#however collectors are all aromantic

[nonbinarycollector]

probably my best note for swa

[aroworlds]

[image description: a Barbie doll with black hair and light brown skin lying atop a pile of pants, tops, dresses, skirts, T-shirts, belts and jewellery in the green, light green, white, grey and black colours of the aromantic pride flag. Doll is dressed in grey and black pants, a black and white tank, a green bolero lined in lighter green, a lighter green belt and a black chain necklace.]

Barbie's Pride Ward(a)robe, Part One

2023 is all about the cultural phenomenon that is Barbie, but as much as I consider myself a collector, I've never been into pink. Nor am I excited by many of her fashions. As there is one colour palette I'm passionate about, for @aggressivelyarospec's Aggressively Arospectacular I'm posting my biggest crafting project yet: clothes and accessories for dolls who want to make fashion all about our aromantic pride.

The goal: a collection of mix and match pieces so my dolls can glory in a variety of aro-themed outfits.

The result: a seven-part post series detailing my misadventures in hand-sewing a 65-piece summer ward(a)robe.

In this series I discuss making patterns from pre-existing doll clothes, hand-sewing techniques and many acts of repurposing human-sized clothes, jewellery and accessories. Aside from a sheet of water-soluble canvas (for cross-stitching motifs onto doll T-shirts), I've avoided specialised or difficult-to-source materials. All the findings, beads, sliders, hooks and snaps mentioned can be purchased cheaply from chain craft, dollar/discount and department stores. Anyone looking to make more than a couple of pieces, however, will need to gather a variety of oddments prior to crafting. This absurd project is best for folks already possessing--or happy to add to--a sewing supply stash!

Today's post focuses on doll bodies and sizing, doll clothing as a base for your own patterns, and the scarcity of green knit fabric.

Folks can find all future posts collected on my website or my patreon.

[can-of-pringles]

Basics

Birth Name: Eliška (ey-lish-ka) Hašková (has-ko-va) (but usually shortens it to Hašek in passing mention, mainly around non-Czechs) (ha-zec) (rhymes slightly with issac)

Other aliases: Firefly (past alias, doesn't like it)

Birthday: June 15, 1995

Age: (19 in 2014 when GotG is formed), (23 in 2018 during Infinity War, doesn’t get snapped and survives with Rocket and Gamora), (28 in 2023 when GotG is reformed), (31 in 2026 during Vol 3)

Pronouns: she/her

Sexual Orientation: Asexual Aromantic.

Appearance

Ethnicity: Czech, Eastern European.

Skin Tone: Light.

Eye Color: Brown.

Hair Color: Ginger.

Hairstyle: Usually long, wavy, slightly curly.

Build: Slender.

Height: 5′ 4½″

Style: Coats, sweaters, high-waisted pants, boots, vests.

Faceclaim: Ahsen Eroglu.

Personality

General Personality Traits: Shy at first, introverted, sarcastic.

Strengths: Kind, patient, curious.

Flaws: Timid, reckless, overthinks.

Habits And Mannerisms: Keeping her hands in her pockets, keeping her hands to herself in general, fiddling with her clothes like pockets and stuff.

Secrets: If she wants to keep something more private or hidden, she’ll speak in Czech.

Regrets: Not going back to Earth sooner once she’s freed.

Skills/Talents: Skilled with most weaponry if need be (particularly guns and knives), flying ships, eventually masters her own powers, pickpocketing (but does it very rarely in extreme situations), can kinda drive.

Likes: Traveling, 2000s/2010s music (bonus if it’s by Czech artists), snow.

Dislikes: The taste of coffee but still drinks it if she needs the caffeine. When people mistake her for another nationality due to her accent (like calling her Russian when she’s actually Czech), small enclosed areas.

Sense of Humor: Dry, sarcastic.

Guilty Pleasure: Watching old youtube let’s plays.

Defining Moment: Joining the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Relationships

Friends: GotG. Gets along fine with Ant-Man, Thor, and most of the Avengers.

Family: Found family is the GotG. She has a mother (born in 1969), father (born in 1967), and younger sister (born in 1998)… She has the two usual sets of grandparents, one aunt on both sides and one uncle on her mother's side. As for cousins she probably has a bunch. Before space and all that, she was close with her father, but was close with the rest of her family in general.

Affiliation: GotG.

Enemies: The High Evolutionary, The Collector, the Sovereign.

Lovers: N/A (however she is in a queer platonic relationship with Rocket.

Relationship Status: See above.

Reputation: Depends.

Miscellaneous

Current Residence: Where Rocket or the rest of the Guardians are probably.

Collections: The tools and gadgets Rocket makes for her.

Accent: Czech, semi-thick but still clear.

Voice: Pleasant.

Signature Quote: TBA

Song: Just A Girl - Florence + The Machine.

Backstory

Eliška Hasek was born in the Czech village Lány (Kladno District) and grew up with her parents and younger sister. Her father would go hunting occasionally and taught her how to handle guns and shoot. He also let her drive before the legal age in case of emergencies.

When she was sixteen, she went out for an errand and was never seen again. A scientific organization that was interested in Hydra's Scarlet Witch experiments copied them and kidnapped her since she was relatively in the same area (Eastern Europe) as Wanda. Also since she was in a small village, compared to a huge city like Prague, they figured it would've been easier to keep her kidnapping under the radar.

Instead of perfectly recreating the Scarlet Witch's powers, it failed and left her with unstable fire powers. She calls her powers the Embering, and has difficulty controlling it when her emotions are heightened; she tries to bottle them down as best she can. She’s slightly afraid of her powers and uses them intentionally rarely. Embering causes her fingers and hands to burn but heal almost instantly. It takes a couple of minutes for her hands to go from bleeding to scabbing and then basically healed (though still stinging and throbbing) She often wraps her hands to help with the pain.

She wears fireproof gloves that help her feel safer, but they probably act more as a placebo. Gloves act almost as a security blanket and she is very protective of them. She is afraid of people touching her, scared that she’ll hurt them accidentally due to her powers.

Considering the experiment a failure, for it to not be a total loss and to get a profit, the scientists sold her to the Collector for his museum when she was seventeen. She ended up escaping with the Guardians of the Galaxy in the first movie. Shenanigans ensue. She’s called Firefly due to her powers but doesn’t prefer being called it after the Collector used to call her that.

[socialdisease609]

Hey guys, GENUINE QUESTION here.

I know how quick people can be to get angry, so I wanted to say that first, I'm legit just wanting to learn.

There are people out there who are shipping Yelena and Kate, to which I myself have felt some good chemistry between them while watching the show.

Looking through tags and responses, I see a lot of people saying Yelena is aroace.

I googled this because I love to see comic issues where things are made canon because these are milestone moments, and I'm a collector of such moments.

However, all I can find is that the co-creator said Yelena is "more likely to be asexual."

It says here that "Yelena's asexuality has never been explored in any media." and that only the co-creator just shared her (edit: I googled Grayson due to a comment and turns out this article sucks even more because not even the writer knew Grayson was a woman 🙄) personal thoughts.

Once again, I'm not trying to negate representation, I'm just wondering if this is yet another instance of Marvel being too afraid to make it obvious.

I feel Marvel has a reputation of "making both sides happy" by keeping everything so vague that people looking for representation see something but the bigots who hate diversity in comics are still clueless enough to enjoy themselves.

For example, in the X-Men comics, people saw wlw subcontext in Kitty Pryde's friendships. Prime examples being Illyana Rasputin (Magik) and Rachel Summers. One of the most well-known Xmen writers, Chris Claremont once said that he saw Illyana as Kitty's first love and to him, Rachel was her True Love. However, Marvel only bothered to show Kitty having canon romantic and sexual relationships with any and every Peter in the world. Granted, Kitty was created in the 80s and things were different and many decades had to go by before Marvel finally let her be known as bisexual (THIS YEAR) by having her kiss another woman in a panel. But we haven't seen anything else after that, and there was no revelation of a more-than-platonic relationship between her and Illyana or Rachel, despite Claremont's vision, aside from a "gal pal straddle" and eye contact across a room lol

And speaking of Illyana, people have started to say Marvel has made her a canon pansexual because she offered to "make out" with three different types of individuals pre-fight, but many say its not clear and can just be taken as weird pre-fight taunting, not representation.

I mean, they also just recently officially stated Mystique and Destiny are married.

Basically, I think I just needed to get my frustration at Marvel off my chest.

Writers SAYING things and Marvel DOING things aren't always the same it seems because writers can give us crumbs all they can, but Marvel gatekeeping indisputable representation will always be in the way.

I know we all feel like things SHOULDN’T HAVE TO BE plainly stated for them to be true, but I feel like Marvel really, really needs to do it. Because if the audience doesn't know as a whole, it feels like a secret. It doesn't feel like they care about different communities, it feels like they're too afraid to actually stand up, and I'm really tired of it 😫

And I think, honestly, most of it has to do with characters who are women. Because Marvel most likely believes that these characters need to remain "sexually available" to the Dude Bro readers out there who will flip their shit and foam at the mouth when they learn a fictional character wouldn't be interested in them (even though like.... they're fictional, you never had a chance lol)

On a less rant-y note lol, if the basis of Yelena's asexuality is from Devin Grayson's words, wouldn't that mean that she could still be romantic? Asexuality doesn't always partner with being aromantic, couldn't people ship her romantically and still respect her asexuality?

[montaguehphm]

How about Murphy, Barnaby and Charlie for the soft hcs? 😘

Oh, you. Hehehe. Of course, we need to talk about Montague and Jason’s three best boys. Hehe.

I. Murphy McNully

What they smell like: Murphy smells of a combination of pine and cedar forests, toasted sandwiches, and freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies. Perhaps it’s because Jason always has some fresh cookies ready for Murphy.  

What their favorite smells in the world are: Murphy’s favorite scents are earthy scents, forests, oranges, and chocolates... perhaps chocolates used in chocolate chip cookies? 🍪     

What pajamas they wear/what they wear to sleep in: It depends on the situation. Usually, like his partner, Jason (hehe), he sleeps topless with a pair of novelty Quidditch boxer shorts (one of every major international Quidditch team). When he’s cold, he puts on a Quidditch-print sweatshirt with a matching pajama bottom.  

My favorite ship (if applicable) and a cute HC about them: Jamurphy (Jason Novak and Murphy), hands down. They’re just the absolute cutest, especially when they’re hanging out with Montague, Barnaby, and (when he’s free) Charlie. #Barnamontphyson rights! Now, among Murphy’s Quidditch merchandise he acquired over the years is his prized collection of novelty vintage neckties from every major international Quidditch team. He puts on the tie that has the team he thinks will win. These ties are actually gifts from Jason, who figured that the rarer and older the designs were, the better. Jason knows that each design carries a piece of history, which was something that was part of Murphy's interests with the sport.. He employed Montague to help him find a good number of them while he and Barnaby were traveling.    

My favorite friendship (if applicable) and a cute HC about them: Murphy and Barnaby have an adorable friendship. One of their favorite activities to do together happens to be wizard’s chess, even if Barnaby never wins. He’s after the learning for his journey to become a Renaissance wizard and he’s happy to have a friend like Murphy help him become a better thinker and strategist. They also have, at some point, had a bit of a thing for each other. 👀     

A song that reminds me of them: "Talk About You" by MIKA. The man loves to talk, whether it’s about Quidditch or his man, Jason. 💚   

What animal I think they would be if they were an animal: Murphy is like a dolphin: smart, analytical, and friendly. He's also quite playful, especially with his banters, always happy to share with you the things that bring him joy.  

What position they sleep in: It varies between sleeping on his back with Jason holding him to Murphy spooning Jason with his muscular arms. Yes, Murphy’s arms are huge. What about it? 👀   

Their favorite drink: Murphy loves a good ol’ Butterbeer. For something non-alcoholic though, it would be either some good brewed coffee or Otter’s Fizzy Orange Juice.  

A gift I would give them if I could: Montague would give Murphy a collection of photos of every match Murphy commentated for (with photos of the latter commentating). I would do the same, honestly.

II. Barnaby Lee

What they smell like: Barnaby, according to canon Montague, smells like fresh laundry and sandalwood. Montague also picks up a bit of vanilla and cinnamon whenever he cuddles with Barnaby, but it's quite subtle. It lowkey happens to be one of the reasons why one of Montague’s favorite Muggle pastries is a sticky cinnamon bun.  

What their favorite smells in the world are: Barnaby loves peppermints and oranges. Something about oranges just puts him in such a good mood, while peppermint always seems to make him feel cozy and warm... Which funny enough is what he smells whenever he's around Montague. It's probably Monty's perfume.  

What pajamas they wear/what they wear to sleep in: Barnaby usually just sleeps in just boxers because he’s usually warm at night, but he throws one of his favorite sweatshirts on when he's cold, one of which he gave to Montague.  

My favorite ship (if applicable) and a cute HC about them: Montaby, because well... it’s Montague’s world “and the rest is fucking parking.” (Mateo, A. 2020) (damn, the narcissism is real hahaha!) During their travels around the world, the two of them would join the Muggle tourist groups for fun. They’d even try all the local food and drinks they could get their hands on. One of their favorite places to visit was Kyoto, where they got to try authentic ramen and other Japanese food for the first time. Barnaby was completely overwhelmed with the complex and rich flavors every bowl had that he ordered more, one after the other. Barnaby had no regrets. Montague had one: the bill.  

My favorite friendship (if applicable) and a cute HC about them: Aside from Murphy, I also think about Barnaby and Charlie’s friendship as they bond over Care of Magical Creatures. They listen to each other about the creatures they talk about, be it Barnaby’s fascination with puffskeins and crups or Charlie’s love for dragons (surprise, surprise).  

A song that reminds me of them: There’s a good number of these, but my best one is “I Melt with You” by Modern English. It’s an upbeat song that reflects Barnaby’s more loyal side and jovial outlook in life whenever he’s in great company. "The Look" by Roxette started blasting in Montague's head when he got a good first look of Barnaby.  

What animal I think they would be if they were an animal: Barnaby would be big and fluffy golden retriever. Why? Well, he's always a good boy. He's the best boy. He's friendly, caring, and quite energetic. Barnaby's a cheerful and confident boy who would show you loyalty and devotion.  

What position they sleep in: When he sleeps alone, Barnaby sleeps in either a fetal position while cuddling a pillow or on his belly while holding a pillow. When he shares a bed with Montague, they spoon (but subconsciously take turns on who gets to be the big and the little spoon for the night).  

Their favorite drink: Depending on the occasion, it would either be butterbeer or mead, hands down. Because of his sweet tooth, he did, however, develop a fascination for cream sodas, milkshakes, and various sweet beverages and fruity cocktails ever since his first visit to the Muggle world with Montague.  

A gift I would give them if I could: Montague would probably give Barnaby his eternal devotion a photo album of his own. It could contain enchanted photographs of their adventures and vacations together, with Montague’s little notes about what his favorite part of that day was with his husband... and throw in some custom stuffed toys of his favorite creatures. As for me, the man behind this account, if I had the wizard money for it, I would get Barnaby collector’s editions of various books on magizoology. Because he deserves to explore his passion for the subject.

III. Charlie Weasley

What they smell like: According to canon, Charlie smells like grass and honeysuckle. Montague also noted at some point that Charlie smelled of fresh and warm buttermilk pancakes.  

What their favorite smells in the world are: Charlie loves the smell of anything that reminds him of the comforts of home: breakfast food, the meadows, and his mother's hot cocoa recipe (chocolate, cinnamon, and peppermint).  

What pajamas they wear/what they wear to sleep in: Charlie has a pair of pajamas with cute little dragons on them. He likes to collect as many designs as he can.  

My favorite ship (if applicable) and a cute HC about them: My headcanon for Charlie is that he is an aromantic homosexual man. Periodt.  

My favorite friendship (if applicable) and a cute HC about them: Charlie has a friendship with Rowan Khanna over (surprise, surprise) dragons. When Charlie learned that Rowan would talk about all the dragons he read about with Montague, the Weasley boy immediately became friends with Rowan. They would discuss different dragon-related topics from dragon breeds and habitats to current events surrounding dragons.  

A song that reminds me of them: "Sloom" by Of Monsters and Men. In terms of the production, it’s one of those songs that reminds me of the countryside.  

What animal I think they would be if they were an animal: Charlie, as much as I'd like to think he'd be a dragon because he loves dragons, would be a labrador retriever. Like a labrador, Charlie's a warm and friendly person. He's also quite versatile as a person: he's a Seeker, a proficient duelist, and an aspiring dragonologist.  

What position they sleep in: Charlie sleeps on his back with his limbs spread like a starfish.  

Their favorite drink: Butterbeer. Charlie's always down for Butterbeer. He also loves some hot cocoa with cinnamon -- just like how Mrs. Weasley makes it.  

A gift I would give them if I could: Montague would give Charlie a specific special edition of a book on dragonology, autographed by a dragonologist that Charlie has respected and admire for years (and was one of Montague's clients during his freelance Curse-Breaker years). As me, the man behind this account, I'd give him dragon stuffed toys.

[middlingthebest]

What If They’re Dating?

No pairings or warnings Asexual character, Aromantic character word count: c/1000 Happy last day of Pride month! xxx

The question of whether Remus and Patton are dating is currently the most hotly debated topic in the friend group. Well, among everyone but the two in question. They can’t say they haven’t tried to give them their answers but really, they hadn’t actually asked them and it was almost funny how long it had been going on for. Almost. 

Remus and Patton had nothing in common except their friend group. They had only met through Roman and as far as any of them had been aware, that was where their "friendship" ended. Patton had made it clear very early in their collective meetings that Remus’s crude humour didn't sit well with him. Remus, after every cringe, every "well now, kiddo...", rarely held back with his criticisms and gripes about how boring he was. So when they moved in together, needless to say they were all a bit shocked.

They'd been interrogated for days. Roman had rounded on Remus immediately, demanding to know if he was kidnapping his friend. Virgil had sat down with Patton on his own, then again with Janus and finally with Logan as well to figure out why he was doing it and to coax him out of the idea. It was around this time, they reckoned, that the now fateful phrase, "we just get along really well on our own!" was uttered.

It had been Patton who had said it, trying to placate Virgil after so many talks, but Roman had inevitably heard, and he ran with it.

"What does that even mean?!" He ranted to the others. Virgil had joined him quickly on this dizzying teacup ride of worrying emotions but for once, it was Roman who was spinning the wheel. They kept circling the phrase, staring at it until they were sick and them circled it some more. If Logan and Janus had joined them on this ride then Logan was impressively resilient as he suffered silently through it all, but the entertainment factor for Janus seemed to be rapidly losing its appeal.

In a whiplash inducing move, he grabbed the figurative wheel spinning them around with one simple suggestion. "Maybe they're dating."

Roman looked about as sick as Virgil felt. They barely paused to look at each other before they were reaching for the wheel and the ride started over again.

Logan got sick of it first, leaving them to it not long after but Janus was enjoying himself once again, watching the carnage unfolding in front of him.

----

They'd been living together for almost a month when Patton stormed into their flat in a very un-Patton-like manner, the best kind as far as Remus was concerned. He set aside his crisps and jar of mayo to watch Patton stomp over to the couch and throw himself down onto it with a muffled scream. Remus gave him a minute and sure enough, when he popped back up his outsides were back to their usual pop-star togetherness, with only the general dishevelment that came with throwing yourself on the couch suggesting that he was still ruffled on the inside.

"Which one was it today?" Remus asked, both of them well used to this by now.

"Logan." Patton admitted, the guilt with which he used to confess to these things long gone. There was only so many times you could rat your friends out in a day before the guilt gets replaced with general annoyance. Remus tsked sympathetically and offered Patton a nibbled crisp which was politely declined. Logan was always difficult when the “Patton/Remus question” came up. While they could expect the "subtle" prying from Virgil and Roman, Logan was a natural data-collector and it was clear to both of them that he was getting increasingly more confused with his results. They couldn't blame him, they were mainly based on nonsense.

"Did you finally tell him at least?" Remus asked, and that brought back a little of the guilt.

"No, I really wanted him to just figure it out today." Patton complained. "I mean, I didn't exactly go subtle!" And if they knew what to look for then Remus would have been inclined to agree. It was unfortunate, however, that only downside was Remus himself.

"While I can admit, dressing as the aro flag does have that on-the-nose quality that I like, did he just think-"

"He thought I was wearing your clothes, yeah. He wrote it in his book as I was leaving." That was a bummer. With a sigh, Patton got up from the couch to change out of the green and back into his usual bubbly blues, flashing a tired smile to Remus who just gave a shrug in response.

"I'd say I'd join you next time but Virgil might think I'm coming on to him and then we'll have a whole new bout of drama." Which, now that he was thinking about it, might actually be fun. He lifted his head and a thoughtful, questioning look up to Patton and was met with a sternly raised eyebrow in return. He gave pleading eyes a try and Patton crossed his arms. "Fine." He sulked, and Patton nodded his head approvingly and finally left to change.

When he came back out, he had Remus's asexual blanket wrapped around his shoulders, a black arrow with just the word "HIS" in marker on the back. His own aromantic blanket, covered in crumbs with a similar arrow and “HIS” pointing back at him, was crumpled in Remus’s lap. The others’ colours just spoke a little more to them.

"They'll figure it out eventually." He affirmed as he sat down, trying to sound confident but falling a little more securely in the "hopeful" department.

"They better." Remus answered. "It's just getting embarrassing at this point."

Humming in response, Patton couldn't help but laugh as he thought about their friends and what their reaction would be to finding out their elaborate "secret lovers" theory wasn't true. Last he'd heard from Janus, Roman was convinced they were getting married soon.

They would probably tell the others eventually, Pride was coming up so they could do it then.  Maybe, just maybe, it would occur to one of them to just ask. For now they would enjoy the secret soap opera their friends thought their lives were and give them the benefit of the doubt that they could figure it out on their own. 

[omniishambles]

Name / Alias: J Are you over 18?    Yes  /  No Is your muse over 18?  Yes, all of them /  No When was your blog established? So back in 2018 this started out as a blog for The Collector from Guardians of the Galaxy. Some things happened and I lost my muse, so decided to turn this blog into a multi in November 2018, so....I guess it’s been just over a year as a multi! Happy anniversary to me.

– W R I T I N G –

Are you selective about who you write with? No (anyone)  /  Semi (most people) / Yes (some people)  /  Highly (few people - mutuals preferred) /  Private (mutuals only)

Are you selective about who you follow? No (anyone)  /  Semi (most people)  /  Yes (some people)  /  Highly (few people)

If your muse is canon, how much do you adhere to canon? Not at all  / A little  /  Some  / Mostly /  Strictly /  Not Applicable

What post lengths do you write? One Liners  / Single-Para  /  Multi-Para  /  Novella / All of the aforementioned (One liners might come from asks if I’m tired but I run out of steam with them real fast)

Do you use icons and/or GIFS? No  / Gifs  /  Icons  /  Yes / Sometimes

Do you write on other platforms? No  /  Yes I’m willing to write on Discord and in a couple groups, but I’m even SLOWER there XD

What level of plots do you write? Unplotted  /  Open-Ended Plots  /  Semi-Plotted /  Fully Plotted Epics /  All of the aforementioned

How quickly do you usually respond to threads? Very Slow (more than a month) / Slow (3-4 weeks)  /  Average (1-2 weeks) /  Fast (less than one week)  /  Very Fast (less than three days) /  It depends All of the above woops

What types of themes do you like? Adventure / Romance / Fluff  /  Angst  / Smut /  Violence /  Tragedy  /  Domestic  /  Family   Most things! Family stuff always gets me, romance I can enjoy BUT have to be in the mood for, so it’s not a constant. And I’m very very picky about ships. I only go with what grabs me.

WHAT GENRES DO YOU LIKE? ( Feel free to add! ) High Fantasy  /  Supernatural / Science Fiction  /  Historical  /  Horror /  Comedy  / Romantic  / Drama  / Action /  Adventure  /  Espionage / All of the aforementioned

Are there any themes you’re uncomfortable writing on your blog? (Not triggers) No  /  Yes  /  Sometimes Prefer not to write smut! Been there done that. However, I am willing to write all things leading up to smut, before things get particularly heavy. Then you can have a fade to black. This falls under the ‘I have to be in the mood/feeling it’ category again I’m afraid!

Do you have any triggers? How do you request it tagged? Nope! I do prefer people to tag their NSFW, especially so I don’t have anything pop up when I’m scrolling at work. Please let me know if you want me to tag anything!

– S H I P P I N G –

What types of relationships are you open to? Romantic  /  Platonic  /  Familial / All of the aforementioned Again, with my low mood for ships and high selectivity around them, romantic plots are not normally interesting to me, but for a few special exceptions. If the stars happen to align and I’m feeling a ship between our muses I’ll tell you ;) flirting is still allowed though! Just don’t expect it to necessarily lead anywhere,

What types of pre-established relationships are you open to? Romantic  /  Platonic  /  Familial / All of the aforementioned / I prefer plotting

Do you have OTPs? No /  Chemistry Only  /  Yes

What is your muse’s sexual orientation? Heterosexual  /  Heteroflexible  /  Bisexual  / Pansexual  /  Homoflexible  /  Homosexual / Demisexual /  Sapiosexual /  ( Grey ) Asexual / Still trying to figure it out. Babe there’s too many to list and they’re all over the shop lmao

What is your muse’s romantic orientation? Heteroromantic  /  Heteroflexible  /  Biromantic /  Homoflexible  /  Homoromantic   / Panromantic /  Demiromantic /  Sapioromantic  / Aromantic / Still trying to figure it out. See above. Or better yet go to the muse bios and you’ll get your answers.

Are you comfortable writing smut? No  /  Selectively /  Yes

How early in a relationship do you ship romantically? Autoship  / During plotting /  After a couple IC interactions  /  Several IC interactions / Slow burn   /  Plot dependent  /  Never  

Are you open to toxic ships? No / Selectively  / Yes /  I am not sure.

Are you open to problematic ships? No /  Selectively /  Yes /  I am not sure.

Are you open to polyshipping? No /  Selectively  /  Yes /  I am not sure.

Are you an exclusive shipper? Never (Multi-Ship)  / Sometimes  /  Yes If you’re currently one of the lucky ones to have had one of my muses fall for yours, it’s quite likely they won’t fall for anyone else XD

Does crack shipping ever happen? No  /  Yes It turned into a ship asdfghjklkjhgf

– T A G G I N G! –

tagged by @bakerstreetramblings thank you!

tagging: @choicelesshope, @chamberofmuses, @ineffableduality, @hellsrhapsody, @monstcrsandmen, @monstrousproclivities, @readsblood, @multimuse-online, @folkiisms, @theresastargirl, @therapardalis, @griefprofiled and @sevendeadlymusings

[the-ocfeedback-gal-blog]

Yat-Sen Tay Review

TW: Anxiety, depression, eating disorder, mention of self-harm.

The-OCfeedback-Gal’s notes will be italicized.

Physical Description: Around 1.80 m (5'11") and 62 kg (136 lbs). Slightly dark, warm skin. Slim face with high cheekbones. Freckles on his nose and cheeks. He usually has a small stubble. A beauty mark on his right cheek. Full, arched lips. Very upturned, double-lid, hooded eyes. Long, dark lashes. Clear, light brown eye colour. Full, straight eyebrows that arched at the end. Hair is usually pretty curly (Type 3b) and it falls into his eyes, but he straightens it and styles it back for work. Hair colour is dark brown, his eyebrows match his hair. Bottom heavy, top slim. Prominent collarbones. Slim neck, shoulders, arms and chest. Thicker thighs, butt and legs. Average feet and hands. He shaves most of his body once a week. He wears glasses, he has two pairs. One pair is big and round, the other is the hipster style frame. He wears the second one to work. Wears a silver ring with a red jewel on his left hand and a silver watch with a red display on his left wrist. He wears a lot of burgundies. His style is usually lazy, button-up shirts with shorts and socks at home. At work, he wears formal sweaters or cardigans with cotton trousers and dress shoes.

I have a clear idea in my mind from this description.

Name: Yat-Sen (given name) Tay (surname) 

Flows off the tongue pretty well.

Species/Race: He’s a black Asian from Singapore!

This is interesting, since I know that many people who grow up in Asian countries but don’t look 100% native tend to have a very hard time feeling like an outsider and never being accepted by their own people. Does he ever have problems like this?

Age: 26. His birthday is 8th of September 1991, so he is a Virgo and Gold Goat. 

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Questionable, but probably aromantic asexual.

Friends: He has a few colleagues he gets along with and some high school buddies he gets together with from time to time, but he usually prefers not to meddle with other people. He does get acquainted with a lot of people throughout the story and even gets deeply involved with a few, but that’s later on.

Family: He has a good bond with his older sister after having patched things up with her from when he was still a teen. His dad was never really a person he could close to, a typical businessman. His mother is still bitter about the past, so he doesn’t want to make the effort to talk it out anymore since it always ends up in a fight and a lot of stress for everyone. He was close with his grandmother, but she died when he was thirteen. She would usually resolve all the quarrels between him, his mother and his sister. Pets: He finds a Fennec fox at a river in the beginning of the story. When he was little (5 years old till 13 years old) he would take care of the hedgehogs in his grandma’s garden.

A fennec is highly unusual, as they are from Africa, and the Sahara no less. That being said, they aren’t endangered so I could see one somehow getting shipped in as part of the exotic pets trade and escaping a pet store or something similar. They are very cute and likely to be sold as pets.

Hobbies: He used to like reading and writing. After he moved out he also started to enjoy cooking for himself. He’s very obsessed about his weight, so he works out a lot by jogging in the park that’s nearby his apartment and going for a swim in the pool where he is signed up at.

Sounds good in theory, but is can be hard to avoid crowds/touching people during peak times of the year at swimming pools. Does going to the pool and being in front of people in nothing but swimwear make him nervous?

Likes: Sleeping and eating healthy food. The tired and burning feeling he gets after a good work out. Water, drinking or swimming. Thunderstorms at night. Warm, scented baths. The flowers he takes care of at the park. The smell of books. Soft clothes. Doing household chores.

Dislikes: Lots of noise. Small talk. Nosy people. Crowds. Physical contact, especially from strangers. Messy rooms. Grease. Being wrong. Asking for help and needing it in general.

He seems like a very sensory focused person, which is pretty cool.

Personality: Yat-sen is a soft-spoken introvert, who is violent minded. He hates conflict and strong emotions, so he avoids situations that could cause either of them. He tends to pent up his frustrations and when he needs to vent he goes for an extra long jog or He always has been someone who is heavily dependent on routine and planning, so he makes a to-do list every evening for the next day. He likes being knowledgeable about everything, so he leaves time open every day to do research about something he found interesting that day.

He struggles a lot with his weight, because he used to be pretty overweight when he was younger and that caused a lot of very unpleasant situations. He also struggles with depression since a couple of years, it was never a suicidal sort of depression though. He can’t find enjoyment in his hobbies and even when he tried switching up things a lot, nothing seemed to excite him. He gave up on trying to find a new hobby and he just fell back into his old rhythm, he does most things on auto-pilot now.

He works well under pressure, but after he is released from it, he feels very anxious and stressed, so he also tries to avoid pressure as much as possible. He has a fondness for small animals since they calm him down. He spaces out a lot when he is doing something that does not require his 100% attention, so he takes long to finish things, also because he’s a die-hard perfectionist. He is a coward that avoids everything he doesn’t like instead of overcoming it. He gives up on people and things quickly if things don’t work out perfectly off the bat.

A couple things that seem to conflict. Why would someone who works well under pressure and even becomes upset when not under pressure avoid pressure? Most perfectionists and workaholics I know actively seek out tasks and problems to keep their mind busy. Giving up easily also doesn’t seem to fit into the perfectionist mindset. If anything perfectionists tend to put too much effort into things.

He is very good at building and keeping habits, but they’re hard to get rid off. He easily gets addicted to things, they don’t always have to be bad things, but he knows he’s susceptible so he is cautious of trying new things he doesn’t understand completely.

If he’s good at building habits, which a perfectionist probably would be, why is he bad at putting effort into things that aren’t inherently perfect? It seems weird that he’s willing to put in so much effort into himself but not really anything else if he is labeled as a perfectionist. Maybe self conscious or hard on himself would be a better term for him.

History: He used to be a very fat kid, so he was shamed and shunned a lot by his family and classmates. He developed an inferiority complex and an eating disorder which never really went away. He grew up in Singapore for most of his life where he learned English and Mandarin. Mandarin was the main language used in his neighborhood, but since almost everything was taught in English at school in Singapore he grew up Bilingual. He was an overachiever at school and genuinely enjoyed studying, so he always got good grades. He was really interested in literature, however, so he told his mother he wasn’t planning on becoming any sort of doctor, lawyer or whatever she wanted him to be. He already had anxiety problems at a young age so he didn’t want to be involved in such high-pressure jobs either way. He said he wanted to be a literature collector and own a bookstore, so he was going to earn an English and business degree.

Specifically an English degree or a literature degree? Since this takes place in Singapore I’m not very sure.

This was one of the many disputes between him and his mother besides his weight. He also tended to have some interests that his mother saw as too feminine, so she accused him of being gay and tried to ‘fix’ him. They also fought a lot because he was brought up as Taoist, but he accused his mother of being a fake believer and such since she was always so hateful and judgmental according to him. His grandmother from his mother’s side lived very close so he used to go there all the time to relax and hear some of his grandmother’s stories. She also educated him about Taoism and helped him read the Tao Te Ching, so he was very fond of her and he loved her very much. She gave him all the love he was missing at home. He fought with his sister mostly about stupid things, like who ate the last cookie and such, but sometimes the remarks would be very nasty. On both sides.

Taoism is a very interesting religion and learning directly from his grandmother would help explain his vastly different opinion on things from his mother, who sounds like she might be more influenced by the general opinion in Singapore on things like Homosexuality and weight. The fact that you admit that Yat-Sen was not innocent in fighting with his sister is good, as sibling fights are rarely one sided.

When Yat-sen was sixteen he lied to his sister An about seeing her at the time boyfriend cheating on her to get back at her for something, but he didn’t know they were just about to get engaged (his sister was 21 at the time) and she got into a big fight with her boyfriend which resulted in a break-up. When Yat-sen finally came clean about it, she wouldn’t talk to him at all and did not keep contact with him after she moved out two years later. Only after three more years when Yat-sen sincerely apologized and they talked it out could she forgive him. Mostly because it turned out the ex-boyfriend was only after her because of their father’s money because he was deeply in debt from gambling. He got thrown in prison for stealing money from seniors by pretending to help them carry their groceries to their home and then taking their savings and running off.

You mentioned earlier that he and his sister get along very well now and that there seems to be no hard feelings between the siblings, which I find hard to believe. Even if Yat-Sen, with all his heart, felt remorse for his actions and even if the boyfriend turned out to be a bad person, I know that if I had been the sister, I would not have fully forgiven him. It’s a strong mark of character to potentially ruin two people’s lives as an act of revenge and the fact that all is forgiven because the boyfriend wasn’t very nice after all feels rather cheap, like there was no negative effect and Yat-Sen is almost rewarded for doing something that is honestly a horrible thing to do. Like, the sister can forgive him if she chooses, but to have absolutely no hard feeling about it at all is quite strange. 

“…forgiveness does not mean you become best friends with the person who wronged you. Forgiveness is not saying what happened was ok. Forgiveness is not saying you accept the person who wronged you. Instead, forgiveness is choosing to accept what happened as it happened rather than what could or should have happened. Forgiveness can mean that you let go. Forgiveness can mean you love from a distance. Forgiveness can mean you step into your present rather than anchoring in the past.” -Psychology Today, The Psychology of Forgiveness, Sept. 16, 2014

Yat-sen’s dad was almost never home because he usually worked overseas and traveled a lot as a representative in a big firm in Singapore. When he was home, however, the talk was mostly small talk and very basic questions, like “How is school?” and “So are there any girls you like?”. Yat-sen thought his father didn’t even try to make an effort to get to know him because he kept asking the same questions, even over the phone when he would call his mother.

The truth was that his father did try to get to know him, but he had nothing to start with since he had become so estranged from his family over time. He did not know what to ask and he did not want to make Yat-sen uncomfortable, so he quickly stopped after a few minutes of talking since it was very obvious Yat-sen did not like it. He also did not know of the tension at home, which escalated after grandmother died.

After the death of his grandmother, Yat-sen fell into a cycle of anxiety and self-harm by starvation and things at school become worse. By age sixteen he had lost so much weight he was clinically underweight, but his mother was happy to finally not have to be ashamed for her fat son. When he finally turned 18 he left for college and decided to live on campus to escape the toxic situation at home. He went to study Marketing and Business Development. Marketing took 4 years for a Bachelors degree and Business Development 3 years, so he was 25 years old when he finished.

During his studies he took on various part-time jobs to start to pay for his own apartment and bills, so he wasn’t so dependent on his parents. After his studies, he kept his job at one of the bigger libraries that are also a part of a bookstore a few blocks further, for experience and he got upgraded to a full-time employee. Now he shifts between the library and the store during the week, but he doesn’t mind that too much.

Overall a very well thought out backstory and personality. You clearly put a lot of thought into both his positive and negative traits, which is very good! I can see him being a solid character to build a story around. The mother seems a bit one dimensional, but if we are seeing this from the son’s perspective that’s not unusual.

Any Extras?(For example: A Harry Potter OC might talk about their wand or a Naruto OC might talk about their jutsu): Don’t think so, if you have any questions, you can ask away!

Most of any questions I might have I typed out while reading the character sheet.

Final Notes: I’m so sorry this is so long and that the way of describing is so all over the place. I didn’t know if I should stick to a telegram-style of writing, in the end, it got scrapped, haha.

It’s all good, as long as it is somewhat easy on the eyes for reading I can handle it.

I have a bit of an idea on what he probably looks like based off of the description you gave but just to be sure when you get some pictures of him feel free to send them in if you want the “First three OCs submitted get free art” offer. Sorry I didn’t have more to say, without the context of a fandom I have to just go off of what I can gather from the character sheet without knowing anything about the world or surrounding characters, so I hope you’re happy with the critique.

[akashikadoesthings]

  This book… I’ve been waiting for this book for years. Like, at least two years. When it was delayed I thought my heart would break because I had to wait another 5 months for it, and after the reveal at the end of the last book that seemed like a cruel and unusual punishment. For those of you who don’t know, The Song Rising is the third book in The Bone Season septology and the first one to end on what I would consider to be “not a cliffhanger”.  If you’ve read the first two books, you can see my reaction to The Mime Order (spoiler-free) here.

Since the book has only been released for about a week, I will be keeping this review as spoiler-free as I can but it will be hard to talk about The Song Rising without mentioning one or two things that happened in the previous books so if you’re reading this before reading The Bone Season or The Mime Order you can expect some spoilers for those books.

The revelation about Jax that came at the end of The Mime Order is the very first thing addressed and although I had a slight inkling of where it was going after my reread a few weeks ago, I would not have guessed it without thinking long and hard about it first.

The Grey Market which was discovered in The Mime Order as the means by which Voyants were brought to Sheol I is given a whole new dimension in this book. Ivy (poor, poor Ivy) gets her trial for being a part of the Grey Market (and pretty much the only person left alive that was part of it) and suffice it to say that the Voyants aren’t happy with her.

Nick, my beloved Nick, my favourite character in this series so far is now Paige’s Mollisher Supreme meaning that if or when Paige is dethroned as Underqueen, he’s first in line. He gets a lot of character development in the last few pages with regards to his relationship with Paige. As you’d know from reading The Bone Season, Nick is the reason Paige lived after a childhood encounter with a ‘Geist and also the reason she started working for Jaxon. After the Scrimmage at the end of The Mime Order, when Nick joined Paige and Zeke went with Jaxon the ship seemed sunk and there was not a lot of mention of either Zeke or Nadine in The Song Rising other than to say that they went back to Seven Dials after the Scrimmage and that Nadine still fancies herself more important than anyone gives her credit for. It doesn’t get confirmed but my guess is that they left the country when they left the Dials.

Danica, beautiful, smart Danica, does what she needs to do but I’m not all that happy about it to be honest. Part of me, however, thinks that what she did, she did on orders (or suggestion) from a person who will remain nameless because spoilers. and part of me understands that she did what she did because it may have been needed and she also felt guilty (can’t go too much in to this without breaking my no spoiler thing though, sorry).

Jaxon Hall, where do I start with this person. Considering how little he’s in the book (only a few scenes) a lot is revealed about him, his personality, his motivations, I’d even go as far as to say his desires (not in a romantic way though because Jax is confirmed by Word of God to be an aromantic asexual). It’s clear that he cares about Paige to some degree but, as Paige says, it’s more in the way one would care about a possession rather than a person. The more I know about Jaxon, the more I’m convinced he is, at least to some degree, a sociopath. He knows what he’s doing is wrong but it gets him something that he wants so he does it anyway. This, I believe, will be his downfall eventually.

The story itself takes place across England and Scotland and a lot of things happen considering it’s not a very long book (my copy is a Collectors edition, UK hardback and only 350 pages) but it doesn’t feel rushed. It feels more like the tension builds constantly with very few breaks for you to catch your breath. As with the last two books, there’s a bit of a twist at the end. The Bone Season had the Seven Seals helping with taking the Voyants from Sheol I, The Mime Order had the end of the Scrimmage and Jaxon’s reveal shortly after but the ending of The Song Rising was the first real cut in the narrative, a chance to breath and really absorb what’s happened. While the entire series so far has taken place over about 9 months, the events of The Song Rising happens within the space of two months and you get the feeling that Paige hasn’t really stopped since the Scrimmage which is why I feel like the fast pacing in the book works.

I would definitely recommend this book

You can follow Samantha Shannon, the author of The Bone Season series on Twitter here.

The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon This book... I've been waiting for this book for years. Like, at least two years. When it was delayed I thought my heart would break because I had to wait…