#if you read this far heres a gold star ⭐

[pigeons-and-pebbles]

good morning to people who put sugar on their cereal, people who just remembered they have to take their meds just now because i mentioned it, people who already remembered to take their meds or will remember later if they need to take them later (congrats on having your life together somewhat), people who enjoy things most would consider odd, people who wish they could dance more but can't, people who prefer more blankets to more pillows, people who search like three tags at once on ao3 that they want to read about and can't find anything with all three, people who like pepsi better than coke, people who liked something a lot as a kid and now you don't like it and hate finding things from back then, people who keep calendars to the best of their ability, people with dietary restrictions that don't often get adhered to at events, people who like making bad art, people who would like swimming if something was slightly different, people who feel judged in their circles for not liking tea, people who need to go outside more, people who don't like headphones/earbuds, people who are at least civil to children, people who give their friends strange gifts (bonus points if the friends enjoy it), people who actually listen to playlists spotify generates, people who put things in their mouths that should Not go there, people who sleep with their window open, people who love their stuffed animals, people who like doing the dishes, people who store other things in those little plastic containers that come in kinder eggs, people who don't know a lot of pop culture, people who live in small towns, people who have gotten very emotional over fanfiction before, people who are terrified of geese, people who have glow-in-the-dark stars, people who love to sing, people who remember to wash their water bottle, people who like wasps, people who believe in magic of any kind, people who enjoy camping, people who sunburn easily (i am giving you aloe and sunscreen), people who can be very childish at times, people who have cried while watching a sharknado movie, people who put holes in their clothes by fidgeting with loose threads, people who often get incorrect things assumed about them, people who need to go grocery shopping soon, people who really need to clean their room, people who used to like school but don't anymore, people who used to hate school but don't anymore, people who keep way too many tabs even though it is noticeably affecting their device, people who have ever been in the foster system, people who purposefully sleep with their notifications on just in case, people who are in fandoms without watching/reading/playing/etc. the source material and learn things about canon based on what is true across different fanworks, people who don't interact openly with some of their fandoms because they're embarrassed, people who share accounts/devices with other people and are always going "what the fuck?? who did this??", people who climb trees, people who daydream often, people who wish they could draw just so they could make animatics, people who are trying to heal strained relationships, people who don't like chocolate, people who need to do laundry today, disabled people, people who make your mom jokes to their siblings that have the same mother as them, and people who wear fun socks!

[tildeathiwillwrite]

I realize that this is very very very very very niche, and probably nobody will even see this, but y'know what I don't give a fuck and I wanna infodump about Demigods of the Death Gate.

(TL:DR It's a Percy Jackson/Death Gate Cycle crossover fanfic that I came up with almost two years ago (fuck I can't believe it's been that long). I stuck Percy Jackson into the Death Gate Cycle setting of the first book and kinda just took it from there.)

It started with an AU idea for the first book of the Death Gate Cycle (a fantasy series published in the 90's) that ended up turning into a crossover with PJO bc I thought that idea was far more interesting than just inserting an oc. I just went "hey, what if King Stephen and Queen Anne's true son didn't die?" and later went "and what if that child was a version of Percy Jackson with the water powers and shit?"

For those of you who don't know what the fuck Death Gate Cycle is, it's a seven part fantasy series written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman about this guy Haplo and his dog who travel around these four realms with the intent of spreading chaos on orders from his lord. The first book, Dragon Wing, takes place on Arianus, and follows an assassin (known as Hugh the Hand) as he is hired by King Stephen to kill his twelve-year-old son, Bane. Minor spoilers but Bane isn't actually Stephen's real child, he is a changeling and the actual prince was kidnapped by a wizard for nefarious purposes, that's part of why Stephen wants him dead.

Now, in the book, it is revealed that Stephen and Anne's true child died because the place the evil wizard lived has a very thin atmosphere and he basically suffocated. My AU just went "no, he lives bc I say so."

So we got our MC, Perseus, raised by the evil wizard's wife Iridal and learning some magic by proxy. (and btw the evil wizard's name is Sinistrad. Fucking SINISTRAD. His entire personality is Evil Wizard™)

The first fic in my series, Dry, starts with him getting kicked out out (as you do) bc Sinistrad decided he would definitely get in the way of his very evil plans to take over the world.

Naturally, Perseus doesn't die, and also ends up saving Prince Bane from getting yeeted into the void by some elves. And his goal is to get back so he can save Iridal from her husband (and maybe kill him in the process, idk).

My favorite thing from writing this fic was the interactions I got to write between Perseus and the other characters he meets, including Hugh, Bane, Alfred, Limbeck, Haplo, Haplo's dog, etc.

I'm not going to spoil the fic's ending but I ended up getting invested enough to start writing a second book based off Elven Star, the second book in the Death Gate Cycle. This fic, Defy, followed Annabeth on her search for a mythological structure in the second realm on Haplo's journey, Pyran.

I just hope I have enough of a hyperfixation upon the series that I'm able to bring it to a proper close. It's been a thing I've been doing for myself, because it's so niche that I've accepted that it's never gonna blow up, but I'm hoping that by posting it it'll bring more people into the Death Gate Cycle fandom.

And uhh if you read to the end of this post here have a gold star ⭐ or maybe a wave 🌊

[sapphiredragonprincess]

LWJ shows maturity in allowing choices he doesn't agree with instead of enforcing his own views like at Cloud Recesses -> ???.. LWJ didn’t enforce ANYTHING on WWX at Cloud Recesses (or ever). WWX was a guest there who showed nothing but disrespect to the place that’s essentially LWJ’s home and were pushing his boundaries relentlessly (in cql he even got him drunk and later whipped for it). But I guess, this fandom sees LWJ as some kind of freak that needs to be taught how to human by any means the protagonist deems necessary 💁‍♀️ idk why y’all like to vilify LWJ that much. I swear, it doesn’t make JC any better

Hello, Nonny! First of all, thank you! I write in tags without the expectation of anyone seeing them, let alone think anything about them. And you didn't just read, but came to talk to me about them! That makes me happy!

Second, and getting into the matter at hand here, you're right! LWJ absolutely had the right to punish WWX at Cloud Recesses! WWX was being a horrible guest, an absolute asshole! And LWJ delivered what he thought was appropriate punishment, nothing wrong there. But anon, nonny, the issue in discussion (which isn't really a discussion since I'm not trying to argue with anyone, but you know what I mean) when I mentioned that in my tags is not whether LWJ was right or wrong when he did what he did. It's the fact that he made WWX take punishment, which is the literal meaning of enforcing his (Gusu Lan's) rules. That's an objective fact, not a matter of morality. I agree that LWJ did nothing wrong by doing so, it would have been against his precepts not to. Gold star to LWJ for not caving to peer pressure and let people get away with what they want just because they're young masters of other sects! ⭐

With that point made clear, just like I said in my tags, it is a show of how mature LWJ is to understand that outside Cloud Recesses he does not have the authority to demand WWX does what he wants him to do. It's a good thing about LWJ! An important part of his character that people, including me, love about him! Nonny, I mean it sincerely, I don't understand where we are disagreeing here and why you mention LWJ needing to be taught how to be human, much less by any means possible. This is part of how human LWJ is. Other parts of LWJ being extremely human are his pettiness, his stubbornness, his adoption of LSZ, his evolution from the first life to the second. LWJ doesn't need to be changed by other people. He does change, but that's on him as a person, because people are ever-growing, always evolving, so 30-somthing!LWJ cannot, and therefore isn't, the same as teen!LWJ or even 20-something!LWJ. People, including WWX, can be catalysts of that change, but it's always on LWJ to do the work of growing up, of choosing what growing up means to him personally.

Regarding my opinion of LWJ, anon, I won't lie to you, he's far from my favorite character, that's JC and then JL, with everyone else following very far behind (sorry LXC, NHS, I do adore you, I promise). Still, I don't hate LWJ nor feel the need to vilify him, because he's far from a villain, quite the contrary, actually. I think he's an interesting character, one with plenty of virtues and also many flaws. Also, one that frustrates me to no end. Not because who he was at the beginning, I loved teen LWJ! I also loved post-war LWJ, who was as out of ideas on what to do as everyone else. Plus, as I stated in the tags you mentioned, he's mature enough to recognize what he cannot do! I love that about him! No need for anyone to change that about him, please, do not touch that part of him. I dislike where his character arc took him after the time skip, because I understand, sort of, how and why it happened, but it contradicts my own personal views of the world. That's my own issue, though, so really, it's immaterial to any analysis of his character outside a personal opinion. (You can argue the point that personal opinions always color character analyses, I won't say it's entirely wrong, but I try to believe I'm not so shallow as to not recognize when that's happening, which is why I try not to talk about post time skip LWJ in any detail.)

Oh yeah, regarding your mention of JC in the ask, I'm sorry to say I don't understand what the point of it was, so I don't know how to address it. My apologies, anon, if I let you down by that, I'm always okay for more questions or plain conversation in my inbox, so feel free to explain what you meant by sending another ask, hopefully I'll be able to attend to you better with more input.

Well, that got long and pretty repetitive on some parts, my bad. I'm a rambler by nature, so it's hard trying to keep myself concise, but I did finish and am posting it today and not after a week of retouching this answer, so that's a win. That's all, so bye-bye, nonny, I hope I managed to answer whatever question you had when you send this ask! Bunny hugs for you (only if you want them, of course)!

[theone]

Annie’s 2021 books

Hellooo I decided to do one of these posts as well! So here are the books I’ve read so far, comic books excluded. Date finished is in brackets (day/month).

And here is my goodreads if you want to add me on there :3

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead - Olga Tokarczuk (03/01) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Fisherman - John Langan (14/01) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Blindsight - Peter Watts (20/01) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hear the Wind Sing / Pinball - Haruki Murakami (01/02) ⭐⭐

Written in the Stars - Aisha Saeed (04/02) ⭐⭐⭐

The Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux (18/02) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse #1) - James S. A. Corey (04/03) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Beloved  - Toni Morrison (14/03) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Architect’s Apprentice - Elif Shafak (23/03) ⭐⭐⭐

The Fox - Galin Nikoforov (11/04) ⭐

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism - Naomi Klein (16/05) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Dune Messiah (Dune Chronicles #2) - Frank Herbert (23/05) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Tender is the Night - F. Scott Fitzgerald (09/06) ⭐⭐

The Dispossessed - Ursula K. Le Guin (21/06) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Mexican Gothic - Silvia Moreno-Garcia (28/06) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Colour of Magic - Terry Pratchett (13/07) ⭐⭐⭐

The Old Man and the Sea (+ short stories) - Ernest Hemingway (16/07) ⭐⭐⭐

Lord of the Flies - William Golding (25/07) ⭐⭐⭐

The Testaments - Margaret Atwood (05/08) ⭐⭐⭐

Half of a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (11/08) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Somebody's Daughter - Ashley C. Ford (19/08) ⭐⭐⭐

Piranesi - Susanna Clarke (25/08) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Changeling - Roger Zelazny (07/09) ⭐⭐⭐

I Would Leave Me If I Could - Halsey (27/09) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Caliban's War (The Expanse #2) - James S. A. Corey (01/10) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Salem's Lot - Stephen King (13/10) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Twenty Days of Turin - Giorgio De Maria (19/10) ⭐⭐⭐

[synchronmurmurs]

Hi Sync! Hope you're doing well this day/afternoon/evening/night, listen, I don't know how timezones work, but I'm sending my regards anyway so they'll find you eventually 💖

I have a bit of a long message here but I promise there's a reason for it, please bear with me

For months now I've seen headcanons and ficlets for Nero's twin sister, and I've finally caught onto the brain worm too. I'm in the planning stages for a fic right now, and decided to make this gal a hunter - both traditional, and demon-slaying. She's very much a recluse, lives alone on a farm, keeps a dog. No trespassing signs EVERYWHERE.

Now because of her approach to hunting animals, she does the same thing with demons. That is to say, she goes out and tracks them down before they become a problem for humans, essentially the opposite of Dante's wait-for-them-to-come-to-me tactic (or lack thereof). Because of this, she doesn't get paid. Nobody is going to pay for protection they don't know they're getting. So, I figured that seeing as she takes wild game, her approach to demons would be very much the same, trying to find a way to sell the different usable parts.

So she processes the corpses for alchemical use: pressing the bodies to extract as much blood as possible before they decompose into dust, salvaging what chitin she can, picking off important-looking bits. It's about here that I'd like to stress that she doesn't do alchemy herself, she just creates the ingredients that are then sold to the clients who do.

After I'd written this idea down however, I remembered that alchemy is very much Liviere's thing. And so, after three paragraphs of context, I would like to ask you if this idea is alright, or if you think it may be too similar to what you've done/plan on doing with Liviere

Aaaaaand if you've made it this far then you're a saint, I imagine seeing a short essay in your asks isn't normal. If you have read this far then please accept this gold star, it isn't much but it's a token of my appreciation nonetheless! ⭐

Oh wow, yeah, I didn’t realise asks could even get this long. 🤣 I guess that must be a recent development, like how you can now send images and the like on mobile. But ooOOooOooooh nonnie, that’s a neat idea for a Nero!twin!! Love the recluse aspect lmfao. And the doggo. Doggos are very good. 👀

And omg no you’re defs free to use the whole alchemy prospect, it’s not like... I own the idea, you know? Liviere will also be delving into this sort of thing in her future too, but tbh, it’s really not a huge plot point or anything like that, so defs feel free to go full steam ahead with this!! I hope you have fun writing all this out, because it sounds really fun! ✨✨

Thank you so much for running it by me though nonnie, I really appreciate the thought! 💖

[the-one-that-weeps]

Okay so there's this one thing you gotta understand and it's that intellect doesn't come exclusively from knowing a lot about one (1) specific topic. This is why people don't associate smartasses and nerds with wise sages.

Intellect comes from knowing a lot of information and being able to interlink those fields of study for the person to 1) understand and 2) actually care about said stuff by making it seem as though it affects them directly.

Achieving that will take a lot of time but it's especially going to take a lot of passion. If your brain feels stimulated enough already or you just don't want to learn anything new, you probably won't go through those 100 Wikipedia pages it'll take you to understand the topic at hand. If you want to learn something you have to have FUN while learning it.

If you want to put hours into something, MAKE SURE YOU LIKE DOING IT. That's the one and only rule of research.

Now that we have that out of the way, the S tier way of learning absolutely anything is by finding someone who knows a lot about the topic and will talk to you about it 24/7 and then put that knowledge to practice. This is why we actually have teachers and compulsory exams.

That being said, if you're not lucky enough to find a person kind and passionate enough for that, textbooks are the way to go. And obviously practice. If you can't put something to practice (e.g: building a bomb) then just create an imaginary scenario where you do it and then correct yourself.

After that there come things like YouTube videos and podcasts and (sometimes) stuff you find while going through hyper specific tags on Tumblr. But you have to have the basics figured out first because those things will only serve to enhance the knowledge you already have.

Also, if you're confident enough about it, explaining the knowledge to someone is also good. That's why they use rubber ducks in programming.

Oh! And if you've read this far, here's a little gold star for your patience⭐!! Rewarding yourself after learning a lot is super important. Take breaks and give yourself little pleasures, that's what life is for.

i always hear people talking about how they did a bunch of research and stuff and learned so many things and know how to explain it and i seriously have literally no idea how they do it. how do you research shit in depth. how. teach me

[lixenn]

SHE'S HERE!! MY BELOVED SCIENCE GIRL!!! MY BABYGIRL!!!

*sobs* She's perfect...

She's so beautiful, once again you did an amazing job at the drawings!! I'm in awe *stares dreamily at Anemone*

I love how dynamic your art is, it's so vivid! So livelike! I'm obsessed!! The way her labcoat flutters, the papers falling out of the folders, you can see how she rushes to her destitnation and woe anyone that gets in her way. It captures her determination very well in my opinion. (also the hairtie... thank you so much for adding it, because I'm sure most people won't care or know the significance of the the hair tie but I know! And I love it okay!!)

Also, the way you integrated your worldbuilding and the Cavalieri backstory is super smooth, seriously you did an great job, it was so nice to read! Have a gold star my perfect noodle ⭐

Now, onto the QUESTIONS!

I see in the full body drawing she wears glasses. Is she far-sighted or near-sighted? What is her prescription? Or are the glasses just for style?

How big is her research department? Does she have an assistant? Because believe me when you manage an entire research group and do lab work yourself? You will want an assisstant even if it's just for doing inventory and ordering stuff.

What is her specialtiy? She was trained by a medical doctor but since she is Head of R & D I assume she is familiar with multiple fields of research? But again what's her strenght? What topic does she know most about (science wise)?

And now that I think about it, does she have a PhD? Also, can Calavieri members even get a PhD? Because their contact with the outside world is limited. I'm assuming the other Doctors got their title before they joined the family.

*dragging myself away from science topics*

How did she meet Myr? (Was Myr causing mischief again?)

What's Anemone's way to relax? She must be super busy being Head of R & D after all, how does she balance it out?

...

Totally overloading you with questions again, am I?

I will make a cut here and patiently wait for you answers (then surprise attack you via ask muhahahaha)

You thought I'd be done? Have more OCs! Third character sheet! Thank you for your patience, this one felt like a fever dream to make and for that reason is probably a little less detailed than the other two. I'm exhausted. I rushed it. I'll go to sleep.

(disclaimer: English isn't my first language, so I apologize in advance for any errors.)

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

Leaving together? Leaving the family? Myr... this isn’t what you told me years ago.

-Anemone, Ch.3

Anemone Cavalieri

Gender: Female (MTF)

Pronouns: she/her

Age (at Ch.1): 23

Nationality: Italian

Height/Weight: approx. 178 cm/75 kg

Flame type: flameless

Affiliation: Cavalieri Family (Second Branch, Research and Development)

Despite being integral part of the Cavalieri heritage for as long as the family has existed, the Pallid Flame still hides many mysteries behind its selective behaviors. The latest generations of Cavalieri in particular have shifted their interest onto the possibility whether the complex Failsafe System, a state of the body that only occurs in unconscious Pallid Flame users, could be utilized to further improve the physical manipulation abilities of their fighters. In order to achieve this and other studies, they have provided themselves with a team of elite chemists and biochemical engineers, picking their members from the family itself as well as from external members.

Up to the year of Tristam’s birth, the team had been led by Dr. Filippo Argenti, the consort of the Eight Nera Signora and father of Myr and her brother. After years of vacancy following Dr. Argenti’s gruesome passing, his role was finally taken up by Anemone, a young engineer and apprentice of the Mother Branch family medic, Dr. Fausto Caligari.

Thanks to her dedication and the results reached during her time as researcher, she becomes highly estimated by the Eighth. As time passed though, her ambitions grow along with her genius to the point where she wishes to change the family’s ways and reputation to be more akin to those of the Vongola, a family rumored to be noble and magnanimous.

All those thoughts were destined to remain fantasies…until the day she meets Myr. Anemone recognizes that Myr could be the turning point for the family’s history thanks to her stubborn refusal of their treacherous means, and so swears to find a way to make her stronger than her brother.

Then, one day, Myr disappears without a trace. Her mind immediately chooses its culprit: Tristam.

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

I would be absolutely over the moon to answer any questions regarding my OCs, even before Killer Whale's release! Most of the stuff that was mentioned will be explained either through a post here or during the story (obviously).

Previous character sheet: Lidija

Preliminary Info on Killer Whale: update post

My Ao3 account: myelltheorca