#like ive seen that same design trait many many times its not that original

[dykedragons]

shoutout to someone trying to claim another artist “stole” their characters when the examples given look nothing alike

[charged-wanderlust]

Lovestruck asks! 🎂If you could design you own MCs personality, what would they be like? 🍑If you could design you own LIs personality, what would they be like? and 🎸What’s you favourite trope for a romance? :D

🎂If you could design you own MCs personality, what would they be like?

GLAD YOU ASKED! im not sure if everyone who follows me is already aware, but i'm currently working on a project called No Honour Among Thieves, @nohonourvn here on tumblr and on twitter. part of my wanting to even create such a game as NHAT was the fact that i struggled so hard to see myself in most vn mcs - ones that were visibly pictured could never do it, since im genderfluid and poc with alt fashion, so asking for an mc that looked like me was a reach so far i had to stretch first, and ones that didn't show an mc visually would usually be extremely plain - since if they dont show the mc they usually do it so everyone can project onto the mc, and they try to give them no personality either for the same reason.

personally, though, i find a personality-less mc extremely boring and would rather an mc i cant project onto visually than one with the personality of a wet sock. so, with my mc for NHAT, i decided to leave them faceless so people can design them any way they want, but im working on giving them a pretty distinct personality so they fit into the world i've created better.

nhat mc, or as i like to call them, The Villain, is confident, witty, takes no shit from no one unless they have something to gain from it, a bit materialistic, a bit of a glory whore, definitely a bit of an overthinker/overanalyser, kind of a flirt sometimes, competitive, perceptive, just a liiiittle bit of a tsundere, and very, very good at acting. (i mean, they're a professional con artist, they kind of have to be.)

the good thing about the villain is that because the entire plotline is based around a con, keeping secrets, n having your own agenda, even if you can't really relate to the mc much, you can always write it off as it being part of the act, the persona the mc wears for the job and for self preservation. obviously that only goes so far, but i think it gives a bit more freedom to players on what they want their villain to be like in actuality.

🍑If you could design you own LIs personality, what would they be like?

i already have B) i basically took all my favourite things about all my favourite LI's and split them into two characters: Xanthe Wilde and Mercury Jackson. Navin and Siren, the two major side characters who may or may not become love interests depending on the success of the eventual kickstarter relaunch, came later - long after i'd developed xancury and basically came into fruition while i started writing. they were originally just random names picked (navin was from a random name generator and siren was the first name that came to my head at the time) to be the contractor/xanthe's bitter ex, and the informant. hell, originally there wasn't even an informant at first, siren was just a name navin drops so the mc can recognise him as a power player, but i went back to it to flesh her out later. navin's character just kind of created itself when i started writing the prologue.

xanthe was the first one i created - when i went "what do i want my visual novel to be about?" the first thing i came up with was "i want to do a twist on seducing the hot mafia boss." the first twist was making them nonbinary, that was a must for me, then i decided to make them the type of flirty, shameless and highkey kinda evil character i enjoy knocking down a peg. naturally, i had to layer him with enough trust issues to fill an ocean, for the sake of the ✨slow burn✨ that i love so much, and make him slutty enough so it can feel like a whirlwind at the same time. they're so fun.

mercury came up when i was trying to figure out what this mafia boss story was going to be like. ive always been a slut for enemies to lovers, and figured that even if xanthe and the villain were TECHNICALLY enemies, bc the villain has to act like they like xanthe for most of the story, it wouldnt come with the same tension as straight-up hating each other. hence, the idea of a ferocious bodyguard came in - along with all the other traits i like in LI's that i didn't put into xanthe, like being brash, aggressive, blunt and rowdy. just a tad bit apeshit.

i could describe them more, or you can read about them on the kickstarter page or even just play the demo yourself.

🎸What’s you favourite trope for a romance?

*violently bangs pots and pans together* ENEMIES TO LOVERS!!! maybe its the sexual tension. maybe its knowing that someones seen you at your utter worst and still decides to love you anyway is both romantic and something i desperately crave bc of the trauma and deeply ridden insecurity. maybe its maybelline. but god theres so many flavours of enemies/rivals to lovers and theyre all my favourite.

[cosmosrival]

Rico besides Kama what do you think about the other indian servants?????

AHHHHHHHHHH THIS IS GOING TO GET SOOOO LONG!!!! i have a different view of the indo fam as a whole. i call them the indo fam but i mean the found family trope!!!! theyre like a group of college students sharing a dorm if that makes sense, since their servant selves are obviously different from their initial myths/human vessels!!!

OK SO. RECENTLY, i have an oomf that found books about arjuna that summarize his exploits in the mahabharata(I DONT HAVE THE STRENGTH TO READ IT ALL IM SO SORRY) and also talk about him in a more philosphical manner such as his states of mind during each event etc and i’ve been meaning to read said book because im genuinely interested in arjuna now!!! and i’d like to know more about this indo prince because from what i’ve seen, he is portrayed in a rather bad light(?) in FGO which i find extremely !!!!!!!!!!! and incrdibley !!!!!!! strange !!!!!!! the mahabharata’s conflicts can be put in a mostly grey area where there’s no good nor bad, its not black and white. so seeing arjuna get bashed because of the way his conflict with karna was written is... hm. let’s say that im REALLY starting to understand arjuna fans that dislike seeing him get mischaracterized so much. OTHER THAN THAT, his design is adorable, his travel outfit is my favourite because he deserves to relax and have some fun!!! fgo making him a chuuni is cute and his VAs little moans are cute cute cute!!!!!!!!!!! (mash grabs my shoulder and forces me to sit down) i think that arjuna deserves better and im really happy to see him have fun in his travel costume voicelines. i think we should take arjun on a date!!! he’s a great lover, we’d have the best time!! OH ALSO, kama seeing him as the student council president in their interlude makes me SOOOOOOO HAPPY its unreal, i think it fits him very very well, the seitokaichou who was elected because of everyone’s hopes and recommended by teachers because he’s suuuch a good student but because of that, the pressure to be good is constantly towering over his head and everytime he looks out the window he wishes he could ditch class and skip a day just because he felt like going to the arcade and be a bad student.......just this once........i think hes very very cute...... i want him to cook for me. HAVE YO U READ HIS BOND 4 VOICELINE ?mmmmmggg i want him to get embarrassed everytime i praise him for having such a muscular waistline. AUG

ANEWAYS i also have quite the thoughts about karna, his characterization in the game is linked to arjuna’s and thats fine but i think that forgetting how much of a little sassy bastard he can get was a mistake! did you know that in apocrypha’s german dub on netflix, when jeanne calls his name like “You’re Karna, aren’t you ? The son of the Indian Sun God !” HES LIKE “So ?” AND THAT WAS SOOOO BITCHY OF HIM, i think that karna is a good boy in fgo but the fact that he was such a fighty old man in the mahabharata shouldnt be forgotten and is a charm trait. I MEAN ???? HE THREW HANDS WITH AN 18 YEAR OLD(ARJUN) WHILE BEIN LIKE... THIRTY TWO. WHATS WITH THIS ANNOYING OLD MAN !!!!! knowing these little facts about him made me like him so much more actually !! i think karna being so nice is adorable!! but the little bitchy energy u can find in his voicelines is also very charming!! i think karna looking at me emotionless as i ask him to lend me his notes for the nth time that week and then saying “...Mn.” when i thank him is cute!!! his voiceline towards things he dislikes is interesting to me. karna seeming aloof and mean bc he doesnt know how to communicate but is actually nice underneath...... hey... thats a little delinquentcore........ i wouldnt say yankii but hes like... hes like... u know hes the handsome quiet one of the group of yankiis... u know the one...? hey where are you going

ganesha is also a character im deeply interested in but i havent played CCC so i dont know that many details about jinako herself !! my brain goes HMMMMMM it seems lord ganesha is trans in fgo ! (since kama used to be a male god originally as well!!) ganesha uses all pronouns!!! and ganesha is also special to me because they share similar traits with kama when it comes to their characterization AND mischaracterizations. ganesha isnt JUST jinako. theres a part of a god in the servant mix!!! and jinako HERSELF is actually a pretty sad character imo. the whole otaku/neet thing is obviously a facade and her true wish being that she wants to redo her whole life is also proof of how much she hates what shes become, yet at the same time, she doesnt know what else she could do. but anyways, i prefer looking at servants from a lore POV so i think that ganesha should still be considered a god and be adressed as such!! i like seeing people portray ganesha as jinako but i prefer it when a certain lavish more godly side of them is put forward. a side of jinako that managed to move on a little bit if that makes sense ? that got more serious. and became someone else entierly despite sharing similarities. needless to say their bond with karna makes me happy since he shows them respect as you should towards a god!! its a bit different from their bond in CCC... like they matured somewhat!! anyway ganesha is the one who taught everyone else in the indo fam about video games and technology and i will NEVER shut up.

ashwatthama..... MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM %_’(’ç_”’è_ç(è_’”545656455456545453£¨¨µ¨µMµ¨++°=)=)°+ goodness. jesus christ on earth. my love story with him makes me so embarrassed. when he got revealed i instantly fell in love with him despite knowing JACK SHIT ABOUT HIM but since i was the only one in my friend group who was hardcore into fgo at the time, i kept my love for him to myself and just... (looks away)(i drop my wallet full of picturses of him) quietly adored his everything in silence. WELL, ree having an intense crush on yankii type characters isnt new, its been my favourite trope for ages (gyarus go in hand with them!!) and im still very attached to it so thats what made me love him in the first place!!!! BUT THEN. I GOT INTO HIS MAHABHARATAN LORE. And OHHHHHHHHH BABY.......... (im twirling my hair) so theres this 7ft tall war criminal..........<3<33<3(mash leans in and informs me that the convention of geneva didnt exist at the time) SO THERES THIS 7 FTTALL IMMORTALMAN.......<233 gOD he makes me absolutely CRAZY9909840385%£%%£%%µ%µ%µ the love i have for this character is immense and whenever im sad i remember that pako exists and has a tablet and can draw and i suddenly feel so much better. ok im gonna stop horny posting a little bit. but hes my wife. AND WHAT I LOVE ABOUT HIS PORTRAYAL IN FGO IS THAT, they actually made him a good boy despite his initial roughness and misdeeds ???!!! HELLO?? ashwatthama wishing for a redemption ark is my favourite thing and his righteousness that was born because of his regrets is a very interesting drivepoint to me !!! hes a gorgeous character and im buying a ticket plane as we speak right now so i can go find him in northern india. i’ll find him. GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME !!!!!GET OFF ME !!!

miss lakshimi makes me very sad! because every female servant in the indo fam is an already known face. (... would sita count.) and lakshi being a jeanneface is a waste. well, she’s still very pretty and her lore is also quite interesting!! i havent looked into it fully yet but i think she should be kissed on the mouth. her bad luck makes me slip on a banana peel whenevr i get close to her to kiss her and i hit my head on the pavement and pass away- 

parvati is on a tough spot for me atm. i genuinely love thinking of her as the way the indian goddess herself is portrayed because thats where the fun lies for me in her character. especially when shes involved with other indian servants, thats a given!! i would like to see parvati grow, suffer and heal. because branding her as an “all-knowing mom” is easy, but every single parent makes mistakes if you follow that logic. also, since shes the sakura servant “thats closest to her initial personality”, she’s got some of the most Repulsive fans ive Ever witnessed in fandom spaces and lets say that im trying to work my way out of this hellhole and find things to like about parvati without the fandom’s influence. needless to say, im going to keep looking into her mythos and her lore by myself at my own pace and keep doing my own thing in my little corner. 

rama shouldve been a jock. THE RAMAYANA IS OLDER THAN THE MAHABHARATA, WHY IS.....Hrm well him being summoned as his baby version gives me hope for a future rama alt perhaps??? but i think that he shouldve been a total jock and he shouldve been huge with a huge red lion-like mane for his hair and a teethy grin and big biceps and intense love for his wife. SPEAKING OF SITA, her charm point is her purity but i wish.... that their artist still hadnt drawn them like That, im not a fan of lily servants and i think purity = being young is a bit of an annoying excuse!!! rama and sita looking similar is because of their shared history which is fine but... rolls my eyes............. rama shouldve been 6ft tall and sita shouldve been a milf to match...... anyways i doubt ravana would be added as a servant but i’d love to have a ramayana centric event!! where all indo servants have their own lore centric role to play!!! oh thatd be a dream.... but i have learned to not expect much from a fanservice game so im jus gonna draw my own stuff! (strikes a pose!) (mashu claps!)

[comradecrossing]

hi do you have any tips/recs for someone who’s just starting new leaf? i had it a long time ago but i stopped playing, and now i want to start playing again but i don’t remember it well 🙈

Hi! This might be long but! When I restarted this last time I was worried it would get boring real fast like with my first save, so I planned out as much as I possibly could ahead of time.

Think of a theme that makes you happy! Do you love witchy/fairy things? A specific color? maybe a season? particular villager animal? Aliens??? If you can figure out a theme you can build around (and it can be ANYTHING) then you will have much more confidence when you first step foot in your new town!

Now I’m gonna use my town as reference, so, I really like the Witchy/Fairy aesthetic and I knew immediately thats what i was going to do. I’m bad at town names, but i like Pokemon and remembered they have a fairy town, so I looked it up and got my name and figured why stop there? That’s how Laverre City became one of my sole inspirations for my town. I was inspired to restart because of hackers so even though I cant hack, I think about things I might like to do, or really want to do when/if i ever can and i have some big ideas lol im so sad. So ultimately i settled on a fall themed town (not perpetual fall but looks best in fall and the dreamcode will be of the town in fall) with lots of pink cosmos and regular saplings to give off a resemblance to Laverre City :)I then looked at a lot of forest and dreamy type towns to get some inspiration like mushroom rings, layout ideas, and items or PWPs to use. I also checked sites like animal crossing wikia to make a list of PWPs I might like in my town and chose 30 possible options (you can only build 30) and check the space requirements.

Once I start for real with a vague idea of where I want to put things I look at all the maps available and if they don’t have specific traits i want (secret beach, desirable town tree location, diving cliff, ponds in places that wont get in the way of projects and landscaping ideas, good spot for the cafe, etc) I restart until a map comes up that I like. Once I arrive in town its time to check my native fruit and rock locations and make sure its up to my standards, and if a resident is important for you to have/not have make sure to check the map too!

Once you get a town you’re happy with and you’ve found the perfect place to call home its time to get serious >: |It’s time for your first shovel and axe.Now, I have always been anti-axe in previous games but this last save changed me. I got a hold of that first axe and chopped down every tree that wasn’t a southern cedar tree! (southern cedars are only possible at the start! If you plant them they’ll only grow in the North, thats the top half of your town.) Now your town will feel barren at first and this is the ugliest stage but also one of the funnest -imo- so lets open up your patterns and get started. Now that you have a blank canvas use your green & blue tiles to signify trees/bamboo and bushes, you can even redesign it and write “T” or “B” respectably and start laying them out. You can also use the Yellow to lay down where you want PWPs (make sure to surround two spaces further than the project requires. a 3x3 fountain should look more like a 5x5 area to ensure no one moves directly next to where you want to build). You should have lots of fruit piled up (remember to stack them) so you can layout bush tiles and plant fruit if you’d rather have a better idea of how its gonna look. I planted all my peaches and would later go back and replace certain ones with new fruit i acquired. Its good to have a “this is all a process” mindset because it will take a while to get your town done even if you time travel, but thats good! because the game is all about making your dream town!

So now you have a good amount of the town planned out and probably have some ideas of what to do next. The next few days will be spent checking out how things are growing and making sure you planted things in the right spots. if there’s anything you’re not liking - change it! Your town Your rules!

Now while you are waiting for things to grow and get pretty its time to gather aaaaaallllll the flowers you can find and organize them in a large free space so they are all diagonally touching (XXXX), this way you can get hybrids early on :)Make sure they are the same breed and check hybrid guides so you know which colors work best to make the hybrids you most want and make sure to water them everyday as they will wilt if you don’t have the beautiful ordinance. Hybrids are good to have for trades when you dont have much money.

After all this you should be off to a pretty good start. Try to keep in mind villagers you would like to have and try to make friends online or IRL that you can adopt from (I always post when i have some one leaving and who I am hoping to replace them with and I usually get an offer fairly quickly, even for villagers I was desperate to get out. No matter who they are someone likes them :)) But if your town is set up in a way that you’ll be devastated if your dreamie moves in that one perfectly made up spot, it might be a good idea to plot set &/ reset.Plot resetting is when you make a *NEW* character save to check and see if anyone moved in overnight, and more importantly, if they moved in an undesirable place. If this happens restart and select the new save option until the villager plots in a spot you like. Once they do that build your tent somewhere and save quit. This will make the new residents spot permanent and then you can select the new save once more and delete their home. This could take quite a while if you have lots of “open” space. “Open Space” is how I refer to non-tiled/pwp or house occupied areas and the way I go about this is covering my town in about 75% tiles and spacing out pwps to where there are as few places houses can plot in as possible. Houses wont build over tiles and will plot at least 2 spaces away from other buildings, rocks and projects and one away from clifs and ponds/rivers. They dont care however if there are trees, bamboo, items, bushes, or flowers so be sure to lay out tiles in any place at risk to being plotted on. I refer to this as “Plot Setting” as you can make 3x3 empty plots you surround with tiles which will help villagers know where to plot. If you do a good job and plot everything out just right, you’ll never have to worry about someone messing up your hard work.

Now here’s the kinda sucky part of ACNL and that is The Limitations.Annoying programmed rules that seem to only get in the way such as the 2-space rule between pwps/buildings. This can mess up your aesthetic a lot and sometimes you will have to completely replan things due to a small fact you may have overlooked or not noticed and suddenly your garden isnt looking right so im gonna name off the biggest hassles and how I have gotten around some of them.

Bush + tree + bush: You can line up 12 trees/bamboo and bushes in a line. This works both straight and diagonally. only 12. Now you can leave gaps in some places that will reset the count or do intricate designs like one cedar in the middle of 4 bushes, a line of bushes with trees spaced out directly behind, a pattern of bushes and chopped bamboo, etc get creative. Visiting others towns or looking at pics people post can help you get lots of ideas. Bushes can touch each other but trees & bamboo still have the one space between rule.

PWP 2-space rule: now I’ve already mentioned this a few times but this rule is always the one that I seem to forget when planning. YOU NEED TWO SPACES. I cant tell you how many times i have planned project locations weeks in advance only to not be able to lay them out as i wanted because I got the space requirement wrong or only left one space between other objects :/

Beach Rules: You may have seen cool towns with pwps, cedar trees and hibiscus bushes scattered around their beach and Ive got some bad news; Those are hacked towns. The only thing that can be planted on the beach naturally is coconut and banana trees, flowers, and clovers. Nothing grows on the beach, not even weeds. No pwps can be built there either, even though it was initially programmed to be possible. I currently use the space for hybrid breeding since i have no space to elsewhere ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Tear Down and Build Up: I will say though that even though only maybe 15% of my original plans came to life, my town looks way better than i had ever imagined it would. Don’t be afraid to tear things down and try out different locations or setups you might figure something out that looks amazing compared to your original plans.

Finally, while you can participate in the Happy Home Ratings, you dont have too. Decorate how ever the flip you want. Find new things to do everyday as the game can get old fast and you might get temped to Timetravel (which isnt a bad thing if thats what you want to do, but be careful you dont lose your villagers/flowers! Even though I have the Beautiful ordinance, I water all my flowers incase they pop out a hybrid. I try to earn all the badges, I visit dreamtowns for inspiration, redesign areas of my town, farm PWPs, make patterns, try hunting down items to decorate my house with, etc, this is another area where having a theme can help as you will find inspiration easier, and make you feel more immersed like you’re playing an RPG.

I’ve gone on a lot here and I have more to add but I’ve spent over an hour typing this, but let me know if you have any other questions or need clarification on anything :) I’m not gonna add pics rn but if you need photo reference send another message and I will address it separately and add it here later.

Now heres a bunch of links to help you get invested:MoriBD - A catalog of every in-game item and an option to make a wishlistHybrid Guide - By @nooklingPWP GuideVillager Adoption Further Info on Plot ResettingPWP Farming Towns/interiors I found inspirationalSome QRsHacking info (if youre interested)How to upload your screenshots & Make your screenshot pretty!

Pick the right face when you startOnce you get the QR reader (talk to sable 7 days) you can use these

Please let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help :)Just putting it out there too, I am always happy to help people get whatever they want/need for no cost whether it be fruits, bamboo, mushrooms, items, hybrids, etc, I will always do what I can to help you out, whether you’re just starting or on your 5th year.

[ljones41]

"SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY" (2018) Review

"SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY" (2018) Review Following the release of Lucasfilm's ninth film, "STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII - THE LAST JEDI", the STAR WARSfandom seemed to be in a flux. Although the film received a positive reaction from film critics and was a box office hit, for many reasons it created a division within the franchise's fandom. And many believe that this division, along with a few other aspects, may have produced a strong, negative impact upon the next film released by Lucasfilm, "SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY".

Why did I bring up this topic? Easy. "SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY" proved to be Lucasfilm's first box office flop. Certain film critics and defenders of "THE LAST JEDI" had claimed that the negative reaction to the latter film had an impact on the box office performance of "SOLO". In fact, many of "THE LAST JEDI" detractors claimed the same. Perhaps. Then again, I disliked "THE LAST JEDI". But that did not stop me from seeing "SOLO" at the theaters. Personally, I suspect other factors played a role in the box office failure of "SOLO" - media coverage of the film's chaotic production (that included the firing of its first directors, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller) and the fact that Lucasfilm/Disney had released it five months after "THE LAST JEDI". But many would point out that the true reason behind the film's box office failure was its quality. That it was simply not a good movie. Did I agree with this assessment? I will answer this later. But first, I might as well recap the movie's plot. Written by Hollywood legend Lawrence Kasdan and his son, Jonathan Kasdan; "SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY" is basically an origins tale about one of the franchise's most popular and legendary characters, Han Solo. The movie began some thirteen years before the events of "ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY" and "STAR WARS: EPISODE IV - A NEW HOPE", when a young Han and Qi'ra, his childhood friend and first love, attempt to escape the clutches of a Corellian gangster named Lady Proxima and her White Worm gang. They fail in their first attempt, but manage to make it to Corellia's space port with a stash of stolen coaxium, a powerful hyperspace fuel. The pair manages to bribe an Imperial officer with the coaxium in exchange for passage off the planet. Unfortunately, only Han manages to make it past the gate, due to Qi'ra being snatched by the pursuing White Worm gang. Before he can be detected, Han signs up with the Imperial Navy as a flight cadet. Three years later, Han is serving as an infantryman on Mimban, due to being expelled from the Imperial Flight Academy for insubordination. He spots a criminal gang posing as Imperial soldiers and tries to blackmail the leader, Tobias Beckett, into taking him with them. Instead, Beckett exposes him as a deserter and Han is tossed into a pit to be fed by an enslaved Wookie named Chewbacca. Since he is able to understand the latter's language, Han is able to plot an escape with the Wookie. Both make their way to Beckett's newly stolen starship and convinces the criminal to allow them to join his gang. The group plots to steal a shipment of coaxium on Vandor-1. The plan goes awry, thanks to a group called the Cloud Riders led by Enfys Nest. Both Beckett's wife Val and their pilot Rio Durant are killed and the coaxium destroyed. A grieving and desperate Beckett is forced to face his employer Dryden Vos, a ruthless and high-ranking crime boss in the Crimson Dawn syndicate. Aboard Vos' yacht, Han has a reunion with Qi'ra, also working for Vos. He also comes up with a plan to steal another shipment of coaxium to help Beckett repay the debt to Vos. So . . . did I enjoy "SOLO"? Or did I dislike it? There were certain aspects about the film that left me scratching my head. And these aspects had a lot to do with Lucasfilm and Disney Studios' decision to declare the Extended Universe (EU) novels as no longer part of the franchise's canon. The Kasdans the screenwriters of "SOLO" had decided to make changes to Han's backstory. Instead of being the abandoned scion of a well-to-do Corellian family, Han was literally re-written as an orphan with no surname. An Imperial Navy recruiter ended up providing his surname. The Kasdans made Han three years older. I found these changes unnecessary, especially the age change. Perhaps the Kasdans had felt that a nineteen year-old Han would not work in the movie's narrative. If that was the case, all they had to do was set the movie seven years before "A NEW HOPE" and not ten years. Also, characters like Han's old crime boss, the pirate Garris Shrike, and the female Wookie who served as the latter's cook, Dewlanna. Shrike was not missed. But without Dewlanna as part of the franchise's canon, how did Lucasfilm and the Kasdans planned to explain Han's knowledge of Shyriiwook, the Wookies' language? He not only understood it, but also knew how to speak Shyriiwook . . . somewhat. But despite my quibbles regarding "SOLO", I enjoyed it. Who am I kidding? I loved it. For me, "SOLO" was a breath of fresh air after the disappointing "THE LAST JEDI". What I found ironic about the movie is that many claimed that a backstory about Han Solo was unnecessary for the franchise and not particularly original. First of all, none of the nine movies that followed "A NEW HOPE" were necessary. Neither was the 1977 movie, for that matter. As for originality . . . despite the movie being about Han Solo's youth, I thought "SOLO" proved to be a surprisingly original entry for the franchise. Although the galaxy's criminal element has been featured in past STAR WARS films, "SOLO" marked the first time that the franchise delved deep into the galaxy's criminal organizations. And this is because "SOLO" is basically a heist film. Well . . . "ROGUE ONE" was also a heist story . . . at least in the last third of the film. But that was a tale of politics and espionage. And although politics made a few appearances in this film, "SOLO" was basically a story about criminals - including one Han Solo. And because this film is basically a story about criminals, one would expect to encounter a good deal of back stabbing and double crossing. To be honest, one could find plenty of such action in political films. It certainly happened in "STAR WARS: EPISODE III - REVENGE OF THE SITH". The ironic thing is that aside from Beckett exposing Han as a deserter to the Imperial Army, no such betrayals or back stabbing occurred until the film's last act on the planet Savareen. And when the betrayals and back stabbings finally unfolded . . . God, it was a beautiful thing to behold! And the whole sequence was capped by a familiar figure from the past. The production values for "SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY" seemed top-notched. Well, most of it. I must admit to feeling somewhat disappointed by the visuals for Corellia. From the drawings I have seen of the planet online, I had imagined that Han's home world to be a little more colorful than what was seen onscreen:

But I certainly had no problems with the visuals for other planets like Vandor-1, the Fort Ypso village on said planet, the Kessel Run's maelstrom and Savareen. But I really have to give kudos to production designer Neil Lamont and the film's art direction team for their creation of the interior sets that served as Dryden Vos's yacht. Need I say more? 

   When the media first announced that Alden Ehrenreich had been cast as the young Han Solo, many STAR WARS fans had denounced the casting and insisted that actor/impressionist Anthony Ingruber, who had portrayed the younger version of a character portrayed by Harrison Ford in a movie called "THE AGE OF ADALINE", should have won the role. I have seen Ingruber do an impressionist of Ford in a You Tube video clip. But I thought that the movie required more than an impressionist and I had seen Ehrenreich in three previous movies. I believed he would do a great job as a young Han Solo. As it turned out, Ehrenreich was more than great. He gave a SUPERB performance than ended up knocking my socks off. Oh my God, he was just brilliant. Ehrenreich captured all of the essence of Han's personality and traits with very little effort. All I can say is that I am very happy that he had more than lived up to my expectations. But Ehrenreich was not the only one who knocked it out of the ballpark. The movie also featured a first-rate and enigmatic performance from Emilia Clarke, who portrayed Han's first love Qi'ra. The character is one of the few instances in which I am glad that Lucasfilm did not use any characters from the Expanded Universe. In the EU, Han's first love was Rebel Alliance officer Bria Tharen. I am certain that Bria was an interesting character, but she reminded me too much of Leia. Qi'ra, on the other, struck me as a more interesting and complex personality and romantic interest for Han. And Clarke did a marvelous job with the role. Another great performance came from Woody Harrelson, who portrayed Han's reluctant mentor, a professional thief known as Tobias Beckett. Like Clarke, Harrelson did an excellent job in portraying a morally complex thief who seemed to be a combination of an easy-going personality who was also avaricious and ruthless. No one seemed to mind Donald Glover's casting as Han's future friend, Lando Calrissian. Glover gave a very entertaining and first-rate performance as the witty and smooth-talking smuggler, who seemed to harbor a low opinion of Han and a high opinion of himself, the Millennium Falcon, and his droid companion L3-37. "SOLO" also featured excellent performances from other supporting cast members. Paul Bettany was both entertaining and dangerous as Crimson Dawn's criminal leader Dryden Vos. Joonas Suotamo's first-rate portrayal of Han's life long friend, Chewbacca, struck me both poignant and emotional. More importantly, his character was fully fleshed out and not treated as some glorified Thandie Newton gave a sharp and witty performance as Beckett's wife Val. Erin Kellyman was surprisingly commanding as Enfys Nest, the young leader of a gang of pirates called Cloud Riders. Ray Park surprised the hell out of me when he briefly repeated his role as former Sith apprentice, Darth Maul. The movie also featured some very entertaining voice performances from Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who was hilarious as Lando's emotional and sharp-tongued droid L3-37; Jon Favreau, who gave a charming and funny performance as a member of Beckett's crew, Rio Durant; and Linda Hunt, who was sinister as the criminal leader of the White Worms gang on Corellia. The movie also featured cameos - live and voice - from STAR WARS veterans like Anthony Daniels and Warwick Davis. What else is there to say about "SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY"? It is a pity that it did not perform well at the box office. Then again, I saw it twice in the theaters and felt more than satisfied. It is not the best STAR WARS movie I have ever seen. But I do believe that it was one of the better ones, thanks to Jonathan and Lawrence Kasdan's screenplay, a superb cast led by the talented Alden Ehrenreich and director Ron Howard, who I believe may have saved this film, following the firing of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller as the film's directors. For me, "SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY" is another prime example that Disney Studios and Lucasfilm seemed to be better at stand alone films, instead of serial ones.

[squatlord-draws]

┗┃・ ■ ・┃┛

GOD ITS ABOUT FUCKIN TIME I CLEAR THE DOCKETT

hey everyone how yall been doin lol, been sittin on a lot of these nice messages for a while now

it’s okay take your time

anonymous asked:

I've never had any interest in Star Trek or (sci-fi in general tbh) and I figured I'd probably never watch it but like... Ur undertrek au... It's filling me with Temptation. Also I love love love how you portray Chara. Or well I love how you portray literally everyone tbh you're just amazing holy shit?? I hope you have a nice day

undertrek is such a self indulgent thing and i would absolutely LOSE it if someone started watching ST because of it. i mean let’s be clear here, the original show is such a vastly different beast than the following series’ (TNG, DS9, Voyager, Enterprise, STD) and im primarily a fan of ToS--though when i started drawing undertrek, i hadnt seen the original series? in retrospect i’d like to go back and change some of the toning, to leave behind the more grounded feel of the post TNG-verse, and do more of the romanticism of ToS

god what a choice fuckin ask, thank you for submittin this

anonymous asked:

Would chara ever actually admit that they actually real love sans and sees him as family?

they see him ...... as a real pain in the ass

anonymous asked:

God I love how smug charas and sans relationship is

they’re the actual best

anonymous asked:

I see charas and sans relationship like rons and aprils in parks and recreation

ron from aprks and rec: rat piss

grabnok-destra asked:

Are Chara and Asriel ever happy? :( I want them to be happy.

i’d say they’re happy a lot, actually

anonymous asked:

I would fight your chara in a darkened alleyway

god you’d fucking win

Anonymous said:

While chara is possessing frisks body where does frisk go?

spectral chuck. e. cheese ball pit

Anonymous said:

You are the squat lord, lord of those who squat

i am no lord. i am only a simple jock. i pump iron like everyone else, one arm at a time, at the same time

Anonymous said:

I'm so split against either having sans and chara get along because they are super similar or them hating each other because the "fuck that stupid ass skeleton" and "haha fuck u too :)))" trope is my favorite

you dont gotta be split . it can be both. you can have it all. we can all have it all

Anonymous said:

I've probably said this a thousand times in my tags but I just??? Love your style so much it brings a smile to my face every time I see it, the way each character looks is just absolutely fantastic and floors me every time, not to mention your oc's are so much fun to look at and I love them? And your humor is always so on point.... thank you so much for sharing ur art with us

OH I LOVE THIS THANK YOU !!! <33333

Anonymous said:

You are one of my favorite undertale blogs ily

thanks i have a comic where sans calls me a horny baby

@georgetheblob​ said:

You're one of my biggest expression inspirations. Your work is all so fun and entertaining and I hope to someday achieve what you do with your work with my own work.

this is so wonderfully kind of you to say ! it always makes me happy to know others enjoy my stuff < 33

Anonymous said:

love your awesome art by the way, alphys, sans is spying on you and gathering science information. trust me.

he’s stealing all your really good kissy cutie headcanons & posting them as if they were his own, the unforgivable bastard

Anonymous said:

God I love your chara they are so true to character it's scary

i was gonna make some kind of stupid joke to deflect how genuinely happy i get when people call my chara writing in character, but i’ve spent an embarrassing amount of time researching different veins of meta & also reading a ton of childhood psychology books, and there’s no amount of deflection that can erase that bizarre aspect of myself

Anonymous said:

I want your chara to brawl with a random pedestrian

good news there’s a guy in an alley that just fucking killed them

Anonymous said:

I always thought your username was squad-lord

what’s a squad to a lord?

Anonymous said:

I really adore your character designs dude. You use strong basic shapes in a way I don't see artists do a whole lot and their personalities (and the way you characterize them in your comics) just comes across so well, I'm a big fan of all of it.

im really glad ! it’s all a learning process and im really tryin to do what i can to have fun, and make (hopefully) good stuff

Anonymous said:

I will always see chara as a lovable shit head till the day I'm lowered in my grave

sans: why have you killed everyone

chara: im just quirky like that

Anonymous said:

Asriel!!! Is!!! A!!!! Good!!! Boy!!!!!

HEY HE’S A GOOD BOY ! I LOVE THAT GOOD GOAT BOY

marv0 said:

you...you talented...

you.... you thank you............

Anonymous said:

I would fight 10 grown men for chara

well there’s a guy in the alley & another guy who’s watching so you could always go fight them

Anonymous said:

Can I just say ur amazing

oh thank you !

Anonymous said:

your art is amazing and i really like it!!! i hope you have a good day/night!!!

Oh !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! two really nice ones in a row im diggin it lmao

grabnok-destra said:

Wait...did you ever make a Frisk for your Star Trek stuff?

hell yeah my dude, i love em. love to draw em someday

Anonymous said:

Mmmm those are some good toes squat, nice big ol Toes

i fucking know it’s you sans

@talifu​ said:

Your Chara is the best Chara I've ever seen (Also your expressions give me life)

THANKS I LOVE EM

Anonymous said:

Lord your depiction of Alphys is the absolute greatest no one else captures her quite as well

she’s really fun ! i feel like she’s the one ive improved the most on as far as her visual appeal, my stylization on her face wasnt ... like ... super great for a while there. im really happy with the general look ive got for her, though. she’s also super fun to draw as a ferengi too lmao

grabnok-destra said:

I actually would like to see Adult Frisk again. Maybe harassing Chara and Asriel by making them join family bonding time/doing healthy exercises or some shit. I dunno, you've always drawn Adult Frisk like they're a huge ball of positive energy and I'd like to see more of it.

it’s been awhile since i’ve drawn adult frisk, i just didnt realize that people care all that much ? tbh i dont really care all too much for them ... i like the design and all, but i just think kid frisk is a lot funnier, and i have more fun drawin their amorphous kind of shape anyways. 

im generally pretty insecure about what people think about how undefined all my art decisions are anyways, and adult frisk i always kind of assumed people thought was ... shitty ? maybe a bit too self indulgent ? i dont know. i should draw em again. they got great hair

Anonymous said:

You're a legend, you know that right?

did this ask get sent before or after i tweeted about sans suckin toes

Anonymous said:

I LOVE your Asriel, he is a good boy but also a bit snarky and has some flowey traits still, I love him

asriel as i like to write him is an asriel who wants to believe it was the flower thing that made him such a shit head, but he was always kind of a shit head, the flowey thing just sort of aggregated it

Anonymous said:

sans + blue belly

hey

Anonymous said:

I love how you draw sans as a shoe with a face

please do not ever email me pictures of your shoes because they sound horrifying

Anonymous said:

Can we see more flowey? I missed the edgy piss child

honest to god you are so right . why dont i ever draw him ? he’s literally perfect? he literally did nothing wrong, ever?

Anonymous said:

JESUS SQAUT.,,...every time you post a bunch of happy stuff I know it's a build up to some sads and I'm still never prepared when you post it

it’s like a mob psycho counter w/ posts about horny sans until i post a picture of chara’s horrible corpse bleeding out on the ground

@luptaccos​ said:

Toriel wearing a Snail! Heaven! Now! shirt is the most genius and in-character thing I've ever seen, congratulations I love you

i think probably toriel listens to a LOT of podcasts, and references them constantly.

Anonymous said:

I love the way you portray undertale characters tbh- you're really good at giving them a lot of personality in a simple looking style! Not to mention your take on them in general being A+ :D You've been one of my favorite fanartists since the fandom was young, and even though I'm not particularly active in it anymore myself, I still really enjoy the things you draw!

it’s gonna be like 5 years from now and im still going be drawin flowey sayin “piss” & i really am not going to have a good explanation for anyone for why its like this

thank u tho im glad you like it <3

@hadjiiembercolgatenerdmctillhawk said:

i accidentally misspelled your name as squadlord, is that okay

god there are so many missed connections goin on in my ask box its wild

also hell yah . i think im just essentially squadlord by proxy at this point anyways

Anonymous said:

In loving that spooky eye on the left

i took too long to respond to this so now i dont know what this was in reference to, so now im just, stuck with this eye mystery . eye just dont know what theyre talkin about

@maple-maypole said:

Aahh, your art is awesome. Please don't let that just slide, I mean it. You have one of the most unique and easily recognizable artstyles I've seen in the few years I've spent in The Webz(tm), so alive and stylized but also so grounded and sharp. Your lines are amongst the best I've ever had the joy to look at, they are without a doubt my favorite thing about your art, only coming close those simple and yet so great characters designs and shapes. I could go on and on. Thanks, really. Ur cool.

oh thank you so much !! one of the greatest pleasures ive had in my art up until this point is improving on my linework, and it always means a lot when people say they like it ! it’s so hard being an artist because i always want to draw in the style of other artists, so its always good to know that others like this weirdass style ive got lmao

Anonymous said:

Pom Farr Chara

ch... chara horny ....

actually i cant be all that sarcastic about it b/c star trek really DID just have it be a thing where vulcans gotta fuck or they die, like that’s a goddamn universal fact. chara is technically vulcan so i guess they also gotta fuck or theyll die

god undertrek is such a fucking good au

Anonymous said:

What's the kids favorite music??

chara: bad youtube edits of the hotel mario theme

asriel: paramore, paramore adjacent

frisk: also the hotel mario theme

Anonymous said:

Your glutes must be hella toned o lord of squats

i had pretty major knee surgery over the summer so a lot of my leg muscles atrophied pretty badly, actually :(

i’ve been pretty bummed about that. i’m able to walk now, but the strength still isn’t quite there. i’m at the point where i can get back into weightlifting, though, so i just need to actually sit down & write down my fitness plan for the week. 

i’ll be honest the name squatlord is partially ironic but i’m not kidding about how good, important, and helpful squatting is as an exercise. it really targets those major leg muscles that are vital for just about any physical activity we engage in as humans -- and since my goals are primarily strength training & some amount of bulking, it’s pretty important to have squatting as a major aspect of that training. it’s just been months at this point, though, and getting back into a regular exercise routine is always difficult. it took years for me to even have a schedule at all. totally worth it tho, i fuckin adore bein a full time jock lol

also “squat” is a god damn hilarious word and my domain IS this fuckin leg flexin, i was lyin before, i am absolutely the lord of this horrible sweaty realm, i fucking own these legs & i fucking own these squats

Anonymous said:

I love you're Azzy so much no matter how you draw him

i love him too i always feel so guilty im drawin him in a way people dont like lol ... i just want everyone to love my beautiful goat son, and his beautiful longface

Anonymous said:

i seen your twitter account. I know how deep the horny sans well goes.

[murderincrp]

PROFILE LOADED...「LEE HYEJUNG」「U/A」「THIRTY-ONE」

“Thirty-one-year-old NIS/SOCKER AGENT that goes by the alias ‘MOON SARANG’. No known allies.”

✘ THREAT LEVEL HIGH. PROCEED WITH EXTREME CAUTION...

WARNING: FAMILIAL DEATH, SUICIDE, VEHICULAR ACCIDENT/DUI, ARSON, GORE, SCHIZOPHRENIA

[ BACKGROUND... ]

As far as the Korean government, the armed forces, the NIS and the SOCKOR are concerned, Project Integrity never happened. The evidence of the clandestine government project has been wiped out clean, with each trace or mention of it gone, preferably forever, all for the sake of security of the high-risk information and operations which followed the conception of Integrity. What started out as a tentative, yet simultaneously courageous idea of the select few, who in turn were given permission to reveal the idea to the chosen couple, turned into a full-blown operation each step of which was designed with utmost care and consideration for all the individuals involved. One wrong move, a single piece of information leaked to the public and it would have all been gone. One miscalculated action and the government could have faced collapse, all under the weight of anger of a dismayed nation which had been kept in the dark — away from the threads on the ends of which their lives hung.

The project sounds complex put in such words, but in reality it was brought together by rather simple notions — form a secret, extremely well-trained team, who’d swear to utmost secrecy and absolute loyalty, at the cost of their lives, and use the team for all sensitive operations which could not involve full-scale military performances. The idea, many officials argued, was an extreme liability, yet it got a green light. If it failed in the early stages, no one would be hurt. Life could continue as planned, as though nothing had happened. Those two were the pro-arguments, which won over the nay-sayers. The government, operating alongside its intelligence organisations and SOCKOR, extracted around three dozen individuals they all perceived as potentially right for Integrity. One half directly from the military, and the rest from the Police Academy’s sophomores and juniors, all the most promising performers of their duties, who stood out, for one reason or the other, in the sea of officers-to-be. In the original, fairly large group, only ten remained after the most simple and harmless notions of the project were revealed. No extraction missions, avoiding capture at all cost (even if it means killing yourself) and a few others were what pulled the brakes for many of the potential participants. Most left, and among the ten which remained, only five completed the entirety of Integrity’s carefully thought-through tests and exercises, created to break body and spirit. Under the weight of elevated danger and mind-crushing experiments, the five individuals — four military men and one PA woman — were officially recognised as team Integrity. And that was the first and last time the government and its branching organisations ever recognised the existence of the team which, after being formed in 2009, began its employment, veiled in utmost secrecy.

II

The woman, extracted from her sophomore year in the police academy, was Lee Hyejung. She was the perfect candidate because, essentially, Lee Hyejung was no one; yet simultaneously she was everything Integrity needed. A child with an unusually high IQ, described by one of her teachers as a genius of her own time, became a woman who had little to no recollection of her father — but no wonder wonder there, as she had intentionally locked herself away from the evidence which could tumble down the couple of memories she chose to keep. Instead of memorising him as he had been in her later childhood ( which is a relentless drunk), Hyejung chose to only think of him as she had seen him until she was five years old. And the moments shared with her bus-driving father until then were scarce, with most faded away and worn out before she could do anything to stop it. All that remained later were drunken instances which she refused to believe came from her own flesh and blood. Her father’s addiction and his untimely death, caused by a DIU at work which claimed not just his life but the lives of nine other people on his bus, Hyejung buried in the deepest corners of her memory, refusing to be associated with such a monstrosity. And her mother’s story was barely any different. Though a humble and devoted woman, her mother suffered from the inside, waging war battles that she had been pre-destined to lose.

Schizophrenia, a largely hereditary disease, which Hyejung’s mother got from her own father who suffered a psychotic break at the same ripe age of thirty just like Hyejung’s mother would, ate away at the mother’s mind at a slower pace before her husband’s death, but once the tragedy struck the Lee household, she started to deteriorate at an exponential rate, leaving Hyejung with a miserable seven-year cycle with her mother before the inevitable took place. The mother, after several violent outbursts, both towards herself and her daughter, had to be hospitalised and the child was sent to live with her father’s estranged brother and his wife. Lee Hyejung thus, who now had nothing left in the world, began her search for meaning and purpose when she was just fourteen years old. On top of her pubescent troubles, her mind’s extraordinary skills were difficult to keep up with for her aunt and uncle — they were even frightening at times. Though they managed to provide their niece with good education, it was never near enough for her to blossom. Assuredly, Hyejung excelled in whatever she did but it was seldom because she wanted to prove herself and more often because she had set herself on a path to becoming anyone else when she grows up. Unable to understand how her genius could come from the parents she had had, and afraid of ending up like her mother in the future, Hyejung strived for the moment she would shed her skin off. And she waited, semi-patiently, while meticulously working out on the steps she’d have to take to become someone else.

III

The opportunity for the ultimate change arose when she was lobbied for Integrity. Her lobbyists were overjoyed when she passed each and every test with her usual slick and no-going-back nature. Already bilingual and trained well in the field of IT, she was the perfect candidate indeed and once she passed the tests, alongside her four mates, she became part of Integrity, to whom she would swear absolute loyalty without a second of hesitation. In the two years of her training, Hyejung was taught an additional language, trained in martial arts, took more extensive IT courses and had several of her skills polished before she would be allowed to become who, indirectly or otherwise, she had always wanted to become. Who she had been preparing to become. But none of it would begin before everything could end. In 2009, much to the grief of her aunt and uncle with whom she had not lived or spoken to for nearly three years, Lee Hyejung died. A fire in her Seoul apartment destroyed her property, but the fumes suffocated her before she could feel any pain caused by the raging inferno. Her body was discovered three feet from the door, her only escape blocked by a knocked-down hallway cupboard. Her face was all over the national news for a couple of days after the body of the woman was identified using nothing more than dental records, the only means available due to the severe damage of the deceased. Her funeral ceremony was private and small, arranged by her few mourning relatives. But not everything was so grim. A person dies, and another is born. A cycle life best shown in the life and death and rebirth of  Lee Hyejung, now going by the name of Moon Sarang — a trained assassin, a government-sworn executive and a brand new addition to the NIS’s counter-terrorist unit. Forged dental records go a long way.

IV

Although established in Korea, Integrity became one of the most wanted underground government teams, rented out to various military zones where their help was rendered pivotal. Hostage situations, political prisoners extracted, a number of foreign military operations, persons of power in need of specially-designed body guards — and many more saw the utilisation of Integrity’s services. However, with the changing tides on the political scene of the country, and the switching administration, in 2016, Integrity, who had already been down one member since the year before, found itself on shaky grounds. With their future uncertain the four remaining agents of the clandestine team have suddenly been reminded that people like them do not end their careers awaiting their monthly retirement checks. They get retired. Though their services are readily available and still utilised, the winds blow differently than before, making Integrity’s members more vigilant than ever and slowly contemplating alternative paths of their team’s continuation. Naturally, one should not be fooled. The four members’ loyalty remains with each other, but the more time passes the less confidence they have in their employers, having learnt from the death of one of their team mates that the alternating currents are strong enough to sweep away anyone remiss enough to not catch up with the subtle hints of perfidy.

[ BEHAVIOR... ]

Hyejung, or Sarang as she is now called, is a person who best functions in quiet. Though she has gone through extensive military-like training and has undergone a series of events with high-level stressors, in everyday off-duty life loud audio stimuli render her nearly incapable of normal functioning. She gets easily agitated at things, places and people she finds irregular and has an obsessive need to fix and move things, all traits of her budding compulsive disorder. She is a slave to routine, but at the same time, trapped by the reality in which routine is what makes her easy target to her many enemies. She has a conflicting personality in which her mood undergoes swings from concentrated and eerily quiet to shambolic and entertainment-oriented. She reveals little of her private life and measures each word before it leaves her mouth. She is not incapable of normal socialising but prefers small, controlled groups to large crowds whose actions she cannot predict or calculate. As someone who easily develops habits, she is more easily made happy if she is taken to familiar places, rather than different venues each time.

She is quite a geek-y type and a terrible people-reader in everyday casual situations. Her people skills, it’s justified to say, are disgraceful considering her overall intelligence and skills. But, one cannot have it all.

[murderincrp]

PROFILE LOADED...「LEE HYEJUNG」「U/A」「THIRTY-ONE」

“Thirty-one-year-old NIS/SOCKER AGENT that goes by the alias ‘MOON SARANG’. No known allies.”

✘ THREAT LEVEL HIGH. PROCEED WITH EXTREME CAUTION...

WARNING: FAMILIAL DEATH, SUICIDE, VEHICULAR ACCIDENT/DUI, ARSON, GORE, SCHIZOPHRENIA 

[ BACKGROUND... ]

As far as the Korean government, the armed forces, the NIS and the SOCKOR are concerned, Project Integrity never happened. The evidence of the clandestine government project has been wiped out clean, with each trace or mention of it gone, preferably forever, all for the sake of security of the high-risk information and operations which followed the conception of Integrity. What started out as a tentative, yet simultaneously courageous idea of the select few, who in turn were given permission to reveal the idea to the chosen couple, turned into a full-blown operation each step of which was designed with utmost care and consideration for all the individuals involved. One wrong move, a single piece of information leaked to the public and it would have all been gone. One miscalculated action and the government could have faced collapse, all under the weight of anger of a dismayed nation which had been kept in the dark — away from the threads on the ends of which their lives hung.

The project sounds complex put in such words, but in reality it was brought together by rather simple notions — form a secret, extremely well-trained team, who’d swear to utmost secrecy and absolute loyalty, at the cost of their lives, and use the team for all sensitive operations which could not involve full-scale military performances. The idea, many officials argued, was an extreme liability, yet it got a green light. If it failed in the early stages, no one would be hurt. Life could continue as planned, as though nothing had happened. Those two were the pro-arguments, which won over the nay-sayers. The government, operating alongside its intelligence organisations and SOCKOR, extracted around three dozen individuals they all perceived as potentially right for Integrity. One half directly from the military, and the rest from the Police Academy’s sophomores and juniors, all the most promising performers of their duties, who stood out, for one reason or the other, in the sea of officers-to-be. In the original, fairly large group, only ten remained after the most simple and harmless notions of the project were revealed. No extraction missions, avoiding capture at all cost (even if it means killing yourself) and a few others were what pulled the brakes for many of the potential participants. Most left, and among the ten which remained, only five completed the entirety of Integrity’s carefully thought-through tests and exercises, created to break body and spirit. Under the weight of elevated danger and mind-crushing experiments, the five individuals — four military men and one PA woman — were officially recognised as team Integrity. And that was the first and last time the government and its branching organisations ever recognised the existence of the team which, after being formed in 2009, began its employment, veiled in utmost secrecy.

II

The woman, extracted from her sophomore year in the police academy, was Lee Hyejung. She was the perfect candidate because, essentially, Lee Hyejung was no one; yet simultaneously she was everything Integrity needed. A child with an unusually high IQ, described by one of her teachers as a genius of her own time, became a woman who had little to no recollection of her father — but no wonder wonder there, as she had intentionally locked herself away from the evidence which could tumble down the couple of memories she chose to keep. Instead of memorising him as he had been in her later childhood ( which is a relentless drunk), Hyejung chose to only think of him as she had seen him until she was five years old. And the moments shared with her bus-driving father until then were scarce, with most faded away and worn out before she could do anything to stop it. All that remained later were drunken instances which she refused to believe came from her own flesh and blood. Her father’s addiction and his untimely death, caused by a DIU at work which claimed not just his life but the lives of nine other people on his bus, Hyejung buried in the deepest corners of her memory, refusing to be associated with such a monstrosity. And her mother’s story was barely any different. Though a humble and devoted woman, her mother suffered from the inside, waging war battles that she had been pre-destined to lose.

Schizophrenia, a largely hereditary disease, which Hyejung’s mother got from her own father who suffered a psychotic break at the same ripe age of thirty just like Hyejung’s mother would, ate away at the mother’s mind at a slower pace before her husband’s death, but once the tragedy struck the Lee household, she started to deteriorate at an exponential rate, leaving Hyejung with a miserable seven-year cycle with her mother before the inevitable took place. The mother, after several violent outbursts, both towards herself and her daughter, had to be hospitalised and the child was sent to live with her father’s estranged brother and his wife. Lee Hyejung thus, who now had nothing left in the world, began her search for meaning and purpose when she was just fourteen years old. On top of her pubescent troubles, her mind’s extraordinary skills were difficult to keep up with for her aunt and uncle — they were even frightening at times. Though they managed to provide their niece with good education, it was never near enough for her to blossom. Assuredly, Hyejung excelled in whatever she did but it was seldom because she wanted to prove herself and more often because she had set herself on a path to becoming anyone else when she grows up. Unable to understand how her genius could come from the parents she had had, and afraid of ending up like her mother in the future, Hyejung strived for the moment she would shed her skin off. And she waited, semi-patiently, while meticulously working out on the steps she’d have to take to become someone else.

III

The opportunity for the ultimate change arose when she was lobbied for Integrity. Her lobbyists were overjoyed when she passed each and every test with her usual slick and no-going-back nature. Already bilingual and trained well in the field of IT, she was the perfect candidate indeed and once she passed the tests, alongside her four mates, she became part of Integrity, to whom she would swear absolute loyalty without a second of hesitation. In the two years of her training, Hyejung was taught an additional language, trained in martial arts, took more extensive IT courses and had several of her skills polished before she would be allowed to become who, indirectly or otherwise, she had always wanted to become. Who she had been preparing to become. But none of it would begin before everything could end. In 2009, much to the grief of her aunt and uncle with whom she had not lived or spoken to for nearly three years, Lee Hyejung died. A fire in her Seoul apartment destroyed her property, but the fumes suffocated her before she could feel any pain caused by the raging inferno. Her body was discovered three feet from the door, her only escape blocked by a knocked-down hallway cupboard. Her face was all over the national news for a couple of days after the body of the woman was identified using nothing more than dental records, the only means available due to the severe damage of the deceased. Her funeral ceremony was private and small, arranged by her few mourning relatives. But not everything was so grim. A person dies, and another is born. A cycle life best shown in the life and death and rebirth of  Lee Hyejung, now going by the name of Moon Sarang — a trained assassin, a government-sworn executive and a brand new addition to the NIS’s counter-terrorist unit. Forged dental records go a long way.

IV

Although established in Korea, Integrity became one of the most wanted underground government teams, rented out to various military zones where their help was rendered pivotal. Hostage situations, political prisoners extracted, a number of foreign military operations, persons of power in need of specially-designed body guards — and many more saw the utilisation of Integrity’s services. However, with the changing tides on the political scene of the country, and the switching administration, in 2016, Integrity, who had already been down one member since the year before, found itself on shaky grounds. With their future uncertain the four remaining agents of the clandestine team have suddenly been reminded that people like them do not end their careers awaiting their monthly retirement checks. They get retired. Though their services are readily available and still utilised, the winds blow differently than before, making Integrity’s members more vigilant than ever and slowly contemplating alternative paths of their team’s continuation. Naturally, one should not be fooled. The four members’ loyalty remains with each other, but the more time passes the less confidence they have in their employers, having learnt from the death of one of their team mates that the alternating currents are strong enough to sweep away anyone remiss enough to not catch up with the subtle hints of perfidy.

[ BEHAVIOR... ]

Hyejung, or Sarang as she is now called, is a person who best functions in quiet. Though she has gone through extensive military-like training and has undergone a series of events with high-level stressors, in everyday off-duty life loud audio stimuli render her nearly incapable of normal functioning. She gets easily agitated at things, places and people she finds irregular and has an obsessive need to fix and move things, all traits of her budding compulsive disorder. She is a slave to routine, but at the same time, trapped by the reality in which routine is what makes her easy target to her many enemies. She has a conflicting personality in which her mood undergoes swings from concentrated and eerily quiet to shambolic and entertainment-oriented. She reveals little of her private life and measures each word before it leaves her mouth. She is not incapable of normal socialising but prefers small, controlled groups to large crowds whose actions she cannot predict or calculate. As someone who easily develops habits, she is more easily made happy if she is taken to familiar places, rather than different venues each time.

She is quite a geek-y type and a terrible people-reader in everyday casual situations. Her people skills, it’s justified to say, are disgraceful considering her overall intelligence and skills. But, one cannot have it all.