#and i rather liked the roadtrip structure

[ennaih]

Every Film I Watch In 2023:

129. Atlantis: Milo's Return (2003)

[listofwhyyouloveher]

Hey, could I request the gang Jealous that their s/o is getting close to one of the other guy in the gang. And keep up the good work 🥰

Summary: The gang getting jealous that you're growing close to others.

Warnings: jealousy

Author's Note: None

PONYBOY looked up to you so much. He loved your ideas and wits and your gorgeous face. He knew you'd be hard to resist. So that's why he got so damn nervous when you stated hanging out around Johnny. He knows that although he and Johnny may seem like he has a lot in common with him, Johnny can be really different. He overthinks everything, wondering if Johnny standing out would make you like him more, or if you're actually spending time with Johnny to get away from Pony. He won't stand up or confront you for it though, he just watches from the sides, a big pout on his lips.

JOHNNY was so scared that Dallas was gonna steal you from him. Dallas was really Johnny's idol, so he thought you'd adore him the way Johnny adored him and leave him. It doesn't help that Dallas is a chronic asshole and will openly try to flirt with you. Sometimes he gets so scared you're going to leave him that he just dissassociates while staring at your face, trying to remember all the details in case you go. He's debating on whether or not to confront Dallas, and he settles on simply telling him to not try anything funny with you. Dallas laughed and said that he was proud of him for sticking up for himself.

SODAPOP is really scared of you falling for Ponyboy. He knows how important it is to have a smart guy with actual potential, especially with someone of your stature. He knows that a drop out who works with cars doesn't exactly fit that standard. He tries so hard to engage with you about school, asking if you need help with academics or anything even though he probably couldn't help you. Your refusal each time makes him feel so bad and seeing you go to Pony for help makes him feel even worse. He starts treating Pony roughly, getting curt and snippy until either you or Pony realize what's going on and explain that you two are just friends.

STEVE is really afraid of losing you to Soda. Soda's a notorious charmer, and he's conventionally attractive, which Steve thinks he isn't. He's still trying to love you normally and doesn't let it affect him but he sometimes thinks that you'd be so much happier with someone like Sodapop. He's actually trying to get closer because of this instead of distancing himself. He wants to see if you'll say something about Soda or him that makes it crystal clear who you really want. That comes in the form of you telling him that you wanted him to come on a special roadtrip with your family rather than telling Soda.

TWO BIT is scared to lose you to Steve. He's trusting of Steve and you but he knows things happen and that one day you might decide Steve is better for you. Two isn't exactly all masculinity, he has to have some softer spots to take care of his sister, but he wonders if you want someone like Steve and that's why you both are hanging out so much. He doesn't think he gets insanely jealous but it drives him nearly crazy thinking of possible situations that could lead to the demise of your relationship with Two. However, he realizes in the moment when you're unmatchably happy is when he's showing you his softer spots and he realizes that you truly love him.

DARRY's been suspicious of you and Two Bit's relationship for a long time. It started around 2 months ago and now you two are always hanging out, secretly giggling and whispering about him. He wouldn't say that it was akin to bullying but rather he felt like it should've been him. He trusts you a lot, and knows that these circumstances shouldn't change that, but he wonders if you'd prefer a guy who could make you cry of laughing than him, he feels boring and not good enough. Until, he comes home on a random day to his suprise party! You explained that you and Two helped structure it and all his worries melted away and he immedietly kissed you.

DALLAS tries to be cocky and arrogant but he knows that he's certainly not the best boyfriend, that you could and SHOULD leave him. Leave him for someone like Darry, who you've been spending time with recently. Darry is hardworking and kind, Dallas is not, and he's stuck in a loop of comparison but he never knows how to act more 'hardworking and kind'. He tries everything, from being ultra nice (to an extent) to being ultra mean, but nothing stops you from chatting and smiling with Darry. He's so insanely jealous that his suspiscions don't even clear up when you tell him that you've been talking because you need him to redo your roof.

[yermes]

PAC: 🕷️

Its the end of the world. If you knew death was going to pick you up like a toddler that fell asleep in the car after a roadtrip and gently take you away, how would you change?

Disclaimer: please take what I say with a grain of salt and not as the gospel. I just want to share some ideas of practicing and giving advice using the medium as often as I can with school, work, and my own personal studies and practice. But I am working on sharing my notes soon so that will be exciting! Liking and sharing does a lot 🥰

Socials: TipJar | Insta

Pick a meme

The cards

Lilies + Stork 🦢 🌸 

If this was your last day on earth you may take a turn from your hard pressed structural morality which was hammered into you and look for transformation and beauty. The looming threat of despair and destruction gives many emotions but to see transformation, beauty, and the divine in all walks of life and expanding yourself and your values is such an extraordinary way to change. The beauty within your ideas of mortality and immorality.

Moon + Cross 🙏 🌙 

Rather than processing the big bad looming over you, you may start to daydream. Be romanced with your ideas and delusions while pain, suffering, and hardships wait just over the horizon. You may have a hard time facing hardships and turn to day dreaming to cope.

Women + Whip 🧣 🍴 

This hardship is not easy news or easy for you to take. This tragedy inflicts pain. You being you; you feel the pain to the greatest extent you can possibly feel it. However, feeling this bad isn’t always a death sentence. Things will pass and feeling these emotions proves how good you have felt. The remembrance of good things gives suffering context.

Extras: 🧣

Story/vent:

Sent in my transcripts, got a mic, getting new books!

[cerosin-bis]

does anyone in yours HCs have a plan for their retirement?

Here are a few I can think of in CoD:

I think Soap would like to settle somewhere nice in a scottish suburb, and have his family nearby.

Minotaur absolutely plans to buy and/or refurbish a farm so his kids have a place to drop by whenever. He wants a big ass place to welcome people and family, but also because I 100% adopted @rawstfish's (or was it @modernghostfare idr but I know you both hc this) headcanon of the Bale twins having grown in a farm

I headcanon Syd to want to leave the military at one point to do months-long roadtrips in a 4x4 converted all over the world, going to all the places she hasn't seen yet, crossing countries or even continents!

Golem's life is the military but if he had an actual strong force pushing him do to it, he'd settle in a cabin in the German woods. Thing is, he's too afraid of changing his routine and would rather not think of what's to come, so he's not making plans. But they're here, in the back of his mind.

The others I either can't think of anything specific, or they literally don't have any plan as they are distinctly aware that if you remove them from the military structure they will shrivel up and die. (Price, Nikto)

In Rainbow 6, friends and I have a very elaborate headcanon of Maxim (Kapkan) and Timur (Glaz) either buying or refurbishing an isolated cabin where they can basically self-sustain with hunting, fishing, having a vegetable garden and stuff. This wonderful little one-shot by @erc-7, who's one of said friends, lives in my mind rent-free.

[mediaevalmusereads]

The Merciful Crow. By Margaret Owen. Henry Holt and Company, 2019.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Genre: YA fantasy

Series: Merciful Crow #1

Summary: A future chieftain.

Fie abides by one rule: look after your own. Her Crow caste of undertakers and mercy-killers takes more abuse than coin, but when they’re called to collect royal dead, she’s hoping they’ll find the payout of a lifetime.

A fugitive prince.

When Crown Prince Jasimir turns out to have faked his death, Fie’s ready to cut her losses—and perhaps his throat. But he offers a wager that she can’t refuse: protect him from a ruthless queen, and he’ll protect the Crows when he reigns.

A too-cunning bodyguard.

Hawk warrior Tavin has always put Jas’s life before his, magically assuming the prince’s appearance and shadowing his every step. But what happens when Tavin begins to want something to call his own?

***Full review below.***

CONTENT WARNINGS: depiction of disease, blood, prejudice, violence, mild sexual content

OVERVIEW: This book has been on my TBR pile for a while, and since I'm in the process of clearing out my backlog, it was time to pick it up. Overall, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I think Owen writes well and has a good sense for pace (which is helpful because I usually don't like plots that are akin to a roadtrip). I also thought the world was interesting, though it did seem to get overcomplex at times. In the end, I gave this book 4 stars and am intrigued enough to read the second book.

WRITING: Owen's prose flows well and gives readers a clear picture of what's going on. I think it balanced showing and telling appropriately, and it moved along at a pace that I found appropriate.

I also think Owen portrayed the multi-faceted nature of prejudice well. In a lot of fantasy, prejudice seems to manifest mostly in the form of insults or violence. In this book, there is some of that, but there is also an effective meditation on things like justice and how Crows have to navigate the world (using separate gates, staying away from certain spaces). The book even brings up language and unconscious bias in ways that felt natural. Overall, I was impressed; rather than feel overfull, the way prejudice was woven into the world felt like a reflection of how its woven into ours.

The main thing I think I can criticize, however, was the worldbuilding. At times, there almost seemed to be too much world and some aspects could have been simplified. There are also some aspects to the world that never seem to be explained or fully made use of; for example, we don't really delve too much into the plague and the concept of sinners though the two structure every part of the Crows' lives. There are also a lot of castes that don't really feel present.

PLOT: The plot of this book follows Fie, a member of the Crow caste who is training to be the next chief of her band. The story begins when Fie's band is called to dispose of the remains of two high-caste plague victims; in this world, only Crows (the lowest caste) are able to touch plague victims and offer them mercy killings, and this makes them both necessary but loathed by the rest of the castes. But when Fie's band discovers that the two victims are alive and have, in fact, faked their deaths, Fie is drawn into a political plot that threatens to put her family and whole caste at risk.

I usually don't like plots where characters are on a roadtrip or being chased, but this story felt well-balanced. Scenes never had just one thing going on; for example, characters would play games or practice fighting with one another and there was always another layer to the interaction (talking about prejudice, verbal sparring, etc). I also liked that the chase wasn't the whole book; most of it occurs in the muddle third while parts one and three deal with other aspects of the plot. As a result, I didn't feel like the story was dragging or that Owen was inventing nonsensical scenes just to extend the time on the run.

I also liked the relationship between Fie and the bodyguard, Tavin. For a while, I was afraid that a romance would develop between Fie and the prince, but Owen went a smarter route and gave Fie more chemistry with Tavin. As a result, there was even more opportunity to talk about how royal castes don't really understand the lives of their subjects and how lived experience bars understanding. I also liked how having to devote one's life to other people became something Fie and Tavin could bond over, and a lot of their conversations felt really productive.

CHARACTERS: Fie, our protagonist, is sympathetic in that she's part of a caste that is despised by the whole of society. I really liked how Fie communicated the necessity of acting in certain ways to avoid trouble and how standing up against injustice could bring more wrath upon her family. It was an honest look at how prejudice works and I could feel Fie's frustration the more the Prince and his bodyguard made demands of her.

Jasimir, the prince, is interesting in part because of his utter lack of knowledge and cluelessness. While he's not incompetent, it's clear that he understands nothing about surviving as a Crow, and while he tries to be kind, there are some things he just hasn't unlearned. He wasn't awful, so I didn't want him to die or anything; he was just a really good example of how lived experience can blind you to the injustice others face.

Tavin, the bodyguard, was compelling due to his efforts to really understand Fie and her life. Tavin messes up plenty of times like Jasimir does, but he makes it a priority to learn from Fie and try to help her in any way he can.

TL;DR: The Merciful Crow is a compelling exploration of prejudice, told through the eyes of someone who is part of an "untouchable" caste. While the worldbuilding got a bit overcomplicated, the character interactions and the way they talked about injustice kept me interested, and I look forward to the second book in this duology.

[tavarillasgalen]

Good moments from 2022 ✨

Seattle roadtrip. Listening to audiobooks on the road, splitting up the 12 hour drive to stay in a tiny Oregon town. The kindness of the people, the fact that drivers and people alike like... Let you move around and stuff, rather than trying to ram into you, even in busy places like Pike Place Market. How insanely good the food was, especially the pine and black pepper ice cream and the spaghetti... I had no idea spaghetti could be so good. How beautiful it was, with the water and the trees. I never even thought about Seattle as a place to live or visit until reading the Written In The Stars books, and from the visit, I could see myself potentially living there.

Getting a raise + exceeds expectations on all points of my performance review. And the fact that my boss raised it even more specifically because of inflation. And when I asked if he had any constructive criticism or anything, he was like, nope, you're wonderful.

Just my job in general. The environment and flexibility and trust levels are to die for. Many workplaces claim to treat you like family, but this one actually does, without saying it. I feel valued and like I'm good at what I do.

Delving more into cosplay. It's such a fun hobby. The perfect creative outlet. My favorite cosplays of the year were all of my Elains, Manon, Gwyn, and Keyleth.

Renn fest. This was a tiny little renn faire type thing by where I live, and it was so fun. It was overcast and drizzly, and it had some structures that looked like old timey buildings. There was mounted archery, which was so cool to see.

Renn faire. My state's big renn faire is always fun. I dressed up as a fairy, with a rainbow wig and crown and huge wings and all. The cutest thing was children seeing me and going "!!!!! It's a fairy, it's a fairy!!!" We saw a sword swallower, vaulting, siege weapon demonstrations, tried honey soda, and more. Some random person slipped my a little scroll and ran away and I was like ??? And it said, "Mommy? Sorry. Mommy? Sorry. Mommy? Sorry." All down the length of it. So cute lol.

FanX. Oh my goddd, this was so fun! We went all three days. I wasn't sure about it, because I have really bad anxiety, and FanX has thousands of people, but it was really, really fun, all three days. The first day, we went as Vax and Keyleth, and I was surprised by how recognized we were and the people asking for pictures. We went down artist's alley and saw some really cool things. The second day, I went as Manon, and everyone thought I was a Targaryen, lol. We got some Critical Hit soda (so many fun flavors, and if you roll a d20, your drink is free), and then went to a panel about The Boys. The third day, we were Vax and Keyleth again because there was a critical role meet up. So funny, you learn to respond to your character's name. So much asking for pictures, it was a bit overwhelming. I got same Game of Thrones fudge and we went through as much of Artist Alley as we could. They had a quiet room, which was nice for when you get overwhelmed, with the lights down low and coloring pages and stuff. We had some Critical Hit soda again, and then went to the meet up, which was fun. They had professionals doing pictures all over the con, and I had mine taken a few times, which was cool. I've only read the comics while my s/o has watched all the campaigns, he's on 3 right now, so I didnt recognize all the characters, but everyone was so, so nice. I forget if we did more things after the meet up or not, I feel like we went home, but I could just not remember.

Evermore Halloween. I was Alicent and my s/o was a medieval person. It was so cool to see how done up the place was and how it's expanded. We didn't hang around long because I was just.... Brutally depressed, but it was still a fun experience while we were there.

Starting to make things for my cosplays, like Keyleth's overdress from the comics and Keyleth's mantle. Watched sooo many episodes of True Blood and Game of Thrones, lol.

Cosplay shoots, like my mermaid tail in southern Utah, Keyleth with the fall leaves.

Getting the red hair I wanted!

Finally finishing my degree. Somehow managing to go from a failing grade to a 99% on the final and hoping beyond hope I could swing a D- because that's all I needed to pass the class and somehow ending it with a B-. Hard work pays off, I guess.

Finally getting into Game Of Thrones. I think my tastes have changed, because I remember trying it when it was airing, and hating all the violence. When House Of The Dragon aired, I decided to watch the first episode, just to see, and absolutely loved it. And since I watched the first episode the week it came out, I had no new content that week, so then I finally gave Game Of Thrones a go. It's one of my favorite fantasy shows now. Both Game Of Throne and House Of The Dragon were so good. My s/o gave me a beautiful leatherbound set of the books for Christmas, and I'm excited to read them next year.

So many good shows in general. The 100, Game Of Thrones, House Of The Dragon, Warrior Nun, Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, She-Ra And The Princesses Of Power, The Boys, and probably more that I'm forgetting, all of these were so good/fun.

I remember watching a lot of good movies, too! Neon Demon, Last Night In Soho, The Menu, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Spirited, these were all from the top of my head. My s/o adores the movies, so we go a lot.

My s/o's parents went to Bosnia for over a month over the summer, and we got a taste of living together. It was nice.

Crave cookies. It's become a weekly thing to check their weekly flavors and see if anything catches the eye.

Working out consistently for months. I worked out for maybe 2 or 3 months consistently? My weight didn't change, but my fitness levels definitely did. I was so proud of it. Both Pamela Reif's videos and the gym helped a lot.

So many beautiful commissions of my characters. A wonderful thing to spend money on because you cherish them forever.

Golden gyros!! The best Greek food.

So many good books. I read a lot of romance this year. It's nice feeling seen and validated in a way that you just don't in SFF books.

Time with my horse, always. Physical and mental health issues kept me from seeing her anywhere near as much as I wanted to, but the cowboy takes great care of her.

Pride was so fun. From free energy drinks to rainbow brownies to such loving energy all around, you feel safe there.

Christmas Eve and Christmas were both amazing? Family bonding time, presents that make me feel seen, good food, getting out and doing fun things, I have another post solely about these days. Since them, my family has felt closer, which is nice.

Trips to my parents' Zion house. Always a beautiful area, and its fun just going on a scenic drive through the park or checking out things in the surrounding area, like a ghost town in the fall or a lake to cool off in in 115 degree summer days.

All the improv comedy.

Outdoor adventures, like to the lake or the hot springs.

Generally being an adult and feeling capable of myself. Like making appointments, putting in new windshield wiper fluid, etc.

I'm sure that there's much more, but this is what comes to mind.

[wwilloww]

fic recs: series

This is a very short list of some of my favorite series on this blue hellsite. In no way is it comprehensive, and if you have any suggestions for series to read, please send me an ask! I'm always excited for something new, especially from new authors.

Writing engaging and good series is one of the hardest things to manage. Y'all are basically writing full-on books, and sharing them with us, chapter by chapter. These series have stolen my heart and I hope you like them as much as I do! If you read any of these fics, please take a moment to congratulate the author, or show some appreciation. Enjoy!

@kpopfanfictrash’s Blackjack One of the first long series I read on this site and still one of my favorites. The character development is prime, pristine, and absolutely engaging.

@honeymoonjin’s The Gentlemen I can never say enough about this series. This is one of the stories that was so fucking good that it inspired me to start writing. This series does an incredible job of representing healthy but complicated relationships, and I just love it. Please read.

@luffles424’s Into the Woods Series I am dying for more of this series. Faery OT7 plus the most gorgeous smut ever plus true-to-folklore worldbuilding - I love this with my whole heart.

@jjungkookislife’s Let Me Hold Them Okay this is one of the first fics I ever read, even before joining the writerly community and one of the things that encouraged me to join. Truly such wonderful, specific characterizations. And sooo indulgent to fall into a world where all of the members are tripping over themselves to fuck the reader. A decadent treat to read.

@hobidreams’s Moonlight Throne Drabble series that holds a whole world of character, desire, and complications. The historial part of this is so gracefully done, but the whole thing? absolutely adore.

@xjoonchildx’s airplane, pt. 2 This fic reads like a movie. I kind of want it to be a movie. The character development, the unfolding of their relationship, the absolute dramatic tension of the storyline? Chefs kiss.

@xjoonchildx’s Kanalia The tension here can be cut by a knife. Absolutely beautiful writing, incredible character work, amazing pacing. I want to fall into this world. A beautiful piece of fantasy.

@joopiterjoon’s Hooked I’ve been knocked off my rocker, rolled across the floor, have fallen in love with a whole cast of characters, and also been asked to encounter my own bullshit. Which, if I do say myself, is quite an impressive checklist for a fic to accomplish.

@underthejoon’s piece by piece I read this in one sitting. This fic is Art. The structure. The language. The story line. Each section is a window into the swirling growth of the character’s hearts and relationships. And yet, despite the brevity (or maybe because of the brevity) each chapter weighs the world in the reader’s mind. Each action is significant.

@madseok’s What the Water Gave Us I LOVE THIS CONCEPT. I think this series has so much potential for humor and chemistry and i’m really excited to see where it goes.

@reliablemitten's Second Heart This story has the perfect mix of fantasy and reality, pining and resolution. This is one of those that is going to sit so fucking close to my heart for so long, and the way Mittens writes Joon is absolutely divine.

*NEW* @reliablemitten's Substance Gonna say it again: the way Mittens writes Namjoon is divine. She understands something about him in a way I can't put words to. It feels like looking into another reality, rather than fiction. Also the tension? The smut? Impeccable.

*NEW* @hesperantha's Teardrop If you want the perfect example of banter, this is it. Two friends go on a roadtrip and there's a LOT of sexual tension. I love the voice in this, the snarkiness, the emerging vulnerability. This feels like a really important story.

🌱 fic recs masterlist

[zexalweek]

Hello again, friends! My laptop isn't cooperating with me, so I won't be able to make a cut or add a photo since I'm making this post on mobile! I'll try and come back and make a more user friendly post once my laptop decides to work with me! (Cuz its nearly an hour past 5pm CST, when I said I'd post, I'm so sorry! I had to retype this all out on my phone TwT)

So without further ado, here are Zexal Week 2022's prompts!

Sunday, May 29th: Sports Day - Children's Card Games are the claim to fame for YGO, but in Zexal, we do sometimes see the characters in their gym class! From the springboard jumping over stacks, to the school's indoor pool, what other sports can you see characters doing? You can keep it simple and in-universe, or you can go as far as a full revamp of Zexal and make it a sports anime!

Monday, May 30th: Prank Wars - What characters are the most capable of shattering the peace, setting off a full on prank war? Who's participating? Who are unwitting victims, or amused, untouched bystanders? Does it stay simple? Do things get complex? Does someone take it too far?

Tuesday, May 31st: Mer/Maid - Its the last day of May! During May, 2 different common events in fandom take place: MerMay, and Maid Day (Held on May 10th in Japan)! As a send off to the month, use today to promote any Zexal content you made this month for those events, or make/share something new!

Wednesday, June 1st: Roadtrip - Its the start of the summer months, so we're celebrating with a roadtrip! Who's going? Where are they going? How long is it going to take? Are they making pitstops/small trips to see the sights along the way? Was it a spur of the moment trip? Was it meticulously planned to the most minuscule of details?

Thursday, June 2nd: Retro - YGO Zexal is set in a futuristic setting, but what if it was set in a more recent past? Zexal but 90's, 80's, 70's, hell even Roaring 20's? Whether or not you incorporate the card game or not is entirely your call!

Friday, June 3rd: Call to Attention - With nearly 150 episodes, Zexal definitely had a fair amount of time to introduce and explore different characters and concepts, as well give the fandom enough fuel for fan-theories galore! What is/are some aspects of the show you wish had been given more attention? Do you think a character should have been more fleshed out? Was there a specific direction you thought a plotline was going, only for it to go somewhere completely different? Was there one that just seemed to be dropped? Tell us your thoughts!

Saturday, June 4th: Free Day! - Just as it says: Do as you will, anything is fair game!

Extra Prompts:

A character(s) you relate to the most

Museum of Wonders

Coffee shop date

The Measure of a Life

Defying Gravity

We're Getting the Band Back Together!

"This is a retroactive nightmare."

"Here's to a night we'll never remember, with the people we'll never forget!"

"Lie after lie after lie, we all stopped counting the crimes. You know why we can't trust you, don't you?"

"Do you want to be the layer of the bricks that seal your fate, or would you rather be the architect of what we might create?"

"All I wanted was you."

"I'm minor in a major kind of way."

-☆-☆-☆-☆-☆-☆-

Now, as usual, the prompts are not mandatory! They're meant more as a framework for those who prefer a guideline or structure! If there's something you'd prefer to do that is not mentioned here, then by all means, go for it! We're celebrating Zexal, and doing so in whichever way you feel is best is totally fine!

Not only that, but by no means is participation in Zexal Week limited to producing content! Likes and reblogs, even leaving comments on others' posts all count as contributing to Zexal Week! Even if you don't consider yourself a creator, your actions and support help make things possible!

In addition, while I am aware that fanfic and fanart are the most common forms of fan content, I encourage all types of content, AMVs/fancams, poetry, screencap edits, even simple posts or videos of you just talking about Zexal! OCs and Self-Insert characters are also totally acceptable!

That being said, if you plan on contributing content, I kindly ask the content you share be your own, and that you're not reposting someone's work, or at the very least, not doing so without their permission and/or passing it off as your own. "Credit to the Creator" does not fly here. Having commissioned someone to make content for you is fine, so long as you state/acknowledge it was commissioned, share who commissioned it, and confirmed with the creator that it is ok to share like that!

Additionally, I will accept mature works, so long as there are clear content warnings and proper tags.

Finally! I kindly ask that you use the tags "#Zexal Week" and/or "#Zexal Week 2022", cuz those are the tags I check to see people's content! In the past years, some people's posts fail to show up in the main tags, so feel free to tag this blog in your posts if you're concerned I might not see them!

Thank you for your patience, and again, I'll try and clean this post up when my laptop stops being rude to me! I'll see you all soon!

-- Krys 💙

[bronyinabottle]

MY LITTLE PONY: A NEW GENERATION (G5 Movie) THOUGHTS

It’s finally here. The beginning of Generation 5. Though before I get into the movie in some detail I’m going to reiterate one more time what G5 means for my content and a non-spoilery summary of the movie.

Again, I will say that the movie nor will the G5 series coming later have much of an effect at all on any of my blogs. The revelation in Secrets of the Dragon’s Tear that life itself is also magic means that a world that implied to have no magic for years would mean the extinction of all life (Perhaps resulting in the wasteland we saw in the Season 5 finale). There may be something I’ll probably do at some point on a certain different blog. But even then, that may likely be a one-time thing and probably come around the time the series is starting to air.

That said, just because I’m continuing with mainly G4 content doesn’t mean I disapprove of G5. In fact, my non-spoilers thoughts on the movie is I think it is a good start for this new generation. There are questions I have that I’m not sure will be answered (Though many of those questions are the same ones I had in my Trailer/Preliminary thoughts) quickly enough. But the movie is structured well enough, in fact it’s probably a better movie as a whole compared to any of the movies G4 had (The 2017 movie, Rainbow Roadtrip, and all 4 Equestria Girls movies). As the 2017 movie was fun, but it jumped around a lot, sometimes scenes transitioning too fast. And while Rainbow Roadtrip may have been this on purpose, the entirely slice-of-life story taking up a long length… made it something of a less interesting plot to follow. It feels like some of that special could of been cut to at least a two-parter length and keep the same beats they hit. And while i have a soft spot for the 3rd and 4th Equestria Girls movies, I’ll always say a full-length pony adventure feels better suited for what I want to see out of MLP then spin-off movies with high school movie cliches and weird pony/human world shenanigans.

So movie-wise I’m not a G4 purist. It’ll take some time to see how Gen 5 compares to Friendship is Magic when we get to the series. As I feel it’d take a lot for it to surpass G4 in my mind. But I’m going to try to be as fair as possible and judge on it’s own merits. The implied connection to G4 by referring to G4 being ancient Equestria is going to naturally get the staff and hasbro pressured by fans to tell us what happened in-between the generations. Because that’s the trap they put the writers in when they made it so they want to try to say it’s in the same universe. That’s the double-edged sword Hasbro chose to have, trying to appease the G4 fanbase and keep at least some of them around. But at the cost of questions both nitpicky (Such as character design being inconsistent) or actual honest questions that need to be known (Why did magic disappear, and what happened to the Alicorns) for some of us to truly see this as the same Equestria.

After the break, I’ll have more spoilery thoughts

Even for a brief moment, it was nice seeing the Mane 6 and 2D animation. The former because of course those are the ponies many of us that saw all of G4 loved. And the latter, because while the animation wasn’t bad in this movie. I’m one of those who’d prefer to have 2D animation in an animated film. As in most cases aside from Pixar, it’s just a strong preference of mine. If this had the animation of the 2017 MLP movie but otherwise everything else was generally the same here, I feel that would of have been great.

I wish they didn’t have to have Sunny’s dad die off-screen, as he seems like he could of been a compelling character. And not to mention if perhaps he has any connection the “ancient” days in any fashion. But *sigh* I get it, it’s an old trope where part of the character’s offscreen growth is not having their parent(/s) around.

On a side note there’s quite a few times during the beginning of the movie that somewhat foreshadow what happens to Sunny later. 3 times where she had a fake horn and wings on her. Once in the flashback, then 2 separate times when she’s doing her protest where she has her own costumed wings and horn. As well as the helmet and mechanical wings.

Also, there’s no way around it. Some of the discussions this movie are going to get quite political. (Namely one part of Sunny’s song that could be seen as having a double meaning of a jab at Trumpsts regarding “Building your wall”) From the very premise in the early times, we know that the inspiration for the story was last year’s Black Lives Matter protests. Which honestly, I do support the message they’re going for. Having an anti-racism message to tell kids from the very beginning and making a focus on it is important when in G4 it only got briefly touched upon in Bridle Gossip and the Heath’s Warming Eve play. Although it certainly rose up to some form of prominence with Season 8 and onward. Still, while you can argue if G4 executed the anti-racism message well. it does come with something of a problem that the series finale left Equestria in the least divided it’s ever been.

And personally, I feel it’s a terrible interpretation of time to say “Well, it’s a realistic take. Racism has existed for years in our world. Same should go for the ponies” and while yes, racism is still rampant in today’s world. That said, that ignores that if we went from The Last Problem to the start of G5. There’s a huge difference between our world and Equestria. There is no ancient civilization that we look at like “Yeah, those were the golden days of world peace” when normally the “Golden age” was reserved for the high classes of Ancient Greece or Rome. It was most decidedly not perfect, with slavery rampant and wars for the sake of expanding an empire. While if you look at The Last Problem’s Equestria, you not only have peace between the three main types of ponies. But you literally have non-pony citizens in Equestria. You can see a dragon handing off a flower to a pony which can imply cross-species romantic relations. With the Friendship school still going strong, and was the reason that the world was saved in The Ending of the End. While perhaps it may be too glowing to say that future is perfect for everyone even in-universe. It’s certainly a hell of a lot better outlook then comparing to how we view even the so called Golden age of ancient civilizations. The Last Problem’s Equestria implies it looks to ally with every country outside of Equestria, not conquer them.

So it should still be a valid question on just how this world collapses to the point it gets to where G5 is at the start. I at least assume that it’s not the fault at all of any of the Mane 6 nor Twilight. Or at least I hope it isn’t, as I’d rather the MLP fanbase not have to deal with a The Last Jedi Luke Skywalker situation. (Where after the joyful end of the original trilogy, things go wrong as Luke almost murders the son of one of his best friends and his sister despite trying to hard and succeeding at redeeming his father who at that point in the canon was a galaxy-wide known ruthless mass-murderer.) I assume we’re at a point where everyone of the Mane 6 sans maybe Twilight are presumed dead. And even in Twilight’s case, there’s a chance that G5 decides to say that G4 overestimated the whole Alicorn immortality thing. Though I wouldn’t put it past Hasbro to have some event where the Mane 5 of G5 meet the Mane 6 in some special event whether that’s a a Season finale or a sequel movie/special. Where either the Mane 6 return in a limbo situation similar to the Pillars at the end of Season 7 or Time travel gets involved. They may even string us along on answering just what in the heck happened until they involve a meet-up with the Mane 6 in that way. Though I hope they don’t, I’d really like the beginning of the series (Or I guess this supposed special coming up in Spring supposedly?) starts to answer some questions. G5 should get a chance to stand on it’s own, but I hope the writers are actually well aware there will be so many questions people have and address them in the show. A cynical part of me feels like they’re likely to string us along until at least the Season 1 finale.

Onto the characters for a bit. I think Izzy Moonbow was absolutely the most stand-out character in the whole movie. She was energetic, funny, and aside from “The pegasi are bad news” she along with Zipp and Sunny were the most averse to the way the world was. She was already the most popular due to the tennis ball memes. But now it feels like she legit stands on her own and most certainly deserves to be the most popular character of G5 thus far. Behind her in a bit of a surprise to me was Zipp, who I thought would be mainly a Rainbow Dash-expy. Though she really helps out Izzy and Sunny in Zephyr Heights. Despite having Twilight be my favorite pony from the very beginning of G4 all the way to the end, I didn’t feel as strongly about Sunny for some reason. So she’s in the middle of the pack, she could grow on me later. I just don’t know if I click with her as much as I did with Twilight. As for the last two, while I don’t hate either of them. Either one could be the lowest of the 5 for one reason or another. Pipp (Although I will say she's probably my favorite character design out of the 5) feels like she doesn’t do a whole lot in the movie and it takes until she’s forced to be an outlaw because the other choice was to get imprisoned like her mother was. So she may come off as quite pretentious, though it’s arguable Rarity was the same way early in G4. But she definitely grew later. Could be the same case for Pipp. And as for Hitch, he has shining moments in the film. But what might hurt him is the fact he was such a bad friend to Sunny up until the campfire scene. “I’m the last real friend you have. You really want to lose me too?” is not a healthy friendship. Hitch may have been Sunny’s friend the longest, but it definitely feels like Izzy connected immediately. I don’t know if this show will get into shipping any of the main characters between each other mid-show, but if they do. I hope it’s between Izzy and Sunny currently, cause Hitch and Sunny just gives bad vibes even with Hitch getting better later.

None of the songs I felt were particularly too special. Though I think the closest was Sprout’s “Danger, Danger” song that has similarities to Smells Like Teen Spirit in some parts of the song since I tend towards more rock/metal-esque music.

I touched upon it earlier, but there’s perhaps a stand-out reason for why the G5 movie outdid the 2017 MLP Movie. They have the typical “Our heroic group splits after a sad moment before coming together again for the climatic good end” in Sunny seeing that that the two crystals don’t instantly bring magic back, and when Twilight left the group after an argument that happened with Twilight trying to take a pearl. They perform the same purpose in the movie. But the crystals not working, crushing Sunny’s hope for a little while works better into the story. Where as Twilight’s part frustratingly brought the sea pony scene to an end too quickly and/or doesn’t feel right of Twilight to have done that. It felt forced in the 2017 movie, but works out in the G5 movie. Especially since a part of it is that it’s not the crystals themselves capable of bringing magic back. But it’s the journey going after the crystals that brings the ponies themselves their magic back.

Just a small note on dictator Sprout, he tries to cause a war. Though admittedly the film seems to treat him as a joke the entire time despite his seriously evil ambitions. With the only repercussions is he gets a wishy-washy answer on if he was a good sheriff from his mom. I don’t quite know how I feel about that yet, but I wonder what they’ll have in mind for Sprout given his actions. He and his mom are the only ones that feel like a true antagonist. Though they seem to be ok with things fast when the magic comes back.

But anyway on to the ending, we see that Sunny becomes an Alicorn. Which I guess with no other real Alicorns around, I guess it makes sense to alicornify her since she’s the real leader behind what united the leaders of each type of pony again. Though there is of course this weird thing where her horn and wings don’t seem like as much a part of her body compared to very obvious connected wings on Twilight when she got hers. Sunny keeps her horn and wings to the end of the movie, and has colored streaks in her hair. Though I do wonder if that;s truly permanent. If it is permanent, I suppose at least they got to have a headstart and have it established at the end of the introductory movie rather then have it shock people at the end of a shortened 3rd season. I still feel like Twilight had well earned her alicornhood considering that besides what she did in the series. She has a whole childhood and time as a teenager learning under Celestia. Which had to mean something, and I’m not sure Celestia just leaving her to live the rest of her days with her friends in ponyville was that. Sunny has no doubt been trying countless time to try to spread friendship throughout her life even after the tragedy of her father’s passing. So there’s no doubt she’s been through a lot, and may indeed be worthy of being an Alicorn at this point. Though in terms of screentime before Alicornhood it's definitely a lot less then Twilight had. And it is at least nice to see that it is possible for non-unicorns to become one. (The only case of that we sort of got was a children's book that may or may not be canon that implied Cadence was a pegasus before she ascended)

Though you have to wonder if the visual differences such as Sunny’s alicorn horn and wings, the cutie mark only on one side (Yes I know that’s how it was normally in the MLP generations before G4. But a distinct visual difference between shows is still noticeable even if the context of G4’s cutie marks on both sides of the flank was about it being easier on the puppets for Flash), and how animals can have wings or weird round shapes such as those bunnies when G4 has normal looking animals. There’s enough striking visual differences for any nitpicky G4 to say “This isn’t the same Equestria”. And if someone tries to say maybe some sort of evolution happened. That’s still trying to put a little too much real world logic on this fantasy world. And evolution tends to take millions of years to have such dramatic changes. Not 1000 years or so, there should still be normal looking animals at this point and time. And these small details are probably going to be the things most ignored but nonetheless can build a case that this isn’t the same Equestria. Even if they touch on the important questions like how magic disappeared and what happened to the Mane 6, there will be details they make different that will add to the case that this is it’s own universe if it doesn’t quite matchup with what was remembered about G4. There will be fans who will be that nitpicky to call G5 out of continuity for small details like that. That is again the trap they put themselves in when they decided to try to say it’s the same Equestria.

All-in-all though, I think that’s at least a good enough chunk about my thoughts on the movie to end off here. If there’s something I missed or something from the movie you’d like me to give a particular opinion about or elaborate on something feel free to ask me here. G5 is indeed off to a good start, just I will be along the many hoping some questions get answered sooner then later. And I’m not sure I’m confident in getting anywhere until a Season finale or a 2nd movie. And it’ll be a year before the series starts proper (Though again I guess there’s a 44 minute special coming in Spring to try to hold us over). But I could definitely see G5 finding it's own following, now there's just the inevitable clashes between some of the more vocal fans of each generation bickering at eachother. But hoping there will be enough that take the movie's lessons on divisiveness to heart and be able to enjoy both even if there may be preferences.

[myrmidryad]

20 Questions - Writer’s Edition

Tagged by @lambourngb thank you! 💗

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

81 total, mostly Les Mis and RNM.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

1,557,760 holy shit I’ve written over a million words 😵

3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

On AO3, not counting the universes I’ve written fusions with, there are seven: Les Mis, Roswell New Mexico, Merlin, MCU, Young Avengers, X-Men, and Vikings.

On ff.net, nine more: Teen Titans, Xiaolin Showdown, Transformers, Naruto, Narnia, Hellboy, Artemis Fowl, Lord of the Flies, and Skins.

Some fics are on both, but when I moved to AO3 I mostly left the ones I didn’t think were good enough to expose to a new audience. And gone from the internet forever (probably) is the Maximum Ride fanfic I wrote and posted to a forum back in the day. RIP that fic.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

from one side to the other (Les Mis, exr soulmate oneshot)

sentimental you and faithful me (Les Mis, exr bodyswap oneshot)

Just Another Guy With A Bow (Avengers, Clint/Coulson, Clint origin fic)

potentially lovely, perpetually human (Les Mis, exr empath!Enjolras)

This brave new world’s not like yesterday (Les Mis, exr the bowling alley fic)

5. What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

If there’s a rocket, tie me to it is one of the first Les Mis fics I wrote, and it’s uhhhh very canon in that everyone dies. In my head it was kind of a partner fic to <a pattern in the system> A Bullet In The Gun, which was also a dystopia fic, but that one had a happy ending, and I wanted to go again and have the canon ending for Les Amis. And I think that might have been the last unhappy ending I ever wrote? I like happier endings way better!

6. What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

Basically all of them have happy endings, especially the long ones that actually have plots! But I’m going to pick Finding You, because I skidded canon to the left to force events into happiness before tragedy could ever strike, and spun that out into a nice long roadtrip with lots of happiness and love and friendship, ending on a great big optimistic note that everyone’s future would be just as happy and unstruck by tragedy. I reread chunks of this fic all the time for the good vibes.

7. Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you've written?

I’ve written a bunch of fusions, but I think the only one that actually counts as a crossover is Fighting the Hurricane, which is a Les Mis/Pacific Rim fic. I’m not sure if my Les Mis/Oglaf fic is a crossover or a fusion, but it’s definitely the craziest one I’ve written just because Oglaf itself is so off the wall - Sharpshooter.

8. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I looooooove writing smut, of all kinds. I’ve written a lot of bdsm smut in particular for Les Mis, and weirdly almost none for RNM, idk what that’s about.

9. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I usually do these days, though on multi-chap fics if I’m posting a chapter a day or similarly quickly, I’ll wait and reply only the last chapter. I didn’t used to reply to comments at all unless they were particularly stand-out or asked a question, which was following the example of other writers, more than anything else. I also had the notion that people do sometimes use the number of comments on a fic as a metric to judge whether to give it a go or not, and replies massively skew that count.

I reply now, or try to. Um, confused widgeon, if you’re reading this, I’m sorry I haven’t replied to your comments from July 2020 yet. They were too nice and I got overwhelmed. One day I’ll get to them!

10. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Lol yes, I was weirdly pleased and immediately deleted it.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not as far as I know.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I’ve had a couple of people ask about it before, but idk if it went anywhere.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I co-wrote very bad Transformers fic with my best friend in secondary school and we had a great time. Shout out @scythling! Since then though, no. I’m too precious over creative control, I think, and I quite like writing in a vacuum.

14. What's your all time favourite ship to write for?

Of all time is tricky. Enjolras/Grantaire will have to take the trophy though, I think. They’re iconic!

15. What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

I have a bunch I’ve abandoned and accepted that I’ve abandoned, too many to list, so I’m not counting those because I know I’m never finishing them. Of the ones that are still in my WIP folders...there are also too many to list, but only a handful I’d be sad about never coming back to. I think the main one is probably Underground Dreaming, which would be very difficult to finish for multiple reasons, the main one being that I always envisioned it as open-ended. But I am sad that I stalled out on posting more than a few fics in that series. Too much research can kill the muse!

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue and spooky atmospheres. Love me a spooky atmosphere.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I use ‘grinned’ way too much. Dialogue tags in general, but ‘grinned’ in particular. And I’ve developed a real problem with length, where I’ve become almost incapable of writing short fic. Which isn’t necessarily bad, exactly - length is needed for some of the stories I want to tell, but being concise isn’t something that comes naturally to me anymore.

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

Language barriers are one of my favourite things to write, actually, but because I’m very much not fluent in anything but English, I shy away from putting in actual words from other languages. I’d much rather have a whole exchange or speech in another language actually written all in English, with the difference indicated either by outright saying the character/s are speaking in another language or by altering the grammar and sentence structure.

19. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Either Teen Titans or Xiaolin Showdown.

20. What's your favourite fic you've written?

Shadow Work is something I’m going to be proud of till I die, probably.

I think a lot of people have already been tagged so uhhhhhh if you haven’t done it already or want to @beautifulcheat @sugarfey @im-the-punk-who @gritkitty @maeglinthebold @daughterofelros @dotsayers

[professor-doc-emeritus]

My thoughts on each jojo part

this seemed like fun, so i decided to do it. note that I read most of jojo rather than watched it, so this is about the manga. Spoilers throughout

part 1:

BEST

introduces dio, my favorite villain in all of fiction

for as much as people dog it for being the “worst part,” or for being easily skippable, I actually think it works as the perfect introduction to the series

easily the most accessible part, with straightforward powers, characters, plot structure, etc.

that being said, also easily the sloppiest art. araki’s trademark style manages to shine through, but for the most part it comes off as a weaker fist of the north start visually

There’s so much of this part that’s just never revisited after the series moved into the modern day, like the gothic horror tropes or historical fiction elements. It makes it feel unique and fresh to this day

Johnathan’s death still makes me sad :(

part 2:

the funniest part 

I fell in love with jojo when he pulled a motherfucking tommy gun on a century old martial arts vampire master

managed to develop the ideas and themes of part 1 while still having its own identity and ideas to present, a tricky thing to do

incredibly fast paced, almost to a detriment. there’s a reason 1 & 2 just got one season of the anime total while every other part got at least 2

The art gets cleaner, and much more in line with what people think of when they think “jojo style,” though you still see some sloppy panels here and there. 

One of the very few parts with a no-holds-barred happy ending, which is nice

while villains were more visually distinct, they were much weaker personalities. Esidisi has one of the most memorable moments in the entire series, but other than that they’re just stock bad guys. no crazy philosophical ramblings or surreal powers

you can also tell that araki was coming up on the limit of unique stuff he could think of for hamon to do, though its a shame he never properly revisited it i can see why he moved away from it

part 3:

I C O N I C

my favorite part in terms of the artstyle. all of the crazy poses and exaggerated musculature, but far cleaner linework and more consistently on model than what came before it

the character designs for this parts villains are super underrated, people of all shapes sizes and colors come out to throw hands with the stardust crusaders

while jotaro can be kind of a wet blanket at times, polnareff more than makes up for it in raw charisma and charm

Joseph returned, which was AWESOME

DIO is at his most iconic and menacing in this part

though the stand abilities are basic to the point of not aging well compared to what was to come, the visual designs remain unrivaled imo, star platinum and the gang are all gorgeous

the structure of the roadtrip is so genius, since it helps avoid blatant power escalation while still having a strong sense of progression

so many iconic fights. the darbys. steely dan. enyaba. hol horse. oingo boingo. friggin Dio’s world. I still reread that fight every year or so, its so fucking good

definitely the most pure shonen part, just cool fight after cool fight

all of that being said, the sheer scope of the part works against it. for every memorable and awesome villain fight, theres at least two that literally everyone forgets

the main cast also suffers from being underdeveloped. kakyoin gets like 2 cool fights and is a bit player for the rest of the part, joseph is massively underutilized, and avdol’s storyline is just a clusterfuck

This part suffers in simultaneously having the least creative stand powers, but also the least consistent. You can tell araki was still working to flesh out and establish what a stand was during this. Ideas like stands shapeshifting and telepathy are used multiple times, even up to the end, but are never seen outside of this part. But the actual listed abilities of everyone rarely get any more abstract that “fog manipulation.” The part is definitely more than punch ghosts, but it a’int much more

Star platinums true stand power is “plot convenience,” and a lot of this is directly tied into araki’s very fast and loose understanding of what a stand is in this part

Joseph resurrecting at the end was bullshit and you all know it

part 4:

BEST BOY

The slice of life structure once again helps mitigate the power creep, and the more lighthearted vibe makes the less urgent plot progression more palatable

Extremely charming main cast, everyone is used well and has a strong personality, imo araki hasnt gotten in this right before or since. Literally the only wish I had was okuyasu getting a fight where he just gets to fucking body someone

This part has a far firmer grasp on what exactly a stand is, and therefore can subvert it better. You don’t have characters suddenly having powers that they never use again, but you do have stands like harvest  that flip the idea of what a stand can be on its head

On top of that, the idea of stand users gets subverted here as well. Sure you have the stereotypical goons like red hot chili peppers, but you also have teenage girls and italian chefs presenting unique problems to get out of. You get a real sense of what every day life is like with stand users around, and it brings the city of morioh to life in such a wonderful and interesting way

The ending is sometimes seen as anticlimactic, but I personally love it, it feels like the city of morioh itself is rejecting kira.

That being said, this part probably has the weakest throughline of the series. Its worryingly easy to forget that the whole reason jotaro is here is because there’s an actual serial killer on the loose

Kira comes into his own as a great villain later on, but to me he fails to provide that urgent sense of threat that every other jojo villain has. He’s not really scary until the milisecond he gets cornered, and while that fits with his personality and the parts tone, it undermines the tension that he’s meant to bring

josuke never got to come back for another part despite araki saying he was his favorite jojo and im still sad

part 5:

S T R E S S F U L

seriously, such a dark part after the relatively lighthearted part 4

the pace is insane, a high strung crescendo of tension and action

the first part not to feature a previous cast member in its main cast, an interesting and bold choice that would end up sticking for better and for worse

that being said, POLNAREFF CAME BACK ASDOFHALWEFJNASDKLNVAK

Lovable cast, my biggest complaint is how little time we got with a lot of them. they fade out just as fast as they grow on you

while part 3 was my favorite iteration of araki’s classic style, this is my favorite iteration of this second style he developed, featuring longer limbs and (slightly) less exaggerated musculature of characters

the. best. stand fights. high octaine, tense, creative, brilliant, subversive, surreal, but still straightforward enough to be easy to follow along.

a lot of the stand powers here are intentionally underpowered, which makes for more creative combat and compelling conflict

we see a return to a “road trip” style structure. In fact this part can largely be read as araki re-attempting SDC with a new art style and better grasp of storytelling: large but ever shrinking cast, a shadowy villain cloacked in mystery who manipulates time and sends hired stand users out to combat the heroes, a protagonist slightly detached from his journey as he develops his powers, only truly taking the mantle of leadership when its thrust upon him

That being said, for all the strengths it borrows from SDC, it also inherits its weaknesses.

 Giorno has the worst case of the “plot convenience” stand power in the entire series, including a borderline literal deus ex machina at the end. And remember, this is still taking into account Jotaro “start finger” kujo

Diavolo is just a knockoff shadow dio that’s less intimidating, more overpowered, less interesting, more confusing, and overall just a weaker villain

While the individual fights themselves are far more creative and cool, the characters behind those fights are even less memorable than SDC. The anime basically just aired, so its fresh in everyones minds, but a year or two from now try and name like 5 villains and I guarantee you’ll fail.part of that is tied into their more nuanced characterization sticking out less than the more reductive but loud SDC villains, and since the part is much shorter it doesn’t matter as much, but when i was catching the odd episode of the anime i was surprised at how i’d remember the fights themselves but almost nothing about the actual villains involved

this part is the start of stand powers getting too abstract for their own good. sticky figners seems simple enough at first but the brass taxes of what it actually does are convoluted, giornos stand ability is just whatever araki needs it to be to get himself out of the corner he’s written himself into, and of course the absolutely iconic “it just works.” overall everything is still readable, but especially when diavolo stars making moves there are a lot of fights where its easy to get lost.

if you ever wonder why people ship giorno and mista it’s because they’re the only characters that actually survive this part

part 6:

I hated this series at first but it grew on me over time. to reflect that, I’ll start with it’s weaknesses and build up to what i liked

the worst araki’s art has ever been. I hated this look. everyone was a whisp of what they should be, the limbs that were originally aesthetically long became just gangly and gross, and everyone’s face looked so bad

Some of the most boring stand fights in the series. I struggle to recall more than 3 before the green baby arc, and i can barely remember any characters in them

while it started in part 5, this part is the apex of indecipherable stand fights. There were so many fights where i just gave up trying to understand what i was looking at or what was going on and just skimmed through them

There’s an entire arc about fighting the children of dio who are being compelled to come to florida for plot reasons, and giorno doesn’t show up. he’s friggin name dropped in the notes for the chapter and he just. doesn’t show up. infuriating.

pucci kiiiiiiiiiiiiinda sucks. Personality wise he doesn’t really amount to anything more than being horny for dio, and his normal stand abilities aren’t really that interesting. While in theory Whitesnake should have the most interesting stand fights, since he can use literally any ability, in practice he rarely elevates beyond a punch ghost. His design is cool, and once the green baby comes into the picture his fights are a lot cooler, but for the most part he’s just. lame.

the worst supporting cast to date. Every is either annoying, boring, or annoying and boring. Everyone just kind of exists and doesn't do anything until it’s ‘their’ fight, where araki hurriedly dumps their backstory to try and make you give a shit about them, before moving on to the next thing

in exchange for that though, we get one of the most nuanced and well developed main characters in the series in Jolene. Her arc makes this part worth reading, despite the faults

while it takes time to build up to it, this part has some of the coolest and most surreal stand fights in the entire series. I’ve menitoned it several times before, but the green baby appearing is the turning point of the entire part for me. Suddenly the stakes are elevated, the stand fights are the most creative and fascinating in the series, and since there are very few character deaths the climax feels like a genuine war, with everyone trying to stop the ending from happening.

the ending is disapointing and heartbreaking in some ways, incredibly poignant and beautiful in others. a real mixed bag, but an ultimately fitting end to this arc of araki’s work

part 7:

you know how I said part 1 was best? I lied, the remake of part 1 is the best

Utterly gorgeous art. Legitimately a lot of this manga looks like a renaissance painting. The composition and lining are on another level.

Another chance for araki to reset the pwoerscaling of the series, most of the stand abilities we see in this are actually incredibly simple. Part of this is due to having to share plot space with spin and the corpse parts, but the result is far tighter and easier to follow battles compared to part 6

the pacing is immaculate. There’s a clearly defined goal that each chapter works to progress, thigns move fast when they need to and linger when the need to

narrowing the cast down to essentially johhny and Gyro, with a few rotating side characters, really fleshes the two of them out. johhny is my favorite jojo by far. he’s a terrible person, but you can’t help but empathize with him and learn to love him and root for him. Gyro is arguably the main character, with a compelling central conflict and tragic flaw that make him one of the best characters in the entire franchise

brilliant stand fights, be it clever usage of simple stands or surrealist duels using calculus to overcome the multiverse, genuenly indispensible shonen.

part 8:

It’s hard to judge this one since it’s still not complete, and I’m not even caught up yet. I think a lot of my opinions on it are gonna come down to if araki sticks the landing

a suuuuuuuuuuper slow pace. compared to SBR, with it’s clear goals and steady progression, this is really miandering and at times random. It’s meant to resemble the pace of 4, but that came out weekly and this comes out monthly.

The lack of an established main villain for most of its run hurts the tension if the part, and makes things seem less purposeful.

The side characters are all interesting, but they leave almost as soon as we meet them, it makes it hard to get attached to them.

Art is still fantastic

Lots of fun fights and creative stand powers for sure, nothing mind blowing but still excellent

[ladyherenya]

Books read in September

I had a moment of intense self-centredness and, internally, wailed: Why isn’t the world filled with more books that appeal exactly to me??? 

I’ve concluded that it’s like I have an inner story-troll sitting inside me shouting: Tell me a story! I try to appease it by presenting it with books, one at a time, and seeing how it reacts. 

Favourite cover: Flyaway.

Reread: The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley. (I also reread From All False Doctrine at least twice.)

Also read: The Disastrous Début of Agatha Tremain by Stephanie Burgis and Snow Day by Andrea K Höst.

Still reading: The Time-Traveling Popcorn Ball by Aster Glenn Gray and The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett,

Next up: I have borrowed The Other Side of the Sky by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner, Taking Down Evelyn Tait by Poppy Nwosu, and Between Silk and Cyanide: A Code Maker’s War, 1941-45 by Leo Marks. And maybe I’ll finally get around to The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams?

*

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakroborty (narrated by Soneela Nankani): I think this Middle East-inspired fantasy was just not the story I was in the headspace for -- it was longer, with more complicated worldbuilding and fewer answers. Possibly I’d have followed the political intrigue of Daevabad better had I read this in one gulp (I got halfway through the 20-hour-long audiobook before it was due back and I read other books before picking up the ebook). I liked the two protagonists, enough that I’m curious about what happens to them next, but the second book is 23 hours long and undoubtedly won’t resolve everything either. Maybe another day.

Tuyo by Rachel Neumeier: Ryo is left as a “tuyo” -- a sacrifice to be killed by an enemy -- as a sign that his tribe will withdraw from the Ugaro’s war with the Lau. But his captor doesn’t want to kill him, he wants Ryo to help him stop the war. Neumeier effectively creates tension between people who are polite, honest and honourable, and shows an intriguing relationship, defined by mutual respect, fealty and something more familial. There’s also some unusual magically-defying-physics-as-we-know-it worldbuilding but apparently I was far more interested in the character dynamics. I enjoyed this. Sequel, please?

From All False Doctrine by Alice Degan: My favourite book this year! Toronto, August 1925. Elsa Nordqvist, who hopes to write her MA thesis on a recently-discovered Greek manuscript, is at the beach with a friend when they meet two foster-brothers. This meeting deftly sets up everything which follows. The cover says “A Love Story” but this is also like a cross between a Golden-Age mystery novel and a fairytale retelling, with bonus academia and Anglicanism. I really like how much these characters value their friendships, their lively, intelligent and often honest conversations, and the way the romance unfolds. It also feels like a story written just for me and a hard one to review because my reaction has been very personal.

The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark (narrated by Julian Thomas): Set in the same city as A Dead Djinn in Cairo, this novella follows two agents from the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities as they investigate a possessed tram car. The world-building is vivid and cleverly, thoughtfully, imaginative. But, perhaps because of the mood I’m in and because this story isn’t interested in exploring the personal lives of its detectives, I have no feelings about this.

The Angel of Crows by Katherine Addison: Sherlock Holmes wingfic involving Jack the Ripper murders. Not what I’m looking for in a Holmes retelling. But I was sufficiently intrigued by something the author wrote. I really like Crow and Dr Doyle (arguably more than their original counterparts). My interest wavered a bit during the second half. It closely mimics the style and structure of the original mysteries in many ways and that’s not my favourite style. I wanted fewer cases to solve, and more of Crow and Doyle interactions. I liked the ending, enough to be glad that I hadn’t given up halfway through.

Making Friends with Alice Dyson by Poppy Nsowu: Australian YA. Alice plans to spend her final year of high school staying invisible and studying hard, but is thrown into the spotlight after someone posts a video of her dancing with Teddy Taualai. I loved how intensely this captures Alice’s emotions and perspective, and how the story explores that people have different emotions, perspectives and needs. Alice seems to me like someone who might be on the autism spectrum -- and whether or not that’s what the author intended, it’s great to see characters like her represented. I wish it had unpacked her relationship with her parents more, but that didn’t negate how much I enjoyed this. 

Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han (narrated by Laura Knight Keating): I can’t remember why, after I read To all the boys I’ve loved before and P.S. I still love you in 2017, I decided against reading the third book. It turned out to be my favourite. I loved it! I had a different experience of finishing high school and applying for university, but I find Lara Jean’s perspective intensely relatable: she has strong opinions about aesthetics; she’s nostalgic, introspective, stressed by uncertainty; she enjoys spending time at home with her family. I liked how this book captures her wonder at the intimacy of knowing another person well, and how, although she sometimes worries about their future, she has very few doubts about Peter himself. I haven’t come across very many YA novels in which a teenage girl is so secure being in a relationship. 

The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley:  After her sister dies, Eva stays with family friends in Cornwall, where she and Katrina spent summers years ago. I wasn’t expecting time-travel. I like time-travel stories, and I like how Kearsley handles it here. Eva’s choices make sense, given her situation, and the story emphasises that, even though she cannot control when she travels in time, there are still many choices she can actively make. So Eva becomes fascinated with 1715, because of the people she meets there and the relationships they develop... but I wanted to spend more time in the present-day Trelowarth, with its rose gardens and new tea room.

Flyaway by Kathleen Jennings: After she receives a mysterious note, nineteen year old Bettina flouts her mother’s rules for ladylike behaviour and embarks on a roadtrip with a couple of forgotten friends in search of her brothers, who disappeared three years ago. I loved some of the descriptions, especially seeing a rural Australian setting for this sort of fantasy. Jennings creates a wonderfully eerie atmosphere and the mystery kept me reading. However, the folktale parts of the story are dark, uncomfortably so. Very successfully Gothic, just ultimately not really my brand of Gothic.

The Duke Who Didn’t by Courtney Milan: There’s something so incredibly soft about this romance -- yet at the same time, it’s about two people who work fiercely towards their goals, worry about things, and are acutely aware of the discrimination they and other they love face as Chinese people in late 19th century England. Chloe and Jeremy’s relationship is characterised by banter and gentle teasing that reveals just well they know and accept and care about each other. Moreover, they have friends and relatives -- and a community -- who are supportive. I really enjoyed reading this and appreciated how low-angst it is.

The Threefold Tie by Aster Glenn Gray: Very tender. The characters convinced me that they were capable of communicating honesty with each other and making an unconventional relationship work. I liked the prose, which is no great surprise. 

Hamster Princess: Whiskerella by Ursula Vernon (aka T. Kingfisher): This time, adventure finds Harriet at home: her parents are throwing a masked ball so she can “meet some nice young princes without terrifying them”. But the princes are all preoccupied with a beautiful stranger, and Harriet is distracted by the mystery: who is this hamster, how did she get in without an invitation and what sort of magic is behind her glass slippers?  I think this is my favourite of Harriet’s adventures (so far). I loved the humour in this one.

Echo North by Joanna Ruth Meyer: When Echo finds her missing father unconscious and half-frozen in the woods, she is given a choice by the white wolf. A retelling of “East of the Sun, West of the Moon” with elements from “Beauty and the Beast” and “Tam Lin” thrown in, this has so many things which appeal to me, including an unexpected and wonderful library. Yet I found it frustrating and slow; the prose and the characters are rather straightforward, and I predicted nearly all the twists (bar the finale). But I believe that this tale could delight a younger, or a less critical reader.

The Disastrous Début of Agatha Tremain by Stephanie Burgis: In the two years since she turned sixteen and dismissed her governess, Agatha has been free to disregard ladylike behaviour, studying the books in her father’s library and teach herself magic. But then her aunt arrives and insists upon Agatha making a social début. This novelette is another story that I suspect I’d like more if it had been longer, if some of its ideas had been expanded upon and some of the relationships been given more space to develop. Agatha’s aunt and her motivations were unexpected, and I wasn’t entirely comfortable or satisfied with how that was resolved.

Snow Day by Andrea K. Höst: This novelette takes place after the Touchstone trilogy, more specifically after In Arcadia. Two outsiders get to see Cass and her family on Snow Day, and reveal a bit about their upbringing on Kolar.  This feels very much like fanfiction which just happens to be written by the author. It is fun to see familiar characters through others’ eyes and the expanded worldbuilding is interesting, but as a narrative, it seemed somewhat incomplete. (Maybe she’s planning something more with these characters?)

[aconstantstateofbladerunner]

Blade’s MHA Fanfiction Masterlist

Greetings friends!  This is the post listing all my past, present, and future My Hero Academia fanfictions.  Links are provided to what has been published so far.  Titles, summaries, and chapter counts are not final and will be updated as they change.  Please feel free to ask me about any and all the stories described here, not just the ones that have been published.  Thanks for reading!

(This currently version 14 of the masterlist, updated 9/9/2020)

Link to my Ao3 if you want to browse there: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aconstantstateofbladerunner/works

The Butterfly Continuity

- Butterfly - (Complete) The first over-night trip off campus since the training camp was supposed to be a fun break from more intense work back home.  But between a bleak introduction to chaos theory, a chilly reception from the locals, and the looming threat of a villain attack, Izuku has too much on his mind to properly enjoy the fresh air.  But those worries are a light breeze compared to the hurricane that accompanies what he finds on the outskirts of town.

Or rather, what finds him.

Izuku is stalked by a powerful creature who only seems to be interested in him.

32 chapters.  It’s done.  Beware major character death.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17165612/chapters/40360787

- Moth - So how does Hisashi fit into this aftermath?

11 chapters.  Outline complete.  There will be angst.

- Exit Light [hiatus] - A young Toshinori is just starting to feel truly at ease with his master and his role as her apprentice.  But uncomfortable truths come to light once a villain threatens the lives of their entire town with all-consuming darkness.  “Consuming” in this case is literal.

A prequel story that is referenced in Butterfly, but neither are required to understand the other.

4/9 chapters.  Major events outlined.  Warning for heavy violence in ch. 2.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/19233598/chapters/45733516

For Izuku (Bio Dad Might AU)

- For Kurou - For their own safety, Toshinori must remove himself from the lives of his long-time partner and newborn son.  But they’re never far from his mind.  For years, not a day goes by where he doesn’t write a letter or set aside a gift for their eventual reunion.  It isn’t until he’s spent some time with his chosen successor, a young quirkless boy named Midoriya Izuku, that Toshinori’s consistent dedication to his family is interrupted.

Canon divergence fic.  Streamlined to the important stuff because there are already an abundance of fics like this and I want to focus on my original stuff.   Toshinko.  Family angst with a happy ending.

3/30 chapters.  Strap in.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22882870/chapters/54692104

- For a Wider World - Izuku hasn’t decided yet if he wants to go public with his heritage.   On the one hand, he want to make a name for himself, not just as the son of All Might.  On the other, he hates to lie and lying about One for All is hard enough.  Most of the people who know the truth will support whatever decision he makes.  Sir Nighteye isn’t one of them.

10+ chapters.  Basic outline complete.  Internship arc.

- For an End to the Pain - UA is under investigation by the Hero Commission, the world knows about the son of All Might, and the fight with Overhaul has left Izuku severe wounds both physical and mental.  As the weight of all these drastic life changes bare down on him, for the first time ever, he starts to question if he really wants to be a hero.

8-10 chapters.  Basic outline complete.  A whole new level of angst.

- Son Rise - Rumors have been circling of a secret All Might lovechild for a while now.  A new rumor says that All Might will reveal the child as his successor at the next International Heroes’ Summit in Hawaii.  The rest of the hero community has mixed feelings.  

Or, “Izuku goes to another country with his dad and has a bad time.”  Shameless excuse for me to gush about how cool Hawaii was while also hurting my boy.  Some Toshinko on the side.  Family angst with a happy ending.  

11 chapters.  Major events outlined.

Single Fic Dad Might

- Angel’s Egg - Orphaned babies showing up on the stoop of hero agencies is unfortunately not all that rare.  And egg the size of a baby is entirely unheard of. Is the child within just the result of an unusual quirk, or something of far greater, supernatural origins?

Kinda out there au where Izuku hatches from an egg and is raised by All Might.  That question is posed to me, because I’m not yet sure if I want to go down the mundane or supernatural path; I have potential endings for both. 

4/20 chapters.  Structure similar to Full Metal Jacket in that the story will shift gears completely in the second half.  Heavy violence and potential character death

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21009755/chapters/49966448

- The Wails in the Walls - Toshinori was convinced his cottage was haunted from the day he moved in.  He could easily blame the missing objects and little bites in his food on pests, but that wouldn’t explain the faint sound of crying some nights.  

Izuku is a tiny child living in Toshi’s walls who survives by ‘borrowing’ little things.  Gonna jump between angst and fluffy like a seesaw.  Idea originally by @abyssal-glory who graciously gave me permission to use it.

5/21 chapters.  Violence, reference to death, and bugs.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20392885/chapters/48368857

- Hanakotoba - Toshinori always wanted a family, but he wanted to be a hero even more.  He figured the family thing would happen naturally, but as the years go by and it doesn’t, he finds himself sinking further and further into longing.  And then he finds the end of his sorrows in his own garden.

Princess Kaguya au prompted by @agent-jaselin.  This one is for sure supernatural.

18 chapters.  Outline complete.  One scene of attempted sexual assault.

- Son of the Sun - Of all the gods, the Sun is the most generous with its gifts

Fantasy au where Izuku is the only child of the legendary son god Toshinori, and gets swept up in the apocalyptic destruction caused by a few other gods’ petty disagreements.

Outline incomplete, no chapter estimate.  This is the new roadtrip au.

Miscellaneous Multi-Chapter

- All but One - Toshinori is given the opportunity to undo over two decades of suffering by going back in time and ending All For One.  And that’s just the beginning.  He goes on to use his knowledge of the future to correct errors of the past, and makes his new reality infinitely better than the one he came from.  Better in every way but one.

Used to be a oneshot, now multi-chapter.  Open to making it an au but not sure yet.  Based on a bittersweet post by @skygemspeaks

10/18 chapters.  This was supposed to be short.  Warning for some violence.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18796387/chapters/44597800

- The Necromancer - An unseen villain sets hoards of undead upon Japan.  As a designated disaster-relief shelter and a small fortress in its own right, UA becomes host to both the heroes working to stop the onslaught, and several hundred terrified civilians.  Supplies and space shrink with each passing day, and it seems like the end to the nightmare is nowhere in sight.  Someone is bound to take matters into their own hands.

Zombie Apocalypse AU.  Most of the kids stay within the walls to care for panicking civilians, while the heroes take the fight to the outside.  At first.

10+ chapters.  Some events planned. 

- Habitus - Tragedy forces Izuku back into the custody of his father, who he hasn’t seen in years and has a new family of his own.  They uproot him from UA, separate him from his friends, and, worst of all, expect him to be happy about it.

Formerly called Where the Heart is.  Izuku’s step family from America claims custody of him after Inko passes away, and are less than sympathetic to his situation.  He rebels in every way he can, meanwhile All Might and the other teachers comb for any legal loopholes to get him back.

Less than 10 chapters.  Outlined.

Oneshots

- Spiked - There’s no such thing as a free meal.

Gore headcanon request that got out of hand.  Please read the tags.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20062174

- The Road that went Forever - Izuku’s Papa picked him up from kindergarten that day.  He hadn’t done that in a while.

Usually, I write Hisashi as a normal, emotionally distant father.  This is not one of those stories.  A very sad two-shot.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21754498/chapters/51902485

And that’s all for now!  Again, please feel free to ask me about any of these ideas! 

[twitchesandstitches]

nature girl heroine idea

i’ve mentioned before that a week or two ago, I was working out an idea of Tia as a nova/superhuman in the Aberrant tabletop RPG setting, and an unexpected thing occurred; I started out just shoving every cool power that felt thematically appropriate first, and as time went on and she felt too versatile and lacking in a solid theme, I removed some of those powers and quickly put down a few character ideas to suit them. the idea was, she’s part of a group of similarly powerful novas who work together and hang out, in a character arc somewhere between ‘Superman wrecks the local conspiracy by being too dang smart and charming’ and ‘roadtrip to save humanity’

over the last few days, i’ve been thinking about these characters more and more, and one in particular has really seized my attention; a plant and nature focused lady with shapeshifting powers that allow her to assume the traits of any animal or plant she knows of, control plants and make them grow, and a variety of utility abilities based around influencing others through the use of energy-charged spores and pheromones. It took a while but I’ve realized that she’s something of a benign Poison Ivy analogue, with animal transformation powers, and some vERY powerful abilities based around affecting entire species on a global scale and weaponizing things like poison, coupled with brain-warping charm and charisma.

(a certain amount of growing to giantess size, hyper breeder vibes, and the capability to devour pretty much anything she likes also applies, of course.)

her concept is pretty cool so i’ve been thinking a lot about this, and I’ve had some more ideas, and I’m on the verge of making her into a full-on OC in her own right. in case this sounds interesting, here’s a few ideas I’ve had on that score, though none of these are permanent; I figure I’ll write her up when i get in the mood for it, and use that to iron out some of the ideas I have:

she’s a genuine environmentalist, and not someone who does the whole ‘humanity is the REAL disease’ stuff Ivy is known for doing. This suggests a very compassionate core, though i’m not sure how much to take it. she could take it to an extreme and verge of so Good that she refuses to see people who are genuinely malicious, or her taking a big picture approach and caring about things long-term, but individuals tend to not register much for her. Thinking in terms of systems, and so on. (She also, either way, does not have much of a sentimental attitude of nature.) I AM leaning towards her being a super softie, and not that much of the kind of hero who takes down bad guys.

She’s very thicc overall; big hips, big bust, big everything. probably very big hair that resembles a flowering plant or something. Her body isn’t particularly human; her skin looks like fairly smooth bark and creates fur or scales or whatever as appropriate, she bleeds a weird chimeric sap instead of blood, and she generally has a mixture of animal and plant-like traits that’s very strange. She’s still broadly human in biology, though; the actual organs are recognizable, but may resemble a planet’s structure or that of specific animals, just enough to be weird.

I’m thinking of her skin as being green. not sure about her hair. Possibly multicolored and changing depending on her health or stores of energy.

Aberrant only really has superhumans, so I’m not deviating from that; all the characters here, regardless of what they’re normally like in my stuff, were originally human here. I don’t know if I will keep that as a trait for our nature lady here, but I’m thinking of her as being Irish or Mongolian here; undecided on that.

I at one point thought of her as a bit of a bimbo-type? I’m tempted to suggest that she can get like that depending on certain side effects that her powers have on her; she shifts through a lot of hormones and pheromones as she transforms, and depending on what she does, it might have long-term consequences that adjusts her behavior a little.

All her powers are based on either transformations or some bodily effect of herself, and a specific connection to living things she can mess with. For example, she can transform to manifest any naturally occurring trait for utility, defense or offense; she can make wings to fly, grow claws or massive spikes to attack. She could cover her body in tough scaly armor. She can secrete a powerful toxin with whatever effect imaginable from her body, though she usually limits it to a knock out effect, to inducing hallucinogenic effects. In the same way, she constantly produces small spores; people who breath them in can be mentally dominated by her via a link between her and those spores, or hypnotized. Otherwise, she can grow those spores into huge plants she can control in many ways, like making massive vines to protect her, swing around, or smash stuff; this looks like her creating plants out of thin air. The other aspect of her powers allows her to communicate with plants and animals (and command them), as well as transform them in various ways, and this more subtle aspect of her powers also allows her to heal living things.

By making her jaws stretchy, making her belly a big venus flytrap, or her skin absorbent, she’s able to swallow pretty much whatever she wants, and then she can tweak her digestion to consume anything she desires; she has some VERY aggressive gut bacteria she can make even more fierce if she requires. And she’s capable of growing to giant size, though I’m thinking that its actually her summoning forth a massive plant construct she grows around her body and mentally links with, shaping it into a mega-curvy imitation of her original body. As she grows stronger, she might be able to cut the middle-man out and convert herself into plant material she can expand directly.

she’s very much a breeder, though not necessarily one interested in romance. She’s capable of making her body react to the life energy around her and spontaneously impregnating herself using that energy as genetic information, creating new life inside her. She has enough capacity to gestate entire species if desired (or creating broodmother bodies that do the trick themselves), and she has a tendency to do so absently if she’s not concentrating on focusing.

personality wise, I’m thinking of focusing her around the concept of the ditzy genius; even if she’s not actually super smart, she is VERY competent within her specific sphere of interest, though she doesn’t come off as it. even when she’s in her element, she’s rather ditzy in an unfocused, gently drifting sort of way. She has a very pleasant demeanor, perhaps with something of a glamourous, fancy attitude?

whatever she has going on, though, she lacks brute strength. She is focused on finesses; while she is capable of manifesting the traits of more brutal creatures, she is very bad at actually applying it; she prefers to be fast, and she’s no good at smashing. She’s also probably fairly soft-hearted and can’t bear to strike as viciously as she needs to in order to put down a foe who might have no compunction about doing the same to her. She is extremely perceptive, however, and would make a fantastic investigator if she could be persuaded to concentrate for a moment.

[vaguely-concerned]

Author Interview

I was tagged by @rederiswrites; thank you so much!

Name: vaguely-concerned (or vaguelyconfused I have been wanting to change it to match my gamertag for a while and it’s funnier and easier to write lol)

Fandoms: Overwatch (McHanzo), Stargate Atlantis (McShep), Star Wars (The Mandalorian), Dragon Age (Adoribull, Peter Adaar/Cassandra), Good Omens (Ineffable Hubbies) aaand a few more one-offs! 

Where You Post: AO3, crossposted to tumblr sometimes when the stars align and I remember  

Most Popular One-Shot: Oh, Released, by a country mile and any metric haha! It’s a shameless Good Omens PWP I wrote in a three day stupor and people seem to have responded to it :D

Most Popular Multi-Chapter Story: Hm, depends a bit on definition -- either Mer’s Moving City if we’re being totally scrupulous, or the Scoundrels and Thieves ‘verse, which is posted in parts rather than chapters but works essentially the same way. 

Favorite Story You Wrote: Mer’s Moving City (SGA) is probably objectively still the best (and longest; I think it accounts for like a third of my entire word count) thing I’ve done, it’s got Themes and a Plot and shit! Trust me I’m as surprised as you are. The fact that I eventually finished it despite. everything going on at the time is one of my biggest personal achievements.  

As for personal favorites: I have a weak spot for Have you tried baking, I hope that I don’t fall in love with you, Like that guy in the Odyssey and The way of history (all Overwatch) and also Lay your ghosts down (Dragon Age). As you can see it’s mostly the ones that made me laugh a lot while writing them haha. SPECIAL SHOUTOUT to And we are kind to snails (The Mandalorian) because @blackestglass made SUCH A WONDERFUL PODFIC of it and I’m still over the moon about it, please go check it out  

ALSO from the stats this is definitely an unpopular opinion but as far as I’m concerned Here’s A Thought is the best smut I’ve ever written and no I do not take constructive criticism on this lol

Story You Were Nervous to Post: Oh a bunch of them haha I always have a small neurosis before I post anything it’s practically part of the process. I guess it was worst with Clockworks and Beautiful Things (which is about Ladon Radim, a SGA character liTERALLY no one but me cares about and I hesitated to even post it but then I was like Treat Yo Self and did anyway) and The way of history

How You Choose Your Titles: By having a nervous breakdown so pitiful that divine inspiration is forced to intervene, is that not how it goes for everyone (Honestly it’s the worst sometimes I just pick a one-word title in desperation. Scoundrels and Thieves titles are full of Tom Waits references though!) 

Complete: Most of them! Which remains a miracle, really

Incomplete: Approximately a million WIPs in my googledocs. And Scoundrels and Thieves; there are at the very least two more uh story-crucial I guess? stories in that left to go! 

Do You Outline? I do for longer/trickier ones! Though it’s a pretty loose process; I usually know how a story ends from the moment I begin writing and jump around A Lot, so I’m just figuring out the middle bits and finding the structure/binding it all together. Scoundrels and Thieves has very graciously let me not think about it too much the last few years because of the non-chronological vignette structure. 

Coming Soon/Not Yet Started: *cries in wip hell* probably some mandalorian and some overwatch stuff tho

Do You Accept Prompts? Well I mean it’s never really been relevant but uh. I am very very bad at writing on demand, so I would welcome prompts if anyone wanted to give them? but I can make absolutely no promises haha

Upcoming Story You Are Most Excited to Write: The pot at the end of my particular rainbow always contains the mchanzo established relationship sex pollen one and the slow burn roadtrip/maybe combine with my fantasy idea one. Neither may ever happen because of how my brain works (or indeed fails to work) but I keep the dream close to my heart nevertheless. 

tagging @popkin16 and @ifeelbetterer!

[gg-astrology]

Hi, can you do Taurus sun, Gemini moon please? x

Hey there! ❤️

Sorry for getting back so late kfnsk but here i am now!! ❤️

[Below Cut: Taurus Sun - Gemini Moon 🍶]

Wholesomeness?? is an Aesthetic and Lifestyle that they mayhaps-- want to exude

Doesn’t excuse them for devilish behaviour but on god are they Louder when it comes to ‘see look im doing wholesomeness’ lmao 

Endearingly youthful? They just have this energy about them that’s so…static/electrifying to be around?

They’re not like overt or bold or loud or any of the like…but more like their eyes kinda zap you and their laugh shocks u into stillness bc they’re so?? wow??

vitality and energy, you’re not overt definitely but you aren’t afraid to let others know/show your expressions to others

The sociability of Taurus (venus ruled) is combined with the untouchable communication of Gemini– makes for a combination of a person who’s detailed, self-assured and likes to elaborate/speaks lengths on how they feel/think/hope/react

A very enthusiastic reactionist like – they make u feel very validated bc they’re just so genuinely happy for you y know? And they’re an active listener, they contribute to the conversation instead of letting it flow past them

Makes other people feel heard, listened to. Kind and fun friend who you just wanna jam out with in a car and sing karaoke really loudly via going on a roadtrip tgt

Taurus/Gemini makes other people feel so good being around them because they genuinely do enjoy the company of others too– and that genuinity really really makes people feel cherished/cared for– even if it’s ‘no biggie’ to them ❤️

These Taurus/Gemini are always Ready to help you plan out and work through your problems– they’re a natural problem solver, and they like helping out.

With their own problems there’s a 50/50 chance of them just laughing it off (even though it needs attention) and burying it beneath ground in lure of procrastination (esp. emotional problems) – but these people genuinely do want to help solve other people (whom they care for) problem because that’s 1) productive and 2) good brain work/procrastination method 

They can also turn a completely serious/heavy situation light again, by laughing/snorting at a slight comment someone made (meme-ing it out)— Taurus/Gemini is gentle, practical/logical but also humorous. 

You know the value of humour and when to ‘light up’ – you know better than anyone things can be solved easier if it’s not ALL serious all the time (multi-dimensional approach to solving problems) 

When people get too depressed/serious – you get exasperated (nurturing/caringly exasperated)– trying to reason with them that they can solve it (optimistic) and that they just have to ‘take action’

Taurus/Gemini are so vibrant, and are probably personally popular (even if they don’t realize it) – they have a wide array of interests, and most of the time you have a very acute intuition on what/who you should pursue and who/what you shouldn’t.

Your motivation and interest varies– while socially you may strive — you may often have ‘too much/too broad’ of an area of interest to choose from, and often deciding between one or the other makes you frustrated because you don’t want to be held down by boredom (but desire stability/fulfillment as well) 

You want to make ONE choice– one GOOD choice that can give you all the excitement/variety and advancement you want, combine that with your need to sink roots, find your own contentment/inner-fulfillment through it.

Most of the time however, you notice that you settle into something and it bores you. You get up and leave, and when you ‘stray’ sampling things too much — your senses are going ‘ok ok so what do you really want to do/set your roots down biss’ 

Can’t catch a break from these two smh, you’re stuck between repeating the pattern all over again and wanting to find a way to ‘break’ it somehow.  You’re stuck between carefulness — wanting to pick out things that draws you in and attracts you unconditionally

And impulsivity– things that grips you with a strong desire to pursue, something so illogically in it’s reaction that you just want to force your way into getting to it (resilience, tenacious, utilizing your power)

Self-discipline– learning some solid skillset/assets that lets you mix n match, build and choose your own path without restricting/structuring you too much is the key here. 

If the future doesn’t hold a ‘glass ceiling’ that restricts you, and you are still ‘open’ to new broad possibility even if you get bored/too settled into something– you are way more motivated to go at your own pace and make impulsive (but good) choices that contributes to your own development/experiences than like— diving straight into a specific end-all-be-all study y know?

You take note of your repeated behaviour/mistakes slowly, doing it over and over again until it comes knocking at your brain like ‘hello??? what are you doing???’ – moodiness and fluctuation occurs when it comes to pursuing relationships (which you can sometimes act v gemini about– you have a thing with wanting permanence but not settling down TOO fast)

You’re rather self-expressive for a Taurus, able to admit and be honest about what you want/think/desire. But watch out for constant complaining/venting without taking note of others or what you can do to change your behaviour at all. Huffing/frustration can occur when you feel like you don’t want to take advices. 

In and all –you are rather a child at heart, so learning how to realize your own habits and ‘mature’ for your own benefit (focus/conscious– be in harmony with the change you’ve making for yourself/taking responsibility for yourself) will help you alot too 

I hope this helps!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️