#but also bc the part in the novel where they go there in com to fight riku.. i think theyd like it there :]

[ajdrawshq]

gonna be honest. i had a harder time w the kingdom of coronas boss than everything in the late game so far and i dont know how to feel abt that

[familyabolisher]

re: annihilation im glad im not the only one who disliked it lol! ive struggled thru the second book as well bc people keep telling me the third is the best but. we'll see. id be curious abt ur thoughts & if you have similar critiques (lack of interiority for the mc for one, a lack of clarity on Whats Going On but not in a fun way imo but in a way that makes me really unsure what the Point of it all is, & (book 2) just. the most tedious mommy issues ive ever had to read thru) or if its something else entirely. no pressure tho! i just like hearing ur opinions on things.

tbh my immensely pedestrian answer is that i just couldn’t get on with the style at all—it felt very clumsy and, like, amateurish. i got the sense that vandermeer wanted to narrate The Horrors in a quotidian, somewhat clinical tone that established a discordance around an effort to record and empirically tackle something that resisted the boundaries of human language and communication, and i think a more skilled writer could have pulled that off to great effect; however, as it was, he neither leant far enough into that voice that the discordance could fully emerge & exert a significant enough narrative force to make the piece compelling, nor relaxed it enough to allow his language to play around with the lurid, macabre, paranatural setting. 

like, for example, i’ve just gone to a random page to give you some sense of what i mean.

This was really the only thing I discovered in him after his return: a deep and unending solitude, as if he had been granted a gift that he didn’t know what to do with. A gift that was poison to him and eventually killed him. But would it have killed me? That was the question that crept into my mind even as I stared into his eyes those last few times, willing myself to know his thoughts and failing. As I labored at my increasingly repetitive job, in a sterile lab, I kept thinking about Area X, and how I would never know what it was like without going there. No one could really tell me, and no account could possibly be a substitute. So several months after my husband died, I volunteered for an Area X expedition. A spouse of a former expedition member had never signed up before. I think they accepted me in part because they wanted to see if that connection might make a difference. I think they accepted me as an experiment. But then again, maybe from the start they expected me to sign up.

this is like … the first time we get a real, direct account of the biologist’s backstory. it’s like a speedrun of heterosexual our wives under the sea (also a bad book btw lol) and is supposed to pack a pretty hefty emotional punch, but it’s just … well, i mean. “a gift that was poison to him and eventually killed him.” like, the extract falls back on cliches; the prose lands in a very ‘safe’ register and feels a little afraid to push anywhere significantly outside of that. this is pretty representative of (what i read of) the whole book, tbh—and it stings especially when you have things like a mysterious tunnel-tower seemingly made of flesh that only the narrator can see that’s spawning fungi spelling out sentences as other characters in the novel start to die … like, that’s good, and that’s just really not being communicated on the page in any compelling manner. 

it felt as though vandermeer had established this fascinating world and then just failed to communicate any of it to any memorable standard. also, the pacing was all over the place, lol—like, take your time with it a little more, spend some time on setting and description! or if you want to lean into that clipped, clinical account, maybe experiment a little more with the texture that that could lend; like, journals, reports, the kind of temporal weirdness that those can generate (as is common in the gothic novel, for instance) … like, there were just a lot of ins where vandermeer could have negotiated a more interesting piece of work than what i was reading.

it just felt very, like—the word coming to mind for me is ‘timid.’ like the text found its own concepts a little too unwieldy and pared itself down into a very meek prose rather than rising to the challenge that its scaffolding presented. and as a result, i was just, like, bored and irritated trying to read it. i’m told that the film is very different so i might give that a go at some point, but i really couldn’t push through to the end of the book, lmao. maybe it’s worth reading for like the last 70 pages, but i’ll never know. sad! well there’s other genre fiction

[rafacarreno]

Pedro Pascal | He/Him | Cis Man | Have you met Rafael "Rafa" Carreño yet? They’re the 44 year old teen social worker that lives around West Point Homes. I think they’ve lived in Seattle for his entire life. From what I’ve heard, they’re communicative but they can also be weak-willed if you get on their bad side. When I think of them, I usually think of In the Aeroplane over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel.

BASICS.

Full Name: Léon Rafael Flores Carreño Nickname(s): Rafa, Raf Gender: Cis man (he/him) Sexuality: Heterosexual Birthday: October 13, 1978 (44) Religion: None Hometown: Seattle, Washington Current Residence: Townhouse in West Point Homes Occupation: Teen social worker at a youth services center Education: BSW from Seattle University; MSW from University of Washington School of Social Work Languages: Spanish, English

FAMILY.

Mother: Valeria Carreño (66) Father: Léon Flores (65) Sibling(s): Elena Carreño (sister, 41), Diego Carreño (brother, 39) Ex-Wife: Delilah Carreño née Wells (44) Children: Sadie Carreño (daughter, 24), Theo Carreño (son, 8) Pets: An 8-year-old Australian Shepherd named Serj

PERSONALITY.

Pos. Traits: Effective communicator, honest, emotionally available, open-minded, easygoing Neg. Traits: Irresponsible, scatter-brained and unorganized, bad at planning and sticking to schedules, restless Likes: Old 90s cartoons, anything that gives him an adrenaline rush, his kids, glass blowing, eating cereal for dinner, watching basketball, giving people gifts, snarky teenagers, scrolling jstor for cool psychology articles, grilling, violent video games, his dog, camping, metal and classic rock Dislikes: People who don't like kids, shitty parents, most rom coms, celebrity culture, fancy restaurants, having to get dressed up, sleeping around a lot, super hot weather, reading novels, pop music

TL;DR.

**trigger warnings for alcoholism and some parental neglect

grew up with alcoholic parents who were never violent but often neglectful and forced raf to have to learn to take care of himself pretty young. his mom suffered post partum depression for several years. she got sober when he was around 5 and they started bonding finally but dad never managed to get fully sober

did some acting out in high school but nothing major. immediately after graduating started dating delilah, the best friend of his senior year girlfriend, and got married three months later, when they were about 19

at 20 had their first kid, sadie. rafa had no idea what he wanted to do with his life and needed to support his family so he spent a lot of time going from job to job

was NOT ready to be a family man yet. loved sadie more than anything but had a hard time giving up partying and shit so by the time sadie was 5, he and delilah got a divorce. it wasn't lack of love but rather lack of being able to co-parent successfully in that situation

things got a lot better when he moved out. he took sadie on weekends and was able to do his own thing (for the most part) during the week

at around 27 he started going back to school and decided on social work. got his degree from seattle uni and then went on to do his msw at uni of washington school of social work. he started out working with schools and youth programs and finally in his early thirties landed a really good job as a social worker for troubled teens at a youth services center where he runs a program and does group therapy and some individualized stuff

eight years ago delilah got pregnant (bc yes they started sleeping together again periodically!!) and had their second kid, a boy named theo, when sadie was 16. raf stayed at the house for a little bit after theo was born to help delilah, which was very confusing for sadie obviously

he's still got some irresponsible tendencies but is overall a great dad and loves his kids more than anything and cares sm about the teens he works with and would go to bat for pretty much any child in the world

HEADCANONS.

has a little glass-blowing setup in his garage and has been doing it for like over ten years, makes his own weed-smoking paraphernalia

does drink but not a ton because he's very wary of having two alcoholic parents and how susceptible he is to it. smokes weed tho somewhat on the regs

tba

CURRENT CONNECTIONS.

baby daddy of and ex-husband to @delilahcarreno

dad to @sadiecarreno

rafa's dog's vet @cemile-sahinx

WANTED CONNECTIONS.

raf's siblings, cousins, any family

parent friends

dad friends im begging you

people he's a father figure to

someone he's a good influence on

people he smokes weed and plays video games with

he loooves hiking and camping, someone he does that kinda stuff with

if ur chara was a teen 10 years ago? gimme people who were in his troubled teen groups

one or two serious exes post-divorce (one could potentially be current)

some fwb, one nights stands, maybe a regular hookup

coworkers at the youth services center

[faraway-wanderer]

BOOKS BY ASIAN AUTHORS MASTERLIST #stopasianhate

In light of recent events and the growing anti- Asian hate in the US and UK over the course of the pandemic I wanted to put together a masterlist of books by Asian authors. Obviously, it’s not extensive and there are HUNDREDS out there, but supporting art by Asian creators is a way of showing support; read their stories, educate ourselves. It goes without saying that we should all be putting effort into reading stories of POC and by POC because even through fiction we’re learning about different cultures, countries and heritages. So here’s some books to start with by Asian authors!

Here is a link also for resources to educate and petitions to sign (especially if you don’t read haha). It’s important that we educate ourselves and uplift Asian voices right now. Your anti-racism has to include every minority that faces it.

https://anti-asianviolenceresources.carrd.co/

for UK peeps, this is a good read: We may not hear about the anti Asian racism happening here, but it is definitely happening. https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/culture/culture-news/a35692226/its-time-we-stopped-downplaying-the-uks-anti-asian-racism/

 THE BOOKS:

·         War Cross- Marie Lu ( the worldbuilding in this is IMMENSE.)

For the millions who log in every day, Warcross isn’t just a game—it’s a way of life. The obsession started ten years ago and its fan base now spans the globe, some eager to escape from reality and others hoping to make a profit. 

·         Star Daughter- Shveta Thakrar

A beautiful story about a girl who is half human and half star, and she must go to the celestial court to try to save her father after he has fallen ill. And before she knows it, she is taking part in a magical competition that she must win!

·         These Violent Delights- Chloe Gong (I told my little sister to read this book yesterday bc she has a thing for a Leo as Romeo- so if you want deadly good looking Romeos, badass Juliet’s and to learn about 1920s Shanghai- this is for you.)

The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery. A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. A Romeo and Juliet retelling.

·         The Poppy War- R.F Kuang (My fave fantasy series just fyi- it’s soul crushing in the best way. Rebecca Kuang is a god of an author).

A brilliantly imaginative talent makes her exciting debut with this epic historical military fantasy, inspired by the bloody history of China’s twentieth century and filled with treachery and magic, in the tradition of Ken Liu’s Grace of Kings and N.K. Jemisin’s Inheritance Trilogy.

·         Loveboat Taipei-  Abigail Hing Wen  (Really heartwarming and insightful!)

When eighteen-year-old Ever Wong’s parents send her from Ohio to Taiwan to study Mandarin for the summer, she finds herself thrust among the very over-achieving kids her parents have always wanted her to be, including Rick Woo, the Yale-bound prodigy profiled in the Chinese newspapers since they were nine—and her parents’ yardstick for her never-measuring-up life.

·         Sorcerer to the Crown- Zen Cho (if anyone is looking for another Howl’s Moving Castle, look no further than this book)

At his wit’s end, Zacharias Wythe, freed slave, eminently proficient magician, and Sorcerer Royal of the Unnatural Philosophers—one of the most respected organizations throughout all of Britain—ventures to the border of Fairyland to discover why England’s magical stocks are drying up.

·         Emergency Contact- Mary H.K. Choi (very wholesome and fun rom-com!)

For Penny Lee high school was a total nonevent. When she heads to college in Austin, Texas, to learn how to become a writer, it’s seventy-nine miles and a zillion light years away from everything she can’t wait to leave behind.

 ·         Jade City- Fonda Lee (I am reading this currently and can I just say- I think everyone who loves fantasy and blood feuds in a story should read this.)

JADE CITY is a gripping Godfather-esque saga of intergenerational blood feuds, vicious politics, magic, and kungfu. The Kaul family is one of two crime syndicates that control the island of Kekon. It's the only place in the world that produces rare magical jade, which grants those with the right training and heritage superhuman abilities.

 ·         A Pho Love Story- Loan Le

When Dimple Met Rishi meets Ugly Delicious in this funny, smart romantic comedy, in which two Vietnamese-American teens fall in love and must navigate their newfound relationship amid their families’ age-old feud about their competing, neighbouring restaurants.

·         Rebelwing- Andrea Tang

Business is booming for Prudence Wu. A black-market-media smuggler and scholarship student at the prestigious New Columbia Preparatory Academy, Pru is lucky to live in the Barricade Coalition where she is free to study, read, watch, and listen to whatever she wants.

·         Wings of the Locust- Joel Donato Ching Jacob

Tuan escapes his mundane and mediocre existence when he is apprenticed to Muhen, a charming barangay wiseman. But, as he delves deeper into the craft of a mambabarang and its applications in espionage, sabotage and assassination, the young apprentice is overcome by conflicting emotions that cause him to question his new life.

 ·         The Travelling Cat Chronicles- Hiro Arikawa

Sometimes you have to leave behind everything you know to find the place you truly belong...

Nana the cat is on a road trip. He is not sure where he's going or why, but it means that he gets to sit in the front seat of a silver van with his beloved owner, Satoru. 

 ·         Super Fake Love Song- David Yoon

From the bestselling author of Frankly in Love comes a contemporary YA rom-com where a case of mistaken identity kicks off a string of (fake) events that just may lead to (real) love.

  ·         Parachutes- Kelly Yang

Speak enters the world of Gossip Girl in this modern immigrant story from New York Times bestselling author Kelly Yang about two girls navigating wealth, power, friendship, and trauma.

·         The Grace of Kings- Ken Liu ( One of the Time 100 Best Fantasy Books Of All Time!)

Two men rebel together against tyranny—and then become rivals—in this first sweeping book of an epic fantasy series from Ken Liu, recipient of Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy awards.

·         Wicked Fox- Kat Cho

A fresh and addictive fantasy-romance set in modern-day Seoul.

 ·         Descendant of the Crane- Joan He

In this shimmering Chinese-inspired fantasy, debut author Joan He introduces a determined and vulnerable young heroine struggling to do right in a world brimming with deception.

 ·         Pachinko- Min Jin Lee

Richly told and profoundly moving, Pachinko is a story of love, sacrifice, ambition, and loyalty. From bustling street markets to the halls of Japan's finest universities to the pachinko parlors of the criminal underworld, Lee's complex and passionate characters--strong, stubborn women, devoted sisters and sons, fathers shaken by moral crisis--survive and thrive against the indifferent arc of history.

·         America is in the Heart- Carlos Bulosan

First published in 1946, this autobiography of the well known Filipino poet describes his boyhood in the Philippines, his voyage to America, and his years of hardship and despair as an itinerant laborer following the harvest trail in the rural West.

 ·         Days of Distraction- Alexandra Chang

A wry, tender portrait of a young woman — finally free to decide her own path, but unsure if she knows herself well enough to choose wisely—from a captivating new literary voice.

·         The Astonishing Colour of After Emily X.R Pan

Alternating between real and magic, past and present, friendship and romance, hope and despair, The Astonishing Color of After is a novel about finding oneself through family history, art, grief, and love. 

·         The Gilded Wolves- Roshani Chokshi

It's 1889. The city is on the cusp of industry and power, and the Exposition Universelle has breathed new life into the streets and dredged up ancient secrets. Here, no one keeps tabs on dark truths better than treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier Séverin Montagnet-Alarie. When the elite, ever-powerful Order of Babel coerces him to help them on a mission, Séverin is offered a treasure that he never imagined: his true inheritance.

·         When Dimple met Rishi- Sandhya Menon

Dimple and Rishi may think they have each other figured out. But when opposites clash, love works hard to prove itself in the most unexpected ways.

·         On Earth we’re briefly Gorgeous- Ocean Vuong

Poet Ocean Vuong's debut novel is a shattering portrait of a family, a first love, and the redemptive power of storytelling.

·         Fierce Fairytales- Nikita Gill

Complete with beautifully hand-drawn illustrations by Gill herself, Fierce Fairytales is an empowering collection of poems and stories for a new generation.

 BOOKS BEING RELEASED LATER THIS YEAR TO PREORDER:

·         Counting down with you- Tashie Bhuiyan- 4th May

A reserved Bangladeshi teenager has twenty-eight days to make the biggest decision of her life after agreeing to fake date her school’s resident bad boy.

How do you make one month last a lifetime?

·         Gearbreakers- Zoe Hana Mikuta- June 29th

Two girls on opposite sides of a war discover they're fighting for a common purpose--and falling for each other--in Zoe Hana Mikuta's high-octane debut Gearbreakers, perfect for fans of Pacific Rim, Pierce Brown's Red Rising Saga, and Marie Lu's Legend series

·         XOXO- Axie Oh- 13th July

When a relationship means throwing Jenny’s life off the path she’s spent years mapping out, she’ll have to decide once and for all just how much she’s willing to risk for love.

·         She who became the sun- Shelley Parker-Chan- 20th July

Mulan meets The Song of Achilles in Shelley Parker-Chan's She Who Became the Sun, a bold, queer, and lyrical reimagining of the rise of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty from an amazing new voice in literary fantasy.

·         Jade Fire Gold- June C.L Tan- October 12th

Two girls on opposite sides of a war discover they're fighting for a common purpose--and falling for each other--in Zoe Hana Mikuta's high-octane debut Gearbreakers, perfect for fans of Pacific Rim, Pierce Brown's Red Rising Saga, and Marie Lu's Legend series

  Keep sharing, signing petitions and donating where you can. The more people who are actively anti-racist, the better. And if your anti-racism doesn’t include the Asian community then go and educate yourself! BLM wasn’t a trend and neither is this. We have to stand up against white supremacy, and racism and stereotypes and we have to support the communities that need our support. Part of that can include cultivating your reading so you’re reading more diversely and challenging any stereotypes western society may have given you.

 Feel free to reblog and add any more recommendations and resources of course!

[serenedash]

I started rambling about my experience with kh and then it turned into khux and then it just turned into me rambling about Ryou and my art journey????? enjoy I guess,

it’s very long but there’s art in there :)

It’s funny to think about my kh journey as a whole tbh, I grew up watching my mom play video games, which included kh1 and 2. I wasn’t allowed to play the playstation2 we owned BUT I did have a gameboy so the first game I played was CoM (after my mom finished it ofc,) so I guess you could say I’ve always been passionate about kh “””side games””” lmao but I did fall off of kh very quickly bc again, I wasn’t allowed to play our PS2 and also I Am A Terrible Gamer I’ve Never Finished CoM I’m sorry you all had to find out like this, but then 358/2 came out when I was in middle school and!!! I didn’t care and I didn’t play idk why lol

Anyway, fast forward to high school I’m like 15 and my older sister, who HAS been keeping up with kh, has a wallpaper on her phone of roxas and ventus. And bc I haven’t kept up I say “nice roxas wallpaper” and she says “thanks but it’s roxas and ventus” and I proceeded to get so mad that I was determined to prove to her that her wallpaper was just roxas twice and then I fell down the BBS rabbit hole and suddenly I was reading about vanitas and then I’m reading the fan translations of the BBS novel and I’m crying??? I am sobbing???? and that’s how I actually got into kh for real lol we are vanitas stans before we are people,

It’s so funny how I thought I was some kh super fan, knowing all this stuff that I spent so long reading and rewatching cutscene movies, but I never once, SOMEHOW NEVER ever came across khx. It’s so absurd and bizarre I seriously have no idea how I never once encountered khx prior to khux. I suppose that has to do with the fact I wasn’t involved in the fandom? In early high school I had stepped away from fandoms as a whole and I didn’t have any interest in really posting content or interacting with fans anymore bc of how burnt out I was from a previous fandom,

but khux released! and I was so hype and excited for it! on launch day I was a senior in high school, I had ran around to every “nerd” and weeb I could find in school to ask them to join my party and fun fact about me is I have crippling social anxiety I literally refuse to start conversations irl so holy shit I was OUT HERE doing the MOST

My player just originally had my name (Matt) but everyone in my party had fun names so Ryou was born! High school was one big yugioh phase for me and ryou bakura is one of my favorite characters ever so it was just the logical name choice lol I quickly started creating Ryou, the character, as well. I was also leaving my homestuck phase and that + vanitas obsession made This character design (art circa 2016)

If y’all are familiar with my kh oc’s you might notice that keyblade now belongs to my kid Monty LOL

Anyway that got scrapped quickly for the chip and dale outfit (which is where Ryou’s trademark goggles are from <3) Goggles have been a staple of my character designs for a LONG TIME so like, it had to be done, (that’s a separate ramble about a separate oc tho)

OG Ryou was an interesting guy; he was a young party leader with this overwhelming responsibility on his shoulders bc of his status as a party leader. In his original story, he also struggled heavily with darkness, much like Terra but for Ryou it was more that the darkness was controlling him and not like a source of power like it was for Terra

A big part of early Ryou I kept, however, was the crushing awareness of loss. One of my party members (the strongest one at the time,) had left without saying a word and I was very confused and hurt. This was around the time the ephemera plot was happening so I decided to incorporate it into Ryou’s story; having him experience losing a friend to darkness since it’s so normal for wielders in Daybreak Town to just disappear, and this would unintentionally become a theme for both me and Ryou as khux friends would just randomly disappear.

I was desperate for khux at this point and I decided to watch the fan translations for khx and GOD, god, was I obsessed. I couldn’t stop thinking about the foretellers. And I’m not going off about that here bc I already did that, but I actually started entering fandom again! I did it slowly, I started on tumblr before this blog was made altho it was me sending anons to the few khux related blogs I could have lol a friend convinced me to get twitter where I got involved with the ffxv fandom, which led me to the kh fandom and eventually the khux fandom there which is what REALLY got me going on khux.

I joined discord servers, most of the servers I’m in are khux related, and from there I joined the khux oc rp (shout out to anyone there who might be reading this lol here’s some art from the beginning of the rp,)

It’s SO FUNNY how the RP influenced me so heavily. I hadn’t RP’d in YEARS, I used to have a strict no oc rp policy, but here I was? And the funny part is, I had barely developed Ryou. I had scrapped his original story and all I had was POST WAR Ryou so I literally had to reverse write him; I had only ever written him as a depressed, guilt ridden adult, but it was a fucking blast and I have such fond memories of this rp when it was active,

But anyway, this encouraged me to get more serious about art! I started drawing, writing, cosplaying, and roleplaying when I hadn’t done any of that stuff in a very long time. The first time I ever drew a background was for a deviant art khux competition actually LOL

also! I always think extremely fondly of the drawing I did of Aced in the keyblade war. It was also one of the first backgrounds I ever drew and it felt like my real starting point in the khux fandom. It got a ton of notes on here and someone wrote a tiny fic in a reblog which just made me SO HAPPY like it really felt like people were noticing me :) I was going to draw a matching Ira but!! I just never did!! One day tho, it’s on my art bucket list to redraw this along with Ira,

Aside from my personal growth, khux was great for my social life ngl, I made SO MANY friends online and got to meet a ton of people irl over the years! It’s crazy to think about all the people I now know and talk to? It honestly makes me really emotional. I’ll never forget taking the train into NYC and meeting up with discord friends. Going to conventions and talking with people about the latest khux update? Absolutely insane and those were some GOOD TIMES, if I thanked every khux friend or even just person who made an impact on me then we’d be here for a LONG TIME,

Fun fact, for my Lauriam cosplay all I needed to buy was the wig I just owned his outfit LOL also? Probably retiring that cosplay ngl people treated me like absolute garbage when I wore him and it led to a lot of confidence issues for awhile ngl. That’s probably one of the only memorable negative experiences I have with khux; it was great when khux people recognized me but for kh fans that weren’t in khux? They were FUCKING MEAN??? fuck kh fandom at large, I only care about khux fandom,

This leads me to another huge part of my experience in khux fandom: THEORIES!! I used to write SO MANY and oh my god my brain was so full all the time. It was a huge appeal for me in the fandom; I had been previously writing theory posts in the RWBY fandom and it just migrated over to khux for me lol I had done a ton of theorizing around Lauriam tbh, it was really the only reason I liked his character at all bc initially I did not care about the dandelions, anyone who wasn’t Skuld I was like “please leave Now thanks”

A funny part of khux fandom I never intended to be apart of is the MEMES, I really only started doing memes as stress relief bc college had me so busy all I had time/energy for was these quick little shit post drawings.

The first meme I made, file name “invi despair” LOL we need to get her a girlfriend smh anyway, I think in my senior year of college I did a bunch of rapid fire memes all in one month bc the stress of finals was getting so bad afdgfhdgf as far as I know my impact on this fandom will be my memes bc all I do now is enter a kh/khux server and introduce myself and I go “yeah I draw art. here’s a meme” and everyone goes OH YOU, honestly I am nothing if not a clown

I’ve talked so much idk where I’m going with this. Khux is just a good game even if the gameplay actually kind of really sucks yknow lol but it was the first game I played where I like, REALLY got into the meta and the mechanics. I used to read so much on the mechanics and watch youtube videos on which medals were worth pulling for. I was never a whale or a top player exactly, but I could rank well if I tried lol I’ve made it to the top 100 for solo rankings, my party has made it to top 10, and in pvp I’ve made top 300. I’m not the highest level in my party but FUCK do I know how to manipulate this game LOL

And with all that hard work, the strategies, the theorizing, the content I’ve made-- it’s been my life for 5 years. I’ve logged into khux almost every single day. At the end, I have logged 1820 days in khux out of 1910 days. Kinda crazy. Crazier I’ve never spent money on khux either lol the only “money” gone into it was one time my mom gave me a google play store gift card and I used it on my birthday for a VIP xemnas medal which eventually made it to regular pulls anyway but it was nice and a little treat :)

I’m not a gacha fan, I don’t care for it, so I don’t think I’ll be touching another gacha again. But for kh? This was pretty fucking awesome, even if it sucked a lot sometimes LOL It was worth it for the people I’ve met most of all I think. I would honestly be a completely different person without khux and that’s REALLY insane to think about.

[yurileclercseyeliner]

I COME UP WITH WEIRD FIRE EMBLEM BEAST UNIT IDEAS PART 2, ELECTRIC BOOGALOO

The selkie post: https://yurileclercseyeliner.tumblr.com/post/653904850062589952/okay-i-need-yall-to-come-with-me-on-this

OKAY I HAVE ANOTHER IDEA. (Again I’m on mobile I’m sorry about the novel and lack of cuts).

K E L P I E S A S B E A S T U N I T S .

“For fuck’s sake,” you sigh, “What the hell is a kelpie?”

Voila, sweet user of tumblr dot com, a KELPIE.

(Image from Wikimedia Commons, fuck tumblr and the image quality drop)

“That’s literally a girl riding a horse what exactly is mythical about this and where is the shapeshifter?”

HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT BECAUSE YOU SEE, THE HORSE IS THE SHAPESHIFTER.

This is another Scottish creature that is basically an intelligent, magic horse that lives in the sea and can shapeshift into a human, run across water, and a bunch of other magical stuff. Admittedly, I personally think that kelpies have a much darker origin than the selkies in my last post so bear with me while I add that little bit of context.

TRIGGER WARNING FOR KIDNAPPING, THIS PART ISN’T SUPER NECESSARY FOR THE POINT I WANT TO MAKE ABOUT THE UNITS BUT IF YOU WANT TO SEE ME RAMBLE ABOUT MYTHOLOGY FOR A QUICK PARAGRAPH GO AHEAD

Okay so in practically every story involving a kelpie in Scottish folklore there is at least one kidnapping. The story that I know best begins when 16 chieftans’ sons are kidnapped by the kelpie and taken to his underwater home with only their shield-bearer escaping, who then has to rescue them all during a special feast, while also dealing with the fact that his princess friend is being manipulated by the kelpie as well. In the end all of the sons are rescued, the princess realizes what’s going on and helps the shield bearer with the rescue and later marries him, and the kelpie goes on to kidnap some other girl (I think it was the princess’s cousin?).

TW/LONG MYTHOLOGY TANGENT OVER

Okay so one thing that I want to bring up is that the adaptation of these creatures as beast units does not need to completely reflect their mythological origins, because not all mythological adaptations need to EXACTLY reference their source material. I don’t mean do things that would be a complete spit in the face to the source material, cough that Webtoon called Athena Complex cough, but just that not every mythological detail needs to be included. Include the parts that are important for the player to understand the gist of what the creature is supposed to be in your specific setting and then add your own characterization. So basically what I’m saying is that the kidnapping part doesn’t necessarily need to be a part of these beast units’ characterizations if it doesn’t make sense in the world building.

BUT THAT’S ENOUGH TALK ABOUT THE THEORY BEHIND WORLD BUILDING AROUND ADAPTED MYTHOLOGICAL CREATURES, I WANT TO TALK ABOUT CAVALRY UNITS BUT IT’S JUST THE HORSE.

THEY JUST RUN UP AND FUCKING TRAMPLE FOOT SOLDIERS AND KICK AN ARMOR KNIGHT IN THE FACE.

THERE’S A HORSE LOOSE IN THE HOSPITAL???

NO THERE’S A HORSE LOOSE ON THE BATTLEFIELD.

So yeah cavalry unit but it’s just the horse. In terms of them as a society I think they would live in a coastal town next to a rocky coast where a lot of sea foam forms, bc there’s just a bunch of stuff about kelpies being associated with sea foam.

Also since beast units typically need some sort of catalyst thing to transform I guess kelpies would get a standard beast stone. Sorry guys but only the selkies get cool transformation fur coats.

N e ways have a nice day. Also Scottish and Celtic folklore, though kind of disturbing at times, is super fucking rad and it needs to be used in pop culture more often.

[jan-uinely]

hot takes [pt. ii]

good[e] morning campers! we have more thoughts on \_ |_ | _/  RuPaul’s Drag Race episode 9... because i have nothing better to think about... lol. This is a novel, btw. 

SO... I have said it before and i will say it again... the in memorium segment gave me life. Robot Barbie Cheerleader. also RIP to jan’s clear drink in untucked. 

Let’s get into the gig, because why not. Unsure if readers are aware, but I am very politically minded. [do I use tumblr as a way to put politics aside for a little while? sure. but I have also worked on campaigns, did not take Elizabeth warren dropping out of the presidential race well... I mean she dropped at the beginning of march and now look at where we are.... anyWAYs.]

I did not like this episode. I did not like the challenge. From what I understand, the only other time this challenge was done was in season 4, but I stopped watching season 4 when sharon wore a conf*derate flag bodysuit for a mini challenge, prior to which she wore a mccain/palin shirt. I still don’t know if it was a joke, but #yeet. 

So this episode took the place of a “roast”/ stand up episode. Those are usually fine. They separate folks a little bit more. But, as someone who followed the recent primary with a VERY close eye, but was could also be humorous about it... Debates are hard to do. What makes a debate work is that everyone is well versed on everyone else’s platform, and knows how to attack them, because they have been the same person the whole time. For some reason, everyone “invented” a different character to play.... no one had a real platform... and it’s really hard to ~volley~ when people don’t really understand everyone’s characters. I also think, similar to the democratic primary- that there were too many people on stage. I also think snatch game happened too early... but that’s another story never mind anyway [did you catch that into the woods/bernadette peters joke???? @ JAN ]. 

So everyone has these “characters” which for the most part are not super consistent with who they’ve been portraying on the show... which makes it challenging. Then, it was moderated very poorly, and then edited together very poorly. There was no flow... it was very choppy. Again... not a fan. 

Season 8 also had a political challenge, but if i remember correctly, that was just a branding challenge kind of. It was better than this. Now, do I appreciate the fact that Drag Race is taking this election very seriously?? YES. But this challenge was just Not It. 

I thought Jaida was very consistent, I liked Jackie’s a lot [It seems like a running gag that she is too prepared in the same way that Jan was too energetic... which has its own election flashbacks....] I am really enjoying crystal... I thought she also had what was close to a fully formed character.. it just needed to bake a little more. 

So... next up... ms. goode. #cringe. tbh I don’t care about the performance. Were they just trying to redo snatch game? basically. were they the only person to try and do that? No. 

This mirror chat was the bomb dot com tho. best part of the episode.

We’re talking about the “oh i’m not political” We knew from episode one that Gigi grew up in a lot of privilege- and wasn’t the only one [@ jan] but jesus has it shown in gigi the most... I mean bob the drag queen said it best.. Gigi goode’s mom vs Jaida Essence Hall. 

But the nerve to openly say “i’m not political, and I don’t like it” when you KNOW at this point in time what the contestants have gone through... it’s just really insensitive. Also to be the open front runner knowing that the RPDR fans can be young and impressionable.. is really irresponsible TBH. 

Guess what? I don’t like to follow the news sometimes. I don’t watch tr*mp’s press conferences. Sometimes I log off twitter and go to tumblr. But I still stay INFORMED on the issues and am able to back up my positions. I VOTE. [cannot believe i’m saying this but i would not be surprised if gigi did not vote in 2016.]

[sidebar]

Maybe it’s bc I stan jan in a way that I have stanned no one else before [the only ru girl who even comes close to it while I was actively watching the show without prior knowledge is naomi] Maybe it’s combined with the quarantine that I have nothing else to do. And with that comes a [virtual] introduction to basically everybody who’s anybody in the NYC drag scene. [I will say the Bob-Monet-Cracker-Jan quad is just A+] So maybe I just have a better idea of what it is [have I gone down a Youtube rabbit hole on this subject? yes] 

Is new york also my personal favorite city? yes. Have I been to LA? no. Do I like the concept of LA? no. Have I been west of the mississippi river? no. So maybe it’s a combination of all of these things [including Jan saying on repeat that New York is the greatest city to do drag] but. The NYC girls are just so much more political. Brita, Bob, MOnet, tbh Jan is also on the record saying some A+ shiz. Marti Cummings is a non binary drag artist running for city council in manhattan. “Everybody black and aquaria.” 

Is NYC politics like any city, full of machines and garbage too? Sure. But NYC is just so much more powerful and political. LA is just the embodiment of privilege.

 I also think it’s interesting that some of the smaller town/city gals will move to LA [Trixie/Katya/Alaska? I’m looking @ you] after they get the drag race coin. Not that it’s a bad thing or anything, it’s just an interesting dynamic. [another aside: the non NY/LA girls deserve it all and i think it’s really powerful when the show directly addresses issues of wealth/privilege/access to drag on the show.] 

[end sidebar]

And Gigi came into the competition saying “I want to be on vogue” which is great. Their fashion sense is great. Most of their outfits are great. It’s great that they can do comedy [sometimes- like when they are not playing the role of Gigi] But something else I take issue with- and don’t get me wrong humility is great- is the whole “I’m not a dancer” that’s BS. they whole back handspring etc, madonna challenge. Maybe you weren’t a trained dancer, but ffs cut the crap. [if you haven’t look up gigi goode showgirls] 

And yet the judges continue to give Gigi [and SP] free passes. It’s like Ru is so afraid that if either of them end up in the bottom, they won’t turn it out and then there will be no frontrunner. Well guess what? In season 7, Max had 2 wins before anyone else and came in 9th. valentina going home was a total gag. Brooke and Yvie lip synced on the snatch game ep. But Apparently when the skinny white fashion queen from the big city [gigi, aquaria] does less than well, they don’t get put up for elimination??? [did aquaria deserve to lip sync for the makeover? idk.]

Gigi is getting a “winner” edit and it’s not really fair to anyone. People who should have won certain challenges were IGNORED, and instead the producers give all the credit to gigi, giving them almost a worse edit. Like we want to see humans, not robots. If we learned ANYTHING from last week is that the judges don’t like when you just “start on 100 and stay there THE WHOLE TIME”. Bc the truth is that [aside from the loads and loads and loads of privilege,] Gigi is really nice and very talented. But I, as a viewer of reality TV, live to see the perfect fail. I want everyone to shine [this is why I loved when Naomi sent manila home, oops] 

Also.. I would like to address the fact that Gigi basically used the same outfit twice... this runway and entrance look have almost the same pattern, with just a slightly different skirt type. I would like for this behavior to be called out bc it is such a memorable silhouette. 

Also- Shout out to Crystal for the most bomb ass runway... I want that whole outfit pls. 

but aside from that... TBH I just want a show with the real top 7 [ the heidi and widow have been cracking me up saying “we’re at top 5″ or “we’re at top 6″ before the ep aired on instagram and I’m loling.. and that VERY AWK moment when Jan is on the x change rate saying that they couldn’t justify putting anyone other that her and widow in the bottom bc gigi and 3 wins and trying to work around not saying SP’s name had 2. [also shout out to jan the real mvp for unfollowing SP on twitter]] doing competitions and having fun. And I’ve said this before. This is a really good season that did not need production’s handprints all over everything. But they chose to cast RuPaul’s Best Friend Race, so they shouldn’t be complaining or trying to manufacture drama.

I was cracking up when Jaida was [clearly prodded by producers] asking is there anything we need to talk about? and then Jackie goes to talk to widow right before they leave and they are just nice to each other. lol no drama here. It’s the season of the inner saboteur. 

So Jackie and widow are in the bottom and tbh I don’t know. I would have liked to see Gigi lip sync. I would have liked this challenge to not happen. but it did. The lip sync song.. I just didn’t love the cut... Katy perry’s voice is so over produced [trend alert] that the illusion of the lip sync didn’t work in the first chorus. Jackie’s plastic bag was just A+. These lip syncs, tbh starting w jan v widow have been very good. not good enough to make up for the garbage that was everything since ep. 3, but close. [and some of that was song choice, some of it was not. I will say brita killed her first one but rip to rock]

Jeff gold bloom. I just don’t know. Maybe it’s bc I never saw jurassic park. Maybe he was just a bad judge. maybe he too was being prodded by production. ugh. You can read the takes on his interactions with jackie somewhere else. 

[mcrtiniblues-blog]

.. let’s just get this over with SDKLFJDKSLDG this one Has to be typed in full so i’m dying already. sadly, you’re gonna have to wait on her stats page, among others sdfjgkldf

( deepika padukone, cisfemale, she/her. ) hey that’s amla jothadi over by the fountain! i wonder if they took a coin out. i heard the thirty-one year old’s been in sovana for two years and they’re known to be pretty apprehensive but also adept. a song that describes their life would be young by vallis alps and neatly-stacked novels, lilacs, freshly baked banana muffins, & bitten pen caps always reminds me of them.

so unlike halle, amla isn’t super developed as she’s a new new muse sdgjksd

so you’re getting the absolute basics i’m afraid !

had lived in london for her entire life and her home life was rather.. standard ??

middle child, only daughter syndrome didn’t hit her too hard bc she was the apple of her father’s eye and was a near-mirror image of her mother, so she had them both wrapped around her finger fsgdkldfgj

her and her brothers got along okay, hair-pulling and exclusion bc of “boys only”/”leave MY friends alone” moments aside, so it really was a rather mundane childhood that she had

p much the crybaby of her graduating class, overly sentimental and sweet so she was at most an annoyance to some

but it did make her a solid target for some of the mean kids bc they could get a reaction out of her pretty easily

nonetheless, she wasn’t the type to hold grudges for it, just dodged them and moved on from it as much as she could bc she figured they’d get bored of seeking her out eventually

all in all a teacher’s pet, friendly to all and just. adorable. slkdfgjdfs

she had an interest in cooking and writing from a young age, but left the former as a hobby and began to build a desire to do the latter as a career

but of course ! nothing is that simple !

at some point she realized that writing probably wouldn’t pay the bills by itself — when she Actually became an adult and would have to do that herself sfgdlk

so upon entering uni, she decided to go for a communications degree, thinking that she could at least start off as a secretary or clerk at a media group before doing Something creative there

.. but years passed after graduating and she was Still but a clerk. handling files and documents, answering calls that shouldn’t even be sent her way at times bc the people around her couldn’t be bothered, having a hard time with putting her foot down so she winds up swamped and stagnant before even hitting her thirties

and that’s not at All how she pictured her life at this age, so she’s disappointed and stressed and SAD af

but she thought she Had to take it bc it seemed like an unspoken rule that you do four years at uni, you do your masters or get out there and lock yourself down to a company/occupation for the next 40 years of your life before living it up at 70 in florida or at your tiny house in the countryside

her passion for writing and some of her hobbies floundered bc of how much the desk jockey life stressed her out, the only thing keeping her from wholly spiralling being her fridays at the pub with her college friends

.. though seeing things work out for them ( for the most part ) where they didn’t for her didn’t alleviate her worries 100%

so come her 29th birthday, she.. had her inevitable quarter life crisis of sorts, cringey rom com plotlines serving as inspo

bc she just. wasn’t Happy with her life at that point, had no real sense of adventure or pure freedom bc she locked herself down to what she thought she’s SUPPOSED to do or focus on

and it was when she was binging.. rom coms KLGJDSFGKL that she figured she should throw caution to the wind and go somewhere Else. some deep diving via google for destinations later and she fell in love with sovana !

she’s been here for two years now, just living life and staying far from her former office life, going at her own pace

she wants to delve into writing as she planned at one point, a now or never kind of thing, and she’s been... getting back into the swing of things ( EDIT: didn't even realize i left this hanging mid-sentence, didn't remember where i was going with it so filling the void looks a tad nonsensical SGFDLK )

cooking classes and baking, reading in the garden near her house, lots of other cute things fill up her days now and she’s having a Great time as a result SGKLDJSD

she’s done a few odd jobs here and there so she can sustain herself financially, though she’s currently working part-time at a café she frequents bc coffee ? treats ?? a chill reading environment ??? sign her up

personality and such

where halle’s often the bane of my existence ( when she’s not a bit of a mood ), amla’s baby

she’s not naive, but she has a relatively gentle soul 

wholesome isn’t quite a word i’d use to describe her but she’s just super cute and a simpleton in some respects

the type to spare baby ants and spiders from being crushed by a slipper for being in the house, but to get someone else to take care of the.. creepier insects jskdfh

she’s not a Big risk-taker bc The Unknown scares her, so for her to even do what she did two years ago took a LOT out of her to muster up the nerve

so she’s a bit of an anxious person who at times needs assurance, even from a complete stranger 

v big on global issues bc she wants the world to be a more peaceful place, so there’s a side of her that tends to see in black and white rather than grey.... or rose ig sdgklsd

the simple things in life appeal to her a lot, though a luxury or two is welcome if she can put it to good use 

the Mom friend in some situations :( a cutie

she’s a romantic, like she has the Vibe even when she tries to play it off like the extent of it is a bit closeted, secretive yknow ??

bc even then.. she has her trepidations bc of the relationships that had flamed out in the past for whatever reason

has a cat named rory, who she Loves and might be projecting her slight baby fever onto for the time being

.. basically she’s your white picket fence fantasist — but make it rustic and less cliché — who’s managing to grip her bearings on the matter, if you couldn’t already tell SLKGJGFSD

yknow how some people get really emotional and quiet in an argument but proceed to snap almost out of fucking nowhere ?? that’s amla

sdlfkgj she’s used to having been a doormat or target in the past, so she tends to let herself take it until she realizes “ hey, i don’t need to be shit on like this, how Dare you — ”

just. love her please FKLFGDJSKLD

[disneydreamlights]

So, while most of the Norts in the MMO AU follow the rule of "personality traits through the filter of Xehanort", Terra-Xehanort would be different, due to Terra/Eraqus and Xehanort constantly struggling for control. That, combined with his amnesia, would result in Terranort developing a split personality. One is how Terra views Xehanort, which would later become Ansem, and the other how Xehanort views Terra, which would later become Xemnas. Extracting Terra's heart wouldn't fix this.

...Which would explain why neither Ansem SoD or Xemnas aren’t a lot like Xehanort at all. I’d imagine it must’ve driven Xigbar crazy though. (Good.)

So, what keeps the Dandelions from being total gamebreakers once they're freed is that they are, for the most part, pacifists. This means that they'd just serve the in-universe explanation for where the other players in Multiplayer come from, unless there is an in-universe explanation for them to be more involved in the plot. Additionally, I imagine most of them would hang up their Keyblades to live normal lives after being freed. And to be frank, I wouldn't blame them.

I wouldn’t either given all that the MMO AU puts them through.

As for the Keykids running the Ice Cream shop, they'd both be Dandelions due to being from different Unions and not wanting to have to fight each other. They would not wear their ice cream uniforms at the Dandelion meetings, since they're not on the job, and the ice cream is more of a hobby. They would both wield Sweetstack though, even when off the job. All the Sweetstack Materials would be Ice Cream ingredients. Strelitzia and Mog were their favorite customers.

As for how the fact that they're siblings would be revealed? After you ask them about Ven's whereabouts (which wouldn't be easy seeing as they change what World their located in every day), Black Hair would remark on how surprising it is that they get along despite being in different Unions, while White Hair would bring up that they're twins. Cue the flood of angsty oneshots about them fighting and killing eachother in the Keyblade War until they're revealed to be Dandelions.

As for why they're running an ice cream stand? It was the family business, and they both want to keep their family's legacy arrive. They open up the shop whenever they both fill their Daily Quotas. And I just now realized that I accidentally created two OCs with a cute yet angsty backstory while trying to come up with an excuse for Sweetstack to be in the MMO AU. Although I kinda wish I knew how to draw because I just realized my imagined uniforms for them aren't in the canon game.

Ice cream twins you’ve got me sold I am now invested in these characters.

As for where the Ice Cream Vendors would run their shops on what day? Dwarf Woodlands outside the mines on Monday, Wonderland by the White Rabbit's house on Tuesday, Agrabah's Bizarre on Wednesday, Olympus Coliseum by the stands on Thursday (In the Underworld near the entrance in October), Beast's Castle in the Courtyard on Friday, and Daybreak Town in the park on the Weekend. They'd sell ice cream to the spectators during your matches in Olympus Coliseum, just to give the tournament more flavor

Can we buy ice cream while we watch matches or is it just the NPCs and they’re just there to add more character to the Olympus Coliseum stands and as a cute Easter Egg.

You know, after COM put forth the idea that death was the best possible ending for Repliku and that beings like himself could never be happy because they're not real people, I'm REALLY glad that the future games that remember he existed treated his demise as something tragic and not some kind of "mercy kill". His death always made me so mad because it was ultimately POINTLESS to the plot and a great example of a WASTED character. There's a reason I NEVER go down the same route canon did with him

That’s because it wasn’t really a mercy kill. Repliku shouldn’t have existed, it’s true, but once he did he also didn’t really deserve to die. He deserved a better life than the one he got, and its why the fact that he had to face Riku and die all the more tragic.

You know what, can we just have an AU where Namine stops Riku and his Replica from fighting to the death so that Repliku has the chance to be his own person and go on a journey of self discovery? Although I feel like he'd be relieved if Riku got a Keyblade and he didn't just because that would be one difference between them both. He'd probably also style his hair differently from Riku as part of that "forging my own identity" thing. It would be difficult and painful, but at least he'd be alive.

So I don’t quite have that at my disposal, but:

How do you feel about a 500+ chapter AU in which we get to see Repliku saved on the brink of death and shoved into a completely new universe where he is the only Riku? Because I can supply that for you it’s basically the starting point of one of my favorite fics.

Okay so, in KH3, while Roxas would have grown alongside Sora, Ven would not have aged a day while he was in the Chamber of Waking. This means that Roxas would look older than Ven. Vanitas would also look younger than Sora, due to not aging while his Remnant survived through sheer force of hate. Poor Ven, he's ancient but looks younger than the 3 year old.

This is one of the most hilarious things I have ever heard rip Ven.

I imagine Back Cover would be where all the vitriol that was once directed at Brain would then be redirected at Lauriam. Because once you see a 14-15 year old flashback to how he lost his sight and friends just days after the fact, and witnessed someone murder their closest friend, it's kinda hard to not rethink things like that.

I mean all my hatred towards Blaine if I had any would be immediately redirected towards Lauriam once Strelitzia is dead so I don’t even think I’d need Back Cover to hate him, assuming she’s revealed before Back Cover releases at least.

Laurie would lie about Aced killing Strelitzia before 2.8 released. In Back Cover, the famous Case of Luxury scene would be shown when Ava asks Luxu if he's the traitor, and cut back with the implication that he told Ava what the Master told him. The fun-sized Chirithy Ava squeed over was totally Nightmare Chirithy. Invi and Ira would be fighting during Ava's confrontation we Luxu.

Hey Lauriam don’t blame my son for my daughter’s demise.

Anyways, I’d like that transition more. Tbh I kinda wish we did get to see the Keyblade War unfold. It’s one of the only things I don’t like about BC is that it doesn’t follow X to its conclusion.

Okay so, in the MORNING AU, I imagine that the Mango could continue past KH2 depending on why the Manga ends there. As such there would be a Manga Adaptation AND Novelization of KHX. The novelization would have the default male protagonist, while the Manga would have the default female protagonist, and have her be part of Anguis. They'd also be characterized differently, the novel protagonist being more timid and the Manga protagonist being more snarky.

So yeah, the protagonist of the Manga would have Lauriam and the Keyblade Wielders from the Neoshadow Arc as party members until the Neoshadow Trio become Darklings. She'd leave the party after Lauriam blames her for what happened to their three party members. The Novel protagonist MIGHT be an Ursus Wielder, not sure yet. Aced would terrify both of them, since neither could defeat Ava when she was holding back, and Aced would actually be trying to kill them.

SNARKY FEMALE MANGA PROTAGONIST I AM ALL FOR THIS SHIT.

If they’re part of Ursus, I doubt they’d be afraid of Ursus. If you ask me, I think novel protag should be a member of Leopardus though. Creates good contrast versus Ava, and could create a lot of interesting arcs.

Both would have Medals in the "Toon Medal" deal. The Manga protagonist would have a Power-type Medal while the Novel protagonist would have a Speed-type Medal. The first time we hear either say their names would be when Ephemer is introduced. Neither protagonist would talk much, though the Manga protagonist's thoughts would serve as narration. The first time the Manga protagonist speaks would be to tell off Lauriam at the end of the Neoshadow arc before leaving his Party.

So, the Novel and Manga protagonists would both have Medals in the "Toon Medals" deal. The Manga protagonist would have a Power Medal while the Novel Protagonist would have a Speed Medal (if in Ursus) or a Magic Medal (if in Leopardos), in accordance with the idea that all the Keykids are the type that their Foretellers are strong against. They'd be the closest thing we'd have to Medals based off the Player, though both would be treated as distinct characters.

I think there should be a KHUx Toon Medal deal later on actually, where you can get Player and the five Foretellers, since in Ux they’re dead and could be used as medals.

So, MMO AU 0.2 would be virtually unchanged, save for the more intense version of "The End of a World" cutscene that I'm already forming a new idea for in my head, but that's a story for another day. But there would be one other change. You'd actually be able to see what abilities Aqua has on the difficulty you're playing on. Aqua'd have Treasure Magnet on both Beginner and she and Mickey'd both have it on Critical. There still wouldn't be prize drops in Critical, it's only there to taunt you.

...Wow, that’s cruel. Good thing I don’t play Critical because I’d cry I think.

So, in the MMO AU, starting up Back Cover in 2.8 would play a "spinning heart scene" like in the game. Unlike the games, the little screens would depict moments from past Kingdom Hearts games instead of moments from Back Cover. The music that plays over the spinning heart would be "Ventus". The credits themes would be "Case of Foretellers" and "Cavern of Remembrance". I'd probably keep the cutesy recap opening, just without the annoyingly formatted text layover. That was just BAD.

Actually maybe "The Dream" would be more appropriate than "Ventus". Anyway as for how I'd change "The End of a World" from my original idea would be to have the Keyblade Graveyard get absorbed by Kingdom Hearts. THEN Kingdom Hearts explodes, vaporizing the entire universe save for Luxu who survives by hiding out in the Realm of Darkness before Kingdom Hearts can absorb him. I mean, escaping from that to fulfill his role would be kinda difficult.

Honestly please change the entire intro. Maybe keep some of it but that intro could’ve been done so much better than they actually did.

Wow, honestly poor Luxu. Hiding in the RoD to survive doesn’t sound like it’d be fun.

So, I've lost track of what all I've sent you over the past couple of weeks, but I did have one idea that could be cool: imagine if there had been a movie based off the fall of Radiant Garden. I imagine that Xehanort would start out as the main antagonist until he splits between Ansem and Xemnas, at which point one of them would take over the role. I don't actually have as many ideas here as I do for the MMO part of the MMO AU.

I don’t need as many ideas make it a full length movie collaboration between Disney and Squeenix and I’m sold.

So, Sora would be conspicuously absent during Strelitzia's solo game as well as during the Epilogue DLC is that for the final phase of the final battle against Xehanort, Sora would trap himself and Xehanort within Kingdom Hearts. While the final clash would only be about as long as the battle against Xemnas' final form, outside of Kingdom Hearts, an entire year would pass during that duel. Fortunately, Sora would escape as soon as Xehanort is defeated, unscathed save for losing his powers again.

Damn...Poor RIku and Kairi. THey’d probably be searching for ways to rescue Sora the entire time instead of doing anything involving the other characters.

I kinda can't help but notice something mildly amusing about the MMO version of Back Cover. Mickey Mouse (or rather, a holographic double of him) is basically a herald of the apocalypse. I mean, his appearance is what tells the Foretellers that the people in the Book of Prophecy's Holo Worlds can leak out into the real world, explaining where the Heartless came from. Lauriam and Ventus just confuse them, because they KNOW they're not holograms.

GUYS THE WORLD IS ENDING CAN’T YOU TELL IT’S BECAUSE OF MICKEY FREAKING MOUSE. XD

So yeah, Invi basically accuses each of the other 4 Foretellers of being the traitor throughout MMO!BC. First she accuses Aced when he tries to kill her for talking Gula out of their alliance. Then she assumes it's Gula upon learning that Ira thinks that's the case. Then she accuses Ava upon learning about the Dandelions. Then, upon learning of Aced's true role, decides that IRA must be the traitor. The fact that Ira intends to wipe out everyone who fights in the Keyblade War doesn't help.

Okay so, Invi is kinda like Aqua in her devotion to the MoM, save for the fact that she LITERALLY worships him. That's kind of why her last words implied she was okay with the World ending, she had pieced together that the MoM WANTED the apocalypse to happen, and who is she to defy his will? The MoM is, amused by her worship of him, and he probably could have told her his true goals without her lifting a finger to stop him. It's Ava he's worried about.

So yeah, the reason he's so uncharacteristically serious around Ava is because he needs her to get Ven and Lauriam into the Unchained State. He needs Xehanort's plans to end a specific way in order for his eye that he placed in his Keyblade to end up in Kingdom Hearts, while Xehanort needs to drop Ventus off at the Land of Departure to notice the darkness in Terra's heart. Ava and factors he knows he can't control (the Gazing Eye doesn't see everything), could make everything fall apart

You know given how Invi was meant to invoke appearances related to Aqua with color scheme the fact that she parallels Aqua is really fitting.

Him being super serious around Ava makes sense if she’s the biggest threat though. Taking her more seriously means she’s less likely to mess things up for him.

[theenduringsun]

okay well @melodymeddler​ has asked me to do All of my ocs so here we go! (it’s under a readmore so you dont have my children clogging your dash)

galatea

Full Name: galatea lol Gender and Sexuality: demigirl, polysexual & polyamorous Pronouns: she/her or they/them Ethnicity/Species: gerudo  Birthplace and Birthdate: uhhhh Desert and november 4th Guilty Pleasures: she’s a good person usually but sometimes ya just gotta be Morally Ambiguous, ya feel? Phobias: losing her control of herself, death What They Would Be Famous For: saving the world!! What They Would Get Arrested For: stealing shit like cmon honey OC You Ship Them With: narei! OC Most Likely To Murder Them: probably dhulsaei but it’d be like a huge misunderstanding lol Favorite Movie/Book Genre: action/adventure. like tomb raider because That Her Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: when there are love triangles! she’s like “date both of them asshole!” Talents and/or Powers: very stealthy, agile, and acrobatic. can also talk her way out of anything Why Someone Might Love Them: the snark is real, has the wittiest retorts Why Someone Might Hate Them: bc she started as part of an oc/canon character ship lol How They Change: she learns not to rush headlong into things and learns that she’s not infallible. she also learns not to judge things by appearances like she hates when people do to her Why You Love Them: she was one of my first ocs that i started developing independently! i’ve really got a soft spot for her

narei: 

Full Name: prince narei (i’m not sure that gerudo have last names? so he doesnt have one lol) Gender and Sexuality: cis male, pansexual Pronouns: he/him Ethnicity/Species: gerudo Birthplace and Birthdate: Nonspecific Gerudo Village (not gerudo valley tho), july 13th Guilty Pleasures: romance novels Phobias: he’s really scared of cold. he doesn’t have much experience with it and fears that his limbs will fall off. What They Would Be Famous For: being a somewhat okay leader (with help) What They Would Get Arrested For: dark magic (he did apologize though) OC You Ship Them With: galatea (it’s mostly one-sided though) OC Most Likely To Murder Them: dhulsaei, but only if he’s actively endangering someone Favorite Movie/Book Genre: he says it’s action/adventure but, like i said before, the boy loves a good romance novel Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: miscommunication (you can catch him in his quarters screaming “JUST TELL HER” into his pillow. he should take his own advice) Talents and/or Powers: dark magic, swordfighting, handsomeness Why Someone Might Love Them: he honestly tries his best? most of the things that happen to him are not his fault (key word there: most) Why Someone Might Hate Them: he does a lot of things without thinking through them first, including spouting some pretty sexist ideology. however, he does grow past this, and it’s an important part of his character arc to me How They Change: he learns to look at all perspectives of an issue before taking it on, and he does a lot of introspection over his arc that helps him move more towards where he really wants to be Why You Love Them: he and galatea are my two favorite ocs because of how different they are tbh. i love putting them in situations where their differences complement each other and honestly i love how galatea helps him to be a better person. i just. yes

hokulani: 

Full Name: hokulani iona  Gender and Sexuality: cis female, bisexual Pronouns: she/her Ethnicity/Species: native alolan/hawaiian Birthplace and Birthdate: hau’oli city, march 16th Guilty Pleasures: fatty starchy foods. they’re not good for her but they’re good for her soul Phobias: being forgotten, not being able to speak up for herself What They Would Be Famous For: winning All the Medals in the paralympics! What They Would Get Arrested For: being young and reckless and accidentally doing something illegal OC You Ship Them With: a little bit with noelani but not really OC Most Likely To Murder Them: i don’t honestly think any of my ocs would? Favorite Movie/Book Genre: generic sports movies. she adores space jam with her whole soul Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: she hates rivalries, actually. she wants them to be friends Talents and/or Powers: she has incredible stamina, even though she’s in a wheelchair. she’s also very strong and will beat you in arm wrestling always Why Someone Might Love Them: she’s cute and determined lol Why Someone Might Hate Them: because she rushes in and does dumb things, and then is stubborn about how the thing she did was the right thing How They Change: i think she learns to accept her disability over the course of the island challenge, and she begins to see that she can do amazing things while being in a wheelchair (because she can!!) Why You Love Them: because i love paired ocs and she and noelani are my faves

noelani: 

Full Name: noelani kalani Gender and Sexuality: cis female, bi Pronouns: she/her Ethnicity/Species: native alolan/hawaiian Birthplace and Birthdate: iki town, march 16th  Guilty Pleasures: she likes to have coffee and chocolate past 9pm despite her insomnia Phobias: bugs. anything that is creepy crawly is a no from her. What They Would Be Famous For: her dance skills! she’s primarily a ballet dancer but she does other styles as well, and she’s very skilled as a ballerina :D What They Would Get Arrested For: being accomplice to something hokulani did OC You Ship Them With: a lil with hokulani OC Most Likely To Murder Them: mihlanna probably Favorite Movie/Book Genre: you know those horse movies everyone makes fun of? those are noelani’s favorite. Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: not sure this is a particular cliche, but she gets very bad secondhand embarrassment, so much that she’ll have to turn off the tv/stop reading and just walk around for a while to shake it off Talents and/or Powers: very skilled dancer, abnormally good balance even for a dancer Why Someone Might Love Them: she’s not the type of person who you’d expect to take the island challenge. she seemed to be content where she was, but she journeyed with hokulani anyway. Why Someone Might Hate Them: honestly? bc i have like no experience writing hawaiian/hawaiian-coded characters and i’m probably going to fuck it up at least six times (side note pleeeease tell me if anything i ever say is offensive because that is not my intent and i want to be the best person i possibly can <3) How They Change: noelani learns not to judge things by her first impression of them. for example she thought hokulani wouldn’t be able to do anything except sit at home after her accident, and yet they traveled across all of alola together! she also learns that when hokulani is set on something it will be done no matter the collateral damage lol Why You Love Them: she was the oc i made when primarina was first announced <3 i love dance, even though i’m not too good at it myself, so i love having an oc who’s good at dancing too.

camille belrose:

Full Name: camille adelaide belrose Gender and Sexuality: cis female, straight Pronouns: she/her Ethnicity/Species: kalosian/french Birthplace and Birthdate: coumarine city, june 16th Guilty Pleasures: chocolates and sugary things which are bad for her figure but FUCK when you’re crying about augustine sycamore at 3 am you need a box of russell stovers Phobias: bugs, if it crawls she hates it (except araquanid) What They Would Be Famous For: covering a huge story What They Would Get Arrested For: going the extra mile for a scoop (i shit you not she’s climbed fences before) OC You Ship Them With: none OC Most Likely To Murder Them: hokulani if only because they’d disagree on everything Favorite Movie/Book Genre: rom-coms Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: when an “ugly” girl is just a pretty brunette with a curvy figure? like what the fuck? Talents and/or Powers: would do anything to get paid. anything. Why Someone Might Love Them: she’s arguably the most fashion-forward of my ocs and you wouldn’t catch her dead in something un-coordinated Why Someone Might Hate Them: she’s stuck up as fuuuuuuuck. also started as a canon character/oc like galatea lol How They Change: she becomes less snobby and more appreciative of the things around her Why You Love Them: because i love making her swear in french it’s my favorite thing

aria:

Full Name: ariadne jane raptis Gender and Sexuality: demigirl, straight Pronouns: she/her or xe/xir Ethnicity/Species: whatever the pokemon equivalent of greek is/sinnoh! Birthplace and Birthdate: twinleaf town, march 21st (i have a lot of pisces ocs holy shit) Guilty Pleasures: making people angry. it’s the one thing that keeps her sane Phobias: death, deep water What They Would Be Famous For: winning the most fucking super contests ever holy shit What They Would Get Arrested For: honestly? public intoxication, but not until she’s way older OC You Ship Them With: none OC Most Likely To Murder Them: mihlanna or cerys Favorite Movie/Book Genre: high fantasy this girl has a billion d&d characters Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: when humans are always portrayed as the default race. like no tell her about gnomes please Talents and/or Powers: empath, very good at sewing, has a nice team of pokemon Why Someone Might Love Them: she’s adorable and also only five feet tall Why Someone Might Hate Them: she gets angry extremely easily and takes it out on everything around her How They Change: she learns how to work with other people without destroying entire towns in the process! Why You Love Them: sinnoh is the best region fight me.

cheyenne solberg:

Full Name: cheyenne rose solberg Gender and Sexuality: agender, pan Pronouns: they/them Ethnicity/Species: mixed native/white Birthplace and Birthdate: goldenrod city, august 13th Guilty Pleasures: pop music (it’s the same four chords but it’s so catchy) Phobias: losing their friends, dying alone What They Would Be Famous For: writing the best jazz cello repertoire known to man What They Would Get Arrested For: not caring enough and accidentally walking out of the house without a shirt on OC You Ship Them With: estelle!!!!!!! estelle!!!!!!! OC Most Likely To Murder Them: sylharice, she doesn’t see how they can just not care Favorite Movie/Book Genre: horror Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: when the girl in the horror movie is a dumbass. like please Talents and/or Powers: mad cello skills, unyielding love for their gf Why Someone Might Love Them: they’re incredibly critical but also extremely appreciative of music Why Someone Might Hate Them: they don’t care enough. at all How They Change: i like to think that they learn to care a little lol Why You Love Them: i just made them yesterday and i love them!!!!!!!

estelle beaumont:

Full Name: estelle louise beaumont Gender and Sexuality: demigirl, lesbian Pronouns: she/her Ethnicity/Species: kalosian Birthplace and Birthdate: lumiose city, july 18th Guilty Pleasures: cute violin/cello duets with her enbyfriend!! Phobias: cheyenne losing interest in her (which will never happen) What They Would Be Famous For: being the best violinist! What They Would Get Arrested For: doing something illegal to stop cheyenne from doing something illegal OC You Ship Them With: cheyenne!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OC Most Likely To Murder Them: galatea Favorite Movie/Book Genre: horror Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: jumpscares! she’ll be clinging to cheyenne nonstop Talents and/or Powers: very good violin girl, looks at things big-picture Why Someone Might Love Them: she’s a sweetheart holy shit???? Why Someone Might Hate Them: because she’s one of those “all sides” people who insists everyone gets a voice How They Change: she learns that some people just need to shut up. Why You Love Them: listen i made her and cheyenne yesterday they’re the greatest

sylharice amastacia:

Full Name: sylharice amastacia Gender and Sexuality: trans woman, gay as fuck Pronouns: she/her Ethnicity/Species: high elf Birthplace and Birthdate: somewhere in the wild, march 4th Guilty Pleasures: her flaw is “i can’t resist a pretty face”. she is quite literally too gay to function Phobias: losing her agency What They Would Be Famous For: creating the hit single “call me maybe but with all the pronouns changed to make it super gay” What They Would Get Arrested For: adultery....oops OC You Ship Them With: there’s a character in her backstory named diantha who she’s very much in love with but also diantha’s married so that’s a Bad OC Most Likely To Murder Them: dhulsaei Favorite Movie/Book Genre: smut novels Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: badly written foreplay Talents and/or Powers: she’s a very talented bard! she likes her rapier.  Why Someone Might Love Them: such a beautiful gay bard  Why Someone Might Hate Them: because i suck at using my offensive spells i’m sorry d&d group How They Change: i’m anticipating some coming-to-terms with the whole adultery thing in the future Why You Love Them: fuck dude i love playing gay bards

dhulsaei:

Full Name: dhulsaei aurelia doesn’t have a last name because her father was a rando Gender and Sexuality: demigirl, bisexual Pronouns: she/her Ethnicity/Species: sylph Birthplace and Birthdate: rugged reef, she can’t remember Guilty Pleasures: her vice is alcohol. she’s like always drunk Phobias: being controlled What They Would Be Famous For: saving the world with her posse What They Would Get Arrested For: public intoxication without a doubt OC You Ship Them With: i highkey ship her with @melodymeddler‘s oc leo lol OC Most Likely To Murder Them: sylharice probably Favorite Movie/Book Genre: epic plays Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: when there’s an improperly translated bit of language/bilingual characters written terribly Talents and/or Powers: sylphy shit, very good at stealthing, way smarter than she looks Why Someone Might Love Them: she’s cute, she has a british accent, and she’s almost never sober. what’s not to love Why Someone Might Hate Them: she says she’s neutral good but she’s more on the chaotic side of that alignment How They Change: she’s learning that snooping on her party’s things can sometimes lead to bad things. also that if you challenge a boat to a drinking contest, you will lose and get turned into a dog. multiple times. Why You Love Them: i love playing dhulsaei holy shit. it’s all the me i’ll never be

kit willoughby:

Full Name: katrina carlotta willoughby (call them anything but kit and they’ll murder you) Gender and Sexuality: agender, bi Pronouns: they/them Ethnicity/Species: half-elf Birthplace and Birthdate: a port town, august 1st Guilty Pleasures: self insert fics Phobias: crashing and dying horrifically What They Would Be Famous For: a cool and daring expedition! What They Would Get Arrested For: flying in a no-fly zone OC You Ship Them With: none  OC Most Likely To Murder Them: dhulsaei, they’d get into a stubborn-off Favorite Movie/Book Genre: action/adventure Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: when flying is written poorly, and they know Talents and/or Powers: they’re only a recruit right now but they know their shit (spoilers: they don’t but they defo act like they do) Why Someone Might Love Them: they’re spunky and resilient! Why Someone Might Hate Them: they do things without thinking them through fully. a lot. How They Change: they learn that they’re not always gonna be right, and that dying isn’t really that bad. Why You Love Them: full disclosure: they’re 100% a self-insert oc. i don’t give a fuck tho

[icewuerfelchen]

i got tagged by @buying-the-space-farm, thank you!!

rules: answer all questions, add one question of your own and tag as many people as there are questions

1. coke or pepsi: coke, though i’ll drink pepsi too if that’s the only thing that’s available 2. disney or dreamworks: disney 3. coffee or tea: tea, i don’t even drink coffee 4. books or movies: both? both is good 5. windows or mac: MAC 6. dc or marvel: highkey marvel for movies and comics, dc really doesn’t do much for me 7. xbox or playstation: playstation i guess? i’ve never owned either but my friend used to have a ps and we played together sometimes 8. dragon age or mass effect: never played either 10. cards or chess: i suck at both lol. 11. chocolate or vanilla: chocolate 12. vans or converse: converse 13. lavellan, trevelyan, cadash, or adaar: i have no idea what any of that is 14. fluff or angst: both. LOTS of both. 15. beach or forest: beach 16. dogs or cats: cats 17. clear skies or rain: rain is only fun during the holidays when i can sit inside all day drinking tea 18. cooking or eating out: cooking 19. spicy food or mild food: mild 20. halloween/samhain or solstice/yule/christmas:  christmas 21. would you rather forever be a little too cold or a little too hot: too hot 22. if you could have a superpower what would it be: alright i’ll go with telekinesis at the sub-atomic level bc that makes pretty much everything else i’d like to do possible? like shapeshifting and teleportation. as well as throwing stuff at people with my mind 23. animation or live action: live action 24. paragon or renegade: ??? 25. baths or showers:  showers 26. team cap or team ironman: i agree more with cap but team iron man has a ton of my faves on it so 27. fantasy or sci-fi: i love both but sci fi a little more maybe 28. do you have three or four favorite quotes? if so what are they? unless you want me to write down a bunch of sassy shit emma frost has said i can’t help u there 29. youtube or netflix: netflix 30. harry potter or percy jackson: harry potter 31. when you feel accomplished: when i’ve managed to finish a writing project and don’t feel like it’s utter trash afterwards. 32. star wars or star trek: star wars, but i love star trek too 33. paperback books or hardback books: hardback if i have the choice but i’m not too picky 34. horror or rom-com: rom com if i have to choose but i don’t really like either 35. to live in a world without literature or music: not possible 36. pastel colors or dark colors: give me both and nobody gets hurt 37. tv shows or movies: tv shows, longer total running time, more characters, more stuff to cry over 38. city or countryside: countryside 39. if any other zodiac sign could describe you, what would it be: um, i think virgo (my actual zodiac)  describes me pretty well? except for the organized part because i wouldn’t know organized if it punched me in the face 40. if you could only listen to one album for the rest of your life what would it be: h o w am i supposed to choose?? i feel like it’d end up being either ‘a slight case of overbombing’ by the sisters of mercy which is a best of album, “first and last and always’ also by the sisters, ‘close your eyes’ by digital daggers or possibly ‘sigma’ by reol but i’d get annoyed by that sooner or later because it’s entirely in japanese i can’t properly sing along 41. cinema or theatre: cinema 42. if you could be any fictional character’s best friend, who’d you chose? first impulse i’d say psylocke but probably not really because she’d probably constantly show up at my doorstep at 3am with blood all over her and then yell at me for having the wrong kinds of tea in my kitchen. so probably kitty pryde, she seems like she’d be a really fun person to hang out with. 43. smiling or smirking: boooooooooth 44. are you an ‘all or nothing’ type or are you more consistent: all or nothing-ish 45. playlists or your whole library on shuffle: um, depends on my mood? i have individual playlists for just about everything and like to listen to specific ones while writing depending on the kind of scene i’m working on. but i’ll also occasionally go for whole library on shuffle even though that means i’ll probably listen to nightcored electro pop one minute and to metallica the next 46. traveling or staying at home: i love traveling once i manage to get off my ass, but i’m really lazy and there’s really nothing wrong with my room so... 47. if you could have a meal with three people, alive or dead, who would you choose: julian may (who has written one of my favorite series of novels ever and i really want to discuss those with her), olivia munn (huge nerd, seems super nice and also gorgeous beyond words) and charlotte wessels (from delain, one my favorite bands in the world, also a writer and an artist and so adorable i wanna die) 48. favorite sports team(s): i really don’t like sports? like not at all? 49. 80′s r&b or 90′s r&b: i don’t listen to enough r&b to make a distinction lol 50. what color lightsaber would you want? purple because everything’s better in purple 51: what’s something that you want to tell someone but you don’t know how? that i really really really like her and want to be with her and want to make her happy. i wish i could tell her but i’m way too shy and the last time i tried something like that it ended really badly. 52.: if you could be someone famous for one day, who would it be? cornelia funke, my #1 favorite writer in the world. i’d really like to know what it feels like to have a mind capable of the stuff she comes up with. 53: caribbean or maldives for a holiday? caribbean 54: if you could be anywhere in the world right this second, where would you be? cornwall. i spent my last summer holidays there and i loved it so much that it downright scares me sometimes how much i miss it. i want to go back there more than anything one day.

55: least favorite genre of music?

i’m definitely not tagging as many people as there are questions, i don’t have as many followers as there are questions lol. Anyway.

Tagging: @bronanlynch, @oceanhunters, @kvothes, @pastelprose and everyone who wants to do this i guess? let me know if you don’t want me to tag you in stuff anymore.