#but i'm too exhausted this week to make ambitious sets

[buriedalienfma]

This week, I finally caught up on the latest episodes of 'My Adventures with Superman'. As I stated before, I ended up skipping the episode last week since I wanted to watch the two-parter in its entirety, and boy I sure am glad I did that because the cliffhanger for episode 8 would have kept me awake all week. When I first started watching this show, I was of the opinion that it was good, but had some obvious flaws in storytelling. Regardless, I continued to have faith in the show, and still thought that it had a lot of potential. Well, with the release of the recent episodes, I'm happy to say that the show is finally starting to live up to that potential. These last two episodes are easily the best episodes the show has had so far. The writing has improved drastically, the character development has been near flawlessly executed and the action scenes have become much more suspenseful and ambitious. It's safe to say that the show has reached a new peak. 

So with the obligatory spoiler warning, let's talk about episode 8 and episode 9 of My Adventures with Superman' : 

- Episode 8 starts off with Superman unlocking his super-hearing in his sleep, and he encounters a moral dilemma that has always been present with comic book Superman - mainly that Superman can hear EVERYTHING all the time, and has to actively choose which disasters to avert because he can't be everywhere at once.

In most iterations, Clark has had an entire childhood to get used to these powers, but the MAWS version has only recently unlocked them, and naturally they drive him a little crazy with him trying to help everyone as much as possible and even neglecting his sleep to do so. Here's one example of how good the writing has gotten in this episode : Superman suffering from sensory overload is played for laughs at first, but as the episode goes on, it becomes less funny as Clark slowly starts to unravel both physically and emotionally which leads him to be slightly less effective at being a superhero when he inadvertently causes a lot of collateral damage trying to save someone. This turns some of the people of Metropolis against him which perfectly ties into Jimmy and Lois' subplot where they have to deal with Vicki Vale, a new reporter who seems to be dead set on trying to turn people against Superman. On top of that, Superman becoming more exhausted as the episode goes on actually leads to him losing the big fight at the end of the episode. There's a lot going on here, and the show balances it all out really well.

- Speaking of Jimmy and Lois' subplot, I find it interesting that when they're interviewing the people of Metropolis, the characters who spout the "Superman is too good to be true" rhetoric are all characters who have selfish and ulterior motives. Almost like their assessment of Superman has less to do with what they really think of him and more to do with their own cynical perspectives. At one point, Alex (one of the characters from the previous episodes) even notes that Superman could be 'one bad day' away from completely breaking and turning against humanity, which is something that long-time comic fans will recognize as one of Joker's philosophies. It's even the premise of the Injustice games and comics. Like I said before, I will be so happy if/when this show completely tears apart the 'Evil Superman' trope.

- The fight scene at the end of episode 8 is so well done. I love how it starts off in the sky with all the characters essentially in free-fall. It just feels so dynamic and exciting. Some people like to make think-pieces about how Superman is a difficult character to write because of how powerful he is which robs any fight scenes of tension and suspense, but this episode proves that it can be done and it can be done creatively. There's a logical reason for why Superman is on the losing side in this fight between his lack of experience, the fact that the villains are all ganging up on him and the fact that he is already exhausted when the fight begins. And this episode makes it look easy. I'm going to go ahead and make the bold statement that the people who complain about Superman being difficult to write for simply lack creativity. Watch this show and take notes, people. This is how it's done.

- These episodes basically confirm that the General from the previous episodes is indeed Lois' father. He's called Sam, which is Lois' father's name in the comics, and there's a flashback in the second part where he is seen talking to someone on the phone - perhaps it could be a younger Lois or Lois' mom ? I like that the show is being subtle about this. The audience is given enough clues to put together that the General is Lois' father, but the characters themselves don't know it yet. It's a nice bit of dramatic irony. 

- The second part of this two-parter reveals why the General and his team were after Superman - in the past, Earth was invaded by a group of aliens led by a figure that heavily resembled Superman. They were stopped before they could cause too much destruction, but ever since that day, the General and his team have been on the lookout for any potential aliens. Now both Clark and the audience are led to believe that the invaders are from the planet that Clark came from, but I noticed that the alien robots sported the three dotted lines on their chests - the symbol of the villain Brainiac from the comics. I certainly hope that the show is going for that plot twist instead of making the Kryptonians a bunch of evil alien invaders because that would miss the point of Superman's story. 

- On the other hand, Superman goes through quite a bit of angst as he begins to wonder if he was sent to Earth to conquer it. I've stated previously that I liked that Clark doesn't know much about his alien origins, and these episodes are a good example of how you can use that setup to give Superman some character development. In fact, this episode confirms one of my headcanons about the character. I've always thought that when Superman was younger and was just discovering his powers, he would probably come to the conclusion that he was sent to Earth to conquer the planet based on how destructive some of his powers are. It doesn't help that a lot of real life science fiction stories revolve around alien invasions - what if a young Clark Kent read and/or watched those types of stories ? He would probably think that he was just like the alien 'freaks' and 'monsters' in those stories and that would give him a bit of existential angst growing up. Lo and behold, this episode confirms that headcanon in the scene where Clark is telling Lois and Jimmy about what he learned while in captivity. 

- I still think that the villains aren't as well written as they could be, but they do give Superman quite a challenge when it comes to physical threats. Parasite is obviously the star here as he evolves into a monstrous mech-Kaiju at the end of episode 9. It's a fun design, and his sheer size and power makes the final fight of the episode feel appropriately massive in scale as he threatens to destroy the entire city. 

- Lois and Jimmy rallying the people of Metropolis into supporting Superman is such a cheesy moment and I love it very much. It's similar to the crane scene from the first "Amazing Spider-Man" movie and I liked that scene, so I can't complain too much about MAWS having a similar scene. Scenes like that are what superhero stories should be all about. 

- It's very appropriate that Superman's character arc in these episodes involves him refuting the idea that he is nothing more than a weapon meant to hurt people - that's basically just the story of The Iron Giant, aka the best Superman movie since the 70s.

- This is something I realized while I was thinking about how these episodes fit in with the previous episodes in this show : this show is essentially a prolonged origin story for the character. I thought that Clark becoming Superman was a bit rushed in the pilot episodes, but then I realized that I felt that way because I considered that pilot to be an origin story when it's not, at least not entirely. Throughout the previous episodes, Clark has been going through the essential elements of his origin story - he's discovering his powers and the moral dilemmas and responsibilities that he has to face as a result of having those powers, he's learning more about his alien origins, he's developing the ability to inspire people, etc. You have moments like the ending of Episode 6, where Superman makes it his goal to help the people of Metropolis accept people who are different like him. Most typical Superman origin stories would shove all that stuff in the first third of the story so that when Clark actually becomes Superman, he's essentially fully formed into the superhero icon that everyone knows and loves. But this show is making the basic journey of his origin story into an actual character arc, while still having him do Superman things (instead of something like the Smallville TV show, which is also a prolonged origin story, but tries oh so very hard to not be an actual Superman show). It's a genius way to write the character and I very much appreciate it. 

And that's episode 8 and 9 of 'My Adventures with Superman'. I think I still have so much more to say about these episodes, but I've rambled enough. I really enjoyed these episodes. I've always had faith in this show and I think it's finally starting to live up to that. These episodes do leave a few dangling plot threads, but they all sound incredibly fascinating, and I cannot wait to see what the show does next. 

[articulatedbyleilani]

The value I bring to him PART III

I'm supportive, I'm willing, I sacrifice and I've always been there during his lowest, hardest and most stressful times. Donnel is so ambitious that he is constantly setting goals, accomplishing them and setting new ones. Being the person he was dating and being his girlfriend, could I really say I was good for him if I didn't support him? When I met him, he was at one of his lowest times in life. He had to move because he couldn't afford rent, he ended up moving in with his friend and even then he was still struggling a little bit. Did I have too? No. Did I want too? Absolutely. Why? Because given my financial situation, I felt it was right to pay my blessing forward. So I made sure I always helped him with his rent when needed. When I met him, he was starting to take on personal training full time, mainly making commission based pay. I wanted to see him succeed, so anything he asked me to do, I made sure I got done. I'd do everything I could from making flyers, making business cards, passing out flyers, making ad's to post on his facebook page, helping him make content, helping him set up fiver and more. Did I have too? No. Did I want too? Absolutely. Why? Because there's no better feeling then contributing to your partners success, let alone growing and succeed with them. There's no better feeling them making consistent income with somebody you were broke with. His car and his debt are really important things to him. It seems like every car he has, tends to give out on him and it makes me sad because his car is his biggest source of income. It's what gets him to where he needs to be for his clients. My cars though, perfectly fine. I wasn't using either of them, so of course I let him use my car. Did I have too? No. Did I want too? Absolutely. Why? I had to resources available, and it would've hurt me to see him struggle to find another way. It helped him continue to do what he loved and continued to help him be great. Donnel was always stressed out about his debt. I would do anything I could to help him eliminate his debt. For the longest, I was working 6 days a week, 10 hours shifts Monday-Friday, 6 hours on Saturdays - just to make sure we had enough for bills, to cover any extra finances and for fun. It didn't matter how tired or exhausted I was. I didn't mind because I saw how much stress I was lifting off his back. Every bonus check I got, I'd send him the cost to cover his credit card debt, with a little of his money mixed in there too. I even suggested a joint bank account because we've reached the point to where my money was his and his was mine. It seemed to help a lot and when he confirmed that, my heart was filled with so much joy. Did I have too? No. Did I want too? Yes. Period. Why? I was making good money until I started making great money and I truly believe in the "If you don't got it, I got it" mentality. I truly believe in the "She was there when I didn't have much so when I have it, it'll be my turn" relationship. There wasn't anything I wouldn't do for US.

[doramilaje]

THE EXPANSE APPRECIATION WEEK day three ♡ favorite scene

[sunball]

WHAT IS GOING ON IN YOUR PERSON'S LIFE RIGHT NOW + A MESSAGE FROM THEM

𖦹 this reading includes what is going on in your person’s life right now, what they (or their higher self) want to say to you at this moment and songs they'd like to give you. this reading is more about your future spouse or your future partner, someone who you may not be in contact with but you're curious about what they're doing.

𖦹 so there will be two paragraphs for each pile (what your person is doing and what they want to say to you). you can choose more than one pile. ex: pile 1 for what your person is doing and pile 2 for the message.

𖦹 how does this work? close your eyes and take deep breaths, pick the pile you are most drawn to. If you aren’t drawn to any pile then that’s okay, these messages aren’t for you.

𖦹 take what resonates.

THE PILES

PILE 01

now playing:

now playing:

pile 01's songs

THEIR LIFE

hello pile 01, welcome to your reading. I'm getting a lot of fire energy here, especially leo. I'm hearing Leo in 1st and 10th house, aries in 8th house, aries mars, mars in 10th house and also Venus in 2nd and 3rd house. I'm also getting gemini and capricorn. capricorn mars, aquarius venus. If these aren't your placements then they're most likely your person's placements. or perhaps, those are their transits. I feel a lot of confident energy from your person, I think they are at a good place right now. Your person has been betrayed and heartbroken quite recently but I feel like they're not trying to let that get to them. they're keeping their head high, focusing on their goals and working really hard. the pain motivated them to work hard, maybe as a way to get revenge? In their head, they may think that if they work hard, they can show off their success to the person that broke them like "hey, look at me now!". for some others, it's possible that they're working really hard because the work distracts them from the pain and the situation. they're acting like the pain isn't affecting them, I'm seeing them just laughing and hanging out with a group of people (their friends?) acting like theyre not dealing with any problems. your person is definitely at a period of time where work is only on their mind, they're hungry for success. success is the only thing your person is heading towards, it's the only direction they see. love isn't on your person's mind at all so I doubt that you've crossed their mind. but little do they know, the direction that they're heading towards will also lead them to you. your person may have travelled somewhere recently or maybe they're thinking of travelling somewhere else. there is change on the horizon for your person, maybe they will be promoted soon or moving countries, going to university, etc. they are so ambitious. I'm seeing piles of paper on desks, papers stuck on walls with dates and notes on them and also quotes. motivational quotes perhaps. your person is also working out, they could be getting up quite early. 6 am? I'm getting mad mars in 6th house vibes from your person. they're feeling burnt out, they have so much on their plate but they're not stopping anytime soon because they like it and also because they have no choice. they're also taking many responsibilities, I'm hearing house chores, work and looking after their parents or siblings. your person could be a student, a business person or they could work in an office. they're organizing their workspace and keeping track of their schedule, getting ready for the next chapter of their life. laziness is not in your person's vocabulary!

THEIR MESSAGE

you know, I am so busy right now. I'm too exhausted to even think about love, to think about you. I don't think about it anymore unlike before. I know at times you feel like we're nowhere close and you doubt my existence because of how distant I feel and I'm sorry. It is partially true, we're nowhere close to eachother and we're both individual human beings. let's live in the present and experience things and meet new people without having to think about eachother. I don't feel right about thinking of the future and just hoping for something to happen, hoping to just end up with someone like you. It doesn't feel right. I need to do something, I need to take action. that's exactly what I'm doing now. It gives me a sense of stability knowing that I'm taking action and there's a high possibility of my dreams coming true. I've promised myself that I won't stop working until I've achieved everything. I can't do all of this by myself, I need your help too. I'm asking you a favour, do your part. I'm doing mine. work hard and don't slack off. I'm sorry again for sounding cold, I'm not like this on a daily basis. I'm just really tired. I need to get my point across. don't slack off. please. I'll keep saying that. oh, that reminds me. at times I will definitely sound like a teacher or a boss, it's just a habit I got from work. It's not my intention to make you feel stupid, I know you're smart. I wanted you to know that because I don't want you to think I'm generally a cold person. I'm not. when tarot readers or psychics or astrologers or whoever says that I'm cold, they only mean when I'm at work or when I'm busy or serious. I would never be like that to someone I love, especially you. truthfully speaking, you don't know much about me at all especially if you think I'm a cold person. that thought you have of me stops now. I'm guessing that you're curious about me now. I like to look neat and clean, I don't like bright colours, they look unprofessional. I hang out with my friends sometimes and we just have lunch at a café or a local restaurant. I'm on my computer a lot so my back always hurts but I'm doing exercises to help me with it. I have too many cookbooks that I don't use because I don’t have much time, I end up freestyling my food and cooking up some eggs. I need to get better at managing time. I don't like people that don't practice what they preach, it irritates me. now for my appearance. this, in no way is useful information that will help us in any way but I suppose I'll just tell you. I have a sharp nose, it's pointy and a little wide. I don't have any piercings. I don't have bangs. as for my eyes, they're brown and deep-set. my lips? they're just lips. you'll love them anyway so it doesn't matter. my hair? neat and brown. you'll love it too. that's enough. you can stop trying to get to know me now, leave that for when we meet. you can know me more yourself when the time comes, I like the process of getting to know someone and the effort someone puts into getting to know me. until then, keep working hard.

PILE 02

now playing:

pile 02's songs

THEIR LIFE

I’m getting cancer energy from the pile, also pisces and gemini and libra. I’m hearing cancer/pisces/ libra venus, venus in 5th/7th/12th house, pisces moon, mercury in 7th house, cancer in 2nd house, gemini rising. if these aren’t your placements then they’re most likely your person’s, if not then these may be their transits. right now I feel like your person is trying something new, especially a hobby. I’m getting ‘painting’ for some of you. for others, your person has started something new like a project or they moved to a new house, something like that. there’s this feeling of ‘newness’ in your person’s life right now. they have so much passion for whatever this ‘newness’ is. they’re excited for this change, they can’t wait to move to the next stage. I’m feeling a positive energy coming from your person. their creativity is flowing through their blood, they feel inspired and joyous. some of you may not like to hear this but your person may have gotten in a relationship with someone or they want to get into a relationship with someone. they have a crush. I feel like there’s still an important choice to be made and your person has waited such a long time for the next stage, the relationship stage. I feel like their crush or their partner isn’t showing them that much attention, it feels quite one sided (your person giving more), they’re doing so much for their crush/partner but I feel like your person isn’t seeing it right, they’re just so blinded. like a little kid when they have a crush. If you don’t like what you’re hearing, don’t worry, they’re your person for a reason. anyways for others of you, I’m seeing your person listening to music while they’re doing their new hobby. painting is coming really strong, I’m seeing an easel. If it’s not a hobby then your person is feeling in love, whether it be a person or something else. their head is in the clouds, they’re listening to love songs, feeling so inspired by everything around them. love and venus themes is really important in your person’s life right now. If you’ve been listening to love songs recently or if you just feel all lovey-dovey, it’s most likely because of your person, you’re connected to your person. or if you feel inspired out of nowhere, it’s probably because of your person too. I just felt like I had to let you know that. sooner or later though, your person will realise that the relationship is one sided and they will give up on it. this will hit your person really hard, it will be a hard lesson for them. perhaps even the last lesson because I feel like your person has always done too much for people that don’t deserve their love. your person has experienced a lot and learnt many lessons except for this, when they learn this though, they will have learnt all the lessons. they can tick this off their box. I’m getting such wise Pisces vibes from them. for lots of you, your person is already in the 'realisation' stage and there's about to be a change in their life.

THEIR MESSAGE

It’s been challenging these days, maybe even these past few weeks and maybe even months too. It’s fine though, I can get through it. you don’t have to worry about me. I have a gut feeling that something is going to happen soon, disappointments? I’m not surprised, I’ve been so stuck in my own head. I don’t know why I keep giving people more. so stupid of me. maybe it’s not my fault? maybe it’s their fault for giving less, who knows. I don’t know how to stop. why do I do this? I keep getting disappointed over and over again, I’m starting to not have hope anymore. despite this, I still think love is beautiful. with the right person. love is not only limited to romantic love though, which is what I’ve learnt recently. I’ve been so fixated on romantic relationships that I’ve forgotten about the beautiful things around me. surprisingly, there’s love everywhere. do you know what I love? I love the stars, I love flat white coffee, I love the smell of fresh grass, I love nature and the sun, I love dogs (especially small dogs) and I love experiences. experiences that shape me into a better person, painful or not, I love those. not to sound masochistic – but I love pain. I learn from pain. love has always been painful for me but I’m still giving people my all, wrong people to be precise. Is that why I keep falling for people that don’t care about me? because I love getting hurt? now that I’ve thought of it, it sounds terrible. I need to fix that. I feel embarrassed now that you know this, please don’t shake your head. I will fix it. I want this cycle to end. don’t be worried about me. you should continue living your life, there’s yet so much you can experience. places to go, new people to meet, new activities to do. so much. I’d love to experience so many things with you. do you like road trips? I’d love to go on a picnic date too, does stargazing sound good? we could travel around the world, that’s on my bucket list. so many ideas but there’s still so much distance and time between us. I feel excited thinking about it, I want to do so much right now and experience so many things. by the time we meet, I might already have a long white beard because I’ll be so wise *laughs*. who knows, white hair does look awesome. I think it might suit me actually. on a serious note, I want you to know that you should not be afraid to try new things. don't be afraid of change. regret is scarier than change, staying in the same place and not growing is scarier than change. you may lose something good but what if you gain something even better? I’ll be there for you every step of the way, I’m always there for you even though I’m not there with you physically. do you feel me? I’m so proud of you. If you see an opportunity, take it or you’ll regret it later. don’t be afraid of saying no or saying yes, you deserve to be heard, assert your dominance *laughs*. I love you, take care of yourself. you can do it. [:

PILE 03

now playing:

pile 03's songs

THEIR LIFE

I'm getting mutable and fixed energy here, especially scorpio, virgo, leo, sagittarius. maybe scorpio rising and sagittarius rising with pluto in 1st house. I'm hearing saturn in 8th house, saturn in 22°, scorpio sun or moon aspecting saturn, pluto and sun or moon sitting in the same house. if these aren't your placements then they're most likely your person's. these could be their transits too. your person is going through a transformation, something had recently happened in their life that has caused this transformation. I'm thinking it's death, a death of a loved one like a family member, a friend or a pet. someone close to them. If it's not a death of a loved one then it's a death of a cycle, a death of a job, a relationship, something like that. something that came to an end. it's affecting your person badly and they feel so much guilt. they're missing and mourning over whatever this is. they're pessimistic, they feel like the whole world is against them and that their would turned upside down. they have no hope anymore, they're not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm seeing that image of Yuu Otasaka from the anime Charlotte. I think your person is exactly like that right now. depressed. I see tissues, dark rooms and hoodies and blankets. also gaming for a number of you (interesting how the picture you chose is a picture of keys). they're going through it right now and they need support. your person is not communicating with many people or interacting with anyone at all, they're pushing people away. looking at the picture of the pile you chose, I realised it says "wish you were here". now this could mean that they wish that the person they lost were still with them or they wish that someone could come and support them or comfort them, or for a few amount of you, this could be meaning you. they wish you were there with them. however, I don't think love is a thought that comes in their mind in this period of time. it's more like, they're screaming into a void wishing someone could hear them, not directly meaning you. for others of you, I'm getting a different situation. your person may have gotten fired or they tried something but it didn't work out and they had so much hope for it. they badly wanted it to work out and now your person is feeling disappointed in themselves, like someone just ripped away something really valuable to them. your person doesn't know that the reason this, whatever this is, didn't work out is because it wasn't meant to. It's not part of their divine plan. It honestly saved your person from future problems but they don't know that. It's a blessing in disguise. I'm strongly feeling it's something related to their job or maybe love, 'right place, wrong time' is what I'm hearing. your person is blaming themselves for it all, thinking it was because of time, lack of planning or they didn't try hard enough. It isn't true, they should be easy on themselves.

THEIR MESSAGE

I don't know what to say. I don't feel like saying much. why do you want to know anyway? do you care? am I interesting? I'm not all that special, you know. here I go again, making sh*t sad. I'll try and make this light-hearted as possible because you shouldn't see this side of me, not so soon. not like this. *silence* I'll start off by saying that you can't control whatever life throws at you. but you can control your reactions and how you deal with it. I'm not doing very well, not dealing with it the way I usually do. It hit me hard and I don't like being sad like this and not doing anything, not wanting to get out of bed, not wanting to talk to anyone, not finding joy in the things I love doing. I hate this f*cking feeling and the way I'm dealing with it. I heard that you should let yourself feel everything once in a while. I'm f*cking feeling everything alright. why did I not let myself feel before? now it's all consuming me. all of my problems and emotions, this darkness inside of me, erupting. I regret this. I regret acting like I was fine before, finding distractions. now I know that being distracted doesn't necessarily mean that it's gone, the problem is still there. don't do what I did. let yourself feel. or it will all build up and eat you alive. you don't want that. I don't want that. I don't want you to be sad, god no. definitely not like this. but if being sad will help you then that's certainly fine by me, just don't act like you're fine. that will hurt me much more. just do what I say. showing emotions is not a sign of weakness. look at me, I'm so f*cked up because of not thinking that. this feeling will go away, right? right. If you need to let it all out, do it. I can feel your sadness, the nights you cried, I felt them. those tears of yours, I want to wipe them away but I'm not there. it sucks. I need you here. I need a good f*cking hug right now. I want you to be happy but I don't know how. I'd do anything to see that smile of yours. that precious smile that I have yet to see. I know it's precious. listen to me. I need you. I need you to stay strong. you're so strong and much more emotionally intelligent than I am. I am so in awe. your strength gives me energy, you give me energy. you're the light of my life. I hope our kids will be as beautiful and as amazing as you. I'm glad I was given the chance to talk to you like this. I love you, sunshine.

[ren-c-leyn]

Happy STS, Ren^^ First I would like to ask for writing update on your projects, esp Dark princess wip, your dnd campaign, Forgotten gods and Shackles. :D

Second I would like to know what scene from the currently published Shackles of time chapters was the most meaningful to you?

@writingonesdreams

Happy STS to you too, Dreams ^^ I hope you're having a good one.

I'll be answering in reverse order, hope you don't mind @writingonesdreams ^^ The second answer was just the shorter and more coherent one, as my updates are a bunch of incoherent screaming at the moment lol.

Here is your read more, as is tradition.

The most meaningful to me is a toss up among the 15 chapters that are up.

Something about The Time Keeper's office scene in chapter 4 is still sticking with me, and it's gotten even more meaningful as I've continued writing the story. The symbols of the long career that was torn away, the stories behind those objects of adventurers taken with people who are no longer with them, the beautiful impression mixed with the unspoken sadness. Then there was the mask. I believe that line was 'it was not the only thing to be broken that day, just the symbol of it all.' That, that slaps way, way harder now that I've written The Guild Masters' Meeting arc. It hit hard when I wrote it the first time, but rereading it after that arc hard felt like past me kicked current me in the gut. It was a perfect, unintended set up. Like I knew the history of it when I wrote it, but I didn't know what the future would hold and it just... yeah. Yeah that scene makes me feel proud and happy and sad all at once. It resonates with me in the way that holding the stuffed unicorn my late grandmother gave me when I was a kid does now. That sense of loss and comfort all in one.

The contender is from the end of part 2 of The Guild Masters' Meeting arc, when Wyndulin is talking to his old friend, Myria. And it hits similar notes, but is much heavier on the melancholic tone as these two legends both show just how closely they mirror each other and Wyndulin is slowly coming to the conclusion that he's watching the end. The end of a legend, the end of an era, perhaps the end of everything, and Myria is not the same as she was then. She's older, more fragile, exhausted, but she still won't stop. Won't step down. He admires her and grieves her in the same breath, just as she appreciates and is frustrated with him and The Time Keeper. It's... it's hard to explain, but if you want to understand I recommend reading it when you get the chance. And when you finish with that scene, go back and reread that scene from chapter 4. But I recommend doing it on a day when you can handle some heavy angst ^^'

Your weekly updates:

There's no new updates on Forgotten Gods or The Dark Princess of Aconitum this week. I paused the rewrite in favor of working on The Shackles of Time's anniversary event since it's taking most of my creativity, and I'm letting the magic system for dark princess stew for awhile in the back of my mind. Sometimes I come up with better ways to handle things or see drawbacks that I hadn't originally expected when I give a concept some time to marinate.

I think the next thing I'm going to consider one Dark Princess while I'm finishing up solidifying the magic system is how the assassination of the elf prince was done. I've already gotten the political ramifications of it done and out of the way, as well as whose behind it, but I never did decide how he was killed ^^' a bit of an oversight on my part, I suppose, but there's a lot of things I'm juggling. So, I'm playing around with a few ideas. Some practical, some inspired by history, and some that are totally over the top and dramatic.

I may get really ambitious and actually name the characters, as not even the MC has a proper name yet ^^;

In my DnD campaign I've finished setting up the big bad's goals and what they need to do to achieve them. These things will be happening in the background, and the players have the potential to mess up those plans, speed them up, or ignore them. I'll be keeping track as the game progresses. It turned into a big undertaking. I need to finish designing some things for it, but for the most part that end of things is solidified.

I've also started marking down important locations on the world map and drawing kingdom/country boarders as well as the migration paths of the floating islands. (Yes, I have yet another world with floating islands lol)

I've also written down 10 moral quandaries for the players to answer in character to go along with their alignments as a sort of guidelines for how their characters would react. Among them is a version of the Trolley problem, so I'm looking forward to seeing how they respond to those. Though, I admit I nearly gave myself an existential crisis while looking up example moral quandaries to base the questions off of. Some of them were... yeah. Tough calls, to say the least, tough calls.

We also set up some homebrew and table rules. I also finished my 20+ god pantheon (which took forever but I survived) for the world and the players have picked their patron gods, which is great since since two of the three characters are going into levels of cleric, and you kinda need a patron god for cleric. So, we're inching closer to being able to play. I have everyone's backstories and am thinking of fun and evil ways I can bring them into play throughout the game.

Unfortunately, everyone's work schedules have changed, again, so our session 0 and character building sessions are going to be postponed and the game is getting pushed back. But it just gives me more time to fiddle with things in the world, look up more Dming tips, name things. Naming things is so hard, and scheduling people for a dnd game is even harder >.<

As far as The Shackles of Time goes, I have enough chapters banked up to get through October, even with the posted chapters doubling to 4 for that month, I just need to finish rewriting and scheduling them :D I'm not quite finished with the Stormy Road ahead arc, but I am getting there. It'll probably make up all of October and probably November's 2 posts. There's also a chance it'll continue into December. It's much longer than I originally planned for, but a lot of heavy stuff came to light and demanded my attention lol. I've also thought up a good starting point for the next mini arc, right down to the character introductions, so once I get there it should be smooth sailing.

Also, my rough drafts document is over 60,000 words long, which means the published versions are probably somewhere around 70,000 words long, if not longer. There's a full book worth of content available to be read, and I can. not. believe. it. I can't! This is so wild that I am shocked and dazed. The impulse project I spent exactly 3 days planning ahead of time has not only survived a year, but thrived! :D I'm so proud of The Shackles of Time and myself. My adorable, little adventure trio and all of their weird friends makes my heart happy and the words flow <3 Though my favorite chapter is still chapter 4, I think The Guild Masters' Meeting is my favorite arc. So much sad Wyndulin and a group of badasses sitting in dead silence out of shock and terror, I love it <3

Speaking of, I am currently working on more content for the big Anniversary event. My housemates and my writing partner have all demanded I keep them updated with my progress, they love the bonus content that much, so I am confident that I'm doing something right with the cool stuff I'm cooking up here >:D Progress is slow, as I expected, since these are very involved... and also I recently got Stardew Valley and have a hard time putting it down. That game is scary addicting, but so much fun.

I think that's about it? Nothing else is jumping to mind. If you have more specific questions about any of it, ask any time. You know how I like to ramble ;p

Thanks for stopping in, I hope you have a lovely day/evening.

[rogue-durin-16]

THINGS NEVER GO AS PLANNED (Prologue)

"the aftermath"

Summary: After Fred's death, George and Y/n lean on each other to carry on. This wasn't the most brilliant idea, though; George was pretty much in love with the girl, and Y/n— well, she had been dating Fred prior to the Battle of Hogwarts.

Pairing: George Weasley x Reader

Genre: angst mostly

Tags:

Suggested by: @crispykittywitch

Things never go as planned: @sarcasticallywitty15 @beautyschoo1dropout @s1ut4georgeweasley

Permanent taglist: @elia-the-bibliophile @randomparanoid @karlthecat15722 @thebutchersdaughtersblog

Warnings: grief and angst

A/N: this is based off of this convo. I'm still expecting @crispykittywitch to post her headcanons but here goes the Prologue/set up for this miniseries/multipart. This bitch ruined me so now I'm ruining y'all. If you want to be tagged, tell me. Enjoy (lmao) <3

Part I: sleepless nights

Part II: candy floss

Part III: shock therapy

Part IV: wrong name

Part V: the perfect excuse

Part VI: the downfall

Part VII: apart

Epilogue: I still love you

Rogue-durin-16 masterlist

I could still see his broken smile.

His eyes staring at nothing.

Percy said he died laughing, but he said it crying.

Everyone was miserable at our home; everyone had died a little, everyone but me. I felt like I was dead —except for the nighttime, when I was very much alive, crying my eyes out and wishing for that ache in my heart to stop.

Wishing I had been there, wishing it had been me.

At the end of the day, I was unimportant, the second best, right?

It should have been me.

It was Ginny who begged me to leave the Burrow and go back to our flat; she even helped me carry my things back there. 'bring my brother back' she had said before leaving me at the entrance of the shop.

Oh, how I wished I could.

I entered the apartment— it was quiet, similar to a cemetery. It wasn't empty, though. Y/n rushed to the door when she heard it opening.

I knew she was there; she had sent an owl to the Burrow a week after the Battle warning us that she was heading to Diagon Alley already, and that the alarm of the shop would most likely go off, since she didn't remember the spell to stop it.

She had also informed me that she would be shipping the deliveries which had to be delayed due to the war.

Ever the assiduous one.

That's why Fred and I hired her right away; Her goal-oriented, ambitious demeanor rivalled with ours, and so did her ingenious mind. While at Hogwarts, we were mere acquaintances, but after leaving the school, she entered our lives for good.

And our hearts too.

How could she not? Y/n was funny, charismatic and beautiful; she knew how to make one feel at ease; she was a great listener, sensible and caring; she was the perfect girl.

I just wished she hadn't entered my heart the way she did.

"You're back." The girl that once would light up the room looked miserable, but she managed to offer me a smile with welled up eyes before coming to hug me.

I hadn't realized how much I needed a hug.

The last time I had given or received one was at the aftermath of the Battle. It had been her the last person to hug me, too.

I had fallen on my knees the moment her arms wrapped around me, and I clutched onto Y/n as if I was going to lose her too.

I tried to say something —anything—, but the only thing leaving my lips was s strained cry followed by a strong sob.

"Shhh... I know... I'm here." She was crying too, but her tears were silent. She had always been the one to calm people down. "I'm here." She repeated, placing a soft kiss on my cheek.

As she stroked my hair and rubbed my back, I could only think that it shouldn't be me in her arms, kneeling at the entrance of the flat we shared with Y/n above our shop; it should be him.

And I could only cry more.

"We're gonna get through this." She stated, squeezing me tight before pulling away to look into my eyes. "I promise."

And I believed her. I don't know what was about her eyes that they were always so convincing, so persuasive in the best way possible. She could look at me in the eye and tell me the most obvious and ridiculous lie in the world, and I would believe her.

"C'mon," I snapped out of my trance with her voice. "let's get this to your room."

She pulled me back up and grabbed one of my bags, throwing it over her shoulder at the same time as she offered me a hand, to which I gripped for dear life as she led me into the house.

We left my things in my dorm and automatically stalked out.

I doubted she had gone to that part of the apartment during the two months I had been away; it was door to door with Fred's, and neither of us wanted to go near his room.

"Tea?" I nodded at her quiet offering, walking with her to the kitchen.

It wasn't until I sat down on one of our colorful chairs that I realized how fucking exhausted I was. My head fell over my forearms instantly after I had folded them over the table.

"I missed you tons." I mumbled, not able to put in those three words as much emotion as I felt. She wouldn't even be able to imagine how much I had missed her, it was insane.

A sigh escaped her lips, one of relief; I realized I hadn't said a single word until then. "I missed you too, Georgie." She brought with her two cups of tea and sat by me. "This place was way too quiet without you." Her lips curved into a bittersweet half smile as she squeezed one of my hands.

My lips did too.

[bopinion]

2021 / 45

Aperçu of the Week:

"Smiling is the most elegant way to show your teeth to your opponents."

(Werner Finck - German cabaret artist, actor and writer)

Bad News of the Week:

When people have been talking about the "traffic light" in Germany lately, it's always been about the current coalition negotiations between the Social Democrats (Red), Liberals (Yellow) and Greens (Well, what do you think?). That has now changed, because there is the so-called "hospital traffic light". And this one is set to red. Dark red. This means that the regional health care system has reached its limits.

Because in Bavaria, the Corona numbers are on a record hunt. On the dashboard of the responsible office, there are new colors since a few days. After Dark red (7-day incidence higher than 250 confirmed new infections per 100,000 inhabitants) was no longer enough, there was already pink (higher than 500) and now also purple (higher than 1,000). Our county is purple. And the hospitals full. Yesterday, the first patients were flown out to northern Italy, as the capacity of our intensive care units is exhausted. It is to be hoped that the realization that vaccination is not only a personal health decision, but also a social act of solidarity, will prevail in the face of this horror.

Good News of the Week:

I have not yet read the final declaration of the UN World Climate Conference COP26 from yesterday, but only know the reporting about it. And although the measures adopted there are of course once again insufficient and lack binding force, at least steps have been taken in the right direction. For example, with the coal phase-out - even if this is now only called "coal-fired power generation degrease" due to the intervention of India and China.

What makes me feel positive is the tremendous pressure of expectation that has been built up on the part of the public, mainly by young people and relevant action alliances. After all, politicians are always opportunistic populists in the true sense of the word - after all, their raison d'être is to get elected. So, bit by bit, the increasingly climate-critical mood will also be reflected in more ambitious politics. Hopefully in time.

Personal happy moment of the week:

I work as a so-called communication designer. And I learned my crafts at a time when digitalization was just beginning and social media didn't even exist yet. So I'm all the more pleased that my work in this area was honored last week with a Smart Marketing Award. Thank you!

I couldn't care less...

...that Steve Bannon has now actually been indicted. Because I expect a constitutional state to hold radical inciters accountable for their agitations.

As I write this...

...a much too short weekend comes to an end. Therefore, I have been unusually brief today, simply because of time constraints. Exceptionally. Stay tuned!

[artlessictoan]

Also, Smoke Into The Sand w/ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15! OoO As a side-note I haven't read this yet (SHAME ON ME BC I WANNA) and i'm SUPER interested in it!

asdfjskdjskdjfsk this is gonna get long fukc

What inspired you to write the fic this way?

my main goal with sits was to make it read like an old myth or storybook, an old tale that would be passed down for generations, the majority of the fic is written in that style exactly, but the overall story definitely is (and it does come through a bit more in how the backstory is told and some of the more important scenes)

that said, the main narrative is written much more slice-of-life-y, one of my biggest inspirations for this fic is the manga monogatari (bride’s story), it’s a really nice series that explores the daily life of people in various areas along the silk road, it has that simple, everyday life feel that i love and really wanted to write into sits! that’s where the random details about desert living and the tribe’s lifestyle come in (warning for anyone who might want to check out mono though: it does have an arranged marriage between a 20 yr old woman and a 12 yr old boy, it’s being played as a more platonic/familial relationship thus far but i can totally understand why it would put people off, so just a heads-up before anyone jumps in)

What scene did you first put down?

the first scene i actually started writing was the very first scene! but the very first scene, the one that spawned this entire fic i haven’t actually gotten to yet, it’s gonna be v near the end and i’m dying to finally reveal it because it’s gonna be Big.. but i shalln’t spoil it here, just something for my readers to look forwards to

What’s your favorite line of narration?

ok so like i said i’m shit at remembering any of what i write and it’s a bit more than just a line but fuck it:

Gaara froze, in fact, everything did. The soft whistling ofthe wind cut off into eerie silence, the constantly shifting sand stopped witha suddenness that was entirely unnatural, Naruto glanced away for a second andsaw that some grains were being held in the air, perfectly still. He turned hisgaze back to the spirit before him, his expression hadn’t changed at all, hewas still glaring, but his eyes were unfocussed, like they weren’t reallylooking at him.

Naruto was too scared to move, to speak; hecould only stare and pray that he hadn’t just sealed his own death warrant.

What’s your favorite line of dialogue?

again, not a line, but i really love this exchange between nart and ameno so effing much:

“So mature… You’re growing up too fast, how am I ever goingto keep up?” she asked, mostly to herself judging from the distant look on herface.

He slowly drew his hand back once her face wasdry and gave her a confused look. “You won’t have to; I’ll just carry you withme.

What part was hardest to write?

well i might just be saying this cause it’s the most recent struggle i faced (among many) but the chapter six reALLY killed me. trying to find the right way to describe the exhaustion and constant fear took many, many weeks and i’m still not sure i really nailed it (hopefully something i’ll be able to fix in the next chap)

What makes this fic special or different from all your other fics?

other than being the first multi-chap fic i’ve ever written, this is actually one of my oldest fic ideas ever, seriously it’s been kicking around in my head for a good five years or so now so there’s that

it also happens to contain basically All of my Special Interests; naruto, deserts, nomadic culture, boring minutia, swords.... honestly the only thing it’s missing is cats (though i’m sure i can find some way to work them in too..)

and, honestly, this is kinda my magnum opus? or at least that’s how i’ve always thought of it, i had actually planned to not start writing it until i’d already done a few other fics because i wanted to make sure my writing skill was at its best before starting such an ambitious fic.. yeah that didn’t happen, but i think that’s actually worked out alright, jumping in with a harder fic right at the start of my writing ‘career’ has been a bit of a crash-course and taught me a heck of a lot, i still think it’s gonna be one of the best things i ever write though. it just has a very special place in my heart

Where did the title come from?

well tbh i’m kinda shit at titles, so i usually just hunt through the first chap looking for any particularly poetic-sounding line that would work (though in this case it does have a nice little easter egg, since in arab folklore jinn are made of smoke!)

Did any real people or events inspire any part of it?

hmm not really? the whole thing is meant to be very fantastical and unreal (despite all the slice-of-life stuff), the only real-world insp comes from my research into bedouin lifestyle and such

What do you like best about this fic?

gaara! i mean ofc i like him in anything but this version of gaa - silent, detached, barely human, incredibly complex - is one of my faves and he’s really fun to write, we’ll be finding out more about him as the fic goes on and when we do it’ll make his actions before now both more understandable and less at the same time (he’s quite the paradox)

What do you like least about this fic?

the inconsistency. i feel like i must’ve gone through about ten different writing styles throughout the course of it and it bothers me that i haven’t quite got that storybook feel i was always aiming for, i’ll probably do a rewrite when i’ve got more experience under my belt and try to make the whole thing a bit more cohesive

What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn’t listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading?

as with btc, i mostly listen to soundtracks, since songs with lyrics really distract me when writing, since i like to try and match the music i listen to to the setting/tone of what i’m writing i try to listen to classical middle-eastern music (though i’ve had a hard time finding many albums of just instrumental stuff, if anyone has any recs i’d love you forever!)

in addition to that there’s the soundtracks of Journey, Bastion, Dreamfall Chapters and the Prince of Persia games and for instrumental artists i really like Break of Reality and Tina Guo for sits insp!

Is there anything you wanted readers to learn from reading this fic?What did you learn from writing this fic?

hmm, well i’d love it if people learned a bit more about the cultures i’m writing about (and i’d like to learn more of that too tbh, i’m still finding out new things that i actually got wrong earlier on in the fic), maybe even get interested enough to go looking for more info themselves, because there’s a lot of stuff that i simply won’t be able to go into much detail about

as for myself, well ^that and also it’s just been a rEALLY good experience in so many small ways - writing longer fics, writing in general, character interaction, introspection, action, plotting, description, suspense, mystery..... i could go on but yeah, basically it’s helped me grow as an author in Every Single Way and i’m sure it’ll help ever more before it’s done!

[qarzeth]

Jan. 2

"One of the things I find frequently missing in students … is not imagination itself, rather the knack of making a disciplined effort in the development of a fertile imagination. Intelligent and critical students are all too apt to use ‘thinking’ as a substitute for the much harder work of ‘imagining’ at the intuitive, emotional and sensory levels. People who talk about things instead of doing them tend to use analysis as a substitute for creativity. But a statement about the kind of effect you want to achieve is never a substitute for the often exhausting labours that must go into actually creating that effect. Work is the only real training."

I have been worldbuilding for 10 years, off-and-on. The current incarnation of my setting is 2-years old now without any drastic revisions. And in all of that time, all of that effort combined, it has resulted in maybe 200,000 words.

In November of 2019, I wrote 50,000 words. One month. That's all it took to contribute an entire 25% of the total work I'd accumulated over years prior. Why? How?

Just discipline. That was it. Nothing else changed. I didn't have more free time or more inspiration. I just told myself, "You have a specific goal to reach in a specific timetable." I introduced the prospect of failure. And it worked.

My creative work has historically been dictated almost entirely by random bursts of inspiration. They come and they go. I create for a month, then do nothing for three months, on-and-off. When I come back to something I haven't touched in so long, I want to change all of it. I've forgotten all the loose threads that didn't get tied up and it feels hollow. Half the old work gets erased. Two steps forward, one step back.

This is not work. This is not a real creative labor. There is no discipline entailed in it. It is not serious. It is not respectable. It cannot go anywhere. It is cheap and easy. I cannot be truly proud of it.

So that's why I'm here. That's what this is. Starting in 2020, I'm laying out some very explicit goals for myself. Goals that can be failed. Goals that will require discipline. And I'm going to see if I can't make the achievement of November 2019 look like a mere preamble to much greater things to come, and indeed if I can't make all my years of worldbuilding hitherto seem like nothing more than a lengthy brainstorming session.

Goal #1: Write 20,000 words every month.

This amounts to only 5,000 words a week, or 1,000 words a day with 2 days off each week. There is no reason why this shouldn't be perfectly achievable. If I could do 50,000 in November, I can do 20,000 on the regular.

Goal #2: Start every month with a project in mind and finish that project by the end of the month.

By "finish", I mean truly finished. Polished, presentable writing. An easy out in worldbuilding is to simply spill your thoughts onto paper, just dumping lore and not giving any regard to the quality of the prose. Every month should conclude with something of presentable and finished quality that will not warrant returning to later for polishing.

Goal 3A: Write at least one complete, narrative story.

Goal 3B: Finish the largest, most ambitious map I've ever made.

Goal 3C: Start a new D&D campaign.

Goal 3D: Write at least 10,000 words about parts of the setting entirely outside of Western Amostine.

As of now, none of these goals seem excessively ambitious. I have very intentionally not made any of them feel challenging beyond my reach. My intention is not to push myself, it's to discipline myself. It's not to do something I feel like I can't, it's to just do something, anything, regularly, reliably, and habitually.

Goal #4: Update this blog regularly - if not daily! - to track my progress and justify lapses and shortcomings.