#but the part with Klug is one of my favorites

[cowboatbeeboat]

Thought I'd draw someone besides Ex for once in my life and decided on Klug. With a bonus Schezo.

[camirazone]

Miracle of Chu: The Rogues Gallery

It wouldn’t be a good superhero story without some villains, although really only one of them is an actual villain and the other two were dragged into this nonsense.

Without further ado, here is our gang!

Sapphirus.

The whole story starts because of Sig accidentally finding the peacock miraculous on a search for bugs. He’s granted the power to become Sapphirus, who can make sentimonsters, and Sig just goes “why not lmao” and starts making some bug friends. Unfortunately he loses control of them pretty quickly due to being pretty new to his powers and they start causing issues, making him the catalyst for the events to unfold. 

Thank god for Argos existing as it gave me some good reference for what a male Mayura may look like. Thanks to @greenysoliatre​ for her original design as well which you can see next to Black Sig. Eventually he ditches the hood once everyone realizes he’s not a threat at all, but they still have a lot of work to do.

Lepidoptera

“Who the hell is this” This is Carmen, Greeny’s OC and sort of the catalyst for why this AU even became a thing in the first place. She found the butterfly miraculous in Oshare’s shop, the latter finding it randomly and thinking it looked ugly, so he put it up for sale at a cheap price. Carmen is immediately rushed into action by Nooroo, who tells her about a great threat, and feeling bad for buying her way into being a hero, she accepts the offer and becomes Lepidoptera. Initially she believes Sig’s sentimonsters are the great threat, so using her powers, she can turn the citizens of Primp into champions...until THEY’RE mistaken for the great threat. Of course, while everyone is tangled up in a huge misunderstanding, the real threat is lurking in the shadows.

I don’t have much to say on her design wise, other than that I was watching way too many Callimara videos for my own good and gave Greeny the idea to add a hat because I liked the idea of it looking quite sinister. She ditches it after it’s revealed she’s also not really much of a threat.

Drache

By far one of my favorite characters to write. Ayashii sounded like a kwami name, so we decided to make him a core part of the story.

Long ago, when Accord was Chat Noire, she was up against the all powerful demon Ayashii. Before Ayashii could get away with all the Miraculous, she used cataclysm to strip him of his corporeal form. This caused the miraculous to get spread out across the world and possibly other dimensions as well, but that part is irrelevant. Ayashii was lodged into the Dragon Miraculous, taking over the kwami’s body. Conveniently, it happened to be the kwami of perfection.

Years later, while Klug has a rough day at school, he goes home only to find one of Lepidoptera’s butterflies going about. Curious, he touches it and is accidentally turned into a champion. Of course his ass is kicked pretty quickly by Coccinella and Chat Noire, so he’s a little upset at losing this cool power. Luckily, or I suppose unluckily, he find the Dragon Choker, and thinking someone lost it, he just keeps it on him hoping to find the owner. Ayashii grins, finding a new body after all these years.

Now Drache goes around menacingly, hoping to get all the Miraculous in hopes of world domination. He is able to use the 5 Chinese Zodiac Elements (Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, and Earth) at his disposal (The OG show only really had Water, Lightning, and Wind which is kinda unfitting with Ryuko’s design.) His hair is blue here because it reflects the elemental dragons in Chinese mythos, who were blue. Longg was also that color before Ayashii’s possession of him, so it definitely adds to it. 

Character design isn’t my strong suit but it is definitely fun. Now we got our whole crew done. (Yippee!!)

[nenilein]

Every single unlockable Character Profile in Puyo Puyo Fever 2 (Screenshots and Translations)

I spent way too much time unlocking the character profiles in Fever 2 yesterday, so to make it worth my while, I went on twitter right afterwards and made a huge-ass thread translating every one of them.

Since I am planning to move back to tumblr in the long run anyway, let's compile them all here in a nice post first, 'aight?

Firstly,

The unlock conditions:

*) Lexicon of People (Girls): Play 24 VS matches in Freeplay mode (I think the majority of them need to be wins).

*) Lexicon of People (Boys): Unlock Lexicon of People (Girls), then play 6 more VS matches in Freeplay mode (This is a pun. The internal development name for Fever 2 was "24/6", and marketing reflected that).

*) Lexicon of Creatures: Beat Sig and Raffina's WakuWaku courses.

*) Lexicon of the Undead: Beat all HaraHara courses.

Follow me under the cut for the Boys' Lexicon! (The others will be in separate posts for space reasons)

Lexicon of People, Vol 1

Profiles of the boys of Primp Town. All contents were approved for public consumption by the subjects of the articles. One must first prove themself as worthy to the subjects of this volume to be allowed to browse it.

Sig Born June 16th (Gemini)

Blood Type: B Special Skill: sleeping with his eyes open Favorite Thing: bugs Least Favorite Thing: ghosts

A rather sleepy boy who is a classmate of Amitie's. Lately one of his arms has been odd.

(Translator's Notes: Unlike Ringo, Sig doesn't panic when faced with ghosts, but he's often been shown to have a very deep hatred for Yu in particular, especially in the Drama CDs. She's one of the two people he'll tell to the face that he doesn't like them, the other being Lemres. He gets along with Rei, but only because they both collect bugs.

苦手 can mean both "least favorite" or "weakness". Since some profiles use one meaning while others use the other, I will swap back and forth between how I translate it depending on the profile.)

Tartar Born July 19th(Cancer)

Blood Type: 0 Special Skill: imitating bird calls Favorite Thing: all living things Least Favorite Thing: spiders

A gentle giant. His only fault is that anyone sitting behind him in class can't see the blackboard.

Klug Born September 29th(Libra)

Blood Type: A Special Skill: card games Favorite Thing: researching sorcery Least Favorite Thing: self-important people

A troublesome, bespectacled boy who things evil things are cool. He idolizes Lemres.

Lemres Born August 25th(Virgo)

Blood Type: A Special Skill: candy presents Favorite Thing: parfait Least Favorite Thing: his family home

A student from a magic school one town over. He always secretly carries some sweetstuff, which he loves, on him.

(Translator's Notes: The "least favorite thing" part later got elaborated on in the drama CDs. Turns out he's actually an emancipated minor who escaped from his rich family because they more or less emotionally abused him to parade around his talents...)

Gogotte Born October 1st(Libra)

Blood Type: AB Special Skill: cooking Favorite Thing: honey Weakness: sunlight

A strange chef who lately showed up in Nahe Forest and now seems to be cooking up potions there. His speech carries the accent of a distant land.

Prince Salde-Canarl Shellbrick III Born March 5th(Pisces)

Blood Type: 0 Special Skill: finding servants Favorite Thing: traveling incognito Least Favorite Thing: state Business

A freedom-loving prince. Currently M.I.A. His personal attendant is looking for him.

(Translator's Note: Salde's name is a pun. "Salde-Canarl" can be shortened to "SaCana", which is where his nickname in Japanese, "Sakana Ouji" ("Fish Prince") comes from. This is what is consistently translated as "Ocean Prince" in English, even though this means the pun no longer works...)

Otomo Born April 17th/Aries

Blood Type: B Special Skill: knitting and crocheting Favorite Thing: the prince's photo album Least Favorite Thing: the prince's selfishness

A royal childcare attendant who is currently looking for his missing prince. The thought of how his prince might be faring right now gives him stomachaches.

(Translator's Notes: Firstly "Otomo" literally means "attendant" when written in Kanji(お供) (it's written in Katakana here tho), so it might not even be his real name.

Secondly, SALDE IS GIVING HIS MAN ULCERS. WTF.)

Click here for PART 2 (Girl's Lexicon)!

[gren-arlio]

Oh, Gren! Happy 3 years! Though you've only been doing Puyostuffs for 2/3rds of that time period, it's something to celebrate! You've been a very direct source for me when it comes to learning about Madou content, and I very much enjoy being your friend :>>> suuuper glad that you took my idea of an AMA!! Now I get to bombard you with questions!! For such an occasion, I am sending a Witch to you, and it will arrive in seven days. Do Not Worry.

I'll be quick with the questions as to not ramble further!! 1), how long does it take you to put out a normal blog post. 2), what's your favorite genre to read,,, 3), what's the best character alt in Puyo 20th. That is all.

Well, I'm glad that you SOMEHOW trust me to that extent. Thank you though at least.

For the first question, it usually depends: Back when I first began, I was able to make episodes about every week or so while handling a summer job and parts of my senior year of high school (I began during end of Junior year.). However, due to that, some of the stuff wasn't the best. For the translations, it takes maybe an hour or two (the actual process of doing them took literal days), and with Extras back then...maybe an hour or three. Research took the rest of the days, while going over with a pal.

Now, you're lucky to see a big post from me every month or two. However, these things are so much more detailed and have a lot more to them that I think it's a somewhat decent trade off. Also add the fact that senior year of high school and now college...and I don't have a ton of time on my hands.

For the second question: What's my favorite genre to read?

...Romance. I may use a shitpost Dragon Ball or Azumanga image (Yes. I did watch and read them...) here and there, I absolutely love reading romance mangas and mysteries. For the mystery stuff, I'm literally a Persona fan and also read Case Closed. What else do you want from me?

And for romance...man, there's a lotta good ones I've read. The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity, Kubo Won't Let Me Be Invisible, Horimiya, Shikimori-San Isn't Just a Cutie, etc. I love the stuff. (Fragrant Flower...so peak...)

And the final question: What's the best 20th Anni alt?

They all range from either being average or sucking. But Yellow Satan is REALLY funny to me, so he's first for me, next to Strange Klug.

And to the Witch thing?

[nenilein]

Oh.

Oh god.

Did you really- Ask that...?

DO YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW?

OKAY THEN.

I HOPE YOU ARE PREPARED FOR

THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF KLUG PUYO PUYO (Part 1)

-An essay

Chapter 1 - What is a Klug?

Short Answer: Berdly DeltaRune 20 years before DeltaRune was ever a thing and with a lot more time to set up and play out his character arc.

Long Answer: The most unexpected journey from meaningless NPC to series mainstay fan favorite that you've ever seen.

Klug was introduced in the 2003 game Puyo Puyo Fever (also known as Puyo Pop Fever), a game which posed something of a soft reboot for the Puyo Puyo series after the franchise rights passed from Compile to Sega during a legendary chain-reaction of financial mismanagement (which is a tale to be told another time).

Puyo Puyo had always been very heavy on story and character content for an action puzzle game, but in order to make the series truly their own, Sega decided to introduce a completely new world (dimension travel wasn't new to the series even at the time) with its own cast of characters. The multiverse of Puyo Puyo is one in which almost everyone, with some striking exceptions, has latent magical abilities and can train to become a sorcerer if they so choose, so for the setting of their new game, Sega chose a small isolated town with a sorcery school at its center. And for the sake of the world building, of course, said sorcery school needed to be populated with students. Klug is one of those students.

Having only two speaking scenes in the entire game, both of which are very similar Klug is portrayed as a book-smart magic student (the word "klug" literally is an adjective meaning "smart" in German) who likes to brag about his own skill and intelligence and sabotages his own advantage in a class-wide competition to find his teacher's magic wand by challenging his classmates Amitie and Raffina to battle him just to flaunt his superiority, even after he, in his own words, has already found the wand. Obviously, as Amitie and Raffina are the player characters, he ends up losing and his relevance in this particular game ends here.

The manual and development comments given in the magazine "Monthly Arcadia" give a bit more insight on his character, however:

Despite how little he appears in the game, it quickly becomes apparent that the developers have put a lot of thought into who this character is off-screen. His whininess is actually seen better in in his damage and loss animations in the sequel(which feature him crying up a puddle of tears), but we'll get there later. Likewise, the "word from the developers" hints at a hefty inferiority complex (which is talking about the fact that unlike most of the characters Klug has absolutely nothing in his past that would make him special), something which will become very apparent way later in the series.

...The manual also mentions his affinity for dark magic, which, together with the red spirit that sometimes rises from the spellbook he carries is going to become, I kid you not, the centerpiece of one of THE most popular ongoing subplots in the entire franchise and make Klug an absolute fan favorite among loreheads.

"But how?" you might be asking "How can a character even the developers outright called boring and of little not be at the center of this much fan-love?" Well, my friends, this is where we get to...

Chapter 2 - How is Klug?

My friends, this is where we step right into the Nexus of the beginning of Klug's main-characterfication.

Welcome to the unlocalized sequel of Puyo Pop Fever:

Puyo Puyo Fever 2

This is the game where Klug causes HALF THE PLOT.

And the other half is directly caused by the awkwardness of somebody directly related to Klug's past.

"But Neni, didn't you say nothing of interest happened in Klug's pa-"

SIT DOWN. We'll get there.

Klug's role in this game begins with him writing nonsense that has no place there into the class journal.

It seems I am on class duty today. As for class... Well, I am afraid I wasn't listening to the lecture at all. You see, I am currently right in the middle of unraveling the mysteries of the book I carry on my person. It would appear that in order to draw out 100% of the books power, artefacts known as "The Solar Bookmark", "the Moonstone" and the "Lantern of the Stars" are required. Once all three are gathered, one only has to conduct the necessary ritual a single time. Afterwards keeping the three artefacts on your person is no longer necessary.

His classroom teacher, Ms. Accord, has wise words in response to that:

Don't get yourself tied up in dangers you can't handle, Klug.

Listen to her, Klug does not.

The next time we run into him he is manically muttering to himself about gathering the three artefacts in front of the school.

And, as coincidence would have it, the three artefacts are actually currently in town, brought there and scattered about by an old childhood friend/babysitter crush of Klug's:

This is Lemres, regional high school sorcery prodigy and Klug's highly implied babysitter when Klug was like. Six. This essay is not about him, but talking about Klug without talking about Lemres becomes, after a certain point, impossible, so here, have the rundown.

Let me put it like this: If this was Danganronpa, he'd go to Hope's Peak and his title would be Ultimate Sorcerer. He's still a minor, but has graduated the magic curriculum in his town years early and regularly gets interviewed by sorcery-focused publications on his insight on the latest developments in the field. The image above is his IN UNIVERSE OFFICIAL TRADING CARD. That's how ridiculously good he is at magic. Unlike every other student-type character in these games, Lemres always, without exception, uses boss AI. If you are doing Free Play matches on random and Lemres comes up as your opponent, you should be scared.

And then there's Klug, our average nerd boi. Klug with some regularity fluctuates between wildly crushing on Lemres and wanting to be Lemres. Whenever Lemres appears Klug tends to not be far behind, figuratively kissing the ground on which he walks and picking a fight with anyone who even just implies Lemres might be anything less than perfect.

It (doesn't) help(s) that Lemres is an absolute sweetheart, who just wants to be friends with everyone and share baked goods with them, so as intense as Klug (and a certain someone else we'll get to) can be about their admiration for him, he never has the heart to tell them to lay it off a little. He can be rather socially awkward when it comes down to it... And that's how, right after arriving in Primp Town with a very important delivery of three certain artefacts, Lemres ends up accidentally getting in a fight with all three playable characters (Amitie, Raffina, Sig) and scattering the artefacts across the town in the process.

And Klug hears about it from Lemres himself.

So, like the absolute idiot he is, he immediately gets to work gathering the items and preparing the ceremony. He spends a good bit of the story from then on out loudly gloating about how soon he will be unstoppable. Behold, actual dialogue from the game:

Breathtaking.

So, after plenty of shenanigans, we head to the ruins and...

...That's not Klug.

Well, actually it kinda IS.

See, he's right there. Tiny little soul boy stuck in a book~ Isn't he adorably pathetic?

You see, it turns out that "spell book" he always carries was actually a cursed tome carrying the fractured soul of an ancient entity only known as the "Crimson Demon".

That's what the red thing in his cut-in sprites was.

He got that book from the library. Don't ask why they just let him take it out. Sometimes the Puyo world is just dysfunctional like that.

So, anyway, the ritual he performed caused Klug's soul to trade places with the fractured Crimson Soul and now he's stuck in the book crying, while the demon is hamming it up in his body and ranting about everlasting suffering (apparently being stuck in a book for ages isn't very fun. Go figure.)

Thankfully, before anything worse can happen, the demon gets beat up one...

...two...

three times.

Then Amitie accidentally breaks the spell and everything goes back to normal

So, what have we learned from that?

NOTHING APPARENTLY BECAUSE IT'S BEEN SIX+ GAMES SINCE THEN AND KLUG STILL REFUSES TO BRING THE BOOK BACK TO THE LIBRARY

The book is the only "special" thing Klug has to his name. Without it, he would go back to being just "kid who reads a lot", so he refuses to give it up despite the constant risk of possession.

And yes, he DOES get possessed again. It seems to be a semi-frequent kind of incident in-universe, in fact, to the point that at one point in the main story of Puyo Puyo Quest Raffina says this:

Like, this is just his life now. Getting randomly possessed by an ancient demon is a feature of his character now, to the point that his peers treat it as more of a feature than a bug.

I could write a whole essay on the Crimson Soul as a character of their own, but they and Klug ironically have only directly talked once so far (in a dream in Puyo Puyo Tetris) and it seems the Crimson Soul's opinion of Klug as a person AND a vessel isn't too high:

Oh, and of course, the crimson soul is far from the only person to have a poor opinion of Klug.

For one, Klug and Raffina are known to NOT get along, ever.

Raffina is a self-proclaimed lady and martial artist/body builder, which Klug tends to make fun off, calling her a "meathead" or something along the lines, despite the fact that Raffina has the second best grades in the school after him. Combined with Raffina's firey temper this often leads to the two of them battling for no other reason than that they breathed in the same room.

Then there's Feli

(This scene is from the official drama CDs. They had a lot of these)

Feli has a gigantic crush on Lemres, so she sees Klug as a rival for his attention. She has threatened murder on Klug more often than any other character... And Feli threatens murder a LOT.

So okay. Klug is a nerd, he has an inferiority/superioty-complex the size of a building, he's dumb enough to repeatedly get himself possessed by an easily avoidable source, and pretty much everyone around him either hates him or at least finds him annoying.

That should be the end of it then, right? Funny, but not a super interesting character. Why vote for him?

But the thing about Klug is... he changes. And it's not like it's all at once. It's actually pretty slowly and gradually...

But, uh... Unfortunately I've hit the limit for images in this post, so I'll have to put the rest into a part two, possibly to be released tomorrow! HERE IT IS: https://www.tumblr.com/nenilein/743659783034372096/the-entire-history-of-klug-puyo-puyo-part-2

For now, here have Amitie's opinion of Klug as recited in the official novel "Puyo Puyo: Amitie and the Girl of Love", Chapter 3

Favorite Sega Character: Losers Bracket Round 2

[klugpuuo]

I was gonna ask you earlier but I forgor 💀 BUT did you read the fics I sent you yesterday 😁😁😁😁

Yes

they were so bad.

first fic.thoughtz....

this is bad. Why didn't they just write the characters together normally like eitherw ay. Does op realize they made it like super gay or....

Abortion

Also there's absolutely no logic. None. What is going on

^ tis is all the writing sounded like to me which is good cause it's one of my favorite memes but it's bad wriimg

shoutot to foxy in the comments only thing keeping me sane 👍🏻

anyway the whole Infinite lock being easily broken thing is hilarious to me specifically also BC in he/they polycule the only thing stopping my source from making a key that unlocked every single thing ever was acco being homophobic.

Glad there's only one fic made by this person after this one and I almost hope they never write ahian

-10/20

Fic two: bad

bad time

Bad anatomy . Incorrect even . With everything.

Title sucks.

Incorrect characterization on multiple parts. The twins would have just straight up killed ai if he was actually like that . Which he isnt

Ai isn't a chihuahua..

Wrong/20

fic three: ALWAYS A BAD TIIIIIME ON FRONT STREET

i wish i never read the words "strange klug x reader lemon"

still upsetting how almost all x readers are like afab!feminine!female!woman!reader

Wattpad writing good as usual I see

Witch is in character at least

Incorrect about Grampa yet again . He is not an alternate form of me. How are people this STUPID-

I headcanon Aya would nt pay child support

DONT BE A PISSBOY KLUG

0/20 for effort

[puyo-fever]

my favorite part abt the fever cast is that raffina is the only normal one

amitie? goddess reincarnate

sig? half demon

klug? gets possessed by the other demon half

lidelle? specifics are unknown but demihuman

ms accord? whatever the fuck she and popoi have going on

yu and rei? ghosts

(rest are hcs)

feli? demiangel

lemres? demon

[onetoothpig]

perhaps for thine character game... may I request Amitie (or your favorite character from anything :0)?

(sorry that me a year ago decided not to organize anything and I'm stuck with this as my main blog jdbjsvd)

Overall opinion of them: Amitie is Too Precious For This Sinful Earth. I do like her overall warmth towards people as well. She sorta reminds me of Usagi/Serena Tsukino from Sailor Moon. I really wish she'd get more moments, though...

Gender/sexuality headcanon: Hm, now this one's a toughie. I don't usually do these kinds of headcanons... I'll go the cop-out way and say she's pan and GNC.

Favorite moment in canon: Ah, geez, there's so many! How about the time she goes nuts about Maguro's "you-know-what", or the time she helped out Yu with her turning-people-into-ghosts thing? And don't forget that Ship Tease moment with the Sig illusion in Puyo Puyo Tetris, or the "Wed" short from the 20th Anniversary shorts.

Favorite moment in a fanwork: If you're referring to fanfics specifically, it's the Nightlight spell scene near the end of Dawn of the Chu. Sick AF. Besides that, pretty much anything on the sigami blog is fair game. I'm telling you, they get in free at Twinkle Park!

Favorite line, in canon or otherwise: Can I just say that I LOVE the little catchphrases the characters had in Puyo Pop Fever? It's grown on me. In my opinion, they give Amitie a lot more personality, and it is CRIMINAL that they canned them from Puyo Puyo Tetris onwards.

Characters I love seeing them interact with: Sig, Arle, Ringo, Lidelle, Klug, Raffina, and (non-canonically) Sonic.

Last thing before sleeping headcanons: She fluffs her hat out every night, the same way someone would fluff a pillow.

Sleeping habits headcanons: She refuses to sleep with her hat on after she heard it calling out to her in a dream.

First thing after waking up headcanons: She combs her hair! Gotta do something about that hat hair! (Realistically speaking, she'd probably eat breakfast first though)

Favorite locations headcanon: Primp Town Magic School (specifically the fountain area), the outskirts of Nahe Forest, and probably the part of town with the line of buildings.

i am SO SORRY i took so long on this fiery

[bellvonartsy]

BOOM! For the puyo ask >8D witch, rulue, carbuncle, suketoudara, amitie, sig, rider, lemres, feli, baldanders, accord, popoi, ocean prince, ringo, maguro, risukuma, ally, rafisol, o, zed, ai, harpy, oshare

LETS DO THIS !!!

witch: favorite game soundtrack?  Hmmm probably Fever 2′s.  Its the one I listen to the most on my free time

rulue: who are your mains?   Sig and Lemres.  Tho I seem to play very well as Feli , despite not enjoying her actual character much.

carbuncle: favorite animal character?   Baldanders !!!  He truly is the goodest of bois ~ <3

suketoudara: do you like gag characters?   No.   Personally I think they fill to large of a section in the cast , and tend to just get in the way of the plot.   Fun in small doses , but not my cup of tea .

amitie: favorite game?   A hard choice between 15th anniversary and Fever 2 . Fever 2 has the best plot  but 15th has the best gameplay.   worth noting tho , that I think Fever 1 has the best character writing.

sig: favorite/least favorite character?  Sig is by far my favorite beating out the rest of the cast by a country mile.   And my least favorite would have to be Schezo.    He’s just a perfect example of “Neat idea but terrible execution” , his character feels incredibly half baked and just full of poor gimmick writing.

rider: favorite art style?   Fever 2 , hands down.   Its probably the perfect balance as far as line thickness , shading , detail , ect.  Some good art came after it , but never quite as consistently nice as Fever 2′s

lemres: who’s attack animations do you like best?    Oshare Bones’s .  His animation through out the series are really lovely and his battle animations in 15th anniversary are always a treat to see.

feli: what do you want the next game to be like? any returning characters in the roster? 

I WANT A STORY DRIVEN PUYO GAME!!!   I want a new entry in the style of Fever 2 but greatly expanded upon and starts where F2 left off  ,   I would like it to have either Amitie or Sig as the lead and have it be focused on a strong single narrative .  But also have side quests for each character .  You’d get to have a cell shaded 3d model of your character and get to wonder around Primp as the game hub .  with each actual story quest or side mission having a story book style cut scene setup with full voice acting and have the intro and outro to the stories have full 2d animated cutscenes !!!!  ( Also have it include the cast and game modes of 15th anniversary )

baldanders: favorite puyoquest card/series?   THE LUPIN III  CROSSOVER !!! They did Zeni so much justice <3

accord: do you play for story mode or gameplay?   Story mode.  Truth be told while the gameplay is fun and all , there is an endless list of good to great puzzle games of this nature that  PuyoPuyo is pretty interchangeable with. The thing that sets Puyo apart is its good cast , interesting back stories and fun character interactions .  And its for those reasons why I play through the series.

popoi: do you like any of the vocal tracks?   Sigs theme .  I could listen to it on repeat for hours. 

ocean prince: do you tend to like main characters or side characters more?  Side characters.   Most  “Main characters” across the franchise tend to fall short of greatness for me ,  with Sig , Amitie and Klug being exceptions.  So more often then not an interesting side character with 1 too lines  rates higher in my books .

ringo: english or japanese voices?   Japanese .   for the most part I think the JP cast does really well with the cast ,  especially the female cast.  and some of the older male characters .  But Sig  I tend to prefer the ENG  VA’s  interpretations of his personality and tone.  ( Ben Diskin  really crushed it )

maguro: favorite mode(s) to play?    ICE BLOCKS AND FEVER !!!!    There’s a bunch of good modes but those two take the cake .

risukuma: favorite ship(s)?  OHOHO .... Sig x Amitie . Satan x Arle.... and I’m fond of some of the Sig x Klug content I see as well 👀💦 

ally: favorite obscure fact about puyo?   Hmmm , probably the fact that Sonic Team directed Puyo Fever 1 and 2 and 15th . with Takashi Yuda  , Yuji Naka being  Director and producer and Yuji Uekawa  doing Fever 1 & 2′s character designs .

rafisol: favorite “antagonist” character?   SATAN!  He is simply the greatest baddie in the franchise .  Extremely solid design , Good JP VA  and has a clear and understandable motive.

o: favorite backgrounds/settings?   As far as area’s  I’m pretty fond of the Haunted mansion setting in Fever 2 , along with the ancient ruins.

zed: favorite headcannons for any characters?   Uhhhhh....  I headcanon that Sig is actually pretty smart and not an airhead , but just does poorly in academic enviroments.  And that Onion pixies have children by burying themselves in the ground while their partner guards them as they bulb new seeds.

ai: favorite voice line(s)?  Oh lord.... Honestly all of Oshares dialogue is outstanding , and both his battle lines are splendid.   Hard to choose just one tho xd 

harpy: favorite obscure/lesser known character?   Suketoudara 100% !!  No one could ever outmatch his quality ~

oshare: hottest character?   Hmmmmmmmmmmmm  Sig.   He’s just very much my type .  From personality , to design . to VA’s  to just his whole vibe.   Honestly all I could really ask for on improvement is that they start writing him as his own age.  he’s clearly in his late teens but they recently just write him like he’s a damn 12 year old , and that ruins it for me personally.  GIVE US MATURE SIG DAMMIT !!!

[klug]

🏳️‍🌈💕🎶 for the hyperfix ask!

i’m gonna do puyo for all of these unless i get repeats. if that is the case i will do pikmin and then hollow’d knight in that order SO. HERE WE GO

🏳️‍🌈UHH WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN...There are...a Lot but the most important ones are like, always about Klug or Strange Klug. I think Klug is a filipino enby who is ambiguously gay. Strange Klug is a girl and is also Filipino b/c i said so. she’s bi and recovering from depression and learning to love people and herself again *SNIFFLES*. Also they both have ADHD

💕 i will elect to skip doing Klug on this and talk about Sig b/c I think he’s a very interesting character, like the main reason I love him is like, the lore, but also I think he leaves a lot that can be analyzed? And like yeah I mostly project a lot of my tastes and experiences onto the fever characters but I think Sig is interesting b/c...in my headcanon he has this very innate sense of loneliness and that something is missing but he struggles to understand why that’s the case? And he’s so used to it? To connect this to Aya who feels defined by her loneliness, Sig has kind of just made it a part of him b/c he doesn’t know how to identify that feeling outside of himself. I think this also drives him to like, subconsciously not open up to people he knows and he distances himself without realizing he’s doing that. He feels like he’s, meant to be alone? in a sense. yeah. so anyway i care him and i hope he learns how to understand his feelings don’t always define him.

🎶 Tbh I don’t actually like TOO much of Puyo music? I think a lot of it sounds samey, but hm I guess Always WaiWai PuyoPuyo Victory! is good. Specifically the DS version of the song. Brings me a lot of good memories of playing puyo fever 2 on my DS when i first got it!!!!!! Which is my favorite version of the game!!!!

[missoverlord]

Doodlebug pt. 2

Yeehaw, still in setup territory. 100% not final or done in any way and also 100% awkward! May or may not be missing italics again.

I’m still not a fic writer!

Part 1

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twitch. The mismatched hands disappeared as their owner once again retreated. Sig's voice was muffled, but parsable. "Don't want to talk about it."

Bingo. Sort of. The cause was known, but what to do about it was another thing entirely. Scanning his surroundings to ensure no witnesses were present, Klug scooted off of his chair and sat down cross-legged on the floor beneath the table. There was no way he'd risk raising his voice in the museum library. He'd rather throw his sense of pride under the metaphorical carriage than chance a reprimand, or, stars forbid, a ban. Just the prospect brought him out in a cold sweat...

Arms wrapped around his knees, Sig barely glanced in Klug's direction. He didn't seem too put out by having his refuge invaded. "You okay? You're all pink."

Klug blinked, roused from his reverie of doom. It was impossible to verify but he trusted his classmate's appraisal was genuine. His general lack of color made any degree flushing incredibly obvious, much to his chagrin.

"I'm perfectly fine. Sitting on the floors of libraries is one of my all-time favorite activities," he mumbled, adjusting his cravat. Subtext tended to be lost on Sig. Attempting to let go of his annoyance, the bibliophile tried to resume his original line of questioning.

"The arm, does it feel 'weird' again?" It was a legitimate enough query, it was fairly common knowledge that the blue-haired  boy's odd arm acted up intermittently. Sometimes it was a mild to total loss of sensation, other times it seized and became all but useless. The pity of it was, the poor guy was left-handed.

"No." A simple, flat denial. Sig's already half-lidded eyes narrowed. While little of his eyes were visible from behind his folded knees, their look was unmistakable. I don't want to talk about it, stop asking and leave me alone.

It felt... uncomfortable. Normally Klug wouldn't have pushed even this far. Any confrontation he wasn't confident of winning wasn't worth having. This felt far from an assured victory. He didn't want to do this. It'd be easier just to do all the work himself. Simpler. Maybe not fair, but...

...No.

That wouldn't solve anything. It was a pairs assignment. By design, it was meant to encourage cooperation. Failing that aspect, everything else was pointless. Getting through to this living cabbage was part of, nay, it was the challenge.

"Ignoring the problem isn't going to solve anything. You can't ignore me, either," the bookworm crossed his arms, exuding way more confidence than he actually felt, "keeping it bottled up won't hel-"

"Fine," Sig abruptly cut in, a slight quaver in his voice, "just... scared."

Silence. The academic's mouth had simply stopped moving mid-syllable. Fish-like, it hung open as its owner mentally scrambled to make sense of those three little words. He stared without meaning to.

Sig shrunk down further, burying his face in his arms. This kind of reaction was why he didn't want to say anything. Now everything was awkward. The points of his clawed left hand poked into his right arm as he tried to curl into an even tighter ball. Any discomfort or pain was irrelevant.

Klug panicked. He never anticipated that kind of meltdown. Calming other people down had never been a skill he possessed, how the heck was he supposed to deal with someone that he upset? Stars above, how can I fix this?! He screamed inside, floundering for a solution he just didn't have.

Where the thought of scooting alongside the pitiable cyan-topped ball came from, he wasn't sure. Probably some half-forgotten childhood memory from a time when his parents were usually around. When he was hurt, when he was scared, a hug or a pat on the back had gone a long way. Hugging Sig was out of the question, but... well...

Hesitantly, as though the boy would shatter like glass if he were careless, Klug reached out. It took a few seconds for a palm's weight to register with the bug boy, eliciting that peculiar tuft of blue hair to twitch. Otherwise, nothing happened.

Clearing his throat, he of the purple cap scrambled for the 'right' words. "I'm... sorry. This is my fault for being pushy."

The sound of his own voice made him cringe. That was the best he could do? How many hours had he spent absorbed in dictionaries or a good thesaurus? However sincere, the triteness appalled him. It sounded so cliche.

Movement. One blue eye peaked out from the protective cocoon Sig had wrapped himself in. "Really?"

Was it a question or an accusation? Question, Klug settled on. Anything else would risk escalation. It was the last thing he wanted right now.

"Really," he nodded in confirmation, hand still resting on the other boy's shoulder, "would it be alright, well, what I mean is..."

"Why?"

"O-only if it's okay, you're okay, I mean-" He broke into impotent stammering, not wanting to make Sig more uncomfortable, but his curiosity threatened to kill him if he didn't at least try to find out.

Gradually, Sig unwrapped himself from his compressed state, murmuring something as he stretched out his arms and legs. He seemed back to his casual self, apart from the furrowed brow.

"Fine, here." Sig's left hand tugged at his shirt collar, stretching the material a bit. It didn't expose much, but it was hopefully enough to get his point across.

Klug frowned, not entirely sure what he was supposed to be seeing. Most of the skin looked perfectly normal, as far as he knew. All that really stood out was the border where the left arm joined the torso. The rough-looking reddish dermis would look out of place on anyone else, but this was Sig. Wasn't it always that way?

"Well?" Sig's head tilted expectantly. He definitely wanted an opinion on something. A minute passed. Two. No response came. Letting go of the shirt's collar and smoothing the fabric back down, Sig continued to stare patiently at his silent green-eyed classmate.

[marisexmas]

3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 18, 20, 21 for Klug Sig (lol why not i enjoy seeing you blabbering about your otp hahaha)

aaaaah thank you for giving me a chance to ramble more about this ship!! here we go

3. What is your favorite AU/prompt idea/trope for your pairing?

I really like the fairly-popular “sig is doing bad in school so klug has to personally tutor him” narrative. I even wrote a fanfic with this plot a while back~

4. Do you prefer canon ideas or do you have your own headcanons for them? 

as with most of my ships, I prefer to stick to canon as closely as possible while still putting my own little spins on it. the great thing about puyo is how fleshed-out but also paradoxically vague its characters and settings are, so that gives me lots of room to throw around my own ideas. sig and klug in particular have a lot of lore surrounding them, which makes it fun to think of different hcs for them!

5. Favorite canon moment of them?

I really like this whole scene, both for how stupid it was and for how klug managed to go with the most ambiguous-yet-vaguely-suggestive phrasing possible (when he could’ve easily shrugged it off or just straight-up admitted he knew nothing)

6. Least favorite canon moment of them? 

they appear together so rarely that I honestly appreciate any canon moment between them I can get, but

klug Why ;_;

7. Favorite headcanon trope/idea? (Your own or someone else’s)

I’ve seen other sigklug shippers draw talk about scenarios where they have fun teaching each other about their respective interests (sig taking klug bug-catching and klug taking sig stargazing) and honestly I will Always Adore that prospect

8. Least favorite headcanon trope/idea? 

for a while, there were posts floating around the puyo tags about sig eating bugs, and. those made me sad for reasons I don’t believe require explanation ;v;

9. Favorite aspect of them/their relationship dynamics?

the whole “opposites attract” idea plays into it a lot, I think. klug is clever, quick-minded and talented with magic, but he’s also hot-headed, arrogant and overly emotional/prone to putting unnecessary stress on himself. meanwhile sig isn’t as quick-witted and takes more time to process things, but he’s also more calm, relaxed and self-assured. it definitely helps that they’re somewhat connected by canon lore via the demon in klug’s book, giving me even more justification hehe~

10. Least favorite aspect of them/their relationship dynamics? (Can be headcannon)

probably just the fact that they both tend to be pretty aloof when left to their own devices. they’re not outwardly friendly or extroverted like amitie, so they almost never make much effort to talk to each other/anyone else unless something is pushing them to do so

11. If they aren’t a canon pairing, how would you get them together? 

it’s definitely not something that would happen all at once. it’d probably emerge after they’ve been going to school together for a few years, and perhaps learned more about sig’s nature and origins as well as the whole sealed demon business

but then again, puyo isn’t really the series for that sort of story is it? so I’m perfectly fine with the ship remaining a part of my headcanons~

18. Did you once/ever dislike one/both of them?

the worst I can say is that I was mostly indifferent to sig before I became active in the fandom. but now I think I like him more than klug, who’s always been one of my favorites ever since I first played fever 1 back in 2004.

20. What made you decide to ship them? 

honestly, the biggest thing that led me to ship them is the canon lore that connects them, and the idea of them trying to sort it out together...

21. Favorite genre for them? (Angst, fluff, etc.)

fluff with the occasional dash of angst feels right for them. puyo is a fairly upbeat series, but it also gets dark sometimes, so I feel that shipping fanworks are best when they follow a similar pattern.

[hikari--sakura]

puyo asks! - witch, carbuncle, satan, lagnus, amitie, klug, rider, feli, sig, popoi, ringo, risukuma, ally, o, zed

Oh my gosh this is a ton, but I’ll definitely answer them all the best I can!

Witch: favorite game soundtrack?

I’d have to say 20th and Sun! Though I love most of the music, those two are my favorites for sure (though Fever and Fever 2 aren’t too far behind for favorites!)

Carbuncle: favorite animal character?

Hm… how about Baldanders? I do really like him! Dongurigaeru’s not too far behind either, both of them are cute!Satan: which game got you into puyo? or alternatively what was your first puyo game?

I played Mean Bean Machine when I was about 5 or 6 when I got Sonic Mega Collection one year for Christmas, but didn’t know it was originally Puyo until around 2013 when I had seen videos of Puyo Pop Fever! But technically my first game, if you want to stick with just Puyo and not MBM, was Puyo Pop for the Gameboy Advance. Found it at a secondhand shop.

Lagnus: how old were you when you got into puyo? or alternatively how long ago did you get into it?

I had bought Puyo Pop when I was around 15 or 16..? Around that time I also saw videos of Puyo Pop Fever but couldn’t find the game at the time… But I really got into it when I was around 18, which was three years ago!

Amitie: favorite game?

20th anniversary is super fun! There’s so many modes and I love the art style!

Klug: favorite light novel/manga?

I really like Amitie and the Mysterious Egg the most! Though I’ve also read Sig’s Secret, which I also really like as well!

Rider/Lidelle: favorite art style?

I do like 20th/Quest since it’s bright colors (but not too bright like Fever 1 had), but I also really love the colors they used for Fever 2 and 15th!

Feli: what do you want the next game to be like? any returning characters in the roster?

Hm… Probably no new characters, since they already have a lot to choose from! And build character development in the story, Amitie and the other Fever kids definitely needs more development in my opinion.

As for returning characters, I definitely want to see Baldanders and Oshare Bones return. Maybe Lagnus, Harpy, and Seriri as well? I know those three were in Chronicles but not in the actual roster iirc? Lidelle wasn’t in the PPT roster, so I do hope she’d also return for the next game!

Sig: favorite/least favorite character?

Lidelle is my favorite overall! I love her color scheme and design. She’s very kind, even if she’s anxious most of the time. And her strongest attack is literally a rainbow. Which is really cute. She’s cute overall!

…for least favorite, it’s honestly Strange Klug due to his personality. I do like his design, but am not too much a fan of his character…

Popoi: do you like any of the vocal tracks?

Heck yeah!! I really liked Amitie’s and Sig’s vocal tracks! Klug’s is nice too, along with Yu and Rei’s, Arle’s, and Witch’s! But Carbuncle’s is absolutely precious, he did a good job

Ringo: english or japanese voices?

Honestly, I wouldn’t mind either! It does depend on the character too, I’d think. The only English voices I didn’t like too much were Carby’s and Lidelle’s, but I think everyone did a really nice job overall!

Risukuma: favorite ship(s)?

Sigami’s definitely my favorite Puyo ship, it’s super cute! I also really like Teerin as well

Ally: favorite obscure fact about puyo?

So I know a friend has also responded with this, but unfortunately it’s the only thing I could think of… Sig’s Japanese voice actress also voiced Leorina from the Klonoa series! I don’t think many people may know that?

O: favorite backgrounds/settings?

Okay, Primp Town is really fun, and I also do like some parts of the S.S. Tetra as well (including that one room with the ping pong/billiards table)

Zed: favorite headcanons for any characters?

I’ve always thought that Lidelle covers her hands with giant sleeves due to being sensitive to touch, but that’s just my take on it. I’ve personally thought she could be autistic..? Though I may make a post going into detail about this headcanon possibly but I’m not sure atmI’ve also seen people headcanon that Sig could be autistic too, I definitely can see it!

Thank you so much for the ask, and I wish you the best of luck with your Puyo cartoon!!

[warelander]

ocean prince: do you tend to like main characters or side characters more?

While Sig is my favorite character as a whole and I also adore Arle, I generally tend to lean strongly towards side characters like Ocean Prince, Lagnus, Oshare Bones, Witch, Maguro, Jay & Elle or Seriri, as well as very minor ones like Jan or Demon Servant.

For the record I also consider Doppelganger Arle, Strange Klug and Rafisol side characters in the grand scheme of things, since they were only important once and then got tossed to the site (though we still have to wait and see whether or not Rafisol fares better then the former two).

The thing about the main characters for me is that while I generally like them, the series has a bad tendency of using them in a very samey and stale manner, it’s why I have grown to dislike Satan for instance.

Even Arle is guilty of that, she’s one of my favorites, but I also find her to be one of the most boring parts of both 20th and PPT, because I frankly just want something different done with her for once, rather then the age-old Compile running gags of Satan and Schezo creeping onto her.

[ephemeralharmony]

1-150 answer all the damn questions, bitch

Honestly? Thank you

1.Who was the last person you held hands with? Dennis (from drama club)
2. Are you outgoing or shy? generally outgoing, unless spicy boys are involved
3. Who are you looking forward to seeing? MY BROTHER TOMORROW
4. Are you easy to get along with? I sure hope so
5. If you were drunk would the person you like take care of you? Probably, I mean he cried when I was in the hospital which might sound a little extreme, but is still a good indicator
6. What kind of people are you attracted to? just boys idk
7. Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now? lol probably not, but I’ll keep you posted
8. Who from the opposite gender is on your mind? Sofia Klug bc she dumb thicc
9. Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable? NOPE LOL
10. Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with? Ryan and Riley after rehearsal
11. What does the most recent text that you sent say? “no"
12. What are your 5 favorite songs right now? “Waving Through a Window” from Dear Evan Hansen, “Can’t Stay Here” by Matt Doyle, “Happy” by Marina, “Right Here” by Alex Wyse, and “No One Else” from the Great Comet
13. Do you like it when people play with your hair? depends on who, in all honesty
14. Do you believe in luck and miracles? I don’t NOT believe
15. What good thing happened this summer? that’s a very good question
16. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again? Y E S
17. Do you think there is life on other planets? of course
18. Do you still talk to your first crush? nope
19. Do you like bubble baths? I love them
20. Do you like your neighbors? they don’t talk to me
21. What are you bad habits? liking shitty boys and sneepsnopping too often
22. Where would you like to travel? literally anywhere
23. Do you have trust issues? kind of
24. Favorite part of your daily routine? sleep
25. What part of your body are you most uncomfortable with? probably my chest? I still have some stomach muscles and the difference in definition is weird to me
26. What do you do when you wake up? 6:10, generally
27. Do you wish your skin was lighter or darker? maybe a little darker?
28. Who are you most comfortable around? probably you and Emily
29. Have any of your ex’s told you they regret breaking up? no lol but one of them told Colin that he would still talk to me
30. Do you ever want to get married? yes 
31. If your hair long enough for a pony tail? nope
32. Which celebrities would you have a threesome with? RYAN STEELE AND MATT DOYLE
33. Spell your name with your chin. RDNXE (yikes)
34. Do you play sports? What sports? lol
35. Would you rather live without TV or music? I already live without TV
36. Have you ever liked someone and never told them? yeah
37. What do you say during awkward silences? nothing, I like to test them
38. Describe your dream girl/guy? A boy who likes me back 
39. What are your favorite stores to shop in? forever 21 and five below
40. What do you want to do after high school? go to school in Chicago 
41. Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance? depends on what they did and how they react
42. If your being extremely quiet what does it mean? I’m either pissed off or tired
43. Do you smile at strangers? yes!
44. Trip to outer space or bottom of the ocean? Ocean, space scares me a little
45. What makes you get out of bed in the morning? crushing expectations
46. What are you paranoid about? people liking me
47. Have you ever been high? no
48. Have you ever been drunk? no
49. Have you done anything recently that you hope nobody finds out about? I wish
50. What was the colour of the last hoodie you wore? Royal blue
51. Ever wished you were someone else? not in such terms
52. One thing you wish you could change about yourself? the fact that my legs literally won’t go straight??
53. Favourite makeup brand? idc
54. Favourite store? see #39
55. Favourite blog? @yourmutualfriends
56. Favourite colour? pale blue
57. Favourite food? just pizza
58. Last thing you ate? cheese sticks from Arby’s
59. First thing you ate this morning? a peanut butter biscuit 
60. Ever won a competition? For what? first place for jazz band bois
61. Been suspended/expelled? For what? nope
62. Been arrested? For what? nope
63. Ever been in love? still am, unfortunately
64. Tell us the story of your first kiss? well my first ever was for less than a second in the back of a band room, my first with a guy was the second time I ever met him in the back of a skeezy you movie theater lol
65. Are you hungry right now? no
66. Do you like your tumblr friends more than your real friends? no, about the same
67. Facebook or Twitter? Twitter
68. Twitter or Tumblr? tumblr
69. Are you watching tv right now? no
70. Names of your bestfriends? Bee, Emily, Emily
71. Craving something? What? dick tbh
72. What colour are your towels? I use my family’s pink or white ones
72. How many pillows do you sleep with? 2
73. Do you sleep with stuffed animals? no
74. How many stuffed animals do you think you have? 30?
75. Favourite animal? Yellow labs (:
76. What colour is your underwear? blue and black plaid
77. Chocolate or Vanilla? vanilla
78. Favourite ice cream flavour? birthday cake
79. What colour shirt are you wearing? gray
80. What colour pants? green
81. Favourite tv show? glee 
82. Favourite movie? the perfect wedding
83. Mean Girls or Mean Girls 2? original 
84. Mean Girls or 21 Jump Street? mean girls 
85. Favourite character from Mean Girls? Gretchen. a truly deep character tbh
86. Favourite character from Finding Nemo? Nemo’s mom. true hero
87. First person you talked to today? my dad
88. Last person you talked to today? Alex
89. Name a person you hate? nick pizzino
90. Name a person you love? go into my tags search and look at #3
91. Is there anyone you want to punch in the face right now? not actively
92. In a fight with someone? don’t think so 
93. How many sweatpants do you have? like 4 that I actually like to wear
94. How many sweaters/hoodies do you have? probably 30
95. Last movie you watched? Bye bye man
96. Favourite actress? Octavia spencer
97. Favourite actor? idk I have a bias for cute boys
98. Do you tan a lot? no
99. Have any pets? no
100. How are you feeling? anticipatory (does that make sense as an answer?)
101. Do you type fast? yeah
102. Do you regret anything from your past? yeah
103. Can you spell well? yeah
104. Do you miss anyone from your past? kind of 
105. Ever been to a bonfire party? yeah 
106. Ever broken someone’s heart? too many /: I’m taking my karma tho trust me
107. Have you ever been on a horse? no
108. What should you be doing? sleeping
109. Is something irritating you right now? not really
110. Have you ever liked someone so much it hurt? yeah :/
111. Do you have trust issues? see #23
112. Who was the last person you cried in front of? Riley
113. What was your childhood nickname? jimmy neutron /:
114. Have you ever been out of your province/state? yeah 
115. Do you play the Wii? I wish
116. Are you listening to music right now? no
117. Do you like chicken noodle soup? yeah
118. Do you like Chinese food? no
119. Favourite book? DONT LET ME GO JH TRUMBLE
120. Are you afraid of the dark? Y E S
121. Are you mean? I can be a bitch
122. Is cheating ever okay? NO JESUS BE FUCKING LUCKY SOMEONE ACTUALLY WANTS YOU, DONT TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT, ASSHOLE
123. Can you keep white shoes clean? for a while
124. Do you believe in love at first sight? not 100%
125. Do you believe in true love? I believe in true loves
126. Are you currently bored? not actively
127. What makes you happy? music
128. Would you change your name? maybe to Jake, that’s kind of sexy
129. What your zodiac sign? Aquarius
130. Do you like subway? hell yeah bois
131. Your bestfriend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do? apologize
132. Who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with? see #10
133. Favourite lyrics right now? “someday I’ll reach the place where I won’t have to run. there, I won’t be afraid to say that I am done.”
134. Can you count to one million? I don’t have the patience
135. Dumbest lie you ever told? I’m straight 
136. Do you sleep with your doors open or closed? closed
137. How tall are you? 5'4"
138. Curly or Straight hair? mine is just wavy but I like curly
139. Brunette or Blonde? brunette
140. Summer or Winter? summer
141. Night or Day? night
142. Favourite month? October
143. Are you a vegetarian? nope
144. Dark, milk or white chocolate? dark
145. Tea or Coffee? tea
146. Was today a good day? YES
147. Mars or Snickers? snickers 
148. What’s your favourite quote? “Happiness can always be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light”
149. Do you believe in ghosts? yes
150. Get the closest book next to you, open it to page 42, what’s the first line “Do not take no for an answer.”

[limejuicer1862]

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews

I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me. I gave the writers two options: an emailed list of questions or a more fluid interview via messenger.

The usual ground is covered about motivation, daily routines and work ethic, but some surprises too. Some of these poets you may know, others may be new to you. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I do.

Austin Smith

grew up on a family dairy farm in northwestern Illinois. He received a BA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an MA from the University of California-Davis, and an MFA from the University of Virginia. Most recently he was a Wallace Stegner Fellow in fiction at Stanford University, where he is currently a Jones Lecturer. He has published three poetry chapbooks: In the Silence of the Migrated Birds; Wheat and Distance; Instructions for How to Put an Old Horse Down; and one full-length collection, Almanac, which was chosen by Paul Muldoon for the Princeton Series of Contemporary Poets. His last collection, Flyover Country, was published by Princeton in Fall 2018. Austin’s poems have appeared in The New Yorker, Poetry Magazine, Yale Review, Sewanee Review, Ploughshares, New England Review, Poetry East, ZYZZYVA, Pleiades, Virginia Quarterly Review, Asheville Poetry Review, and Cortland Review, amongst others. His stories have appeared or will appear in Harper’s, Glimmer Train, Kenyon Review, EPOCH, Sewanee Review, Threepenny Review, Fiction and Narrative Magazine. He was the recipient of the 2015 Narrative Prize for his short story, “The Halverson Brothers,” and an NEA Fellowship in Prose for FY 2018. He is currently a Jones Lecturer at Stanford University, where he teaches courses in poetry, fiction, environmental literature and documentary journalism. He lives in Oakland.

http://www.austinrobertsmith.com/

The Interview

When and why did you begin to write poetry?

I started writing poems quite young because my father is a poet, along with being a dairy farmer. Some nights he would come in from the barn, clean up, and we’d go into town to hear him read poems at the local art museum. Glancing down the page, I see that this answer I’m giving can apply to the second question, as well, in that it was certainly my father who introduced me to poetry, not only through his readings, but through the collections on my parents’ shelves. From a young age I felt a particular pleasure in looking at a poem, even, I think, before really reading them. The shape of the poem on the page, the prevalence of white space, the way the lines broke on the right margin like surf. It appealed to me immediately. I still remember distinctly the first line I wrote: “The fire is burning hot.” I was kneeling in front of the fire (of course). Something had changed: I’d gone from hearing my father read poems to trying to make a poem myself. I must have been twelve or so. I still have the notebook, labelled “Poetrey” (sic), various marks in the corners of the pages, some lost order that I was already putting the poems in. As to why I began to write poetry, that’s more mysterious. Of course, I was following my father (my favorite poem on this score is Heaney’s “Digging”), but at the same time, I was striking out on my own, trying to speak of the same place and the same livelihood in a different way.

2. How aware were and are you of the dominating presence of older poets?

Again. I think I touch on this above, but I can say more. I wouldn’t say that I felt that older poets were dominating presences. The poets who meant the most to me were the poets who meant the most to my father: Gary Snyder, Wendell Berry, W.S. Merwin, Donald Hall, Jane Kenyon, Forrest Gander, etc. Actually, my father and I have met and/or corresponded with many of these poets. I met Snyder when he came to Freeport, IL to give a reading, and visited us on the farm. My Dad and I have both corresponded with Berry, and I’ve corresponded with Merwin. We both know Forrest. The point being, it was clear to me early on that being a poet was about more than writing poems. It was a whole life, a way of being in the world. It had a lot to do with friendship, with the simple pleasures of sharing a meal and some drinks, trying to say something for the earth and our presence upon it. In other words, it struck me that to be a poet was to take up a kind of moral calling. So rather than their presence being dominating, I felt that a kind of gauntlet had been laid down that I better walk if I was going to call myself a poet. Now, whether I’ve actually managed to walk it is another matter, that I can’t speak to.

3. What is your daily writing routine?

Right now my routine is waking up, trying to write, realizing I have to get my shit together and drive an hour to school, and daydreaming about what I would have written had I been able to stay home. I’m teaching a lot at the moment so I’m hardly writing at all. Certainly no poems. An occasional short story. Anyway, when things are calmer I write in the mornings. After noon I’m kind of worthless. Sometimes I’ll work on poems at night: they seem to require less attention than fiction does. What I mean by that is that poems seem to exercise a different part of the brain. I think it’s actually best to be a little tired, a little distracted, when working on a poem. I don’t like to bear down on them too much, or exert too much control, whereas, with fiction, it’s quite a bit different.

4. What motivates you to write?

I don’t really know anymore. Actually, I’m concerned that I’m losing the will to write. I used to write so much that it bordered on obsessive-compulsive behaviour. I have, in a file cabinet at home, approximately 1700 poems. I don’t write like that anymore. I don’t feel the pull to write about everything like I once did. I used to have to write in order to feel that I had experienced something. In some ways I’m happier, not writing all the time, but when one has identified oneself as a writer, to not write is a terrifying thing. These days, what motivates me to write is the thought of sharing the work with a half dozen or so people (my parents, my brothers, several good friends). I’ve pretty much given up on the publishing world, selling a novel, going on book tours, all that bullshit. I’m more or less writing letters to people I love, only they’re in the form of poems and stories.

5. What is your work ethic?

Well, again, it used to be much stronger! I’ll say this, though: I work hard, harder than anyone I’ve ever met. I don’t say that to brag. I’m actually not all that proud of it. It comes, probably, from having grown up on a dairy farm, and watching my dad get up every single morning at 3:30 for thirty years without a single day off. I approach writing that way. I had a pretty woeful time in graduate school because I encountered poets who don’t think of writing in that way, and I judged them, thinking they were lazy, or fake. The truth is, they were just working differently. Anyway, I like that phrase, “work ethic.” It really is an ethics of work. For me, the ethics of work is the ethics of dairy farming. For someone else, the ethics of work may be very different. Who am I to judge them? I just grew up in a particular world that has guided the way I approach my work. And so I am always reading, always writing or trying to write, always bearing down on one page or another, either mine or someone else’s.

6. Who of today’s writers do you admire the most and why?

Haha, hmm. Well, I don’t admire too many. Hardly any fiction, most of it strikes me as absolutely inane bullshit that is only getting published because it might sell books. Only a few poets. Maurice Manning, for how he has blent his work and his life in Kentucky. Joanna Klink, whose poems strike me as truly vital and consequential. Ilya Kaminsky: I trust and admire his patience and his passion. My friend Nate Klug, whose poems are as perfect and precious as diamonds. Yea, that’s about it.

7. What would you say to someone who asked you “How do you become a writer?”

Read. Read until you find writers who make you so envious that you would die to write like them. Then try to write like them. Try to write like so many of them for so long that you eventually write like yourself.

8. Tell me about the writing projects you have on at the moment.

Oh there are so many. I’m like Coleridge in this. I have a thousand ideas and hardly any of them ever come to fruition. I’m experimenting with several different novels, trying to get one to click and carry me forward. One is about the appearance of the Virgin Mary to a community of beleaguered farmers in the midst of the Farm Crisis of the 1980s (but it’s a hoax perpetrated by the mother of the boy who sees her). Another novel is about a young woman who marries into a dairy farming family and, over the course of several decades, tries to get to the bottom of a dark family secret. Another novel is narrated from the perspective of a farmhouse. There’s a linked story collection called BROOD XIII, following generations of a farm family, jumping every seventeen years with the emergence of the Northwestern Illinois brood of periodical cicadas. My third poetry collection will be called ALL THY TRIBE after a line of Keats’s. I’m working on a memoir about growing up on a farm, as well as a collection of essays oriented around specific substances (“Milk,” “Blood,” “Grain,” “Manure,” etc.). And I have a short story collection finished, which the NYC editors called “quiet,” which I’ll probably just self-publish online. Again, I don’t really care that much anymore about publishing, I just want to keep writing and sharing my work with the people in my life who matter most to me.

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews: Austin Smith Wombwell Rainbow Interviews I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me.