#which means one of the majorities is it’s fine to kill the doggo…

[bleue-flora]

You’d be right of course.

Awesamdude - [Foolish, Sam & Q being unhinged-read the chat ;D]

Sapnap - [c!Dream rebuilding c!Tubbo’s house after c!Tommy burned it down]

Tommyinnit [Dream: no more killing, Sapnap: immediately kills Alyssa]

Sooo much lore….

and I mean… it’d be fitting narratively speaking…

[randomnameless]

Rewatching the 2003 FMA anime -

It sure brings back nostalgia, 2003!FMA was the thing that made me hook up on anime/mangas since middle school, looking for OSTs, opening/ending songs, I even went to my first anime convention thanks to FMA (and brought a trinket for 20 euros but i couldn't care at that time, it was merch!) - hell, FMA was the phenomenon that made me discover the world of fanfics and, by extension, "learn" english to browse more fanfics (i know).

20ish years later though...

(i still read fanfics)

Sure, Arakawa told Sony (Dybex?) to make their own stuff and that they did, so judging on the "faithfulness" of the adaptation itself is a moot point - but the story and the characters in themselves?

Sorry -20ish years me, but damn if that anime is full of inconsistencies, i-hope-it-was-non-intentional meanings, retcons and, tbh, the protagonists are, quite frankly? Not likeable at all ?

One of the major plot lines that completely was created from scratch regarding the canon manga, and is the trademark of the 2003!anime, is how human transmutation, aka trying to resurrect the dead, well, doesn't resurrect dead people, but creates a new living being - those beings later are revealed to be homonculi.

FMA, even the 2003 anime, had that part with the living armors battle, where the protagonists wondered what it meant to be called a human, or even what is a human. Alphonse is only a soul tied to an armor, a "living" armor if you want, but Edwards refuses to consider other "livign armors" as less than humans and kill them, because if he does so, he will have to see his own brother as "not human anymore".

And we saw Tucker - a scientists so hellbent on passing his exam that he lit sacrifices his 4 years old daughter and doggo - who has a human body, human soul and human mind : what makes Tucker more "human" than a living armor, or even Alphonse?

Comes the homonculi reveal and one of the main issues of this anime : 2003!Wrath.

When we are introduced to him, he's just a weird kid with mismatched members, who lost his memories, doesn't understand empathy but bar that, he eats, hugs people, bathes just fine.

And yet, the second he is revealed to be a homonculi, a being born from alchemy, he is considered as a monster and something that should be killed, because he should never have existed in the first place.

And who says that?

Not the antagonists of this arc, no, our protagonists, Edward and Alfonse themselves! To sum up, Wrath has been behaving perfectly fine despite his background being a mystery, but when he is revealed to be a non-human being, our protags want to kill him - because he is a homonculi.

Yeah. GG protags.

Earlier we had the confirmation 2003!Wrath's weird mismatched limbs are actually Edward's missing ones, they accuse him of having "stolen" them - which is true ! - but Armstrong (who is more of a joke character in this continuity than in the manga!) asks them the ultimate question, even if his limbs are Edward's, what are they going to do? Sever them to re-attach them to Ed? Of course not, Ed says...

But in the following episode, we have Al fight against 2003!Wrath, asking him to "give back" his arm and leg to Edward...

What is the viewer even supposed to understand here?

Then we have the entire Greed arc - which also ends on a dud, I mean, Edward screams to whoever wants to hear it that's he's going to kill Greed, and then he truly kills him but screams in horror because he killed someone? Dude? - which, thanks to his chimeras and the bond they created, was enough to tell the viewer that those beings, homonculus, aren't monstruous by nature, sure Envy and Lust are asses, but Greed was shown to care about his newfound friends, and could even live with humans?

No, they're still monsters created through Alchemy, they're not human, thus need to die.

WTF?

2003!Wrath's character background basically oozes of pathos/tragedy : sure, he was not the "baby" Izumi lost when she "created" him, and yet, he was still in a baby-like state who was abandoned - and we later learn his wish was to have a mother - and he is furious at the circumstances of his creation, and abandonment.

And then, enters 2003!Sloth, who is a result of the Elrics' human transmutation. For sure they couldn't "look after" her immediately post transmutation - but they, uh, never wondered where the "thing" they created went? What it did? If it died?

(in the manga Pinako says she buried it as she found it dead when she came to their house)

Sure sure, the main villain Dante (Hell hath no Fury like a Woman Scorned : the Villain) conveniently passed by and snagged the "thing" that would later become Sloth, and yet, we're left to wonder, is the sin the alchemists refering to when they're talking about homonculi is the sin of creating them, or the sin of abandoning them?

It's basically the entire thing with Frankestein's creature, what was the biggest sin, to have created him, or treated him like trash?

To Izumi, who tried - but too late - to reach for baby Wrath, his righteous anger and Izumi's mothering tendencies when she immediatly knew "what/who" he was seems to indicate the second option - she feels like dirt for abandoning Wrath.

But when Edward fights 2003!Sloth - there is no introspection, especially as we see her own flashbacks as a thing that was recovered by Dante - and groomed by her - he will merely kill her because she is his "sin" and because she is a homonculus.

Not because of what she did, but because of what she is.

Our hero, everyone.

...

Yeah... and it's not helped at all by the fact that Mustang, maybe one or two episodes later, tells 2003!Pride that he cannot give a fuck about Pride being a human or a homonculus, but he will kill him to avenge Hugues' death and because of his war-mongering actions as the Furher.

Mustang, Armstrong and Pinako (who tells Ed to shut the fuck up when he goes in his spoiled brat mode wanting to beat Mustang for not telling him about Hughes' death and rushing to his own) were really the heroes of this story lol.

Or... not, concerning Mustang himself, and that's where we enter in the disturbing implications stuff from this anime.

2003!Mustang has PTSD from the Ishval war, in the Marco flashback we see him execute orders and basically nearly have a manga!armstrong level of breakdown - but when we see him roasting Ishvalan children, randoms and all, what really pushes him to the edge, and what the showrunners put emphasis on, is the killing of Winry's parents, aka two amestrians.

Who, in this show, accuses him of having killed her parents and bring the tense moments and accusations of war criminal and murderers? Winry, not the two Ishvalan kids whose mom was toasted during the war.

Make no mistake, the death of a civilian, regardless of their nationality, is always a tragedy.

And yet, between the thousands "brown" Ishvalan people and the couple of "white" Amestrians doctors, which death seems to have affected Mustang more? Which one is often brought to the forefront whenever Mustang, Ishval and civilian casualties are mentionned?

Oh I can't tell if it was 2003, but the, uh, depiction of the Ishvals is just...

Like, people really religious, dark skinned, living in a desert, shunning Alchemy (depicted as science and scientific approach here more than in the manga) and being hellbent on doing "God's" work?

Hm.

They stone someone who's a "great sinner", if it wasn't clear, and the one who initiates the massacre of 7k randoms is, well, an Ishvalan claiming to do this in the name of justice.

2003, right.

Oh, and about this incident, Scar justifies it as "the military" having occupied Liore and, well, Rose's ordeal. And yet, the 7k people he sacrifices weren't the ones who were in Liore (they're part of the randoms who were brought by Archer and Mustang!) and assaulted Rose, no, they were just randoms.

And when you compare this anime to Brotherhood, it gives more spoltight to Mustang's cast of randoms, or even has random loldiers in the background (either being annoyed at Armstrong's antics or, when he was alive, at Hughes') so we have some "randoms in the background" depicted with sympathy. And yet they're all killed to make Alphonse in a philosopher's stone, and Al's first reactions is to run around and swim??

7k lives sacrificed for... Al learning how to swim???

In general 2003!Ed'n'Al are my least favourite protagonists, both because they're too impulsive (Ed effing injures Havoc and Fuery!!), rude and, well, act like brats (I mentionned it earlier, but damn if Al asking Wrath to give back his members is just... wtf).

Alfonse himself becomes a prop and doesn't see much fight - doesn't fight at all - when Ed apparently knows how to create automails (what's Winry good for then?) from scraps of metal and their relationship ultimately ends up as Ed always going "I have to save my brother!" which seriously sucked, especially since earlier in the series (during the lab 5 attack!) Ed had faith in Alphonse knowing how to defend himself.

On that topic, the relationship between the brothers seems... really strained. Where was the Ed who finally managed to apologise to Alfonse and Alfonse vowing to tell him everything we had after the Lab 5 incident?

Now Ed physically restrains Al to talk to their father, doesn't tell him (and straight out lies) about excavating Trisha's remains (who is also Al's mom!) when Al keeps secret about Tucker's phone call. Are they even close anymore? IDK.

The brothers don't trust (never did tbh) Pinako and Winry, Mustang and Armstrong, and eventually, don't trust each other anymore - which can even give that ending some sense : they are now separated but why does this even matter anymore?

Remember when they promised not to die for the other, because they refused the pain of living all alone after the first meeting with Scar where Ed was ready to offer his life to have Al be spared?

Well, the ending of this anime basically pisses on this - Ed is "nearly" dead? Alfonse doesn't want that, so he sacrifices his life to make Ed return, even if it means he will die in the process and leave Ed alone. Ed doesnt' want that? So he will sacrifice himself to make Al return, effectively leaving him alone (but he works on irl missiles to return home?).

I remember FMA!2003 being lauded for its mature themes, but what themes are we talking about?

The long monologues some characters deliver to explain their vision of the world, and are never challenged about it? (or it's Ed calling BS to Dante's argument that equivalent exchange sucks)

What it means to be a human? Sure, at the end before dying, Ed seems to realise 2003!Wrath has to be taken care of (like not killing him but providing him real care) because he earlier noticed that he cried real tears with 2003!Sloth died so it's a progression from his "he's a homonculi he needs to die"... and yet, he already had this realisation when he talked to Wrath after another round of "give me back my arm'n'leg" on the top of a roof in Dublith!

It's kind of hard to say whether FMA!2003 is a good anime or not with all the things I've read/watched in the last 20ish years - because Arakawa ended her manga which is imo the best out of the three "tellings" of her story - and while I still love the "Brother" songs to death, part of me is just, very disappointed after revisiting this anime that I used to love.

Like, man, I didn't remember Ed to the POS he is in this anime, aka a character without any growth (he legits insults Armstrong over Ishval in iirc episode 7, only to apologise at the end of the episode because he acted like an ass, to give a "they must have had fun using those weapons in Ishval" at him again in the last episodes...) and Alfonse targetting Wrath to "recover" Ed's limbs - before his "awakening" as a homonculi - will always leave me with a weird feeling.

The OST is good and the animation not that shabby for something over 20 years old, and maybe the younger!me already perceived something was wrong/unlikable with Ed'n'Al, that's why I was looking at fics centered on Mustang's group -

But is it an anime I'd recommand now? Or even call a good anime?

No, not anymore. I'm hopefully not in middle school anymore fwiw and to its credit, in 2003 there wasn't a lot of new stuff or even fantasy anime that was released, and FMA!2003 was something really important and interesting at that time.

If it were to be released today? I'd say it'd maybe warrant a netflix exclusive release.

[letterstothemidnightsociety]

Yesterday I watched the beginnings of The Purge happening in real time and wondered where, exactly, I was, both physically and ecumenically. And since this season of The News is starting off even more ridiculous than the last year’s season, I’m not just gonna bury my feelings, I’m gonna salt and burn them. It’s Supernatural

Alright, previously on SPN, I thought we were finally ramping up on the Main Arc for season 2 and boy was I WRONG. The next few episodes clearly put the Main Quest on the back burner. Which, actually is pretty standard for Supernatural - you get a good run of quest episodes and then a switch to self-contained episodes that just sort of brush up against the season arc.

Next up is “Nightshifter” - a pretty solid stand alone episode about a guy who is definitely not robbing a bank. 

I love Chris Gauthier, our Extra of the Week. Sam really does him dirty by refusing to give him the Truth is Out There deal. I think my biggest question coming out of that whole scene is why??? I mean, cool, Sam’s worried about Ronald Reznik getting killed, I get it, but how is Ronald’s story any different from any number of hunters that they’ve met in their lives? Ronnie even has his own John Winchester Patented Murder Board™. He did do a lot of the leg work for the Winchesters, even if he wasn’t 100% right. In Sam’s defense, Ronald does die almost immediately, but he had a great run. 

You did good, kid. You did good.

More questions that I had about this episode? Special Agent Henriksen. Now don’t get me wrong, I do actually like Henriksen as an antagonist. I appreciate that the show is acknowledging just how shady hunters are. I mean, sure, they’re saving lives and killing evil sonsofbitches, blah blah blah, but also, they are regularly breaking and entering, finding dead bodies, leaving prints at crime scenes, impersonating officials, desecrating graves, not to mention that they are the last person seen with people who end up dead or missing. Like, it was only a matter of time before that came back to bite them. 

Some A+ work from Charles Malik Whitfield

But here's the thing - season 2 already has SO much going on. Like, they gotta avenge their dad and kill the yellow-eyed-demon. On top of that, they gotta keep Sammy from turning evil. Oh and also, they’ve gotta keep Sam safe from other Hunters who might think he’s turning evil, specifically Gordon. Now on top of all that we have to worry about the cops? Now it feels like you’re just throwing obstacles in their path to be a dick. Listing it out like this, it feels like season 2 is turning into a bit of a hot mess? Ok, Because I know that Henricksen comes back as a recurring antagonist, I’m maybe reading too much into it, but the next episode he recurrs in is episode 19 of this same season, so...maybe not? 

As a side note, I’m just gonna reiterate that I like Henriksen. I like him specifically because he is an Antagonist, not a Villain. Same goes for Gordon, in this season at least. They are not Villains in the traditional way this show presents Villains = Monsters. Both Gordon and Henriksen think what they are doing is for the greater good and they’re both going about it within the boundaries of their own moral codes. It’s just that those moral codes are in the way of our Protagonists, the Winchesters, and that’s actually some neat writing, so good job Season 2 Writing Team. 

Next up is “Houses of the Holy”, the first ever SPN episode about angels, and if you know anything about SPN but haven’t seen this episode (or seen this episode in a while), you will laugh out loud at this line: 

AHAH! AHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHahahah.

I will briefly point out that after this line I gave myself a sad by responding to my TV: “Do you need proof Dean? Or do you not believe in angels because that’s easier than thinking they don’t believe in you?” So you know, that’s where I’m at these days. 

And that’s basically it for this episode? I mean, there is a brief mention of the Main (???) Quest (???) when Sam talks about wanting/needing the angel to be real, as it gives him hope that he’s not all evil yet. It’s a nice piece character that comes out in a season that feels very Dean heavy in the emotions department so far. And so it does feel like a real hard let down when Sam finds out it’s not an angel, just spirit and he loses all that validation. 

Oof. That’s rough buddy.

Next up is “Born Under a Bad Sign”. On the surface, it looks like a return to the Main (???) Quest (???) but it brings me back to the question, what IS the Main Quest on this season?? IS it Sam Goes Evil? Like...shouldn’t the Main Quest still be Hunting the Yellow-Eyed-Demon? But I guess technically, Sam Goes Evil is part of the yellow-eyed-demon’s plan so stopping that from happening is stopping the yellow-eyed-demon and so technically that’s still...the Main���.Quest?????????

It’s a little murky. In the same way that I think it’s smart that the Winchesters don’t defeat the yellow-eyed-demon at the end of season one, I also think it’s smart that they differentiate the through-line on season 2 from season 1, but when you pair the two seasons together it does feel like they’ve abandoned the part about defeating the Villain - the actual Villain, evil plans and twirling mustache and everything.

But then we find out that, no, no this has nothing to do with the yellow-eyed-demon, this is just Meg Being Meg. She’s not here for some grand purpose, she’s just here to dick around with the Winchesters. That bitch is powered by Murder and Spite and I love it. And I’m not gonna lie, Jared Padalecki is hecking CRUSHING Being Meg Being Sam Being Meg again. Just like, CRUSHING it.

Of course, the bigger issue at stake is, unsurprisingly, the relationship between Sam and Dean. Sam wants Dean to make good on his promise to kill Evil!Sam, and Dean just loopholes his way out of it, even when he’s shot and drowned and beat to shit. 

WHY is Dean driving in this scene? Between the head trauma and blood loss and the alcohol and whatever pills Jo gave him at the bar, he should NOT be operating heaving machinery. 

He says he’ll save Sam if it’s the last thing he does and like...he’s probably just gonna die trying? Which like...ok, sure, but also you’d end up with Evil!Sam probably taking over the world or some nonsense, so it’s not a great strategy.

On the other hand, based on Jo’s general vibe this episode, I believe that she would not hesitate to take a shot at killing an Evil!Sam and I kind of love her for it. 

That bitch is gonna do what it takes. Or you know probably just think up a better solution, she’s not so close to the situation and also she’s defs way smarter than all the Winchesters put together. 

So this episode is not about the Main Quest, not really, although it ties into the major emotional arc of the Main Quest so maybe??? It is??? Anyone???

And then to round out this disc, we have “Tall Tales”. What would Supernatural be without the one two punch of Highly Emotional Episode followed by That Funny Episode??

And “Tall Tales” is great. Jared Padalecki is, again, CRUSHING it and Jensen Ackles is so committed to that eating gag, just *chefs kissy fingers* c’est magnifique! 

I legitimately love this episode - the format is screwy, the narrators are both unreliable, DadBobby comes back. I want to complain that putting this episode in the same season as “The Usual Suspects” - another episode that breaks format - feels too soon, but you know what? You do you, guys. I love this episode and I love that the Trickster is a recurring...uhh, let’s call him another antagonist who thinks what he’s doing is for the greater good and he goes about it within the boundaries of his own moral code. Bless him he’s a delight and also he has a doggo so he can’t be all bad, right??

Also, yes, I know he turns out to be the angel Gabriel and you know what? I’m fine with that. 

I gotta say, for a quartet of standalone episodes (ok yeah, I’m officially calling “Born Under a Bad Sign” a Side Quest), these were hella solid. These are not just filler episodes, these are interesting and emotionally complex and very enjoyable. I’d argue these standalones are more interesting and enjoyable than quite a few of the standalones in season 1, so it really feels like the show is in its stride. 

This is why 20+ episode seasons are still relevant. Yeah, the throughline for the season does feel a little muddled and messy, but on an 8 or even a 12-13 episode season, you don’t get this kind of room to play and experiment and make fun of yourselves the way that SPN does. There’s all this breathing room to try new things. There’s space to introduce new characters and play with dynamics and surprise your viewers. 

A 20+ ep season is a daunting (and expensive) task, but there’s gotta be a certain amount of freedom that comes with it too. Freedom to just have fun with these characters and this world that you’ve created. I don’t mind shorter seasons - honestly, it saves me, personally, a lot of time and the writing gets sharper and tighter and better at telling the one story the show is here to tell. But I hope that, if television continues to shorten seasons, that they also allow at least a little time for standalone episodes like these. 

[theuntamedproject]

"If the face says nothing, listen to the heartbeat" - Lan WangJi, Mo Dao Zu Shi (Weeks 3+4)

https://zhtheuntamedprojec.wixsite.com/theuntamedproject 

... those who have read the novel know the real context of this line in the scene BUT taken out of context and used in a completely different (*cough* our) scenario..."If the face says nothing," translates to "Even if we seem calm on the outside,""listen to the heartbeat." translates to "we're so stressed to the point of ventricular fibrillation." (dunno if that's even a likely story but the overly exaggerated point still stands: we just handed our uni applications in and we're dreading admission tests and awaiting interviews...)

Quick overview

So aside from school work and university prep, TUP has taken up whatever spare moment either one of us has. However since Zara's Physics coursework began (good luck Zara!!) and both of us prepping for our respective admissions tests, we've decided instead of marching onwards with research on architecture and other food science related stuff, to settle on more relaxed Google seshes on MDZS (and totally not using this as an excuse to read the source text again) and beginning to design the buildings on CAD and paper.

So I'm going to introduce to you the barebones framework of what we plan to include in the design: characters, buildings and effects~ apologies in advance for not including the accents/tones in names (I cba tbh ;-; )

Characters

Because all these little dudes are just going to be cut out gingerbread men, we could include as many characters as possible (we did say we're making a universe are we not?). Those in italics are "maybe" characters depending on the dough remaining (or whether we like them to be part of the universe or not...) or how much gingerbread we're willing to eat ourselves (though huge shout out to everyone thats offered to eat our spare and broken gingerbread during materials testing - which I will get to a bit later :3)

Gusu Lan (the pretty sect)

Lan XiChen / Lan Huan (Sect Leader - simped so hard for his sworn brothers that both of them ended up dead)

Lan WangJi / Lan Zhan (repressed gay but we love him still)

Lan Yuan / Lan Sizhui (he's part of the Lan sect now goddamnit)

Lan JingYi (the most unLan Lan yet has the highest chance of being the next sect leader lmaoo)

Lan QiRen

Lan Yi / Lan An

QingHeng-Jun (Twin Jades' father)

Madam Lan (Twin Jades' mother)

Yunmeng Jiang (arguably the only "normal" sect here...)

Jiang Cheng / Jiang Wanyin (Sect Leader also an "angry grape" as put by Zara)

Jiang YanLi (OUR QUEEN)

Jiang FengMian (loved Wei Ying more than Jiang Cheng lol jk xd)

Yu ZiYuan (BAMF)

Wei Ying not included here since technically he defected from the Sect (; - ;)

Qinghe Nie (fans and sabers my bros)

Nie HuaiSang (Sect Leader - yeah, I can't believe it either)

Nie MingJue (noooooooooo)

Honestly, I swear this clan is either "big muscles or big brain?". If you have neither, you can't be part of their clique. I mean sect.

Lanling Jin (rich rich rich rich rich)

Jin Ling / Jin RuLan (Sect Leader - totally not named after Wei Ying's crush/ husband's family)

Jin GuangYao / Meng Yao (*smiles*)

Jin ZiXuan (peacock but JYL's husband nonetheless)

Jin GuangShan (gross)

Jin ZiXun (double gross)

Mo XuanYu (literally did not sign up to any of this. He just wanted to end his suffering at Mo Manor)

We decided against including everyone from Mo Manor since they literally died within the first few chapters of the novel / first episode of the drama so were kinda irrelevant. Also, we don't care about them like we care for the Lan Sect members either.

Off topic side rant, Zara has been on my case whenever I bring up Jin GuangYao. I have to say, he's way more lovable in the drama than in the novel (didn't really leave much of an impression on me in the novel, NHS did a better job at that). I'm here to briefly explain why this boy is misunderstood and deserved more than what he got (and also why you should love him because he deserves love).JGY is a poor soul who's goal in life was to please others because no one was ever satisfied with him. His mother wasn't satisfied. His father wasn't satisfied. Hell, even his sworn brother NMJ wasn't satisfied with him eventually. BUT GUESS WHAT Xichen the angel is the only person that showed any love or thanks to JGY that's why he didn't kill him in the end - he wouldn't kill people that actually cared about him. IF ONLY EVERYONE ACTUALLY PAID ATTENTION TO HOW CLEVER AND CUNNING THIS MAN WAS, THERE MAY NOT EVEN BE WENS THREATENING THE WORLD. end of brief rant.

Qishan Wen (too hot, hot damn)

Wen RuoHan (Sect Leader - could have taken over the world if his children weren't incompetent)

Wen Qing (half the reason why included this sect)

Wen Ning / Wen QiongLin (the other half of the reason)

Wen Yuan (WE NEED THIS BABIE ALONGSIDE SIZHUI OK)

Wen Chao (questionable)

Wen ZhuLiu (also questionable but less annoying than Wen Chao)

Rogue cultivators (including people we didn't really know where to put)

Wei WuXian / Wei Ying (Can work out how to cultivate resentful energy, fight against the biggest cultivation clans in the world and gain a formidable reputation as the Yiling Patriarch yet can't figure out that Lan Zhan has a crush on him. Makes it look like cultivating resentful energy is easy as pie.)

CangSe SanRen (Wei Ying's mother)

Wei ChangZe (Wei Ying's father)

Xiao XingChen (honestly, the nicest guy ever. Could rival Xichen in terms of kindness. But then again... where did that kindness lead either of them? Moral of story: screw kindness)

Song Lan (Wen Ning's dead buddy~)

Xue Yang (he was cool in the novel, a bit questionable in the drama ngl)

A-Qing (didn't report her situation to the police...)

Baoshan Sanren (without knowledge of her existence, Jiang Cheng may have given up on life after he lost his golden core)

Ouyang ZiZhen (I didn't know who he was at all from the novel (ie he left no impression) but since he's technically part of the juniors, we have to include him)

Wang Ling Jiao / Jiao Jiao (just so Wen Chao has a friend perhaps... I don't know if we're that kind)

Su She (ew. just. He's not our favourite. The whole thing could have gone smoother if he didn't exist)

Luo Qingyang / Mian Mian (that one girl that made Wei Ying think Lan Zhan was straight)

Whew! That's all the character's we've considered! We have yet to come up with individual designs for the clothes and what not but at least we know there are going to be straight up cutting them out using the gingerbread man cutters.

Also! let's not forget:

Li'l Apple (didn't sign up for any of this either)

Fairy (gift from JGY to JL, also good doggo)

All the bunnies in Gusu (yes.)

All the fans and sabers in Qinghe (it's part of their aesthetic)

Locations and Buildings

This section's going to be MUCH shorter than the previous one haha since we've basically come up with 5 main buildings and in 7 locations. We're planning these buildings to be architectural masterpieces (okay, that's a slight exaggeration but that's the point). These buildings will take SIGNIFICANTLY more time than the gingerbread characters and is the reason we've put so much effort into researching what would make the most stable type of building. This is because we've planned to mirror the buildings as close as possible to the drama. We haven't yet drawn 2D sketches as I've left that job mostly to Zara (sorry!) so it's sort of hard to describe in words but by next post, we hope to have these down~ (though please see the mood boards from Zara's post previously)~

Gusu Lan - Cloud Recesses

The Wall of Discipline

The Courtyard

The Orchid Room (the main classroom/hall)

Yunmeng Jiang - Lotus Pier

The Main Pier

Lotus Pod Lake

Qinghe Nie - The Unclean Realm

The Main Courtyard and stairs

Lanling Jin - Koi Tower

Koi Tower

Qishan Wen - Nightless City

Main building and stairs

Yiling - Burial Grounds

The Mountains (and farms/Wen settlements)

Demon-Slaughtering Cave

And of course, Yi City.

We don't know if we want to include any more places but we'll let you know if there are any changes to this list. Plus the effects of LEDs and other arts and craft jazz besides gingerbread, we plan to make sure each Sect get's their own spotlight~

Please enjoy our baby Cloud Recesses, they're going to grow up and be a fine specimen of society worthy of the Lan name :D

The plan going forward

Although unfortunately, things haven't gone totally to plan due to fairly busy circumstances, we still have some major events along the way before starting to build the whole thing (which would probably be around mid-to-end of December) which have indeed started preparing for. Including:

Material testing gingerbread and icing (ie finally, bringing our research to the real world) - a lot of gingerbread will be made, so thank you to the willing volunteers who wanted to eat our failed experiments!

Finding / creating a suitable recipe for the gingerbread people

2D and 3D sketches of the buildings

Designing costumes for the gingerbread people

Another thing that we kinda want to do is to make this project benefit the wider community (we wanted to set up a GoFundMe at some point and raise some money for charity~). But we don't know how to do that as of yet T-T . Any ideas, feel free to contact us and let us know! We want to help others through this project (if at all possible haha)!

[lovemesomesurveys]

[created by: vyvyan86]

If you got a month free from work/school, where would you go on holiday? It’s not that I don’t have the time to take a trip like that considering I don’t have a job and I finished school almost 6 years ago, it’s that I don’t have the financial means to do so. I wouldn’t take a trip like that right now anyway of course since we’re still very much in a pandemic and I don’t feel safe or comfortable traveling. I wish I could do something like that, though. That would be amazing.

^Who would you take with you? My family.

What is your definition of "family"? Of course there’s the definition of family as people who are related to each other, but you can consider non-related people family as well. A family is a unit.  It’s about love, it’s people who have your back, who have your best interest at heart, would do just about anything for you and you do all that for them as well. You can count on each other. There’s loyalty and trust. It’s just a special bond and closeness. 

What's the best thing about summer? The only thing I like is when I’m able to go to the beach or take a vacation, otherwise I despise summer. 

Do you have a touch screen phone? Yes.

If so, what kind? If not, what kind would you like, if any at all? I have the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

If you have a phone or other device that supports them, what's your favorite application? Kindle, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. Do you enjoy erotic stories? If so, do you read them or write them? I’m a murder mystery and psychological thriller type of gal. Have you ever played pinball? Nope.

If so, what's your favorite machine?

If you had to choose, which one would you rather have; a pet or a baby? Uh, most definitely a pet. I do not want a baby.

^Why did you choose the one you chose? I don’t want to have children, but I’m certainly not in the place for that in my life right now.

What's the farthest you've ever travelled to? Just to Georgia from California.

What year were you born in? 1989.

Do you live with your parents or on your own/with a partner? I live with my parents.

What's the car of your dreams? I don’t have one.

What kind is the house of your dreams? My dream house would be near the beach.

If you could live absolutely anywhere, where would you live? I’m not sure. I see myself staying in California all my life, but who knows. I definitely want to move to another city, though. 

Have you ever witnessed something or someone die? Yes. 

Do you like it when it's bright or prefer a bit darker lighting? I don’t like bright lighting.

Has anyone ever told you that you snore or talk in your sleep? I’ve been told I talked in my sleep before, but I don’t think it’s a regular thing I do. I guess I wouldn’t know, though, since I sleep alone.

Do you have any houseplants? Nope.

Have you ever wanted or do you have a garden that you tend? Nope to both. Gardening isn’t something I have any interest in.

Are you more on a laptop or a desktop computer? I only have a laptop, so.

^Do you sit on a chair or lie down when you use the computer? Majority of the time I’m sitting on my bed while on it.

Do you like shopping or do you just enjoy looking at things in stores? I do like shopping. There’s times where I may just want to look around at a store, but usually I go with at least the possibility of buying something.

Do you ever look through a catalog and point out what you'd like to have? I haven’t done that since I was a kid when making my Christmas list or getting books from the Scholastic book catalog.

^Or do you just go ahead and order the things you want? I mean, I browse online or think of stuff I’ve seen at the store.

Do you ever shop online? If so, what do you usually buy? I do a ton of online shopping, especially these past few years. I buy stuff from Boxlunch, Hot Topic, Etsy, Amazon, and Bath & Body Works most often, but various other places as well.

Is your computer by a window? No.

Do you ever spend your time writing stories? I did when I was like 12 or 13. I loved writing short stories. Every now and then I get the urge to start up again, but I don’t have the ideas, energy, or motivation.

Are you in a book club? I participate in Bible studies where in addition to reading the Bible, we read another book relating to the topic of the study as well.

Do you like traveling? Yeah. I wish I could do more of it. If you could do absolutely anything, what would you like to do the most? Get my shit together.

What is your ideal job? I don’t know.

Which would you rather have; a career or several children? A career.

Do you care what other people think of you? During the past few years I’ve started to care a lot less. I wish I could say it was because I gained confidence and had better self-esteem, but nope. 

If so, why? --

If you had to take a picture of something you think is beautiful, what would it be? Of the ocean or some other scenic view.

What is your definition of "beauty"? Things you find aesthetically pleasing and appealing is one, but it goes a lot deeper and beyond than that. 

How vast education do you have? I have my BA in psych.

Do you think your parents raised you well? I believe so. 

Is your life good right now? Or could it be better? There’s so much that I wish was different.

Do you consider yourself to be popular? Does it even matter? No, I’ve never been popular and that’s perfectly fine with me. Especially not now considering I don’t have any friends.

Is the message of a song more important than the melody? I can just enjoy a song even if the lyrics aren’t especially great cause it has a catchy beat or something, but the best is when it does have nice and relatable lyrics. I love when lyrics can describe or say how I’m feeling or what I’m thinking so perfectly and better than I could. Those songs that just really speak to you, ya know?

Do you know anyone with a mental illness? If so, what is it they have? Yeah, including myself. I know people with various mental illnesses.

What is your opinion on people, who constantly swear? I find it kind of unnecessary and sometimes for me it can be too much, but whatever. 

What about people, who get drunk once a week? I don’t care, just be safe and responsible about it. Otherwise, that’s your business.

Which accent/dialect sounds perfect to you? British accents.

Which accent/dialect sounds horrible to you? I wouldn’t say any sound horrible.

Which language sounds perfect to you? Italian.

Which language sounds horrible to you? None.

If you could have anything to eat right now, what would you want? I’m going to make my nightly bowl of ramen soon. If you could have anything to drink now, what would you want? I’m drinking my usual Starbucks Doubleshot energy drink. Shocker, I know.

If you have siblings, have you ever wished you were an only child? Nooo.

If you're an only child, have you ever wished you had siblings? --

Are you religious? If so, how do you follow your religion? Yes.

If you're an atheist/agnostic, what made you realize this? --

Do you have a Facebook? I do.

^If so, do you accept everyone's friend request or only people's you know? I only accept people I know.

If you have a Facebook, approximately how many friends do you have there? I think like 130 or something like that. 

Do you know any of your neighbors? Nope.

Does/did any of your relatives have an interesting, nowadays unusual job? No.

What's your favorite video game? Mario Bro games and Animal Crossing.

Do you have a favorite gaming platform? I have an Nintendo Switch.

Have you met your ideal partner yet? I did with Ty, but that didn’t work out. 

^If not, what are some qualities you look for in one? Someone patient, understanding, caring, easy to talk to, trustworthy, good sense of humor... stuff like that. Someone with some common interests and that I connect with.

Have you had a serious relationship yet? If so, how many? No.

^How long did they last? --

^If you've had failed relationships, did you learn anything from them? I want to just be upfront and know their intentions before getting too deep and going too long without knowing. I don’t want to play anymore games.

^If so, what? ^^^

Are you scared of bees and wasps? Yes.

What about other insects? Yes. All of them.

What about spiders? YES.

Do you get zits often? If so, what do you think causes them? Not really. I’ll have one or two pop up on my chin now and then and I’m sure that’s because I touch my face a lot.

Do you consider yourself an adult? I’m 31 so I’m technically an adult, but it could be up for debate. 

How would you define the word "adult"? Man, all these definitions.

What is your definition of happiness? Sigh.

List a few things that make you happy. My doggo, coffee, enjoying good food, good books, good TV shows and movies, going to the beach, nice vacations, good things happening for my loved ones, buying gifts for my loved ones.

Do you enjoy books, magazines or comic books the most? I only read books. I haven’t read a magazine in several years and I’m not a comic book reader. 

Do you think people are overly sensitive about things these days? Admittedly, there have been times where I kind of thought so.

How would you describe your sense of humor? I don’t know how to describe it. I mean, I like puns and corny stuff, but otherwise I don’t know how to describe it. Stuff will just strike me as funny. It’s weird cause a lot of the times when people show me or tell me something they think is funny I don’t particularly find all that funny, I just kinda chuckle or blow air out my nose. But then stuff I find funny others might not. So yeah, I don’t know.

Do you like spending time with your pets, if you have any? Yes. <3

Are your parents old-fashioned or up-to-date about certain things? My parents are up to date on things, especially my mom. 

Which job would you never in a million years do? Anything in the medical field.

What do you think is the most adorable thing in the whole world? My doggo. (:

What's the most horrible thing in the whole world? Rapists, pedophiles, murderers who aren’t killing out of self-defense, phobics... <<<

Do you or did you at some point keep a diary? I had actual diaries when I was in middle school and some of high school, but then I started using Xanga and LiveJournal. This is my diary now. 

Do you know any of the people on your Bzoink friends list? I don’t use Bzoink.

Are you really open about yourself? In surveys I am.

How personal does a question have to be, so you won't answer it? It’s more if I feel comfortable or not discussing a certain topic.

Is there a café you go to regularly and the staff knows your "usual"? Probably if I went myself they would, but I’m very rarely the one who goes to get my coffee and even when I do it’s just through the drive-thru as the passenger.

Have you ever been to Finland? No.

If so, what did you think of it?

If not, would you like to? Absolutely.

What's something you've always wanted to do, but haven't had a chance yet? There’s so many places I’d like to visit. 

There, we've come to the end of the survey. Did you like it? Yeah, overall I did.

If not, what's wrong with it? I could have done without the definitions. 

[docandprof]

It’s About Time, Isn’t It?!

Welcome back to the land of the living my friend!!

Although we talk in some manner or another everyday, I have really been yearning for some blogging lately. I guess I just missed this relatively new aspect of our friendship and how it is kinda like a mini catharsis. And oh boy did I have a corporeal and all too real catharsis the other day!!

I took your advice for this week before you even vocalized (or typized?) it. How’s that for our mental connection?!?!? I went for a bike ride last Friday by myself in order to get some semblance of an active lifestyle! But instead of taking it easy on my first ride of the year, I decided to go over the bridge and through the Hickory Creek park. Man those hills were killing me. Not only were my legs dying, but my insides were turning with each pump of my legs on the inclines of those hills. I felt so winded and sick that I had to take a quick rest on a bench which felt really weird, like I was quitting or something, but that is probably just due to my inner struggles with the fear of failure and yadda yadda. But I went on and got home only to be overwhelmed by the feeling of nausea. So I dropped my bike and ran inside where I proceeded to throw up my breakfast (my mini bodily catharsis). It all felt so terrible and wonderful at the same time, as I'm sure many can attest too. You know, the emotions that come with vomiting very much mimic the actual vomiting process. Both are a mixed bag of the good and bad and are super violent, all over the place, but in the end, leave you feeling better than before. But this little escapade did not stop me from getting back in the saddle (haha the bike seat is actually called the saddle!!!). I went for a bike ride yesterday with AlPal, Dev, Silbs, and Jessie (and it was funny to watch Silbs ride a bike). I felt great and am trying to adopt the mindset of going for a ride every day to work on my cardio so that I can be prepared for when you get back and be a reliable running buddy.

Other than that, most of this time has been spent working at the theater, the bakery, or with my dad. If I'm not working or playing LoL, I'm swimming at Allie’s place, which is where we were last night! We watched La La Land and exposed the biking people to this fantastic movie for the first time. I was trying not to sing along with all of the songs. As for work, it is fine, nothing too exciting nor boring. But I need all of the money I can get if I'm gonna take Mable with me back to school. There are some repairs that I need to get done, namely things pertaining to the brakes, but I found out it is gonna cost me up to $1000 for all of the repairs. That really hurts, but the bright side is that my first check from the theater was already a quarter of that, some a couple more paychecks and I will hopefully be able to get Mable all taken care of.

Also since the last post, as you know, I went to Omaha to go see my brother compete at a pro-am ballroom dance competition. He did pretty well, but it was most fun just seeing him and spending time with my older brother. It’ll probably be the only time I see him all summer, and I don't know the next time that I will able to see him. But Omaha was decently fun. We went into this counter-culture store where I bought that awesome Robot poster for my room at school. I also got some loose leaf English Breakfast tea that I'm excited about. We even stayed a night in Iowa with my brother and saw Winstonian the doggo!!

Now for my last little story. It was this past Sunday night and I had to go to work early in the morning with my dad the following morning, so I decided to go to bed at like 11:30 instead of my usual 2-3 in the morning. But I just laid in bed for like an hour or so, tossing and turning because I was too hot, even with the fan on full blast, no shirt on, and the covers kicked off. So I got up and went to the bathroom because I thought maybe my body needed to do its business before it was ready to go to sleep. So I went to the bathroom, but I knew that wasn't it, I was still wide awake. Now it was like 1-1:30 in the morning, but I guess I was just hungry, so I decided that I wanted to eat and proceeded to eat some cereal. As I was about to sit down, my dad walks to the top of the stairs and asks me what I'm doing. I responded, “I had to go to the bathroom, and I cant sleep because I'm too hot and I'm hungry”. He looked at me for a second and then just turned and went back to bed. So I sat there in my boxers at my kitchen counter at 1 in the morning and ate a couple bowls of corn flakes. I went back up to my room after that and immediately fell asleep! I just love how weird life is and these little moments that pop up in our lives.

Now to get cereal...I mean serious! I really loved the way that you kinda identified hope. I just wanna make one quick comment on it that you briefly touched upon. You said that it is hard, almost impossible, to feel or see hope because it is embedded in the actions of life and living. But there is a stark contrast in the lack of hope, or hopelessness. Where hope isn't really felt or seen, its counterpart is very recognizable. In the medical world, hopelessness has many different names and can manifest itself in very different manners, such as learned helplessness. But the one disease that typifies a lack of hope is depression because you know inside that something doesn't feel right, and it can even affect your outward appearance. My personal opinion, I see hope as a fundamental and necessary part of life, kind of like a gear in a clock or link in a chain. Nobody pays any attention to it when it works fine, because everything appears and works normally, just like how you said that it is just living each and every day wanting to have a good day. Every person wants to have a good day, whatever that looks like to them. But it is when a part is removed from the clock or a link broken in the chain that problems arise and people notice. That is probably one of the most prevalent problems in the world today, and one that can affect anyone. Hopelessness can really wreck a person and the people around them, and I think it is the job of everyone to give hope and help each other realize how beautiful the mundane and often boring ways of life truly are. I like to think that is what religion is, and you hit it right on the head with your point on hope and religion.

Now for your question. What to do when life gives you bananas instead of lemons? I think that is the real essence of life! Everyone makes plans, plans to become this, plans to marry this person, plans to go and live here, but how many people have lived life without it throwing a wrench in their plans? I would dare to say none. I mean look at you! You already switched majors, have a relationship with a special girl that I'm sure you didn't anticipate (or maybe you did?). I know life hasn't gone the way I would've liked it to this past school year. But I think, and I know we have talked about this a lot, that these crappy aspects of life are what makes it so sweet! I mean, me, as a romantic, I see this question as prototypical of falling in love and meeting the right one. As you know, I always had a this belief in my head about how my love life would work out and how THAT girl would be the one and we would ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after. But that door never opened for me and I ran up against it time and time again, and there are certainly some scars and bruises from that I still carry with me to this day, but I know that life, and God, will bring the one meant for me into my life when I least expect it or in a way or place that I never even could've thought of. But that’s just my interpretation. You roll with the punches and learn to take what is given to you and be grateful. You never know, that small seed you plant could turn out to be a great big tree one day that bears more fruit than you ever dreamed of. I hope that helps. I don't know if there is some impetus behind this question for you or if you just wanted to know, but I would love to hear your thoughts on it!

Final thoughts and questions of the week!! I have really been enjoying Attack on Titan this season and I hope we can finish watching this season together. I know that you have had to read some comics for a class last year, so in that spirit, I want you to watch a superhero movie and a youtube video about the movie after you watch said movie then report back to me! As for a question, Why does an proactive and healthy lifestyle suck so much? Alrighty, I’ll be seeing ya around bud.

Go now in peace,

doc