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robininthelabyrinth · 4 years ago

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part 3 of Escape Your Destiny (Star Wars Wangxian AU) - on ao3 or tumblr part 1, part 2

He had been right to reject seclusion, Lan Wangji thought grimly. The sweet siren call of calm contemplation had nearly seduced him, the Dark Side seeking to eat away at him through other means now that anger and hatred had not done the work – he would have meditated himself into a stupor, becoming little more than a vacuum within the Force, a black hole of deathly intent.

More than that, though, he would have missed – this.

This disaster.

Wei Wuxian’s lips were pale from blood loss and hypothermia. Two of his limbs were at odd angles, probably broken, and Lan Wangji feared that there were more like them beneath the body that was bruised like a tender peach – he had been shielding as many people as he could, Lan Wangji knew, because he knew his Wei Ying too well to think that he might have done anything else.

Lan Wangji still didn’t know all the details, what exactly had been the disaster or why Wei Wuxian’s starfighter had crashed when he knew (with painful recollection) exactly how good a pilot Wei Wuxian was, but it hadn’t really mattered. Xue Yang had rushed into his chamber shouting excitedly - not exactly a rare event - saying something about an alarm and a disaster and a crash and can I have one of these gadgets? possibly two, maybe, I’m thinking two but haven’t really committed yet, it’s a big decision you know, and Lan Wangji’s blood had run cold when he realized what alarm he was referencing.

(A proper Jedi would never have tagged the object of his affections like an endangered bird or a criminal, injecting the tracking chip so deep into bone and muscle that standard scans wouldn’t pick it up and even in-depth scans might register it as a naturally occurring aberration. A proper Jedi would think of such intimate surveillance as cruelty, dehumanization, the caging of a free bird –

A proper Jedi wouldn’t have known what happened.

A proper Jedi wouldn’t have been able to rush over at once, wouldn’t have been in time to retrieve the body from the wreckage, finding it still warm and breathing but swiftly fading into the Force.

A proper Jedi would have been worthless.)

“That looks pretty bad, Master,” Xue Yang said, the comm crackling in his ear, and for once his tone was almost solemn. Perhaps the lessons on empathy were working, following the introduction of the rancor Xue Yang had named Chengmei with an expression so pained and vicious that Lan Wangji had refrained from asking. Perhaps it was that he’d grown so obsessed with his pair of bounty hunters and their foundling assistant, a little not-blind Bothan girl who liked to mouth off at him. Or perhaps it was just something as simple as knowing that if Wei Wuxian were lost, Lan Wangji would have no reason to –

No reason to anything at all.

“It is within the limits of what a bacta tank can heal,” Lan Wangji said, because it was, it would be, as long as he got him there in time.

Time that was swiftly running out.

Later, when Wei Wuxian was safe, Lan Wangji would return to that obscure little space station that had nearly caused his beloved’s death and he would find out what had happened properly. He would find out, and he would slaughter every one of them that caused it, torment them for days if he needed to in order to know who to blame – it didn’t matter if their contribution were accidental or deliberate, major or slight. He would offer up a sacrifice of their suffering to the Dark Side, as solemn as lighting a stick of incense at a temple –

When Wei Wuxian was safe.

Because he would be. He had to be.

Lan Wangji’s Wei Ying would not die so easily.

“Uh, Master? We don’t have a bacta tank.” Xue Yang was silent for a long moment. “I don’t know that many people around here that do. This is Outer Rim, remember? Not even the Hutts have one.”

“There is one in an outpost in the Quiberon sector,” Lan Wangji said. His attention was split between piloting their stolen ship as fast as he could and monitoring Wei Wuxian’s vital signs. He had transferred a certain amount of energy into him already, but the Dark Side was poisonous in overly large quantities, especially if one was not accustomed to it; a pure Jedi like Wei Wuxian couldn’t tolerate it, and Lan Wangji would not risk making him worse. “Inat Prime system. I’ve entered the coordinates. Set us up for a jump to lightspeed.”

“Inat Prime,” Xue Yang repeated, instead of doing as he was told. “Isn’t that – near Rothana?”

Lan Wangji said nothing.

“Rothana’s a manufacturing planet. Heavy engineering – warships. It used to belong to a subsidy of the Jin Engineering Corps, maybe still does, I don’t know, but either way manufacturing planets like that are where those sleemos keep their precious IP. And that means it’s going to be guarded and booby-trapped up your chubba. Who in their right mind would set up an outpost anywhere near there?”

Xue Yang was descending into Huttese slang again, Lan Wangji noted to himself, keeping his calm only by sheer force of willpower even as the Dark Side screamed in his mind that now was the time for rage and pain and blood. Given his hatred of the entire species, Xue Yang only did that when he was especially anxious and didn’t want to admit it.

Later, when he didn’t have more pressing things on his mind, Lan Wangji would have to inquire of his apprentice – which he had previously believed was as transparent to him as a sheet of transparisteel – how he had learned about things like top-secret Jin Engineering manufacturing planets and IP and such things like that.

Later. Right now, he didn’t care.

“Prepare for jump,” he said again, the threat in his voice clear, and this time Xue Yang scrambled to obey, mumbling curses as he went. This was more typical of Xue Yang, but in this case it signified that he was concentrating, and that was all Lan Wangji cared about.

The rest of the trip passed as if in a daze, time counted in the beats of Wei Wuxian’s heart. Still strong, because Wei Wuxian was strong – this wouldn’t be the end of him. It wouldn’t.

Lan Wangji would make sure of that.

“We’re here,” Xue Yang said, breaking through Lan Wangji’s extreme focus on the rise and fall of Wei Wuxian’s chest. “I’m going to guess that our destination is the third planet? If you can call those other ones planets, they’re barely more than asteroids…”

Lan Wangji hummed, affirming.

“So, you going to tell me what this place is? Some super-secret Sith hideout?”

“No.”

“Smuggler’s base? Bounty hunter lair? Mandalorian terrorist cell? Clone factory?”

Lan Wangji rolled his eyes. Xue Yang had been reading too many historical action comics again.

“No, but seriously, Master! I deserve to know what we’re getting into, don’t I? What is this place?”

Lan Wangji was tempted to say you deserve nothing but what I give you, you filthy-tongue swamp-rat, but that was the Dark Side speaking, not him, and not only because the Gusu Lan Jedi order in which he had been raised did not permit cursing. It was simply anathema to him - he was Sith, but not a Lord, and he had encouraged this self-same insolence because it was better than having Xue Yang cringe before him like a kicked dog.

No matter how irritating it might be at times like this.

“It’s Jedi,” he said shortly, and to his amusement that actually shut Xue Yang up for a solid minute.

“I’m sorry, Master, I think I temporarily went insane due to Dark Force poisoning,” Xue Yang finally said. “But did you say that we’re planning on popping over and ‘borrowing’ the bacta tank of a bunch of Jedi?”

“Mm.”

“Master. Master. Please tell me you remember that we’re Sith, right? Sort of the sworn enemy of the Jedi? Arrest-on-sight orders? Any of this ringing any bells here? No? In short, have you lost your mind?”

Lan Wangji took Wei Wuxian’s pulse again. It was getting increasingly thready; he frowned.

“Take us in,” he ordered, and Xue Yang made a whining sound not unlike an especially agitated cat, but he obeyed, finding the planetary base and flashing them with a urgent medical attention required signal and transmitting the passcode Lan Wangji recited to him.

The base opened its doors in silent invitation.

Xue Yang took them in, apparently resigned to his fate and determined to pointedly suffer and judge him without saying a word.

This determination cracked the second they passed through the gates.

“Master!” he shrieked. “Master, Master! That’s the Qinghe Nie emblem!”

“It is,” Lan Wangji agreed. Foreseeing Xue Yang’s next question, he added, “It is here because this is an outpost of the Qinghe Nie Jedi order.”

Xue Yang sounded a bit like a rusty door when he hyperventilated, and even more so when he started laughing hysterically. How had he ever survived being a Sith before, if this was how he reacted to stress?

“Great, right, yes,” he said, nearly howling. “Sure, why not? Let’s go knock on the door of some Jedi and ask them for a bacta tank like we’re borrowing a cup of sugar, sure, okay, we can do that. Jedi are chumps, they’re all about mercy and sympathy and bantha fodder like that; we can con ‘em - it’ll be tricky, but it can be done when you’re in a pinch. I’m fine with that, up for it, it’s cool, all cool. You know who we can’t con? Qinghe Nie, that’s who. ‘Suppress evil no matter the cost’ Qinghe karking Nie.”

Lan Wangji ignored him, scooping Wei Wuxian into his arms and heading out into the saber hall.

Three grim-faced Jedi dressed in the immediately identifiable colors of the Qinghe Nie were waiting there, hands on their lightsabers and droids lingering in the corridors, but they did not attack. Instead, they led Lan Wangji, a nervous Xue Yang dogging his heels, to the medical bay, never uttering a single word.

The medical droids took Wei Wuxian from his arms – Lan Wangji forced himself to recall the Lan sect mantras on restraint and allowed them to do so without ripping out their wires for daring to touch him – but it wasn’t until Wei Wuxian was firmly encased in the bacta tank, the oxygen-rich liquid flowing into his lungs to heal him, the colors on all the screens all showing positive signs, that he was finally able to release the breath it felt that he’d been holding since he first saw the broken starfighter that encased Wei Wuxian’s broken body.

This was fine.

“Wangji,” a low voice said from behind him, and Lan Wangji’s back stiffened.

This was not fine.

The Qinghe Nie were a strange order of Jedi – almost heretical, really, by any traditional measure. The orthodox Jedi order, for the most part, valued calm and serenity and selflessness, prioritizing the logic of the mind over the yearning of the heart, preaching detachment from worldly concerns and attachments…

Qinghe Nie, in contrast, valued righteousness, and cultivated rage.

Halfway to Sith, Lan Wangji’s uncle had once remarked after a glass of something stronger than tea. He’d regretted it later, of course, and tried to walk it back, smooth over his uncharacteristic rudeness, but Lan Wangji still remembered.

The adherents of Qinghe Nie were of the view that for every virtue there was a fault – that the Jedi’s emotional remove would at times render them passive, that self-control could too quickly shade into indifference. They argued that it was the duty of the virtuous to be enraged by evil, intolerant of it, and that only through that anger would they be motivated to act to eradicate it.

Their philosophy often led to their deaths, whether through reckless action or through the corruption of rage into madness, but even their harshest critics had to concede that they were devastatingly effective.

Lan Wangji had always thought that there was something heartbreakingly sincere about all the Jedi that took the harsh vows of Qinghe Nie, each one willingly trading away long lives for the sake of righteousness, for the ability to make a change in the world, each one unable to tolerate life if it meant they weren’t striving to make things better. Perhaps they did not match the Jiang for creativity or the Lan for elegance, perhaps their techniques were more brutish and less refined, their diplomacy little short of appalling, but no other Jedi order could match them for sheer power.

Very few people wanted to be between a Qinghe Nie Jedi and their target, and still less if they had allowed themselves to succumb to the beserker rage that sometimes took them on the battlefield – indeed, in a crisis that called for force of arms, most people who knew what they were about would rather have a single Qinghe Nie on their side than an entire battalion of war-droids from the Jin or Wen engineering corps.

Still, even that efficiency might not have been enough to convince the ancient sticklers of the Jedi Council to condone such a Sith-like view of the Force, but the Qinghe Nie also had an unsurpassed connection to the kyber crystals that were essential to the creation of lightsabers – the mines under their hands were far more numerous and more fruitful than any other order, and for all that they seemed to have dubious connections to the lightsabers they crafted and wielded, with their highly unusual one-sided edge, they were always open-handed and willing to let other Jedi pick freely from their stores.

With the ancestral weapon of the entire Jedi order at stake, even the Jedi Council unwillingly bowed its head to reality and compromised.

Not very happily. Especially since the fierce young head of the Qinghe Nie order – the great Chifeng-zun, Nie Mingjue – had been constantly causing trouble for them ever since he had been admitted to their deliberations.

More relevantly, though, was that Nie Mingjue was also a good friend of Lan Xichen, Lan Wangji’s elder brother by blood, and it had been the gift of his token, his passcode, never revoked, that they had used to enter through the gates.

(Look what happened to the Twin Jades you prized so much, my old clansmen, Uncle, Father, Grandfather. Look at me now. Begging for scraps from a Nie -)

Lan Wangji turned and saluted, bowing deeply and ignoring Xue Yang, who had progressed so far into hysterical laughter that he was now hiccupping.

Nie Mingjue caught his hands and raised him up, just the way he always had, and that grim face surveyed Lan Wangji from top to bottom, those searing eyes seeming to pierce into the depths of his corrupted soul.

“You look well,” he said, which surprised even Lan Wangji, who had thought himself beyond surprises. “That’s good.”

“What the fuck,” Xue Yang muttered. “What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck – you guys are with me here, right? This is kriffing insane…”

The Qinghe Nie Jedi ignored him.

“Chifeng-zun,” Lan Wangji said politely, and ignored the man’s raised eyebrow. He was not about to fall back into calling him da-ge the way he’d done back when he was in the Jedi crèche, no matter how tempting – everyone had called Nie Mingjue da-ge back then, too young to be afraid of his fierce and barely leashed energy. “Thank you for lending us temporary use of your base.”

There wasn’t really a polite way to say I wasn’t expecting to run into you here under the circumstances, but from the way Nie Mingjue snorted, Lan Wangji suspected he’d understood regardless.

“Checking up on the Jin,” he said, an explanation that Lan Wangji didn’t deserve to hear. “Treasonous svapers, the lot of them. Is this Wei Wuixan?”

Lan Wangji nodded. His heart was unexpectedly in his throat as Nie Mingjue studied the other Jedi through the glass of the bacta tank, though he wasn’t sure why.

He was Sith now, after all. Why would he care what Nie Mingjue thought?

It would have been easier if Nie Mingjue had been angry at him, full of rage the way he so often was. Easier if he’d turned his tongue as sharp as any lightsaber to scolding him, or turned his face away in coldness. Nie Mingjue notoriously despised the Sith, had probably meant to call the Jin Sithspawn instead of svapers earlier, had probably switched the word only in deference to Lan Wangji’s current occupation – which meant he knew, because of course he knew, there was no way Lan Xichen hadn’t told him even if his position on the Council hadn’t already entitled him to all such secrets.

He knew, and he still persisted in acting like – like –

“Cute enough,” Nie Mingjue commented, and Lan Wangji covered his suddenly burning face with both hands. “You have good taste.”

“Please stop,” Lan Wangji mumbled, mortified beyond all belief. Xue Yang was looking back and between the two of them with his jaw gaping wider than a Gungan’s.

Nie Mingjue snorted, amused. “I carried you around on my shoulders when you were knee high, Wangji. I think I’m entitled to torment you a bit about your crush.”

Xue Yang looked like he was going to forsake the ways of the Sith, convert to Qinghe Nie, and start logging prayers at the temple of Nie Mingjue, and Lan Wangji couldn’t even blame him.

“Don’t you have anything to say about –” Lan Wangji shut his mouth with a snap.

He didn’t actually want to hear Nie Mingjue exorcising him for his choices, no matter how little he regretted them.

Nie Mingjue was silent for a moment, contemplative. “No.”

Lan Wangji blinked, not understanding.

“I don’t have anything to say,” Nie Mingjue clarified with a shrug. “I can’t say I entirely understand why you chose what you did, but we all choose our own paths in the Force, Wangji. I have faith that even though your path leads you to the Dark Side now, it will eventually lead you back to us once more. If you keep your sense of righteousness about you and continue to stand up for what you believe is right as you always have – and avoid engaging in the wholesale slaughter of innocents the way so many Sith do – I will never be disappointed in you.”

…maybe Lan Wangji would allow the people in that spaceport to live.

But only because it would hurt Wei Wuxian to know that he had sacrificed so much for nothing, of course. It was pure selfishness, nothing more.

(The Dark Side hissed in his head, bitter-angry-vicious-hate-hate-hate, but Lan Wangji hadn’t been Hanguang-jun for nothing. He controlled himself, allowing for only the influences he chose to accept – it was his independence that had led him to the Dark Side, and his independence, he believed, that would allow him to forge his own path, as Nie Mingjue had said, even inside the ways of the Sith. His uncle would say that such thoughts were pure arrogance, pride before the fall, but, well. He’d already Fallen, hadn’t he?)

“Would you like to stay with him until his vital signs have recovered?” Nie Mingjue asked, and Lan Wangji nodded, grateful despite himself.

Grateful, too, that Nie Mingjue did not speak of Lan Wangji reconciling with the rest of his old order.

“I will not stay longer,” he added. “I know it must be a burden to you, opening your doors to one such as me –”

“Ridiculous,” Nie Mingjue scoffed. “This is a secret base, Wangji. If you don’t say anything about it, who’ll know? And before you ask, I’m going to tell Wei Wuxian that you saved his life whether you’re here for him waking up or not, so take that into account when selecting your leave time. And I’ll exaggerate.”

He would, too, Lan Wangji thought fondly. Nie Mingjue had always been big brother to all the Jedi younglings, no matter how grown up they eventually got, and he never let them forget it.

“I’ll consider it,” he allowed, and settled into a meditation pose at the side of the room.

“As for you,” Nie Mingjue said to Xue Yang, who straightened up so quickly that he might as well have attached a ruler to his spine. “I hear that you’re the one that’s been attacking Hutt palaces?”

Xue Yang glanced at Lan Wangji, who sighed.

“You shouldn’t encourage him, da-ge,” he murmured. “He gets into enough trouble as it is.”

“Comradery does more to defeat evil than any amount of solitary philosophizing,” Nie Mingjue proclaimed, certain as ever in his own righteousness. It would be unbearably irritating if it was anyone less sincerely bullheaded about it, earnest but full of flaws. “Anyway, it’d be good for some of our padawans to see a Sith in action without needing to go up against one right off the bat. You in?”

“…in? I don’t – there aren’t any Hutt palaces around here..?”

“They take their travelling palaces on the Quiberon Line,” one of the Qinghe Nie Jedi said, and Xue Yang’s eyes lit up at the promise of what he undoubtedly thought was an opportunity for wholesale slaughter. It wouldn’t be, of course, not when he was going to be fighting alongside the strict Qinghe Nie, but it would keep him busy for the time it took Wei Wuxian to stabilize and recover.

Maybe Lan Wangji would even stay long enough to speak with his Wei Ying before retreating to be his silent and unwanted protector again.

Maybe.

#mdzs #lan wangji #wei wuxian #xue yang #nie mingjue #my fic #my fics #escape your destiny #star wars au

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bottlesandcats · 4 years ago

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hiii!! i hope it's okay to just ask you, i really want to start writing fanfiction but i'm so embarrassed of my writing style and in general, ever showing it to anyone? do you have any tips for beginners? 🥺

Hey there Anon! Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, but I was at work when I saw your ask, and wanted to really think about what to say before responding. With that in mind, I hope you don't mind a really lengthy answer.

I have to say I’m incredibly flattered to have someone ask me for writing tips, and will do my best to provide some insights based on my own experience. I'm no expert, but I've done a lot of writing both academic and creative. Of course, it goes without saying that the following strategies are what work for me, personally. Everyone works and thinks differently, so some of my suggestions may not fit the way you work and that's totally okay!

Because I am an anal nerd, I've organized my responses into categories.

Writing Style

Firstly, remember that your writing style is unique to you and you have nothing to be embarrassed about! But honestly, I think a lot of writers feel the same way; I don’t actually like my fiction writing style, either, and am always working to improve it.

One thing I’ve found that helps: find authors whose style you really like, and read and reread their stories and study how they write. What’s their sentence structure like? How do they write dialogue? How do they set up scenes? Is it through dialogue or more through the use of a character’s thoughts? This is what I do. I have three authors, who all write in a particular way that I really love, that I tend to reread and study for inspiration. Just know that your style is not set in stone and you do have the ability to adjust it, it just takes practice.

At the end of the day it's easy to wish we could write like our favorite authors, but don't be too hard on yourself; your style is special, too!

Getting Started

When I used to write research papers in school, I was a big fan of creating outlines before I'd start writing the actual paper. However, for creative writing, I don't use outlines because I find that I'm constantly changing things around. The outline would either have to be so basic in order to allow for flexibility that it wouldn't be of much use, or it would become irrelevant three chapters in.

Writing that first sentence is probably the hardest part of writing a story. What I did, for the story I'm working on now, is picked a part that I was really excited to write about and just started with that, first (I'm pretty sure it was something that comes much later in my story, that I haven't even posted yet). That helped me to get really into the process and feel confident about what I was doing, which made it easier to move onto other sections. What I'm trying to say is don’t be hemmed in by feeling like you have to write sequentially. I tend to write scenes as they come to me; I don’t force myself to write consecutive chapters, if that makes sense. For example, in my current story, I had chapter 14 finished before chapter 11 bc I had a burst of inspiration and just wrote it all out. Just be aware that sometimes this can lead to you writing yourself into a corner (which did happen to me in this fic), but the beauty of it all is that it’s your story and you can change whatever you want!

If you’re writing a story with chapters, keep a point in mind. My beta reader actually taught me this. With each chapter, ask yourself “What is the goal of this chapter?” Think of chapters as mini stories that, when combined and read in order, create one big story (duh). Therefore each chapter should ideally have a purpose that moves the overall story forward.

Write about what you know. If you don't know -> research

Authenticity is really important to me. I have googled the most random shit for this story: "Did soldiers have to repair their own uniforms in WWII?" "Popular slang of the 30s and 40s." "How to make jambalaya." "Popular cigarette brands of the 30s."

I have also been very careful around race in my story as it involves POC and I'm as white as white gets (I got a hyphenated name and everything). When I address a character's emotions around race I try to match it to how they acted in the show/movie. I don't rely on conjecture or how I think they'd feel, bc as a white person, it's impossible for me to truly know what it's like to be a POC. This also goes for dialogue; it can be easy to turn people into caricatures. I've watched TFATWS at least three times, and have watched numerous interviews with Anthony Mackie to try and make sure I write dialogue and emotion that fits him as an individual and not a stereotype. It's not perfect, and I'm sure I've made some mistakes, but it's something that's really important to me and I try my damndest to make sure Sam Wilson comes across as authentic.

Getting Edits

I see a lot of people suggest sharing your work with friends or family to get feedback. I'm not really a fan of this because I'm pretty private about my writing. I don't want anyone that I know reading it bc, frankly, I'm embarrassed (hey look how we came full-circle there!). Besides AO3, Tumblr is the only space that I feel comfortable enough to share my work without fear of judgement. I think the preferred alternative is to get yourself a beta reader. This is the first fic that I've worked on with a beta reader and...wow, what a huge difference it has made! I found my beta reader when he posted on tumblr expressing an interest in beta'ing, and so I messaged him (hey @3dg310rdsupreme). It’s the best decision I ever made. He has truly made me a better writer, and my current in-progress fic wouldn’t be nearly as good without him offering edits, acting as a sounding board, and reigning in my excessive use of lengthy paragraphs (he will probably cringe at these paragraphs, here).

Posting Your Story

If/when you do decide to post your story in a public forum, try to maintain a loose posting schedule. When I first started uploading I committed to a chapter a week, but by the eighth chapter I was getting too stressed and found myself glued to my computer 24/7 trying to keep up. Hold yourself to goals so you don't wind up abandoning the fic, but remember that you are your own boss and this is meant to be fun, so go easy on yourself. I'd also recommend getting several chapters finished BEFORE you even post the first one, to give yourself a head start. You think you have plenty of time but it's surprising how much time edits and rewrites can take.

It can be really scary to share your work with others. Writing is really hard, can be very personal, and it's an incredibly vulnerable feeling to put yourself out there like that and leave yourself open to the judgements of others. I was terrified when I first started to upload chapters because I just wasn't sure what reader etiquette was like. The last time I posted a fic was on FanFiction.net almost 10 years ago and ppl did not hold back their criticism (I think things have vastly improved since then or maybe AO3 readers are just nicer). I can't emphasize this enough: you are not obliged to take readers' criticisms/feedback whether they are constructive or not. I don't ever leave criticisms or corrections when I comment on other writers' stories; I honestly don't feel it's my place to do anything other than support them as they are sharing their talents for free. Some writers welcome constructive criticism, and will typically state that in the notes if they are open to it. I do not; it's why I have a beta reader. I did have one reader post a public comment correcting me on a couple things (one of which was a misunderstanding on their part) and I politely requested that in the future any corrections should be sent to me privately, not publicly shared.

Wow...I think that's a good start. I really hope at least some of these tips will be useful to you! Thanks for reaching out, feel free to do so again, and if you ever want to send some pages my way you are more than welcome to! Just remember, be kind to yourself and have patience bc seriously…

#seriously this turned out way longer than planned i'm so sorry anon #but i had a lot of feelings and thoughts to share and i'm just so flattered you think highly enough of me to ask #long post #asks #writing is hard #tips for writers #writing #creative writing #good investments #but also invest in yourself #fan fiction

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kiefbowl · 2 years ago

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So this post from April is getting some traction right now, and I must not have ever added more thoughts since I don't see them in the notes. I don't know if I specific thoughts to add, but generally I think about the role the internet has in feminism as well as my own experiences being active on tumblr (since god knows maybe 2012), and active on radblr (since 2015?? who knows) fairly often. It's hard to pin these dates down. I will tell you, after all this time, I can honestly say it's a mixed bag. So whatever April me was thinking of putting down, I'm not sure, but I can free style off the top of the dome.

The internet, imo, should be considered by activist groups most effectively as a populist tool (and I'm starting to realize I might have said "populous" when I meant "populist" in a joke post I made the other day...well, we live through our embarrassments and in the end what does it matter). Now, this is MY idea, so let me explain what I mean. By "populist tool" I mean a tool to leverage reaching the public at large. This can be done in a variety of ways, and the success depends on the goal. If you're say, acting as a mouthpiece to drum up general interest in a cause, a twitter account where you post very digestible generalized talking points is more effective than brow beating randos with hyper specific references to out of print texts they most certainly didn't read to own them on their own oblivious ignorance. However, if you can brow beat in a funny meme-y way, you're probably trying to reach people who already have buy-in but in a very casual way. A-ha! This is where radblr thrives.

Yes, yes, we all follow a handful of very well educated, very well sourced, very well spoken women who passionately write long form essays on tumblr that with a little editing magic could be published as a small paper back if they really wanted to. You want to believe that is the essence of radblr, and I want to tell you of a long lost time where that was the case and we can get back there! we just have to try harder! it's a lie. That doesn't mean radblr is a) bad, or b) without it's use. And sure, radblr of 2015 was waaaaay different than radblr today, but not really in the ways you probably think if you've been lurking since idk...the pandemic. or whenever.

Radblr of 2015 was much smaller, and from my experience even if this was not consciously so, radfem was used far more as a self-identifier to signal to others that you have like minded ideas than truly staking claim that you were a quote unquote radical feminist. To be clear, I'm not saying that's how radblr of 2015 would have described the slang-word (and it is slang. I'm cupping your face, listen to me: radfem is a slang word) "radfem" but I'm saying in retrospect that's how it operated. And by pointing that out here I'm telling you that I agree somewhat with the notion that the word "radfem" on tumblr has become a little tied into identity politics than it previously was. But when I say "identity politics", I'm not gesturing vaguely at an idea that "identity" doesn't matter or isn't important idea or that things don't mean things. I mean it in a traditional sense of a tendency of a group of people to form political alliances prioritizing the identity of the group rather than a belief system or manifesto or something of that sort. Identity politics is a very laden term anyway, worthy of it's own critique, and I'm not saying it's one way or the other. I just see a slight increase of thinking - you earn the radfem title and we are a radfem group together, you're either in or out. (and note I'm using radfem specifically as opposed to radical feminist). This is opposed to leaning more toward the vibes of let's just talk generally about radical feminist ideas and maybe even other feminist ideas and maybe also talk about our own ideas and maybe also not see radblr as an actual well-defined space that has an entry point that's at all enforceable. Is this nuanced take being communicated clearly? well let's hope so cause I'm moving on back to my original point:

Radblr thrives as a virtual space where women with causal buy-in into feminism can connect with other women and play in a sandbox of ideas together. That doesn't mean it can't also succeed as a radical space that organizes, or mobilizes, or educates...but where it's most effective is the same as what every other semi-insular group that finds space on a social media does effectively: come anonymously hang out with us. Is this BAD!?! No, this is in fact one of the most under nourished arm of any social movement that has any political legs: that's culture babeeeeey. Not all of us can be the most informed, the most skilled, the most educated, the most resourced, or even the most passionately dedicated. But we all are the culture. We all can make jokes, make impressions, start trends, create friendships, and...wait for it...originate slang. Oh slang, beloved. The wink and nod that you're in the group, you have the knowledge, you get what's being put down. No, we can't all agree on the most effective political praxis, because in all honesty the majority of you who claim you are capital R Radical capital F Feminists are actually babies walking into the real world for the first time on shaky little deer legs and that's okay. Like truly really it's okay. What you think you know you or believe in yourself, you might be 100% correct about or you might be actually 90% or even only 55%. And that's all fine. It's fine, nay fantastic, to be 20 something and loudly, rudely angry about things you're kind of approximating. I'm not joking. Like it's cool, get mad, be wrong, be kind of messy, make mistakes. For real, honest to god, cross my heart, like...just fucking do it. If there was every a space to do it it’s here, that’s what we created. So no, no full agreement is happening on radblr dot com and never has and never will because we are not actually an organized group of women. We are a causal social media space where there is NO ENTRY POINT. People be showing up because the wind blew them in. Oops there they go because the microwave went off. They will show up in five years to drop lore that is so entertaining and complete utter lies because who can stop them. I mean, what are you going to do.

So just keep doing what you're doing. Keep blocking the people you want to block. Keep following the people you want to follow. Keep using the tags you want to use. Keep vaguing the people you want to vague. Keep talking about the thing you want to talk about. Keep yelling at the people you want to yell at. Stand up for the things you care about and I promise you the losers will block you. Call out people who deserve to be called out, you're going to do it anyway. Keep making memes about killing men, blood, eating, fucking, idk who cares. No one is sticking around who doesn't want to be here. And if you can successfully create a very serious blog, do serious work on tumblr in the form of writing, archiving, organization, that is very cool and keep doing that, too.

Do you have a specific reason you adamantly choose to not be called a radfem? I'm relatively new to the movement and getting really into the rad theory and community, but idk, I developed something of a respect to you by how much you've helped me understand things, and seeing you reject any ties to the radfem title itself makes me have double thoughts on if being one is actually a good thing

I wouldn’t say I “reject any ties” to the radfem “title”, I would say I consider myself a feminist that hasn’t subscribed to a specific branch of feminist tenets to identify into (including radical feminism). I see, and hopefully all feminists do, feminism as a living, developing social theory and philosophical framework. It’s not a static discipline of study. If a feminist identifies into a specific branch because she has rationalized those tenets in her own mind, that’s great. It’s important though that you don’t become so dogmatic as to say “since I decided I am x-label, I will make my thoughts conform to the philosophy” especially when met with an idea you conflict with. The beliefs should be rationalized by you, not you rationalizing beliefs in order to identify. You’re allowed to think whatever you want and reject anything you can’t rationalize or can argue against.

Hope that’s helpful, I have other ideas regarding studying feminism and viewing feminism as a living discipline especially wrt to social media, but I’m typing this on my phone at work so I will have to come back to it another time.

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dramioneasks · 5 years ago

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HP FESTS: DramioneFanfictionForum (Part 3)

Sounds Like Dramione 2020:

Not fond of asking by Anonymous - M, 4 chapters - The five times Draco and Hermione cared about each other without owning up to it and what happened when they finally did.

The Scars we Share by Anonymous - E, one-shot - Those who survive war never do without any scars. Some however are invisible. Eighth year Hermione and Draco try to make a go of it, but the past doesn’t seem to want to let go.

The Magic in the Marrow by Anonymous - E, 6 chapters - Auror Inspector Malfoy is making forensic scientist Hermione Granger's life difficult.If he's not dragging her to a crime scene, he's invading her dreams.

Healing by Anonymous - M, one-shot - Returning for his final year a changed man, Draco Malfoy finds that everyone suffered and no one is alright Becoming close with Hermione Granger is healing in a way he didn’t know he needed.

fools with hearts that tried too hard by Anonymous - T, 3 chapters - For the 2020 Sounds Like Dramione Competition on the Dramione Fanfiction Forum. My prompt was "Maybe all we are is fools with hearts that tried too hard/And maybe that's just fine as long as you're here in my arms" from Maybe, I'm afraid by lovelytheband.

Loving Her Was Green by Anonymous - E, one-shot - Their secret shag sessions were a means to an end — mutually beneficial and nothing more. But when jealousy takes over, Draco Malfoy should have known better than to think it could have ever stopped there.

Ghosts That We Knew by Anonymous - T, one-shot - Malfoy keeps following Hermione around Hogwarts. She has no idea why.She traced the scar on her left arm, wondering about Horcruxes and curses, and what marks they left behind on one's soul.“Is that from – was that Aunt Bellatrix?” a voice said in her ear, and Hermione shrieked.“Fucking hell, Malfoy!”He looked sullen. “This is the dungeons, you know.”“Yes,” she agreed, trying to remember how to breathe. “If only you spent all your time here –”

Catalyst by Anonymous - E, 5 chapters - Six years after the war, Hermione has a challenging career and fulfilling friendships, and movie nights with Draco are the highlight of her week. But her impending marriage to Ron fills her with increasing anxiety.

Preying on You by Anonymous - T, one-shot - A chance meeting and Hermione finds out a long hidden secret.

Starving by Anonymous - E, 5 chapters - Hermione has everything figured out. Sex is like food. Club nights are far too expensive. And men belong in the category of 'things that are more faff than they're worth'. You know, like hair straightening charms, lingerie, and mathematical integration. This is a story about food and sex, though not at the same time.

Why Can't We Be Three by Anonymous - E, 3 chapters - One was her unlikely best mate, the other a longtime love newly her fiance. And Hermione felt utterly barmy nestled between the two in the back of a pub, the wrong man's hand toying with the waistband of her shorts. But if her fiance didn't mind, who was she to deny that two could become three? Who was she to refuse her fiance the pleasure that she, too, so desperately craved?

Everlasting Light by Anonymous - E, 3 chapters - no summary

Slowly, then all at once by Anonymous - M, 2 chapters - Hermione begins her training at St. Mungo’s the summer after her eighth year. She’s excited to put the past behind her—that is, until Draco Malfoy turns up in her ward and she’s forced to relive the past, if only so he can remember it. Title of the story is inspired by a line in The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

Add it up! by Anonymous - M, one-shot - Draco struggles to keep on task while on a case with Granger.

Love is a Beautiful Thing by Anonymous - T, one-shot - How can you choose when you never wanted to hurt anyone?

How I Ended Up Inside by Anonymous - E, one-shot - no summary

Make Damn Sure by Anonymous - T, one-shot - Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy may of overcome their differences and fallen in love along the way, but with an impending betrothal on the horizon, will everything change for them?

Lost Souls by Anonymous - T, one-shot - Broken by war and years of secrecy, Hermione and Draco struggle to find true happiness together while hiding behind double lives.

Hold Me When I'm Here by Anonymous - M, one-shot - No longer on the wrong side of the war, Draco finds himself fighting beside unlikely allies, each day about getting through whatever way he can.Sometimes, that way is her.

Guilt by Anonymous - E, one-shot - Getting a nanny in would work wonders.

Deflower Draco 2020:

Mind and Body by sarena - E, 5 chapters - Hermione tilted her head, taking a step back to look him up and down. “Draco Malfoy, is this your first time?” He winced reflexively but he tried to cover it up immediately by shaking his head. “Of course not,” he scoffed.

Something Deeper by kmd0107 - E, one-shot - Draco and Hermione have to consummate their marriage bond. Draco may have left out one not-so-tiny detail.

Something Unexpected by GaeilgeRua - E, one-shot - Hermione learns that the rumours about her new husband may have been exaggerated a bit. It’s a good thing that the Slytherin Sex God and the Gryffindor Princess work so well together now.

A Stellar Collision by Somandalicious - E, one-shot - They were a white dwarf and a neutron star hurling through space and time on an elliptical trajectory with catastrophic consequences.

Prick the Virgin by Klawdee - M, one-shot - 7th year Au, in which, Hermione (not the Head Girl, but knows a bit about head or at least several different slang words for it) asks Draco for his virginity, but NOT that virginity, and yet she gets both, that is if either really exist at all... Canon divergence - Voldy Moldy didn’t return 4th year or in this fic…at all… -Diggory was the only Hogwarts Champion…but also not in this fic… -Umbridge did teach 5th year but was chased out early due to out of control rise underage rituals…hinted at but not elaborated on… - it’s AU; Sargent and really…there is no plot, what plot? Inspired by an incorrect (as I’ve soon learned doing some minor research) tumblr post assumption on what “Virgin Blood actually” means, and I ran with it anyways. Some humour, or at least some attempts at humour. I know my confidence is staggering, hopefully you give it a go anyhow, and humour me.

In the Twist of a Curl by SlytherinHermione - E, one-shot - There she goes again. Draco couldn’t help but to watch, mesmerized as she took a long strand of her hair, and followed its curled path around her finger.He felt turned around, twisted upside down, and he couldn’t really stop himself from falling.

Waking The Dragon by Lilithmorningstar69 - E, one-shot - Draco Malfoy had very few choices, despite being a spoilt brat, as a pureblood and only living heir to the Malfoys, he is expected to uphold some antiquated traditions. That is until he sees an unexpected pair in a very compromised position.

still got you all over me by HawthorneWhisperer - M, one-shot - “Earl Grey,” a deep voice said, and it was like walking straight through a ghost. Her stomach plunged, her veins turned icy cold, and she made herself count to three before turning around.It was worse than a ghost. It was him, warm and in the flesh, cheeks slightly flushed from the summer heat outside. Draco hadn’t noticed her yet, too busy paying for his tea, and she inched toward the door. If she could just scoot past the cluster of witches waiting in line, she might be able to—“Granger?” the barista asked. Dammit. Draco’s face went several shades paler. She gave up trying to sneak out and sheepishly wended her way to the counter. Hermione accepted her cup with a meek smile and nodded to Draco like this wasn’t the worst thing that had happened to her in years. It had been seven years since she had last seen him, standing alone in front of the lake. Everyone else had been crowded into groups, surrounded by their families and loved ones, but Draco was alone. No one had come to his commencement ceremony, not even his mother.

The Infidelity Clause by melanoradrood - E, one-shot - "It ends with infidelity," he said carefully. "If one of us were to have sexual relations with another, then the contract is broken."Draco's future has been written in ink and magic since he was a child, but now that he faces it, a marital contract, he knows that there's only one way out... but the consequences of breaking such a contract are... permanent.Hermione rather likes the sound of them.Written for Deflower Draco Fest 2021

Not Your Average Sex God by GracefulLioness - E, one-shot - Draco's in love. And that's isn't even the most embarrassing thing he's confessing tonight.

Until You by BiscuitsForPotter - E, one-shot - After a potions accident at fifteen, Draco must resign himself to living with an affliction for which there is no cure. Written for the 2021 Deflower Draco Fest.

The Bowtruckles and the Beasts by PurpleSugarQuills - E, one-shot - Molly Weasley brandished a copy of The Bowtruckles and the Beasts in one hand and a ripe, yellow banana in the other. Hermione could only blink, moments away from receiving The Talk from her ex-boyfriend’s mother.This was, as so many things tended to be, all Ginny Weasley’s fault.And eighth-year fic for Deflower Draco Fest

Fortuitous timing by emotionalsupporthufflepuff - E, one-shot - Rumor has it that Draco Malfoy is a skilled and generous lover.He may have started that rumor himself...But when Hermione Granger wants to find out for herself, will it result in another disastrous event for Draco, or is his luck finally turning around?

This fest is ongoing.

#dramionefanfictionforum #Fests/Exchanges/Challenges

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tokidokitokyo · 5 years ago

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What Now? - Advanced Language Learning

So you have mastered the basics of Japanese/your language of choice (well maybe not mastered, but those lower level books and websites have certainly become less overwhelming). Now what?

There usually comes a slump where you are too advanced for beginner level learning but fluency and native-level reading are still a bit out of your grasp. How do you keep progressing when it feels like you don’t have enough textbook study material or you don’t know where to go from here?

The answer is that you have to be creative and self-motivated! This is where I’ve seen many language learners end their journey because other things get in the way and they drop off on their progress. You have to start getting creative about how you learn, but the key is not to stop learning. This is how I got past the slump and improved my Japanese even when I finished university.

Proficiency Exam Practice

Try JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) or other proficiency exam practice workbooks. These provide a good structured learning schedule and show you where you could use some more practice. They go up to N1, so you will be able to continue to use them even as you get more advanced.

Keep Learning Vocabulary

I can guarantee you don’t know all the words, so keep learning new words. If it helps to you write new words in a notebook or in a document, or to make flash cards, do that (I’m a write-it-down-in-a-notebook kinda person). You don’t have to do a giant list of vocabulary words every day. If you think of/hear/read a word you don’t know, look it up as soon as you can, and note it down. Practice using it in a sentence and try to incorporate it into your next conversation.

Write Something

Whether it’s a tumblr post, a diary entry just for yourself, or a message to someone on HelloTalk, start writing. It can be every day, every week, every month, but just write something. If you can get a native speaker to correct it that’s even better, but if not at least you have put your own thoughts in another language on the page (or screen). This helps you form sentences and think in a different language.

Read Something

Reading in another language can be daunting, but since you have mastered the basics you will be a pro. You don’t have to sit and read a novel for hours. You can read a short article, someone’s Twitter (this will be challenging because of slang and dialect), or a label on some food. You can read children’s books or brand websites or captions on Instagram photos.

Talk to Someone

This can be yourself, your stuffed animals, your pets, your roommate who doesn’t speak Japanese at all. Just speaking and forming sentences is important to improving your speaking skills. Talk about everyday things, and use words and grammar you know. Revise grammar that you don’t remember as well. It’s best if you have someone who is a native speaker or at least studying the same language, so that you have some kind of feedback. This isn’t always possible, so instead you can watch a YouTuber you like and repeat after them to practice pronunciation, sentence structure, etc.

Challenge Yourself

When you started learning Japanese you never thought you would be able to read Murakami Haruki in the original Japanese, or write a blog in Japanese, or be able to keep up with the news in Japanese? If you have always wanted to challenge yourself, now is the time. You might have to keep looking up words or ask a native speaker to check your writing, but doing something outside of your comfort zone is a good way to push yourself. If it’s a big task, break it up into smaller bits of time. Don’t burn yourself out, but set a goal for yourself. Maybe you just want to read the first chapter of a novel you’ve read in English. Maybe you want to write simple sentences that you know are grammatically correct. Whatever it is, make it a manageable goal, and pat yourself on the back when you realize that you’re actually a lot further than you thought. In order to improve, it’s important to do something that is at a higher level so that you can break out of a rut.

I wish you the best of luck in your language learning adventure!

#japanese langblr #langblr #studyblr #advanced language learning #language learning tips #tokidokitokyo #tdtstudy

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prehistoricalcats · 5 years ago

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I'm really interested in your Cats universe! It seems like you have them living like humans but humans also exist? Can you describe your universe a bit more, if you'd like to? :)

I'd love to!

I must warn you though, this is a very in-depth universe, and even focusing on specific points and trying to simplify things as much as I could, I still managed to make to this about a mile long. Damn I wish Tumblr mobile let me do a read more cut

First of all, yes the Cats are anthropomorphic, and yes humans also exist in this universe. Anthro Dogs, Rats, and Mice all definitely also exist, and I'm considering a few other anthro races like Hyenas and maybe like Rabbits and some others, but haven't put too much thought to that yet.

Just for reference, if it's capitalized (Dog, Cat, etc) it's the anthro race, if it's lower case (dog, cat, etc) it's the fourlegger

Some Basic Terminology:

Non-human beings/non-human people - collective term for all anthro races

NHP - non-human person(s)

Furfolk - common English slang for non-human beings, not politically correct but still pretty widely used. There is also a version of this word for each specific race, Catfolk, Ratfolk, etc. (Note: Mice and Rats often are collectively refered to as Rodents or Rodentfolk)

Fourlegger - regular dogs, cats, etc. Used mostly by NHPs to differentiate between them and NHPs

Bald-bodies - humans. Used by NHPs, considered derogatory by most (nearly everyone uses it anyway)

Kit - kid, child, teenager (for Cats). Short for kitten

Tom - you know this one, an adult or teenage male Cat

Mot - an adult or teenage female Cat, an alternative word for "queen"

License Name - once called the "family name" back when it was still quite common for Cats to work for a human family in a residential household. Essentially this is the name that humans assign to Cats because Particular Names are often "too hard" for humans to remember/pronounce. It's their "official" name that appears on most legal documents, including their "license" which is essentially a registration card and number that all Cats are required to have. Most Cats have a license, and a license name, by age three, some get theirs as infants. Sometimes the parents have a say in what the license name will be, sometimes not. Sometimes a Cat will prefer their license name, some prefer their Particular Name, others don't care and will respond to either.

The Junkyard - a slum, mostly populated by Cats, on the outskirts of the metropolitan area of an unnamed imaginary British city, comprised partly of makeshift shelters scattered throughout an actual dump/landfill/junkyard, and partly of several large shantytowns built on the unused land surrounding the dump

Some biology stuff:

Okay brief anatomy lesson before we begin

(For real though, please at least glance over that link before continuing, it is fairly brief and it makes what I'm about to try to explain a lot less complicated)

I've had to do some fantasy science to work out how Cats can have retractable claws without becoming less dextrous than humans (because I need them to be able to play instruments made for human hands). What I've essentially gone with so far is that Cats have extra bones in their hands/feet, which would make them unlike any other known tetrapod either living or in the fossil record, so the science side of me rebels at this, but the art side of me says it's a story about bipedal talking felines with mystical powers it's already science fiction they could have duckbills if I wanted them to (I don't), and so I think this is a decent compromise. I can go into further detail about the way the claws work later on if you like, but this post is already going to be pretty long so for now I'll just say that you can describe the claw as an extra joint attached to the end of the distal phalange.

Cats are super bendy, for the same reason that (fourlegger) cats are bendy. They have extra bones/joints in their spines. Cats have 7 cervical, 13 thoracic, 7 lumbar, 5 sacral, and 19-23 caudal. They have more sacral bones than fourleggers because they're bipedal.

Cats are habitual bipeds, like humans. But unlike humans, they are perfectly comfortable wandering around on their hands and knees. Though the bipedal stance is more comfortable and usually perfered by adults especially, most non-elderly Cats are still perfectly fine crawling on the ground on their hands and knees. You're generally more likely to see kits and young adults doing this, but older adults do it to. If they want to move fast or run, they use a bipedal stance. Beyond that it's just whatever feels right for the situation.

Some culture stuff

Cats and other NHPs (except Rats) don't need clothing to cover their privates. I'm not going to go into the anatomy of how that works. For now let's just imagine it's the fur that's hiding it. They do wear clothes, especially in winter, but it's not so much for modesty as it is for functionality and fashion. Basically clothes for Cats are for three purposes: to protect from the elements (cold, rain, sun, etc), to shut the outraged humans up, and to look good. It's pretty common in the summer to see Cats wearing nothing but some arm/leg warmers or other fashion accessory, and a belt/rope around their waist to store things on in the absence of pockets,(even if they also have a bag)

If you've ever owned or seen or been around a male rat you probably know why I say "except Rats" and I'm not going to get into it here, just know Rat men always where pants/trousers

Cats exist globally and have a variety of different cultures, often greatly influenced by the human culture of that region, but one of the most universal elements of Cat culture is the idea that "It's considerably dishonorable for a Cat to use anything but their own claws (and teeth in many cultures) in combat against another unarmed Cat." Translation: Cats generally frown on using weapons, though many recognize the need to know how to use them, because humans use weapons, and a claws against a machete or a cattle prod or a gun isn't fair. By the same line many modern Cats consider it okay to use weapons against a (dishonorable) Cat that pulled a weapon on you first, though many elders still frown upon this.

The relationship between Cats (and other NHPs) and humans isn't very good, and the relationship between different types of NHPs isn't much better. There's a social hierarchy that puts humans (especially white straight cis male humans) at the top. The hierarchy goes humans > Dogs > Cats > Rodents

About the Jellicles

The Jellicles are the name of a specific tribe that once was primarily a religious tribe. Back a really fuck long time ago when Deuteronomy was still a kitten, the Jellicles lived off the land and practiced their religion (still working out the details of that sorry but I do have a few things)

The Jellicle Choice is a real thing, though I haven't decided if it started with Deuteronomy or if he was the next in a line sorta kinda but not exactly like the Avatar. The Jellicle Ball is held every year and people used to come from all over hoping to be picked. The humans didn't like this mass gathering, and the space they had in their own territory couldn't quite handle it anyway, so the Jellicles had to start keeping the Ball's location a secret until the day of, to keep the attendance numbers down somewhat. A Choice isn't made every year, though there's always a chance one will be made, and they've had a dry spell for the past 20 or 30 or so years before Grizabella. They don't have to keep the locale a secret anymore, most people don't bother coming and some even think the Jellicle Choice is just a myth. Few people remember when the Jellicles were primarily religious

Deut was trained as a shaman from early childhood, and groomed to be the next leader since he was ten, but he's always been a performer at heart. At some point after taking over as lead, he met (a very very young) Gus and invited him into the tribe. With Gus's help he organized plays and small musical performances, slowly and gradually getting other members in on it as well, until putting on plays every now and then was just a part of Jellicle life. And it was a good thing too, because by this point the tribe had been forced to give up their land and had to move to an industrial slum in the nearest city. No longer able to live off the land, they turned to performance to make a living. This was all well before Skimble/Jenny/Jelly/Spara (Jr)/Griz were born. These days the Jellicles are known primarily as a tribe of performers. Every current member that was born into the tribe except Deut was brought up as a performer

The play we see is an actual play being put on by the Jellicles as a dramatization of the events of That One Particular Jellice Ball™ which happened three years prior to the current timeline.

I think that covers the basic rundown. You can also see this jumbled mess for my first attempt at explaining all this crap lol.

Oh yeah and before I forget, I haven't decided yet if "Peke" and especially "Pollicle" refer to a certain culture of Dog, a certain body type, or two specific gangs ("packs") that just happen to be mostly comprised of a certain culture and/or body type of Dog. But they do exist in this universe. At the very least they are fictional gangs made up for the Rumpus Cat comics (yeah he's a comic book hero in this), or else real gangs or cultures/types of Dog written into Munk's Rumpus Cat fanwork play.

There's also a very important event that I really need to go over at some point but it's a really heavy topic and this isn't the best time like politically to post it right now, or even for me emotionally to write it out. But I do need to get this out at some point...

#sorry this took ages to answer #i literally have several documents saved titled #worldbuilding take 2 #take 3 #etc #as i tried to organized and simplify everything into something mostly coherant #worldbuilding #my hcs #please don't eat this Tumblr please God

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indipindy16 · 5 years ago

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Heyyyyy, so about that doc with the AU ideas.... (Please feed me I yearn for content)

im obsessed with the idea of monoma and aizawa being related to afo lol. you only see like 3 quirks in the whole series that are based on other quirks - what i would call ‘meta quirks,’ that would only have any function in a world of quirked people. so ofc these 3 quirks have to be related:

afo decided to have a bunch of kids, to see if he could make noumus out of them which retained their brains after being given a bunch of quirks. he impregnated a bunch of women lol, but he kept tabs on them. as soon as the kids turned 4 and presented their quirk, they would be kidnapped by the doctor and brought into the lab. most of the kids had quirks based on quirks (seeing quirks, stealing quirks, copying quirks, erasing quirks…) and are various ages. aizawa, monoma and midoriya were some of them, but aizawa got saved by his badass mother when he was still a kid, so he was already gone by the time midoriya and monoma came around. the two of them manage to escape while afo is still recovering from his fight with all might, and since monoma’s mother was killed by afo, he goes to live with midoriya and his mother. they go off the grid and run away from afo. in this au midoriya is quirkless, up until he meets all might and it goes as usual. umm could be from monoma’s pov, and include monoshin because that’s cute. basically after the sports festival, afo finds monoma again and in the summer camp they kidnap him instead of bakugou. (the reason why aizawa was never caught or taken back by afo is because he won the whole sports fest and became too famous/well protected to be easily stolen back - since monoma didn’t make the fight rounds, he’s a perfect target. afo only knew the kids by their quirks, he never actually met them, so he doesn’t realise that midoriya is one of his kids as well because mido has a quirk now.) anyway so after they kidnap monoma back, he and midoriya spill the beans to the ua faculty, aizawa has a midlife crisis over the fact that he now has younger siblings, and afo continues to be a dick who doesn’t pay child support.

just some sweets stuff as well:

Christmas cake: Japanese slang for an unmarried woman over 25 who is considered undesirable as a wife, in the same way that Christmas cakes are considered useless after Christmas Day.

Good thing for Jirou, she never cared much about being ‘desirable’ to the opposite sex anyway.

-> a momojirou story about jirou’s 26th birthday and momo reassuring her that she is the best gf ever, and that she loves her very much. pro hero gfs <3

like. the trope of aizawa adopting shinsou? well what about instead… hawks adopting tokoyami?? maybe he comes from a super religious family and they tried to exorcise the ‘demon’ from him, protective services put him in the foster system, and he ends up with really shitty foster families, and his quirk is considered ‘dangerous.’ but then our boy hawks swoops in and goes ‘u know what? i’m not letting my intern get disrespected like this’ and adopts him. obviously hawks is still young himself (22 i think), so he’s not very good at the whole parenting thing, but miruko helps him out. he becomes an older brother figure for tokoyami. gen found family fluff ensues

bEST JEANIST AS A TEENAGE FASHION ICON

thats it, thats the idea

HAIKYUU AU - no quirks. just volleyball

so the ua boys volleyball team is on the rocks. its been pretty much non-existent and turned to dust at this point. but, it once own the nationals.

izuku’s mum runs this second hand / antique / trinket store, and izuku helps out sometimes. one day, he finds some old sports tapes in the back and watches them - they’re of the year when ua was at nationals, and their striker, yagi toshinori, inspires izuku to play volleyball.

bakugo is on the school team and he threatens / bullies izuku not to join, so izuku has to train on his own. he learns shitty technique, but he ends up building some muscle by clearing out the beach.

izuku gets into ua, and when he goes to apply for the volleyball team, ofc bakugo picks a fight. the other first-years who join the team are todoroki, kaminari, shinsou, kirishima, and iida. there aren’t any second years - they all got expelled - but mirio and tamaki are on the team as third years, and nejirou is the team manager. their teacher sponsor is a new teacher this year, and it’s left ambiguous. there’s the whole ‘get over ur differences if u want to join’ thing, and then woohoo! team!

turns out their teacher sponsor is aizawa. he drags in the now-retired-due-to-injury yagi toshinori to be the coach. when aizawa went to ua, the volleyball team was too small to go to any tournaments - he’s determined to turn it around and let these kids live their dreams.

some ‘canon? what’s that?’ ideas:

just a really wholesome story about inko and mitsuki being besties. met in middle school or something, supported each other through everything… just gals being the best of pals...

or i mean u could make it gay, that’s always an option (and have izuku and katsuki grow up as actual bros, and actually be friendly to one another? what a shocker) - like, the two of them get sperm donors and are pregnant at the same time so the kids can be twins or something. and ofc you’d expect katsuki to be closest to mitsuki and for inko to be closest to izuku, but then to make it a TWIST add some great bonding between inko + katsuki and mitsuki + izuku!! i’ve never really seen any mitsuki + izuku bonding in stories before, so that’d be pretty cool

izuku gets hit by a villain’s quirk during a big villain attack when he’s 7, turning him part-cat. the villain dies during the attack, so they can’t erase his quirk’s effects - they’d have to surgically remove the ears and tail, or get an expensive quirk specialist in. izuku decides he likes being a nekomimi, so he keeps them and gets being part-cat officially registered as his quirk. he has better senses and agility, and he can talk to cats now i guess. also his eyes are cat eyes. he doesn’t pass the ua exam, so he goes into the general department instead, but he does really well in the sports festival and gets transferred into the hero course with shinsou. (this is all just because i need a valid excuse to make izuku have cat ears.)

some ‘future au’ ideas:

all of the pro heroes merch lines - deku’s ’t-shirt’ shirts, tokoyami’s edgy emo/goth hoodies, iida’s ingenium trainers, bakugou’s popping candy chocolate, todoroki’s own brand of scar cream, HAGAKURE’S CAMO COLLECTION OMG the possibilities are endless

---i made hagakure’s camo for her bday drawing

(i use a strikethrough so i know which ideas i’ve used or posted anywhere. i think that once i put an idea on the internet, it’s probably free reign, so if you want to use any of these for fics or art go ahead. i’d just appreciate it is you could link back to me haha)

5 years after graduating from the General Studies department of UA, Hitoshi opened his own agency. As a private detective.

By the time he’s 25, he’s settled in and relatively comfortable with his career choice. So when his work phone rings one day and he’s still half-asleep he easily opens with, “Shinsou Detective Agency. Before you ask, I do not investigate cheating spouses or missing dogs and I do not screen potential employees for companies.” He paused. “I’ll investigate missing cats, though.”

The person on the other end took a harsh breath, like an almost-laugh, and responded gruffly, “Hm. Good to know if Jelly ever gets lost.”

-> aka shinsou is a PI and aizawa contacts him for help on a case. aizawa never sought out shinsou after the sports festival, being too busy with 1-a’s insane antics, and so shinsou went on to never become a hero. maybe he’s also a vigilante on the side? idk. anyway so yeah aizawa gives him temporary permission to use his quirk during the case. they investigate, blah blah, the point is that afterwards aizawa gets shinsou a licence and takes him on as a sidekick (the same way ingenium offered to koichi in vigilantes)

i have new ideas on the daily. this doc is just growing

keep in mind, i have given to you here only a few of the shortest ones. there are several huge paragraphs of full-au ideas (like where izuku has a quirk, and the entire story follows canon)

these are, ostensibly, ideas for fics that i never write because i’m lazy. but some of them i do end up using for art or comics, so... yeah. most of the comics i’ve posted were originally just little scripts in this doc. an example:

yamada and reformed!shirakumo are walking together, with coffees

shirakumo: so then i - oh, your phone’s wringing

(yamada’s ringtone is the nyancat song, and the contact name is ‘daddy’)

shirakumo: haha, you still call ur dad ‘daddy’? i thought you got over that in high school (taking a sip on the coffee)

yamada: (answering the phone, keeping eye contact with shirakumo) hey, shouta, what’s up?

shirakumo: (spits out coffee)

—- made this a comic on tumblr

damn this post is longer than i expected

whelp, i hope you liked it

#answered ask #bnha #bnha meta #bnha au #au ideas #bnha au ideas #free ideas #come along kids get ur free au ideas #dad for one au #haikyuu au #momojirou #inko x mitsuki #i will go down with this ship #there's a lot of dadzawa here as well #dadzawa

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kristallers · 4 years ago

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Det är dax att åka hem (SWE–ENG)

Most people learning Swedish are refugees who’ve come here in hopes of a better life. The people on tumblr who are learning Swedish are probably interested in the cottagecore vibes of the Swedish countryside, or maybe the city life of Stockholm or some other very white Swedish cultural phenomenon. However, 20% of Sweden’s population is made up of people with another ethnic background than “Swedish” and as a learner of Swedish, you’re gonna have to meet that culture, too. Learning Swedish without this part of Swedish culture is like learning American English and expecting never to meet an African American person. It’s just... no. This song was created before the 2018 elections as a response to alt-right nationalist party Alternativ för Sverige (AFS) cheering outside the airports when immigrants from Afghanistan, Turkey, Eritrea and Morocco were being sent home from various places around Sweden. Their message to these people was: “Det är dags att åka hem” – It’s time to go home. The alt-right nationalist party Sverigedemokraterna (SD for short) had also been gaining a lot of momentum and could’ve become the ruling party of Sweden, which it takes no sociologist to imagine that racism would spike as a result of having a racist party ruling the country. SD wants to send immigrants “home” to countries they’re not safe in. They talk about so called “imported crime”, when this crime is not imported; rather it is created by societal structures in Sweden. This song was created as a call for people to not vote SD, so that we can stay in this country we’ve made our home.

youtube

Hehe, Mandems Hehe, Mandems

Kom närmare Come closer

Har ni hört vad som händer nu? Have you heard what’s going on right now?

Kom närmare Come closer

Kom Come

Hör på, hör på Listen up, listen up

Okej, Adjej Okay, Adjej

Okej, okej Okay, okay

Grabbar, jag måste säga, jag har dåliga nyheter Boys, I have to say, I’ve got bad news

De som får stanna i landet är sånna som heter Peter Those who get to stay in the country are those called Peter

Som jag ser på saken står vi mellan dessa valen As I see it we have these choices

Vi ses i röstlokalen eller ses på terminalen We’ll see each other at the polling station or at the (airport) terminal

SD, de sa det är dags att åka hem (säg på Gud) SD they said it’s time to go home (say on God)

SD, de sa det är dags att åka hem SD they said it’s time to go home

Ja, åka hem Yes, to go home

SD, de sa det är dags att åka hem (säg på Gud) SD they said it’s time to go home (say on God)

Mammas, de sa det är dags att åka hem On my mom’s death*, they said it’s time to go home

Första dan i Sverige var jag ganska optimistisk First day in Sweden I was pretty optimistic

Mamma sa: "Min son, det är ingen här som är rasistisk" Mom said: “My son, there’s no one here who’s racist”

Men jag satt på tåget och en man kom fram och sa mig But I was on the train and a man came up and told me

Bäst jag åker hemåt för jag kanske färgar av mig (va?) (That) I better head home because I might spread my color/stain** (what?)

Jag har en fråga, snälla sig mig vad som händer I have a question, please tell me what happens

Om vi lämnar landet vem ska laga era tänder? If we leave the country, who’s gonna fix your teeth***?

Ja, åka hem Yes, to go home

SD, de sa det är dags att åka hem (säg på Gud) SD they said it’s time to go home (say on God)

Mammas, de sa det är dags att åka hem On my mom’s death*, they said it’s time to go home

Ni får äta eran pyttipanna varje dag sen You’ll get to/have to eat your pyttipanna every day then

Om vi tar kebabreceptet med oss i bagaget If we take the kebab recipe with us in our luggage

Utan oss i Sverige blir det många tomma magar Without us in Sweden there will be many empty stomachs

Jag tror faktiskt att det är bättre om vi stannar kvar här I think it’s actually better if we stay here

Stanna kvar här, om vi stannar kvar här Stay here, if we stay here

Jag tror faktiskt att det är bättre om vi stannar kvar här I think it’s actually better if we stay here

Ja, åka hem Yes, to go home

SD, de sa det är dags att åka hem (säg på Gud) SD they said it’s time to go home (say on God)

Mammas, de sa det är dags att åka hem On my mom’s death*, they said it’s time to go home Den nionde september är dagen du bestämmer The ninth of September is the day that you decide

Om vi får stanna eller bli bannad från Sverige If we can stay or get banned from Sweden

Så bror, vad händer, för just nu som det ser ut So bro, what’s happening, because as it looks right now

Riskerar vi åka ut av ett parti som heter SD We’re risking to go out by a party called SD

Där parti-le-ledaren är sne Where the party leader is a bit dumb****

Ey boys! Mandems

Var det inte den här shunon som ville kicka ut oss eller? (Hay, idiot) Wasn’t it that guy***** who wanted to kick us out, right? (Aye, idiot)

Jo det är han, det är han asså, det är han Yes it’s him, it’s really him, it’s him

Vilken shuno, asså! What a guy, wow!

Han är värsta lallaren asså He’s really just plays around******

That man is wicked Ja, åka hem Yes, to go home

Ja, åka hem Yes, to go home

SD, de sa det är dags att åka hem (säg på Gud) SD they said it’s time to go home (say on God)

Mammas, de sa det är dags att åka hem On my mom’s death*, they said it’s time to go home

----

*”Mammas död”, here just shortened to “mammas” is kind of like wallah or “I swear to god” in English. Its said when you promise someone womething.

**”Färga av sig” means to stain, or for a color to spread onto other things. Like when you’re washing your clothes, you don’t want to put reds with withes, because they might “färga av sig”, spread their color and stain the other pieces of clothing you’re washing.

***”vem ska fixa era tänder?” It’s a stereotype that immigrants become/are dentists.

****”sne”, correctly spelled “sned” (but pronounced sne either way) literally means crooked, but in this context means someone is a bit off, like a bit dumb.

*****”en shuno” is slang for “a guy”

******”en lallare” is someone who just plays around, who doesn’t do the things they say they do seriously. “Att lalla” is the verb form. “Värsta” literally means the worst, but in this context it means the biggest, for example: “Han är värsta idioten. – he’s the biggest douche.” In other contexts it can be used to express positive emotions, like “sick” in English, for example: “Det här är värsta spelet! – This game is sick!”

#swedish #svenska #learn swedish #swedish langblr #swedish vocab #swedish slang #langblr

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m-ayamiko · 5 years ago

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For Charis ;)

There can be different approaches to learning French, and I don’t think I started or are currently am learning in the best way haha. But I will link some useful resources that definitely did teach me something

For starters, here is a link to a post that talks about how to approach language learning based on how you learn:(https://ipablo6.tumblr.com/post/165748273056/language-learning-made-easy)

immersion

I think it is important to imMerSe yourself into the language/culture. So you become more comfortable with it. This can happen by (along side doing planned and formated study) watching shows in French, listening to music and podcasts in French and finding other ways to fill your brain with the language without it always being seen as ‘learning time’. If there are any shows or movies that you know really well/ liked alot in English, hopefully you can find it in French bc whilst listening to the French vers, you won’t be completely lost and confused as to what is happening

Sometimes I watch Peppa Pig in French harhar and I think it is good listening practice, as to how french is actually spoke (tbh it is kinda hard to hear understand sometimes, thankfully there are often subs harhahr)

some cartoons in FrencH:

- peppa pig :p

- lazy town );

- miraculous ladybug ;)

- charlie and lola :)

music:

- oui, oui baguette

- *fraincais

- french covers of english songs

books:

- childrens books, that may be easier to understand?

- books for beginner

- poems, novels and plays (probably a higher level of words used)

youtube:

- youtubers recommended by aspoonfulofsugar

- recommended by naomisfrench

- wendigofrench has recommended ‘What the cut’ for intermediate level

movies:

- disney movies

I also recently set my phone to French, which seems scary but wasn’t even a terrible idea. If it is too overwhelming at first, you can find your way back to the settings and change the language back. Since having it in French, I have learnt different words easily because they keep popping up (like ‘cancel’, ‘settings’ and just some apps in different languages). Highly recommended

Incase you get lost on social media if your phone is in french

vocabulary

There is a post that lists important vocabulary to learn whilst starting a new language. It is very useful to have a set group of vocab to learn at one time so it is easier to stay focused on a certain topic (especially when self learning), well tha’ts what I think. Once you get into learning the language (following Tumblr accs, watching shows and all that) you will often come across new cool fun exciting vocab and I think that it is important to write down those snippets that you find and include them in their respectable postitions in the list, or maybe you could just learn/revise them seperate to the list thing

If you have anything that you have a big interest in something, like space, finding a vocabukary list for that topic will be good to learn so that you can feel comfortable and talk about things that you enjoy talking about, instead of just learning general terms.

learning slang is also similar to being able to personalise your speech!

vocab list thing:

- recommended by aspoonfulofsugar

- art

- philosophy

- interstellar

- university

- gardening

- typically teen expressions

questions :D

It is good to know how to ask for things ig. A good post on asking questions by studyegn

creating goals and milestones

without having a set curriculum and teacher to guide and record your progress, having self made goals and milestones can be very useful. There is a post that shares some recommendations for language learning milestones and I have been using some myself

One of my goals is to create a diary ind French! Which kind of forces myself to learn how to express feelings and be able to recount the day in French

some posts specific to self-expression: - feelings

- ‘diary writing in french’

other resources

I have not really committed to any one specific app for french (since the best ones seem to be the ones that ask for money, realizashun). But there are apps that I have used that have been good and could help if used consistently. I think it wouldn’t be good to rely on only one app to teach you everything, it would be good to search around on how different sites and apps differently teach one topic and search if there is more information on one topic than what a app/site is telling you

apps:

- duolingo harhar

- drops (i tried using this app to also learn tagalog *two eyes looking to the side emoji* - memrise

- rosetta stone ? i think itz money

sites:

- https://frenchtogether.com/learn-french-youtube/

- https://www.clozemaster.com/l/fra-eng

- 11 hr french learning class

idk what else to add, there is probably a lot that could be added like grammar resources but i don’t know great grammar resources myself

WELL THEN, thnk yuo 4 read

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dr-gloom · 6 years ago

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Play Pretend

Commissioned by @incoherant-ramblings! Thank you! <3<3<3</p>

Commission Me (please)

Fandom: Sanders’ Sides

Pairing: Analogical

Words: 1,958

Summary: Logan and Virgil agree to pretend they’re dating to get the other sides - who keep setting them up - off their backs. After a few months of this carefully crafted facade, Logan begins to notice some changes.

Tags/Warnings: fake dating, soft boys, fluff, cuddles, kissing, confessions, mentions of weight gain, mentions of body issues/issues with self-image

Read it on AO3

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It started as a mutual agreement between the two of them. It seemed to them that the other sides were trying to set them up at every turn. So, they’d decided to get ahead of the game, satisfy the others, and find some peace.

They’d decided to pretend they were dating when they were around the others.

It wasn’t that hard, and neither of them really minded. Everyone knew how anxious Virgil was, and how restrained Logan himself was, so they weren’t expected to be all over each other. Simply walking into a room holding hands was enough to make Patton melt and Roman give them doe eyes, telling them to get a room. Then they were free to keep to themselves (physically, at least) for the rest of the day. Of course, they would still have the occasional “moment” where Virgil would sit in Logan’s lap, or Logan would walk up behind Virgil and rest his chin on the anxious sides’ shoulder.

Their faux relationship did most of the work for them, really. Every casual brush in the hall was repainted as an intimate yet brief moment between lovers. Every casual conversation was now seen as a display of domesticity. Every debate or joking argument warped into lover’s banter, meaningless snark, their version of ‘I love you’ (and how strange a concept, Logan thought to himself, that someone would see two individuals debating heatedly and think it some secret intimate code).

They’d been at this charade for a few months when Logan began to note some strange, yet… pleasant changes. Virgil seemed more willing to come into his room to “hang out” than he was before the arrangement, for one. They’d spend evenings in relative silence, Virgil lounging on his bed scrolling through Tumblr while Logan worked at his desk or read. Sometimes music played softly in the background, and other times their only soundtrack was their soft breaths and the occasional turn of a page or rustle of cloth.

Another change, Logan noted, was that the longer this went on, the less hesitant they were to engage in physical signs of affection. Virgil would lean into his side while they sat on the couch instead of taking to his armchair as per usual. Logan would give Virgil’s hand a gentle squeeze before they entered a room. Occasionally they would cuddle on Patton’s designated family movie nights, and Logan would run his fingers through Virgil’s hair. One time in particular Logan can’t seem to get out of his mind, because of how bizarre the happenstance.

Virgil had been on his phone as he was walking, head turned down and headed in the general direction of their rooms from the kitchen. Logan had been walking into the commons just as Virgil was passing through himself. Logan still doesn’t quite know what happened, even a month and a half later. Something - a simple act of clumsiness on Virgil’s part, or maybe the coffee table had been shifted slightly out of place, Logan isn’t sure - had caused Virgil to trip. Logan had reacted purely on instinct, rushing forward to catch Virgil before he fell.

The world seemed to freeze for a moment as both of their minds caught up to what just happened. Their faces were mere inches apart. Logan had taken in Virgil’s soft features - he’d put on a little weight with his stress eating, his cheeks rounding out a little more. It didn’t look too bad; Logan liked it in fact, Virgil looked more healthy in his opinion - before their proximity registered in his mind and his cheeks flushed. Virgil seemed to come to the same conclusion after taking in Logan’s toned arms holding him up - and oh, the look Virgil had given him - and they both looked away, embarrassed. Virgil straightened up and mumbled something Logan hadn’t caught before sinking out.

And that had been in the forefront of Logan’s mind every time he thought of or saw Virgil. How he’d looked in the soft light of the commons, his look of surprise, how soft his lips seemed. He would have to shake himself of those thoughts before anyone noticed him zoning out or he messed up whatever he was working on. Logan had to face the facts when he’d nearly short-circuited feeling Virgil’s hand on the small of his back in passing.

He was falling - had fallen - for Virgil.

Emotions were not his forte, but he considered himself well-read. He knew the signs, the common symptoms, even if he didn’t know how it had happened, when, or why. His first thought after he had reconciled this fact was “Patton was right”. Of course, it seemed he was a bit too quick, that he had ‘jumped the gun’, as it were.

None of this accounted for how Virgil felt about Logan, however.

Logan was walking to the kitchen late at night for a glass of water. He’d just woken up, and typically when this happened he couldn’t get back to sleep unless he got up for a moment first. The logical side shuffles tiredly through the commons, his tired mind registering the quiet sound of someone singing as he approaches the kitchen.

He pauses in the entryway. It takes him a moment to process what he’s seeing and hearing past the fatigue, but it’s unmistakable once he does. Logan watches with a sleepy fond smile as Virgil bops along to the song coming through his headphones, singing quietly to himself and making a sandwich in the middle of the dark kitchen. He’s in his usual hoodie, but he’s shirked his pants in the late hours, standing around in his boxer shorts. Logan feels a swell of affection come over him as he observes the anxious side, watches his head bop and his hips sway slightly, his hands putting his sandwich together.

Without thinking, Logan walks up behind Virgil, wrapping his arms around his middle and resting his chin on the shorter side’s shoulder. Virgil tenses for a brief moment, but when he realizes it’s Logan he relaxes, leaning back into Logan’s toned chest. “Hey, L.” Virgil’s quiet voice comes out a little gravelly, suggesting he’d woken up much like Logan himself, rather than staying up late once again. That was good, it meant he was at least getting more sleep than he usually did.

“Why are you awake so late?”

Virgil sighs softly. “Thomas has been really stressed lately.”

“Which makes you stressed,” Logan supplies.

Virgil nods.

“And you stress eat.”

Virgil nods again. Logan can practically feel the self deprecating thoughts weighing him down. He wraps his arms a little more securely around Virgil, feeling his soft stomach under his shirt. “While it is not the best coping mechanism, there is nothing wrong with it. Many studies have been conducted on weight gain and weight loss, and it is far better to have a slightly higher BMI than the medical community considers healthy, In addition, it is also healthier to gain weight and keep it than to try to lose it.” He leans his head against Virgil’s slightly, his lips tugging into a frown. He wasn’t particularly good at providing comfort, not like Patton. All he could offer was words.

Virgil smiles slightly. “Thanks, L,” he says softly, gently patting Logan’s hand. “That’s actually… Good to know.”

Logan nearly sighs in relief. “Of course, Virgil. Anytime.”

Virgil finishes making his sandwich and takes a bite. “So why are you awake? Should I be worried?” Logan smiles slightly and shakes his head.

“Not at all. It happens on occasion - I will wake up late at night and cannot get back to sleep unless I take a trip to the bathroom or kitchen.”

Virgil nods. “Valid.” Logan lets out a little amused huff. He will never understand half the slang Virgil uses, no matter how many vocab cards he makes. “And, uhm…” Logan tilts his head to glance at Virgil curiously as he speaks up again. “You don’t gotta do that, L. No one’s around; it’s like, 1 AM.”

Logan’s eyebrows furrow. “Do what, Virgil?”

Virgil’s cheeks color and he stares pointedly down at his sandwich. “Hold me.” Oh.

“Oh, I see. I apologize.” Logan lifts his head and takes a step back, frowning as Virgil turns to face him. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. It won’t happen again.” Virgil’s mouth quirks into a frown as his eyes flit over Logan’s expression.

“You okay, L? What is it?”

Logan sighs, glancing aside. He supposed honesty was the best policy. It felt disingenuous to continue with their agreement when it had become a little less false on his end. “I am afraid I have feelings for you, Virgil.” Virgil raises an eyebrow, opening his mouth to reply, but Logan plows on. “I realize this is highly inconvenient, given our arrangement, and I understand if you would like to stop. Rest assured I did not intend to develop these feelings, and I am just as unsettled by their sudden development as you are. Perhaps we can fabricate a fight to end our arrangement in a way that would suit the others, to avoid unnecessary questioning. However, I must-”

“Shut up for a second, will you?”

Logan blinks, his mouth snapping shut. His heart was beating a little faster, his palms sweating at his sides. Was he… nervous?

“Don’t you want to know how I feel?”

Logan nods dumbly. Virgil takes a deep breath.

“First off, you shouldn’t feel regret or guilt for having feelings, so jot that down. And second… I feel the same way. I mean, I like you. You know… like that. I just… I didn’t say anything ‘cause I didn’t think you’d ever like me back, so it was easier to just keep pretending, y’know?” Logan nods. He does in fact know. “And like, hell, did I entertain the thought that you liked me back late at night? Sure, but… I’m a mess. I’m literally a ball of anxiety. Well, more like a blob…” When Logan gives him a Look, he shakes his head. “Point is, I’m not necessarily the ideal relationship material. I mean, I’m working on myself, and I’m getting better, but I can only improve so much when my whole function is to worry over shit. So…” He shrugs. “I just… Don’t wanna trap you in a relationship with an insecure, needy asshole, is what I’m saying.”

Logan frowns. He takes a moment to collect his thoughts, and each second that passes seems to make Virgil more nervous. When Logan finally opens his mouth, Virgil perks up.

“If you’re happy, then so am I. Whether that is in a romantic relationship with me or a platonic one, whether we embrace the recent unfolding of events or pretend as though they never happened, whatever would make you most comfortable is perfectly alright with me, because your comfort will always come before my own selfish desires. That being said,” Logan makes sure he’s looking right in Virgil’s eyes as he continues. “However you view yourself plays no part into my feelings for you, and will only affect our relationship in whichever way you allow it. Healthy communication and a discussion of boundaries can assuage such worries and are a key component of any healthy relationship, romantic or otherwise. If you want this,” he smiles softly. “Then so do I.”

Virgil blinks at Logan for a moment, eyes slightly wide as he processes Logan’s words. Then he launched himself at the taller side, letting himself become enveloped by those muscular arms, a feeling of safety he’d never felt with any of the others washing over him. “I… I’d really like that.” He sighs softly, closing his eyes, sandwich forgotten on the counter.

“Let’s stop pretending.”

Taglist:

@ren-allen @eggy-boyo

#sanders sides #sanders sides fanfiction #sanders sides fanfic #analogical #logan sanders #virgil sanders #fake dating #confessions #mentions of body issues

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erinptah · 5 years ago

Text

Super Drags review (tl;dr Show Good)

The post where I do my best to spread the Good News, that there exists a saucy gay drag-queen magical-girl animated comedy and everyone should watch it.

Okay, not everyone -- I'll give some caveats at the end -- but definitely a heck of a lot more people than Netflix has bothered to advertise it to.

Look at this! Why did nobody tell me about this??

What is Super Drags?

Fast facts:

It's a 1-season, 5-episode adult animated comedy series, released in November 2018

Here's the official page, with a free-to-view trailer

It packs more explicit, unashamed queerness into those 5 episodes than any other cartoon I can think of

The only possible competitor would be if you took the whole 5000-episode run of Steven Universe and pared it down to a supercut of Just The Gay Parts

This in spite of being produced in Brazil, which (in my broad understanding, as a total non-authority on the subject) is more oppressively, dangerously homophobic than the US

The original is in Portuguese

There is an English dub, fabulously voiced by contestants from RuPaul's Drag Race

It's wrapped in "for adults only!" warnings, not because the content is any less child-friendly than (say) your Bojacks Horsemen or your Ricks and Mortys, but because Brazilian authorities tried to get it shut down on the grounds of this much gay being Harmful For Children

It was (heartbreakingly) not renewed for a second season

Here's a promo video, in which the main characters (Portuguese, with subtitles) play Drag Race judges for Shangela, who ends up voicing Scarlet in English.

And here's a beautiful flashy music video of the big musical number! (Also Portuguese, no subtitles, but the melody and the visuals stand on their own.)

Plot and worldbuilding stuff!

The elevator pitch is "What if Charlie's Angels, but also drag queens, with superpowers, because magical-girl transformations?"

In this universe, all LGBTQ people have magical energy. The Big Bad is an evil magical-drag-queen nemesis who tries to drain our energy for her own purposes. It's like if Ursula from The Little Mermaid was a first-season Sailor Moon villain.

...sidenote, in case you were worried, the representation isn't "cis gay men and nobody else." There's a butch lesbian in the recurring cast, a genderfluid person (in that specific word!) as a one-off love interest, and all the ensemble scenes are wonderful collages of different races, body types, and gender presentations.

Our heroes also fight non-magical everyday homophobes, who get written with scathing realism.

The moment I knew the show wasn't pulling any punches was in the first episode, where a newscaster complains about being Silenced by the Law of Political Correctness, then chirps "however, we have a special guest who is thankfully above the law!"

According to the reviews I've found from Brazilian viewers, it's also pitch-perfect when it comes to local queer culture, community dynamics, slang and speech patterns, even memes. All of which flies right over my head, so here's a post (with no-context spoilers) about one viewer's favorite details.

The handful of reaction posts on Tumblr have a dramatic split between "Brazilian viewers fiercely defending the show as culturally-accurate, uplifting, and brave in a terrifying political moment" and "American viewers complaining that the show is problematic because it's a comedy about drag queens with no perfect role models and lots of sex jokes."

As the Super Drags tell their nemesis (and this is also in the first episode): "How dare you try to turn the LGBTQXYZ community against each other? We do enough of that on our own!"

In between missions, our girls work sitcom retail jobs and deal with other everyday problems. All of which are written in amazingly nuanced and thoughtful ways for a show that also features "defeating an orgy monster with a lip-sync battle."

Detailed character stuff!

Our heroes are Color Coded For Your Convenience!

The Super Drags themselves go by "she" in-uniform, and a lot of the time when out of it. Like the Sailor Starlights, only more so. I'll roll with that.

In blue: Safira Cyan, or Ralph by day, an excitable college-age kid who's built like a football player and squees like a fangirl. (She's an anime fan in the original, and for some reason all the otaku references were replaced in the dub, but you can see them in the subtitles.)

Ralph lives with her younger sister (they play video games together!) and their dad, comes out to them mid-series, and is very shippable with another young guy who starts out reciting the homophobic beliefs he was raised with but whose heart clearly isn't in it.

Safira's weapon is a classic magical-girl wand that casts protective force-fields. Which are shaped like condoms. Because of course.

In yellow: Lemon Chiffon, aka Patrick, the oldest of the group and generally the smartest/most strategic. In most cases, the other two treat her as the de facto team leader -- unless she pushes it too far.

By day she's a single guy with thick thighs and thinning hair, who has some body-image insecurities on the dating scene. And this show has Things To Say about unrealistic beauty standards within the community...not to mention, about masc guys who look down on anyone too flaming or femme because straight people disapprove.

Lemon's weapon is a fluffy boa that can be used as a whip or a lasso, especially when there's a bondage joke to be made.

In red: Scarlet Carmesim, also Donizete, the loudest and most aggressive teammate with the most cutting insults, who refuses to suppress that attitude in an attempt to appease racists. (But will give it a shot when trying not to get fired.)

Donny still lives in her religious/homophobic mom's apartment, and I'm pretty sure it's because neither of them can afford to move out. Her rock-solid sense of fierce self-confidence is the reason it doesn't bring her down.

Scarlet's weapon is a fan that she uses to throw shade. Yeah, you knew that was coming.

The Charlie to these angels is Champagne, who runs operations from a cool magitech compound and breaks the fourth wall at the end to petition for viewers' support in getting a second season.

...we let her down, folks :(

So here's a thing. The show never draws a sharp line between "people who become drag queens because it's a way they're driven to express themselves as gay men" and "people who become drag queens because they were trans women all along." That's consistent with how South American LGBT+ culture works. (Again: best of my knowledge, not personally an authority on this, etc etc.)

Many of the characters, including Champagne, never describe themselves in ways that translate to one of our sharply-defined Anglo-USian identity categories. And I'm not going to try to impose any English labels on them here.

But I can say (in contrast to Safira, Lemon, and Scarlet), Champagne never switches out of her "drag" name/voice/presentation, not even in the most candid off-duty scenes, and still has the same bustline when naked in the tub. Make of that what you will.

You Should Watch This Show

If you have a Netflix subscription, watch Super Drags!

If you ever do a Netflix free trial month in the future, make a note to yourself to watch Super Drags!

It's one of their original productions, so there's no risk of missing your chance because the license expired. But it's absolutely not getting the promotion it deserves. Which means potentially interested viewers won't find it, which means Netflix will think there's no interest, which means they'll keep not promoting it...etc etc etc.

No idea if there's any chance of getting it un-canceled, but maybe we can at least convince them to release it on DVD.

And the sheer gutsiness it took for a group of Brazilian creators to produce this show in the first place -- that deserves to be rewarded with your attention.

In spite of various anti-discrimination laws that sound good on paper, the country has serious problems with homophobia, transphobia, and anti-LGBT violence (warning, article has a violent image which is only partly blurred).

Maybe the creators could've gotten a second season if they made this one softer, less sexually-explicit, more restrained...but honestly? I bet that wouldn't have helped.

Consider Danger & Eggs, an Amazon original cartoon. It was made in the US, thoroughly child-friendly, and restricts its LGBT+ representation to things like "characters go to a Pride celebration...where nobody ever names or describes the quality they're proud of."

And it didn't get renewed past the first season either.

(Note: it had a trans woman showrunner and a queer-heavy creative staff, so I blame all that restraint on executive meddling, not the creators themselves. The showrunner even liked the tweet of my review that complains about it.)

So there's something very satisfying about how Super Drags went all-out, balls-to-the-wall (sometimes literally), all the rep explicit and unapologetic, packing every 25-minute episode with all kinds of queer content that would be censored or muted elsewhere -- but here it's exaggerated and celebrated and just keeps coming.

(...as do jokes like that, and I'm not sorry.)

Okay, there are a few legitimate reasons to not watch this show

Some caveats.

None of these things are Objectively Bad Problems that the show itself should be shamed for...but maybe they're genuinely not your cup of tea.

It does have actual Adult Content beyond "the existence of gay people." This show loves to swing barely-clothed cartoon genitalia in your face. There is, as mentioned, an orgy monster. If that kind of humor is going to bother you too much to appreciate the rest of the show, give it a pass.

I wasn't kidding about how realistic the homophobes are. Opening of the first episode has a guy trying to murder a busload of people while shouting slurs at them. If that level of hatred on-screen is gonna crush your soul, even in a show about sparkly queens flying to the rescue with dick-shaped magical weapons, don't push yourself.

Any fiction with this much crossdressing and gender-transgressing is going to hit some trans viewers in a bad way. Because trans people are such a broad group, with so many different experiences, that Every Possible Trope Involved pushes somebody's buttons. (See also: "some trans readers complain about a storyline that turns out to be drawn from a trans writer's actual life experience".) If this show goes does gender things that turn out to be personally distressing for you...or even just distressing for this specific time in your life...don't feel obligated to keep watching.

It has aggressively-sassy queer characters making jokes and calling each other things that are affectionate in-context, but would not be okay coming from straight/cis people. If you can't wrap your head around that, go watch something else.

Other Than That, Go Watch This Show

For all its big heart, big ambitions, and big gay energy, Super Drags is tiny enough that I've binged the whole show 2 times in the past 2 weeks. Thankfully, it's highly re-watchable -- lots of fun background gags and subtle foreshadowing that you don't catch on the first round.

(Pausing one last time to appreciate that a show with elements like "the high-tech robot assistant is called D.I.L.D.O." can be subtle at all, let alone be this good at it.)

I've also paged through all the fanart on Tumblr and Deviantart, looked up the single fanfic on the AO3, and started brainstorming plans to request it in Yuletide next year. Someone, please, come join me in (the English-language side of) the itty-bitty fandom for this ridiculous, glittery, over-the-top, fabulous series.

#Super Drags #lgbtq #recommendations #recs

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d00dt00nz · 5 years ago

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youtube

Obligatory promo stuff at the top because it sucks and I hate it and let’s get it out of the way! follow me on twitter where I’m active, check me out on spotify for music, or like my facebook for sparse updates on music stuff. Thank you. The Cover art is by Ellie Tison

Okay!! Last song!!

Well, I say last song, but it's more like “last song”. There is one more song that I used as an epilogue, but I'm not going to get into that, and honestly if you've listened to 13 tracks without being sold (why would you do that?) one more track isn't going to sell you on it.

And would you look at that, the last song is a reprise of the first song. Wow, it's like Sgt Pepper... that's so cool. Now it makes sense why I didn't bother talking about that first song right? Not planned btw.

This song was one of the first songs I wrote for this album. I said this for a few. Truthfully I did four or so around the same time and they were all great. I had a few more tracks in the oven as well. Everything was going great. I was like “wow this album's gonna be done in no time!” Anyway that was like three or four years ago. I guess that's how these things tend to go.

This is back when I was trying to make a bit more of a straight ahead rock/indie rock sounding album. I'm pretty sure I wrote this song on guitar, lyrics and all, which is honestly (and sadly) pretty rare for me these days. I had this idea for repeated backing vocals and a call/response sort of song structure. I'm pretty sure this more energetic version of the song came first. I originally wanted a sort of Lou Reed feel to it, but once I wrote that groovy dancy bass riff it immediately lost that feel. Once I started recording electric guitars I accidentally did a grungy “brrroww” at the end of the phrase and really liked it. I replicated it throughout the track and in turn lost even more of that Lou Reed feel.

In my original recording process I had a damaged patchcord. I didn't realize it at first because I was trying out some new equipment. I just thought it was really quiet. That being the case, I had to turn it up way loud to get a good volume and that's actually where some of the guitar tone you can hear (mainly in the one playing a melody-line during the chorus) comes from. I actually really liked it, I thought it sounded like Pavement. Actually, my Tiff did too and that's probably the nicest thing she's ever said about any of my music.

At some point I added more guitar tracks to the track to make it sound fuller, and also replace some of the ones recorded with a broken patchcord. I honestly kinda liked the original tracks, which still had a little bit of that 70s glam grittiness to them, but I'm far too neurotic about this stuff to really sit with that. In the end it sounded less 70s and more mid 90s. It had a sound that I've actually been trying to get for a while, though not on this track – the sort of fuzzy swirling guitars with a groovy beat and bassline to it. Tiff described it as being “Like those music videos where everything is blue and everyone's got really baggy pants”, which, again, big compliment. I don't know if that one was actually a compliment, but I'll take what I can get.

The song had its genesis at that same party I mentioned last time. There's nothing specific really. We had my album on and it's got a pretty fun cool first half. The people there were enjoying it, but then it gets to the second half and it's a little bit more mopey. It's also completely sexless and uncool throughout. That being the case, one of the guys there was like

“Sorry Con-dog, the vibes are just not working with this right now,”

and I was like,

“Oh don't worry about it, I understand dude,”

And then he was like, “Right on man. I’m getting fucked vibes from those guys over there. Here, hit this for me.”

And then I did some coke off a Pulp Fiction VHS tape.

I thought to myself, “man it'd be nice to have music that you could put on at a party”. Which basically was the whole idea behind this album, conscious or not. I don't really know if it succeeded, but there's definitely a certain kind of party where this would play, and honestly I don't think I'd mind being at it.

The album was originally going to be more centered around the idea of the character described in this track. I mean, obviously he's me, but I'm trying to detach myself and make things a little more universal. I wanted to explore all the different traits and behaviors that this one person has. Some of them being mine, and some of them being not. Honestly, it didn't really pull through to the end. There's a little bit of that in here, but it's mostly just songs. I'm okay with that. They have some thematic cohesion. It's got this song bookending the album. Wow, it's like Sgt. Pepper.....

The ending is a little bit embarrassing for me because I do a bit of a scream voice, which, honestly I don't think there's anything actively wrong with it, I just cringe when I hear myself doing it because it's like “ah oh god I'm doing that”. I don't know. There's also the fact that, well, one of the things I yell is the word “Wasteman”, which is a little bit of an outdated slang right now, but when I actually recorded the song it wasn't. Whatever, this is an insanely white album from a white kid. I figure a lot of people who enjoy this type of music haven't actually heard that word. I wouldn't have, but I hang out with Tiff's cool friends sometimes. Honestly I think it's a cool term. I think the most embarrassing part though is I copy-pasted it so it repeats twice because I felt like I wanted more intensity. I don't think it's super noticeable, but the idea makes it a little disingenuous. During the outro I wanted to add a little more of that “90s blue and baggy” feel, so I plugged in a keyboard and freaked out on the organ setting. I think it really adds a lot.

The slower version of the song was written afterwards and I actually cheat because it uses some of the same midi tracks. I was super torn between the more exciting sound that I had and my original “vision” for the song, which was a bit more downtempo Lou-Reed inspired. I figured, why not do both?

There's not a whole lot to cover here that I haven't already covered. Mostly the backing vocals, but only because I think I did a worse job with them than the other version. There's nothing outwardly wrong with them per-se, but I think the blend is not good and that's gonna immediately stick out to some people. The middle section just kinda came about because the other version doesn't really have a proper chorus. It just has some guitar noodling. I played around with the chord progression of the middle chorus in the fast version and made something that was a bit more structured, then adapted a melody around it. Harmonies grew out of the melody. I felt like something was missing, so I took that same call and response idea from earlier and applied it here too. I really liked the interplay between the two vocal lines. The “Purify me” line was originally supposed to come up again and again throughout the album. One of the tracks that ALMOST made it would have been the song it was from, and then there would be callbacks to the melody throughout the album. It was kind of like a motif. That was unfortunately completely scrapped and this is the last trace of it. Maybe I'll work the idea into something I do in the future.

I like this song. I realized way too late that it massively rips off The Velvet Underground's Sweet Jane. I guess that “Lou Reed inspired” idea was a little bit too literal. Fortunately I would say the middle section saves it from being too much of a copy. I think it's a good way to start and finish the album. I also like the thematic notions of this album starting with the same track it ends on. Like these things work in cycles and you're never truly free of your own quicksand. Like an Ouroboros eating its own tail, like Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. When one cycle ends, a new begins. The same, but slightly different – until it is completely undermined by the epilogue track that says “no this is actually the end”.

Hey congrats on making it through all of these entries! You may have only read this one, or even skipped to the end. If you did that, disregard that previous sentence and go back to read them. This album was the culmination of a lot of work and thought. 13 of these writeups was nothing compared to probably hundreds of hours spent working on this album, and probably thousands of hours thinking about it. I'm aware few people are reading these writeups, but it's honestly mostly my own indulgence. I gotta decompress this stuff and be free of this album. I can finally get rid of all this useless crap in my brain. I'll probably enjoy being able to go back and read this stuff once I've forgotten most of this, and once I've become a more mature person. I'll probably go “wow this shit is cringe. I can't believe he posted like 22 pages of cringe” but that's okay. The album's okay. I made for certain it was not, in fact, cringe before releasing it. And honestly I enjoyed writing these.

A part of me wants to get back to the freakish pace I had in like 2011 where this blog was nonstop content. I don't think it'd work so well in 2020 Tumblr because who even uses this site anymore? I think it's a little sad because it's pretty much the death of long form posting. Twitter is great because people pay attention to you, but sometimes I just want to write like two thousand words and have some psycho actually read them and respond to it. I think we've lost that on the internet. Sometimes I think of making youtube videos, but I'm no good in front of a camera. Sometimes I wonder, couldn't I just read something like this TO the camera? The answer is no, I can't. That'd be boring. I'm completely convinced nobody would watch that. I sometimes think that if I could add some editing and some visual component though, it'd work out. Some sort of... video essay. Some kind of... man with facial hair and left leaning politics who enjoys media and talks about both... Wow I wonder if that niche has been filled at all?

#music #songwriting #rant #music production #lou reed #pavement #indie rock #the fact that there's an epilogue that ruins the concept is also like sgt pepper

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eldritchsurveys · 5 years ago

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586.

Do you have a common first name? >> I really don’t. I experienced what it was like to have a relatively common first name for a few years and I think I prefer this, honestly. Do you like your middle name or your first name more? >> I like both, considering I chose them both. What year would/did you turn 21? >> 2008. What was popular when you were a kid? >> Oof. Honestly, aside from boy bands and I guess Nickelodeon, I’m not too sure. I was kept completely out of touch with popular culture when I was single-digit age. By the time I got to middle school I was deeply immersed in my own obsessions so I wasn’t paying much attention then either. Do you wear more rings or necklaces? >> I have more necklaces than rings.

Have you ever been engaged? >> Yes. Can you see your veins through your skin? >> I have a phlebotomist’s dream of a vein in the crook of my right elbow, but that’s really it. Do you have a certain song you sing aloud often? >> I usually just sing along to whatever’s playing (if I know the lyrics), as long as it’s somewhere in my range. Do you concern yourself with what’s in? >> Not specifically. I mean, I have a pretty vague knowledge of what’s popular because of my time on tumblr, and sometimes I get into things after hearing about them from other people, but otherwise I just... like what I like, man. Do you worry about having good grammar online? >> I really the fuck don’t. I’m delighted that the internet has changed how we communicate and how we understand and use language. All the things language prescriptivists hate about “internet-speak” are things I love, even if I myself don’t use them.

Do you know anyone with a lazy eye? >> No. Did your parents let you have pets when you were a kid? >> We had dogs. Would you rather live in an apartment or a duplex? >> I don’t know. I’d rather just live in a separate building... Have you ever seen Boondock Saints? >> Yeah. I should rewatch that, I remember really liking it. Do you like spicy chips? >> Yes. Do you have any ‘different’ keychains on your keys/purse? >> I have an X-Files keychain and a New Orleans one on my keys. And a guitar plug that used to say “Trans-Siberian Orchestra” on it before the letters all wore off. Do you collect pins? >> I don’t collect them, per se. I do like pins and will often buy them, but I try not to buy more than I can actually put on stuff. What band was on the last band t-shirt you wore? >> Uh... hmm. Cradle of Filth, maybe. Do you wear more pink or yellow? >> I don’t wear either.

What’s the last movie you watched at a friend’s house? >> --- Have you ever been out of the state you were born in? >> Yes. Do you have any tattoos on your arms? >> That’s where all my tattoos are. Have you ever owned or known someone who owned a black cat? >> We currently have a black cat. When was the last time you felt jealous? >> The last time I was on Discord and once again felt like I had nothing to contribute to any conversation, ever, and I had no purpose being there. This is partly why I’m taking a break from Discord. What’s the last thing you bought besides food/drink? >> Gas for the car. What album is the last song you listened to from? >> The Devil Knows My Name by John 5. Do you know what the word lumiere means? >> Uh... something to do with light. Do you own a tea pot? >> Yeah.

Who scheduled your last doctor visit? >> I did. What’s the last video game you played? >> Guild Wars 2. Do you have anything on your wrists right now? >> Scars and a tattoo. Do you have any holiday theme’d socks? >> I have like four pairs of Halloween socks but only one pair of Christmas socks and I feel the need to rectify that immediately. (The Christmas socks are real neat, though -- they have an alien with a Santa hat on them, which is basically just a perfect depiction of me.) What kind of accent do you have? >> I don’t know. Generic American, I assume. What’s the last funny movie you watched? >> Klaus. Can you remember your parents’ birthdays? >> I know my father’s. Is there anyone who you just absolutely cannot STAND being around? >> Of course.

What is the design on your shirt? >> It’s a black and grey photo of some bare tree branches with ravens on them, and over that is listed a bunch of Odin-names in runes.

Do you know anyone who just flat-out fails at life? >> I don’t think anyone fails at life. Even dying isn’t failing, because that’s just an inevitability of life. Are you a Ghoulscout? >> A what? Do you know someone who’s just always wrong about everything? >> No. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. Do you make fun of people often? >> No. Do you read your friend’s surveys? >> I read the surveys of people I find interesting. I don’t have any friends that also take surveys, though. If you had to get a tattoo tomorrow, what would you pick? >> Every time I’m asked what tattoo I want, I immediately completely forget all the good ideas I have. It’s so annoying. I should start writing them down. How do you feel about band tattoos? >> I like band tattoos. Music is important to me, too, so I understand. Do you know anyone with a glass eye? >> No. How much are you willing to pay for a pair of sunglasses? >> I don’t know. I’ve never bought a pair that cost more than $10.

Did you have a GI Joe when you were a kid? >> No. What is the origin of your last name? >> I have no idea. Do you ever use the n-word? >> Yeah, because it’d become in-group slang in the communities I was in. Also because I listen to rap music and sometimes even learn the lyrics. But I don’t use it to address other people anymore because I no longer live in the hood. What piercing do you like most on the opposite sex? >> --- What brand of hair dye do you prefer to use? >> --- What county do you live in? >> Kent. Did/do you ride the bus to and from school? >> I rode the bus for most of the time I attended school. In junior and senior year, I walked. (WHS didn’t have a bus system because students either were driven, walked, or drove themselves.) Do you prefer beef, chicken or steak? >> I’m guessing the last one is supposed to be pork, not steak, heh. I like all three, but I eat chicken most often. What is your salad dressing of choice? >> Any kind of vinaigrette, or Italian in a pinch.

Do you know anyone who’s a really funny type of weird? >> Er... I don’t know. I’m not sure what that means. Do you make faces at certain people? >> No? Is there something you won’t let one of your friends live down? >> No. Are you any good at applying make up? >> Sure. Do you know anyone whose hair looks like a wig? >> No. Do you misuse commas? >> No. Have you ever bitten your dentist? >> Ha, no. Are you someone who likes to make simple things difficult? >> I’m someone who understand that many “simple” things contain nuance and complexity that deserves to be acknowledged. Who makes you laugh the most? >> I’m not sure.

#surveys #survey #random survey

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