#put this together a few years ago and posted it to 8tracks

[voluptuarian]

Try anything once, come hot, come cold! If we’re not foolish young, we’re foolish old. I long have known myself what Love can do, For, in my time, I was a lover too. - The Canterbury Tales

A medieval celebration of the pleasures of the flesh, inspired by The Little Hours, The Decameron, and The Canterbury Tales.

01. A Poste Messe (Caccia A 3 Voci) - Lorenzo Da Firenze 02. Exiit Diluculo - Estampie 03. Glass Window - Mediaeval Baebes 04. Main Title - Maurice Le Roux 05. The Feast of Fools / The Banquet - New London Consort 06. Echo la primavera - Anonymous 4 07. Quen A Omagen - Trouvere Medieval Minstrels 08. Tempus Est Iocundum - Al Medievo 09. St. Vitus' Dance - Carter Burwell 10. In May, That Lusty Season - Libana 11. The Feast of Fools / First vespers - New London Consort 12. In Primavera - Sonores Antiqui, Köyhät ritarit 13. Ad Honorem Tui: Audite Principes - Trouvere Medieval Minstrels 14. Lo Signore ringraçando - La Reverdie 15. L'Amour De Moi - Mediaeval Baebes

(8tracks)

[biletdoux]

stages of love | j.jh TEASER

Pairing: jung jaehyun (nct) + female!reader

Rating: G (teaser), M (completed work)

Genre + Tropes: college!au, romance (angst, fluff, smut)

Warnings: none (in the teaser), full warning list will be posted with completed work

Length: 1.7k+ (teaser), TBA (completed work)

Summary: A playlist for the trials and tribulations of a beating heart.

(Or; your relationship with Jung Jaehyun in ten songs.)

Note: I didn’t intend to post a teaser, but maybe it will motivate me to write faster if I at least just put something out?? maybe lol. Story is based on an 8track playlist I found years ago which has been lost over time. I tried writing this story many times, but I finally got to it, so we’ll see how it goes. Let me know what you think ! <333

1. Peach by IU

smitten at first sight.

“How can I explain this feeling?”

“Alright, I think that sums up about everything we need to cover for today’s lecture. Remember, most of this will be in your final exam. Any questions before you’re all dismissed?” 

Your professor looks up from the board, scans the room and all he sees are most of the students waiting with bated breath, itching to leave the class, and half of those students having already packed their belongings in anticipation. He held them back an extra twenty five minutes today, which is notably longer than previous lectures in which he delayed dismissal.

“Okay, you’re free to go. Chapters nineteen and twenty are due the next time we meet.”

You breathe out a sigh of relief, ready to head out with the rest of the class. You like Professor Jang and find that he makes history somewhat digestible, but he had a tendency to lose track of time, which is inconvenient, but more so today since you had agreed to meet up with Yeri. You glance at your phone to see text notifications and curse to yourself. You’re already ten minutes late and Yeri is many things and impatient is one of them. 

You’re one of the first out of the small lecture hall and you shoot her a quick reply before making your way to the oncampus cafe. Through quickened strides and shortcuts engrained from cross-campus treks from class to class, you arrive in record time. You’re slightly out of breath and impressed by your speed, but you stop, frozen in your tracks when you see Yeri’s displeased face. You find her situated in a small, but cozy corner next to the windows, already unpacked with notebooks and papers strewn on the desk ready to review for exams. It's one of the best study spots in the cafe and you immediately know your best friend had to come extra early to nab such a sought after table. 

“About time,” she scowls, “what took you so long?”

You shoot her an apologetic look, “aww, Yeri,” you pout your lips a little too dramatically, “I’m sorry. I just came from history and you know how Professor Jang is.” 

Yeri looks at your jutted lips in disgust, but then her face softens in consideration. “Hm, I do know Jang.” She scrunches up her nose remembering her time in his class last semester. “That old man can talk for days on end and he never lets anyone leave class early. I guess I’ll let you go this time.” 

You beam at her knowing she’s no longer angry for your tardiness. “Great, drinks are on me today. It’s the least I can do for being late.” Yeri forgives as easily and as quickly as she loses her temper. You learned this after a few weeks of being her roommate. 

Yeri says nothing in silent agreement and you place your stuff down across the table next to the chair she reserved for you. You pull out your wallet and weave through the packed cafe to head to the order counter. The line is long and you patiently review the menu. Your roommate has consistent tastes and always orders a vanilla frappuccino regardless of which cafe she goes to, but you base your decision on your mood. You mull over your choices and by the time you reach the barista taking your order, you decide you’re in an ‘iced Americano’ kind of mood today. You have exams on top of exams you need to review for and a stronger caffeine kick is much needed.

After paying, you head back to the table with two drinks in tow. Yeri takes her drink and after you both take a few sips and catch up for the day, you dive straight to work. The two of you decide to review for statistics. 

Between re-summarizing chapters and answering review questions, you muse to yourself about how your college experience thus far hasn't been that much different from your high school life. You didn’t necessarily hate high school, per say, but it was safe to say you didn’t enjoy it. Your heart was in the arts, specifically music, and you had found studying the core subjects to be boring and tedious. You remember being ecstatic to have been accepted and enrolled in a music college, foolishly thinking your days of solving differential equations and memorizing chemical formulas were over. You specifically remember daydreaming of your hours being filled with keyboard practice and composition notes and only such things. Somehow the reality of mandatory general education courses slipped your mind when you constructed such fantasies.

Despite frivolous and preconceived notions of college, you have already survived a semester and you are nearly through your second. 

“Hey, do you remember when this stats assignment is due?” Yeri’s inquiring voice snaps you out of your brief reverie and you search your cluttered brain for a date.

“Uh, I think it’s due, like, a few days before the final, but I’d have to double check.” 

Yeri nods. “Alright, well let’s take a small break. We have some time till then, we don’t have to finish all of it today.” 

You happily agree and set down your pen. Yeri takes a sip of her frappuccino and you lean over the table to get closer to her. “Anyway, did you hear about what happened with Jiwon and Youngjae from the entertainment management department?”

Her eyes glisten with wicked interest. “No. Do tell.”

Break time is always synonymous with gossip hour between you and Yeri. 

You spend the next fifteen minutes dishing what you know and Yeri offers her own input whenever she feels fit. 

“And they think they’re being discreet, but the whole dorm knows they’ve been sneaking around, but guess wha─” Before you can finish your sentence, you were cut off by a loud and energetic voice calling out Yeri’s name.

The two of you look up to see a slim and boyish brunet waving to Yeri and excitedly making his way to your table. He looks vaguely familiar, but you can’t quite place your finger on it, so you let it go.

He smiles happily at Yeri and greets her. “Hey Yeri, how’s it going?” He notices you there and gives you a polite wave, which you return in the same manner.

Yeri replies back breezily, but with her full attention. “Good. Did you need anything, Mark?” 

He flushes just the slightest bit, but it doesn’t escape your eyes. “Erm, nothing I just wanted to remind you that we’re meeting for the music theory project tomorrow at four. I would’ve texted, but I forgot to get your number in class, and I saw you here and thought it was a good opportunity to tell you.” 

Yeri’s eyes widen, “ah right! I completely forgot about it. It’s a good thing you found me here today, huh? Here, I’ll give you my number.”

She reaches her hand out her hand expectantly, and Mark is confused before scrambling to pull out his phone. You can tell Mark looks flustered while Yeri is calmly putting in her contact information. After finishing, she hands his phone back, “okay, all set. Just shoot me a text so I have your number as well. Thanks for reminding me today or I probably would’ve forgotten and not have shown up.” 

Mark smiles again, this time a little more sure than before. “All good. I’ll see you tomorrow, Yeri.” 

They wave goodbye and you watch Mark scamper from the cafe. Your eyes follow him, but Yeri is already focused on you again, paying Mark’s retreating form no mind. 

“So…” you start.

“So?” She returns.

“He’s cute.”

“Yeah, maybe,” she shrugs. “I barely know him though. We have music theory together, but this is the first time we’ve talked all semester and we’re only talking because we got paired up for a project.”

Yeri seems apathetic and you study her closely. You notice she’s acting a little too stiffly carefree to be truly indifferent to the situation. You can’t help, but to tease her a bit. “Well, make the most out of this project then.”

Yeri gives you a hard look and you decide to let it go despite finding your best friend’s situation to be amusing. 

“Anyway, keep telling me about Jiwon and Youngjae. You never finished.” Yeri changes the topic, knowing that you might decide to pester her again if she doesn’t.

“As I was saying,” you started up again. A figure outside catches your attention and you peer outside through the window past Yeri’s shoulders. You realize it’s Mark and you watch with interest as he gestures excitedly, pointing to something in his hand, you assume his phone, to some of his friends. From there your eyes wander absentmindedly from one person to the next, and it’s when you see him. 

The reaction is almost instantaneous. 

“Like you were saying?” Yeri urges, but her words fall on deaf ears, for all your attention is captured by the boy next to Mark with heart-shaped lips.

When you see said boy laugh, you notice he has moon for eyes and you unconsciously suck in a sharp breath. You must have been staring too intently without noticing because he turns his head in your direction and you two hold direct eye contact. Like a deer caught in headlights, you freeze and lose all rational thought. Your head is completely blank. You have never seen someone so beautiful and your mind does not know how to process any sensory information at the moment.

Someone calls the boy away and the entire group of friends leave. It’s only then do you find yourself releasing a breath you didn’t know you had been holding onto so tightly. Your heart is pounding and you feel as though blood is rushing through your ears. 

“Hello?” Yeri sounds annoyed, but you struggle to find the words to answer her. 

You feel a sudden heat rush to color your cheeks a vibrant red and a feeling surges through you that leaves you out of breath and weak at the knees. A steady warmth washes over you quietly and you feel it deep within yourself and you can’t help but let out a small laugh.

How silly, you muse. Not to be dramatic, but you think you’re in love.

[asleepinawell]

Shootweek is happening again this year from May 25 - May 31 thanks to the efforts of @ariyah-v! Get ready for a week of all things Root and Shaw.

Aren’t sure what shootweek is? Click here to see the official shootweek18 event post. It’s got theme days, prompts, and more.

Want to participate but aren’t sure how? Check below the Read More line for some ideas and how-to’s to get you started.

1) Meta/Headcanon posts - Have a scene/theme/character you have a lot of thoughts about? Have a fun or unusual headcanon you want the world to hear? Have strong opinions on whether or not Root can cook? Write that stuff down in a text post!

(***Please keep headcanon posts civil. We all have different headcanons and that’s okay! Thank you in advance***).

2) Favorites lists - Possibly related to your meta posts, make a list of your top favorite episodes/moments/shots/quotes and write a little about why each of them made it on your favorites list.

3) Add images to your text post - Add screenshots from episodes to fill out your meta/headcanon/favorites post. Stuff with images gets more notes generally because we all have a half a second attention span here on tumblr dot what and we all like pretty pictures. Find high-quality images on screencapped.net. Frame capture from VLC. Screenshot netflix. Or get permission from someone who posts stills here to use one of their images (please please please always source where your image is from).

4) Incorrect Quotes/Funny Captions - Have a funny quote from brooklyn 99 or parks and rec that you think would be great for person of interest characters to have said? Thought of funny alternative dialogue to a scene? Grab some poi screenshots and slap the text on them. Just add the text in ms paint if that’s all you’ve got.

5) Text Crack posts - We all enjoy those posts where people put popular tumblr text posts over stills from a show for great comedic results. Good news is they’re really easy to throw together. Stick a screenshot of your text post onto a poi still using any image editing program. Sure you can definitely make them look really nice in photoshop, but you can also make them in good old ms paint.

6) Edits - Stills - Make image posts with still frames from the show. There’s a ton of different things you can do with this. Maybe do a series of images from one episode or of one character. Really cool shots you liked. Color themes. It can even be one single image of a shot you thought was really cool or shows off Shaw’s fabulous arm muscles especially well. If you’ve got image editing software (like photoshop or gimp) you can get fancier. Brighten up the image. Tweak the coloring. Draw a mustache on Reese.

Also, here is a useful post on dashboard image sizes for edits.

6a) Avatars - Make some avatars for people’s blogs. People love free stuff! Enjoy the warm contentment of seeing edits you made show up in your activity feed as avatars of people who actually liked/reblogged/gave credit for your work! *finger guns*

7) Edits - Gifs - Making gifs usually requires a bit more to start with. At the very least you need video files from which to make the gifs. You can find all the Shoot scenes on youtube in HD here if you don’t have the video files. If you’ve got that then there are a couple routes to go. There are websites you can use to make gifs which have some basic settings to play with and the ability to add captions.

Want to get fancier? Here’s a tutorial on making gifs in photoshop I dug up from forever ago. It’s a bit old, but the basic stuff hasn’t changed. I would recommend figuring out what lighting/coloring works for your gifs rather than following any tutorial blindly. (I cannot personally attest to the download links for software in that tutorial).

Also, if you can’t use photoshop, you can use Gimp, a free cross-platform image editor. Creating a very simple gif in gimp isn’t that difficult, but it’s not very friendly for editing multiple layers (frames) at once and not nearly as versatile as photoshop. You can definitely make it work, but it might require a little more effort.

8) Art - I am very much not an artist so I don’t have any tips or hints here. But don’t feel shy about posting your art. We want to see it! And a fandom event is a great way to have your work noticed and reblogged. Can’t think of what to draw? Try drawing something from the prompt list, or from a fic you like.

9) Fics - Fics are easy because you don’t need any additional software to write them. Fics are hard because...writing. Grab a prompt from this list, ask your followers for prompts, or just do your own thing. I could make a much longer post about tips for new writers, but a few that come to mind...

Don’t force yourself to hit a certain word count. If it needs to be longer or shorter then just let it.

Don’t add stuff because you feel like you have to. You’re not required to write action/dialogue/smut/fluff/whatever. Write what you want or you’ll make yourself miserable.

Stuck on a word or sentence? Put in a placeholder and come back to it later. I 100% cannot do this, but it works great for some writers.

Sometimes the style of fics you like reading aren't the style of fics you enjoy writing.

If you’re nervous about posting something, get a friend to read it first. They don’t even have to beta it in any formal way. Sometimes you just need someone to tell you it doesn’t suck to get you to the point where you can hit that post button.

LibreOffice Writer is a good, free word processor that works on most operating systems. Google docs/drive lets you edit your fics anywhere, including on your phone.

10) Videos - I haven’t opened a video editing program in years and can’t offer much advice, but the programs that I know of people using for fanvids are Adobe Premiere, Adobe After Effects, and Vegas Pro. Also here’s some free video editing programs to consider. Here’s a getting started guide that looks informative.

11) Playlists - I know...even less about this than videos. I think spotify is the platform of choice? Or maybe 8tracks? There is a good chance that you, the reader, know more about this than I do so please go forth and make Shoot-themed playlists for us all.

Make sure you use the tag #shootweek18 on all posts for shoot week! That goes for twitter and ao3 fics as well.

[aroworlds]

Aro-Spec Artist Profile: Nate

Our next aro-spec creator is Nate, better known on Tumblr as @astriiformes!

Nate is an asexual, aromantic, neurodivergent and mentally ill trans guy/person continuing the tradition of aro-spec creators demonstrating an impressive diversity of talent. He writes, cosplays, creates filk music and produces visual art--and that’s when he’s not playing D&D and attending conventions!

You can find him on Twitter as planar_ranger and on 8tracks as azhdarchidaen. He’s also found on AO3 as azhdarchidaen, with a prolific selection of works for the Gravity Falls, Doctor Who, Critical Role and Pacific Rim fandoms! If you have a dollar or two you’re wanting to invest in worthy aro-spec talent, please take a look at Nate’s Ko-Fi!

With us Nate talks about expressing emotions through creativity, the intersection of aromanticism and perfectionism, the importance of storytelling as self-expression and his passion for D&D as a way of giving voice to his aromantic experience. His love for fandom, creativity and storytelling shines through every word, so please let’s give him all our love, encouragement, gratitude, kudos and follows for taking the time to explore what it is to be aromantic and creative.

Can you share with us your story in being aro-spec?

While I didn’t know the word “aromantic” until I was 15 or 16, and took a while to embrace it even then, when I look back on my childhood I can definitely see some of the earliest signs. Perhaps the most prominent was my mild disappointment at age 12 or 13 in discovering the Star Wars EU novels only to learn that Luke Skywalker, one of my most pervasively favorite characters since I first watched the movies and likely my earliest aro headcanon, ended up getting married! I ended up writing what was technically my first fanfiction after that discovery, an alternate take on the post-Return of the Jedi universe in which he didn’t.

But I didn’t really start to realize I was aro, or even know it was an identity at all, until two things happened. First, I joined an LGBTQA+ group on a writer’s forum I used to frequent and started to not only learn the vocabulary but also that identifying as something other than straight or cis was even allowed. Second, I entered what was essentially the closest thing to a romantic relationship I’ve ever experienced. By some measures it probably was one, but there really wasn’t much romance involved – because I wasn’t pushing it (for reasons that are now obvious to me), and the guy I was sort-of-dating was pretty respectful of my boundaries and was probably waiting for me to make some of those moves before trying himself. The relationship eventually broke off several months after he moved to Europe. He messaged me to say he felt bad about the fact that our long-distance “relationship” was probably holding me back from finding someone I could be happier with, and he would be more comfortable breaking it off. The fact that I felt no real sadness over that was a fairly big bit of evidence for my aromanticism, second only to the fact that I had actually become more comfortable with our situation when he moved across the Atlantic Ocean.

Clues like those eventually lead me to adopt the label and really begin to understand myself, I think around age 16 or 17. I went through a slow process of accepting all my queer identities one-by-one and kind of see them all as pretty interconnected. The aro one was in the middle.

Can you share with us the story behind your creativity?

I really like making things. For all the frustration I experience trying to write something I’m happy with, or panicked near all-nighters trying to finish props before a convention, I really am at my happiest when I have projects to engage in. I take a lot of pride in my identity as a content creator as a result, though it also means I can set discouragingly high standards for myself. That being said, there’s nothing that makes me happier that someone enjoying something I put time and effort into and being able to go “I made this.”

Writing was definitely my earliest outlet (I did draw things when I was younger, but I didn’t show my art to anyone until this time last year). I was posting fics (under a different username, fortunately; I don’t want my early teenage writing unearthed ten years later) on ff.net by early high school, a narrative I’m sure I share with plenty of other creators. I’ve done more interesting things with my writing since migrating over to AO3 though, and I continue to feel like my writing is growing (even if, sometimes, I worry it’s going too slowly).

Getting into cosplay was something I picked up only a year or so later, though again, comparing my current work to those first few attempts feels almost silly. My first cosplay was a patched-together Eighth Doctor mostly made out of thrift store finds that looked only debatably like the real deal. Since then, I’ve gotten better at sewing my own things and have realized one of my true strengths lies in elaborate props. My two most recent cosplays were Stanford Pines from Gravity Falls, with a fully-illustrated and screen-accurate copy of the third journal, complete with blacklight effects, and Taako, from The Adventure Zone, with an Umbra Staff that I had re-covered in fabric and had fully-functional LED “stars” built into it, stars I could make twinkle via a secret remote. I’m attempting two characters that are even more ambitious for conventions this year, but we’ll have to see how that actually goes…

My filk contributions aren’t massive, but the community aspect (and that it connected me to someone who is now one of my closest friends, who made me go from enjoying the genre to contributing to it) and some of the things I’ve done as a result of it make me feel it has a place as part of my creative identity. You haven’t lived until you’ve performed decades-old songs about space travel with your friends, in cosplay, in a crowded convention center! (Okay, a debatable statement. But a truly wild experience.) It’s also been a good outlet for me in some ways, because music is a powerful way to get across emotions. I play viola and piano, and have for years, so I knew that to some degree before I started writing my own lyrics to things. But personalizing songs by making them be about things you have really strong feelings for is another level entirely.

And then, art. Like I said, I never really shared it with anyone (or drew much at all) until about a year ago. Part of that was due to wanting to try my hand at digital art but not really having an understanding of what programs to use or how to get started with it, and part of it was the inertia of feeling like “if I’m not good at something immediately, I shouldn’t try at all!” The thing that really got the ball rolling for me is the long D&D campaign I’m currently in. When I was excited about other stories, chances were someone else had drawn art of it that I could enjoy and reblog. That’s not really the case with one you’re telling with only 5-6 other people. I had a sort of epiphany moment a couple months into the campaign, as the story really started picking up, that if I wanted to see the kind of art I appreciate for this new story I was falling in love with, I would probably have to do it myself. I’m still not incredibly happy with my work, since I’m surrounded by friends who are incredible artists and my style is fairly simplistic and oddly stylized, but I have gotten to a point where I draw fairly regularly, and generally put up what I create on our shared campaign blog. The same D&D game has wrenched over 15k words of original writing from me, which is pretty astonishing. Most of that isn’t anywhere to be found on Tumblr just yet, though – it’s largely still-top secret character backstory.

Are there any particular ways your aro-spec experience is expressed in your art?

The most obvious way is that I write fics about characters being aromantic and dealing with their aromanticism. All headcanons, unfortunately (I’m yet to find a canon aro in anything I love that I didn’t help create myself), but there are several stories on my AO3 about characters from Pacific Rim, Star Wars or Gravity Falls realizing they’re aromantic. And the fics that don’t deal with that are still all gen – I’m too romance-repulsed to write anything else, and I feel the world needs a lot more genfic anyways.

One other way, though I feel a bit silly calling it “art”, is that I am intentionally playing an aromantic character of my own creation in my current D&D campaign. I’ve been playing for several years now, and did have another character back in high school who I also imagined as aromantic. (Partially because of an awkward flirting mishap – an enemy tried to get my character off her guard with romance and it all backfired because she didn’t know how to respond. All my own fault – I don’t even know how to roleplay that!) But none of the campaigns I’ve played in until this one were particularly intent on exploring characters and their feelings all that deeply, or really making them a part of the story.

With my current character, it’s become incredibly validating to view him as aromantic and asexual, like myself. It’s that same impulse that got me started doing more art – if the fiction I like isn’t going to provide me with aromantic characters, I’ll have to make one myself! And it’s slowly leading to some very interesting explorations of aro identity and the normalising of it in our world. We’ve established that identifying that way isn’t particularly unusual for elves and talked about what that means for worldbuilding. Do they hold platonic relationships in the same regard as romantic ones? Is there a special kind of relationship that signifies that? What if we put friendship under the banner of the goddess of romantic love too? Though at the same time, I’m exploring some of the same feelings I experience with him – he’s a particularly lonely person, who worries about people actually wanting to stay with him, both of which are prominent features of my own aromantic experience.

What challenges do you face as an aro-spec artist?

Like many of us, I do worry that my genfics will be less enjoyed or circulated as a result of choosing not to include ships. And whenever I post a fic about a character actually being aro, I definitely get that little stab of “Someone is going to have a problem with this” fear.

I also feel that my experience with aromanticism has shaped a lot of my perfectionistic tendencies. Because I worry so much about trying to remain important in my allo friends’ lives, and because I think of so much of my identity as associated with creativity, I tend to get really wrapped up in my work needing to seem amazing somehow, to make people think I’m worth their time. It’s a silly thing to get preoccupied over, but it has had an impact on me. In some ways wanting my work to be really good is not a bad thing – it encourages me to do my very best whenever I can – but the motivation is really all wrong.

How do you connect to the aro-spec and a-spec communities as an aro-spec person?

I’m honestly pretty disconnected from them. I might be less-inclined to be if this website wasn’t suddenly experiencing such backlash against a-spec identities, but as is I’m almost afraid to engage with anything that might make me a target. Which is really unfortunate. That being said, whenever I do make any aro content and I see it circulated to other aromantic people, I get a lot of joy from it. The comments on my multiple aromantic-focused fics are some of my favorite ones I’ve ever received. If I can channel my experiences into something that elicits that kind of a reaction from our community, I consider my work well done.

How do you connect to your creative community as an aro-spec person?

When I’m able to talk to other aromantic people about headcanons (or even some of my very understanding allo friends who absorb them from me, too), pretty well! Unfortunately, that’s a pretty tiny fraction of my fandom experience. Even some of my interests where you’d think I wouldn’t run into problems have been difficult at times. I once had someone dressed as a character often (non-canonically) shipped with the one I was cosplaying, and they assumed that I would be interested in hearing that they shipped our character. Instead, they just made me very uncomfortable, particularly with the way they chose to do so.

In general, the expectation that as a member of fandom, producing fandom works, I will be interested in creating and consuming romantic content is hard to deal with. I’ve had people ask me to put ships in my fics, the aforementioned convention incident, and been heckled over having aromantic headcanons at all. That being said, aromantic headcanons were how I met at least a few of my good friends. Finding each other may be hard, but since we all feel so isolated I think that finding other aro creators inhabiting the same or similar spaces can lead to pretty quick bonding, or at least an appreciation of each others’ works. I do like that.

I’ve also, as I have mentioned a couple times now, realized the worth of telling my own stories, particularly if I have other people to share them with who will respond positively. Right now, most of my D&D group is not aro, but they are a group that respects my and my character’s identities, and being able to tell an aro narrative that means a lot to me and get a positive response is a breath of fresh air. I count them as fellow content creators and they’ve really encouraged the story I want to tell. I hope that someday the inspiration I’ve gained from that will lead me to publishing my own original fiction (with aro characters, of course), but it’s been due to this small start that I’ve decided that’s something I could realistically pursue.

How can the aro-spec community best help you as a creative?

Comments on my fics are one of the biggest things that keep me writing, so they’ll always be a boon to me. Even old ones. It makes me happy to see people still reading and enjoying them. Same goes for reblogs of any of my stuff – art, writing, filk, cosplay photos, anything else I might post. The biggest thing that keeps me wanting to create and share more creative works is knowing that other people are enjoying them, so if you do enjoy them, any way you can let me know that is wonderful.

I do hope that in some point in the future I’ll have original fiction available and a science writing blog (I consider non-fiction to be creative expression, as long as you’re putting your spark into it!), but neither exists quite yet. If you follow me on either of my main platforms though, those might pop up someday. Seeing either be circulated when the time comes would be massive. I also intend to, perhaps in the much nearer future, start publishing D&D content (likely homebrew 5e subclasses, but who knows) on the DMsGuild, starting with a pay-what-you-want model for downloading my content. If that goes up and I make something you’re interested in, and you want to pay something for it at all, I would be massively grateful.

Can you share with us something about your current project?

I’ve been working on a Critical Role Modern AU story since January or so that places heavy emphasis on the platonic relationships in the show (Percy and Keyleth’s is particularly dear to me, so they’re likely to get a fair bit of the spotlight) that’s my most current fandom fic.

I’m also tackling two ambitious cosplays at the moment, though the timeframe is making me wonder if I’ll actually pull either off. Especially given what I need to get done. One involves sewing pseudo-historical menswear, and I’m going to have to learn how to make armor for the other one. If I can figure it all out though, I’m really excited about them both!

Have you any forthcoming works we should look forward to?

Hopefully the next chapter of the CR fic, if I get hit with the inspiration (and motivation) to work on it soon. I also have another aromantic Luke Skywalker fic I really want to get down on paper at some point, though thus far it’s proven a little elusive.

My two big cosplay projects are Percy de Rolo (from Critical Role), which I intend to take to a local convention, and Erwyn, my own D&D character. I hope to do a photoshoot with the rest of the players as their own characters sometime late this summer.

As for art, I fully intend to keep drawing major or touching moments from my ongoing campaign, likely with much more frequency than any of the things above. It may not be as engaging for people to interact with as my fandom-focused projects are, but I still really do love sharing it.

[shikai-the-storyteller]

May I ask what songs you have on your Zero/X playlist? I need some good music to listen too while doing things. Hope the class is going/went okay!

Sorry for the late response So I was originally going to put this playlist up on 8tracks a few months ago, but then 8tracks changed how it does things and I lost interest, so this is just the playlist I keep on my computer for them. It wound up being a ZeroX playlist as well as a “songs I associate with some arcs of the game” playlist. 

I’m still a little iffy about a few songs, but here’s the song list (+a few key lyrics) as it is right now + some of my commentary about the songs:

(Note: These songs aren’t necessarily in chronological order with the MMX games, I just like the way they sound when put together in this order) 

Mars - Sleeping At LastWe were full of life, we could barely hold it in. We were amateurs at war, strangers to suffering.

There is goodness in the heart of every broken man, who comes right up to the edge of losing everything he has.There are so many quotes in this song I associate with these two, but I feel like some of them are obvious, so here’s two main stanzas. This song feels like a good introduction to the games and to X and Zero’s experience in the first Maverick War. Of course, only one of them made it out of that first war B’’’’).

All Who Remain – Beware of DarknessWhen you leave this life, the world will be a darker place for All Who Remain And the light you gave the human race will go away…

If I can’t have you in this life, then I don’t want this life at all Cause there’s nothing in this broken world that I’ll ever love as much 

I called and I called but you never picked up, and I cried and I cried but you never woke up, you died and you died without asking me first, you left me all alone here on EarthThis song sorta has a double meaning for me. On the one hand, you can read it as a song about X post-X1 living without Zero, and on the other hand, you can read it as Zero fearing what would happen if X were to die (’’the light you gave the human race will go away’’, X is literally a son of Light as well as a light to humanity, or at least, he is in Zero’s eyes). This could also be a MM0-era Zero living in a world where X has died. The last lyric chunk ties so well into the later MMX games where Zero seals himself away and X has to deal with things without him. This isn’t a happy song I’m sorry.

But even in the end, no matter what happens, X and Zero are always the ones who are left behind, the ones who keep fighting no matter what horrible things happens, hence the “We are all, we are all who remain”, so the song isn’t necessarily all sad.

I Found – Amber RunI’ve moved further than I thought I could, but I missed you more than I thought I would

And I’ll use you as a makeshift gauge, of how much to give and how much to take Oh I’ll use you as a warning sign, that if you talk enough sense then you’ll lose your mind

Sort of a continuation of the last song. This song reminds me of how X and Zero rely on each other to keep themselves in check (consider X4 and X5). They’re canonically each other’s strengths and motivation, and this song reminded me of how always look to each other for support. 

Love Love Love – Monsters and Men Well, maybe I’m a crook for stealing your heart away Yeah, maybe I’m a crook for not caring for it Yeah, maybe I’m a bad, bad, bad, bad person Well, baby, I know.

‘Cause you love, love, love when you know I can’t love you

So I think it’s best we both forget before we dwell on it The way you held me so tight, all through the night, ‘til it was near morningGGGGGGGGGGGOSH THIS IS THE FRICKIN SONG THAT STARTED IT ALL. It was this song that made me write my first fanfic for them, which spiraled into me writing / planning out over 10 fanfics + one series (it also made me create this playlist). It’s all because of this darn song. (I still haven’t posted that first fic I wrote for them based on this song because I want it to be one of the last ones I post).

Anyways, without getting into the details of the fic, the song reminds me of Zero’s thoughts on X, and Zero’s fear that he can’t live up to his own (and maybe X’s?) expectations of who he should be since he was created to be a warbot, not someone who can empathize with other people (like X was). BASICALLY: ZERO’S IDENTITY CRISIS, THE SONG.

What if the Storm Ends?SnowpatrolX –> Zero: The perfect halo of gold hair and lightning sets you off against the planet’s last dance Zero –> X: Just for a minute the silver forked sky lit you up like a star that I will follow

Be the lightning in me, that strikes relentless

One of the core songs of this playlist imo. If I had to summarize the playlist into only a handful of songs, this and the following song would definitely be in it.

Part of this song reminded me of how Zero described X as the sun in the MMX manga, and the line above always makes me think about how Zero’s always followed and trusted X, even when X was a new Hunter. I dunno how to explain this one, it’s just very them.

The End of All Things - Panic at the DiscoIn these coming years, many things will change But the way I feel will remain the same

Short song, but this was one of the first ones I put on the playlist and it always makes me think of them. It’s hard for me to explain this one too, but in any game or any timeline, X and Zero are always there for one another no matter what hardships they’re put through. That’s what this song makes me think of.

See You Again – Charlie PuthIt’s been a long day without you my friend and I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again. I’ll be waiting right here for ya ‘till the day you’re homeCarry on, give me all the strength I need to carry onTHIS ONE’S PRETTY SELF-EXPLANATORY but regardless, definitely an X –> Zero song that applies to so many frickin games, I mean come on Zero, how many times do you have to go and die on X. (This can also definitely be a post-“Zero is sealed away for 100+ years” song too).

Like Real People Do – HozierI will not ask you where you came from, I will not ask and neither should you

I like this song because it ties back to Zero and X’s fathers / their past. But no matter what their backgrounds are or who Zero was, X implicitly trusts Zero, and the feeling is mutual. (Now that I think about it, this song counters “Love Love Love” and Zero’s POV). 

Nothing Left to Say – Imagine DragonsZero: Who knows how long I’ve been awake now? The shadows on my wall don’t sleep, They keep calling me, Beckoning…

X: Who knows what’s right? The lines keep getting thinner. My age has never made me wise, But I keep pushing on and on and on and on…

If you could only save me, I’m drowning in the waters of my soul

Admittedly when I first put this song on the list, it was just to have it act as a transition between the last song and the next one, but it’s grown on me it fits so many fandoms and characters though. The whole song frickin works for them, but the first half especially. 

To me, this song bridges the end of X4 and X5 together. X and Zero both went through hell in X4, having to kill a whole group of people who (technically) weren’t Maverick, and they don’t really have a chance to recover before X5 happens. They both ended up questioning whether they’re doing the right thing, and although they’re still relying on one another for support to get through it, with all the self-doubt and tension at the middle / end of X5, this song easily leads into…

Unwanted Battle – X vs. Zero

Great remix of their battle theme from X5. The artist said their intention was to “make the song more fitting for a fight between two close friends” and BOY DID THEY NAIL IT.

Chasing Cars – The Wind and The WaveI don’t quite know how to say how I feelThose three words are said too much, they’re not enough

All that I am, all that I ever was, is here in your perfect eyes, they’re all I can see I don’t know where, confused about how as well, just know that these things will never change for us at all

Ehh I’m still a little iffy about this song for them, but I still really like the song itself and those specific lyrics (though as of right now I’m not sure it suits them anymore). This makes me think of post-battle X5 (when they’re both KO’ed) before everything takes an even sharper turn downhill.

We’re Still Here – Sleeping At LastYou were on a frequency, the perfect opposite of meThough I never needed any proof to trust the heart that beats inside of you.

Through the static, through the ashes, we were brave. Through the perils of endless narrow escapes, we’re still here. We’re still here.

Sleeping At Last always kills me, and this song especially (I used to think the lyrics at one part said “there is pain within your memory, the origins of our family tree” and I was like “THAT”S PERFECT”. Apparently it’s “pigment” not “pain within” but REGARDLESS). I thought this sweet / sad song was a perfect way to end their playlist. No matter what canon says, (though apparently MM ZX technically confirms this) Zero and X are still around and still together, in one form or another :’)

There’s a few others that could work for them / a lot more songs I associate with them (like SPG’s “Honeybee” or “Love Like You” but these are the ones I currently have on their playlist. I’ve been putting together a playlist for X, but I’m not sure if/when that’ll ever be finished, so in the meantime I recommend greyfishes’ “Endless Fight” playlist, which is to date my favorite X playlist ever (a few of those songs I would’ve added to this playlist, but I’ll just direct you to the ‘Endless Fight’ playlist).Sorry this reply took so long, but I didn’t want to drop the list without explaining a few all of them!