#ks has adventures in writing

[thatdisasterauthor]

Welp. Found out the forest service has decided to end my contract much sooner than it was supposed to end so that’s. A thing that’s happening. Ugh. I’m kinda fucked now. This throws a wrench in so many things, including my top surgery plans. They’re ending everyone’s contracts early due to funding, so it’s not just me. But. Blerg.

Playing with a few different options right now, so, question. Would you be more interested in backing a Kickstarter for:

A: my custom notecards set that I developed to make planning a novel easier as someone with various neurodivergent brain worms. I’ve used it to successfully write 8 books so far, plus a book length fanfic.

B: A special edition of my adult fantasy adventure, Glory is Poison. Vampires, train robberies, post apocalypse, and so much family drama. Many queer characters, including an ace couple. This is my only published book I didn’t do a KS for, so it’s the only one without a special edition. It would have a new cover, chapters from book 2, and other special edition goodies. Check my pinned post for more info on it.

Please vote even if you can’t afford to back something right now! I’m just trying to gauge general interest.

[asexualbookbird]

It was not a great month for reading enjoyment. It did not start off strong, a book I was really looking forward to enjoying was boring as hell, and now my brain is too foggy to enjoy anything more complex I've been wanting to read. It WAS a good month in terms of volume, though. Two chonky books, and eight overall, if we care about those stats. Which I do a little bit. Numbers are arbitrary, but it does give me a sense of accomplishment when I read an 800 page book, I will not lie.

Eryie: Gryphon Insurrection by K Vale Nagle ⭐ - I'll admit, this is partially my fault. My brain skipped right over the Gryphon Insurrection part of the title, so I wasn't really expecting gryphon genocide, the children's novel. On top of that, it just wasn't well written! POV changes well over halfway through the book, no character is distinct, only thing it has going for it is it finally made me jump into Guardians of Ga'Hoole, but. uh. Well you'll see.

Dragon Pearl by Yoo Ha Lee ⭐⭐⭐- It was fine! Entertaining! I know YA and MG books don't have the luxury of going too deep into lore or anything, but it was really lacking here. She was sad about her brother being dead for like. One line. And then got over it. Kids deserve to read emotional depth! It was a cute adventure, but nothing I'd read again. It does make me more excited about Ninefox Gambit, though, because I can see the bones of good writing!

The Dragon of Jin-Sayeng by KS Villso ⭐⭐⭐⭐- Ow. What an end to a series. Everyone is awful, everyone sucks, except Khine, love of my life. It's always harder to talk about the books I like, but I did really enjoy this series. I'd like to reread it one day!

Legacy of Ash by Matthew Ward ⭐- I was sooooo looking forward to this. I even bought book two (at a secondhand shop thankfully) because I really thought I'd enjoy it. LOL. It took 800 pages to say nothing at all. It was long for the sake of being long. It was like four different plots trying to be one, and none of them really amounted to anything because the focus was so split. Really, similar problems as Priory, but at least that was gay.

The Guardians of Ga'Hoole by Kathryn Lasky (1-4) ⭐⭐⭐- Finally starting this series after a million years! It came highly recommended from many friends throughout my life, so I've naturally been putting it off. It's fine. I did really enjoy the first one, but reading more left me really picking it apart and it's a solid three stars for me. I think Animorphs is more well rounded, but it's still an entertaining series. My biggest gripe is the inconsistencies! Soren and crew decides to withhold information from the Guardians, and then the next book the Guardians have that information? And said they got it from the gang?? Not sure how th timeline works for Metal Beak to be Soren's brother when Metal Beak was supposed to be a Big Scary Enemy to all of owlkind. Thought it might be a Dread Pirate Robert's situation, but nope! Kludd has been the only Metal Beak! Kids deserve better lol I'll read what I have (eleven books) but probably nothing more than that.

I don't have reading plans or goals for February. I'm still sick, doing things is hard. I'm just trying to survive over here. If you have recommendations for easy to read silly books, I am all ears!

[writerofshit]

What do you call foam balls that you soak with water and throw at one another in a fun water fight?

[writerofshit]

I really am trying to finish that jerevin prompt, but my best friend is making it difficult.

The first time i ever show my writing to this man, he finds a typo

Why does god hate me?

[thebirdandhersong]

10-ish chapters left to write in Project 1 and where will I find the time to write them!!!

[jcmorrigan]

How was your element of harmony fic gonna end?

OOH NOW THIS ONE HAS BEEN SUCH A WHILE THAT THIS ACTUALLY SOUNDS FUN TO TALK ABOUT

Context for those unaware: EoH was one of my many attempts at a multicrossover. A predecessor to TBTC. It was my goal at being an EVERYTHING CROSSOVER and taking forever to highlight every little thing that could be explored in the canon of each work used. And I was in a difficult relationship with KH at the time, even though it was obviously a KH derivative, so I didn't want to actually use Sora and co. as the main cast. MLPFIM was a comfort show for me, and I was already used to the br0n135 using the Mane Six in crossovers with everything you could imagine, so I was like, hey, let's do this, Mane Six are now multi-world travelers and Discord is assembling every villain ever to stand in their way. (KH then ended up in the mythos anyway!) This is also where I was playing the infamous Twilight Sparkle/Mozenrath ship that is now very very dead.

To explain exactly what all was going on with the lore and politics of it to make this last bit make sense would take too long, so from there, please just...roll with it. I'm about to detail you THE FINALE ARC

The original idea was actually, at some point, to begin work on the Finale Arc when most of the main players were introduced. Then go back in time and keep editing the middle of the story to go on indefinitely. A bad business plan for many reasons, first of all being that I didn't even get to introduce the players that would've made it possible to begin the arc. That's how long I took to explore EVERY FRICKIN THING.

Over the course of the story, Discord has been interfering on every crossover world you can imagine, to the point of sometimes altering their canons into "fix fic." The story is aware of this. It's kinda like in the Loki series (of which I've only watched episode 1) where there's a "sacred timeline" and Discord's crossover actions are deliberate attempts by him to break it. We learn at some point that paradoxes and timeline changes are what broke the Age of Fairy Tales into the KH worlds we know today. So Discord rounds up his Old Ones (the Lovecraftian monstrosities that are more powerful than gods) and they all band together to strike at all the cracks he's put in the structure of the multiverse, and it all just falls APART. Worlds are destroyed, time has no meaning, suddenly everything is shards floating in void. The main players survive, mostly. Countless civilians die. Some named characters are given tragic deaths.

I've actually written one little snippet from this arc because I wanted to. It details two particular characters, who at the time were side villains I enjoyed and was just digging the vibe of, going down defending a stronghold from the creatures of Darkness (oni, yokai, Heartless, Grimm) that emerged from the void when everything broke. By the way do you want to take a guess who these characters IT WAS ARCHIBALD SNATCHER AND ROMAN TORCHWICK. GOD, THAT SHOULD'VE BEEN THE SIGN RIGHT THEN AND THERE THAT THEY WERE WHO I WANTED TO BE WRITING ABOUT FULL-TIME

But! I had a friend who'd lent me the book "Haroun and the Sea of Stories," and I was REALLY into that book's whole concept of "all stories in existence are threatened to end." So I lifted Khattam-Shud, a personification of The End (and I have since heard is also a political caricature), as the ACTUAL final boss. Discord wanted to blow up the multiverse because of the CHAOS that would ensue! KS, however, wanted to end EVERYTHING. (If I were doing this today, he'd just flat-out be Ansem, Seeker of Darkness instead.) Discord would realize he'd been played as KS makes a bid to line up one more cataclysm that will reduce everything to dust.

Heroes and villains alike, Discord included, find each other across the wastelands and amass into one last survivors' army led by the Mane Six. They approach the final field standing between them and KS and they charge. KS unleashes Dark creatures (Echthroi, as I had it) to gun them down. Pretty much everyone dies in this battle except the Mane Six themselves. (Which should give you a hint as to how this REALLY ends, but let's keep going.) The Mane Six fight their way to KS (and I'm REALLY gonna date myself here - the final line of defense before him was gonna be Paige the freaking Notebook from DHMIS as a personification of creative control). He shatters the Elements and then un-exists the Mane Six, but they don't die.

Instead, they end up in a sort of...white realm, inspired by the development rooms in The Stanley Parable (I was into even weirder fandoms back then than I am now apparently?). At one point it was gonna be "inside the author's laptop" and they could see doors to other timelines (i.e. crossover fanfics my friends were doing). They can also see all the files here for all the worlds they visited on their way and all the friends they made. Y'know, everything that's now DEAD.

The memories of everyone and everything they loved, however, allows them to forge one (1) new Element stone. This is...wait for it...THE ELEMENT OF HARMONY. Its surface shimmers with a rainbow of all colors! But wait! When it's flipped over, there's another side to the same gem, with colors dissonantly swirled around in an ugly way. Our heroines realize that the Element of Harmony also serves a dual purpose as the Element of Chaos, since you can't have one without the other!

The Mane Six find a way back to KS' battlefield, where he's about to finally UN-EXIST EVERYTHING. Twilight gets to say the one and only "FUCK" she's allowed to say in the whole story (I really...want to use this same joke on Mozenrath in TBTC...I know I've said he curses inaudibly to keep him IC but just imagine in the finale arc he gets the one and only FUCK he's ever allowed in his life). The six huddle around their Element of Harmony and activate its magic, casting a rainbow aura that begins to heal the broken multiverse. KS then tells them there's no way that will ever work because he and the other Old Ones caused so many paradoxes that it'll fall back apart again. To build a multiverse that's stable under these conditions would make no sense. And Twilight goes "WHAT FUN IS THERE IN MAKING SENSE" and flips the Element over to the Chaos side! Now the Chaos energy basically...fixes all the plot holes and physical impossibilities of the multiverse, allowing it to rebuild everything that had broken without a single issue!

Discord petrifies Khattam-Shud and it was fairly badass but I can't remember exactly what one-liner I gave him to end it.

Lights up on a rebuilt multiverse. Everyone's alive again and nothing's broken! YAY! And everyone in the survivor army (though they're not "survivors" anymore since EVERYONE is alive again) has come to Equestria to give the Mane Six a celebration for saving literally everything! AND THEY'RE ALL PONIES OR OTHERWISE MAGICAL CREATURES BECAUSE OF MY RULES OF FORM CHANGING IN THAT FIC. HAHAHAHAHA IT WAS A VERY COMICAL MENTAL IMAGE AND STILL IS.

The Six get their ships (Twilight/Mozenrath, Pinkie Pie/Megavolt, Fluttershy/Sakuya from Okami, Rarity/Stork, Rainbow Dash/I would really rather not say this one because it was taboo in a way I don't wanna touch again, Applejack/I don't even know anymore because it was gonna be Emma Swan and then it wasn't and then I just got confused). And everyone just has a good time.

The Six then take off in the ship again for THE ADVENTURE CONTINUING, EVEN THOUGH AFTER THIS I WOULD JUST GO WRITE ETERNAL ADVENTURE LEADING UP TO THIS MOMENT

Also I heard the song "We Come Running" by Youngblood Hawke on the radio once and I was like "This would go great over a credits sequence" so I used it for a while as my inspo for a KH-style "credits montage" where you see each of the most major worlds and the factions that live on them, and an early concept for the WHAM ARMY was one of these factions and this cracks me up so much because they graduated from a shot in the KH montage to WE ARE THE PROTAGS OF THE NEXT FIC

And that's pretty much it!

[jwslw]

d20 modern stats for the Shokan from Mortal Kombat

No forced reference to the franchise’s tradition of replaceing hard Cs with Ks in the post title this time, your welcome.

Shokan

Large powerful humanoids native to Outworld's underground regions.

Personality

Most Shokan are proud to the point of arrogance, cruel, and driven by a deep seated sense of honor and racial superiority. Shokan society teaches that rule of the strong is the only way and to never show compassion, this has had a profound effect on the average Shokan's psyche.

Physical Description

The Shokan are divided into two racial groups/castes, the ruling slightly less bestial looking Draco, and cat like Tigrar.  Regardless of race/caste, all Shokan have the same general build, large muscular bodies with thick, scaly hides, four arms each capped with massive three digit hand only two toes on each foot, and lizard-like tongues and eyes.  Tigrar will also have light coat of  fur (typically yellow, light brown or varying shades of orange with black stripes) covering their bodies, and saber teeth.

History and Technology

The Shokan have lived in Outworld for millennia.

Relations

Shokan do not get along well with others, exspecially not their life long rivals, the Centauri.  The Shokan can can usually be found serving its Kahn of Outworld as a semi-independent vassal state, though they will often be the first ally to turn on a Kahn if a credible threat to his or her power emerges.

Lands

The Shokan primarily live in the subterranean kingdom of Kuatan, though colonies and outposts can be found in many other parts of Outworld.

Religion

The Shokan do not venerate any particular gods, though they hold a degree of respect for dragons and extra-planar beings stronger than themselves.

Language

All Shokan speak Draconic, most will also learn at least one other language common to Outworld or the Earthrealm.

Example Names

Gorbak

Goro

Kintaro

Mai

Sheeva

Duroc

Grum

Zenkaro

Species Traits

Ability Modifiers: +6Str, +6Con, -2Int, -4Cha.  

Creature Type: Shokan are Monstrous humanoids with the Reptilian and Extra-Planar subtypes.

Natural Armor: A Shokan's thick hide grants them a +5 natural armor bonus to defense.

Large Size: As large creatures Shokan suffer a -1 size penalty to attack rolls and defense, and a -4 size penalty to hide checks, however they receive a +4 size bonus to grapple checks and

Darkvision 60ft.

Base Land Speed: 30ft.

Natural Attacks: All Shokan can make slam attacks with their fists dealing 1d4+their Strength modifier worth of bludgeoning damage to whatever they hit.  In addition, Tigrar have a secondary bite attack that deals 1d3+ half their strength bonus worth of piercing damage and can be used in conjunction with manufactured weapons

Multiple Limbs (Ex):  A Shokan's 4 arms grant it a +4 circumstance bonus to Grapple and Climb checks

Improved Grab (Ex):  If a Shokan hits an opponent with a slam attack, they can initiate a grapple attempt as a free action.

Constrict (Ex):  Each round a Shokan maintains a grapple they deal bludgeoning damage to the target equal to 2d6+1.5x their strength modifier.

Fire Breath (Su):  Once every 1d4+1 rounds a Shokan can exhale fire in a 20ft line, dealing 3d6 points of damage to anything in its path (Reflex 15 negates) and igniting flammable objects (Fort 15 negates).

Fire Bolts (Su): When choosing to use their breath weapon, a Shokan can instead elect to throw (or spit) ball(s) of fire as a ranged attack instead.  Fire bolts manifest in one of two ways, a single large bolt or a barrage of smaller ones, using either is a Full Round action.  When fired as a single large ball a fire bolt deals 3d6 points of fire damage and has a range increment of 60ft (max range 5 increments), when fired in a barrage each bolt deals 1d8 points of fire damage and has a range increment of 20ft (max range 10 increments) and the Shokan can fire off as many bolts in a round as they have attacks. Objects struck by a fire bolt must pass a DC 15 Fort save or catch fire, suffering the normal penalties.

Bonus Feats:  All Shokan receive Archaic weapons proficiency, and can select either Multi-attack or multi-weapon fighting as bonus feats

Skills: Shokan receive a +10 species bonus to Jump checks

Level Adjustment: +6.

Shokan Wrist Blades (PL2)

A special combination of an arm guard and either a short heavy blade (called a Dragon fang) or long thin blade (called a Saber tooth) Shokan wrist blades are special weapons provided to elite warriors and typically carried in pairs.  When trained in their use, a Shokan commonly wears a pair of wrist blades on their lower arms. Wrist blades leave the Shokan's hands free to perform other tasks (including using other weapons or performing skills like Open lock or Computer use), wrist blades and held items can not be used in the same round.  A Shokan wrist blade is considered an exotic melee weapon, when worn as a pair they grant a +1 equipment bonus to defense.  Shokan wrist blades are always considered mastercraft.

Damage 1d6.  Type: Piercing or Slashing.  Critical: x3  Size: Medium. Weight: 4lb (each).  Purchase DC: 18 (pair)

Build                                    

Base Height  Modifier   Base Weight  Modifier

6'6”         +4d8" 400lb            x(4d6)lb

Shokan Noble (Draco) CR13. Large Monstrous humanoid (Reptilian, Extra-Planar) Charismatic Hero6/Martial Artist3/Negotiator3 HD: 6d6+18 plus 6d8+18. HP86. Mas16. Init:+2. Spd 30ft. Defense:22, Touch16, FF20(-1sz, +2dex,+5Class,+1Equip,+5nat) 23vs melee (+1dodge). Bab+8. Grapl+20. Atk:+11melee(Wrist blade 1d6+4/x3) or +9ranged (Fire bolt 3d6 RI; 60ft). Full Atk:+8melee(2 Wrist blades 1d6+4/x3) and +7melee (2 unarmed strikes 1d6+2), or +5ranged (4 fire bolts 1d8 RI; 20ft). FS:10ftx10ft. R:10ft. SQ: Monstrous humanoid traits, Reptilian subtype, Extra-planar subtype, Darkvision 60ft, Multiple Limbs, Improved Grab, Constrict  (2d6+6) Fire Breath (3d6 Ref15), Fire Bolts, Living weapon (1d6), Flying kick, Conceal Motive, React First. AL: Evil, Shokan Kingdom, Emperor of Outworld. Sv Frt+9, Ref+9, Wil+8. AP: 12. Rep+7. Str18, Dex14, Con16, Int11, Wis10, Cha14.

Occupation: Squire (Balance, Climb, Jump)

Skills: Balance+8, Bluff+10, Climb+14, Diplomacy+8, Disguise+4, Gamble+5, Intimidate+8, Investigate+5, Jump+10, Knowledge+6 (Current Events), Listen+2, Move silently+8, Profession+6, Read/Write/Speak (Draconic plus any 3), Sense Motive+5, Spot+2

Feats: Alertness, Armor Proficiency (Light), Combat Martial Arts, Deceptive,Defensive Martial arts, Exotic melee weapons proficiency (Shokar wrist blades), Iron will, Minions, Multi-weapon fighting, Renown, Unbalance opponent, Side-kick, Simple weapons proficiency

Talents: Fast talk, Dazzle, Taunt

Possessions: Pair of Wrist blades (8lb), royal garb, various gear and personal possessions.

Shokan Royal guard (Tigrar) CR7. Large Monstrous humanoid (Reptilian, Extra-Planar) Tough Hero3/Thrasher3 HD:3d10+15 plus 3d12+12.HP67. Mas18. Init:+1. Spd 30ft. Defense:23, Touch17, FF19(-1sz, +4con,+4Class,+1Equip,+5Nat). Bab+4. Grapl+17. Atk:+9melee(3d6+5 knockout punch) or +5ranged (Fire bolt 3d6 RI; 60ft). Full Atk:+8melee(2d8+9/x3, huge great ax) and -1melee (2 Shokan Wrist blades 1d6+2/x3) or -1ranged (4 fire bolts 1d8 RI; 20ft). FS:10ftx10ft. R:10ft. SQ: Monstrous humanoid traits, Reptilian subtype, Extra-planar subtype, Darkvision 60ft, Multiple Limbs, Improved Grab, Constrict  (2d6+6) Fire Breath (3d6 Ref15), Fire Bolts Ability Surge 1/day, Tough Defense, Damage Reduction 2/---. AL: Evil, Shokan Kingdom, Emperor of Outworld. Sv Frt+9, Ref+4, Wil+2. AP. Rep+1. Str20, Dex15,Con18, Int12, Wis10, Cha4.

Occupation: Adventurer (Move Silently, Treat Injury)

Skills: Concentration+10, Climb+9, Move silently+5, Read/Write/Speak (Draconic), Survival+6, Spot+6, Treat Injury+3

Feats: Archaic Weapons proficiency, Brawl, Endurance, Exotic melee weapons proficiency (Shokar wrist blades), Knockout Punch, Simple Weapons proficiency, Tough Plus

Talents: Damage Reduction 2/---, Remain Conscious, Robust

Possessions: Great Ax (40lb), Pair of Wrist blades (8lb), various gear and personal possessions.

[writerofshit]

Right, so. I'm working on a short thing.

It may or may not be funny. It may or may not be pointless. But it is a thing I'm doing.

This is objectively not a good photo, but it is the only productive thing I've managed to do today. So we're going to count it as a win.

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I thought about Adventure Time: Distant Lands-”BMO”

Salutations random people of the internet who probably won't read this. I am an Ordinary Shmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons. And today, I'm going to do one-fourth of what I do best by reviewing "BMO": The first hour-long special of Adventure Time: Distant Lands. Seeing how it's been a week since the special premiered, and that most fans saw it by now, I thought I'd share my thoughts on BMO. Keep in mind, if you haven't seen the special yet, you're final warning against spoilers stops here. Because I'll be spoiling the heck out of this special, by listings everything I like, and don't like. Things like characters, plot elements, and little touches that I thought were worth mentioning. Without further ado, let's start this review off by listing-

WHAT I LIKED

The Animation Quality: You know how Steven Universe: The Movie had animation quality that was ten percent better than the original series? That's basically what the animation in “BMO” is like. It's not the smoothest I've ever seen, and probably not the best Adventure Time has ever looked, but it's still pretty good. There's definitely more attention to detail, shading, and lighting to help make “BMO” look more cinematic than the series. There is one issue I have with the animation, though. But I'll get into that with the dislikes. For now, it's safe to say that the animation is still pretty darn good.

BMO (The Character, not the special): What can I say about this little rascal that hasn't been said already? BMO is still his adorable little self, and more so. There are times when his naivety can be kind of annoying, at least to me, but I'm sure BMO fans will love how he's presented in the special. Especially given the fact that this is the most active BMO has been in the entire series. Throughout most of Adventure Time, BMO has primarily been a source for comedy as well as a tool for characters to use. Even in episodes when BMO does save the day, it's either by accident or by him not understanding the situation. In "BMO," the little robot purposefully solves many problems, and fully understands the situation. The special still manages to keep his naivety by having BMO just not completely understanding how serious the problem is. Weirdly the writers found a perfect way to make BMO a more active role while not giving him a different personality. And personally speaking, the writers executed that idea well.

Y-5: This special may be about BMO, but Y-5 is the real star here. Y-5's personality, design, and overall arc as a character was so much fun and downright adorable to see. It was so surprising because I did not expect to like any new character introduced in Distant Lands. I just assumed that any newcomer would divert attention from the main character that the special would focus on. And while Y-5 does do that, I'm ok with it for three reasons. First, BMO is not a good character to work on his own. He actually needs characters that fully know what's going on for the plot to progress. Second, while Y-5 can hijack the story, sometimes, there are still segments that make it clear that "BMO" is about BMO. Third, Y-5 is already an incredible character, so I'm not going to waste time complaining about her inclusion. She plays the perfect straight man to BMO's antics, and it was so endearing to see her grow as a more confident character. So much so, that I actually consider Y-5 as one of my personal favorite characters. Not just in the special, but in the series overall. Also, I’m sure that there’s some symbolism behind her wanting to be called Y-5, but I’m not touching it. Mostly because I have no idea what I’m talking about in that regard.

The Comedy: There's not much to say here. The jokes are all worth a good chuckle but were never funnier than anything in the series as a whole. Except for that hard-cut to the elf looking angry as he drifts off into space. That was pretty hilarious.

The Drift: I love everything about the Drift. From its design to the background characters, and even the backgrounds themselves. Everything about the Drift just screams hard work and dedication from the cast and crew. It's almost as if everyone involved knew this would be the last time they would work on Adventure Time, so they just poured their hearts and souls into it. And given the fact that they worked so hard on the first special, makes me even more excited for the other three.

Martin returns...sort of: Let's be clear: It is understood by everyone that Mr. M is Martin Mertens. He has the same voice actor, the same mannerisms, and even the same body type. However, what I like isn't the fact that Martin returns. What I love is the fact that "BMO" never reveals that it's Martin. I'm sure some fans might be upset about not getting an official reveal, but I personally don't think it matters. Mostly because it doesn't matter to BMO. BMO doesn't know who Martin is, and has very little connection to the scumbag. So making a big reveal that Mr. M is Martin would just be unnecessary. Overall, I'm ok with the fact that the writers had Martin return to be nothing more than a glorified easter egg. Because honestly, it's what he deserved.

Hugo’s backstory: Again, there's nothing much to say here. It's yet another twist reveal about how a character who seems nice turns out to be quite the twat. There are two things worth mention, though. One, Hugo's personality stays the same. Look back at all Disney twist villains who become vastly different characters before and after the big twist. Compared to Hugo, he seems like a twist villain done right. Once you figured out that Mr. M is Martin, it should be pretty clear that Hugo's not a saint to be partnered up with the guy. Plus, when it's revealed Hugo really is, he still keeps up this charming persona that he uses around people...up until he ditches them like a twit. Another thing worth mentioning is the animation used for the flashback. Dedicated fans might remember that it was the same style used for "Water Park Prank," which might be the worst episode of the series. So it's nice to see the art style used for something good rather than something...not as good.

The solution to “save” the Drift: Most people use the special as an allegory for climate change. Which is why I put "save" in air-quotes because the citizens didn't really save anything. Similar to how we all play our part to save our planet. What the citizens do, though, is come up with solutions that might work as long as they have hope. And I. Freaking. LOVE that! The lesson that "BMO" is trying to teach is incredibly important, both to children and especially to adults. It's so easy to assume that the best solution is to abandon once it gets too hard and take the easy way out. Same as how some people believe it's better to just abandon this planet we call home, rather than put in the work to save it. And to those people: Let me ask you a question. Do you really think that you'll shoot off into space with the people planning to colonize another planet? Or do you think that those people are going to be like Hugo, who will only take along close friends and the rich? Personally, I think it's more likely going to be the latter. Which is why I adore the lesson being taught in "BMO." It might be hard to save the planet at this point, but it's still worth doing. And I can hope everyone else will come to agree with that conclusion.

WHAT I DISLIKED

Olive: I feel bad for saying I don't like Olive because the truth is that I'm more indifferent to them. To me, Olive feels less like a character and more like a plot device. This is because Olive has little to no personality, and all they do nothing but be something that furthers the plot. Although, I do like how Olive can stretch, as well as how they are overprotective over BMO. Other than that, there's not much to work off of.

Inconsistency with Character Designs: This was the problem I had with the animation. At times, characters are pretty inconsistent with how they're drawn. Some scenes, Y-5's eyes are large and cute, and other times they're normal-sized. There also times when BMO's height and width can be pretty inconsistent with what scene he's in. Now to be fair, this is nothing new to Adventure Time. It's a problem that the show has had for quite some time, and fans have come to accept it. However, just because you accept a problem doesn't make it any less of a problem. If anything, it makes it worse because the showrunners still refuse to fix it.

KS-2: Is it weird that the best character in "BMO" is the daughter of the worst character? Because to me, I don't understand how someone as amazing as Y-5 came from someone so rotten as KS-2. To be fair, I get what the writers were going for. They wanted to make a mother who was just another adult that "just doesn't understand." I can see that, but the problem is that the writers went too far with the idea. The way that KS-2 just constantly berates Y-5, as well as refusing to listen, comes off as too cruel. And the fact that the father pointed out how KS-2 never said the words "Y-5 was right," does nothing more than add fuel to the fire. But what's tricky is for all I know, this could have been the intention. And if it's true that the writers wanted to make KS-2 so unlikeable, then they more than succeeded. Although, I will give the crew credit for subverting gender norms by making KS-2 buff and the dad scrawny. I just wish that good intention was put into a good character.

The first chase scene in the Jungle Pod: This is mostly a nitpick, but it's still something that bothers me. Because having BMO getting chased away from his radio, to then have him end back where he originally was, felt like padding to me. Because why else would you have BMO go through all of that danger, only to have him end up at square one. Maybe the writers included the scene to build tension, but even if that's true, there could have been a better way to do it. Like while BMO's being chased, he somehow gets closer to his goal, rather than end up in a loop. And if the scene really was just for padding, then pad that time with literally anything else. Like maybe use the time to show KS-2's gentle side, or doing more to tease Hugo's true self. I know it would only be a few minutes, but actually make those minutes count for something. 

It’s a Prequel?: After my initial viewing, my reaction to the ending was, "Oh, BMO found Finn and Jake's descendants." Then when actual smart people pointed out that "BMO" was a prequel, my reaction became "Oh, that makes way more sense." But then I started thinking about the fact that the special was a prequel, and the more I thought about it, the more holes I found. Or, at least, two holes that I found. First off, why does BMO have a heroic nature in this special? At first, I thought that maybe the years living with Finn and Jake taught BMO how to be a hero, but BMO hasn't met Finn yet. So I guess BMO felt like a heroic personality the entire time? Even though he never acted like this before in the series, unless he thought he was playing a game? Another thing I noticed is Martin's line about kids calling out their deadbeat parents. Why would he say that? Martin hasn't met Finn yet, either. Therefore Martin doesn't have the experience of being called a deadbeat parent. So does this mean that Martin has other children in the universe who calls him out on his crap? Or is it most likely that the writers wanted to give another clue that Mr. M was Martin, but briefly forgot the series timeline? I think it's most likely the latter, even though the former sounds way more interesting. And before people want to kill me because they actually love the story being a prequel, I want to point out, this is another nitpick. The fact that "BMO" is a prequel doesn't bother me too much, but I still can't help but feel confused when thinking about it.

As a whole, I give “BMO” an A-. BMO is as adorable as ever, Y-5 is an astounding character, I love the moral that the special is trying to teach, and the entire thing just screams effort. Is it perfect? No. Does it have problems? Yes, but not anything that makes me think the special was unwatchable. I enjoyed it, and something tells me that if you're an Adventure Time fan, you enjoy it too. "BMO" was a great introduction to Distant Lands, and here's hoping the other specials will be even better.

(And here’s also hoping that “Obsidian” will deliver that sweet, sweet Bubbline goodness that fans have been demanding for years.)

[waywardmasquerade]

The super cool folks at Nerdarchy (who helped us out with our campaigns and are still doing so) are running a kickstarter campaign of their own.

Out of the Box is a series of ready to play encounters and situations for every campaign.

Players decided to go shopping rather than track down the BBG? This book is for you.

Need a few encounters to spice up a long boring journey? They've got you covered.

Filler dungeon crawl needing some filler? Check.

Need a new monster, a new magic item, or a bit of lore? Check, Check, and Check.

Out of the Box contains:

A foreword written by Matt Mercer

30 unique encounters — even more with stretch goals by RPG industry professionals and influencers

New monsters — including new legendary creatures, lairs and regional effects

New magic items adventurers will really have to earn — especially when the monsters are using them!

Map packs for every encounter to put down on your table

Flat plastic miniatures for each encounter                        

While the encounters are written for 5e, they are easily portable to other systems.

At the time of writing, Out of the Box is almost 200% funded and smashing stretch goals. Nerdarchy has been good to us, so if it's up your alley, this KS is definitely worth a look.

Check it out here

[laws-hat-headcanons]

Yeah! I'm here again! So, can I request some fluffy hc's for Kalgara and Norland, because it's very underrated ship! You can write anything you want, I only want to see some stuff with this cinnamon rolls. ^ω^

Hi @horosan! Tha ks for the ask flower. I'm really sorry this is so short. I watched the skypiea arc literal years ago and I really dont remember much of it, but I hope you like it all the same.

Kalgara X Norland headcanons

. Norland teaches Kalgara how to play poker but the other man is too excitable when he has a winning hand to hide it.

. Kalgara loves to hear about Norlands adventures. All the places hes been and where he plans to go next.

. They talk for hours in to the night, their fire burning low, just telling stories and talking.

. They go swimming together a lot. They end up usually having races. Kalgara usually wins but Norland has surprised him once or twice.

. Always end up getting drunk at festivals and dancing way too much.

. Like, other people tell them to sit down for a bit and they're just like nope! And continue bouncing around like mad man.

. Norland likes touching Kalgaras hair but it makes Kalgara fall asleep. So hes only allowed to do it before bed.

[fantabulosogamedev]

Barkwursts and Kickstarter Info!

Hey everyone!  Got a bunch of stuff to talk about in this post, so let’s get rolling!  If you aren’t already on the discord, I’d recommend joining it by clicking this link.  This is by far the best way to get in touch with me and keep track of development.

Barkwursts

Around 2-3 years ago, during The Fantabulous Game’s development, I announced the existence of Spheredogs.  These dogs would serve a similar purpose to Jinjos, giving Capboy a sausage if he collects them all in a level.  Initially made as a reference to the original Le Fantabulous Game, I’ve decided to change that plan.  After all, the new Spheredog design wasn’t even a sphere, but rather more of a sausage with legs!  So, I present to you:  Barkwursts!

(left-to-right: Tico, Cosmo, Jim, Goobert, Eyedog)

Barkwursts are the exact same as Spheredogs were in TFG, just with a new name.  Though they aren’t designed as of right now, Spheredogs will be returning as small, kickable, gremlin-esque Spherefriends -- just as they were back in the very first iteration of Le Fantabulous Game.  The Sausage rewards will be doled out by a new character, interested in collecting Barkwursts to help his own Quest for Sausage...

(fanart by ZackTheNerd)

The first new Capkin design in Fantaria’s history, I present to you: Ecapresu, the Farmer!  Living in Home Sausage, Ecapresu uses Barkwursts to help facilitate his peaceful harvest of Sausages.  To thank Capboy for bringing Barkwursts to him, Ecapresu shares a portion of his harvest with Capboy.  Additionally, Capboy will be able to learn more about his own species from Ecapresu, as well as get information on the Barkwursts that he has brought.

(kickstarter art by Scandre)

The aspect of Barkwursts that I’m the most excited about, however, is their integration into the Kickstarter.  The Barkwursts you see above are actually created by members on the testing team, hence their fantastically varied designs!  Also named by these testers, these fellas will serve as the five Barkwursts found in Fantaria’s demo level.  On that note, I’d like to move on to talk about the Kickstarter’s stretch goals and reward tiers!

Kickstarter Reward Tiers

Fantaria: The Quest for Sausage is going to have a variety of reward tiers, focusing on digital rewards.  Every tier has its own title in the credits, and your name will be listed alongside all of your creations (if you’re okay with it!) in the credits as well.  I won’t be going into incredible depth on all of them here, but here’s a quick lowdown:

$5: Coolfriend. Have your name put in the credits, and receive a wallpaper pack.  Every further tier has the wallpaper pack as well!

$15: Digital copy of the game on release.

Backerfriend title in credits.

$25: Deluxe copy of the game on release.  In addition to the game, this features the soundtrack and access to (potential, not guaranteed!) DLC released in the future.  Every tier beyond this point also has the deluxe edition of the game.

Deluxe Backerfriend title in credits

$60: Design-a-Spherefriend.  Similar to the build-a-spherefriend tool I released many years ago, design a Spherefriend NPC by choosing color, size, name, and customized headwear.  Also, you can name your spherefriend, pick a combat unit archetype, and write a small dialogue blurb to be translated into Spherespeak!  

Designerfriend title in credits.

$120: Design-a-Barkwurst.  With much more freedom than Spherefriend designs, you can have your own Barkwurst design put into the game, along with a name and a bio!  As seen with the example 5 above, Barkwurst designs have a lot of freedom, so this will be your chance to really get creative.

Dogfriend title in credits.

$150: Designer Dogfriend.  Design both a Spherefriend and a Barkwurst!  The next two reward tiers give you these privileges as well.

Designer Dogfriend title in credits.

$300: Design-an-NPC!  This tier will let you get your own unique NPC design into the game, with at least one encounter in one of the games’ levels.  Note that due to the larger universe impact of a proper NPC, some restrictions will apply -- see below.  

Deluxe Designerfriend title in credits

$600: Design-a-boss!  This tier will let you design your own unique boss encounter for Capboy and Friendwoman to face, featuring its own unique fighting style, difficulty, arena, personality, and rewards upon defeat!   Note that due to the larger universe impact of a full bossfight, some restrictions will apply -- see below.  

Ultimate Designerfriend title in credits.

Kickstarter Reward Limitations

To help make sure Fantaria: tQfS is a cohesive experience that fits my vision, there are some limitations on “design-an-x” reward tiers.  Note that these are guidelines, not hard refusals!  If you have a character that you’re concerned will be affected by these limitations, I want you to reach out to me to talk about it!  I’m always willing to work to find a compromise if you’re interested in seeing your character or design in Fantaria..

I reserve the right to have final say on small tweaks of all backer designs

You must legally own the rights to the characters and/or designs you request!  For example, a direct lift of Mario’s outfit on a Spheredog wouldn’t be okay, but a design which clearly falls under parody would be.  This applies more strictly to the higher tiers (see below).

Spherefriends cannot be made super massive, and their headwear shouldn’t be excessively vulgar or otherwise go counter to Fantaria’s aesthetic (i.e. no hyper realistic textures).

Barkwursts must always have the same silhouette, and make the same SFX as each other, to ensure the player can easily identify them despite the varied designs.

NPCs and Bosses have some further restrictions:

No humans.  Friendwoman is the only human presently in Fantaria’s universe, and this is a very key component of the universe.  If you have a human design that you’d like to see, I’d be thrilled to work with you on creating a variation of it that fits into the universe! (i.e. a capkin or PBot version).

No parodies/memes.  Unlike Spherefriends and Barkwursts, which don’t weigh much on the plot or universe, NPCs/bosses should not blatantly be referencing real-life jokes or personalities.  This does not mean that they all have to be serious, they can be wacky and silly!  Just...no ugandan knuckles parody, or trump parody, or other designs like that.

No characters with explicit and consistent ties to adult material.  It’s totally fine if your character is generally slightly lewd or attractive, but if all they’re associated with is porn (either vanilla or fetish), they won’t be a good fit for Fantaria.

I retain final say on the power level of your character in relation to the cast of Fantaria.  This is mostly to make sure that no characters become more important to the plot and events than pre-existing characters like Capboy and Friendwoman...unless, of course, I think the design can fit into such a role!  Naturally, you still have control over your character’s personality and attitude, and I will run any story events they are involved in by you to make sure you’re satisfied with the way they react.

Kickstarter Stretch Goals

Now that that’s out of the way, the final thing I’d like to talk about here are Kickstarter Stretch Goals!  I’ve budgeted these all fairly thoroughly, as I’ll explain in more detail when the KS itself launches.  These are as follows:

$25,000 -- Initial Goal.  This provides me with the living costs needed for the estimated year and some change of remaining development, as well as to commission Scandre and Viv for art and music, respectively.

$30,000 -- Local Deathmatch.  This tier will add a local deathmatch option to the main title, where you can fight with up to three of your friends in brand new arenas inspired by the couch competitions of old!

$35,000 -- More levels. This tier will add four fully-featured secret levels, pushing Capboy to the limit and providing special new rewards.  These levels will each come with a unique ability, melee weapon, and bossfight

$40,000 -- The Fantabulous Arena.  This tier will add a special arena to the game, allowing Capboy to fight endless enemy waves and challenge bosses that he’s already defeated again!  In addition to being able to have fun experiencing these fights, the Arena will have special challenges restricting Capboy to certain weapons, with even more sausages being rewarded for completing them.  Finally, post-release, all bosses will receive an additional Fantabulous version of themselves, unlocking potent new weapon upgrades for Capboy!

$50,000 -- Nightmare Mode. This tier will add a second campaign, inspired by the brutal NG+’s found in oldschool games.  Play as Capboy’s ally Friendwoman, travelling backwards through a distorted and damaged version of the main game’s story.  Face brutal platforming challenges, intense battle arenas, and mindbending puzzles, using with all of the main game’s weapons and unlocks to overcome the odds!  Naturally, this mode will also feature every single Fantabulous boss in place of their standard versions.  Nightmare Mode, if funded, would release as post-release DLC free to all backers of the $15 tier and above.

$60,000 -- Local Co-op.  Friendwoman will be able to join in with Capboy in the main quest, with the game dynamically adjusting challenges and obstacles to adjust for the additional player.  When in multiplayer, bosses will gain new co-op exclusive mechanics, and co-op exclusive puzzles and battle rooms will block the pair’s route.  This will also allow Friendwoman to be played instead of Capboy in the singleplayer main campaign.  If funded, this tier will release alongside the main game, and will likely cause some slight delay to the current predicted release date.

$65,000 -- Nightmare Co-op.  Friendwoman will be able to bring Capboy with her on her quest through the nightmare realm, enabling cooperation against the new threats and challenges of this brutal adventure.  As with the main campaign, new unique co-op oriented challenges will be present when in multiplayer on this campaign!  If funded, Nightmare Mode will have co-op when it is launched post-release.

$80,000 -- Online Multiplayer.  If funded, all multiplayer modes will be able to be played with one another online!  Releasing with the main game, Online Multiplayer will likely result in some further slight delay to the predicted release date if funded.

Whew, that was a lot!  If you bore with me for all of that, you’re a superfan, and it’s great to know that there are people dedicated enough to read through all of that.  As for when the KS and demo will actually launch, my current prediction is July 26th -- ironically, the same date (+4 months) as I wanted to release TFG’s kickstarter last year! Now that I’ve recovered from the issues I discussed in the last post, I’ve been diving deep back into development and making great progress.  As we approach that date, I will continue to evaluate the amount of work remaining and let you guys know if that seems like it’s going to change.

As I said at the beginning, swing by the Discord if you haven’t already and want to talk about this stuff!  I’m very eager to hear feedback on the price points of rewards and stretch goals, and am willing to listen to suggestions on any changes.  See you guys soon with another chunk of progress!

-Fantabuloso

[writerofshit]

I suck at temporarily naming projects because it's always something meaningless that I came up with at 2 am to stop Untitled Document (37) from haunting me the following day

But then i get attached to the temporary name and it travels from program to program and i begin to think of the project as that title for real

And it's not even GOOD I don't even like it but it's there and it probably will be for good. The second i say it out loud to another person or post in anywhere I'll think of something better but it will be too late.

I know all of this but i am powerless to stop it

[culturati-club]

“Culture” Shock

All is well then a crazy panic comes over me. Who is this person  I am looking at, speaking to me from, across the table? Where the hell am I? Who am I? HOLY S**T, WHO AM I? Panic. Panic. Am I alive?

In all this emotion, I have been trying to find articles that prove this feeling is, in fact, normal. I wanted to find articles about others who had this same experience, yet all I could find were steps of culture shock (that did not express this horrible feeling I was living). I wrote this in hopes that my experience could be that something for someone else.

Panic and anxiety are one of the scariest mind f**ks to ever have. Especially when you are in a place that is unfamiliar to you. Everything is new. Absolutely  everything. I always imagined culture shock to be in the sense that all things material are new to you. I have been many places and have never felt like this before. This sensation is new to me, and with that, it is quite terrifying. I mean, I have had anxiety all my life, but never this intense; never this surreal. It has had me questioning everything. Is this life? Is life real? I am such a deep person, who strives to be strong, so feeling this made me feel absolutely crazy. I am critical on myself and strive to know myself in every way, but recently, I feel disconnected from myself and everything I’ve ever done. This loss of identity has had me feeling disoriented. It has me in a place feeling dark and lonely. No one understands what I am speaking of, which has me feeling even crazier.

Visiting a new city is one thing, but actually moving and adjusting your entire life and future to one, is another. It is exciting and scary. The emotions of stress are overwhelming. You are not only adapting to a new job, in a new city but to a whole new culture, entirely by yourself. People always say the same things to me: “You are so brave! I don’t know how you just pick up and move to another country!”, yup. It all seemed fun and easy, so I kept going. Until now my mind has popped like an overinflated balloon.

December 10th, 2015

I feel as if I am in a dream; a nightmare. I am sitting here trying to make sense of it all. I realize it’s not just USA I miss. I miss China. I talk about China. I compare it to China. Tokyo, Japan is not China. When we are scared, we crave the comforts of home, therefore, I want to go home. I miss my Mom. I miss my dad. I miss their vicious dog that tries to maul me to death. I miss it all simply because I am in a place I do not feel familiar with. That familiarity is what gives us that sense of identity. When everything is new and you are left alone to think and process, not just this new experience, but everything in life that has made you, you.

“Many travel for the idea of it; seeing exotic places and lives (as we should). We should all travel to learn about culture and the exotic people that consume this wondrous world. Fair warning, though… that is what I live for, and that is how I became so lost. I have seen wonders and have held personal experiences that have brought me to meet incredible people; people that will haunt my memories for the rest of my life. Though I haven’t been to too many countries, I have spent time living and subjecting myself to different cultures. Witnessing and experiencing a different way of life first hand, by yourself, is life changing. I have lost myself doing this and have learned that traveling does not always help you find yourself. Traveling provokes more questions by opening our mind to the mighty world that encompasses our individualized personification of life.”

- A passage I wrote September 2014… on the floor of a bookstore… in my hometown.

Upon returning from China, I spent some time at home. I had some major reverse culture shock that I don’t think I ever got over. No one could really understand it either. Anyway, there at home, I processed without really processing. All I did was mourn in the loss of the experience I had just had. Longing for it. I made a lot of art. I painted, I wrote, I photographed. That was amazing. Since graduating from college, I hadn’t been able to just create for myself. I picked up an internship for a startup magazine, where I was asked to become the Art Editor. I attended concerts and interviewed artists. On the side, I had become ordained to wed my brother and is amazing new wife in marriage. So much happening stepping out of an experience of the happened, I never processed anything.

Along with that in 2015, I had spent this past summer in Spain. I often forget that that all even happened. When I was in Spain, I lived with two different families in three separate months. By the time I was with the second family, I was planning a trip to Germany, and received an email regarding this job opportunity in Japan. I interviewed and accepted the job. It was fate; a blessing. I was immediately in four mindsets: Spain/Germany/Home/Japan. I was still experiencing Spain and was wanting to do specific things, was planning to go to Germany to visit friends, then getting home only to prepare for my departure to Japan. This was all in a span of a few months. I even ended up going through quite the adventure of going through two countries to get home from Spain. Germany flights were impossible to get out of (non-rev), my Visa was about to expire, and I needed to get home to prepare for Japan. It was a fun kind of stressful. I ended up taking a bus from Munich to Zurich, Switzerland, where I spent the night at someone’s home I met off CouchSurfing, only to try to catch a flight out the next day. Following some adventure, I made the flight where I met an awesome dude I ended up sitting next to. After nine hours of talking and drinking bourbon with this new friend, I was back in Atlanta. I was home and gave myself a week [my birthday week] before I started preparing for Japan. It was a rush. A stressful period. Yet, week after week, my departure was delayed. I was on my toes not knowing when to expect to go. I get an email, “Ok! You are going on Monday (in three days)!”, AHhhh, “OH WAIT, Your Visa wasn’t approved yet, so maybe next week!”…. This happened week after week for two months. It was getting to the point where no one believed I was actually going, and I myself began to believe I was not actually going.

Oh, but, finally, it actually happened! I received my passport with my work Visa, I had my ticket. It was happening. From that moment, everything following happened so fast. I left, I arrived, and it all seemed great. I met so many people, I felt I had known all my life, then all the sudden, a month goes by. A month! It feels as if it was a month’s worth of events put into just a few days.

December 18th, 2015

Our minds are like a tornado. Each is a different kind of storm. Some big, some small. Some carry on for a while; some diminish before they can even begin. My brain is a tornado that has been sucking up five years worth of experiences, memories, people, countries, hardships, love, and more. The further tornadoes roam, the more they suck up, and the more they grow in size. Imagine how big the tornado in my mind has grown over time. Now, I am in a place that brought me here as pure destiny. It’s surreal. I’m in a position where the storm has grown tiresome. I have no worry because I am set to be here alone for two and a half years.

The tornado is at a halt. The air is still, but everything the tornado had swept up, everything my mind, I had retained in five years, is crashing down at once. My brain is overwhelmed. I am finally being forced to process everything I have lived through, and I can’t believe it was me who lived out all those experiences.

Perhaps that is why this random lightning bolt of panic and disorientation has hit me. I suddenly feel as if I have no sense of identity. That I just awoke from a long sleep, and this place is so unfamiliar… or, maybe, that I am in a dream and  a daze. I realize I am in fact alive, and it freaks me out because nothing seems familiar.  My deep and philosophical mind along with my critical sense of being strong has not helped me in any way. I only look into it much deeper and convince myself I am crazy because I so badly want to feel my normal self again.

Isn’t it funny how this sense if being “normal” always comes back to haunt us? I, for one, have always been a disbeliever of “normal”; I have never thought it to exist. I always feel it to be something society created in order for us all to be the same. No human is the same. Humans are each different. I am different. You are different. To remember that can be so easily forgotten.

December 20th, 2015

It’s funny because I often say, “Great humans think DIFFERENT”, instead of “great humans think alike”. I never understood what was so great about thinking alike… If we all thought alike, then we wouldn’t have a Steve Jobs for Apple. We would not have Skype or Delta AirLines…. So why do we expect ourselves to be “normal”? If anything this worlds idea of normal is what makes us crazy.

As I began to write this, I received a phone call from a fellow missionary and Pastor here. He was checking in to see how I was doing. He said in language class this week he learned the Japanese word for, “different”. He said it is also the same meaning for “wrong”. He felt it fitting because to be different is wrong here. He reminded me that I am unique, and that is why I am here. To be that unique person, and to bring the special talents I have to offer.

I try to express this feeling to others, and they look at my like I am nutso. That helped with this situation a whole lot [jokes]. I quickly remembered, though. I remembered that no one truly understands what another goes through. We can hear their story, but we can never really know their story. So that fact that people look at me like a nutso doesn’t much bother me. I am twenty-five and feel as if I have lived the life of a ninety-year-old. My mind is a wonderland.

I can’t really figure out why I have been feeling panic and anxiety. Everyone back home who knows me keeps saying, “Jennifer, you just moved to the other side of the world. Again. Your mind probably just needs to process everything you’ve done in the past five years!”.

Everything I have been through is what has gotten me here. I have to remember that, yes. I am remembering that as I write this, but sometimes we go through so much and just keep going and going; never stopping to process. Our brains can’t handle it. Our brains will stop and make you question everything, process everything. I am not a machine, I am not supergirl. I am just another unique human being. I am not crazy; I am simply exhausted. I am not perfect. I must remember that. We all must remember that for ourselves. We are not perfect.

Most see me as a lucky individual. I agree. I am very fortunate. Not just because of the experiences I have lived out, but also for the drive and passion I hold close to me. This post isn’t meant for self-pity nor is it meant for the pity of others.  I hope this can help remind people that at every moment, of every day, we are all just humans.

For so long, I just kept going. I have stressed about trying to do everything in the angst of time; about living out all my goals in order to fulfill my dreams. We make assumptions about people and their perfect lives, when in reality, they are going through something just as dark. Anxiety is a horrible thing. Especially if you are alone in a foreign country where everyone seems to keep to themselves. You begin to question your identity in an overstimulating place like Tokyo.

This experience has opened my mind even more so (and will continue to). It has opened a door to a new perspective by testing everything I have ever believed in. I’ve always believed: obstacles are often blessings in disguise.

We could sit around and wonder who we are and how we got here, or we can naturally allow the universe to guide us through faith and intuition. I am where I am because I had that faith, and sometimes life just seems way too golden to be true. We may never fully understand what drives anxiety, therefore, treasure even those darkest moments because they, themselves, turn out to be some of  life’s greatest lessons. Everything that happens to us is for our complete benefit. If we are not constantly learning– growing– then what are we even doing?

Disclaimer: I do not like the term “culture shock” for this situation, though it was the most understandably amongst society. Japan is a very lonely and secluded nation. Just after two months of living here, I began to have this disconnection from myself. People live like this their entire lives. Japan has a dark side.  In peace.

Imagery and wording by Jennifer Jarvie ( @clubjarvie )

[dinosaursmate]

WIP folder meme

The Rules: List the names and a short description of all the files in your WIP folder, then tag some fellow writers to do the same.

I was tagged by @lululawrence​ and @fullonlarrie​. 

Now... first I will list my ACTIVE wips, as in, ones that I’m hoping to put out in the semi-near future.

Sabrina the Teenage Witch AU - the next fic you will see from me! It’s my big bang and it’s very nearly completely complete

Cheating fic aka Into You AU - I randomly got the idea for this one whilst watching the video for Into You by Ariana Grande and although it went off track a lot it turned into quite the beast. I was blocked whilst writing my big bang and I took a break from it and hammered out a baffling 35k of this fic lol not too much else to say except the obvious, but it’s not a cheating on the other type scenario. I think as far as cheating fics goes this one’s tame

Space AU - This one WILL come out this year! lol. Louis leaves earth to move to another planet and help set up a new settlement there. He’s in charge of recruiting civilians and he recruits Harry. 

Delirium AU - Some of y’all who have followed me for a long time are probably sick of hearing about this fic BUT I am determined to get it out this year (unless I struggle with it then I may save it for next year’s big bang). It’s an AU of a YA book trilogy about a dystopian society where love is illegal and seen as a disease.

Camboy Louis - Ugh I KEEP forgetting about this fic! It’s a f/nf where Louis is a camboy and Harry is a famousish viewer

Other WIPs that are basically rotting are:

Bebe fic - Ugh I had so much passion for this one when I started writing it lol but it’s a fic that’s vaguely along the lines of John Tucker Must Die but not quite. Bebe is an exchange student living with Harry’s family and she and Louis find out they’re dating the same guy. It wasn’t actually inspired by the JTMD film, it was inspired by the BTY video haha I HOPE to pick this one up, it’s not a complete lost cause unlike the following fics lol...

Disneyland fic - This fic just kind of stalled but this one was inspired by my trip to Disneyland where Abu kept harrassing me and so I began to write a fic where Louis is at Disneyland and Harry is a character who keeps harrassing him lol

Big Brother AU - Not much to say about this one. I’ll probably not write this cos there’s too much complexity to it (it might not seem like it but it’s complicated and requires METICULOUS planning lol)

Bus fic - This was supposed to be my choose your own adventure fic. Harry and Louis meet on a bus, and I won’t tell you much else in case I ever get the urge to pick it back up haha

Cloudbusting - omg I forgot this one existed! I mean, it doesn’t really. I have a doc which has a few lines of what is basically mind vomit that I had after rewatching the video for Cloudbusting by Kate Bush (hey, did y’all know the Dad in that video is DONALD SUTHERLAND?!) basically, the dad creates a machine that can control the weather, and some point in life I decided that would make a good AU?

Plane Crash AU/Deserted Island AU - I have always wanted to write a plane crash au, then I decided I wanted to write a deserted island AU. Idk. so I thought i’d combine them, but didn’t really come up with much.

Pole Dancing AU - Oh yes this has a few Ks but I got bored with it. It was basically Harry taking pole dancing classes and Louis is the teacher

Boyband fic - ohhh BOY. Okay I spent a lot of time on this fic when I first got into the fandom and it’s.... LONG. But it’s badly written and probably problematic and I just don’t have the courage or inclination to sort it out. It’s a boyband AU basically, the boys are in a band together but it’s... not the same

Kid fic - I actually sometimes think about writing this one. Basically Gemma has a little girl and gets offered an amazing job abroad for like... a LOT of money and can’t afford not to take it but she doesn’t wanna uproot her daughter so she leaves her with Harry and Louis is her teacher

Personal Shopper AU - This was gonna be another Friends AU based on the Rachel/Joshua storyline 

Heavy on my Mind sequel - Exactly what it says. But I’m not confident about that fic as it is and I really just don’t like the sequel LOL it’s actually finished (bar betaing and editing) but I just. No...)

Music Video AU - I wrote this and got it betad but then me and Jacky both agreed that it didn’t feel finished so I wrote a fair amount of a second half but I just never finished it. I should since there’s so much written but, meh. I posted the first half on my Ko-Fi page before I deleted it. It was basically a famous/famous where H&L were solo artists and they collab and only meet when they film the music video.

Blackpool fic - I almost didn’t include this but again it was an early fic that I wrote beginning to end but it’s... problematic lmao I do still have a craving to write a fic set in Blackpool but I’m setting the Delirium AU in Blackpool so hopefully that’ll get it out my system haha this fic was Harry thinking he was straight and going on holiday to Blackpool and meeting Louis blah blah blah

And last but not least...

Labyrinth AU - Okay.... idk why I left this to the end, because I’ve always said I can NOT leave this fandom without writing this fic. I had written ONE unpublished fic in this fandom when I decided to write a Labyrinth AU back in 2015 and I messaged @mommotommo on Christmas Day and was like omg I just got a good idea.... basically it’s kind of borderline crack fic? And I have a lot of it HAND WRITTEN. Harry is the son of the Goblin King and now rules the kingdom but he’s not very good at being evil? Anyway he kidnaps one of Louis’ siblings and Louis goes into the Labyrinth to get them back. Featuring: Liam as his companion along the way. Harry kidnapped Liam’s puppy and poor Liam didn’t get to the centre in time so the puppy got turned into a goblin and Liam was trapped there forever.

[vaguely-concerned]

IN ANTICIPATION OF BIOWARE POTENTIALLY GIVING US A ROMANCE UPDATE IN THE FUTURE: MY PERSONAL ANTHEM ‘SHOULD YOU FUCK’s AS OF RIGHT NOW, ENORMOUS SPOILERS OBVIOUSLY

No really spoilers for Anthem you have been warned

Tassyn: I mean she reads a lot more mom to me, but I’ve seen people be into her so y’know if that floats your boat go ahead. Probably will regretfully yet efficiently murder you if necessary but hey some people are into that I’m not judging. 

Rythe: FUCK YEAH YOU SHOULD FUCK RYTHE! SEXY BAD CHOICES ALL AROUND!!!! *fingerguns*

Owen: Well I love him & would die for him even after the total bullshit he pulls, but to me he feels more like a fuckup little brother, in the grand tradition of Carver and Jowan. So for me personally that’s probably a no, but I can totally see why you would and I respect it. They played their hand too early with him b/c the pacing of the main story is completely off the rails, so I’d love to get more content for him anyway. He’s undeniably hilarious and desperate for affection and can be sweet but he’s also a walking over-caffeinated mess of abandonment issues, deflecting humour and spectacularly bad decisions; will absolutely stab you in the back but tbf you kind of treated him horribly. Even I have to admit that that slouch and slow grin when he sees you in the bar sure was Something, though I’m not entirely sure what. If you were one of those people who inexplicably wanted to kiss Wheatley, lo and behold your time has come.

I would say that if you haven’t previously engaged in the even grander Bioware tradition of getting screwed over in the non-sexy way by your love interest, ala Anders and Solas... step with caution, okay? (If you’ve been here before, seen this room and walked this floor -- you know what you’re doing, I’m not here to insult you by giving you advice like you’re not marching unflinchingly into hell with open eyes yet again, best of luck out there in the trenches comrade)

Dax: Oh hell yeah you should fuck Dax. Strong, beautiful, funny, driven, technically a princess and heir to the throne but so far along in the line of succession now that neither of you have to worry about getting assassinated, probably, will make you excellent and detailed maps one day. Good stuff.

Haluk: No he is my honorary uncle and mentor it would be super weird. He has beautiful eyes tho A fucking plus to Bioware’s art/animation team there

Faye: Also feels like family, like my sister or something, so no. She’s objectively the prettiest girl in the entire game, however, and super smart and kinder than her dumbass friends have any right to expect of her, so if I played a different character: totally.

Brin: ...idk I just sort of get the feeling she’s got other shit to do and wouldn’t welcome it? I’d be her fanfic beta reader tho, which is arguably a greater degree of intimacy anyway ETA: Apparently she’s ace, so definitely doubling down on betaing fic instead!

The Matthiases: Short answer: Probably yeah, if you feel so inclined, it’ll be fun if a bit of a mindfuck. Long answer: GOD PLEASE FUCK THE MATTHIASES, this is literally the reason I made this post, the mechanics of it alone! The Possibilities! Like how would it work? For Science if nothing else, people!

(I know the point of their arcs is kind of that they’re separate people now and romancing all three of them at once is probably not how that would work but honestly when has that ever stopped the smut brain? Never, of course, let’s go)

Do we check our calendars for when we can all manage to get together every time? Do we add the arcanist lady who Sumner could end up dating (of course we do the more the merrier when we’ve let it get to this point)? Do you pick one to fit your mood that day -- Matti for days when you need someone who sounds a little stoned to tenderly look you in the eyes and earnestly tell you you’re a wonderful person, Sumner for rough satisfying stuff but also he can be kind of adorbs?, Erryl for when you want to try some technically challenging kama sutra shit but don’t feel like chatting about feelings? (you know there are books about it in the Anthem universe too and you know he’s always up for an experiment) Would you just pick and mix and would they be chill with that?

Have the three of them together ever, you know. I mean, they live together. They conceivably share a bedroom. They must have -- surely, they’ve at least tried... right? At least once.There’s no way they haven’t. Right? To satisfy Erryl’s intellectual curiosity, if nothing else? Well, it’s something to consider. Fuck them, is what I’m saying, it’ll be an adventure and between the three of them they can give you the time and attention the original Matthias couldn’t b/c he was all arcanisty and self absorbed.  

The Monitor: You Monitor fuckers already know who you are and I’m perfectly aware that neither I nor the hand of god himself could stop you if we wanted to, godspeed you weirdos

Princess Zhim: She’s so beautiful I’m a bit weak in the knees but she made you eat a pheromone sack with disgusting sound effects the first time you met. I mean. If that’s your thing you’re welcome to but that’s a no thanks from me. 

Amal: Nah. He’s such a disastrous ditz he might like frame you for murder one day without even meaning to or realizing. Also the worst kind of actor -- working as a waiter for now until he gets his big break but just you wait one day he’ll be a star and uuuuuugh... listen if you can block out the inane prattle for long enough to enjoy his pretty face all the more power to you, but I don’t have that kind of strength of character

Lucky Jak: Sure, have fun! Boy looks good in a tight sweater and seems nice. ETA: Also actually now that I think about it he could & would totally do all your paperwork for you, literally the dream man, go forth and smooch at will

Kassian: Yes, for no other reason than that I literally thought ‘yeah I’d bang him’ the first time I saw him even though he’s wearing whatever the hell it is he’s wearing on his head, so that’s some serious magnetism he’s got going on there. A little bit of an ‘a freelancer can love a caravan sailor merchant person but where would they live’ situation if you go for a long term thing, but I’m sure you could work something out. “I’d like to kiss you”, “...KS?”, “Nope, that one’s totally true as long as you’d like that too”, honestly the dialogue writes itself

Marl: No. He’s already clearly having some sort of Situation with Gunther and honestly... leave them to it, nothing but madness lies this way

Pirndel: Eh it’ll be deeply unsatisfying, but I bet he practices extremely safe sex. Not the worst choice.

That married couple I can’t remember the names of right now but they’re both spies: They’ve already enough of an unexpected bizarre threesome angle going on and I’m not sure a non-spy is equipped for the mind games enough to not end up dead, let’s not 

Max: Well she also already has a wife, but you never know how they’ve got things arranged. Never hurts to ask.

Commander Vule: Very good voice. Handsome. Stern but fair-ish; you could roleplay by-the-book-cop vs. wild card detective and finally get to yell ‘but I get results, Chief’, maybe hand in your badge and gun while he glowers at you... You know yourself best, my friend, bang or not as you see fit. 

Neeson: No. He will end up wearing your skin as a coat if you let him. Save yourself.