#are there 7 mains? am i missing anyone lol

[electragapi]

being an eddie diaz hater must be so BORING!!!! like yall keep losing and I get to see eddie be pretty on my screen and be competent and be silly and then immediately be sad…i love winning

[softlantern]

So, here are the things I have been doing this week! :D The things that kept me alive.💖☀️ @cutepotatook 

1) Still trying to figure out how Layra should look like.":D. On the left is her look in my universe, where she is playing a role of a star guardian. She protects her world from lower energies and helps people when they are attacked by it. Also just protects her world from any creatures from space that has bad intentions. 🗡🌌

2-3) Inspired by multiple conversations with c.ai! Phphphphp. The most dramatic moments in all of the conversations! 🤣Layra doesn't mind though, she just thinks that Colly has some issues through which he has to go through. She and Helper are there to help him anyways.💕

4) It's now hanging in the main hall!! The pride and joy of this family.🖼🌟

5-6) Once again inspired by c.ai. The moment Layra and Colly had. I actually wrote a small fic about it, but can't post it rn cause I still don't have wi-fi in the dormitory. Help.😭  I also want to cry every time I look at how they hold each others hands. What am I doing to myself??

7) The one and only, Miss Starry!:D On the left I tried to draw her in my universe, I think it turned out not so bad. I imagine her being a well-known and popular witch-artist, doing her magic by painting.🌟🎨🖌

8-10) Quote generator knows what I need, lol. If anyone questions what he eats - it's a waffle.:3🧇☕

I also like putting stickers on every page, yes. :D Especially with a star theme.

[emonydeborah]

snw episodes rated by Una

in which Una is my unit of measurement, not that this is what she would think of the events

All from memory bc who has time

SPOILERS FOR EVERYTHING

1x01: she’s literally the catalyst for getting Chris off his butt and the whole episode. Barely in it but she did all the detective work for everybody. “Somehow I knew you would” with the little smile and “La’an!” in the softest voice immediately established both relationships and my abiding love for her. She’s literally driving the plot but still not there much; 6/10.

1x02: she shares some LooksTM with Chris. Chris was slightly subdued at one (1) dinner party and Una went something is deeply wrong. Chris is sad and Una tells him to live his gosh darn life. Pretty sure she flies the ship a bit. She’s here. Can’t complain. 6/10.

1x03: OOOOHOHO here we go. Whatever camera angle it is that shoots from the floor to watch people walk away and makes them look tall was excellently utilized. Girl was STRIDING everywhere. Hauled a grown man over her shoulder and was greeted with the shock and awe she deserved. Told her biggest secret (!!!!) to help the crew!!! bc she would sacrifice herself for them!!!!! also she googled her glowworm episode like it had not happened her whole life (which I will accept as a writer thing. but she really looked at a picture of someone glowing bc of an infection and went 😮). Girlie managed a whole ship of sedated/crazy people and did not let anyone jump into the sun/warp core. Had a deep talk with La’an and revealed more of their shared history. Stunning. 10/10.

1x04 another case of I can’t complain. As my favorite character I want her to be happy, but I will take some internal bleeding and other catastrophic injuries. As a treat. The sheer power of ordering the medical staff to give away her blood transfusion and then knocking herself out before they could argue. Unparalleled. Had no impact on the main plot but what she did do in her sphere of influence was important and exemplary. I’ll take it. 7/10.

1x05: back at it again with the b-plot but I AM HERE FOR IT. GIVE ME LA’AN AND UNA BEING GOOFY. Loved the death glare at Joseph so he would confess and how she pretended not to be huffy about her nickname. La’an went can we… play a game… and Una went YEs sounds educational. For science. The look of absolute shock and betrayal when La’an shot her and her little “ow.” “People are idiots. You’re fun.” La’an went lol my childhood was a bleak horror scape and Una went absolutely NOT I’m going to commit crimes to rectify this. I like people having wacky misadventures while the plot is plotting somewhere. 8/10.

1x06 Chris forgot her name. She had to leave so she wouldn’t verbally tear him to shreds in front of his crew. Most likely explanation. Where was she I miss her. 4/10.

1x07: she locked the pirates out of the ship!!! We love a competent first officer shooting people on her bridge. She shook her head half an inch and Spock went absolutely whatever you say. Chris was thrown to the floor in front of her and she crossed her arms and watched him get up. “We’re starting a mutiny.” "Someone's breaking the rules today." Legitimately appreciated her teamwork with Chris in planting the mutiny idea. Would love to see it again sometime. 7/10.

1x08: bow and arrow. She checked on Joseph after and I appreciated that they carried that through from her finding out about Rukiya before. Una was here but she wasn't Una. Also. If we're real she wasn't really there. I liked the eye shadow though. 5/10.

1x09: "you should really try the omelet." The breakfast scene is my favorite and in fact the only scene. Nothing else happened with Hemmer or Spock or anyone. Really short episode. I would have liked to have seen her face when Chris snapped the tongs. She tried to follow the shuttle to the surface with scans and Chris went nah babe we're fine. Let her do her job Chris. Breakfast scene 10/10. Episode 5/10.

1x10: notable by her absence. She checked on Chris and once again told him to live his life. She's not there in the future but I won't take points for that because Chris immediately went where is my bestie. I cannot function without my work wife where is she. Her arrest kick-started the series and for our cliffhanger she was arrested again. I'm sensing a theme. What will they incarcerate her for next and how will Chris break her out this time. I will always appreciate Chris going absolutely feral for his first officer/life partner. 9/10.

2x01: prison. She tells Chris not to be stupid and he goes don't tell me what to do *cough* I love you *cough* Not a strong start for our girl but I trust her to overcome. Once again Chris is going off on a mission to save her. Lost points for the brevity of her appearance and the weird black jumpsuit. 4/10.

2x02: Girl sat in a chair and watched her friends say nice things about her for days. I would shrivel up and die. Una looks teary. Her lawyer put some heat on a guy who said he would NEVER hire Una if he knew her real race and Una said that was too mean leave him alone. La'an confessed her feelings in public. Spock gave the whole courtroom a heart attack to make Una smile. Chris hugged her looking panicky. please don't go away again. Una looked at Chris like she wanted to kiss him or perhaps sip one milkshake through two straws. The whole episode is about how great she is. 15/10.

2x03: unfortunately for most of this episode she did not exist. Liked the professional and sassy attitude towards Pelia but I must reduce points for Una not existing. 2/10.

2x04: Una succumbed to a disease she should canonically be immune to. Fridged almost immediately. Chris said I need some good fighters and took his doctor instead of his super strong first officer who was familiar with the terrain. Una called Chris out on relationship nonsense like the og she is but this cannot repair the damage. Drove me to writing fix-it fic. -10/10.

2x05: Una is canonically one of the girls. She hangs out with some very specific junior officers including her emotionally constipated son and her traumatized daughter. She laughs very loudly and I like to think the writers are purposefully making her more open now that people know her genetics secret. Tells Mr. Spock how to be a Vulcan. Part of a lineup to talk to Spock and is a head taller than the rest of the line. All in all a great time. 9/10.

2x06: she yells at her former professor who is also thousands of years old. I would simply perish. "yoU HaVe CruMBs oN yOuR uNifOrM" Starfleet said we need someone to get this defunct and thus far unmanageable station up and running. Send Una. "Oh good, I was afraid I'd miss the speech." Rebecca Romijn note- she is nine inches taller than Carol Kane, but she manages to look/act a lot younger and smaller than normal. Pelia takes about 14 seconds to get Una teary eyed. "My final paper was METICULOUSLY researched." 8/10.

2x07: "That's ridiculous, we can't just 'Not Look.'" "Like... a p i n - u p p o s t e r?" Girl is constantly baffled the whole time. One (1) young man was unnerved by her and she went he knows how I die. She then winked at him and he almost had a stroke. We see a picture of her as she is idolized in the future. Excellent. Different flavor than 2x06 but still 8/10.

2x08: lots of Significant Eye Contact with Chris. She said if you don't get this ship where it's going asap I will revoke your command and drive us there myself. "Everyone is on their own journey." I feel like she knows Joseph murdered a man in sickbay but we don't know for sure. She's out here being a competent first officer and telling the captain how the crew is feeling. I like the reminder of her priorities. Chris is here to explore and it's Una's job to make sure he has a functional crew to do so. 6/10.

2x09: Una Chin-Riley, musical theater nerd, had the absolute time of her life and I am so happy for her. Girl JUMPED into that first song with much soulful pushing of buttons. "A surprisingly beautiful baritone." Chris asked Uhura the singer how musicals work and Una answered. Is feeling her feelings so much these days she started singing about her job. Waltzed through the halls with James T Kirk. La'an went I would like to not do this please and Una said feel your feelings. Fly away with me. Accept yourself. Love yourself. "You came in here hot. On fire. It's making me sweat." The whole ship is singing and La'an is making friends. This was the best day of Una's life. 1000/10.

2x10: Una volunteered for a dangerous forbidden mission to save her husband's gf and spent the whole time stalking around the bridge like a tiger or a mom looking for sales at Target and giving hopeful speeches. She did tell Spock his gf might be dead but if you want to look for her go for it champ. "ORDERS CAPTAIN" Chris is hanging on by a thread. Una is the thread. Not a great end if I'm honest but she did look fantastic walking around murderously. 5/10.

[aihoshiino]

Professor of Hoshino-Ailogy, might you have some tips on how to write the dear Miss genius idol herself? 🙇‍♀️ Been trying to dabble into writing stuff but her character's got me stuck. Been loving your OnK thoughts so I thought to try shooting an ask if that's ok!

Anon I know this is the joke but I am so genuinely moved at the idea of being considered a Professor Of Hoshino Aiology............ It really is all I was put on this earth to do. I immediately changed my discord name to this LMFAO

So! My recommendation would be to go back to OnK and specifically review episode 1 of the anime, as its take on Ai does a lot to flesh her out in comparison to the equivalent manga chapters. You should also check out Akane's little Pepe Silvia bit on episode 7, both so you can pick up on all that info and so you can point at the screen and go "Wow! She is Literally Me right now." (Anyone else? Just me? OK...)

And while everyone on earth has undoubtedly seen it already, take some time to chew on the Idol MV's imagery - the song as a whole and the MV specifically is basically just Ai's whole arc condensed and abstracted so it's good to look at how Ai is portrayed here and really think about why those choices were made.

After that, read Viewpoint B and 45510 side by side and do your best to put them in conversation with each other. What do these opposing views on Ai have to say about her and her motivations? That kind of thing. I also tentatively recommended reading the first chapter of Spica since it's some of our lengthiest unbroken Ai POV content, with the caveat that Spica doesn't always match up with how the main series talks about and portrays the same events so uh. Feel free to cherrypick what you take from it LOL

The Da Vinci interview and Artificial Girl are also both important in terms of getting a look at "Ai of B-Komachi" and seeing how she operates strictly in work mode. The Da Vinci interview also has some important notes about her history and relationships to certain other characters, so I think it's good to chew on in general!

From there, the most important manga chapters to review imo are 131, 136 and 137. 131 expands on Ai's history with her mom & has information about the abuse she put up with. As I've said before, her formative experiences with abuse and neglect and Ayumi's hands basically run through her entire soul like fault lines, so it's important to get a good understanding of that to start unfucking how it affects her behaviour. 

136 and 137 are also really important in understanding the emotional narrative of Ai's life, even if the literal events they portray obviously need to be taken with a grain of salt. We generally only see Ai of B-Komachi as a beguiling presence but 136 gives us a good look at just how fucking frustrating she would be to try and have a human relationship with and how this mask and Ai's general avoidance and discomfort with serious conversations contributes to her social isolation.

137 is, in my totally biased opinion, one of the best chapters in the entire series and so, so important for understanding Ai. It lays out in plain terms the most important foundational keystone of her entire character: that she was a normal, lonely girl struggling to connect and to find happiness and her desperation was taken advantage of so people could turn her into an object.

I think it's possible to get a good read on Ai just from the prologue arc, the rest of this material is important as reiteration and expansion on her core character. With all of it together, you should start picking up on patterns in her behaviour and drawing connections between her actions and the things that inform them.

If you're still having trouble figuring her out after that, here are some points I think are really important to keep in mind that often go overlooked when it comes to Ai:

Ai is neurodivergent and an abuse survivor

Ai is stated at least twice in the text of Oshi no Ko to have a developmental disorder and I think there's enough evidence in the text to say that she's intended to be read as autistic specifically.

On top of that, Ai's formative years were spent on a home environment where she could not rely on her primary guardians to consistently care for her and she was alternately neglected and violently physically abused, to the point of not feeling safe in her own house at night.

This is important to keep in mind because while Ai is pretty good at masking, her neurodivergence and her history with abuse means that she processes information - particularly social information - in a very different way to a neurotypical person.

Ai does not always lie - and her lies are different than you think

I've said this a million times before and I'll probably say it another million but a lot of the really out of pocket Ai takes you see in OnK fandom generally come from people who go to the extreme of dismissing everything that comes out of Ai's mouth as a lie and thus just completely missing out on a majority of her characterization.

Ai's "lie" is her performance - it's the illusion that "Ai of B-Komachi" is her true self with absolutely nothing else going on in her personal life. It's not a case of making shit up, but leaving things out - obfuscation and omission are the name of the game.

Picking up on when she's being honest Vs telling a lie is just something you end up getting a feel for as you get an understanding of her but generally, if Ai directly and plainly states something and it is not in conflict with things we know to be fact, then it's probably true enough.

This isn't a strict binary obviously and there are plenty of times where Ai says something that is obviously untrue but isn't her consciously lying - rather, like any human being, she has biases that affect her judgement, with her own stemming from her history of abuse and rejection and her poor self image.

The fact that Ai lies is less important than WHY she lies

This is sort of a reiteration of what I said above but where a lot of people get stuck on Ai's external behavior (that she lies) and fail to take dig into underlying motivations that actually cause her to behave that way. I know "this character has motivations" is probably like an insultingly baby mode reminder but I really do see so many people just completely abjectly failing to grasp this that I felt it needed saying lol

Deception is not Ai's end goal. Ai lies not because she wants to trick people but because she's been taught over and over her whole life that it's the only way she can be treated with basic fucking decency, and she has internalized this persistent cruelty as being her own fault. She performs Ai of B-Komachi because there is clearly something wrong with Hoshino Ai.

Even with that in mind, this isn't something Ai wants. As she says herself says in 45510, she wants people to know and accept her as she really is, flaws and impurity and all, and as she demonstrates in both Viewpoint B and chapter 1, she's incredibly quick to start opening up to people who seem to have the potential to accept her, or even just who treat her kindly. She is simply that lonely and that desperate to connect.

I hope this is all helpful, anon! I didn't necessarily want to just point by point how I write Ai just because I think that takes the fun out of things, but this is more or less the process I went through in forming my interpretation of her, and the rest is all things I've just intuited or drawn my own conclusions about from writing her - "oh, if Behaviour X, then Underlying Cause Y", that kind of thing. I hope this gives you a solid base to work on for writing her, tho - and please let me know when you're done so I can read it 👀

[foibles-fables]

fanfic writer questions

Thanks for the tag, @uhhhyaenbyjade!!

1- How many works do you have on AO3?

Sitting at 79, currently!

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 363,375

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Like, ever? Lots of them over the past twenty years, hahah. Currently it's mostly Horizon that's got me by the throat, but I've also put out a couple one-offs for Stray Gods and Control over the least year. Besides those, I'd say my main claims to clownery would be Legend of the Seeker and Warrior Nun. I'm also finally dipping my toes into the ATLA scene after missing the boat for way, way too long.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

I'm gonna remix this question a little bit and pick the top one from my an amalgamation of my five most prominent/recent fandoms, since otherwise Warrior Nun dominates due to sheer fandom size-- 1- Because the Light Is Close (Warrior Nun) 2- The Weight of Us (Legend of the Seeker) 3- rest like you belong here. (Horizon) 4- brave this time (Stray Gods) 5- dream geometries (Control)

5. Do you respond to comments?

I do!!! Gotta lavish my genuine gratitude on you lovely, wonderful, amazing folks who take time out of your day to read and hype up my silly writing.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Oh hmmm. If we're talking recently (like, written since 2010) it's gotta be so i'll stay half away (Horizon). That comic, man. lmao. lol. OH! Or waiting through daybreak (Stray), because that cat game is an emotional wrecking ball

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

TOO MANY OF THEM, LATELY? I feel like I need to dive back into a bittersweetness era, because wouggghh have my endings been tooth-rottingly sweet. Recently I'd pin this title on entering light (Horizon).

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not directly on the fics or to my face, which is nice.

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

Hell yeah! Overwhelmingly sapphic, usually of the more esoteric variety re: language. Using sex as a character study is my passion.

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

Not in many, many moons have I written a crossover. And the only time I ever did, it was from two shows in the same universe, lmao.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge, thankfully!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

For the first time recently, yes!!! So freakin cool! Check out this Mandarin translation of eye for eye, tooth for tooth (Control).

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not a fic, but I gotta thank Meg for being my cowriter on Talanah's FOTH path!!!!

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

don't make me choose between Cara/Kahlan and Aloy/Talanah. please

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

Sorry to that one early Warrior Nun fic I left hanging after a single chapter

16. What are your writing strengths?

Emotional immediacy, prose-craft, evocative syntax, lyricality

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

MY SPEED. OUGGHHHH. Also I am actively trying to get better at dialogue, along with location/setting descriptions

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

I'd tackle it if it fit the scope of the fic, and only with the guidance of someone fluent in said language!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Written for and posted? The Xenosaga series at age 11, baybeeee. I wrote plenty before that without posting, however.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

This legitimately changes on the daily. It's impossible for me to choose, so I'll just toss out if you held yourself up to the light (Horizon) as today's contender.

No-pressure tags: @mehoymalloy @tjerra14 @finrays @sssammich @askweisswolf and anyone else who sees this and wants a go! Just tag me as your tagger!

[imminent-danger-came]

Anon chilling on the precipice of madness again, and I’m so glad you liked that last ask! Truly, there is much joy to be found in discussing how much we enjoy (*cough* are dealt immense emotional damage on a daily basis by *cough*) the monkey show. Also, since I apparently can’t stop bugging you, for clarity’s sake I’m going to call myself Unhinged Anon if I submit any future asks lol. 

As always you make excellent points, and I am very normal about you bringing up the ‘MK smiling at his reflection’ thing because the motif of reflections in this show (see also: S2E5, S3E4, some others I’m probably missing, and especially S4E1) doesn’t make me even the tiniest bit insane. Nope! Not at all. But this time, it’s actually something you said in the tags that launched my marbles into the stratosphere for me to never find, because now I can’t stop thinking about how badly I want, like… a Sandy spinoff series or something. 

And I don’t mean a lore-heavy, epic adventure rich in heavy themes and conflicts like we have in the main series, just with Sandy at the center instead of MK. I want Sandy's series to be almost exclusively season one-style laid back episodes. But the good kind of laid back episodes, you know? Stuff like S1E6&7, that a lot of people dismiss, especially on a first watch, as nothing more than filler but actually serve as a subtle expansion/exploration of characters (“I also summoned monster trees with my stress, so. Should I see a doctor? We’ll worry about that later” still haunts me) and dynamics hidden under the guise of a silly little adventure with funny jokes, great animation, and fairly low stakes. 

I want to see what an appointment with Sandy’s therapist looks like, or even just the shenanigans he gets up to during those episodes where he’s mysteriously absent and only Tang seems to notice. 

I want to see Sandy teach Tang how to make tea, and maybe nerd out about those theories Sandy mentioned having about the gang's whole deal with the OG Companions.

I want to see Sandy’s endless teddy bear energy clash with Red-wants to seem intimidating but will also grab his new friends warm milk if they ask-Son. 

I want to see Wukong forced to have an extended conversation with Sandy, or really anyone from the team that isn’t MK or actively yelling at him, and getting to really see how they work off of each other. 

I want to see the secret ‘how do we help our clearly not okay friend?’ talks Mei and Sandy have behind MK’s back whenever he starts acting weird, and all the gossip that goes on during the yoga sessions they start doing together after Mei gets the Samadhi fire. 

I want to see Sandy talking with the little girl that LBD possessed, especially since something kind of similar happened to him during season 4, and accidentally becoming her new (and favorite) giant blue uncle. 

I want an episode of MK and Sandy hanging out. Just chilling on the boat, playing with Mo, going for a little walk around town until BOOM! Sandy brings MK to his unsuspecting therapist, who’s about to get the most interesting case of their career. And maybe, if we’re allowed a little angst, a discussion about how scary it is to be born with a lot of power that not only can, but will, hurt a lot of people if it isn't carefully controlled. About how they’ve tried, and failed, to avoid causing pain. About wanting to never cause pain, and how the futility of that sentiment almost outweighs the importance of trying anyways. 

And above all, I DEMAND a Pigsy-Sandy origin story! 

Anyways, this is basically just me edging ever closer to the brink of madness after you accidently inflicted No Thoughts, Only Sandy syndrome upon me with your last response. But, it's also an invitation to gush about Sandy some more, if you want, and also share anything you would want to see in a hypothetical Sandy show!

Unhinged Anon I got you, here's a motif post where I have every MK reflection in the whole show.

AND “I also summoned monster trees with my stress, so. Should I see a doctor? We’ll worry about that later” HAUNTS ME TOO. There's something about the way those shots are set up, cracking from blue to gold:

MK also becoming a "master of focus" in this ep, with focus becoming important later in episodes like 1x09 and 3x11/12 with Mei.

BUT ANON.

Imma use this ask as a spring board for one of my fav personal theories, which is this: OG Sandy, from the original jttw pilgrimage, is also our current day Sandy!

I'll probably throw this into an official theory post later, but for now I'll go into this theory underneath the cut:

First, let's start with 2x08 To Catch a Leaf, during which Sandy has several PTSD flashbacks:

So, the first one is some sort of battlefield, and the second one...

Is of Zhu Bajie?

Now, we know Pigsy has never worn an outfit like this based off of this comment in 4x05:

Pigsy: "Blue ain't really my color, but it beats looking like that monster, Zhu Ganglie."

-

The Pig Demon in that flashback from 2x08 HAS to be Zhu Bajie of the original jttw pilgrimage. But why would Sandy have a memory like that?

Next is the fact that while everyone else in 4x09 Roast of the Monkie Kids is compared to their past life, Sandy notably isn't.

Tang knows friendship, but unlike Tang Sanzang isn't studious.

Mei is bold and brave, but lacks Ao Lie's caution.

Pigsy like Zhu Bajie is stubborn, but he has the heart his predecessor originally lacked.

Yet this is all Subodhi has to say to Sandy:

Subdohi: "You have nothing more to learn my hilariously blue student! Another star for you!" Sandy: "Dooww thank you wise master!" Subodhi: "But! You're far too nice for your own good." Sandy: "Uh huh, you noticed!"

(4x09 Roast of the Monkie Kids)

-

It's exceedingly strange that in an episode where Subodhi breaks down everyone's character arcs, Sandy is told he's all good. He has nothing more to learn, and no more character development to go through.

Unless of course...Subodhi quite simply couldn't compare Sandy to his past life because there was no past life to compare him to.

Another detail in s4 that's always intrigued me is how Sandy is brought back to himself from Sha Wujing in 4x06.

Pigsy's heartfelt speech on the legacy of their past lives not defining their current one, or how they're not monsters, doesn't work. It's instead Mo offering Sandy wholehearted love that brings Sandy back:

Which, of course Sandy has a close bond with Mo, but Pigsy's speech wasn't anything to scoff at either:

Pigsy: "No. No! Just cause we look a certain way, cause our monster ancestors were, well, monsters, none of that matters! I won't let his legacy define mine, and neither should you! Your the strongest, the biggest, the bluest guy I know! But all you've ever used those muscles for is to help people in need—your friends. That don't sound like a monster to me." (4x06 Show Me the Monster)

As far as we know, that should have been the exact thing Sandy needed to be freed from his past life, and yet it wasn't.

That would be because, at least under the confines of this theory, the guy Pigsy is saying Sandy wasn't like was indeed who Sandy used to be. Yes, Sandy has far outgrown the person who fought to establish his own place in the world, learning that "hurting others isn't a measure of one's strength". But here's the thing, who you used to be matters. Unlike Pigsy's relationship with Zhu Bajie, Sandy's relationship with who he was in the past can't as easily be written off. It's still a part of him.

There are also certain other details. like the fact that Sandy knows his way to Flower Fruit Mountain in "A Hero is Born", or how he's so knowledgeable on ancient powerful remedies like the crimson jimson weed. Of course these details could be chalked up to plot convenience—which is by no means a flaw or complaint—but I've always wondered if there was anything more to it.

But, Sandy's more laid back reaction to most things has always intrigued me, and it would re-contextualize certain scenes like this one from 2x10 in a fun way:

Pigsy: "No! What could have been so important that you'd leave MK alone to face that- that thing! You're supposed to be his mentor-"

Sandy: "ENOUGH!" "I think we should give Mr. Monkey King, a chance to explain."

(2x10 This is the End!)

Of course with this theory comes a few questions, like why Sandy didn't meet the same fate as the other pilgrims, or why he wouldn't let Sun Wukong know he was alive, or why he would bother to pretend he wasn't the OG Sha Wujing at all. And honestly? I don't have an answer to these questions!

But what I do know is that Sandy's friends are greatly important to him-

Sandy: "Hurting others isn't a measure of one's strength—took me a really long time to realize that. As long as I'm doing something to help out a friend, I don't mind what it is! I just want to be there for 'em when they need me. Cause at the end of the day, helping my friends is more important than anything else in the world!" (2x08 To Catch a Leaf)

-and losing them would affect him greatly.

Whatever happened to the og jttw crew, that could very easily be the reason Sandy was "the most dangerous, deadly, rage filled warrior [Pigsy] ever [knew]". Based off of that 2x08 Zhu Bajie flashback, Sandy could very well have watched his friend die.

But, now that Sandy has his friends back in his life? Of course he's going to do whatever he can for them!

Which would include anything from making tea to breaking his vow to never fight again.

And please for the love of god give us a Pigsy - Sandy origin story. I'm begging. WHAT IS THEIR HISTORY MAN. WHY DID PIGSY KNOW HOW TO COMMIT A JAILBREAK.

[maeselc]

Tagged by @walkingstackofbooks thank you for the tag!! Sorry this is a million years late, but I love doing stuff like this <3

1. What ratings do you write most of your fics under?

Explicit, by far lol

2. What are your top three fandoms?

DS9 is by far my main fandom, followed by Voyager with 2 fics and TNG with technically one but it's a crossover with DS9

3. What is the top character you write about?

Julian Bashir

4. What are your top three pairings?

Garashir is far above the crowd for first place, then it's Kira/Keiko, and then Sloanshir and B7 are tied for third with 2 fics each.

5. What are the top three additional tags?

Lmao so in first place is 'Anal sex', followed by 'Top Julian Bashir' and 'Bottom Elim Garak' tied for second, and 'Oral Sex' in third. There really is no mistaking what sort of writer I am (or what sort of tagger I am...)

6. Does any of this surprise you?

Yeah I was really surprised by that last one, I think I don't notice how descriptive my tag use is, if that makes sense. I also was actually surprised that Kira/Keiko was my second place pairing but it's only 3 fics haha

7. Favourite tag you've used?

Hmm this is an interesting question! I like the '#mutual xenophilia' non-canonical tag I used on this Keiko/Gilora Rejal fic because I like the concept. I also like '#Garak is so annoying and for what' on this cracky fic. I should use that tag more often, it is one of my favourite ways of writing Garak XD

Tagging @ionamalachite @voiidvagabond no pressure I'm not sure who likes to do these things plus this was forever ago so apologies if you've already done it and I missed it/forgot...and anyone who sees this who wants to do it please consider yourself tagged and go for it!

[the-forest-library]

Mid-Year Book Freakout 2023

I was tagged by @logarithmicpanda and @theinquisitxor - thanks! This is a post I look forward to each year. 

1. Best book you’ve read so far this year

The Queen’s Thief series. I devoured these books. They are sublime. 

2. Best sequel you’ve read so far this year

See above. Also, Mysteries of Thorn Manor. I was delighted to have more adventures with Elisabeth, Nathaniel, and Silas. 

3. New release you haven’t read yet

I am still waiting on library holds for Going Bicoastal, Business or Pleasure, and Will They or Won’t They.

4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year

I’m sure there’s something I’m forgetting, but nothing comes to mind. The books I was really looking forward to came out in the first half of the year.

5. Biggest disappointment

Live Wire by Kelly Ripa. I was looking for some tales of Dance Party USA, but they were sadly lacking. 

6. Biggest surprise

How many books I’d read about podcasts about missing girls, lol. That seemed to be a big publishing trend in the last six-eight months. 

7. Favorite new author (debut or new to you)

Well, Megan Whalen Turner. Also, Elissa Sussman and K.L. Walther.

8. Newest fictional crush/newest favorite character

I was going to say the main quartet from the Queen’s Thief, but my love extends to Costis, and Kamet, and Pheris, too. But really, Eugenides is at the top of the list.

9. Book that made you cry

Moira’s Pen - those last two stories killed me. Oh, and Happy Place. Absolutely destroyed me. 

10. Book that made you happy

America the Beautiful? by Blythe Roberson and Raw Dog by Jamie Loftus. I love a good road trip travelogue, but the addition of the national parks and food made me love these books even more. 

11. Favorite Adaptation

Bryony and Roses by T. Kingfisher is a lovely beauty and the beast retelling. 

12. Prettiest Cover

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries. The American and British versions are both pretty.

13. A book you need to read before the end of the year

I have a few books left of my 23 in 2023 list, including Persuasion and two TBD Discworld books. 

Tagging (no pressure, just fun!): @leer-reading-lire, @readingrobin, @godzilla-reads, @lizziethereader, @accidentalspaceexplorer, @aliteraryprincess, and anyone else that would like to do this!

[gaymer-hag-stan]

A Tekken 8 Review That Nobody Asked for From a Longtime Fan Who Has Been Playing for Ages But Is Not a Pro - That Title Is Too Long

Having spent a little over 24 hours playing the game on my PS5, I feel like it's an appropriate amount of time to share my first thoughts on it. I will try to keep spoilers to a minimum so just skip the "Story" section and you should be fine.

General Thoughts

A pretty healthy roster, overall happy with who we got. I do wish Anna and Christie were here, and I also miss Lucky Chloe. With Eddy already announced and Azucena taking over the "cooky dance-y character" I unfortunately don't see Christie or Chloe returning, but Anna better fucking do!

They all look great, even the ugly ones, they look satisfyingly ugly, if that makes any sense. The girls still suffer from the Madame Tussaud's wax figure syndrome that plagued the entirety of Tekken 7's roster, but, maybe I'm gaslighting myself, I do feel like they look a bit less plasticky than some of the initial teasers? Most of the redesigns are great, the hair (Lili's hair has never looked better), water and dirt physics all finally WORK and I love how all the clothing animates with the wind effect, the Fallen Destiny stage is a great one to illustrate all of the above. We can see Yoshimitsu's fingers after three decades! I'd love to know the thought process behind this redesign lmao

I love that they finally, after so many years of other fighting games having it but being inexplicably absent from Tekken, they finally added Player vs CPU matches! FINALLY! Finally I can pick my character and my opponent of choice, pick their costumes and set a stage for them to battle. I'm so happy for this even though it might not make any sense to anyone.

Combo Challenges! We finally have combo challenge in Tekken! Another common fighting game feature inexplicably missing up until now.

Gameplay feels a lot of fun. I wasn't sure about the heat mechanic but it's actually a lot more fun than I initially thought! I tried out all of the cast and am slowly completing both their story episodes and an Arcade run for good measure. I am obviously still maining Nina. They have decided to simplify a lot of her combo throws and I am having fun terrorizing people online with them by breaking their bones! I'm also using Arcade Quest to learn how to play as Lili and Azucena, some basic moves and combos and whatnot. I wanna also do Zafina, Jun, Jin, Hwoarang and Xiaoyu as well eventually. I think these eight will be my main squad for the time being. As a side note, King and Steve feel extremely fun to play, I haven't picked either in ages, but with King I was really close!

The netcode is, surprisingly functional??? We did recently switch to an optic fiber connection type, but I'm still on WiFi and I am having zero problems!

Jukebox is thankfully back again! I literally spent an hour or more before playing the game at all to decide which song goes where lol

Something that scares me regarding upcoming DLC, is that I do not see a season pass being sold anywhere except the Deluxe Edition bundle that costs 40€... I'm sorry but I don't give a fuck about owning 32 identical gold costumes or Tetsujin or whoever the fuck as my Arcade Quest avatar... I only want Eddy and the other three (one of them better be Anna!) thank you very much!

Story

"The Dark Awakens"

Believe it or not I haven't even finished the main story yet as I'm trying to pace myself through all the modes and enjoy them, savouring every moment. At the moment of typing this I am almost halfway through and I must say, even though I am still firmly in the "Drop the cinematic NRS style story modes" camp, and I would much rather have had either arcade mode with proper, canon endings back, or a revival and repurposing of the Tekken Force mode, in an SF6 World Tour mode type of way, out of all of Bandai Namco's attempts at a cinematic story mode, from SCV to Tekken 8, this has been the most satisfying attempt so far. I love that they are fully embracing the overdramatic nature of Tekken along with its campy side and it's present from the very beginning, with Jin throwing his bike at Kazuya's helicopter! "A Fate Decided by Fists" were we actually get to choose which fighters advance through the first round was the biggest highlight so far! I did not expect to fight Azazel again in 2024! I miss his Tekken 6 design though, he no longer glows according to his remaining health or has his limbs crumble away into scarabs according to which parts of him you're hitting. Also, I do understand why they felt the need to overemphasize how "Jin was a good guy all along and he's not like Kazuya" to redeem him and attempt to portray him as a more traditional hero, but I think they went way too far. Literally every single cast member, characters who've never met him before especially, makes a point of how good a person Jin is. Also, I do understand that there were a lot of people complaining that most of the cast were ignored in Tekken 7's story mode and I appreciate that they tried to include more of them this time, but it's so half assed and superficial. Like, Lili, Asuka, Hwoarang, Leo (who finds their missing father, a forgotten plot point from Tekken 6 of screen without a single explanation) Xiaoyu, PANDA offer absolutely nothing to the story so far other than to just be there and tell Jin what a good guy he is. And I say all that as someone who is firmly on Jin's side and despises Kazuya.

Character Episodes

Thank god they have more than one single fight this time! I would have liked it if they found a way to make each of them be canon. Like, I think every single one of the Arcade mode endings of SF6 is canon, if I'm not mistaken, and most of them seem to take place before the events of the main story, as a way to give us a clearer understanding of why each fighter fights. I think Guilty Gear does exactly that too. Nevertheless, I do appreciate that each fighter has fights specifically tailored to them, with specific opponents. It's not clear to me yet if they're completely non-canon or not, as in Nina's she seems to have been hired by Lee to sabotage G Corporation and Kazuya, I pray to God this is true and she's not actually, willingly working for that asshole, like, I'm still in complete denial that they threw her entire character development from Tekken 4 to Tekken 7 to the trash can just to go "NInA WiLl WoRK FoR WhOmEvEr"... She's also suspiciously missing from the actual story like, she simply just appeared in ONE scene so far and then left without doing literally anything. She also seems to only have special interactions with Steve and Lee so far when others get a lot more. Her handling story wise in this installment is insulting, considering she's the most popular female fighter in the series and one of the most popular in the genre...

Offline Modes

Arcade Quest

It's cute... It's certainly a cool way to mask your tutorial and the avatars are kinda cool, but they're nowhere near as good as what Capcom did with SF6 and World Tour. I must say I prefer Tag 2's Tekken Lab over this.

Super Ghost Battle

Ghost battle, after five attempts is finally fun! Tekken 7's was by far the worst attempt as the game would automatically pick opponents for you, matching you with much harder ones if you were winning too much and much lower ones if you were losing too much so that you wouldn't climb the ranks as fast and it would artificially increase playtime. Now that Tekken has actual single player modes other that the story there's no need for that, and they made it work. You simply choose from a list, and the ones that contain unlockable (useless) customisation options for specific characters are actually marked so that you can attempt to get the item you want.

Arcade Battle

I love that they still included a traditional eight battle long Arcade mode, even though they could have just had the character episodes and call it a day. My slight nitpick, again, is that they're still doing this thing that they've been doing since Tekken 5 or 6 where the first few battles are characters in their default costumes and then a horde of Namco's customized monstrosities attack your eyes... This is a huge pet peeve of mine, I understand it in the context of Ghost Battle, and Arcade Quest, but I do not want to see goofy customs in other, "serious" modes. On top of that, the ghosts you get seem to be from the Super Ghost Battle's catalogue of freaks, and are therefore higher difficulty than most, which in turn makes them actively harder than the mode's final boss which I think is kinda hilarious!

Tekken Ball

I will admit, I only played a single match and never touched it again. It is actually challenging, I'll give it that, but I don't see the appeal. I'd much rather have Tekken Bowl again back instead tbh. Also I wish that stage was playable in normal modes too.

Customization

Avatar customization is kinda whatever, but it works well enough for Arcade Quest and I don't really visit the Tekken Fight Lounge.

Character Customization however is where I have an issue. While I've seen lots of cool customs of various characters from other games and IPs, including Shimbori himself dressing up Super Battle ghosts as DOA characters!, I don't really care for the customization options? My only real use for Character Customization in Tekken so far was to recreate past / alternate outfits. Like, in Tekken 6 I would buy the schoolgirl outfit parts for all the teen girlies, in Tekken 7 I recreated Nina's 2P outfit from Tekken 4 using her Blood Vengeance catsuit as a base, stuff like that. In Tekken 8 all I'm getting is a huge catalogue of Zara's apparel... And all the unlockable outfits are either their default look with less clothes on, or weird cosplays of other characters. Why? Tekken Character Customization peaked in Tekken 6, where every single one of the 40 (41 if you count Panda, who I think had some different options from Kuma) characters had his own personal selection of outfits and items, matching their personality and look. I don't want to play as Nina dressed up as Ada Wong or in a business casual for a 9-5 desk job. They made everything way too generic and bland and, on top of that, we don't even have trademark pieces like Nina's purple catsuit, her ponytail, Hwoarang's taekwondo garb, Xiaoyu's Tekken 6 battle costume. The Tekken 5 veterans should have had their Tekken 5/6/TTT2 costumes and hairstyles on top of their Tekken 7 ones.

Overall, I am very very happy with this game! It seemingly does almost everything right and I am glad to see it improving on, literally, every single thing over Tekken 7.

Score: 9 / 10

[chubbygrape]

Dai Dark - Character Heights

This was asked on reddit so posting this here as well with more detail. Sr if this is done already, but kinda want my own reference/notes anyways.

I plan on adding more characters as the story goes. Got part of the main cast for now, as they were either (1) confirmed, or (2) I had enough reference material where i felt comfortable estimating; I've tried being as accurate as possible but if anyone has any notes or corrections pls let me know!

Based on who I got so far - the overall chart would look like this: Misetani Box (est) < Sanko < Avakian < Damemaru < Shimada (est)

-----------------------------------------

Sanko:

Adult: 1.90 m / 6.2 ft

Child: 1.35 m / 4.4 ft

Reference: Chapter 4

Note: He's only 14 really, so wonder how much taller he'll get, lol

2. Avakian:

Standing: 1.95 m / 6.4 ft

Package: 1.25 m / 4.1 ft

Reference: Chapter 4

Note: The number is not specified exactly but the height chart is quite clear so think this should be accurate. it's technically that handle he has on his head that's giving him the extra height which I find kinda funny - otherwise by head alone, he'd be same height as Sanko.

3. Damemaru:

Adult: 2.00 m / 6.6 ft

Reference: Chapter 27

Note: This is self proclaimed (not that i think this makes a difference tbh)

4. Shimada:

Adult: 2.15 m ?? / 7 ft ??

Note: Don't believe this is referenced at all (correct me if im wrong pls) , but I am estimating to be around that much just by looking at how they're drawn compared to others.

For example this page, which shows Damemaru slightly taller than Sanko so think Hayashida was loyal to her idea of heights (I find authors sometimes fail to take into consideration their characters' heights when drawing them together, so its not the best strategy but i have some faith here) Anywho, Shimada is taller, and then I used a height comparison chart maker to replicate the heights and ended up with 2,15m; probs not 100% accurate but either way, the idea is she's the tallest lol (yay)

5. Misetani Box:

Adult: 1.50-1.55 m ?? / 4.9 - 5 ft ??

Note: Same as Shimada, this isn't referenced. I saw online she's estimated to be 1,55 m , but I believe she could even be around 1,50 (or even shorter!) based off this image of her standing next to Avakian (be warned lol): Chapter 25. I used the height comparison chart again to replicate the heights and determine the numbers.

------------------------------------------

Further Notes/Comments:

We have Shimada as a kid too, but since they can change their height at will I don't think it matters much - should be same height as Sanko/child though.

Chidaruma is 2.60 m / 8.5 ft - just thought to add that in <3 (ref)

I'm annoyed I'm missing Nagurun - I estimate same height as Damemaru=2.00 m, or at the very least 1.90 m (=Sanko) but I want to have proper reference first, so let me sit on it for a bit pls

The Characters I want to get next are: Nagurun, Moja, Lightning Viper, and Theta Eight-Legs

The height comparison chart maker I used if anyone wants it

Edit1: Added figures in feet

[autonomousllama]

15 Questions for 15 Mutuals

Thank you for tagging me @arnola2012

Are you named after anyone?

Nope

2. When was the last time you cried?

I cry so much I honestly don't remember...I'm just very emotional

3. Do you have kids?

Nope. Definitely not. I am the baby. Even though I am in my twenties...

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Yep, especially with my family, we are very sarcastic

5. What sorts of sports do you/have you played?

I'm not really a sports kinda gal but I have enjoyed badminton and swimming in the past. I am doing ring fit excercise twice a week if that counts?

6. What's the first thing you notice about people?

Clothes. I just like admiring other people's fashion sense, one of my main compliments is 'hey, nice *insert clothing here*!'. I have very little awareness of body language or anything. I would definately die.

7. Scary movies or happy endings?

I prefer happy endings, I'm a sap and I am weak to horror. Although I do occasionaly indulge in spooky things...

8. Any special talents?

Um...I can read really fast? I can't think of anything else in particular...

9. Where were you born?

North of England

10. What are your hobbies?

Playing video games (obvs), documentaries, reading fanfiction, recently dnd and pathfinder and music.

11. Do you have any pets?

Not now, but I do want to get a cat in the future when I move out

12. How tall are you?

5,3, roughly 161 cm according to the google converter

13. Fave subject in school?

English or History. I am doing English at Uni right now so...

14. Dream Job

I don't really have one right now...When I was young I wanted to be a vet, then a forensic scientist, then a writer, and now I am just content to get a good job so I can go home and play games lol

15. Eye colour?

Blue, a bit on the grey side like my dad

I'd like to tag @descendantdragfi @frankenfairy @bastardtrait @desimetto @ts3strayastray @simbico @miss-may-i @kevinvoncrastenburg @plasticpinkheart @voidite @cherryjoana @hurricanesims @anamoon63 @hazelpuff @plumbtales

[cornflowershade]

Tagged by @airenyah ☺️

1. Are you named after anyone?

Nope!

2. When was the last time you cried?

This morning. For like literally two seconds because I was reallyyy tired and didn’t want to wake up early lol. (Last time I cried for more than two seconds was two days ago.)

3. Do you have kids?

I have 99 of them!!

(I work with a group of kids. I do not have any of my own.)

4. What sports do you play/have you played?

I am… not a sports person. I lose games of tag to first graders. I did however do horseback riding for a while as a kid, which I was actually quite good at! Sometimes I miss it, though I have no idea if I’d still be any good after so long.

5. Do you use sarcasm?

Sometimes, though it’s not my main mode of humor.

6. What’s the first thing you notice about people?

Mmm… maybe a combination of their outfits and of their personal aspect/vibe. (Do they seem friendly etc.)

7. What’s your eye colour?

I have brown orbs that stare inquisitively into your soul until you let out the breath you didn’t know you were holding.

(Sorry for the bad fanfic. I’ll leave.)

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

Happy endings :)

9. Any talents?

Video editing, art, writing, making up games, hula hooping, sewing, and retrieving small objects fallen down storm grates using nothing but a paper cup, a stick and a shoelace. (I have done this twice. With flying colors!)

10. Where were you born?

The U.S.

11. What are your hobbies?

Fanvidding, sewing, cosplay, obsessing over fictional characters/ships.

12. Do you have any pets?

No, but it would be cool to have one someday! Maybe a dog?? but on the other hand that would mean I have to take care of it which might overwhelm me…

13. How tall are you?

I think it’s about 5ft 4” but it’s been a while since I’ve checked. This is my best recollection, though. Fun fact, I’m the tallest in my household BUT I still have to get others to reach things off tall shelves for me because my arms are short asdghj

14. What was your favorite subject in school?

I guess I liked algebra a lot? Then when I got to college I liked a lot of subjects! Like my wildlife toxicology class and my video game design class and my feature writing class… there was a lot of fun stuff.

15. What is your dream job?

How am I supposed to know this asfgjkl. I am exploring the idea of teaching, though. We’ll see, I’m still figuring life out honestly, and I feel like there’s no Perfect job. But what I’m doing know makes me really happy which is why I’m considering that general arena.

Tagging following people: (no pressure!)

@soundwin @distant-screaming @lamonnaie @softneomiro @celestial-sapphicss

[gacha-every]

Another casual Movie Review!

From meee!!! :D

Hello again, we got one of my main sources to my love for animated movies/shows today, Disney!

And we got their new movie, Wish!

First off, !!🟥SPOILERS🟥!!

I watched this at home and it released in Cinema so I can't count reviewing the animation because I only got the low quality cinema vid for now. Still tho, animations are great, so ye, I'm sure it gud UvU

But we're talking more about the story, characters, and other perks!

In my first watch, I was pretty chill, entertained, and unbothered... in most cases. Honestly, I was only feeling unbothered sometimes because of the expectations of people's critics all over Wish

In my second watch tho, I was pretty bored, yet still enjoyed it somehow, but anyway–

I give the movie ALONE a 7/10

The characters are great, the songs are gud to listen to while watching (This Wish is on loop in my head tho, that one's catchy), the comedy is gud too, story is gud too!

Yeah, guys! The movie is actually not bad!

...It's just not jaw dropping that is, y'know?

The movie is a little generic but also not??? I dunno

It kept me entertained, it's a gud movie for funzies, and it's especially not that triggering at least to me, it's just not that rewatchable y'know? Also had some trouble remembering some of the characters' names even

Anyway ye, movie, okie

Easter eggs were fun to catch

(My dad even has his own theories like Asha being the fairy godmother like from Cinderella and Magnifico being the mirror like from Snow White)

...BUT—

I WANNA TALK 'BOUT SOMETHING ELSE

Huh? What? No it's not critism, I'm already done

NO, it's my favorite part of all

IMAGINING POTENTIALS!!!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the movie had potential, I mean, it does in some cases but not generally

HOWEVER

If you consider their SCRAPPED CONCEPTS like these fav examples: Star is supposed to be a shape shifter and has a male human form (possible romance with Asha), and Magnifico and Amaya are supposed to be a villain COUPLE! LIKE BRO! This is the ONLY part I'm triggered by the movie honestly, because it's MISSED potential! This potential didn't come from the movie itself, no! It's from the dumps!

I'm honestly glad fanfics exist

Like imagine bruh, what more new set of formulas can you think of? Asha's father being Magnifico instead? Making her a PRINCESS?! WHOLE NEW TOP TIER LEVEL TO TACKLE– oh wait

SOMEONE'S ALREADY DOING THAT! YASSS

read it pls, it gud

Anyway, ye, that's honestly the only fun I have from the movie, imagining it's potential

But it's honestly a shame that the potential is missed rather than the potential is oozing... you confused? Okay, what I mean is, missed potential is like those scrapped concepts, oozing potential is like from the movie itself has potential for a few tweaks here and there and boom! Better movie! So ye, Gacha Every math for ya lol

Anyway, ye, it's a shame...

BUT DON'T LET IT STOP YA THERE!!!

DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT IF YA URGED TO🔥🔥🔥

YOU, ME, ANYONE, TACKLE THE INGREDIENTS! MAKE A MEAL!! AND WE'LL FEAST!!!

Artist, writer, daydreamer, WHATEVER! I JUST w i s h ;D PEOPLE SHOW THEIR REVISIONS OF THE MOVIE! Let the creativity and fun DRIVE!!!

I SURE I AM! WOOO!!!

Movie fine: 7/10 :)

Revision rush: 9/10 B)

Wish is gud, healed my inner child which is what my constructive criticism is orbit to, so if you're into that thing, stay tuned for more! ^w^

[lordsardine]

15 questions

Tagged by @ellcrys!! Thank you :^)

1. Are you named after anyone?

My mom said she liked Madeline Albright and thought her name was nice so here I am

2. When was the last time you cried?

Watched a youtube video yesterday about the video game omori and grief that made me cry ^^;

3. Do you have kids?

Lmao no

4. What sports do you play/have you played?

Horseback riding. Which has destroyed my body. And is expensive. And now I miss doing it as an adult ^^; maybe one day again

5. Do you use sarcasm?

yeah lol

6. What is the first thing you notice about people?

hmmmm - their outfit I think

7. What's your eye color?

blue (as a kid I wanted brown eyes and i still like them better)

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

happy endings

9. Any talents?

my talent (if it's a talent) is when I set out to do a project I will commit to it and finish it. Will it be finished well? That's debatable. But it will be finished

10. Where were you born?

Pennsylvania

11. What are your hobbies?

Right now: Writing, video games, long walks/hiking, (occasionally) drawing (something that comes and goes with being a main hobby)

12. Do you have any pets?

No. One day I'll own a cat though :'D

13. How tall are you?

5'2"

14. Favorite subject in school?

Art or history. Though my math teacher I had in 11th and 12th grade was one of my favorite ever so i began to like math just because of him

15. Dream job?

Ideally, I get paid a lot of money to publish novels. But the likelihood of that..... ;o;

(im too lazy to tag anyone this time, but thank you again ellcrys for the tag!!)

[anghraine]

I was tagged by @ladytharen in a cool fic meme! The idea is to post the first lines of your ten most recent fanfics and tag ten people. If you have written fewer than ten, that's fine, just go with what you have (if you want to do it; no pressure if you don't!).

Tagging: @ncfan-1, @hoidn, @kareenvorbarra, @elwing, @heckofabecca, @irresistible-revolution, @kazaera, @lantur, @melyzard, @steinbecks

Love, Pride & Delicacy | Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth/f!Darcy, WIP

When Mr Wickham first arrived in Hertfordshire, Elizabeth was as ready as anyone to admire him, and perhaps readier to be admired in return.

The original draft of this fic was on hold for nearly ten years until it struck me that I could begin much earlier in the story, at the first point where Catherine Darcy was likely to come up—Wickham's tale of how Miss Darcy had horribly mistreated him. This has meant more Wickham content than I ever anticipated, but it also propelled the fic forwards.

2. Untitled | Guild Wars 2, AU of pro patria, Gwen Velazquez (Ascalonian human female PC w/ street origin and a missing sister) and Deborah Velazquez gen, WIP

Gwen always knew the Seraph would hunt her down one day.

I told myself I wasn't going to write fic for this, and then, well. I am what I am.

3. Untitled redux | Guild Wars 2, same universe as #2, Gwen Velazquez/Althea Fairchild, WIP

Gwen Velazquez regretted many things about her time among the Bloodcrow bandits. Robbing nobles was not one of them.

I then told myself the main part of the 'verse would be a one-shot, lol, so I didn't end up with a pro patria-sized monster. It's not a one-shot. It's been an interesting balance between trying to lean into GW2 feelings while also staying relatively accessible. We'll see! Someday.

4. the captain and the hero | Guild Wars 2, side-story to pro patria, Althea Fairchild (human female PC w/ noble origin) and Logan Thackeray gen, on hiatus

Even by Logan’s usual standards, the battle at Shaemoor was ugly.

This fic floated around my head for a long time and finally would not be contained, and this seemed the right place to jump in. It probably will never go very far, but I'm still fond of it.

5. and the sun shone | Lord of the Rings (bookverse), Faramir/Éowyn, WIP

The Steward Faramir was, Éowyn swiftly concluded, a strange man.

Fun fact: in my drafts, this was just called "F/É telepathy fic".

6. Untitled | Lord of the Rings (bookverse), f!Faramir/Éowyn, WIP

Even in Gondor, Éowyn was cold. She had always supposed it would be warm, if she ever came here. And after Aragorn’s arrival in Edoras, she had very often imagined herself in Minas Tirith, for all the obstacles in his way. Someday, she had let herself hope, perhaps—and she had come after all, but not at all in the way she anticipated. And she was still cold.

The document for this one is "Fíriel mingling". Guess what it's about! :D

7. pro patria | Guild Wars 2, slight AU of canon following Althea Fairchild (a noble, Ascalonian, human female version of the PC), WIP

I always thought of myself as Ascalonian first, and Krytan second.

It's a weirdly-structured fic that mostly was a depository for my GW2 feelings, with a bitter main character who continually vacillates between hauteur, adaptable personas, and hovering on the edge of violence. Lots of fun and it couldn't have begun any other way.

8. the voices of the sea | Lord of the Rings (bookverse), f!Faramir and Boromir, ft. Tar-Míriel

The dream always began the same way.

I was thinking about how a female, non-military Faramir would get news of Boromir via the water, and then had the idea of linking it to the dream of Númenor for extra pain. The true goal of fanfic!

9. The Jedi and the Sith Lord | Star Wars (films only), f!Luke Skywalker and Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader

If Darth Vader did not avoid the sight of his daughter in carbonite, he certainly did not seek it out. Solo’s features had been frozen in lines of shock and pain. Lucy, however, did not look surprised, but resigned, her upturned face hardened into a look of hopeless dread. After his first inspection in Cloud City, he felt no need or desire to examine her unchanging features any more closely.

The previous fic in this series ended with Lucy in carbonite for Reasons. This fic is all about how their relationship develops from there and was definitely the most purely enjoyable to write of the whole series. This opening was one of the oldest part of it, written years before I got the rest out.

The overall story, however, begins more simply:

Padmé screamed.

10. we also are daughters of the great | Lord of the Rings (bookverse), f!Faramir/Éowyn

“Is there no deed to do? Who commands in this City?”

The Warden looked uncertain.

The same universe as #6! I don't usually begin with dialogue, but it can be especially helpful (for me) with AUs, to signal the ways in which it's splitting off or which scene is being played with.

[littledreamling]

Chiron dear, I really hope life is going easier on you, and that you know you are missed 💛

For the weirdly specific and unrelated asks : 2, 3, 4, 7, 14, 15, 18, 25 and 28 ? 👀

Thank you my friend!! School (and life in general) is kicking my butt but I'm answering these to procrastinate so thank you for giving me an excuse not to do my homework! Also, this is going to be long but you should expect long answers from me by now lmao (tucks ridiculously long religious Hob posts out of sight)

2. thoughts on veganism?

I could rant for a while about veganism and the harm its done for the nutrition and self-esteem issues that it perpetrates in those who are hardcore believers in veganism as well as the environmental impacts it has, but I'll try to keep this as short as possible and say that I really don't like the vegan movement as a whole. It's almost completely unsustainable, entirely unhealthy for the majority of the population, and more harmful for the planet than eating meat ever could be. Its carbon footprint is enormous because everything vegan has to be shipped vast distances to its main audience and anything labeled "faux" (faux fur, faux leather, etc) is just plastic, which is worse for the environment than fur or leather (both of which will last for far longer than shitty plastic knock-offs). As a dietary craze, I despise veganism (like I despise all fad diets) and I think anyone considering a vegan diet should have a very long conversation with a nutritionist before even attempting it.

3. a specific color that gives you the ick?

I don't like most shades of orange or yellow and I'm very particular about the shades of pink that I like. I'm definitely more drawn to the cooler side of the color wheel, though I love a good red.

4. mythical creature you think/believe is real?

I want to say ghosts but I feel like that's the easy answer so I'll say Mothman. It's less of a belief and more of a hope tbh; Mothman is my favorite cryptid and I really do hope that he's out there somewhere causing havoc and flying into light posts. I would be terrified to see him in person, but the idea of him is very cute.

7. what animal do you look forward to seeing when you visit an aquarium?

All of them!! Aquariums are my favorite places in the world! I have a running, ranked list of every aquarium I've ever visited and I always look up aquariums to visit whenever I travel. My personal favorite are the big ocean tanks; I love any tank that I can sit in front of and completely forget that I'm in an aquarium at all. The Georgia Aquarium has a magnificent ocean tank that has two whale sharks and a glass tunnel through it, so it's very firmly at the top of my list.

14. do you think you’re dehydrated?

I don't think I'm dehydrated, I know I am... I spent the last three days at the beach drinking sea water instead of fresh water (on accident, I promise lmao) and I haven't fully recovered

15. rank the methods of death: freezing, burning, drowning

drowning, burning, freezing. Drowning is the fastest (I think, don't quote me on that lol), freezing is the slowest. All three are terrible ways to die and I'm terrified of all of them.

18. your boba/tea order?

I usually play around with my boba order everywhere I go (especially if they have specials, I usually go for one of those) but I tend towards fruit teas with popping pearls instead of tapioca pearls. I don't like the texture of tapioca in my mouth (literally makes me gag) and I'm lactose intolerant so milk teas do unspeakable things to my digestive system. If possible, I also get my boba with less ice because it makes eating the popping pearls a lot easier.

25. would you say you have good taste in music?

I don't know anyone who would say no to this... if you don't like your own taste in music, listen to different music lol

28. last meal on earth?

There's a chef who cooks at a restaurant in Emerald Isle, NC called Clawson's and I'd eat anything that came off of his grill. Genuinely the best meal I've ever had and I would do just about anything to go back and order off of his menu again. I don't care what he'd make; I'd eat it for my last meal and leave this life satisfied.

This was so much fun to answer, thank you!!

From this ask game!