#kindofwriter

[ladyantiheroine]

Tagged by @chicowitch

name five songs you actually listen to:

Healing by Oh Honey

Unpunishable by Ethel Cain

Falling by Chase Atlantic

Bitter by Fletcher

Savior II by Black Veil Brides

@nightwingthesamuraifool your turn.

Also tagging these cool people: @uwucthulu @paradisechid800 @thevoidcallstous @kindofwriter @jorality @sentimentalities @boringasspotato @namelesspages @honestlyitcouldbeworse

[kindofwriter]

New pfp! New colour scheme! New blog name!

kindofwriter > donthugmeimaro

[queercore-curriculum]

Pls, I will happily send you every single number if I must 😅 but for now: 5, 13, 15?

Thank you so much for putting together this incredible list of Skyjacks asks, and I'm beyond thrilled to get the chance to respond!

5. If you could invent a Luminary what would it be?

If I could invent a Luminary, it’d be The Woman Warrior (reference to Maxine Hong Kingston’s memoir absolutely intended), or if that’s copyright infringement, maybe The Swordswoman (though many characters who fall into this archetype use other weapons, especially the bow and arrow). My reading of the Luminaries is that they don’t just represent particular folktales; they represent important character archetypes and themes that emerge again and again in storytelling throughout the world. And The Woman Warrior may be the classic character archetype that looms the largest in my imagination–I grew up idolizing both traditional historical/folktale heroines who challenge traditional gender expectations, like Hua Mulan and Joan of Arc, and modern interpretations, like the heroines of Tamora Pierce’s Tortall books. While The Woman Warrior appears again and again in stories throughout history, she feels increasingly relevant now, particularly for the fannish lesbian culture I’m immersed in. I’m thinking of Gideon Nav from Gideon the Ninth and the anthology Silk and Steel, which is a collection of stories about the trope of pairing “one weapon-wielding woman and one whose strengths lie in softer skills,” aka The Woman Warrior/The Maiden (I ship it). But she's also a huge part of contemporary mainstream culture, maybe the most obvious example being Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games.

Also, to clarify–when I say “lesbian,” I mean to evoke queer women of all stripes as well as trans and gender nonconforming people who don’t identify as women but identify with lesbian culture. I know a lot of people, myself included, are particularly attracted to The Woman Warrior because she undermines and blurs the gender binary, and she’s often an important early model for trans and gender nonconforming people. To that end, I think Gable in many ways embodies the themes of The Woman Warrior because they challenge traditional ideas about what a heroic warrior can look like–it’s about being a gender deviant who's fierce and proud and righteous and defiant, not about identifying as a binary woman.

I also think The Woman Warrior would fill a major gap in Skyjack’s current Luminary line-up. Women in the Luminaries seem to fall into one of two categories: a lover (the crane wife of The Loom, The Maiden) or a villain (The Forest Queen, The Morrigan) (this is also true of most of the important women characters on the show). I’d love to see a broader range of women legends in the lore of Spéir, and The Woman Warrior feels like a natural fit for the show (see my answer to question 15 below).

13. What is a holiday or tradition (real or invented) that you’d like to see given a Spéir spin?

Anything to do with gift-giving! I love how gift-giving forces you to think about your relationship with the person who’s receiving your gift.

15. Which folk tale would you like to see re-told as a piece of Spéir folklore, and how would it change?

I’d love to see the story of Mulan, Joan of Arc, and other women warriors re-told as a piece of Spéir folklore, and I think the important touchstones of these stories–defying social norms and gender expectations, courage, honor, justice–could be captured in the story of the Bandit Queen and the founding of the Tempest Armada. And Sifa heightens the themes I love in many classic woman warrior stories because she’s not just a lady knight fighting for a place alongside the men in mainstream society–she’s a revolutionary who leads the only force capable of taking on the Redfeather Syndicate. Next-level badass!

[ollieofthebeholder]

1, 5, 15? :)

St. Kilda asks for the offseason

1. Your favorite character and why. Robbie. No particular reason that I can actually explain. I just heard him and immediately went "that one's mine".

5. What unresolved secret from s1 do you think you have a great prediction for? I am 100% convinced the person who picked Amy up when she got back from St. Kilda is connected to the island somehow. Either they're related to someone currently on the island, or they're originally from the island and left, or they're in some way important to Dubrach.

15. Share a totally random headcanon about anything! Angelique is a classically trained opera singer. I desperately want her to be a mezzo-soprano because I want her to have sung both "L'amour est un oiseau rebelle" from Carmen and "Voi che sapete" from Le Nozze de Figaro. Look me in the eye and tell me Angelique wouldn't be a natural for either the role of Carmen or of Cherubino.

[bramblebee]

13 and Sasha? (loving all the content your ask posts generated btw; made all my breaks over the past few weeks very entertaining, so ty!)

Thank you for making this game! The prompts are all so creative, and I've been thriving on everyone's answers, too!

13 - The party actually get to play Pathfinder without Alex inflicting psychic damage! What is [Sasha]’s character like?

I think Sasha, for all that I love and admire her, would have trouble understanding the point of a ttrpg. You'd hand her a character sheet to fill out, and she'd come back with all the numbers filled in, her arithmetic perfect.

"Wow, Sasha," you'd say. "Your character sure is... sneaky."

She would nod, and say that she optimized for maximum sneakiness.

You'd turn the sheet over. She's playing a goblin rogue, which explains the unholy-high dexterity stat. "You haven't filled in a name," you'd say.

She'd ask if that's really necessary.

You suppose it's not technically necessary, "but we do need some way to refer to your character. Have you thought about what pronouns they might use?"

She would start looking around for the exit. You're asking a suspicious amount of questions about a person who doesn't actually exist. What are you, a cop?

After talking her down a bit and reassuring her that the finer details might come out over the course of play, you talk with her about starting inventory. You tell her that you'll give her character a 10gp allowance to spend as she chooses, then offer her a cheat-sheet of items you recommend.

She throws the cheat-sheet away and buys five daggers instead.

You're starting to think that Sasha isn't taking this very seriously, but then she rolls up to the first session very excited, bearing scribbly doodles of each of her fictional daggers.

I don't think Sasha would like roleplay very much, but she'd love combat, and I think she'd end up really enjoying the excuse to spend time with her friends.

[lenaellsi]

7 + 12? :)

Thank you for this wonderful list!!

7 - I don’t think this will happen, but I was wondering if maybe when the planes go weird from the Babbage array we might get to see Sasha :’)

12 - I keep 177 and 179 downloaded because I’m me lmao

[shofics]

5 + 11? :)

Thank you!!

5. Pick a character and make a prediction for their epilogue.

Hamid will end up being the liaison between the remaining Meritocrats and humanity in the days to come. As he is part of both worlds, and he saw the end of the Blight, and he’s good at public speaking, AND his arc is all about taking responsibility for his own actions and learning to become a leader, I think he’ll be the one doing the negotiations!

11. Which raw-ass line will stick in your mind for years to come?

The one that will always, always stay with me is from the AR sidequest, and you know it had an effect on me because I remember it even though I’ve never relistened to it since I first listened back in February.

Cicero: Maybe we deserved it.

Sasha: Maybe. But people don’t always get what they deserve.

[could-be-calliope]

2, 15, 19?? :)

ooh thank you for asking!

2 - What has been your favourite relationship to see (well, hear) develop? This feels like a spectacularly predictable answer from me, but Zolf and Sasha bein' buddies. There was something about how they knew each other for only a few weeks but that connection clicked into place so fast. I don't even want to get into the recent stuff about how much the cast loved that relationship too.

15 - Which moments have genuinely made you cry? Oof, that has to be Sasha's letter. It was odd, because the concept of a letter from Sasha showing up had been so popular in fan theory and fanfic, but actually listening to Lydia read it out just demolished me. I generally make it through "Hello mates. Sorry for the erroribus, but it's been so long that you all speak Latin in my dreams" before I'm crying. Ugh.

19 - Can you try to put into words the crushing nostalgia you now feel when you think back to the prologue episodes, and how you felt listening to them for the first time vs how that would feel now? I think my favourite thing about actual play as a genre is the balance between in-universe and out-of-universe story. Hearing the cast goof around out of character is quite literally the thing that got me through the parts of the pandemic where i couldn't see any of my friends for about a year. So when I listen to the prologue episodes, especially now, it's so obvious to me how new the cast was. It wasn't until later Q&As that I heard about Ben "Just some guy" Meredith rocking up and no one knowing him, but it's SO clear in current episodes that the cast genuinely enjoy playing this game together. Sure, the actual gameplay has gotten smoother, but the thing that crushes me is how close the cast is.

This is for the RQG Retrospective Ask Game!

[knifemartin]

2, 6, 15? :)

2. What has been your favourite relationship to see (well, hear) develop?

We all know I'm #basic & there is so much to zolf&wilde that I adore and will never get enough of (platonic life partners!!!!) I could talk about them forever, and I have & I will, but also there's too much there for me to go into right now so I'm putting them back on the shelf and taking down Zolf & Sasha for a moment, and how absolutely heartbreaking their ending was when you look back on how much Sasha changed Zolf's life and he never got to see her again. Meeting her, loving her, promising to be there for her and heal her when he finds out how sick she is? But then he has to leave because it's what he has to do for himself, and sasha gets that so she lets him go.

And as if that isn't enough!!- Finding hope in the thought of her, and he makes his way back to wilde & there's no rangers left. then they return but sasha isn't even there

and then they get the letter and he can't be in the room with everyone else and all their grief too, so he leaves and reads it in private??? and it's all he has left of her???

Listen. guilt & grief combo my beloved I love Zolf & Sasha more than life itself. I miss their awkward interactions on a daily basis. I will never be over them.

6. What is something you are wholly convinced will happen in the finale?

Fun fact about me! I never ever make serious predictions about media I am consuming. idk, it's just. Can't do it, can't even guess who the killer might be in a thriller. I love re-watching/reading/listening with the knowledge of the ending, I love thinking about potentials afterwards, but legitimately guessing where the story is going? not a me thing

I am wholly convinced, however, that it will give me capital-E Emotions and that I won't be able to think of anything else for the rest of my day

15. Which moments have genuinely made you cry?

S A S H A ' S L E T T E R

The only time I've cried listening to any podcast. I blamed it on the fact I listened to it first thing in the morning and was really tired, and decided that must've made me emotional. i did not see it coming, i was not ready!! dont ask about the other four times it's made me cry shhhh

RQG Retrospective asks!

[quantifierrasing]

17 + 18? :)

17. Make a meme!

18. Why did you first start listening to the show?

Last april, when i had finished magnus. I wanted more rusty quill content and thought the gaming show could be nice. First thing i ever listened to was the first half of 192, got confused and started at the beginning. I love it even more that tma and it helped my mental health a lot to get lost in this fictional world!

[yamikakyuu]

2 + 17? :)

2. What has been your favourite relationship to see (well, hear) develop?

This will surprise absolutely no one but Zolf and Wilde's. I'm usually not into enemies to lovers but after s4 and everything they'd been through just seeing them be honestly at their lowest and learning to trust and just live through the 18mons, I just love how they both developed this bond between them that basically brought Wilde back from the dead. I absolutely love them.

Really Wilde's relationship with all of LOLOMG since everyone hated him when he first showed up and now they're all saving the world together.

17. Make a RQG meme!

I've made a few

[yeahdefnot]

1 + 9? :)

hi! :)

1. What is that one moment from the show that you will find yourself thinking back to, intermittently, for years to come?

i really like this question, if only bc it's the kind where you're almost never right (or at least i wouldn't be) but it's cool to see the difference it what sticks around vs. what you expect to. regardless, if i had to hazard a guess, the conversations with mr. ceiling. Or 118 when hamid just. decides to fireball himself. or 177. just. all of the conversations with wilde/carter/sassraa. (yes, i am aware this is a generous definition of moment. but)

9. Which was your favourite arc and why?

probably paris, there's just so much going on and there's the rooftop fight and mr. ceiling which just- yeah. definitely (probably) paris <3

[realdavidward]

8 + 17? :)

8: what mystery do you hope still gets resolved, and how do you hope it will still happen?

hmm i really wanna know what the fuck is up with barrett because we never found out for sure. i don't think he'll turn up but i have a feeling he'll get to ada :/ oH also where are the other meritocrats?? are they all here or just apophis?? are other ones infected,,

17: make an rqg meme!

i lack the time and ability to actually *make" one but i shall describe in detail.

so you've got marge simpson "i just think they're neat" template. marge is labelled "rusty quill sad biroace men". the potato is labelled "rusty quill sad [but better at hiding it than their partners] poets with unknown/forgotten middle names brought to you by alex newall" been done before but 🤷‍♀️

thank you!! folks i won't tell you to post your rqg content anymore but if you've got more go for it :D

special thanks to the asker for creating the ask game !

[bramblebee]

1, 3, 8?? 😊

1. What is that one moment from the show that you will find yourself thinking back to, intermittently, for years to come?

Oh. Guivres glassing Eiffel’s Folly. Something about that moment hit me so hard the first time I listened -- I think up until then I hadn’t fully comprehended the fact that the Meritocrats were fucking dragons, and that kind of final, destructive power shook me to the core and really illustrated the grand scale of this world Alex had created.

3. What was your favourite running joke, in or out of character?

Increasingly convoluted metaphors about Sasha's sneakiness my beloved! Also, the Soggy Admiral callbacks. And unclothed Zolf, of course, a classic!

(And shoutout to Ulf the Unremembered, though I don't think specials really count. That's probably the most rqg has made me laugh at one joke, though.)

8. What mystery do you really hope still gets resolved, and how do you predict that will happen?

Hades nonsense!!! Who really made Rome Like That? How did Hades get stuck between planes? How does this relate to the blue veins? Where does Persephone fit in? What’s the deal with the Cult of Hades?

I don’t really have a prediction other than that I think we will get answers of some form -- whatever “erasing the line” ends up meaning, I think it’s going to be linked to Hades’s domain of life and death, with a sprinkle of the line between man and machine. I can’t wait to find out!

[celsidebottom]

3 + 16? :)

3: What was your favourite running joke, in or out of character?

I think "I've got loads of hitpoints" has to be number one. I say variations of it all the time in my real life now lol. Also an honorable mention to Sasha just having So Many Daggers. The part where they go to see Apophis and she individually takes out each dagger instead of just saying "yeah here they all are" is so funny to me

16: If you’ve ever created fan content for the show, which piece are you most proud of?

I answered this here, but I have to give a special shout out to this zamid fic I wrote because it just hits all of my favorite tropes and I really enjoy it, I even reread it sometimes because it just makes me happy

[wordsandstrangeways]

9 + 18? :)

9. It will surprise no one to know my favourite character arc is Wilde’s. When I started I couldn’t understand why *anyone* would ever like him and actively cannot listen to his intro because it makes me want to scream. To come from there to the broken, vulnerable man we see in Japan and then to the openness of him post resurrection just cuts me to the core. Party wise: gotta be Azu. I really love the subtle growth that Helen’s given her, from being so unsure but enthusiastic through the guilt of Rome to come and confront Not!Grizzop and channel her guilt and rage into fighting and defending her friends is just absolutely glorious. I love her so much. I hope she and Kiko find somewhere lovely to go and have more dates together.

18. Honestly: wanted more rusty quill! I was a big magnus fan and so when it was over I went looking for familiar voices and thought “okay I’ll give it a shot”. I was expecting to like it, I wasn’t expecting it to be so funny or brilliantly soul destroyingly moving. Moments like Sasha and Brock, like the tragedy of discovering Sasha and Grizzop were gone, the moments in the aftermath of the airship, AR, I’ve cried at least 4 times because of this stupid podcast and I don’t regret a single moment.

Thanks for the ask! I’m having a lot of feels rn. <3