#i've planned on translating more of the stories but it got a lot harder than i expected. a few of them are horribly graphic.

[clarabosswald]

the silent victims of october 7th

naturally, the human tragedies of the october 7th massacres are the most well known thing about that day. but most people haven't heard of the other victims, those who can't speak for themselves: the pets. dozens of animals - dogs, cats, even birds - fell victim in the attacks on the gaza envelope. many died alongside their human families.

the stories of about 60 dogs have been documented, but the true number of animal victims on that day is estimated as much higher. this is an interactive map of all known victims, and this is a spreadsheet detailing each case. additional sources used for this post (all in hebrew): 1, 2, 3, 4

seeing as the data is all in hebrew, i'll translate a few of the notable cases here.

name: murph | age: about two months | owners: arbel yehud and ariel cunio

murph, adopted exactly a week before 7/10, was named after the character from arbel's favorite movie, interstellar. when the attack broke, the couple hid in their shelter room with the puppy. arbel and ariel where kidnapped, while little murph was shot to death by the terrorists. as of the writing of this post, arbel and ariel and both still held hostage in the gaza strip.

name: tonto/tony | age: ~12 | owners: the bibas family

yarden bibas found tonto near a bus station in, as a small stray puppy. tonto wouldn't leave yarden's side, and they became inseparable. yarden later met shiri, and when he proposed to her, they joked that tonto had officially become her "son". on their wedding day, tonto got his own tux. on 7/10, tonto initially hid in shelter with yarden, shiri, and their two toddlers, ariel and kfir. eventually, when yarden decided to go outside and try and prevent the terrorists from reaching his family, tonto went with him - refusing to leave his side, as always. tonto was shot to death in the living room. yarden was kidnapped. later, when the terrorists broke into the bibas home, they kidnapped shiri, ariel and kfir as well. tonto's body was discovered a week later. as of the writing of this post, yarden, shiri, ariel and kfir, are still held hostage in the gaza strip.

name: habibi | age: 7 | owners: the zohar family

habibi's original owner was roee edan - a photojournalist, who was murdered on 7/10 alongside his wife smadar (their 3 year old daughter, abigail, was kidnapped and later returned in a swap deal; their two older children hid in a closet and survived). roee rehomed habibi and gave him to a fellow photojournalist, yaniv zohar, and his family - wife yasmin, daughters keshet and t'chelet, and son ariel. keshet, who loved animals, bonded with habibi the most.

on the morning of 7/10, 13 year old ariel went out for a run, while the rest of the family was at home. when the attack broke, they hid in their shelter with habibi, while ariel managed to find shelter in another house. everyone in the zohar house was murdered. habibi wasn't found at first, and initially there was hope he might have lived, but his body was eventually found alongside the rest of the family. ariel was the sole survivor.

name: sokka | age: 1 | owners: the zak family

sokka was adopted mere months before 7/10, and was particularly bonded with the father, etay, who drove halfway across the country to bring him home. on the morning of 7/10, etay was at home with wife etty and son sagi (14), while their older children tomer and hadar were away. the four were murdered via gunshots in their shelter room. sokka was found by etay's side. sokka's body was eventually taken, but its whereabouts are currently unknown. he might've been buried in a mass grave alongside other dogs from kibbutz sufa who died in the attack.

name: bonita | age: 8 | owners: the cohen family

a retired bomb detection dog, bonita was deeply beloved by her family, who described her as "a bundle of sweetness and without an ounce of evil in her body". on 7/10, the cohen family wasn't at home, but bonita was. in what became one of the best known videos from that day, bodycam footage from one of the terrorists revealed that as he approached the cohen house, bonita - who somehow managed to get outside - came to greet him, tail wagging happily. the man shot her to death on the spot. "it seemed that even after the first shot, she was still approaching him, hoping for pets", her family said. the cohen family have three small children - ages 4, 6, and 7. when the middle child celebrated his birthday in september, his birthday wish was for bonita to come back. after killing bonita, the terrorist skipped the nearby house, where the cohen family's neighbors where hiding, doors unlocked. they believe that in her death, bonita saved their lives.

honorary mention: bella, mia leimberg's dog. when 17 year old mia was kidnapped from her home, she hid her dog bella under her pyjamas. at first, bella's fate was unknown, with mia's family believing she ran away during the chaos - until, when mia was released in the hostages swap in late 2023, bella was right there with her. turned out the kidnappers thought bella was a doll; later, mia fought to let them keep her while in captivity. she took great care to keep bella quiet so she won't be viewed as a pest by her captors, cleaned after her, and shared the little food she got with her. bella, mia, her mother gabriella, and her aunt clara, were held hostage for 53 days. her uncle, fernando, and clara's partner, louis, were rescued in a military operation after 129 days in captivity.

[wall-maria-around-ba-sing-se]

Things you learn by reading the Xenoblade X pre-story short stories that were never officially translated:

The gravity on Mira is 0.94 that of Earth

The Planet Mira was named after a woman from Earth named Mira Torrez. I think it's possible to learn this in-game but I've never seen it personally

The literal first thing you learn about Mira Torrez is that she was Protestant. Which I'm sure she could be but, statistically speaking, with that last name she probably wasn't lmao

Mira was considered the "emotional backbone" on the Earthlife Colonization Project and helped bridge the communication gap between regular citizens and the more military/governmental sides of the project. She was simultaneously a clergywoman, an educator, and a scientist. Without her, many normal people perceived the project as too concerned with preserving national interests rather than life on Earth. Mira was focused on steering the plan to be "free of racial, national or religious motives"

Mira chose to stay behind on Earth as it was attacked seemingly to help board people until the last second 🫡

Most of the people in current-NLA worked in heavily-fortified sectors of the ship like the Habitat Unit and the bridge. Meanwhile, the escape pods (like the one the player is found in) were for crew members who worked in less fortified sections of the ship

The Ghosts are called such not because we don't know anything about them, or because they disappeared suddenly, but because they phased through the hull of the ship when attacking

Tatsu got captured trying to get his shut-in friend to go outside and Touch Grass. He also got captured by the Prone RIGHT as the White Whale was crashing onto Mira.

While being dragged back to the Prone camp, Tatsu wished on the White Whale like a shooting star which, to me, felt very much like:

The Nopon did not know they lived on a planet until these weirdo aliens showed up and told them they live on a big ball in space

Nagi is the one who decided that Tyrants are called Tyrants

Nagi's the one who named it New Los Angeles/NLA

Nagi is the one who got rid of the ranks (recall in the beginning of the game, Irina is used to calling Elma "colonel" but Elma corrects her saying they're all the same rank now) mostly because he didn't actually want to be the chief defense minister lamo

Nagi ended up being defense minister anyways because Vandam called him a chicken about it

It was already obvious based on his in-game dialogue and battle lines, but the short stories really drive home that Nagi really really would rather be in the field commanding a small squad than be stuck at a desk doing paperwork

He tried to get Vandam to take the job but when that fails he ends up making it so Vandam has to be head of BLADE

Before the reorganization, Elma outranked Vandam

Nagi is the one who named it BLADE, seemingly based on something Elma had said a long time ago

Nagi is constantly going "man.... if only Elma was here" and I think it's so cute. They're besties your honor.

Maurice was the only "passenger" awake on the White Whale while it was in space. Everyone else was crew.

Maurice was supposed to be loaded into the lifehold alongside the president (unclear if Of The US or of some other organization) but the alien attack started and the president and the other aides fucking died(?). He woke up on the ship alone and he was depressed with survivors guilt for a few weeks until he resolved to start building connections with people, which ended up getting him a lot of ears up the chain of command

Maurice ended up running the government because everyone else thought it was a boring job

Nagi muted Maurice's comm device because he was sick of his nagging lmao. This made it harder to find him after the crash though, unfortunately

Maurice looks up to Mira Torrez and wants to "carry on her ideals"

Maurice was the one who suggested the planet be named after Mira

Lin saves Maurice's life by using herself as bait to lure a Tyrant away from him with flares

While all of the characters agree it is an unfortunate necessity that they have to fight the indigens, Lao seems to be the most against fighting native fauna, rolling his eyes and scoffing at retroactive justifications like "sorry, but it was me or you"

Nagi notes that Lao used to be more cheerful "before all this". I did not know that Nagi knew Lao before the destruction of Earth

Elma does not make an appearance until the end of the final short story. Unsurprisingly, Irina is the happiest about Elma resurfacing and is described as "clinging" onto Elma "with tears in her eyes" (👈 👀 🏳️‍🌈❓) while Elma explains where she's been this whole time (fixing her Skell after the crash so she could meet up with the others)

[decembercamiecherries]

20 questions for fic writers

No one tagged me to do this lol but I saw it on someone else's blog and thought it was really cool! And I'm trying to get better at being proud of my writing so here I am doing it!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

125

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

1,205,862......wow that is a lot more than I expected

3. What fandoms do you write for?

It's mostly hxh, but this year and last I've been dabbling in other fandoms like MDZS and Hazbin Hotel

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Words That Water Flowers - HxH, killugon, hanahaki au

Running Start - HxH, killugon, high school soulmate au

Sleepover x At x Wing's - HxH, killugon, post-canon au

Match Point - HxH, killugon, high school au

Make x It x Everlasting - HxH, killugon canon & post-canon au

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to but I have a hard time staying on top of them so I mostly just respond to comments on fics I've recently posted haha ^^; but I love comments it always makes my day to receive one!

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

For HxH, it's probably: The Soulmate Phenomenon - modern soulmate au in which Killua rejects Gon being his soulmate Time x Bomb - canon au in which Killua is taken by Pitou instead of Kite For non HxH, I would say Statues which is a she-ra fic in which Adora dies and Catra ends up living at Bright Moon with her grief.

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

Oh gosh the happiest??? I write a lot of happy endings but purely happy fics are a little harder to come by so I'm just going to focus on HxH fics: After x Glow - post canon aged up au of Gon and Killua cuddling nothing else but you - modern au in which upcoming musician Gon visits his long distance boyfriend Killua during the holidays Shotgun Lovers - modern au in which Gon proposes to Killua after a month of dating

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not often but there's been a few comments here and there about elements in my fics that some people didn't like. A lot of people were unhappy with Time x Bomb so that's probably the one I've gotten the most hate for.

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

Lol yeah I have but only with friends as an rp sort of thing and that was yearsssssss ago.

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

I don't write a lot of crossovers but I think my daemon au series is the closest I've got? It's basically just HxH but with daemons from the His Dark Materials series.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of and I hope I never will!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! I've had a couple of very nice people reach out to me, I'm honored that people liked my fics enough to want to translate some of them.

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

Only in an rp sense

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Killugon, obviously haha XDDDD the only other ships I would consider to be my otps are usuk (Hetalia) and gamkar (Homestuck)

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

The Wild Card and Gold Stained Blue TTT^TTT The Wild Card is a hetalia cardverse au that was my first attempt at a multichapter fic and I just don't have the energy to continue it any more. I'm planning to post a final summary of the ending so at least it will have some closure for readers. Gold Stained Blue is a killugon musician au written out in like bullet point form across three different google docs because it's so ridiculously long. I never got to post any of it because I was too tired after typing all the bullets out so rip. Maybe one day I will post the rough draft just for fun lol.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm really good with dialogue and also one shots. I love writing requests too because I get to create a whole story that has to be told in just a few paragraphs.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I'm not too great with worldbuilding or coming up with non-prompt ideas. I always feel like my more original stuff doesn't make sense and it's too exhausting to flesh out.

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

I think it's cool but I wouldn't do it again for a fic of my own because I can only speak english and I do not want to butcher another language haha

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Maybe....sharkboy and lavagirl??? I loved that movie a ridiculous amount haha. But the first fandom I posted anything for online was Hetalia.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

This is so impossible to answer aaahhhhhh! I have a soft spot for all my long multichapter fics (Words That Water Flowers, Graffiti, Swan Feathers, Waiting On You) but my the most fun one shots were the most indulgent ones (5 Times Gon Was Jealous, steal x your x breath) and I also like how painting flowers for you turned out since it was a very different fic than my usual ones.

I'm just going to tag all the fic writers on here that I know! So @xyliane, @cyberflamingo, @storybookprincess, @fireolin, @autumnxsunflower and @murderkitten666! No pressure of course if you don't want to do this ^-^

[girl-named-matty]

20 questions for fic writers

thank you for the tag @rypnami <33

How many works do you have on AO3? Seven currently! Idk how many more there will be but for now it's seven!

What's your total AO3 word count? 627,138!

What fandoms do you write for? Hogwarts Legacy but I'm more currently writing for a different fandom.

Top five fics by kudos? Passion || Sebastian Sallow is my most popular fic!

Do you respond to comments? Yes. I sometimes forget I have ao3 ngl but 99% of the time I respond to comments on wattpad if I can remember.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Usually I try to give happy endings to stories because I'm that kind of person. So towards the end I'll have something angsty but the very end will usually end on a better note. But In The Shadow of Her has a decently angsty towards the end because it follows along with the game and In The Shadow of Magic has is angstier towards the end for several reasons lol.

What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Honestly--outside of my full fics, my one shot "Moving in" probably has the happiest ending.

Do you get hate on fics? Perhaps??? I'm not really sure. I've gotten a few off-handed comments that make me go "???" and any hate comments have been very rare.

Do you write smut? Lol nope and I never will. I'm okay with writing stories without it.

Craziest crossover? Ummm I can't really remember ever writing a crossover but me and my bsf would joke about Sebastian and Ominis going to a Jackson Wang party so?? Does that count? 😂

Have you ever had a fic stolen? YES ACTUALLY LOL. It was ages ago and I was literally like 12 y'all HAHA. The fic wasn't even GOOD but it was on Wattpad and got reposted on NovelHD. It was crazy for me to find out ngl. I didn't really care, especially cuz the fic was garbage (in my opinion now) but yeah LOL.

Have you ever had a fic translated? Not that I can recall.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yes. Many times. Me and my old fandom buddies from a long time ago would do it.

All time favorite ship? AAAAAAA. I hate this question because I can never decide lol. I don't really have a favorite ship but I do have some I like. I'm not going to say any outside of the HL fandom but I will name a few from my friends. @rypnami's Jamie and Jack have had my heart for so long <3 @morelikeravenbore's Aurelie and Sebastian. Ugh I just love them sm <3 @catohphm's Danny x Adelaide is SUPER cute and I love it sm <3 @keri-mcberry Keri x Sebastian OHHH MY GOSH. Keri is literally my favorite artist and everything from her is just so cute and adorable and omg I love it. <3 @boxdstars Amara x Natty. Super adorable, super funny. Props out to Natty for dealing with Amara. Love them sm <33

What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? My old fanfics from old fandoms that have just been sitting on my computer for four years LOL.

What are your writing strengths? Fluff, usually. I'm good at Angst too. Romance eehhh kinda?? I've never been in a relationship so I don't really know how it works but I've written several relationships that I think were good.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language? I used to do this a lot actually. But I doubt 100% of it was correct. Now that I'm older, I definitely hesitate more with it. But I think it's super cool and I planned on doing it for my fics but my MC's first language is Irish (Gaeilge, Irish Gaelic whatever you wanna call it lol) and in the 1800's it was even harder than it is today SOOOO in order to avoid mess ups, I just used one-word expressions most of the time.

First fandom you wrote in? Oh gosh, I can't even remember. Maybe it was Merlin??? Spirit Animals?? I don't even remember cuz it was so long ago.

Favorite fic you've written? My favorite fic is probably not even and HL one LOL. But to keep it HL, all of my books have a special place in my heart and I really can't choose. Some of them have strengths over others and that much is clear but idk if I'd ever be able to choose.

No twentieth question - I LOVE YOU GUYS AND THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO ME YAP LOL <3

tagging: @plxnetn1ne, @endeavour12345, @superconductivebean and anyone else who wants to join in and talk abt their writing! <3

[dogueteeth-fhr]

Fanfic Writer Questions

Thank you @silvery-bluish & @glitchy-npc for the tags! Not sure who else to send it to atm but if you see this on my page and decide to pitch in with your answers feel free to @ me!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I've got 12! Most are oneshots, others are series.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

47002 on AO3 at the moment! And so much more in my docs.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Primarily Fallen Hero, with a dash of TWC and some other fandoms sprinkled in my WIPS but I've been on Fallen Hero brainrot for a long time now so the other fandoms are currently neglected.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Nightmare (surprisingly enough) w/ 28 kudos

focus (it's harder than you think) (also surprising lol) w/ 20 kudos

new pavement w/ 18 kudos

anamnesis w/ 18 kudos

freefall w/ 13 kudos tied with bath(toaster)tub also w/ 13 kudos

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try to respond to all of them! But some days I just don't have the spoons to and I forget, but I really appreciate any comments I receive.

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

HA. you want me to pick??? Ok hrm. maybe bath(toaster)tub? anamnesis also has so me pretty angsty pieces in there.

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

PFFF. ok gotta. go look for this one. Maybe sargasso sea, though it's technically not the last iteration in its series between a continued plotline hinted out in after the fall and a third part planned for its series.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not yet! I think.

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

(slaps brain) this bad boy can generate so much smut. I write pretty much any kind? Soft, rough, indulgent, M/M, F/M, F/F, other any everything, kinky or emotional, etc. Just whatever strikes me at the time, but most just dont get published bc I'm mid.

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

I typically HATE crossover fics they just aren't my thing I do write AUs of X story set in X story's universe, just haven't published them (wait does that still count as a crossover).

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nah, considered it once tho.

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

Nope! Haven't found someone with the vibe ig, it's just never crossed my mind to co-write a fic and just never been asked too.

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

(cue strained breath) i have no all time favorites BUT. but. Ricardo/Wei gets me SO soft ok. i just. unrequited years long attraction finally requited and i. AAAAA. place sidestep in there too and i'm just so happy. i need poly rep in my life sometimes ok.

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

I stare into the google docs hell and ask you how you could expect me to pick one but. BUT. Praeludium//Allegro. A piece meant to dive in how Sidestep is able to experience the moment someone dies through their mind.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Shorter pieces! They tend to be about ~2000-5000 words per part, that's usually when I feel I've done my best. I'm also. Decent at NSFW writing? Sometimes, at least.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Definitely long fics. I had a plan for freefall and have scrapped and adapted it multiple times now, pus it's just difficult to keep myself interested in specific but necessary chapters.

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

It's fun! I've included Spanish and Russian excerpts into my fics before but I don't do it a lot. Considered writing fully in Spanish at some point for an Ortega POV but I'm not confident in my grammar abilities. Spanish verb tenses my beloathed.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Naruto. On a different old account best left to gather dust.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Hm, I'm not sure if I have a favorite. I do really like the NSFW piece I wrote from Remy's POV, though. Short but good.

[kumoriyami-xiuzhen]

Hakuoki SSL Hakuo Gakuen Story Vol 4. Kazama·Sannan·Yamazaki-hen

I meant to work on this earlier... but my eyes have been acting up since the 23rd (only got really bad the following Tuesday). Not sure if it was allergies or just a a reaction to wildfire smoke, but I had a hard time keeping my eyes open without rubbing them, and I looked like I had been hit in the face because of how red the area around my eyes got.

Anyway, huzzah for pharmacists being able to prescribe medications in Ontario since the prescription I was given seems to have worked. Saved me a trip to the doctor... which would have taken longer to arrange since the one I go to doesn't work over the Canada Day long weekend.

In any case, this story was originally published in 電撃GS杂志2014年6月号... and is probably the most ridiculous because it involves Kazama.

enjoy!

Hakuoki SSL Hakuo Gakuen Story Vol 4. Kazama·Sannan·Yamazaki-hen

Translation by KumoriYami

This is what happened the day after the enrollment ceremony in August.

"Oh… it appears that my wife has already become familiar with the school. After receiving my guidance, she has already achieved results. This is wonderful."

"So that's how it is… it turns out that you've paid that much attention to her. You really are worthy of being the student council president."

"No, I didn't do that because I'm the student council president. It's because she's my wife. I must personally nurture/raise her myself."

Wife, is it. What this means, can you tell me about it?"

"It's better to let the faculty know… than I shall be merciful and tell you."

"Yes, I'd like to hear more."

"We in the Kazama family have a family rule, that the head of the household must find their marriage partner and companion in life during their time in high school. This family rule means that the people who accompany you during this short and dazzling high school life will always be imprinted on your heart. Although I think this sort of old-fashioned and outdated family rule is very ridiculous… after graduating from university however, I was strongly demanded by the family to meet this condition to become the heir of the Kazama family. Therefore, I've returned to high school."

"Th-That sort of reason… but, this is an all-boys school, right?"

"Exactly why did you come here? With your qualifications, you should be able to easily pick your choice of high school right?"

"Oh. That's because I heard that Hijikata became a high shcool teacher. I wanted to see how he taught people, so I came here. I didn't think that this school was actually an all boys school, which exceeded my estimations… but that's a trivial matter. With the help of my Kazama family, this school has finally become co-ed."

"Could it be… the reason Hakuo Gakuen became co-ed was for Kazama-senpai's wife?"

"Of course."

"Kazama-kun, it's not good to tell lies. This school already had a plan for becoming co-ed, correct?"

"Really? But, wasn't it Hijiikata who said that the school did not need female students, which was why that plan couldn't be implemented?"

"Hijikata-kun is all about achieving Kondou-sensei's educational policy, so that might be why you thought that."

"However, the school has finally become co-ed, with the enrollment of a female student that was recognized by Hijikata. I thought she was just a brainless female student who was full of longing for samurai.. It appears that Hijikata's insight isn't that bad."

"It seems that you admire Yukimura-kun quite a lot."

"Hm. Take a look, from her adorable features, her imposing appearance can faintly be discerned. From her demure and elegant attitude, isn't her admiration and reverence for me, overflowing?" [I think? Kazama is harder to translate half the time because of his flowery language and ore-sama attitude...]

(That… actually, she just wants to keep her distance from you…)

(Yamazaki-kun. Don't say anything.)

(Ye-Yes...)

"Furthermore, I heard that she's a tea ceremony master on par with the western Kazama family, and a descent of the Yukimura family, a branch family of the Suzuka family. The fact that such a woman enrolled at this school can be called an arrangement of fate."

"When a person like you is choosing a destined partner for life, I didn't expect for you to still be bound by your family background/lineage."

"No, it's quite the opposite. It was because I chose her, and it just so happens that her lineage met the requirements. That's to say, this was all an arrangement by fate… But… even the word "destiny" appears to trite. Look at her, observe her dazzling stance in the sunlight. Only one with this dazzling appearance is suitable for being my wife. Coupled with the gracefulness she displayed in front of me, doesn't this mean that she knew that she was born with the destiny of being my wife?"

"Well, that's true. I'll agree with half of what you said for the time being."

(I can't agree with the entirety of what he said…)

(…Yamazaki-kun. Even so, he's the student council president of Hakuo Gakuen. You should give him some face.)

(…………Yes.)

"Oh… my wife is so beautiful today. To quietly observe her from this corner is also an obligation as her future husband."

(Sannan-sensei... This is an authentic stalker.)

(Be quiet. Listen to me, it's not amusing for our school's student council president to be involved in this sort of scandal/cause such rumours. Be more careful about what you say.)

（…………）

---to be continued---

by colour:

Kazama

Sannan

Yamazaki

[catsandgoodbooks]

20 Questions for Writers

Tagged by @bleue-flora (I am sorry it took so long it's been like a month I was procrastinating)

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

22, because my brain hates to stay focused on one idea at a time and I just have to make everything worse. I've got a lot more half-formed ideas and three-paragraph beginnings of fanfiction too <3

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

124,920 - that's...a lot. And it's only been about a year, so yay!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Dream SMP. I'm lurking in a couple other fandoms (mostly the Locked Tomb and Dragon Age), but I haven't written anything for those yet.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

1. Off the Planned Course

Not that surprising because it's one of the fics I've been writing the longest, is the longest of my actual stories (so not counting Whumptober stuff), and it also has the most people reading it (I blame including the Syndicate for that). It's probably my favorite too, so the validation is really nice (even if I keep getting writer-blocked by it).

2. Unfortunate Circumstances

Also one of the long ones, so it makes sense that it's on this list. Also, literally the second Dream SMP fic idea I ever had, so it's great that it's still going.

3. Easier Said Than Done

This one I kind of feel bad about - I decided to change a few details a while ago and I'm still not done with editing the old stuff so I can start on new chapters, so I really haven't been writing much for it recently (i.e in the past six months). Maybe this will get me to work on it again but I wouldn't hold out hope. It's not abandoned, but it's still basically on hiatus.

4. Shared Scars

I really like this one, but I didn't really expect anyone would read it because it was just a random AU with no basis in canon about two side characters, y'know? It's just really fun to write.

5. Dive Deep Into The Dark

This one is the one that surprised me, because it's just a collection of Whumptober oneshots that I wrote in like an hour each. But, hey, apparently people liked that, so yay?

5. Do you reply to comments? Why or why not?

Whenever I can, because they're taking the time out of their day to read my stuff and going the extra step of leaving a comment, and because I just like talking about my stories and stuff <3

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Okay, this and the next question are kind of difficult because I am allergic to finishing anything, ever, and that means I have to stick to oneshots, but I'd say either everything I've ever written for a Whumptober prompt (because those are all terrible, basically) or Old Habits Die Hard (Old Reliances Die Harder) because it's an angsty canon-compliant (ish) oneshot where nothing is resolved and everything is just terrible. In my longer fics, I don't really plan for tragic endings, because the ending should be happy even if the journey there wasn't, or else the whole things sad and there's not really any point.

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

Again, only oneshots count for this, so I'd probably say burn the scorecards, balance out the scales, because the ending is hopeful and probably the best possible outcome via rivals duo.

8. Do you get hate on your fic?

Not really, which is great. The most I ever get is a confused comment or someone making assumptions, and that's all fine.

9. Do you write smut?

No, and I don't plan to.

10. Do you write crossovers?

No, but I have some ideas I might write that involve crossovers and I might write them eventually.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, I have not <3

13. Have you ever co-written a fic?

No, but I would like to in the future.

14. What‘s your all-time favorite ship?

Drunz, for sure. It's the ship that really got me into the fandom and I've always liked that sort of toxic codependence even though they're terrible for each other.

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

All of them? Well, besides that, I'd probably have to say Off the Planned Course, because, although I really love it, I have no idea how to end that thing or when.

16. What’s your writing strengths?

Absolutely no idea, maybe internal monologues? It's hard to evaluate your own writing.

17. What’s your writing weaknesses?

Dialogue. 100% dialogue. I get in my head about if it sounds natural or if anyone would ever say that or if I'm writing a character right and then it turns about clunky because I'm too busy worrying about it.

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

I don't have a problem with it, but you should provide translations in that situation so the readers have context and know what's going on.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Dream SMP

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

Probably Off the Planned Course, there are some chapters were I was just having the time of my life writing that thing even if they were immediately followed by two months of struggle.

Not tagging anyone because it's been ages and I'm bad at doing anything quickly so yeah. Also, it's my birthday today and time is really fucking weird <3

[ohmytamara]

Continuing: before the punishment itself.

That was somewhere within first/second month I think. Can't be really sure since I worked to forget most. That was first time I got really bratty and got put back in submissive space. For sure, there was some miscommunication, some of my frustration with the "everyday" and with unclear instructions.

Some routine was implemented by then. By that time I lost my work but been paid for additional 2 months still. I was looking for another job but circumstances being in my favor, there was no need to rush. In meantime I embraced position of domestic slave. Back then I had lots of comfort. My own room! With a bed! Although this was small room with entrance only into Mistress' bedroom and I was locked inside when she went to sleep (to not disturb her). I had a glass jar next to my bed in case I needed to go, a bit of water and a cookie in case I woke before her (I usually did). I actually did have a "me time" thanks to that and owned a laptop to play if I wanted to sacrifice some of the sleep time. It was forbidden for me to close the bathroom door when I used the toilet or washed myself. Chastity cage was introduced - but that's other story. My room was unlocked when Master and Mistress got up. I was to make coffee for both while Mistress prepared oatmeal with fruits for both of us (rarely it was plain oatmeal for me, if she decided I need a lesson). During the day I assisted Mistress with whatever she planned. It would be her social networks (my English is better than hers), translations for Master's business plans (he speaks Italian and barely any English, with plans in Poland and Slovakia back then). Daily I did thorough cleaning of whole apartament in appropriately slutty outfit. Sometimes there was some filming and photooshoots, but not as much as later on. Sometimes Mistress received submissive clients - that was main source of income while Master's investment was expected to earn us good living in the future. That super plan is different story as well. Evenings was me at her feet. Daily spankings to keep bottom properly bruised. Sometimes some wax play. That looked especially awesome on my locked girlcock. Giving her pedicure and foot massages. Writing my first tumblr account - mostly for her gain, about how awesome my submission to her was. During the day I also did some shopping on her behalf.

By then she owned my debit card, had access to my internet banking account, my email. She was kind enough to leave my facebook page alone, but otherwise all my means belonged to her. While I had the job I redirected the earnings to her account. I've given away most of my clothing to charity (while in the apartament I wore only clothes she gave me anyway), my book collection was divided between my friends and family. All I had could fit in 2 bags and still was practically hers.

So one day I was especially cranky. She also had a bad day and our moods reflected on each other kind of worsening. All the ironing, dusting and mopping was harder for me than usually. Already in bad mood, I was commanded to go shopping for one specific kind of pasta from one specific brand. I went there but absolutely could not find it. With her constantly on the phone, sending me more and more impatient messages, me feeling more and more foolish strolling around the supermarket and photographing each and another shelf without what she wants. I knew it's not there. She knew that it is there and that she wants it. Finally I got impatient and brusque on the phone. Her tone changed. She sounded calm and cold know. I found closest substitute for what she expected, paid for it and returned home, expecting something bad, but not caring much.

The punishment itself.

Once I returned, I was told to get to my room and strip. Ropes where already there. I took off my clothes with little care, keeping my eyes to the floor. Was ordered to lie on my stomach. She put a blindfold and ball gag on me. Blinded and silent, I only felt her tying my thighs, calfs and ankles together, then continuing with seperate rope to tie my hands behind. Then she turned me on my back. Took off my ballgag and ordered to open wide. I did not see her but felt her close presence. I knew what to expect. Warm piss fell onto my face. This time she did not care to aim and in my little mutiny I did not care to catch. I swallowed a little, but most drenched my blindfold, poured down my face and neck, created a puddle on the floor below me. After she was done, she moved away and next thing I felt were 2 nipple clamps tightening and from the sound of it, connected by small chain. She moved me on my side. Connected both ends pf the rope, creating rigid, but not impossible hog tie. Then I was left alone.

Passage of time kind of became fluid afterwards. Without sight, hugged tightly by embracing bondage, lying in pool of pee that quickly got cold, well, the effect was meditation-like. There was nothing to do but lie and breathe. My situation was inescapable. At first I kept thinking about what happened, how and why and who was wrong, but thoughts subsided. I was slowly drifting into subspace.

Until I heard a commotion from general direction of the apartament entrance, some dialogues in Italian I could not understand, and finally 2 people's steps, doors opening and closing. Then silence. Master and Mistress left. I realised I've been left alone.

I worked not to panic. Blinded, tied, alone, I did my best to breathe steadily and to keep myself safe. At least to feel safe. I became very, very aware of my surroundings. Suddenly my clamped nipples, until then completely forgotten, started to ache from being squeezed who-knows-how-long. Wet floor became very cold. I struggled to move in my hogtie, in what must have hilarious worm like writhing. I was looking for some additional support. Physical or emotional - it became one. Finally my face hit wooden leg of table, or a chair. It must have been a chair there was no table there. I spent rest of the alone time hugging that leg lightly with my cheek.

After a time I heard doors opening, steps, voices, rustling of some plastic bags. So they returned from shopping. By that time I was sore all over. Hoping I would become numb to ease some of the discomfort. My nipples hurt like hell. And by that time I got non verbal. I heard her come closer, she lifted my blindfold and I could just stare. I tried to stare all my gained submissiveness, my wish to do better and my plea to please set me free. I could not remember how she stared back. There must have been some matter of factly checking on my state, right? I don't remember any smirk at least. My eyes needed time to adjust so I did not notice what she held in her hand. She leaned over my crotch, tight in between my tied legs. Held my dick. Reached, unfolded the foreskin and graciously rubned something wet on my tip.

In few seconds I felt the burning.

It was that tabasco again. That fucking tabasco.

That burning eclipsed any other feeling. Still beyond talking, I moaned. Writhing, somehow I got myself on the back, partially lying on tied hands, gyrating wildly, unreachable burning point flailing uselessly. Moans turned into groans, helplessness turning them hoarse, woth some pre-language begging included in them. Nothing helped. I became my one burning point, like every nervous ending in my body connected to it.

Somewhere there I seem to remember the smirk.

In time the burbing pain subsidied, hard pain in my squeezed nipples taking its place. Totally forgotten, now they returned to my awarness with a vengance. Crushed by metal-plastic clamps god-knows-how-long they demanded immediate attention. They shouted angrily at me for immediate release. Totally helpless, with my hands tied behind, I could just witness how my sauce-coated boyclit disappeared, hurtong nipples taking whole of my mind. I moaned uncontrollably. I tried to move, to maybe throw them off, but ot jest increased the pain to unbearable size. I froze, full of pain and misery, unable to help myself. And though ungagged long time ago, still unable to call for help.

She did react though. She returned to look at me, some concern visible through totally amused face. I stared with hope, soo ready to receive abolition from pain. And she returned to kitchen, brought a cup of water and rubbed some of it on my tip to neutralise effect of tabasco.

I panicked. I was in hands of Mistress, miserably in more pain than I could not bear, unable to communicate, and she did not know what's wrong. I only kept moaning, bordering shout, eyes somewhere between top of the ceiling and back in my skull. Hopelessly unable to speak without order. Tied. Completely losing hope. I dkn't know how much longer it took before she finally asked what's wrong. Only then I shouted loudly that it's my nipples.

She laughed.

She called Master in Italian, tone like she was telling a joke. Then she removed the clamps, accompanied by final shout, when blood started to return to my numb delicate parts.

There was little aftercare. I was untied, given time to shower as long as I wanted, then ordered to clean the pissy mess on the floor.

Let's just say I spoke very timidly for long time after that.

[saiyomiya]

April 2024 Plans

March was not the most productive but like, it's fine.

I was planning on reading Tsukihime, right? Well, the monotonous, heavy loop music really killed my motivation real fast. It just takes way, way too long to read and the music loop was starting to drive me insane. I might try it again when the remake is out on PC.

So, I ended up buying Dai Gyakuten Saiban on sale and started trudging through it slowly. I haven't played it that much since I got it, but am starting my first trial (I started at 1-4 since that's where I was at on the Switch version before I stopped).

I'm not sure when I'll play it more? It takes so much mental energy to, so we'll see when the mood strikes me next... I definitely like it a lot, so I'll play it more, most likely this month.

As for the JP I have done for the latter half of March, I've been playing Shinymas more due to the goodies we're getting due to the anniversary.

It's a much, much easier read than DGS because the girls don't tend to talk about anything complicated or with heavy jargon, so it's a real self-esteem lifter. I highly recommend checking out slice of life stuff if you're studying Japanese. It'll go down a lot faster. Of course, some groups talk about more complicated things than others (I'm looking at Alstroemeria and Shhis for this, lol).

I don't really have goals when it comes to reading Shiny Colors other than to just... read it. I guess I'd like to read all the Shhis events (easy, since they have so few of them) and also Alstroemeria (harder, even though the content is easier--there's a lot of them). I finally started playing TFD so getting through every unit would probably be a good idea too.

Last month, I managed to read Mamiya and wrote a lengthy review on it. I really liked it, but I read it in English since I just wanted to read something in English for once. The translation was really good and a welcome break from the JP grinding I was doing for most of the month.

I still haven't finished Relink. I keep thinking I should, but I just haven't had the motivation to? Surely I'll get back to it someday, and I don't really regret buying it on release, but next time I'll wait before buying a game as expensive as that.

The last thing I mentioned on my list was to make keychains, and I got them done and they arrived! I think they ended up pretty cute, but Raqio ended up a little washed out, and I'm not sure how to fix it. Fuck printing blues, man...

I'm thinking of seeing if there's interest for purchasing these, but I'm kinda lazy about making a post so we'll just keep kicking that can down the road...

April 2024

This month, I'd obviously like to read more JP, such as the aforementioned Shiny Colors. I'd also like to spend some time reading Granblue stories in JP, which I've meant to for a while (I should make a list of ones I'd like to read). And of course, play more DGS.

When it comes to games, the No Name Yet event in Enstars is coming up and I have to play it. I have pretty much retired from Enstars, but I want to at least be back for such an important event for me and I have a dumb amount of resources for it so maybe I'll just max out the card and call it a day. I dunno. I know it's a lot easier to auto these days and it's not a Tour event, thankfully. I just have to keep an eye for it coming over.

Creatively, I'd finally like to make my Setsu plush, but I'm really lazy... everything is all set for the pattern, but I think I have performance anxiety for embroidering the face... We'll see how it goes.

Another thing I'd like to do is finally decorate my Tenka nui, which I kept putting off for months (I'm even staring at her on my desk rn). There's some really cute fan outfits that really make me excited to do it, and it frankly even shouldn't take that long to put blush on her and glue on some sparkles for her eyes so... I'm not sure why I haven't done it yet, lol

Also, Sekimeiya's anniversary is coming on May 6th and I'd like to have something drawn for it. So... yeah. And I guess finally finish up Ilsa maybe. Maybe...

I guess that's a lot of stuff I'd like to do, so better rise and grind... once again.

[couldbebetterforsure]

Guess who went and FINALLY made herself a JP Apple account so she could download JP mobile games? This girl!!!

You know for the longest time I never did it even though I really wanted to to play certain games because I was always under the impression it was a lot harder than it sounded? And for some reason I thought you had to like buy something or that it would corrupt your data. But....I literally just followed this wikihow article and BAM! I got one!

So of course I went and downloaded Idolish7, Enstars Basic, and JP Enstars Music 😊

I'm so happy to finally have my own account for Idolish7! As I've said before, I've been part of the fandom since like early to mid 2015. But better late than never to join in on the game, right? Even though my luck is basically garbage for this game 😅 Trigger has been kinder when it comes to coming home to me than anyone else. Riku, my sweet boy, why are you so cruel to me???? I have loved you for so long!!!!

Enstars Basic I got because I wanna check out the older stories too and mainly because this was when the news that Ryuseitai's Climax story from their high school days being fully voiced was announced and I wanted in on that shit!!!! Other than that, I'm not sure how to feel on the gameplay with the DLFS? Maybe I'm just bad at it or something, but it feels tedious and goes on forever at times...But whatever, I'm here for the stories!!! Even though I need to heavily rely on a mix of Google Translate and the kindness of fan translators who already translated the stories, especially the ones from the original game!!! I also have pretty trash luck in this game 😢 Shinobu is the only Ryuseitai boy who returns my love and effort in this one. Thank you, honey, I love you too!

Before I go into JP Enstars Music, let me talk a but about my EN Enstars Music experience! First of all, my beloved Ryuseitai is INCREDIBLY kind to me in this game! Tetora and Midori's FS cards came home to me relatively painlessly! And I keep getting good cards for the rest of my boys too. I just wish Chiaki would be a little more kind and come home more easily!!! Chiaki, sweetie, please...Anyways I tend to save a lot more for this one because I know some nice Chiaki and Midori cards in particular are coming up and I wanna save for them. I had no luck with Kanata's FS Scout so I gave up on that...I know the Ninja Clan scout is almost here and I sooooo wanna try for it but....but....I REALLY wanna save up for those nice Ryuseitai cards....Sigh, oh well....

And onto JP Enstars Music! Possibly my worst luck at play here 😭 Ryuseitai hates me in this game!!! Except Red Hot Summer Chiaki came home to me in one of those special random scout things and I LOVE that card and was planning to save so hard to get it in the EN game. But he came home to me in JP so hey! Thank you Chiaki, for finally returning my love! Also I didn't realize how many little quality of life changes the EN game made. Auto Lives, my beloved!!!! Being able to skip the story even if you haven't read it yet, my beloved!!!!!! I'll absolutely read the story at my own pace, sometimes I just need a few extra dia for a scout! But I love being able to play the songs that are still so far away in the EN game! And I am eternally mad at myself for finally downloading this game....TWO DAYS after Chiaki's FS2 scout ended!!!!!

[the-writers-bookshelf]

Don’t know if this will count for this week’s Fab Friday, so if not it can simmer until the next one!

(I have no comprehension of the passage of time)

I made a Substack! I’ve been trying to figure out how to balance my desire to have the dopamine kick of “finish chapter->post chapter->get reader reaction” with the long term plan of tradition publishing, and I think I found it. I made a free-to-read Substack where I’m gonna post my original fiction as I write it. I’ve got one of my flash fiction pieces posted already.

I also started doing podficking for some of my favorite fanfics (written by others, not by me). I did one as a Christmas gift for my good friend, and now I’ve started recording for a longer fic! I’m thinking of rotating through a few of my favorites so I can alternate which one gets posted, and also so the authors don’t have to wait for me to finish a ~200k, ~30 chapter fic before I get to theirs. Adjacent to that, I’ve also started auditioning as a freelance audiobook narrator! So that’s fun.

I’m also working on adapting a short story I wrote back in high school into a graphic novel for a workshop this summer. I’d been planning to rewrite this story as an illustrated novella, but as I was thinking about what I could use for the GN workshop, I realized that this story has a ton of really dope visual elements that would translate really well into a fully visual medium (cyborgs, airships, 1920s style outfits). I’m currently working on pre-writing and research. I’ll probably also want to work on some more concept art for the characters, to make them feel more like themselves, you know?

Anyway, happy weekend! Thanks as always for hosting this!!

There is so much happening here and I LOVE IT!!!

I subscribed to your Substack so I'm looking forward to more updates! :)

It's so cool that you're getting into narration! That's really cool! I have mad respect for people who can do that kind of thing because it's a lot harder than you realize until you're in the middle of it!

I LOVE your graphic novel idea! If you ever feel like sharing the illustrations, I'd be really excited to see it! I've always wanted to write and illustrate a novel and your project sounds like fun! :)

[minquelie]

Thanks for tagging me @spiced-wine-fic ! And also I want to give you many hugs 🫂 I hope better days will come to you soon

Are you named after anyone?

No. My parents chose my name because they like the sound and meaning.

Do you have kids?

No and I don't plan to have any.

Do you use sarcasm a lot?

I realized I use sarcasm more often nowadays. Especially when dealing with crappy situations. Though I don't speak it much.

When was the last time you cried?

Just today. The uni life stress fried my brain and because of other crappy things in life.

What's the first thing you notice about other people?

Their facial details, like beauty marks, moustache or acnes. Clothes, too. Maybe also vibes?

Eye colour?

Brown.

What sport do you/have played?

I've done swimming, playing badminton, baseball, football (soccer for US), and karate. I've done karate when I was middle school. Fun times.

Any special talent?

Maybe turning off my critical brain when reading or watching fiction? I can critique that piece of fiction and can get frustrated/annoyed by the writing choices for example, but sometimes I just want to enjoy things as they are.

Where were you born?

Indonesia.

Scary movies or happy endings?

It depends on the writing for me. Though I tend to lean more towards happy endings if I need to choose. Though I prefer either bittersweet endings, pyrrhic victory endings, or tragic endings. Sometimes happy endings when the characters got the happily ever after even after everything they went through with no grief or trauma or any sadness whatsoever can be too sugary for my taste (but again, It depends on the writing)

Do you have any pets?

Does a stray cat I regularly feed counts as a pet? Because if so, then yes. Unfortunately I can't bring him into my house because I'm allergic and he's feral to everybody else but me.

How tall are you?

4' 11" or 151 cm (ha ha I'm short ha)

What are your hobbies?

Writing! Drawing! Embroidering things! Crafting things! Anything to do with making a piece of art. Nowadays I'm focusing on embroidering because I'm planning to open embroidery business and I need the necessary skills to make it work. Also writing because I'm eager to get back to it! My ocs are calling me lol. I have a plan to present my story in english instead of my native language for more exposure and I need to translate the already written piece and write the rest in english but it's way harder than I thought. But I should not give up.

Favorite subject in school?

Art! I love art class so much. Other favorites are anthropology especially about the cultures of various ethnic groups (this is something that leads me to the realm of worldbuilding fictional cultures), and biology because it's fascinating.

Dream job?

Anything to do with making pieces of art, really. Writer, painter, jewelry crafter or textile crafter like embroiderer and weaver. Or fashion designer, especially anything to do with utilizing ethnic textiles to create stunning dresses and taking inspirations from ethnic fashion.

I'd like to tag my mutuals but I noticed they're already tagged by someone else so, yeah. But if anyone wants to do this too then go!

Fifteen Questions for Fifteen Mutuals

With apologies for answering this so late - thank you for tagging me, @general-illyrin!!

Are you named after anyone? Not my first name - my middle name is named after a character in a very obscure fantasy novel though

Do you have kids? No.

Do you use sarcasm a lot? Yes, nearly constantly, I'm a snarky bitch

When was the last time you cried? Like...last week? Life is hard rn ok

What's the first thing you notice about other people? Honestly? Probably their hair. I like hair :)

Eye colour? Blue

What sports do you/have played? I used to run a lot if that counts, lately my health has been very borked so not so much anymore. I played soccer in middle school I guess? look im a nerd, what did you expect

Any special talent? ummmm. I play violin. I used to teach an elementary school orchestra so I guess I'm pretty good at wrangling 2nd graders? I'm also fairly good at wrangling Karens, I used to be a retail manager and it shows haha. oh I'm also very good at getting along with unfriendly cats.

Where were you born? USA

Scary movies or happy endings? Happy endings, i hate scary movies

Do you have any pets? Yes! A cat named Momo (yes, he is named after the lemur from ATLA)

How tall are you? 5' 10.5", or 179 cm

What are your hobbies? Writing fanfic, reading fanfic, running (when I'm less sick), playing chess, playing Mario Party, uhhh does getting boba count as a hobby because i do a lot of it

Favorite subject in school? English/literature by a wide margin. Despite this I am now a chemical engineer

Dream job? Scientist who has the breakthrough that saves the planet and stops global warming. im doing my best ok

No-pressure tagging @eilinelsghost, @curuwen, @arrivisting, @leucisticpuffin, @redbootsindoriath, @mersilisk, @sakasakiii, @skull-bearer, @sesamenom, @aotearoa20, @solmarillion, @welcomingdisaster, @cycas, @idrilsscribe, and @melestasflight! You all are amazing <3

[kimikokuro22]

Central Ballad SR [First Outfit] Translation

.

.

.

CARD STORY [Friendship, Lord and Retainer, and What Comes After]

Chapter 1

Arthur: A cold and clear morning air. It’s been a long time since I've felt this atmosphere.

Arthur: I really came back to Master Oz’s castle…

Arthur: Oh yes, i shall cook breakfast for everyone to show my hospitality.

Arthur: …hm? Is that…

Cain: If i remember it correctly, i should turn here to reach the hall…

Arthur: Ah, i haven’t touch Cain today. I’m sure he can’t see me right now.

Arthur: If that’s the case…

Cain: Hm? Is someone-

Arthur: Boo!

Cain: ?!!

Arthur: Ahaha, sorry for surprising you. Good morning Cain, did you sleep well?

Cain: Arthur! It's unusual for you to pull a prank on people. I was really surprised!

Arthur: True… i came back to this castle after a long time after all, so i’m feeling a bit merry.

Arthur: I never thought that i’ll be able to came back to this place ever again. But i… i’m really back huh…

Cain: …

*slap sfx*

Arthur: Woah! Why did you hit my back out of nowhere?

Cain: Haha, i’m just glad that Arthur is having fun.

Cain: By the way, did you usually do something this mischievous when you live here?

Arthur: Let’s see… i didn’t mean to pull a prank on anyone, but…

Arthur: When i think about it, i may have done things that bothered Master Oz.

Cain: I see. What did you do?

Arthur: For example, suddenly calling Master Oz from behind his back like before.

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Chapter 2

Cain: Hahaha, i see. I now understand how mischievous you are.

Arthur: Does my story sounds that mischievous…?

Cain: Oh, i remember. There’s something i wanted to ask. Will i reach the hall if i walk through this corridor?

Arthur: Ah, i’m really sorry. I caused you troubles in this unfamiliar place. Yes, you’ll find it if you went that way.

Cain: What a relief. This place is really wide huh, it’s hard to remember the floor plan.

Arthur: Beside the floor plan, it must be harder for you because of your eyes condition. Please ask for my help if you need anything.

Cain: I will. Thanks.

Cain: …But it sure feels complicated when your lord told you to rely on him.

Arthur: Complicated?

Cain: That’s right. As a knight, rather than relying on my lord, i prefer to have my lord rely on me.

Arthur: …Thank you, Cain. But you don’t need to feel worried.

Arthur: From now and always, i will always rely on you. Whether to you who is a knight, or as my close friend.

Cain: Rely on me… Does that mean you’ll rely on me more than to Oz?

Arthur: Eh, um that’s…

Cain: Ahaha sorry sorry. I’m kidding. When I witnessed how close you two were in this castle, i was feeling a little jealous.

Cain: Now, shall we go to the hall? …ah, is Oz awake?

Arthur: Master Oz is probably already present in the hall right now.

Cain: That’s great. I’m gonna brag about Arthur’s earlier prank.

*walking sfx*

Arthur: Eh?! Wait a moment, Cain! Please keep my previous action a secret from Master Oz…!

*running sfx*

.

.

CARD EPISODE [Prince Mischief]

Akira: Boo!

Arthur: Is something wrong, Master Sage? Do you need my assistance?

Akira: I-i didn’t surprise him even a little.

Akira: When we went to Oz’s castle, i happened to see Arthur surprising Cain and imitate it just now.

Arthur: Eh, did you witness that scene, Master Sage? How embarrassing…

Akira: But it looks fun. Is Arthur good at pranking people?

Arthur: Not at all.

Arthur: When i just started to think who and what kind of prank should i do, someone already realized my intention even before i start doing it.

Akira: Well, you can probably guess what Arthur is thinking by looking at his face…

Arthur: Lord Snow and Lord White used to teach me a lot of mischief tricks in the past- …oh?

Arthur: Master Sage. There are cats gathering under that tree.

Akira: Eh?! Really..?!

Akira: Hm? I can’t find any…

Arthur: I got you! It’s my revenge for your earlier prank!

Akira: I see! I was completely fooled!

Arthur: Ahaha. Pranking people really is exciting.

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HOMESCREEN VOICE

"People's impression on wizard has improved. It's nice that its changing bit by bit"

[thewhitefluffyhat]

the uminekoooo mei event :D i'm so surprised you haven't posted about it yet!

Yesss, Umineko in Mei! I originally started playing Mei in hopes of an event like this! And it took over a year, but it's finally here!!

Hahaha, but as usual, I'm very slow to react on tumblr. Meanwhile, in the game itself I'd already zipped through all the gameplay content in the first few hours after it went live! ^_~

There's also a group that's planning to translate the story, so I'm waiting for those awesome people to finish rather than attempting to make sense of it myself. (I'm sure I'd probably getting a bunch of details wrong if I tried, both Higurashi and Umineko are a fair bit harder to read than Magia Record!)

And another thing - I've been following all the leaks and datamining for the event, and obviously those color my opinions and expectations quite a lot. There's been some backlash against the leaking, though, so I'd rather not discuss that kind of stuff in a public place like tumblr.

So, for example, I won't be talking about the choice of characters that got units for a while...

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What can I say at the moment, though?

Well, I'm actually pleasantly surprised by the cutscene portraits. I haven't been much of a fan of Mei's expressionwork until now, but they've actually made an effort to try to carry over some of Beato and Erika's personalities. More of that kind of thing, please! (And while you're at it, maybe some more varied expressions for the game's main characters? Pretty please?)

The little emoji that you can use in the in-game chat are pretty great too.

I'm a little bit more disappointed with the card art, tbh. As many people have noted, Beato's cards in particular are very similar to some of the existing console CGs. And they show Beato at her least intimidating, which I think is a bit of a shame. (The new Seal with Natsumi Kei’s artwork, though, that one I'm definitely maxing out regardless of its stats!)

Dlanor's cards aren't super interesting either, though it is nice to see the rest of the Eiserne Jungfrau make cameos. Standard "please give her pants" disclaimer applies, however.

As for Erika... she'll probably be the one I end up trying to get, though I'm not about to try and 6 star her just for the Bern cameo. I don't think I've mentioned it on this blog anywhere, but I actually have pretty mixed feelings on Erika's character as a whole!

(If the art had been her exit from Episode 6, though, I might have tried. That's probably my favorite moment for Erika, and one of my favorite villain exits in general...)

And then there's Nao. Her working together with Rena is really cute, as much as I dislike the Chiester Sister's uniforms.

Honestly, I think the thing I'm currently most excited about is that Nao seems to have a pretty big role in the event story alongside Erika. That's definitely not a combination I was expecting, and I'm really curious where it will end up going!

[goncalogoisfilmblog]

Film Narrative 2- Critical Reflection

Film Title: Pre-Human Resources (Group D1)

Which Roles did you undertake?: Scriptwriter so I was in charge of developing the ideas and characters into a fully fledged out story that then translated into the screen through a 3/4 page script, and Camera Assistant, so during the shoot I was in charge of following the shots previously thought of by the DOP and Director in order to shoot our film by setting up the camera for each shot.

Our Feedback: During the feedback session, we got plenty of feedback from things we could both improve on and had perfected.

We got really good feedback on the actors' performances, as well as the production design of the film. We also got some positive feedback on the idea of the film, comedy and structure of the script and chemistry between the two characters, which as the scriptwriter it was great to hear some positive feedback regarding the story I had worked so hard on writing.

The main thing we were told we can improve on was the overall look of the film. The lecturers thought we could've been a bit more ambitious with our shots and tried to make the overall film more cinematic. The location we chose also hindered us as we didn't have much space to set up good lighting. Overall, we should've focused more on the mise-en-scene of the film, as some shots fell flat because of not good enough lighting or backdrop. They also mentioned the film ended too abruptly, which I agree.

My thoughts on the feedback: One of the main flaws our film had was derived from the fact we were working with a tight location due to the premise of the story, which made making the film look cinematic a lot harder, however in hindsight I think it would've been better to look for a more spacious location rather than try to follow the logic "those characters would work in a small office, therefore we can't have a bigger location." Regarding my role as scriptwriter I was very happy with the feedback I got. The writing seminars we had with Kate at the beginning of the year really helped me develop my story and characters to create this script. All the planning we had done in pre-production also helped, since having the ideas for the story laid out helped me concentrate on writing a good script rather than trying to finish non-developed ideas. Before writing we even decided to do a script breakdown, in order to have everything more clear. Overall, I think the lecturers gave good advice that I was able to utilize in order to make sure I don't make similar mistakes on my next project. Namely, I think as camera assistant I should've been more proactive on set, in order to save time and help the DOP and Director achieve better shots in the filming process.

Through the entire trimester though, I think the tutorials we had were helpful such as a couple of the sound lectures, as it helped me envision the kind of film my group was doing overall, even if it didn't apply to the specific role I was in charge of this trimester.

What we nailed and what we can improve on:

As I've touched on before I'm very happy how the script came out and I think that my hard work with the script paid off in the end. I think in the future when coming up with premises for my films, I'm gonna try to keep in mind how much space the location I have in mind has, in order to be able to give the DOP and Director the opportunity to make the film look the best it can.

Our film could've looked more cinematographic and we could've gone a bit bolder in the sound design stage to fully set our films into the visual and auditory story of the film. I am going to keep these in mind when doing my next production.

My Group:

Our group worked extremely well together. We worked collaboratively throughout the entire process from pre-production to post-production, set up meetings regularly to talk and come up with solutions when faced with any difficulties. I feel like one of the things we did the best was this collaboration and it will definitely not be the last time I work with them as it was a very pleasant experience. I wouldn't change a thing.

What I learned from our film:

I definitely learned how much work the story, characters and script have to go through before even trying to write the script for a film. It was a long and hard process throughout pre-production before I even started typing the first word into our script. The importance of having a visual story that compliments the script is also a valuable lesson, I'll take with me. And finally, I also think the experience of being on set will help me make better decisions in the future set of my films.

What I learned from our classmates' films:

I found that I really enjoyed the films with a very distinct visual style, such as the film "Cherry Pie" and "Helpline". They excelled on both a good script and a complementary visual pallet, something I will definitely keep in mind for my next film.

[leoninapelliolovesconchitawurst]

ENGLISH TRANSLATION (by me)

K.AT 17/10/19

https://k.at/entertainment/conchitas-alter-ego-wurst-angekommen-wo-ich-hin-moechte/400649216

Conchita's Alter Ego WURST: "Arrived where I want to go"

Next Friday (October 25th) Conchita’s creator Tom Neuwirth releases the first album under his new alter ego WURST. On November 2nd the release concert for "T.O.M. Truth Over Magnitude" will take place in Vienna's WUK. There will also be new Conchita concerts in the Stadthalle and the ProSieben show "Queen of Drags" with Heidi Klum and Bill Kaulitz starting on November 14th.

So there are several occasions when the APA met the relaxed artist to talk to him about his musical home, his newly discovered love for Conchita and why he now pays less in the restaurant.

APA: The album "T.O.M." is musically a completely different class than the previous Conchita Diva’s pop. Have you now musically reached your home port?

WURST: For the moment I have arrived where I want to go. But with me you know that you can not rely on anything. So I do not know how the whole thing will evolve in the future. I always wanted to be Celine Dion - and have done that in my world. I sang all the great songs, wore all the big dresses. At some point in my life the question came up: Why do not I make the music that I also hear privately?

APA: The composer of "T.O.M" is Eva Klampfer. How much did you participate in the making of the songs themselves?

WURST: My record label sent me to songwriting camps hoping that my talent would flourish - but it did not. I just can not do that: my tunes are too flat, my thoughts too simple. When I then tried to find in me a logical continuation of Conchita, I finally met Eva Klampfer. And she tells incredibly aesthetic stories with elegance and simplicity. As a pop prince I would have never dared to ask if she would like to work with me - in that respect I can lick all ten fingers.

APA: But what about the concrete process of writing the song - especially as the songs are based on "T.O.M." so extremely personal?

WURST: It soon became clear what my role in the process of writing would be: the same as a patient's with his therapist. Eva and I talked a lot. She knows more about me now than she ever wanted. (laughs) She then specifically filtered out the essence of my stories for the songs. In addition, my producer Albin Janoska has incorporated old soundtracks from me! That's why "T.O.M." feels also next to "Rise like a Phoenix" as the most authentic thing I've ever done.

APA: How hard did you have to work on your voice - after all, the timbre you need for Wurst is completely different from Conchita's?

WURST: I always got the demos sung by Eva Klampfer - which are absolute treasures. I could only say: I love it, but how am I supposed to sing that ?! And her answer was: Practice! I'm from the world of the higher, louder, more. And finding the right color here was a challenge. Live is now the challenge for me to create an atmosphere, not to sing a song. That's something I have not often done.

APA: In contrast to your Conchita projects, "T.O.M" has the advantage that the numbers can be performed in small clubs with only one DJ. Has a tour been fixed?

WURST: I am currently planning a tour with a band in Europe starting in February. But in parallel, I have also played with the club idea and with a little harder versions than those on the album.

APA: For your new musical path, you have shopped out a new persona next to Conchita, but with the name WURST, you have not made a hard cut to the previous path. Why not?

WURST: I've thought about it, and I'm also radical in my decisions. But for all my self-realization, I wish I could continue to pay my bills. For example, if I was called TOM, would you still find me on the net? Would I have to get new social media channels? Conchita is all that I love about camp and overpowering. And on the other hand, it is as not brute and rough as with the word wurst. This new project is as blunt and unadorned as the word wurst.

APA: Have you ever thought about giving Conchita the pass?

WURST: I started the project WURST and thought to myself: No more wigs, no high heels. Been there, done that. And so I almost made the same mistake again: To reduce myself to one page. Then I would have run the risk again, that it makes me so bored and unhappy, that I said: That's not it. Fortunately, I recognized this early enough.

APA: Conchita is more aseptic in comparison to the more sexual Wurst. How did you approach Conchita after the crisis?

WURST: Conchita arrived in 2019 as well. I would rather call her hot now - and not as formally as a president's wife. I found Conchita shooting the "Queen of Drags". And I fell in love with her again! She is more beautiful than ever.

APA: Do not you miss the momentum of Conchita as WURST, without being anonymous in makeup?

WURST: I suddenly pay less at the restaurant. (laughs) If I used to go out privately, nobody recognized me. Now I get the best table. But not only people have changed, so have I. Now, with everything that has happened in my life and with the new self-esteem that I have, I want everyone to know when I enter a room! I love being the center of attention. And I love when they talk about me.

APA: What has changed in your life?

WURST: I have probably dealt with myself in an honesty, as never before. My sensitivities, my ego and all these things, which are rather counterproductive in the social context, I honestly looked at it. It was not always easy and not always nice. But getting to know oneself and reflecting on that has given me extreme freedom because I feel more anchored now. I know where my limits are. From the moment I realized that, I just had more fun.

APA: Do you feel like you no longer have to hide behind the mask of a fictional character?

WURST: I do not have to hide behind a mask, I play with it. And I enjoy that very much. I am so open to everything that happens to me, that I am as relaxed as ever. I do not have to save the world.