#although i don't know anything about the character

[alianoralacanta]

I want to believe this. I really do.

Williams' statement is standard boilerplate for this situation, entirely compatible with Williams having mentioned the concussion. Perhaps I no longer like the ambiguity constructed by what is not being said, in the context of other developments in F1.

However… nothing in the link says a concussion or any other form of head injury was mentioned or tested for. MotoGP has started reaping the consequences of obscuring a drop in testing quantity and quality in concussions, and I don't want F1 to follow suit, because having a good solid testing protocol sometimes isn't the complete solution one would hope it to be.

I'm going to take the opportunity to talk about F1's concussion protocol. This is because it is the first sport to have a concussion protocol at all, and as such it has some differences in how it operates compared to other sports' protocols.

F1 Concussion Protocol (historically)

Sid Watkins devised F1's first concussion protocol in 1998, with help from Gary Hartstein (his deputy) and Indycar doctors Steve Olvey and Terry Trammell. This used a combination of three tools: 1) Baseline testing. At the start of the season, Sid Watkins got every driver to complete a series of tests. Jacques Villenueve, anticipating a problem that rugby has notably had in subsequent years, suggested he could deliberately underperform at baseline to maximise his chances of returning to play in the event of a crash. Gary told him that if he caught anyone underperforming, he'd ban them from competing for a month because he would assume they already had a concussion. In the end, the competitive nature of drivers meant that they performed their best - drivers wanted to be able to tell others in their gossiping sessions that they'd beaten (or held their own) against each other.

2) Computerised assessment of responses. Using a computer program, Sid and Gary were able to consistently check drivers at the medical centre after large accidents. Eventually, the threshold was set at 15 G because in F1, accidents below this rarely result in anything worse than minor soreness and bruising. The computer remembered previous responses and used them to help make an objective diagnosis. For many years, ImPACT was used, though I do not know whether this or a different program is now used. Originally, this took 20 minutes to run, including some gaps in between tests (while the computer worked out the results) that made space for tool #3:

3) Asking questions. There's a certain subjective evaluation to assessing a concussion, although there are systems that allow a lot of them to be identified objectively. Concussion often affects how someone arrives at an answer, which in 1998 wasn't something a computer could assess very well. However, if a driver said something completely out-of-character or was obviously a guess at the correct answer instead of simply recalling it from memory, a human doctor can make the correct diagnosis that way. The F1 protocol, unlike many other sports, specifically allowed return to competition at the same event if it was possible to medically demonstrate that recovery was likely to have occurred. However, it had and as far as I know still has a high threshold for that permission.

Possible Issues With the Procedure

The protocol is not foolproof, and it does rely on drivers making sure they self-monitor for aggravation of symptoms when next in the car. Nobody has yet devised a concussion protocol that 100% reliably assesses someone for driving at over 100 mph while they are sitting in a medical centre, nor is this likely to occur.

It also depends on the FIA being given accurate information. This doesn't always happen. Max Verstappen and Red Bull hid the fact that Max had a concussion during parts of the second half of 2021 successfully, until after the FIA could penalise either for doing so. Earlier than that, in Sochi 2016, Carlos Sainz somehow managed to get through one of these evaluations without mentioning to the medical team he had concussion (and without anyone on his team doing so either). Hopefully this makes my lingering concern about this matter make more sense. (As well as why I think the FIA did the best they could with the Colapinto situation, regardless of what information it did or did not have).

i dont want to defend williams but like some of you need to start fact checking. franco was medically cleared to race. williams didn't make him race while medically unfit. chill out

[the-fiction-witch]

Burrito

Media - House Of The Dragon Character - Lucerys Velaryon Couple - Lucerys X Reader Reader - Y/n Rating - 12 Word Count - 784

Lucerys finished his grueling training session with his older brother, Prince Jacaerys, and one of their mother's queens' guard knights, Ser Roswell. As he entered his chambers, he let out a tired sigh and gingerly rubbed the forming bruises on his arms and legs. He kicked off his sandy boots, hoping to rid them of the beach's fine grains. To his surprise, his chamber wasn't empty, instead, there was a large mound of covers adorning his bed,

“What in the -“ Lucerys exclaimed a bit to the surprise, His eyes darted about the room, and then they landed on the bundled-up mass on his bed. He placed a hand on the bundle, unsure of what exactly it was. But as he touched it he felt movement within and saw the little skirt of a red dress coming out the covers, and the little locks of Y/h/C poking out the top. “Y/n?”

"Hello, Luke…" Y/n whined from within the covers. Her hand slowly emerged to wave at him before it slipped back down inside the sheets,

Lucerys chuckled at the adorable sight. He sat next to the bed beside her. “And what are you doing here all bundled up like a little burrito, My little betrothal?”

"Laying. Trying not to cry." She answered

Lucerys raised an eyebrow, confused. He leaned a bit forward pulling back the covers if he could get any more of a clear look at her. And he saw her laid sniffling and snuggled on his pillow, “And why are you trying not to cry? What happened?”

"my head hurts…" She whimpers

Lucerys’s expression changed to a more concerned one. He placed a hand on top of her head, feeling her hair and gently rubbing it. “And why’s that hm? Why does your head hurt?”

"I don't know… It's been hurting all morning. I can barely keep my eyes open, my teeth feel sore, and the whole half of my face hurts." She complained bundling herself in the sheets and trying to hide from all light and sound,

Lucerys frowned slightly at how miserable she sounded. He thought for a moment before gently reaching over and slowly peeling off some sheets from her face. “Have you spoken to the Maesters about this?”

she nodded

“And what did they say?” Lucerys inquired, sitting to where he was completely facing her. Her hair was a bit tousled from all the movement under the covers but her face appeared paler than usual. He looked at her with a mix of concern and curiosity.

"they said to have milk of the poppy but it makes me feel worse."

Lucerys’s mouth pressed into a frown. Her pain was clearly significant enough for the Maesters to advise medication but it was also clear that it was harming her rather than helping her. He paused for a moment before saying anything. He tried to think of a way to help, or at least ease the pain. “So is that why you’re in my chambers?”

she nodded "And because your bed is cosy… And smells like you… So I can hug your pillow to feel better"

A small smile tugged the corner of Lucerys's mouth. Despite being in pain, she was still as adorable as ever even if Lucerys wouldn't admit it. He scooted himself closer to her and began gently running his hand through her hair. “You like my smell?”

she nodded "It's comforting"

Lucerys chuckled and began to slowly comb through her hair with his fingers. The strands were a little unruly due to her tossing and turning, but he enjoyed the feel of it. He continued speaking in a soft voice, trying to keep it down as her head still seemed to give her pain. “And you prefer being in my bed to your own?”

"especially when I'm sick" She nodded

Lucerys’s lips curled subtly in a smile. He continued to comb his fingers slowly in her hair, enjoying the feel of it and the sound of her voice although it was soft and weary from the pain. He chuckled softly before replying, looking down at her as she was nestled in his bed. “Would you mind if I joined you? I can give you some nice warm cuddles to make you feel better?”

“Yes please.” She nodded,

“Okay my little betrothal, make some room I’m coming into the burrito.” He chuckled softly as he climbed into bed with her, the warmth of the sheets enveloping them both in their own little cocoon. Gently, he pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her and placing tender kisses on her forehead as he held her close to his chest.“You just rest. And if you get any worse let me know and I’ll call the Maester. Okay?”

“Okay… Thank you, Luke,”

“You’re welcome Y/n,” He smiled pressing a kiss to her forehead.

[eerna]

ab jinx's possible suicide (although i believe she's alive): I can't lie, i wasn't surprised at all. yes it feels shitty, yes it feels terrible. but by LoL Arcane archives (which riot DIDN'T release for everyone and i think that's fucking shitty bc i feel like some ppl didn't have access to that but it's very important Vi and Jinx), she unfortunately grew up creating this idea that dying and death aren't bad things. in Powder's diary she expresses how it feels weird to be killing all those ppl, how she didn't really get why would Silco kill them if killing is bad, and eventually she expresses how she can't see why ppl get sad and mad ab dying, because dying means going to a better place. for Jinx, dying is redemption. that's why breaking the cycle means killing herself, not as a bad thing, but as getting into a better place. which is tragic and terrible and fucking sad, but i can't say i didn't see it coming, i did.

but what i think it's worse ab that ending is that, if she doesn't kill herself and decides to live because she now sees she's not alone, that life is worth living, that she can get a good thing being alive, (and she's going away, there's this part of the theory) Ekko and Vi don't know she's alive. the people who want her the most, who love her the most, who didn't give up on her, don't know she's alive and can't reach her to then build a good life with her in some way. that's the part that pisses me off, because if you're not commiting to the tragedy of her death by her own hands because of her own ideas, you're also not giving a clear opportunity for the character to build a better phase. IT'S LIKE THE THING IS CUT IN HALF (both for her and for Vi) and I can't stress enough how that's pissing me off

Yeah, I think you are right :((((( I was an idealist dreaming of her finding a place with Zaunites... A few days back I was taking to a friend and she also pointed out that she knew Jinx was dying in the end simply because mentally ill characters who make that many mistakes AND stir civil unrest are never ever given an opportunity to be anything more than a tragedy. She is presented as too broken to be of any good to anyone, because her helping the people is not seen as something truly redeemable, the only thing that matters is the personal mistakes she made. Even in survival, she doesn't have the right to happiness. Oh I am tearing up a bit, it is very sad to think about, and very unfair. I can see the thematic resonance in her never speaking to Vi again but c'mon the entirety of Zaun was there to have her back, that must have counted for something

[supremechancellorrex]

Okay, then, it's online space, we can go back and forth forever as it's all public discourse and there's no such thing as trespassing. Please give me examples of Mai saying fascist rhetoric or looking down on other nations racially. Aside from her just existing as a FN character born on the wrong side of the border. "Zuko did x" is actually a good measure when there's a double standard. Funny enough, I've met even people who call Zuko fascist and dislike Zuko's redemption story as it ends up with him as an absolute monarch, who mishandles the Fire Nation colony problem and puts FN citizen interests above Earth Kingdom interest for much of the Promise. The word is hardly stirring in this fandom now. Others have called him an abuser for how controlling he was in the Beach in who Mai could talk to. And they tell me all of that is so apparent. It seems in some opinions Zuko is badly written, despite the feels and "kindness" conclusions.

Also with Sokka and Suki it is not a "false equivalence" because Sokka and Suki were friends and then lovers who meet up again and kissed in the Serpent's Pass after spending days together and that whole spiel about Yue, his first girlfriend. He rebuffs Ty Lee in the Crossroads of Destiny by saying he's "with Suki now". Sokka went into a fit of rage and cried in Day of Black Sun over Suki, yet he didn't think of her missing until Azula mentions it despite it being weeks. Then as soon as they meet up again Sokka tries to smooch her immediately. They are in a relationship, it goes without saying. This is the nature of Avatar. You could complain the relationship between Suki and Sokka is fast, it could also be complained that Sokka forgets about Suki for a long time despite being committed to her. Arguably makes Sokka seem rather callous if one is to ignore this is an episodic kid's show, same with Zuko.

As for your conjecture of "We're supposed to think", that's just your interpretation, a rather absolutist one, but the context, voice acting, body language/smiles and structuring of those scenes, including the quotes I have shared but you're free to watch them yourself, make it unlikely for quite a number of others, myself included. Since you've talked about what you hate, I'll tell you what I dislike in the fandom. Absolutist takes where everyone in the audience is told "We're supposed to" with no evidence provided. This is what Azula stans say, they say "We're supposed to sympathise with Azula", "We're supposed to see that she's an abuse victim child and not judge her at all", despite it just being their interpretation. Mai does not dismiss everything Zuko says, there are many times she tries to understand and comfort him in Book 3, and Zuko's actual reasons for leaving are stated in the show.

Zuko: "Everyone in the Fire Nation thinks I'm a traitor... I couldn't drag her into it."

This is a protective measure for her, not "anti-war rhetoric" fears.

I think it's quite clear he didn't think she was going to do anything to him. He expresses no actual fear towards Mai at all. Even when he runs into her in the Boiling Rock, still no fear. It's because Mai and Zuko actually have a level of trust, because Mai has been often supportive of him despite a couple mistakes here and there. The more Zuko and Mai got to know each other in the show, the more time goes the more they ironed out problems like how most relationships work.

I also disagree with your accusations of how I allegedly "misconstrued" your argument when I actually think you misunderstand and misconstrue mine. You don't have to say someone doesn't need to be as bad as Ozai or Azula to be an abuser, although it's rather irrelevant, and I never said Mai's difficulty emoting was a good thing. Just like I would never say Zuko taking out his anger on others is a good thing, if we're talking about the relationship and responsibility. The funny thing is, Mai learns how to emote more and express herself. She even smiles more as the series progresses, she confronts Azula, she chooses Zuko over fear and bitterness. As for 'just "being human" and a teenage girl", think you restructured my sentence there, but regardless I never said Mai was perfect, there are reasons why, and I just don't believe it takes her out the running from having a relationship with Zuko just because they both have baggage or aren't perfect at communicating in every interaction. If you don't think Mai is "nasty", then why would Katara be supposedly justified in punching her in the throat and never liking her? I think the word is actually a good summary of your view of her, since you claim she's an "abuser" and "mean" to everyone, demanding a relationship with Zuko as if this is an entrapment case (despite Zuko clearly wanting the relationship as well and making his own decisions).

Zuko [surprised, happy]: 'Mai! You're okay! They let you out of prison?"

Mai : "My uncle pulled some strings. And it doesn't hurt when the new Fire Lord is your boyfriend."

Zuko: [happy, smiling] "So does this mean you don't hate me anymore?"

Look at Zuko's response, look at the context. Think we can take it that Mai isn't demanding anything here if they both know each other and what each other wants. Zuko is receptacle because he wants to be back with her, and she knows it, which is the context of the dialogue. It feels like you're forcing Mai into an aggressor/abuser role that doesn't fit her character. Mai herself is critiqued in the narrative for suppressing her emotions, and as the narrative continues we see her learn to express them more to the point she not only yells in the Beach but later goes against Azula. But Mai is never an abuser. Whether you appreciate this or not, these are canon scenes. You can argue bad writing, but it doesn't change that the writing is geared to Mai being a certain character, and that is likely not the one you're accusing her of, even with her earlier villain rep that felt rather mild in the narrative ultimately. She didn't even want to chase Katara and Sokka through slurry.

As for Ukano, guy hardly seems like a threat, Mai handled him and everyone easily while holding a toddler. Perhaps Mai didn't think Ukano would achieve much, or join with Azula, who was supposed to be in asylum. Do I think it's bad writing? Sure. Entire New Ozai Society is. Same with how I think Zuko regressing his character arc and getting advice from a genocidal maniac like Ozai is bad. At worst, they're just both muddled about their bad fathers and manipulated at times, Ukano plants doubts in Mai's mind in Smoke and Shadow (that undermine Maiko), Ozai plants doubts in Zuko in the Promise (that consequently undermine Maiko). Not sure how this adds to your Mai is an abuser narrative, Ukano and Ozai are a better fit for the blame by messing with their kids' feelings and relationship.

"I think Katara would get along with Azula/Mai because female solidarity!"

Cool. I think Katara would punch fascists in the throat.

[black-flag-if]

Helloooo players! To all those that write in asking about progress, you're more than noticed and appreciated. It's nice to know the story is loved. To those that write in about songs reminding them of some of my characters, it's also very nice to see and read those!

As for the story and update. I am still working on it, buuut I haven't had much progress done since the last update. I should've known holidays would slow things down for me.

And it's not like I haven't done anything. I really have. I deleted and rewrote a few times. Not once. Not twice. I'm starting out for the fourth time, actually. 😮‍💨

I'm new to interactive and new to coding in general, so when I first started to write I thought it's best to do and write as I go. Just thought to see how people felt about it. Not the case, hence why the big set back. So although I keep going back and forth between Prologue and Chapter 1, I am writing and I'm not just working on code though that is the most difficult and tedious, and I mean very tedious, part! 😒 It easily drives me bonkers. Also, being a perfectionist, I'm never happy with my product and think I could do better hence the constant rewritings. But, I'm learning to be gentle and I understand that I will never be a 100% happy with writing. It's a working process and so am I.

But I do take some ideas from you all, so I got a lot of messages asking if there was more to some of the RO scenes in Chapter 1, so I'm tiding up everything and rewriting a lot!

So it's a lot of work and I am working. I will not make any time estimates because we all know they never work out, unless I'm like 90% done then maybe. So while I unfortunately don't have the best news, know that I didn't give up. Let's hope for some better news next month.

Take care of yourselves. 💌

[the-l-is-silent-yall]

A non-exhaustive list of things I accidentally predicted in Just Dance

In honor of my current fic being known as "the time I accidentally sorta predicted Night Swan taking ALL the Just Dancers in JD24 story mode with this idea coming to me in early to mid 2023", here are some other things I predicted:

Mihaly turning into a panda: in my fic about Mihaly's childhood days, there was a running joke about Mihaly becoming convinced they'd become a panda when they grew up. While the idea came to me earlier than that, it was first published in my fics on August 10th, 2023, weeks before Never Be Like You leaked in mid-October.

Mihaly looking up to Night Swan because they liked ballet, rather than any more sinister/shady reason: when we first saw the Night Swan poster being ripped in Never Be Like You, my first instinct was to make jokes about how they had it up for target practice. But then, I wrote it into the fic (twice) that there wasn't anything shady in their past, they just REALLY liked ballet. First hinted at in a oneshot published on October 14th 2023, then in my book about Mihaly's childhood on November 25th that same year, I definitely breathed a sigh of relief during littlesiha's lore week when Aurore confirmed it was due to her "dance skill, charisma, and elegance".

Payphone having a split screen that showed where Rasputin was during the wedding while The Bride destroyed everything on the other side: I have no comment. I am still just in awe. This was from June 1st.

Calling that the official Eva Chase loredump using Telephone's footage was a red herring, and Rasputin was still the one to break the Gaga coaches out: this was a private conversation so unfortunately I don't have the receipts for this one, but my exact words - dated July 19th at 1:22 PM, were "I'm just not gonna panic about it until I hear the words 'Eva broke them out in Telephone' explicit". This was of course LONG before we saw the ending of Payphone that suggests he was involved after all.

Bang Bang showing Epsilon's face: Also a private conversation, which took place over a call, in which I said something to the effect of "the leakers probably aren't showing us much of Bang Bang because there's something they wanna 'gatekeep', like either showing us who his ex is or showing his face". Not long after, we got the preview showing his face. Admittely this one is less cool because I'm pretty sure the avatar with the half-face-reveal had leaked by this point but SHHH I'M COUNTING IT

K/DA (specifically Seraphine) perhaps being a little less noncanon than initially stated: During Aurore's official interview, the K/DA routines were specifically singled out as being non-canon, along with the Disney routines. My response was to just...ignore this, and have one of the characters prominent in my fic series just casually cosplay Seraphine and dance to MORE. This came out at the end of August 2023. And wouldn't you know it? Seraphine's avatar shows up on a card in Poker Face alternate, quietly implying that K/DA and Seraphine DO exist in the Danceverses in some capacity (likely as fictional characters in-universe as well, but I'm not expecting it to be addressed officially).

Grace breaking up with Ari but eventually getting back together: I had spent summer 2023 writing a fic about the Wannabe coaches being superheroes in high school, with Ari as the antagonist. Just one of those ideas that started as a sarcastic joke, but I inadvertently got attached to it, y'know? Anyway, in the finale of the fic, Grace dumps her for her actions, but they get back together during a timeskip. Now, this was before even VAMPIRE came out, or was even leaked - although I did later incorporate Vampire into it as a bonus chapter shortly after 2024 Edition's release because- I'm gonna save that tangeant for later actually and move onto how much I lost my freaking mind when Grace and Ari were revealed to be going through a rough patch in canon. One Last Time matched that even further when Grace dumped Ari, but then got back together with her.

Lilith being WLW: What can I say? I knew in my heart that that wasn't a straight woman all along. I talked about my WLW ship involving Lilith on September 2nd 2023.

Whenever, Wherever coming: I had saved Whenever, Wherever to my Spotify with the idea of potential Just Dance ties back in April...which was before even the ESRB accidentally revealed it.

Conclusion: Y'all gotta start listening to me more often /j

[the-oogly-boogler]

Honestly, I wouldn't buy something labeled "Established journeys and character arcs to be expected. With your nth "John Doe, the chosen hero"" either. What I will buy and read is something with a summary. And that's something that I can find for books that aren't marketed based on "Subversive bipoc cast with trans black lesbian main character".

The problem with a lot of books I see are that they don't have a summary blurb. Instead there's "Praise for An X of O's" followed by quotes from authors I've never heard of. "By the author of An O of Y's" the back of the book assures me, as if I surely know this great book. "Fascinating and breathtaking," Someone McSomeperson of Whatever Times states, probably truthfully, though not helpfully. "Like Fargleblargen meets Visheltonken!" a part reads, presuming I both know those books and am intrigued enough by something having the vibes of those two things to drop money on this.

Yeah, subversive isn't an inherently interesting word. It is to us what "dark deconstruction" was to the 2010's. But predictable is also not inherently appealing. You know what is? PLOT!

Tell me John is going to try and tame a dragon despite dragon tamers being an ancient myth in order to win a war against an evil empire and, yes, I see where we're going with this. But I have something to grasp onto. John and his childhood best friend Faye are going up that mountain and they're coming down with at least one dragon. There will be fantasy shenanigans, yeah, but I can put up with bog standard "the elves are snobby assholes and they hate dwarves and also the monarchy is great" for dragons and a good friendship.

Tell me Annalisa goes to tame a dragon but the one she finds is fleeing something else, something blue and darker than pitch black that dwells within the forest. And she goes to it, abandoning her old friends because the evil empire needs to be stopped and anything that can stop a dragon is a viable option. Tell me she finds a beautiful, otherworldly young woman in the darkness who half-possesses her and they share a body and dark magic as they seek the aid of neighboring nations in their quest. I don't care if you subvert the asshole elves who hate dwarves and also the monarchy. I don't care if you do all of that. But I need something to hold onto.

I need a character. I need a genre, a plot, a lead who sounds like they're doing something instead of being a static protagonist. Annalisa can be a black trans lesbian. Her being those things doesn't automatically invest me in her. Her being determined enough that she's going to chase after something dragons flee in fear of is. It tells me she loves her friends and family and freedom enough to do something. "Black trans lesbian" doesn't tell me who she is. What does she want? What is she willing to do? How much is she willing to swallow down her own fear and keep trying regardless of it?

The reason John's story sells more isn't because it's conventional, although it is. It's because John sounds like a nice guy who loves his friend and country and wants to help people. "Trans black lesbian" dehumanizes Annalisa down to gender ethnicity orientation. If you don't describe John that way but you do reduce Annalisa down to that, you're priming the potential readers to view him as a character and her as a list of boxes you've checked. You're doing the equivalent of "A great book!" - Author VonSomebody instead of a blurb.

I say this as a queer POC myself: I need something that indicates the author doesn't view Annalisa as a means to an end, that end usually being 'please see me as a socially conscious writer'. I need something to tell me Annalisa is being written as a person. Describe her with a personality - headstrong, terrified but determined, perpetually sunny but secretly deeply worried - and use a word to describe her decisions that sound like ways you'd describe a person. "It's subversive and about a trans black lesbian!" is not as interesting to me as "Despite her fear, her love for her community drives her to race into the dark across the frozen lake, seeking the blue darker than black, to risk everything for a chance at hope."

You can subvert whatever the hell you want to subvert later. Make the deal go wrong, let her fall in love with the spirit who possesses her and not the male sidekick, have her realize the elves are racist assholes working with the empire to uphold the status quo instead of being the cavalry who'll swoop in to save the day, have her die midquest and wake up healed by the spirit possessing her but physically changed enough she can't convince anyone she's the same person, yadda yadda.

But before you subvert anything you need me to feel like you're writing queer BIPOC as people. Anxious, trying-her-best, smiling outside screaming inside Annalisa is being written as a person. I can get invested in a person. That person sounds interesting. I want to know her story.

"Black trans lesbian" implies either that the personality of a black trans lesbian isn't important/worth describing or that the author thinks black trans lesbian is a personality. I have no desire to read that. That sounds shitty.

Which is more interesting, this:

or the words trans black lesbian?

I really hate it when people seem to play stupid as to why more "radically diverse" books aren't bought compared to the "cookie cutter" of the week novels.

Really? REALLY? You don't understand how genre staples that are basically cookie cutter established sets of paraemters? People know what they'll get. Established journeys and character arcs to be expected. With your nth "John Doe, the chosen hero"

Vs

(And this is a indirect quote) "Subversive bipoc cast with trans black lesbian main character."

You really don't get it? Really? Come the fuck on. You can be sad about people sticking to their old horses, and leaving the new ones by the roadside. You don't need play THIS stupid about this kinda bullshit.

Hint: Old habits die hard.

Hint hint: Fucking learn to market books better than just vague tagging.

(You're also not gonna get anyone to read your preferred books if you keep insulting their faves either. No you're not gonna get readers to read other books if you call the cookie cutter books boring and old. Bonus hint for that one: If you tell them that a different book is radically different, most people will be a lot more likely to unwilling to try. People like some familiar things.)

--

[iridescentoracle]

yes it's 1:47am on a friday and i am thinking about girl genius instead of going to bed

i cannot stop thinking about the theoretical possibility of a twin reveal happening in skifander. like i know we just had that light tease on monday of a maybe-reveal but i'll believe it when i see it and also i think a skifander reveal actually has an even higher chaos potential. i have like five different half-formed reveal scenarios floating around in my head right now and at least two of them involve someone actively trying to murder gil but i think my favorite at this exact moment is the idea of zeetha introducing everyone to her mom & company, with gil somewhere in the middle. zantabraxus spends the rest of the introductions being Very Normal And Polite To The Visitors and absolutely not doing anything to let on to anyone around her that she has any particular interest in gil.

at the earliest opportunity that won't draw attention she asks zeetha to bring gil (SUBTLY) to zanta's chambers/whatever so the three of them can have a nice private talk. gil's response is "oh so she does want me dead then" because he has in fact been getting some extremely weird and very intense vibes off her this whole time and he's known for ages his dad was obviously wrong about zeetha wanting him dead but he generally didn't get ideas like that out of nowhere so uhhhh Weird Intense Vibes zeetha's mom is pretending aren't there = she's the one klaus thought might intend to murder gil for some reason??

zeetha naturally laughs that off and drags him to meet zanta properly. the vibes remain Weird and Intense for about fifteen seconds as she just kind of stares at him silently for a minute before abruptly hugging him and saying something about how much she's missed him and how he's grown up so well and etc etc etc

gil, very confused, trying not to reflexively judo-flip a queen: zeetha, fully delighted by just how right she was continuing to Not Tell Him was absolutely the funniest option: [after a minute] zanta (realizing something is Up here and letting go of gil): …zeetha zanta: you did tell your brother what he was walking into and how skifander feels about twins before you brought him home, right? zeetha, cheerfully: nope! gil: her WHAT—

[sysig]

Bucket Bucket Bucket ♥ (Patreon)

I literally gasped, my original Bucket <3 <3 It was all worth it

[front-facing-pokemon]

[not-poignant]

hear me out 👀 loki x mobius

idk, i’ve been rereading the guardians and other fae tales work… on top of the new season of loki-! they just seem like a dynamic you’d thrive with

Hi anon!

So, Loki x Mobius has been around since the show started sdlfkjsa and you might not know this, but I've actually been a hardcore Thorki shipper for over 10 years. Definitely since the first Thor movie came out. *checks how long ago that was and cries a little* Okay, twelve years. In my 1000+ AO3 bookmarks, the Loki/Thor pairing makes up the majority pairing with over 200+ bookmarks.

Anyway, Lokius has been shipped since the Loki show came out, but after like 12 years of being a Thorki shipper (with brief dalliances into some Steve/Loki and Tony/Loki) I mostly just enjoy Loki being friends with Mobius. Like I see the merits of the ship for sure, and am very glad people are enjoying it, but I just...personally prefer Thorki as my ship. I even put up some of a Thorki fanfic of my own and it's the only fic I've removed from thespectaclesofthor (because I knew I wouldn't finish it).

I have been idly thinking of looking at fanfiction offerings for Lokius again but I didn't like a single fic I looked at in season 1 which made me think I was either pretty cool on the pairing overall, or that what was being written just wasn't for me. But I also just...don't ship them. I can't imagine wanting to write a fic for them where I'd ship them. They're not a dynamic I thrive with.

I remember when people thought Steve/Bucky would be a dynamic I thrive with and I actually...don't ship them, and don't even like the ship at all.

With Lokius, it's not that I don't like the ship, I just don't care that much about it. I'm enjoying the show, I love the characters, I'm really glad Loki's experiencing some genuine found family vibes in the canon, and I feel nothing about wanting to make his experiences in that sexual at all. If I ever wrote Loki + Mobius it really would just be a friendfic.

Something might change on that front, for sure, but it's been a few years now and I still just mostly go back to Thorki fics when I want to read Loki stuff again.

I'm sorry anon, people trying to predict the ships I'll go for never goes that well (Mobius is not at all the kind of character I normally want to write in general), but I am very happy for the folks who are enjoying the ship and getting bits and pieces of gif/fic/fanart material from the show. :) And I'm glad we all get to enjoy their acting and the show together overall.

[avirael]

Rain of Fire

As Rael looked up to the sky they strongly hoped that they hadn’t made a grave mistake. The red moon above had grown closer so fast and whatever the Garleans plan was, it was going to happen soon.

The first time Rael had noticed that something was wrong with Dalamud, they had been at the Thavnairian coast near the village of Yedlihmad. Suddenly the wind had freshened up and carried ominous whispers with it. Rael had looked up to the clear night sky filled with glistening stars and observed the twin moons. They tilted their head and wondered if the lesser moon shone redder than usual.

The next morning Rael had decided to return to Radz-at-Han as fast as possible because the feeling that something was wrong hadn’t left them the whole night and had followed them into their sleep with visions of fire-red Dalamud closer than seemed possible by it’s very nature.

The trip back to the city took longer than Rael had hoped and by the time they arrived the smaller moon had undeniably grown bigger or rather closer than it had been a few days ago. Immediately the Viera tried to gather as many information as possible and asked around for news they might have missed while they were out in the wilderness.

After another few days a terrible rumour reached Rael in hushed voices. It was said that the Garlean empire somehow found a way to use their Magitek technology to manipulate Dalamud and now planned to use it as a weapon of mass destruction by making it crash into Aldenard like a giant meteor. It sounded almost to crazy to believe but the way it made the Viera‘s skin crawl let them suspect that there at least was some truth to it.

Rael wondered what they should do next. Knowing things and drawing the right conclusions wasn’t the same thing, a lesson they had learned rather quickly after first being trained to harness their powers. What would happen if the Garleans succeeded with their mad plan? How far would the destruction of such an impact reach? Possibly not as far as Thavnair or Dalmasca, because that would mean that it would hit Garlemald too, and Rael doubted that they were crazy enough to destroy their own territory. But even if the destruction would be limited to Aldenard it would still have catastrophic consequences not only for the people there but also for the aetherial balance of the whole world.

Rael didn’t doubt for a second that they needed to do something about this but the question was how? The Thavnairians seemed reluctant to do anything about the situation. After all they were not only a comparably small nation but also had a non-interference treaty with the Garlean Empire.

But what was Rael supposed to do on their own? Where should they go? For days they tried to find the right answer or at least a hint at it, listening to the voices of the wind, the sound of the waves and rustling of the leaves but to their frustration their gift rarely showed itself when they needed it the most.

Think, think!, they told themself over and over again and went through as many scenarios as they could imagine. Going to Garlemald seemed senseless. Not only would it be far too dangerous but Rael was only one person. There was no way they could sabotage the Empire‘s plans all on their own. But who would have an interest in helping them other than the designated victims of the Garleans plan? Would there still be enough time to go to Aldenard? And would Rael be able to help them at all? Rael didn’t know any of that but at least they had to try. They had already wasted enough time and with every minute they hesitated the catastrophe got more and more inevitable…

Luckily Thavnair had lots of trade relations to all corners of Eorzea, including Aldenard, so it didn’t take Rael very long to find a merchant who was willing to risk a journey there and would allow the Viera to travel with them in exchange for their help. So Rael spent the rest of that day carrying boxes and bags with all kinds of local goods onto the merchants ship before it set sails early the next morning.

As they left Thavnair towards the west Rael stood at the stern of the ship and watched the land grow smaller and smaller for a while, listening to any kind of sign to prove their decision right. When Thavnair had vanished at the horizon Rael turned around looking forward instead. So they were really going to Aldenard. Further from their home than Rael had ever been.

After leaving the Golmore Jungle Rael had first turned to the north, traveling through Nagxia up towards the Azim Steppe. Then they had turned to Yanxia always careful not to catch the attention of the Empire. From there a merchant had taken Rael to Kugane. They had hoped to travel the various islands of Hingashi but were denied to leave the city, so after only a short time they instead decided to take yet another ship to Thavnair, where they had spent the last few months. And now they were headed towards Aldenard, Vylbrand to be more precise.

Rael had never imagined that their journey would lead them this far to the west, since they had always suspected the threat they saw in their vision was one closer to their homeland. But a meteor crashing down to earth probably proved that hypothesis wrong.

The way from Thavnair to Aldenard wasn’t a short one, even on sea. Only Rael’s journey from Kugane around the southern coastline of Othard to Thavnair had been longer. And all this time the red moon in the sky had grown closer and more threatening. Proportionally to the size of Dalamud the nervousness of the crew and it’s captain also grew.

The man had probably estimated a slower descent of the moon or a faster travel and by now he considered altering the course of the ship so they would make it to land in time, no matter where. Some suggested that it was best to head back to towards Cape Mete which they had passed a few days ago but the captain explained that they wouldn’t make it back there in time. There was no way to tell what would happen if the consequences of Dalamud’s fall would catch them on the open sea. So they kept heading west hoping to make it to one of the islands on the eastern shore of Aldenard and praying that there would be enough distance between them and Carteneau, the estimated area of impact on the western shore of Aldenard.

Rael cursed themself for being stuck on this ship, for not being fast enough, for not having known better than to try this hopeless journey in the first place. But what should they have done instead? Why was it so difficult to hear the voice of the forest recently? Had they strayed to far from home? But didn’t the Oracle intend for Rael to go out into the world? Didn’t they say that it would be the only way to save their home? Then why would the forest haunt Rael with visions of doom and then leave them clueless to fend for themself out here? Where did they go wrong?

No!, Rael desperately tried to silence the turmoil in their thoughts. There had to be something they still could do, there had to be a reason for all of this. The signs had been there and Rael had not entirely misread them for sure. They breathed in and out, slowly and deeply, sat down, closed their eyes and listened, carefully and concentrated for hours. But to their terror they found that there was nothing but the sound of the waves crashing against the hull of the ship and a storm growing closer in the dark clouds above.

"Land!", a man suddenly yelled down from the crow’s nest. "Land in sight!"

Quickly Rael jumped up and ran to the bow of the ship observing the horizon and indeed after a moment a landmass started to appear, dark against the evening sky filled with thunder clouds dimly illuminated by Dalamud’s ominous red and orange glow. A few of the sailors cheered with relief and for a second Rael almost regained hope. Almost.

Then the rumbling of distant thunder grew louder and along with it something else reached Rael’s ears and send a shudder through the Viera’s body. A faint distorted voice, strangely different from any they had ever heard before whispering in the wind. The voice was almost unintelligible and sounded far far away but at the same time it felt so much more intense than anything Rael’s gift had shown them since a long time. They didn’t understand what the meaning of this strange voice was but it was unmistakably important. Rael pressed their eyes shut and tried to listen more precisely. They understood bits and pieces but the meaning behind the words still remained mysterious to them.

Suddenly a loud crash made Rael open their eyes again and turn their gaze to the sky where Dalamud had almost reached it’s destination. Something was happening. Glowing blue lines spread across the moon’s surface like cracks but the pattern was way too geometric to be a coincidence. Nonetheless the moon seemed to break, it’s shards ablaze flying in all directions and crashing to the ground with fiery tails.

Once again Rael shuddered and their skin started to crawl. The eery voice faded to the background as dizziness took over and made them stumble to the floorboards, their vision starting to blur. For a moment everything went silent and black, then the rumbling thunder seemed louder than before and Rael could feel the heat of fire on their skin.

In front of their eyes a city appeared, built on a rocky island with a myriad of piers and wooden walkways connecting the different buildings. Fire rained down on it, crushing bridges and buildings were it hit land and making the water boil and rise were it hit the ocean, causing waves to swallow the lowest areas of town.

Then Rael’s vision blurred again and turned this way and that before coming into focus again. This time Rael looked down like a bird onto a big round city with lots of towers and domes and an enormous palace in its centre. Here the burning shards of Dalamud also crashed down and made thick stone walls burst like glass. Rael also felt like they could hear the panicked screams of the townsfolk fearing for their lifes in the distance.

Then another shift and this time it made Rael’s stomach turn. Below them a dense green forest stretched out pulsing with life, giant trees as old as time with all kinds of animals searching for shelter below their foliage. Then fire started to rain down on it, ripping gaping dark holes into the green and setting the forest around ablaze.

Just like their vision back at the Sanctuary in the Golmore Jungle. Had they been too late to prevent it? Had they failed? Was everything going to be destroyed now?

Rael started to scream. But the terrified shriek they heard didn’t sound like their own voice at all.

Maybe it was that scream that brought Rael back to reality or maybe it was the swaying of the ship or the person shaking them and trying to pull them to their feet.

"No!", Rael yelled and struggled, stretching a hand out to… to what exactly?

"You should go inside unless you want to go overboard!", the friendly voice of the merchant yelled loudly beside them. "Like this we are never going to make it to any of the islands."

Finally Rael started to focus on their present situation again. The ship was being tossed around by tall waves caused by falling fragments of Dalamud that landed in the ocean before and beside them. It was a miracle none of them had hit the ship yet. That was not all however. The fiery shards were accompanied by burning bright beams of light. Confused Rael looked up to the sky and couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

"Is that a…?"

"A freaking dragon? Yes I think so!", the merchant offered. "It hatched from the goddamn moon!"

That sounded crazy. But then again it didn’t sound much more crazy than using a moon as a tool of mass destruction. The beast hurtled through the air with outstretched wings sending beams of light down to earth destroying everything in its way. It was difficult to estimate the dragons size but from this distance alone it looked enormous.

Panicked Rael turned around remembering their vision and trying to orient themself. Aldenard and the destruction lay to the west, so that meant Dalmasca had to be exactly in the the opposite direction. Relieved Rael realised that only a few of Dalamud‘s fragments reach much further east than their current position. That meant the Jungle, their home, was probably safe, at least for now.

However that wasn’t supposed to be the most urgent of Rael’s worries right now, as the sudden surge of terrified screams around them proved. Quickly the Viera followed the gaze of the men back towards the sky over Aldenard. A massive burning chunk was headed directly their way, coming closer and closer every second. With a rough jolt the ship started to groan and turn.

"Everyone! Hold on tight!", the captain yelled down from the quarter deck while pushing all of his weight onto the ship’s wheel.

The ship made a turn to the right just in time to evade the falling meteor fragment crashing into the ocean only about a dozen yalms away. The water hissed and splashed and a tall wave crashed against the side of the ship making it tilt dangerously. Hadn’t Rael clung to the railing as tightly as they had, they would have fallen and rolled across the deck like some of the others did. Luckily none of them seemed to have gone overboard as far as Rael could see.

Once they dared to loosen their grip again Rael and the merchant stumbled towards the quarter deck, where the captain tried to hold the ship steady.

"What should we do now?", the merchant asked.

"We‘re going to head north, towards Gyr Abania.", the captain answered. "We‘ll never reach the coast safely like this. We have to get away from this rain of fire."

"Gyr Abania?!", Rael protested. "But that‘s garlean territory!"

The merchant put a hand on Rael’s shoulder trying to reassure them. "I don’t like it any more than you do, but staying on our planned course would be as good as suicide. Gyr Abania is our best hope right now."

Reluctantly Rael nodded. They knew the man was right. There was no way to undo the damage of Dalamud anymore, they had been too late. But what should Rael do, now that they were in Aldenard? That was assuming they safely made it to land to begin with…

Should they just continue their journey like they had before? They could travel whatever would be left of Aldenard once the dust settled and learn what this land had to offer. The least they could do was to try and help the people recover from this catastrophe and help them to prevent whatever the Garlean Empire had planned next.

With uncertainty they looked back towards the catastrophe unraveling in the night sky. Something called them there, they could feel it, but it felt different than before. Rael couldn’t stop thinking about that strange voice that was familiar and unfamiliar at the same time and that scream that still echoed in their head and that felt like their own but at the same time sounded like a cry for help from far away.

[plagasitize]

[jacksintention]

At times I can be wrong of course, but often I think it's so obvious that someone's view on a character or story (and most of the time lack of sympathy/understanding) is caused by a lack of personal experience

[evilkitten3]

btw i decided to restart my undertale replay bc i wanted to play through in japanese (both the practice and out of curiosity) and. i gotta say the way they handled the fonts for sans and papyrus was not what i was expecting

[thelazyhermits]

Fortune/Uranai Miku/Yuu lives in my head rent free. There are times that I would really like to hang out with her or have her meet people from my other favorite stories. (MDZS and TGCF) I think that she's neat and absolutely adorable while able to kick ass. I just want to say thank you for making her and writing her into my life.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!! Thank you so much!! That's one of the nicest things I've ever been told!!! 😭😭😭😭

Seriously, it really means a lot to me to hear that you feel that way about Fortune/Yuu since she's really one of my creations that I'm the most proud of. I have so much fun writing her, so I couldn't stop myself from bringing her from the world of BNHA over to TW since she's just that special to me.

I'm so happy that you feel similarly and that she has had this kind of positive impact on you 💕💕💕