#i AM 100% late WITH this meme but YEAH

[feratu]

“I’m a healer but...”

[batboyblog]

Less than 60 days out from the election, how do you think we’re doing, considering the recent debate and Taylor Swift unleashing the Swifties?

I'll start this by saying we're with-in the margin of effort, if either side really puts their backs into it, and pushes and shows up, volunteers in big numbers and turns out voters it could go either way.

So having said that, I feel good, right now the national polls are close, but all show Harris ahead. The swing state polls likewise are close but mostly show tied or leaning to Harris. On top of which Senate Democrats (and the candidate for Governor in NC) are running far ahead of her in polling, I hope thats a sign that late undecideds will break Democrat, they often do break toward the incumbent.

On the debate, I'm often skeptical that debates shift things. That said I think anyone watching would say that debate is pretty unique in the history of Presidential debates. The media has been working very hard to uh "sane wash" Trump and what he says. That debate was an unfiltered view of Trump. I'm frankly shocked he brought up the pet eating, the right has been meming about it but I thought he'd only say some dogwhistle to it not just straight up say some of the most racist shit imaginable on live TV. The bar for Trump was very low and he still failed totally to meet it. Likewise Harris had a high bar and met it, she was claim, she was professional, she came across as ready and smart while also serving as the audience surrogate to let us all know "yeah this is as crazy as you think it is"

just briefly here the attack on Haitian Americans is crazy, and racist, and the whole "the immigrants are eating dogs" goes back 100+ years, I've read people accusing NYC Jews in the early 1900s of kidnapping and eating neighborhood cats and dogs. But also its politically crazy too since Florida where Trump and Republican Senator Rick Scott have both been slipping in the polls as America's largest ethnic Haitian community, just over 500,000 or roughly 2% of the state, so great plan to call them pet stealing and eating monsters just before an election.

The other factor is the Laura Loomer. If anyone doesn't know who she is click that link and enjoy, but basically she's a white nationalist and Islamophobe (that's according to her) and the person extreme far right Republicans point to as proof that they're not "that bad" any ways, Loomer seems to have been with Trump, on his plane the day of the debate and every day since, and Republicans are wigging out

MTG, and any number of Trump super supporters are sounding off about how much they don't like this, and the internet is "joking" that Trump and Loomer are sleeping together. Together with his unhinged debate being connected with one of the worst people in American politics might cause serious problems. In any case a campaign of just alt-right memes is not gonna win most Americans.

On TSwift, I mean the data I've seen showed a really big jump in people exploring registering to vote after her message which is good. I'm again skeptical about how much of an impact she'll have? celebrities in general don't have that big of an impact, basically 90% of famous people are Democrats/liberal, but their fans don't always go along, don't get me wrong I'm happy she endorsed I just am unsure how big an impact it'll end up having.

So to repeat what I said at the top, we're in the margin of effort, if everyone who doesn't want Trump volunteers and puts in the work Harris will win, so

VOLUNTEER

[bloggingboutburgers]

I need some help.

So, I have this friend who’s Aro/Ace, and we have a very close group of us and like 2 other people. He recently came out to this group, and we’re all super supportive. He actually came out to me before the others, and I helped encourage him to tell them.

I am demisexual, and was planning on telling these same people around that time, but he got there first, and I didn’t want to be a jerk so I waited like a day to tell them, but I’m not sure if I waited long enough. He‘s also being weird about me being demi, and kind of treating me like I’m not really part of the same community, like, just little comments, not malicious or anything, but lots of little things.

I was the one to introduce him to all the fun ace memes, like, garlic bread, and such, and I’m the one who explained the difference between romantic and sexual attraction to him, and I introduced him to qprs, but he still treats me like I’m not the same.

I don’t know if I’m overreacting, but I’m already insecure about being aspec, but not fully ace, so it’s just kinda freaking me out. Should I talk to him about it? Just deal with it? I don’t know. I don’t want to „me too“ his identity, but I don’t want to be erased.

Thanks.

Is that like... Ace gatekeeping of sorts...? Man I'm sorry you're going through this, that sounds awkward.

Sorry I'm replying so late, I hope I'm not too late, but... Yeah, personally I would recommend talking to him about it, to find out why he's doing this. I have no idea what's going on here, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he might have felt your coming out might have undermined his in ways, even though that wasn't your intention at all and now HE's undermining yours...

Coming out is a very personal experience that should be up to a person's choice on when and how it's best to do it, so it's important for him to be able to respect yours like you did your best to respect his.

Being queer, and being on the asexual spectrum, is also very personal and CAN lead one to being defensive after having been othered for so long, not sure why, maybe 'cus we're afraid we might be damaged in the process or reduced to an image we don't wanna be reduced to. I mean... I don't know if it's a universal experience, but for instance, while I'm always happy to meet other aros and aces, I have trouble engaging in aroace-dedicated communities (welp... mostly 'cus I'm afraid of groups) but also and mostly, every time I get recommended a work with aro or ace characters in it, it hardly ever fails to give me a massive nervous stomachache and make me want to put off checking out said work forever, 'cus... I think I'm scared of finding out the many ways my identity can get undermined in the process, ironically.

I'm not sure what causes this. Maybe growing up in a reality that's so hostile to being on the aro and ace spectrums fucked me up. And maybe there's something like that going on for him too, though I don't wanna project at all. I can only ever speak about my own experience.

Either way... Both of you are valid in both of your ways, he shouldn't be gatekeeping anything, indirectly or not, especially when you've been so open to sharing your experience, and yeah, you're not the same, but you're on the same spectrum, and there are part of your struggles that you share, and he should respect that. Just because your experience doesn't 100% align with his doesn't undermine either of you. You're in this together and you should be able to have each others' backs. I sincerely hope you can talk it out and I hope he doesn't get too defensive about it... But yeah, I hope you can get your feelings across to him as well, 'cus you don't deserve this. I sincerely wish you both the best.

[bbygirl-aemond]

I'm late to the party but as a writer your memes about writing Stormbreak are too relatable. What's the most unhinged thing you did whil writing Stormbreak

for some reason esp with some of the high emotion dialogue i really needed to know it'd sound right when spoken out loud. like that it sounded natural. so i not only learned a british accent, but made the bf learn one too so we could rehearse dialogue together.

we did this the most with aemond's breakdown in chapter 17 i think? aemond's voice came easier to me in that scene, so i wrote a draft of what he'd say first. then i made the bf play aemond using the given lines so i could basically freestyle possible rhaenyra responses. we went over it a bajillion times and every time i came up with a line i liked, i wrote it down and we began again. and then once rhaenyra was ironed out i made us switch roles because then i wanted to bounce possible lines for aemond off of rhaenyra's dialogue.

this is my go-to process for writing dialogue, since it's the easiest way to have a consistent emotional tone/arc in your dialogue; you figure out the emotion first, speaking aloud, and then translate that into writing. there are tons of little things, like pauses and emphasis and even how people sometimes fumble words or speak shortly when worked up, that will come more naturally to you when you're acting as the person speaking. i've always done this, but it's been nice to have another person to actually work with. much more fun than talking to myself!

but yeah i've accidentally created a monster bc my bf uses the accent CONSTANTLY. he gets a real kick out of pretending to be british when first meeting people now and has pulled it off twice. he also likes to recite that one tiktok audio of charles and diana from the crown but he voices both parts. it was funny probably like the first 100 times he did it but now i am TIRED of it 🥲

[servin-up-surveys]

survey #229

Where do you see your ex in 5 years? I am not comfortable answering this for any ex. I don't know these people anymore, and people change. I shouldn't be theorizing about their futures.

Does your last ex have a job? I don't know.

Would you be interested in starting your own business? I want to be a freelance photographer, so...

Do you find guys with facial piercings attractive? I tend to find piercings attractive, but this doesn't guarantee that I'm going to be attracted to a pierced man.

Have you ever gone snorkeling or scuba diving? If yes, what’s the coolest thing you’ve seen? No.

What’s your favorite filling in chocolates? More chocolate, peanut butter, or caramel.

What, in your opinion, is the most disgusting part of the human body? I actually hate how genitals look, either kind.

Do you have slim or chubby fingers? Slim. It's about the only slim thing about me.

Have you done anything lately that you instantly felt was a mistake? Uh, maybe? But not of importance large enough for me to actually remember it.

Pencils: mechanical or traditional? Mechanical for sure.

Are you into anyone right now? Tell me about them? Use this space to say something to them. Well, Girt, obviously. I feel like I talk about him enough for readers to have a general gist of him, he's insanely introverted but loyal as FUCK to people he values, and he's the funniest fucking person I've ever met. He's my best friend in the world and I hope he never doubts how much I value him as not just a boyfriend, but friend.

Do you cook and/or bake? What is your specialty? I don't. It's funny though, I recently got into a chef's YouTube channel and also like another, and I like watching their stuff, even though I'm not interested in cooking or baking myself. I WISH I was.

Have you ever felt trapped in a relationship? A friendship, yes. That's how I felt towards the end of Sara's and my friendship. Like, we'd split apart so many times, I didn't wanna fucking do it again. It never went well.

Are you attracted to any nationality more than others? Nope.

Do feet creep you out? They don't creep me out, I just don't like them and think they're gross.

Do you have a sexual fantasy? What is it? yeah I'm not sharing that stuff lmfao

Do you like the band Satyricon? I've never heard this name in my life.

Is it wicked hard for you to sleep when its hot in your room? I CAN'T sleep if I'm hot. I literally have two fans in my room.

What is your favorite thing to do with your best friend? Chatting/being silly together and playing video games.

Are you easily offended? No. Few things actually offend me.

Have you ever acted as tour guide for friends/relatives from out of town? lol no, this place sucks and there's nothing TO show, there's no need.

Do you feel bored with your life? YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am agonizingly bored by my fucking life, I could rant about this for hours, it's unreal how bored I am by the life I exist in.

What's the most weight you've ever gained from a medication? Like, 100 pounds. I wish I was fucking kidding. Thanks, Abilify <3

How old were you the first time you encountered God? The concept of "God" was forced on me from birth (literally, I was baptized), sooooo... I guess you can't truly "encounter" something that you finally understand doesn't exist, though.

Are you married? No.

What was the best date you've ever been on? A double-date to an arcade.

Do you feel free to post how you feel on Facebook? I very rarely post about my personal life because I feel like no one cares and I'm just being annoying. I just share memes n shit.

Which stereotype do you fit the most? Geek and goth at heart, I guess. I don't really dress it though, I'm too lazy and poor for that.

Who were your favorite celebrities as a child? Steve Irwin and Jeff Corwin.

Did you go to prom? I went to two: his senior and my senior.

If you could rewind time ten years, would you? No.

What is the last song you played on repeat? fuckin "Diggy Diggy Hole" by Wind Rose lmfao

Do you own a CD player? Not anymore.

Do you think you could handle a job in the medical field? Why or why not? No. It would depress me, more than anything.

Would you rather edit photos on your phone or computer? Computer. I have Lightroom on both devices, but computer is easier and more precise with the mouse.

What is one electronic device you own that you have not used in a long time? Nintendo DS.

When was the last time you wore a dress or a skirt? Not since a Halloween photoshoot I did with my friend.

What is your favorite thing about Instagram? I dunno, really. I just enjoy it. I do feel like I'm less likely to see shit I don't want to, like dumbfuck right-wing shit I didn't ask for on Facebook.

What is the first thing you think of when you see the rainbow emoji? 🌈? the gays stealing the rainbow from god ✌️

Do you prefer to play chess or checkers? Checkers, idk how to play chess.

If you had to go an entire week without using any technology, what do you think you would spend most of your time doing instead? Reading, sleeping, writing, drawing. I'd be miserable, though.

Would you rather travel to Asia or France? Somewhere in Asia.

Did you have a New Year’s kiss? No, we weren't in each other's presence that night. You'd be hard-pressed to find a night I stay up 'til midnight anyway.

Are there any words that you cannot pronounce or that you pronounce incorrectly? I say "breakfast" funny. I put a "t" after the "k" and I can't fix it.

How much older than you was the oldest person you have dated/had a relationship with? Juan was somewhere around five years older than me, give or take a year. It was problematic though because of my age.

Have you recently accomplished anything that you are proud of yourself for? I am very proud of myself for making the conscious decision to really start changing how I think and treat myself. It hasn't been "meh I'll try," I'm DOING it.

Are you still friends with any of your exes? Do you still communicate with any of them at all? Nope, nope.

What is your opinion on people who shop at Sephora for makeup as opposed to buying makeup from the drugstore? I don't give a shit????????????

Is marijuana legal for “recreational use” where you live? Also what is your opinion on the recent legalization of marijuana in certain states? It is not legal, but my psychiatrist shared that it's looking like NC will make it legal in the foreseeable future (Mom shared we really want to try edibles for me). I wish it was legal everywhere.

Do you live on your own or with your parents/a roommate? Do you think you’d like to live alone? I still live with my mother. I NEVER want to live alone, I would be FUCK-ING miserable. My depression and isolatory behaviors would eat me alive.

How often would you say you use Microsoft Word? Never, I use WordPad. You have to pay for Microsoft Word.

After doing your laundry do you leave it in your basket for a couple days, then put it away? Ugh it can stay in the basket for days upon days upon days.

When you do a puzzle do you find all the edges first? Of course, unless I incidentally find a match of interior pieces.

When you’re in the car and you eat something with a wrapper, do you throw the wrapper out of the window? Do this and I wish you death

List 5 things that have happened in the last 7 days. (They can be anything at all, anything that’s happened involving you, or your family, friends, partner.) 1.) I've been playing the remake of Resident Evil 4 2.) My younger sister got a dog 3.) I went to Girt's house 4.) I finished another book in the Warriors series 5.) I drew!!!!

If you found out your ex had a new partner, would you be upset? There is no ex where I would care if they had a new partner.

Have you ever had sex in someone else’s bed/bedroom? I've done sexual things we shouldn't have done in someone else's bedroom.

Have you ever had sex on your bedroom floor? How about your living room floor? Again, just sexual things. But not since I was a teenager, you could NOT lure my fat and achy ass onto the floor anymore lmfao

When you kiss someone, do you like to play with their hair? I do it, so I suppose yes.

Why did you hug the last person you hugged? The kids were leaving.

Do you regret sleeping with anyone? No.

Did anyone comfort you the last time you cried? What was your reason for crying? My mom, yes. I've just been stressed out and dealing with anxiety issues.

What if you had a baby with the last person you kissed? I’d get an abortion, we can't be doing that.

Is there anyone that likes you, other than the person you love/like/are with? I doubt it.

Who is the 9th contact in your phone? Have you ever hugged/kissed that person? That's my little sister, I've certainly hugged her and maybe kissed her cheek when we were younger.

How did you feel when you woke up today? What was the first thing you thought about? I was annoyed, the kids came in being loud and I hadn't slept very well. Pretty sure I cursed lmao.

Do you still tell your parents that you love them? Of course.

Random fact about the person you love/like? He's back in college for business management-type stuff. I always forget the exact name of his major. He's VERY nearly done, he just had to drop out when his dad died.

[iobartach]

GET TO KNOW YOUR ADMIN !!

name — Nix

pronouns — anything at all tbh, i don't mind!

preferred comms — leaning more towards discord than tumblr; i am just a slow replier / not available at times. so gimme a shout if you ever wanna share discord usernames!

name of muse — miguel o'hara / spider-man 2099

experience in RP — coming up fast on 18ish years this july, i think? 🥴tumblr's been the platform i've used the most, i came over from bebo, the original version, way back in the day, and also gave forum and discord server rps a go, but eh, i just like the format of tumblr more? especially for being able to make themes and stuff.

best experiences — fortunate to have had plenty of 'em! with miguel though, i have to say it's been especially fun? i really missed the whole aspect of meeting new people and crafting plots / crossovers when it comes to RP, as i had slowed down on writing for a while to get my career started. but now, i'm so glad to be back at it , more often!

pet peeves/dealbreakers — ahhh, let's see, i've gotten laid back af the longer i've been writing? the things that i appreciate nowadays are when folks take the time out to read over my guidelines, headcanons, bio (it's so poorly written, i am so sorry) etc, but i'm not gonna be a hardass about telling you to do so, either? like, someone taking the time to read my hcs is cool! going the extra mile and mentioning them in threads / plots? damn, kudos to you, i can't thank you enough! and if someone has any questions? my door's always open, i will ramble at you until the crack of dawn about miguel if you give me the chance 😂 but yeah with all that said, i'm not gonna hassle or bother folks if they don't read my stuff or ask me questions.!

that said, though, i do wanna point out that there are some specific things to my flavour of miguel that i'm trying to be consistent about? which, for anyone who's known me for years shouldn't be surprising to hear. i've been meaning to add them to my pinned post for my own / other's reference, and 100% accept that i don't call or jot them down as often as i should, it's all kinda just sitting in my head! oops!

and well... to that end, i'd also like to tentatively say... please don't automatically make assumptions / presumptions about my take on miguel, either? 🙏 yes, he's arisen from the atsv version, which i acknowledge can attract certain... notions. but, at the same time, please respect that he's not a soundboard or a thirst trap. he's a guy that, in my telling, fucked up, royally and is trying to deal with that, in his own way.

same also goes for no meaning no. both in-character and out-of-character. miguel will be blunt / react accordingly to things he doesn't vibe with (physical touch, dehumanising comments [deliberate or otherwise], etc), especially with strangers / unfamiliar people -- and for myself, i've been in enough rpcs for long enough to not allow myself to be strongarmed into doing certain things. i'd expand more about my previous experiences, but a munday post ain't the place for that, so yeah. i just would be grateful for any acknowledgement of this. all i wanna do is write one spidery guy, in relative peace, at my own pace & leisure. cheers !

muse preference ( fluff, angst, smut ) — i'm a glutton for a bit of everything, but i kinda lean lately more towards action and slice of life. fluff is good, but i try to approach it so that i don't overdo it -- same with angst, i thrive on it, but again, all things in moderation ! and of course, if mutuals ever feel like i'm leaning hard towards a particular genre (which i've a tendency to do!), feel free to pull me back a bit, i won't mind!

plot or memes — memes are the balm for my soul, i stg <3 i love how they can be icebreakers, as well as the perfect thing to spark some muse inspiration after spending the weekdays working. i do love to plot, too, and i've been thinking of doing a lot more of it lately, especially as i grow to learn about another mun's muse, but i'm also a bit of a slow burner when it comes to that, largely because of how much of my week is taken up by work (a blessing and a curse :() . so if you're fine with plots & long form threads progressing over months, absolutelyyy hit me up! 👀

long or short replies — cackling me + short reply is rarer than hen's teeth🤣 i can't do one-liners for the life of me, so you'll always get a small paragraph or two. i love doing long replies, especially if my writing muse is thriving, but never fear about matching reply length or anything! i just ... can't shut up, sometimes, lmao.

best time to write — weekdays are a huge hit or miss 🥴 sometimes, i'm able to write, more times, i'm not. so weekends, when i have the time to chill and relax, not stress about things, is when i find my motivation to write thrives the most

are you like your muse? — in one very specific way maybe; little patience for assholes 🤣 . i'd love to be able to take things on the chin, but eh, stupid stuff can get to me at times. if anything, i feel i'm more like miguel's brother gabriel, and i both love and work in tech rather than in science. worked a two-year stint in a medical corpo and i came out the other side vowing to never again do that. 🥴 i'd also love to be a smartass and have miguel's dry wit, but alas i'm just a funky irish potato.🤣

Tagged: @pzfr

Tagging: anyone who wants to steal this!

[captzexx]

2024: The Back 9

In the immortal words of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

I did this earlier in the year around…February? Yeah I believe it was then giving a general update to how the whole mental/spiritual fall apart was going (I refuse to call it a breakdown).

In two words, not good.

But there's always time to change and it's definitely not me putting an expiration date of myself just identifying that I may in a lot of trouble like I was a few years ago. I believed that losing weight, moving, dream job, and things going 'Milhouse' were going to fix so many things about me. It did not. And it will not.

Gotta keep going though. To many people are counting on me to be here and if I'm gonna be here I need to focus to get myself doing something. Anything.

So here we go with some basics and major updates to me:

Hi, I'm Zach or Capt Zexx or Mogwai Kraken depending on where we might talk. I'm an old man (40) with the aspirations of being something of a pulp adventure writer a 100 years too late. Being a standard millennial man swords, sorcery, metal, and nostalgia are all things I crave and love to follow but need to remember to temper as I'm not young as I was and definitely have a lot more responsibilities than I did when I first started this hobby of roleplaying. Sometimes I feel like the '84 years' meme when I think about how much of my online life has been pretending to be what I always wanted to be.

I'm deep into 'the Game' again. I'm actually playing. I'm itching to try and get with a group for writing/roleplaying. I'm terrified I'm gonna drop the ball and ruin another group of collaborators as I constantly seem to do. I don't mean to, it's just my brain and heart can't seem to hold hands long enough for us to make anything happen despite the lofty goals my brain sets.

We're gonna try though. I say this every time, but I gotta get up and do it again.

I have too.

So I've tried to rebuild/consolidate as I drag out the oldies with some newbies to try my hand in a bunch of different pots and see what sticks. No more closing blogs though, that really messed my brain up with losing stories and such when I got mad a few years ago. They belong in a museum for me to visit and library to be checked out once in awhile.

THE BLOGS The majority of these are all based out of the World of Warcraft. It's been my home for over 25 years, I can't get away as much as I might try. We're too entwined and I'm tired of fighting it, so I'm gonna embrace it and be comfortable in it.

Embers of the Order ( @embersoftheorder ) This is my main focus for protagonists for my writing and roleplaying. Can you guess who it involves? I can never get away from that wonderful Witcher inspired group of monster hunters from Kul Tiras, the Order of Embers. I love Drustvar so much and the head canon group I built up are always in the back of my mind when I listen to music or try to come up with something to write. But with the old faces like Eld or Cheryl, gonna try to bring some side characters to the front like Rachel or Beld or non-Ember members who can help like Ganus or Ramses. We'll see what happens but it's kind of nice having a heroic blog that I can store and play with them all.

An Unending Gaze ( @anunendinggaze ) As there is a light side of my roleplaying/writing there has to be a dark side. I've wanted for years to stretch my legs and limits to play more sinister types with a dark agenda or plans, but I guess I'm always more inherit-ably the good guy than a villain. But it doesn't mean I don't dream of firing the death star, forging the ring, or body hopping realities with an obsession for the Old Ones within the vastness of the Void. And I am leaning hard into that last one with Oplisca, my old cultist antagonist to my oldest character who I'm trying to mold into some kind of overarching monster. But I can't just have her as other characters have had their run-ins with so many villains. Alfred Klaudin the murderous zealot, the Fredman a roaming Drust serial killer, Kinowin the misplaced power hungry cultist, or Daesyd the money hungry architect. I'm working on them all and very willing to build more even those that aren't cultists or maniacs, the idea of a Light blinded soldier or a corrupted figure all come to mind. I need to work on it and would love if someone could help me or guide me with this menagerie.

A Third Blog? I'm tinkering with the idea of starting up a third blog for some more Horde oriented heroes as I find they don't really mesh with the Order of Embers group I have as my protagonist group. I want to roleplay more with the Horde, but I just don't have the experience with it which kind of makes it's exciting. I have Fenrag a wounded former blademaster, Cahall the disgraced Desolace chieftan, Wincott the fresh risen twin, Bronkull a Mag'har pilgrim, and who knows what else will start my fancy. Do you have ideas? Concepts? Guidance? I will take it all as I'm trying to navigate the 'Red side' of Azeroth.

QUIET PLACES A Crow Among Sparrows ( @acrowamongsparrows ) My Witcher OC work, which would be fun to go back into if someone were to poke or want to play around in. Take a peak and let me know what you think.

Conduit Dreams ( @conduitdreams ) Cyberpunk is always been a passion of mine and this was a place to put those neon lit inspirations away until that itch takes me again. Mecha, synths, rain, and dystopia make my heart beat faster.

With An Emerald Eye ( @withanemeraldeye ) Adventures in the pulp fantasy of swords, sorcery, and adventure. I love old Conan stories or Fafhrd and Gray Mouser tales of swords against devilry, I try to put it into my more higher fantasy stuff in Azeroth when I can but I would love to do more with low/weird fantasy stuff. Give me underground cults, jewel thefts, and brave people facing impossible odds. Plus kick ass art.

Sails on a Sea of Fate ( @sailsonaseaoffate ) My quiet retirement home for Zexx Candell and his brood in the astral sea lanes of Spelljammer. I love that setting and it seemed fitting after Shadowlands and the anger I felt when I left Blizzard before to go here with Treasure Planet inspired galleons coasting through the starry cosmos. D&D with Star Wars scope of conflicts, a simple description but I love the idea of it all and would love to touch it again.

Eldridge Candell ( @eldridgecandell ) The original blog for my main Eld Candell, Witch Hunter and Inquisitor of the Order of Embers. He's been transferred mainly over to the Ember of Orders blog, but I'll keep this live as an archive of his old adventures before these days in the War Within. It's a reminder of where I was those years ago and what I want to strive to be again.

THE FUTURE That sums it all up for the back half of 2024, it's not exactly brighter but I'm trying to avoid going darker personally. I want to make this work and get back in the habit of being creative. I need too.

If you wanna play, send me a message here and then we can switch to an alternate platform to collaborate. I'm available on the Discord, In-game, and the shiny new Blue Sky, just let me know where you're comfortable and interested in working.

Anyways, here's Wonderwall.

[swallowtail-ageha]

Now Miquella for the character meme:)

Super late LOL but yesterday i was so exhausted that i had been forced to go to sleep at a normalish hour

Favorite thing about them his in game arc. I was always in the party of "he was a well intentioned person who is gonna go thru a damnation arc" in the dlc and did it deliciously deliver. I am absolutely obsessed with how his crosses imply what he was feeling like during his whole journey in the lands of shadow (ex the i throw away my fears bit)

Least favorite thing about them the promised consort radahn stuff it just makes him BORING i get yadda yadda parallels w marika n godfrey but also. Sometimes parallels arent enough especially when you're retconning established lore

Favorite line "here i abandon my love" its just so aaaagh. Thats the moment where he became doomed! Like. Aaagh. That's his Despair Event Horizon. He threw away what he never should have thrown because he thought it was the only way to make things work

brOTP if seen in a non-incestuous way, with malenia. Otherwise as i've already said wasnt a father figure but he did Care. And miquella cared back with the whole eclypse plan. Recently i really also like the idea of possible messmer and miquella interactions. He'd 100% be disgusted at him as a person but also i feel like he'd leverage his little brother status against him. Fun dynamic heh. Maybe also miquella and leda i dont think he was particularly close to her but also he did take pity on her and tried to Help in his way

OTP malmiq obv for the same reasons listed in the malenia answer i am soo normal about them (lying). Partial to mohgmiq

nOTP i.. surprisingly enough? Don't have them with him? Like yeah promised consort radahn pisses me off fundamentally on a narrative level but the dynamic in a vacuum is interesting and i actually like fanarts of it lol. I think in general he's a character who can bounce off really well with several different dynamics so i am not against any type of ship involving him

Random headcanon he's actually a really skilled gardener! It's a hobby he had since he was a really small child. His favourite plant is foxglove

Unpopular opinion i really really dislike the idea that he charmed mohg before getting coccooned. It just. Really doesnt make sense to me? Timeline and character wise? I also hate when people say that he was evil all along and call him a griffith refefence no. Learn to read something outside of berserk which btw you're also grossly misinterpreting

Song i associate with them Notos by the oh hellos! Something something abandoning all of your important things in order to become Something Greater and then feeling desolated in the aftermath

Favorite picture of them uuuh the statue with him and malenia getting hugged by godwyn. The fact that there are so many of them up in the haligtree is. Sobs

[heirscrchd]

🐭 (but also im an anxious idiot soooooo)

How Intimidating Am I?

Send 🐭 for slightly intimidating

I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU. WO W. IM INTIMIDATING? SLIGHTLY?? /s

okay I'm joking 100%, I totally feel you and because of you being open and honest I'm going to be open and honest back

you fucking terrified me when I first made this blog. I legit was so scared cuz im like "they have connections. they have graphics. they have really cool-looking icons. im a derp who is trying to RP being a good blog PRing azula. how do i make myself look cool enough to follow and interact with???"

because a lot of people i feel are already pre-established with friends and companions but im new here. ive never been in this fandom, i know nothing and im like 15 years late to the party-- I don't want to force myself into places but i also can be really passionate and excited to do stuff!!

especially considering our muses, you having Zuko and Ty Lee both characters that im like more than hyper to write with and bash Azula into with threads so I'm trying not to like jump everyone i see hfjkwehfwk but yeah.

You're not the only anxious one, its literally spider man meme of being anxious of one another i guess?? maybe??? listen my DMs are open, my discord open, if you just want to break the ice by sending me some memes i got a few locked and loaded to share if it helps the anxiety.

i do hope you have a good day tho dude <3 <3 and im glad you weren't so anxious as to send this in too <3 <3 <3 <3

[katzirra]

I sure do be feeling a lot of bad things about my relationship with art these days lmfao, and I really don't know how to fix them and overcome them anymore.

It's like... there's such conflict about like... if you complain about the nature of social media people either are like YEAH!! or there's this weird thing I'm seeing now where people are getting mad at people bringing up the importance of reblogs as like attention seeking begging and shit like?? LIKES ARE NICE, I LOVE LIKES but like reblogs are how people actually SEE your stuff?

A like is like ah nice, scrolls past, a reblog is like MAN I WANNA LOOK AT THIS LATER or like it MEANT something to someone. But people act like that's so wrong artists are bummed out over engagement with shit lmao?? We're just selfish little hogs or something.

Or there's like this long standing thing about artists being bothered they don't know what to draw to get that engagement and people are like "DRAW FOR YOURSELF!!" like bitch, I been doing that because tumblr and twitter fucking drove that nail in lobotomy style - and it's making me sad because I feel like the more I like a piece, the SADDER I am when no one else engages with it or it's like 25 people??

Felix use to get alarming notes at times, now it's like feh, nothing? So, I tried drawing for fandoms I was passionate in - which got me a lot of people I care for, but also a lot of needless drama I hated and didn't ask for and that caused a LOT OF ISSUES when I even TRIED to stay out of it LMAO good LORD.

Even doing the Xig blog lately, I've been like okay I'm gonna stick with it because a WEIRD AMOUNT OF PEOPLE engaged with that poll I posted and I was like okay, that's a substantial amount of people who want that content, and even on the blog itself THAT poll was like OH. OKAY?? Because honestly, I feel like I'm on a weird blocklist or something or people don't like my art in the fandom so it's a weird place to be for me :))!! But I know people send me really sweet messages sometimes or sometimes I get amazingly sweet tag comments or people REALLY like an answer to something and it tickles their brain and that makes me happy but like??

I spend hours on that shit and it barely hits 100 unless it's a meme post usually and I dunno, I feel selfish all the time for being bummed about that. I'll spend days on some of them and be like SO PROUD and then just - the low engagement I'm like man, am I wasting my time? AM I STUPID? AM I TOO OLD TO BE HERE NOW, TRYING TO MAKE SOMEONE HAPPY? IS MY ART BAD? IS IT?? DO I JUST SUCK??? AM I NOT SELF AWARE??

It's weird how I see so many times people like my style or whatever, and like I know people still stick around for it, and I see so many artists post such GRAB BAGS of fandoms and stay strong in engagement and I just always feel like I'm doing something wrong or bad lmao?? Not supposed to talk about your feelings anymore, but also supposed to be engaging and personal on this here hellsite lmao??

I've been doodling shit at work and just feel tired all the time because I don't even want to finish anything anymore. I thumbnail mini comics that are like 5-10 pages of things that I think would be nice to do, I thumbnail out the backgrounds, thumbnail out bigger samples of poses and stuff and feel a little excited about how nice I could make it, and I just... know the energy put into it wouldn't be worth it because it'll be something I finish and am excited to post and no one will care.

Okay not no one, but like who is really gonna put fucking hours and hours of work into something that's gonna fall flat on it's face. I do that enough already! I over the last few years have posted so much stuff I was actually proud of and just felt....stupid for being happy and no one engaging with it. And then feeling more stupid and GUILTY because I'm upset about it?? LMAO LIKE WHAT KIND OF EMOTIONAL GARBAGE IS THAT?? And I'm barely online these days too beyond randomly scrolling shit to see what my friends that I barely feel relevant to talk to are doing in their lives nfjgkh I've lost all personalableness... that's not a word but we keep goin' lmao

It's like boy howdy, this kinda like ennui gets met with the whole ooooh two cakes and ohhhh but it'll be someone's favorite and blah blah - PBBT PBBTTT PBTTTT I GET IT!! But like, I'm sorry, I need more validation that I'm not wasting my fucking time. Because that's kind of all I feel these days is that I'm just wasting my time... which is sad. But ya'know some asshole will also be like "so stop" like thanks, thanks kiddo. That's the kind of shit I need I guess. Just stop. Just give up!

It's like, keep struggling, or just stop. Both options kinda fucking blow. But I've also tried to just stop caring about numbers and engagement - but I've noticed all my friends have slowly stopped posting art too. Busy and tired.

I wanna be excited to post art again, man. I miss when I'd post Marvel shit and actually have hilarious engagement and made friends and had fun conversations.

I miss when I'd post a Xig post and I'd see a tag and end up having a conversation in someone's ask box back and forth because I made some little easter egg or HC they were really into and were curious about more.

I dunno :)) bitching for no reason I guess. Shuts up and draws my stupid little pictures.

I feel like the only reason I keep doing art anymore is because I'm grasping some thread of hoping social media flops over again an engagement booms again LMAO - and also like, I have 3 patrons that ya'know. I'M FUCKING TRYING TO KEEP DESPERATELY LMAO.... Patreon pays for my fucking vet bills at this point and I'm obnoxiously thankful for those people but just fuck idk.

I'm doing everything wrong anymore it feels like but whatever!!

Maybe I just don't try hard enough lmao. Just not meant to be an online artist anymore. After 20 years, I'm still fighting this hard for mild engagement? What kind of fuck up, am I lmao holy shit.

[damien-mlm]

Not so Incorrect Quotes! Brahms x Maeve Edition ✨

Brahms: I'm sorry. Please talk to me.

Maeve:

Brahms: Hello? World's most amazing person?? Sweet pea? Precious cinnamon roll that's too good for this world, too pure?

Maeve: 'Sorry' doesn't bring back my fucking M&Ms.

---

Brahms: .. .----. -- / … --- .-. .-. -.-- (translation: I'M SORRY)

Maeve: What's that?

Brahms: Remorse code.

Maeve: I'm even angrier now.

---

Maeve: *running towards Brahms with open arms*

Brahms: *moves out of the way*

Maeve: Hey, why'd you move?!

Brahms: I thought you were going to attack me.

Maeve: I was going to hug you!

Brahms: Why would you hug me?

Maeve: WHY WOULD I ATTACK YOU!?

---

Brahms: So you're looking for information on this thing, huh? Well, I feel like it must be from far away.

Maeve: What makes you say that?

Brahms: If it's something even I don't know about, then I'm sure nobody else must have a clue. So it's gotta be from some faraway place. Impeccable reasoning, isn't it?

Maeve: Brahms... You don't have a clue about this thing, do you?

Brahms: *screams in anger*

---

Maeve: I never tell people off the bat that I'm trans. I wait. I wait until they say some transphobic shit and then I laugh and am like "you know I'm trans, right?" and watch the look of terror on their face.

Brahms:

Brahms: I like you.

---

Brahms: That was so hot, Maeve.

Maeve: I literally called the person who just flirted with you a degenterate dog and told them I hope they get dragged through the streets.

Brahms: I'm so in love with you.

---

Maeve: *shatters a window and climbs through it*

Maeve: *turns around and helps Brahms through it* Breaking and entering is wrong Brahms.

Brahms: Okay.

---

Maeve: When I get murdered, can you make sure I become an unsolved case?

Brahms: wHat?

Maeve: I want to be on Buzzfeed Unsolved.

Brahms: Can we go back to the part when you said "when I get murdered"?

---

Brahms, near tears: Please, Maeve, I don’t speak meme! I don't know what a 'yeet' is!

---

Maeve: Why aren’t you sleeping?

Brahms: I’m too busy plotting your murder to sleep, Maeve.

Maeve:

Brahms: ...The nightmares.

Maeve: *wrapping their arms around Brahms* Awwww, sweetie-

---

Brahms: Don’t worry, I have a permit.

Maeve: ...This just says “I can do what I want”.

---

Maeve: Ah shit, I forgot.

Brahms: Forgot what?

Maeve: How do you expect me to answer that?

---

Brahms, acting tough: You guys don't want to mess with me.

Maeve: Yeah, Brahms will straight up cry in public. Don't try him.

Brahms: Exactly, I will straight up-

Brahms:

Brahms, tearing up: Maeve, why would you say that?!

---

Brahms: You’re giving me a sticker?

Maeve: Not just a sticker. That is a sticker of a kitty saying “me-wow!”

Brahms: I’m not a preschooler.

Maeve: Fine, I’ll take it back-

Brahms: I earned this, back off!

---

Brahms: How do I tell Maeve that I want her to yell at me like she's Gordon Ramsay and I'm a poor little chef who just ruined a crème brûlée?

---

Brahms: Let’s watch Sharkboy and Lavagirl.

Maeve: Okay.

Brahms: And make out during the scary parts.

Maeve: Th-

Maeve: The scary parts.

Maeve: Of Sharkboy and Lavagirl.

---

Brahms: I like your new pants!

Maeve: Thanks, they were 50% off!

Brahms: I’d like them better if they were 100% off. *winks*

Maeve: The store can’t just give away clothes for free.

Brahms: Thats’s… not what I meant.

Maeve: That’s a terrible way to run a business, Brahms.

---

Brahms, throwing his head into Maeve's lap: Tell me I'm pretty!

Maeve, lovingly stroking his hair: You're pretty fucking annoying, that's what you are.

---

Maeve, on video call with her friends: Sorry I’m late, I was doing things.

Brahms: Hi, I’m ‘things’.

Taglist: @rottent33th @slaasherslut @the-pinstriped-hood @allthingsblood @texaschainsawslvt @angxlslasher @kalid-raven @coppasulfate @ajarofpickledtears @capybar00

[lightningmickqueen]

23 or 34?

why not both ☺️☺️

34 - my least favourite championship battle was 2018. it broke my heart early on as a tifosa but i also just got ridiculously bored and actually stopped watching f1 for awhile. 2021 also genuinely sucked overall because of how hateful it got in online spaces, regardless of who you were supporting.

23 - other than my father nico rosberg, i think that charles leclerc is underrated and before i get laughed at i will explain!! but under the cut i tend to ramble and i've been thinking about this a lot lately i am so sorry in advance u did not ask for this

send me a # from 1-78 and i will give my f1 opinions

to start this is a summation of both online AND offline places because i socialize and work with f1 fans irl.

also i am absolutely 100% bias but literally EVERY winter break for as long as i can remember charles has been the target of SOME debate that shouldn't be one at all. and he is largely viewed as the "loser" in these debates which are essentially talent competitions where the other driver is hyped up and people act like charles leclerc can't drive a car. this winter it's leclerc vs norris, last year leclerc vs sainz, the winter before was leclerc vs (iirc) russell, before that was leclerc vs vettel.

so we must ask WHY it is always charles being shoved into these debates and that is because people think that he is OVERrated and undeserving of the hype he's got. but he actually IS fully deserving, and because people think he is overrated and undeserving of hype, he is actually underrated.

he's so close in age to max, has known him for long enough, and has been in the ferrari seat for long enough that people want to comapre him to max. that's understandable, but charles isn't max. everyone seems to forget that he's been on the grid 3 full fewer seasons than max and he's only had a properly functioning team for ONE of them, maybe one and a half if you pick and choose certain moments from 2019 too.

it's all well and good to call ferrari a joke and a clownshow, especially for last season, but to acknowledge its relevance ONLY when discussing shitshows as a whole and when discussing carlos but not when discussing charles is strawpicking and fully negates and erases the fact that charles fully is becoming that guy and could be that guy when he has a team willing and able to back him up.

the questions asked to charles and carlos mid-race are not just a meme they are things that actually happened and they should NOT have happened. imagine how YOU would feel if asked to do mental gymnastics about tyre strategy at 350 kmh when you also have no way of knowing what the lap times and tyre performance are overall?

there is a reason it's funny and that is because NONE of the other teams expected this from their drivers. it is not fair to not take this into account when discussing the driving skills and talent of charles (and carlos).

also a SMALL anecdote i love is that, on multiple occasions in the last couple years, charles has asked for max's lap times even when he wasn't anywhere near him because he knew that he could do the same times or close, rather than the times that others closer to him are doing. max has literally done the same. they're playing 5d chess but ferrari (and a lot of fans dfkm) are playing 2d chess. and that's at the same time that max has a team able to back him and support him when he makes a mistake, which he does because he's a fucking person, and so we don't even remember it happening later on.

anyway. charles has had ONE fighting chance for a championship and his team took it from him before he could even start fighting. did he fuck it in imola? yeah, but he rallied as best he could. did he fuck it in france? yeah but that's ONE mistake in a season where his team was out to get him and where it was already becoming obvious he wasn't going to win. the gravediggers started digging in spain and were just waiting for everyone to notice.

overall charles did really good considering it was his first season fighting for a championship and i think if he'd had a team supporting it he wouldn't have "cracked" under pressure so much. i'm still not convinced he even did "crack" though since he was fighting for p2 until literally the last lap of abu dhabi.

and yet there is STILL this massive debate going on about whether or not he's talented enough for his seat at all. i have had this conversation with coworkers who have watched f1 for years and who seem to genuinely believe it for whatever reason. i don't know if it's because he's getting blamed for the team or because the team is pimping him out instead of focusing on his skills and wins or because his "mindset" isn't as murderous as some people want it to be, but his talent and skills as a driver have become genuinely underrated. the end

[void-tiger]

Sorry this is late but you are so right in the tags (the memes for post se8 au one)!!! Like Kuron didnt deserve any of that shit both in canon and story wise. Like there is doomed by the narrative and then there is whatever this was, like freaking Haxus was given a moment of silence and Allura reminding Zarkon of his shit was treated as more morally wrong then this. And just half the reason i have this au is because i want Jiro to be angry about this like he deserves. Like he did nothing wrong but my good he should have, he deserves to bite people. He 100% deserve to be angry at Shiro and Allura (and Keith. Keith was the one most assertive that he was Shiro, Keith was the one that basically got him killed. Jiro is taping up Keith and Haggars and a bunch of other people's pictures on a dartboard and throws darts at it as stress relief as we speak)

Ohh I am SO angry at Keith.

“The Black Lion Roared! It claims Keith as BP!”

NO, fools. The Black Lion wants to save the damn clone who quite literally threw his bayard away—at Allura; if anyone was “next in line” it should’ve been her. We all know it. Mir practically animated it that way in addition to him wiping the floor with them but nobody actually got hurt. HELL even while possessed he gave them TIME to Get The Fuck OUT. And Allura had to blow up her castle to fix Lotor’s Major Fuckup, anyway. He could’ve easily crippled the paladins or Voltron by killing them Right Then or taking the bayard or Black Lion with him.

He didn’t. He’s literally playing 3D chess in a split second—while possessed—and he largely goes unsung, anyway.

He keeps the showdown against Keith largely in Keith’s Favor and deliberately missing shots and destroying the cloning facility (rip to the clones. They are innocents in this too.) and. Keith still nearly gets himself killed, anyway.

Black Lion’s the one to save Jiro when he’s finally close enough in-range for the Lion to sense him—despite them not having a true Lion-Paladin bond.

Black Lion saves Shiro (and Green Lion saves Pidge) VERY early on.

Black Lion saves Shiro again—while being the most damaged by that S1 Fight against Zarkon and Haggar—by teaming up with Keith very briefly (then has to go offline again; they need a Castle Pickup.)

Black Lion saves Shiro by uploading him—you mean to tell me a Teleporting Lion who clearly adores THIS Paladin and does not come back online until Every Single Character (save Coran) tries bonding with it would just Lose his body like that? NAH. That’s NOT how the scifi tropes for transporters or transporter delays/accidents even work.

As horrific as it is, if the issue was really Shiro needing a body verses Black Lion wanting to save a clone trying so hard and loving so much, too, um. [gestures at It’s Raining Men errr Shiro Clones.] Black Lion had options. I am not a fan of this particular fanon fix. Those clones deserve a chance to live, too. BUT it does point out the even more obvious flaw in what actually happened canonically.

Buuuuuut, Monsantos didn’t care about that. They just wanted their Officially Bastardized Version Of Keith to be their grimdark edgelord BP self insert. (Oh, and make Allura their Narrative Tool to do it.)

-

…soooo…yeah. Jiro deserves to be fucking pissed at Allura, Shiro, the paladins, and especially Keith.

Shiro has every right to be upset with Jiro. (Misdirected, sure. But, imo he’s allowed to be imperfect without getting villainized for it, y’know? Trauma and processing trauma and healing isn’t tidy whatsoever.)

(And Allura should NEVER have been used by the writers for what happened. Or framed as “just as bad as the galra! Teehee!!” in s8, apparently—I staunchly refuse to watch it.)

[bereft-of-frogs]

Favorite Books of 2022:

Okay here's the positivity, I've split my list into New vs Rereads.

New:

Nona the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir - not over it, obvious answer, what more is there to say?

In the Dream House, by Carmen Maria Machado - really clever and creative memoir, I'm currently rereading Her Body and Other Parties because I just love Machado's writing so much.

This Is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone - fun fact I originally read this because I'd gotten it for my friend as a late Christmas present last year but then read it before giving it to her, so it was the only one of my top 5 that I didn't own. Until this Christmas when I got it from my brother who, and I quote, 'googled what you should read if you like that lesbian space necromancer series' which is also 100% how I picked it out for my friend and also 100% true.

The Secret History, by Donna Tartt - the seminal dark academia text, I read 300 pages in a single day and I am already planning on going as Murdered Vermont Farmer using things already found in my closet for next Halloween.

The Fifth Season, by NK Jemisin - oh my god this was so good. Both an excellent example of how good second person narration can be and how satisfying good plot twists can be. I 'guessed' this one early and was so gratified as it developed.

Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - what an unexpected delight for a book I essentially read because of BookTok drama. In case you'd already forgotten, the routine Classics vs YA drama took an unexpected turn in January when the first shot about how the booktok girlies should read Crime and Punishment was parried with 'um Crime and Punishment is a YA novel actually', and lead to 1) at least one Booktokker trying to read it and gifting us with their angry annotations like 'omg why is this book so bleak and depressing' (it's Russian Lit, there are so many memes about this) and 'um is this book really about him murdering an old lady' (yes that's the plot that's on the cover what did you think the 'crime' was), 2) a solid year of jokes, 3) me reading it sincerely and really enjoying it. So thanks booktok!

Ok, now onto the Rereads:

1. & 2. Gideon and Harrow - yup I read these both twice this year, still faves, still cry every time, not over them either.

3. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman - always a favorite.

4. Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel - This one for sure hit different after COVID, but is still so, so good.

5. Lord of the Rings - I really like my new 3 in 1 copy, it’s so pretty and drives home that these are really one extended story spread across 6 volumes rather than a true trilogy, so yeah I recommend a 3-in-1 edition if you are in the market for LotR books. It does make it rather heavy to carry around, but at least it’s paperback and I found this one wasn’t too hard to physically read.

Honorable Mentions: Dracula (Dracula Daily was THE MOST fun I had all year), The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (takes place in the What We Do In the Shadows Universe you cannot take that headcanon away from me, Dracula is the #Drama, no notes, a worthy successor), The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones (excellent), The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (the amount of hate this book gets on Tiktok is unnecessary and kind of toxic, imo), Revenge of the Sith novelization by Matthew Stover (Stover, why are you Like This? Why?)

If anyone has StoryGraph and would like to follow me/be friends, I’m on there under bereft_of_frogs, so please feel free to friend me!

The #Salt (aka my bottom 5 books of 2022 and a little mini rant on each) under the cut:

2. Rule of Wolves, by Leigh Bardugo - Another really disappointing sequel that made me wish I’d stayed a Six of Crows duology-only girlie. Though I did really like King of Scars, specifically for the continuation of Nina becoming a necromancer and infiltrating Fjerda. That part really fell apart in this book. A lot of things fell apart. It honestly felt sort of like Bardugo just wanted to be finished with this universe? Because a lot of things were resolved in really weird ways and really quickly. It also felt like it lost some of the interesting nuance in the worldbuilding that SoC had. And of course, she really showed off how bad she is at portraying the passage of time in her writing with this one. I was given the impression by King of Scars that it was taking place months at most after the events of Crooked Kingdom, and then out of nowhere it’s actually been 2 years so Nina can totally move on! But it still never felt like it had been 2 years and I feel like the end of the grief narrative was really abrupt and I just…couldn’t get into the romance because of how rushed that resolution was. I hope she’s done with this universe, aside from whatever extra writing/retconning goes on with the TV series - or at least, I’m done with this universe aside from the TV series. In future rereads, I’ll likely stick to my unofficial trilogy of Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom/King of Scars.

2. Rule of Wolves, by Leigh Bardugo - Another really disappointing sequel that made me wish I’d stayed a Six of Crows duology-only girlie. Though I did really like King of Scars, specifically for the continuation of Nina becoming a necromancer and infiltrating Fjerda. That part really fell apart in this book. A lot of things fell apart. It honestly felt sort of like Bardugo just wanted to be finished with this universe? Because a lot of things were resolved in really weird ways and really quickly. It also felt like it lost some of the interesting nuance in the worldbuilding that SoC had. And of course, she really showed off how bad she is at portraying the passage of time in her writing with this one. I was given the impression by King of Scars that it was taking place months at most after the events of Crooked Kingdom, and then out of nowhere it’s actually been 2 years so Nina can totally move on! But it still never felt like it had been 2 years and I feel like the end of the grief narrative was really abrupt and I just…couldn’t get into the romance because of how rushed that resolution was. I hope she’s done with this universe, aside from whatever extra writing/retconning goes on with the TV series - or at least, I’m done with this universe aside from the TV series. In future rereads, I’ll likely stick to my unofficial trilogy of Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom/King of Scars.

3. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, by VE Schwab - This book is SO HYPED and for WHAT? I’m a big fan of lyrical, plotless writing, but that means actually having lyrical writing and no plot. This book just decided to do all the plot in the last 30 pages. So it was like 70% meandering, 30% rushed weird romance plot? And I’m sorry, I will NEVER be over the ‘not like other girls’ feminism of the main character. You cannot convince me that she would not have been in favor of the French Revolution. She’s an anti-clerical feminist but as soon as the Revolution happens it’s like ‘ew those peasant women are too violent, fuck all of them, I’m getting out of here.’ It’s a prime example of the hollow historical feminist archetype that is luckily starting to get some critique, where the main character fits perfectly with modern ideas of feminism, without the author actually having to put that much thought into their actual principles and how that fits into the historical context.

4. Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, by Eric LaRocca - This one was just bad. Read like a first draft. Went nowhere, said nothing.

5. Nothing But Blackened Teeth, by Cassandra Khaw - I almost put this together with the above, because I think they had similar problems. Really under-developed, but at least this one had good writing. It was beautifully written, it just…went nowhere. The characters and their relationships were really surface level, and the intriguing premise just…never really went anywhere. Both I think get more hype than warranted because they’re rather short and they have striking covers. Both I compared to short films that a young/student horror director would send around to short film circuits or use as film school theses while they were working on developing and funding the feature-length project, but unfortunately that’s just not how book publishing works so we’re not going to get to see the fully developed works.

Dishonorable Mentions: Dead Space by Kali Wallace (just finished it, the flattest characters I think I’ve ever encountered in fiction), If We Were Villains by ML Rio (I had this rated higher and then I actually read The Secret History and was like…oh my God, this is so much worse, what a poor imitation), Winter’s Orbit (I feel real bad about this one but…maybe I just don’t like romance, but I could not stand how 50% of the book was just miscommunication), Lost Stars by Claudia Gray (still got 3 stars, but I think this one is just overhyped. If you want to know what reading this book is like, just watch the original trilogy, pause at any major plot point, watch the ‘are we the baddies?’ Sketch and then continue on), What Moves the Dead by T Kingfisher (I also gave this one 3 stars, and I think it’s…really not that bad but I can’t stop thinking about the hubris of saying that you’re going to write a more fully fleshed out version of The Fall of the House of Usher and then add on a whole sub genre, 4 extra characters, another whole plot, and barely make it any longer)

[dutyworn]

SHIPPING INFO // ANSWER THE FOLLOWING FOR YOUR MUSE(S) SO PEOPLE KNOW HOW SHIPPING WORKS ON YOUR BLOG.

WHAT IS YOUR OTP FOR YOUR CHARACTER(S)? I am such a multishipper with Shepard in general (any vague fanon femshep since I engage in fanfiction as well), and I'm the same way with Wren on this blog! No OTP, but probably because the first time I ever played Wren, also the first time I played Mass Effect, I had her romance Garrus despite having planned to keep going for Liara after the first game... since Shepard/Garrus just happened, if I was held at gunpoint to name one, then yeah, probably Shepard/Garrus. It's funny because most of my ships that I ship actively enough to seek fanfic of are not wholesome (like... literally one of my favourite ships ever is Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham), and Shepard and Garrus are so wholesome in canon. That "there's no Shepard without Vakarian" is a canon dialogue without romancing Garrus says it all, about how they are best friends first. I don't (obviously) push for ships or assume ships, and Wren's default romance for this blog is no romance (so that she's open for shipping with anybody; I sometimes pair her up with whoever as an NPC if me and the other mun plot so but default is no romance), and I truly up to testing the waters of pretty much all ships. But yeah if I had to name one.

HOW LARGE DOES THE AGE GAP HAVE TO BE TO MAKE IT UNCOMFORTABLE? As long as all muses are 18+, no age gap makes me uncomfortable. Like I come from fandoms where one of the most popular ships is between a 19-year-old and a 900-year-old, and I ship it as well, so. I write so many non-human immortal or near-immortal muses too so it's like... I'm used to age gaps of literally billions of years. In general, I'm less likely to ship something where the younger muse is below 25, the older above mid-twenties, and there is a large age gap. Not because I'm uncomfortable but because chemistry doesn't often happen like that? As long as there's chemistry and the muses are both 18+ (and the older muse hasn't consistently known the younger one since childhood), it can happen, with my muses. With Wren, she's around 30 in her main verses (listen age is hard when you die for years), so as for muses younger than her, I don't see her super easily going for muses younger than 25 (but like I said, it depends on chemistry: for example, I've shipped her with Tali, and Tali's younger than that; I've shipped her with Liara and Liara's relative age is up to anybody's interpretation when she's a bit over 100 but in Asari terms considered really, really young). For muses older than her? I don't think you really feel it when a person is older/younger when you're past your mid-twenties, so there's no limit whatsoever.

HOW FAR DO STEAMY MOMENTS HAVE TO GO BEFORE THEY ARE CONSIDERED NSFW? I don't know, I'm shit at deciding when to consider it that and begin to use a readmore. If genitals are being described??? I tag for lemons cw rather too early than too late, I start using readmores with descriptions of private body parts but also with heavy kink I guess, even non-sexual kink.

ARE YOU SELECTIVE WHEN SHIPPING? I mean yes in the sense that I won't force myself to ship something that the muse isn't feeling. No in the sense that I am very happy to try ships; work towards a ship, be sent flirty memes without being asked, etc.

WHO ARE OTHER CHARACTERS YOU SHIP YOUR CHARACTER WITH? Pretty much every canon romance option, including ones only available with same gender romance mods? Obviously respecting other muns interpretations of their muses sexual orientations and preferences. I can't think of a canon romance option I don't ship at least right now. I also ship many canon character ships that aren't shippable in the trilogy, such as Shepard/Joker, Shepard/Nihlus... And I'm always, always happy to entertain crossover and OC ships.

DOES ONE HAVE TO ASK TO SHIP WITH YOU? No, you can send in shippy memes as long as they're interactions suitable for not assuming an existing relationship between muses. Like if your muse wants to flirt with Wren or do something sexual/romantic? Go for it, send the thing, you don't need to ask me; if she'd point-blank react badly, I'd just not respond to the meme, unless you specified it was fine to write out her reacting badly to it. No harm done. I guess in theory, starting from something like that, we could entirely wing a romance, but... I would much prefer to talk about it ooc at that point? Like if we want to go further than have the muses flirt/show interest, it works better if we discuss it a little at least! And no, you can't assume an unplotted, pre-existing ship between our muses; that's difficult to write without ooc communication. So you can flirt and show interest without asking, with her, but you can't assume how she feels about your muse.

ARE YOU SHIP OBSESSED OR SHIP MORE-OR-LESS? I don't know what this means. I love to ship, yes, but I don't like to use the word "obsessed" in a positive context because I have OCD. (I don't mind when other people use it that way though, at all.) I also feel like there's this vibe of needing to disclaimer you like platonic dynamics as much, and even this vibe of superiority to preferring platonic interactions sometimes, in the RPC? Not with any of my mutuals and not with any individual anyway, but more like a collective thing where preferring romance/smut is seen as inferior. Or I might be imagining things, I'm not socially that skilled. I love to ship, I like to write romance, I like to write smut. I also love to write friendships, familial relationships, enemies... etc. I don't love one more than the other; how much I love a particular muse dynamic depends on how much we write it and talk about it ooc, rather than the flavour of it being a ship or not.

ARE YOU MULTISHIP? Yes, in every sense of the word. I will never do exclusives, or exclusive ships, I don't even list mains. Every depiction of a canon character is unique and I don't wish to limit myself to shipping (or interacting) with just one version of a character. You cannot replicate muse dynamics even if you literally start with the same trope with two versions of a canon character, let alone using different storylines for duplicates. If I like a trope I will repeatedly engage with it; never so far has it turned out repetitive in storytelling or felt the same than writing it with another person. I will also multiship with the same muse. Our muses have an established ship? Let's make an AU for them and ship them in that AU as well...

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE SHIP IN YOUR CURRENT FANDOM? I'm not going to name favourites. I don't like to try to place muns or muses in order. Obviously there are ships I've written more, plotted further, feel closer to. But I see no point in naming names. All ships have the potential of becoming favourites and I don't see why I can't have more than one favourite as well.

FINALLY, HOW DOES ONE SHIP WITH YOU? Message me with "hey, want to ship our muses?" or send Shepard a flirty/shippy meme. I try, but I am so shy about suggesting/initiating ships myself, so... unless we're close ooc, the ship idea probably has to be brought up by the other person unless I get over myself enough to suggest it (I TRY). If we haven't interacted much yet, my response most likely will be "oh I would love to see if it happens". It can be hard to gauge muse chemistry without writing them or at least without tossing around ideas ooc for a bit. If I really don't think I will want to ship it, I will clearly tell you that I'm not interested/I don't see them as a ship. So me leaving an opening for a ship isn't a nice way of turning you down. It's a "yes, I just can't definitively say before we plot it a bit". When I mean no, I will say no. When I mean yes, I will say yes. When I mean I don't think so, I say I don't think so. Etc. And if it is a no, I won't in any manner feel weird about it. You are not forceshipping by sending a meme or asking if I want to ship.

[daisyvisions]

I am doing better now!! Thankyou!! 💜 I'm sorry for disappearing so suddenly. 😭

Just a lot happened all at once so I genuinely just didn't touch social media in general for a long while 😭 Also I had to go to China suddenly for a bit and didn't get my VPN set up beforehand due to frantic circumstances, so while there was a brief period of time where things calmed down enough for me to have checked in, Tumblr et al. were blocked. 😔 I am very smart and remember important things always. I promise. 👍

On the bright side, though, my jobs are going well; I passed my exams for last semester; and also the cute boy from work that I mentioned ages ago and I are in a situationship now sort of? 👉👈 So things are looking up!! 😁

And awh :( 💜 I hope you're doing better or getting better at least? Remember to get sunlight and fresh air, drink enough water, don't skip meals, and rest lots!! Take breaks and sleep!! Your health comes before us or your blog (or work, but sometimes that can be difficult to manage 😭).

Also!! Congrats on 1k!! 🍾🎉 You deserve it 100% and I am very proud! 💜

Here is a parting gift for today:

yay im so happy for you with your job and exam congrats! hehe aww it feels like forever since the time you just started that job and look at you now! AND THE GUY YES I REMEMBER AAAAAH I LOVE THE PROGRESS 💕 wishing you two nothing but happiness!

I'm trying my best to focus on myself lately I had a mini melt down the other month esp with the workload ive been getting but im a believer that it's a test from the universe on my character so happy to report that I guess im handling the stress a bit better than before yeah! havent been focusing on my health but no worries im doing that now hehe

and thank you! definitely gonna think about something special for this blog for reaching the milestone hehe

omg that meme I love it hahaha (not me wishing for sunwoo to reenact the meme too ksjdfnsdjnkf)