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blu-joons · 3 years

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DAD EXO HEADCANON A⇴Z ⇴ Park Chanyeol

A ⇴ AFFECTION

Chanyeol loved to hug you tightly, especially when you were feeling low. He’d walk around and have his arms around your waist, carrying your baby bump for you for a while to help ease your pain and the weight that you carried as well.

B ⇴ BUMP

At night especially, Chanyeol had a habit of curling up as tight as he could around your bump. It was strange for you to see his usually long figure so small against your side, but he loved getting as small as he could to curl around your bump as best as he could to be able to cradle your baby as tight to himself as possible.

C ⇴ CRAVINGS

Whenever you were experiencing cravings, Chanyeol decided to take it as an open invitation for him to enjoy some food as well. His diet went out of the window when you fell pregnant, if you wanted a midnight snack, then so did he, only luckily for you, you didn’t have a trainer who would make you regret it the very next day.

D ⇴ DUE DATE

As your due date neared, a few nerves began to creep in for Chanyeol especially. Even though the two of you were incredibly organised, he couldn’t help but worry that perhaps the two of you had forgotten something or you’d missed something on one of the lists that you’d made of things you needed. For once, it was your turn to assure Chanyeol that you’d been through everything enough times to know you had it all.

E ⇴ EMOTIONS

There was no other emotion that Chanyeol felt towards your pregnancy then excitement. He was beyond excited to become a dad, to see you as a mum, and just enjoy having a baby that would be yours. He was always optimistic, whenever you were worried or nervous, Chanyeol got you looking at the bright side of life again, clearing your mind and easing your worries with a wide, excited, smile on his face throughout.

F ⇴ FAMILY

The two of you found yourselves spending a lot more time with both of your families as Chanyeol’s schedule eased throughout your pregnancy. You suddenly found yourselves able to say yes to all of the occasions that you had to say no to, even being able to invite members of your families to things as you had plenty of days free rather than the odd spare hours around the week like you usually did pre pregnancy.

G ⇴ GENDER

Chanyeol being Chanyeol refused to find out the gender of your baby without turning it into some sort of competition to play against you. You placed a bet on girl, he bet boy, with both of you desperate to be the winner as the loser would be paying for the first takeout you ordered once your baby had been born.

H ⇴ HEARTBEAT

You’d never seen the look of surprise on Chanyeol’s face before as you saw it when he felt the beat of your baby’s heart for the first time. Chanyeol didn’t have high hopes for being able to hear much, but he completely underestimated the power of the equipment, stunned when he heard the beat of your baby’s heart loud and clear.

I ⇴ “I LOVE YOU”

He always went above and beyond in making you feel loved anyway, but when you were feeling insecure in your pregnancy, Chanyeol would always remind you that he loved you the most. Even though he knew it might not be enough to do the trick, he wanted you to know how much he appreciated your body at least.

J ⇴ JEALOUSY

Whenever someone got a little too handsy with your bump, Chanyeol would get a little bit jealous. He was protective of your bump and had a bit of trouble hiding his disapproval when someone was feeling for too long. He didn’t mind if someone wanted a quick feel of your bump, but when someone lingered around you for too long, Chanyeol knew he had to do something to distract you and stop himself getting annoyed.

K ⇴ KICKS

Nothing made Chanyeol smile more than the feeling of being able to cuddle up to your bump and feel your baby kicking. It a was a feeling that he could never truly get used to, each time a kick suddenly happened it always took him by surprise, especially when he was resting absentmindedly against your bump.

L ⇴ LABOUR

He was incredibly comforting during your labour, whilst you spent most of it a panicked mess. Things didn’t quite go as the two of you had planned, and yet Chanyeol still managed to remain calm for your sake and support you. Although on the inside there was plenty of worry around what was going on, he made sure that he had all the right things to say to reassure you especially as your plans quickly began to change.

M ⇴ MORNING SICKNESS

You were lucky that things like sickness didn’t bother Chanyeol at all, and so he was always able to be the best possible support that you needed when you were sick. He went as far as always carrying a hairband around his wrist so that he was always able to tie your hair back too when it was getting in your way.

N ⇴ NURSERY

The nursery was a huge deal for Chanyeol, he wanted the whole thing to be perfect. As soon as he had a vision in mind, he knew what he was going to do with the room, with no other alternative except what he saw.

O ⇴ OBSESSION

Chanyeol was obsessed with your bump, he loved noticing even the smallest of changes, but most of all, he loved seeing how your body changed over the nine months and how incredible the journey of your bump growth was too.

P ⇴ POST BIRTH

He was incredibly cautious with you for the first few days after you gave birth, Chanyeol was in no rush when it came to you recovering and looking after your body. Although the sudden responsibility that he had was a little bit overwhelming at times, he stepped up, and made sure to take the best care of you both.

Q ⇴ QUESTIONS

Asking you if you were alright once would never enough for Chanyeol, he was usually quite pushy in making sure that you were doing alright. Eventually you’d end up snapping back at Chanyeol to assure him that you really were fine.

R ⇴ RANDOM FACTS

He loved to photograph your progress, and so at the end of the week Chanyeol would make you stand in front of the same wall in your house and pull a funny pose. At the end of your pregnancy, he had all of them printed, placing them into a scrapbook that the two of you could look back over in the many years that followed.

S ⇴ SCANS

In his studio, Chanyeol had a little frame just beside his computer which had your scan photo placed inside of it. Whenever he was getting frustrated, or perhaps struggling a bit for inspiration, he’d look to his left and remind himself what was important, and hopefully search for a lyric or two from the photograph as well.

T ⇴ TEST

The two of you bought quite a few tests, convinced that the first couple were just dodgy. It was only after you had seven positive tests lined up before you both, did you allow yourselves to think it was all real.

U ⇴ ULTRASOUND

Although he was a busy guy, Chanyeol made time for every appointment, because nothing was ever as important as seeing his baby.

V ⇴ VISITS

He was beyond excited to start having people around and introducing them all to your little one. He waited until you let him know you were ready for visitors, and as soon as you were, plenty of arrangements were made.

W ⇴ WAITING

Chanyeol was incredibly impatient, he was itching to call himself dad and get stuck in with parenthood alongside you.

X ⇴ XXXX

He’d often try and alternate his kisses as best as he could between you and your bump. He’d often kiss just along where your bump began to try and argue that he was kissing both of you at the same time and making both of you feel loved.

Y ⇴ YOU

You were everything to Chanyeol, his number one priority always.

Z ⇴ ZZZ

Most nights Chanyeol would fall asleep holding onto your bump to keep it nice and still so that you could get comfortable. He also loved holding onto it and making the most of the last few kicks that he could feel for the evening.

---

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recentanimenews · 4 years

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FEATURE SERIES: My Favorite One Piece Arc with Maffew

I love One Piece and I love talking to people who love One Piece. And with the series going on 23 years now, there is a whole lot to talk about. As the series is about to publish its 1000th chapter, a true feat in and of itself, we thought we should reflect upon the high-seas adventure and sit down with some notable names in the One Piece fan community and chat about the arcs they found to be especially important, or just ones they really, really liked.

Welcome to the next article in the series "My Favorite One Piece Arc!"

My next guest in this series is Maffew, creator of the popular pro wrestling web series Botchamania. For my chat with him, he chose the Alabasta Arc, in which Luffy and his crew not only have to save a desert kingdom but also topple Baroque Works and its powerful leader Crocodile.

A note on spoilers: If you haven't seen the Alabasta arc yet, this interview does contain major plot points. Watch the Alabasta arc starting RIGHT HERE if you'd like to catch up or rewatch!

Dan Dockery: So I guess my first basic question is, let’s say for some reason, I got to the end of Drum Island and I said “Well, One Piece ends here for me. This seems like a good finale.” What would you tell me to keep me going into the Alabasta Arc in one sentence?

Maffew: Well, after Chopper has made all the kids cry, you’ll need pickin’ up.

That’s pretty good! What was the impetus for you getting into One Piece? What made you want to jump into an anime that’s nearly one thousand episodes long at this point?

I think I tried watching it on YouTube back in 2009, and I just couldn’t get into it. At that point in my life, I wasn’t ready for a character like Luffy and his adventures, and I couldn’t wait for the villains he fought to kill him. So I dropped it. A year later, I’m in Germany and this wrestler ACH was doing a Q&A panel for this German wrestling organization called WXW. And ACH is a REALLY big One Piece fan, and even dresses up as Luffy in New Japan and Ring of Honor. And I was like “Hey, you watching JoJo?” because that was my thing at the time, and he was like “No, no. Just One Piece.” I said, “What else are you watching?” “Just One Piece.” And I’m like “Wait, what? Just the one?” But he was sellin’ it to me like he was a One Piece ad on QVC. And guys like Steve Yurko are so passionate about it, and if one person tells ya to watch something, you’re like “Eh, whatever,” but if five people tell you, you start to pay attention. So I’m gonna blame ACH and my good friend Steve Yurko for this.

What do you like about this arc in particular?

You get so much wonderful worldbuilding. They go to Alabasta, meet up with Mr. 2, and it’s one of those cool interactions where they’re meeting, but they don’t know who they are meeting exactly, like when they meet Blackbeard in Jaya. So later on, they’re like “Oh, it’s THEM!” There’s a real sense of everything not being really pre-determined at this point. It’s building everything through a bunch of pirates just doing stuff. Ace shows up, knocks out some assassins so he can get his royalty checks.

That’s such a funny way to put it.

Then we get Kung-Fu Dugongs, and they’re a pretty pure expression of One Piece. They’re all synchronized, they’re adorable, they play their part amid all the serious stuff, and they’re completely ridiculous, but they work anyway. And it’s with Alabasta that Eiichiro Oda starts to perfect the tropes that he puts into place throughout, with the new islands, the new leader who everyone loves but is actually a bad person, the crew having to deal with him and the Navy, them having to help put someone back in their position, etc. And even though, on paper, it reads like “Well, he’s gotta beat this dude and this dude and this dude,” it’s so much more chaotic and less formulaic than you’d expect. It keeps things interesting.

I agree. I like how he takes all of these pieces and he’s consistent with them, but Oda always plays around with how he sets them up.

But it’s all a foot massage before the real reason to watch Alabasta: Sir Croc.

Are you a big fan of him? That dude is so cool, conniving and powerful. He’s kinda the perfect villain.

Back when I was being miserable and first watching One Piece, I really liked him. I like the design, the sand powers that could actually pose a threat. I always appreciate it when a villain provides actual tension. It’s like why I think Goldeneye is still the best James Bond film. Because Alec Trevelyan is constantly reminding Bond “Remember, I could kill you. I’m from the same place as you. I can take your exploding watch and just, eh, I’ll stop that then. Thank you.” And Luffy loses twice to him in the three-match structure that really works here as it did for wrestling in the 70s.

How so?

So you’d have somebody like champion Bruno Sammartino and someone like Ivan Koloff or one of the Wild Samoans or Stan Stasiak. They’d have one match where the hero would beat Bruno by disqualification. Bruno’s still around to fight, but he’s lost. Luffy survives being thrown in the sand, but he’s been beaten. Then they have the second match, where Bruno would win because the villain would just give up and leave and get counted out. Luffy attacks Crocodile with water, but it’s not enough, and Crocodile just kinda leaves Luffy thinking it’s all done. And then Bruno would be like “Oh no ya don’t. Next time, you won’t be able to escape, because we’re gonna be in a cage match.” And then Bruno wins, just like Luffy wins by punching Crocodile up through that giant enclosed space. He escapes the cage.

It’s just so satisfying and that’s a great way to describe it. So, villains in the series have had extensive crew members before, but they haven’t been as recognizable and colorful as Croc’s crew, Baroque Works. Do you have a favorite member?

They’re all good in their own way, but at this point, I’m gonna go with Mr. 2. Eh, that’s probably too obvious an answer…

Mr. 2 is a lot of people’s favorite member.

Oh, who cares. I’ll go with Mr. 2. I like how Mr. 2 interacts with everyone, having fun with the boys and fighting Sanji with kicks but respecting him.

So, in this arc, there’s a lot of government intrigue and a revolution is about to happen, and everyone’s dissatisfied with their perception of the monarchy. How did you react to all of this political drama in One Piece?

Well, it’s great because you have Vivi, and you get to learn her motivations and because she’s on the crew, it gives you a reason to care for the crew and how all of the political intrigue affects them. Without her, you’d just hear about a war and say “Oh, sorry about that. Hope it goes well.” And with all this lore being thrown at you because you have Vivi and that connection, it’s adding to the main conflict, rather than distracting.

Yeah, Vivi really grounds it all with a personal attachment. Because otherwise it’s just savin’ the kingdom, which is cool and they’re good for it, but it doesn’t have the same impact. So, they did this back in the Arlong Park arc, but what returns here is the kind of 1 vs 1 match structure, where a member or members of the enemy crew are matched up against a Straw Hat or Hats. Mr. 1 has knife body parts, so he’s obviously gonna fight Zoro. Mr. 2 kicks and Sanji kicks, etc. What do you think about that kind of matchmaking, because it’s also a little wrestling-esque.

Yeah, right, like if you have D-Generation X fighting the Nation of Domination, you can’t just have The Rock fighting Triple H. Ya gotta have D’Lo Brown vs X-Pac and The Godfather vs Billy Gunn. I like it because the characters feel like they have to prove themselves, like Zoro’s a swordsman, and he’s gotta test himself against another swordsman. And Usopp does it when he fights Mr. 4 and Miss Merry Christmas with Chopper, because they have a weird dynamic and they’re fighting two people and they have no clue what they’re up against.

So, at the end of the arc, they do the iconic “We can’t let Vivi become associated with pirates so we’ll hold up the X symbols on our arms in solidarity” pose. What did you think about that? Because it’s one of the most famous images in One Piece, and it’s hard to avoid it, even if you’ve never watched the series. Was that your first time seeing it?

It actually was. And I’m glad you brought this up because I was watching it and I thought “Wait, they’re just going? They’re not even keeping the duck?” And then they do that with the X and the original opening starts playing and I get goosebumps just remembering it. That really hit me. Because it finally got me really emotionally invested in the series. Made me feel a bit cheeky.

ONE PIECE LIGHTNING ROUND!

So, considering you’re such a huge pro wrestling fan, your lightning round is gonna be a bit different. I’m gonna say a Straw Hat that’s in the crew at this point and you tell me which wrestler they’re the most like. You can also tell me what time period they’d fit the most in, since wrestler personalities tend to change. So, Luffy?

Gotta be Cena. Specifically? With Luffy’s attitude? Probably 2015 defending-the-United States-Championship John Cena.

Zoro?

He’s all business, he likes to fight. So I gotta go with Cesaro.

Sanji?

Going with Eddie Guerrero.

Usopp?

That character is all over wrestling - the underdog who isn’t very good and uses every trick in the book to win. Gonna go with MJF. He had one of my favorite matches of this year against Cody Rhodes and he just had to use EVERYTHING to beat him - brass knuckles, distraction, chairs, everything he could to get that win. But he could be MJF, could be The Miz, could be Mikey Whipwreck from ECW, take your pick.

Nami?

Hmmm. Becky Lynch.

Chopper?

KeMonito

Robin?

Oh, she shows up after being booed for ages and you’re supposed to like her, so 2019 Charlotte Flair.

Stay tuned for the next installment of "My Favorite One Piece Arc" as we speak with One Piece's official English manga translator Stephen Paul on his favorite One Piece arc: Skypiea!!

Daniel Dockery is a Senior Staff Writer for Crunchyroll. Follow him on Twitter!

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: Daniel Dockery

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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love-it-or-its-free · 4 years

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@dyke-diva

[edited to update pastebin and make links clickable.]

First, just some more context about me: I am a 33 yr old lesbian, butch (in a nerd way) and quite androgynous/GNC.

Until a year or two ago, I was an ardent supporter of trans activism, as it went part and parcel with being a member of the LGBT "Community".

Literally, asking this same question to myself was a turning point for me. I knew I was supposed to hate and denounce anything TERF-related.... but one day I realized, I didn't know exactly what TERFs had supposedly done, that would warrant such seething hatred against them.

Like I said, I comprehend hating Nazis, because I have seen evidence of the unforgivable brutality of the Nazi regime and its supporters. I've taken history classes, read books and original sources, and watched documentaries about it.

Basically, I have seen enough evidence to understand the scope of Nazi evil, so it makes sense to me why some people go around saying "punch nazis." Personally, I'm not the type to punch anybody... and I question whether punching actually fixes the underlying evil... but based on what I know, I totally understand why nazis are so hated.

But why are terfs so viscerally hated that they are directly compared with a mass-genocidal regime? I want to know the truth. If the evidence is out there, I want to see it, to keep my views updated and accurate.

Now on to your response.

I do not believe that you should debate hate groups. I think that doing so will only help spread their hate and

I don't really believe in debating hate groups, either. But I also believe that having a closed mind is a victory for authoritarians of all stripes. I have no problem engaging with people who disagree with me, because I generally believe in having "strong opinions, weakly held" -- I am firm in my beliefs, but my mind is open to evaluating new evidence. If I deem the new evidence convincing enough, I may change my mind or update my views. I value intellectual rigor, so I want to keep my views accurate and up-to-date.

I am severely distressed about the number of terfs in wlw spaces and think that something should be done about it, it has gotten to the point where if it is not stated directly that they do not support transmisogyny that I will often feel paranoid about being in the space.

Honestly, I would love if you could PM me about these "wlw spaces" that are supposedly crawling with terfs. I feel like I'm reading this from a bizarro mirror dimension, thinking... WHAT wlw spaces? Is there really anything like this, outside of a handful of unpopular tumblr tags and a couple of small subreddits?

The only spaces I know of, especially IRL, are bending over backwards to be so "q***r friendly" that actual lesbians are being pushed out. One local activist in my city, started a public speech by claiming, "terfs are lesbians who..." and went on to drag lesbians for not being inclusive enough. Why only lesbians, I wondered??

Singling out and pressuring lesbians that way is not okay, in my opinion. Lesbians deserve to have spaces for lesbian (natal) women only. Lesbians are allowed to be repulsed by penises. None of that is hateful! Lesbians should not be pressured to sleep with anyone they aren't interested in. Unfortunately, I see that happening a lot these days. The "wlw spaces" I know of, offline and online, increasingly pressure lesbians in this way. Not cool.

Now, I can handle those pressures... but I'm really worried about younger lesbians. Being a lesbian is hard enough as it is! We have a right to exist, and to express our sexuality without added pressures.

and finally reason three, trans people who are afab have been seen to dismiss terfs actions and beliefs purely because terfs do not actively threaten their existence like they do amab trans people.

I'm not sure if I follow this part... it seems like you're saying that some FTMs ("trans people who are afab") do not feel threatened by so-called terfs, because the perception is that terfs are more threatening to "amab trans people"? Sorry if I misunderstood, but I would be interested to learn more about this phenomenon either way.

The person who sent this ask had lots of “Terf Safe” tagged posts on their blog and in their likes (though it seems their likes are now private), so I had blocked them, on the post that I made on my @la-joueuse-ultime blog that I quoted above they had asked why Terfs and Nazi’s are being compared, saying “I know about the reasons Nazis are bad, we can study history to see that evidence. But where is the evidence that terfs are comparably bad?” I had responded “@love-it-or-its-free it’s not that their comparably as bad, it’s that they’re bad. They are a hate group that has killed trans people and because of that they shouldn’t get a voice to spread their hate.” I then told them I planned to block them, I had done so and then they sent this ask.

Well, just to be clear, you were the first to interact with my post. It appears that you went looking in terf-friendly tags, found my post, and decided to interact with it. I'm happy to clarify the details of this, but I think your wording makes it sound like I sought you out, when it was actually the other way around. I posted mild terf-friendly content, you directly compared terfs to nazis. I think that's extreme.

I guess it's a good thing I hid my likes, too, because it sounds like you were ready to trawl for "punishable" content. I mean... who among us has not accidentally tapped the heart while on mobile or something? I hope you aren't really intending to police liked content like that.

Now to the actual ask, I believe the reason you can’t find Terfs that have killed trans people is that, well, you’re literally not looking,

I am quick to google anything that pops into my head, so rest assured, I would not pose this question to a tumblr rando unless I had actually attempted to answer it for myself. I'm asking to try and gather more info/evidence on top of what I have seen already.

or you think that they needed to have direct (by direct I mean they physically took part in) killing the trans person. You don’t need to be holding a knife to take part in someone’s death, you can encourage violence against the minority, you can bully and harass them until they take their own life, or you can fight against medical procedures that some of these people need to live. Terfs have done all of these.

Right... but I specifically asked how you can directly compare terfs to nazis. I agree that bullying, etc. is wrong. But I am asking for the evidence you used to make the direct comparison. You are shifting the goal posts here. I'm okay with that shift if you are... because I'm happy to provide evidence of trans activists doing things like sending death threats to terfs (or any woman who is deemed to have "terfy" views) which seems directly comparable to what you are claiming here.

It took a second search to find Terfs encouraging violence against trans women.

I found similarly scant search results... but like I said, I'm willing to evaluate new evidence when I see it.

This post on Reddit (I recommend being careful, tw for violence) is of a screenshot of a Terf stating that “It is a shame that people cannot do this in America” the post contained a picture of a man seemingly attacking a trans-woman for using the bathroom where she was most comfortable to do so. The posts were made on Spinster, a “woman-centric” social media platform that was made by M.K. Fain, a known terf.

So... I'm honestly surprised you would link to that particular subreddit as evidence of anything. But I'll charitably ignore the source for now. What I see, as far as content, is a screenshot of an anon comment on a website. You claim that the comment must be from a terf. Why? 1) screenshots can be photoshopped. 2) Anyone can sign up for an account on sites like that.

Sorry, but this isn't convincing evidence to me. Even if it's real, it's not a death threat, it's not an incitement to violence. It could be "real" in the sense that some troll signed up to the Spinster site just to troll "as a terf". It's just a shitty anon comment. Of course I object to the sentiment behind it (see anti-violence disclaimer to follow)... but I don't believe it stands up as evidence to support your claims.

(aside: I don't want to make this post any longer than it is, but I noticed some not-very-nice comments from that link and collected them in a pastebin here )

Finally, I researched the actual murder case in question. All eight people arrested in connection with the homicide are men... not terfs.

(I'll include this disclaimer here, though I'm bummed out that I feel the need to be pre-emptive/defensive about it:

I am anti-violence. I condemn violence of all kinds. (See above: I'm a softy, not the punching type) I especially condemn murder and homicide, and I do not endorse eye-for-an-eye justice. I want less pain and hatred in the world, for everybody, even folks who disagree with me.

I believe "the Golden Rule" is called Golden for a reason... it's Key! end disclaimer.)

Not only that but I found many articles directly denying violence against trans people, that I won’t link because they were made by terfs for terfs and I do not want to give them a platform. By denying the violence trans people face you are encouraging it, telling the people who enact the violence that they won’t be punished for it.

Yes, "denying violence" sounds like a bad or at least ignorant thing to do. But how is it remotely equivalent to committing violent acts? Unfortunately, if I can't see the evidence, I can neither refute nor accept it.

Trans people have a shockingly high suicide rate, there is no denying it. This article talks about a Terf that targeted a suicidal trans woman to harass, as well as provides a link to an article about Cathy Brennan, one of many who try to directly prevent trans people from seeking medical help.

I read this, but I couldn't figure out the series of events it's describing. I looked around on my own, and found that it seems to be a response to an ongoing feud between Dana Taylor (author of the piece) and at least one other person. For instance, I found multiple blog posts from the "other side" which described Dana Taylor's participation in harrassment and doxxing campagins. Here's one person on twitter, describing their experience with being targeted:

I just googled myself and found this from 5 years ago which said I was going to be watched. I don't think they watched me.

source thread

That's just one example I found. There were many similar tweets and comments about doxxing involving the author of the link you gave. So I'm open to reading more about these incidents, if you have more links. If something bad happened, I would like to understand better. But right now, this at best looks like just one side of a multi-sided internet slapfight.

If you just listened to trans people you would hear story after story of them being attacked by terfs if you just paid more attention you would see them encouraging violence against trans people, and if you just cared a tiny bit more, you’d realize that trans people are human too.

I am listening, or at least I'm trying to listen by asking good-faith questions while trying not to be attacked for it. Are you doing the same, keeping an ear out for stories of terfs being attacked, and listening to their stories?

How would it make you feel if I said, "if you just cared a tiny bit more, you'd realize that terfs are human too." ?

Anyway, that’s the post thank you for being patient.

Same here. I want you to know that I truly appreciate your thorough reply and the time you spent on it.

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spnfanficpond · 4 years

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June 2020 Pond LiveChat Recap - A Male’s Experience of Sex and Fan Fiction Part 1

@manawhaat (Mana) and @superfanficnatural (Mert) led a lively discussion about what it’s like to have a penis and how we can all improve our writing of the male experience! Shortly after Mert first joined, we asked him if he’d be open to answering frank and personal questions about what it’s like to have a penis, since he was our only (known) member to have one. He was enthusiastic to share his experiences and we are grateful he accepted our invitation! In the time we had, we didn’t come close to answering all of the questions that folks wanted to ask, so we will be continuing this discussion in a future live chat event! (If you have questions you would like to see posed, please either send us an ask or send an IM to one of our admins!) Because the most popular questions were specific to the sexual experience and how it is described in fan fiction, we moved the chat to the softcore-nsfw channel in the discord server. If you are a minor, you might want to check with your parents before reading this, as it is a frank and graphic discussion about sex. A rundown of the chat is below the cut!

Q: Mert, can you tell us a little about yourself and how you got involved with fanfic as a dude?

A: Welp not much to me, just an 18 year old penis-owning male that has been reading fanfic for almost three years. I first found out about fanfic from a friend that suggested it to me and ever since I first started reading, I've been obsessed! I didn't start writing until around early April this year, for I was too nervous, but ended up saying to myself, "You know what? There are no male reader fics on here so I'LL write them." Poof, my blog was born!

Q: In joining the fandom and Tumblr what did you see/feel as far as the fans being mostly female?

A: I'd have to say that I wasn't too surprised, but was a bit underwhelmed. While many female-presenting people seem to be attracted to the actors, first, and the story/content of the show second, the few male fans of the show seem to be the opposite. Although I love the show and all kinds of fans, it would be nice to find some other male-presenting gay fans to gossip with about how attractive the actors are. lol

Q: Have you been in any other fandoms that have had more guys present?

A: To be honest, no. Every fandom that I’ve been in was mostly comprised of female-presenting people.

Q: What’s it like being in a space that’s dominated by so many women?

A: I think that it’s a bit intimidating. I don’t share the exact same experiences as female-presenting people, so it makes bonding a bit harder, if that makes sense?

Q: What kinds of things do you think women in fandom could do to help make men - regardless of sexual preference, already in fandom - feel more welcome? We here in the Pond like to be welcoming to fans of all types of people in all fandom spaces, not just in the Pond. How can we make our space less intimidating?

A: In my experience, it depends on the man in question. Straight men are less likely to want to talk about how attractive the actors are, and more likely to be interested in the mechanics of the show. Gay men are more open to frank discussions about both the show and the actors’ appeal. Basically, just be aware of your audience and how invested in your conversation they seem to be, like you would be with anyone.

Q: Can you describe the sensations behind having a penis, and how it feels during oral sex?

A: Oral sex feels like a warm, heated blanket being wrapped around the penis, depending on how the giver hollows their cheeks or not, Usually, the penis isn’t very sensitive during oral sex, which is why porn is really fake. If the giver uses their tongue, then the stimulation around the tip of the head is what causes pleasure. The head is really the only sensitive part of the penis.

Q: So, emphasis on licking and sucking on the head is key, and deep throating is extra?

A: Playing with the balls, fondling them, or sucking on them is VERY pleasurable. Deep throating is hot, but mostly because of how the back of the throat constricts around the head of the penis. Like I said, playing with the head is the best way to tease. In fact, if it’s a male with a beard doing the giving, rubbing their stubble across the head is EXTREMELY pleasurable.

Q: So, just sucking on the tip alone, like a popsicle or lollipop, would give a man the most pleasure?

A: It is very pleasurable, but not quite enough to bring a man to orgasm. Men jerk from the base when masturbating because of the backwards and forwards motion. Think of it like a gear. The back and forth powers the gear, making the machine begin to work, and eventually leading to orgasm.

Q: The arousal and pleasure need to be built up, then. Sucking and stroking together with some fondling on the side if deep throating isn’t an option?

A: Yes. If you can’t take it to the base, just use your hand for the remaining amount and go back and forth at the same pace as your mouth. Fondling isn’t completely necessary, though it is very pleasurable.

Q: What is one thing you wish more women knew/writers would write about in terms of the male experience?

A: As a reader, it would be nice to have more writers writing about the male experience at all. The majority of writers and readers are women, though, so it makes sense that the majority of stories would be focused on the female experience, so I can’t complain.

For those who are interested in writing more from the male’s point of view, adding more description about how everything feels would be good. For example, when describing the female orgasm and arousal, there are all kinds of metaphors, like the string snapping and fires burning. Those things are representations of the orgasm and that same build up applies to men, too. Then when it finally releases, the feeling of an orgasm cuts off their breathing, even for just a second. We feel it in our toes, and can almost feel the semen transition from the testicles to the penis. Some men like to continue jerking off or thrusting through their orgasm until it becomes too sensitive and some men prefer to stop. Generally, our hips will thrust forward with each shot, but that’s not all the time or every male.

Think of it like breathing. Each shot of ejaculate is so powerful to the man that it's like during those shots, we only have the time to take mini gasps because we are so out of breath (once more, not all the time, and not every man). Pre-ejaculate does not always leak out of our tip; it's basically the equivalence of women getting wet. If we are hard long enough and it is straining, then pre-ejaculate will eventually begin to leak out. Yes, it is also possible for more pre-ejaculate to leak out DURING intercourse, though it is hardly noticeable due to the heavy amounts of wetness everywhere and they all mingle together and yeah.

Onto the prostate. It is possible for men to orgasm without stimulation to their penis. The stimulation of our prostate for a long period of time can lead to an orgasm, regardless of if they are jerking or not, also kind of like women who can orgasm without clit stimulation (though difficult).

Q: Do any of the stories you’ve read that women have written come close to the male experience of an orgasm?

A: I haven’t been able to read much M/M fan fiction, but most of them have been written by women, so they aren’t able to go deep into how it feels. All they can describe are the actions taken to get to the climax and what that looks like, which is understandable. But what “pleasure” are they feeling exactly when they orgasm? That is shown in a lot of female experiences and showing it in the man’s experience is one of the focuses I want to address and give answers to with this chat.

Q: Can you describe it for us, then? What are the sensations that happen in orgasm? Is it a whole body shiver? Is it the penis twitching slightly as the orgasm hits?

A: The whole body can convulse just like a woman can, though it’s more of a strong tingle than a whole body rock, depending on how strong the orgasm is. Also, the penis does twitch and swell, and usually when men “flex” their penis, the head grows in size slightly.

Q: How does that tingle spread, and how fast does it spread?

A: Think of the orgasm like the ocean. Wave after wave. When a man is about to orgasm, they know, much like for women. Every stroke gets them closer and they get to a point where they know how many more strokes it will take.

Q: Does the pleasure then spread from the penis out to the rest of the body?

A: It’s actually kind of the opposite. In the beginning, there is a tingle through the whole body. It’s like the nerves in the whole body pulse in the direction of the penis. Then, when it gets released, it’s like a bomb. The nerves in the penis fire off and it slowly spreads back throughout the body.

Q: For some women, it starts in the vagina and radiates outward, but it sounds like for men, it starts outward and radiates to the penis.

A: Yes! And when ejaculation starts, it all reverses back out into the body. (This information is not exactly the same for every single man on earth, but probably pertains to a large percentage. All men are different as all women are different. This is my experience though.)

Q: Does that mean that outside stimulation, like playing with nipples, scratching thighs, etc, would help a man orgasm more quickly as that outside stimulation radiates pleasure toward the penis?

A: Yes. This is why in porn, one person might suck on the neck of the other to add to the influx of pleasure and make the climax feel better. One reason why men love getting their backs scratched up is because that slight pain morphs into pleasure and it helps get closer to orgasm, much like women when their nipples are pinched.

Q: Can we follow up on the breathing thing? Are you physically incapable of breathing during each wave of climax? Or is it more like a winded feeling? Or is it more like the entire brain/body is so overloaded with pleasure that it’s just not on the top of the priority list?

A: It depends on the strength of the orgasm. We can breathe, it’s just not a focus.

Q: Can you pass out?

A: No, but you can be exhausted afterwards and fall asleep.

Q: Do you get blurred vision or anything like that?

A: No blurred vision, but it’s very common to squeeze your eyes shut.

Q: Do sensations change based on the strength of the orgasm?

A: They do.

Q: Is grunting really a thing that happens, or is that just in porn?

A: Yes, grunting can happen. Either it’s so hard that breathing gets cut off, or it’s so pleasurable that you groan or grunt out in pleasure.

Q: Do you come harder if you haven’t done it for a couple of days?

A: Much like some women, the longer we go without orgasm, the easier it is to climax (at least in my case).

This is where we had to stop due to time constraints, so we will be picking this topic back up in a future chat! If you have questions you would like to see posed in a future chat about this topic, you can either send an ask to the Pond, or an IM to any of the admins!

That’s it for this month! Don’t forget to submit your stories and your Angel Fish nominations! Want to know what’s happening in the Pond? Check the Pond Calendar to see what’s coming up! And, as always, if you have questions or suggestions, let us know! You can send us an ask, or send a private message to @manawhaat (Mana) or @mrswhozeewhatsis (Michelle) anytime!

#chat recap #spnfanficpond livechat #spnfanficpond #michelle answers #chat room #let's chat #THE CHAT ROOM #pond chat

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melonbreadallthetime · 5 years

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Ken-chan’s Fan Event 2019

I was lucky enough to score tickets for all 3 sessions on the 24th and although the general format is the same for every session, the things said in each session are actually pretty different because of how Ken-chan decided to do things. Each session had me in stitches, I was laughing so hard my face hurt, and overall, I had a super wonderful time.

Check out the Read More for a full write-up and more pictures!

Ken-chan's guests for the 24th were co-stars from his current show GEKIIKE Masquerade, and they were Isaka Tatsuya and Washio Shuuto. Shuuto has been a guest for Ken-chan before (not when I went), and I’ve actually been a fan of Isaka Tatsuya for over 10 years (from when he was Ichigo in Burimyu) so there was a hilarious war inside me between my 18-year-old-self who loved Tatsuya best to my current self that loves Ken-chan (equally? More? A LOT even if it’s not as long). Shouma was also there because Shouma’s ALWAYS there; I’m pretty sure Ken-chan has never had a fan event without Shouma. Although he’s usually there in a helping capacity, maybe emceeing, this time he was more like one of the guests and was on-stage for the Q&A and Etudes (improv skits). Kainuma Yutaka, an actor Ken-chan met working on Nintama was the emcee.

So the format was: Ken-chan, Tatsuya, and Shuuto would appear as a debuting idol group, perform their 2 debut singles (not original), and then there was a Q&A session with questions from the audience (we had to email questions beforehand), and then there were the Etudes (they always did three), and then Ken-chan did a present raffle for the audience, giving away solo cheki (polaroids) and one of his handmade uchiwa, and then the show would end with him taking photos with any fans who paid for a cheki with him. Surprisingly, they also offered cheki for Ken-chan's guests, Tatsuya and Shuuto and Shouma, which is rare. ��I’ve never seen an actor event where that was an option.

1) Debut Idol Group

This portion is a gag, since these three are pretending to form an idol group together, but they basically styled themselves like one of those... color-coded, young-boys-breaking-into-the-industry, put-together-by-an-agency type idol group. So they all had color-coded headbands (Ken-chan had red, Tatsuya had blue, and Shuuto had yellow), and they all had white T-shirts with their idol names SHARPIED on (Ken-chan's shirt read Akkun, Tatsuya’s shirt read Takkun, and Shuuto’s read Shukkun). They also all wore these REALLY TIGHT skinny jeans with color-coded belts, and their makeup was A LOT OF BLUSH to make themselves look boyish. Shuuto even had freckles drawn over his blush. Ken-chan was also pitching his voice to sound much higher. Tatsuya’s Takkun personality wasn’t all that different from himself, he was pretty silly and hammy. Ken-chan as Akkun would stutter a lot, would not stop wiggling his hips across the stage and striking poses, and very excitable, very... manufactured idol. Shuuto as Shukkun was SUPER SHY AND QUIET and wouldn’t really talk or move at all, he just stood on the far right towards the back of the stage with his shoulders all stiff and a terrified, deer-in-the-headlights look.

Then they performed their two “singles” which were actually songs from like the 70’s or 80’s (I’d heard them before but couldn’t place them). They’d play the original music video behind them and then sing (so really it was more like a karaoke session), and they actually didn’t know all the words to both songs, so they had uchiwa themselves on-stage. One one side they had Sharpied their names (Akkun, Takkun, Shukkun), and on the other side, they’d printed THE LYRICS to the songs. Ken-chan would sing and also DANCE by flailing like a maniac most of the time around the stage, shaking his hips constantly and striking dramatic Jojo poses, like someone drunk at karaoke who’s getting WAY too into the music but it’s great for spectators. Tatsuya was honestly putting in a decent amount of effort too, singing nice and clearly and trying to dance along even though there was really no following Ken-chan. Shuuto, because of his character, would stay stiff and still in the back right of the stage, quietly singing along and holding his uchiwa up to his face, very obviously reading the lyrics and not really ‘performing’ like the other two.

Usually during the instrumental breaks in both songs, Ken-chan would try and get Tatsuya to do something ridiculous with him. In the first session, he’d make Tatsuya bend forward so that he cold leapfrog over him sideways, and then he made Tatsuya leapfrog over him, and then they pulled Shuuto in for a 3-man pyramid and then they’d RUN back to grab their uchiwa off the table so they could start singing again in time lolololol. Second session, they did lifts for Ken-chan; so Tatsuya and Shuuto would take either of Ken-chan's arms and lift him in an angel pose and carry him across the stage, In the third session, they kept trying to do these lifts that they didn’t really know how to do, so Tatsuya would lift Ken-chan onto his shoulders, but then he kept trying to get Ken-chan to sort of... stand? By bracing his feet on his thighs and it was not working because Ken-chan didn’t know what to do and then Tatsuya accidentally decked Ken-chan in the crotch with his head and Ken-chan dramatically rolled around the floor on-stage, clutching his crotch and the others sort of checked on him before hurrying to grab their lyrics because they were missing their cues lololololol.

And then after the performance, Yutaka-san and Shouma would join them on stage. They’d joke around about how Shukkun was new and that’s why he’s so nervous and not doing as well as the other two. Yutaka-san would point out that they only formed their group recently, as in, TODAY, and Akkun said in one session, “Well he arrived last in the morning. So he’s the new guy. I’m his senpai by two minutes.”

Oh and I forgot to mention that their idol group name was “Atashi,” which is (1) the most feminine way to say “I,” and (2) a reference to Arashi, the most famous Japanese boy band that’s existed since 1999.

Then they would “transform” into themselves with an “illusion” which just meant Ken-chan would twirl around on-stage shouting, “ILLUSION!!!” and they’d flash the lights on the stage, and then the three would start acting like themselves to start the Q&A session.

2) Q&A Session

They always did about three pre-selected audience questions that had to be e-mailed in before the day, and it was fun because they would ask the question to all four of them in most cases, and usually they’d get a little de-railed and end up talking about one question for several minutes. Most of the questions were summer-themed and resulted in a lot of really random information from all of them like how Tatsuya really likes to go riding on his motorcycle out into nature and go solo-camping, Shuuto refuses to turn on the air conditioning even in summer (to get stronger, whatever that means), and Ken-chan was actually scouted at age 15, but didn’t decide to seriously pursue work in the entertainment industry until he turned 18. There was even some conversation about choosing to stay in entertainment, and Shuuto brought up the great point that most actors quit around the time that they’re 29 and move on to other things and/or start a family, “so the ones who stick around past thirty are the weirdos.” And Ken-chan was like HEY and Tatsuya was like ‘yeah maybe...’ But Shuuto fixed it to say that the over-thirty actors are then some of the most wonderful senpai to learn from as a younger actor.

One of the questions that I found really cute was one that asked how they did their summer homework back when they were in school. Do it at the start of summer type, work on it gradually throughout the summer type, or the procrastinator. Tatsuya said he always had a lot of anxiety about it so he was the type to do his homework little by little every day throughout the summer, and that he’s the same way now as actor. He has nightmares about getting the script and then the tour of a play starting the next day when he hadn’t learned any of his lines yet, so he’s very diligent about memorization. Ken-chan and Shouma were both procrastinators who put off their homework to the end, although Ken-chan also mentioned a friend he had in high school who would dedicate the first two weeks of summer entirely to vacation, and the last two weeks entirely to vacation, but would do his absolute best for three days right in the middle to finishing all of his homework then. Shuuto said he was the type to never do his homework and run away from the teachers. In the first session when this question was asked, there was actually a child in the audience (she looked maybe about 8?) and he noticed her and kind of immediately backtracked and said to her directly, “But that’s not good, okay? I did a bad thing, you have to do your summer homework.”

Tatsuya apparently really likes camping by himself, winter camping, and recently has started buying more and more camping gear. He invited Ken-chan to go camping with him, and Ken-chan said he’d go, and Shuuto just flat out immediately refused, going, “Nope, it’s summer, there are too many bugs.” And they were like, “Didn’t you want to be stronger? Don’t you not turn on your air conditioning for that?” And he was just like, “This is different.” Tatsuya mentioned recently buying an axe for camping purposes, and very casually said, “Between a knife and an axe, I prefer an axe, you know?” And everyone else was just like, “I have literally never thought about that. Nobody thinks about that.”

There was a question about favorite places they’ve visited when traveling, maybe for work, and it got sidetracked because they started talking about weird experiences in different places. So Ken-chan went to this kind of foresty and mountainy area for a shoot and they were filming at night and in the distance they could see a weird red light. They thought maybe it’s the SDF (Japanese Self Defense Force) or maybe a matsuri, except it was like 1am, so Ken-chan and several others went to go check it out. And as they were getting closer, the light moved up, grew into a bright orb, and then suddenly vanished. So they all thought they saw a UFO. He also says half the people he tells this story to don’t believe him, but Tatsuya believed him because he then talked about a ghost encounter inside a theater he was performing in. He was crawling in the space under the stage to get to the other side of the stage and there was someone in front of him that wasn’t supposed to be there because he was supposed to be first in line getting out, so he tried crawling faster to catch up, but when he turned this one corner, nobody was there. And then they all agreed that there are definitely haunted theaters everywhere.

When asked if there was anything recent that they started getting into, all of their answers were for super old franchises. Ken-chan talked about getting into Pokemon cards for the first time, meeting up and playing games with Shouhei (1st Nishinoya from Engeki Haikyuu), and Tatsuya talked about how it was hard to collect Pokemon cards as a kid because you don’t have money, but as an adult you can go all in and really build the decks you want so it’s more satisfying as an adult to play the card game. Shuuto for some reason listed Dragonball, and when asked what his favorite season or version he liked, he said, “All of it.” And they were like, oh come on pick a favorite, and he was like, “It’s not about that. It’s about the world.”

There was another question that asked them to compliment the person on their right, but they were sitting in a line on stage and there was nobody to Shouma’s right, so then they all stood up in a 4-person circle, arms around each other other and touching foreheads and the emcee was like THE AUDIENCE CAN’T SEE YOU IF YOU DO THAT, SIT BACK DOWN.

So Ken-chan complimented Shuuto saying that he’s really kind and this is because he pays a lot of attention to the people around him and knows how to read people’s moods. When Shuuto was complimenting Tatsuya, he started listing things going, “Well he’s an idiot...” And everyone else was like, “...in a good way, right?” And he was like yes yes, in a good way. And then “He’s loud...” The emcee added, “In a good way.” Followed by “He’s clumsy,” and the emcee went, “In a good way—I shouldn’t have to be adding these!!” But since Tatsuya didn’t really know Shouma because they were meeting for the first time, Shouma said it was okay, they could skip him, but the others insisted that Tatsuya could pull it off. So Tatsuya looked at Shouma very carefully and went, “His hair looks like Trunks. A small, good-looking face... great smile!” And it was super cute and adorable honestly. Then the emcee told Tatsuya and Shuuto to compliment Ken-chan, since it’s his event and all, so they both talked about how warm and inviting he is as a person, and they thought it was wonderful how much thought and effort he put into planning his events, even if he asks them to do ridiculous things, it’s with such genuine enthusiasm they’re happy to go along with his whims.

3) Etude improv skits

And now for my favorite, the improv skits that Ken-chan always does at his events. They did three every session, and these were probably some of the best I’ve ever seen because Tatsuya and Shuuto were so great and the dynamic between the three of them was so fun. I’m not going to remember all of these and not in exact order, but the first one they did was in a bathhouse. There was always one that was idol themed because of the whole Atashi thing lol.

Bathhouse This one was a bit of a mess because the others took these little buckets and put them over their crotches like men do in public baths, Shouma was pretending to be a cleaner/staff going around mopping and cleaning, but then Ken-chan out of nowhere decided he was going to be an old woman so he was covering his chest and pinching his thighs together and shrieking any time any of the others got near him, “Iyaaahh!! A man!! What are you doing here?!” So then Tatsuya and Shuuto sort of... semi-switched to being women too, and Ken-chan walked through the audience to the back of the room, complaining like comical old ladies do, but there were staff members in the back of the room working the projector and the music, so he got annoyed that there were men even in the back lololol. And then Tatsuya clutched his chest on-stage and fell over like he was in pain, so Shuuto shoved Shouma at him going, “HELP, do something!” And Shouma bent down next to Tatsuya, checked his condition, and then screamed, “SHE’S GIVING BIRTH!!!!” Which then had all of them pulling open Tatsuya’s legs and getting up into his crotch while screaming the entire time and I just... I could not breathe. But then it turned out Tatsuya was fine, but then Ken-chan fell over so they started spreading his legs to help deliver a baby and it was just... so much. I don’t even remember how it ended, just that it was a mess lol.

They actually do the bathhouse prompt twice, in the first session and then the third session because they wanted to try and see if they could do it better the second time around. They couldn’t lolololol. But that one had Shuuto, Shouma, and Ken-chan just constantly avoiding Tatsuya and leaving him behind while he kept trying to be part of the group and was whining that they kept leaving him. At one point they get ready to leave without him, and this involved Shuuto going and grabbing Tatsuya’s actual backpack from off-stage and bringing back an earlier joke about Tatsuya’s solo camping. Ken-chan commented on how cool the backpack was, and Shuuto went, “It’s great for camping! And you know, between a knife and an axe, I much prefer an axe!”

Mermaid princess This one started with Shouma on the chairs rowing like he was on a boat, and Tatsuya wiggled (swam) over and said hi to him, which resulted in Shouma just shrieking like a maniac and passing out. Because that’s what anyone would do when confronted with a mermaid I guess. So then Tatsuya got all grumpy and pouty because she just wants to become a human, but, “All these human men are useless!” which, I mean, mood. Shuuto grabbed 4 of the uchiwa off the table and made makeshift crab claws out of them to hold in his hands and walked sideways across the stage singing “Under the Sea” and then Ken-chan showed up as some other unspecified undersea presence and tries to convince Tatsuya to stay in the sea. And then Shouma revived himself and went, “I’m not a man, I’M A WITCH!!!” And offered Tatsuya the chance to become human, but Ken-chan grabbed Tatsuya’s arm and dramatically spun him around and HELD him REAL CLOSE and was just like, “Don’t go, stay.” And suddenly it got WEIRDLY romantic and the witch came around going, “Don’t be fooled by his--” and Tatsuya just went, “Shut up for a sec!” And just stared longingly into Ken-chan's eyes!??!?! He put his hand on Ken-chan's arm to start, and then it moved to his chest, and he kept inching closer, and Ken-chan kept inching closer and it was kind of like gay chicken except that NEITHER WAS BACKING DOWN and eventually they got to touching foreheads and Tatsuya whispering throatily, “I’ll stay with you,” and it was just A LOT. OKAY. A LOT. I basically watched my teenage-actor-crush and my adult-actor-crush nearly kiss and it was TOO. MUCH. Shuuto and the emcee were just off to one side of the stage laughing and generally staying out of the way by that point and even Shouma just left them be once they got to touching foreheads because it was like ooookaaayyyy you two are clearly having a moment.

Idol auditions For some reason, they decided that the idol auditions for this one would be done like a variety show and Shouma was the host of the program with Shuuto, Ken-chan, and Tatsuya auditioning. Shuuto was nervous and shy and could barely talk or do anything and mostly all he could say was his random generated number 3289 or something and Ken-chan was then number 56 (because what’s consistency worth) and was enthusiastic but BAD. So he kept stuttering and flailing around and shaking his hips nonstop but none of it was meant to look good. Tatsuya admitted he was only doing this because he wants to break out as an actor, which the host frowned upon, but then Tatsuya was actually the most impressive one lololol. Well, comparatively anyway. Certainly he was the coolest. But it ended with the host announcing that the three of them could be idols together and they were like yaaaaaay!

Pokemon In the second session, the first prompt was Pokemon and Ken-chan actually prepared a lot of things for it, so then they were like IT’S NOT IMPROV IF YOU PLANNED IT ALL OUT BEFOREHAND!!! But basically the 4 of them drew cards to see who would be trainers and who would be Pokemon, and then the ones that got to be Pokemon would draw cards to see which Pokemon they’d be. But Tatsuya admitted he didn’t know any of the pokemon past the first 150, so they told him to do his best with the first one and then gave him a second card so he could play two. Shouma and Ken-chan were trainers, and Shuuto and Tatsuya were Pokemon, with Shuuto being Pikachu. Shouma introduced himself as “I’m Festival Boy!!” because he was wearing a happi and obviously you never fight any named trainers in the game outside of gym leaders. But then Ken-chan went, “I’m RedYellowGreen!.” By the way, I was seated in the first row for this session which was RIGHT UP against the little stage and that meant being absurdly close to all of this nonsense. Shouma told Shuuto-Pikachu to tackle and he literally went and tackled Tatsuya, knocking both Tatsuya AND Ken-chan over lololololol. Shuuto and Tatsuya were low on the ground on all fours or crouching to be the Pokemon, and making dumb little pokemon cries the entire time, and when Tatsuya got beat on a couple more times, Ken-chan switched him out. I missed what Pokemon Tatsuya was supposed to be first because I was too busy wheezing but the second time, he was Venusaur. It didn’t matter though because Shuuto-Pikachu went over and shocked them both so Shouma won the battle. The emcee had no idea what was going on because he doesn’t know anything about Pokemon, but he figured it was good because everyone was laughing so much. But at the end, Shuuto again said, “This seriously wasn’t a proper etude! Don’t call it that if you—just tell us what you want to do and we’ll do it! Don’t lie!” I couldn’t help but remember one of the third-year videos Ken-chan did with Hiroki and Justin were Ken-chan was again a trainer and Hiroki and Justin were Pokemon and Hiroki had that really great Squirtle cry and then Hiroki and Justin attacked Ken-chan, RIP. (x)

Idol Dressing Room Shouma played the manager in this skit, who’s trying to sell them on this idea of being in this play with this one director. Mind you, their parts are things like “long-horned beetle,” and “rhino beetle.” Tatsuya and Ken-chan are arguing about whether or not they should, with Tatsuya being interested because of who the director is, Ken-chan thinks it’s a pain, and when they ask Shuuto’s opinion, he just quietly and shyly replies, “Let’s do it,” and they were like, “Well if Shukkun says we should, then I guess we should.” But as soon as Shouma leaves, Shuuto drops his shy act and comes over to the other two all casual going, “Man, I hate our manager, he’s so useless!” and they all start bitching about their manager which had the emcee CRACKING UP because that’s realism right there lol. But then Shouma came back with his happi wrapped around his shoulders because he was the director now and with a deeper voice was like, “You guys are going to be my new actors, right? Show me a demonstration!” and then he sits down and dramatically crosses his legs and Tatsuya starts off. Since he’s a type of flying beetle he just kind of throws his arms behind him and runs in a wiggle to mimic flying, and Shouma went, “No no no, that’s not what I’m imagining. I need you to be more... sexy.” So Tatsuya does it again but sexily and then Ken-chan as a rhino beetle stomps in but Shouma tells him to be more manly so Ken-chan does it again but this time with his chest SUPER PUFFED OUT (like how Shouhei was doing it when mimicking Daichi in Winners and Losers). And he just marches up to Tatsuya and goes, ”You’re a beautiful beetle. Let’s mate.” And Tatsuya just goes, “Okayy~” and turns around and Ken-chan hugs him from behind and they start swaying together and I just DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY THEY KEEP— And then Shuuto came in as the long-horned beetle and just started pulling and plucking at their hair and that ended the scene which... you know. Okay. I don’t really know how the idol dressing room prompt ended this way but it sure did.

Evil Organization This one was so campy I was dying real bad. Shouma put a chair on himself and called himself the chair monster and I think he was like, trying to hire Shuuto and Tatsuya from their ‘evil organization’ to help wreak havoc so he was telling them to demonstrate acts of eeeeevillll. So Shuuto went first, pulled up one of the chairs, and put his foot on it. And they were like, OH MY GOD THAT’S SO EEEVILLLLL. PUTTING YOUR SHOES ON A CHAIR???!? I can’t even remember what Tatsuay did anymore but it was just as campy basically, and then Ken-chan made this dramatic entrance from the back and the others on-stage went into defense mode because they thought that he was making a hero’s entrance, but then Ken-chan was like, “I’ll show you evil! I’m going to use a chair not as intended!” and laid a chair on its back on the floor and awkwardly lay across it going, “How easy it is to sleep in this chair!!” After the skit they were all asking him, “Were you one of the evil guys?” Ken-chan replied that he was being their leader and they all went, “THEN WHY DID YOU DO A HERO’S ENTRANCE? COMING UP FROM THE BACK LIKE THAT?!”

Idol group break-up This one starts with Atashi at their final performance before breaking up basically, but also starts with Tatsuya bragging about his solo debut, which is super upsetting for Ken-chan, and Shuuto continues to just be quiet and off the corner, unbothered because he just cares SO LITTLE about being an idol lolololol. Ken-chan kept going, “Shukkun! Aren’t you upset? Doesn’t this bother you? We’re supposed to be a team!” And he just kept going “...not really.” By the end though, they look out at the venue from where they are on-stage, the magnificent Tokyo Dome, with all its bright lights... all the sponsor ads in the distance (cue raucous laughter from the emcee)... and they get overwhelmed with emotion and decide that they’ll do their best together for their final concert. Shuuto just stands quietly next to them and they’re like, “Are you overwhelmed, Shukkun? Are you moved?!” And he just goes, “...not really.”

High School girls I’m just gonna say that Shuuto and Ken-chan make the WORST high school girls. They were getting the speech patterns down, deciding to go the Mean Girls route instead of just normal high school girls, and they kept teasing and sexually harassing the teacher, Shouma. Shuuto just sat spread eagle in his chair, pretended to lift up his skirt and was just fanning his crotch, and Ken-chan commenting on the cute pattern of his underwear before just LIFTING BOTH LEGS UP INTO THE AIR WIDE APART like, “Look at mine!!” and then were like, “oh my gawwwdd, put your legs down, we can see everything!” and Shouma as the teacher was just like GIRLS PAY ATTENTION TO THE LESSION. Ken-chan kept... lifting his legs up in a split... I just... SIR YOU NEED TO PUT YOUR CROTCH AWAY PLEASE. But then the girls start gossiping about how it’s the teacher’s last day, and Shouma then does turn and says that because it’s his last day, he does have a confession he wants to make. Tatsuya stands and shyly puts his hands together because he was playing the girl that had a crush on the teacher, but Shouma goes to Shuuto instead who was like, “Ehhh??? Gross!!!” and then Shouma went, “...then... Ken-chan!” and Ken-chan was like, “Why am I a second choice?!” They eventually pull the emcee into the skit too, making him the principal who starts yelling at Shouma and the girls then start adding stories like, “And he touched us! He’s a pervert, a pervert!” When Tatsuya joins in, Shouma goes, ”Okay hang on, I definitely never touched Takkun!” and outs himself for the others. Sadly the principal is a creep too because he’s mad, but he eventually yells, “You lucky bastard!” and the girls are like, “EHH!! EVEN THE PRINCIPAL!!!” and that’s how that one ended.

4) Prizes For the raffle prizes, Ken-chan took solo polaroids there on the spot and also gave away one of his handmade uchiwa per session. My friend actually won one of the polaroids in the first session! The uchiwa went with the idol theme obviously, but he’d also asked us to make our own to bring to the event, because he would sign ours! I didn’t know that when I made mine because the autograph announcement was like, only a couple days before the event, but yeah that’s really atypical of actor events too.

Below is the one I made; the first uchiwa I’ve ever made actually! It was a lot of fun.

5) Polaroids and autographs I actually got two cheki with Ken-chan and one with Tatsuya during the first two sessions because I just couldn’t let the opportunity pass. When I showed Ken-chan my uchiwa, he was very happy and impressed and signed both sides of it “just in case” it would rub off on the plastic side. Since he always allows a little more time for each person, I told him how happy I was to be able to make the trip from America to see him again, and he smiled wonderfully and thanked me for making the trip. When I went back for another cheki in the second session, I asked him for a “fun pose” so he offered to do the big heart with both our arms and then told me to pull out my uchiwa again so he could sign it again “since you came back a second time all the way from Seattle.” He’s soooo sweet!!!

When I got my polaroid with Tatsuya, I told him that I’d been a fan of him since his Burimyu days and his eyes popped open like, “Oh wow! That’s a really long time!” And then he put his arm around me for a HUG basically, which is also SUPER RARE for fan events so I was very shook, but also my heart was soaring. And then as I was leaving, he said, “Thank you for supporting me for so long, I hope I can keep meeting your expectations!”

For all my younger followers who don’t yet have the income and means to travel and are afraid of missing out, don’t be! It might take 10+ years before you can meet your favorite Japanese stage actor, and maybe it’s in entirely different circumstances than you could ever expect, but never say never!!! It can still happen!

Overall, this is what I love about Ken-chan's events. They’re never very big, which is on purpose, in small venues with close quarters, so that he can make them feel more intimate and personal and so that he can take more time for each person for cheki or for handing us the merch himself as we buy it beforehand. He does so much that’s so atypical of other actor events, and a large part of that is because he’s independent and doesn’t belong to a major agency, hence fewer rules, and the other part is because that’s what Ken-chan loves to do. He really wants to be really close to his fans, and other actors he has as guests comment on it all the time. He’s not afraid to be embarrassing or ridiculous in front of us, and it’s always great in some ways to see the guests he brings and who will go along with his shenanigans. With this group, Tatsuya and Shuuto are both over 30, in fact, they’re both older than Ken-chan (who’ll be turning 31 in September), and I think that also made for a much more off-the-cuff show because they’re all veterans and they’re so comfortable with themselves. I don’t really know Tatsuya to do events, but he kept saying he had a great time and was real sad during the third session that they were now done. Maybe he’ll be inspired to have his own fan events soon! I’m sure Ken-chan can help him brainstorm.

I feel like this day had about a dozen dreams come true, even dreams I never had prior to this day, so I had a wonderful, amazing time, and I really hope I get another opportunity in the future!

#akisawa kentarou #ken-chan #fan event

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onestowatch · 5 years

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Catching Up with COIN: One of Indie-Pop's Greatest Blessings [Q&A]

Photo Credit: Thomas Wood

From their infectious debut album in 2015 to their Ones To Watch presented headline tour last year, we’ve been more than supportive of COIN’s creative mission. The indie-pop outfit from Nashville is comprised of lead vocalist Chase Lawrence, drummer Ryan Winnen, and lead guitarist Joe Memmel--all of whom joined forces in 2012 while studying at Belmont University. Who could’ve possibly expected these three young bucks to one day dominate the indie-pop scene with such determination and drive?

Well, apparently these guys had a good feeling they’d be changing at least a few lives with their otherworldly bangers. Reflecting on their humble beginnings with their debut single, COIN credits “Run” as a meaningful track that taught them how to successfully connect with their live audiences. “Run” was soon played on radio stations worldwide and COIN saw themselves opening for numerous shows where the energetic crowds were naturally drawn to their upbeat melodies and cheerful guitar riffs.

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From the get go, COIN has been a beloved project that never sought fame or fortune, but rather music lovers who could resonate with their thoughtful lyricism and optimistic instrumentals. A few years ago, the talented trio had a moment of realization when a group of devoted fans followed them to several cities on their second headlining tour. From that point on, COIN realized how much they’ve really grown since 2012.

In 2018, COIN embarked on a nationwide tour (presented by yours truly) that was nothing short of a great time. As they performed a generous selection of their indie pop discography, including hits like “I Don’t Wanna Dance” and “Talk Too Much,” COIN never took a single moment for granted. Even now, COIN’s live energy has snagged them slots at major music festivals like Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, and Life is Beautiful and given them the honor of opening for The 1975 and Young the Giant.

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On top of more touring plans for the remainder of this year, COIN has been eagerly wrapping up their next highly anticipated project, which they’ve disclosed as a full-length album. Although they haven’t announced the official track list just yet, we wouldn’t be surprised to find their 2018 hits, “Cemetery” and “Simple Romance,” on the record.

Since they’ve been one of our favorite indie pop bands for what seems like forever, it’s only right that we recently caught up with COIN to discuss their significant growth, evolving pre-show rituals, and their next album.

OTW: It’s undeniable that COIN has quickly become a staple in the indie pop scene. At what point did you guys realize you made the right decision by forming a band?

COIN: That’s a really neat way to pose that question. I think we knew from the beginning that something was special, but we were just operating from the gut intuition that the three of us had musical chemistry. That feeling obviously predated having any fans, so the hope was then to find people who were willing to listen. We really started to see that it was “right,” or that it started to have a unique purpose, in 2017 on our second headlining tour when a specific group of fans continued to show up in nearly every city and give us more than we could’ve ever dreamt of. The symbiotic relationship had begun and we still see those people today--they’re like family. And that’s not to say that anything was “wrong” before, but again, you can only make music for yourself for so long until you realize that you need the voices of others to tell your story more intimately. Our fans have a really amazing way of doing that. It’s more communal for us than just writing a song.

OTW: How have you guys grown as a band since your debut single “Run” in 2015?

COIN: “Run” was a song that taught us how to better engage our listeners and in turn, provide a specific energy to the shows. When the song came out, we were opening for a lot of bands and it was also the first song that was being played on the radio. There was a sort of “prove yourself” element in the live show at this time that we still play with today. We didn’t have a loud, singalong type song that forced us to play to the front of the room and to the back of the room at the same time before “Run.” Because it preceded “Talk Too Much,” it inspired us to write even “louder” songs for people to sing with us. It taught us how to write and play with the voices of the crowd in mind.

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OTW: You guys have been releasing quite a few singles in the past year or so… Can we expect a new project announcement soon?

COIN: The album is done and it is coming!! We’re so thrilled and have never been more proud of anything. It says everything we’ve ever wanted to say.

OTW: What was your arena tour with Young the Giant and Fitz and the Tantrums like?

COIN: It was wonderful. Both bands and their crews were amazingly hospitable. We learned a lot. We’d never done a really long, somewhat arduous summer tour on which you’re playing outside every day in 90+ degree heat. It was also a unique experience to be opening the show. It sort of placed a youthful energy back into our show because we had to present ourselves the best we knew how to in just 30 minutes.

OTW: In a 2017 interview with us, you guys said your show rituals include singing Mario’s “Let Me Love You” and giving each other high fives. Does this still hold true? Have you guys introduced any new pre-show traditions?

COIN: Haha! The song changes from tour to tour. Right now, there’s no song. We huddle up, breathe deeply and enter each new space with gratitude for each other and all of the people present at the show. We’ve simplified our pre-show ritual to being thankful for the fact that we get to do this every day. It’s pretty wild and somehow often overlooked.

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OTW: If you could perform anywhere in the world, where would you pick? Who would be your openers?

COIN: We’ve started to dip our toes into international touring and have really loved our trips to Asia. Korea is probably our favorite place in the world right now but we would love to play in mainland Europe next.

OTW: Who are your Ones To Watch?

The band Dayglow and the band Arlie. Both pals of ours who make wonderful music.

#coin #indie #pop #indie pop #interview #dayglow #arlie

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franeridart · 6 years

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Do you care for any of the dekusquad?

I care for most if not all hero-related characters in bnha! But if with care you mean if any dekusquad member is between my favorite characters/if I care enough about any of them to draw them more than once every blue moon, then my Todoroki tag might tip you off, there lol

Anon said:Will you ever draw Bakukamikiri again? I rlly loved how you did them!!

Thank you!!! And I think I will, though I don’t have any project to do so in the near future, sorry!

Anon said:Soo KyouHaba day (6/16) is coming up and was wondering if you could do some seijoh next gen stuff. Yahaba is often forgot about a and Kyoutani isn’t really included in a lot of Aoba Johsai stuff. Feel free to not do anything just suggesting something

Aw sorry anon but I don’t have the time to do day-themed stuff right now! KyoHaba is currently the hq ship I’m most likely to draw for, though, since they’re the only ones I’m still reading fics for! So I don’t think any will come around 6/16, but I don’t exclude I might draw them anyway in the near future! :D

Anon said:Omg your taking part in a zine!! I’m so excited! And it’s a BakuSquad one too! Ik I’m definitely going to be buying it when pre-orders open up!

I’m taking part in TWO zines, actually!! Both the @takemyhandzine and the @sixthwheelzine !!!!! I’ll be making comics for both, and if you do decide to buy either I really hope you’ll like them!!!!

Anon said:whats a zine?

In general, a zine is an amatorially published magazine! Specifically tho here we’re talking about fanzines, so magazines put together and published by fans for other fans! The ones I’m taking part in are both about kiribaku, and will include both fanart (fancomics included) and fanfics! Depending on how much you wish to spend on it, you can also buy a bundle with fanmade merch too, and the Sixth Wheel zine is gonna have a pdf version too, in case you’d prefer to buy it like that! They’re super cool projects I’m insanely happy I got invited to take part in!!!!

Anon said:Your art style is so pretty and I love to see your amazing bnha drawing on my dash

There is literally no way I could ever stop being into d gray man ever and I’m also still following hq’s manga, yes! I dunno if and when I’ll draw for either fandom next, tho, sorry! ;^;

Anon said:Everytime you draw kiribaku I gain 1 life,,,,, tysm I love ur art SM ur such an inspiration,,,💖💖💖

Oh my g o d s thank you so much ;^;

Anon said:Your Kiridragon is the cutest, I love him and want Katsuki to protect him forever. Thank you for sharing that last story with us!!! (Ps. Can we expect more Kiridragon adventures in the future? *puppy eyes*)

Thank you for liking him!!!!!! And if you’re talking about the fantasy AU in general, I’ll 100% for sure draw more for it! If you’re talking about them as kids tho I can’t say for sure - I definitely want to, tho, right now!! ;^;

Anon said:As a suggestion, could you maybe do Kiri*Deku, whether it be romantic, platonic, or misinterpreted by Bakugou and he takes Kirishima because that’s his sunshine boy thank you very much, get your own

Aw anon sorry but krdk is…………. really not my thing, so I don’t take suggestions for it ;-; I might end up doodling them in the future anyway since I have in the past, but that’s only gonna be if I find an idea I really really really wanna draw, I’m sorry

Anon said:Just wanted to say that I love your art and I just went through a majority of your blog. But I noticed you used to draw erasermic but haven’t recently and I was wondering if you still ship it??? It’s okay if you don’t or if you just haven’t gotten the inspiration recently, I’m just curious. Anyways, keep doing what you do and being amazing

Thank youuuu!!!!! And I’ve actually always drawn erasermic super sporadically! They’re one of my main ships in the fandom honestly, but since they’re sorta hard to draw for me I rarely end up drawing them? I do still love them with all my heart tho! You can expect to see more of them in the future, for sure ;u;

Anon said:I came for my kiribaku fix (it HAD to be him I’m dying all over again) but. God ur art always blows me tf away ur so good and skilled and ur improvement in like… everything inspires me SO much so bless u and I hope u have a WONDERFUL day

I’m so glad I can inspire anyone, oh my g o o o o o o d ;O; thank you so so much!!!!

Anon said:Wow your dragon kiribaku art is so cute! Will there be a sequel!

Not for the immediately after, for now! Since Horikoshi is yet to give me the official design for Kiri’s mom //sob - but as I said up there I do want to draw more with them as kids in the fantasy AU, so maybe, yeah!!!

Anon said:I absolutely love EVERY SINGLE facial expression that Bakugou makes in your Fantasy Babies comic strip. He’s such an unapologetic little shit.

THANK YOU!!!!! I was mostly trying to convey the fact that he’s too young to think about the consequences of his actions before doing stuff like calling the rage of a dragon mom upon his city l m a o glad you liked him!!! :D

Anon said:The way you draw the baby bois has me weak 💖💕❤️💗💞💓💝 That baby dragon Kiri 💯💯💯💖💖💖😊😊😊

Thank you so muuuuuucccchhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anon said:EYYYYY! Love your art, the newest comic made me laugh so hard that I almost chocked to death :D (Jk, I just couldn’t breathe normally) God bless youuuuuuuuuu

I’m SUPER HAPPY it made you laugh!!!!!! heck!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;^;

Anon said:You content makes my heart go doki doki doki doki doki

THANK!!!! YOU!!!!! SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!

Anon said:the way you draw wings is so cool, i love it. your art is just amazing in ggeneral to be honest, like akjdjkhdlkdl

AAAAHHHHHHHH I’M HAPPY YOU LIKE THEM I have so much fun drawing them, honestly!!!

Anon said:I love the fact that mina and kiri are cannonically childhood friends (middle school counts as childhood right??) Like I love their friendship so much and they both deserve the world.

Real, they’re adorable and I wish Horikoshi would actually have them interact a bit more in the manga, since as for now their scenes together are pretty much non-existent aside from their backstory ;^;

Anon said:THEY ANIMATED IT!!! THE HAND GRAB!!! IT’S IN MOVING COLOUR!!!

HELL YES I DIED IT’S BEEN NEARLY A WEEK AND I’M STILL DYING WHAT A BEAUTIFUL TIME TO BE ALIVE

Anon said:You with your beautiful beautiful art and Chonideno with her beautiful beautiful writing about Kiri and Bakugou makes my heart so happy and warm and just… Thank you for existing and love Kiribaku! I don’t know, your art makes me so happy

Ohhhhhhhhhhh boy what an honor to be put at the same level as mag ;^; I love her and her writing so much, honestly !!!!!! thank you so so much for the compliment, anon!!!!!!!!!!!

Anon said:Kirishima braiding his hair while he talks is both adorable and relatable. Thank you for that.

I’m!!!! mostly happy you caught it hahahaha thank you !!!!!!

Anon said:Hey. You seem insecure but your art is great. What kind of color scheme do you see for Hawks?

Hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm I honestly don’t like thinking about stuff I think Hori will give me in canon soon enough? But out of instincts I mostly imagined him in shades of brown, I think - typical birds of prey and/or aviator colors, you know!

Anon said:I love ur drawings but i also love reading ur tag. They re so funny sometimes

lmao that’s good too!! As long as I can make people enjoy a couple of moments of their time I don’t really mind how I do it hahaha

Anon said:your art is beautiful anfndfnd

AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!

Anon said:Hello fran, just wanted to say i’ve been here for a long long time (since the h/q times :‘o) and today i was thinking about some of your old art and if you remember, you had a soulmates au for b/n/h/a that was super good and i really loved so i wanted to tell you!! You as an artist have such an impact on me and that au is my fave of yours!! ;0; have the nicest day ever!! -soulmates anon (4 future ref!!!)

OH MAN I’m so happy to hear you still remember that one?? It was such a fun experiment to play around with, I’m glad you liked it this much!!!! Thank you for telling me omg !!!!! ;^;

Anon said:Hi, so where did you go to watch Haikyuu (I’m assuming probably Crunchyroll but ya never know) and where might I find the dubbed version?

Aw anon sorry I don’t watch the dubbed version! Since I’m Italian, I don’t really have much use for the English dubs haha I’m pretty sure you can find it on kissanime, tho!

Anon said:could you briefly go through the process of making and completing one of your comics? I wanted to start some short bnha comics but idk where to start, thank you!

Sorry this took me an age to answer - I have answered this question a while back, I think it might be in my art tips tag! But to go through it fast, my process is something like

find a line or an exchange I want to deliver, or a topic I want discussed (usually happens randomly as I’m doing other things)

spend a million years just staring at a wall or at my ceiling or anything else as I build a whole scene in my mind to have the lines or topic take the form of an actual comic (might take two minutes, might take a month)

draw a rough sketch of the whole comic - I do this with all panels (and pages, when I separate a comic in pages) on the same canvas, so that I can look at the whole scene all together and get a good sense of the general flow of the storytelling. This process includes cutting panels, moving panels around, reshaping panels, trying different poses and angles for the same panels to find the right one, writing and deleting and re-writing lines till I’m sure the wording is what I’m going for*

line the panels - I mean the actual panels, the straight lines delimitating the panel, I line them all first and put them on a separate layer

line the people!! All the characters in every panel are lined in this stage

line the backgrounds! In case there are backgrounds and the comic is meant to stay in black and white, if not then color the backgrounds! (I always start coloring from the backgrounds cause they’re the boring parts and if I leave them for last I never do them ever #rip)

in case of black and white comics, we fill in flat, gray-scale colors at this point (or, as I’ve lately started doing, I only put down shadows and leave it at that). If it’s in colors, we color the people!

Write down the dialogue!! *at this point we change a lot of the dialogue again because enough time has passed since I sketched it that I changed my mind on everything, don’t be like me

you’re done!

All of it is done on one single canvas, unless it’s a comic with separate paneled pages in which case they’re all done on their own canvas but still drawn all together. That’s about it, hope it was at least a little bit useful!

Anon said:Hi! I just wanted to thank you for your art, especially your KiriBaku. I was exactly in the same situation than Bakugou in the post tagged “bakugou being blunt about his feelings” (except we are 2 girls) , so I used it to confess to her. She said yes! X3

OH MY GOD I’m so super happy to hear that!!!!! Congrats on your gf, anon!!!!!! *throws hearts at u*

#fran answers #im back to not answering asks i mean to draw for #if you never see those asks answered #im sorry im a f disaster #anyway about that first ask!!! todoroki is actually one of my main faves!!!!#i don't have enough ideas for him but if i did i'd always be drawing him t b h #oh also #art tips #cause there's something like that in this #tho it's just more or less my comic making process #which can be summed in 'think about something for a million years!!!' and then 'rush through it in half a day!!!!!!'#im #such an organized person am i n o t #:)))))))))))))))#anonymous

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heartshapedcreaturefromcriptoon · 6 years

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SIDEBAR IMAGE DESCRIPTION ( REUPLOADED IN FULL VIEW)

[ A stylized image of the bloggers Persona: Moon, The Heart Shaped Creature From Criptoon Lagoon, beautifully drawn and commissioned from @thetrainticket.

Moon is what you would call a “Mermaid Narwhal Moth” with dark blue hair the color and texture of the night sky. Though Humanoid, Moon has pale white skin and two dark purple eyes, with bug like pupils in the shape of an Eclipse, that are a lighter shade of purple with a shimmer. Moon has a heart-shaped face plump red lips, dimples, and fangs that give her a cute overbite. Her mouth is closed and she has a casual expression and smile on her face and sleepy eyelids, she also has long winged eye lashes.

Moon also has a broken narwhals horn coming out of her forehead , with moth antennae grown out of and coming together to form the shape of a heart when they curl. The moth antennae heart has electricity sparking from inside it. Underneath Moon’s broken horn is a glowing white crescent moon symbol, much like the ones featured in Classic ‘Sailor Moon’ and she has Classic Powerpuff Girls style, or “Growing Heart Emoji” symbols on her cheeks, much like the “Cheek Marks” in ‘Star Vs.’ , and a pug like noise much like the ones the anthropomorphic characters of Angel, Roxanne, and “Beret Girl” have in Ralph Bakshi’s ‘Rock and Rule’ and Disney’s ‘Goofy Movie’ franchises.

Moon is wearing a “sweater” that starts with a moth torso that is also very heart-shaped, pink and fluffy, and ends in a form fitting black blouse that looks like a velvet texture with the slightest outline of dark purple to it. A sparkly, shiny texture alluding to moons and stars is present throughout the piece. The “blouse” part of Moon’s ensemble is stylishly cut to to reveal her shoulders and has a dark red velvety trim to it as well, with a sash around her waist to match.

Moon’s mermaid tail is the same color and texture as her hair, and instead of a fin, she has bright pink fire flaming at the end of it.

Moon is sitting down in a plain manual wheelchair with a dark purple background. Attached to her back are her big, extravagant lunar mouth wings, pink on the inside, and what appears to be a darker shade of red that matches the trim of her blouse on the outside.

Moon has four arms, two of which are posed dramatically: One reaching towards the spotlight shimming down on her and illuminating her face and hands. The other hand is curled and posed firmly on her hip, while the other two hands are holding a white teacup, which she looks like she’s a about to take a sip from.

Moon’s accessories include a pink headband she is wearing, with dark red roses and extravagant horns with a dragony texture to them, much like Classic Maleficent's in Sleeping Beauty. The horns go a little behind the roses, which are very big and prominent here. The dragony part of the headband appears to have a dark purple outline to it as well.

Around her neck, Moon is wearing a black choker collar with white, spiky studs and a purple horned owl hanging at the end of it. Other jewelry Moon wears are tiny white skull earnings. Moon has strands of her dark blue hair coming down to frame her face. And her dark blue, sparkly hair is pinned up in a high fluffy pony tail because her hair is very thick and large. Moon’s wavy bangs are parted because of her horn, and some of her hair is falling next to her ears, which are very cute and pointy, sort of bat-like, without being in a “vampire way”. Again. the image back drop is light purple color with with shimmering stars and spheres, and a spotlight shining down, illuminating and shading her character. END IMAGE DESCRIPTION.]

This is my first time writing an image description so I hope it’s okay! Will write one for the header image Finnley drew for me later!

I cannot thank @thetrainticket ENOUGH for this wonderful sidebar image!!!!! Moon is so beautiful and I love her SO MUCH and I hope that I described her okay and that people love her just as much!!!!! <3 OX

Tumblr won’t allow me add anymore tags so please just let me know if there’s a problem or you need anything tagged!!! <3 OX It’s a low spoon day as I’m writing this past 1:00AM after taking sleeping meds so I’m sorry I sound so blunt but just thank you all for reading and Merry Mermay! <3 OX

The next few posts are pretty long and are pre-written over the span a few Months and I’m finally done so, I’m gonna post one right after the other RIGHT NOW so they’re blog ready but let me if they’re too long, need a ‘readmore’ or need to taken out the tags because I’m gonna link them all back to this page once they’re posted anyway .... So, HERE WE GO!!!!! ❤ OX

‘ACTUAL ABOUT’:

https://heartshapedcreaturefromcriptoon.tumblr.com/post/174341193608/actual-about

ICON IMAGE DISCRIPTION, ‘SHORT’ ABOUT + ‘ARTISTS CREDIT’ /Q&A PAGE:

https://heartshapedcreaturefromcriptoon.tumblr.com/post/174341267363/short-about-icon-image-description-qa-and

BEFORE YOU FOLLOW:

https://heartshapedcreaturefromcriptoon.tumblr.com/post/174341749423/b4-you-follow-get-it-b4

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wnnbdarklord · 7 years

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Chocolate Box 2018 letter

Dear Chocolatier, I'm glad we matched! This is my first Chocolate Box exchange, but I'm sure it'll be a great one :D For ease of access, I've provided a table of contents. Don't stress about it and feel free to pick and choose or combine bits of my prompts. Happy writing/arting!

AO3 username: wnnbdarklord

edit: I totally forgot to put Hela & Loki in the table of contents, but the prompt itself is there, not to worry!

General Likes

Art Likes

Smut Likes

Do Not Wants

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Bruce Banner & Loki || Bruce/Loki

En Dwi Gast | Grandmaster/Loki & Thor

Fenrir/Loki

Frigga & Loki

Gamora & Nebula & Loki & Thor

Heimdall & Loki || Heimdall/Loki

Hulk/Loki || Hulk & Loki

Korg of Krona/Loki

Loki/Pepper Potts/Tony Stark

Nick Fury/Loki

Loki/Bruce Banner/Brunnhilde | Valkyie

Loki & Yondu Udonta

Crossover Fandom

Dirk Gently (Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency) & Tenth Doctor (Doctor Who)

Dirk Gently (Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency) & Loki (MCU)

Farah Black (Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency) & Samuel Vimes (Discworld novels)

Granny Weatherwax (Discworld novels) & Loki (MCU)

Groot (MCU) & Treebeard (LOTR)

Loki (MCU) & Donna Noble (Doctor Who)

Loki (MCU) & Ned Stark (ASoIaF)

Loki (MCU)/Theon Stark (ASoIaF)

Loki (MCU) & Franklin "Foggy" Nelson (Daredevil (TV))

Loki (MCU) & Q (Star Trek)

Phryne Fisher (Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (TV))/Jack Harkness (Doctor Who)

Phryne Fisher (Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries)/Jean-Luc Picard (Star Trek: TNG)

Samuel Vimes (Discworld novels) & the One Ring (LOTR)

Tauriel (Hobbit movies) & Boromir (LOTR)

Tony Stark (MCU) & Ned Stark (Game of Thrones)

Wonder Woman (DCU) & Loki (MCU)

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

Farah Black/Todd Brotzman/Dirk Gently || Farah Black & Todd Brotzman & Dirk Gently

General Likes:

Polyamory, gen, het, slash, femslash, families of choice, competence, BAMF female characters, angst, hurt/comfort, teamfic, pretty much all the tropes especially if there is a twist, worldbuilding, humor, redemption, for want of a nail AUs, time travel, werewolves, dragons, crossovers, non fantasy/SF canons encountering the supernatural/aliens, fix it fics

Also, I'm fine with mpreg as long as there's some worldbuilding involved beyond 'assbabies are totally normal and unquestioned'. Is it magic? Science? Shapeshifting? Whatever? As long as it's not just a thing that happens normally on Earth (reactions of humans to someplace it's common is a+). Even a/b/o mpreg is iffy for me because it's usually a feature of the world.

For any pairings, as long as they don't clash with my DNWs (first and foremost the incest DNW), I'm fine with either gen or romance no matter what the actual match is. Also, don't consider the length of a prompt as an indication of my enthusiasm for it. Some pairings I just have more ideas for, but others I have no idea what to prompt, but my brain just went !!! when I saw it.

I'm fairly certain it's obvious from my sign up that MCU Loki is a favorite character of mine. In general, I prefer Loki to be morally grey or conflicted or redeemable and not outright villainous. Think more pre-Thor or Ragnarok Loki rather than chaotic evil Loki. Anything with jotun!Loki, genderfluid Loki and bi/pan Loki would be amazing!

My previous letters for Trick or Treat (http://wnnbdarklord.tumblr.com/post/165264151230/dear-trick-or-treak-2017-creator) and Crossovering (http://wnnbdarklord.tumblr.com/post/163153222375/dear-crossovering-2017-creator) if you'd like to get more info!

Art Likes:

I’m pretty sure I’d love any art! I love sketchy styles with maybe just a splash of color to draw the eye. Black and white images with only one color to highlight Important Things is A+. That said, any art in any style would be amazing! As for subject matter, I’d love to see any scenes from the prompts or stuff from my likes. Characters being affectionate, gentle touches, characters as werewolves, characters in fancy dress/costumes, characters doing magic, characters getting it on are also all welcome.

Smut Likes:

Frottage, coming untouched, size kink, transformation kink, pregnancy kink, breeding kink, a/b/o, mild dom/sub stuff, sex pollen, tentacles, telepathy, first times, routine sex in the missionary position, weird biology, xeno kink, sounding, lactation kink, consensual body modification (bonus points if it's magical), public sex...I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting, but since this is the first time I'm even expounding on smut I'd like, let's leave it at this.

Do Not Wants:

permanent character death, rape, dubcon, torture porn, underage stuff, infidelity, humiliation, character bashing, ship bashing, no powers AUs, love triangles, fake married/dating, incest, power imbalances in relationships, hate sex, scat/watersports, necrophilia, abuse, fusions, zombies, 1st person POV, issue fic, themes of cynicism and futility, nihilism that isn't of the optimistic kind, animal abuse, unrequested ships, slavery, genderswap of the always an x kind, unrequested AUs, jealousy

Generally speaking, a specific prompt is going to come before any stated DNWs.

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Bruce Banner/Loki || Bruce Banner & Loki

One of my favorite pairings that there is a sad lack of fic for. I'd be happy with pretty much anything involving these two interacting, but I'd love something centered on their mutual realization of the similarity of their issues; their perceptions of themselves as monsters and realizing that 'hey, you understand!' and then being awkward friends (or more).

Maybe Loki's glamour fails at the end of Ragnarok, with Odin dead and Asgard gone. He might have put on plays revealing his origins, but that is way different than facing the reality. Bruce helps him cope.

Or maybe they talk about what's been going on on Earth. Does Bruce decide not to return there and goes off exploring the universe with Loki?

If you go the shippy route, I am a sucker for these two falling for each other very hard and very fast, like 'oh no, he's hot and kind and such an asshole?!' with a bit of pining and possessiveness.

En Dwi Gast | Grandmaster/Loki & Thor

Grandmaster/Loki is such a great ship that I somehow ended up shipping before I even saw the movie. This is one ship I am fine with a bit of dubcon and power imbalance. Loki's position on Sakaar canonically did not seem very stable and I can't imagine Loki would not be very aware of the power imbalance there and might end up doing things he normally wouldn't to keep being in the Grandmaster's favor. Especially considering the events prior to his arrival. That said, I would also not mind a fluffy and cracky version of them hooking up either, especially if Thor is watching the whole thing like ????

Actually, I would love something where Loki and the Grandmaster troll the everloving hell out of Thor. Maybe playing the strangest sounds coming from their bedroom when they know Thor can hear, but actually they're cuddling in bed and feeding each other grapes.

Or Thor's reaction if the Grandmaster comes find them on the ship looking for Loki. With Loki being oddly touched that someone went looking for him, even if he does still think the Grandmaster is insane.

Fenrir/Loki

Anything with this would have to involve a more intelligent Fenrir for my own sanity. Maybe even a shapeshifting Fenrir? That said, size kink ahoy. Also would not mind wolf babies.

Maybe Loki finds an...um interesting way to distract Fenrir during the battle? Would like Loki being utterly wrecked, but oddly satisfied by the end.

Frigga & Loki

A fascinating relationship that did not get explored nearly enough in the movies. I'd love a slightly darker take than fandom usually goes for. Frigga still stands by Odin, even after all the shit he's pulled and not once does she validate Loki's complicated feelings about him. Instead, it's all about trying to pull Loki back into the family fold without admitting Odin might have done anything wrong. And with Ragnarok's revelations, whole other facets can be explored. Is she Hela's mother? Does she know what happened and did that color her response to Loki? Was she part of the conquering? Was she the reason Odin changed?

I'd love an AU where she didn't die. How would have things turned out then?

Gamora & Nebula & Loki & Thor

Oh, all the parallels for the space siblings! Maybe Gamora and Nebula come across the Asgardian refugee ship? Maybe Thor and Loki go after Thanos and meet Gamora and Nebula who are doing the same and they decide to join forces?

As much as I would like to see Nebula & Loki and Gamora and Thor interacting, I would love to see Nebula & Thor and Gamora & Loki interacting instead (or as well). Maybe Thor gets along surprisingly (or not so surprisingly if we consider Loki) with Nebula and Loki is amazingly good at getting under Gamora's skin in a way she only thought Nebula could. Hell, maybe one set of siblings provides some therapy for the other. Seeing other people's problems is easier than reflecting on your own, after all.

Heimdall & Loki || Heimdall/Loki

These two have an interesting dynamic and I'd love to see it explored more! They go from kinda hating each other in the first movie to almost amused bantering in the third. How did that happen? Heimdall was obviously aware something was up with Odin, but he didn't really do anything about it beyond hide. And Loki didn't seem to keen on trying to catch him. Was he going to do something until he saw Loki was just taking a break from the shitshow his life had become? Or maybe Loki actually impressed him a little bit with how he ran Asgard and loosened the leash on the other realms?

Or, for an AU, Loki gets Heimdall on his side as he rules Asgard and feelings develop? And it's all very complicated due to the deception Loki pulls posing as Odin so they have to hide because imagine the scandal of the Allfather moving on from his beloved queen so quickly.

Maybe just something with the two of them interacting on the ship after everything. There's one theory that Heimdall is/has the Soul stone - does Heimdall know Loki has the Tesseract because of it?

Or maybe all that hate in the first movie was just UST that went unresolved because the Gatekeeper couldn't consort with a Prince and they finally let it all out after on the ship.

Hela & Loki

Far too little interaction between these two in the movie. I'd be happy with anything. Obviously, there are so many parallels between them. Do they commiserate? Does Hela view Loki with contempt?

Maybe Hela is the reason Odin reacted badly anytime Loki shapeshifted into a woman. How would the revelation about Hela play into Loki's perception of that?

I would also love an AU where Hela wasn't forgotten and trapped, but still a member of the family. What would their lives be like as siblings? Would she (still bitter about Odin's change of heart) reveal Loki's origins to him, trying to get him to hate her? I'd imagine that could backfire spectacularly, since she'd be the only one to tell him the truth. With Hela still there, would Odin even take Loki from Jotunheim? Maybe Hela is the one to pick him up, viewing him more like her beloved Fenrir than a son or brother.

Hulk/Loki || Hulk & Loki

All of the size kink, please. Also, I love stuff where Loki's jotun instincts kick him in the head and make him pay attention to the Hulk because yes, this one can beat the tar out of me without breaking a sweat. And the Hulk being a bit confused, but up for it. Loki is a puny god and puny giant, but it's not like he'll break. Green babies welcome (maybe Loki's instincts get kickstarted by the fact his world is gone now and well someone needs to repopulate the planet).

For stuff not quite so in the gutter, I'd love something that elaborated on their relationship (platonic or otherwise) on the ship. Maybe Loki is put in charge of making sure the Hulk doesn't tear the ship apart? It could go from Loki forcibly putting him to sleep or trying to bring Bruce back to telling him stories or maybe even the Hulk turns out to be great at flyting.

Maybe Loki finds out who the Grandmaster's champion is before Thor arrives and works on befriending him. Could start out as Loki wanting to use the Hulk for his own purposes, but growing to care for him on his own terms. Maybe the Hulk reminds him of Thor too much and heartsick at the thought that Thor is dead, Loki just clings a lot.

Korg of Krona/Loki

I literally have no idea how to make this pairing happen, but I'm totally open to it! Not sure what Korg would get out of it either, seeing how he's made of rock. But I believe in you, chocolatier! I know you can make this work :D

Maybe Loki ends up too electrocuted to be coherent enough to direct Korg and the other gladiators to go to Asgard and it ends up destroyed? Cue comforting.

Or maybe Loki just really likes debating with Korg about his revolutionary pamphlets and it goes from there.

Maybe Korg wins a particularly impressive fight and the Grandmaster lends him Loki for the day. Loki is game for it. I'd be deeply amused if this prompt just ended with them playing like chess or something because Korg misreads the situation.

Loki/Pepper Potts/Tony Stark

My OT3 for this fandom! I'd love anything! To see how it happens, to see a scene when they're already established, negotiating it, or defending it, anything! How does Loki deal with his longevity vs Pepper and Tony? Does he try to fix it? Does it happen without his intervention? Or does he decide to become mortal for them?

Perhaps an AU where a jotun Loki comes to Earth and gets involved with them (bonus for worldbuilding that jotnar relationships are polyamorous far more often than on Earth). Or maybe he has a fling with them (separately or together) when he was younger and then feelings when he meets them again?

Maybe after Civil War, Pepper manages to outmaneuver Loki into joining her and Tony, bagging them a powerful ally for Infinity War?

Nick Fury/Loki

Despite everyone teasing them about daddy issues, Loki and Fury were fucking long before Fury lost his eye.

Or maybe Loki approaches Fury after the Dark World with an offer of cooperation and things happen. Or Loki wrangles an offer of amnesty after the Avengers with the reveal that Hydra has infiltrated SHIELD after pulling the info from the mind of one of his minions (and things happen).

I'd love anything with the two power coupling all over the place. Or Loki baiting Fury into having his way with him everywhere.

Both of them pretended to be dead for a while, maybe they shared tips and commiserated?

Loki/Bruce Banner/Brunnhilde | Valkyie

I'd love something where, for all their individual dysfunctions, they all work together pretty well. Bruce doesn't have to worry about hurting them, even if he accidentally Hulks out, but also provides a stabilizing influence for them. Loki might be twisty and a drama queen, but he is fiercely loyal once he decides that he wants this. Brunnhilde gets a friend and sparring partner in Bruce and someone she can show her darker side to in Loki. Somehow, they make it all work.

Or for something more cracky, maybe they all just got together during one of the Grandmaster's orgies and never fell apart after.

Loki & Yondu Udonta

They're both blue aliens with issues! I can just see them being weird friends (that they would never ever admit to being) :D

Maybe after Loki falls off the Bifrost, he lands on Yondu's ship? He doesn't want to return to Asgard and can't think of anything better to do, so he sticks around. Yondu keeps him because a magic shapeshifting alien with Aesir strength is great to have around for ravaging.

Or maybe Loki uses Yondu to escape Thanos. Maybe he even drags Gamora and Nebula for the ride?

Or does Yondu visit Asgard, hoping to pull a con there and gets caught by Loki? Instead of handing him over to Odin, Loki takes him out for a drink and they swap ever more ridiculous stories.

Crossover Fandom

Dirk Gently (Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency) & Tenth Doctor (Doctor Who)

Dirk Gently gets people where they need to go, which makes him a perfect companion for the Doctor. It lets the TARDIS have a break from doing the same. Or they join forces and make the Doctor's life even more chaotic.

Or perhaps the TARDIS takes the Doctor to Blackwing and he takes Dirk away from there. Or does Dirk accidentally get on the TARDIS, perception filter or no? Does the Doctor try to get rid of him or is he delighted by such unexpected company?

Dirk Gently (Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency) & Loki (MCU)

Is Loki a Blackwing subject and that's how they meet? Does he break Dirk out, planning to use him for some purpose?

Or the man who gets people where they need to go meets the god who has no idea where he is supposed to be. How does Dirk help Loki in that case?

For a crack prompt, perhaps Loki mindcontrols Dirk and tries to use him for taking over, but the universe makes things go improbably wrong for Loki's plans, but pretty great for everything else for him.

Dirk ends up on Sakaar, the planet of the lost. Does the universe implode or is he just there to get a certain trickster god to where he needs to be?

Farah Black (Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency) & Samuel Vimes (Discworld novels)

Farah apprentices under Sam Vimes. He's impressed by her encyclopedic knowledge of criminal law (even Ankh Morpork's labyrinthine one), but less so with her attempts to blindly follow it. Especially considering some of them contradict each other twice.

Or maybe they team up to bring down a criminal. Maybe Vimes is the apprentice when he appears on Earth and wants to be a cop again.

Granny Weatherwax (Discworld novels) & Loki (MCU)

During my first Yuletide, I received a few amazing fics with this pairing and I'm hankering to see more of this scenario.

Loki falls to the Discworld in Lancre and Granny decides to knock some sense into him through hard work and headology.

Or maybe a young Loki gets sick of being called a witch all the time and decides to really learn how to be one. Granny has no idea what to do with an actual god trying to be her apprentice so of course she acts like she knows exactly what she's doing and takes him on. It ends up surprisingly well.

Groot (MCU) & Treebeard (LOTR)

Flora Colossi are either a subspecies or an offshoot of Ents. Does Groot come across Treebeard and Middle-earth in his travels? Did the Entwives disappear to Planet X?

Does Groot help the Fellowship out? Or does he invite Treebeard to go see the universe with him?

Loki (MCU) & Donna Noble (Doctor Who)

Loki falls from the bifrost and crashes into the TARDIS. Donna, experienced with dealing with skinny angsty godlike aliens, knows how to handle him.

Or maybe Loki and Donna keep meeting through the years as she travels with the Doctor and he is intrigued by this mortal that never seems to age. Maybe he helps her deal with the Doctor's memories - perhaps what science cannot fix, magic can.

Loki (MCU) & Ned Stark (ASoIaF)

Because reasons, Loki swears fealty to Stark and helps out with the politics part of the GOT causing Ned to survive.

Maybe he'd been shapeshifted into the direwolf they find at the beginning of the book? Maybe he comes to Westeros during Robert's Rebellion and helps out, even when injured or something?

Loki (MCU)/Theon Stark (ASoIaF)

Loki discovers Westeros during the time of Theon Stark the Hungry Wolf and is super into him. Together, they go into bloodsoaked wars and emerge victorious. Does Loki decide this is a place he wants to rule? Is he content with just Theon?

Loki (MCU) & Franklin "Foggy" Nelson (Daredevil (TV))

So Avengers Academy had a Defenders event where Loki and Foggy had a beautiful friendship. Which just made me want the same for the movie and tv versions of them. I just want them bro'ing around together.

For a more serious prompt: Loki is kept for trial on Earth. No one but Nelson & Murdock want to represent him. Or the Hoggarth firm kicks it down to Foggy once complications arise. Anyway, there's something off about this case (I'm not a lawyer, but international/interplanetary jurisdiction, extradition,human rights etc etc) and Foggy is going to get to the bottom of it. This would be a variation where there were extenuating circumstances for the Incident.

Loki (MCU) & Q (Star Trek)

Tricksters in spaaaaace. Anything with Loki and Q being BFFs across the universe.

Phryne Fisher (Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (TV))/Jack Harkness (Doctor Who)

They met, they banged, she solved his murder.

Phryne Fisher (Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries)/Jean-Luc Picard (Star Trek: TNG)

This strikes me as a fascinating dynamic. Phryne would draw out some of Picard's mischievousness while he'd be a stabilizing influence. Does Picard time travel to the twenties? Does Phryne end up in the future somehow? Imagine her on the Enterprise!

Samuel Vimes (Discworld novels) & the One Ring (LOTR)

Anything inspired by this post http://emoinspace.tumblr.com/post/168728003648 where Vimes arrests the One Ring for being an accessory to murder.

Either that, or Vimes is the only Man who can resist the Ring for a long time out of sheer bloody mindedness.

Tauriel (Hobbit movies) & Boromir (LOTR)

Do they meet before the events of LOTR? Does she come across him on the road and accompany him to Rivendell? Or does she come across him on Amon Hen in time to save him?

I'd just be fascinated by them meeting. Tauriel who wants to go out in the world and do more to fight back and Boromir who has been fighting his entire life. I expect Boromir would be a little more at ease meeting a Silvan elf than the Noldor he first encountered.

Or maybe after the Battle of the Five Armies, Tauriel makes her way to Ithilien and spends her years there fighting. The soldiers of Gondor think she's a myth until Boromir meets her.

Tony Stark (MCU) & Ned Stark (Game of Thrones)

Tony Stark as a Stark of Winterfell would be great! How is he related to them? Does he just want to stay in his holdfast building stuff? How do events go (for his family especially) with him in the picture?

Or maybe Tony just finds himself in Westeros and gets in with the Starks due to his name. Does he hang with Ned? Does he try to upgrade Winterfell?

Wonder Woman (DCU) & Loki (MCU)

I want one thing from this interaction and that's Lasso of Truth angst. Does she tie him with it while fighting him? What does he say? How panicked does he get? When Diana realizes, how does she react? No one's ever really truly panicked before when she used it, after all. Do they become friends after? Or at least not enemies?

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

Farah Black/Todd Brotzman/Dirk Gently || Farah Black & Todd Brotzman & Dirk Gently

These three just make my heart happy, ok? They're such great friends, I love them. Farah and Todd spent months trying to look for Dirk! Dirk kept thinking they would come for him! I love it.

This can be either shippy or no, but I would love something that deals with Dirk's time in Blackwing. He was such a mess in season 2, I would love for something where Todd and Farah take care of Dirk and help him be less high strung.

Or maybe something with the three solving a case in their newly acquired offices? Dirk and Todd helping Farah train and study (not that she needs to) for a PI license?

#chocolate box 2018 #exchange letter

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ganbaramen · 7 years

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Aqours 2nd Live Tour: Pre-Tour Cast Q&A [EN Translation]

In the September 2017 issue of Dengeki G's Magazine, each of the Aqours cast was interviewed on their thoughts about the 2nd Live Tour, with a question on each location (Nagoya, Kobe, Saitama) as well as one on the tour as a whole.

Here's my attempt at translating their answers; let me know if you have any errors or suggestions to report. (I was half-asleep on a plane while translating parts of this...)

If you need a refresher, their 2nd Live Tour begins this Saturday:

8/5, 8/6: Nagoya 8/19, 8/20: Kobe 9/29, 9/30: Saitama

I'll be in Nagoya (and Saitama) cheering them on, so I wanted to get this out before their show on Saturday. I’m glad that I’ve gotten to see Aqours come this far, and I'm hyped to see what they have in store for this tour!

Anju Inami (Anchan) as Chika Takami

A1: Impression of Nagoya This 2nd Live Tour is my second time in Nagoya! The first time I went to Nagoya was in November 2015, for the talk and meet-and-greet event celebrating the release of our first single, "Aqours Extracurricular Activities: Journey of Greetings ~DOKI-DOKI SUNSHINE!!~". We split up by our school year groups, and us three 2nd years went to Nagoya back then. I'm very happy that this time, all nine of us can come back like this! ♪

A2: Impression of Kobe It's my first time in Kobe!! So the first thing that comes to mind when you ask is Kobe beef. After that, the name of the venue is "World Memorial Hall", so I wonder "what kind of amazing venue could this be?". I've been excited about visiting this new place!

A3: Impression of Saitama This is the second time I've been to the performance venue, the MetLife Dome! The first time was about four years ago, when I went to see one of my favorite artists perform. To think that on my next visit, it'd be me standing on that stage... it didn't even cross my mind as a possibility, so I'm very surprised!

A4: Message for Everyone ♪ On this 2nd Live Tour, I'm super happy that we can visit all these places! Really, it's thanks to everyone who has been so kind as to cheer us on. With a smile like Chika's, shining as brightly as the sun, I want to say to everyone "thank you" and "from here on"! Please look forward to it!!

Rikako Aida (Rikyako) as Riko Sakurauchi

A1: Impression of Nagoya For Nagoya, as one might expect, I have a strong impression from the 2nd years' talk and meet-and-greet event in 2015. In the 2nd years' group, we went around eating kushikatsu [TL: various fried foods on skewers], visiting Nagoya Castle, and taking pictures of us posing like Shachihoko [TL: a mythical carp; there’s a statue at Nagoya Castle] (laugh). Being able to come back and perform in this memory-filled Nagoya brings me a lot of joy!

A2: Impression of Kobe This is the first time in my life that I've been to Kobe, so it's full of nothing but unknowns for me. All of it will be fresh to me, so whatever happens, I feel like I'll be able to have a good time (laugh).

A3: Impression of Saitama Saitama prefecture is so close to Tokyo that my impression of it is roughly the same as that for Tokyo. And to say the least, it'll be at the MetLife Dome! The sound of "Dome" really resonates, and that's very moving.

A4: Message for Everyone ♪ This is Aqours' first live tour, so I hope we can show Aqours' passionate emotions to everyone from each stage!! I have a lot of feelings like that! I want to have a bright, blazing hot summer, living up to the title of "Love Live! Sunshine!!"!! When the day of the show comes, let's forget about the next day, and have our hearts burn with passion to the end!!

Nanaka Suwa (Suwawa) as Kanan Matsuura

A1: Impression of Nagoya I've always wanted to go to Nagoya, but this is my first time going there, so I'm looking forward to it ♪ I've heard of the venue we're performing in, Nippon Gaishi Hall, but I've never been there, so I'm very curious and excited to see what kind of place it is. This is the first venue of our 2nd Live Tour, and while I want to get a grip on the atmosphere there, from Nagoya onward, I want to put all my strength into firing everyone up!

A2: Impression of Kobe Thinking about Kobe, I have the impression of a beautiful townscape. The 1st year group loves taking pictures, and it seems like Kobe will have a lot of photography spots that'll delight them...! I haven't been to Kobe either, so I'm looking forward to finding out what kind of place it is! I'm happy that I can go to these places I haven't visited yet on this live tour. One day, I want to try visiting every prefecture in Japan.

[TL: Technically, not all of the administrative divisions referred to here are called "prefectures", but it's close enough and makes for easier reading to translate it that way.]

A3: Impression of Saitama MetLife Dome is a very big venue, so I'm really looking forward to being able to perform there ♪ I'll try my best so that we can unleash all the excitement built up from our performances in Nagoya and Kobe!

A4: Message for Everyone ♪ Though it feels like we just finished the 1st Live, I want to experience that scenery of a sea of lights once more! Together with everyone that comes to watch us, I hope we can see an even more beautiful landscape! I want to have a HAPPY PARTY TRAIN TOUR where we can bring everyone lots of happiness!!

Arisa Komiya (Arisha) as Dia Kurosawa

A1: Impression of Nagoya When talking about Nagoya, as I thought, the image of Nagoya Castle comes to mind! I want to see Shachihoko, since I haven't seen it in person before!! I've only been to Nagoya for work, so my own impression is very busy, but I think I'd really like to do some relaxed sightseeing（^^）

A2: Impression of Kobe I've also been to Kobe for work, once or twice. But I don't know very much about what's there, so I'm thinking that I'll ask (Takatsuki) Kanako-chan, who's from Kobe, to teach me about it. The Kobe performance is after the two days we spend in Nagoya, so I think that'll mean that my nervousness will settle down, and I hope to have a wonderful performance in Kobe!

A3: Impression of Saitama The Seibu Line that goes to MetLife Dome is one that I took often for work when I was 18-19, so personally, there are a lot of feelings associated with that place. When I was going home, I'd see many people wearing the performers' T-shirts. But back then, I never thought at all that I would stand on that stage. On this live tour, and out of all the venues we've performed at before, this will be the largest one. I want to firmly project my feelings and smile to everyone, even those furthest from the stage!!

A4: Message for Everyone ♪ The theme for our previous live was "0 to 1", but on this tour, it would be great if we could show off exactly how much we've grown in the half year since then! On this tour, we can meet even the people in the outskirts of the Kansai region who couldn't come before, so I'll try with all I've got to bring enjoyment to everyone!

Shuka Saitou (Shukashuu) as You Watanabe

A1: Impression of Nagoya Us 2nd years went to Nagoya for the meet-and-greet event!! So being able to come to Nagoya again like this makes me happy! The time we visited Nagoya Castle is dear to me~ （* ^^ *）I'm looking forward to being able to perform at Nippon Gaishi Hall!! Let's have a Nagoya-esque performance~! ...what does it mean to be Nagoya-esque?? (laugh)

A2: Impression of Kobe My first visit ☆ to Kobe!! It's hereee ☆☆ This is my first time going to Kobe! It'll be my first impression! Just about everything will be fresh to me, so there's no end to my excitement!! I'm happy that my first Kobe visit is for our 2nd Live Tour!! This is the best!!

A3: Impression of Saitama Saitamaaaa—!! To think that we can perform in Saitama!! Wow! Wow! My happiness is going to overflow!! The venue is huge, too!! I might say that my impression of Saitama is good, as it has this mysterious sense of security!! (laugh)

A4: Message for Everyone ♪ Finally! It's here!!! The 2nd Live Tour! Ever since it was announced at our 1st Live, I've thinking "Is it here yet? Is it here yet?", and now it's coming so soon ☆☆ We're coming to visit everyone. And when I think about being able to make so many wishes come true in so many places, my anticipation and heartbeats just won't stop ☆ I wonder what scenery we'll see, and what dreams we'll create this time around. And since this is our first tour, my fighting spirit can't help but get fired up. From the most amazing stages, I want to reach everyone who has supported us all this time! I'll be holding hands with the rest of Aqours and You-chan! Looking towards all our performances: Full speed ahead!! Yousoro!!!

Aika Kobayashi (Aikyan) as Yoshiko Tsushima

A1: Impression of Nagoya The 1st years have descended on Nagoya before, for the meet and greet event! Now that we're coming back, this time in the form of the 2nd Live Tour, I'm thinking "We can meet everyone~", so I'm very happy and really looking forward to it! When we heard that we have the privilege of performing at Nippon Gaishi Hall, I thought that I'll have to work even harder than before so that we can show everyone Aqours' radiance. Everyone, let's enjoy ourselves~!!

A2: Impression of Kobe My first time here!! ...at last, the fallen angel descends onto Kobe—To Kobeeee? I fall! [TL: this worked a lot better in Japanese] I want to eat a lot of tasty food!! And the venue is the World Memorial Hall!! Meeting our little demons, and seeing our numbers grow... I'm looking forward to it!

A3: Impression of Saitama When Saitama was mentioned, I thought of Seibu Dome (now MetLife Dome). Well, I never! Never! Never expected that the day would come when we'd have the chance to perform there!! I wasn't thinking of that at all, so I thought "wow, this dream hasn't ended, huh?"! With everyone in Aqours, I want to continue making various dreams come true! I've thought this many times over!

A4: Message for Everyone ♪ Thanks for waiting! Little demons! Aqours is coming to see you all! It's the 2nd Live Tour! Let's board a happy train with Yohane, and go to the ends of the earth! Everyone, let's shine together!

Kanako Takatsuki (King) as Hanamaru Kunikida

A1: Impression of Nagoya Kushikatsu, chicken wing tips, dagyaa~! Personally, I've been to Nagoya so many times! I'm from Kobe, so my number one memory is taking the slow train for over 4 hours to meet my friends in Nagoya (laugh).

A2: Impression of Kobe I am Kobe girl! [TL: literally what she said] My hometown ♡ Riding the Port Liner is exciting. It's a very strange feeling, coming to my hometown as a part of Aqours. I'll try my best to make everyone like Kobe so that we'll want to come back!!

A3: Impression of Saitama Saitama seems close, but I can never really go! I've been to MetLife Dome once to see a performance. I ate yakisoba [TL: stir-fried noodles] at one of the food courts outside the venue. All I do is eat (laugh).

A4: Message for Everyone ♪ Thinking about all the skills we've cultivated during the 1st Live and all the events after that, I'm wondering whether we'll be able to show them off in a big way on our 2nd Live Tour. For both the songs we're performing for the first time, as well as the ones we've performed a lot, I'm sure our dances and performance will surprise everyone, so I'd be very happy if you had high hopes for us! As Hanamaru Kunikida, from the bottom of my heart, I'm looking forward to being able to meet everyone.

Aina Suzuki (Ainya) as Mari Ohara

A1: Impression of Nagoya To be honest, I've never been to Nagoya, so this will be my first time!! I haven't been there before, so I can't help but be very excited ♪ I've heard that our venue, Nippon Gaishi Hall, is really big, so my heart is already pounding ♡

A2: Impression of Kobe To be honest, I've never been to Kobe either, so this will be my first time!! I haven't been there before, so I can't help but be very excited ♪ My impression of Kobe is that it has streets full of stylish fashion and full of sweets!! If I go, I get the feeling that I'd become a girl with a strong sense of both body and soul!! (laugh)

A3: Impression of Saitama My impression of Saitama is that it seems very cheap to live there!! I feel like you can spend your days living peacefully there ♪ MetLife Dome is often used for baseball games, right!? It must be very spacious ♪ I'm deeply touched by the fact that we're able to perform in this kind of place!!!

A4: Message for Everyone ♪ At our 1st Live, we were on stage at Yokohama Arena. And for our 2nd Live, we have a tour... Normally, you wouldn't think this would happen, so it feels like we're walking in a Cinderella story. After experiencing our 1st Live, now that I've reflected on and improved on my shortcomings, I think I'd like to show everyone how much I've grown. I'm really looking forward to meeting everyone in each of these places, and I think that each of these encounters will become precious treasures to me. So I'm hoping that each encounter with us will become something important to everyone as well.

Ai Furihata (Furirin/Aiai) as Ruby Kurosawa

A1: Impression of Nagoya I remember going to Nagoya on a school study trip. We did things like going to the harbor's aquarium and taking photos, so I want to go again! Afterwards, we ate lots of delicious stuff! I like uirou [TL: a rice flour candy], so I want to buy "uiro bar" [TL: a frozen popsicle-like take on it; no English source, but pics here] as a souvenir (laugh).

A2: Impression of Kobe This is my first time in Kobe! I want to learn about it from Kanako-chan, Hanamaru Kunikida's voice actor. It's also my first time at World Memorial Hall, so I can't really imagine what kind of atmosphere it has. If I said one thing, maybe it'd be "It'll definitely be an unforgettable time!". My heart is already pounding.

A3: Impression of Saitama The other members took some time to tell me about MetLife Dome. I heard that it's incredibly big, "huge!!", and "hot!!" (laugh). Thus, I want to try my best, so that with our energy, we can blow the heat away from the venue, and reach everyone with our happiness. To everyone coming to this venue, please take care to hydrate yourself!

A4: Message for Everyone ♪ On this tour, we'll be able to go to so many places, and have the chance to make an enjoyable time for so many people; I think this kind of privilege is extremely rare. Aqours, Love Live! Sunshine!!, and Numazu: I want to put on a performance that will make everyone love them more and more! I want to reach everyone with Aqours' Numazu Power. Please look forward to it ☆

#love live!#aqours #seiyuu #aqours 2nd live #anju inami #rikako aida #nanaka suwa #arisa komiya #shuka saitou #aika kobayashi #kanako takatsuki #aina suzuki #ai furihata #translation

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neth-dugan · 7 years

Text

Nine Worlds 2017

This is a slightly lengthy report but meh. Tumblr has a ‘skip to next post’ function so what the heck.

I managed to get a pre-con cold rather than the traditional post-con one, which I’ve managed to give to @knittedace as well, oops. I did have hand gel on me and tissues to minimise the spread. If I gave anybody else my cold I’m sorry!

I met up with @knittedace on the Thursday. We were meant to go to the Natural History Museum but I’d been off work sick the previous day and just couldn’t do it. No energy. Instead we met up at the hotel itself and as soon as we could get into the room we unpacked and I took a nice and much needed nap.

We went to the ‘Cheese and Cheese’ evening event, one of two events to welcome people to the convention. There was cheese of both the literal and literary variety to be enjoyed. I read out a riveting and very cheesy Power Rangers VHS tape description, but the best was a very cracky, rather explicit Doctor Who one that had the entire room in hysterics. I was laughing so much I was coughing up a lung.

FRIDAY

I was initiated into the Order of the Dalek! Learnt how to put on @knittedace‘s knitted Dalek costume - something I got better at as the weekend went on. I also came across some great cosplays, and @knittedace got to pose with a Missy and Thirteenth Doctor. She’ll post the pic if she wants to.

In the morning I decided to go for something different from what I usually go to. We’d met the woman running some of the kids panels and she invited us along. So I went. It was pretty cute, gave the parents some adults to be around too and just played some simple games. Don’t really get to do that ever. And then there was a fun story that was like some kind of Dinosaur version of Planet of the Apes but about environmental issues and written a few decades back.

Then I went to a crafty thing in which we all made hair bands! Met some great teens, two of whom had made their own cosplays. For one it was her fourteenth birthday and she ended up having to help me out because I’m rubbish at this stuff. We had some good talks fandom but also human orientations and labels and just being happy with who you are. Oddly we all also ended up in the next thing which was basically free tea and cake with tables to chat at.

I came across this same group of teens at this con, all through the weekend. They’re all smart and for all that they’re still growing up and maturing they’re great people already.

I was given the green tea left ofter after. Yay free tea!

Toxicity in Fandom was my next stop. Nothing particularly surprising but still a good talk that had someone who had once been a part of those hostile groups though they’ve grown up and are better now. It also touched on how the toxicity doesn’t just come from the traditional bigots and gamergate type folk, but also people from those who use the language of social justice to bully rather than for good. The folk who live up to all the bad things people throw at the ‘sjw’ name.

Nine at Nine Worlds: Nine Tropes which was about, well, tropes in fan fic. Nine of us presenting five minutes on our favourite trope. It had the return of Nina - Lady of the Puppets - and then I did mine on ‘Time Travel Fix It Fics’. Went well. People laughed. Someone the next day pulled me aside to have a chat about it. Apparently I accidentally made them read loads of fic with the trope. Oooops. There was also a dramatic 007/Q power point fic reading that I helped out with, to lots of laughter.

There was also a late night game of Slash, with my home made deck, with other members of that panel including Tanya who had lead it. Tanya, for those who don’t know, was co-head of the Fan Fiction track back when tracks were organised differently and there was a specific Fan Fiction track. She’s still a big part of the fan works type stuff and is pretty damn awesome. She’s been there to help me out when I needed it and is pretty brilliant. There were also others who just came and joined in and that’s the beauty of these things. But then it was time for bed.

SATURDAY

Before any panels started, me and @knittedace met up with the person who’d be our third in Sunday’s Redemption round table to have a real world chat over breakfast which was fun. I’ve no idea if he has a tumblr ID to tag him in however. I’d wanted to have someone who knew about anime on there because neither me or @knittedace know anything about it. I know about Yuri on Ice but not much else. And though it’s mostly a workshop it is a bit panel so yeah. We had a great talk. And food.

We found the infamous ‘TARDIS full of Bras’ cosplayer. For those who don’t know there was a comment on a British newspaper site that is our version of Fox saying that the new Doctor couldn’t be a woman because then the TARDIS would be full of bras. So some brilliant soul went and turned this into a cosplay and just…. love. Again the pic I have is of Helen too so it’s up to her to post it. But seriously, OMG LOVE.

Time Travel and Film was our first panel of the day. We both got there in time for the hall to be mostly empty. I had on my TNG uniform hoodie thing with my comms badge pin so we get this photo:

The talk itself was also fun. Presented by an actual university lecturer on Philosophy, and turns out she was also the woman on a panel I’d be running later in the day. I looked at her name on the power point, down at the names I had for the panel and up again and went ‘huh’. Seriously though, good lecture about time travel from the perspective of philosophy rather than physics and its different possible models.

I was talking to some folk and the lecturer after, @knittedace having already left when I got a text from her saying there was a Londo cosplayer outside. I sped out there as fast as I could to find this fantastic person:

I have no idea their name or anything other than they were determined to remain in character and had a wife who sounded a bit bemused and long suffering of it all. Kinda reminded me of my mom trying to deal with my dad actually. He was really fun though. (ETA: I am told that he is @TheWarLlama on twitter) (ETA2: Apparently the woman wasn’t his wife. I just assumed because the dynamic going on reminded me of my mom lol. Oops. )

Queer Coding in Disney was my next stop. The person doing it did a good job. Made sure they explained what queer coding was in the first place for those who didn’t know and then went through Disney. Talked about films I didn’t know much about, and there was some talk about how some of this also intersected with other minorities and representation of various people.

After that I went upstairs for a nap. I was tired, still had that damnable cold, and wanted to be my best for my panel. I missed a panel slot with content but self care is important so up I went.

But then I was back! With my Hufflepuff scarf and wand! And still in my Starfleet uniform hoodie!

I think on the way into the panel hall someone said something like ‘hello Commander’ and I was a bit confused. Mostly because I didn’t have any pips so couldn’t be an officer but that’s a small thing and I think I smiled back?

In any case, next up was my panel. Which upon arriving at the convention I discovered was to be held in the largest room at the convention. Eeeep!

Dumbledore: Good or Evil? Went pretty well. At least one member of my panel was surprised it was ever even a debate, but she none the less stood up and argued for good. She was the above mentioned philosophy lecturer so debating is kind of her thing. She comes at it very much from a philosophical theory perspective though which I think caught out one or two people in the audience going from twitter. A person took a picture and stuck it on their twitter. You can find that here. I’m in the middle.

There was a lot of talk about how Dumbles does or doesn’t use his power for people, abandoning Harry, the things that go on in his school under his responsibility, and at one point he was compared to Boris Johnson. How he seems to be about consequences more than the actions themselves. Is it intent or your actions that make you good or evil? Does the era that the man grew up in excuse things? Does the fact that there was a war coming/going on excuse things or not?

There was a question at the end about him being a slave owner due to house elves. That…. I had red sirens screaming in my head there. Thankfully it was with hardly any time to go. It’s a very good question. Something worth looking at. But nobody on the panel had any real place speaking on it. The philosopher took it, but she took it from literally a philosophical perspective rather than a moral one which probably came off wrong to some. Because yeah, that wasn’t a moral stance. I didn’t really know what to do there other than internally panic a bit and try to move on as fast as I could with a ‘this could be a whole other panel and should be’ thing.

I was so worried about not being neutral that I didn’t step in to point things out or ask things when looking back I wish I had. There are things about that I’d have liked to improve but largely the response seemed to be good. I learnt from it. We had a vote at the end on of the audience thought Dumbledore was ‘good, ‘evil or bad leaning’ or ‘it’s complicated guys leave us alone’. The result was a mixed bag with lots of complicated so I guess that wins. People did come up to chat to us when we were still on stage after it ended to thank us for this or that. I’d warded off a comment from team Evil that was about cheating but could also have come across as anti-poly and so someone thanked me for that.

Druids, Deities and Daemons: Archeological Horrors in ‘Doctor Who’ was my next thing. It wasn’t particularly exciting but it was an interesting look at how the show portrays archeology from an Egyptologist who had a delightful manner of presentation. You can tell he’s upper middle or upper class but he isn’t snooty and he’s just really cheerful and into his thing. Which is always a joy to see. He wasn’t fond of Ten saying that as a time traveller he laughed at archaeologists. Fair.

Ageism in fanworks/fandom was a panel Tanya had asked me to be on last minute when playing Slash the night before. So I had no prep time and possibly a few people were confused as to why an extra person was sat up there. I was probably the youngest person on there, no worries. But interestingly also the only person who had actually grown up in fandom rather than finding it as an adult. It was interesting, throwing up different experiences with fandom and how it sees age, how it changes. But also how media sees us. How it expects women to age out of fandom but for male fans to be the sad lonely people in the basement forever.

Space Opera! SF&F in Musicals was a unique panel, for me anyway. Held in the lower levels with half the room covered by bean bags. By this point I could barely walk. I don’t know why, something happened to my legs and I found it increasingly hard to walk through the day. @knittedace said I should grab a priority access sticker but I’d have felt like a fraud even as I slowly limped my way around the place so i didn’t. But I managed to get a chair anyway so yay!

The person presenting it was drunk. I thought they were just mellow. It had originally been designed as an academic thing but given when it was scheduled it became a kind of guided tour of musical SF/F complete with YouTube clips, sarcastic comments from the audience and much fun. Also singing along sometimes. I lost the key to my room. It later turned out I’d left it there when I awoke from my nap but I couldn’t find @knittedace so I got reception to invalidate the old ones and issue new ones. With slightly disturbing ease come to think of it. And that was that.

SUNDAY

Marvel v DC Fanworks was the first panel of the morning. Chaired by a very very very tired Tanya who was having a hard time of it I think. It was a good conversation but you could tell she didn’t have the energy to chair it as she might want to. I was sat next to the birthday girl from Friday who is smart and knows her stuff and was very very excited. So excited she frequently interrupted and spoke over others. I don’t blame her. She was excited and we’ve all been there. I’ve been there. And ideally it is the chair’s job to gently deal with that but as I said, tired. In the end a person left the room when they got talked over once too often. I don’t blame either. It sucks to be talked over, especially for some people who find that really hard. And though I’m sad she left I understand it.

But I’ve been a very excited teenager, in fandom at that, before. It’s also hard to pull that in when you don’t have the experience and you’re having so much fun and you have so so so many things you want to say and nobody is telling you no. I’ve been her as I said. The things she wanted to say were all good things. Just a convergence of multiple things that didn’t mix well is all. I think she noticed too as she got a sad look with the woman left the room. Felt bad for both of them really. All three of them.

Queer Dax was my next panel, and one I was running. I’d decided that there was no way joined Trill weren’t queer, and wanted to talk about that, so here we are. I’d made sure that the panel had people on it who were queer in various ways and though one person couldn’t make it due to passport issues we held on.

The room started to fill up well before the start time. So we were chatting at everything from pets in the different series with someone insisting that Neelix was the pet on Voyager. Gasp! To how Mourn maybe talks a lot in ways we don’t get to Garak/Bashir slash to anything. The place was pretty full by the time we started.

It was a good discussion. I later found out that the person who’d manned the convention’s front desk really wanted to go but couldn’t and so was following a person’s live tweet of it as it went on.

We talked about the identity of the symbionts themselves, what it may be like to suddenly be flooded with all these humanoid identities. How maybe they’re like drag (at the start anyway). How we never hear them talk for themselves, as themselves, just the hosts. We’ve even had former hosts separated from the whole and able to talk in the singular. But never a symbiont. We asked how memory worked, to what degree were the hosts individuals or now and how that may work. How there were ‘very special episode’ moments but how they kinda also played out like every other Dax romance and was pretty good for the era. How Trek at least had a framework where this discussion was possible.

I framed lots of things as ‘for Paramount in the 90s’ or similar because yeah. The studios. Boy. And the times.

There was also a good deal of talk about the parallels between the way joined Trill are treated, and how Trill are screened to trans gatekeeping and queer separatism. How Dax seems to get away with literally everything and does Jadzia Dax at least have privilege? Lots of stuff I haven’t mentioned.

Someone in the audience asked about things within Trek that called to us as queer people and I got to go on about my asexual headcanon for Seven of Nine.

A Study in Redemption: Character Arcs in our Fandoms aka ‘Redemption’. And oh boy this has a long history. Originally this was a proper panel but stuff happened behind the scenes, messages got mixed and instead of it being a panel full of fandomy meta people it was proper Named authors and I got anxious and didn’t know what the hell to do and internally screamed some. I reached out to Tanya for help, and she and a person above her in the Nine Worlds team really did help. I am so thankful to the both of them. We ended up splitting it into two with the authors keeping the proper panel thing and doing it from their perspective and I’d do a kind of panel/round table discussion thing. Mostly round table. I heard some not so great things about the ‘Redemption in Sci-FI’ panel aka the parent one. I couldn’t be there so I don’t know the details.

This one was awesome though. @knittedace was on it with me, as well as our third the anime guy. Who did have things to contribute even to western stuff that coming from another perspective and tradition was pretty cool.

Again it filled up fast. We were chatting about various stuff before the panel time started. And by the official start time arrived we had to put a sign on the door outside saying we were full except for a couple priority access seats. And it truly was only two priority access seats. One woman came in, and then left as she didn’t have a priority access sticker when there was still a ‘open to all’ seat left. Oh well.

In this one I brought all of my experience charing over the weekend. What I’d seen and liked, seen and didn’t like, as well as stuff I knew already. I knew this could be a tricky topic for some so I made sure rules were set out first.

Like, obviously we are talking about characters who have done bad things. And this will be mentioned. We can talk about Anakin Skywalker but not go into graphic detail over what he did. Use trigger warnings. If someone is talking about something you find hard raise both hands or otherwise make yourself known in a way other than ‘I want to talk next’ and we will stop. Let you get out. And send someone to let you in again. That people know the protocol for spoiler warnings in their own media types and fandoms and to use them. And again if you need to stop someone because you’re behind the bell curve in catching up, let us know and leave and we’ll bring you back in after. Someone did take advantage of this which was awesome.

I also made sure people knew talking over others wasn’t what I wanted, that they were to respect others and let them finish and that sometimes the three of us on the mini panel thing would pull things back to us to raise new points or add new questions etc.

It went really well. Orderly. One person had to leave for a minute and did so, no fuss was made, and came back in after, People respected others, good discussion was had, the topics moved forward rather than spiral deeper and deeper on things, nothing got graphic. Somehow there was humour even given the topic but not inappropriate humour.

Lots of good points including how some characters are seeking redemption even if probably they don’t need it. How for many people who had either been raised in a toxic/evil environment or who had been through crap otherwise, redemption was also often a story of gaining or regaining agency. How doing a good thing and then dying to save a person for selfish reasons wasn’t really redemption. Or how someone forcing you to be good by putting a soul in your body or other magic or something making you good is also not really redemption. Redemption, proper redemption, required choice and consequences and owning what you had did and overcoming. How sometimes there is an aspect of white saviour going on.

I loved that panel. I really really did.

What gets me most is that at the end of the night, someone who I really respect (not Tanya to be clear) came up and told me that my Dax and Redemption panels had been her two favourite of the entire convention. I was so so touched, and honoured and it meant a lot. I had a couple other people say they’d loved Dax but this one person was… it blew me away.

Geeky Cupcake Decorating was just pure fun. Me and @knittedace went to this just as a fun thing to do. Also being asexual we figured it was our duty. Speaking of, I made this lovely delight:

I had to mix the grey fondant myself. I think it’s fondant? Terms confuse me. @knittedace Made this brilliant set of Doctor Who cakes that she can show off later but where much admired. And the table near by made a truly adorable set of Yuri on Ice cakes. Some seriously talented folks. Also plenty of kids having a lot of fun. One little girl was running around showing off the cake she’d made and that her dad had made with real pride. So cute.

We went for dinner after that, sad that things were ending, and came back in time to go to the end of convention quiz.

End of the Con Quiz is hosed by Ash every year. And much to my delight we were once again visited by the infamous No Face. This isn’t a cosplay, this is like a visitation from the real thing. Last year they were slowly chasing Ash all over the place. This time they were menacing him from the corner whilst people gave it tribute (and it ate the dire wolf) to making Ash dance.

I knew almost none of the answers. I never do. But they did ask a question about my panel!

Our team decided to call ourselves ‘Quiz Master Ash/No Face OTP’. Not much of a reaction from Ash to that when he read it out. We came fourth. There was joint last which mean they had to battle it out to get (or not get if they so chose) the last place prize.

Never have you seen such a tense and dramatic game of Jenga. There was Star Trek fight music (Kirk edition) on repeat several times, there was the Benny Hill chase music, there was the Crystal Maze music, there was the Tetris theme. There were people at the back standing up to watch, everyone was tense. Even No Face got in on the action intimidating people/paying attention.

No Face got way closer than that. Scary.

I mean seriously. Though it has since been revealed, nobody knew who the person doing No Face was for two years. And they were fantastically in character. It was genius. And people treat them with the respect and caution as though they were actually a malevolent spirit. So this was fun for everyone up there lol.

Eventually that ended and we retreated to the mini bar in the games rom. Played more Slash for a bit until we all had to leave.

And then it was the end of the con. And all is sad.

Me and @knittedace had to share a bed as the room was one large bed rather than two singles. And I was joking that if we were inside a fan fic this would so be the ‘forced to share a bed’ trope. Followed by some joking about waking up to bumps in unexpected places. Like lower legs. Or something. But we got to sleep eventually.

I’m sad to be home. I have ideas for panels next year already. I miss it. @knittedace described getting home sick when she got home and I hadn’t framed it that way before but it is. We both grew up in fandom. Spending time here, talking here, learning here. Fandom is a culture we spent our formative years in and are still a part of. And conventions are like temporary pop up real world manifestations of that. So it kinda makes sense. But what makes them so special, in many ways, is that they are temporary. Even if it’s always sad to leave.

Also, and importantly, at the bottom of the back page of the program was this very touching easter egg that will make you feel the feels if you decode it:

–. -. ..- / - . .-. .-. -.– / .–. .-. .- - -.-. …. . - -

Nine Worlds Staff and Volunteers

They are brilliant. They work tirelessly before, during, and after the con to make things work. From the techies making sure all the equipment works to those running the front desk and twitter so people know what is going on to those making sure things go to plan or even have a plan, to everyone else who makes everything work. To those who do the nitty gritty stuff like finances and talking to hotels or sponsors to get stuff done to those who organise tracks and content to those who book entertainment to everyone who volunteers for a few hours.

They work so hard. And need so much thanks. None of this would work if not for them. It doesn’t matter how many of us are willing to sit at behind a mic and babble at you for an hour, if none of them are there nothing would happen at all.

So thanks to them for all they have done, and all they continue to do.

#nine worlds #nine worlds 2017 #star trek #harry potter #fandom

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ladywiththegirlsheart · 7 years

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bis pre-issue review★

The magazine itself is quite big, bigger than LARME and similar to the size of ViVi or Sweet. I like big magazines because bigger pictures (although scanning is a bit harder)! Also there’s 136 pages.

The cover is okay, I’m not super crazy about it but it’s nice.

★

Anyways, looking inside, the main story is 「Never mind」which features the cover girl Mirai Shida. Like the cover, it’s quite dark and makes use of different layouts, borders and text layouts. The main theme is about being reborn.

The shoot advertises different trends like flare plants and chiffon dresses. The looks will set you back a couple tens or hundred of thousands of yen though, it’s not cheap. On the cover she is wearing a 410,000 yen dress by Rochas. However this shoot, and the first few in the first half of the magazine, are more likely for aesthetics and promoting ‘high fashion’ brands to try to emulate for yourself as the second half of the magazine balances out the price of items.

The next editorial is 「Gemini」. It advertises new collections from brands like Theatre Products and Jill Stuart along with some writing by Erika Kobayashi about twins. Like the first editorial it’s pricey with the aim of looking high fashion. I didn’t really love it and the photography was just okay to me.

Next was 「Vespertine」. There were one or two pictures I liked, but again it was just a high fashion-y sort of editorial with a little bit of superfluous text. And I didn’t really like the clothes.

The last of the high fashion editorials was 「忘れる (Wasureru)」. This one was very artily edited, which focused more on aesthetic than the clothes. I wasn’t enamoured by this one either unfortunately. I think it would have been better without all the graphics around it.

Next was 「UTOPIA MAKE-UP」. It’s about “Mode Feminine” make up, aimed at ladies becoming adults. The main header pictures were really creative and nice with a robotic twist, but the make up wasn’t to my taste - the cheeks are meant to be a skin tone colourless colour. The lip colours were reddy pinks though. The featured make up brands were Anna Sui, Yves Saint Laurent, Dior, Jill Stuart etc.

Now we come to the divide of the magazine. From here on out the magazine picked up a lot for me and was more affordable, bright and youthful.

Starting with 「Summer Style of Vintage」a book in the magazine (like the little book in book things) which features some questionable fashion choices that nobody would be caught dead wearing - like a shoulder to toe lace bodysuit and a dress that looks like it was made out of blue cling film... But some of it is okay... take it with a grain of salt. Actually the last page promotes a magazine called DOOR which seems to have styled this, so it might just be some kind of PR.

Moving on, next in the little book segment is Products Needed This Summer. It features the model Raimu Taya, who seems to be the main ‘bis girl’. It shows the make up to do in different situations like daily make up and date make up, then shows you how to style your hair and makeup with certain coord items like cat eye sunglasses and bloomers. I actually liked this spread a lot, but wished it wasn’t all taken in front of a grey background, that, and lighting doesn’t make the make up look so great.

Next, a prettier layout for popular keywords for now. There’s even some coordinate examples, to give a taste of the fashion in bis. Some brands featured in this are HONEY MI HONEY, Zara, Supreme.La.La, Faline and Katie. There’s also keywords about skin care, cosmetics, nails and make up.

Now back to the main magazine, my favourite editorial! 「Pretty Things」. It features Haruka Kudo (from Morning Musume ‘17), Raimu and Raika Yumi as three sisters working in a hair salon. The coordinates feature them wearing one of the same item of clothing or accessory and mix and matching with different pieces. It’s easily the best editorial showing different situations like “Selecting Flowers for (the) Salon” and “Scouting Pretty Girls”, and the fashion’s cute too. The most featured brands are Katie and Agnes b.

Next is a “healthy summer” mix and match, featuring Raimu in Vintage Casual and NANAMI in Girly Casual. Some of the brands featured include lilLily, Peach John, Uniqlo, Zara and Forever 21. It shows at most 5 coords for each style for the months between May and August. There’s some cute stuff, there’s some basic stuff. Layout wise it reminded me of ViVi.

Next is a feature on hairstyles for summer. Mostly before and afters promoting different hairdressers to visit and some styling tips. The fashion in this segment is quite nice.

Next is another hair feature, but this time a hair arrange segment. My first thoughts were that it looks a lot like LARME. I don’t know if this ribbon hair stuff is popular in other magazines nowadays though, so it could be the norm. Anyways, it’s nicely laid out and the models are cute.

Next is 「Self Body Care Salon」. If you’ve read something like this in another Japanese magazine you’ve probably read them all! There’s a lot of exercises, stretches, diet tips, massages etc in this part. The theme colour of the pages are baby blue which is really pretty.

Next is the recipe segment. A part of this is also on the bis website. It’s recipes featuring noodles with 0 grams of carbohydrates. The instructions are limited to about 3 or 4 steps so I don’t know how easy they are to follow, but I genuinely want to eat them all.

Next is a make up Q&A. Again, read a make up Q&A once and you’ve read them all; but you do get some summer tips and bis make up recommendations. There’s a question on how to make your eyes look bigger without circle lenses, and flicking through the magazine it seems more often than not that circle lens aren’t used that much.

Moving on to culture, it kicks off with a piece on a short movie that is being shown in the video section of bis’s website. I haven’t watched it yet, and I haven’t read the piece yet.

The next page is on 「Transparents」- clear accessories. I guess this isn’t culture...but it’s just one random double page. There’s some expensive clear accessories which seem like they belong more in the beginning part of the magazine. I don’t know, really.

Next is some promo with Sanrio for Sanrio Puroland. It features some ‘bis girls’ - SAKURA, Noa Sato and Mei Tanaka. I’m not familiar with them, but they look quite young. You can see this PR feature on bis’s website too.

Next there’s an interview with the title “Do you think birds are free?” It also has some illustrations. It’s quite long, so I haven’t read it yet.

Next 「How to grow my wings」with Raimu. It’s a weird layout with text all over the place. I don’t understand it, but I think it’s supposed to be deep. It’s pretty at least.

Turn the page and there’s 「LAKE」. Another written piece about something...It’s from a story about travellers or something.

Anyways, coming towards the end, there’s 「BOY’S CULTURE MODE」. Which is an interview with Kento Nakajima, a member of Sexy Zone. I don’t know about Sexy Zone and I don’t really have any interest in it, so I didn’t read it.

The first of the monthly instalments, 「bis BOOK 」. This month’s book is “Night Flower The Life and Art of Vali Myers”. The other is 「bis FLOWER」. This month’s flower is Dahlia. I like flowers, but I didn’t expect that to be something they’d do every issue. It’s different, that’s for sure. It’d be nice to have a model posing with the flowers though.

Then, fin, telling us the magazine will start to be published in September.

★

My first impressions are that the magazine is not bad. But there’s a big disconnect within the magazine. The first half is Vogue x Sweet, the second half is LARME x ViVi. Since it’s only the pre issue, it can definitely be hard to get one original ‘bis’ style down of course. However if they maybe spaced out the high fashion parts, or just inserted some high-end pieces into the second half and vice versa, it would be better. It’s too much at the start and it’s boring. I like high fashion editorials but the pictures weren’t enough to make me feel like looking at them over and over again.

The second half is nice, and has some pieces and coordinates I like. I can see it’s a bit more mature even if the models look young.

I also think the very last part needs some work. The culture sections are lacking.

Also, going back to my first impressions regarding the website; the magazine and the website are indeed different. Some things from the magazine are actually on the website in short articles, and some website articles don’t actually feature in the magazine. Everything related to appealing to boys only exists on the website and some of the outfits in the magazine actually go against what’s written on the website - baggy shapeless pants that hide your figure being something boys don’t like girls to wear is actually in coordinates in the magazine. It’s another example of disconnect, with the website giving a sort of different impression. The magazine is definitely more mature than the website.

But overall, as I said, the magazine needs some work. Luckily there’s a couple of months before the magazine launches to make changes. I also think it’s a little expensive. It’s a little less than Sweet which has over 350 pages and always comes with a gift, like a bag. Maybe they should give a gift with it, or maybe it will have more pages later on.

★

So, for the pre-issue that’s may overview and review. I’m not completely blown away, but it’s not a lost cause. Now’s the waiting game for Autumn! Thanks for reading and I hope this helped! Has anyone else got their issue? What are your thoughts and if you weren’t sure about bis do you think you’d be interested in getting it now?

#bis #review #jfashion

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newmayhem · 5 years

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Characters: Vampires

Disclaimer: None of this is mine, everything was collected from Amelia Atwater-Rhodes’ old websites, the wiki, and the old message boards. Anything written in the first person is a direct quote from Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. For all the entries in the The Den of Shadows Reference series, check the tag or this page.

Katama’s Line

Jeshickah

Before Silver ruled, Jeshickah did, through Midnight. Yes, she is a lunar vampire, and hence a Nyeusi. She is also tightly bound to a k'jait named Leshan. Jeshickah named Leshan when she was still human, several years before her death. She bound herself more tightly to him throughout Midnight's reign, gaining power for herself and for those descended from her. Though they are not consciously aware of it, and it is not their primary form of sustenance, all of Jeshickah's descendants feed through touch. Their k'jait power is also responsible for Jeshickah's line's ability to dreamwalk, which is not normally a vampiric ability.

More information can be found in the Katama’s Line entry.

Nathaniel Stevens

Nathaniel Stevens (Christian name, he doesn’t know his birth name) is one of Midnight’s few inhabitants who was actually brought to the Americas by the human triangle trade. This happened when he was very young, so he grew up a slave… by human standards, anyway. His Master was a man called Elliot Stevens (hence the last name).

Nathaniel fell in love with a girl named Ellen, Elliot’s only daughter. Obviously, this didn’t go over well once her father found out.

Jeshickah, with recently-changed Taro in tow, discovered Nathaniel tied to a post after Elliot had beaten him. For reasons Nathaniel doesn’t really know or understand (and certainly didn’t care about), she demanded Elliot sell him to her.

I haven’t finished writing this book, but I do know that Jeshickah intended Nathaniel to be a trainer, and he was the only one of the five men she chose over her career who outright refused her, in every way. Among the many tricks she pulled was giving him Ellen as a gift, after Jeshickah had broken her… one of the many reasons Nathaniel hates Jeshickah.

Long story short, he angered her so much she broke several of his ribs, crushed his windpipe, etc, without intending to. When Katama pointed out that a human man had bested her (gotten her to kill him before he broke, which had been his intent at that point), Jeshickah changed him instead. Unfortunately for her, fortunate for Nathaniel, he managed to claim freeblood status after his change (he’s a quick study, picked up on that law swiftly) since she had never broken him, and Katama backed him. He needed to stay connected with Midnight, since there was no other power for his kind (until, obviously, Mayhem’s rise), but he became a mercenary instead of a trainer… putting him into a good position to get the best information, etc.

As for personality—and again, if this doesn’t work with your story, don’t feel forced to stick to it, I’m just offering it in case you want something to play with— Old-Midnight Nathaniel considers himself a green-blooded mercenary with no loyalty to anyone, but at the same time is proud of the fact that he has more “rules” (too green-blooded to admit they’re morals) than the rest of Jeshickah’s brood. He won’t extend money or energy to save someone who’s worthless… he says… and usually it’s true… but he also doesn’t abuse people by nature the way the trainers will. He doesn’t lose sleep over Jeshickah’s slaves, mainly because when she says “slave” it’s a mindless creature and far too late for it to be saved. He picks his battles by those he can win.

Xeke Catene

Xeke Catene (not his real surname, Catene is just what he goes by) is technically a member of Katama's line, but he is powerful enough that many people will refer to him as if he led his own line. The third member of the Wild Cards, he focuses his attention on beauty, and the senses. His studio is currently in the pre-production stages of Apocrypha, which is based on the myths of the Dasi, and the story of the Obsidian Guild.

According to a Q&A with Amelia Atwater Rhodes:

Q: How does Xeke not remember his creator? Didn't someone have to feed him blood when he awoke or tell him of how Nyeusigrube worked?

A: Yeeeeh, you'd think he would remember it, wouldn?t he? He claims he was really, really drunk. I?m not sure I trust him. Q: Why doesn't anyone want to claim him? A: Xeke is a rabble-rouser. He breaks the rules by following them. He irritated powerful people but has enough powerful allies that no one can get rid of him. Who would want to claim responsibility? Oh, and there's the fact that Jeshickah absolutely forbid her fledglings from creating their own. And there's the fact (this goes back to a previous question) that technically, as Jeshickah owns most of her fledglings and Xeke is descended from one of them, she owns him, everything he has worked for, and everyone he protects. When Jeshickah came to town, Xeke got out of the way. If he is lying and does remember his creator, Xeke doesn't want to claim that progenitor any more than that vampire wants to claim Xeke.

Kendra’s Line

Lord Daryl di'Birgetta & Lady Brina di’Birgetta

Birth Name: Lord Daryl di'Birgetta Birthplace: England DOB/DOD: b. 1630s CE d. 2002 Changed: After 1650 CE Sire: Brina di'Birgetta Fledgling(s): Jerome

Birth Name: Lady Brina di'Birgetta Birthplace: England DOB/DOD: b. 1630s CE d. 2002 Changed: After 1650 CE Sire: Kaleo Sonyar Fledgling(s): Daryl di’Birgetta

Affiliations: Allied with New Midnight and formerly allied with Midnight. Appearances: Midnight Predator

Lady Brina and Lord Daryl were born to a wealthy household in England in the early 1650s, with Daryl the older by three years. After their mother died in childbirth to Brina, their father pampered them- especially his youngest daughter. The siblings were provided with everything and anything they could possibly want, which was quite a lot.

More than anything, Brina loved rich colors and warmth. She adored painting, and her father brought in the best teachers he could find. Though the actual supposed instruction went to Daryl- as most of the best teachers refused to teach a woman- Brina was always there, on the other side of the room, listening and remembering to every word and every brush stroke, which she would promptly replicate after the lessons were done. Despite his only moderate interest in the arts, her brother indulged her absolutely, as he always had and always would.

In 1665, the plague broke out in London. The illness was brought into the household by a servant, after which the di’Birgetta home was quarantined. Brina contracted the plague, but recovered; her brother was never afflicted by the illness, but spent most of the family finances in bribes to the nurses who would bring food for a price, and finally for forged letters of health so he and Brina could escape and flee the country.

Impoverished and suffering badly in the aftermath of her family’s death, Brina did what she believed to be the logical thing, and promptly decided to dedicate herself to a church, preferring martyrdom to marriage. As you might imagine, the religious devotion did not last long, as Brina discovered that God wasn't quite on the top of the list of things she loved; painting and her brother came first, followed by naphual red and cobalt blue and a great many other hues and shades, with God somewhere near the middle to bottom of the list, just above cooking, cleaning, embroidery, strangers, and the plague.

After being caught in the arms of a man (some rumors say said man was her brother), Brina was expelled from the convent, and returned to a destitute home. With her reputation now in tatters, it was highly unlikely that she would ever make an honest and wealthy marriage, so she again did what by her standards seemed personally reasonable: she tried to become mistress to one of the famous painters in the area, so she could afford oils and pigment.

The affair might have ended when his wife objected to Brina posing the proposition in the drawing room during tea time, but it most certainly ended when Daryl (who had accompanied Brina on her insistence as a chaperone) killed the man in question.

At that point, Daryl swept his sister off to Italy, where for about a year they posed as man and wife in a small home about a mile outside of Rome. Brina began to sell her paintings, which quickly caught the attention of Kaleo Sonyar- noted painter, sculptor, and musician. He tried to get her to run away with him, and she in return invited him into a ménage e trios, which is just about the only time that Daryl or Kaleo have a) been in agreement and b) denied Brina anything at all.

For several months, Brina refused Kaleo's offers to change her, until he pointed out that she would be able to afford more and better paints if she didn't need to buy things like food... and until he told her about Midnight, a new empire, where she would be a noble eternally, surrounded by as many slaves as she wished.

In 1669, Brina was changed, and she, Daryl and Kaleo made their way to Midnight, where Brina was absolutely charmed by Jeshickah's recent creations- Varick, Taro, Gabriel and Jaguar. Over the next two years, Jeshickah repeatedly tried to buy Daryl from Brina, without much success. However, it wasn't until Daryl tried to murder all the trainers by hiring a Triste to spike their slaves' blood that Jeshickah put her foot down.

In response, Brina changed her brother, who soon became one of Kendra's unrequited favorites. Such grace ascended him into the vampiric aristocracy, and his rapidly-growing wealth (returning to him now, based on several good investments, and Brina's success as an artist) bought a great deal of lenience from Jeshickah's kin so long as he agreed to stop trying to kill them. Which he did, as soon as they agreed to stop trying to seduce Brina.

By 1804, Lady Brina and Lord Daryl were well established as incredibly wealthy supporters of Midnight. Their private estate was filled with slaves in various stages of training and health.

Brina had just finished a very successful series of paintings of lovers, the best of which was an intense homoerotic piece focusing on a dark-haired Italian and his ash-blond English lover. The piece, one of Jeshickah's personal favorites, hung on the Mistress of Midnight's wall for several years, and inexplicably made Varick go pale every single time he saw it.

Daryl meanwhile had discovered that, though he would never develop his sister's passion for painting, there were art forms he loved. He began to study sculpture, with a fixation on stone and glass; he would in a few more years, once it became more readily available, discover the benefits of ice sculpture. At the same time, he formed a fascination with the trainers' art, at which most of them agreed he was unaccountably bad, but which he refused to give up until his death at the hands of a badly-broken slave in 2002.

Kristopher

Birth Name: Christopher Ravena Birthplace: Southern United States Birth year/original time period: About 30 years before the American Civil War. Changed: 1850 Sire: Nikolas Ravena Fledgling(s): Sara Vida Affiliations: Member of Xeke's Circuit and of SingleEarth Appearances: Shattered Mirror, All Just Glass Other Information: Kristopher has blue-cone monochromatism, a type of colorblindness which only affects males.

Lila Light

On December 8, 2009, a little over ten years after In the Forests of the Night was published, Atwater-Rhodes revealed background information about the characters and their world on her official site. She revealed that Risika, as well as Aubrey and Ather, is part of a line called the Silver Line and that her and Alexander's mother was known as Lila Light who originally resided in an unknown place that was taken over by the vampires who ran the empire of Midnight but before it was taken over she had fled to a town called Vieton where she met and married Rachel and Alexander's father. Before their birth, a vampire by the name of Kaleo had taken an interest in Lila and courted her for three years. After they were born Lila feared for her children's lives as Kaleo grew impatient waiting on her and feared he would kill them. To protect her children, she allowed him to transform her into a vampire and she changed her name to Charcoal. Because of his wife's unexplained disappearance, Rachel and Alexander's father left Vieton and took them to be raised in the town in which they had grown up before Rachel was transformed into a vampire, as well as protect them from Midnight. To explain their mother's disappearance their father told them she had died giving birth to them. When Risika had visited Mayhem after her transformation her mother saw her and knew what she had become and using her Light Line magic out of anger, she set Mayhem a-blaze, as fire is the specialty of those in the Light Line. Lila Light, although unknown to Risika that Charcoal is her mother, currently resides in New Mayhem.

Tizoc Theron

Theron was Aztec (genuine, not Azteka) poet; he is of Kendra's line, actually one of Kendra's direct fledglings. He and Kaleo are very close friends, such that where one goes, the other and pretty much the rest of Kendra's line tends to follow.

Theron does not like to lead, but neither does he follow. He works primarily as a mercenary and assassin, but also deals extensively in information of all types. He is very politically powerful, because (as previously stated) the side he chooses to support tends to get most of Kendra's line. He is one of the best-known vampiric assassins/mercenaries in the world and is among the few individuals powerful enough to manipulate SingleEarth.

Tizoc Theron owns the line of establishments by the same name.

Tizoc Theron is referenced in Demon in My View, Midnight Predator and Persistence of Memory. He has yet to make any physical appearances in the published works.

Silver’s Line

Ather

Birth Name: Lameta Frektane Birthplace: Wolf shapeshifter -> Lunar Vampire Changed: 2720 years ago; shortly after Kiesha'ra’s end Sire: Silver

Fledglings:

Aubrey (432 BCE, Athens, Greece)

Aubrey was changed after he slit Ather's throat in a fight.

Kala (1334 CE, Mesoamerica)

Risika (1701 CE, American colonies)

"Rachel" first came to Ather's attention after her Triste student-in-training brother, Alexander, attacked Ather. Aubrey convinced Ather to change Rachel into Risika instead of killing her in order to cause Alexander more pain.

Aiden (1791 CE)

Affiliations: Mayhem Appearances: In the Forests of the Night, Wolfcry (cameo as Lameta Frektane)

#reference

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