#tangential tuesday replies

[faejilly]

@rebelren requested the deeply complimentary if slightly broad "I WANT TO KNOW ALL YOUR RICKY/ESTHER THOUGHTS" and I have so many thoughts

let's see where I ramble, huh? There is no plan here? This is mostly just season 1 stuff because that's where I am in my very slow attempt at fic writing.

They very much have a Lois and Clark vibe to me and that is one of my foundational OTPs, so.

She's too smart and sharp for almost everyone else she's ever met but that is in fact what he likes about her. He's deeply impossibly committed to actually being nice and kind and doing the right thing ALL THE TIME without any ability to tell how that's even more unusual than his superpowers absurd good looks and physical abilities and she recognizes that about him.

Ricky is not subtle about his crush on Esther, but he is completely respectful about it. He texts her whenever he has a thought, but that's because he wants her thoughts back, not because he's trying to make her think about him, if that makes sense?

I spent most of the first campaign being very 'she likes him back?' but not sure if I really thought that based on anything she was doing, or I thought that was how the story was being built/structured and it was just gonna... happen. And I was honestly fine with that because Brennan and Zac have such good chemistry, plus the aforementioned respect in approaching the relationship, so I was just gonna take what I got and be happy about it.

BUT on a rewatch (or transcript re-read on the wiki) it becomes increasingly obvious surprisingly early that she is INCREDIBLY KEYED IN ON RICKY AT ALL TIMES and it makes me *pterodactyl screech* a lot A LOT A LOT:

See how quickly she responds to all his texts every time! In group settings even if she hasn't said anything lately she'll usually answer a Ricky-question before anyone else can! She legitimately seems to enjoy figuring out how to rephrase things she's said that were too academic for him to follow!

Like, she's not just humoring him, she is in fact interested in how his mind works and the way he feels his way around information whether or not he understands it in at all the way that she does.

Usually not, obviously, but that doesn't mean his perspective isn't valuable to her.

And also funny, sometimes entirely on purpose, which is again a Lois/Clark thing because Clark is absolutely a bit of a troll about making terrible Superman jokes for no one except himself and eventually also Lois, and Ricky and Esther give me the same "we're in this nonsense together" vibes whenever Zac managed an especially good dumb-but-hilarious-and-not-actually-stupid Ricky line.

I guess what I'm getting at there is that, even beyond the quality chemistry and adorkableness, they genuinely enjoy each other's company, yk? They like each other even when there's an invisible barrier that the audience (and Ricky) can only sort of tell is there that prevents a deeper relationship/understanding during s1.

There's a really good line in a fic, tenets of devotion by fensandmarshes: "[Ricky] took his Oath of Redemption to the world; he took Devotion to Esther, he thinks, no matter that that’s not really a thing." which is I think incredibly accurate and is a thing I am weak for, the conscious deliberate explicit choice to devote yourself to a person because they are perfect for you (even if you are completely aware of their supposed flaws and weaknesses and humanity at the same time). THEY'RE BOTH JUST SO COMMITTED Y'ALL, I'M LOVE THEM.

While I have no problem with inter-party romance and am deeply fond of battle couples and all that stuff, I do think it's important that Esther is not an active party member, and while incredibly competent at it, is not explicitly designed for combat in the same way the PCs are, because despite his skillset, Ricky is pretty damn conflict adverse personality-wise, so it's nice his partner is a research nerd and not usually a combatant.

Because Ricky never wanted a blade. He accepted the Questing Blade but he didn't choose it, it chose him. (Obviously his weapon-searching-arc in s2 makes me feral. Someday I will manage fic about it, hopefully?)

This is a recurring theme in TUC actually, that except for Cody who is definitely the other side of that coin on purpose (sorry not sorry) most of the PCs and their primary NPC friends/relatives/whatever did not go looking for magic or power, but DID accept the responsibility once it happened. (This adds a nice depth to their relationship, the fact that part of why they're careful getting together is that sense of responsibility, so I'm including it here even though it's more about the setting/campaigns rather than Ricky/Esther specifically.)

They have not even been on a date and her curse is broken and they are immediately "let's live a dangerous life together" aka they are my favorite kind of batshit, 100/10, no notes

(I mean, obviously I have a lot of notes. I have all these things I just wrote down, and a fic about the almost-year before s1, and one about the campaign itself from Esther's POV, and a thing about Ricky cataloguing all the ways he'd broken the tenets of his Paladin Devotion Oath as part of his transition to Redemption, and a thing that takes place between campaigns that is mostly smut and crying for probably obvious reasons, and a s2 epilogue mostly about the proposal, (not currently anything during s2 unlike Esther's POV for s1, but I suppose that might change if I ever figure out the stuff that takes place before it), and possibly an AU where the curse wasn't broken before the final battle so when Ricky dies, Esther falls, and an entirely different Curse Breaking Thing After That, so.

So many notes.)

[badolmen]

GRAD SCHOOL 👀

[whatifxwereyou]

The Oncoming Storm Part 23: Flesh and Bone

Liu Kang x Reader and Kung Lao x Reader (gonna do both, two paths!)

You find the springs- and it exceeds your expectations but perhaps not in the way you had hoped it would. Something wicked is unfolding.

A/N: I'm going out of town tomorrow but I will do my best to get back to replies as often as I can! Your feedback gives me life <3 I'll be back on Tuesday. You guys probably won't even notice I'm gone, since I've somehow managed to miraculously write enough to cover the space where I won't be around! I'm going to see my family for the first time since the pandemic ;___; !!

Part 22 Part 24 Chapter Index

You drew closer to the wave of clouds above you, and it wasn’t long until you were engulfed by them. It was like the most intense fog you’d ever been in. You had scoured the cliffside for caves along the way but found nothing of note. You stopped walking once you were completely surrounded by the clouds and had long since let go of Liu Kang’s hand.

There was that feeling again. As though you had been lost in this fog before and yet you had never been there. It made you dizzy and you lost sight of Liu in the fog. You could see that man from your vision, walking in front of you, then to the left of you, then to the right. Your head spun and when you closed your eyes, you felt lost. But you weren’t. You knew this place even if you’d never been there. The vision in your head knew it.

You turned and the clouds felt misty on your skin. It was as if you had lost your body and were watching yourself walk through the fog blindly in search of something you weren’t sure that you wanted to find. Then suddenly, very suddenly, as if you were being pulled out of a dream, Liu Kang stood in front of you. Your body was yours again. His right hand was bathed in fire and the shadows it cast on his face were haunting and beautiful.

“Wake up, Y/N.”

He urged his hand to your arm and forced you to look at him. You gasped, your lungs having once again forbidden you air. You closed your eyes tight to shake off the feeling and then searched around you. It was too foggy to tell how far you’d gone but you had the distinct feeling that it hadn’t been very far at all. Liu’s relief was palpable and with a wave of his hand the fire was gone, leaving you in the cold mist of the clouds.

His grip was tight on your arm, as if he were worried that you would walk off again. You caught your breath, chest aching with the lack of it, and knit your brow. “How… how did you know?”

“I just knew.” The concern on his face was valid but the admiration was unexpected. “You’re like flickering lamplight, Y/N. The shadows cast by my flame. I know when you’re not there.” Your tongue was suddenly far too big for your mouth and your heart hurt. You should have kissed him. That was the most romantic thing you had ever heard in your whole damn life. But your chest was aching and your hands were trembling with the fear of losing control of your body. “Do you think that you could lead us using your vision? If it’s taking control of you like that then it clearly wants us to go somewhere.”

“I’m… I can try but I’m afraid.” You were still struggling with air and words. “I don’t know if it’s a good thing it’s leading us. I walked off on Kung Lao and nearly drowned myself yesterday when my vision took over.”

“It’s okay, Y/N. I won’t let go of your hand.” He let his hand move from your arm and down to your fingertips. He leaned closer and whispered. “Trust yourself as much as you trust me.” He stepped back, still holding your hand. You had to try. He was right. If you trusted your gut and it went horribly wrong then Liu would make sure you didn’t jump off a cliff. He was staring back at you, completely relaxed. He trusted you. You could feel it. How could you have ever doubted that? You weren’t sure where to begin but you started with turning off your inner critic. You were unsteady on your feet, unsure of yourself.

“Are you okay?” You couldn’t help but ask. He took both of your hands and walked backwards in front of you which you felt like was a mistake.

“Keep going, Y/N. I trust you. Close your eyes and follow your vision. I will make sure that we’re safe.”

“I…”

“Trust yourself, Y/N.”

You didn’t, that was clear to you both. With a deep exhale, you closed your eyes and then walked. When you walked, Liu walked. You led him blindly along the path through the clouds. The more you walked without plummeting to your deaths, the more confident you felt. And you were in control, which was nice. You walked until he stopped suddenly in front of you, as if he’d run into something. You stumbled into him, letting go of one of his hands to catch the stone behind him, body pressed against his. Eyes fluttering open, Liu let go of your other hand and instead rested both against the sides of your neck. Despite their warmth, they gave you chills.

His thumb brushed over the bruised skin on your neck, other hand gently caressing its way up to your cheek, thumb just beneath your eye. His hands were callused and strong, still somehow soft, controlled just like the rest of him. He had this way of drinking you in, of making you feel like you were something precious and special. You got goosebumps. The pitter-patter of your heart was betraying you, pressed against him like this and it was warranted for more reasons than you could count. The most important of those reasons was Liu Kang.

“You did it,” he whispered but his eyes were on your lips.

“I found it.” You smiled in realization and got the chills. That was a wonderful feeling. It was the first time in ages where you’d trusted your gut and it hadn’t wound up in a complete mess. Without thinking you buried yourself against Liu’s chest, hands gripping at his shirt. You closed your eyes tight and took deep calming breaths.

Don’t get upset.

Don’t cry in front of Liu Kang even if they were happy tears. It had been so long since you’d felt that good.

“What? What is it?” He could sense that you were trying not to get upset and he tucked your hair behind your ear, fixing the flower that had come loose.

“Nothing. I’m just happy.”

“Okay…?”

You lifted yourself from his chest and straightened your posture, but you were hopelessly pressed against him. “So much of these last few weeks with healing and my arcana and the visions… it’s felt like such failure. I’m trying so damn hard and still it seems impossible. One thing after another keeps going wrong and I’m just so grateful to have something work out.”

“Y/N, just because it doesn’t work out how you expect it to, doesn’t mean it’s a failure. You’re learning. Please… be kind to yourself. The shadow hanging over you isn’t any fault of yours. From where I’m standing? You’re doing well.”

God, he was the cutest. So damn sweet. “Thank you, Liu. Thank you for grounding me too. I needed it.”

“Don’t credit me with that. You grounded yourself, Y/N. I just reminded you how to breathe.” He gently took one of your hands from where it was balled up in his shirt and held it in his.

“It’s funny. Sometimes I feel like my brain is such swirling chaos that I’m going to float away, like a leaf on the wind. You have this way of bringing me back and keeping me firmly rooted to the branch.”

“I’m happy to make sure that you don’t float too far for too long if you need me to.” Liu let go of your hand and turned his gaze to his left. His smile faded.

“What? What is it?” You touched his face this time, fingers gently brushing over his cheekbones that curved so perfectly when he smiled. You’d never done that before. He was so handsome that it felt forbidden to touch him.

“Now is not the time. Later. I promise. We have things to do.”

“Yeah. The cave.” You nodded to your right. You hadn’t seen the cavern yet but you knew it was there. He offered a nod to agree.

“Raiden theorizes that these places are protected and changed by the magic that the man from your vision used. He considered that the artifacts could be toxic. The dotaku you found was probably tainted with evil intent in some way.”

“Great, because I had that thing pressed all up against me for way too long.” You frowned. “The monks there said something about it being cursed, too.”

“You seem fine other than the bruises. And the anxiety but I don’t know if that’s related.”

“Tangentially so.” You smiled but then frowned. Kung Lao had been pale that morning. You hoped that he was taking care of himself. “Let’s get this over with.” You stepped away from him, realizing you had essentially pinned him to the wall. He reached into his pockets and pulled out two keychain sized flashlights. He offered one to you and you took it with a smile. “I’m glad one of us was prepared to go into a cave.”

“It was a last-minute purchase.” He admitted with a shrug. The cavern opening, now that you saw it, was not inviting. You never would have found it without your vision. It was less like a cave mouth and more like a fissure. You’d have to stand sideways and scoot inside which was incredibly unappealing. You had to do it though, you reminded yourself.

So, against every instinct in your body, you pressed yourself between the stone walls and scooted. It was uncomfortably tight and you’d had to adjust several times to make it through. If you’d told yourself months ago that you would be doing this then you would have never believed yourself. Liu was right behind you and you helped each other through difficult spaces. Finally, the fissure opened up and you gasped at what lay beyond the tight opening. The air was so humid it was difficult to breathe and there were pools of water glimmering with bioluminescent light. Usually, you would have thought it was beautiful but there was something inherently sinister about it.

The air was foreboding. Liu joined you at your side as you studied the cave that went back into the darkness far beyond your tiny flashlights.

“It’s like the exact opposite of the springs back in the temple.”

“Something dark has corrupted it.” He frowned then walked right into the water like it was nothing. At its deepest point it was up to his thighs.

“You just jump right into that probably cursed water, huh?”

“Yes, and you should join me. I have a feeling that it’s going to be quite a walk and the only way through is in the water.”

“You’re probably right. Is this the opposite of holy water, you think?” You joined him and he offered a shake of his head at your bad joke. You trudged together through the water, following the only path there was to take. You lit your way with the tiny flashlights but even combined it didn’t do much for you. The bioluminescent plant life growing in the pools helped you at least find your path and you were sure if you needed to then Liu would use his fire. It was eerie. In the distance, there was the sound of falling water and it grew ever louder as you approached.

You finally pinpointed what the bad feeling was. It was like you weren’t supposed to be there, and the cave wanted you out. You knew that this was where you were meant to be and whatever wanted you out was that artifact.

“Careful.” You gestured to another fissure in front of you but this one was half full of water. It went on longer than the first one had, and you’d briefly panicked halfway through. Liu had helped you and then you had helped him when he’d gotten stuck at the end. It didn’t get any better after that. The next fissure was lower, and the water was up to his shoulders which meant you had to swim and squeeze your way through.

“Just hold your breath.” He encouraged and you looked to him skeptically but did your best. The water got down your throat a few times as it splashed around your face, but you managed your way through it. Liu continued right behind you, and it was made much more difficult when the path shrunk at the end. He’d nearly gotten stuck. That would have been a disaster. That cavern was low, and the water was so high you had to swim. The sound of water falling was no longer distant but very close. You searched the small corridor with your flashlight, but it was flickering after being submerged in the water. “Where do we go?” He searched above the water but there was barely any space above you.

“You’re going to hate it.” You pointed with an unhappy groan at the cavern beneath the water, completely submerged. This was a nightmare.

“You’re right, I do.” He shook out his wet hair. You ducked beneath the water, allowed your eyes to adjust to the warmth of it and cringed. It was uncomfortable. The springs in your vision had been small and modest. It was like they’d spread like cancer throughout the cavern thanks to that man and whatever artifact he’d hidden there. Then you came back up and turned to him. “Wish me luck.”

“Good luck, Y/N.”

You ducked beneath the water again, held your breath, and then made your way through the tunnel as quickly and carefully as your body would allow. Just as you thought your lungs would give out, you found a space at the very top of the tunnel that was above the water. It was barely enough for you to tilt your head up and regain your breath but it was more than you needed.

Then you ducked under again and were grateful when the cave opened up and you could bring your head above water into a much, much larger space. The water was way deeper there too and you gasped greedily for breath. Then you turned and waited for Liu Kang to follow you. Seconds later, he popped up next to you, also gasping for breath.

The cavern was huge and you found the source of the rushing water. It poured from an opening above that led to the mountain outside. You caught a glimpse of a tree beyond, but just barely. Water poured from a river from the precipice and down onto two other ledges in between before ultimately falling into the pool that you and Liu had emerged in. There was dry land on either side of the deep pool and you were looking forward to it. Never again if you could avoid it.

Liu reached for your hair to push it back and looked disappointed to find that the flower had gone. You searched the water for it and sighed. You’d forgotten it was there. “Sorry.” You pouted and he smiled anyway. The air in the chamber was heavy and you were set on edge, like something terrible could happen at any moment. Liu was moving toward the shallower water and talking but you couldn’t hear him. There was a high-pitched squeal in your ears.

Liu called to you, but his voice was distant and fading. You couldn’t quite remember why he would be with you or where you were or what you were doing. You turned in search of him, but he was gone.

You were alone and made your way to the shallower water, crawling out just enough so it was up to your thighs. When you turned back, there was a man standing before you. It was him. The creature from your vision and you saw him plain as day. His skin was gray and mysterious patterns shifted beneath the surface, his white eyes surrounded by red flesh, as if he had never slept a day in his life. He wore a hat that fit to the form of his head and curved up into horns. When you blinked, he was standing uncomfortably close in front of you, and you stumbled back. He sneered and the flesh melted from his face, revealing the fanged skull beneath it.

“Who are…” You tried to ask but you choked on your words as his hand plunged into your chest, tearing at your flesh like it was nothing. Pain radiated through your shoulders, down your stomach, and you were blinded by it. You would have collapsed if he had not been holding you in his death grip. His cold fingers wrapped around your heart and you saw your blood ooze down his arm and drench your shirt.

He was killing you.

You were dying.

When you looked back up at him, he was gone but the pain remained. You collapsed into the water, the ground disappearing from beneath your feet as though you had never step foot upon it. You couldn’t breathe.

But you could hear again. The ringing had stopped, and you could hear combat above the water. Through it, you could see the light of Liu’s arcana as he fought off many creatures you couldn’t make out from there. He was trying to get to you but the shapes were overwhelming him. You watched, as if in slow motion, as one of those shapes burned up. Then he was thrown back into the water with a splash and the fire was doused with a hiss of steam.

You panic-swam to the surface. Liu was being held beneath the water by skeletal creatures in tattered robes and tarnished jewelry. They were pulling him further into the deep pool. You grasped at your chest suddenly and discovered there was no wound. It had been an illusion or a vision or something.

There was no time. You had to get to Liu.

You bashed the creature aside that had been pushing him under but there were others pulling him further and further. Taking a deep breath, you dove into the water and willed your ink into your jian. You hadn’t been certain it would work under the water but were pleased to find that it was solid. You slashed one of the creatures to pieces and swam out of the way of another. Then you knocked the one holding Liu away.

He was struggling to keep his breath, hand grasped over his mouth. You pushed his hand aside and pressed your lips to his, offering him the little breath you had left. Then you urged your arm under his and helped kick to the surface. You both gasped for breath, and he coughed up water. You urged him back behind you, defending you both with the jian so he had a chance to regain himself and get to dry land.

The moment he had his footing, he grasped at the natural energy around him and bathed his fists in fire. He twisted and threw the flames and several of the skeletal creatures stumbling toward you burned up. But they didn’t stay down for long. Either they rebuilt themselves or there were tons of them. You twisted with your jian, ducking, and slicing at them as they drew closer, finishing them off when Liu’s fire didn’t.

“This isn’t working!” He coughed as more of them crawled out of the water toward you.

“There’s too many.” You backed up to join him on the small shoreline. If these things kept crawling back to life, then you would be at this until you were exhausted and one of you slipped up. You had to do something drastic. You’d mimicked Kung Lao in Japan but you hadn’t been sure how you’d done it. Could you mimic other things? “You thought that my arcana could mimic things, right?”

“Yeah, you mimicked my hand when you first showed me. Haven’t had much time to train, have we?”

“Could you keep me safe while I try something?”

“Of course.” Liu stepped in front of you and, fists still engulfed in flame, and went after the creatures as they came close. Watching him fight was amazing. It was almost like a dance. Stepping back to offer him more space to fight, you worked with your ink magic. You’d been able to draw with it when you’d been fighting against the tar creature in Japan so why not try that?

Bracing yourself for the energy it would take, you focused on the creatures as they fell beneath Liu’s skilled hands. He stepped back from them and bounced in ready position, extinguishing his fire. You focused only on the space and your ink, your will to make it. Your mind cleared of all other thoughts. Liu stepped back in surprise as you drew solid walls around the creatures, and they filled with ink. Then you slammed your hands together and the walls crushed the creatures trapped within. You felt the crash of those walls rattle through your arms and into your shoulders.

“Damn.” Liu turned to you with admiration. You relaxed your posture but didn’t get to do so for long. Water exploded in a fountain and rained down over you. A huge creature made of bones and skulls rose from the water. It hissed and creaked awkwardly. Its many arms wielded old, rusted weaponry. You summoned your jian back into your hand and stepped up next to Liu who turned back into his stance, hands bathed in fire again.

You waited for the creature to strike. It raised its arms and swung down toward you. You leapt away from the blows. Liu ducked under another and set the arm ablaze and then kicked another back. You leapt over the one he’d kicked and sliced it at the arm and then cut another that was grasping for Liu. You ducked low, rolled back and then knocked the weapon out of another’s grasp. You were always aware of where Liu Kang was. It was unlike any other fight you’d ever been in. It was almost like you’d choreographed it before you’d started. You were so in tune with each other’s energy that you could sense what he was about to do before he did it. You stepped back to allow Liu to keep the creature at bay and with the jian as a pen, you created a heavy chain with ink that attached to the shore. It dripped and then crystallized into form, wrapping around the creature.

Liu rolled over the chain and then knocked the creature back as it pulled, trying to free itself with wild thrashing. Liu flipped backwards and threw fire at the creature that then swatted at him, howling in agony. You leapt atop the chain and ran closer to the creature. You flipped atop the mass that held its many arms. It swung at you wildly and you leapt to the other side of its many heads. With a flourish you drew another chain to wrap around the creature but before you could finish, you were grabbed and thrown back toward the shore.

Liu leapt and caught you, and then gracefully set you down. You bounced to your feet, and you finished the chain and then spun low to the ground, smacking your hand against the stone so that it locked next to the first one. The monster couldn’t move far now but you had to finish it off before you ran out of steam, or it found a way to escape.

Liu nodded toward the creature that thrashed at the chains. They groaned beneath the force. It wouldn’t be held much longer. You threw your jian and it faded into ink and then you mimicked the water, and a wave of ink coated the creature. Ink was flammable. It would smell horrible, but you hoped it would work. “Now, Liu!”

He stepped back, braced his footing and his hand was engulfed in flame, so much so that his flesh seemed to glow orange and crack with bright light. Ducking low, he swung upward and from the water behind the creature, a massive dragon made of fire and lava rose high above it. With a low crouch and a spin of his arms, he slammed his hand to the ground and the dragon opened its great maw and attacked the creature. The ink caught fire just as you had hoped and the creature howled, consumed by flame. Then it stopped thrashing and began to fall toward you with the last bit of its strength.

The shore wasn’t wide enough for you to stay on it, so you grabbed Liu’s arm and you ran from the creature that swept toward you, ablaze, and leapt into the water together. The creature fell after you, its bones scorching and disintegrating as it did. You dove deep beneath the water but as you made your way to the opposite shore, it grabbed your ankle and pulled. You choked and your breath escaped, and you got a mouthful of water and had to resist the urge to breathe and swallow. You fought against the creature’s fading grasp but your lungs were aching so badly that you could do little but kick and flail upward and hope it got you there.

But then Liu’s arm was around you and he pulled you free of its grasp and dragged you above the water. You choked and spat out water, but your lungs were in agony. He pushed your hair back and held you above the water. “Breathe! Breathe, Y/N!”

“Trying.” You croaked and water sputtered past your lips. It was burning at your throat and your lungs, but he had gotten to you before it had gotten worse. You dragged each other to the opposite shore and then Liu urged you to lay back so you could focus on breathing. Then he collapsed on his back next to you to do the same.

[lacependragon]

cakeandpi replied to your post: cakeandpi replied to your post “This is going to...

No child death! There is also a pregnant woman and neither she nor her unborn child die (which I mention bc it could be tangential to the child death issue)

Pregnancy death is an entirely different can of worms for me, and one that is just as bad. So thank you for bringing that up. Definitely going on the agenda. Just as soon as Ashley goes back to work on Tuesday, because she took four days off for Animal Crossing (and self isolation for safety) and she can’t do horror movies.

[selenelavellan]

loekas replied to your post “TMI Tuesday”

I'm on a Star Wars kick right now, so what are your thought on an au with Rey!Selene and Kylo Ren!Dirthamen. Snoke can be either Mythal or Falon'Din. Or maybe Falon'Din is Hux?

I still haven’t seen The Last Jedi, so I don’t really know enough about most of these characters to make that call I think. Star Wars has been on my blacklist since it dropped so I haven’t seen anything even tangentially related to it in months.

Based on ep 7 I do like Reys backstory for Selene though? Left abandoned on a desert planet to scavenge and explore and try to survive on her own would be pretty fitting to her usual stories.

I...don’t like Dirthamen for Kylo Ren <_<.

No hate or offense to anyone who likes the character (I’ve literally only seen 50% of the movies he’s been in, please don’t send me a list of parallels or something if they exist), I’m not like ‘god I hate that guy’ or anything, but I don’t like the idea of him and Rey together (If they get together in ep 8 please, please don’t tell me, let me discover the movie on my own so I can have my own genuine reaction to everything in context) and if anything I am holding a bit of a grudge against him because he fucking killed Han Solo and I liked Han Solo dammit.

I have literally no opinion on Snoke? He seems like an ass by virtue of anyone with power in the Empire is an ass, but I’ve heard in the extra info/universe there’s more to it (again, don’t tell me, please let me learn and experience the movie on my own) . By that same virtue, I’d imagine any of the Evanuris would be a fitting Snoke, because I don’t really have much information about him.

[bomberqueen17]

sarah-jt replied to your photoset “To make up for all my boring healthcare saga posts I’m going to put up...”

The Dick Francis is definitely For Kicks, in case you fancy revisiting it!

ah and here it is on Goodreads! I remember this, it was... oh gosh, and I read all the surrounding ones too. First published 1965! 

I am uncomfortable aware, suddenly, that while all the authors surrounding me in fandom, I mean my contemporaries of a certain age, got their start and inspiration from whatever that genre is, Anne McCaffrey and Mercedes Lackey and all, I definitely, definitely formed my sense of What A Protagonist Is by reading a shitload of Dick Francis. 

His protagonists were always, always these macho, selfless, self-contained, self-disciplined sorts, always, always. Extremely competent, quick on the uptake, not glory-seeking, quiet and unassuming. Self-sacrificing and ruthless all in one, unemotional, but deep down very sensitive, feeling attachments keenly. One recurring protagonist (I think he recurred... all of them were really the same guy, it’s hard to tell) had a Tragically Unrequited Love that was never plot-significant, just a background characterization-- she loved him too, but she was his first cousin and objected to any possible union on those grounds, and that was just that, she wasn’t involved in the plot at all, she just gently broke his heart every now and then, and he Pined Nobly, had loved her since childhood, and it never was resolved, she wouldn’t change her mind, that was that. 

There was another recurring protagonist, I think, who had a wonderful relationship with a great woman who was, I believe, fat and outspoken and very frankly sexual, and she also was uninvolved in the plot, he just came back to her in the end and there was some line with her cackling about the “myth of the vaginal orgasm”, which I being a very young youth was very intrigued by. It was a throwaway line, but that was just part of the guy’s characterization: it was tangential to the plot, but he was madly in love with and extremely happy with this woman, and sort of the moral of the story was that while the evildoer was left with nothing, our Hero was going to go home to this great chick and drink expensive wine with her. (She had inherited some fabulously expensive wine collection and decided instead of selling it she’d drink it, so they’d have $400 bottles of wine on a Tuesday night for no reason and such.)

His characters also were pretty good with the platonic soulmate friends and like, loyalty-unto-death bullshit. I could be painting these somewhat rosily in my mind, but I do feel like there was a refreshing lack of hideous sexism for all Francis’s heyday was the 60s and 70s. 

My runner-up for How To Protagonist is Tony Hillerman, though. I should revisit those books, I’ve no idea how they’d hold up to a reread, but shit, I was so infatuated with them. Unlike Francis, Hillerman wrote all his books on a continuum, so the characters actually grew. His first protagonist started out as a youngish hard-bitten cop and grew into being the secondary character in later books, the Legendary Old Detective, sometime antagonist and sometime mentor to his newer character, the Young Earnest Idealist Cop, and the whole thing had an extra dimension because they were Navajos and worked for the tribal police, and it wasn’t cosmetic, it informed who the characters were from the ground up, their whole idea of justice and morality, up on through the bullshit administrative details like how the FBI had jurisdiction over any federal crimes and so on. And like, the older guy’s wife dies of Alzheimers, and the younger guy was raised by his uncle to be a traditional medicine practitioner and it’s sort of incompatible with being a cop but he still feels so moved to do it, and he gets offers of promotions that would take him off the reservation and has to struggle with the idea of leaving his people, and so on. It’s really fascinating stuff and was just so interesting to me to contemplate in my formative years. 

Anyway. Not like I didn’t read a ton of Anne McCaffrey and feel obligated to put really euphemistic sex scenes into everything I wrote. Also dragons, i was super into those. 

But mostly? Stoic self-sacrificing heroes who are smarter and more sensitive than I let on. Forever. 

[bharatiyamedia-blog]

Radiohead Releases Outdated Thom Yorke Recordings Amid Hacker Ransom Demand

http://tinyurl.com/y6zaoblf What’s a legendary band to do when hackers steal 18 hours of outdated recordings and demand a fats ransom to not launch them? Should you’re Radiohead, the reply is straightforward: launch them your self, with the proceeds going to the combat in opposition to the local weather emergency. As guitarist Jonny Greenwood defined Tuesday in a Facebook post, somebody stole the minidisk archive of singer Thom Yorke final week and demanded $150,000 to maintain it below wraps. Should you’re questioning why the now-ancient know-how of minidisks is concerned, that’s as a result of the demos and out-takes date again to the time round 1997’s seminal OK Pc album. “As an alternative of complaining—a lot—or ignoring it, we’re releasing all 18 hours on Bandcamp in support of Extinction Riot,” Radiohead mentioned. “By no means meant for public consumption (although some clips did attain the cassette within the OK Pc reissue) it’s solely tangentially attention-grabbing.” Radiohead’s legion of diehard followers may disagree on that time, significantly as one recording reportedly options Yorke beatboxing. The recordings can be on sale for 18 days, on the value of £18 ($23). Thom Yorke performs on December 15, 2018 in San Francisco. (Picture by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Photographs) Extinction Riot (typically styled as XR) is an environmentalist motion that has gained prominence in current months via disruptive protests in London that noticed activists gluing themselves to street furniture and the entrance to the London Stock Exchange. Along with Swedish activist Greta Thunberg (No. 6 on this yr’s Fortune World’s Best Leaders listing,) XR has performed a lot to attract public and political consideration to scientists’ warnings that environmental degradation is nearing the purpose of no return. Following the April protests, the U.Ok. Parliament declared a climate change emergency. “Extinction Riot wish to thank Radiohead for his or her reward and gesture of assist in donating the proceeds of the OK Pc Minidisc Bandcamp to Extinction Riot all over the world,” the group mentioned in an announcement. Radiohead isn’t the primary musical act to fall sufferer to hackers. In 2014, Madonna released six tracks ahead of schedule as a result of apparently hacked demos had surfaced on-line. Source link

[faejilly]

@lawsofchaos1 replied to your post “it can be a fic or meta, but if you're feeling...”:

I reblogged this hours ago and have yet to stop thinking about this universe. I. Am. Obsessed.

PLEASE SEND ME ALL YOUR THOUGHTS AND QUESTIONS I WILL ENJOY IT TREMENDOUSLY (and maybe it will help me write the next bit?) and also cackle a little because usually you do that to me 🤣🤣 🥰🥰

@alexanderlightweight reblogged your post “it can be a fic or meta, but if you're feeling...”:

😍😍😍😍 oh I loveeeeeeeeeeeeee how you incorporated the gifts into this. This is brilliant and I love it so much

YOU ARE VERY WELCOME

You are both: one of my favorite writers to read and one of my favorite people to write for, (add @saryn-prime to that as well I'm just bad at keeping in touch lately) SO FEEL FREE TO YELL AT ME ANYTIME <3

@scarlettandcream reblogged your post “it can be a fic or meta, but if you're feeling...”:

Well, well. Kinda a fan of Master Amira, I dare say. Fascinating world building.

Thank you! Amira has been added to my pile of OCs that are working their way into the background of a lot of fic, along with Fuller & Yoshino from the BAU fusion. My brain is a mess, but at least it makes me smile? :D

(Kind of unrelated, both @greentealycheejelly and @foodsies4me included 'so interesting' in their tags and when I am scrolling notifications their icons look kind of similar so I keep thinking just one of the reblogged twice for a split second before I figure it out and I laugh at my own stupid brain every time, so I had to share. And also say thank you for the nice tags 🤣😅😆💖)