#kickoff post

[zukaangweek]

The day has arrived! Zukaang Week starts today! Just as a quick refresher:

The prompts:

Post your Zukaang Week fanwork on tumblr, then tag your post with "zukaang week 2024" or mention this blog (@zukaangweek) in the body of the post. If we don't reblog your post within 24 hours, send us an ask or message us with a link.

Add your fanfic to the Zukaang Week 2024 AO3 Collection! Instructions for adding your fic to the collection can be found here.

Read the full rules and FAQ here!

We're so excited to see what everyone has created! Looking forward to a great week 💛❤️

[galactica-bigbang]

Kickoff Post

Welcome to the Battlestar Galactica Big Bang and Mini Bang Event!

This event has been put together in recognition of the fact that, as of this December, it will have been twenty years since the miniseries first aired--definitely a milestone worth commemorating!

The event is a chance for writers and artists to get together and produce fanworks set in the BSG universe, with two tiers--hence Big Bang and Mini Bang.

Signups will Officially open in one month, on July 1, 2023. Posting will begin on December 8, 2023 for Big Bang participants, and will be on December 9, 2023 for Mini Bang participants.

In the meantime, please come check out the event tumblr, where we have the Rules and Schedule available.

We also have a Discord, if you’d like to come and say hi and hang out.

Questions? Feel free to send us an ask via tumblr, or you can reach out to the event email, battlestargalacticabigbang@gmail.com

We’re excited to be having this event, and hopefully you are, too! Very much looking forward to what you all come up with.

So Say We All

~GBB Mod Team

[celestie0]

Kickoff!Gojo, when he do would his morning runs 🫣💖💖

Click here!!

SOBS HE’S SO SEXY

[akkivee]

mtc track sample~ i think what’s most notable about this sample is that

there’s change happening within juto’s force and it seems to be related to chuuoku

we have once again expressed how tired we are of chuuoku shenanigans

samatoki has been shown several times to have been moved by ichiro’s words and ideals as of late and it seems to have come to fruition here with samatoki seeing the block party and believing in a power that can change this shitty world

rio’s mates are ready to take down chuuoku once again lmao and mtc seems to want to stop them

[quirrelmorts]

either kim in a dress or cricket woman with multiple arms. cool!

[blackjackkent]

Needless to say, Lae'zel immediately wants to talk once the group stumbles, covered in blood and shell-shocked, back out of the portal and into camp:

"Orpheus..." she whispers, her head slunk a little forward and her expression twisted with anxious thoughts. "Gith's only son. He lives... It is not the ghaik visitor that Vlaakith would destroy and Voss would set free. It is Orpheus. The Blood of the Mother, the Prince of the Comet."

She looks rattled and bewildered, and something in Rakha would like to offer her comfort, but she doesn't know how; she feels just as deeply shaken. The intense high of her initial consumption of the Astral Tadpole has started to bleed away, leaving behind exhaustion and deep uncertainty. She can feel the beast in her brain starting to wake up again, away from the Guardian's - the Emperor's - influence.

She wants desperately to sleep and yet she knows her dreams will bring no rest...

With gut-wrenching effort, she forces herself to focus on what Lae'zel is saying.

"The Blood of the Mother?" she echoes hoarsely. "Who is he, exactly?"

Lae'zel bares her teeth thoughtfully. "Listen close," she says after a moment's pause. "The Emperor spoke only in half-truths. For you to know the tale of Orpheus, you must know the tale of Gith, and of Vlaakith."

She turns, pacing a few restless steps back and forth in front of Rakha as she speaks. "Long ago, when we rose up against our ghaik slavers, Mother Gith made for the Hells to secure an alliance with the archdevil Tiamat. Tiamat gifted the githyanki our red dragons. Gith remained in the Hells, and Tiamat's envoy proclaimed Vlaakith our ruler. The first Vlaakith of many - it is Vlaakith One-Five-Seven whom my people now call queen."

Rakha listens impassively to this explanation - but attentively, as she always is to any new information which she can add to her fragmented and patchwork understanding of the world. Some of this is information she'd already gathered from the slates they've found that Lae'zel has translated for her, but some of it is new.

And more importantly, it's clear that the explanation is calming Lae'zel, who seems more settled as she focuses on these concrete facts of her people's history.

Keep silent.

"Our current Vlaakith has claimed undeath and reigned for a thousand years," she goes on. "But it was the first whom Orpheus tried to slay. Orpheus was - is - Gith's only son. He led his mother's own honor guard in a coup against Vlaakith One. It was kith'rak Voss himself who slayed the prince in vicious battle."

A pause. Doubt flickers through her eyes. "Or so the varshes teach us..."

She halts her pacing abruptly and turns again to face Rakha directly. Her eyes flare with agitation. "Yet the Prince of the Comet's been with *us*, subdued by that repugnant illithid. Should Orpheus go free, he would tear Vlaakith's empire to pieces and build new glory from the scraps!"

Rakha considers this, trying to parse the details, the implications. She has little interest in gith politics in and of themselves - she has plenty of her own problems - but despite the fractured nature of their relationship, Lae'zel is still important to her. When they first met, the young gith claimed intense devotion to Vlaakith, but her loyalty was betrayed, and Rakha has observed how this has shattered all of Lae'zel's certainties.

So what does it mean for her, to learn that the greatest enemy of her erstwhile goddess still lives?

"What happens now?" Rakha asks slowly after a short pause.

"We meet Voss in the city," Lae'zel says firmly. "And we obtain the key to freeing Orpheus from his prison. Every word Voss spoke, he spoke true. Orpheus is the living proof of the queen's lies, and the living weapon that conquered our ghaik slavers. One word from his lips and the people would doubt. Two words and they would rage. Three words, and they would bow to the True Heir. If the githyanki are to be free, the Prince of the Comet must lead the way."

Rakha has some doubts about this. First of all - she has seen the stubbornness with which githyanki can cling to their beliefs in the face of evidence. That Lae'zel has evidently found a new loyalty here does not mean her brethren will be similarly swayed.

But perhaps more importantly - the Emperor said that the Prince was the source of its protection that has brought Rakha some peace and prevented her from undergoing ceremorphosis. And it also said that Orpheus would see them, infected with tadpoles as they are, as nothing better than ghaik in their own right.

Freeing Orpheus, therefore, is impossible. It would kill them.

It would take away that peace.

If there is a way forward, for now at least, it is with the Emperor. This is practicality. Surely, this is practicality...

"The Emperor's Astral-Touched tadpole promises exceptional power," she points out with a noncommittal grunt.

Lae'zel flinches and her eyes flare again - this time with anger. "It also promises to break us beyond repair. This ossified parasite does not make us more, but less." Her lip curls as she, for the first time, acknowledges the change that has come over Rakha, the decision she made back in the Astral. "Do you not feel the cold where once there was heat? The void where your soul once resided?"

No. Rakha tries, but she cannot think of words that could explain the feeling that came with consuming the tadpole, that came from the Emperor's protection. She does not enjoy further connection with illithid influence - but she cannot articulate how it briefly soothed and quieted the terrible raging storm in her mind and connected her more purely with her body than she has ever felt before, at least in the time she can remember.

In the end she simply shrugs, half-closes her eyes, and opens her mind. Either Lae'zel will understand... or she won't.

[WISDOM] Connect with Lae'zel's mind. Let her feel the sense of power coursing through you.

(A/N: It is actually fully possible for Rakha to pass this check, but given that I suspect she and Lae'zel are probably going to clash with increasing frequency in Act 3, I think it's kind of more interesting if she fails.)

Lae'zel recoils and her face twists with disgust. "No. No!" she snarls, like a cat hissing with fear, backed up against a wall. "I will not become more ghaik than the damned parasite in my skull has already made me."

She takes a step back, then another - with visible effort, but implacably nevertheless. "You may have bowed to the Emperor for the sake of his power. I will not be so weak."

Her eyes are narrowed to slits... but even her fearsome determination cannot mask the pain and loss that flashes across her face in the moment before she turns away.

[crj-200]

WHERE'S MY AIRPLANE, ATLANTA

[yourlocaltoad]

Assets used for Kickoff Countdown's Character page (skylanders.com, 2013/2014)

[messfc]

uruguay got me stressed already i cant lie

[wishmaker-astra]

Got some errands to take care of for my doctoral advisor and prof I'm doing TA work for: dropping off paperwork and potential quizzes wrote, etc. Won't be paying attention here during it, so don't expect me to answer asks or the like for a while.

[joelletwo]

guhhhhhhhhhhhhhh i just want to draw my stupid little joke ive had drafted for months and months but its a better decision to go to bed

[zukaangweek]

zukaang week 2023: rules, prompts, and faqs!

whoooooo! it's time again!

if you have any other questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to reach out. i am so excited for this event, and i hope you all are too :)

image text underneath

prompt list:

day 1: opposites attract/parallels

day 2: firebending masters/dancing

day 3: daydreams/desires

day 4: free space!

day 5: avatar state/uncontrolled

day 6: scars/facial marks

day 7: spirit world/past lives

rules and guidelines:

All works must focus on the romantic relationship between Zuko and Aang. Other ships are welcome, as long as Zuko and Aang are front and center. 

There are 2 prompts for each day. You can choose one or both of them to inspire your work. If none of the prompts speak to you, feel free to create your own Zukaang content. The prompts are meant to promote creativity, not restrict it!

NSFW/Mature content is allowed and encouraged, as long as you tag everything appropriately. So on tumblr, that means following their guidelines for NSFW images. On AO3, that means giving your fic the appropriate rating and tags.

Any kind of creative content is allowed! Fanfiction, fanart, edits, playlists, headcanons, moodboards, ANYTHING!

As always, if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. This is to promote others’ creativity and create a positive community, and that is done through encouragement and support. 

Have fun!

frequently asked questions:

how do i participate?

Create your content and post it on tumblr. If you post on ao3, make sure to share the link on tumblr. Also make sure to add it to the Zukaang Week ao3 collection, which will be posted about later. Tag this blog in the main body of your post (@zukaangweek). In the tags, tag “zukaang week 3023" 

If we don’t reblog your post within 24 hours, feel free to send us a message with the link! I’m sure we all know how unreliable the tumblr tagging system is, we would never intentionally not reblog someone’s post!

2. if i’m not a creator, how can i support zukaang week?

The best way to support content creators leading up to and during Zukaang Week is to let them know you support them! Reblog and comment on their work, send zukaang content into this blog for us to post, etc. We’ll be reblogging zukaang content from now up until the week itself. Supporting that work now will encourage creators for the event week itself.

3. who's running the event?

Ryan (@divine0 + @dragonbonecatacombs) 

Cat (@aucatgirl)

[halorocks1214]

I forgot. How much sponsor fluff there was before the game announcement omg

[celestie0]

so are ihm gojo and kickoff gojo buff asf like post prison realm gojo or are they built like him pre prison realm cause if it’s post CHAIN ME DOWN NOWW

honestly when i both read and write for gojo i only ever picture buff gojo in post prison realm 😅 i just like guys that have nice arms (beefy biceps n strong arms in general w pretty veins <3 are literally the hottest thing ever to me) if you ever wonder “huh ellie really mentions gojo’s arms a lot in her writing 🤔” please excuse me my coochie was drenched picturing how his arms would look in the scene and i ended up subconsciously including the description in the writing

i’m not all too crazy for abs but like nice thicc arms n thighs 😫🤌🏼 and broad shoulders but a lean waist 🙈 sorry idk why i started fiending while answering this ask HAHAH

i have been sent a lot of incredible fanart that my readers have said reminded them of kickoff gojo n ihm gojo n a lot of them are really accurate to how i picture them while writing but i never saved them 🥲 so i just quickly found some pics/fanart that i think kinda represent them 😭 LOL i ended up getting a lil too into this haha sorry

yea kickoff gojo is basically cheeky post prison realm gojo w the slutty tiny waist n the athletic build n he just has that really boyish attitude all the time hahah:

his moodboard that i made for him is also how i picture him!! and then some fanart i think kinda reminds me of him is these:

1: @/_3aem on twt; 2: @/momoya348 on twt

pls he’s literally just black compression shirt gojo i guess HAHAHAH

for ihm gojo i think his drip n vibe is kinda similar to gojo in the baseball episode 😭 just woozy easy going suburban dad that’s just there to have a good time n can never tell when people are annoyed by him LMFAO but also he can be pretty serious mostly when he’s mad or concerned or inconvenienced (like shibuya arc gojo when he locked tf in…without the feral mania tho 💀)

n yea some fanart on how i picture him overall:

1: @/_3aem on twt; 2: @/tiyu0710 on twt

pls im sorry bb i know your question was such a simple one but then i just took it n RAN haha i think maybe bc i realized i’ve never actually shared how i picture them as the author?? lol so i figured i’d use your ask as an opportunity to!! hope this answers 🤣💕 much love from me!!

[maiteo]

we got serie a tomorrow🤭

[quirrelmorts]

matt and nick truly are such incredible creative storytellers