the advantage of never caring about genre and not feeling like I HAVE to do something a certain way because of genre conventions. If you wanna write fantasy but don't wanna have dragons and magic, you can! There are ways to do that! If you have a hot new take on the action adventure genre but are nervous that it won't go anywhere because it isn't industry standard, write it anyway! Who cares! Write what you want and worry about labeling it later, once you have the story on the page you are desperate to tell

So when it comes to genres in my work, I literally only have them at all because 1) this discussion makes people stop talking to me and 2) I need to practice reducing my work which really does not fit into the genres I present them in most of them for if/when I look into tradpub, especially now that everyone is asking for fucking COMPS which I hate having to do with every bone in my body because again, I feel like they reduce my work and also, so much of the shit I write is purposefully going against the grain that idk what other stuff like it exists out there! Probably because it doesn't exist yet because unique work that doesn't fit into conventions or the trendiest tropes on tiktok is getting rejected by publishers time and time again, forcing writers into self pub hell if they can afford it, or making the writer give up sharing altogether.

So yeah, I hate genre, I hate comps, I hate anything that tries to force a creative work into a neat little box because no two works, even by the same person, will ever truly be the same. Genre in terms of the artistic process is meaningless (though I acknowledge the importance of it for libraries specifically, I love you libraries y'all are the only time I will let genres slide). If you wanna know if something is going to be a piece of media you'll enjoy, read the synopsis; you'll have a MUCH better idea of what's inside than seeing the "trending on tiktok" sign a book is sitting under in Barnes and nobles

But ig my favorite one to write is fantasy because I like magic and monsters, and those are in fantasy sometimes.

[speak-now-girlies-unite]

(this is really long, if you want the tl;dr- lines from her song and from karnarks explanation make me think she hung from a tree for a bit. no one knew her cs she just moved to uranium a week b4 the accident and no one ever really had a chance to notice her.)

my much more in depth reasoning for jane hanging in the tree alive for a bit, plus how no one knew who she was:

cw: death, breif mentioned of shitty parents

how did she die?

in her song she sings “and from the ground beneath my feet i hear the anguish in the streets”. karnark says that the front axel (i tried googling what that is, i did not get very good results) broke and they fell from the top of the loop-de-loop, so the idea that shes falling feet first doesnt make much sense, and the idea that she gets stuck in the cart with her feet towards the ground doesnt make much sense either. i think she was definitely the last one to die, and ik that the head can hear for 7 seconds after being decapitated but i couldnt figure out a way for her head to be cut clean off, nothing really added up like that. plus, if it was just separated from her body and not destroyed, how did no one ever find it?

so i decided that the cart crashes into her head, squishing it into a million little pieces, killing her and allowing her to fall from the tree, unidentifiable and the last to die.

how did no one know her?

as we all know, uranium is a tiny town. in an early version of the opening song, they even say that theres only one main street. so if uranium is so small and everyone knew everyone, how did no one know jane?

i think that her and her family had just barely moved there, maybe for the same reason as oceans parents? maybe they just wanted to find a small rural town idk. jane joins the school and the choir a week before their performance/the accident, and father marcus lets her join because he thinks itll help her make friends. because she joined so late, her name isnt registered in the choir competition.

at the few choir practices that shes there for, she hangs around in the back with ricky. they noticed each other, but ricky couldnt talk and he never knew her name. in the afterlife, he knew what she looked like, but nothing about her (name personality likes dislikes etc) so he never mentioned that he knew her cause he didnt. the rest of the choir never noticed her.

(mischa- either skipping or on his phone. noel- arguing with ocean or missing cs of work. ocean- arguing with noel and being insane and stressed. constance- trying to keep noel and ocean from blowing up the place)

ok sure the choir but what about the rest of the school?

i think that jane couldve gotten mildly sick for a few days before the comp. if she had just moved to the school, and then disappeared for 2-3 days, and then died, she barely wouldve been noticed by anyone. no one knew her enough to notice her absence.

also, even if youre thinking the school keeping record of her tranferring, i think a lot of the town was very careless with records and in general keeping things safe. she couldve just not been ever mentioned anywhere.

her family???

this is the one thats actually stumped me. tbh i dont know and theres no real way to know, but if i had to come up with an explanation, i would say that she wasnt a planned kid, her parents were shitty, and they noticed she was gone but just never said anything bc they didnt care enough </3

ive also seen people bring up a little brother, but i dont know anything about legoland so im not going to go there, sorry.

so thats how i think everything went down! if you have any other questions, feel free to ask and ill try to answer the best i can. and remember, thats just a theory. a september 14th 6:19pm theoryy

how i think the choir died, in order + color coded<3 i doubt this is very accurate to how things happen irl but oh well

(the gray circles are trees)