#jade blue afterglow

[x-files-polls]

pitting two bad bitches against each other

Flukeman: Iconique! Darin Morgan's first time working on the show

Jade Blue Afterglow: I liked to think she was more into Scully than Mulder. But that's just my opinion. Either way she looks great and references Xena.

Don't like this propaganda? Reblog it with your own or send some in my askbox

To jog your memory, here are the episodes they're from:

The Host: When a man's decomposed body is found in the sewers of Newark, Mulder is given the supposed "grunt" work. But after Scully's autopsy turns up a parasite living inside the body and a sewer worker is attacked and bitten by something, it opens up a whole new can of worms. (mod note: ha. ha.)

First Person Shooter: The Lone Gunmen summon Mulder and Scully to the headquarters of a video game design company when the new virtual-reality game, which the Gunmen helped design, is taken over by a bizarre female computer character whose power is much more than virtual.

[ragnarockz]

When Jade Blue Afterglow makes that comment about the metal detector and goes to cross her legs and BOTH Mulder AND Scully look....why did I never clue in on that SOONER

[spookyrabbit87]

Krista Allen as Maitreya, aka Jade Blue Afterglow. From the X-Files.

[bite-the-bloody-hand]

Dramatis Personae

For the sake of having the most important details of Zell's person and history written down somewhere, I have been compelled to create this character sheet of sorts. FULL of spoilers for Kingmaker and Wrath of the Righteous.

Name: Grenzel 'Zell' Marion Hellsing Birth name: Salyut Pronouns: He/Him Gender: Trans Man Species: Dhampir (Vampire King Ancestry) Age: He thinks he's 19, but he's off by a few decades. Birthday: 20th Gozran :weed emoji: Star Sign: The Bridge (or The Daughter, I think he's right on the cusp?)/The Underworld Dragon Sexuality: Pansexual, Panromantic Deity/Religion: None Class: Bloodrager Primalist - Celestial & Arcane bloodline. Background: Nomad- Honglian and Ustlavic Alignment: Chaotic Neutral to Chaotic Good Path: Azata+ Love interest: Daeran Arendae Starting Stats: (Level one): STR 16 DEX 8 CON 14 INT 12 WIS 14 CHA 16 Top 3 Skills: Perception, Athletics, Persuasion Hobbies: Spinning thread, bug hunting, venue crashing (plays drums, flute, trumpet, and lute as cover) Horseback riding, various kinds of entertainment-derived mischief, Improv theater, bone carving Accent: Ustlavic - while fluent in Common he prefers to let people think otherwise. His accent will get thicker when he's tired, annoyed, or fucking with someone. Will speak in broken Ustlavic or a paint-blisteringly thick Honglian regional accent at the drop of a hat.

Quotes: "Come drink with me, friend." "Even foul water puts out wildfires." "Echh… we're really in the rice now."

Appearance: 5'5", broad shouldered with a somewhat wolfish appearance. Works out, but wouldn't say no to a cookie kind of physique. His hands and feet are oversized and a bit paw-like. He has hip-length, greying black hair that he keeps braided - usually in two simple plaits but he does love a fancy set of braids when time allows. His skin is a dusty gold-grey, as if undeath has left an actual tarnish behind.

His face is wedge-shaped, with high cheekbones, square jaw, and a slightly large nose crooked from catching one too many right hooks. Eyes are sharp, with small pupils and colored a bright blue-green - like the afterglow of a lightning strike - that reflect eerily in darkness or low light. Heavy, sharp eyebrows give him a somewhat cynical, predatory look that gets enhanced by his easy grin - he's not shy about showing off his fangs. He has one large deep scar bisecting his right eyebrow that sadly doesn't have a cool origin - a clay pot fell on him when he was trying to get it off a tall shelf. Otherwise he bears a few cut marks on his arms and legs from skirmishes, a deeper set of clawmarks over his ribs from a bad run-in with a wolverine, and the scars from affirming surgery. Finally, the fatal gutwound from his 'death' in the Stolen Lands, and the subsequent chest scar from Areelu's botched experiment.

Generally he gives off the air of a wolf desperately trying to domesticate itself, or a half-feral stray hunting dog. Real freak on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere energy. In the kindest of terms he can be described as unsettling but beautiful.

He favors jade, carnelian, and silver accessories when he can get them, and has simple bar earrings in each ear that he can't quite recall ever getting. (They're tracker tags from Areelu on account of his habit of fucking off in a random direction and getting stuck or lost somewhere upsetting.) He has issues with the joints in his hands being hypermobile that he corrects with silver splint rings. He favors primarily black outfits with pops of bright color, and minimal armor to avoid any issues with spellcasting. He has long debated the merits of getting a tongue piercing but hasn't decided whether to commit yet. He has a tattoo around his left leg of reindeer stones, and plans on getting more but isn't sure on the designs yet.

Personality: Zell by nature is an exhuberant, friendly, genuinely loving person who has learned the hard way to be extremely reseved with his trust and care. He affects an easygoing, relaxed demeanor that covers an anxious intensity soaked by deep, deep rage that is difficult to percieve until that switch flips. He leans on his innate charisma as social currency, is something of a barfly and enjoys sneaking himself into events by claiming to be 'with the band.' He especially loves crashing weddings and birthdays in this manner. Is generally known as The Guy to go to if you need something delivered, furniture moved, wood chopped, or defensive horseback riding lessons. Sometimes given to bouts of deep introspection, he has something he's searching for or working towards that drives him obsessively. Suffers from chronic joint pain and light-induced migraines, dyslexia, and severe abandonment issues. Runs hot, therefore gets heat exhausted easily.

Archetypes: Ringleader, Bon Vivant, Ambitious Sorceror.

Merits: Kind, supportive, loyal, gentle.

Flaws: Bloodthirsty, capricious, self-destructive, deceptive.

History: CW for forced cultural assimilation, forced detransition, child abuse

Zell was born under mysterious circumstances in the Hongli steppe. His mother was absent - whether she died or abandoned him was never explained - but he was raised within her tribe to be a happy and healthy child. Nobody was over concerned with gender, so he identified as a boy from early on and easily fell in with his peers. He excelled at riding horses, but had difficulty with a bow, so he trained in polearms and sword instead. While he doesn't remember much of his earliest childhood, he fondly recalls the parts of his youth leading a gaggle of youngsters across the steppe and icy desert, hunting for the tribe, herding goats and reindeer, finding cool bugs, and generally reveling in his freedom.

Unfortunately, it was not to last. When he was close to coming of age, he began to develop strange sorcerous abilities. Arcane necromancy and suggestive, enchanting magic came easily to him, and his control was nebulous at best. Still, he had help from his tribe and rarely had any extreme issues.

Soon however, strangers in terrifying black armor came from across the land bridge. They met with the elders that had raised him, and demanded to take him over to distant Avistan. He was devastated when the elders agreed to let him go, and tried to run away on his own. He was caught after weeks of evasion, and severely punished by his new handlers. The next time he was fully conscious, they were already more than halfway over the land bridge.

He was brought to Lepistadt in Ustalav to live with the "Hellsing" family, a deeply interconnected group of nobles and high-ranking Hellknights dedicated to the obstruction of a specific group of malicious vampires... When they aren't running an anti-Iomedaen protestant shadow crusade. Under the auspice of being closer to his father - who he would never meet - and 'necessary' training of his sorcerous power, he was put under the care of Nora Hellsing: a vicious, rigid woman whose first and foremost goal was to forcibly erase as much of Zell's identity as possible. Treated like a burden and an atrocity, he was denied the comfort of his language, his name, and all freedoms he had been allowed in Hongli. Alongside this, Nora did everything she could to stoke Zell's bloodlust and rage, honing him into a devastating fighter and wicked spellcaster. As a capstone, he was put through the same military academy as the other youths in the Hellsing organization. Faced with culture shock, unwinnable tasks, and Nora's cruel attention, his teenage years were a nightmare.

Nora reshaped Zell into Marion Hellsing with the intent of creating the face of the organization's next generation of Vampire Hunters, a devastating half-vampire princess that could be used as much as propaganda as a weapon. She succeeded in making Zell more dangerous, but failed in nearly every other capacity. As Marion, Zell used enchantments, intimidation, and sheer physical prowess to rebell at every opportunity; taking Nora's progressively extreme punishments while fighting indoctrination with every weapon at his disposal. He quickly learned that Nora and the more retaliatory Hellknights would stop short of anything that would kill him - though whether it was because they didn't want to risk him becoming a vampire or wished to avoid the wrath of his absentee father he could not immediately guess. Unfortunately this meant that anyone close to him was fair game - so his closest companions had to either be strong enough to hold their own or they would feel the brunt of the punishment. This did not deter Zell in the slightest, instead only fueling his rage. Zell played the part of a delinquent, bratty punk: deliberately failed classes, slept around with teachers and upperclassmen, and refused to behave unless inspired to exploit the rules to his advantage. He led a small gang of other disaffected youths upset by their involuntary placement at the Academy, and was consistent annoyance to just about anyone in power.

Even so he had few friends, and those that did get close did so for safety more than a sense of genuine friendship. Zell secretly found more solace in the labyrinthine libraries of Lepistadt's universities, more concerned with researching things on his own terms than following the ridgid precepts of Hellknight military training (or literally anything Nora wanted him to read). Eventually, his curiosity -and perhaps the occasional supernatual nudge - led him to discover interesting secrets about Hellsing's origins, and his own.

He discovers during this time that Hellsing is connected by familial relation to the Vampire King - who before becoming a vampire was the last known Aasimar of the newly dead god, Aroden. After being turned, he had apparently wandered and spent some time briefly in Tian Xia - long enough to sire a single child: - Salyut, Zell's childhood name. The child is meant to be Zell, but would have been born decades before. It will be many years before Zell eventually learns that he was given to Areelu by his father, raised til about age seven, and then left nearly a century later with the children and grandchildren of his mortal siblings with only the vaguest memories attached.

He also discovers that Hellsing's Anti-Iomedaen bent is more than just superficial: all the families are either related by blood to the Vampire King (and therefore, Aroden himself) or former clerics and paladins of the fallen god. It is unclear whether they are working directly with Areelu Vorlesh or if her involvement is just a coincidence, but they seem to believe the Vampire King's scion potentially holds a piece of Aroden's soul.

This causes him great concern… after all, Hellsing as an organization doesn't care about him as a person - they only care about Marion Hellsing the figure, and what she can do for their legitimacy and power. If they think 'Marion' holds a piece of Aroden's soul and want to try and do something with that, he doubts he'll come out the other side with any sense of self.

Learning all of this, his goals soon shifted from being the most annoying little shit on the planet to securing his own safety and freedom from Hellsing. While chasing these leads and preparing his escape, he stumbled upon caches of research left behind by Nora… and eventually proof that she was planning on becoming a lich. The particulars of her research, and how she plans to use the power of lichdom, disgusted Zell, but there was no one within Hellsing he could turn to in order to stop her. His only choice was to flee, and hope that Nora never succeeded in her plans.

This time, escaping the Hellknights was a far easier task. Armed with years of learning their tactics and the surrounding lands, he easily slipped away from Lepistadt and made his way south. The plan was to make for Absalom - perhaps strike up with some scholars who could point him towards more information about fallen Aroden. Picking the name 'Grenzel' for himself, he began his new life.

After a year or so on the road taking courier work and odd jobs, he happened to meet the captain of a river barge while chartering passage for a job. Captain Aslan Ciardha soon blew through all Zell's barriers and became his dearest friend and brother in arms. They traveled together for several years before Zell broke away to follow a lead in the Tors of Levenies. The lead was a dead end however, which allowed Zell to rejoin his friend - now a Baron in the tumultuous Stolen Lands.

He had difficulty falling in with Aslan's new crew; having little in common with most of them and no tolerance for the particulars of running a kingdom. His foremost goal was to protect and champion his friend - who had apparently come under the thrall of the wicked fae at the heart of the blight in the Stolen Lands. While Zell could see the signs of his friend being perhaps a little too invested in redeeming a clearly evil fae, there was little he could do to sway his friend. And soon, sensing his interference, Nyrissa would ensure that Zell was just as distracted.

He had not expected Tristian - of all people - to show any interest in him beyond the seemingly genuine concern of a healer. Even so he was charmed by Tristian's gentle, if fumbling, persistence, and eventually started to worry less about Aslan's predicament. While bemused and a little terrified of the prospect, Zell let himself start to fall in love and relax more around the other companions, finally gaining a sense of ease among them.

When Tristian inevitably turned coat and betrayed them all in Vordekai's tomb, Zell was devastated. He went with Aslan to Candlemere to try and talk sense into Tristian, but learning how thoroughly he'd been played truly broke his heart. While Aslan was determined to prove Tristian could be saved and made for the Temple of the Elk, Zell opted instead to support Amiri in confronting Armag. While he wasn't seeking his own death in battle - distraction and a few unlucky breaks put him on the receiving end of a mortal gut wound.

Before any of his allies could return with help, Areelu Vorlesh whisked him from the battlefield to save his life and initiate her final experiment: Alchemizing his soul with Nahyndrian crystal. Now, with his soul so full of rage and heartbreak, seemed to her to be the best moment to strike. She threw in the top surgery for free, as a treat.

Delirious, heartbroken, and in a body slightly altered from normal was how Zell came to in Kenabras square, unsure how he even got there or even why he was still alive.

[giulolosblackmail]

i wanted to highlight one of my favorite sets in the game and talk about why it was one of the most difficult for me to translate

just to be clear, i'm teaching myself chinese specifically so i can translate this game better and will likely have made several mistakes and missed many things, and this set in particular is very heavily historical which means i had lots of problems trying to translate the cultural and historical context, i'm sure my translation didn't nearly do it justice

to sum it up, this set is about a woman being dressed to become the empress of a failing dynasty

starting with the title, 暮景残光, this translates literally to Twilight Afterglow, which is what I ended up using, but more figuratively means something like 'watching the cruel light from the grave', there's heavy symbolism about how the woman is getting dressed in funeral garb for her wedding, white being associated with death and worn at funerals, hence the white peonies that look like they've been dipped in blood and the dress having a white skirt, with the dress' remake being a white dress with a blood red skirt

the peonies themselves have several meanings as well, 花王 (lit. king of flowers) were representative of royalty and riches, and so were reserved for the exclusive use of the imperial family, the punishment for commoners wearing peony embroidery being death, they became popular during the tang dynasty and were later made the national flower during the qing dynasty

poenies are also one of the most common flowers shown in traditional buddhist thangka paintings, being a cyclical representation of past (bud), present (mid-bloom) and future (full bloom), the full bloom is often representative of old age, death, and falling away, the ponies in the set are in full bloom, pictured as literally falling apart, a visual representation of the crumbling dynasty, only enforced by their title, 碎琼落英 (lit. Broken Jade Falling) which i decided to translate as Flowers Fall as Jade Crumbles to get across the confluence of reality and metaphor as ancient and decaying riches turn to dust with the end of an era, 花瓣如玉屑飞雪般纷扬坠落 (the petals crumble and drop like jade fragments and falling snow.)

the peonies and heavy symbolism about the fall of the monarchy and dynasty as well as the clothing and hairstyle leads me to believe this may be set at the end of the qing dynasty, after which imperial rule ended and the peony was removed from its position as the national flower, likely due to its close association with the imperial family, the woman depicted is likely Empress Wanrong in that case, being the last chinese empress whose life was one of misery and death, she battled a loveless marriage, the emperor's concubines, drug addiction, mental health problems and political instability, she was eventually captured by chinese communist guerillas and died of opium withdrawl, her last days spent writhing in pain and misery as she was put on display as an act of mockery

the dress 玉绿华笼 (lit. Jade Green Cage) talks about the weight of the beautiful clothes and jewelry, weighing her down like a bird trapped in a gilded cage, the imagery enforced by the feathers of dead birds weighing her down, i ended up translating the title as Jade Green Flower Cage because I didn't want to leave out 华, 华 means something like beautiful, extravagant or prosperous but can also mean china or chinese, the pinyin huá also sounds very similar to huā (花 flower), so I chose flower cage instead of gilded cage to represent the peonies embroidered on her green clothes, metaphorical representations of not only the weight of the tradition but also the weight of the imperial dynasty that had for so long defined china, as well as the literal weight of the empress' clothes and trappings

color is much more culturally defined than you would think, for example, traditionally in chinese blue and green are considered one color, 青, which can refer to blue, green, blue-green, turquoise, and shades of greenish and bluish black, in fact, the feathers depicted in this set are all called 翠羽 (emerald feathers) though they range from the deep green of the peacock feathers to the bright blue of the kingfisher

the usual range of kingfisher colors also falls under 青, being bright blue to dark green, and always very vibrant, which is why they were so popular to use in traditional chinese jewelry, specifically in 点翠 (tian-tsui lit. dotting with kingfishers), the traditional craft of detail oriented feather inlay in a bunch of small pieces of metal

source, source, source

this art has fallen out of practice as the demand for large amounts of similar colored kingfisher feathers led to the decimation of the population, today kingfishers are still a protected endangered species in china

the tian-tsui earrings, 翠点欲坠, use a clever play on words, reversing 点翠 (dotting with kingfishers) so that it reads 翠点 (emerald/kingfisher point/moment), figuratively it describes the moment at which the dynasty is about to fall, represented by the kingfisher's feathers literally rotting out of their placement in royal jewelry, poised to fall from their facet at this singular moment

i really love this one, like it's such a specific moment in time and the only time that string of characters can possibly make sense, the kingfisher blue colored moment before a fall represented by a girl wearing noble's rotting jewelry, condemned to be dragged down by its rot, it's a crying shame if that's not the name of a biography about empress wanrong

the hairstyle looks to be duanji: hair is divided down the center and using elaborate braids made into often asymmetrical shapes, though the name of the hairstyle references a han dynasty style, 漆云垂髻

source

垂髻 (Chui or Hanging Bun) refers to a popular han dynasty style where the bun at the top of the head would be folded backwards and look somewhat drooping, the hairstyle in the set seems to combine the hanging bun with the elaborate braids of the duanji, though 垂髻 may have been used because it can also refer to a child or a child's hanging hair, calling to mind how young the woman is when she's married, or perhaps how her youth is ending with her marriage

the makeup, 低掩凤眸 (Keep Your Phoenix Eyes Downturned), uses the description phoenix eyes to refer to the shape of her eyes, chinese literature has a handful of different eye shapes and connotations that go with them, for example, phoenix eyes are slim, the outer corner of the eye slants slightly upward, and the top lid reaches the top of the pupil, they are a symbol of beauty and are thought to have a noble air, it's a bit like saying someone has a roman nose, it describes both the shape of someone's face and also suggests they have an air of dignity about them

source

the handheld accessory 天河珠串 depicts amazonite (天河石) buddhist prayer beads, the colored beads between the amazonite stones are likely pink jade or red coral, it looks almost exactly like these jade buddhist prayer beads displayed in a museum in the forbidden city, many pieces displayed there were so expensive that they were only used for important ceremonies, like royal weddings

source

the necklace 花锦璎珞 lists in its description precious stones and metals used to make the necklace: tridacna, colored glaze, agate, and precious metals

砗磲 (tridacna) is shell from the giant clam, because the shell can get so large, the carved beads that can be made from its shell can be very large and complex

琉璃 (colored glaze or liuli) is one that comes up a lot, but it took me a while to find since we don't have a specific translation for it in english, it's a traditional chinese multi-step lost-wax casting process to make luxury glass pieces, it can also be applied to ceramics and other glass pieces and then carved like jade, or made into sticks and heated until malleable like in lampwork, though modern day liuli is usually multi-step lost-wax casting since it allows for the most intricacy and detail

ancient liuli left, modern liuli right

the necklace description also uses the idiom: 颇有一番烈火烹油，鲜花着锦之盛 (lit. There is quite a bit of hot cooking oil, and flowers are blooming on the brocade) this is an idiom that means with prosperity comes inevitable decline, it warns that the bad will follow after the good

hope you enjoyed this as much as I did, i hope i didn't miss too much or make too many mistakes, i just really love the care and poetic language that went into this set

[bakedbakermom]

hey i made one of these into a shirt! (note the xf font and that afterglow is ~jade blue~)

[m-m--tv]

[-REVIEW-] Sophie Ellis-Bextor: Lost In The Sunshine (Single)

Cover art taken from YouTube Music

It seems like every 3 weeks or so I wake up to a new, surprise Sophie Ellis-Bextor single ! Well, “surprise” is probably a bit much because I have no doubt I just lurk in the wrong, non-Sophie-Ellis-Bextor-tuned places; however, it was still a very pleasant surprise to receive the Lost In The Sunshine visualizer in my YouTube notifications this morning. I liked Breaking The Circle, loved Everything Is Sweet and have been very much anticipating the release of HANA (soooo close… and yet so far away), so I was very excited to dive into this one.

And wow, did it not disappoint – my jaw literally dropped when I pressed play. She seemed to be going for a brighter (after Familia & WANDERLUST) yet still traditional disco sound with the 2 previous ones, so I did not expect this soft, dreamy piece with those twinkly sounds to hit me right in the heart… until the percussion kicked in and it became a downright heavenly ride. Lost In The Sunshine is quite an apt title, because the whole song sounds like a warm hug from that sweet sweet spring sun, enveloping your body and leading you through fuzzy, vivid visions of green fields, jade trees, crystal clear rivers and electric blue skies, as you float above it all and feel a hundred emotions all at once. Absolutely perfect release time, Sophie. The backing track is so beautifully crafted, the piano, twinkles and strings all come together under the umbrella of a slight reverbed touch into this stunning marriage that just melts me down to pure bliss, and the way the drums subtly trot behind, never ever taking the lead but still present enough to keep the song marching on like a stream of water is simply perfect. In fact, I’d say this is one of the best decisions taken with this song, because the way they’re placed, in turn, puts this song right on the border of amazing bop and soothing moment – instead of directly hitting you and taking you in, it’s more like hypnosis, where you slowly but surely sink deeper and deeper until one way or another, you’re moving, even swaying this time around. That guitar (? bass maybe ? I’m awful at recognizing instruments) in the chorus is great too, one of these pillars sculpted just the way they should to raise the song higher – it feels so playful and injects this dose of subtle dynamism into the track, acting as the killing blow to make you fall in without any hope of ever getting out if you had managed to last until then. Her voice also works incredibly well with the entire arrangement; she’s already one of my favorite vocalists EVER due to how elegant she always sounds, but here, it’s coupled with a certain softness drawn out by the general atmosphere, and the way it breezes over the instrumental is the final piece of the puzzle to truly take you there. When she sings “Let's get lost in the sunshine / And give ourselves to the summertime / An afterglow in clementine / And now the heat is growing”, it sounds like more than an invitation, like she’s some kind of omnipresent nature spirit hiding everywhere in the scenery I mentioned earlier and directly speaking to your soul telepathically, lifting you up into this paradise that she shows you. The lyrics overall are already very pretty and “scenic”, I’d say, but it’s the way she sings them that truly makes them so stunning. Lost In The Sunshine is pretty much “just” beautiful composition on beautiful composition, all tied together with a sparkly cream ribbon into an incredible bouquet whose fragrance is enough to make my heart squeeze to the point where it feels like it’s about to fall right out of my chest. This song just gets me, and it gets me to a place I wanna stay in forever.

These singles are only wildly getting better one after another, and this one is where I have to undeniably give in and understand that HANA will have a near-demonic grip on me when it finally arrives. If this is the sound of the album, then she not only has THE album of the summer on her hands and one that I will be all over for the entirety of June-July-August, but also definitely one of the best and most exciting albums of the year. At least, I can already picture myself walking through the streets of a small mountain town or even just looking out of my window into an endless sea of trees with this song serenading my ears – and then when September comes it will inevitably make me cry because I’ll miss it all so much lol. Well, June 2nd CANNOT come soon enough.

Note: 9.8

Stream:

Spotify

Apple Music

YouTube Music

Okay, so I don’t really know about this single reviews thing: believe it or not, but for something that runs entirely off Google Docs, there are a few questions that come with its addition into the equation, and I do not have the answers yet. I do want to add a bit of variety into this affair – as much variety as possible for this kind of tumblr blog anyways –, and it’s always nice to look at a song beyond just “yessss ears like” on a personal level, so it is a cool activity. But like, maybe I should wait until I settle into a more solid schedule before throwing singles into the mix; this blog is just short of a week old, after all. Maybe when my backlog will get majorly unclogged. So like, not anytime soon. I’ll see . All I’m saying is, if I never ever do one of these again someday then don’t be surprised.

[mad-quixotic-tales]

[illnevermeettheground]

“PUT A DIMMER ON THAT AFTERGLOW”

we all remember exactly where we were when first saw that gem!

I was at my parents’, jumping and screaming in the living room... I downed a whole pint of ice cream out of sheer happiness

[unremarkablehouse]

In first person shooter, Mulder was the only male to survive the video game (and got to level 3!), which fed off the pervy male attention. While he made a show of checking Jade Blue Afterglow out, Mulder is biologically Scully Sexual. His face whenever Scully saves him is the best, she’s magic.

dana scully birthday question:

how many ways can we say mulder is obsessed with scully?

[x-files-polls]

I think that's the last preliminary. I'll leave the submission form open until the Maleeni poll ends, but already start working on matchups.

Propaganda submissions will be open for the entirety of the tournament, but character submissions will officially close in a week.

Current list of competitors below (copied directly from google sheets, actual polls will be proofread):

Alfred Fellig

Amina Ngebe

Ariel Weiss/Luria

Augustus Cole

Bambi Berenbaum

Betsy Monroe

Betty

Big Mike

Bill Patterson

Billy LaBonge & Albert Pinchbeck (in prelims)

Blaine Faulkner

Carla Stonecypher & Michael Kinsley (in prelims)

Chantara Gomez

Cher

Chinga

Clyde Bruckman

Daryl Mootz

Daryl Musashi

Detective Glen Chao

Dorothy Bahnsen

Dr Alexander Ivanov

Dr Chester Ray Banton

Dr. Blockhead

Dr. John Rietz

Edy & Steve (in prelims)

Emil

The Eves (in prelims)

Flukeman

George Vincent

Henry Weems

Herman Pinchbeck

Holly McClain

Holman Hardt

Invisgoth

Jade Blue Afterglow

Jay "Boom" DaBoom

Jeff Glaser

Jenn

Jose Chung

Josh Exley

Karin Berquist

Kim Hsin

Lauren

Luther Lee Boggs

Lyda & Maurice (in prelims)

Madame Zirinka

The Men in Black (in prelims)

Margi Kleinjan & Terri Roberts (in prelims)

Martin Wells

Michael Holvey

Michel

Nurse Owens

Olafsson

Opponent

Owen Jarvis

Pam

Patrick Crump

Phoebe (FPS)

Phoebe Green

Phyllis H. Paddock

Reggie

Richie Lupone

Ronnie Strickland

Samuel Hartley

Sheila Fontaine

Sheriff Hartwell

Sheriff James Hamilton

Tea Leoni

The Conundrum

The Hard Faced Man

Triangle-verse!CSM

Triangle-verse!Scully

Triangle-verse!Skinner

If you have a favorite one-off character not here, submit them now!

[drwcn]

How To Name Your Chinese Characters: 

1) LAST NAMES: 

I’ve pasted the Top 100 common last names in alphabetical order, and bolded the ones that appear in CQL:   

B: 白 Bai C: 蔡 Cai ; 曹 Cao ;  常 Chang ; 曾 Ceng ;  陈 Chen ;  程 Cheng ;  崔 Cui ; D: ��� Dai ; 邓 Deng ; 丁 Ding ; 董 Dong ; 杜 Du ; F: 范 Fan ; 方 Fang ; 冯 Feng ; 付 Fu ; G: 高 Gao ;  葛 Ge  ; 龚 Gong ; 顾 Gu ; 郭 Guo ; H: 韩 Han ; 何 He ; 贺 He 洪 Hong ; 侯 Hou ; 黄 Hua ; 胡 Hu ; J: 贾 Jia ; 蒋 Jiang ; 姜 Jiang ; 江 Jiang ; 金 Jin ; K: 康 Kang ; L:  赖 Lai ; 李 Li ;  黎 Li ; 廖 Liao ; 梁 Liang ; 林 Lin ; 刘 Liu ; 陆 Lu ; 卢 Lu ; 路 Lu ; 吕 Lü ; 罗 Luo ; M: 马 Ma ; 麦 Mai ; 毛 Mao ; 孟 Meng ; N:  倪 Ni  ;  牛 Niu ; P: 潘 Pan ; 彭 Peng ; Q: 钱 Qian ; 秦 Qin ; 邱 Qiu ; R:任 Ren ; S: 邵 Shao ; 沈 Sheng ; 史 Shi ; 石 Shi ; 施 Shi ; 宋 Song ; 苏 Su ; 孙 Sun ; T: 陶 Tao ; 谭 Tan ; 唐 Tang ; 田 Tian ; W: 万 Wan ; 王 Wang ;  汪 Wang ; 魏 Wei ; 吴 Wu ; X: 邢 Xing ; 夏 Xia ;  蕭 Xiao ; 谢 Xie ; 徐 Xu ; 许 Xu ; 薛 Xue ; Y: 阎 Yan ; 严 Yan ; 杨 Yang ; 姚 Yao ; 叶 Ye ;  余 Yu ; 于 Yu ; 袁 Yuan ; Z: 张 Zhang ;  赵 Zhao ; 郑 Zheng ; 钟 Zhong ; 周 Zhou ;  朱 Zhu ;  庄 Zhuang ;  邹 Zou ;

Above are all single character last names, but there are some double character Chinese last names, seen below (list not exhaustive): 

独孤 Du’Gu ;  公孙 Gong’Sun ; 南宫 Nan’Gong    欧阳 Ou’Yang ;  司马 Si’Ma ; 上官 Shang’Guan ; 宇文 Yu’Wen ; 长孙 Zhang’Sun ; 诸葛 Zhu’GE ; 

2) GIVEN NAMES/COURTESY NAMES

《Elements》: 

Light*： 光 (guāng) - light，  亮 liàng - bright / shine， 明 (míng) - bright， 曦 (xī) - early dawn， 昀 (yún) - daylight， 昭 (zhāo) - light, clear，照 (zhào) - to shine upon，

Fire: 焰 (yàn) - flames， 烟 (yān) - smoke，炎 (yán) - heat/burn， 烨 (yè) - dazzling light，  

Water: also see “weather” OR “bodies of water” under nature; note the words below while are related to water have meanings that mean some kind of virtue: 清 (qīng) - clarity / purity， 澄 (chéng) - clarity/quiet， 澈 (chè) - clear/penetrating， 涟 (lián) - ripple， 漪 (yī) - ripple， 泓 (hóng) - vast water， 湛 (zhàn) - clear/crystal， 露 (lù) - dew， 泠 (líng) - cool, cold, 涛 (tāo) - big wave，泽 (zé)，浩 hào - grand/vast (water)，涵 (han) - deep submergence / tolerance / educated

Weather: 雨 (yǔ) - rain， 霖 (lín) - downpouring rain， 冰 (bīng) - ice， 雪 (xuě) - snow，  霜 (shuāng) - frost 

Wind: 风 (fēng) - wind

* some “Light” words overlap in meaning with words that mean “sun/day”

《Nature》:

Season: 春 (chūn) - spring， 夏 (xià) - summer， 秋 (qíu) - aumtum， 冬 (dōng) - winter

Time of Day: 朝 (zhāo) - early morning / toward， 晨 (chén) - morning / dawn， 晓 (xiǎo) - morning， 旭 (xù) - dawn/rising sun，昼 (zhòu) - day，皖 (wǎn) - late evening，夜 (yè) - night 

Star/Sky/Space: 云 (yún) - cloud，天 (tiān) - sky/ heaven，霞 (xiá) - afterglow of a rising or setting sun，月 (yuè) - moon，日 (ri) - day / sun，阳 (yáng) - sun，宇 (yǔ) - space，星 (xīng) - star

Birds: 燕 (yàn) - sparrow， 雁 (yàn) - loon， 莺 (yīng) - oriole， 鸢 (yuān) - kite bird (family Accipitridae)，羽 (yǔ) - feather

Creatures: 龙 (lóng) - dragon/imperial

Plants/Flowers:* 兰 (lán) - orchids，  竹 (zhú) - bamboo， 筠 (yún) - tough exterior of bamboos， 萱 (xuān) - day-lily， 松 (sōng) - pine， 叶 (yè) - leaf， 枫 (fēng) - maple， 柏 bó/bǎi - cedar/cypress， 梅 (méi) - plum， 丹 (dān) - peony

Mountains: 山 (shān)， 峰 (fēng) - summit， 峥 (zhēng)，

Bodies of water: 江 (jiāng) - large river/straits， 河 (hé) - river， 湖 (hú) - lake， 海 (hǎi) - sea， 溪 (xī) - stream， 池 (chí) - pond， 潭 (tán) - larger pond， 洋 (yáng) - ocean

* I didn’t include a lot of flower names because it’s very easy to name a character with flowers that heavily implies she’s a prostitute. 

《Virtues》: 

Astuteness: 睿 ruì - astute / foresight， ��� (zhi)， 慧 (hui)， 哲 (zhé) - wise/philosophy, 

Educated:  博 (bó) - extensively educated， 墨 (mo) - ink， 诗 (shi) - poetry / literature， 文 (wén) - language / gentle / literary， 学 (xue) - study， 彦 (yàn) - accomplished / knowledgeable, 知 (zhi) - to know， 斌 (bīn) - refined， 赋 (fù) - to be endowed with knowledge

Loyalty: 忠 (zhōng) - loyal， 真 (zhēn) - true 

Bravery: 勇 (yǒng) - brave， 杰 (jié) - outstanding, hero

Determination/Perseverance: 毅 (yì) - resolute / brave， 恒 (héng) - everlasting， 衡 (héng) - across, to judge/evaluate，成 (chéng) - to succeed， 志 (zhì) - aspiration / the will

Goodness/Kindness: 嘉 (jiā) - excellent / auspicious，磊 (lěi) - rock / open & honest， 正 (zhèng) - straight / upright / principle，

Elegance: 雅 (yǎ) - elegant， 庄 (zhuāng) - respectful/formal/solemn， 彬 (bīn) - refined / polite， 

Handsome: 俊 jùn - handsome/talented 

Peace: 宁 (níng) - quietness/to pacify, 安 （ān) - peace, safety

Grandness/Excellence：宏 (hóng) - grand，豪 (háo) - grand, heroic，昊 (hào) - limitless / the vast sky，华 (huá) - magnificent， 赫 (hè) - red/famous/great， 隆 (lóng) - magnificent， 伟 (wěi) - greatness / large，轩 (xuān) - pavilion with a view/high，卓 (zhuó) - outstanding

Female Descriptor/Virtues/Beauty: 婉 (wǎn)，惠 (huì)， 妮 (nī)， 娇 (jiāo)， 娥 (é)， 婵 (chán) (I didn’t include specific translations for these because they’re all adjectives for women meaning beauty or virtue) 

《Descriptors》:

Adverbs: 如 (rú) - as，若 (ruò) - as, alike，宛 (wǎn) - like / as though，

Verbs: 飞 (fēi) - to fly，  顾 （gù) - to think/consider， 怀 (huái) - to miss, to possess， 落(luò) - to fall, to leave behind，梦 (mèng) - to dream， 思 (sī) - to consider / to miss (someone)，忆 (yì) - memory， 希 (xī) - yearn / admire

Colours: 红 (hóng) - red， 赤 (chì) - crimson， 黄 (huàng) - yellow， 碧 (bì) - green，青(qīng) - azure，蓝 (lán) - blue， 紫 (zǐ) - violet ，玄 (xuán) - black， 白 (baí) - white

Number：一 (yī), 二 (er) - two, 三 (san) - three,  四 (si) - four,  五 (wu) - five, 六 (liu) - six, 七(qi) - seven, 八 (ba) - eight,  九 (jiu) - nine, 十 (shi) - ten

Direction: 东 (dōng) - east， 西 (xi) - west， 南 (nan) - south， 北 (bei) - north，

Other: 子 (zǐ) - child, 然 (rán) - correct / thusly

《Jade》: *there are SO MANY words that generally mean some kind of jade, bc when ppl put jade in their children’s name they don’t literally mean the rock, it’s used to symbolize purity, goodness, kindness, beauty, virtue etc*  琛 (chen), 瑶 (yao),  玥 (yue),  琪 (qi),  琳 (lin)

《Spirituality》

凡 (fan) - mortality 

色 (se) - colour, beauty. In buddhism, “se” symbolizes everything secular

了 (liao) - finished, done, letting go 

尘 (chen) - dust, I’m not… versed in buddhism enough to explain “chen”, it’s similar to “se”

悟 (wu) - knowing? Cognition? To understand a higher meaning

无 (wu) - nothing, the void, also part of like “letting go” 

戒 (jie) - to “quit”, but not in a bad way. In buddhism, monks are supposed to “quit” their earthly desires.

极 (ji) - greatness, also related to the state of nirvana (? I think?) 

[dunhamhairograpy]

First Person Shooter: Jade Blue Awkard

Mulder's voice cracks talking to Jade Blue Afterglow... "something not lost on Scully."

[vgperson]

Vocaloid Highlights: January 2022

You've heard of cosmic latte - now get ready for Cosmospice. Highlights Archive

========== Stand-Outs ========== Owl Lead Part Raku-Raku-Raku-Raku Smoky Quartz Farawhere Ego Eater The Fireflies Weren't There Crackrackrack Become Air Crawl Cocoon Seclusion DAFT Theme of Smiley^^ Survey Team Ultra Elegy Disappear Nightmare Cosmospice Spinning Melo-Melody♪ Exciter Post Shelter

========== Worth Your Time ========== Confusion Because I Had to Go Believe in God. Withered Camellia Even If We're Freezing, If We're Together, Hellfire of Oblivion Alice in Neon City Breathtakingly Coelacanth Frozen Love Song Earthly Desires Salamander From a Walk Lapis-Lazuli Caramelize Inorganic Pluto Cynical Dystopia Favortism Wound Cultivation IMMORAL Advance Trap Glass Trade Daydream Pure Land Companion Floating Memory Sea and Sublimation Disconnect Alma Language Misa iris Afterglow Run Identity Demon Garden My Favorite Sounds Border Line I've Mist You Sapporo Reminiscence Don't Want To Look In the Mirror (Ugly) Rurareru Noisy Performance All is Non-Fiction Sweet Queen Irreversible Monster Twi Perfection Odoremi Daemon Bet Indigo and Summer Breeze I Was Always Searching For Hope Blue Weeping Once More Scheat Empty Roll Together With You Kaleidoscope Room Puzzle Sorrow Cell Emergency Landing Full Moon Night Desire Fanfare Neo-Tokyo Tell me why The Dying Girl Was Like Ice Cream Fallen to the Ground. Rolling Round and Round Corner of Existence unnoticed Varia Thyella Shangri-la and Requiem Shark Dusk Meldy Heartbreak Soap Game of Introvert-Life Indispensable Not So Old I Can't Move, I Can Still Go For It Paint the Background With Ultramarine A Canceller Lima Let's Spark Ahead Falling Into the Sky Want You Need You Make House in Another Dimension! Floaty Feeling Heroine? Distrust Electric Parade Dance Daybreak Maze paint the world Amid Revolving Days Biotope Falling Night Aria of Love Selfishness Teach Me Your Magic Goodbye Princess Rending Pure White Dejection Ever Flow Light Jade-Green Magic Waltz Ace Vertical Bunny Bop Duality ONESELF Aschenputtel's Rainbow Show Doze

[captainhotch]

Afterglow | Steve Rogers

steve rogers x reader

masterlist

based on this prompt list of Taylor Swift Songs

summary; a really solid mix of angst and fluff with a happy ending

I blew things out of proportion, now you’re blue

You felt guilty more than anything. Steve Rogers was quite possible the best person you had ever met. He was kind and smart and oh so caring. The second you met the man you were his, whether he knew it or not. And lucky for you, he looked at you the same way.

You had been together for about four months before the honeymoon phase started to fade. It was your fault and you knew it— you just couldn’t help the thoughts that started to bleed in. Steve was far too good for you— the same qualities that brought you in would soon tear you apart. You felt guilty, like you were holding him back. Your past was jaded where his was honorable, your intentions in shades of gray where his were black and white.

You weren’t a bad person, but you sure as hell couldn’t compare to the man you had grown to love. Like most heroes with questionable origins, you had gotten your powers through HYDRA— albeit not by your own free will. Joining the Avengers for you was a safety net, Steve joined as a call to duty.

You had a past of ruining the good things in your life. And Steve had a past of loving another woman. Those two things didn’t mix well.

You had convinced yourself that he was still in love with Peggy Carter, and in all honesty it wasn’t a very far reach. When he talked about his first love his eyes burned brighter than you had ever seen them. She too was exceptional in every way— a force.

It hadn’t come up until you and Steve argued one morning. It had started small, he had canceled your lunch date to help Bucky with something or another. Normally it wouldn’t have bothered you— if it hadn’t been the third time in a row. Or if Bucky actually needed the help, but the man was fine— he even said so himself. You knew what it was, it was Steve desperately clinging onto his past. He would kill himself trying to bring back an old Bucky Barnes who no longer existed.

Peggy Carter was a very large part of his past. She was his first love, his soulmate if those existed— so when he brought her up in the argument, all hell broke loose.

“It always comes back to her,” you laughed incredulously, though there was no humor in it, “unbelievable.” You ran a hand down your face as you sat at the edge of your bed.

“What is that supposed to mean?” He questioned, face red with anger as he stopped in front of you. This was by far the biggest fight you’d ever had.

“I will never measure up to the memory of Peggy Carter. In your head she’s the perfect woman. I can’t compete.” You wanted so badly to cry, eyes so thick with tears you couldn’t see Steve’s face. You wouldn’t let the dam break... just to spite him if anything. A voice inside your head reminded you that Steve wouldn’t receive any satisfaction from your crying. He was good like that.

Put you in jail for something you didn’t do

“I don’t want you to.” He stressed, kneeling down in front of you, “I just want you to be honest with me. To tell me how you’re feeling. When you’re feeling it— don’t just keep it inside until it boils over.” He placed a hand on your knee to balance himself, the other tilting your chin so he could look into your eyes.

When you blinked the tears escaped, granting you full vision of Steve’s own sad face. His thumb swept the tears away, keeping its spot on your cheek so you wouldn’t look away.

“I want to be with you. Not Peggy or anyone else. And I need you to believe me when I tell you that— I need you to know that I wouldn’t lie to you.” He reaffirmed, leaning his forehead against your own.

The heat from his body surrounded you like a blanket. You were always so comfortable around him, he made you feel so safe.

Thought I had reason to attack but no

“I just don’t understand,” you whispered out, nestling into his large palm, “you’re this amazing human being. You’re so good and I don’t get how you could feel all those things for me.” You paused, shaking your head as if that would unjumble your thoughts.

“And it’s confusing and I get in my own head and ruin things. I think me saying them hurts less than if you were to say them.” You confessed.

It’s all me in my head, I’m the one who burned us down. But it’s not what I meant, sorry that I hurt you

You hated how self-destructive you were. And you weren’t sure if being aware was better or worse— because you fell into your own trap every time anyways. You always ended up hurting the people you loved.

“You’re amazing. And brave and beautiful and you make me happy. It’s okay to hurt and to be broken, and I know it’s hard to talk about it. But I can’t help if you don’t tell me.”

You reached up, placing your own hand gentle at the base of his neck. You had never been seen in the way Steve saw you. He understood what it meant to be broken— to lose and then regain control of your own life. He knew you were hurting and wanted nothing more than to ice your bruises.

“I don’t wanna fight with you. But sometimes I feel like I don’t know how not to.” You admitted, pulling back so you could look into his eyes. This tears were back but this time you didn’t will them away.

I don’t wanna do, I don’t wanna do this to you

“Next time tell me when something is bothering you— even if you think it’ll bother me. I want to know. I’d listen to every thought that passed your mind if you’d let me.” He laughed quietly, resulting in your smile.

“I think I love you.” You paused, letting out a shaky breath, “And that really really scares me. I don’t wanna ruin this.”

I don’t wanna lose, I don’t wanna lose this with you

“I know I love you.” He smiled softly, pressing a kiss to the corner of your mouth, “And I don’t plan on letting you go.”

It’s all me, just don’t go. Meet me in the Afterglow.