#( * &. ✧ ━ i. the stars are lining up for once in my life » wishlist

[blast0rama]

What I Liked From The Game Awards 2022

Once again, Geoff Keighley’s celebration of both the art — and economics — of video games is in the books, bookending awards that celebrate gaming with a non-stop deluge of announcement trailers, making sure you don’t just get excited about the games that came up, but dig deep into the hype.

There are other, more fully featured recaps of the awards show, which included an appearance by Al Pacino, a lengthy acceptance speech by God of War: Ragnarok voice actor Christopher Judge, and a surreal stage appearance at the end of the night by some random dude who may-or-may-not be a white nationalist, but at the end of the day, it was about games. And these are the reveals that got me excited.

Hellboy: Web of Wyrd

Technically from the pre-show, this reveal of the forthcoming (and I believe first?) Hellboy game stunned with its cell shaded style that makes it look like Mike Mignola art come to life. Definitely hoping this is one of the good comic-book-to-video-game adaptations.

Hades II

The game which made people love rogue-likes and want to romance its entire cast (and voice actors) is back for a second go, and it looks just as good as the first. I’ve been a fan of Supergiant Games since their first title, Bastion, so suffice to say, I’m going to be in the bag for this. My one bummer? I’m not a PC gamer so I won’t get to be a part of the early access fun.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

I really enjoyed Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, so the idea of a more refined, more visually stunning sequel has me on board. I mean, how GREAT does this look? The line between video game graphics and movie CG continues to blur.

Death Stranding 2 (Working Title)

It’s Kojima, so you know from the jump, either you’re in or you’re out. Personally? I’m very in for more of his crazy nonsense.

Earthblade

The devs of indie darling Celeste are back, and it’s a ding-dang Metroidvania! THIS IS MY SHIT.

Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon

FromSoftware games are very polarizing, and like this year’s Game of the Year award winner, Elden Ring, I feel like their next title — a return to their Armored Core franchise — is going to be one I respect more than I enjoy. But this reveal trailer is incredible. The visuals and music are absolutely stunning and worth showcasing for that alone.

Final Fantasy XVI

I’m going to be honest, I haven’t really been a major JRPG fan since I was a teenager and had a lot more time on my hands. But with each trailer for Final Fantasy XVI, I find myself more and more excited for its June release. Maybe it’s because this is the most “traditional” FF in style since, I dunno, IX? All I know is, I was very impressed with its traditional-RPG-by-way-of-Game-of-Thrones vibes, and I’ve added it to my wishlist.

For those who caught the show, what did you like? What didn’t work for you? And would the Academy Awards be infinitely better if it had all the biggest trailers for movies between awards? I say: maybe.

[bythebonefire]

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This one would be a bit of a challenge to figure out logistically but I’d love to do more with Mobfell Wingdings before his “canon” starting point. At present, he’s already the meanest, scariest, smartest bastard in every room he walks into. He’s accustomed to toeing the line between sophisticated charm and just being deeply unsettling, and using either one to his advantage as needed. 

That said, I’m really proud of the backstory I’ve fleshed out for him. All of that confidence and swagger is hard-won, and comes after years of struggle. Forcing himself to be resourceful, forcing himself to walk away from his own ambitions, forcing himself to constantly compromise on his own dignity, because it was what his family needed from him to survive. I kind of want to do more threads with Wingdings at about that point in his life--in his late teens and early twenties--when he was just trying to scrape by and slowly killing himself doing it. 

For the second one--I had plotted out bits and pieces of a King Grillby AU at one point. Basically a really gnarly neutral run that ended in most everybody else who generally takes the throne after Asgore’s death also getting dusted. Grillby would be... somewhere in the hierarchy, as a fairly decorated veteran of the war, but low down enough that he never expected that kind of responsibility. 

And it’s one he never would’ve wanted, of course. Grillby only wanted a peaceful, quiet life, and suddenly being in charge of a grieving community of monster survivors... would be awful? Having to walk that balance between taking up Asgore’s plan of waging another war against the humans versus just... trying to rebuild, and waiting for the next human to drop in and fuck things up for them again. Closing himself off from the community in Snowdin. Falling once again into the need to make sacrifices for the greater good, like he did during the war. It’d just be a fun verse to explore I think.

One little one for Orion, my Outertale Grillby--I have as his backstory that he wasn’t actually part of the monster society that was sent to the moon, but that he’s part of an ancient race of star-dwelling elementals that’s lived unnoticed in the cosmos since Time Immemorial. He develops a fascination with the moon monsters and through various circumstances too lengthy to get into for a meme reply, is taken in by them as a child. I’d like to do more with him when he’s a bit younger, when he still hasn’t really learned to speak their language or figure out their quaint moon monster customs (like clothes, I think he struggled with clothes for a while. Not that he’s drastically different from human toddlers in that sense). On the one hand feeling like a fish out of water, on the other everything is just so exciting and new. idk, Orion is a character I don’t do a ton with but I’d like to write more threads with him.

[judedeluca]

Jude’s 2021 Birthday Wishlist

Since I officially consider the Christmas season has begun as of two days ago, that means I’m getting my birthday wishlist up NOW.

This as you’ll see is the normal wishlist for anyone who wants to write or draw me anything. You might notice this time around it’s more heavy on magical girl related stuff.

This is just stuff and concepts for general character related stuff. I cheated a bit by throwing in a couple of teams to cover the overall idea, but if there’s a specific character in the line-up I’m fond of I highlight that.

This was generally another bad year for me (for all of us really) considering my mom’s cancer diagnosis and the frustrations with the house repairs, so I’m trying to make up for how badly my last birthday went.

This includes art and commissions done by @empty-b, @nanigram, @dklem, @stardustrobin​, Sarah Olekysk, @duckydrawsart​, peskyshortcake, Marco Rudy, and theeyzmaster

My list for options if anyone wants to indulge my WG/BBM kink is here

The Arsenal Family – Consisting of Roy and Lian Harper, and the addition of Lian’s half baby-brother Tommy Blake Jr. The idea DC wasn’t bold enough to implement because they’d rather have Roy on drugs and Lian calling herself “Shoes.”

The time and setting doesn’t really need to matter, so long as Roy’s explicitly back to honoring his Navajo upbringing with either the Rick Mays design costume, or Outsiders design with the arm tattoo included. Him being a fat dad would also be a welcome bonus.

Alternatively, Will “Red Arrow” Harper and Lian from Young Justice are just as good. Especially if it involves Roy and Jim and Bowhunter Security.

Axem Rangers - Villains from a video game I never played, but they’re a Power Rangers parody in a Mario game so why not?

The Axem Rangers are villains from the first Mario RPG game released for the Super Nintendo. They prove to be another obstacle in Mario’s quest to locate the seven stars, and are proud of the evil they commit.

You can tell the pink one’s female because of her eyelashes. Because as we all know, only women have eyelashes.

Berzerker – From X-Men Evolution, Ray Crisp was one of my original childhood faves and I’ve long been disappointed the design wasn’t incorporated into the mainstream Marvel comics in favor of the original from X-Factor.

Big Bertha - What started out as an obnoxious giant fish morphed into the beautiful Big Bertha. Clad in red spikes and taking no one’s shit, Bertha practically stole the Mario Bros. movie when she literally stole the plot MacGuffin and dared the plumber brothers to come get it.

Because she CAN.

If Mario could appreciate Bertha’s beauty and strength, the rest of you have no excuse.

Coagula and Dorothy Spinner – From the Doom Patrol, Kate Godwin is quite possibly one of the first transgender superheroes in American comics. She has the power to coagulate and dissolve objects. Dorothy Spinner is a young woman with the face of a monkey and the power to bring her imaginary friends to life. Kate looked after Dorothy like an older sister, something she desperately needed due to her lack of a happy home life.

Duela Dent the Joker’s Daughter and Enigma the Riddler’s Daughter – 

DO NOT, and I mean DO NOT think I mean the New 52 Joker’s Daughter. Unless it involves the real Duela beating the shit out of her.

Duela Dent was my original favorite Titan and she will always be in my heart sharing the #1 spot with Roy. My favorite outfit for Duela would have to be the design given to her by Tony Daniel in Teen Titans just before she was killed off.

Enigma was introduced decades later as a separate character after Duela once called herself “Riddler’s Daughter.” The two were briefly Titans together before later joining Titans East to help Deathstroke.

While Duela’s backstory was eventually resolved, we’ve no clue if Enigma truly was the daughter of the Riddler before she was erased by Flashpoint.

Together or separate I’d love to see either of them.

Edson - If things had gone differently, instead of a game about a bear and a bird we would’ve had a game about a boy and a bunch of pirates.

The game that became “Banjo-Kazooie” was originally “Dream: Land of Giants.” Infamous among BK fans as “Project Dream,” infamous came out in recent years on “Dream’s” development and Edson’s role as the protagonist.

Fisherman and Skipper - Alan Moore’s parodies of Green Arrow and Speedy from his attempt to say “sorry” about the damage caused by Watchmen and the Killing Joke.

They seem to have a healthier relationship than GA and Roy had, but then again Skipper became a lawyer so make of that what you will. 

Folklore of Zero – Introduced late in the Magia Record game. A mysterious faction who believe it’s a waste of time for magical girls to defy their eventual fate of becoming witches. Led by Rabi Himuro, the members we’ve seen have infiltrated the other magical girl groups such as the Neo Magius, Tokime Clan, and Promised Blood.

The members of this faction originated from a city where magical girls were viewed as monsters, which only got worse when their connection to the witches was revealed.

The group includes Rabi Himuro, Asahi Miura, Ulala Yume, and Alexandra Kurusu. Nayuta Satomi and Mikage Yakumo are unofficially connected with them since Rabi is Nayuta’s housemaid. Their profiles are available on the Madoka Magica wiki as well as TV Tropes

Below in order: Asahi, Alexandra, Nayuta, and Mikage

So far they have the least amount of info available out of the groups in Magia Record, so I’d be interested in art or fiction of any of them… EXCEPT for Rabi Himuro because I have no idea what the hell is going on with that costume and unless she’s actually indigenous or Native American I don’t want to support her.

If I had to pick I’d go with Ulala because she uses a yo-yo and I am a Sukeban Deka fan.

Gin Genie and Saint Anna – Deceased members of the revamped version of X-Force. G.G. was “blessed” with the mutant ability to create seismic activity depending on her blood alcohol levels. Essentially she creates earthquakes depending on how drunk she is. Her powers are Legion-level ridiculous and she unfortunately died after one issue.

Saint Anna on the other hand had healing powers and mild telepathy. More grounded and rational than her teammates, she only lasted a couple of issues before she also died.

These two never interacted with one another, but since Krakoa’s bringing back so many mutants than anything’s possible.

Girl Detective Club – A trio of private school students consisting of Shizuka (the younger loud one), Yuriko (the ditzy middle one) and Midori (the older rich girl), these were the protagonists of an obscure manga and a bizarre OVA.

Greta Gibson – A rich model-in-training and one of Alice Johnson’s new friends, Greta’s a kindhearted woman who sticks by her friends and deals with a lot of nonsense from her domineering mother. Unfortunately Greta’s the second to die when Freddy Krueger returns to haunt the dreams of Spingwood’s teenagers.

Greta and her actress Erika Anderson were one of the inspirations for my character Erika Dent, so Greta will always have a special place in my heart.

Hypnotia – From the 90s Iron Man animated series, a villainess who was created as a stand-in for the Enchantress since the show couldn’t use anyone Thor-related. Had Hypnotia received proper attention she might’ve possibly been another villainess on par with Harley Quinn. She practically stole every episode she’d been in.

Ichika Tachibana – The protagonist of the obscure magical girl series Uta Kata, Ichika’s a young woman blessed with the power of twelve elemental spirits but unaware she’s secretly being tasked with the possibility of granting humanity’s destruction.

Ichika’s outfits are each kind of… like that, unfortunately, though I express a bit of fondness for either the costumes granted through the powers of the Flower Djinn or the Sea Djinn.

Iolanthe (Katie) - One of the MANY Xavier Institute students who get sent to Hell following House of M, Katie appeared alongside several other kids in a story about Beast trying to be a guidance counselor.

Katie frequently argued with her roommate Anne, who kept accusing her of trying to ruin her life.

Jordie “The Human Computer” Flanders – The smartest girl in Graveyard School with an incredibly biting wit and tendency to speak in equations.

She’s also got a rather warped sense of humor, at least by the standards of her classmates. She took it upon herself to investigate the strange things going on at Vampire Park.

For Legion fans it’d be easier to say she’s Graveyard School’s answer to Brainiac 5

The Kageyama Sisters – Of the original Yu-Gi-Oh anime by Toei. Risa Kageyama and her triplets are infamous among the Duel Monsters community because of their willingness to do anything possible to attain rare cards. Their deck is built around the Hecate Sisters, and they only need the Violet Hecate card to complete the collection and form the powerful Gorgon card. When Risa learned Yugi Muto found the card, she pretended to be in love with him to get her hands on Violet Hecate.

The Kageyama Sisters had the rare fortune of recognizing Yugi’s Millennium Puzzle is important to him, and made sure he couldn’t use it when they dueled for Violet Hecate. Had Kaiba not taken over the duel, Risa and her sisters might’ve been the first to beat Yugi.

The Legion Founders – Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Lad are the founders and original members of the Legion of Super-Heroes from the day they saved the life of R.J. Brande.

My preferred forms are the originals/Retroboot adults or the cartoon founders. Bendis!boot is not recognized as valid. In regards to the Retroboot, I’m fond of the idea of disaster Cosmic Boy living with the Ardeen-Ranzz Family, with Garth cheerfully dealing with his twin boys Graym and Garridan AND with Rokk and Imra running themselves ragged.

If not all three, then Garth and Imra would be just as good.

As always, fat!Garth is appreciated in either setting.

Nanny and Orphan-Maker – A duo of bizarre mutants who’ve taken it upon themselves to kidnap mutant children from their human parents, assuming they’d be safer and better off instead of being raised by abusive normies.

Like something out of a fairy tale, Nanny’s deceptively oddball design belies a dangerous, obsessed woman who genuinely believes she’s doing these children a favor. Meanwhile, Peter the Orphan-Maker has a mutant power so dangerous he needs to be sealed inside his armor and never had a chance at normalcy thanks to the machinations of Mr. Sinister and his “beloved” Nanny.

Nightbird – Or Night-Gwen, if you’d prefer. From the recent “Heroes Reborn” event, she’s Gwen Stacy who never dated Peter Parker. She instead went on to become a competent, compassionate psychiatrist and a costumed heroine inspired by Nighthawk.

Channeling Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon, this version of Gwen also spoke a rather poignant piece of advice. Treat others how THEY want to be treated, not how YOU want to be treated.

Payback of the True Believers – Mavis Trent fights crime with a symbiotic entity said to be a cousin to the likes of Venom, Carnage, and Toxin. Whereas other symbiotes feed off negative emotions, the Payback symbiote feeds off positive ones such as bliss.

In spite of the heavy emphasis on the symbiote characters lately, Payback’s only recent appearance was on a variant cover.

Princess Quake – Introduced during the JOKERS arc of Magical Girl Raising Project. A college student and a member of the magical girl team known as the Pure Elementals. Representing Earth, her weapon is a giant hammer capable of causing earthquakes.

No she’s not tiny, that’s just the style when characters are introduced in the introduction of the light novels.

Quake is especially fond of children but is constantly worried about her desire to protect them being taken the wrong way. As someone who also has a hard time worrying about the line between “endearing” and “creepy,” I get her on a deep level.

Wow did I completely jump the gun with her. I should’ve waited until I read more of her. Yikes.

Purple Tigress – A Golden Age heroine who only made two infamous appearances before vanishing into the ether.

She was rather notable for the fact that no one could figure out her secret identity despite her not wearing a mask. It should also be noted that she was named after an insect and not an actual tiger.

Rainbow Girl – A Legion of Super-Heroes reject who later joined the Substitute Heroes. Dori Aandraison can tap into the Emotional Spectrum, but she can’t control what she taps into and thus suffers from severe mood swings.

Dori was my original favorite of the Legion Rejects, and for as much as I loathe Geoff Johns, he IS the one who brought her to the forefront as a new member of the Subs.

Sailor Jupiter and/or Sailor Saturn – Makoto Kino’s long been my default favorite of the Sailor Senshi, and after her is Hotaru due to us both being Capricorns.

My love for them doesn’t require much to be said, but they sadly didn’t interact much in either series even Makoto seems like the just the type to nurture and support someone like Hotaru.

S.P.F. - Of the J-Team from Rainbow Rowell’s Runaways, Ashely Pearson could channel and harness solar energy. As a member of the J-Team in the 90s, that meant she had an especially... THAT costume. Yet I find the design strangely endearing because it was created by someone with actual talent.

Sweet Sue – From the original Goosebumps series. Part of the Shock Street roster of monsters, freaks, and ghouls, Sweet Sue appears to be a lovable doll but she’s really a serial killer from the planet Mars.

We’re still unsure if she was serial killer before or after she arrived on Earth. Since she pretends to be a toy, I’ve always figured she’d work best in a Christmas setting.

Team Forte – A team of musically-thematic magical girls who’re also a band, they consist of Forte Lead, Forte Drums, Forte Keys, and Forte Bass. Historically they kept getting the lowest votes in the Sleepless Domain character polls, which I call bull honkey on.

Have you not SEEN Forte Drums? She is the CUTE ONE. The cute one WITH THE BOWTIE. I’d be interested in any art or fics about them, but if I had to pick someone I’d go with Forte Drums.

Tiara – A darker magical girl from the 90s series Shamanic Princess, she is an envoy dispatched from the Guardian World to retrieve the powerful Throne of Yord.

However, Tiara’s mission becomes increasingly murky when she discovers the reason behind the Throne’s theft. Tiara is headstrong, cocky, powerful, and ultimately a good-natured woman who wants to do the right thing.

In any other magical girl series, you’d expect Tiara to be a villain due to how positively demonic her superpowered form is.

Wakaba Shinohara – She must be protected at all costs. Utena Tenjou’s best friend and the reason she’s not a footnote in anime history.

A girl who wants to be special but has no idea how special she truly us, granting us the most emotionally taxing duel out of the entire Black Rose Arc. Despite being the normal best friend, she remains in the show right up to the end and sees her personal storyline getting a conclusion.

She also provides a pivotal role to the conclusion of the movie. The one person she ranks beneath is Tomoyo Daidouji.

Watermelon Tourmaline - A Gem fusion of two different kinds of Tourmaline, she was one of the early Gem monsters encountered during the early episodes of Steven Universe. She later appeared as a reoccurring extra in Steven Universe Future but had no speaking lines.

The pink and green design intrigues me and I’ve grown rather interested in the symbolism behind the actual watermelon tourmaline gem.

[xanican-exile]

Interview the Muse

Do all of them

Long post under the cut

- What is your Full name? Include any maiden names, aliases, or nicknames.

”Venix Savreux. My last name is Mornese, I guess that must be where my mother was from. Its a country a bit to the east of Xanica.” - When is your birthday? Do you know where you were born and at what time?

”I’m actually not sure. I know that my birthday is a few weeks before the first snowfalls, but rangers didn’t really have calendars out in the Wyrmswood.”

- What is your star sign? Do you know your Chinese Zodiac too?

“I don’t know what that means.”

- What is your earliest memory that you can remember?

“My... Mother wiping a bloody scrape on my cheek. I’m really young, can’t be more than 4 or 5? It hurts a lot but I won’t let myself cry. Babies cry, but I won’t. She’s chiding me for getting in a fight, especially with two boys that are bigger than me. But I think a little part of her is proud. They were making fun of me for being a whore’s son.”

- Where was your childhood home? Was it more urban or rural?

“I was born in docks quarter of Esklay, one of the big port cities in Xanica.”

- How was your childhood in general? Did your parents treat you well? Did you have a lot of friends?

“My mother and I didn’t have much. She was a whore, no idea who my dad was, and I wasn’t exactly around there long enough to make friends.”

“Things got a lot better when I joined the rangers though.”

- How was/is school? What is your favorite and least favorite subjects? What were your grades on average?

“I didn’t go to school, but I was trained to be a ranger from the time I was... 8, 9? Something like that. I know I was ranked pretty high among the cadets, I was the top in sword skills, but everyone else that would join my pack was better than me in at least one thing.”

- Did you have a best friend growing up? What was their name? Are you still in touch?

“No, no I’m not in contact with any of them. Vex, Rand, Mako, Velite, Ilia. They.. They aren’t around anymore.”

- Were you in any cliques?

“We were encouraged to become close to small groups, they would become our pack once our training was finished.”

- Best childhood memory you can recall?

“The day my pack became full rangers.”

- Worst childhood memory you can recall?

“... My mom dying.”

- Name an event in your childhood that has shaped you into the person you are today

“Probably the day I was found by the rangers. After my mom died I ran from home, didn’t know where I was going, too young to think beyond getting away. I think it was a few weeks of being on my own, barely surviving on scraps. I guess I was going north, because I eventually ended up in the Wyrmswood. I don’t know how, it’s hundreds of miles from where Esklay is on the coast, must have ended up in one of its southernmost reaches. I.. I ended up passing out around a ranger campfire, barely noticing the people watching me. A lot of lost kids, orphans, bastards, and street rats end up as rangers, but I’ve never heard of any others stumbling on them like I did. Its probably happened, Xanica is pretty big, but I’ve never heard of it. Anyway, when I woke up they fed me, tended to my wounds, and teased my story out of me. I remember one of them asking me if I would like to be strong enough to never let something like this happen again. I took his offer without a second thought.”

- What is the dumbest thing you have ever done to impress someone? Were they impressed or was it all for naught?

“I guess there was a couple times when I was still training that I tried to go off on my own, hunt things I wasn’t ready to to impress our masters. Only took a couple beatings before I stopped doing that though.”

- Did you ever have any sweethearts or lovers? Do you have a boy/girlfriend?

“Not really. I’m on the road a lot, going from place to place. I don’t get time to get close to a girl like that. There is this one bard I seem to keep running into though..”

- Are you a virgin?

“No.”

- Do you ever plan on getting married in your life? Do you want kids?

“I’ve.. never really thought about that. I guess no. Having a family or getting married doesn’t sound like something I can do.”

- Would you rather have your own kids or adopt? How many kids would you want?

“I don’t really have a preference, its hard for my to imagine doing either.”

- Do you think you'd be a protective parent or a relaxed parent?

“I don’t think I’d be a very good one.”

- How would you prefer to pass away? Surrounded by loved ones and at peace, or while doing something heroic?

“Definitely fighting. I want whatever takes me down to remember how much of a struggle it was to kill me.”“

- Generally, how healthy are you? Do you get sick or injured easily or are you fit?

“I do everything I can to stay in peak physical condition. Doing otherwise would mean I end up dead in my line of work.”

- Have you ever been badly injured before?

“Several times. You don’t fight monsters for over a decade without collecting a fair share of scars.”

- What is the worst injury you have ever gotten? What was it and how did it happen? Were you ever close to death?

“This one right here. Those three slashes across my chest? Those are from a Wyrmling. Its like a wyvern but flightless and with four legs. I had to hunt one on my own once. Those claws destroyed my armor, but I would have been turned to paste if I hadn’t been wearing it.”

- How many times have you been to the hospital/doctor's?

“I haven’t been to many hospitals. Those are for sick people, but I’ve had to visit a lot of surgeons and healers over the years to get stitched up or have other wounds treated. I’ve never tried counting how many times I’ve been to those.”

- Have you ever had a concussion or brain injury? Have you ever had amnesia?

“I’ve had more than a few concussions, but I don’t think I’ve ever had amnesia or a serious brain injury, thankfully.”

“...I should really get a helmet.”

- What was the worst illness you ever contacted? Do you know what it was? How long were you sick?

“I don’t know what it was, but there was one time that I was stuck in bed for over a week as a child. It happens sometimes to cadets, they weren’t sure I’d survive, but I proved stronger than they expected.”

- Ever had any extended hospital stays? What for?

“Didn’t I already answer this?”

- Have you ever had to give yourself or someone else emergency first aid? What happened?

“Multiple times. Sometimes they lived, sometimes they didn’t.”

- Are you employed? Where do you work and who do you work for? What do you do?

“I guess you could call me a mercenary. Since leaving Xanica I’ve made my living going from place to place dealing with bandits, poachers, and monsters. Once or twice I’ve been hired to stay on a noble’s estates for a season to keep it guarded. Those jobs are boring, but pay best.”

- Are you happy with your current job?

“...No. Most of it is just busywork. I do it because its what I know, because its closest to what I used to do. But I wish I had something more meaningful to use my skills for.”

- Did you have any previous jobs? What were they and what did you do?

“I was raised to be a ranger. Its what I did until leaving Xanica about 2 years ago.”

- Most dangerous thing you have ever done?

“That’s hard to say. I’ve been involved in a lot of dangerous things. The expedition into the Divide might be at the top though.”

- Do you consider yourself a more active person or a more relaxed person?

“Definitely more active. I’m not good at sitting around doing nothing for than a day or so.”

- What is your dream come true? How about your worst nightmare?

“My... My nightmare already happened. My dream would be for my pack to be alive.”

- What is the biggest and most important goal you have set for yourself?

“To never let what happened to the rangers happen to someone else.”

- How persistent would you say you are? How much does it take to get you to give up on a task?

“I’d like to say I don’t give up easy, but I guess I’ve already given in on the stuff that matters.”

- Would you surrender yourself to your enemies or fight to the very end?

“Fight. I won’t run again, not while there is something I can still do.”

- When do you usually do your shopping? What is currently on your shopping list?

“Usually between jobs, or right after I finish one. Right now I need to get myself some new rope, hardtack, my cloak stitched, and a pan for cooking.”

- Top three things on your wishlist?

“Wyvernhide leather cuirass, a pair of those new glyph inscribed boots that resist water, and a warm chocolate mint drink.”

- Currently, what is something you want but do not need?

“A warm chocolate mint drink “

- Do you like shopping? What is your favorite thing to shop for?

“I don’t know if I like shopping, but I don’t dislike it either, its just something I have to do.”

- What is the most expensive thing you have purchased? Was it worth it?

“My mail shirt. Absolutely worth it, saved my life more than once.”

- What would you do if you were suddenly given one billion dollars out of the blue?

“I’m not sure. I don’t really buy a lot of luxuries. Maybe I would purchase a keep or something? A place to winter at when the roads get snowed over.”

- What would you describe your style of clothing as?

“Practical.”

- Do you have any hobbies? Name all of them if you can.

“I can make simple woodcarvings, I play the flute, and I guess I’ve dabbled in falconry.”

- Do you like and appreciate art? What is your favorite piece of artwork?

- Do you like music? What is your favorite style of music?

- Have you ever seen any musicals? What is your favorite?

- What are your top three favorite animals? What would you say your "Patronus" or "Spirit Animal" is?

“Eagles, Hawks, and Bears. Most rangers would probably say our spirits are most like wolves.”

- What are your top three favorite colors?

“Red, white, and I guess yellow or amber, though that last one is really just with eye colors.”

- What is your favorite season? Do you prefer hotter or colder weather? Do you like snow at all?

“Spring. I can’t stand the snow, it makes it easier to be tracked, and the work always slows down during the winter.”

- What kind of flavors do you prefer: Sweet, Sour, Bitter, Spicy, Dry, or Umami (savory meat taste)?

“Savory is my favorite. I’m not really a fan of sweets aside from fruits. I like mint a lot as well, but I don’t know what that falls under.”

- Can you cook at all?

“Yes. Everyone in the pack took turns cooking. So we all got pretty good at it.”

- What is your favorite dish? Can you prepare it? Do you have the recipe handy?

“I don’t know if I have a favorite, but I do like going to new places and trying their foods.”

- What is your favorite fruit and vegetable?

“Strawberries and onions.”

- What is your favorite dessert? What is your favorite type of candy/treat?

“Choclate is just about the only sweet I enjoy.”

- What is the best thing you have ever had the opportunity to eat? What is the worst?

“Xanican haggis is always a treat.”

- Do you like to drink tea or coffee? Any favorite flavors?

“Both are good, as I said earlier I like mind a lot.”

- Describe your sense of humor.

“Sarcasm.”

- What is one thing you are justly proud of?

“My skill with a sword. I’ve always been good with a blade. The best of all the rangers in my age group.”

- Do you have any religious beliefs? If not, have you ever been to a church service?

“Everyone pays respect to the gods, but I wouldn’t say I’m really religious. I’ve had to go to a few services when going to priest or nun healers. They usually make that their payment.”

- What would you say is the worst thing someone has done to you? What is the meanest thing someone has ever said to you?

"Tricking my pack into helping stoke the fires of a civil war and then getting them all killed. Anything that’s been said to me doesn’t even come close to that.”

- What is the worst thing you have done to someone? What is the meanest thing you have said to anyone?

“I’m not really sure. I tend not to talk much unless I have something really worth saying, insults are usually not worth the effort.” “Worst thing I’ve ever done to someone is definitely kill them. I’ve had to kill quite a few people.”

- Share the latest entry in your diary/journal.

“I can’t write.”

- What is the most precious thing you own? Is it valuable at all?

“Garmr. My sword. Over a thousand years old. I’ve heard some people say that its worth a kingdom, I wouldn’t know, and I don’t plan to sell it.”

- Talk about someone you know. It can be someone you either like or dislike.

“Rubio. He’s just a kid, got a lot of heart but a chip on his shoulder too. He’s had a rough start to his life, and I’m hoping to teach him a few things so he can make the rest of it better.”

[austennerdita2533]

Yes! I had heard about the spin off about their kids it’s on my tbr! Not sure when I’ll get around to it but I’ll get there eventually. But ooh their other series sounds interesting too I’ll put it on my tbr too!! But that’s exactly why I loved Coballoway too (plus I’m also similar to Rose so their love story felt more personal that way)

Yay!! I’m glad the atlas six interested you, I hope you like it when you get to it I’m really loving it so far! I can already tell there is at least one ship I’m going to love it just hits all of my favorite tropes/things I enjoy. But the magic system is so cool and they are all so powerful.

Also glad you want to know about my reading too! I will keep you updated I have some books/series I really want to read but I try to be good and not read more than 2/3 at a time (and not buy anymore till I’m finished). Right now I’m also working through the throne of glass series which might take me awhile but I’m enjoying that too! Right now the books up next on my list are: Ugly Love, The Ravenhood Series, The Hating Game, Zodiac Academy, and Twisted Games (it’s the second book in a series that come out this month I loved Twisted Love by Ana Huang-highly recommend it if you love grumpy/sunshine and brother’s best friend tropes plus the twists were amazing-this one is a different couple but I’m excited!!)

Also! Don’t think I mentioned it yet maybe I did but I also read the Folk Air Series that you recommended! It took me a little while to get into but I ended up really loving it and Jurdan. I loved loved loved Jude and how power hungry she was and how Cardan was just obsessed with her. Their relationship build up was so good too.

All the best!!

-ACOTAR Anon

I keep meaning to get around to the Like Us series myself but I haven't managed it yet. It's been sitting on my tbr (and my Kindle) for a good couple of years now. 🤦🏼‍♀️ I know I'll read it eventually...but when eventually will be is anybody's guess.

(This is a good commentary on my reading life in general, I think. It's impossible to keep up with everything!)

The Atlas Six is pretty fascinating so far! I'm only about 25% into it but the magical world building is unique and I like how the narrative switches between the different POV's. Usually I don't care for more than 3 or 4 alternating perspectives in books because it makes it harder for me to invest in the characters, since I don't have as much time with them, but it works exceedingly well in this one. Helps to preserve the mystery of Atlas early on. And also allows readers to see how different all of the characters are in magical skill, background, personality, etc. I can't wait to see what unfolds!

I'm also currently reading Anxious People by Frederik Backman. I don't know if you've read anything by him before but he's such a good storyteller. Grabs you by the hearstrings. He's funny as hell, too. I've loved everything I've picked up from him so far. He has a knack for crafting beautifully flawed relatable complex characters. And this book is no exception. It might end up being a 5-star read for me, which is rare.

The next books on your to-read list sound fantastic, btw! Some I have read already or have them snuggled on one of my many wishlists. Like the Zodiac Academy and the Ravenhood series. And The Hating Game is one of my contemporary romance obsessions. It's just so enemies-to-lovers charged and fun. That book is packed full of a bunch tropes I adore. I've already read it twice and will likely revisit it again in the future. Thanks for mentioning Ugly Love (I need to get off my butt and read Colleen Hoover) and Twisted Love because those are definitely right up my alley. Grumpy/sunshine is one of my favorite romance tropes. I live for it!

And yayyy! I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed The Folk of the Air! It does take a bit to settle into the world of that story, as well as to become engrossed in the characters, but once you do, it's full speed ahead. Jude is such a badass. I love that she's ambitious to the point she's willing to take people out/down to get what she wants. Her fraught relationship with Madoc is fascinating to me as well. And Jurdan is just such a delicious ship. I love it so much. It's true enemies-to-lovers excellence. They have so many quotable lines!

I'm excited because Holly Black has a new adult fantasy series coming out next year, in 2022. It's called Book of Night and the premise sounds cool as hell. I've already been stalking NetGalley in the hopes that I have a chance at first dibs on an ARC lolol.

Also, if you can find self-restraint enough not to buy any more books until you've read most of the ones you have then I salute you! I try oh, so hard to enact this rule upon myself...but it never works. Like ever. 😂

It's my own fault, really. I get daily emails/alerts from Kindle, BookBubs, etc. letting me know about titles that are on sale for less than $5, and when they're that cheap, I can't seem to justify NOT buying a whole hoard of them even though I know they're more than likely to remain unread for a long, loooong time to come. Better than paying full price, though. Right?

If you haven't email subscribed to any of these sites, and you're looking to save some cash on audio or e-books specifically, you should. I'd spend a whole ass fortune on books if I didn't use them. (I check out a lot of books from the library, too.) I dropped the links to some of the ones I use in case you or anyone else who reads this is interested and doesn't know about them:

Book Bubs (you can set preferences/alerts based on your favorite books, genres, authors; you can rate stuff and curate your own wishlist too)

Early Bird Books (I use this one a lot to find classics that are on sale/free)

Book Riot (this site has a lot of book sweepstakes you can enter for a chance to win gift cards to Barnes & Noble, Book Depository etc.)

Kindle Book Deals (there are tons of deals offered daily, weekly monthly; I'm not a Kindle Unlimited member but there's that option, too)

NewInBooks (new releases; has links for Kindle, Apple, Audio, and hardcover)

Anyway take care, sweets, and happy reading! 💜

[parkmuse]

Cat Got Your Tongue Pt. 1 (M)

Word Count: 5,470 (Reposted) (Wonhopes Masterlist)

Taco ain’t your innocent kitty no more.

cr.

“Come on Y/N, you can’t stay holed up in your apartment. Let’s go out and have fun!”

Eunji jumps onto you, rattling the bed frame as she whips the sheets off of you.

“Don’t wanna,” You groan.

“You can’t be like this forever, Y/N.”

You groan again, bringing the bed sheets back up to cover your face. “Yes I can. Just let me be, I want to lay here like a potato for the next 40 years. Come visit me every day to put food next to me.”

“Oh my god you’re so dramatic. Namjoon was a jackass, okay? And fuck Yoona too! You’re better off without the both of them.” She pats the top of your head that isn’t wrapped under the sheets.

You can’t help but feel like this. Your boyfriend of two years along with your best friend since elementary were hooking up behind your back, and you caught them red handed in your previously shared apartment with your loving boyfriend. You immediately kicked them out, telling them to never show their faces again there and took any cherished memories you’ve had with them, dumping them in the trash. One of the things you couldn’t help but keep was the chain around your neck, holding the ring Namjoon gave to you on your second anniversary. You didn’t have the heart to toss it, still pathetically leaving it around your neck in hopes that this whole scenario was just all a dream.

“You know, I heard they’re having 50% off your favorite hot cocoa at the mall~”

You peek your head from under the covers, “50% off?”

“Yes, and I’ll even pay for you.”

She knows you can’t turn away free food, especially if it’s your favorite drink. You spring from the bed and run to your wardrobe. “Okay you got a deal. Give me 5.”

-

Once you and Eunji made your way to the outdoor mall, you instantly regretted it. Hundreds of couples swarmed the area, going on dates to see the massive Christmas tree and have a romantic walk through the winter wonderland. Thousands of lights twinkled from above, and the snow that fell made it look even more beautiful.

You and Namjoon had planned to go here together this week. You two were supposed to stop by the café with him getting you a hot chocolate and a cappuccino for himself. Afterwards, you were going to walk around candy cane lane and end at the big Christmas tree, snuggling into each other for warmth as you admire the lights.

Seeing all the couples that were doing what you were supposed to do with him made you feel sick and even more depressed.

“I don’t think this was a good idea after all Eunji,” You groan. “I think I just want to go back home.” You start turning away but she locks her arm into yours.

“No! We just got here! Come on Y/N, you’ve been home all week. We’ve come this far, the café is right there!”

You sigh. “All these cheesy couples are making me nauseous.”

She turns to whisper in your ear, “I’ll be your boyfriend.”

You smack her arm. “As much as you persuade me with food I don’t think this relationship would work out, I like dick too much.”

She laughs aloud, “How do you know I don’t have one?”

“Did you just admit to me that you have a dick?”

“Okay sorry to burst your bubble because I don’t. But enough dick talk we have to hurry or the line will get longer!” She says, dragging you to the entrance of the café.

After grabbing your drinks you set outside to wander around the center of the mall, beautifully decorated with warm holiday colors. The tree had to be at least 50 ft tall or so, crimson ribbons cascading down along its sides with gold and silver ornaments hanging throughout. On top of that was the beautiful brightly lit star to complete it.

You and Namjoon were supposed to put up your tree this weekend. Placing the star on top was your favorite part-

“Y/N, if you keep moping like that I’m going to punch your boob.”

“Okay, okay!” You say, covering up your chest. “I know I should be angry and forget about it all but I can’t help but still feel this way. It was two whole years of being together after all. And Yoona was my best friend my whole life.” You sigh and take a sip of your drink, watching as a couple kisses under the same mistletoe you and Namjoon would every year.

You turn back to her. “I really appreciate you trying to make me feel better, I really do. But I think I just want to go home for today.” You give her a faint smile and pat her shoulder.

Eunji frowns, then reluctantly starts following you back to the car.

You’re almost out and away from all the hoard of couples making their way to go and see the tree when Eunji pulls you back all of a sudden.

“Y/N, let’s just do this one thing first and then I promise I’ll take you home.”

You look at her confused, “What?”

She points to the side, where you see a little fenced village covered in fake snow and towers of presents. “Let’s go see Santa!”

You frown. “I’d rather not, I don’t want to sit on some perv’s lap,” you say as you tug your arm away. She grabs ahold of it again, tugging you toward that direction.

“Just do it! Do it for me? Please? Come on please please pleasepleaseplease-“

“Okay! If you shut up and take me home right after,” You huff.

Eunji squeals in delight, locking her arms onto yours again and dashes towards Santa’s village.

-

The inside was a lot cuter than you expected it to be. There were reindeer tracks on the ground, cookies and milk out for Santa, and “elves” around the area spreading Christmas joy. At the very end, Santa was on his candy cane throne with an ecstatic child on his lap, blabbering every little thing he wanted for Christmas. Santa was as jolly as he should be, telling the kid how if he stays on the nice list he’ll definitely get what he wants.

After taking a picture with the child, the kid ran back off to his mom.

“Ho ho ho! Okay, who’s next?” The wannabe Santa yells aloud.

“She’s next!” Eunji yells, pointing at you and pushing you in his direction.

“Eunji, I don’t want-“

“Okay Miss! Come over here with your Wishlist!”

At this point you couldn’t really reject, especially with all these people already staring at you. You sigh and reluctantly make your way over to him.

You were definitely not going to sit on his lap because you were a grown woman and that would have just been really weird, so you decided to just sit on the chair right beside his.

“What’s your name young lady?”

“Y/N,” You politely smile to him.

“What a pretty name! And Ms. Y/N, what would you like for Christmas?”

Namjoon.

You shook your head. What were you thinking? You weren’t going to say that to him. What other thing did you want for Christmas so you can get this over with?

“Nothing in particular…”

“She wants a boyfriend!” Eunji yells from the side.

You shot her a death glare, then she giggles and winks at you.

“Well Ms. Y/N, is that what you really wish for?”

You look at him with a blank stare, and end up shrugging. “I think I’m tired of boys.”

Santa lets out a hearty laugh, then pats you on the shoulder.

“You know Ms. Y/N, love is an adventure. You’ll fall in love, and you’ll fall out of love. You’ll cry, you’ll be angry, happy, you’ll feel every emotion you could possibly ever think of in every bit of your beautiful being. Sometimes, we have to go through a few obstacles before we find it.”

He leans over with his hand covering his mouth to the side. “Want in on a little secret?”

You look at him, curious as to what he was talking about.

“I, Santa Claus, can help make your wish come true. I remember your name on my nice list Ms. Y/N. And you look like a kind, selfless young lady and I am sure you will find love very soon.” He points to you. “But I need your help. If you really really believe in your wish, it’ll definitely come true.”

You look at him, smile so sincere and eyes so genuine that for a second you actually believe in him. You nod back at him out of politeness, and give him a faint smile.

“Okay! Now let’s take a picture!”

You both smile for the camera, then afterwards you stand up from the chair. Before you leave, he grabs a hold on your hand, making you turn back to look at him.

“Just believe Ms. Y/N. Even if it’s a little bit; don’t lose hope. And you never know, love might be closer than you think. Maybe right under your nose! Merry Christmas!” He gives you a heartwarming smile and you reciprocate, then nod and leave back to Eunji.

-

You finally get home to your apartment, chucking off your boots and tugging off your beanie. You quickly change into some comfy sweats and a big, warm sweater then find solace in your warm comforter.

You lay on your side, and a shiny object catches your eye.

The ring attached to the necklace around your neck that Namjoon gave to you on your anniversary.

You caress the last piece you have left of him, then sit up to take it off your neck. You stare at the object in your hands, then think about what Santa had said earlier that night.

Sometimes, we have to go through a few obstacles before we find love.

Maybe Namjoon was just one of those obstacles.

You really thought he was the one, but you probably had it all mixed up.

If you really really believe in your wish, it’ll definitely come true.

You really did want to find the one someday.

As dumb as you really thought it was, maybe he’s right. You just really have to believe, and your wish will come true. You’ll find a great guy that will treat you right someday.

At that moment, a furry figure jumps onto the bed and tugs the necklace out of your hand, dropping it to the floor.  You were about to yell at him but he brushes himself against your hand, purring as he tries to get you to cuddle him.

You can’t help but smile at him wanting attention from you, then start petting him. “What’s up with you today, Taco?”

You’ve had your cat for a couple of years, way before you started dating Namjoon. You rescued him when he was just a little kitten, stuck in the tree in front of your house. His endless cries made you pity him, so you ended up climbing up and getting him down. After that, he stuck to you like glue and you ended up keeping him.

Not only was it loving, warm cuddles he would give to you that made you fall for him, it was his beautiful coat too.

His light caramel fur along with some chocolate spots, the cute little mole that resides on the tip of his nose that you loved to kiss along with the one under his right eye. What always leaves this cutie so captivating is his gorgeous jade colored eyes that shines like an emerald in the rough.

You’re about to bend down to grab the necklace again, but your thoughts stop you.

Why hold onto it? Namjoon wasn’t worth it, and you knew it too.

Taco runs his head along the palm of your hand again, nudging you to pay attention to him. You chuckle, petting him and taking him in your arms as you lay back down on the bed. He snuggles himself into your neck, tickling your skin and making you giggle.

“What do I need him for? What do I need a man for when I have you, Taco?” You say as he purrs into your neck.

“You’re as loyal as ever, and you’ll always be there for me, right?” Once you say that he places a paw on your cheek, making you look over. He moves closer to you, licking your top lip and cutely meows to you.

“Want me to do it back?” He meows back to you again and you giggle. “If only you were human Taco, we’d be perfect.” You kissed the mole on his nose and snuggled closer into him, cuddling with each other until you both fell asleep.

-

You were having the nicest dream that night. You dreamt that you fell asleep, so warm and comfy completely engulfed in someone’s arms. It must have been your other half, the man of your dreams (literally). He smelled faintly of peppermint, and the alluring smell made you feel even more cozy. You snuggle yourself into the warm embrace, leaving you to face his chest and take in more of his scent.

You slowly opened your eyes, feeling a little better from the previous day.

All of a sudden this feeling of unsettledness churns in the pit of your stomach, because you’re awake and yet strangely, the dream is still continuing.

The smell of peppermint continues to fill your senses, and the inviting warmth surrounds your figure. The arms around you hug you tighter. Legs are tangled into yours, and you can hear light breathing of the person next to you as they rest their chin on the top of your head.

Namjoon?

Your heart is beating a mile a minute. Did he come back? Is he sorry for what he’s done?

He never smelled this way though. He doesn’t feel this way when he’s hugging you.

Who the fuck is it?

You slowly look up, scared shitless of who it could possibly be.

You’re met with an unrecognizable face, and you hate yourself for thinking this at that moment but he was beautiful.

Actually, he was ethereal.

His chocolate hair was a bit messy, but his bangs hung down a little over his eyes. His caramel skin was so smooth, and he smelled amazing. One distinct feature of his caught your eye though.

He had a tiny mole right on the tip of his nose.

You couldn’t figure out why that felt so familiar to you at the moment because now you were freaking out.

You jumped out of your bed, finally realizing the reality of the situation. There was a stranger that broke into your home and snuck into your bed.

Why didn’t Taco make any sound? Where was he?

You couldn’t go and look for him now as you stumble around, frantically trying to look for your cell phone to call the police. As you’re going through your drawer, you hear a deep, husky voice speak to you.

“What are you doing so early, Y/N?”

You freeze on the spot.

How the fuck did this guy know your name? How did he even get into the house?

You slowly turn back to look at him, then you spotted something you didn’t notice before. He was sprawled on the bed, lazily looking at you as he rubs one of his eyes. Right at the top of his head, you see what looks like…ears?

Not ears that a normal human would have on the sides of their head. No, fucking cat ears resting right at the top of his head.  

Some furry loving cat cosplayer weirdo just broke into your home.

Immediately, you grab your hairspray from the top drawer and point it in his direction.

“W-Who the fuck are you? What the fuck are you doing in my house, laying with me on my bed?”

He looks at you a bit confused, and now he’s fully awake. He slowly sits up, and that’s when you really notice something.

He’s staring straight at you, jade eyes shining brightly. Almost the same jade eyes that mesmerizes you every day that belonged to-

“…Taco?”

He makes a sound that almost sounds like a hiss under his breath, “My name isn’t fucking Taco, it’s Tae!”

His ears perk up straight and as he sits up even more, the bedsheets fall from his figure. Completely exposed to you is his broad shoulders and defined collarbones, followed by his toned, smooth stomach that had a faint etch of a six pack coming along.

His eyes follow yours that scanned his impeccable figure, and his eyes widen in surprise. “Woah, when did this happen?”

He continues to look at himself, running his hand along his forearms and touching his face. “When did I turn human?”

He grabs ahold of the sheets, pulling it up slightly to look under. He raises a brow, then nods his head. “Well, still got it going on down here in Tae town-“

He’s about to lift the sheets completely off of himself, but you stop him with a scream.

“NO! FOR GODS SAKE KEEP IT ON!”

He freezes, then lets go of the sheet. He cranes his neck to the side, staring at you as his ears falter a bit. “Why are you pointing that at me?”

“Who are you? Why are you here? Why are you NAKED IN MY BED!?” You yell in frustration.

He’s still looking at you in confusion. “You don’t recognize me in this form?”

“Form? What form?”

He gestures a hand around himself. “This form. My human form.”

You look at him as if he’s talking like some psychopath. “Dude, I don’t know who the hell you are but please leave and take your cat dressing fetish out of my home or I’m going to call the police.”

He huffs in annoyance. “It’s me, Taco.”

Taco? Your cat?

He points to his face. “Can’t you tell by my eyes? Or the mole on my nose you always kiss?”

He reaches above his head, tugging on his ears. “These aren’t fake by the way, and I don’t have a cat dressing fetish. I am a cat.” He runs a hand through his hair, “Your cat. And my name isn’t Taco, it’s Tae. I fucking hated that name,” He says with a frown.

You slowly lower the hairspray, then drop your hands to your sides.

“…Taco?”

“TAE!” He yells to you, making you jump in your spot.

He clears his throat. “Sorry. It’s Tae though, that’s my name. I'm not a damn taco.”

He scratches the back of his head, “Look, I know this is really weird and all, but it’s me. I don’t really know why this happened either, but what’s done is done.” He looks at you, no hint of hostility in his eyes.

You slowly make your way over to him, and he stays in one place as not to scare you. You sit in front of him on the bed, looking over all of his features.

His skin tone and his hair color is just like Tacos. The mole under his right eye, his striking jade eyes. When you look closely, his eye shape and his pupils is really similar to a cats. You slowly reach forward, touching his mole on his nose.

It was very faint, but for a second you thought you heard him…purr?

You move your hand higher, reaching for his ears. You tug at them lightly, realizing that they really are attached to his head. You slowly run your hand down along it in complete awe.

This is all real.

This is actually happening to you.

Without thinking you accidentally scratch the underside of his ears, and he lets out a deep moan. You move your hand back quickly in shock, “Oh my god, sorry-“

He quickly catches your hand in his, then brings his face into your palm.

“No, it felt good. I love when you do that to me.” He rubs his face against your hand, running his cheek across it as he lets out low purrs.

“Touch me more.”

Your face goes crimson red, then you quickly snatch your hand from out of his grasp and jump from the bed.

“Okay, so let me get this straight. You’re Tac-Tae, and overnight you turned human. Well semi human because you still have fucking cat ears. You’re not some weirdo cat cosplayer that broke into my home to kidnap me, but you’re my cat that turned human?”

He shrugs, “I guess you can put it that way.”

You can’t believe this is seriously happening.

This is like some weird fictional drama scenario. How could this have possibly happen? Did someone put some curse on you? You let out a gasp, then remembered what happened the night before.

Santa and your wish. You hoping to find a kind, loyal and loving boyfriend.

You saying that if Taco were human then you’d be perfect for each other.

“I didn’t LITERALLY mean it!” You yelled aloud to yourself all of a sudden.

Tae jumped in his seat, looking even more confused as ever. “What the hell are you yelling about?”

You stared at him bug eyed.

This is not happening. This cannot be happening. Your cat did not just turn human.

Santa did not just turn your cat into a human because you can’t find a real guy in the world who you’d have a chance with.

Was there really no chance with anyone else? You’re last resort is your cat?

You scream again, groaning as you throw yourself face first into the bed.

“I’m hopeless. And I’m going crazy.” You flip around and grab a pillow, throwing it over your face. “This all has to be a dream. I’m going to die alone.”

You feel rough hands grab ahold of yours, pulling the pillow off of your face. You’re met with Tae’s, a mere inches from yours as he hovers over you from the side.

“Hey, stop being so dramatic. You have me. I’m yours, remember?” He nudges his face a bit into your hand.

You stare in silence as you watch his movements. He’s the exact same way as he was when he was a cat, only in a grown man’s body. He still nudges into your palm, and you can’t help that a small smile crept on your lips.

You instinctively caress his face, watching as he hums in content. Taco loved when you would pet him, especially when you ran your fingers along his head. You did the same with Tae, seeing him get lost in your touch.

You gently scraped your nails through his hair, actually forgetting how crazy this all was, and at that moment all of a sudden he jumps on top of you with a groan.

He places one leg between both of yours, straddling one leg and putting both his hands beside your head as you look at him in shock. He kneels down, bringing his face to yours so close you can feel his heavy breaths on your lips.

He rubs his face against yours, cheek to cheek, then runs his nose along your jawline with hot pants. You’re too shaken to even move at this point, leaving both hands on either side of you.

He continues to bring his face lower, rubbing himself into the juncture of your neck that he loved to do so much.

He ran his nose along the side, then darted his tongue out to give your neck a quick swipe. The wet muscle sliding along your skin woke you up instantly, then you push his chest back.

“Get off of me!”

His eyes widen, ears faltering as he pouts at you. “Why? You used to let me all the time.” He tries to lower his face again, but you push against him again.

“That was different! You can’t do that anymore!” A blush was creeping up your face and it was really starting to get hot in here.

“What’s different? Nothing’s different! Woah, what’s wrong with your face? Are you sick?” He touches your cheek, faintly running his thumb across your face. He stares at you in concern with his jade eyes, craning his neck to the side.

“I-I’m fine, just get off of me will you-“

You stop midway through your sentence because you felt something touch your thigh. You lifted your leg a little out of reflex, confused at what just hit you.

“Ahh,” Tae drops his head to your shoulder, struggling to keep himself upright.

“C-Can you do that again?” He pants hotly into your ear.

Then it clicked in your head.

You looked down slightly, your eyes scanning his naked figure from waist up. Once you realize what part of his body is resting against your thigh, your face goes red as a tomato and you scream aloud, pushing him completely off of you.

He rolls to the side with an oof! then you jump up faced away from him.

“Oh my god your- and my thigh- oh my god,” you cover your face up with your hands as you groan.

“Oh god, I need to take a shower…just stay there please, I’ll be back,” You say as you frantically make your way to the bathroom.

You click the door shut, then slide down the wall and onto the floor.

My cat’s…human. Taco is…Tae, a human?

This has to be some crazy prank Eunji is pulling on you.

She hired some hot weirdo to sleep on your bed and pretend he’s your cat, that way you can get over Namjoon quickly. She wouldn’t go as far as hiring a stranger to do this to you though. What the fuck is happening?

You still need time to wrap all of this around your head.

You let out a heavy sigh. A hot shower would be really nice right now.

You get up, removing all your clothes as you make your way into the shower. You turn on the hot water and let it slide down your figure, letting the warmth run down your face. You hum in content, letting it relax you.

What the hell were you going to do? If Tae really is your cat, is he going to live with you from now on? What about his ears?

Does he still eat cat food? Does he still shit in the litter box because you are not fucking down to clean that shit-

You reached down to grab your shampoo, but grab something else that felt really funny.

You look down. It looked like a rope, all hairy and brown. What the fuck is this?

You tug it closer to inspect it better, but a husky groan stops you in your tracks. What the fuck was that-

“Mm, fuck, don’t pull so hard. While you’re at it, do you mind getting my back?”

You turn to see Tae, back faced to you and butt naked in the shower. He’s rubbing body wash into his chest, but stopped with a moan once you accidentally gripped whatever was in your hand again. You look at what you’re still holding and what you see makes you mortified.

A tail. A fucking tail attached right above his damn buttcrack and you’re holding the tip in your hand-

“Ahh, don’t-“ He grips onto the ledge for support, legs slightly wobbling as his ears fold on his head. “Please, be gentle.” He pants.

You immediately let go of him, then push him out of the shower.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! GET OUT!” You manage to spit out. You shut the shower door behind him as you attempt to cover yourself up.

“What?! We do this all the time!” He tries to open the door again but you hold it closed.

“NO! SHOWER ALONE WHEN I’M DONE! JUST GET OUT!”

“But I still have soap in my-“

“OUT!”

“Fine! You’re so fucking weird, I’ll just wash it out in the sink,” He huffs, walking out of the bathroom.

Once you hear the door click you yell for a good 10 seconds into your towel. What the FUCK is happening?

-

After spending the next half hour reevaluating your life choices and asking God why he would do this to you, you finally find the courage to walk out of the bathroom. You slowly peek your head out, looking both ways to see where Tae could have gone. You didn’t want to see him butt naked again, or even worse, his tail.

After the coast was clear, you creeped around to find where he went off to. It was eerily quiet. Did he leave?

Was this all a figment of your imagination?

You hear a groan in the living room and jump, then slowly tiptoed your way to the direction of the sound. You look around your living room with no sign of him, but when you made your way around the couch you found him fast asleep on top.

He wasn’t naked (thank god), he was wearing a white t-shirt and some black basketball shorts. He must have grabbed Namjoon’s clothes that were left in the closet, then knocked out after the shower.

You walked over, kneeling down in front of him. You looked at every detail on his face, still in shock of how much he actually did look like your cat.

His skin and hair was the same color as Taco’s fur, and his moles were in the exact same spots. You can’t help but lightly touch his hair, watching as he rests so calmly on the couch just like you would with Taco every day.

He moves a bit in his sleep, nudging himself closer into your touch as he stretches farther along the couch. You chuckle, remembering how your cat would do that all the time when you petted him.

You examine his ears on his head again, then lightly brush your fingertips along it. They looked so realistic, salmon colored on the inside and a chocolate brown on the back to match his hair color. You couldn’t see his tail right now since they were under him, but from the shower it did feel very realistic as well.

As much as you wanted to, you didn’t have the heart to tell Tae he couldn’t live here. He reminded you too much of your most precious pet, and Taco was nowhere to be found. And as crazy as it sounds, you’re really starting to think he is your cat.

Your thoughts are lost when Tae jerked a bit, suddenly bringing his hand to rest on your cheek. You freeze as he slowly opens his eyes, the jade colored pupils pulling you into a mesmerizing trance once again. In a blink of an eye, he moves forward toward you, bringing his lips a mere inches from yours.

He darts his tongue out, gently caressing your top lip with a swipe. He moves back, licking his pink lips as he stares back at you.

“Do it back.”

You’re still frozen on the spot, too lost in what he just did to respond to him so you just stare back at him with wide eyes. He continues to look at you, then huffs in annoyance.

“You don’t remember or something? Like this,” He brings his lips up to your face again, but leaves a chaste kiss on the tip of your nose.

“Now do it to me.”

You’re still trying to comprehend that he literally just licked your lips and kissed your damn nose, and you’re at a loss for words.

“Do you want me to do it again?” He grabs ahold of your face in his hands, then brings his lips back to you. “Like this-“

“I get it!” You push him backwards onto the couch, then immediately stand up. “Stop that. I-I just don’t want to.”

“Why?”

You turn to look at him, and he actually looked really sad. Just like when you wouldn’t give Taco attention, his ears would fold and he’d look at you with big, glossy eyes.

“W-We have to figure out how to turn you back. This isn’t good, Tac-Tae.”

“What if I can’t? What if I stayed like this forever?”

What if he did? What would you do?

“You said if I was human, we’d be perfect for each other.”

He understood that?

“And if it’s worth anything, I’m way bigger than Namjoon ever was-“

You smack him on the back of the head, earning a groan from him. “What?!”

“Idiot!” You stand up, walking away to your bedroom. This is going to be a Christmas to remember.

[script-a-world]

Clearly there are some settings which make no sense scientifically. But how do I decide when to intentionally ignore reality, can't bother to do research, don't understand research, and thus create scientifically impossible places? When are such things considered be offensive or overused cliche or have a reader point out the impossibility and can't get into the story? I'm guessing some of this might be structural issues instead of world building?

Tex: One of the perils of attempting to write about highly technical subjects is that you run into the issue of not understanding your writing. I do raise a nominal objection as your first sentence, because sensibility is a sliding scale based on one’s familiarity with a given subject. I don’t know crap about, say, textile art (however much I might have bluffed readers in the past - no, no, this is just good googling skills on my end), but that doesn’t mean the textile arts are an inherently incomprehensible subject.

Scientifically, automobiles were once thought to be insensible. Scientifically, phones were thought to be a flight of fancy. Scientifically, 3D printing was improbable. Scientifically, quantum computing was the stuff of sci-fi nerds who just wanted to slap the “quantum” label on everything.

And yet we are now on the verge of robotic vehicles, mostly functional smartwatches, laser printing cells (PDF), and quantum computers (VentureBeat, IBM).

So I would argue that the insensibility of a setting would be due mostly to, yes, a structural issue - on the part of the author. No matter what you put into your world, internal consistency is key; nothing, no matter how ostensibly outlandish, will make sense if you contradict yourself.

I’ll volley a few questions back to you:

“[...] when to intentionally ignore reality” - Are you ignoring reality entirely, or just parts of it? Why? How does that decision benefit your world? How does it detract from your world?

“Can’t bother to do research” - Is it because you are discouraged by the breadth of your comprehension of a subject, compared to the subject’s depth? Or is it because of something else?

“Don’t understand research” - Is this because you don’t understand the academic papers that turn up in your search results, or because you have a fundamental lack of or misunderstanding of the given subject? Or is it because of something else?

“When are such things considered to be offensive or overused cliche” - As someone who intentionally arranges their studying around the plausibilities of the future, I would quite frankly be delighted to see more conceptual stretches of the imagination in this regard, as do many others on this blog, and beyond it. Why have you already passed judgement on the offensiveness or clichéd-ness of incorporating scientific things? Is this related to your other comments?

“[...] or have a reader point out the impossibility and can’t get into the story?” - If you are writing to please a specific individual or demographic, you are inevitably always going to fall short, because it’s genuinely impossible to meet every single item on a group’s wishlist without devoting your life to it (not an entirely worthy pursuit, in my opinion, but alas). What made you decide to be so concerned over the potential reaction to your stories that you worry about it before the story is even written?

I think I will put the majority of my curiosity’s weight on the last bullet point, as I’m seeing similar themes with the other portions of your question. It’s a fruitless endeavour to tie yourself into knots over a possible (not necessarily probable!) reaction - and quite likely from a stranger, to boot. Education is a relatively easy situation to fix, so long as you’re patient with yourself; dealing with anxieties over readers is… not so easy.

I can really only recommend that you take a close look at the goals of your worldbuilding, and see where you contradict yourself - once you have that in hand, it’s a relatively simple yes/no process of what concepts you want to keep. If the issue of decision comes from a lack of understanding, then make a note to yourself to seek out either the million wikis we Pylons utilize ourselves like any other worldbuilder, or to chalk it up as a genuine lack of context.

Please understand that even someone who’s dedicated their life to a certain aspect of science won’t know everything about it - that’s the point of research! We’re constantly asking ourselves questions, and pushing the envelope of known boundaries. Star Wars has lightsabers, but we don’t need to know how they work; likewise with holodecks in Star Trek. So long as an audience is reasonably entertained with the least amount of head-scratching, you can get away with handwaving quite a lot.

Lockea: On a scale between Star Trek and Star Wars, how “hard” is your science fiction?

I mention that mostly to illustrate that science fiction exists on a continuum, wherein science fiction with more “science” than “fiction” drives a story towards the harder end rather than the softer end. Also, a story’s place on the continuum will change based on what we know and understand about science.

I feel like everyone always beats me to saying all the important stuff about questions, so I’ll just give a few thoughts from my personal experience as a science fiction fan with two engineering degrees and a thesis about robots on the moon (yes really, I wrote my thesis on AI for moon robots). I really, really, love the creativity of science fiction writers. I think so often in defending the genre, we can get caught up in saying things like “science fiction predicted XYZ!” Well, sure, I may have studied Isaac Asimov’s three laws of robotics in my introduction to engineering ethics course, but I was also greedily reading my way through “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins at the same time. The fact that I sincerely doubt Panem will ever happen didn’t dampen my enjoyment of Katniss’s story. It was a fun read and it gave my friends and I something to talk about that wasn’t “feasibility of Battlestar Galactica” during our daily lunches.

The thing about writing science fiction is that, without a doubt, there will be someone who knows more than you about a topic who reads your story. Most of the time, I end up being that someone since everyone likes to talk about Skynet and robots taking over the world to a roboticist who sincerely refers to artificial intelligence as artificial stupidity. Y'all are seriously overestimating the field, my friends. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” even as I thought how impossible Project Insight would be. Honestly, something every READER of science fiction needs to make peace with is the fact that writers will get something wrong. Writers, despite their best efforts, are not always going to understand that a facial recognition algorithm will fail if you introduce tiny amounts of random noise and are thus going to treat The Algorithm™ as infallible in your crime drama novel.

It’s not the writer’s fault, though.

That deserves to be on its own line. It is not YOUR fault if you get something wrong. Would it be nice if science literacy was just better all around? Of course! But it’s not your fault if your science literacy isn’t up to snuff enough to parse the article I cited above. It’s also not your job. Your job as the writer is to tell the most interesting story you can and to maintain your own internal rules and logic such that the reader never breaks the willing suspension of disbelief.

I watch Star Wars and get really into the light saber fight scenes and forget that light sabers are basically impossible to make. Star Wars has the Force, which is basically magic, and that’s okay. Really. I KNOW it’s not possible, but I still have a lot of fun watching it!

So yeah, write that story about how the robots are going to take over the world. I’ll probably enjoy reading it even as I laugh off my friends telling me that I will be the first to die in the robot apocalypse (of course I will -- I have five robots in my living room alone).

Constablewrites: Tone and consistency are the biggest pieces of this for me. If it’s the kind of story where the answer to “How does this work?” is usually a detailed and plausible explanation, then getting an answer later that is implausible or slapdash will stand out more. But if it’s the kind of story where the answer to “How does this work?” is “You push that button and it goes whoosh” from the start, my expectations adjust accordingly. (It’s possible to have the latter version in a story that is mostly the former, frequently when it’s played for last. Again, tone is key.)

So yeah, a lot of this is execution and the way the story sticks to the rules it sets for itself, and also how central the implausibility is to the story. A realistic thriller that relies on cartoon logic for a background bit might be a little jarring, but not nearly as much as a realistic thriller that relies on cartoon logic to set up its main showdown. The more central it is to the story, the more consistency and accuracy matters. Learning how to balance this can take some practice and some insight from beta readers.

[paralianprince]

1, 6, 10, 17, 20, 25, 31, 38

oh holy shit 

1. What does your writing process look like? 

answered here!  but tl;dr it is pathetic. 

6. What kind of research do you put into your writing?

i’m ... a little bit obsessive actually!  though i think in this rpc that’s actually quite common.  ... as obsessive as one can be about researching a micronation of all things, anyway! 

i ordered a bunch of old radio essex interviews / broadcast excerpts on CDs (a few small pieces of which i’ve actually posted!! 1 2 3 4 5), i have prince michael’s book, there’s this really great look into internet crypto in the form of a gigantic pdf titled “sealand, havenco, and the rule of law” in case anybody’s into That, i post so many photos of the place that i once got an anon asking if i LIVE THERE, i’ve found transcripts of certain legal proposals / communications regarding sealand, i’ve dug pretty deep into learning about fort madness and pirate radio... that sort of thing!  i do have a history page where i paraphrased basically all of it, but i havent got off my ass to update it since 2014 and i think i have the occasional detail wrong in there, like specific dates and such. 

or, literally, ask me anything about sealand, i dare everybody 

10. What’s the most challenging thing about writing replies for you?

starting!!  even if i know exactly what i intend to do in my reply, figuring out exactly how to start takes up most of my time.  i usually cheat this by starting off with a line of dialogue, if possible 

17. Does writing energize or exhaust you?

answered here, but tl;dr unfortunately it tires me out!  and that’s a big part of why i’m Pretty Slow and don’t usually involve myself in time-sensitive threads or Dash Awareness type interactions.  i get tired really fast! 

20. What inspires you to write?

aside from an overpowering love for my son and shining star who i will love forever and ever for my whole life until death and well after, i really love seeing how my partners react to my replies, and i like getting reactions out of them! 

among other things of course, but that’s what’s coming to mind currently. 

25. Do you put parts of yourself into your writing or muse? Can you give an example?

to an outrageous degree, yes!  i don’t think any of my characters are remotely close to self-inserts, but i really can’t write a character who i don’t at least 40% relate to - though, i think this is true for a lot of people? 

mk helped me with the examples so ... TALKS A LOT, wants to be entertaining, apparently the way i describe his posture or gestures are things i also do (which i didnt realize!), and the way he reacts to being angry or upset, being physically knocked to the ground with the force of how hard he’s laughing, etc.  that kind of thing! 

31. How different is your muse now compared to when you first wrote them? 

i really didn’t have a clue what i was doing when i first started - of course - but i did know that i wanted him to a bit more combative than he was usually portrayed, because i just thought it felt more fitting, and even when i first started i knew i wanted to distance myself from the sort of... Stock Annoying Child Character Personality with all the Child Character Tropes tacked on for no reason other than he was, for a time, the only young character and only micronation in the cast, so all Child Tropes got attributed to him, and even after other micros got introduced, the effect of this still persists - that almost everybody gives sealand before ever considering what his personality would actually be like. 

so i thought if i made him a bit more disagreeable, it might surprise people into paying attention to how i’m writing him, and not just go off of fandom assumptions.  (this was 2012, so that kind of thing happened!)

this is a whole other rant that i’m apparently just chomping at the bit to go off on, but i need to actually finish this post omg 

anyway, he went thru a time where he was sort of being attacked and derided on almost all sides even by his friends, fighting with people constantly and not being listened to in any capacity about it, and over time it wore him down and it resulted in him being VERY defensive, stern, panicky, and irritable.  he’s much better now! 

38. Do you have a wishlist? Can you share what’s on it?

you know ... this is weird, but, i actually can’t think of anything!  lmao sorry !! 

[inikavulpixelreviews]

Let’s Talk About Pokemon - The Dragon Type

You would think a type with the prestige-type status it once had would be one of the rarer in the game. And indeed there was a time where Dragons once made a very tiny percentage of the Pokedex. Heck, the type was even rarer if you discount Legendaries and Pseudo-legendaries, with there once only being four of those despite being on the fourth generation. Then Gen 5 happened, which had an aim to make sure all 17 types were more or less equal in population. This meant bumping up Dragon's numbers quite substantially. The more the series went on, the more Dragon has more or less become a much more regular type. One with still special treatment enough to usually be reserved for Legendaries and Legendaries of the Psuedo variety, but a much more regular type nonetheless. By now, its population is about the same as Electric or Fire.

Dragon's aesthetic has also changed tremendously over the years. Back in the day, and all the way up to Gen 5, the only real outlier weirdos in the dragon club were Vibrava and Altaria. These days?

NOW look at em! Something weird happened. Like overnight, the Dragon type had very suddenly became a lot more varied and considerably more weird and willing to stretch the definition of what counts as a “dragon.” And y'know what? I'm all for it.

Of course, back in my late kid and throughout my teenage years, Dragon was one of my favorite types because what's cooler than a really big lizard??? (Might I add, back in my “Yu-Gi-Oh replaced Pokemon for a couple years” phase, I of course thought Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon was the single coolest monster design in the entire damn world.) These days I'm somewhat more indifferent to them. If I loved it before, I probably still at least like it now, but my enthusiasm for the type has petered out a bit.

Almost like on cue, as I got a bit older and god a bit more tasteful as I started taking character design more seriously as a form of art I was interested in, the Dragon type started getting more interesting as well. Suddenly we have a gross seahorse that's a dragon, a gross snail that's a dragon! Even a BAT and a WEIRD...TAPEWORM THING... that was a dragon! Maybe with the inception of the Fairy type introduced to nerf Dragon's dominance over most of the other types, they also felt the need to make Dragon just. Another one of the gang. But it'd get boring to have this type of almost exclusively lizards suddenly start inhabiting large chunks of the Pokedex, right? What if we made other animals with SLIGHTLY more dragon-esque features to diverse the type?!

Well, I'm digging it. Maybe not enough to have Dragon back on as one of my favorite types, but I'm certainly more enthusiastic to see new Dragons pop up again. Especially if they're willing to call a tall three-headed tree of all things a DRAGON, too.

Besides, back in the day, dragons looked quite a bit weirder as well. More like lizardy rats that... had wings, I suppose. The concept of a dragon being an exceptionally large winged lizard (often with elemental powers for good measure) was a more recent cultural development, relatively speaking. Either way, if Dragons continue to be neat, I'll continue to call em neat. Sounds like a fine deal to me!

Top 10 Favorite Dragon Types:

Of course early Pokemon didn't have much to like, but at the same time, a loooot of them were very traditional dragon designs.

Bottom 10 Least Favorites:

Eh. The only ones I dislike to any capacity is Dragonite and the two (three) Megas. The rest are kinda just. Cool, if rather generic Dragons. It's often the mid-evos of the Pseudos that I forget about.

The Cutest:

The Coolest:

The Prettiest:

...I only got so many to work with here, alright? Actually let's have that as an extremely broad entry on my Wishlist. More “Pretty” dragons, please. That's a pretty underutilized aesthetic in Pokemon, so far.

Weirdest/Most Unique:

Most Inventive Use of the Type:

...Is pretty much the same as the “Weirdest/Most Unique” section. I'm sure as later generations come out and I'll inevitably come back to these to update them, I'll have more Dragon types to mess around with.

DRAGON TYPE WISHLIST:

NOTE: These Type Wishlists were written out before any news on new Pokemon from Sword and Shield. The Pokemon revealed over time will not affect these wishlists. Just to present them unaltered despite spoilers and in the interest of getting the wishlist out there, and to see which items on said wishlists get fulfilled by Sword and Shield!

A Hoarding Dragon:

Having hoards of treasure is like, one of THE defining personality quirks of at least European dragons, so I'm just surprised we've not gotten something along those lines just yet. Gems, gold, metals. Hell, I'd even take one that hoards in-Universe Pokemon merch. Or a dragon that, in one way or another, IS its own hoard.

A Star-Dragon:

That's pretty specific, I know. Especially since we've got actually a couple of Dragons that fell from some form of outer space in both Kyurem and Guzzlord. But neither of those are really space-THEMED. I'm talking a stellar-themed Dragon. This goes with my wishes for more “pretty” dragons from earlier, minding how much beautiful imagery there's to draw from in space.

A Cockatrice:

These chicken-lizard hybrids are ripe for the Unorthodox Dragon crowd. And even with myths about them going on about their gaze either being able to kill or turn whatever they look at to stone. You could PROBABLY form a neat unique move around that.

A Qilin:

I just can't quit with the deer-creatures, man. I don’t know if I’ve brought it up here before, but I’m currently in an extremely early stage of making my own catch-all-the-monsters-type game of my own. And boy howdy it is AWFUL having five or so good ideas for deer monsters but within reasonability, I gotta narrow it down to just one. BAH.

Anyway, qirin are the specific term for the Chinese dragons you see with the more antler-like horns. Some interpretations of which go one step further until they are outright just deer-shaped dragons. Which I would be entirely down with seeing in Pokemon.

An Uroboros:

Man, I actually had quite a few more requests for Dragon type than I thought I would've.

My last entry on this wishlist is an Uroboros. A cross-culture icon you may recognize as the serpentine creature that eats itself, representing different things depending on which culture you ask. In some, it's about the cycle of life and death. To others, the passage of time. Whether you take these cultural relevancies to heart or not, there's still plenty of cool things you could do with an Uroboros and its weirdly wheel-shaped body.

That and it’s a symbol relevant to alchemy too. And for whatever reason, Pokemon is laying it on thick with the alchemy symbolism lately. So uroboros is perfect!

[Archive]

[k-she-rambles]

Here we go: so, theoretically, my Ultimate Wishlist of how I would have “fixed” The Last Jedi.

Uh. This is long, and I don’t like to willingly subject myself to this movie, so my plot details might be a little fuzzy.

PART ONE: THE RESISTANCE, HEROISM, & POE WAS WRONG

(PART TWO, PART THREE)

We open, as before, with the evacuation of D’Qar. TPTB are right, that is a classic, good ol’ Star Wars open and plonks us right in the middle of Things Happening.

However, I would add/change a couple of things!

Finn wakes up during the evac, and wanders out of medical, past the the protesting droids, and straight into PAIGE TICO (yes, Paige). Paige makes a brief but memorable impression and helpfully radios Poe (out on escort duty, getting ready for Project Hilariously Annoy Hux) so that Finn can hear “When we get to rendezvous we’ll catch up, buddy!” from a familiar voice.

They also run into Leia, who gives the rundown of where Rey is, and makes Finn an offer: They’d love to have Finn in the Resistance, but it’s not his fight if he doesn’t want it to be. If Finn wants, Leia will make sure he gets safely dropped off somewhere on the way. But she asks that he only tell her his decision: the rank and file have decided that Finn is their New Hero --the common stormtrooper who stood up to the machine, saved Poe Dameron and BB-8, was integral to destroying Starkiller Base, fought Kylo Ren hand-to-hand and lived...

If Finn is going to leave, it’s best for morale that he does it quietly.

BEHOLD A THEME: People think of you as a Hero and that is Important to them, even if you don’t feel very heroic and are...mostly just making it up as you Protect Your Friends. It still Matters, even though it’s weird and frustrating.

And we Move On, because we have action to get to. I’m sure Finn will get to hang out with Paige later, right?

So the battle of D’Qar happens, largely as scripted.

Some things:

We met Paige, so her death has a smidge more impact.

I’d put in a brief “Just like old times” line between Leia and Holdo.

We don’t have to get to know Holdo before Poe does, but I feel very strongly about omitting the editorial nonsense that frames Holdo as New and Threatening to Poe. Just a little thing to establish that Leia and Amilyn know each other from way back (Let! Women! Have! Friendships!). Plus, I find the competition between Leia’s Friend vs. Leia’s Protege much more interesting than Unreasonable Authority vs. Plucky Hero. Especially because Poe is wrong, even though the Editorial Nonsense forces us to side with him. (There, I said it.)

Finn can’t stay out of the action and gives some minor strategy assistance on the bridge. This is important, because in my version, he’s the one who brings Poe down from his Righteous Anger High after the battle.

Finn, who has never once in his life put the mission or the Cause above the people who take part in it. Finn, who was chastised for not leaving weak troopers behind. Finn, who wants to flee the First Order but has to go back for Rey. Finn watches the Resistance ships fall, listens to the pilots die, breathes, “Dameron, what have you done,” and Poe, his cheek still stinging from Leia’s slap, finally staggers.

They did bring down that giant FO ship, sure. But the Captain of a small and brilliant strike force like Black Squadron and the Commander of a larger force trying to stay alive for another day necessarily have different priorities. Bringing down that ship would have been a win for Black Squadron. It’s a loss for the Resistance Fleet. That’s what Leia was trying to teach Poe by promoting him, but he hasn’t learned how to think like that (yet), and it cost so many valuable lives.

Poe spends the rest of the film suffering a bit, balancing the fact that he sent those people to their deaths, even though they died fighting for what they believed in. Poe seems to be Rian Johnson’s favorite, so lets really lean into Poe figuring out what it means to be a leader.

Character Arc --Poe as Leia’s Protege: How to think long term/think like a commander. Poe’s usually brilliant strategy of trusting your gut and the skills of your people and just going for it has led to a costly Pyrrhic victory and his demotion. Can he redeem himself?

The FO follows the Resistance, the run on the Raddus happens, etc.

Character Arc --Hux being Hux. Star Wars needs its one-dimensional cartoon villains with less Drama than the main antagonists. That’s just how this works.

Character Arc --Leia & the Power of Belief. Despite everything, Ben is still her son. She still believes in the Resistance. She still believes that Luke is out there, and of course he’ll come help. She still believes that people can be More and Better, and together they can make Good Causes Happen if they believe and trust in each other. And she’s right, possibly because she’s so darn stubborn about it.

Character Arc --Kylo Ren is Realizing He’s Being Used/Ben Solo Believes in Legacy/Kylo Ren Becomes his Own Man. He’s starting to realize that Han was right. This whole cut away your family ties thing is not working out. He’s trying So Hard to be Darth Vader, following the drivel that Snoke fed him --and then Snoke snaps. He’ll never live up to the mask, he’s a pretender, he’s childish and weak. Snoke wants Rey because she’s more powerful, etc. And so we get Kylo Ren breaking the mask, symbolically breaking the person he’s pretending to be, and being surprisingly introspective as he deals with Rey later. We don’t know who exactly Kylo Ren is outside of “Snoke’s Ineffective Attack Dog,” but it feels less volatile, and possibly more dangerous. Both Rey and Ren are barreling towards a fork in the road that could go either way...

So Finn tries to sneak away, because there’s no one alive/conscious who heard his conversation with Leia, and gets caught by Rose Tico.

Finn just wants to get out of danger and make sure Rey’s ok. He’d stay for Poe, but he’s still pretty pissed.

Rose, who believes in the cause, who believes in fighting back against evil and under a banner you believe in, is l i v i d at her hero’s audacity. 

They get distracted, figure out the tracking thing, and go to Poe with it.

Character Arc --Rose Tico & fighting back against evil. Lets really lean into Rose’s arc in this movie, she’s fabulous. As it stands, we get the shape of it: A movement from the way that Rose believes in fighting the First Order to a Faramir-like conclusion “I love not the sword for its sharpness, I love only that which they defend.” It’s not pronounced enough, though. Lets get Rose some more (or at least, more efficient) screentime.

Character Arc --What does Finn fight for? In TFA, Finn decides that he won’t take up arms and kill for the First Order. But what will he fight for? FN-2187 was a stormtrooper, a traitor. What does Finn believe in? Rose repeatedly brings this up. Finn doesn’t have the luxury of running away. In the end, no one does, and even refusing to choose is a choice...

[zanrai-kid]

I have no legitimate sleep schedule, so take my list of my Top 20 favorite Gorillaz tracks

20: Momentz - In the same league as Feel Good Inc., don't at me.

19: Stylo - Mos Def and Bobby Womack absolutely devastating on the bridges. Hearing Jeremih perform this live was gorgeous.

18: Humility - Gorillaz made a summer jam, and it sure sounds like it. Damon's getting old, man. Just wants to retire, wants to have a few beers by the beach. 

17: Sleeping Powder - iwasgone I M B A C K ASDKJHAJSDHGSKDJHFGKJHASGLDKJAGSD

16: Feel Good Inc. - A legendary song in my formative years, and a soundtrack to the Bush administration as important as “American Idiot”. Only so low on the list because of oversaturation.

15: Rhinestone Eyes - This song is the embellished production of Plastic Beach in a moment. I once made a mashup with this song and "Kangaroo Court" by Capital Cities.

14: Re-Hash - First song on the first album, and it slaps.

13: Ascension - Vince Staples is such a brilliant voice in the latter half of the decade, and I'm pleased to see Damon Albarn recognize this.

12: DARE - Hot damn, this song is a jam.

11: M1 A1 - Hearing this song kick off a Gorillaz concert feels like getting shot by a cannon. It's the "most like the sound the pilliows exuded on the FLCL soundtrack" song in the Gorillaz discography, and for that, I like it.

10: Fire Coming Out Of The Monkey's Head - When Gorillaz want to tell a horror story, they double down and get Dennis Hopper to tell a story of apocalypse. Demon Days is such an immortal album, and this song will live on as a ubiquitous reminder of one's mortality at the hands of greed. Good one for the pessimistic crowds of both 2005 and 2019.

9: Rock the House - BETTER THAN CLINT EASTWOOD. FIGHT ME. When Gorillaz sample audio, they make sure to make the most of it. The ten second sample of John Dankworth's "Modesty Blaise" carries Del the Funky Homosapien's bragging boogie rap through to another level with the tight bass riffs the self-titled album is known for. Echo effects, horn stabs, a fucking recorder. This tracks fucks me up.

8: Souk Eye - I think a track off of The Now Now is one of the best works in the Gorillaz discography. Primarily because following Humanz and The Now Now, Albarn and Hewlett are in a strange time of their lives. Both are now 50 years old, and Gorillaz has lasted 20 years. The concept has run its course for now. To hear this song close this chapter of the Gorillaz story feels fitting. A love song to the many miles taken, only to realize one must leave their current circumstances in order to survive.

7: Last Living Souls - It's a cliche to say a song builds, but when the track starts with little more than a drum machine, and leads to an acoustic breakdown and string section breakdown back-to-back, you can agree this song builds. A lush atmosphere of tiny bleeps and bloops coming together to become greater than the sum of all parts. The song sounds so down and muted on the album, but hearing it live, it feels like a war cry. Both interpretations fit the themes of Demon Days, and it's a good one to start off the album following the Dawn of the Dead sampled "Intro".

6: El Mañana - Hearing this song follow "Busted and Blue" accompanied by visuals of Noodle during the Humanz Tour is the closest I've come to a religious experience at a concert. The sudden immediacy of the situation following "Feel Good Inc" is made aware from sirens and Damon delivering a ragged vocal delivery. The track ebbs and flows in and out of deep bass and washed out highs. It feels like a sigh. It feels like crying. And if you're a Gorillaz lore sucker like I am, this track accompanies the death of Noodle, the single most important event in the canon. Also, the acoustic version reminds one how good Damon is at evoking very quiet emotion.

5: Tomorrow Comes Today - When those drums come in, man, you get teleported to the turn of the millennium. Dirty trip-hop was coming out of the UK en masse, Fatboy Slim released one of my favorites albums of all time "Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars", and Daft Punk's "Discovery" was still a year off. In between some of the most important music of my life being dropped, Gorillaz dropped their first single "Tomorrow Comes Today" at the end of the year and solidified their place for years to come. Slinking and sly, velvety and smoky. This is Gorillaz sending up a culture of basement shows and turntablism. If Think Tank is the first "Gorillaz album", this is when the transition was made manifest.

4: On Melancholy Hill - Ugh, this song. This song is pretty. Full stop. It's one of Gorillaz' very few love songs, and it still manages to capture the plasticine sadness of Plastic Beach. Plastic Beach was my first real and honest introduction to Gorillaz in college, as I only remember hearing about Demon Days from advertising in 2005, when I was 12. This track was just a treat to hear in spring/summer, and a reason I made so many (see: too many) of my finals about Gorillaz. Around the time Humanz was teased, I went back and realized this song had held up so well. It's just a universal sentiment about how the world we know is falling apart, but let's have this moment together. The acoustic version is an honest to God lullaby. Something I can play my future children. Not bad for only 16 lines of lyric.

3: Empire Ants - If "On Melancholy Hill" is about finding the beauty in ruin, "Empire Ants" holds a magnifying glass up to ruin, wondering how it came to be. Listening to the album, "Superfast Jellyfish" came just before. A satirical take on consumeristic meals leading into a song about how we are personified as ants, marching in tandem to complete our tasks and build ever outward, never truly satisfied until death. It is a reminder to look upon the greater picture that is our world and see the moments of tranquility for what they are. Sadly, these moments do not last, and Little Dragon's part reminds us we are part of a machine, ever moving, ever crumbling. It is beauty interrupted by obligation, and for a kid who was in college when this album dropped, and who is now 26 and facing a lifetime of having to make my own decisions, it's an anthem.

2: Hong Kong - I remember loading the entirety of Plastic Beach onto my iPod Nano, and having an iTunes gift card left to spend from Christmas/birthday/etc. Having seen the Demon Days Live concert, I knew this track had to be on my beautiful iPod Nano. That, and for some reason, "Dirty Harry (Schtung Chinese New Year Remix). I remember long car rides staring out the window, listening to this track as the scenery blew by. I remember reading up on this track's history, how it was released in-between Demon Days and Plastic Beach and it shows, how it's a tale of neo-industrial China and Hong Kong's place in both Chinese and British history. This is both a love letter and warning to the nation of the apocryphal train ride that inspired Demon Days. In a world where China seems to be ever rising, "Hong Kong" is a song that asks questions of how this will affect the world as a whole, using Hong Kong as a metaphor. That's nothing to say of the wondrous instrumentation, the piano part in particular on my wishlist of "Songs I Should Learn on Piano Before I Die". Many call it Gorillaz' most underrated track, and I agree full stop.

1: DoYaThing - I'M THE SHIT. I SAID I'M THE SHIT. Above all else, Gorillaz is a collaborative effort of hundreds of musicians from all walks of life. When you throw James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, a band that rose in the same timeframe as Gorillaz, and Andre 3000, my personal pick for the G.O.A.T., magic happens. Uncut, unedited, 13 minute magic happens. Is it a bit of a meme? Sure. It is a shitpost disguised as a legitimate song? Why not. But sometimes, the goofy aspect of Gorillaz can craft audio gold. And aren't we all about memes on this blog? Albarn's at his most snotty white boy. Murphy's production and vocals are a reminder he was every music nerd's wet dream in the 2000s. Andre 3000 is just laying into every line with a confidence not heard since Stankonia. Everything about this song is designed and manufactured to sound like it it running off the rails in a fit of confidence. It is both wildly powerful and mournfully unaware. In short, to quote the great music critic Todd in the Shadows on the subject of LCD Soundsystem’s song “Losing My Edge”, "(It is) a critical darling... This was tailor made for critics. It is perfect music nerd bait, total pandering." DoYaThing, my favorite Gorillaz song of all time.

[hazel2468]

Plant Update!

So, I cannot for the LIFE of me recall if I have ever actually made a post about all of the plants I have. Can’t find it on my blog, but who knows. What I did make was a wishlist of plants, and let me tell you, I am checking those off FAST! I figured, why not do a fun little post to cut through the awfulness of this site about all of the Wishlist plants I have gotten? Sounds fun, right? Right!

I’ll actually put this one under a cut for all of y’all that are here for the weird memes and occasional lukewarm takes.

WATERMELON PEPEROMIA

I already posted about this one, but here she is! In her new pot, and all her glory! She seems to be doing really well, I am happy to say. I have her on my coffee table since she is Large, and she gets nice sunlight every day. 

SILVER FROST PEPEROMIA!

I got one!!! I went to the local garden center, just to find some pots and see what Hoyas they had- and I saw THIS! This was number 2 on my wishlist after the Watermelon Pep, and I am SO happy! And yes, the leaves really are glittery and silver like that! 

HOYA CARNOSA “KRIMSON QUEEN”

Okay, this one Cyn got me for our three year anniversary! We went to the Botanical Gardens and WOW did they have a lot of these. She likes the one pure white leaf on it, which is slowly turning more and more green. Also, that teeeny little leaf in the lefthand corner has more than doubled in size in less than a week, so I guess she’s happy here! She’s also putting out a TON of new growth at her tips, which were cut off, I assume, when they took these cuttings. 

CURLY BONNIE SPIDER PLANT!

Farmer’s Market strikes again! This plant is in my bedroom with my Hoyas and is loving life! It has put out TWO flowers (I made a post about that) and is growing even longer and curlier! I plan to propagate that lil baby from the top once it is large enough.

HOYA PUBLICALYX “SPLASH”

So, this is not the Hoya Splash I had on my wishlist- I’m unsure if a Kerrii Splash is even in my future. But I saw this on a Youtube video and I HAD to track one down. Just got it today. Needs a little TLC- it was kept in a shop with no sun, and was majorly thirsty (wrinkly leaves, some withered tips). So, she now lives in my bedroom with my other Hoyas, has gotten a new pot, a nice long drink, and will be seeing plenty of indirect sun. Hoping that she perks up soon!

STRING OF HEARTS!

Okay, this I didn’t even THINK to put on my list, because I didn’t think I would be able to find one! But once again, the Farmer’s Market proves the BEST place for plants! I was going to pick up a Peperomia “Pixie” (which I still want btw) when I bumped my head on this hanging planter. It seems to be enjoying it here! It’s putting out new flowers like CRAZY, and I keep it in the living room on the big plant shelves. 

CALATHEA ORNATA “PINSTRIPE”!

My Calathea! That leaf in the middle with the weird lines on it is NEW! I got this in the city because of the beautiful foliage, anticipating some fussiness... But wow has it been doing great! I keep the soil moist at all times, it’s in my bedroom for some high humidity, and I keep it out of direct sun. Plus, I love how it moves- like all Prayer Plants (Calatheas and Marantas) it puts its leaves down during the lay and tucks them up at night. Super cool! I’m really considering a second Calathea, probably the Beauty Star variety, which is similar to this but with light green markings in the middle of the leaves under the stripes. 

[thelionofnaples]

Wishlist:

Hopping on this excellent bandwagon and posting my wishlist of plots, both canon and AU! Please let me know if you’d be interested in any of these or want a more detailed description of what I have in mind. Feel free to give your own input if you do want to do any of these! It’s a two-way street. :) 

Canon: 1. The Other Man -- “Say No To This” This idea sprung from “Say No To This” from Hamilton, because, let’s face it, Solo’s no stranger to being the other man. If he’s received a few kickbacks to ensure he doesn’t go opening his mouth to the wrong person, so what? Everyone’s happy, no one is the wiser, no one gets hurt. But what happens when being the other man starts to hurt? When his affair starts to be what he most looks forward to?

2. 1945; The Young Thief  Napoleon Solo joined the American army in 1945 at the tender age of sixteen, intent on escaping a lonely, neglectful home life and launching himself into the world beyond. He served as part of the cleanup forces that stayed behind in Europe once the war was done. It was during these few years that Napoleon got his start as a thief. With wide, startling blue eyes and breathless smiles he charmed his way through Europe. 

3. UST This one speaks for itself. Unresolved sexual tension. That relationship he can’t pursue, won’t acknowledge, dances around. The name he murmurs in his sleep. Whether it be an enemy stationed always across the line from him or star crossed lovers, this is that relationship never quite boils over... until it does.

4. Jealous lover going to extreme lengths Napoleon’s a sucker for being wanted. This doesn’t guarantee he’ll want you back, but the chase is an act in which he luxuriates. The more complex it gets, the more desperate, the more breathless with excitement he becomes... so long as it’s your attention he wants. 

5. Hurt/Comfort wound tending that builds to a deeper relationship As a spy, and as a spy with an eminently punchable face, Napoleon’s always nursing a few scrapes and bruises. And what’s better than some whump, really? Tending to wounds and patching each other up. Building a tender, trusting relationship in the peaceful silence of small safehouse bathrooms. Taking care of each other. Hurt, and then comfort. Also, and we’d have to chat about this, but the fallout from Gaby’s betrayal and Napoleon’s torture at Rudi’s hand.

AU: 1.“Babylon Berlin” Based heavily off the show Babylon Berlin. It’s 1929 and Napoleon Solo is an American spy undercover in Berlin, working as a detective for the Homicide squad while passing off information to his handler. Bonus points if you want to play a straight laced Vice squad detective, but definitely not required. Wild speakeasy parties, dancing, drugs, and booze, all couched in a art deco glamor.

2. Cursed New Orleans Vampire Otherwise known as the Interview With A Vampire AU. It’s 1800 and Napoleon, by fault of his own hubris and sass, has been cursed to never leave the borders of the city of New Orleans, and to live all his days in the dark, searching for company and a fresh meal, trapped as the world passes him by.  OR same thing but in the 1920′s. Still in New Orleans.

3. Soulmates (flower and color marks)  Everyone is born with the mark of a flower, the meaning of which is said to determine your fate. When you meet your soulmate the flower blooms with color, reflecting the circumstance of your meeting and the future of your relationship.  OR your tattoo appears when you meet your soulmate, rather than being born with it.

4. Gatsby You know that cliche that the people are who always surrounded by people are the loneliest? Napoleon Solo, mysterious and debonair and independently wealthy, known for holding lavish parties he drifts through with a charming smile plastered on. But who’s the man really? What causes his heart to ache and those thousand mile stares across the lake?

5. Fight Club/Illegal boxing ring/bookie Napoleon, despite being extremely punchable, isn’t much of a fighter. He is, however, an excellent con man, and a bookie the mob trusts with their money. He takes the bets for an underground boxing ring. If you ask who he works for he’ll just smile and wink.

6. Circus (ringmaster/acrobat) Not exactly a Greatest Show AU. More along the lines of the Night Circus, set in a circus where everything is too good to be true and nothing happens by chance. I’d prefer for Napoleon to be part of the circus, though whether he’s the ringmaster or an acrobat/silk ropes performer I don’t mind, and he can be set opposite either a theatre-goer or a member of the troupe.

7. Golden Compass (daemons) Based off Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series. In this world your soul is a physical manifestation outside of your body, it’s own conscious being that takes the form of the animal most like the truth of your soul. When Sasha settled into her final form towards the end of his puberty Napoleon was surprised she hadn’t taken the familiar form of the magpie that had so often flown reconnaissance for him while he slipped in and out of galleries unnoticed. 

8. Pacific Rim Napoleon is a jaeger pilot without a partner to drift with. He’s itching for action, with the need to move, but all previous attempts at drifting have ended in agony. He’s still beholden to the government in serving out his deferred prison term in service as a jaeger pilot.  

9. Mutant Based off the MCU X-Men universe. Napoleon discovered his powers early, and took great delight in pushing and pulling at people’s attention, focusing them in on him at will before blurring himself out of their conscious attention. It was a difficult mutation to hide as well, much to his benefit when the purges began. As he trained his powers he became capable of drawing attention to his eyes, his smile, and away from his hands as they skimmed wallets and watches and rings from unsuspecting party-goers as he makes the circuits. 

[crazygirlsworldofbooks]

Review: Cross Her Heart (Bree Taggert, #1)

“He’d rather run into a hail of bullets than experience the kind of soul-deep loss Bree was handling.”

Book: Cross Her Heart (Bree Taggert, #1)

Author: Melinda Leigh

My Rating: ✯✯✯✯✯ (5 Stars)

Read: September 30, 2021

Synopsis:

A homicide detective’s violent family history repeats itself in #1 Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh’s novel of murder, secrets, and retribution. For more than twenty-five years, Philadelphia homicide detective Bree Taggert has tucked away the nightmarish childhood memories of her parents’ murder-suicide…Until her younger sister, Erin, is killed in a crime that echoes that tragic night: innocent witnesses and a stormy marriage that ended in gunfire. There’s just one chilling difference. Erin’s husband, Justin, has vanished. Bree knows how explosive the line between love and hate can be, yet the evidence against her troubled brother-in-law isn’t adding up. Teaming up with Justin’s old friend, former sheriff’s investigator and K-9 handler Matt Flynn, Bree vows to uncover the secrets of her sister’s life and death, as she promised Erin’s children. But as her investigation unfolds, the danger hits close to home. Once again, Bree’s family is caught in a death grip. And this time, it could be fatal for her. 

My Review:

Wow! Considering the fact that I put this book on my Amazon wishlist on a whim, I am still in awe and trying to process the fact that this book is as good as it is. It blew me away in every sense of the word and I had a really hard time putting it down, which means I would have probably finished it in one sitting if that was at all possible with my schedule. I loved every single thing about this book, from the complex and intricate characters that also have dark pasts, to the plot that kept taking turn after turn and kept me on the edge of my seat, holding my breath the entire time! All I can say is- WOW!

To begin with, Cross Her Heart is the first book in the Bree Taggert series and it follows a homicide detective, Bree, as she is called back to her hometown to investigate the sudden death of her sister, Erin. As far as plots go, this one isn’t the most unique but the execution is one of the best I have ever seen in a book. It’s a pretty overdone premise and yet in this book it feels so unique, so different because there are so many twists and turns that I never saw coming. It’s one of those books where you start to suspect everybody and start doubting yourself after every chapter and I honestly love that, it makes the reveal all that much more exciting in my opinion. There wasn’t a moment in this book where I was bored either, the pacing was on point and I appreciated the short chapters, where something exciting happened in almost every single one. Definitely not a dull moment in this book. 

Further on, the characterization in this novel is top notch, at least in my opinion. I loved how read the characters felt, how they practically jumped off the page at me. They all had their own intricate and complicated pasts and those pasts really affected them in the present day and made them who they are, which is the same in real life, with real people. They also had their own complex personalities and were on their own life journeys. There were both minuses and pluses to each character and I’ve never been able to relate more to every single one. Bree Taggert is definitely one of my all time favorite heroines and I can’t wait to read all the other books in the series and get blown away.

In conclusion, if you are looking to start a new detective/murder series look no further. I haven’t heard or seen many people talk about this book and that needs to change because it was terrific. It even elicited such strong emotions from me that I actually cried whilst reading it, which never happens to me. After I finished this book, I felt like I had to say goodbye to good friends. Once I realized this was a series, I was ecstatic because it made me realize that I don’t have to say goodbye quite yet. Please read this book, you won’t regret it! One of my all-time favorites!

[doctortdesigns]

Looks like we are starting to hit the season of fall fashions!  Simplicity has just announced their Pre-Fall collection, and I’ll be posting about Butterick’s Early Fall collection tomorrow as well!  Fall fashions tend to be my favorite, but, if I’m being honest, I’m not the most excited with these new releases.  Perhaps my feelings will change as I write this review (as they sometimes do), but as of right now, I’m holding out for the August Burda before I get really excited about fall fashions this year.  Regardless, there is a lot to look at in this release, so let’s get started:

  8686 – 1940s Vintage dress.  I tend to like 40s fashions, but this is one of those styles that really is too cute/sweet/girly for me to picture myself wearing.  I think the vintage lovers will enjoy this dress – it has lots of great features and style lines, but I think this is also one of those styles that looks distinctly vintage, and isn’t necessarily as translatable to someone who enjoys doing a “sneaky vintage” modern wardrobe.

  8687 – This shirt dress, on the other hand, feel very modern.  Also perhaps slightly scandalous?  I definitely get a “wearing my man’s oversized shirt as a robe after I get out of bed” vibe from this.  Not that there is anything wrong with that.  But I think it may limit the versatility of this as a wardrobe piece.  I do like the asymmetric hem and the wrap style, but, there is definitely a vibe I get from this piece that I don’t know if I’d be comfortable wearing in public.  Maybe a belt would change that feel for me?  Styling could change this look a lot I think…  Feel free to completely disagree with me in the comments on this one – I feel like this could be a super popular design, since it is one of the more unique looks in this release.

  8688 – This dress has some nice options, between the sleeve styles and the skirt styles.  I don’t know that I need to add it to my collection – I’ve got some knit dress patterns from back when I very first started sewing that are pretty similar – but I like this dress.  Looks like it would be great as an outfit base for those fall days when you need to transition between layers and no layers.

  8689 – This style of tunic really isn’t anything new, but I do think Simplicity did a nice job of styling and presentation.  Another pass for me, but I would be excited to see other sewing bloggers make this one up.

  8690 – Mimi G. Style.  I’m going to say that this dress looks adorable on Mimi!  But, again, this is a case where I know it isn’t something I’d wear myself, so it’s going to be a pass from a personal standpoint.  It is super cute though – the proportions of the sleeves are great in relation to the whole dress.

  8691 – Sew Chic dress.  This is clearly a vintage inspired look.  I like it, especially the short sleeved version, but I’m pretty sure I’ve got several vintage re-releases that are quite similar.  Another style that I find to be cute, but not special enough to warrant a spot in the stash.

  8692 – 1950s Vintage blouse pattern.  I do like the shape of these blouses: fitted, but not overly so.  I’m not a big fan of zippers on the back of a top, but for views A-C it is pretty unavoidable with such a high neckline.

  8693 – This asymmetric top looks like a button front shirt got halfway put on backwards to me.  I do like the simpler versions (as a one-shoulder 80s-inspired sweater I’m all about this pattern!), but I’m really not a fan of the view that Simplicity used for the model photo – it just looks ill fitting and sloppy.

  8694 – At this point there really is nothing left to say about these loose tops with sleeve details, except, look, another one!  This one does have dolman sleeves, so I guess that’s a new-ish variation to this style?  Really, though, at this point there are so many, just pick one.

  8695 – 1930s Vintage sleeve patterns.  Do I want this to use on modern sewing pattern?  No.  Do I want this for part of my costume/cosplay pattern stash so I can study the drafting on these sleeve variants?  You better believe it.

  8696 – I prefer my cardigans with less volume and more length, but this does look rather cozy.

  8697 – The square boyfriend blazer really isn’t a look that works for me, so I’ll avoid this pattern for myself, but I do like the single and double breasted options here, as well as the collar variants.

  8698 – I know it’s a drawstring pant, but it’s a drawstring pant with stripes and pockets and I like it.

  8699 – I also rather like this skirt as well.  I think I perhaps already have more than enough wrap pencil skirts in my Burda stash, but this one pattern seems to have a lot of variety, even though the pattern tweaks are pretty minimal between views.

  8700 – Pattern Hacking.  I’ve been thinking I want a more casual jacket for fall, but something about the proportions of this one just aren’t doing it for me.

  8701 – Pattern Hacking.  Somehow switching out pockets doesn’t seem like much of a “hack,” but what do I know?  I do like the silhouette and overall look of these, but, again, very similar to other styles I’ve got in the stash already.

  8702 – Mimi G. Style.  This tracksuit is pretty cute and very 80s.  I’s not be interested in the drop-crotch pants at all, but I do like the jacket, and the slim-legged pants are cute for a fall work-out look.

  8703 – This was a pattern that initially I just skipped over (it’s a plain yellow top and leggings), but, actually, those other tops with the stomach gathers are pretty cute!  I don’t know if this will make it onto my wishlist, but it is a definite maybe.

  8704 – Love these pull over tops!  The raglan sleeve and length look great for exercising is colder weather.  Plus, lots of cool pockets for exercising with devices.

  8705 – This man’s version somehow doesn’t read as exciting as the woman’s pattern, but the sleeve pouch for a phone or iPod is pretty great.

8706 – Baby Gear.  Not much to say about baby clothes, but the layers look practical.

8707 – I’ve been toying with the idea of a lace cardigan for a while, and this is exactly what I wanted.  Love this!  Totally going into my stash until I can locate the perfect lace fabric for this endeavor.

8708 – These girls dress are pretty generic, but also pretty cute for fall.

  8709 – Gertrude Made bags.  I don’t love the aesthetic of the bags in the photos, but from the line drawing, these are totally bags I would use.  I do wish it was drafted for a zip closure, but I suppose that is something one could find a way to add?

  8710 – These large travel duffle bags are also not depicted in a color scheme I’d enjoy, but I do love how practical the bags are, plus they fit over the handle of a rolly suitcase!  So cleaver.  I’d be curious to see how the inside is drafted (pockets???), but I think this might be on my list, since it seems my travel schedule is upping in the next year or so.

  8711 – Madalynne.  The bra does not look supportive enough for anyone outside of the A/B range, and why would you want to add butt ruffles to your underwear?  I mean, really?  At least from the standpoint of wearing underwear under clothes in any case.  I was going to ponder the butt ruffle as an analog to a tail feather and the implications that could have in mating rituals, but I shall refrain.

  8712 – Aprons.  Pretty simple, not too exciting, but could be good if you want to make a “mommy and me” sort of look.  The aprons loop pretty practical, if not overly embellished – nice pockets and full coverage.

  8713 -Hats!  These are actually pretty cool, and really practical styles for costuming.  Love how much variety comes in a single pattern too.

  8714 – Love the historical doll clothes.  So cute.

  8715 – Ok, I want, nay, NEED this dragon in my life!  How stinking cute is this?  And, I mean, let’s be real – I need at least three of them.  That’s right – NEED.

  8716 –  These bears are cute, but they aren’t dragons.

  8717 – More aprons.  I find the other style to be more pragmatic.

  8718 – I’m sure the internet will tell me if I’m wrong, but I really feel like this is supposed to be a Rey/Daenerys mash up of costume pieces?  Lots of great pieces in here for the cosplayers out there.

  8719 – I’m less excited by this… I don’t know what to call it?  Generic sexy fantasy style pattern?  I feel like all of these pieces have been recombined from pre-existing patterns.

  8720 – Good job on picking up that it is the 25th anniversary of Hocus Pocus!  I’m not even sure Disney has grasped that yet…  I’ve not seen crazy heavy advertising about re-release special editions or anything.  In regards to the pattern, I do wish these Sanderson sisters were a bit more detailed in the designs, but, bravo to Simplicity for winning at the cultural relevance game.

  8721 – One should never pass by a good cape pattern.  The hood shape looks really great, and the cape is nice and full.

  8722 – Once again, I’m sure the internet will inform me, but I’m not quite sure which franchise Simplicity is referencing here?  There are certainly shows I watch where jumpsuits are “the look” but this pattern is much baggier and less fitted than the styles used in those shows.  The tan one is a very Ghostbusters vibe, but I’m not sure if that is the reference I’m supposed to be picking up on here?

  8724 – Kids Star Wars/Superhero costumes.  Really versatile, and really cute.

  8725 – Nice to see Ariel added to the Disney Princess lineup.

  8726 – Super generic kids costumes.

  8727 – More generic kids costumes.

  8728 – Cool way to do a mermaid tail in this pattern.

  8729 – Kids capes, because, capes!

  5628 – Jiffy pattern re-release.  This literally is a piece of fabric folded in half, with two partial seams, and a neck opening.  Pass.

  9192 – Men’s vintage ties are kinda cool.  Not the massively wide one, but the skinny tie or bow tie could be useful.

And that’s it!  On the whole my top picks for this release really are in the craft/costume/cosplay realm.  Not too much new or exciting in the main release.  There is a lot of stuff I found “cute” but not much I felt needed to be added to the collection.  What do you all think?  See anything that is going to kick-start your fall sewing?  Or are we waiting for the bigger releases coming later next month?  Feel free to discuss in the comments!

Simplicity Patterns Pre-Fall 2018 #sewing #patterns #Simplicity #SimplicityPatterns #prefall #fallsewing Looks like we are starting to hit the season of fall fashions!  Simplicity has just announced their…

[ishouldreadthat]

Greetings from isolation! March has obviously been a super weird month for all of us — it’s not every day you get locked indoors due to a global pandemic. Lockdown did, however, mean I read lots of books and despite so much anxiety, I managed to keep up with my usual rate of reading in March!

  Books I read

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant (review)

Kingdom of Copper by S. A. Chakraborty

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart by Margarita Montimore

The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht (review)

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey (review)

The Descendant of the Crane by Joan He

Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman

My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley

The Queen of Crows by Myke Cole

I read a total of 11 books in March, which is in line with my monthly average.  There were some highs and lows this month, with ratings ranging from two to five stars! My favourites of the month were Kingdom of Copper and Upright Women Wanted, while The Monster of Elendhaven and Into the Drowning Deep just didn’t grab me as much as I thought they would.

I’ve been slow to get reviews out, but hopefully you will see my full thoughts soon. Stay tuned!

  Books I bought

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

The Animals of Lockwood Manor by Jane Healey

The Last Chance Hotel by Nicki Thornton

The Bad Luck Lighthouse by Nicki Thornton

Soul Keeper by David Dalglish

Despite the pandemic, I managed to pick up a few new books this month! Granted, I bought them all before lockdown began, however I think this is a true testament to my book hauling abilities.

  Book post

The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart by Margarita Montimore

The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin

Docile by K. M. Szpara

Bookish and the Beast by Ashley Poston

Raven Caller by David Dalglish

Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee

The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley

Lost Gods by Micah Yongo

Sixteenth Watch by Myke Cole

Creeping Jenny by Jeff Noon

The Traitor God by Cameron Johnston

The Deck of Omens by Christine Lynn Herman

The Camelot Betrayal by Kiersten White

Incendiary by Zoraida Cordova

I was lucky enough to receive quite a lot of book post before all the publicists started working from home! Spring is always a great month for book post due to all the new titles coming out, and this year is no exception.

  Wishlist gifts

The Glass Woman by Caroline Lea

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin

The Killing Moon by N. K. Jemisin

Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibanez

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

Autonomous by Annalee Newitz

The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay

Hold Back the Tide by Melinda Salisbury

Once Upon a River by Dianne Setterfield

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman

I participated in a few wishlist threads at the beginning of March and many folks generously sent me books from my own wishlist! A huge thank you to everyone who ran these threads and sent out books — it helped make March a little brighter.

    That’s it for this month! How was your March for reading? Did you manage to get anything new? Let me know!

Everything I read and hauled in March! Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: March 2020 #bookblogger Greetings from isolation! March has obviously been a super weird month for all of us -- it's not every day you get locked indoors due to a global pandemic.