#(do people who challenge themselves in doing something completely out of their style feel as weirded out as I ?)

[10thitsugaya]

I wanted to try a different way to draw + colo so here it is.

Please note I did not drew his Akasha headset on purpose. (if curious why, read tags)

Speedart.

[evangelinesbible]

MY SOLAR RETURN

Giving you all a look at my solar return and giving descriptions of my planets and angles. I’ve already done a post taking about my asteroids and other objects. Although I did get a chart reading from “AriesJupiter” here on tumblr I’ll be putting my own interpretations too.

PLANETS

SUN - PISCES 12H

The sun sign is always going to be your natal sun so the house placement is what really matters. Sun in the 12H might mean that this year will be full of self reflection on the ego. taking the time this year to really dig deep and figure out all of blockages and insecurities I have. Becoming more spiritual, taking extra care of my metal health, and figuring out the true intentions behind my desires. 12H is the last house in the zodiac so this year might be the end of endless cycles that I've been going through in the years past.

MOON - SAGITTARIUS 8H

Same sign as my natal (lol) but different house. This year will probably be very emotional and will involve events that will transform me emotionally. I might find the freedom that I've been longing to have, and it will forever change me. How positive I am and my beliefs may change this year and will stay that way for a long time. anything that I've experienced in the past that has traumatized me or left me feeling hurt I might be able to emotionally face this year and it will help me figure out what it means to feel emotionally free.

MERCURY - PISCES 12H

My mind might be in a constant state of escapism (more than it usually is lol) I might be making plans in secret this year that pertain to music/the arts/acting. I might become more private and seclusive this year and keep most of my thoughts/ideas to myself. if I have a lot of dreams this year I should probably write them down. Again since the 12H is about closure than anything that I've been writing or planing for the past few years will finally be complete and ready to distribute to the world.

VENUS - ARIES 1H

Since the 1H can represent new beginnings Venus being in the 1H can mean that physically I change my style or I find ways to enhance my beauty with whatever else gets naturally enhanced this year. More bold and trendsetting styles/makeup. This year might also feel like a new start in self love and finding new things that I enjoy to do. with it being in Aries it could mean that I might be more adventurous this year and do things spontaneously in ways that boost my self esteem and self love. people will see it too, they'll see my beauty in a new way, they'll see how confident I am, and they'll see how independent Ive become. I might be more spontaneous in relations as well, I might become very confident flirting and showing my body.

MARS - GEMINI 3H

This year I might be moving at a faster pace. wanting to do everything just cause. I might want to do thing that involves seeing other people and communicating with people. I might put all my energy into making more connections with people online. issues with siblings might happen since mars does rule over aggression.

JUPITER - ARIES 1H

Most of my luck will involve my physicality. I might get many opportunities and are money because of my looks/beauty/body. I'll have a lot of luck doing things independently (meaning working for myself). I might gain some popularity or grow to be known as someone who is independent and confident in themselves and style. This placement might mean that three a glow to me this year that everyone will be able to see.

SATURN - PISCES 12H

Although it is apparent that there will be many things ending for me this year that doesn't mean that till be tied up in a pretty little bow. ill have to make hard choices to get where I want to go mentally, physically and in success. a lot of blockages and many times this year I'll feel extremely mental drained and challenged. finding way to turn my escapism and tendency to daydream into something substantial will be a way I might mature this year. Another way is tapping into my empathy and kindness more. Might be best for me to stay clear of drugs and alcohol this year.

URANUS - TAURUS 2H

An expected event happening with money. Either gaining a bunch or loosing a lot. I'm leaning towards gaining a bunch just cause its in taurus so I'm holding out hope. life might seem a bit unstable this year. going out with friends might involve spending a lot of money together, so going shopping, dressing up to go to restaurants, ect.

NEPTUNE - PISCES 12H

Plans involving music will be completing this year and will heavily involve secrets, confessions of the mind, and involve my wildest dreams. I'll take more about Neptune in the aspects part of this post.

PLUTO - CAPRICORN 11H

Major transformations for me will involve my social circles and how I present myself online. A situation with a friend/some I consider a friend will transform me the most this year. I'll be obsessed with making real/long term friendships. I'll also be heavily obsessed with success and being successful and it might start with doing things online that'll get me the success I want. I'll probably transform into a very business savvy and socially smart person.

ANGLES

RISING - 7° ARIES

Aries rising can again mean fresh new starts this year and being very bold and independent. I'll start of the year very determined and headstrong. ill thrive to be confident. 7° (libra) further enhances the heavy 1H energy (meaning the Venus 1H) in this chart and makes it apparent that 1. love/self love will be very important this year, and that 2. Physical beauty will be very important this year.

IC - 4° CANCER

A good year to get closer with my mother and to just spend more time with family. another indication of it being a very emotional year.

DSC - 7° LIBRA

A good placement if expected to get into a long term relationship. If a long term relation where to happen this year it'd be naturally romantic. relationships in general will be with charismatic, lovely and caring people.

MC - 4° CAPRICORN

People will see how hard of a worker I'll be this year and see the success pay off business wise. People will see how importance success is to me and the emotional connection I have to my career endeavors. Big boss on the move.

OTHER THINGS

ASTEROIDS

CHART RULER GEMINI 3H - Along with the ASC and Sun being the main themes of the overall year, the chart being mars means that working hard towards a specific goal involving communication, and expression of my mind will also be the main theme of the year. social media and social groups will be involved as well.

MC RULER SATURN 12H - Success won't come easily but working towards it will end up with it being long term/long lasting. A lot of work done behind the sense to get to the spotlight. working in private/with secret groups will be beneficial.

SOME OTHER DEGREES

PLUTO 29° - a karmic degree that is considered a fame placement since its in Leo. fame is possible but at what cost? admitting my obsessions, selfishness, mistakes and dark desires to the world (in this case online since Pluto is in the 11H) for the chance of fame/popularity this year.

POF 17° - another fame degree that isn't considered karmic unlike 29°. It being in the 9H Sagittarius could mean luck, prosperity, and fame in the media. Could also mean gaining popularity on the road and with people in far away places.

CHIRON/JUPITER/VESTA 14° - 14° is a taurus degree, and given to these placements means that there's a Taurus influence. for all of them it could mean that artistic expression is needed. for Chiron it could mean that the things I heal from this year will involve using my art to do so. for Jupiter it could mean making money this year with the arts, and for Vesta it could mean that my internal flame is ignited this year when doing artistic things. (especially singing)

SATURN 0° - 0° is a critical degree and can indicate that the sign the planet/object is in is at its purest. The restrictions and challenges I'll face this year will be the first time I ever experience them.

SOME ASPECTS

NEPTUNE CONJUNCT SUN - With Neptune ruling melodies(music) and sun representing attention this could optionally mean that any music I relate will gain a lot of attention. my happiness and identity will be heavily involved with the themes of Neptune. So, creativity, music, and future plans. this could also mean being seen as glamours and getting attention from my glamor/mystique this year

VENUS/NN/JUNO TRINE MC - Trines are very harmonious and often bring luck in whatever is being aspected. Venus trine MC can bring natural luck with ingraining my beauty and arts with my career. NN can mean that natural luck and ability to achieve my destiny in my career was mean to happen this year. Juno can mean finding someone who shares the same career goals as me.

OVERALL VIBE

With old doors closing, new ones are ready to open.

Its up to me if I just simply knock and wait

Or walk right in and claim wants mine

- SM

happy late birthday to me 🎂 💋

- ⚜️💫⚜️

[miscreantahead]

Tbh I've seen a LOT of people saying they don't think Chester and Norris are Jon and Martin in any way but the way I see it the other possibilities just don't make sense with what we have. (Not talking to people who just don't want it to be them because I see your point there but... well anyway.) Possibilities I've considered are as follows, let me know if there's some other thing I didn't think of:

They're completely unrelated to Jon or Martin and Alex and Jonny are just using their voices for new "characters". The reason I don't believe this at all is simple: is because it feels cheap and like a bad storytelling decision, and that may be a matter of opinion but I've listened to enough Q&A's between the two of them to feel like they wouldn't go that route. I could absolutely accept this if they were on a constrained budget and short on VA's, but the kickstarter suggests otherwise. I'm not saying they couldn't have cameos were Jon and Martin not in this, but large cryptic parts after the ambiguity of what happens to these two at the end of TMA would be a tasteless bait and switch that I feel like I trust them not to do. I'm using my Reasonable Typing Voice but I honestly think this take is borderline impossible and it would blow me away if this was the case.

2 is under the cut.

2. Something else simply pulled their voices from all of the statements they read that the web collected and is imitating them while reading new material. This one is *possible* but still feels entirely unlikely but the why is more complicated so I'm going to break down why this doesn't add up to me:

• The cases are being read by something sentient enough to understand and apply strong emotional tone to the human "speech" in each case. The contrast of the introductions and headers/filing information makes this even more apparent which suggests it was a conscious decision (blatantly, IMO, and after an explanation was provided for all the statements sounding like the same writing style in TMA, I'd be extremely surprised if this had no bearing on the narrative and is just a choice of execution.). So there's no way this is just a computer program, even if it's influenced by beholding, we know from TMA that beholding doesn't have that kind of understanding of human emotion either. Something with a deeper understanding of language and humanity than a computer program could have is reading these. Unless they're actually taking us down a sentient AI route, but that seems unlikely. So it has to be something in some way human.

• We consider it could just be Freddy (I forget how it's actually spelled, FR3-DI?) using their voices and that Freddy is the individual in question with human level sentience, but I have no explanation for why it would use their voices separately, why it wouldn't include others who read statements like Melanie, Basira, Tim, Daisy, etc. Yes, there's still Augustus, but that can only cover one of the other characters who read statements, and only Jon and Martin read a significant enough amount of them to set themselves aside from the others who read. The ONLY thing that would make this theory work for me is if Augustus turned out to be Gertrude, and honestly I wouldn't put it past Alice, trans legend, to call a quite seemingly older woman's voice by a masculine sounding name just for the hell of it. But, again, seems unlikely.

• We could consider that they are to only some small degree themselves, but they've lost a significant enough portion that they aren't truly, and are simply extensions of this universe's "Eye" (saying eye because I think the motivation would still have to be voyeuristic to bother?), to the point where who they used to be won't even be a concern. But this one is still challenged by the first bullet to some degree, I think. This one is possible, albeit a little boring in my opinion.

I'm willing to accept that none of the characters we know and love will truly be present in this new narrative. I actually went into it with that expectation and was jump-scared by AJN's voice 10 minutes into the first episode. But with everything in episodes 1 and 2, I don't think it's far-fetched at all to hope we're going to get some jmart again (I think the other direction is more far-fetched). I do think it's perfectly likely it's going to be miserable and painful the whole fucking time, though.

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

Rewrite line

Thanks to @orphanheirs here and @imsoveryveryconfusedatlife here!

Rules: rewrite the given lines in your own style and then supply a line for other people!

Orphan's line:

The curtains flew out, and the candles in the lit candelabra positioned on the writing desk were extinguished at once. Tristan, having as yet been unable to meet his mind with his eyes and his eyes with his instinctual feeling, felt all come together at once in full agreement as darkness over took him. Something was here.

My rewrite:

A gust of wind blew the curtains open, extinguishing the flames that had been flickering on the candelabra atop the writing desk.

Tristan suddenly felt his eyes, mind, and instinct meet--coming together without his will to do so as the darkness took over.

Something was here.

Ling's line:

Mel slowly became aware of an awful throbbing pain at the back of her head. And, looking back, she now realised that most people don't just walk off a glass bottle to the back of the head. Yes, that pain may just be all that adrenaline wearing off. "You know.. now that.. now that you.. you mention it.. my head.. my head seems to.. hurt quite a bit." Mel could barely hold herself up now. The adrenaline had wore off and it had wore off fast. She leaned against the wall, panting heavily and she could just about make out Atlanta rushing across the room towards her. Her oxygen deprived brain wanted to make one last dig at Atalanta. After all, she was nothing if not a consistent thorn in Atalanta's side. She could hardly speak now but she still managed to croak out "Do you... think... I need... medical... attention?" she was taking slow calculated breaths now, "With the... giant... head... wound and all?" Mel heard a quiet, "You're an idiot." And then the world went black.

My rewrite:

Mel winced as her mind became all-too conscious of the throbbing knot forming on the back of her head where the bottle struck.

It must be the adrenaline wearing off causing the pain, she reasoned, attempting to apply a reason to why she was able to walk it off for so long.

“Y'know,” she said aloud, slurring her words as holding herself up became a chore, “now that you mention it...yeah, my--my head kinda...hurts quite-- quite a bit.” Her palm, damp with sweat, slammed against the cold wall, slipping as she was unable to get a firm grip. Her vision was foggy, unfocused, as she made out the figure of what appeared to be Atlanta rushing toward her.

Oh, how she wanted one last dig at her. Be a thorn in her side. But as she took slow, calculated breaths to provide her brain the oxygen it craved, she found she could barely speak: “Do you think--” the world spun, “I need medical attention?” Each word became harder to croak out, made her dizzier by the second. “With, y'know--” Mel limply lifted her arm to gesture toward her head, “--with the giant head wound and all?”

As the world faded, Mel heard a quiet, almost distant, “You're an idiot,” and her vision spiraled into a sickening black.

My line (from TSP Pt1, Maddie POV):

Orange and white fur tore out of the follicles of my skin, with high-frequency black stripes coating my body. My skull squatched and stretched and crunched into a new form, ears and muzzle rearranging themselves into a feline structure. My spine and hips warped and elongated into a longer torso, stretching into a tail, contourting until I had no choice but to put my hands, morphing into padded paws, on the ground. My nails grew alarmingly quick into claws I could retract, my teeth burst out of my gums into fangs. My entire body tensed in the exhilarating pain. Once I was comfortably in the complete form, I almost collapsed out of relief.

Thought I'd challenge y'all with some shapeshifting.

Tagging @illarian-rambling @mk-writes-stuff @writernopal @sarahlizziewrites @stesierra @dyrewrites @space-writes @cherrybombfangirlwrites + anyone else who wants to!

[galactic-pirates]

Romance Tropes Bracket

@purlturtle is doing this really cool thing and they said I could ramble about it too! And how could I resist talking story? Do you know me? Hahaha.

Anyway they made this spreadsheet and screenshot and you can check them out on their post (clicky here).

So in the BLUE CORNER

Bodyguard vs Love Triangle

Workplace vs High School

Second Chances vs. Made A Bet (90s style)

Sibling's Best Friend vs Nanny/Governess

Rocking that RED we have

Grumpy/Sunshine vs Someone Else's SO

Accidental Pregnancy vs Just To Get It Out Of Our Systems

Family Feud (Romeo&Juliet style) vs Holiday Romance

Billionaire vs Soulmates

The sun shines down on YELLOW

Mistaken Identity vs Age Gap

Love Potion/Aphrodisiac vs Only One Bed

Amnesia vs Kissing Lessons

Forced Proximity (road trip etc.) vs Secretly a celeb/royal

Aaaaaand finally working that GREEN

Marriage of Convenience vs Fake Dating

Snowed In vs Friends To Lovers

Bad Boy/Girl vs Sworn Off Love

Supernatural (vampires etc.) vs Enemies To Lovers

Under the cut for my picks and rambles!

Bodyguard vs Love Triangle I don't do Love Triangle, either pick one and then let everyone move on or all be together as a trio. My very first real 'ship' had a sort of love triangle (the lady dated one guy, then the other, then back to the first etc.) but I only shipped her with the first guy (it was Jack Malone and Sam Spade from Without a Trace). So the whole 'love triangle' aspect was lost on me as I just did not care.

Bodyguard though... that has serious potential. So much so I have some vague concepts for an original novel trilogy based around it. Bodyguard is sort of what Eve Baird does on the Librarians (Guardian) but also not. I mean it can depend a little bit. I like the whole protective part to a point, but not if it takes the protectees agency away. I'm not fond of 'damsel', I would rather they kick butt together.

WINNER: Bodyguard

Workplace vs High School This one is super easy - has to be Workplace because High School = kids. I have no interest in teenagers. Teachers maybe but that would be a workplace. Even when I was a kid I didn't write about kids. I skipped the whole YA thing completely.

WINNER: Workplace

Second Chances vs. Made a Bet (90's Style) I had to ask what 'Made a Bet' was because I didn't know. @purlturtle suggested it was like a '10 things I hate about you' thing, where they date on a bet and then catch real feelings. Now catching feels - that's cool, but the whole bet thing? I don't know...

I did write a fic prompt once where they were in a bar and two characters were challenging each other to see who could pull the guy they picked out. I suppose that's ok as a concept. I didn't develop it so it clearly didn't grab me that much though.

Second Chances though - this I like. I mean I suppose there's the whole "if it didn't work out before, why would it work now?" question, as in their relationship failed for a reason. But maybe that's because they needed to work on themselves. Sometimes people are just idiots and make assumptions and don't communicate properly. I'm actually writing a serial at the moment with a second chance romance in it (divorced ex-wives have to work together). So this does grab me.

WINNER: Second Chances

Sibling's Best Friend vs Nanny/Governess Got to be honest neither of these jump out at me as being something I'm really drawn to. Although I am sniggering a little bit as I think Nanny/Governess is a favourite of Janeway's (wasn't that her preferred holonovel?). So I'm tempted to vote for Janeway but ehhh. It has a bit of a power dynamic vibe I don't like.

Sibling's Best Friend is very... cute I guess. I don't really have much to say about it to be honest. I'm going to make it win on default but meh.

WINNER: Sibling's Best Friend

------------------------------

Mistaken Identity vs Age Gap I have written Age Gap - obviously, as I wrote a hell of a lot of Rumbelle (Rumple and Belle, Once Upon a Time) back in the day. Only... I got to be honest I never really saw it as an age gap thing. It totally was and by a LOT because Rumple was semi-immortal as the dark one. He was a couple of centuries old when they met but... age gap romances usually make me uncomfortable because of the inherent power dynamic. Rumple had so little self-confidence that just wasn't an issue.

Mistaken Identity - "do you let them hate the real you, or love the fake you" - HELL YES! Quote from Sophie Devereaux there and the espionage/heist fan in me is compelled. Also superheroes I guess ala Supercorp. Give me all the stories about masks people wear and just wanting to be loved for who they really are.

WINNER: Mistaken Identity

Love Potion/Aphrodisiac vs Only One Bed *cough* show me a person who wasn't read a few sex pollen fics in their time in fandom, and I'll show you a liar. I jest, I jest but also not really. It's not a bad setup for a PWP so long as consent is clearly established and we know before they are under the influence that they are into one another. I suppose there could be a fair bit of plot in terms of consequences but I have no wish personally to write about consent issues.

Only One Bed though - CLASSIC! I mean it's iconic. It's two people pining like idiots, putting up pillow walls between them, the inevitable cuddling in the night and then awkward aroused awakenings. I wrote this in my Conspiracy Afloat fanfic and I'm sure I'll write it again. It's the classic and you can't go wrong with a classic.

WINNER: Only One Bed

Amnesia vs Kissing Lessons Kissing Lessons? This is a new one on me but not hard to figure out. It feels quite juvenile, like maybe a good match for the teenagers in High School?

Amnesia though - oh yes! I don't know if I first loved this trope when I saw the Harrison Ford movie Regarding Henry, or if I saw the trope elsewhere first, but it's very good. The "I'm sorry who are you?" "I'm your wife" and not remembering, having to fall in love again. The agony of the lost shared memories, of not recalling the life they had together, of making new memories. Hell yeah!

WINNER: Amnesia

Forced Proximity (road trip etc.) vs Secretly a celeb/royal Forced Proximity has it's place as a supplement. Like I talked earlier about the Second Chance divorced exes who had to work together. They are getting that Second Chance because of the forced proximity. As a trope on it's own though? Ehhh.

The Secretly a Celeb/Royal... depends if you can expand that. I have long loved the idea of some super rich person being incognito because 'Rich people wear expensive clothes and drive posh cars and go fancy places' and so seeing Joe or Jane Regular, they think 'oh you look like X' rather than thinking they are actually X. I planned out a Rumbelle fic to this premise that I never wrote, but I swear I will write this someway, someday. It partly goes back to the Mistaken Identity and masks, and do they love the real you. With money, meeting someone and them not knowing you are rich is perhaps one of the few ways to be sure about that. But at what point do you tell the truth? The longer it goes on the more feelings of betrayal there are - very similar trope really. Now obviously royal is a whole thing on it's own but put the 'secretly' in front of it and it becomes something else.

WINNER: Secretly a celeb/royal

------------------------------

Grumpy/Sunshine vs Someone Else's SO Someone Else's SO sounds like cheating/infidelity and I'm not interested in that. Just pick a side and then be honest about it.

I think Grumpy/Sunshine... I'm trying to think of an example. I suppose perhaps I tend to interpret it more as somebody who is reserved vs. someone who is social. Or possibly someone who is cynical/snarky/sarcastic vs. someone who is optimistic/positive/kind. I have definitely written this and will definitely write more of it. It definitely has it's place but equality works too.

WINNER: Grumpy/Sunshine

Accidental Pregnancy vs Just To Get It Out Of Our Systems Honestly not a fan of either, but definitely not a fan of oops pregnancy. It's just not a conflict I am interested in. It doesn't compel me. To be honest neither does the 'Get it out of our systems' because... well it seems odd. Like if you like one another then why is it a one and done? This wins by default but meh.

WINNER: Just To Get It Out Of Our Systems

Family Feud (Romeo & Juliet style) vs Holiday Romance A feud does have potential, the whole 'forbidden love' aspect. I have written this. I have a daughter of politically powerful parents falling in love with a rebel in my Steampunk AU. That's not a family feud, more of a civil class war thing.

Holiday Romance is pretty cool. The whole 'we really click but there is a time limit on it' thing. I did write this once (a Rushbelle fic). As a standard trope it's not something that interests me that much. Now a romance developing during the holidays as like a mutually pining idiots friends to lovers type thing - that's more what I like. I planned and never wrote 2 Bering and Wells christmas fics. First was a fake dating AU where Myka claims Helena is her girlfriend to shut up her sister only to have to invite Helena for the holidays (I know, it's cliche but fun). The other was canon-divergent off season 3 I guess where Helena rejoined the Warehouse and Myka invited her as a 'friend' for Christmas so she wasn't alone at the B&B. Only there was a mix-up and they went to Myka's parents, who weren't home (at the sisters) and they get snowed in, power cuts (huddling together for warmth), only one bed - basically every trope you can think of and hey - Forced Proximity lol - and it gets them to admit feelings. The holidays can add an intensity but neither of these two were technically holiday romance.

WINNER: Holiday Romance

Billionaire vs Soulmates I wrote Soulmates!! It was a Sanctuary fic (Time Will Tell) and it started off as a thought experiment/self-challenge. I don't like the idea of fate and then everything being happy because you have found your 'one' (or in my OT3 case, two). So I really pushed hard on the 'love is a choice' angle, and that lots of soulmate relationships failed because relationships take work. The 'this could be your future but only if you choose it, only if you work for it'. Made me love it. It was fun to explore how having this ticking timer could affect people's personalities, the development of the relationship (having the certainty could be paradoxically paralysing). What that did to society and prejudices etc.

Now of course Billionaire does sort of go back to what I described earlier with the 'Secret Celeb' trope. Having money is kind of a fantasy and it makes for a fun world. You can have them sail around in a yacht, go skiing and sit by the fire in a wood lodge, private jet travel etc. but I don't know. Apart from the 'do you like me or just my money' conflict, having a ton of money is just like so what? It removes worry about paying bills and buying food and that's awesome, takes those stresses off a relationship, but if you don't have to be a billionaire for that, and that as the sole trope... where's the story?

WINNER: Soulmates

------------------------------

Marriage of Convenience vs Fake Dating OH NO YOU DIDN'T?!?! I have to choose? I suppose they are very similar. It's the pretend relationship and then the 'oh no I caught feelings' and that like Only One Bed is a complete classic.

I'm going to go with Fake Dating purely because it's likely to come up more. Although I can think of so many ideas for Marriage of Convenience. They are both so good! They are both winners in my heart.

WINNER: Fake Dating

Snowed In vs Friends To Lovers This is like a situation vs. a dynamic. Snowed In is quite specific. I talked about it earlier with the Bering and Wells christmas fic. It's not something that will happen in a lot of stories because some places don't have snow, or it's not set in winter etc.

Whereas Friends to Lovers is basically everything I write ever. How can people be lovers if they aren't friends? If they don't like one another. Friendship is the foundation. Even when I wrote Enemies to Lovers (Timeless, Flynn and Lucy) there was a loooooong stop off at friends in the middle.

WINNER: Friends to Lovers

Bad Boy/Girl vs Sworn Off Love Ok this feels like an unpopular opinion but if they are actually a 'bad boy/girl' then no, just no. If they are misunderstood, they have a heart of gold etc. then they aren't really 'bad' and so it's just aesthetics or something? Like pretending to be a rebel but not really. I don't get it to be honest.

Sworn Off Love though... so much yes. Think about Helena who didn't want to love, who intended their heart to be frozen, to no longer really beat because it belonged to Christina, their daughter who was gone. But Helena hadn't reckoned on Myka who found a way in anyway, and it was agony, but that love saved the world.

WINNER: Sworn Off Love

Supernatural (vampires etc.) vs Enemies To Lovers Ok my previous mention of Flynn and Lucy aside I really don't go in for Enemies to Lovers. If people are enemies they hate each other - hate is the opposite of love. Yes it's an extreme emotion but I don't get how it works except with a very long stop-off in friends first, and then that feels like not really Enemies to Lovers anymore.

Supernatural though can be fun. I have a long fascination with immortality. One partner living forever and the other one getting older, dying. I hate it, I hate it so much because it hurts, and yet it is compelling. I want to fix it. That's probably it. Carol and Maria from Captain Marvel. Breaks my heart :(

Doesn't just have to be immortality either. I know Harry Potter shouldn't be mentioned today but the Remus and Tonks relationship had potential as a dynamic. Remus as a werewolf saw himself as less than, as not being human - not being WORTHY. It's that kind of self-hate which makes me bond with characters (Rumple had the same thing going on). But the whole I love you, all parts of you, even the monster parts - that acceptance of the flaws. That's good stuff.

WINNER: Supernatural

I will post up the next bracket when @purlturtle does theirs! Though we did pick some different things so their bracket will look different from mine. It's going to be interesting!! :)

[pens-swords-stuff]

Hi! I’m returning to the fanfic writing world after years of being too nervous to actually try. I am having trouble deciding how to refer to the main character name wise. I know that they are afab agender and use they/she pronouns, but i dont know if i want to make it a (y/n) sort of situation or if i should choose a name. please any advice or opinion or anything you have to offer would be greatly appreciated!! thank you in advance for your time <3

When people use (y/n) for the main character, it's because they are writing a reader-insert story. It's usually written in 2nd person perspective where you pronouns are used to address the reader but not always. It's commonly used for reader x canon character romances so the reader can put themselves into the story and read it as if they are the ones engaging in a romance with a certain character (but again, not always).

If you give your character a name, then it's usually not meant to be the reader — it's your own standalone character.

So the question actually isn't "should I make it a (y/n) sort of situation or if I should choose a name", the question is what sort of story do I want to write? Do I want the reader to be a character in my story? Do I want my readers to literally see themselves in the story? What experience do I want my readers to have when reading my fic?

Writing a reader-insert fic can be a different experience from writing something that is not a reader-insert. There's no right or wrong answer, it all depends on what you want to do.

To me, it feels like you're not able to see the forest because you're so focused on one tree. I'd advise you to take a step back and look at the forest as a whole.

If I were you, I would go back to the foundation of my story and make sure it's really solid. Consider what story you want to tell and why. Develop your characters a bit more — reader-insert characters aren't a completely blank slate after all, they have personality and history too! — and see if having a better idea of who they are helps you figure out which option feels more right for you.

You could also think about what feels more natural to you. I feel like many writers gravitate towards a certain POV style for example. If one feels easier, it's fine to lean into that, especially if you're dipping your toes back into writing. (And if you want a challenge, consider leaning the other way!)

And remember, it's always okay to change your mind! If you decide that you go with a reader-insert character but decide that you want to write something that isn't a reader-insert, you can always do that and vice versa.

Good luck!

Remember, all advice is subjective! So don’t take this too seriously. This is just one person’s opinion.

If you’d like to ask me for advice on writing or running a writeblr, please check out my Ask Guidelines and FAQ first.

Ask Guidelines | FAQ | Advice Masterlist

[omgkalyppso]

étoile, meldiara, and farknir for character design ask game:

glance, stillness, roots, change and alternate? <3

Thank you fro the ask! (:

Glance: At first glance, what stands out most about your OC’s appearance? What’s their distinguishing feature?

Étoile: their height / bulk. If a messenger was describing them to an assassin, they'd be told, "Look for the large trans elf with the rose tattoo."

Meldiara: her red hair. If a messenger was describing them to an assassin, they'd be told, "Look for the dunmer woman with red hair and red eyes, who can't keep her hands to herself."

Farknir: he looks like he was thrice cursed to Coldharbour. If a messenger was describing them to an assassin, they'd be told, "Look for the large nord wizard with long black hair who has something unsettling about his face; and he must know it too, as he's likely to be wearing warpaint."

Stillness: How does your OC act while still? Are they fidgety? Do they have any common gestures or tics? Does their clothing affect how they hold themselves while at rest?

Étoile is extremely capable of being still without fidgeting. They were trained to do so both for the sake of prayer and paladin discipline; and enjoyed the personal challenge and calm peace of being able to do nothing. Wearing armor would mean they would not want to be seated or laying down while doing nothing if at all possible.

Meldiara cannot sit fucking still for longer than a few minutes at a time. She'll practice sleight of hand tricks and crack her thumbs during moments she should be still, and she'll be fidgety during moments most other people would be still, such as prayer. Her attire might make fidgeting worse, with a scarf to play with or pockets to check.

Farknir can sit still for longer than Meldiara, but has less patience than he'd advertise. If something was going to require his "stillness" for longer than 90 minutes he'd try to get out of it, and would be able to struggle at most another 90 more before he's groaning and slouching and raking his fingers across his face, casting absent thaumaturgy spells and talking to himself or his company. If he was wearing too much clothing he'd also start undressing.

Roots: Is your OC’s look inspired by any specific style of clothing or fashion trend? What are the roots and/or inspiration for their look?

Étoile's clothing is influenced by their paladin order, their faith, and their need to wear layers except in the most private of company. Otherwise they wear what's cheap / available until responsibility (to an event, to their employment, to the maintenance of a relationship) necessitates something of higher quality.

They don't keep an inspiration for their style, but I do. Here's their small "modern" pin/terest board.

Meldiara's clothing is influenced by stats by the people in her life; Netch armor that was talked up by Teldryn, various kinds of Thief gear to facilitate her ties to Brynjolf and the others of the guild, Nord styles as a fuck you to her father and a link to her brother, Farknir, etc. She likes rich colors and materials, especially if she stole them. She'd be more likely to steal an outfit if it was elegant or funky. Sadly (?) this means she could show up somewhere in something akin to Sheogorath's wardrobe.

Farknir's clothing is influenced by the legacy he'd still like to surpass; his house, Raven-Cloak. He doesn't mind looking like a dark wizard and is drawn to black fabrics with glass beads and bone accessories. He's meant to look like a goth or metal-head.

Change: Has your OC ever drastically changed their appearance? Significant haircuts, big tattoos, complete wardrobe swap, etc? Why? How do they feel about the change?

Answered here for Étoile.

Meldiara's fashion would have significantly changed when she moved to Skyrim no longer surviving on fear as she was as a peasant in Brume, but thriving for the promise of survival. With more resources and less caution, she grew healthier and gained resources to dress as she liked. Of course she loves it.

Farknir's gone through at least two big appearance overhauls. The first when he was fifteen and trying to distance himself from his family and especially his father. He cut his hair and wore anything that didn't reveal his associations to them. And then a few years before his father passed, when he was caring for him in his failing health, and Farknir realized that both their hair had grown out by virtue of neither of them prioritizing cutting it, and then realizing many other ways in which they were similar in appearance, and capability — and the many ways he would be able to surpass his father, and the rest of his family. He leaned into his gifts and his heritage, and his comfort, not dressing or conducting himself differently for the sake of a hatred that was worth less than his ambition. He still has mixed feelings sometimes.

Alternate: What would your OC’s alternate universe look be? If they’re a fantasy character, what’s their modern look? If they’re sci-fi, what’s their fantasy look? What AU would you want to see your OC in, and how would they dress themself? Bonus: Prompt an AU!

I wish you had prompted an AU to take this decision out of my hands. fgdhdfghdfg

Mass Effect. Sure.

Étoile is a Sentinel. Wow, that means they're stuck in Light Armor. fgjhdfghdfg They have a high quality blue and white armour with renegade red vein lines kintsugi-ing it together (just appearances). Their L2 side-effect is occasional short-term memory loss, motivating them to meditate on memories they want to keep. They favour turtlenecks in downtime to cover their tattoo.

Meldiara is trained as an Infiltrator but hates sniper rifles for combat over stealth missions. She can approach enemies as a Soldier, where she hopes her speed and stamina make up for middling strength. She wears purple armour that easily reflects the stars for space walks. She favours open-collared dress shirts, military jackets with too many pockets, and combat boots in her down time.

Farknir is an Adept. Who thinks going off like a bomb is artistry, and not only chaos. He is either a Cerberus experiment who didn't realize he was an experiment, or maybe he's his father's pet project who knows exactly what was done to him. His armour is not regulation and has a stealth function that isn't as efficient as Kasumi or Kai Leng's but works like Shepard et al hid from the geth in ME2, hiding him from readings, if not the naked eye. His armour is black and painted with many symbols: an hour glass, a corvid, skulls, swords. Meldiara calls him lame to keep him humble. I want this design to extend into the shape of his helmet to be vaguely General-Grievous-like. His biotic-implant side-effects (is it even an L2?) include fever, spinal pain and occasional hallucinations. He wears a Blasto bath robe, blue boxes, a white tank top and flip flops in this down time. He has no idea who Blasto is. In stark contrast to this, he will wear a casual mustard yellow blazer, white shirt and blue high-waisted pants if taken out in public.

[theninthdoor]

dpr live || ideal type; tarot reading

disclaimer: in my Ideal Type readings, I look into what the person in question is currently (consciously and unconsciously) attracted to! it's not necessarily their perfect match or the one they will end up with.

✦ Impression (What is seen externally; Might not accuratelly represent the person): cards: three of pentacles (death, page of cups), justice, king of swords (ten of cups)

Right away, it feels like he's attracted to someone who looks like they put a lot of thought and effort into their style. What I mean by that is: imagine someone who's into a retro aesthetic - they will pick specific accessories and clothing items to make their outfits, and then style their hair and do their makeup accordingly. All of that requires attention to detail and commitment, and that's the sort of thing that fascinates him. Next, and putting the remaining two/three cards together, he seems to like people who look logical and composed. His ideal type would be that person that others would judge to be a great intellectual, even, and to whom they would rely on to make important decisions. As a seemingly fair-minded and balanced individual, they would always look to be trying their best to maintain order in their environment, either making sure everybody is being treated rightfully or by forcing wrongdoers to be accountable for their actions.

✦ Personality: cards: four of wands, three of wands, empress

I don't think it would be far-fetched to say he's into people who cherish their community and family life. But, generally speaking, his ideal type is really just someone who enjoys bringing people together and creating loving and joyful memories, specially with their loves ones. This might be that type of friend who's always texting others to go out for dinner or drinks, or plan a trip together, or even be the one to plan everybody's birthday parties. Overall, they are the happiest around other people. All in all, it seems like his ideal type is someone who is the "mom-friend" of the group. They care for others, nurture their feelings and dreams, and push them to believe in themselves. Also, because they are such confident visionaries, with lots of creativity and charisma, they would never reject a challenge or an opportunity to try something new - specially creative and artistic activities.

✦ What his ideal type should provide in a relationship: cards: four of cups (queen of swords), ten of swords (three of wands, six of swords), devil

It's interesting because I see him liking two complete opposite things: on one hand, he would like his ideal type to be independent and even a little distant; but, on the other hand, he would like them to be very attached to him. So, essentially, a hot & cold relationship might be what he wants (regardless of whether or not it's the best for him). Adding on to that, intensity is a big theme here. There should be no fear to be dramatic and passionate; the relationship should be intoxicating, almost. Besides that, this person ought to be strong willed and do whatever it takes to get what they want. It could also mean, though, that he would like his ideal type to take initiative and go far to pursue him - even by using certain tactics such as power play or attempts to make him jealous.

(Disclaimer: all readings are alleged and for entertainment purposes only.)

[mwebber]

✦ what was your easiest fic to write & your hardest?

awoughhhhhh what a tough question!! i feel like each fic presents its own challenges esp as i continue writing and developing my own style... but atm here's how i feel!

easiest: the ground of the ordinary mind

grace pretty much handed the story on a silver platter, so i feel like i didn't do any of the real legwork of forming the important stuff! only the connective tissue really... so with that effort removed, this fic was just a matter of letting the brainworms escape containment.

hardest: the aching sound of silence (che angelo sei)

she's still a wip! but this is girl!seb au, which is quickly becoming a behemoth of a fic. it's the hardest thing i've written so far because of how explicit and awful it can get, i think? you know the theory that's like, fangirls write cis mlm sex because it's removed from the inherently traumatic womanhood experience of being the sexual object and all the violence associated with that. this is like the polar opposite, like a deeply cynical portrait of coming into adulthood as a power-hungry woman in a world full of older and powerful men, and how someone might try to navigate that world, what sacrifices they might make, how they might heal, etc.

it's been turning my brain to slush bc i haven't answered any of the questions i bring up to myself, like how do women divorce themselves from the male fantasy they live in? how do women who want to have families separate themselves from the connotations of that reality where they lose their complete and total autonomy? how can a woman in seb's situation even retain a semblance of her physical freedom? mental freedom? sexual freedom? and how does anybody cope with that brutal reality and balance being in love with the person they're pitted against.

also things are hard bc of the setting, where i have to actively remove my biases to write a white woman who doesn't think to separate womanhood from biology and ascribes a lot of blame and roadblocks in her life to the fact that she wasn't born a boy. not necessarily incorrect! just unnuanced. some of the shit i'm writing is like [alarms blaring] gross radfems might agree with that 😭 but also i feel like people are literally scared to talk about feminism these days bc they fear they might come off as terfs if they say something wrong. feminism should not and Does Not belong to them! so i shall continue to hammer out this story and explore feminism and the damage that societal / western/ christian ideals of gender roles inflict upon people amen 🙏

ask me about my fics!

[corigarabatos]

Explaining my Gorillaz birthday illustrations

💙 23rd May, 2-D's Birthday🎂

Every fan knows that the first to have a birthday is 2-D and being the first is the one who defines the theme of the other birthday illustrations of the others, so I decided that my inspiration would be the albums whose story focuses on a member of the band plus the added bonus of using photographs of models whose aesthetic or theme of said portrait you can associate with each member.

🖼 Reference photo:

Boys Undone | Metal Magazine A fashion story by Sophie Mayanne & Lee Trigg for metalmagazine.eu

I saw the photograph and immediately thought of 2-D: perhaps it was the way the young man picks his nose with his finger (something Stu would do or has done at some point), the innocence his face conveys, or how the model looks somewhat misaligned. Whatever it was, this was the photograph that was used as a reference.

💽 Phase and Album: Phase 5, The Now Now (2018)

The Now Now (2018)

The Now Now was the band's fifth album and the story of which focused more on 2-D, taking the position as the leader of the band while Murdoc is in jail, the latter being replaced by Ace, a member of the Gangrene Gang in the mythical cartoon 'The Powerpuff Girls' by Craig McCracken.

It was more than obvious the album and the "style" of art that he would use for it. Something that I really liked about this phase is that the vast majority of the art used a curious color palette: blues and pinks in neon tones that were combined with a monochrome style in the characters (mostly black and white).

I did my best to replicate, completely failing in blue (the background is more aquamarine 😅) but I mostly respected the characteristic color palette of that phase. Doing this job reminded me a bit of the old jobs I used to do during my years as students in Visual Arts. Perhaps the only thing that I don't quite like is the hand whose size is much larger than the face and the effect of the fur on the jacket being what I like the most about my illustration.

🧡 3rd June, Russel's Birthday🎂

The most underrated member not only by fans but also by the creators themselves. I feel somewhat sorry for Russel since from the first 3 phases he had a setback from which he has currently not been able to get out of there 😔.

He's the one who draws the least (mostly for fear that the Social Justice Warriors will come and throw me a bard), but when I do, he's the one who I enjoy doing it the most. Maybe it's 'cause his design is a challenge for me and takes me out of my comfort zone, the final result of my illustrations where he is the protagonist makes me end up with a smile on my face 😊.

🖼 Reference photo:

People - Photos A model is backstage at the Ricardo Seco fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Spring 2014 at Eyebeam Studio on September 8, 2013 in New York City.

Maybe when I think of Russell I don't picture him smoking since it's more common to see that in 2-D and Murdoc. But the few times Jamie draws him smoking is with a cigar, more elegant compared to his other two companions. The decision of said photo wasn't only 'cause the model is Afro-descendant but 'cause I wanted to challenge me by painting the smoke of the cigarette. Perhaps the model's clothing was another reason for him to wear this photograph: it's too laid back style as is Russell's personality.

💽 Phase and Album: Phase 1, Gorillaz (2001)

Gorillaz (2001)

The first album, Gorillaz and clearly the first phase is (mostly) focused on Russell and his ability to see and be possessed by ghosts, especially the ghost Del Tha Ghost Rapper.

It's the phase whose art style screams 2000's: it has that rebellious street style that is identifiable with people who like skateboarding, punk rock, rap or hip hop or street vibes.

I confess that it was hard for me to transfer to the illustration and more in the fact of the color palette, so I decided to guide myself by the cover of the eponymous album: a green military tone filter. Unfortunately, by combining that ocher color with the burnt sienna of the shirt and giving it an olive green "wash", it gives more of an air to the color palette of the Plastic Beach sketches (it's too warm and that's why it gives me those vibes ). I doubt that adding the earring to his ear would save the concept, maybe I should have looked for another reference photograph... despite that, I really like it and I consider the smoke I painted acceptable.

💚 6th June, Murdoc's Birthday🎂

Oh, Murdoc. This bastard whose birthday is 3 days after Russell and whose proximity drives me crazy 'cause he's usually my least favorite illustration. The relationship I've with this character is easily described in this image:

And I could skip his illustration, BUT that wouldn't be fair so I tried to summon my will to draw him.

🖼 Reference photo:

Peter DeVito on Twitter “My grandma turns 85 on Monday so we shot this fun birthday concept. *I also got some photos of her without the hats but I’m still working on them and we’re tryna shoot a few more birthday concepts so keep an eye out for those:)”

Murdoc is a decrepit old man, isn't he? So under that logic I had to use a reference from an older person. It wasn't easy since there is usually a lot of photography of young models or people in their 30s and/or 40s. It was a somewhat complicated search 'cause I couldn't find a photograph of a model that screamed Murdoc F. Niccals and, to be honest, I was resigning... UNTIL I found the right one.

The moment I found the reference PHOTOGRAPH I knew it was something Murdc could do: wear various colorful birthday hats and use a birthday candle as a cigarette allegorying that as each birthday passes, our existence will slowly consume away (that or I'm just seeing things where I'm not). And yes, my idea was also to add the hand that is holding said birthday candle, as a way of following a pattern (two illustrations showing only the face and two showing one of his hands) and that this will "complement" with that of 2-D 'cause you already know: they have an insane dependent relationship that they have for each other (and by relationship I not only reduce it to a romantic one, as certain fans usually do 🙄, but also having a relationship can be work, friendship or relative).

💽 Phase and Album: Phase 3, Plastic Beach (2010)

Plastic Beach (2010)

I confess that phase 3, that is, the Plastic Beach album is my favorite of all and I dare say that it is THE BEST.

Personally, it's the one that I enjoy the most, both 'cause of the story behind the virtual band and the real one. What it aimed to be and that due to various obstacles we only obtained 15% of what was planned (maybe less) , in addition to the load of the socio-environmental message that the album pointed to and the ART of the different covers it had (DUDE! They had a scale model of the island for the cover and some visuals). The truth is that I feel that it is a super complete album and different from what they did in the past and what they do now, it was the album that defined the before and after of Gorillaz music.

And I could make a testament to why it's a TOO good album, but I'd better leave you these two videos where the music on the album is deepened and analyzed (they're in Spanish, but I think you can activate the 'Automatic translation' option in the subtitles)

It's quite curious how this phase has an extremely warm color palette both in its official arts, album cover and sketches when almost the vast majority of the musical themes border on the depressive or with shades of desolation , perhaps it is Murdoc openly expressing how he feels about the possibility of being alone or dying alone ('cause according to the lore of the band, all the songs are written by him) seasoned with the guilt he feels about the accident that caused the "death" of Noddle in 'El Mañana'.

Ocher yellows, reddish or purple tones, and green are those colors that are repeated, therefore, that was the color palette that I used for my illustration. My intention was to make it look like the sketches that Jamie did during those years and trying to respect that essence of being a watercolor (in fact, all the illustrations are painted with watercolor).

❤ 31st October, Noodle's Birthday🎂

And last but not least, we have our beloved Noodle 🥰. Since she is the last to have her birthday, my rest time is extensive and I can think much better about what I should do, however it's also usually somewhat problematic 'cause I trust myself and (generally) I usually do her illustration the day before or the day of his birthday 😅, but it ends up being the one I like the most of the four.

🖼 Reference photo:

@lyiee on Instagram Bạn có biết tại sao khi nhìn ảnh này tim bạn bị đập nhanh không? Oi bạn ơi tại vì bạn kochoido đấy bạn ạ 🌚

With Noodle it's always easier to get a reference image or photograph.

I had already selected the photograph for months and I chose her not only 'cause the model is of Asian descent but 'cause from phase 2, Noodle shows an interest in fashion (something that continues to be maintained) and the use of a helmet is super characteristic of her that she could not let it go.

💽 Phase and Album: Phase 2, Demon Days (2005)

Demon Days (2005)

Demon Days it's Noodle's album, it's the album that makes possible the return of the band and initiates this stage of experimentation and it's the favorite of all G-fandom.

It is darker, more raw... so much so that it is reflected a lot in the art.

Color palette with such dark tones, overly saturated shadows and the characters are no longer so geometric, but look uncomfortably more detailed. They look gloomy and dirty and go with the gothic and emo vibe of those years.

But did I respect that essence? The truth is that I think not 'cause I only base myself on the color that Noodle presents on the album cover: green. And although that color is often seen in some official art from that phase, it's not as... colorful as the one in my illustration.

Her watercolor has more of a Phase 1 inspired vibe and even though it has black shadows, they aren't saturated enough as they should be. Still my favorite illustration of the four.

And so I end this post 😬. I hope you liked reading it and I appreciate the gesture 'cause I don't usually share the reason for my illustrations very much. I'll probably do it another time.

Do you like my art? Please, follow me on 🥰 :

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

[skeleton-in-a-hoodie]

I have figured out when ageswap Yoshi should meet the 2012 Turtles - in the build up to his universe’s equilient of the season 2 Kraang Invasion.

Yoshi’s angry with his uncles, is having an identity crisis, and the only person he’s really speaking to is Shen. He’s staying at her apartment (her parents do not know a teenage mutant rat is sleeping over. Nobody tell them.)

His sisters are worried about him, but want to give him the space he needs, so they’ll text him to make sure he’s okay but not much more than that. June is keeping note of everything that’s happening whilst he’s gone so he can be updated whenever he comes back, Mayday’s only just restraining herself from dragging him back home by the scruff of his neck, and Shadow is keeping the pair busy so they don’t ware themselves out.

Shen isn’t really sure how to help - her and Yoshi talk a lot, hash some stuff out, realise a few feelings weren’t as unrequited as they both thought (they’re stupid your honour), but she can tell that this is above her pay grade. How do you help your friend when his entire sense of self is collapsing in? And on top of that the King of Creeps Victor Falco is trying to break his will so he can take control of your friend again. Oh, and you’re both 15.

Cue the universe yeeting the 2012 Turtles at them, specifically the post season 4 Turtles, April and Casey.

Yoshi does not know how to interact with them. It’s a struggle to not snap and shout at them, but he manages it by the skin of his teeth because they’re not his aunt and uncles and it would not be fair to rip into them for things they didn’t do just because they remind him of the people he actually wants to scream at.

(He doesn’t want to be angry at his uncles and April either, but he can’t help it right now and the anger is suffocating him.)

Not to mention they’ve evidently been through a lot and something terrible must have happened to their Splinter, because the first thing they did when they saw him was cry. Yoshi may be a fountain of rage, but he’s also compassionate and is the team dad of his group, so he’s going to let them cry and hug him for as long as they need to, no matter how uncomfortable and confused he is right now.

Seeing 2012 Karai (and Shini if she’s along for the ride) is going to produce a complex series of emotions, which Yoshi will not articulate well at all.

2012 Karai: Hi

Ageswap Yoshi: What the FU-

April gets to meet June. June isn’t her mum, she’s just another universe’s version of her, but it’s the closest she’s ever going to get to seeing her mum again. June, who knows what her April went through when the Kraang kidnapped June as a baby, understands. They talk - it’s weird, but nice. June introduces April to ageswap Kirby.

Mayday will properly bring up some not good memories the first time she shapeshifts. It might help that whist her powers are similar to Mom-Thing’s, she wasn’t made for the same purpose and is definitely just a teenager. A teenager with superpowers, but still a teenager. She challenges Raph to a fight.

Shadow Jones introduces herself and gets Raph, Leo and Mikey immidiately adopting her as their niece, whilst April, Casey and Donnie are just left completely stunned. (She called Casey ‘dad’ and Donnie ‘Dadatello’ without thinking, so those two are blue screening for now.)

Shen isn’t sure what to make of Karai at first. How do you interact with someone who’s dead mom is an alternate version of you? She does like Karai’s style though. Come to think of it, the Turtles probably freak out when they see Shen too.

At some point, someone properly lets slip that Master Splinter and Tang Shen were married, which is going to leave Yoshi and Shen very flustered

A group of 11 chaotic and traumatised teenagers are let loose on New York City, with the mission to get the 2012 turts get back home. It goes about as smoothly as can be expected.

Somehow, hanging out with the 2012 turtles helps a lot. When the 2012 Turtles and family return to their own universe, Yoshi doesn’t go home with his sisters. He knows what he needs to do next. He’s got some questions that need answering and there’s only one person in New York who can answer them.

He’s going to pay the Shredder another visit

[twistedr0se]

But what if some people like shoujo or otome style on fics?

It’s completely fine if they do! I’ve talked about this previously in that post about how certain tropes within a vacuum can be completely okay, and in theory, shojo and otome tropes are just like the rest (in a vacuum)

But when we put it into the context of the twst fanbase and the fanworks it over saturated the reader imagines and fanfics and overshadows the rest who aren’t following those tropes and formats.

The shojo genre itself has its flaws when it comes to diversity, and while this doesn’t mean I will advocate for any “cancelling” of the genre it is important to point out how many fems are alienated from the genre from looks alone (and I can attest as someone who doesn’t fit the pretty, white skinned, brown hair trope that so many self inserts push)

On the otome side those tropes also oversaturare many of the imagines and fics and creates a problem on two sides;

On one hand the oversaturations of the same tropes creates an environment where many of the fics tend to be dull and same-y. And I know this because I’ve been in many fandoms that have this problem ever since I started going into fandoms. This may be affected by other things like age or skill (I’ve had less of both and had to work through this issue with practice) but it is still worth noting.

And on the other, many of the fics and imagines sometimes take the worse tropes of the otome genre and place it as something regular, which is not inclusive of those who are not interested or don’t want to read through those toxic tropes, but also those who don’t see themselves within the generally cishet lens shojo and otome tends to have. These tropes aren’t bad per say, it’s just that when it is over represented that the female readers get to mostly read about the men treating them as if they were a piece of meat it gets very worrying.

Personally I think these questions may come from a misunderstanding as I’ve seen many commenters and people willing to take on discourse as seeing posts that challenge their views as an attack on them or the overall themes. This is not to say that you do it personally (I don’t speculate on random anons’ intentions as it crosses many of the boundaries I set for myself) but this certainly is a pattern.

I am a person who likes shojo and otome content, but criticizing it doesn’t mean that I don’t like that stuff anymore, I just want to see it better improved with suggestions and feedback so it can soar into even greater lengths. I want everyone to enjoy the joy and love I feel towards the genre, but in order for that to happen change must occur so that more inclusivity will bring in more eyes and more people to see and marvel at the wonders of shojo and otome genres ^^

And honestly I think this mentality needs to be brought more into the table of discussions.

[casspurrjoybell-25]

The Healer of Shakkara - Book Two

*Warning Adult Content*

Chapter 1 - Lost - Part 1

Tailing Sevhalim was easy enough at first.

The tunnels dug by the miners followed a seam in the rock and ran roughly straight into the mountainside.

The walls were narrow and smooth and the ground was clear of debris.

All Galen had to do was feel his way along in the dark and keep the glow of Sev's lantern in sight.

Then Sev's lantern went out and things changed.

Panicked that he had lost him, Galen pushed on, completely blind.

At last, a different light, like the blue twilight before dawn, appeared ahead of him, growing steadily brighter until, with a suddenness that made him gasp and fall against the wall at his back, Galen arrived at the place where the tunnels broke through into larger, older caverns.

Like a cockroach peeking from a crevice, Galen peered forth and found himself upon a narrow ledge halfway up the wall of an enormous open space.

Immense pillars upheld a ceiling lost in darkness and below lay the ruins of an ancient city built to gigantic scale.

All it took was a glance for him to see why Anira's people believed they had found the Dweller realm, though it took him several minutes to realize how strange it was that he could see it all.

This far below ground, with hundreds of feet... if not miles... of rock between him and the moon, sun or stars, it should have been blacker than the pits of hell and yet the same blue-grey twilight provided just enough illumination to make a lantern unnecessary.

He could identify no source... it seemed to emanate from everywhere and nowhere at once, though it was brightest at ground level.

By this eldritch light, Galen absorbed the wonder and the challenge... that lay before him.

The cavern 'if such a vast space could be called a cavern' was at least as large as the Grotto whence he'd come and the architecture it contained matched the style of the great edifice carved into the cliff there.

Huge archways, massive portals to palaces or crypts or who knows where, yawned darkly from the walls, while the open space between looked to be like a public park or promenade.

He saw the broken remnants of statues, monuments, temples, derelict fountains and what might have been garden beds made of stone.

Criss-crossing all were the scars of ancient paths and roads, leading to the looming doorways and to whatever deeper places they contained.

All lay in ruin, of course... piles of broken stone, rubble and debris making a labyrinth of obstacles across the plain.

Most of the destruction seemed to have been caused by rocks falling from above... some as large as buildings themselves... which had shattered on impact, spreading a stony chaos far and wide.

Some remained intact, like the hulls of sinking ships, the prows sticking up in proud defiance of their demise.

By the time Galen took stock of all this, Sev had vanished.

Falling to his hands and knees at the edge of the precipice, Galen scanned the broken landscape below in search of movement but all was grey and silent, shrouded in blue mist.

No, not 'silent.'

In fact, Galen perceived, there were many sounds, though quiet and subtle... the muted rush of hidden water... the tumble and clatter of little pebbles knocked free by the natural movement of the earth... the flutter of leathery wings, as clouds of tiny bats swooped and swirled in the open spaces like flocks of starlings above a field.

There are other noises too, even more subtle still... clinks and clanks and a grinding groan, as of massive metal gears, rising from deep below.

But it was something else that made Galen's blood run cold... something that sounded an awful lot like the distant wail of a barrowling.

Finally catching sight of movement, Galen's breath snagged in his chest as he recognized Sev's lithe form slipping into the labyrinthine ruins far below.

He watched for a moment until he saw the tall, dark-haired man emerge from behind the wreckage of a gigantic statue and established the general direction in which he was heading.

Quickly and carefully, Galen made his own descent from the ledge and down to the floor of the cavern below.

Then, taking his bearings as best he could, he set off in pursuit of Sev.

His plan had been a simple one... wait until it was too late... too risky... for Sev to send him back alone and then to reveal himself triumphantly, proving that he had the will and tenacity to follow Sev so far and into such dangerous terrain, undetected.

Then, he imagined, Sev would have no choice but to accept him as his companion, however grudgingly.

Reality, as it often does, proved less amenable.

Sevhalim was a swift and tireless traveler and Galen quickly perceived that he had been holding himself back for the sake of his companions.

Now with no one 'as far as he was aware' for whom to temper his pace, he struck out across the rubble-strewn plain with a long stride that had Galen almost running to keep up and frequently losing sight of him among the maze of broken stone.

Despite his efforts, Galen saw he was falling behind.

Each time he scaled a crumbling statue or the ruins of some monument to check his course, the distance between himself and Sev had grown.

Meanwhile, it wasn't long before his muscles begged him for a rest.

Sweaty, dirty, thirsty, scraped and bruised, Galen decided he had better make himself known or else risk losing Sev completely and thus becoming completely and irrevocably lost, himself.

Choosing a long, ramp-like slab of stone, likely fallen from the ceiling above long ago, as his vantage point, Galen scrambled up to its tip and took stock of his surroundings.

The great cavern, he'd discovered, was much longer than it was wide.

The place where the tunnels had broken through seemed to have been the widest point, from which it gradually narrowed into something more like a canyon than a vale.

Now, Galen saw, it split in two, like a fork in a road, with one way having a more upward slant to it and the other leading down.

Much farther ahead of him than he would have liked, he caught sight of Sev slipping among the scattered remnants of a massive pillar, where he then disappeared from view.

Muttering some of Behn's choice invectives beneath his breath, he weighed the risk of a shout.

With a tremble in his limbs and his muscles aching with fatigue, he had just concluded that the benefits of alerting Sev to his presence outweighed the risks of alerting who-knows-what else, when another flash of movement caught his eye.

High above, almost directly overlooking the place where Sev had just vanished, a pale, spindly creature crouched upon a ledge.

Even from such a distance, Galen recognized a barrowling.

He would never forget the way they looked and moved.

The creature sniffed the air while its fanlike ears twitched and flared, each moving independently as it sought to pick up the tiniest trace of sound.

Even knowing it was blind, Galen flattened himself against the surface of the rock and froze, hardly daring to breathe.

After what seemed like an eternity, the creature finally shook its head like a dog and scratched itself, then turned and slunk back into a crack in the rock, disappearing from view.

As soon as it was gone, Galen threw off his pack and rummaged within for the scent-concealing Yuthraki salts Zenír had given him.

Rubbing a pinch through his hair and over his sweat-moistened skin, he shut his eyes and drew a deep, shivery breath.

He had hoped never to see a barrowling again and now found his terror of them renewed in full.

His heart beat in his ears and his mouth had gone dry and for several long minutes he grappled with a cowardly desire to turn around and run back the way he had come... back to the safety of the Grotto and the blessed light of day.

He knew he could not.

He had to warn Sev... had to catch up to him and share the Yuthraki salts.

He didn't know if the barrowlings could smell as well as they could hear but he wouldn't bet against it.

Scrambling down the rock as quietly as he could, he set off after Sev at a run.

[geducation]

Mirrors and Windows

‘Curriculum should provide mirrors for students, in which they can see themselves reflected, and windows, through which they can look into the lives and stories of people who are different.’

Emily Style

I love the quote above.  I think I first came across a variant of it in relation to reading – a challenge about the extent to which books in our schools provide both representation and insight into other people and other places.  This version though has the word curriculum firmly planted at the start – a much broader call for us to consider the nature of pretty much everything we do  

To get to grips with this, the first step is to work out who we are as a community.  For some schools this might be relatively straightforward – for us, a bit less so.  We’re incredibly diverse as a school – at the last count, there are over 40 different languages spoken by our children and families.  Nearly half of our children are African[1] (and of this group around 50% are Eritrean or Ethiopian), our next largest ethnic group is Asian or Asian British (around 14% Pakistani and 12% Indian), followed by White British (8%), Black Caribbean (4%) and White Eastern European (4%).

This is our context, and when it comes to curriculum decision making, I don’t think there’s a stronger rationale than building a curriculum to meet the needs of your community.  It feels unquestionable – no one can come into your school and try to tell you that they know more about the children or community than you do.  And so with that in mind, we started to think critically about aspects of the curriculum that we’d previously never questioned.  

The first subject that we started to unpick was history.  It seemed an obvious choice - its focus on an island-centric British narrative seemed to completely miss the mark when it came to representation.  But before getting carried away, we knew that we needed to be careful.  We wanted our history curriculum to represent our children, but we also needed it to be coherent and well-sequenced.  We wanted it to build cumulatively over time so that each new component built on what had gone before.  The National Curriculum attempts to achieve this be setting out the subject content chronologically through KS2 – you start with the stone age and work your way up to around 1066.  We decided that we’d stick to some aspects of this and also work chronologically (for the most part) from Y3 up.  The starting point for us was the Romans – something we decided to cover in Y3.[2]  The Romans is something that’s covered in most primary schools at some point – in the National Curriculum, it’s phrased as the Roman Empire and its impact on Britain.  We took this as an opportunity to look at the impact on Britain from the perspective of the people who settled here in that period.  As part of their project, the children learn about the expansion of the Roman Empire and the invasion of Britain in 43CE by Emperor Claudius.  They go on to learn about the first African settlers in Britain, and in particular, a unit of Roman soldiers called the Aurelian Moors who were stationed at the fortress of Aballava on Hadrian’s Wall.  The Aurelian Moors were from the North African provinces of the Roman Empire, and thanks to an inscription found on a an altar stone, historians have been able to give an approximate date of between 253 and 258CE.  This would make them Britain’s first black African community – and the fact that Britain was colonized long before we became colonizers gives important context to the multi-cultural development of our country.  This evidence is explored further through the story of the Ivory Bangle Lady, whose remains were discovered in York.  In her sarcophagus, were precious items including bracelets and a perfume bottle – items that suggest she was a woman of high social status.  Through analysis of her bones, historians believe that she was of North African descent.  The idea that parts of Britain were more ethnically diverse in the 3rd century than today is a bit of an eye-opener, and its stories like these that begin to build the mirrors we’re interested in for our children.  

Year 4 works chronologically as we move from the Roman’s into the Anglo Saxon period.  In terms of British history, from the 5th century on, Britain was largely cut off from Africa and the routes previously established by the Romans that enabled the movement of people pretty much disappeared.  At first glance, it doesn’t seem to offer much in terms of representation, but what the Anglo Saxon period does bring though is an opportunity to look at what was happening in another part of the world at the same time.  We focus on two significant leaders - Alfred the Great, probably the most famous Anglo Saxon king, and Al Ma’mun the Caliph of Baghdad.  These two men lived within about 20 years of each other and make for an interesting comparison.  Both men were driven by a desire to build (and share) knowledge and wisdom.  Alfred had Latin works translated into Old English so they could be read more widely – Al Ma’mun had Greek scientific and philosophical texts translated into Arabic so they could be studied in the House of Wisdom (an incredible centre of learning at the heart of the round city of Baghdad).  They both made important cultural contributions and the children explore the idea of legacy (and the disciplinary concept of significance) through an overarching enquiry question: What makes a great leader?  For our children, a first glimpse into the Golden Age of Islam helps us to demonstrate some of the incredible achievements within the Arab (and Muslim) world.[3]  

Year 5 breaks away from the chronology we’ve seen so far by taking in a number of different periods as the children learn about the history of astronomy.  Beginning with the ancient Sumer and Babylonia, we then take in the Ancient Greeks before revisiting the Golden Age of Islam and building on the scientific developments introduced in Y4.  The ancient Greeks enable us to loop back to the Romans and Anglo-Saxons to explore the influence the Greeks had on these later periods – this shifting back and forth in time is supported by the consistent timelines we’ve developed (see mini blog) so the children can see clearly which periods and civilizations came first, which came later and which overlapped.  

In Year 6, we deal with European history and the developments in Nazi Germany through the 1930’s.  This is the third time through KS2 that the children will come across ‘Empire’, beginning with the Romans, then the Islamic Empire through Y4 and Y5 before finally exploring the Nazi ‘Third Reich’.           

Throughout each year group, there are other substantive concepts that act as threads through the different periods we’ve chosen – Religion, Church, Ruler, Hierarchy, Trade, Migration, Democracy etc… all of which helps with what Christine Counsell describes as the ‘deliberate crafting of resonance.’  

In terms of mirrors and windows – we feel that we’ve got a history curriculum that better reflects the children we’ve got in front of us.  We’ve not ignored the National Curriculum, but we’ve done it on our terms – we’ve uncovered hidden (and sometimes ignored) stories that mean something to our children.  And history was just the beginning – we’ve since cast a similar critical eye over other subjects to make sure that context is at the forefront of our thoughts when planning our curriculum.

If you’d like to know more about what this looks like, keep an eye out for future blogs; you can also come to visit us at St Catherine’s and find out for yourself – click here for information about the open event dates for 2024.      

[1] ’African’ is generally stated on our system as ‘Other Black African’ – to break down this unhelpfully broad category, we looked at language spoken and then mapped it to countries to give us more of an idea of specific heritage.       

[2] The Stone Age, Iron Age and Bronze Age don’t feature as part of our taught history curriculum, but they do form part of our wider curriculum offer.  Basically, we’ve got a basket of books on these periods of history in Y3 that are available for the children to read.  We talk about what came before the Romans when working on timelines and reference some of the books that are in class – this is complimented with a history timeline that weaves its way through the KS2 building – beginning with the Stone Age just outside the Y3 classrooms.          

[3] In terms of curriculum coverage, along with introducing the Golden Age of Islam, Alfred also enables us to cover the Anglo-Saxon and Viking ‘struggle for the Kingdom’

[mdxlearningjournal]

Reading report 2: Appearance and identity - Llewellyn Negrin

In Llewellyn Negrin’s book “Appearance and Identity”(2009), It seems that her leading argument is that our appearance is one of the main aspects to shape our identity and that as long as our surroundings change, so will our identity. People feel as though appearance is what defines them, and so will change the way they look to be accepted by contemporary beauty standards. I also feel that a person will present themselves differently depending on how they view themselves, highlighting a direct link between self-expression and confidence. Negrin's work, in my opinion, also emphasises the value of recognising and considering the other factors that contribute to the development of our identities.

Negrin talks about the use of makeup by women in western culture and how it has been a topic of conflicted opinions. One of the most common arguments against cosmetics is that it creates a sort of façade, hiding their true identity. Many people think that wearing makeup is an attempt to be dishonest and appear to be someone or something that they’re not (2009, p53-p74). I think that this is interesting as it implies that women wear makeup for others, that they have this sort of ulterior motive and are out to get men. When in fact most women use it as a means of enhancing what they already have or as another form of self-expression. In this patriarchal society women get told that they’re either not wearing enough makeup or wearing too much. I feel that media sets a certain unattainable standard that is forced on, not just those who wear makeup, but the ones that judge those who do. When makeup fails to get you that “photoshop” Aesthetic, people then turn to cosmetic surgery in attempt to reach that goal. Negrin highlights how in feminist theory, cosmetic surgery is considered as exploitative and highly invasive as they surgically alter women’s bodies to fit the postmodern standards of feminine beauty. She speaks about how those who have cosmetic surgery, purely for aesthetic reasons, are seen as victims of a subconscious patriarchal mindset where women’s self-esteem is dependent on their appearance. She claims that women typically seek out cosmetic surgery because they have low self-esteem, as a result of being overexposed to pictures of "perfection" in the media (Negrin, p75-p95). I believe that there is a complex and person-specific relationship between social media and self-esteem; it is wrong to generalise everyone's experiences and assume that they are all negative. However, as our society is completely run by social media and appearances, I completely agree with what Negrin says. As younger generations become more tech savvy, they will have access to a wealth of resources that support these ideas. TikTok, a social media network that offers a variety of both positive and negative information, is an example of one that is currently very popular. I believe that since we are exposed to so many different expectations as children, even when we are too young to comprehend them, we unconsciously pick up on these subliminal beauty standards. Unfortunately, I believe that as technology develops, regulation will only become more difficult, leading to an endless cycle of children who grow up to despise themselves.

Negrin discusses how in postmodern society more people have diverged from stereotypical gender norms, especially when expressing themselves through fashion (p139-p159, 2009). I think that removing gender from clothing allows people to express themselves without limitations, regardless of their gender and how they perceive gender. I also think that this blurring of gender boundaries is important as it creates a more diverse and inclusive society. For generations, skirts have only been associated with femininity. However, celebrities like Harry Styles (Vogue, 2020) have been spotted in Vogue magazines adorning skirts and dresses, which challenges the conventional ideas of what it means to be a man. I believe that since it has become more socially acceptable to see that celebrities are doing it, it can be seen as proof that society and the people we hold in high regard have an influence on us. I feel that fashion is overrated and shouldn’t be something that defines us or affects our identity or even the way we portray ourselves.

References:

Negrin, L 2009, Appearance and Identity : Fashioning the Body in Postmodernity, Palgrave Macmillan, New York. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [1/5/2023].

Bowels, H. (2020) ‘Playtime With Harry Styles’, Vogue, 13 November. Available at: https://www.vogue.com/article/harry-styles-cover-december-2020 (Accessed: 1/5/2023)