#give that man a 10 year old STAT

[kartsie]

It’s bring your kid to work day and Dick wanted to match

[opens-up-4-nobody]

...

[e-rated-beardo]

2024 fic roundup

@cheeseplants created this ask/tag game, and I've been tagged by @addledmongoose and @harlotofupdog, here we gooo

What fandoms do you write in?

200% Good Omens. First proper fandom experience. First thing that forced (aye, forced) me to write a fanfic. Huge obsession.

If I were to write for anything else, it might be Our Flag Means Death, or Doctor Who, or perhaps House M.D. or some flavour of Star Trek. Or a crossover between one of those and GO. I'm a completely normal amount of obsessed with Aziraphale and Crowley.

How many words have you published in 2024?

*goes to ao3 stats page*

*hits "2024"*

...220,232 words

What the whole entire fuck!?

And there's another three chapters left on Scorn to go before New Year's, so we'll comfortably surpass 231k. How in the actual fuck is that possible.

What is your greatest achievement this year?

Getting this comment:

What are your favourite top three fics you wrote this year?

Not Single Spies (the third part of Nice And Ominous, which can be read on its own or with the two preceding parts); The Co-pilot; and I'm going to say Scorn and the Saint-Maker, although that's far from finished, because it's been the entirety of my past half-year.

Not Single Spies (part III of Nice And Ominous: a reluctant eschatology of the Second Attempt) Rated E; 61k words Second Coming/post-S2 fic; plot-driven

A man with pale hair turns up in Saint Peter's Square, naked and without memory, and Crowley's old sense of Aziraphale's location snaps like a twig. Heaven is down another Supreme Archangel—but the new Christ is already on Earth (in France, to be precise) and the Second Coming is well underway. And Crowley works for Hell now, but really, he works for the good of humanity; pulling on every friend he has to stop the end of the world.

There is some smut in this, but it's only three sections and they're all skippable. The rest of the story is rated T with no major warnings.

The Co-pilot Rated E; 4k words Human-ish AU; shameless smut

An un-English heatwave, a few open shirt buttons and the demonic entity possessing an innocent Londoner conspire to make long-time friends Az and Tony finally get over themselves and bone.

Scorn and the Saint-Maker Rated E; 97k words so far (WIP) Human not-actually-AU; sorta-post-S2; plot-driven, smutty, mathsy; four plots in a trench coat

Doctor Crowley has turned truancy into an art form, lecturing only under sufferance. Doctor Fell has signed up for his undergraduate course and has no plans to let him slack off. When a faculty member is found dead, our heroes start forming uneasy suspicions. What was the occult symbol drawn next to the body? Why does it feel like they’ve known each other forever? How is Crowley supposed to tell police that he thinks the murderer is a demon he summoned 35 years ago? And what about that statue that’s the spitting image of the victim?

They've been turned human. Now they're academics in Scotland. Romance, weirdness and (skippable!) smut ensue. The fic has some warnings, so check the tags.

What was your biggest pit of despair moment?

I had a nasty week in August, when I got depressive symptoms as a side effect of a necessary medication and spent ~10 days convinced everything I did was shit.

I'm also kind of in one at the moment, but without the pharmaceutical explanation/excuse. I'm just... urgh. Things are stuck. It's. It's a thing. Idk.

What have you learned?

You're expecting me to list everything I've learnt related to writing and fandom and fandom writing in less than an entire academic essay? Are you out of your entire mind!? (❤️)

Big things: I've learnt that I do have the capacity to finish big stories; that things I write are good enough that people want to read them and look forward to reading them and give me all these amazing compliments on them and go slightly feral sometimes; and that if I'm enthusiastic enough about maths, I can trick some folks who didn't even like maths into sort of liking maths.

Smaller things: A smattering of fancy vocabulary. How to paint with watercolour. How to draw Michael Sheen's nose and David Tennant's lower lip. The fact that I have a massive praise kink. More than I knew there was to know about em-dashes and en-rules. Heaps of random facts about the Bible, angels, demonology, poetry, Scotland Yard, Shakespeare, wine, dicks, queer identities I don't have, and queer identities I do have. And a bunch about how to watch/read/consume media with my eyes open and my brain switched on.

What fic did you want to do but never made it off the ground?

I still low-key want to continue The Co-pilot into... something. And That Berry Ice Cream from last December has been sort of asking for a follow-up, which just hasn't happened.

I had this idea, shortly after that week in November that the Americans don't like to think about, for something short, snappy, and a little cathartic; a fuck the system-type deal, both to that political shitshow and to all the sad crap fucking over the GO fandom lately, and I started to write it but got stuck not even a thousand words in. Maybe it just wasn't that good of an idea.

Did you beta any fics? Any favs you want to shout out?

I did my first toe-dipping of a beta read just the other month, for Easy Access by @ModernDayKlutz. I've not dared to jump into beta:ing properly for fear that my old flakiness will resurface and make me disappoint a person I've made a promise to, but this one seemed contained enough that I felt I could contribute. Especially with Kilt Knowledge™️.

What three fics have you read this year that you love?

THREE!??!?

All right, so I'm looking through my bookmarks, and, as it turns out, That Fic I Keep Recommending Basically All The Time was one I only read - or at least, finished reading - early this year!

Mint Tea by @copperplatebeech - 31.5k words; rated E - is one of those fics that half the fandom have heard about, right? I don't know if it happened to hit me at a formative point in my fandom life or if it's simply That Good, which is also very likely, but thirsty-well-hung-Dom!Crowley lives in my head for free and will not move out, it seems. It's scorching and funny and sweet, and when I say it gave me the idea to try some... things... which I hadn't tried before, in... certain parts of my life... 🔥🫠

Fanfic, uh... changes lives, y'all! Ahem, well then, onwards:

Come as you are by hiya_angel - 4k words, rated E - this gave me some of the experience reflected in that gorgeous comment above. The angst is minimal and the smut is gorgeous and wonderfully sweet and I adore this fandom for making me feel hope again and again for all this trans stuff that's still comparatively new to me.

Submitted for Your Consideration by @zehwulf - 19k words, rated E - contains possibly the most spectacular description of subspace I've read in... ever? And when it comes to bowling me over with porn, I could probably just pick anything by ZehWulf because whatever story I pick up it ends with me sitting there absolutely sweating. And feeling fuzzy inside. And maybe also crying for joy.

HERE'S A FOURTH ACTUALLY, YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME:

Lucid by @twilightcitysky - 35k words, rated E. It's unfinished and I barely even care at this point, because something about this fic changed me. It's So. Fucking. Good. It's one of those (rare? Not in this fandom! But a little rare, probably) stories where the smut is absolutely plot-crucial. It's also excruciatingly clever and angstier than I thought I would like (I was wrong! I LIKE IT) and the characters are great. And it's written just beautifully.

What ideas are percolating for next year?

More Scorn. (Don't trust the projected chapter count. Knowing myself, there'll be more of them. Or I might be done with less. It's a completely unqualified approximation.)

More Co-pilot, maybe? (I have Ideas.)

A slightly more fantastical fic that goes into a smut genre I haven't really explored at all before. And which has made me research goats' pupils.

Plus, I want to look into making podfics more. Maybe get better at it. Maybe even try out doing voice work for money? (I'm talking to a guy, it's completely wild, but damn it might be a thing I could do)

Who do you want to thank?

@addledmongoose (quite unintentionally) brought me to Tumblr. (She wrote a review of Nice And Ominous, and it was so lovely, I wanted to go there and like it and respond to it properly, so I just had to create an account, you know? No other options.) I'm so glad I'm here.

@bakingcat made excitable comments about my linguistics-nerdery-snuck-into-sex-scene and made me realise you can actually make friends in fandom.

@klikandtuna wrote the fic which I was a completely normal amount of obsessed with this summer, and which led to (via an instance of fanwork of the fanwork) me being flooded with love from strangers one random Friday and getting put in contact with that voice work guy. We also had the most wonderfully grown-up conversation about a tricky thing, for which I am so very proud and grateful.

@harlotofupdog came straight over to read Scorn almost right when I started posting it - I can't quite remember now, but the timing isn't the important bit - and wrote some absolutely glorious comments. D'you know you're the first writer whose work I'd already been painfully obsessed with, who's also expressed obsession with mine? D'you know how bloody cool that is??

And finally the unhinged smutgoblins of The Beta Fishes The Big Fucks server - idk who to thank anymore because I can't recall who invited me (it was past 3am and I'd just watched Michael Sheen shirtless for an hour, you'll have to forgive a guy) but all of y'all are weirdos and I love to hang out with yous and draw dicks and discuss writing and scream about Rivals and definitely not put mustaches on anyone.

No-pressure tags (in addition to everyone tagged above - please feel free to consider yourselves tagged-tagged if you like) without checking who's already been tagged in this before, because that's A Lot of Work that I don't want to do:

@wiblywoblytimeywimey754 @brenna @majnoonathelibrarian annnnd @kiratastic, pretty sure this could be modified to work for an art perspective too? Right? (If you want)

[ghoulfuckersincorporated]

I absolutely LOVED your eroticization of radaway/rad-x post!! It brings me so much joy to know others love ghouls as much as I do! I was wondering if you had any headcannons/thoughts on john hancock? love your work!

Thank you sooo much! I wasn't expecting that post to resonate with people the way it did, honestly; it was like 70% shit post. I absolutely love ghouls, both from a sci-fi point of view and from a monster fucker point of view, and I'm overjoyed to have found a like-minded group of people to share my stuff with. I'm usually a huge sucker for fictional physiology and in-universe biology (which I'm sure you can't tell at all based on the few thousand words I've written on this blog about various ghoul body fluids, etc.) and the Fallout universe has so much potential for stuff like that.

I have two requests for Hancock headcanons in the inbox right now, so I figured I'd split the SFW/NSFW stuff between this post and a follow-up.

SFW John Hancock (FO4) Headcanons

He is excellent at mending clothes. After years of partying and fighting and fucking in his old-ass cosplay, he's gotten very handy with a needle and thread. If you need something patched, hemmed, or appliquéd, he's your guy. He's also pretty competent at stain removal, to some degree.

Something else he's surprisingly good at is cooking, but not in the traditional "roast you a chicken" (or a radroach or whatever), "bake you a cake" sort of way; more in the "your stoned roommate with all the weird stories at 3 AM working with what's about to go bad in the fridge" way. He's the master of dressing disgusting shit up to be palletable, or elevating stuff that's easy to get your hands on into something you'll actually find yourself craving, especially when you're high.

We know he loves mentats (mmm...delicious and smarty) and I like the idea of him sitting up all night with his brain buzzing for knowledge, just reading whatever he can get his hands on. He has *one of the highest INT stat of any Fallout companion (a whopping fucking 14/10, quite literally), and I like to imagine that a lot of that can be contributed to behavior like this, in addition to him also being naturally smart.

He may give off the air that he's very confident and self-assured, but a lot of it is bluster and faking it until he makes it. Don't get me wrong, he certainly has aspects about himself that he is confident in, as his talents are many, but...he'd be lying if he said he was confident in his looks. Sure, they don't really bother him, but he's not the biggest fan of looking in mirrors. It's not necessarily because he thinks he's that ugly or anything, but his face reminds him so much of all his regrets; that didn't change when he became a ghoul. The new face is just associated with new regrets.

This man was born to be a gamer and he would absolutely love to chill and play something fun. The games on the Pip Boy don't strike me as THAT fun, but hey, would he really know the difference?

[girlnextvore]

OC Deep Dive - Rosa Núñez

What common/uncommon fear do they have?

In life Rosa feared commitment very very deeply but was in a cycle of doing NOTHING about it. She dated the girl her parents picked out for her (as a man at that point) and was even ready to propose cause her dad said it was time

In her vampire life Rosa fears killing on accident very deeply, she sees it as the final showing she is no longer her own person. She also has a fear of deep water. And being seen as "replaceable"

Do they have any pet peeves?

SHE HATES BEING TALKED DOWN TO. And she hates getting attitude when trying to help.

She dislikes people who can not see the deeper meaning in things like art. She gets super angry when someone picks a flower with no purpose for it. She also hates those who attack the insecurities of others.

Also dirty nails. As a gardener and botanist she is always making sure her nails are clean.

What are three items you can find in their bedroom?

You would find ALOT of plants but mostly Holy Ghost ORchids as its what she needs for her bane to sleep. She has them usually put around her bed and some physically on her bed. ALso other plants hanging above her bed

You would see ALOT of really cute vintage platforms, its one of the few luxuries she loves. She loves a cute platform knee high boot more then anything

The portrait of her and her wife that is in a frame made of human bone.

What do they notice first in a person?

Face shape, like literally how their flesh hangs on their skull. She loves interesting facial shapes, after that is smell. She is very into the scent of a person so she tries and places it quickly.

If its a more business or serious setting its how someone speaks. She will ignore physical looks and smell to HEAR you, she believes so much of how someone is is the way they speak to someone and use their voice.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how high is their pain tolerance?

This is complicated.

Physically: I will say her tolerance for Physical pain is FAIRLY HIGH. She is a Koldun and alot of her sorcery requires her to do BIG AMOUNTS of damage to herself and even sometimes with fire. She takes it in stride pretty well. Also her and her wife get into "Freaky shit" So I am going to give her like a 8 out of 10. I will say however even if she can HANDLE IT her body will give out alot sooner then her mind will

Mentally: If its anyone thats NOT her wife like a 8. If its Alezya like a fucking 3 if THAT. Her Resolve is her highest stat but it just doesn't matter when its Alezya she knows how to really get in there deep

Emotionally: Basically the same thing as mentally. Like a 7 but when its Alezya it knocks it down to like a 5.

Do they go into fight or flight mode when under pressure? (Or freeze or fawn?)

Oh its actually flight. Very rarely does the "pressure" get to her but when it does she fucking leaves. ITS HER WORST TRAIT, She is really tough and will stand by you but if it ever gets TRULY HARD on her she might run

What animal represents them best?

So I usually use a weeping Willow to represent her like even in my mind her Beast is a old and scary tree. But if I had to use an animal.

I think the pfeffer Cuttlefish. Its cute and its rare to run into it but it can kill and it kills so easily. Even without wanting to do it. Also the other worldly nature of it works perfectly for her.

How would a stranger likely describe them?

"Extremely beautiful and kind (She has the 4 dot looks merit)" Very much feels and looks as if she is wise beyond her years. Even has a motherly vibe for a woman so "young"

I think once she speaks to them it shifts to "Beautiful but also strange. She almost looks sad under that smile"

Do they have any hobbies?

Oh Rosa's main hobbie is botany and cross pollinating plants. She also enjoys sewing every so often and other artist things. She presses flowers and also designed 90% of her own tattoos.

Besides that she has been trying to catch up on music so she listens to atleast 100 new songs a week. There is also Koldunism but she doesn't consider that a hobby anymore since she is a fairly accomplished Koldun at this point in her unlife

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

Thank you @aztarion for tagging me! I alrady did it once but this was a good excuse to do it again for Rosa!!!!

I already tagged a fair bit of people last time but ill tag @eric-the-bmo @rhiannon42 NO PRESSURE if you dont wanna do it!

[sarcastic-sketches]

Kida reads all of the EDA's (mostly)

PART 1 #1 - #15

I started writing down my impressions of each of the books as I finished them, including the dates of when I finished them and any screencaps I took of my favroutie bits and then just ... kept doing it. I am not a fast reader by any means but these books have me hooked right now so I wanted to keep a record of my progress. [Part 2]

I'm using this EDA reccommendation list as a rough guide for which books I should absolutely not bother with and to brace myself for what I'm about to get into, so let's go~

#1 The Eight Doctors

25th November 2024 I honestly don't remember much of Eights shenanigans with his former selves since I'm writing this retroactively, and I vaguely put the timey whimey bullshit down to a metaphor for learning yourself over again. But I DO remember finding the events in 1997 funny. Not even 10 minutes since he landed in Totters lane and he'd incapacitated four drug dealers and then promptly got arrested for having said drugs in his possession (literally in his hand) just as the cops turned up. He does an excellent job driving the investigators around the fucking bend, once again proving to be the most annoying mf you will ever meet on any given planet he happens to be on at the time.

#2 Vampire Science

4th December 2024 This book is hysterical for a plot that has multiple people considering offing themselves at one point or other throughout the book. It also highlights that this incarnation is silmultaneously far more 'human' with his emotional availability as well how alien he is for Not Realising what he is doing.

Also shout out to these scenes in particular:

TARDIS gf confirmed

Fred the Eternal Snail we salute you

The idea that he has pet bats that he casually just grabs out of the air tickles me

Just this entire segment honestly. Eight is three years (?) into his new regen and has no idea his Charisma stat is that high. He used to have to actually do stuff before. Now he seems to do it by accident and honestly? That might just have worse consequences.

Really enjoyed the dialogue and characterisations, also the narrative had a personality too which I always enjoy.

#3 Bodysnatchers

25th December 2024 This was a bit of a slog to get through for me (as you can probably tell from the timestamp) as everything seemed to happen in the last 50 pages, but MAN Eight cannot catch a break even when they are trying to do the right thing for the right reasons. Very gorey scenes towards the end (not a complaint) but the environment descriptions were often oddly ... overly complex? I feel like it tried to give so much detail to describe the alien settings that often times it just became a jumbled mess. I struggled to actually picture the scene in my head most of the time.

#4 Genocide

27th December 2024 Despite the name, much more enjoyable read than the last one and kept a steady pace throughout. Bit disappointed they didn't lean more into the horror shit of finding Homo Sapien bones in an era far too early for them, only to find another has appeared retroactively since the last time the site was visited. But that just wasn't the story that was intended to be told, alas. Jo Grant appearance was nice though! I love former companions meeting later versions of The Doctor.

These can't possibly have any bearing on future events, right? Foreshadowing, what's that? -chuckles nervously-

#5 War of the Daleks

29th December 2024

I, ironically, forgor that this was mentioned as one to skip, but I got through it ok. The whole plotline of the Thals becoming warrior like because of the Doctor's interferance way back when he was One and more hands on (we don't talk about the Fire of Rome) was juicy.

This is Sams first encounter with the Daleks and man she is not having a good time between battling teenage hormones or the pepper pots tbh. Though, could do with less of clearly adult men eyeing up a seventeen year old as a viable target for flirting. I also got pretty sick of the 'yet another plot twist' pretty quick after the first 3... and we weren't done by a long shot.

(I can see why this was listed as a skip orz)

#6 Alien Bodies

2nd January 2025

Oooooh it's a biggy. I didn't go into this reading list completley blind and I knew this was a big hit and I can see why. This one kicks off with the Third Doctor giving Laika a funeral and burying her and WAAAAAAA - I immediately start crying whenever thinking about Laika.

The body horror in this one is superb, also I love seeing how shit scared the rest of the universe is of the Doctor - this is where the rumblings of war start and the hints of certain Sam related plot points I know will be coming up later get seeded.

(picturing the potential future of Time Lords as giant bat people is kinda cool ngl)

(Oh, Eight, buddy I am so sorry about what's lined up for you)

('hyperactive even as a corpse' shut up, I say, as I laugh to myself)

There's also bits in here that could tie in well with the Timeless Child backstory if you wanted to retroactively put them together which I just think is neat to consider:

#7 Kursaal

5th January 2024 Man oh man I loved this one. It had a fantastic start with a scene at the beginning right out of Dog Soldiers (one of my fave horror/sci-fi films of all time), only for the Doctor and Sam to stumble upon all the carnage and near immediately decide they need to get the fuck outta there. Do not investigate, do not pass Go, just hit the bricks. And it didn't stop there, the horror elements were played so well in my opinion and was all over a fun read. Was surprised more wasn't made of the green figure we see described in the mural of the central location this book is written around, seeing as Eight wears green all the time and later Sam gets given some green scrubs. Maybe it was implied somewhere and I just missed it (would not put it passed me).

The Doctor actually showing he can BE a Doctor with a medical degree and all apparently. Despite Eight's (reasonable) fear of Hospitals.

(Eight canonically being traumatised by his experience in American Healthcare hospital is such a good take. He's holding back the flashbacks by the skin of his teeth)

Also carrying on his tradition of Grand Theft Auto only this time he stole a cop car and then masterfully dodged said cops. Phenomenal.

(I want more bitchy Eight)

Sam was excellent in this book, still written believably as a teenager but still given the space to show initiative of her own.

#8 Option Lock

9th January 2025 Have I mentioned how funny Sam is? She's hysterical.

The two seemingly completely related plot lines running in parallel at the start reminded me of The Monks episode in Twelves era, flashing between the pyramid and the growing lab incident. Then it gave me vibes similar to the Apocalypse serial from American Horror Story what with the secret society all working behind the scenes though for very different reasons.

Also someone please help this autistic man, they are not thriving

(Honestly same)

#9 Longest Day

25th January 2024 Again, from the timestamp you can probably guess how this one is gonna go. This one wins the record of introducing a character within the opening pages of the first chapter that I quite happily saw die and Sam is once again subject to the rampant sexism that pervades the entire cosmos apparently?? Sci-Fi of the 90s I guess...

This was another book that took me an age to get through because it just didn't keep my attention that well. Characters doing actions. Characters I don't really feel emotionally invested in one way or another, which is just as well. Sam and The Doctor are now separated through no agency of their own.

There were some fun passages though:

Eight is such an asshole, I laughed so hard at this exchange, I love them

Wasn't The Doctor's tutor Borusa?

As introductions go, this one's fairly efficient

#10 Legacy of the Daleks

25th January 2025 From what I'd seen it was best to skip this one (especially since Susans family situation gets retconned in the audios, which I've already listened to) so I skimmed it for Susan and Eight interactions... of which there weren't any. It doesn't progress Eight's search for Sam either. He picks up a kitten at the end thats about it as far as continuity goes.

This section got me though, I can hear the sass that Nine will weild later to lethal effect

#11 Dreamstone

26th January 2025 This was a fun one, mostly for all the different characters and how interesting they all were. I kind of predicted where they were going with the crystals and thought they could have done more with them but, ultimately, this was a story about human nature not the stones really.

Sam really developed a lot in this story realising that making decisions isn't easy but making them for herself all the same. The Doctor is just good at making it look easy so people go with it. If you look confident about a decision people argue less and waste less time

#12 Seeing I

26th January 2025 Seeing I is here!! I'd heard good things about this one. I felt Sam was really trying to bite off more than she could chew but thats 17yr old pride for you. Only to fucking smash right out of the park and break through that barrier she'd been struggling with to become her own person. The Doctor once again weaponising his ability to be the most annoying mf on any given planet to get his way. At least, until his meddling came and bit him in the ass and bit him hard. The fact that he was still suffering from those consequences even after the event had passed was very good. Japser and Stewart mention <3

#13 Placebo Effect

Skipped.

#14 Vanderdekens Children

28th January 2025 I actually really liked this one. It turned into another sci-fi tropes I love to see but mostly the Messing With Gravity thing. It did remind me a little of Event Horizon, looking for faster than light travel by simply going from Point A to Point B without actually travelling anywhere only to not realise where the Point B might end up. Ships haunted as a result naturally. Then you find out why.

I do like The Doctor very obviously using hypnotism in this book to calm someone down and being utterly guileless about it too.

You can tell Sam's time away has done her the world of good, she's looking to The Doctor for direction less and less and trusting herself more.

Glad to see some things never change though

Ah yes, a scene familiar to anyone who has ever played or seen Alien: Isolation.

#15 Scarlette Empress

1st February 2025 Scarlette Empress is so far one of my favourites simply for the insights it gives us into each of the characters from their own mouths, right next to how they are perceived by the characters they are sharing space with. Actually, this whole book is kind of about challenging your perceptions of others and yourself. Huh.

These two sections were fascinating to me on how The Doctor perceives himself through the interactions of others. He's about 7 years into his current Eighth self and still working out who he is and I don't think that ever stops.

Old Empress who lived in a jar for thousands of years like a genie gets freed and, as my friend described it, 'Comes straight out of the jar hornier than god'

This guy has The Traumatic Experience With Spiders in one of his earlier lives and now needs back up. Sam is that person who gets the cup and a piece of card while The Doctor is standing on a chair - he doesn't want to kill it he just wants it away from him... Only to then befriend said Spider in the next few scenes because of course he does. Turns out it's half the size of Iris' double decker bus and bored as all hell.

[gregoryeddiesgoldchain]

haven’t done one of these in a while but this ep was so cute so here’s my thots while watching:

- I simply must know what happened to 10 year old Ava to start this lifelong prepper relationship

- sorry am i the only one that thought mr morton had a husband?? need a phoebe reveal stat cause bbygirl im starting to understand lmao

- omg that stare into the camera after greogry yelled was so perfect ive never loved this man more. big ep for gregory eddie devotees lol

- avi is soo me i would be eating this upp chile he’s so real for that lmao

- hell yessss finally my bby erika is back in the building and looking good as shit too ugh i love her. she’s such a wonderful presence/dynamic in the ensemble and i lovee this hair on her

- totally missed manny clapping for olivia when gregory was like “she’s a hero she’s an emt” the first time i watched and UGH what a sweetheart!! like i love him and im so glad they haven’t fed y’all’s weird hatred of him. das my babyy. he’s so funny too!! i feel like y’all sleeping on him but it’s fine IM AWAKE. manny bae ily 🫶🏾

- gregory holding his beer like that is sending me like why two hands baby it’s okay relax 😭😂

- i neeeddd to see a clip of the Brunchy Bunchers next season im begging pls

- poor ms inez been going thru hell with these people since she got here lol i know she be so tired when she goes home

- alsoo im really really enjoying watching gregory and jacob’s friendship grow they are so cute

- and can we give it up for finally accepting our feelings like yayyy im so proud of him honestly

- i can’t wait to see what happens next this show does sweet moments between those two so well 🥹

[gayahithwen]

Apparently my blog turns 10 years old today, woohoo.

My stats:

513 followers. 107 people I follow. 36 mutuals. 🖖💖

8.5 thousand posts.

Mostly reblogs, with or without additional commentary.

A few originals, most of which are under 5k notes.

1 which broke containment (the landlord post).

My second most popular original post was me commenting on OceanGate and the Titan submersible implosion from a perspective of being disappointed with the writing of this universe.

A random few of my more popular reblog addition posts: ⋄ The 3 dates on your wrist are life goal, meet soulmate, and death date writing prompt story with a positive twist (Untitled short story). ⋄ Did-you-know about JRR Tolkien's response to Shakespeare's Macbeth? The trees actually move. (My addition being, there are TWO non-Men who take down the person who can not be slain by any man.) ⋄ That one addition to that one long thread on why Star Trek is the way it is. As a story universe, the TV verse has always been on the forefront of pushing actual representation. (My addition is about Sulu being Pan-Asian by Gene Roddenberry's design.) ⋄ Stories being predictable. (Chekov, get the gun!) ⋄ Tragedies in stories are supposed to be cathartic. (Subverting expectation should not be a goal in itself.) ⋄ Tips on how to hack your brain to be kinder to yourself. (Don't argue with people who want to be nice to you.) ⋄ A Knight's Tale, and Paul Bettany being glorious. (With me gushing about what to expect from the movie and why I love it so much.) ⋄ Tumblr discussing how some real world events sound like a setup to a horror story, and creating the beginning plot of a horror mystery movie. (I have thoughts on how to incorporate the musical horror into the movie.)

Some of my more political additions that have spread around: ⋄ Man attacks school, kills no one because it happened in the Netherlands, and he and his knives were driven off by teenagers with backpacks. (Gun control sure helps disturbed people not kill so many.) ⋄ Why the queer community call ourselves queer. (Don't help our oppressors by trying to give the word back to them.) ⋄ Thread discussing a Disney annual pass holder and the reasons why his choice makes sense for a whole lot of people. (I summarize the thread by pointing out that no matter what else you think, everyone can agree that there's a lack of walkable community spaces in the US.)

Probably missing some of my popular additions on that list, just some of the ones I could find right now.

Been a pretty good 10 years. Cheers.

[aloysiavirgata]

Thanks to @numinousmysteries for tagging me! I had never checked these stats before!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

92

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

484,620

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I’ve written for Hannibal, Battlestar Galactica, The Fall, and The X-Files, but only The X-Files at this point.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Parting Glass (smut)

Animus Possidendi (dark smut)

The Common Fate of All Things Rare (casefile, cowritten)

Lacuna (casefile)

This Her Fever (cancer arc)

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes and no. Not like I should. I am so deeply, truly grateful for every single one.

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

Well, I killed William in Inhaling the Different Dawn, but that wasn’t at the end.

Maybe Where The Vines Cling Crimson? Scully’s cancer comes back and her fate is ambiguous. And I had Scully kill Emily in Alabaster Stones. But I think that was the right ending for both of them.

As a mother? A Basket of Reeds, where Scully gives William away. I can’t even reread it without a lump in my throat, man.

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

Tent of Shelter is fluffy and lovely gets a lot of love, and was inspired by a STUNNING manip by @avocadoave but I personally think In The Gale. It’s the one that, to me, feels the most like a grownup relationship of two people processing some trauma. I think that’s an ending that’s happy and also real - like “I don’t love being broken, but I can survive being broken with you.” Two abeyances that lean…

Foxfire for similar reasons. I real love that little story, which I wrote thanks to @perplexistan

I’m 43. I’ve been married for well over two decades and let me tell you that young love is a gift and mature love is a craft.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Some! And that’s really great too, that people read words I wrote and felt so passionately that they left me words about those feelings. What a strange but profound compliment!

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

I do. PWP isn’t my personal taste so even though I wrote a LOT of smut for the old pornbattles at LJ I wanted the smut to still tell a story.

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

I can’t say it’s especially crazy, but Fern Hill is a Mulder/Stella Gibson crossover. There are a few little ficlets with XF/Silence of the Lambs crossovers in my Inbox Prompts series.

Oh fuck! Wait! I wrote a Fall/Hannibal/XF crossover called Anthemoessa where Stella, Scully, and Bedelia all meet. Okay that’s it. That wins.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Years ago. God, isn’t that sad? To need positive reinforcement that much?

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! It was SUCH a compliment!

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

I have - The Common Fate of All Things Rare

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Mr. Virgata and me. Followed by Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, who literally invented the word. ❤️

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

The Fisher King

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I do pretty good banter and my education makes me pretty good at the sciencey bits.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I get too lost in descriptions and I try too hard to be clever. I do my best to self edit but sometimes I reread things and I’m like oh my GOD SHUT YOUR PRETENTIOUS ASS UP.

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

I’ve done it for Bedelia and Hannibal in Italian. I’m not sure I understand the question?

19. First fandom you wrote for?

TXF, my one true love.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

I don’t know that I have a favorite per se. I am most proud of the ones that challenged me to do something outside my comfort zone. Samson is one of mytop fives even though it’s Mulder/Diana. I think I did a nice job. I also wrote Pair of Aces/Double or Nothing which is Scully/Byers.

But I do really love the world of Petrichor and Singing of Mount Abora, and I like the cases.

[phoenix-manga]

Elu Sorrel

CV: Minami Tsuda

Biographical Information

Gender: Female

Age: 17

Birthday: December 10

Starsign: Sagittarius

Height: 158 cm

Eye Color: Saffron

Hair Color: Black

Professional Status

Dorm: Sagamore

School Year: 2nd Year

Class: 2-A | Student no. 12

Occupation: Student | Drm Leader

Club: Griffin Scout Club

Best Subject: Griffin Disc

Fun Facts

Favorite Food: Buttered Corn

Least Favorite Food: Biscuits

Dislikes: Complicated technology and unclean places

Hobby: Wood carving

Talents: Morse code

Idol Stats

Performance: A soft voice meant for ballads and folksongs

Choreography: She can do interpretive dance and hip hop, but she doesn't combine the two

Styling Jewel Outfits: Cultural | Cool

Elu is hesitant in new things but tries to keep an open mind. It’s difficult to adjust because she is unsure of what would happen if she tries something new and it might end up a bad experience. Not to mention growing up in an isolated village doesn’t give her enough exposure to foreign cultures.

Locals in her homeland know her to be a strong-willed girl who can be brutally honest because she intends to fix the problem right away, she believes that sugar-coating would delay the solution and make it worse. Though she does feel a little bad if someone cries from her criticism.

Being a beastman, she is very agile with a keen sense of smell as well as strength that surpasses humans. She often goes out hunting with the older members of the group and she displays full cooperation with other teammates.

But another thing to note is that she is a black bear beastman, her temperament is calm but she has a thin patience and she will growl or roar in anger. Despite being so small, she has incredible physical strength.

One thing she dislikes is when the team is unstable and problematic, she would quickly abandon that group and do the job herself or find another that’s got their heads together. She’d rather have the task done quickly and efficiently with no side tracking.

Unfortunately, this gives off the impression that she’s cold and unsociable which is far from the truth. She just needs to tone down a little bit.

Elu is actually mature and gives advice for those who can’t look after themselves. She enjoys the simple things in life and can have her moments where she spouts words of wisdom that makes others think she’s a wise, old sage.

Hometown: Bearland Woods

Family History

She grew up in a village where the locals rarely or never interact with outsiders. They aren’t against having outsiders visit but it was clear they don’t know how to handle interacting with people living different lifestyles.

The villagers are all beastmen who are mostly of the bear genus, though there are some who are deer and raccoon. Everyone knows each other and treat each other as if they were all family. Which means they don’t stand idly by if one of them gets hurt.

But they’ve been especially wary of outsiders after a group of shady businessmen started causing problems for them. Some of their people were imprisoned and branded as the bad guys when they retaliated.

They know nothing about the modern laws of the urban society and are pressured to take deals that would only benefit the other party. Thankfully, her father was a firm man and kept refusing them every time. But it won’t be long until they use every influence they have to chase them out of their home.

Elu is upset by these people and how they seem to be driven by their greed. It doesn’t help that they would disrupt the environment with their logging and illegal dumping.

Unlike city folk, life in her village was simple yet satisfying. They take what they need from the forest while also respecting the cycle of life. They don’t hunt out of vanity or pride. The males usually do the hunting but there have been women who are capable enough to hunt alongside them.

Due to Elu’s elder brother being born with weak body, she has taken the task of hunting for food and foraging. She has been taught knowledge on how to traverse the land and recognize edible and non-edible plants from her father.

Childhood Memories

Elu has a fond memory of her father protecting her from a bison that wandered too close, her father struggled but he overpowered the animal and sent it away from their borders. His tall stature and rough features may have come off as intimidating to others but to Elu he was her hero.

She wanted to be like him so she does everything she can to make him proud. Even courageously taking the chance to leave home to attend DCA in order to help their village.

There was an unpleasant memory where she was told to stay in the house by her father but she got curious and peeked to see these formally dressed businessmen. Whatever they said made her father mad, he eventually sent them away.

But what happened after that was scarred into her memory, a couple of houses in her village were suddenly set ablaze, her brother nearly losing his life when he was trapped in the rubble.

She smelled the source of the fire when the businessmen returned, they smelled like gasoline, when she cried out that they were the culprits. They mocked her by asking if they even have any solid evidence as well as a lawyer, implying that her village wouldn’t win because they have the money and power to make it their victory.

Elu’s rage from what the businessmen said made her determined to focus for the benefit of her village but this in turn made her closed off to outsiders. Afraid they would be like the businessmen, lying through their teeth.

Like Jinlong, she has trouble adjusting to the school life due to the culture shock. So, she often keeps to herself while occasionally asking the professors for advice when Elu feels like there was no other option. Which is the reason why she struggled a lot at first.

Not to mention, she doesn’t understand the concept of idol concerts and what the purpose of this was. She isn’t familiar with the pop songs or rock, she was more of a traditionalist but she felt like not many people would be interested in that.

She was at a loss for what she was doing and if she was even trying hard enough. Until Perrine approached her and made Elu comfortable enough to finally figure out how to get used to the school environment and subjects enough to guarantee her that she won’t need to drop out of school.

Putting her inventing skills to use, she does a lot of favors in exchange for what she needs, be it some notes or tutoring. In time, she got better and has gained a reputation for herself in school. Elu thinks that it’s only a small group but in reality she helped a lot of people and they admire her a lot.

Her grades are fairly decent but it was clear that she started to improve the more she managed to understand the foreign subjects. Not among the top students but still high around the B grade.

An excellent archery shooter who can shoot with high accuracy even when on horseback. She is known to even shoot arrows through ring holes as small as a pinky finger.

School Relationships

Elu mostly kept to herself and her “strictly business” attitude made it difficult for idle chit chat. It wasn’t until she was forced to seek out the help of other students that she learns to communicate more.

Even though she was still a bit professional, she at least made progress. She’s learned to try out new things little by little and learn more about new topics.

Perrine was the first to approach her and wasn’t thrown off by Elu’s reluctance. She managed to win her over just a bit with food because who doesn’t? Plus, it would help the girl relax a little and feel welcome.

Rozeline and Elu started off as acquaintances who exchanged information of interest until they became close enough to consider each other as friends in a way. Elu figured she could gain knowledge she needed from Rozeline and in turn can hope to put her issues in the urban public.

Elu found Rozeline’s inventions innovative and would take notes from her, but she’s sure to also provide her own feedback on how to make it eco-friendly while still efficient.

Jinlong was an enigma to Elu, she has never seen other beastmen let alone something like a dragonkin like Jinlong. So, she is both intrigued but also intimidated. When she got to know Jinlong by chance, she began to admire her. Their goals were different but they both relate to feeling out of place, but unlike Elu who was hesitant at first, Jinlong pushed through and got to her position.

Skilli sees Elu as this lost bear cub who is figuring out the right path, but with so many things she doesn’t know, finding the right path seems impossible. Skilli’s form is from Elu’s desire to find the way to settle her problems that won’t end in turmoil.

Skilli shares her knowledge to Elu as well as guide her to opening her eyes to new things she won’t find from the comforts of her home. Skilli teaches her how to cherish those differences in order to understand the world better. The fairy is the wisest and the most patient out of all the dorm fairies.

Matelot

She is a woodpecker and acts as Elu’s scout, always on the lookout for anything of interest from the treetops. Matelot often marks using symbols that Elu recognizes, she even knows Morse code.

Matelot is very quiet and likes to hide her presence, often scaring people and other animals when she starts pecking away. An animal of very little words, she talks softly into people’s ears before leaving the conversation.

Tala

She is a gypsy vanner horse with a calm temperament. No matter what chaos goes on in the background she just goes, “Oh, the usual?” then does her own thing. But when it’s an emergency, she can go from calm to serious when needed.

Elu often rides on her back to drive away approaching danger. Tala is also powerful enough to push away fallen trees and break small boulders.

Her Unique Magic is called, “Arrow of the Wind”, she can control any direction her arrows to follow her targets with a special wind spell that only she can cast. She can make the wind faster and therefore have a greater impact on the arrows.

She can also use it as a shield, any projectiles within her line of sight can be slowed down or be redirected back to her opponent.

Elu’s magical capability is mostly nature based. Though these abilities are used to benefit her village more than mainly using them for combat, unless she needed to as a last resort. She seeks to use her skills in creating more contraptions that make life easier but not at the cost of the ecosystem.

Mato Sorrel

The chief of their village, he is a large bear beastman who is strong enough to carry about five pine logs. He is having trouble with the businessmen who try to trespass their land and try to trick him into signing a ‘beneficial’ contract, he refuses every time because he didn’t have the opportunity to gain outside knowledge. He isn’t narrow-minded to think that outsiders are greedy but he just hopes that his daughter will be able to handle herself in the academy and hopefully bring an end to the trespassers.

Alo Sorrel (23)

He has a weak body so he isn’t able to hunt or participate in activities involving strength, he chooses to help the village to advance economically while keeping the environment in mind. He often sends letters to Elu to inform her what has been happening in the village. He feels guilty that he can’t do much to prevent trespassers from walking all over their homeland due to his weak body.

The character’s name, “Elu” means “Full of Grace” and is a name of Native American origin while the last name, “Sorrel”, means “reddish brown”. The artist just thought this last name sounded better fitting for the character despite the meaning.

Elu’s dorm, Sagamore, was considered to be the equivalent of the Savanaclaw in NRC. Most of the students there are beastmen much like Savanaclaw. Though, Dragonstone, also shares this comparison but Sagamore has more beastmen than Dragonstone does.

She was originally going to be written with the same wise and calm personality like Pocahontas but then it was changed to be a tougher personality with the sense of adventure and navigation like John Smith. The calm personality went to her brother.

The artist chose to assign a bear to Elu as a nod to Brother Bear as well as to fit the characteristic of someone that looks cute but is actually fierce.

Elu was the hardest to design since the first design had too much details and took the longest to draw, not to mention drawing a mechanical bow was difficult for the artist since contraptions are tricky.

The artist is open to criticism and opinions regarding Native American culture since the internet isn’t always helpful.

[xx-faux-fox-xx]

First Ever Edblr post damn

So Ana and I have been on weird terms for years and years now but I'm starting to try and get back on track. Normally I just lurk on here not post but figured meh might as well post up at least once. Little things I've found as an almost 30 (god I'm too old for this 😭) year old.

Stats first I guess?

5'9

SW 230 in Sep. 2023

CW 157 Jan. 2024

GW 130

UGW 120

1. Hismile toothpaste? Best shit ever tastes like a snack sooooo many flavors, no Cals (technically would be 1 cal per 100 grams but if you don't swallow it you're good)

2. Peach Mango C4 zero cal and I get mango smoothie mix, basic generic store brand frozen fruit, mix it with that nice 70ish cal snack that I'll sip on for HOURS

3.Food scale, food scale, food scale. Idk man I'm mistrustful of portion sizes so I weigh everything.

4. I always estimate higher vs lower ESPECIALLY dealing with homemade recipes.

5. Speaking of homemade recipes verywellfit has a recipe calculator that I looooove to use to figure out cals and nutrition in different foods. (You can also use it to figure out the cals in recipes your family/friends make especially for holidays if you ask for a recipe and say it was really good they'll give it to you and then you can know what you're intaking roughly.)

6. Gum or Mints are your best friend genuinely they are. Same with water, tea, black coffee.

7. VITAMINS ALL THE VITAMINS. Seriously though I see people say it all the time take your dang vitamins.

8. Cardio and anything that works your heart is a MUST I think we all know Ana goes for muscle and your heart is a muscle so if you don't do shit else for exercise do some cardio something to keep your ticker ticking properly.

9. Try to note when you're the most tempted to binge/when you do binge, what's your mentality like? Are you depressed, stressed, manic, whatever figure out what is potentially triggering those binges emotionally. Then try to figure out how to handle them, for me with BPD opposite action has been a huuuuge help. I want to binge because I'm sad? I'm taking a walk instead to get my stupid lil houseplant self some sun and fresh air even if I'm annoyed the whole time.

10. As a former (and still sometimes) junkorexic don't do it all the time. But if you wanna have a day, a week, whatever where you live off nothing but Code Red Mountain Dew, an Oreo, and sheer audacity most certainly have at it. But try to eat at least one fruit, or a yogurt, something that's some actual sustenance. That was me from 15-19 and occasionally I still do that so I get it.

11. Don't be too delulu you may well reach your UGW and realize you STILL aren't satisfied or you don't look like the th1nsp0 pics you have saved. We aren't all gonna be able to look like that, especially for the older friends of Ana it's hard AF man 😭

12. Be safe, this shit is not easy to live with and to a point it is hazardous. Be aware of yourself, your condition, as best as you can possibly be. Don't get 🏥-ized just be smart about it.

13. Most important one do it for yourself. Fuck doing this for a boy, or some shit like that. You're doing this for YOU because this is the flesh vessel you have to spend the rest of your life in. If you do it for anything other than you there's a chance you lose that motivation but realize you're stuck with you FOREVER. Don't you want to be able to like the person you see even if it's just on a surface level? As someone with mental illness(es) I'll never be fully happy with me as a person but I can at least not entirely despise what I see on the outside.

Idk hopefully this helps someone this will probably be one of the only times I actually post cuz again I'm too old for this really 😂 being nearly 30 still doing this disordered stuff feels so silly to me but aye mentally ill for life I guess.

[superthatguy62]

Things Final Fantasy III does not tell you about Final Fantasy III.

When it comes to RPGs, information that the player has is far from a guarantee. Some games will tell players practically everything about their systems and leave it to the player to use that information. Others will leave some mechanics in the background, quietly applying them without the player's knowledge. The Final Fantasy III remake falls into the latter category, as there are some mechanics that the player may not realize even exist unless they look outside of the game. Here are seven of them.

This is based on the Future Press Official Strategy Guide. As far as SGs go, it seems pretty close to the Japanese SE guide (baring at least one case).

Party Member Levels (Life of the Party)

While temporary party aren't directly controllable, they seem to have their own levels and stats. Interestingly the Future Press strategy guide states that they also have stats. Though I should clarify: At this time, I have yet to find these in the Japanese strategy guide, so I am not entirely sure that these are accurate. However, the FP guide in general is close to the Japanese guide in terms of technical information, so I am willing to accept that risk.

These are:

Sara: Lv 5 (Str/Vit/Agi/Min: 6, Int: 7)

Cid: Lv 3 (Str/Agi: 5, Vit/Int/Min: 8)

Desch: Lv 10 (Str: 15, Vit: 10, Agi: 14, Int: 7, Min: 6

Aria: Lv 25 (All: 25)

Alus: Lv 30 (All: 35)

Doga/Unei: Lv 50 (All: 45)

Some observations:

The guide notes that the characters stats are usually significantly higher than the main characters' at the same levels. This is especially noticeable with Alus (The party's base stats, by compare, will be: Str/Agi: 24, Vit/Min/Int: 20)

Cid is the only party member to be weaker than the character before him (Sara), presumably due to how little time the party spends with him. He does have an impressively strong hammer, though.

Despite being portrayed as a White Mage, Sara's Int (7) is slightly higher than her Min (6).

It seems that after Desch, the devs kinda gave up with making varied stats, so Aria, Alus, Doga and Unei have the same number for all their stats.

Coincidence or otherwise, Aria's stat number also matches her level.

Doga and Unei share the same levels and stats as each other, a distinction no other party member has. For extra fun, Xande is also level 50, although his actual stats are unfortunately but understandably different.

Alus, a 10 year old boy is somehow twice as strong as Desch, a grown man.

Mognet Details (Stampin' N Stompin')

Most of Mognet's discussion usually begins and ends with it being connected to the sidequests. Because of this, there are a few features of Mognet that go undernoticed.

One particular aspect is the cards: For meeting the Legendary Smith with a mastered job and defeating the Iron Giant, the party can get cards signifying their mastery.

(I have yet to defeat the Iron Giant. I apologize for being a fraud).

In the PSP and Steam versions, these cards are mostly just rewards. In the DS version, however, they can be used as stamps for Mognet. And while the Iron Giant is purely to flaunt your superiority over the beast, the job mastery cards actually allow players to help out other players: If a player holding a signed letter runs into the Legendary Smith, she will give the player the respective job mastery item without having a level 99 job. While it doesn't break the game, due to how late it is before you can encounter the Smith, it does cut down on the grind you'd need if you wanted those items.

Encounter Frequency (Fights in the A.M. P.M. F.M.)

In Octopath Traveler, a later game by Team Asano, entering a new location will usually show you a danger level, giving you a general idea of how strong the enemies in that area are. While the mechanic is visible in OT, it was actually deployed discreetly in Final Fantasy III: Each area has a level that the guides recommend the player be at. However, the game itself uses a more subtle method: If your party is below the recommended level, the encounter rate will be higher than usual. By contrast, the further above the recommended level that the party is (up to six levels), the lower the encounter rate will be.

For example: The Nepto Shrine has a Danger Level of 10. If the party made it to the Shrine at level 7, then they will likely encounter more enemies than they would at level 10. By contrast, at level 16, they will have a chance at encountering the least amount of enemies.

Attack Types (SMASH! SLASH! STAB!)

In Final Fantasy III, elemental weaknesses are clear and easily implied by the fact that Mages have themed spells. However, the game also has a second, subtle weakness system: Attack Types, the physical counterpart.

The four attack types are

Unhanded: Despite the name, Claws are also included

Blow: Weapons that focus on slamming or bludgeoning the foe

Cut: Weapons that actually cut the foe, like Swords

Stab: Weapons that stab or have a stab-like effect, like Arrows

Interestingly, some weapons aren't mutually exclusive: Axes count for both blows and cuts, Knives count for both stabs and cuts and Unarmed counts for both Unhanded and Blow.

Hands (The Hands of Fate)

The Hand stat is a secret stat that the game silently keeps track of for each character. The hand stat represents how many times a physical attack has been made with a particular hand, the hand getting 3 XP for each use. Much like job levels only one hand level can be gained per battle, regardless of how many points are racked up. Theoretically, if you can have hands of different levels, although given how much III encourages dual-wielding, it's unlikely.

The FP guide recommends using the Ranger's barrage if you want to build up the hand stat, as that is a multi-hit attack that nonetheless counts each hit for the hand.

Weight (The Weight of the World)

Weight is not a new mechanic to Final Fantasy. Final Fantasy V, in particular has the stat help to determine who quickly a character acts (i.e. how fast the ATB bar fills up). However, V is the rare game where the game will actively inform the player of its existence. Other games in the series have it, including III (at least, in the remake).

Weight, along with Agility, determines how soon a character will act during the turn, as well as how many hits a character does (alongside the aforementioned Hand stat). This is why a Warrior with an axe will generally hit less than a Warrior with a sword, despite having higher attack. Interestingly magic also has weight to it with spells having a specific weight/cast time to it.

Boss Scripts (Script Write)

Bosses changing strategy mid-fight has been a Final Fantasy staple since at least Final Fantasy IV (Zeromus, for example, only starts to spam Meteo when he's close to dying), so the FF3 remake isn't particularly new or original for using this. Still, it's something to be aware of in case you make a particular fight harder than it needs to be.

A likely candidate for this is actually the final boss: While the Cloud of Darkness uses Particle Beam (and spams it during the last phase), it actually doesn't use the move until it's down to 80% of its HP, using the less threatening standard attack instead. This means that a player willing to take some turns to lower the danger can focus on the tentacles, which are the more immediate threat.

[riptidefusion]

"deal with it. embrace the pain, spank your inner moppet, whatever. but get over it." — cordelia chase, buffy the vampire slayer.

[ … ] ❀ you’re not from around here , are you? i figured because you totally just missed hallie song walking by. don’t tell me you don’t know who she is/? they kind of look like jessica henwick and i could be wrong but i think that they might be 30 years old right now. they’ve been living in palmview for the last 20 years. and i don’t know if anyone has ever told them this before but they kind of remind me of cordelia chase from buffy. if you stick around the town long enough you might catch them in action working at retro roots as the owner. you see this town isn’t really that big of a place, some folks like to call them the dilettante of palmview! they took a liking to the name too after a while, go figure. oh crap, they must have heard me yapping. they’re coming this way. i got to warn you though, rumor has it they can pretty self involved at times. i wouldn’t take it too seriously though, from the times i’ve spoken to them they seemed pretty effervescent to me.

STATS:

full name: halina bao walsh-song

nicknames: just hallie. seriously. birth certificate notwithstanding, nobody has ever actually called her by her full first name.

birthdate: july 10

zodiac: cancer sun / virgo moon / libra rising

age: 30

pronouns: she / her

orientation: bi

birthplace: sengkang, singapore

current residence: palmview, fl / seaglass gardens #4B

BIO: tw brief, vague narcissistic parent mention, drug mention, depression

hallie was the product of a tale as old as time — the all consuming love affair between a rich man and a beautiful young actress. everybody said it couldn't last, and it didn't! less than a year after hallie was born in singapore, andrew walsh and xiaoling song were already locked into a bitter divorce that would draw out through her young childhood.

by the time she was five, things were mostly settled — or, as settled as the attention-seeking daughter of two wealthy narcissists could be, really. in lieu of spending much quality time or expending affection towards her, hallie's parents were more likely to simply give her anything she asked for, and then some. the first ten years of her life were spent almost entirely with her mom, whisked around on the actress' busy schedule, visiting her dad on holidays and birthdays.

despite the lavish hotels, fancy plane rides, and every gift that a young girl could ever dream of, it wouldn't shock most people to find out that hallie was quite sad for most of her early years. her parents' affections came only in the form of gifts and money, and any real attention paid to her was always cut short by their ever demanding careers.

when she was ten, hallie's mother remarried, and suddenly her life of plane rides and jetlag was traded for the city of palmview, florida. having grown up in the lap of luxury, the somewhat quiet beach town was an adjustment. not to mention, her early life experiences alienated her from her peers, and despite genuine efforts to make friends, her classmates always seemed to keep their distance.

it was a defense mechanism until it started operating without her control — within a few years, as she entered high school, hallie had developed quite the reputation. depending on who you asked, she was stuck up, stubborn, spoiled, or maybe even just straight up a bitch, unaware of the fact that acting the way she did was the only way hallie ever got any attention from who she really craved it from, her parents.

but what did she care what the people of palmview thought of her, anyways? she was simply riding out the next few years until she could head to london, or paris, or at least new york. all she knew was, she was out of there the second she turned eighteen.

and she was true to her word. after high school graduation, new york was where she landed. set up in one of her father's empty apartments, setting her sights on a degree in fashion, hallie felt that she was finally free to be who she was always intended to be. without the burden of suburban high school drama, without much more than a monthly check in call from either of her parents, hallie was left to her own devices.

and she mostly stayed that way for the next decade. sure, she had a tendency to party too much and spend too much money, but she graduated only a semester late and started working on her own fashion designs with the intent of setting up her own brand.

as she found out for the first time after college, much to hallie's surprise and chagrin, working hard actually sucks. despite all her effort, her designs were never what she wanted them to be, and she constantly found herself comparing herself with other designers, unable to bring her visions to fruition.

(drugs) so she did what anyone facing failure for virtually the first time in her life might do — she went on a bender, and only after she maxed out a credit card with a comically high limit did her parents finally feel the need to step in. of course, with her parents high paying and high profile jobs, the only option was to send her away to a private rehab facility in the mountains, and pray that any journalists who caught find of the story would accept a bribe.

(depression) at rock bottom, hallie had no choice but to try. it took days before she was able to even get out of her bed, the nurses coaxing her gently away from her catatonic staring. it took weeks before she really entertained the idea of participating, but with lack of anything better to do, she started talking. and what she found was surprising — whereas hallie had always assumed she suffered from what her parents derisively called "bored rich kid disease", the doctor at the rehab facility had a different opinion: she was in fact, clinically depressed.

for someone whose problems had always been solved by money and a natural talent for talking her way out of things, hallie was at a loss when dealing with something that could only be resolved chemically. it was an agonizingly long road for someone with only the shortest fuse of patience, but eventually, she was able to find a medication that worked for her, and for the first time in her life at age 25, hallie felt an emotion she had never really known before: calm.

it lasted for a few years. during the downtime of rehab and recovery, she was able to lock into her passion for vintage clothing, using her mother's closet for inspiration. eventually, she was able to put together a line of clothing she was proud of, and the product of more than a year's work culminated in a fashion show put together in new york. heart bursting with pride, hallie sent the invitation to both her parents months in advance — but that day, as she watched the crowd and held her breath, the only sign of her parents ended up being some half-baked excuses sent by rushed texts.

it was all she had worked for, and for what? despite all her efforts, hallie began to feel like a little kid again, begging and crying for her parents attention, only to still not receive it. one missed call to her therapist later, and hallie woke up a few days later in the same place she started all those years ago: rock bottom.

when a well-meaning friend finally reached out to her parents, it was the last straw. apparently, she had finally embarrassed them for the last time. with the threat of all her financial stability being pulled out from under her, hallie was only given one choice: to come live with one of her parents, or move back to palmview and get a job. with the last parting gift from her parents (which was, of course, money) she threw it all onto a dream: the retro roots vintage shop.

that was two years ago. back on her meds, spending most of her days running the shop and attending therapy and NA diligently, hallie's life is far quieter than it used to be. still though, she's aware of the echo of that person she used to be, and she can't help but wonder as she walks around: will everyone always see her that way?

WANTED CONNECTIONS:

acquaintances from high school. like, especially if hallie was kind of a bitch to them! please! make her atone for her sins! she feels bad!!!

no but really, anyone who she might have crossed paths with when she lived in palmview as a kid/teen

retro roots customers! she would totally save special pieces and give special discounts to her favs

NA sponsor / acquaintances

neighbors

maybe an ex from high school ???

or perhaps even just a current flirtationship

or just someone who thinks she's full of shit and kind of annoyed by her, lmao

[gorilladays]

G-Days: Volume One

Intro:

here im going to give some lore and stats about our characters we will focus on:

This Volume Takes Place in 2001

Singer/Pianist Stacy Pot (2-D) is a 24 year old girl with many mental handicaps and physical handicaps: ADHD, Autism, Hyphema, Urinary Incontinence and Bowel Incontinence. And She is Murdoc's Usual Target for Bullying for reasons we will get into later

Personality: kind, sweet, innocent, timid

Bassist Murdoc Niccals is a 27 year old man who gets a thrill out of bullying his bandmates (mainly 2-D). He is also the (self-proclaimed) leader of the band and he usually speaks the most during interviews (he lies to the press so no one knows about his abusive behaviour)

Personality: Cruel, Sadistic, Narcissistic

Guitarist Noodle is a 10 year old girl who cant speak fluent English yet but she can speak some English. but its always in third person. she is excellent at guitar however. she also always wears headphones for some reason

Personality: childlike, carefree

Drummer Russel Hobbs is a 26 year old man who is the hip hop know it all of the group. he is possessed by the spirit of his dead friend del. his eyes are permanently white like how 2-Ds are permanently black but 2-Ds are because of a condition and Russel's are cause he's possessed.

Personality: depends could be mean and cruel or nice, usually calm and collected

more coming soon

edit: forgot Russel's personality 💀but there will be plenty of Russel i wont leave him out UNLIKE SOME PEOPLE!!!

[infiniteeight8]

Fic Writer 20 Questions

Tagged by @sweaterkittensahoy

I have two AO3 accounts (infiniteeight and crimsonquills) because I switched pseuds due to a troll in a fandom like, 10 or 15 years ago. So for AO3 stats questions, first number is infiniteeight, second number is crimsonquills, total in parentheses. The crimsonquills number is misleading, though--only about half my works written under that pseud are uploaded.

How many works do you have on AO3? 426 + 235 (661)

What's your total AO3 word count? 584,163 + 721,769 (1,305,932)

What fandoms do you write for?

Currently, IronStrange (MCU), Steter (Teen Wolf), and LazyTown. I have a lot of formerly serious fandoms, and I've dabbled in even more. There are 21 listed on infiniteeight and 28 on crimsonquills, to give you an idea, and that's not a complete list.

Top Five Fics by Kudos

For infiniteeight AO3 handle (all of these are Clint/Coulson, which makes sense, since it's the biggest fandom I've been in for the past 12 years):

Trump Card 

Relief 

Made Omega 

A House is Not a Home 

Five People Who Flinched From Phil and the One Person Who Never Did

For my crimsonquills AO3 handle (this is a little misleading--I have some very popular stories on this handle that aren't on AO3, though I keep meaning to upload them):

Full Body Workout (Steve/Tony, comic Avengers)

A Meeting of Minds (Steve/Tony, comic Avengers)

Beneath the Armor  (Steve/Tony, comic Avengers)

A Light To Guide You (Obi-Wan/Qui-Gon, The Phantom Menace)

Doubts  (Steve/Tony, comic Avengers)

Good grief, only now have I realized that my most popular Man from UNCLE fic (The Mirror, Mirror Affair) is not on AO3! I was certain it was. It looks like *none* of my MFU fics are on AO3. Oops? I really have to fix that...

Do you respond to comments?

Yes! I went through a period where I was very sporadic about it, but now I reply to them all. I'm even going through and answering old comments that have been there, unanswered, for years. The responses I've gotten from folks receiving a reply anywhere from a few months to 8 years later have been lovely. :D

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Definitely no heartbeat detected (IronStrange, true Drabble). I don't normally write much angst, and when I do, it's always with a happy ending. But that one was a prompt.

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

I don't think I can actually pick one? Almost all of my fics have happy endings!

Do you get hate on fics?

Nope. Which surprises me, honestly, because I've written plenty of tropes that other people get hate for all the time.

Do you write smut?

Yes! In fact, before I started writing the daily ficlets, I was primarily known as a smut writer. Almost everything I wrote was smutty. I find it kid of amusing that the drabbles have changed that.

Craziest Crossover?

Has to be the Band of Brothers/Terminator crossover. It's only posted on my old livejournal, but I'll upload it to AO3 one day and just watch people goggle at it. LOL.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of. The closest that I know of is someone who copied the entire first chapter (or couple of chapters?) of one of my more popular fics and then took it in a totally different direction. I contacted them and they were apologetic--the meant to go back and rewrite the beginning once they were done with their version, but they never finished it. They put a note and an inspired by tag on it after I contacted them, and that was fine with me.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Many times! Translations are always welcome.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yup! A couple times, although it's not something I do regularly.

All time favorite ship?

Hmmm. Difficult question. Longest lasting active ship is Steter, but all time favorite? I think it might be Marcus Cole/Neroon (Babylon 5).

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

This is a weird question for me, because I don't really work on more than one thing at a time, except for brief pauses on epic fics to knock out something short. And if I start to lose steam on a story I'm writing, there's not really a "doubt" phase. I either believe I will finish it, or it gets trunked and I don't consider it a WIP anymore, because it is no longer "in progress", it's just abandoned.

What are your writing strengths?

Characterization! I've had many compliments in this area.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Visual description, definitely.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

Peppering in other language words to remind me of a character's background and for flavour is useful, but writing entire sentences in another language knock me right out of the story. If I have to check a footnote or hover text to know what they're saying, I instantly lose immersion.

Other language text that you can figure out from context is better than footnotes, but in my experience people rarely do it well.

First fandom you wrote in?

Star Trek: The Next Generation. It was on paper (one of those yellow note pads), but I never shared it with anyone. First fandom I actually posted in might have been Star Trek: Voyager? Or possibly Stargate: SG1. I'm not actually sure which came first. I have the stories (I think), but they aren't dated.

Favorite fic you've written?

Oh, gosh, I'm not sure. Maybe Patterns (Marcus/Neroon)? I've written better stories and more popular ones, but I have a soft spot for that one.

Tags (very optional): @airas-story. Um, anyone else? I am bad at remembering people.

[marivelasc]

[female & she/her] Welcome to Aurora Bay, [MARIANA VELASCO]! I couldn’t help but notice you look an awful lot like [EMERAUDE TOUBIA]. You must be the [THIRTY-TWO] year old [REALITY TV STAR]. Word is you’re [PASSIONATE] but can also be a bit [RUTHLESS] and your favorite song is [HELADITO BY KALI UCHIS]. I also heard you’ll be staying in [FISHERS COVE]. I’m sure you’ll love it! [kim, 28, MST, she/her, triggers (NA)]

STATS (underco) | PLAYLIST | PINTEREST | CONNECTIONS

tw: arranged marriage (i am not sure if there is something else i need to tag but lmk)

How long they've lived in Aurora Bay: 23 years (4 college years spent in SF)

Current residence: Fisher's Cove / @aurorabayaesthetic

You may recognize Mariana if you’re a fan of reality dating shows. She was only 25 when her casting video for a reality dating show similar to Are You the One was chosen out of the thousands the network received. She never admitted it while she was on tv, but it was more of an escape for her than anything else. It was the only escape out of the situation she was in that she could think of.

Mari was only 7 years old when she moved to Aurora Bay, California with her mom from Mexico. Her mother had told her that her dad would follow behind – only to be told that he was caught at the border and sent back home before he could reach them. This broke her heart as the two were close and it broke every day that passed once communication had ceased between the two. It was hard on her because she found it difficult adapting to new town and language. Not only did she have to teach herself English, but she had to teach her mother too. She did not start speaking full English until she was 10 years old.

When she turned 16, her mother introduced her to Augosto Valverde, a boy that was a year older than her. Mari didn’t think much of it as her mom had been a friend to his family through the years that they lived in Aurora Bay. The two got along extremely well and somewhere along the way they started to date. All during this, her mother convinced her that he would be the one she’d marry when they were both done with college.

By the time Mari had graduated college at 23 – she had fallen in love and it was not with Augosto. It didn’t help that he went to London for college, and she went up to San Francisco. She felt it become less serious for them both as there wasn’t constant communication. This man she fell in love with worshipped her and vice versa. The two were inseparable from the moment they met as sophomores in college up until they graduated. It was safe to say that Mari was not thinking about marrying Augosto.

She had gotten back to Aurora Bay when her mom sprung the news that Augosto would be back in town too and had already asked for approval to marry her. She was shocked. Again, she hadn’t thought about that conversation she had with her mom when she was a teenager. Augosto made it back and he caught Mari with the man she was in love with. She tried to explain that she didn’t know that they were going to get married and that the two hadn’t been serious in so long, why would she even think marriage was still on the books? Augosto was mad, revengeful even, so he revealed to Mari that their engagement had been arranged since they were kids. Her mother had made a deal, ‘sold’ her to say, to Augosto’s family in exchange for money.

When Mari confronted her mom – she confirmed everything. She did indeed “sell” her daughter to the Valverdes because they needed to pay off her moms debts. They were the reason they moved to Aurora Bay. It was the reason why she never saw her father again. Since the engagement was no more, the Valverdes turned their backs on them. Her mom was furious. So much so, that her mom tried to find another rich family to get her married into even if she had to force her daughter down the aisle. Mari was terrified. She felt that she had grown up with a stranger. She couldn’t believe that her mom wanted money so much that she could give her own daughter away.

Her mom did not stop. It was two years that she had to deal with mom showing up to her house or calling her phone about a new potential match. It had become all too overwhelming. Mari had distanced herself from the man she loved and the two broke up a few months before she turned 25. It was amicable and she wished him nothing but the best. After the breakup, she could feel herself falling into a depression, and she needed to avoid that. Most of all, she needed to get away from her mom.

So, she did what she thought was best, and didn’t think it would happen in a million years… She applied to be on are you the one and was accepted. She went on and she flourished. She was known to be the one who spoke her mind and stood up for herself. She was called every name in the book by castmates and viewers yet somehow came out being loved by a lot of people. She did leave the show with a partner in hand – however it didn’t last long because of the distance.

Once she settled back in Aurora Bay, she got a call from her father who had learned that she was on reality TV, tracked her down and found her. He let her know that all contact was cut off and that her mother never told him that they were leaving. They were just gone one day. The two reunited in Aurora Bay and he was able to stop her mom from trying to get her to marry some random man. This left Mariana happy and free as she finally had the courage to cut her mom off.

It wasn’t long until Mariana found herself on another reality dating show. This time, she was on a show similar to Love Island at 27, and she enjoyed herself, but she got screwed over and sent home by the 6th week. This appearance made her even more popular and she was able to get into modeling, and would be asked to help at events through interviewing others such as music festivals, the MTV movie awards, and things like that. She’s had a couple of public flings and not so public flings, but has not had the urge to be tied down yet.

She loves her life and what she does. She feels closer to herself, but now she’s facing the trauma that her mother had given her. It hasn’t been easy, but she’s trying. It was something she was able to avoid by going on reality tv instead of dealing with head on. She's living her life day by day, mommy issues at a high, while learning to be okay with who she has become and what she's been through.

HEADCANNONS:

Her only dating profiles are Tinder and RAYA. Any profile you see on any other platform is not her.

She was one of those on are you the one contestants that did NOT try to be with the one the computer matched her with.

She is still bitter about being sent home early from her last stint.

She graduated with her bachelors a year later than her peers because she took a year break.

She used to live in Seabrook Quarter when she was 23-27

WANTED CONNECTIONS:

a best friend that has been there for her for years since before her first reality show and even one from after pls &lt;3

friends she's met because of her fame

tinder/RAYA matches

ex flings/ex situationships, give her some hurt tbh. i honestly want an ex situationship/fling that she kept hidden from the public which could be plotted as to why she did it or why it ended

friend(s) she has fallen out with maybe due to her fame or other stuff, etc.

ex-boyfriend who she did love but ended amicably - it's giving "cool" by gwen stefani

a fellow reality tv star (could be from same show or different show, might send in a wanted connection)

neighbors from fishers cove

old neighbors from seabrook quarter

literally anything!! im open to all types of plotting and connections

CURRENT CONNECTIONS:

Used to be best friends with @connievanderbilt before she slipped and had sex with her brother

Was hooking up with @sebitorres but not currently as the two haven’t contacted each other in awhile

has known @tylerxhale since kids and has been attracted to him since but the timing for the two had always been off

loves @lonelyhcart because she's like a little sister she never had