#ysalamiri queen writes

[hixystix]

Fandom Meme!

Tagged very specifically by @called-kept (thank you hon)!!

Your name: On pretty much every site, I'm hixystix!

Your first fandom(s): Star Wars

Your current fandom(s): Lupin III mainly, but I never really left the SW: X-wing fandom or the Discworld fandom, even if I went dormant

How did you first get into fandom? Started writing stories with friends at school, then discovered other people did the same thing and posted it online

How long have you been engaging in fandom spaces? Since 1999, with about a six or seven year break in the middle of my 20s.

How often do you read fanfics? Not as often as I should! One day a week or so? It's a lot harder for me to be able to process and read stuff after the ECT.

Top three characters from your current fandom(s): Jigen, Lupin, Zenigata

Have you ever written fic for a fandom? Uhhhhhh. Yeah, just a few.

Have you ever drawn fanart for a fandom? No! I am very much not an artist.

Share a (some) personal headcanon(s) you feel very strongly about: I don't know about "very strongly" but here's a few of the headcanons I work off of when I write:

Jigen needs hearing aids since he almost never uses - or used - hearing protection

Lupin has bipolar disorder, unmedicated, and loves his manic periods

Goemon, no matter what he says, is in love with Fujiko. Toss a coin on whether Fujiko has slept with him or not

Fujiko speaks almost as many languages as Lupin, but she knows more Asian languages than he does

Zenigata is divorced with three kids, a daughter and two sons. The middle son is the same age as Yata

You're trying to convince a friend to get into your current fandom(s) with you. What episode, clip, or scene are you showing them? Depends on the friend, but I'd generally push one of the specials/movies on them - The First or First Contact or Cagliostro primarily.

And finally, what does fandom mean to you? It's a beautiful mess. It can be so much fun, a great support, and an even greater reason to keep going, but you have to work to keep it that way. Go lax and it'll turn into a personal hell.

And tagging... @sempaiko, @tabbiewolfreblogs, @ysalamiri-queen, @lotsobagels, @nathanielbuildsatesseract, and @generallemarc!

[ysalamiri-queen]

Just realized I never shared it here when I finished it so....

My contribution to Kalluzeb Appreciation Week for the prompts “Royalty” and also a bit of “Force Sensitive”...

Unwilling Heir

Rating: M

Ship: Alexsandr Kallus/Garazeb Orrelios

Summary: Alexsandr Kallus thought that for once, things might actually be going his way. He had just married the man of his dreams, been able to secure a small vacation to celebrate, and was fighting for a cause he truly believed in.

Unfortunately, the Emperor has other plans for the duo, and everything changes when Alexsandr’s true lineage is revealed... He is the biological heir to the Imperial throne.

Needless to say, the news hits Alex like, well, this:

[jessko-fic]

My contribution to the Just In Time festival for Star Trek :D

Absolutely fascinating pre-DS9 crossover with TNG from @ysalamiri-queen. Featuring all your favourite Ferengi. (Rom <3)

Noses rubbing together, Rom reached up to stroke Prinadora’s lobe, careful to not tug her earring and eliciting a low hum of pleasure. He knew just how to please her, and she him, and together they formed a union as good as anyone could ask for on Ferenginar, which was a rare thing indeed. Often marriages were born out of profit, and not for love, but Rom had somehow hit the spouse lottery, or at least that is how he felt in this domestic moment as she rose, flashing a toothy smile before plodding down the hall into another part of the house, leaving him to read up on the daily news.

Prinadora was everything Rom could have hoped for in a wife, beautiful, kind, and from a good family. That ‘good family’ bit was a complication, seeing the dense, detailed, and expensive marriage contract it resulted in. However, Rom was confident he had read even the finest of print and signed happily, leading to many joyous years. Prinadora was a fair partner, attentive to Rom’s needs and she had graciously borne him a son, helping to raise him to be how a good Ferengi should. Already Nog was stealing sweets from the cupboard to hoard under his bed and committing other small acts of acquisition. Rom could not be more proud. Nog was set to begin his formal education at the local primary school soon, the same Hopawup Academy for Young Lobelings he and his brother Quark had attended over thirty years ago. He would surely bloom into a savvy businessman, should he take after his granmoogie’s side of the family.

READ MORE

[myevilmouse]

💋😈✨ for the ask please!

Thank you so much for the asks this morning @blackmonitor!

💋 First kiss fics. Love em or hate em?

Love ‘em!  That’s why I’ve written so many of them for Thryce muwahahah.  I mean, you can only have that first kiss once, except in fanfic, where you can write it over and over and over again!  What a wonderful opportunity, to explore all the ways that first kiss can happen!  It can be angry, angsty, sweet, romantic, long-awaited, surprising, desperate, the list goes on!  I love ‘em. 

😈 Has there been a point in a story where you did something just to be playfully mean to your readers?

I don’t think so?  But @jedimordsith was reading my Martial Arts fic and SHE chose where to break the chapter before the smut... which was far meaner than where I would have stopped it!  So guess I was an accomplice to playful meanness…?

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

Hahah thank you for the excuse!  How about I give a double-sided compliment? My fic has inspired some incredible fanart, and that is a constant source of wonder to me! Sure there are always commissions, but brilliant artists wanting to draw something from my fics makes me a puddle of goo! So thank you @blackmonitor! And all the other amazing artists out there.... looking at you @ele-millennial-weirdo, @sometimesartmostlychaos, @cassandrasummer, @ysalamiri-queen, @jun-c, @grand-admiral-lawn, and others! I love you 💙🎨 for sharing your talent to bring my scenes to life!

If anyone else would like to ask, the list is here...

[enfrigginfuego]

2022 Fic in Review

I found this while I was looking for something else and decided to revive it for this year!

Tagging: @maryellencarter, @ysalamiri-queen, @called-kept, @tabbiewolfreblogs, @mistr3ssquickly, @dukeswonderousmenagerie, and @sempaiko! (Hi, SW friends, this is still @hixystix/@x-wing-junkie!)

So, for 2022, I have:

Total Number of Fics: 10 posted, 1 that will be posted, 1 I plan to write, 1 that might not get posted until the new year.

Total Wordcount: 158,099 (so far)

Fandoms: Lupin III & Star Wars: Rebels

Most Popular Fic (by bookmarks): At Sea (41 bookmarks)

Most Popular Fic (by kudos): Also At Sea (170 kudos)

Favourite Fic: Little Thefts, published 11/09

And below the cut, a month-by-month recap!

January

Nothing this month!

February

Morning Coffee: a short little Kalluzeb office AU ficlet! Pretty cute and fun to write, it was inspired by some @sempaiko art.

Ties That Bind: my first foray into multichapter Lupin fic, this is a soulmate fic that tries not to be a typical soulmate fic. After all, just cause you have a bond doesn't mean you don't have to work on your relationships, right?

Gimme Shelter: This was supposed to end up being LuZeni porn but just became a sorta sweet, sorta silly survival fic. Got to draw on my Wilderness EMT training, so that was fun.

March

The Last Prince: Part of my SPN/Rebels fusion series I wrote with Sempaiko! I wrote plot, she wrote porn, it worked well. :D

At Sea: Started in March, completed in May. This was my follow-up to Gimme Shelter and turned out to be a hell of a lot of fun to write. Because of course Lupin would tag along on Zenigata's vacation!

April

Resistance: So this wasn't intended to serve as a goodbye to the Rebels fandom, but it kind of did that anyway. I still love it, but I burned out a bit after 2 years, 58 stories, and almost a million words.

May & June

I was in a medicinal haze these months and got NO writing done. I was just glad I finished At Sea in time.

July

Smother Your Sorrows: This one is ALL @maryellencarter's fault for giving me an angsty prompt. It was an adventure to write because I was both thrilled to be writing again and challenged with characterizations and emotions I hadn't written before. Pretty proud of this one.

August, September, & October

I was working on Smother all these months!

November

Little Thefts: written for my friend @lots-o-doodles, who wanted something JigLup involving Jigen's purple shirt. It went more places than that, but it's cute and it's sweet and I have fun re-reading it!

Thief of Time: Still in progress! I actually wrote the first three chapters of this back in Jan/Feb, but it took me until November to figure out how to continue. If I can pull off this next chapter, I'll be as proud as I am of Smother.

Birthday Presents: Dashed off in a couple days for Jigen's birthday, this actually was the only smut I wrote so far this year!

December

Still to come: my Lupin holiday exchange fic, a LuZeni smut fic for Christmas (hopefully) and hopefully the end of Thief of Time!

[x-wing-junkie]

2021 Fic in Review

I was tagged by @darlingandmreames to share my Fic in Review for this year! Should be fun to look back :D

Tagging: @ysalamiri-queen, @sempaiko, @gay-agents-and-generals, and @mistr3ssquickly!

Total Number of Fics: 27

Total Wordcount: 425,220

Fandoms: Star Wars Rebels, all Kalluzeb

Most Popular Fic (by bookmarks): The Jedi and His Ranger (60 bookmarks)

Most Popular Fic (by kudos): The Betting Pool (303 kudos)

Favourite Fic: 'Til I Reach You. It's not the most intricate fic, nor the most popular, but it's the fic that makes me go "huh, maybe I can write" when I re-read it!

I'm passing on the month-by-month fic timeline just 'cause formatting it on my laptop is a nightmare, but thank you again for the tag! It's nice to scroll back and see what I accomplished!

[ysalamiri-queen]

Updating next Friday!~ For now, enjoy this latest chapter if you’ve not already perhaps!

Reanimator, Part VII

After an abrupt and unorthodox proposal, Thrawn works to secure a proper ceremony for the joining of him and his beloved.

Relationship: Thrawn/Eli Vanto

Rating: M

Summary: In the year of 1909, Eli and Thrawn are final year medical students and roommates at Myomar University. From the moment he meets Thrawn, Eli's life is changed forever as he finds himself caught up in a surreal whirlwind of experimentation and romance. As the years pass, not only does their bond grow, but also Thrawn’s willingness to eschew ethics in the search for life beyond death.

[alizrak]

First lines!

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories.  See if there are any patterns. Then tag more of your mutual authors!

Thanks to @roninreverie for tagging me. I’m only going to do my fics in English. I really don’t have that many. The SWR finale really launched me to write like I had never done before...

1. The Chance (2008)

 Naruto was walking near the Hokage faces.

2. The Next Day (2009)

Naruto opened his eyes and looked around confused.

3. Journey's End (2012)

 The Son household was cheerful and full of life while they ate.

4. Innikhde (2014)

"Do you think she could have loved me?"

5. No choice (2019)

“You… can’t be serious,” Eli breathed in shock.

6. LAST KNOWN TRAJECTORY (2019)

Thrawn stared at the blue lights shifting rapidly before him, or at least what he could see through the web of tentacles covering the front of the Chimaera.

7. Shattered (2019)

“Eli, if you are listening to this message it means something unexpected has happened to me.”

8. A PATH OF BONDS (2020)

A green and blue planet came into view of the T-6 shuttle cockpit.

9. A Work in Progress (2021)

After the Mighty Nein gather their allies, they return to the outpost to meet up with Essek.

10. Countenance (2021)

[Hey... Can we teleport to your room?]

Tagging: @mortisbane @ysalamiri-queen @confuzing @chaos-monkeyy

[obbicrystaleo]

Hi! Once you get this you have to say five things you like about yourself, publicly, then send this to ten of your favorite followers (nonnegotiable) SPREAD POSITIVITY! 💌🥰

Okay, Let’s see.

One is that I can play the Bass clarinet.

Two is that I’m a Canadian Indigenous person.

Three is that I’m someone who will stand up to bullies.

Four is the fact that I’m someone who will sit and listen to people’s problems and not interrupt.

Five is that I’m someone who enjoys writing.

People I’m tagging to do this:

@ladykagewaki, @ysalamiri-queen, @galactic-empress, @foxxymagic, @nakamopapina, @yiliy, @contentment-of-cats, @rebels-gone-wild, @jcebishop, @ageekywriter

[wildspaceyokel]

Tagged: Last Line

@hoofgirl tagged me in this game so I’ll play. But for warning, I don’t even know what the last doc I had open was. I can’t remember actually writing anything recently so here’s a WIP photo of a thranto tarot card-inspired portrait. It’s acrylic paint of a canvas sheet and I think the last time I painted a portrait in acrylics was in... 2009?! Anyway, it’s been a long time and this has been a lot more challenging than I anticipated but here’s where this piece is right now:

I’m tagging @kybercrystalhealing @ysalamiri-queen @flukeoffate because y’all are fellow artist/writers- post a photo or some words of what you’re working on if you feel up to it!

[hixystix]

Fanfic Meme!

Tagged by @nimata-beroya! Thank you!!

How many works do you have on Ao3?

58 in total, with 43 of them being Star Wars: Rebels fic from the last year and a half!

What’s your total Ao3 word count?

1,134,316 so far. More to come!

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

A Safe Haven, 831 kudos

Come in from the Cold, 613 kudos

Dream Walking, 321 kudos

Not Her Dream, 290 kudos

By the Light of Lothal's Suns, 235 kudos

(Lots more answers below the cut!)

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I try to respond to every comment lately, though I know I miss one every now and again. I've managed to discover some lovely readers this way and I feel like it's only polite to say thank you!

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Uhhhh... most of them? Maybe the happiest was Safe Haven? I tend to go for the happy ending all the time.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Come in from the Cold, though you've got to read the sequel to find out that out in the first place.

Do you write crossovers?

I used to, back when I was bigger in the SPN/Richard Speight Jr fandom. Haven't been inspired to write one for Star Wars yet.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Never in a comment, though I have heard mutterings from people who don't like the way I characterize people or use events from canon in AUs.

Do you write smut? if so, what kind?

I do. It's not my favorite thing to write, but sometimes it feels like fandom calls for it. I limit myself to when I'm inspired, though.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

If I have, I haven't known about it.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not into another language, but I have had podfics made before. That counts as translating somehow, right?

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have! Usually I find it quite fun.

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Seeing as I am not actually a huge shipper, it's got to be Kalluzeb because nothing has ever grabbed me and made me want to write like they do.

What’s a wip that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Right now I'm struggling with the sequel to Luck Charm. It calls for a certain type of smut that I'm not all that comfortable writing, even though I desperately want to finish the fic and get on to the third in that series.

What are your writing strengths?

Oof, I am the wrong person to ask this. I have no friggin' clue. Maybe pining? And lately, projecting my own traumas and issues onto characters as a way to explore them myself.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Smut, for sure. Writing dirty talk. Ultra-cocky characters. Rude characters. I struggle with things I would have trouble saying in person.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I love including @anathtsurugi's Lasana when I can, though I try to limit myself to individual words/names and a few phrases/sentences that I try to translate in the text.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

First ever? Star Wars. First posted online? Harry Potter. First posted on AO3? Hannibal.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

This changes frequently. At the moment, I'm somewhat enamored of 'Til I Reach You. I recently reread it and had a "huh, this is really good!" moment.

Tagging just a few people: @archangelsanonymous, @greymichaela (I know you're on mostly originals now, but you're still a fanfic powerhouse!), @rivulet027, and @ysalamiri-queen!

[ysalamiri-queen]

Six Sentence Sunday

Lifted from today’s update of “A Bard’s Guide to the Galaxy” as I’m editing it:

“Thrawn, please just… For once, just drop the ranks. I’m breaking so many rules right now it’s not even funny, so forget the Empire, the navy. It’s just me, Eli, telling you that I love you, and if you don’t feel the same way, please just tell me now and I’ll never bring it up again, but I couldn’t just stand there, outside this office, knowing what was about to happen!” Eli explained in a single breath. “I love you, Thrawn...”

Stay tuned for the reaction to such a confession, yeah?

[ihaveallthesefeelsokay]

I was tagged quite a bit ago by the lovely @lyselkatz!

Name: Susan

Nickname: Depending on how you know me, I’m Susam, Gaia, and Hixy

Zodiac sign: Leo

Height: 5′6ish

Nationality: USA

Languages spoken: English and just enough German to get lost

What time is it: 8 am

Celebrity crush: Rich and Rob.  But I’m sure you’d never have guessed that on this blog, huh?  Also love me some Mads Mikkelsen.

Favourite fictional character: Bill Koehler,, the Fab Four pilots (Star Wars Legends), Kallus & Zeb (Star Wars Rebels), Lizzie Bennet (P&P)

Favourite musician: Jason Manns, Louden Swain, Marianas Trench

Favourite sports: Does writing count as a sport?

Favourite season: Autumn

Favourite flower: Lilies of all sorts, daffodils

Favourite scent: wood fires, lavender, citrus

Favourite animal: I interact best with cats, so let’s say them

Favourite food: Just one?  If I had to have one meal forever, it’d be a good medium rare ribeye, broccoli, and salad with blue cheese.

Dream car: I actually kinda always wanted a Subaru Forester.  Almost got one, but the Toyota RAV4 was cheaper and had fewer miles, so I’m a Toyota girl now.

Dream trip: Right now, dreaming up a trip to Pennan, Scotland with @ysalamiri-queen

Instruments: I love me some flute and not just ‘cause that’s what I play.  I also adore piano.

Coffee, tea or hot chocolate: Tea, preferably rooibos

Dog or cat person: cat

Following: 500

Followers: On this blog?  Less that 1k, but not much less.

Other blogs: @hixystix (main) and @x-wing-junkie (Star Wars)

Blog established: 2014 or 2015, I can’t recall.

Do you have a tumblr crush: Just friends!

Do you get asks: Nope.  I’m not that interesting, I guess!

What is your lucky number: 22

What are you wearing right now: t-shirt and jeans

Drink of choice: good southern style sweet tea

Number of blankets you sleep with: 1

Average sleep hours: usually 9ish

Random fact: When I was born, I still had 7 great-grandparents alive.  I remember 6 of them well.

Tagging: @disizletzi, @greymichaela (HAH), @ysalamiri-queen, @archangelsanonymous, and @katiebug445

[iskelan]

Writers Quiz

Tagged by @ysalamiri-queen Author Name: Iskelan (used to be Zeratul on AO3, ZIferonan elsewhere)

Fandoms you write for: My main lifetime fandom is StarCraft. In different life periods though I used to write for many more, like Mass Effect, Star Trek, Doctor Who, 007. Right now hanging on narrow ground of Thrawn fanfiction inside Star Wars fandom. And it’s difficult sometimes, because Star Wars had been my holy cow fandom that I didn’t dare to touch with any kinds of my art. I also do write original stories. Most of them short.

Where You Post: While I write mostly in my native language, I post on Russian platform here: https://ficbook.net/authors/627367 Also I’ve got a profile on AO3 (https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zeratul) where I bring some translations of my own works (many thanks to @ysalamiri-queen for beta-reader assistance with some of them), and sometimes post in Russian also. The Ficbook is becoming very inconvenient nowadays, so I feel some strong desire to move to AO3 completely even with those untranslated. But the feedback there is going to be less(

Most Popular One-Shot: “It’s all about noodles” - 007 fanfiction, 007/Q, funny smut co-authored with @timelordofmanynames

Most Popular Multi-Chapter Story: “The Hyperion Incident” - StarCraft 2 retelling, absolutely ridiculous shit full of jokes, smut and alternative events to make fun of the whole thing, because I can’t take it seriously

Favorite Story You Wrote: Hard to choose, indeed. I am tearing myself between “Art is...” about Thrawn and Eli Vanto, talking all over different kinds of art, and “Water Metamorphoses” about Marijar’k’Ara, growing up among other Protoss. Both stories are painfully personal. But I guess “Art is...” more... wholesome? And also the “Disease” has it’s special place as a short story. Also very personal and painful.

Story You Were Nervous to Post: There were quite a few. I was quite nervous to post the “Disease” because I wasn’t sure that Thrawn fandom would accept such thing as Hanahaki AU. I was nervous to post “Because of you” - a Marijar/Valitar episode, because of my specific view on Protoss relationships. I was nervous also about posting some Monster High smut >__> because I am always nervous about smut.

How Do You Choose your Titles: Sometimes titles come even before the texts. Like it was with “Art is...” for example, because of the association with “Love is...” stickers, or “Water Metamorphoses” because I loved how it sounded and it was a really good metaphore for Khala and relationship inside this evermoving whirpool. Sometimes I take some words from the songs. Also sometimes I ask for the advices from my first readers. And sometimes it’s really random, like “Ten thousand years ago” - the thing doesn’t tell much about the text, just gives some mystical magical aura, but I really had no idea how else to do it beautifully and avoid spoilers.

Do You Outline: Not really. Sometimes I write down some ideas or phrases that come to my mind but it rarely helps. I can’t follow the plans. It’s always an emotional lottery. But sometimes I “outline” when I do sketches and concepts for stories in progress. Because stories are movies in my head, and some screenshots are so beautiful that I feel need to draw them if I can’t write them at the moment. Sometimes it happens that stories are never written and remain as a memory in bunch of sketches.

How Many Of your Stories are…

Complete: 142

In Progress: Somewhere around 20. I have a lot of documents on my google disk with unfinished stories so it’s really uncertain.

Coming Soon: “Ten thousand years ago” Thrawn/Eli Vanto AU thing. It’s being translated in English, and yet being checked by beta reader in Russian.

Do You Accept Prompts: Well, sometimes it happens eventually. Usually my friends throw me some ideas in - some smut or simply short stories or just inspirational stuff. Like once I’ve written a beautiful Q/Picard story because we found a pic of young Patrick Stewart and couldn’t hold our fantasy. But that occurs only if I really like and feel the idea. I only write the things I want to have written, so it doesn’t work too often.

Upcoming Story that you are Most Excited to Write: a dramatic story about Eli Vanto having an imaginary friend Chiss Mitth’raw’nuruodo, and about how what looked like fantasy becomes serious mental issue with dire consequences. That’s the first thing that comes to my mind, but that isn’t certain. My mood may shift again into something easier and positive.

Authors to Answer These Questions: I don’t really think any of my friends would like to answer such quiz, but still. Answer if you wish. @timelordofmanynames @yarroaroon

[myevilmouse]

Tag Games!

@ladyrebel25 tagged me for this “five things” game:

When you get this you have to answer with 5 things you like about yourself publicly. Then send this ask to 10 of your fav followers

(Positivity is cool :D)

I agree positivity is cool!  And I could use a little positivity today, so let’s get to it!

1.  I like that I went from not knowing what tumblr was to having so many tumblr friends!  I love you all and thank you for being here.

2.  I like that my writing entertains others.

3.  I like the fact that I don’t suck at the piano.

4.  I like that I can rock Urdhva Dhanurasana like nobody’s business.

5.  I like my taste in men...

And apparently you do too, if you are checking out my tumblr muwahaha!  Thank you!  I will tag @ysalamiri-queen​, @certibbs​, @redfivebluethree​, @catscafecomics​, and @jedidryad​.  Oh wait it’s ten!  OK I will tag five other people, you know who you are!  hahaha but only if you want to!  

[x-wing-junkie]

Look, I wasn't tagged in the WIP thing, but I'm going to play because I'm tipsy and not getting any more writing done tonight. So nyah.

All Kalluzeb unless otherwise stated:

Return - the obvious. Three more chapters!

Kalluzeb FACPOV - @sempaiko's challenge, an attempt to see some of Safe Haven from Zaarin's perspective

Fake Relationship - a modern AU with this oh-so-popular trope

Fulcrum ABO - an attempt at an ABO story set during Kallus's time as Fulcrum.

Aster's Fic - a one-shot of Kallus & Zeb taking Jacen to an aquarium

Renegades, Rebels, and Rogues - a Legends-verse fic about an x-wing pilot OC, Tabi

Thy Love's Use Their Treasure - the sequel to the Professor AU!

The Fulcrum - a super-angsty AU where the Empire wins

Legends AU - this might go nowhere but it's an attempt at putting Kalluzeb in the Legends universe and seeing where it goes.

Unbreakable Walls (Break) - the Bahryn sequel to Luck Charm. Supposed to be a PWP but plot keeps sneaking in.

The Lothal sequel to Walls and Luck Charm, third and final in the trilogy. Still in planning stages.

The Hoth fic - the sequel to Safe Haven that I'm really looking forward to. Kallus's adventures as Fulcrum and Zeb's adventures with the Ghost.

Aaaaand I think that's it!

I am going to tag people: @gay-agents-and-generals, @called-kept, @ysalamiri-queen, and @sempaiko if y'all want to play!