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keysimash · 10 months ago

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fuck it. Cringe ass Magolor post from yours truly.

I've wanted to write a proper fic where the tables are turned and instead of Reader petting kitty Magolor, magolor pets and gives physical affection to the reader, but burnout and writers block and embarrassment have mostly stopped me but iys cute and its fluffy and whatever I'm throwing this into the wind, outline and.general thoughts I've had

Cringe incoming

Magolor is always happy to recieve pets from a trusted human with their giant warm hands with long, dextrous fingers that can scritch and pet in ways his own hands cant,

The first time he reciprocates would probably be around 4 - 5 sessions, citing that he "doesn't accept it for free" and that its polite to reciprocate and he wants to look at and examine your weird humanness more closely

if he gets Jealous of His Human coming into his vicinity smelling like Other Fucking Carnivores. Originally in my deleted/reuploaded mag/reader fic this was gonna be a whole thing where the reader was friends with a bunch of Scarfies, and he got PISSED and basically marked the reader by getting super cuddly all of a sudden, the reader doesn't know because humans cant smell like that, and they try to hang out with their Scarfy friends who are like. Staying at least six feet away like "Ummmm. Did you get a boyfriend??? You've got DO NOT FUCKING TOUCH scent all over you lol"

I mean. I've been around mag/reader fics since I was like what, twelve? That sounds right, I dunno I can hardly attach a numerical age to kid memories ANYWAY I've SEEN. how many ppl write him as super possessive and jealous ESP fuckers who are horny for the crowned version you are all sinners none of you are free from sin. This cat is not well adjusted. Anyway

He'd start with your hands, taking them in his gloves, then he'd take his gloves off himself. His hands are smaller under his gloves but still pretty big compared to his own body. Still, though, I think they'd be about the size of a human hand, if Magolor himself is about the size of a backpack, since in official art it seems like his hands are half the size of his body?

I picture them soft and brown, scarred, with squishy pink paw pads on the soft parts of the palm and the last pads on his finger tips. He flexes them, and dark claws come out, relaxes, they retreat: repeat this a few times before he places his gloves neatly somewhere nearby, putting them there without looking or turning, hes already seen the room: hes looking at You, big yellow eyes, glowing a bit. White pupils all wide, taking you all in, making his eyes look lighter.

When he actually starts touching it would be more curious that affectionate, hed definitely be bending fingers and gently moving your elbows, not painful, just Examining, his skeleton is so different after all, and he has no limbs to speak of. he presses deep with his hands until he feels the bones underneath, puts his hands in different spots, on your shoulder, asks you to move and feels the bones move with. Takes a claw and runs it under your fingernail, just barely pressing in, not enough to hurt, just enough tto scrape out any dirt, remarks on how dull your claws are.

The readers own reaction would definitely affect his a lot. He really needs input from others to figure out how to compose himself, a calm and composed yet pleased reaction would fluster him more than anything as he would start to get embarrassed himself doing something so focused on another and yet, he would want praise very badly.

Teasing him would get teasing back:

He would call you silly names making fun of your human features if you teased him lol like "foot-haver" or "magicless loser" etc (he would immediately stop if you seemed actually upset)

but it wouldnt take much to make him into mess ;)

Any flusteredness or embarrassed behavior he will latch onto and tease relentlessly in order to feed his own ego and false confidence, somethin like:

"Hah! You should see your face" "does it feel that good? I havent even done anything yet"

If he gets called out on making petting seem .. less innocent he will accuse you of being the one with a dirty mind lol

The two possibilities here are either his human partner gets more flustered, which might go something like:

he starts purring at the reaction to his own touch, starts running one claw lightly along your arm. Presses up close, close with his head under your chin, purring purring purring, you can feel it and hes like a little furnace. Because he floats he can press his whole weight against a human with little effort, he presses and nuzzles then his hands find the back of your shirt and knead. His face he rubs along your shoulders and neck

OR the tables get turned on the cat egg:

Pointing out his purring, saying something like "you seem excited to do this, dont you? :)" Or commenting on how cute or lovely he is and keeping on doing it, hitting that reward center in his brain so starved for attention -- hed probably make a cute little sound at that -- or if a human touched him and started petting him while he was trying to give affection, that reciprocation would make him pull his scarf down and lick one long stripe up your arm.

I was thinking about Halcandran tongues: carnivores, yes, so barbed like a cats to lick the meat off bones, but: they're not exactly flexible like a cat, they can move but not as freely, they're not exactly egg shaped but still. So grooming would become, either something one did with ones own hands or, a communal activity, social bonding.

He would feel scratchy, his face soft: a lot flatter than a normal cat, he still has a bit of a muzzle but not much. The whiskers tickle, he pauses at the crook of your elbow, looks up at you, licks a few more times, pulls away a bit.

"You taste salty..."

If allowed to continue he certainly will, kneading and laving over the crook of your neck, nibbling curiously at collarbones before nosing into the dips they make under your skin, etc etc. He will examine the shell of your ear with a paw, purring close to it, will lick through your hair if it's short, it would be like fur to him; long hair he would comb through with fingers, hovering around you to nuzzle the back of your neck, purring all the while.

Eventually, he might get to your hands, and he would, well. I should stop before I make a post tha would get me banned from.tumblr, lol.

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snek-panini · 2 years ago

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At long last, I've finally finished a new book! And it's actually not a fanfic this time! This is a bind of Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days. This was supposed to be my fourth book for Binderary, but I didn't finish it in time. Procrastination's a bitch. Fun fact: the first thing I ever bound was a public domain short story called The Machine Stops, but since it was the first it is...not a good skill showcase. This one is so much better. More pics and process talk under the cut!

Close-up of the cover, and a pic of the spine. The blue bits are cardstock, and brown ones are faux leather left over from when I bound Pray for Us, Icarus. The images and author's name are in black embossing ink. Something weird happened with the texture on these--the author's name came out nice and smooth and solid like always, but the stamped images have a bumpy texture to them and some leather visible through the powder. They were done with rubber stamps on an ink pad and the text was done with an embossing pen, so I think it's a difference in the ink. It's a nice texture though, so I don't mind. I had originally thought to put the title on the front, but I really liked both stamps and I like how it came out.

Top view and endpaper. I'm really pleased with how the case fits; that's been something I struggle with on a lot of projects and I think I'm finally getting it down. The endpapers are a floretine print that I bought from Hollander's and cut to size. They got a little wrinkled when I cased in, especially in the back. It's my first time working with this kind of paper and I used too much glue. I also tried stitching them to the text block this time, but I don't think I'll bother with that again. I didn't like how flimsy the single-sheet signature felt next to the thicker ones in the text block. Fun fact for those who've seen an adaptation of this story but not actually read it: there is actually no hot air balloon in the book, even though it's in all the adaptations. There was a movie made in the 1950s which added the balloon and it's been in every version since then.

Title page and chapter header. I've been saying for a while that I wanted to up my title page game, and I really love how this looks. The image here is a free vector pulled from Seekpng.com. It's the same image on both pages, the one on the chapter header is just smaller and in gray instead of black. I've also chosen a name for my bindery, largely because other people had names for theirs and I thought it was cool and wanted my own. It's Paper Snake Press, you can see it at the bottom of the text. I want a logo too but haven't gotten around to making one yet. 2d art is, uh. Still not a strength for me.

The text I used was pulled from Project Gutenberg. Typesetting it was and interesting experience, surprisingly different from typesetting fic. When I do fic I keep the editing very light, just really obvious things like misspelled characters' names and quotation marks that are flipped the wrong way, but it always needs something. This one didn't need any of that, which was nice. It also has way longer sentences and paragraphs than fic, and I thought that might be a product of its age, that writers just wrote longer sentences and were more verbose in 1873 than they are now. But then this week I started working on another fic that has the same features, from someone I've suspected for a while is a published author, so I wonder if it's actually a professional author thing instead of a shift in reading tastes over time. I'm not really going anywhere with this speculation, I just thought it was interesting.

I have two more works-in-progress printed and waiting. One is an author copy and just needs casing in, the other's in a halfway stage and has a lot to be done, so it might be a bit before I have more books to post. But there's a whole stack of things I've typeset that I'm waiting to print, so there are good things coming.

#bookbinding #snek makes books #around the world in 80 days #jules verne #it feels weird to tag an author #half my usual tags are fandom tags #they don't go on this post

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amazing-spiderling · 1 year ago

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17, 22, 34

17. Past or present tense? Why?

PAST TENSE (with a rare exception). It just... reads better to me. It feels more comfortable, more like a narrative and less like an account of events that are happening right now. I feel like present tense has its place, (I've used it on occasion) but being told that a character is doing something RIGHT NOW leaves me feeling a bit on edge. If that's what you're going for, knock yourself out- but if I'm just trying to get lost in a story, I want past tense to take me there.

22. What is it about watching the same two idiots falling in love over and over again?

Gosh, what isn't it? I don't know, I mean, I get the meme of it, of course, but I don't even really think of it like that. I suppose comic books (specifically marvel comics) have been a big part of my fandom life for decades now, and there has always been that "what if"/multiverse aspect, so it seems natural to want to imagine characters in alternate universes or different versions of a scenario where things turned out slightly differently.

But, for the sake of argument, when thinking about stories that are more in line with canon... I think there's a comfort to it. We live in a universe full of so much randomness and chance- tiny differences in one day can make the difference between meeting someone special or getting hit by a bus. Sometimes, it can feel daunting to look back at your life and think about how one thing or another might have led your life in a different direction. I think there is a comfort to be found in the fantastical idea that there are can be core parts of a life experience that are immutable. Even if you took a different class or skipped your morning coffee or overslept one day, you'd still find your way to the people, places, and events you were always meant to. Or that even after you find those people, even if you had an argument, or made a decision took you both to a different place, that the relationship you have is strong enough to weather those small differences. It's not really about fate or destiny, it's about the strength of a bond and its ability to persevere even if the conditions aren't exactly "right".

34. Do you write to improve? Or is that not a concern for you?

I wouldn't say that it's not a concern- I mean, I would be pretty disheartened to think I'm getting worse at something I spend so much time on. But it isn't at the forefront of my thoughts the way it is say with art. In the past I would make myself take on challenges (my ask blog, drawing events) specifically with the purpose to developing a skill or learning how to use a program or simply learning to be less precious with the process. I don't think I ever really did that with writing, though. I know there are writing month events- but if I try to force myself to participate I just hit a mental block.

I think it's also easier for me to see improvement in my art at a glance. I can go back and look at a history of drawings and immediately say "oh I got better at drawing folds in clothing"- but comparing my old and new writing samples is a bit trickier. I don't often go back and reread my old work- and if I'm honest, sometimes I think some of my older pieces are better than some of my newer ones, oops.

I will say that while I don't think I make a conscious effort to write to improve my writing- I do consider writing a means to improve at other things. I think writing has made me better at processing my own emotions and empathizing with others. I think it's helped me to develop a vocabulary to help explain my thoughts and processes when I'm speaking with others. I've been told that I "speak like a writer" in the past, and I think that's just because when you spend enough time writing, you have to spend time finding words for things, and there's a rhythm to that that easily finds its way into your day to day.

#thanks for the ask!

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kitsunesakii · 2 years ago

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I'm currently rewriting the beginning bits of my story,

I told my mom, "I'm fixing it up so that it makes more sense"

And she went "you aren't fixing it, bc it isn't broken. You are simply refreshing it with new perspective on characters and plot."

Which honestly is super uplifting to hear. I'll admit that when writing the beginning I was super excited to get it down bc I knew about future plot related events that I was gun hoe to write. So the detail in the beginning got discarded bc I was more worried about *foundation" than I was about things going smoothly.

Which is fine bc it was a first draft, then as I continued forwards I realized that the beginning was lacking some much needed story elements.

Which is what got me to rewriting. It has also helped me distinguish solid chapter boarders since when I started writing this I wasn't concerned about "chapters".

Which isn't a bad thing. Make sure when you are writing, your chapters fits the plot, not the plot fitting to the chapters. There is a difference I promise!

Having done this I get to add in more story detail and it helps with writers block since i'm still following along with the original writing. I'm not changing the plot, I'm just giving it a fresh coat of paint.

Its an overall fun process, but it reminds me that I think as writers we sometimes read other people work and go "wow, they are so much better than I am" without realizing or even considering the fact that what they published wasn't a first draft. It might not have even been a second draft.

Read someones work and consider how many times they looked at a particular sentence and went "this just isn't working"

Maybe ask them to highlight the parts that they least liked about their writing, bc I promise you it'll make you go. "Really? Bc I thought that was fine!"

THEN, realize that someone did that same thing to your writing,

Someone read your book, or saw your art, and they went "wow, I wish I was good like them"

Pls think about that.

#kitsunesakii #not writing #not dead yet #it starts with circles #drink water #love all your art #love all your writing #this is a little hard tbh #writing doesnt come easily #i swear its either 5 words or a thousand at once no in between #lol #scatterbrain shower thoughts

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openstorygames · 2 years ago

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Journaling RPGs

TL;DR Journal games provide an escape that brings you back to reality through reflection and creativity. Kids' journal games look very different from adult ones, but both can achieve similar goals. When I started writing games (months before I was brave enough to hit "publish"), I stumbled across journaling RPGs.

Playtesting

I playtested a few games for other creators, and I realized that the process of journaling in character was perfect for me! A limited project with defined rules that helped guide my thinking to a conclusion.

As a writer, I've always struggled to bring things from the middle to an ending. It's the hardest part of the process for me.

Journaling games aid that process by forcing an end. You draw a certain card; you run out of a limited resource; if you're lucky, you achieve your goal. Suddenly, your adventure has come to an end.

The game gives you the scenes along the way, but it's your job to put them in character and connect the dots. The ending exists, but how do you get there?

First Writing

After playing a few journaling games, I was intrigued. I wanted to write my own!

That first experiment gave me the rough draft of Dolorine. It wasn't anything special, at first. I had some growing to do before my deity of affliction would reach her full potential.

Lil Gremlins

I tried my hand at some other types of narrative TTRPGs, and I've enjoyed each project. But that journaling game just kept brewing in the back of my mind.

Still not ready to go back and face the (possible) mess of Dolorine, I shifted my focus to a kid-friendly journaling game.

That's a whole different experiment!

Kids don't have the stamina or hand strength to write long, extensive passages. They don't do well with dense text explaining complicated rules.

I knew I'd need to have simple rules and a journal template for Lil Gremlins to have a chance.

So I set to work, creating a game about your friend/pet monster, who gets into mischief quite a bit.

The great thing about journaling games is that they give you the opportunity to reflect on yourself and your own thoughts, feelings, and actions.

The tough thing about making that a game for kids is that kids don't have much practice with that. And their brains aren't fully developed yet. They've got a lot to learn!

Cover art by Mary Bransom

I intentionally wrote Lil Gremlins to be customizable and to grow with kids who play it. I designed it to handle big social-emotional learning topics in manageable chunks.

This game was for kids to take some power back. For them to wield the word NO! in a safe context. For them to be in control of what was allowed. For them to reflect on why certain things might be considered troublesome.

Lil Gremlins is a journaling game, but it's not meant to be played solo. It can be, of course, but it's written to encourage you to share your story! A younger player might want some help writing; a bigger kid might ask for their completed journal to be displayed.

And in doing all of that work, I created a game that helped me learn to write journaling RPGs for other audiences.

Back to Dolorine

With that first experience under my belt, I was ready to tackle the mess of Dolorine again.

A game that is very much not for children, Dolorine comes with a host of content warnings and a much darker theme.

After all, when the character you're playing is a deity who chooses to accept suffering for the purposes of transforming that suffering into power, things can get pretty grim.

During the months that passed between Dolorine's first draft and editing, I discovered the wonder of SRDs. I didn't have to build my game from the ground up. I didn't need to struggle to convert my Lil Gremlins skills to an entirely different context.

I used the Aspire SRD and the Caltrop Core SRD to give my dark fantasy vibe some structure.

With those building blocks, the game settled into its final form.

Dolorine is a solo journey through what it means to be afflicted. But it gives the player power, though in a very different way than in Lil Gremlins.

When I started my first draft, I wanted a game that gave pain purpose.

In a world so full of suffering, we can easily be overwhelmed by the senselessness of it all.

But for the Dolorine, deity of affliction, all pain has a purpose. She lives in a world where her suffering is never lost in the void.

There's a fantasy to that. A chance to use our pain for something worthwhile.

There's a danger in that. An opportunity to become the cruelty we seek to eliminate.

Either way, Dolorine has you reflecting on some tough themes as you channel affliction into the ability to rid others of their power to harm the vulnerable.

Very different game from Lil Gremlins, to be sure.

Comparison

Lil Gremlins is set in a world of peace and lightheartedness. There is no trouble so large that it can't be solved with a hug or a good book.

Dolorine wanders through a realm of agony. Nowhere can she turn that she doesn't find trouble.

But both games offer the player some hope against the powerlessness that we all feel at times.

And both give you the opportunity to reflect on your own role. You may be the responsible one in Lil Gremlins but the mischief-maker in your life. You might feel powerless in Dolorine but discover that you can change things even without deific abilities.

You might learn some uncomfortable things about yourself. Or you might just tell a good story. Either way, journaling games are an excellent way to grow as a writer, creative, and person.

Quick Promo

If you're interested in either of the journaling games I mentioned above, be sure to check them out at the links below!

Lil Gremlins is on sale for another week. Don't miss your chance to pick it up at a discount!

Dolorine is PWYW for a limited time! Try it out, and consider leaving a rating so I know how you like it!

#ttrpg #solo rpg #journaling rpg #journal #reflective #sel #social emotional learning #dark fantasy #journal game

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mariellewritesalot · 1 year ago

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It's my 9th anniversary on Tumblr 🥳 (since December 2014)

Almost a decade, wow! Excelsior by mariellewritesalot is a writing blog I started as a teenager to fully embrace the fact that I wanted to become a writer. I wanted my own "website" or at least a home for my words. "Excelsior" is my favorite word, and I was a bit obsessed with it back then, given that it meant going ever upward. "mariellewritesalot" was just something I thought of while watching cartoons where one of the characters had "a lot" attached to their name (I believe it was Sir Yipsalot). I could cringe, but honestly, I'm not too bothered enough to change it. Maybe it's part of its charm.

Suffice it to say, this has been my longest relationship so far, haha. We've had our ups and downs, terrible lulls of writer's block when I would be too busy with life or too paralyzed with fear that I'm not good enough to actually post something here.

I started writing early on because I was the kind of child who read everywhere and owned a Kindle since I was 12. I joined essay contests and wrote fan fiction until I was in the middle of my teenage years. I loved Total Girl Philippines, and eventually became a Jr. TG Staff Writer for one week in the summer of 2012. I won a Palanca when I was in senior high school. I dabbled, of course, in campus journalism for many years. Editor-in-Chief for some publications. I wrote news, features, opinions...even UAAP sports! I then created a Facebook page for my blog to expand my audience. I was fortunate enough to land a spot in UP Diliman where I took a certificate course on Malikhaing Pagsulat sa Filipino (loved working on my Filipino writing skills) and eventually, my Bachelor of Arts degree in Philippine Studies, where I also majored in History. I wrote my undergraduate thesis on Filipino food in Filipino-American restaurants based in the United States, guided by my love for Doreen Fernandez essays and curiosities about the diaspora; so I could also help these restaurants map out their histories. During the pandemic, I worked on a practice Young Adult novel called, Don't Write Me Off.

I started working freelance and interning for some publications like PhilStar Life and Esquire Philippines. I've been a part of college organizations in UP Diliman, where I honed my skills in leadership, writing, and research so that I may be able to do talks and workshops about writing in different schools and provinces in the Philippines. Last year, I became a Creative Nonfiction fellow for the 61st Silliman University National Writers Workshop, which has been a dream of mine since, well, I was in high school and deeply obsessed with 'the scene.' I got to belong with my chosen family in the fellows with whom I shared the once-in-a-lifetime experience in Dumaguete. We have since joined the Cebu Art Fair last year with our zine, Saudade: A Study on Longing, which features two of my works. As a collective, we're always collaborating on something. Watch this space!

Nowadays, I'm living somewhere in Spain, and I'm working on my first book. It's a collection. It's (too) vulnerable. I think you'll like it. I believe that I will probably be in pursuit of more knowledge and skills as a writer for the rest of my life, so despite my wanting to be a mysterious private person, I think you'll be hearing (reading?) a lot from me on various platforms. Hopefully.

While we're here, I have something new. Since we're losing Tinyletter next month, which was where I used to send out my newsletter of truly vulnerable, exclusive pieces, I have decided to "move houses" and finally join Substack. I'm going to talk about some facets of my life here in Spain, food, and the usual prose. Essentially, a lot of my stuff will be free to read there, but I would appreciate pledges if you can. I will still update my Tumblr from time to time, of course, seeing as this is my main site. No worries!

This year, I'm also going to work on creating an Instagram account for my writing. I have beautiful plans I can't wait to share with you. I'm hoping you'll come along for the ride.

Thank you, lovers, for this milestone.

Always,

Marielle

#9 year tumblrversary #tumblr milestone #mariellewritesalot #marielle fatima tuazon

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warrior-u-preservation · 2 years ago

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Interview with The Path Podcast (Full written responses)

(Note: The interview itself will be different, since mod myne represented both mods on the podcast. However, this includes our full feelings on the questions that were provided to us.)

Who are you and how did you end up walking the path of a "warrior u" writer/comic creator?

Myne: I go by worldismyne for fandom related pursuits.

I'd like to clarify that Aisha Thani is the creator of Warrior U. Just like multiple people have written for Stan Lee's creations, I'm just a writer who's received permission from the creator to distribute and monetize works within her universe.

I've been in the WU fandom since 2014; at that time Aisha made the comic, ran an in character ask blog, a concept art blog and the main blog. I can only imagine how much work that was. A hard drive crash killed about 6 or so pages of Ambrosia, the last story arch she was working on; three weeks worth of updates up and gone. I watched writer’s block take hold and kill my favorite series in real time. Having to go back and redo work she’d already done had given her time to look at it and go ‘I can’t post this, this is awful’, but by then all of us were waiting for the next update for over a month, she couldn’t go back and rewrite the entire arch. It didn’t help that this was the origin story for a fan favorite character, so there was all this pressure to make it perfect. Instead, after about six artists made fan comics to feed the hungry fandom… she announced the end. The website, the blogs, one by one they all ran into issues and got shut down. Hundreds of pieces of art and story concepts just… lost. Once the comics were rereleased on gumroad, that was it, the fandom slowly died. Before this project, the last time the creator posted new content was in 2017. Then in the middle of the pandemic, out of nowhere I get 70+ notifications from Coffee reblogging the pieces of art I had saved from the old blog, including drafts from the unfinished issues.

Coffee: well, i go by coffee online, im 20 years old and when im not working on my various personal projects i work part-time. i was introduced to warrior u WAYY back in the day (i think i was like 9-ish?) by my brother who found out about it through some unknown and mysterious ways. back then i had very limited internet access (meaning i could only visit sites that could be loaded by the internet app on my nintendo dsi), so i pieced together a bit of a plot from what i could find on google images. i wasnt able to fully read the comic until i was 13 (i had to BEG my mom to pay for the pdfs lol), but it had kinda always existed in the back of my mind ever since i was introduced to it. i decided a little over a year ago to start out the tumblr blog because i had recently read through the comic again and was really sad about just how hard it is (or i guess WAS now) to find a lot of things related to the comic. as the name of the blog suggests, its original purpose was to preserve/archive warrior u stuff so it could be more accessable to your average internet user who might not wanna go digging through internet archives. it was originally for official content EXCLUSIVELY, but myne talked me into also including fan-made content (and im glad he did, its WAY harder to find some fan content than i remember it being just a few years ago). its kinda hard to tell how good of a job it does at BEING that archive, but i like to think it could be useful to someone out there.

i had toyed with the idea of finishing the last official story arc- ambrosia- near the beginning of the blogs lifespan, but i knew that it was too big of a project for me to do myself. i didnt wanna dissapoint people by leaving the ALREADY unfinished arc STILL unfinished. i had written in the "about" section of the blog that the dream was a full fandom revival, but i didnt actually expect that to happen. when myne joined the blog we eventually started playing with the idea of finishing ambro. i forget how exactly we officially decided we would do it, but we did! at some point near the beginning of ambro, we had also decided we were gonna write our own fan-arcs and post those too, and the rest is history!

What was it about warrior u that made you say "this is it. i need to make more content of this."

Coffee: honestly? i think it was just how much i enjoy introducing people to the comic. i already make tons of fan content on my own time, so that wasnt really the crazy part. i had shown a couple of my mutuals the comic after i re-read it, and the feeling of seeing other people actually talk about and even make ART of warrior u was absolutely surreal. i guess thats what happens when you just silently admire a dead fandom for years LMAO! another big part of it was HOW the comic ended. after taking a hiatus, the creator ended the comic mid-arc because creating it just wasnt enjoyable anymore, and thats obviously completely fair. however, the arc it ENDED on was elaborating on the backstory of one of (if not THE) most popular characters at the time (and my personal favorite), so i had always wished that the issue could have been finished. its kinda hard to put into words, but finishing ambrosia was like a love letter to the comic and its creator to me. as flawed as the plot of that arc may be (and as unsatisfied with it as the creator was, at least back then) i still felt like it deserved to be finished. it was like fixing an old toy from your childhood, i felt like we were taking care of the comic in a way, giving it the love it deserves. maybe thats just my tendency to personify objects and get overly attached to them coming through, but hey thats how it is sometimes LMAO

Myne: When the comic was still on hiatus after the harddrive crash, some people had asked Aisha if she wanted to hand the series over to other artists to help her. She said she wouldn’t even know where to begin that process or if she’d wanted to do it. I would have offered then, but my skills as an artist and a writer weren’t nearly as strong. I held onto the drafts thinking, one day I’d do it.

Myne: After Coffee and I started talking I realized, I can do it now. I know what kind of style of pens were used, and I whipped up a page, just the line art and sent to Coffee as a thank you. I thought, it isn’t much, and it’ll take me forever to color everything, but if there’s one person willing to read it, I’ll try. When I explained how difficult it’d be for me to color, he offered to do it for me. Suddenly a page that would take a month for just me to do on my own took 3 days.

Myne: Something, that seemed like a monumental task became a realistic goal. We were able to find, restore, and edit 45 pages within a few months. I’m still amazed we were able to do weekly updates without missing a day. Coffee asked if I’d ever be willing to write fan issues while we were working, not realizing I was the author of the longest fics in the series. Of course I said yes. Seeing Warrior U get finished, even through fan creation, was something I’d wanted to see for years.

You're from Az right, how is the webcomic weeb culture over there as opposed to california?

Myne: Idk about much about Cali, I've noticed the cons are more... professional? Where as Arizona cons have more of a fanclub vibe. Most panels are hosted by your fellow nerds rather than sony or production companies. I will say, that it's become more common and widespread in the last ten years, with multiple anime specific events year round. Back when I was a kid, I'd get made fun of for drawing 'japanese' people all the time.... it was pokemon fanart... Where as nowadays, I feel the average kid recognizes most big name titles thanks to hulu and such.

What are your favorite anime/manga/webcomics and do any inspire your work?

Coffee: not really an anime, manga, or webcomic, but ive always been super inspired by the "scott pilgrim" series. when i was in middle school i was SUPER into it, reading all the behind the scenes stuff i could find. it even made me look into "comic illustrator" as a career option, but i also did the same thing with "game designer" and "animator" so yknow. as for webcomics, the only one i ever really got into was homestuck. side note- the overlap of oldschool homestuck fans and warrior u fans is FASCINATING to me. my current theory is that all these tumblr kids were looking for other webcomics to read while homestuck was on one of its MANY hiatuses(?) and so a bunch of them flocked to warrior u! theres tons of homestuck crossover content and references in fan art on our blog (some of the art styles also look homestuck-ajacent) so its at least clear that a lot of fans back then were also really into homestuck. ANYWAYS other than that i havent really read many other webcomics tbh? weird considering i MAKE one now but what can i say, im more of a Gamer than anything lol. as for anime, my favorite is easily keroro gunso (or sgt. frog if youre using the dub name)! its another thing i discovered when i was young (this time i was like 8) and have just never gotten over. theres a lot of Questionable stuff in it (prime example is an adult alien being madly in love with a 14 year old girl) but if i dont look at canon its not real so i love it anyways <3.i honestly dont know how many people really know about it since the western fanbase is so small, but its like HUGE in japan (or at least it was at one point, the titular keroro has a cameo in lucky star as a keychian) and the manga is still running to this day iirc. it was created by mine yoshizaki and the basic premise is that a platoon of frog-like aliens come to earth to take it over but they really suck at it. they begin living with humans and from there its kind of a mix between a slice-of-life and monster-of-the-week anime. i cant really say anything in depth about the manga because ive only read the first 5 issues of it, which are basically the same as the anime (fake fan smh), but ive heard that it gets more mature and serious than the anime does (which i guess is bound to happen when it goes on for so long). also the manga has some ecchi moments and blood used for slapstick purposes so if anyone wants to check it out just keep that in mind lol.

Myne: Obviously Warrior U. I'm a bit of a visual novel fiend, so Danganronpa is a series I've found a lot of inspiration from over the years. More recently Though for the comic, I draw mostly from late 80s / early 90s high fantasy. Things like Labyrinth and Robinhood: Men in Tights. Honestly anytime I get stuck trying to come up with a gag, I look to Mel Brooks.

So in continuing someone else's work, do you feel a sense of pressure to be just as good as the original?

Coffee: i definitely felt that way when it came to ambrosia, but i feel a lot less pressure when it comes to our upcoming issues. i wrote and made thumbnails for a few small scenes in ambro and i was SO SCARED of those scenes being noticably worse than the rest of the issue. i know the original creator has seen our version of ambro and those scenes by extention, but i dont know her exact thoughts on them. im satisfied with them but theres probably always gonna be that kinda star-struck stage feeling at the thought of the creator reading the scenes i wrote. its like getting stage fright. for our upcoming issues i dont feel as much pressure because theyre fully fan-written. our comics arent official in any sense of the word and theyre basically just fanfiction with extra steps, so its not nearly as stressful as trying to tie together an "official" story. there definitely WOULD be that pressure if we were ever given the rights to warrior u or something (which i dont want to happen) because then it WOULD be official yknow? also if the creator decides to keep up with what we post ill feel a bit more pressure, but i get the feeling that she wants to distance herself from warrior u a bit so im not sure how likely that would be.

Myne: I do. Partially because, the fan content we’re making is completely free while the original series is purchasable on gumroad. So there’s a chance that some people may start with what we’re working on, then go backwards to the original. I'm hyper aware of the tonal shift that's about to happen, no matter how much I try, I can't perfectly emulate someone else's writing style. The best I can do is capture the spirit of it. I just keep repeating "it doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be". It's a little harder taking that advice now that it's my scripts we're turning into issues. There is some freedom in knowing the series was never meant to be perfect though.

What drove you to writing the longest fanfiction for the series and how did it feel to be recognized and promoted by the original creator?

Myne: When I was younger, I would write fanfic instead of paying attention in class, and I really wanted a full story about the leads getting together. Knowing that the creator was reading every fanfic at the time added more fuel to the fire. I had a guaranteed audience, the audience. I was so grateful that she recommended it to other fans. That fic was 25k, I've written about 100 K in the last year to help maintain interest in addition to new pages to the comic. To that I blame hyperfixation and hiatus brain. You have to be the biggest fan of the thing you're making.

So i see the that most of your work including the webcomic Warrior U is on tumblr why did u choose to promote om tumblr as opposed to other webcomic outlets like webtoons, mangadex etc?

Coffee: the answer to this one is actually pretty simple; i already had a warrior u blog and tumblr is the social media/blogging site that im most familiar with! we have recently started using comicfury and tapas, but that was entirely mynes idea. im personally pretty content with just hanging out in my little corner of the internet so any attempts to expand or get the word out is mostly (if not entirely) mynes doing LOL!

Myne: It's interesting you bring up those two actually. Webtoons recently come under fire for being pretty crummy to it's indie comics, particularly if you write in any genre other than romance. Mangadex is a pirating website, so most of the comics there are fan translations rather than uploads from the creators : they had a pretty bad data breach a few years back too. At first we only had permission from the creator to upload on tumblr. Once we got permission to move forward with the fanmade run, we branched out to tapas and comicfury. They seemed like the best options for the genre and style we write in. Even still, we see about double the growth in readership on tumblr as opposed to the other outlets, and I think that's mostly because the blog updates daily, even though we only publish one page a week.

Do you have any plans on creating your own webcomic/manga?

Coffee: yes and no. i sometimes draw small fan comics and id like to make more polished and "finished" ones in the future, but nothing with any kind of overarching plot, at least not in the near future. i have a very hard time making original content for whatever reason. i DO have one (1) personal project that is completely original, but i plan on making a game with that. then again i have NO idea what im doing with that project anymore so who knows, maybe one day i WILL decide to turn it into a comic! only time will tell…

Myne: I have a visual novel I'm working on. It's about teen super villains that have to go to reform school. Think teen titans meets gifted kid burnout. The game's been in development hell since our first alpha build and writing about apocalyptic civil unrest wasn't as fun as it was pre 2020. We're about 200k into the draft for the full game and we're having to switch engines, which means cutting a bunch of features, but we're slowly getting there. If that fails, I'll try adapting the story into a comic.

To those people who will see this and decide to strut down the path of comic creation what is some advice you can give them?

Coffee: i think the most HELPFUL advice i could give would be this: you dont have to do everything by yourself. i personally have taken tons of inspiration from indie artists/game designers/etc. some prime examples of this are daisuke amaya aka pixel (who created cave story) and toby fox (who created undertale and deltarune), who both made incredible pieces of art that were defining to me as a person when i discovered them either entirely alone or almost entirely alone. you hear stories all the time of these great pieces of art being made by one or two people, and ive always wanted to be like that. as a result ive alwasy had a hard time reaching out for help when it comes to my art, feeling like if i cant do it all alone that itll never be as good as it could be. as a result though, all this mindset does is keep things from actually getting done and needlessly stress you out. NONE of the warrior u comics would exist if i had never gotten help from myne, and the blog would have probably gone inactive a LONG time ago too. i think thats the biggest lesson ive learned from this whole thing personally. theres absolutely no shame in working with a team of people if thats what needs to happen to see a project be realized.

Myne: One, try not to put more than 8 panels on a page, that's helped me a bunch with page layout. And two, find someone you can show your work to. That can be a friend, a mutual online, a family member; as long as you have that one person asking "what happens next" you can keep writing. The stories/comics I have that are the longest are because of that.

What inspires your art and what would u say you consider your style to be?

Myne: Invader Zim, Danganronpa, and Pacthesis have heavily influenced my art style. (pacthesis made a series of free dating sims on deviant art). I've always considered my art style to be pretty shoujo manga, but lately some of my pieces have been labeled too western for weeb spaces.

What advise can you give the next person who wants to draw art and share it with the world?

Coffee: i give the same advice to everyone i meet that says theyre thinking of making art in any form, and i mean it from the bottom of my heart: DO IT! im so in love with art of all kinds and the process of creating it, and i think that getting into any creative hobby is nothing but a good thing and i deeply believe that everyone should do it. whether you wanna draw, write, make music, develop games, sculpt, knit, etc, do it! quality doesnt matter at all, you can make the most technically awful thing in the world but as long as you enjoyed the process of creating it then it still has value. dont be nervous about your art being good enough. if you dont want to share it then you arent obligated to! i dont share like 90% of the stuff that i make but i still create art almost every single day! recently my qpp (queerplatonic partner) has gotten into drawing and im SO happy for them. they primarily use mspaint and a mouse to draw and their art is SO adorable and i love it so much, and im not just saying that because i love them. it doesnt matter what skill level you start at or what tools you have, you can always start making art. and dont compare the art that you make to others art, which i know from experience is a VERY easy trap to fall into. i dont have as much to say about that point because im not as passionate about it but uhhh yeah :3

Myne: Social media algorithms are not going to make you happy; no matter how well you play the game and low engagement does not mean you're a bad artist. If you keep posting and talking to other artists, you'll find your audience.

So at wonder con where we met ylu were cosplaying power from chainsaw man with a group of girls who were cosplaying other chainsaw characters. Do you girls normally group up and cosplay and if so how did you get into it?

Myne: I was born into cosplay. My parents were gamers and cosplayers, and I started picking my own characters to cosplay when I was 14. I started getting more into it in college when I could find other people to cosplay with, it wasn't until this year I started aiming for photoshoots. I tend to be in at least one large group cosplay a con, and bring a different costume every day.

What was your favorite cosplay you've done?

Myne: It's a toss up between Persona 5 Joker and Alluring Secret Rin. Those were the ones I put the most work in that still hold up. Though I'm currently working on Eris from the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, and that may overtake them.

Have you ever thought to cosplay someone from Warrior U?

Myne: I do actually! I've cosplayed as the main character Finn a few times. I really like taking simplified designs from comics/cartoons and turning them into heavily detailed looks. '

Where do you see warrior u being in 5 years from now?

Coffee: man, honestly if were STILL working on this project 5 years from now that would be CRAZY. this is already the longest ive worked on a single project before, along with being the most ive ever gotten DONE for a project, so thinking about what it could be like in 5 years is like. WOW. by that point we would have archived most (if not ALL) of the older stuff we could find, so our blog would probably just be new pages and fan interaction if were still going! the dream is still for a full fandom revival, and weve already got a small active fanbase (of like 5 people but still) so who knows, maybe that dream will be a reality?

Myne: We have at least 3 years worth of story drafted and lined up, and even more outlined. So ideally still updating. By then, we'll have some physical releases of the finished arcs that we've written available for purchase online and at select events. The creator has said she has no interest in making physical releases of the original run. I'd love for that to change, but I respect her decision and I won't press the matter. I'm just grateful we have permission to sell anything we make using her characters.

If you could go back in time 5 years, what advice would you give yourself?

Coffee: 15 and 16 were ROUGH ages for me tbh. i wont get into it because its super personal, but i was struggling with a lot and just generally not having a very good time. i think the best advice i could give to myself would just be that like. things will eventually get better. no matter how dark or hopeless things may be, theres always a silver lining and a light at the end of the tunnel. now if 15 year old me would have taken that to heart is a whole DIFFERENT question, but thats what i would say. 16 was like right before i (finally) started getting treatment for my mental health, so i think considering everything thats what i would say.

Myne: So many bad things happened during those five years, but… I wish I knew what burnout felt like, so I could recognize it. I have this tendency to put my self worth into “how much have you done today”, so once I started working full time and my father passed, I couldn’t recognize that I was physically and emotionally exhausted some days and needed rest, so I’d just punish myself mentally for not being more motivated. You shouldn’t need permission to rest, and I felt like I had to. It’s healthy to ‘nothing’ sometimes, especially if you’re dealing with things you have no control over.

Coffee: thank you for interviewing myne and i for your podcast :D!! its absolutely wild to think that ive done anything interview-worthy and yet here we are! for anyone thats interested in the comic because of this, i also emplore you to go check out the creators current comic "si3lah" (pronounced like si-ayn-lah i think? the 3 is a stand-in for an arabic letter) on gumroad! it deserves way more attention than it currently has and you should 100% go support the original creator if you like the stuff we do (wink wink).

#mod speak #interview #official

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dopepoisonivyoncrack · 4 days ago

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No site is perfect and people suck everywhere but there are some issues specific to this site lately that make trying another site a reasonable choice. I’m posting this because I’m not the only one affected and some are just beginning to notice. Among those issues are

still being shown posts from blocked accounts if they are reblogged by someone I follow

not being shown a lot of posts from accounts I follow on the Chronological/Following dash, some of them appearing on the For You dash mixed with posts from accounts I don’t follow. - it hinders me from seeing posts of mutuals and accounts I follow (aka what I want to see), sort of forces me to be exposed to things I don’t want to see, and also hinders people that follow me from seeing my posts. (Many times it was not a case of me being ignored or my post not being liked by people but simply not seen, not even by people that might specifically follow me for that kind of post)

regarding previous point - it happened multiple times that mutuals

were not shown my posts on their dash, and could see only if they specifically checked on my blog

missed my posts for weeks, months and even years, even if I self-reblogged them several times and/or were reblogged by common mutuals, even if those mutuals were daily active

were shown some of my posts after weeks in random and unchronological order

broken/unreliable notification system - as a recent e.g. I got 2 notifications the other day about 1 like and a new follow from that same acc. I was looking a bit around before blocking for breaking my rules when I noticed on their blog the like on my post appeared 4 days ago. And they don’t appear to have been active in the last week. Why did I get the notif only later then? What is the truth?

broken/unreliable counting system on number of drafts, queues, followers, inbox messages - to the point they randomly change up and down without any real action

evolving bots waves that make it increasingly difficult to keep track of, differentiate from real people accounts and report/block accordingly

increasingly annoying and sometimes gross ads that pop up way too frequently and keep being shown even if they are reported

interacting with a post lead to similar types of post monopolizing my dash for a while, toning down only if interacting with different post, much like algorithm driven sites. (this impacted for e.g. how much seen some art blogs became)

Adding to the ruin of this site is this trend of

accounts giving 1 like to my drawing, start following me and then never interacting again. Not reblogging my drawing that they supposedly liked enough to follow me, neither anything else, mine or not. Often not liking anything again either, literally no interaction. (This has been quite frequent since last summer and the majority of new follows I get along with bots to the point its annoying)

empty accounts that don’t reblog, may or may not have something on their blog

only likes, no reblogs, nor comments, nada - to the point some get a defensive/aggressive attitude at the mere recommendation to reblog what they like/show appreciation to artists/writers aso (the discourse I’ve seen on the topic is insane)

unmarked AI generated images and texts

unauthorized and unmarked reposts (of fanart especially) - I’ve noticed an increase of these and people reblog without checking, feeding these wannabe curators and artist imposters. Particularly annoying to see these posts getting dozens and hundreds of reblogs when honest art posts aren’t even getting the same treatment

I liked Blr for so many years because I had control over what I’m seeing by following some, and not seeing by blocking others. Also the last used to offer control over who I share with even if it wasn’t important for me before. This was valid both ways. I liked the reblog system that made it all possible. But what I mentioned in the bullets render this system ineffective.

Social sites come and go. When I started it was yahoo, hi5, then FB came, then Twitter and now as those fade, BlueSky gains popularity. It was a matter of time. I think blr lasted for so long because it was different, but it can share the fate if it insists on mimicking other popular social media sites. I think the implementation of For You page and Communities do contribute to some of the issues I mentioned.

#I consider trying bluesky #not deleting this blog any time soon though #ivy shitpost

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variousqueerthings · 2 years ago

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Weird that they are placing so much emphasis on having bio kids as the ultimate form of happiness and legacy, when Mr. Miyagi is like, right there. Do the writers think of him as different/a tragedy because he would have had it if his wife and son didn’t die, or did they just forget?

I answered and I deleted and I answered and I deleted, because I agree so much with you and I don't want to ruin the enjoyment for anyone, so let's put this below the cut:

THE ANSWER/VARIOUS RAMBLES STUCK TOGETHER WITH TAPE THAT I ACKNOWLEDGE DID NOT STICK WITH YOUR ORIGINAL ASK APOLOGIES (we did start there though):

maybe miyagi was actually secretly evil the whole time........ 🤔🤔🤔(joke)

that family structure is suspect dude, sounds queer to adopt a kid who's being bullied, years after your wife and child died and then not even knock up his mom, what are you gay?

at the very least don't pretend it's a real family you've got there, you'll always be a tragic sad man, without your biological progeny, which is the only kind that matters, and only if done in the Correct way (single parents need not apply)

weird we had the "tanmee" line in s3, but this season just straight up forgot a lot of its own building blocks in favour of some weird aggressive and regressive heterosexual bullshit -- the more I think about it the more discomfort I feel, which isn't to make this deeper than it is, I don't think there was bad intent. I think there was a tragic lack of imagination and it coincides with some real-world Politics that the show doesn't care about and is tacitly conservative about, but I sign onto the show not to be reminded of that world

a lot of people have mentioned that the show bears very little resemblance thematically to the core of the original (two) movies -- it's always been conservative in its depiction of military and war and violence, and simplified an actually incredibly complex, and yet incredibly clear-cut messaging that positions Miyagi (and his ideals) on one side and Kreese (and his ideals) on the other, with very clear reasoning as to why one is right and one is not

the show has been antisemitic, it's been racist, it's had a lack of queer characters that is all the more obvious in a story about a group of outcast kids with found family themes (first produced in 2019), and it's been sexist/underwritten the value that women have in a story about legacy and toxic masculinity and gender roles

and in fandom there have been interesting bits of analysis and writing from very talented and clever people to acknowledge these unexamined prejudices and flaws. they have been challenged in art and in narrative, and there has been plenty of discussion about where we can suspend disbelief and what we (individually) won't take onboard in our own various tellings of the story

up until s5 I have been able to hold that tension, because I truly enjoyed the story and the underlying themes and characters and was baseline expecting those themes and motivations to still matter

but oof the way that this season became entirely divorced from any of the show's own grounding themes, hasn't only made the characters hollow to me, but it's also made me realise (and hey, maybe I should realised this sooner, more fool's me) that they really don't give a shit about Miyagi

which is crazy because the story's about him.

EDIT: and i do still feel deeply uncomfortable about the final fight, and generally how daniel “defeating” anything was done totally absent of miyagi’s ideals -- the only way to solve anything is violence now. beat the other guy into submission to beat your fear i guess. meaningless to what daniel’s journey was, but good to know he’s also manly enough now

and more importantly than anything in a story that's just about liking or disliking trajectories and reads... I am deeply uncomfortable with its politics now

I think how I felt about s4 was that it had some moments I didn't like, but the trajectory made sense to me. with s5 there are moments I do like, but it's empty. I don't know why anything in the last episode happened. I feel intense discomfort about the treatment of women and girls. And to be clear I don't think that there was an intentional drive to make the messaging... that about queerness versus dominating toxic heterosexuality, but honestly I'm living in a pretty shitty world these days with a lot of backsliding in equality and I don't think that I can happily shut off my brain and watch something that conservative anymore

it's not technically anything deep as such, it's not real life. I've really enjoyed the show, I've made some lovely friends through it, and read some of the best fic, and gotten to hype up some wonderful artists and I'll stay in fandom, but I think I might be done with the show itself

but hey, miyagi adopting this skinny little punk from new jersey and giving him some valuable life lessons only for this kid to adopt him right back, that I can rewatch a million times and like I said -- the story is all about that (and it most certainly isn't a tragedy)

#ck negativity #cobra kai #ck #i didn't touch on johnny in this because it would have gotten long #longer*#but i think i covered how i feel about That in the post about queering the villains through childlessness #spoilers #cks5 #cobra kai s5 #cobra kai season 5 #cobra kai spoilers #although i could say more about the queering of johnny lawrence followed by the backlash #and how that does a disservice to tkk johnny as well #rambleramble

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bts-weverse-trans · 4 years ago

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201128 Weverse Magazine ‘BE’ Comeback Interview - Namjoon

RM: “I spend a lot of time thinking about where I am now” BTS BE comeback interview 2020.11.28

The story of BTS’ new album BE started on April 17, 2020 when group member RM announced its production on the BANGTANTV YouTube channel. In the seven months that followed until the album’s release, RM’s mind was full, his thoughts flowing in and out of his head.

How do you feel about the unique approach you took to making your new album, BE? RM: The other members were a ton of help to me. My lyrics made it on the album, but the music I composed didn’t, so I’m really thankful to the group for the music. How should I say this? I feel like everyone is doing a great job. There are so many parts in these songs that I’m indebted to them for. “Stay” was originally going to be the title song on Jung Kook’s mixtape, but everyone liked it so much, and they all agreed to put that on our album. That’s how much influence they had. I’m really happy my room idea was chosen to be the album photos. Since we’re spending a lot of time in our rooms because of COVID-19, we laid out the idea of each of us decorating a room in our own style. I can’t remember for sure (laughs) but I think I’m the one who came up with that. I made a comfortable room, one that’s modern and warm because that’s what I like.

There’s a painting in the middle, and symmetrically arranged figurines. RM: The figures are from my own collection. I wanted to show one of my paintings, but that didn’t pan out. But still, those are the things I hold most dear to me right now, so I let the room embody the things I wish I had, too.

It’s well known that you like art and frequent exhibitions, but how do you feel when you look at art in your home or another space where there are no people, like in the album art? RM: Someone said, “You don’t have to buy this painting; it’s yours so long as you’re looking at it.” That’s my favorite sound bite these days. What I most envied about painters was that, even after they died, their work would be hanging up somewhere, maybe even in another country, still defining that space. Musicians leave behind their songs and videos, too, but it’s only through fine art that viewers in the future are able to completely meet artists from the past. I’m envious that this is only possible for painters. These days I’m trying to find spaces where I can have more relaxed viewing experiences.

There’s a full experience involved, from the time you get ready to leave your house until the time you’re actually looking at artwork in the gallery. RM: That’s perfect to me. There’s art you can keep at home, and then there’s art that should always be viewed in museums.

What effect do you think that type of experience has on your music? You didn’t compose any of the songs but instead participated in writing the lyrics to all of the tracks. Did that experience affect your lyric writing in any way? RM: I think it’s helped me develop a way of thinking using all the senses. I used to be attuned to speech and focus on language and auditory textures, but now I can look at my thoughts from many different angles. That’s why I spend more time studying art now. I’m waiting for the day that it all comes to the surface, like when you paint the base on a canvas over and over so the colors pop. It’s hard to answer in one word if it has a direct influence on my work, but I think people who create music develop a way of seeing the world through their personal experience and their creative process. Painters naturally exhibit their art over a very long period of time. I think it gave me an eye for looking at the world in one long, continuous stroke. So now it’s become a little challenging for me to write lyrics these days. I’ve become more cautious.

Why is it so challenging? RM: I used to have so many ideas pouring out that it was hard to pluck one out. So I would stack them up like a Jenga tower and ponder over which one to remove. But now, it’s hard to even add a block to the stack. I’m not sure why but, when I look at these artists whose works span their entire lives, I sense that the rhythm of my creativity is slowing down more and more. That’s the source of my dilemma. I’m only 27 years old. I still need to wander around and get tripped up a little. But am I just trying to imitate what the fine artists are doing? Or maybe BTS experienced so much in the past seven years, that now it’s time for us to take a breather? I’ve got so many questions, I feel like my hair’s turning white. That’s why none of my songs are on the album. I wrote some, but they were too personal to use there. I don’t exactly like myself like this, but I have to see through to the end in this direction and find the answer.

Maybe for that reason, your rapping has shifted focus to the lyrics more so than trend or musicality. It emphasizes the feeling of the words over a particular format or beat. RM: Exactly. In—was it 2017? Pdogg was talking to Yoongi, Hobi and me about our style, and said, “Namjoon, it feels like you’re becoming a lyricist,” and it really stuck with me. I have a lot of thoughts lately when I watch Show Me the Money or listen to hip hop songs from the Billboard chart. My music started out all about my life as a rapper, so I spend a lot of time thinking about where I am now.

So you’ve started to ask yourself who you are as a musician? RM: I listened to Lee So-ra’s seventh album again today. I keep changing my mind but, if I had to pick between her sixth and seventh album, I like her seventh a little more. And then I listen to the most popular songs on Billboard, and I feel kind of thrown off. Um … There’s something Whanki Kim said that’s been running around in my head lately: After moving to New York, he embraced the style of artists like Mark Rothko and Adolf Gottlieb, but then he said, “I’m Korean, and I can’t do anything not Korean. I can’t do anything apart from this, because I am an outsider.” And I keep thinking that way, too. That’s my main concern lately.

You can feel that on BE. As the members take on more prominent roles as songwriters and producers, characteristics of old Korean music—the kind of music you likely listened to in middle and high school—gradually entered your sound. But your music isn’t from that era, and it sounds like pop, but not quite. RM: The sound has to fit with the whole album so I couldn’t incorporate that feel into BTS songs, but the songs I’m listening to most lately have been Korean. Songs like P-Type’s “Don Quixote,” Dead’P’s “Spread My Wings,” Soul Company’s album The Bangerz. The impressions the songs from back then have left on me, the lyrics from back then and the lyrics from now, they’re different. So BE is both Korean and pop; it’s very unique, in my view.

I think that’s especially true for “Life Goes On.” It’s got a pop melody, but compared to “Dynamite,” it has a very different feel. It doesn’t slip deep into the sentimental, instead allowing the melody to flow naturally. RM: Exactly. The chorus is totally pop, and one of the writers was also American. But the song doesn’t really follow American music trends, weirdly. So I don’t know how “Life Goes On” is going to be received. It’s really calm, almost contemplative. So there’s lyrics, like, “Like an echo in the forest,” and, “Like an arrow in the blue sky.” The song kind of feels like that: It could just float off and disappear. It might even come off as bland next to “Dynamite.”

If nothing else, it seems the song will stick around for a long time. Maybe kids now will listen to it later on in the future. RM: I hope so. That’s the one thing I really hope for, people in the future, thinking back and saying, “Oh, right! Remember that one song?” That’s what my favorite artists and other people who leave a lasting impression on me have in common. One thing common among the songs that have affected me a lot, like Lee So-ra’s seventh album, is that the lyrics they utter in their voice along with the overall sound stick with me. I hope when people look back, my words uttered with the sound of my voice, echoes for a long time in an auditory or visual way, or even throughout their entire lives. But that’s the dilemma: We have all these bling-bling symbols of our success, but we’re not that kind of team.

And yet, BTS’s career path is even more “bling-bling” than ever. “Dynamite” was the top song on the Billboard Hot 100. RM: I was the first one to check our position (laughs) but I didn’t want to get too excited about it. I was scared of facing disappointment so I put the brakes on out of habit, and restrained myself. But on the other hand, I feel like I should relish this moment. This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing; shouldn’t I enjoy myself a bit? But I disliked that sensation of only feeling elated so I tried to be as objective as possible. I was just one small part of everything that made this happen.

It reminds me of that part, “Running faster than that cloud of rain / Thought that would be enough / Guess I’m only human after all,” from “Life Goes On.” RM: “Only human” sounds so appropriate for me right now. One time, I saw a dark cloud over the N Seoul Tower while I was walking along the Han River. I was with a friend and we talked about where the border between where it’s raining and where it’s not might be, and suddenly, we came up with the idea to run and find that spot. But after running for 10 minutes, the cloud was even further away than it had been. At that moment, the puzzle pieces snapped into place. You think you can go faster than that dark cloud? No. That’s what I realized then. And I just like what Whanki Kim said, that maybe I can’t do anything not Korean, because that’s what I am. I used to work late and then stay up all night when things weren’t working out, sometimes walking from Samseong to Sinsa station, thinking everything through. But now, like the saying, I realize that maybe I can’t do more than what I am.

On Weverse, you said that you gained some muscle from working out. Could the change to your body improve your creativity in the long term? RM: I started to think I better change myself a little, physically or mentally. I’m talking about being steady. I used to bombard myself with challenges and worries and just get over them, but now I think it’s time to find that one sturdy thing and plant myself there. The best choice was working out, and I think it’s changing my behavior a lot. I’m hoping that, if I keep working out for a year or two, I’ll become a different person.

Music is your job, but also your life. Like you expressed in “Dis-ease,” how would you say you feel about your work? RM: This is my job and my calling and I feel a great sense of responsibility. I think I’m lucky and happy that I can solely worry about my creative process. And I feel very responsible to those people who put their trust in me, so I try not to cross any lines, judge myself honestly, and always be professional. Those are the responsibilities that come with the job—the things I have to do and the promises I won’t betray. But if I’m going to do it, I’m going to be happy while I do it. That’s not always going to be possible, but that’s generally how I feel.

Well then, how do you feel about BTS at the moment? RM: BTS is … Well, it’s really hard to tell. (laughs) When BTS started out, I thought, “I know everything there is to know about BTS,” but now it’s, “I don’t know a single thing about BTS.” In the past, I felt like I knew everything, and that anything was possible. Call it childish or ambitious. But if I were to ask myself, “What is BTS to me?” I would say, we’re just people who met each other because we were meant to. But it feels like the stars aligned and a startup company became a unicorn, with perfect timing and lots of smart people. Looking back, there were a lot of ironies and contradictions in this industry. I thought I figured them out one by one, and then finally understood the whole thing. But now I feel like I don’t know anything at all. Anyway, to sum up: My young, reckless twenties. The events of my twenties. There were a lot of contradictions, people, fame, and conflict all tangled together, but it was my choice and I got a lot out of it, so my twenties were an intense but also happy time.

And what about you, as one individual person? RM: I’m a real Korean person. (laughs) A person who wants to do something in Korea. I think millennials are charging into society stuck between the analog and digital generations, and what I chose is BTS. So I try to integrate myself into our generation, try to understand what people like me are thinking, and try to work hard to capture that feeling without being a burden on them. This might be another kind of irony itself, but this is who I am. I’m a 27-year-old Korean. That’s what I think.

Trans © Weverse

#bangtan #namjoon #weverse #weverse magazine #comeback interview #be album #201128 #2020

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hellpotter · 4 years ago

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For the prompt list 52 with percabeth please 💙

you are my new pillow | percabeth

so, i started writing this a while ago and got writers block. then i saw this art on instagram and it felt like it was made for this story. i loved it and got very inspired, so i recommend you take a look. it’s gorgeous 💛

“So that’s... Home, I guess.”

Annabeth looked around the small, empty apartment, its white, freshly painted walls touching the wooden floor and attracting way more attention than walls usually should. It bothered her, almost as if the extreme whiteness of it all hurt her eyes somehow. There was nothing hanging on the walls, nor comfortable and delicate furniture or decoration to make the place feel like something they could habit. Except for an old sofa, a small round table and the basic kitchen equipment, the place was completely empty. And it certainly didn’t feel like home.

She looked up at Percy, who was standing besides her on the doorway, and wrinkled her nose. “Yeah. I guess.”

She tightened her grip around the huge suitcase she brought behind her and gulped. They had picked the place carefully, choosing the best possible option for two recently graduated demigods, who didn’t have much money to pay rent. Or much money at all, actually. It was small and quiet, and well taken care of, which was in fact extremely rare in New York. And she was glad that they’d picked it, that they would do that and somehow build something just for them, together, even if that something was just a small rented apartment in the city.

But still... Looking around the place, which seemed to her mostly a white, aggressive square room, she wondered if she would ever be able to call it home.

“Hey,” Percy noticed the tension in her body language and turned her to him, holding her hands softly before leading them around his own torso and wrapping his arms around her waist. He held her for a while, letting her feel his heartbeat near her own chest and his breath rustle thin strands of her hair near her ear. Then he pulled apart and put his hands softly on her jaw, holding her head up to keep their eyes together.

“I know it’s not much, and it feels weird, but... It’s ours. Maybe not entirely, but we have to start somewhere, right?”

“I know. You’re right.”

“We’re together. That’s what’s matters most.”

She couldn’t help but smiling and leaning closer, letting him pull her in for a soft kiss.

The moment didn’t last long, though, as they separated and she finally stepped into the apartment, bringing him in by the hand (“C’mon, Seaweed Brain, we’ve got a lot to do”).

And so they started moving in. Cleaning and unpacking and going back down to the car to get the stuff they’d left there. Finding out weird or broken stuff inside the cabinets and unpleasantly figuring out they’d have to buy a lot of things they hadn’t thought about. Trying to make the place look a little more like them by hanging on some things on the walls as spreading the few decoration they had around.

It wasn’t glamorous and fun and full of romance like it was in the movies. But Percy did put some music on and they laughed and bantered and kissed a few times ‘cause that was just who they were.

And finally, after they were done for the day and she got out of the bathroom after taking a shower, the sun was starting to go down and the golden light that came in through the big balcony doors just made Percy’s silent invitation for her to dance with him, by stretching out his hand, undeniable. And they swayed slowly to some old Green Day song, his hands comfortably around her waist and her head on his shoulder.

“You know what this reminds me of?” He muttered, after a few minutes.

She didn’t look up. “What?”

“That time at Westover Hall, right before you were kidnapped. Thalia and Grover made us dance to try and mingle.”

She chuckled. “Oh, gods. And you went all ‘uh who should I dance with’ as if it weren’t obvious...”

“Well, you kind of terrified me a little bit.”

She couldn’t hide her smile while she lifted her face to look at him.

“You were so clueless,” she said.

“I was 14!”

“And stupid.”

“And totally falling in love with you.”

She looked at him fondly before bringing their lips together once again, enjoying the taste of him and the feeling of his tongue against hers, so familiar and yet as captivating as ever.

“So was I,” she whispered, as they pulled apart.

“Oh, really?”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, Seaweed Brain.”

“Good to know. Sometimes I still wonder if you actually hate me.”

And that was enough for them to get into some kind of playful fighting or tickling, pretending to drive each other mad until they ended up sprawled on the sofa, all around each other, breathing heavily.

Annabeth could feel his heartbeat get slower and slower until it almost started to fade away.

“We need to buy a bed tomorrow,” he finally said, voice low and cracking.

“Nah,” she answered. “This could be our new bed. And you,” she lifted her head slightly to kiss his jaw gently. “You are my new pillow.”

He chuckled. “Of course.”

They stayed like this for a few more minutes, just enjoying each other’s presence, until he spoke again.

“Are you hungry?”

“Hm, I guess. We haven’t eaten since our sandwich lunch.”

“Uhum. I’m starving.”

She thought for a moment, then lifted her upper body to look at him. “How do you feel about pizza and a movie? We can put blankets on the floor and just stay here for the night.”

“Hm, just like we’re preteens who think it’s cool sleeping on the floor?” He teased.

“We don’t really have a better option, do we?”

“I guess not,” his smile didn’t fit his words.

“Besides,” she got closer, brushing her lips to his. “It’s our floor. In our apartment. Just for ourselves. I can think of a bunch of things we can do that are different from a preteen sleepover party.”

“Oh. The floor seems like an amazing idea.”

When they kissed, she realized she had nothing to be worried about the apartment, after all.

As long as they were together, they were home.

#percabeth #percabeth fic #canon compliant #recently graduated #new apartment #movin in #living together #fluff #it took me a long time to have the energy to write this sorry #but here it is #hope you like it #pjo #prompt list

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woozisnoots · 4 years ago

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hey alex, i'm kind of in need of an emergency request :/ i've not been feeling well at all mentally for the past few weeks and its been eating me out from the inside. it may be symptoms of being burnt but yeah. i was wondering if could you write something with jihoon and him comforting you by taking your mind off the thoughts and distracting you with little things such as talking or showing you what he's working on? the little things can be completely up to you to choose c: - lissa

hi baby 🥺 i’m sorry i know this is late! >< exams has me 🦀 crabby this season but i know how stressed you’ve been lately and i wanted to make sure you got the jihoon you deserve !!! and ofc, i’m always here if you ever need to talk it out with anyone 💓

𝙤𝙣 𝙖 𝙩𝙝𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙙𝙖𝙮

° pairing: jihoon x reader ° genre: fluff ° summary: you’re stressed, blessed and jihoon obsessed. ° word count: 1080 ° warning: none! ° a/n: [unedited]

masterlist!

a typical thursday night for you and your boyfriend is as follows: both of you having no where to go but jihoon’s study since it was the only place to provide quiet and facilitate creative freedom. on the far end, jihoon has his eyes glued to the computer screen as he has one hand hovering over the whites of his keyboards while the other grips the fret board of his guitar. while you on the other hand, tap your apple pen on your temple staring at a half blank canvas on your iPad. for legal reasons, sadly, this was all for school.

you swear the idea came to you in the morning but just as the day went on, the picture slowly started to drift away like your will to tolerate the amount of assignments your professors love to give. going into to art school, you would think the semester would fly by doing what you love.

but there’s a line between an occupation and a hobby; and lately, you’re too worn out to know the difference.

you abruptly turn off your iPad, almost slamming the deice hard on the couch. you were done for the day. this sucked. ask any artist, musician, or writer what it’s like to be stuck in a creative block or burned out, if you will. it is anything but a good time, and this was only just the rise. it’s late, you’re tired, and you desperately want to go home and sleep it off.

after relinquishing your anger, you cross your arms over your chest as you slump down onto the cushions, not noticing your boyfriend look over at you.

“everything good over there?” the concern in his voice makes you pout.

“no,” you replied honestly, not putting anything past him. “quite the opposite actually. i’m mentally exhausted. i have no idea what to draw, and even if i do draw literally anything, it’s probably gonna suck donkey ass.” the memory of

“so like, ass ass?” jihoon’s hysterical laugh now fills the room while you take a few seconds to register what he said. finally realizing the joke, you mutter a ‘oh my god’ under your breath before throwing the nearest plushie his direction.

“can you shut the f-” your words are still overpowered by jihoon’s laugh, not bothering to finish your sentence. besides, the sight of him catching the medium sized elephant plushie and hugging it so tight to try and suppress his giggles makes you forget what you were going to say anyways. “you’re real lucky that you’re cute as hell.”

“not as cute as you and your button nose.” you practically roll your eyes out of your sockets at jihoon’s remark, gagging at the sight of him being intentionally adorable. he only does this when he knows you’re upset. you let it pass though, like you always do since you’re one of the only ones he acts cute to.

“well, if you’re not particularly doing anything right at this moment, how about you come over here and help me with this melody?” jihoon rolls his chair out to create a space for you to come over.

“you know i know nothing about music right?” you say doubtfully.

“come on, all you gotta do is choose between these two samples. i have it all set up, you just gotta tell me which one sounds the best” he prompts to you.

eyeing your iPad at your feet, you stick out your tongue in annoyance. well, it’s not like he was wrong. you definitely weren’t revisiting your assignment for awhile. but that doesn’t mean you couldn’t add a little bit of fun in the mix.

“and what’s in it for me?” the palm of your hands find the edge of your jawline, patiently waiting for your boyfriend’s answer. he’s always quick to find the catch to your antics, it’s just a matter of what he’s willing to offer.

“let’s see,” he says as he mimics your position with his elbow resting on his desk and his hand meeting his cheek. “a free ride back at our place, food on the way there, and…”

he rolls his eyes to the ceiling, displaying a full face of concentration. all his options sound deliciously appealing, but you need something more to cure the never ending trauma that dawns over you so the obvious solution is purposely wait a little longer to see how far he’ll go for you.

“a back massage? and extra kisses?” jihoon finally concludes.

“in addition to you cleaning up the laundry on your side of the bedroom,” you add, proudly smiling.

“deal.” with that confirmation, you gladly prance over to stand beside jihoon, letting your hands press against the desk to support your stance.

jihoon, however, stares at you with a look of immense confusion. “what are you doing? i have a spot reserved just for you.”

now, there are technically only two available places to seat at his studio. granted, it is a snug studio to begin with but you can make room if you’re creative; unfortunately, yours was running out at the moment. there’s a single sofa, essentially for you to fully stretch out your limbs as you worked, and a single wheely chair for himself.

but this time, your boyfriend apparently wasn’t about to let you uncomfortably lounge around on your feet even for a second. no, he thinks his lap is a much more comfortable place.

“i lied, i’m almost done with the song. i just wanted you near me,” he whispers near your ear as he securely wraps his hands around your waist.

your usual self would have made a snarky comment at his sneakiness, but his attempts to make you feel better prevail and you lean your head to the side to meet jihoon’s.

“well now you get kisses to go with it,” you turn your head slightly to face him, cuffing both his cheeks so you can clearly see the array of brown shades in his eyes. ones that could take you away for hours on end and make you feel like you never left reality.

your face relaxes as you feel the warmth of jihoon’s hand gently placed on top of yours. what started off as a bad night, the thought slowly dissolves from your mind the longer this moment lasts. and with a delicate kiss to seal your boyfriend’s lips, you move on. thankfully, with life in your favor and jihoon by your side.

#seventeen #seventeen fluff #woozi #woozi fluff #caratwritersclub #jihoon #jihoon fluff #seventeen fanfic #woozi fanfic #seventeen scenario #woozi scenarios #seventeen imagine #woozi imagines #seventeen au #woozi au #seventeen x reader

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aquietwritingcorner · 4 years ago

Text

Writers Month Day 11: Glass/Royalty AU Word Count: 2013 Author: aquietwritingcorner/realitybreakgirl Rating: G/K Characters: Olivier Mira Armstrong, Captain Buccaneer, Major Miles, Philip Gargantos Armstrong, Mama Armstrong Warning: NA Summary: Princess Olivier Mira Armstrong is not interested in finding a husband. Her parents throw a ball for all the eligible men anyway. Buccaneer just wanted a night out and was given the chance for one by a strange man in a brightly colored shirt who can apparently make limbs out of glass. Somehow, this all works out. Reverse Cinderella Crack AU Notes: ngl, this was hilarious to write. AO3 || ff.net

_____________________________________________________

Glass/Royalty AU

Once upon a time, there was a Princess. If there was one thing Princess Olivier Mira Armstrong hated, it was pointless balls. She sighed as she sat on her throne and looked out over the gathered crowd standing around in all their finery. Some were dancing, others eating, and just about all of them were looking for ways to improve their standing both with the court and with each other. And every available young man was looking for a way to get her attention.

She snorted derisively. If her father thought that throwing a ball and inviting every eligible young man in the kingdom was going to get her married off, then he was sorely mistaken. This was nothing more than a waste of everyone’s time. She didn’t even know why he was so hung up on her getting married. She had four other siblings to provide heirs for the throne. She’d just pick one of them when the time came.

“Olivier, dear, why don’t you go down and dance with some of your guests.”

Her father’s voice came from beside her, and she glanced over at him. He was sitting majestically on his throne and eyeing a particular group of men. Olivier followed his gaze and blanched. None of those spinless weaklings were her idea of a good man.

“They aren’t my guests at all, Father,” she replied. “You invited them here.”

“Hm, so I did,” he said, stroking his beard.

“But they all came for you,” her mother put in from the other side of her father. “You should at least have the grace to go walk among them and dance with a few of them. There are some smart matches down there.”

Olivier followed her mother’s gaze to a different group of men. They were worse than the other group.

“…you aren’t going to leave me alone until I do, are you?” Olivier asked bluntly.

Her mother looked over at her, a bit of twinkle in her eye. “Not in the least.”

Olivier sighed once again. “Fine. Miles!”

Miles appeared next to her, and Olivier heard her mother sigh. Olivier paid it no mind. They had told her she could pick her own attendant, and so pick him she had. Miles was a married man with two daughters, and loyal to a fault. Olivier knew he was trustworthy, even if her parents had been a bit skeptical.

“Olivier, how are you supposed to catch the eye of a man if you’ve always got your attendant with you?” her mother asked.

Olivier was already standing and attaching her sword to her side. “Mother, if they’re not paying attention to me by now, considering you two set this up specifically so I’d be the center of attention, then they’re obviously not interested.”

Her mother sighed, but Olivier paid it no mind. Instead, she left the dais and headed down the stairs to the floor, Miles right beside her.

“Miles, pick me the least obnoxious ones, please.”

“I’ll do my best, Princess.”

The next hour was spent dancing with man after man. Miles did a good job picking them out. They weren’t bad men—or they wouldn’t be with a few more years on them—but they definitely didn’t catch her interest. They were either, too conniving, too awestruck, or too spinless. Finally, she signaled to Miles that she needed a break, and he nodded. She walked away to the gardens, ignoring the guards that were there, and took a breath of fresh air.

And that was when she realized that she wasn’t alone.

Her head whipped quickly towards the intruder, and her hand rested on the pommel of her sword. But the other person didn’t advance on her, just held up his hands, showing he wasn’t armed.

“Hey, woah, it’s okay, I’m sorry!” the man said. “I didn’t mean to startle you.” He stepped out of the shadows. “I’m just a regular guy, see? Not a bear.”

Olivier looked him over. He was quite large, with a black mohawk and a thin mustache. What really caught her eye, though, was his hand. It appeared to be made of… glass?

“Who are you?” she demanded of him, not having drawn her sword, but still prepared to. “And why would you say you’re not a bear?”

“Oh, uh, well, you see, people tend to think I’m a bear a lot,” he said. “I’m not sure why, exactly, but it does come in handy most of the time.” He grinned. “Or at least, I think it does.”

Olivier relaxed a little. It appeared that this man was just a guest. And honestly, an amusing one so far. “I can see where that would be useful. Do you mind if I stay out here?”

“No, Princess,” he said. “Its your palace, your gardens.”

She hummed at that. He was right, of course, but she really had just wanted to make sure he wasn’t going to go running off inside and tell everyone where she was. Miles was only one man, after all. He could only hold back so many people from disturbing her.

She leaned on a railing and eyed the man out of the corner of her eye. He seemed to be content just to be here. “Is your hand made of glass?”

The man looked down at it. “Whole arm, actually. I’m not sure how it works, but that strange man gave it to me, and it’s been functional.”

Olivier raised an eyebrow. “Strange man?”

The man nodded. “Yeah. Wore really tacky and loud shirts. He said my other arm was too greasy and needed too many repairs, so he gave me this one for the night.” The man shrugged. “I don’t think it’d be much good in a fight, but it lets me eat, at least.”

Olivier turned more towards him, looking him up and down and evaluating the man. “…would you like to find out?” she asked, her finger tapping the pommel of her sword.

He apparently didn’t miss that, and his eyes lit up. “I’d love to test it. Are you sure you’re able to, Princess?”

She drew her sword and got into a stance. “The Armstrong royalty has trained in the art of self-defense for generations. If I can’t fight in a ballgown, then I’m no good to anyone.”

The man grinned and dropped into a stance of his own. “I can’t say I’ve done much fighting in clothes like these, but this should be fun.”

“Prepare yourself,” Olivier said, and that was all the warning she gave before she was charging at him.

The man was quicker than he looked, and he dodged to the side, narrowly missing her blade. He reached out to grab at her, and she spun away, hair and skirt flaring out. She wasted no movement, and charged at him again, aiming for that arm of his. This time, he raised it, and caught a glancing blow from her blade, letting it slide off. He pushed her off of him, and she paused for a moment. The man looked at his arm and grinned. Olivier figured that it must still be in good shape, and so she charged again. This time, he used the arm to block a direct blow, and when the glass appendage held up, he grinned more.

They continued this back and forth fighting dance, until the bells rang, and he turned, startled, just as her blade came down on his shoulder. He let out a bit of a pained sound then, and Olivier saw his arm suddenly sinking lower. The man cursed as his glass arm slid out of his sleeve. Olivier darted forward to catch it.

“Sorry,” he said, “Its been fun, but I gotta go.”

“Wait—you what?” Olivier said.

“Gotta run!” he said. “Thanks for the fight, Princess!”

The man was already moving away, heading through the gardens at a breakneck speed.

“Wait—your arm!”

“Keep it!” came the call.

“What was your name!”

There was no answer.

“Stop! What was your name! Come back here!”

But he was either too far away or was ignoring her commands. Either way, Olivier didn’t like it. Miles, who had been watching them, came out at her raised voice.

“Princess?”

“I want the man this arm belongs to, Miles,” she growled out. “I want to find him.”

Miles, for his part, didn’t even blink at the fact she was holding a working glass arm and that there was an armless man running around somewhere. He just responded “Yes, Princess,” and set to work.

It turned out that finding a one-armed man wasn’t that hard to do. However, finding a particular one-armed man was a lot harder. Olivier, Miles, and an unfortunately conspicuous royal entourage had made their way to every province, city, and town in the country with no luck. Olivier found herself getting more and more frustrated with each failure. How hard was it to find a big man with a black mohawk who was missing an arm?

Well, it didn’t help that many men who were missing arms dyed and cut their hair. Or that more than a few people tried faking having a metal arm.

The house they were rolling up on had to be the last house that existed, and as the carriage rolled up, several men stepped out. None of them, she noticed, were missing an arm. Still, they had the general look of the man, so she got out to ask them some questions. They bowed to her, and one made the offer of tea, but Olivier was in no mood.

“Tell me—is this everyone from your household?”

“Yes,” one replied. “This should be all of us.”

“And you’re sure there’s no one more?”

“Not in our house, your majesty.”

Something seemed off, and she narrowed her eyes. “You’re positive?”

There was an exchange of looks between some of the younger ones. Olivier rested her hand on her sword. “Well?” she demanded.

“…What’s going on?”

There was a new voice coming from the forest, and the entire party turned to see who it was. He was carrying a load of firewood, but the man was large, with a black mohawk, and a metal arm. And, Oliver was pretty sure she heard one of the guards that road with them flinch back and say something about a bear.

“You,” Olivier said. “You have a metal arm, correct?”

The man looked at them. “Yeah, up to the shoulder.”

“Your right arm?”

“Yes, Princess.”

“Take it off.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. Take it off.” She nodded to Miles, and he gestured for two of the other attendants to pull the glass arm from the carriage. “I want you to try this one on.”

The man blinked at her, and then grinned. “Alright,” he said, dropping his load of firewood. He reached up and took off his shirt, first, revealing all of his arm, and then pressed the releases that would detach his metal arm. Instead of falling to the ground with a clunk, he was fast enough to reach out and grab it before it hit the ground. He sat it on the dropped wood, and allowed the attendants to come closer and put the arm in. It clicked in, fitting perfectly, and he flexed it around. No one had even been able to get it to fit before now.

“Huh. It still works. I had wondered.”

“You’re the one from the ball. The one who fought with me.” Olivier said.

The man grinned. “Yes, Princess. I didn’t think you’d have this much interest in a handy man like me.”

“What’s your name?” she asked him.

“They call me Buccaneer.”

Olivier glanced at the house, the grounds, and the other men standing there. “Then, Buccaneer, how would you like to come back to the palace with me and become my husband?”

Buccaneer grinned again and reached out with his glass arm to take her hand and kiss it. “Princess, it would be my honor.

Olivier smiled back at him. “Good.”

And they lived happily ever after.

#writersmonth2021 #Olivier Mira Armstrong #captain buccaneer #Major Miles #Olivier x Buccaneer #fma #Fullmetal Alchemist #fma fanfic #fullmetal alchemist fan fiction

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vicctm · 3 years ago

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hey look, it’s victor donavon! they’re thirty eight years old, they’ve lived in shrike heights for 2 years, and they’re currently working as the hr director. i heard they’re pretty uncompromising, but i think they’re so passionate at the same time. can they make it out alive?

Biography

{TW: Violence, parental death, alcoholism, marijuana}

Victor Donavon, born in 1949, date unknown, in California. Adopted first son of Bernard and Carol Donavon, a wealthy couple in love. For the first 12 years of his life, Victor was the apple of his parents eyes. A genius when it came to academics and numbers, he received praise both in school and from family for his intellect. He got anything he wanted, and every summer was a trip somewhere new. Was he spoiled? Perhaps a bit, but who wouldn’t spoil their only child if they could

Everything came crashing down with the birth of his brother Jerimiah when he was 12 years old. Suddenly he wasn’t his parents pride and joy anymore, he felt more like an after thought than anything else after a few years. Nothing he did seemed to phase them, whether it was good or bad, he’d get a wave of the hand and some cash to solve his troubles. He was obsolete, an old model they didn’t need anymore. He graduated top of his class, and the only person that was their was his grandmother. Jeremiah did give him an adorable macaroni art piece of the two of them though, which he still has.

He moves to New York for college, business and management classes, anything to get away from a house where he felt like an outsider with everyone but a kid. He learns about himself, and falls in love with a boy he meets in a street. His name is Hugh and he convinces Victor to start writing like he’s always wanted to. Victor is close to confessing his love for him nearing his 20th birthday when he gets a call that changes his life. His short lived freedom is just that, short lived, as he receives news of his parents death. Parents he hasn’t talked to or heard from in almost two years.

He returns home hollow, and sorts out the affairs of his parents estate in a daze. He puts half of it in a trust for Jerimiah. He doesn’t even touch his half for over a decade. He doesn’t return to New York, he’s a different person now and he’s got Jerimiah to take care of. They settle down in Seattle, and develop a new normal. All Victor does is work and raise Jerimiah, dreams of writing gone and repressed along with memories of Hugh. But it’s okay with him because Jerimiah needs to him more than Victor needs a break. He starts to spiral due to stress, and gets meaner due to it. Him and Jerimiah are constantly at each others throats. It takes Jerimiah crying and shoving him into a table, only 17 years old, threatening to leave and never come back for him to get the help he needs, to deal with what happened to their family.

Jerimiah moves to go to medical school, it’s hard for both of them, having relied on each other for so long. Victor is 35 years old and has no friends and no life and hasn’t ever done anything for himself in over 15 years, and he stands at the airport where Jerimiah just left for Massachusetts. He remembers standing at the airport in New York in the middle of the night, and then he remembers Hugh and the two years they spent creating together. He realizes he could write now, if it wasn’t too late then it couldn’t be too late now.

He’s in Shrike Height’s half a year later, an apartment just for himself in a quiet town that can give him solace to write. He still works, wouldn’t be able to function without the ritual of it. At first for a warehouse and distribution center, but he only makes one friend there, who hates it as much as he does. Through them, he learns that Shrike Mall is hiring for their own HR department soon, and decides that a mall would be much more interesting than a paper company. He’s got 13 years of experience, and lands the job easily.

Personality:

Victor is very rigid with most people, though that's really because he’s never taken the time to socialize before. He always took his job in HR so seriously he wouldn’t even mention he had a brother to coworkers in the past. However, he’s since mellowed out and has been attempting to be better about this. He’s a great conversationalist once he becomes comfortable with someone.

Once you get to know him he’s very caring, and his love language is physical touch. He doesn’t care about people he isn’t close to, at all. Though he’s a bit touch starved because the only person he’s been close with recently was his brother, and a few short lived flings back in Seattle. He also has a tendency towards buying things for people he likes, and passing it off as though he just had to get rid of it.

Once he decides something it’s very rare that he changes his mind. He never thought twice about taking in his brother, and he trusts in his own judgement more than he cares to consider anyone else’s opinion on his life, or things he has control over.

Has a well hidden sweet tooth, but would deny it to his grave.

Likes to smoke weed on occasion, especially if he’s having writers block or just wants to relax and wine isn’t cutting it.

Victors all time favorite genre to both read and write is horror, and while he came to Shrike Heights to get inspiration to write his first book, he never expected this. He’s an observer at heart, and is more intrigued by the reason and motive of the killers and why it’s all happening at once at the moment, than he is with the deadly consequences.

Wants to fall in love and is a romantic deep down, but doesn’t know if he should open himself up like that in Shrike Heights because he isn’t sure he’ll remain living here longer than a few years. He is still on the fence, and deciding how much he likes Shrike Heights and its antics.

Is becoming more and more susceptible to peer pressure because he is in fact very lonely

Connections!

Apartment neighbors/floormates

Fwb: Someone he would’ve met before getting the HR job, at a bar within his first few months of coming into town. This is so we could maybe have some drama of the fact that he’s in the HR dept for the mall now and they also work there, which is something he wouldve written someone else up a few years ago

Smoke buddies

down to spit ball as well :)

#shrikeintro #this is way too long i am so sorry jkdfvdj #feel free to message on discord to plot!

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