#probably in my top 3 favorite ii characters

[br1ghtestlight]

thinking abt suitcase and HONESTLY i dont think she'll forgive nickel after everything. genuinely her life is going to be affected by what he did to her and how he treated her for a really really long time and bcuz suitcase was treated as a pushover or like a naive idiot for most of the season it would be expected that she'd immediately forgive and move on (and her relationship w/ baseball is clearly.... complicated) but suitcase isn't that person anymore. she isnt innocent and optimistic just wanting to be friends with everybody like she was at the start of season two. she's changed and a big part of that change is accepting that nickel may have grown and even befriended balloon but she DOESNT forgive him for how he treated her even despite that. and he'll have to live with the consequences of what he did just like she'll have to. suitcase is never going to be the same again so it only makes sense nickel doesn't get that closure either (and the best he could do is just. accepting that)

[oh-meow-swirls]

was looking through old posts and i'm surprised to see that i seemingly didn't have any commentary on anything in 3 in chapter 7, 8 or 9, the posts related to 3's story go from "my first reaction when i saw yopple-bot was 'i love you. but also you are definitely the boss for this chapter-'" to "i have been in hell all day. hell being bada-bing tower." funny to me cuz those chapters are like, the best ones sdfkljsdfjfsdkjlfsdjkl-

[procrastinatingsoicanreadfanfics]

Aegon ii Targaryen NSFW Alphabet

summary: it's in the title :3

notes: i don't condone anything aegon ii has done in canon. that being said, tgc is so... arhaskhfkghl enjoy

warnings: smut, written with fem!reader in mind, mentions of sw

tagged: @majesticwren @obsessiveformiyatwins @levithestripper @cookielovesbook-akie @a-beaverhausen @ilikeitbetterangsty (hmu to be added to any taglist)

masterlist | requests are OPEN!

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

He wants to be the one to be cuddled and taken care of after. Honestly, he doesn’t mind that you’re sticky/sweaty, he just wants a hug.

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

He pretends to be confident about his body, but there’s nothing he likes about it much. Whatever you appreciate most, he does too.

For you, he’s a simple man. Likes tiddies.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

This goes hand in hand with the body part thing. He likes coming on your tits as well.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

Wants to have a threesome/foursome. Doesn’t really care how many people there are, and he certainly wouldn’t mind watching.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

He thinks he’s experienced, but all of that comes from whores. You’ll probably have to teach him a bit.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

Idk.. maybe spooning? Something cuddly for sure

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

He doesn’t take himself very seriously anywhere, but he wants to be taken serious. He’ll joke around, but he’d rather focus on the moment

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

Not well groomed. He doesn’t care very much, but doesn't care how well groomed you are either.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

I think he’d be very intimate if he cared for you. In my head, aegon is definitely polyamorous/would prefer open relationships, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about you.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

Uhh- let’s skip this one

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

Praise. He wants to be praised so so much, even though he won’t ask for it

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

A pleasure house is probably most practical, but his bedroom is also good.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

You. His own mind. Anything and everything really. He wiped you off with a towel once? Now he sees a towel and gets horny. It just be like that.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

Hurt you. He doesn’t enjoy pain on you or himself.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

He prefers receiving, and he loves to be cockwarmed like that as well

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

Mostly slow, a little bit lazy maybe. Morning sex with him is top tier.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

He likes quickies in the form of surprise blowjobs/handjobs, but he’d rather fuck you properly

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

He’s not that into experimenting. He’s got a few things he likes but if he’s with a partner he trust then sure, maybe.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

He can go for one or two rounds, but everything around that is way more important to him. Likes to take it slow.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

Regular Aegon wouldn’t have toys, but modern!Aegon most definitely would. Maybe a vibrator or something to make you feel good.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

He feels terrible when he teases, so he normally doesn’t do it.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

He moans for sure. He wants you to hear him too.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

Sometimes, he prefers cuddling over sex, but there’s nothing as good as pulling you close when you’re half-awake and playing with you until you’re fully there.

Modern!Aegon finds vibrating underwear hilarious

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

Okay honestly I think he’s average-

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

Depends on his mood. If he’s feeling down, then it’s none existent but if he’s happy, he’s insatiable

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

Extremely quickly. He’s been in your arms for two seconds, and boom he’s gone.

[visenyaism]

Top 5 asoiaf historical characters or top 5 povs to read from ?

my favorite chapter of all time still goes to the tyrion boat school chapter in adwd but in terms of favorite POVs to read?

6. joncon- giving myself a bonus one to talk about how reading his chapters made me feel like i was dissolving like a powerpoint transition. there’s just so much grief and love and bitterness and doom packed into there it is unreal.

5. sam- gender. he is just so special i’ve never read a fantasy protag quite like samwell tarly and his quest to realize his compassion, empathy, and courage are his greatest strengths despite being discouraged by hypermasculine violent feudal society. he is the real protagonist of asoiaf to me.

4. jonsnow- i liked his pov’s in all the books, but ADWD where he is just trying as hard as possible not to be the protagonist after going though like 4 different genres (can u BELIEVE he started off as a boarding school protagonist) even though he literally has super strengthis so beloved to me. His ongoing crisis where he has to realize that despite everything everyone tries to impose on him he has only ever been just himself is so so real (just as real as him being king beyond the wall. btw) though getting immediately killed for it has to be a downer. MY son was turncloak of the month at castle black👍

3. Jaime- he’s funny. he’s cringe. he stares a lot for someone who can’t fight. he’s delusional. he can’t fit a whole knight in his head. he hasn’t emotionally matured past the age of seventeen. everything he says is insane and also heartbreaking. i love jaime POVs so much y’all don’t get it.

2. Cersei- reading cersei i for the first time last year rewired my brain and i was loud about it. Unlike cersei i was not raised by a fascist nightmare but as a nonbinary girltwin i can say that getting raised alongside a direct example of what your life would’ve been like without misogyny can be very hard, especially when you hit puberty and the “your brother is a person and you are the girl one” starts to get even louder. I was fucking alarmed how personally compelling her weird gender thoughts were given EVERYTHING else the Lannister twins have going on that is NOT personally relevant to me. Don’t know how george rr martin old cishet man that he is knew about any of that.

She’s completely delusional, and at times her mental gymnastics are so so fucking funny, but the like roiling layer of unspeakable (literally unspeakable she refuses to speak or acknowledge it) pain and fear underneath is what got me really. Watching her scheme out of arrogance and mortal terror really just to gain respect and bodily autonomy (though in the Tywin way where freedom from abuse and the “right” to abuse others are the same thing) and then just losing everything incredibly fucking hard was really compelling. i hope you win.

1. Melisandre- wait i said another chapter was my favorite of all time in this post? no i didn’t not when melisandre i is in the room. i have talked about this one extensively and probably will do so again. Finding out that r’hllor is literally her enslaved and her entire black and white apocalyptic worldview is her attempt to feel safe within that truth because she is still just a scared little girl at heart who needs what she’s saying to be true because if it’s not none of her suffering was worth it was the revelation of all time. That and the revelation that she actually does have a human attachment to Davos to the point that she’s watching over his son to spare him the grief. We WILL get melisandre ii in this lifetime and it will break my heart all over again because she is going to outlive stannis and have to survive the worldview shattering.

[jennilah]

What's your favourite saw movie? And how would you rank all of the saw movies?

I love saw 4 [I know alot of people hate it, but I adore Daniel rigg, therefore it's my comfort movie]

omg what a difficult question LOL but i have attempted to rank them for myself before..

funny, my ranking now is completely different from my first impressions

anyway get ready for another signature long, way overthought answer filled w series spoilers

disclaimer, being low on the list here doesn't mean i dislike the film, actually. there are none I truly dislike, its just I love the top ones so much that it simply pushes every other down

i was just gonna describe my top 3 and then vaguely rank the rest but i think ill describe all of them. so, in LOOSE order of fave to least fave (def not set in stone)

Saw VI: has my favorite scenes with my favorite character, the FBI plot is thrilling, William Easton's game is one of the best, every trap is memorable to iconic, technical things like the cinematography and lighting and set design is mwah chefs kiss. And, its one of the most satisfying films in terms of finally getting answers to mysteries that have been teased for 3 movies straight, and finally seeing Hoffman get his comeuppance. The last moments of that film are some of the hypest shit. I put this one on when I need to see my man and im craving peak soap opera vibes but in all the best ways

Saw X: As much as I love the investigation plotline, I love how this one takes a step back and you truly get to be with John and Amanda all movie, they got to really spend time on the emotion and heart of the film, and again, it has some of the most memorable and exciting sets and traps, as well as some of my favorite player characters. Cecelia, my queen. it also has i think one of my favorite finale scenes of all of them, where we get to see John in a trap himself!!! and the hello Zepp moment being just. perfection. 👌 I put this one on when I want my Saw-watching experience to feel like a sporting event from thrill and great subtle humor, but i also need to be in the mood for the emotional beats bc they hit pretty hard

Saw II: I will sing this film's praises whenever I can. Its a fantastic sequel and I will tell u why. Aside from Saw X this is practically the one other film where John actually gets a spotlight and he eats up every scene. This fuckin guy. One of the funniest films to rewatch after knowing the signature Saw twists- this dude drops so many foreshadowing comments its honestly impressive and comedic. The nerve gas house is also one of my favorite games, and I love seeing Amanda get a spotlight too. You also get a taste for what the franchise has in store when it comes to the camp and soap opera plotline, so as long as you're into that, its one of the most fun Saw films. I watch this one when I want a more lighthearted Saw experience where it really feels like John and Amanda are up to mischief

Saw V: A little on the slower side, I actually appreciate that this one is mostly about providing much-needed answers and backstory. If you hate Hoffman, I get why this one could be a slog, but I adore him so I'm fine. As for Strahm, this one really shocked me. I thought he was gonna be a one-movie type deal just be killed off at the very start, but he SHOCKED me. U get to watch someone survive a trap, a RIGGED one no less, and go from kind of a cocky asshole to the baddest bitch on the scene. He singlehandedly figured out Hoffman's deal and took it upon himself to stop him, procedure be damned. I was rooting for him so hard, man. I also really like the Fatal Five. And the Glass Coffin. Listen, it's pretty obvious why I'll put this one on.

Saw: The OG. What more is there to say. It's original, it's exciting, it redefined a genre whether you wish it did or not, it's got the craziest early 2000's flare, it's got mystery, it's got drama, it's got it all. I put this one on when I want to go back to our ✨roots✨

Saw IV: Initially this was probably my least favorite but now that I can tell Hoffman and Strahm apart, now that I adore both of those characters, now that I know the plot like the back of my hand so I'm not confused by the copious flashbacks and general lack of answers given and new questions asked, I love it just like the others. Rigg is also one of my favorite game-players, he's just so good and wants to save his friends, watching him mentally toil over everything is really exciting. The traps are also fun. And every Strahm scene. (also this movie is filled with really hot men and lots of fanservice for Jennas like me to enjoy, and enjoy even more with shipping goggles on)

Saw III: This one I love for the progression of Amanda and John's complicated dynamic and lore but I also can't rewatch it often because it's so damn sad, and gross. This one is probably the grossest one between the multiple vomit moments and pig vat. Ugh. But, every Amanda scene, my god. My precious girl. I want to scoop her into my arms. I love her so much. This one I've only watched twice, Im due for another stoned midnight rewatch soon.

Saw 3D: They can't make me hate you. I haven't rewatched this one yet, but I'll rewatch moments for a laugh. I like the potential- all the ideas they had, like the original film callbacks and bringing back Lawrence as an apprentice and finally showing someone dying in the damn RBT, and even the furthering of Hoffman's mental downfall which I'd argue started in 5, were intriguing on paper, but the execution was a bit awkward. I like Hoffman's rampage though. Hoffmanator, my problematic fave, really playing into my love for slashers there

Spiral: this was a Scream movie. but, I like Scream. ill rewatch it one day when im in a specific mood i think. maybe

Jigsaw: meh. dont hate it but i have no desire to rewatch. i do think Logan coming back would be the funniest shit ever

[hnnny]

2 and 4 for the artist asks :)

Ooh these ones are fun!

2. 5 favorites of your own work?

I'm really living it up with this alien portrait of myself I did recently. I just really love the colors and the way I rendered things to look glowy.

This piece is one of my favorites for the cohesiveness of it. It's really hard to render characters one by one and still make them look like they were all rendered the same way. I like how each of them stands out in their own unique way, and how the colors are all a part of the same color palette and yet the colors translate well for each of them.

In a much more lighthearted direction, I really enjoyed working on this piece. It was as calming as the subject material to render. I really like the warm green and the warmth in Link's hair in this. Also kitty :3

This is one of the first full on digital paintings I've done and actually liked by the end of it. The colors are probably my favorite part. There are parts of it that I would change, like have the lighting be a little more dramatic, like she's sunlit, and make her skin more pigmented (I swear I need to get my monitor color corrected).

Okay this one is a hilarious last addition in comparison with the other ones, but I think this is literally the most handsome man I've ever drawn. For those of you unfamiliar, this is my Sparrow, or Hero of Bowerstone from Fable II. I based him off of the male default art for the game (pictured on the left), and I'm just incredibly proud of the design flairs I gave for his older self. I will never be able to top this in terms of handsomeness. Not unless it's art depicting him (his name is William Fulton btw, and he's Cassandra's dad [pictured above]).

4. Favorite things to draw?

Ooh this questions is also just as hard to narrow down lol. Well, I've always enjoyed drawing people and doing character design, and that's a trend that has followed me all my life. I'm specifically having a lot of fun redesigning some of my character designs for a couple of Kotor characters (a hint of what's to come perhaps?).

I also enjoy drawing long flowing hair with lots of flyaways, quick and dynamic sketches with lots of foreshortening, and characters that I love (which happens to be Zena, Mira, and Malak for whatever reason. Torellia and Atton are in time out at the moment for both having hard to draw short hair and being dumb with their life decisions lol). Oh, and recently I've really enjoyed doing background studies. I would love to make backgrounds consistently in the future cause it's actually a lot of fun.

Oh, and eyes. Lots and lots of eyes. I'll probably post a big sketch dump after this lol, cause I'm realizing there are quite a few pieces and sketches I have yet to show you guys :)

Thank you for the ask!

[gwenllian-in-the-abbey]

I was tagged by @emilykaldwen! Thank you for this!

How many works do you have on AO3?

19 Works!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

426,366

3. What fandoms do you write for?

asoiaf/fire & blood/HotD & Realm of the Elderlings (a book series by Robin Hobb)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

All Kings Are Beautiful (HotD) (the winner by a huge margin); Inside a Chrysalis, Writhing (HotD); Sunlight and Air (ROTE); Unbound and Infinite (ROTE); Drown the Stage with Tears (ROTE)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes, I do! Interaction is one of the main reasons I take time out of my original projects to write fic and you only get as well as you give!

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably My Lady Deserves Better, especially if you know what happens in Fool's Assassin (the first book in the final Realm of the Elderlings trilogy by Robin Hobb).

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

As of now? Sunlight and Air

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Only once, recently. Some people apparently can read a fic full of more conventional smut but draw the line when a dude gets pegged by women!

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I can and have (see above), but usually the smut is not the main course.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Nope

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I'm aware of!

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Our Fathers Clad in Red is written with @aifsaath and I also share custody of an AU with @alloysius-g

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

Regal Farseer x Gary Golden, Aegon II x Baela Targaryen,

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

A sequel to Sunlight and Air. I think my ROTE fics will be one-shots mostly from now on unless I'm working on the modern AU.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I've been told that I'm good at creating engaging characters and that my stories have a strong sense of interiority. My prose flows pretty well and I can turn a nice phrase. I also think that I'm pretty good at writing absurd and slightly satirical humor.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Some of my favorite writers have very lush descriptive language, and I've been trying to improve on that end because sometimes I feel like my characters are a bit too much in their own heads. In my original fiction my weakness is definitely meandering too much in my plotting.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I generally don't, instead I indicate in the narrative when characters are speaking another langauge.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Realm of the Elderlings

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

Lay off that whiskey (and let that cocaine be), a ROTE modern AU crack fic. Look, this fic is incredibly niche and extremely ridiculous but if you like Robin Hobb's books you really should read it (and @alloysius-g's contributions to the verse) because it's hilarious and I'm quite proud of it. I also think that the fic I am co-writing with @aifsaath , Our Fathers Clad in Red, is quite good. Tagging: @whatevsbla, @tragediegh, @lairn, @theothermaidoftarth, @mellowthorn, @aifsaath

[thevikingwoman]

Top Ten Video games

thanks @keturagh for the tag!

as this list shows - I'm not young, and I started out with PC gaming, where truly my love for gaming was built. It was hard to pick 10 games - for being a "gamer" I don't actually play a lot of games, and there's only a few games that really stick out as truly noteworthy over time to me. Criteria is muddled - games that are great, games that are fun, games that defined a moment for me. Yes, there's a certain amount of nostalgia too here. I've by internal logic excluded text-based IFs from considerations.

Tagging @myreia @galadrieljones @galadae @roguelioness @redinkofshame @lilas @coldshrugs @allaganexarch @a-shakespearean-in-paris if you want! And anyone else! tag me!

Civilization

I refuse to pick one, but I'll probably go with IV if I had to, just because of the music and I think it's where they introduced cultural victory. Civilization was the first video game I brought with my own money, and yes that's an old pic of all the boxes (I don't have the Civ I box 😭but I still have the disks and manual). I also have Civ VI, but no new pic. Civilization is genre defining, a PC gaming defining game - there is no other game like it.

2. Diablo II

I played so much Diablo II - it was such a fun game full of fun gameplay. It was also the first game I truly played online - meeting new and wonderful friends and got embroiled on online drama! Diablo II was just sheer fun, from the builds to the loot to the secret cow level. The cut scenes were phenomenal, the one above is still one of my favorites of all time - the shattering of the world stone. Tyrael was possible my first video game crush, yeah just the wings and voice, don't @ me

3. Warcraft III

I played so much Warcraft III. The gameplay was fantastic, just a great RTS. It had humor, but also possibly the most heartwrecking storyline I've played - the fact you get to play out Arthas decent into evil was a stroke of gameplay and storytelling genious. Coupled with this era of Blizzard's cinematic department, the hands down best cut scene ever. This remains a top game for me.

4. Mass Effect

What can I say? Mass Effect is fun to play, has a pretty great and well written story - it's one of a kind to be honest. I don't do shooters, but I do do Mass Effect.

5. Pharaoh

I love city building and this was the best one. IS the best one, as this is remastered on steam. I'm currently playing this, and this is from the other night. I love this! pyramids! logistics! production! bright colors!

6. Dragon Age Inquistion

would be weird if I didn't include this one, right? I love the game and I love all the stuff that lives in my brain because of it. Also I do think the combat is fun? I think mechanics and environment wise it's also the best of Dragon Age.

7. Assassin's Creed Odyssey

I had a hard time picking between II (best boy Ezio, Desmond), Origins (pyramids! BAYEK and AYA, the mature story!!) and Odyssey - in the end I think Odyssey won because of the feel of AC - assassin, the vast explorations, the many quests, and ofc yelling in DMs over lost love. Not to forget - clop, clop, clop, the fake minotaur quest.

8. Jedi: Fallen Order

Look, I don't like platformers or difficult combat, but story mode hit the spot, and the story was SO good. Cal Kestis is my son in my heart, the story and his character touched me.

9. World of Warcraft

well, the sheer amount of time and investment I put into this game count for something. At some point it seemed like half the world played it, for good reason. I don't think I can go back, but WoW was the first MMO I truly enjoyed, and I love the art style so much. and I got to turn into a demon for massive damage, and endlessly frustrate my healer. Infinite mana, baby, just heal me

10. Master of Orion II

another old 4x game, this just hit the spot somehow.

other contenders: Geometry War Retro Evolved, Tetris, the MasterMind game my dad coded himself and we had a vicious family competition for the leaderboard, Settlers III, Heros of Might and Magic (but I don't recall which version I loved the most), and Warlords (the original DOS game)

[jewishcissiekj]

A few months ago I woke up (I wasn't sleeping) in cold sweat at night from a story idea and grabbed a paper I found and wrote on it the OC name that came to me in a vision but only now I started thinking about her more and finally fucking designed her so here's my Jedi Master OC and her three Padawans (and everything I have to say about them) if you want to see them

(mouth on the first one came out weird, ignore that) Bliz Karse she/her (Karse pronounced Kuh-rs, not sure about Bliz yet) -Ky Narec's best friend! her main story point lmao. They were partners most of their life, from the crèche to knighthood up until Ky ended up on Rattatak. -Theelin -Qui-Gon's and Ky's age - born circa 80 BBY -Lives up to TCW, probably dies in Order 66 (haven't gotten there yet) -Ky and her are really close friends and like half the temple's padawans gossip about them dating. They aren't together. -Her master is Burryaga from The High Republic! Was thinking about a Master for her and he just fit idk -She's short -Ky and her go around the galaxy as Jedi explorers. They're both aspiring Wayseekers, striving to be independent from the council and help wherever they can (this gets serious for Bliz after Ky crashed on Rattatak) -She takes her padawans everywhere so a lot of times people think they're Ky and hers' children -um idk I think she's aroace?

Padawan I - Sevo Zash They/them -Mirialan (purple!) -I drew them as a Padawan but they're like, older than Obi-Wan. -Bliz took them on not long after her knighting -They love Ky -I need to develop them more (gave them a name like an hour ago and came up with the design this afternoon, I don't know them yet) -Survives Order 66 but is killed by an inquisitor not long after

Padawan II - Nyyra Xor She/her -Falleen (green, naturally) -NOT AURRA but love me some almost bald characters with a pnytail at the top of their head and no eyebrows -I should make a timeline for Bliz but she's like, in her late 20s/early 30s by the Clone Wars -She thinks Ky is annoying but was still Bliz's Padawan when he crushed on Rattatak (that adds up, right?) so she came to miss him after a while -a big fan of annoying the fuck out of Bliz. She also doesn't like traveling as much as the others so she ended up with the worst possible master in that regard -Sevo sees her as their little sister, I feel like all 3 Padawans are kinda siblings in that way -Oldest sibling energy, doomed to be a middle child -Wants to be on the council. Dies in Order 66.

Padawan III - Arck Kyvett she/him -Tholothian (no idea how to draw their head-tendrils but I think I did a decent job) -DIES (killed by Asajj) - her main story point is dying. That's where I started, with Asajj being sent to kill Ky's childhood friend's padawan by Dooku and then Bliz came to me -Bliz took him on 2-3 years before the Clone Wars, and he died very quickly (Asajj's first Jedi kill, maybe even before the Clone Wars started) -I wanted to give all of them some sort of Padawan braid, so Arck gets beads on one of his tendrils, I think that can work -Youngest sibling energy, if she didn't die she'd also become the favorite child (Nyyra and Sevo love her dw) -The Ky in her name is the first thing Asajj hears when Bliz refers to her. Wanted to call her Ky originally but felt this would do instead

Woooo building OC lore is fun I should do it more Talked a lot about Ky but never drew him once in my life. Let's ignore that.

[forffax]

returning the favor with oc asks since i always wanna hear about yours !! if you had to pick like your top 5 favorite characters who would they be and why 👀 bonus if you want to pick your favorite like settings/worlds/universes youve made for ocs too!

OOOUH thank u chase!!!

I'm gonna list out my favs then talk abt my main oc universe a bit ^_^

This got ridiculously long so it's going under a readmore <3

1. Tos Family (sorry this is going to be. the whole family bc I cannot possibly choose between them)

i. Lux Tos (he/him)

(realizing now i haven't drawn him in a hot fuckin minute)

MY DAD. guy of all time ever. everyone's favorite half-human time traveling alien war vet. it always feels weird referring 2 him as part alien even if it's technically true sdjfgs. fun lore fact: he was the Dead Older Brother in original iteration Zephyr's Sad Backstory but I liked him too much so I decided he got to live <3

Lux is one of my older ocs that I still actively draw and think abt (late middle school...) and he's changed a LOT over the years but he's so so so dear to me. my guy who has Seen the Horrors and is now happily gay married with a kid :') sdfkjsk most things abt his story is just me being So Incredibly Self Indulgent (cool powers, complicated sibling relationships, gay) but it makes me happy and I love sharing it with ppl! Someday Voided 2 will be real and ready to share with the world...

ii. Ferdinand Tos (he/him)

Dad....2!!!!!! I don't remember when exactly I thought him up but it was probably around when Lux's backstory was getting a major overhaul... He's a man out of time he's training to be a doctor and his will to live is so strong he spent the better part of nearly two decades building himself a new body! Guys who died but got better <3. I think I literally got brain blasted one day and decided he's a non-op trans man and it was the best thing ever for him actually. He's a southern californian stuck in the cold northwest (probably. either that or the northeast im not settled on that aspect yet skdjfs). He's been super fun to write from a worldbuilding perspective too bc his main goal is to pioneer a new branch of medicine using his powers! His relationship with Lux and the rest of the family (and his reconciliation with his sister) is sooooo important 2 me :]

iii. Athanasius Tos (she/her)

THANAAAAA most normal sibling (lie). She was adopted formally right after Lux "died" and had a bit of a complex about just being a "replacement" for a good while, and she THOUGHT she had worked through that when Lux suddenly re-appeared... they're on great terms now but it was Tense. She's a biochemist and probably makes the most out of the household (she shares an apartment with Zeph!) It's very important 2 me that she can let herself be vulnerable with her family and close friends after years of bottling everything up... Epic nerdy autistic butches in your area <3 Fun fact she is the only full human of the main cast!

iv. Zephyr Tos (she/him)

My fuckign auncle. Within the story she only recently realized he was bigender and is much happier for it, even if you couldn't tell by her permanent scowl skjdfgs. Zeph was the original protag (along with Thana) of the short story I wrote in middle school that turned into Voided 2! In-universe he was very clearly supposed to be the protag but missed/ignored the "call to action" phase and just got a shitton of Issues and Traumas instead <3 She's so everything 2 me he's a freelance writer/artist she's kinda cringe and he is trying only as hard as she absolutely needs to in order to get by. While his relationship with Lux is MUCH better than it was when Lux first came back, she's completely inseparable from Thana and would do anything for her (I feel like they spent equal times protecting each other from bullies as kids...) He's changed so much from her original incarnation but developing him has been SO much fun <3 Since Voided 2 runs on real-world time (in that I have specific real-world dates for most major events) she turned 50 fairly recently and that's fucked but also funny. old.

v. Alan Tos (any)

Alan! Love this kiddo. He's Lux and Ferdinand's adoptive kid! Xe doesn't learn about it for a while but she was a government secret experiment test-tube baby (they were trying to artificially fuse souls together, distantly related to the later Child Soldier School ze was placed into) (kid cannot catch a break). He's a good kid, if not a little clueless and naive... someone who would hold no ill-will if you had to cut their leg off (this is not a hypothetical GJSKDS). Somehow, despite all this, she is by far the most Normal out of xer family <3 His fashion sense is some kind of spectrum between 60s businesswoman and scene and tbh? Very fun to draw! Her friends and family are very very dear to them and at the moment xe's just kind of letting life take zem wherever.

2. Vague (it/they)

unauthorized fucking thing kill it with hammers NOW!!!!!

Vague started as I think just a proxy for myself in vent art I drew in like early high school sdhjfgds they have since become. something. my mascot I guess? (I still end up using it for vent art sometimes bc it's functionally unkillable and it's fun 2 get narsty sometimes.)

originally it was just the weird cat-shaped angel thing but a couple years ago I gave them a human design that I really love too <3 vague technically has a place in Niko and my other cat furry ocs' story but their human form exists in the real world and is just Like That i think. vague is just a little guy okay? they're sorry about crying and bleeding all over the place (not bc it sees any issue with this they just noticed you looked upsetskjdfhs)

3. Niko (he/they)

Baby's first fursona! Niko was always mostly his own character but now that I have new This is Just Me sona(s), they've been officially retired from that front <3 Niko's story is mostly planned out, I just desperately need to write it somewhere skjdbfs but the gist is that Niko works a shitty minimum wage call center job and finds meaning and love through forming a band with people he happens to meet... also there's some whistleblowing and betrayal and vague slams down out of the sky at some point <3 Niko's band doesn't have a name but they're the lead vocalist! (Niko 🤝 Blue (is blue and sings in their band)) This is a universe where everyone is cat furries simply bc I wanted to design lots of cat furries but also I haven't drawn like half of his bandmates/friends.... orz

Fun fact I found my original doodles of him in an old math notebook and apparently I seriously considered the name "chandler" for them. Help,

4. Larkspur (they/them)

Laaark my friend lark :] they're my player character for a friend's tabletop campaign! *hands you a bug* *hands you a bug* *hands-

Their design was super fun to come up with and they're fun to play as :] They were raised on a farm and have a deep love for animals (insects in particular), but they have a hard time connecting with others and understanding why people act the way they do.. They wear an eyepatch to cover their multiple other eyes bc it gives them bad sensory overload to see with them! They also spent quite a bit of time as a bounty hunter before they were blacklisted from further work bc they let a target escape on purpose... Lark is a ranger/bard and they play the hurdy-gurdy! They're dear to me and I really need to draw them more sjdfhgs

5. Chungy Fresh (she/he/they)

Chungy my belungy.... she's a mimic who spent most of his life being a chest in the temple of a forgotten goddess until they gained sentience and saw a fursuit from far away and decided yep! I'm gonna look like that Now <3 She didn't get all the details right but he's never been happier! I think Chungy spawned from me drawing a weird fox thing and simultaneously thinking "hey wouldn't it be funny if a character had a verbal text/forum signature and it was also their name" skdjfgjskdfls. Chungy is def up there with "most fun ocs of mine to draw" bc she's so Noodly and Malleable... I started playing as him in a friend group's tabletop oneshot thingy (where multiple ppl write different unrelated oneshots but we use the same characters for each session) and it has been a lot of fun!

OKAY OC UNIVERSE TIME. I call my main oc story "Voided 2" bc it takes place in the same universe as my v personal self insert oc story "Voided" that I have been working on/writing/thinking abt since late middle school... It's kinda vaguely modern fantasy/sci-fi? Main things are that there are beings born at the beginning of the universe made of pure energy called Lunoirs. There are countless universes, and each universe has Lunoirs in some capacity. They mainly exist to "keep the balance," but if you ask any specific Lunoir what that means you'll get a million different answers. Mainly they gravitate towards any life within their universe and integrate with them, observing them and protecting them from Shadows and Vacares. Shadows are the unliving souls that will eventually be reborn and reformed into a living soul inside any given universe-- they exist in the space between universes, called the Void. the Void looks different to any being that crosses into it, and it's hard to say what its "true" nature is. Vacares are Lunoirs that have had their souls corrupted and eaten, usually by other Vacares. While Shadows, being amalgamations of soul energy, are strictly neutral, Vacares seek to cause chaos and eat more Lunoir souls, increasing their numbers in a vain attempt to satisfy their endless hunger.

The Lunoir population on Earth is fairly numerous, and since Lunoirs can take on whatever form they choose, many of them live and love and have children with humans, making partial-lunoir children (physically they are nearly indistinguishable from full humans, save for longer lifespans, odd hair and eye colors, and sharper teeth. also they have semi-physical wings, but these have to be manually brought out and often ppl don't even know they have them (*cough* zephyr *cough*)

Lunoirs aren't fully immortal, but they have a different life cycle to most other forms of life. When a non-lunoir dies, their soul disintegrates and is amalgamated with the souls of others in the Void to become Shadows. When a Lunoir dies (outside of having their soul completely corrupted/destroyed), they instead go into a sort of stasis and are reborn later; they have no memories of their previous life (the ones on Earth don't, at least) and they can take on wildly different appearances.

Lunoirs and partial Lunoirs have powers in the form of energy manipulation, particularly when it comes to the energy of their own souls... They can use their souls to form weapons, mainly to fight against Vacares that tend to be immune to physical weapons. Most people have one weapon that they specialize in, but in a pinch nearly everyone can form a knife. Humans can manipulate their own soul energy in this way too, but this ability must be taught/"unlocked" by a Lunoir or a partial Lunoir first (Zephyr, at some point, did this for Thana without either of them realizing it). Lunoirs can also manipulate the energy of the very universe to create Rifts in time and space, sometimes leading between separate universes... These rifts also open of their own accord from time to time, and there's a good number of people who have been displaced from their time or even their universe by unwittingly falling into one.

Every living being has a "soul" (a collection of their life energy), and through a kind of "reaching out," one can feel/taste/smell/hear/see another's soul... every soul is a bit different, so this is an easy way to identify people even from a distance!

The Earth Lunoirs once had a country where they congregated called Saluria, which was the site of a brutal multi-year war against an army of Vacares that wanted reign over Earth... Many Lunoirs and partial Lunoirs across all of Earth's history felt drawn to Saluria, often willingly or unwillingly being rifted to the time of the war to go fight in it... Some partial Lunoirs especially believed it was their sacred duty, while others believed it was a curse leading them to inevitable death... there's even whispers that Saluria itself is alive, luring in young partial and full Lunoirs out of self-preservation.. who's to say. Ultimately, the Salurian War was a victory, but not an easy one.

Lux and Zephyr are half Lunoirs (their mom being full), and Ferdinand is 3/4ths Lunoir! Alan is a bit of a weird case but functionally he's also half Lunoir :]

This is v much simplifying Years of worldbuilding ssjhdfgjks and I can FEEL I missed a bunch of stuff but it's all very very dear 2 me :]

[tunemyart]

I was tagged by @wistfulwatcher in 20 Questions for Fic Writers - thank you!! <33

How many works do you have on AO3?

47

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

408,521

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Actively, right now? It's Cabenson all the time. I have a crossover with Elementary in the works, if it counts? Historically: Xena: Warrior Princess, Olivia (1951), Star Trek(s touching on Voyager, Picard, and Discovery), Wicked, Once Upon a Time, Rizzoli & Isles. Waaaaay back in the day historically: A TON of Wicked, smattering of The X-Files, Battlestar: Galactica, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Stargates SG-1 and Atlantis, Doctor Who, Bones.

Oh. Also Star Wars EU as a wee child.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Presque Vu (R&I)

all the sacred boundaries we've overgrown (OUAT)

The Nature of Work Wives (R&I)

the undoing and the reweaving (XWP)

The Thing Called Future (OUAT)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yeah!! Posting fic is all about the positive human interaction for me! Obviously comments are life, we all know this; but also I have irl friendships that started in the comments of my fic because I responded. You never know who you're going to meet or in what capacity.

tl;dr if someone feels compelled enough by something that came directly out of my brain and my soul to engage tangibly with it - you bet I'm going to respond, barring irl complications.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hmmmm so I have been accused of being something of an angst queen, but I also like a happy ending after the angst. I think the angstiest contenders are more ambiguous, and are probably:

no one else can break my heart like you (Wicked) - because we all know what's coming in Act II

Chrysopylae (Voyager/Picard) - because I really don't think many things about Seven and Janeway's relationship can ever truly be resolved

do borg dream of individuality? (Voyager) - see above, where Janeway is starting to intuit this

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I think The Thing Called Future (OUAT) is a pretty classic happy ending! So is all the sacred boundaries we've overgrown (OUAT). Both are in the right fandom for it!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I've been very fortunate to get very nice, genuine folks and exactly one person I'm choosing to believe was having a bad day and taking it out on me.

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

Y-yes? I guess it depends on your definition of smut. There's sex for sure, but the focus is more on the emotions while it's happening than on graphic descriptions of what's happening or how it feels. Most of the time it's baked into the narrative and telling the story. I think I've really only written one or two PWP, and they're in XWP fandom.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Not really! As mentioned I've got the SVU/Elementary crossover in the works, but for the reason that time and location align so incredibly perfectly. I also had a XWP/Wonder Woman crossover I wrote on a prompt (an amazon matter) and that was a lot of fun, but probably also not crazy.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not word for word or reposted.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but it would be cool!

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

No, but @90stvqueen and I have talked about cowriting prompts before!

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Oof. I feel like I should say Xena/Gabrielle here, but Gelphie is my OG (shoutout gateway lesbians!)

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

hahahahaha pass

16. What are your writing strengths?

This is a very reflective question! I guess I'd say emotional reflection + revision/distillation. Give me an inch I'll write you a mile, and then realize I need to revise it to something closer the inch you'll actually read or the conversation the characters would actually have.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Action, movement, and description of setting. Wait, no, are they sitting/standing in some nebulous, blurry-edged space having a conversation again???? nooooooooooooooooooooo

I'm working on it, and I'm proud of what my efforts are yielding, but also: ughh

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

It's a nice idea, but imo it distracts so hard from the flow of reading. One or two words where the reader can figure it out in context, or where the reader probably knows what it means, is great! Adds color and flavor! Entire lines that require footnotes… personally, I'm never going to look those up.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Star Wars EU! Luke Skywalker/Mara Jade OTP!

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

I don't know if/when my answer is going to change from The Wide Orbit (SVU) - genuinely I think it's the best thing I've ever written. A lot of work and revision went into it and I think the final product shows it. It is precisely the story I wanted to tell in precisely the way I wanted to tell it. I just reread it and am still so delighted with it.

tagging in a no-pressure way: @chthonic-cassandra @chainofclovers @90stvqueen @cargopantsprentiss @butchcraftmacncheese @neornithes @dadrielle

[krastbannert]

Tagged by @noexoozes

20 Questions for Fic Writers

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 69 (nice) on my main account, with 5 on another account. And then there's a few here and there I've deleted over the years.

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 188,387 words.

3. What fandoms do you write for? Avatar: The Last Airbender, Avatar: The Legend of Korra, Tron: Legacy, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, The Dragon Prince, Mass Effect, Destiny, and Horizon (as in Horizon: Zero Dawn and Forbidden West). At one point I had a Halo fic but that's been deleted. And then I've got a few original works.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

to that loyal heart (you're forever sixteen) - Zuko and the 41st Division, and what it means to those who will never forget what Zuko did.

Twin Flames - Azula-centric, post redemption, where she meets her niece, Izumi, for the first time, and finds that they have something in common.

those stories written in your skin - Zuko and his various tattoos, and the story of a journey around the world.

Lonely - Fire Hazard Siblings-centric, a small, quiet moment on Ember Island where both, for the first time, feel safe.

Wash These Stones - sequel to to that loyal heart (you're forever sixteen), about Chit Sang, the 41st Division, the loss of a child, and the healing that comes years later.

5. Do you respond to comments? I try to respond to all of them, but I kinda...lost track and stopped around 8 or 9 months ago. I recently responded to a lot of them, finally.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? The multishipping discord kinda hated for Hey, Pretty Boy, my modern AU Yuekka oneshot told from Yue's perspective. They thought that was really angsty. And the Taangst Week pieces I did were, to the other Taang fans, pretty scaring (still waiting for Taangst Week II: Electric Boogaloo). But I think the angstiest fic I've ever written is either The Abyss or Escaping the Shells - both have no happiness, no comfort, no catharsis. They're just about what's left when the battle is over, and the hollow shells of people that the fighting leaves behind.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Probably Across That Glimmering Sea, the story I wrote for the Fire Nation Recovery Zine - about the world letting out its breath after the war, and learning to live again - or maybe Go For Broke, the true story of a real-life hero. If planned endings are counted, probably either Brave Soldier Girl or not with a whimper (but a roar like thunder).

8. Do you get hate on fics? Ehhhh depends on your definition of hate. I haven't gotten any of the classic hate comments that a lot of my friends have gotten, but Brave Soldier Girl has gotten some pretty heated negative comments on the last two chapters.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I have, but I've written so little that I don't really think I have a type, per say. I have written any in a while.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I have not written a crossover. Thought about it, years ago, but haven't.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Not to my knowledge.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? I've been a beta reader, but that's it.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship? Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh honestly, I have no idea. I love a lot of ships for a lot of reasons, so it's really hard to pick.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? At this point? All of them. Realistically, tamehegane (my swordsmith!Azula AU) and hold you like a hand grenade (Azula & Ursa, companion to Brave Soldier Girl).

16. What are your writing strengths? Recurring motifs to represent characters and the story, and digging into the thoughts and feelings of characters so they feel real.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? The act of writing. Not kidding. I suck at actually sitting down and writing. Also, general confidence in my writing (hard to feel like you're actually a good writer when almost no one reads the majority of what you've written in the last two years). Those are probably linked together in a way I don't really feel like examining too closely.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I've tried it; something about it doesn't feel right, probably because I only speak English fluently.

19. First fandom you wrote for? The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? Oh, man. Neither are finished, but probably Brave Soldier Girl or not with a whimper (but a roar like thunder). So much I have planned for both, so much research for both, so much work and emotion that I'm trying to put into each one. It's hard to say which one is realistically my favorite.

Tagging @authorjoydragon @thiscryptidischronicallyyours @mycomfortblanket @nyamadermont and whoever else wants to consider themselves tagged!

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

About Me: Favorite Video Games

So you may not know this, but I’m a gamer. Shocking, right? Who’d ever have guessed it? But to be totally fair here, I rarely talk about video games on Tumblr. I talk about movies, and there have been a handful of times where I reviewed video games, but I focused more on the story, characters, and all that then I did on whether or not the gameplay was good. In my earliest days, before I found my niche, I talked about games a fair deal, but that fell by the wayside so I could focus on films (my true passion).

So hey, look at this! You’re all going to get to see what my favorite video games are now! Remember, everything here is just my personal opinions; I'm not trying to give actual reviews of each of these games in a couple of sentences or trying to sell you on them, I'm talking about the stuff in them that makes me love them. All of this is my subjective opinion, and I'm not asking you to agree with me here, I'm just trying to talk about stuff that I love.

Oh, and here are some honorable mentions: Super Mario Bros. 3, Banjo-Kazooie (I still haven’t finished it and I don’t want to include games I haven’t played through), Kid Icarus: Uprising, Bayonetta 2, Injustice 2, BioShock, Doom Eternal, Super Metroid, Dragon Age II, God of War II, Castlevania: Aria/Dawn of Sorrow, The Wolf Among Us, The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando/Up Your Arsenal, and Heritage for the Future. Also a shout out to Tell Me Why and Life is Strange, games I watched my wife play and loved the story of but that I didn’t actually play myself; the former in particular has all sorts of elements I love in my stories.

Now, without further ado, here’s my top 50! Oh, and only the top 30 have pictures because there's image limits on posts! What a load of BS!

50. Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Ok, maybe this game is lacking in a few areas at the expense of its massive customization system… but boy howdy what a system it is! I cannot tell you how much time I’ve sunk into decorating my island, reorganizing my villagers, and just making all sorts of weird themed areas. It’s a lot of fun, and I get to do all this work while hanging with a bunch of weird, cute animals.

49. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle R

The original game was a lot of fun, but even I’ll admit it felt like it was missing something. That something was probably Foo Fighter, but guess what? She’s in the updated rerelease, along with aslew of other new characters like my favorite minor antagonist Mariah and the bane of Heritage for the Future players, Pet Shop! Add onto that a much better campaign mode with some fun little AU shenanigan matches and you have the most loving fighting game tribute to JJBA imaginable! Now if only they’d give Part 8 a little more love...

48. Batman: Arkham Origins

This is the redheaded stepchild of the Arkham series, and on some level I get why. It is very much aping City, right down to the map despite their being some expansions here and there, and the combat is much more of the same with little in the way of evolution, and don’t get me started on the fucking Joker showing up again. But this game also features some of the best bosses in the series such as Firefly and especially Deathstroke, a Bane who isn’t just a mindless mass of muscles like in the other games, and some interesting sidequests that make this early look at Batman’s superheroics a worthwhile entry in my eyes.

47. Miitopia

This is one of the easiest games out there, what with the autopilot combat and minimal difficulty (though there is a big spike late in the game). But the sheer vastness of the facial customization means that literally anyone from all of art or history can take part in a wacky, cliché RPG adventure. Hank Hill can fight the evil overlord Seth MacFarlane with a crew consisting of Chowder, Thor, and Japanese comedian/director/actor Beat Takeshi. If that’s not worth the price of admission, I don’t know what is.

46. Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

The DS is where Castlevania truly shined, and my favorite of all the handheld entries is this portrait-hopping journey to defeat a mad artist and his evil vampire children. The locations are pretty great, there’s tons of sidequests and alternate game modes (my favorite is the one where you play as the Old Axe Armor), and there’s an awesome brutal bonus dungeon where you get to fight the bosses from Dawn of Sorrow without the stupid drawing bullshit!

45. Maximo vs. Army of Zin

The original game was a fun, yet very flawed action platformer. This game veers more into the hack-and-slash genre to great effect; it’s not the deepest combat ever, but it’s a lot of fun, with much better platform, bosses, and story than the first game. There’s just something cool about a world that mixes Gothic horror, steampunk, and other fantasy elements together all in one place.

44. God Hand

This is one of the most deceptive games you’ll ever come across. On the surface, it might seem like an ugly beat-em-up, but it’s so much more than that. The bosses are brutal yet fantastic, the music is fucking incredible, and the humor is just the right level of absurd to be incredibly charming. It’s ball-bustingly difficult, but let me tell you, when you finally overcome a fight or a boss battle that’s been giving you trouble? It is literally the best feeling in the world.

43. South Park: The Stick of Truth

‘Member when South Park was funny? I ‘member. And The Stick of Truth really brings back all those memories because this is a hilarious and loving tribute to the series made with the help of Trey Parker and Matt Stone to deliver the playable South Park experience of your dreams. It’s gross, immature, raunchy, and funny, and best of all it doesn’t get too preachy or up its own ass with messages—no, it gets up Mr. Slave’s ass to defuse a bomb. Peak South Park right here, though the gameplay is kind of basic. It’s all carried by that stellar writing.

42. Crash Bandicoot: Twinsanity

This game mainly scores a spot on my list for being fucking hilarious. This is the funniest Crash Bandicoot ever got, with all sorts of wacky gags and clever dialogue. Cortex really is the MVP here, with the constant slapstick that befalls him combined with his snarky dialogue making him a standout. It’s a bummer so much was cut from the game, and it does feel a bit incomplete in some areas, but for what it is it’s a damn fun time.

41. Pokemon White/White 2

It was genuinely hard to pick a single game from the series to go on here considering how much I loved Gens III – V. Emerald perfected the generation I first got into the series, LeafGreen is the definitive Kanto experience to me, Platinum polished up Gen IV’s uneven debut and made it incredible, and SoulSilver is a fantastic remake of the first Pokemon game I ever played (Crystal). But I think I have to go with the Gen V games I played as my favorites. They’re fun and challenging, and while the first game has a ridiculously restrictive regional dex and the second has an overreliance on defunct wi-fi features, the fantastic story and fun new Pokemon make up for it. Can’t be too mad at the games that let me make trashy cult classic B-movies with my boy Garbodor, can I?

40. Batman: Arkham Knight

I put off playing this for years, because I wasn’t happy with some of the things I heard about it, such as a lack of traditional boss battles and an overreliance on the Batmobile. These are still problems, but not near as bad as I feared (obviously, since it’s on this list); everything about the gameplay is the series at its peak. The main story is a bit lacking and ends up being a tad too predictable for me to love it as much as the other entries in the series, but the fact it has Professor Pyg and Man-Bat really helps make up for its shortcomings.

39. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

This game is just as silly and clunky as I imagined an older Bethesda game would be, but to my surprise I think it holds up incredibly well even compared to Skyrim. It’s a bit more complex in a lot of areas, but it’s not too daunting. What really strikes me is how this game actually has a really good story; it’s nothing groundbreaking, but when you look at how bad the Civil War plot in Skyrim was it feels like Shakespeare in comparison. Throw in a ton of unique sidequests with interesting plotlines, a gruesome Dark Brotherhood plot, an interesting villain, and Patrick Stewart for all of about five minutes, and I’d almost say I like this more than Skyrim. Almost.

38. Wolfenstein: The New Order

Sure, it doesn’t exactly reinvent the wheel when it comes to FPS games, but does it need to? All I want from a Wolfenstein game is a horde of Nazi motherfuckers to mow down, and guess what this game gives me? What really surprised me was how genuinely cool and likable BJ was. He might be one of my favorite heroes ever after this game. It’s a shame they couldn’t keep this level of polish up in the sequel.

37. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

In a lot of ways, this game is objectively worse than its predecessor. Like the story is ass for sure; I could not give less of a fuck about the Stormcloaks and the Imperials and their stupid civil war if I tried. But the vast world filled with things to do is so much fun to explore, and there’s all sorts of sidequests and shenanigans to get into. This game is pure, stupid fun, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve restarted it just to play as a different race or class. Maybe someday I’ll make it to the final boss. Maybe.

36. Psychonauts

The original Psychonauts is one of the last great platformers, and among them it’s a lot more unique than many of its peers as you’re platforming through the minds of all sorts of wacky characters to help them overcome their issues. Bouncing through the conspiracy theory-addled brain of a disturbed milkman or decimating a city kaiju style inside the mind of a hyper-intelligent mutant lungfish are the kind of off-the-wall ideas this game throws at you, and in my opinion the only thing that could hold it back is if it had a really janky final level that combines meat, circuses, escort missions, and an underwhelming final boss… Oops. Still a great game in my eyes, one that’s 95% perfect.

35. Final Fantasy VI

For a lot of people, this is the best Final Fantasy game, and I definitely see why. It has a truly massive playable roster of unique characters with their own special gimmicks (of which only a handful are actually useful, mind you) and one of the greatest video game villains ever conceived in the mad clown Kefka, plus it is so focused and tightly plotted for the first half of the game. I think that after Kefka takes over the story becomes a lot more aimless and unfocused, but that’s also where the game becomes a lot more fun and challenging too. It’s a bit uneven, but after how hard the opera house scene goes I think it’s allowed to trip a little bit.

34. Dragon Age: Origins

A lot more praise is thrown at this series’ sci-fi sibling Mass Effect, probably because that series is a lot more consistent with how good it is across the board (Andromeda notwithstanding), but I’m much more fond of fantasy settings myself and this game delivers a fantastic one in ways its sequels couldn’t quite manage. This is the only game in the series where I genuinely loved every single party member (especially Leliana) and actively tried to get them the happiest endings possible—yes, even the douchebag anti-villain who joins you if you play your cards right), and the plot is just the right level of epic fantasy cheese seasoned with some delicious side quests. If the dwarf plotline wasn’t such a slog and if Varric was in the game, this would be a lot higher on the list, but this game still holds a special place in my heart.

33. Batman: Arkham Asylum

Our first trip into the Asylum really did kill the notion that licensed games had to be the most obnoxious shovelware schlock imaginable by making a Batman game that actually makes you feel like Batman. Sure, the detective part is a bit minimal here compared to the sequels, but the combat is so fun and refreshing that I’m not too bothered by the lack of crime scene investigations. There’s a clear love for the entire mythos here, and best of all a clear love for the animated series—Hamill and Conroy reprise their roles as Joker and Batman respectively, and Arleen Sorkin gives Harley one last ride before her retirement. It’s a real love letter to the Dark Knight, and it spawned one of the most consistently good video game series around, so I’ll forgive it for having the lamest final boss I’ve ever fought just this once.

32. Kingdom Hearts

What I like about the original game is how it struck such a nice balance in its absurd premise, with it never feeling like the Final Fantasy or Disney elements are really overpowering each other. We have the grandiose, convoluted plots of the former and the magic, whimsy, and awesome villains of the latter combining together into one impressive package. Yeah, a lot of the level designs are dogshit (looking at you, Deep Jungle and Monstro), and some of the stunt casting is really bizarre (Lance Bass as Sephiroth?!) but overall this is a game way better than you’d think by hearing that it’s a game where Mickey Mouse and Cloud Strife exist side by side.

31. Super Mario 64

Mamma mia! It is genuinely impossible for me to not feel nostalgic for this game. So many 3D platformers that came out in its wake took what it did and polished it to absurd degrees, but there’s still something so special about diving back into one of the portraits in Peach’s castle and going through those levels again and again. The music and atmosphere of the game add onto it; every time I play it, I feel like a kid again. It’s just such a charming game.

30. MediEvil

If Tim Burton made a Gothic horror fantasy movie, I imagine it would be something like this game. It really uses the limitations of the PS1’s graphics to the fullest extent, with the jagged polygonal looks of the characters enhancing the experience, and it has such a crazy variety of levels and enemies, from a phantom pirate ship to a crystal cave with a dragon to a village of posessed villagers to an ant hill. Sir Daniel Fortesque is one of my favorite video game protagonists around because of his posthumous journey to live up to the legend fabricated around him.

29. God of War III

Every single one of these games just escalates from the previous one. Oh, you fight the hydra in the opening of the first game? How about you fight through Rhodes and then battle the animated colossus that once stood in its port in the second? And how do you top that for the third game? Beat the ever-loving shit out of Poseidon and gouge his eyes out from his POV. And this game only gets more brutal from there! Titans and gods all fall to Kratos in epic and gory boss battles, but honestly even without that I’d put the game on this list for the simple reason that you get to fucking murder Kevin Sorbo as Hercules.

28. EarthBound

Nintendo’s quirkiest RPG makes the cut, mostly on the basis of how weird and charming it is. At this point I’ve essentially memorized everything you need to do in this game, which is good because if it’s your first time you desperately need a guide or you’ll be fucked. There are points where things get a little too grindy (mostly for Poo’s weapons) but it’s genuinely a game whose charms outweigh any negatives there are. Plus, that final boss battle is something else entirely.

27. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

Rebirth and all of its DLC updates took everything great about the original game and polished it into absolute perfection, with so many different item combos you could potentially get and so many bosses and endgames you could encounter. No two runs ever really feel the same, and it’s so satisfying to become so overpowered you nuke the screen every time you attack. The fact there’s a thriving modding community to continually generate new and crazier content also adds to why I have a ridiculous number of hours dumped into this game.

26. Resident Evil VII: Biohazard

This is the first Resident Evil game I ever played and, wow, I sure was missing out all those years! This is one of the most tense survival horror experiences I’ve played through, with a creepy family of hillbilly horrors to avoid as I creep through their ramshackle domicile. It’s fun, creepy, and even a little campy, and it has raised my interest in the rest of the series. Hopefully the game with the giant vampire mommy will live up to how good this one is when I finally get around to playing it.

25. Portal 2

Yes, the puzzles are great, but this game really soars due to its writing. The first game was fun and all, but it was mostly just GLaDOS insulting you the whole time with Chell being an entirely silent protagonist. In this game, we get the lovable idiot Wheatley and the greatest mad scientist ever conceived Cave Johnson to listen to as well, and the way GLaDOS bounces off the former and reacts to the latter help make this game a fun and engaging puzzle-solving adventure.

24. Doom

The legendary FPS series got revitalized after years on the edge of relevancy, and its return is one of the most metal games imaginable. Slaughtering your way through the forces of Hell while heavy metal blares in the background? It really doesn’t get much better than this. While I do think Eternal improved the formula and gameplay in a lot of ways (particularly with the addition of an awesome hub level), I find the original to be way more fun and balanced in terms of difficulty. The lack of Marauders is really what gives it the slightest of edges.

23. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Nobody got left behind for this one. Everyone across the series came back, and then they went and added even more to give us the most ambitious crossover of all time. Ridley, Simon Belmont, Sora, Sephiroth, Kazuya, and more all get to duke it out on the best stages of the series as well as some fresh new ones, and every character plays even better and more balanced than they ever have before. While the single player campaign isn’t quite as exciting as Subspace Emissary from Brawl, it still manages to be a pretty epic quest with fun boss battles. This is just the definitive Smash experience in my opinion.

22. Red Dead Redemption

My daughter has affectionately labeled this game “Horse Movie,” and she’s not wrong. This is a true cowboy experience right here, with lots of gunfights and horse wrangling, and it’s all a blast. The story in particular is really well done, and there’s plenty of fun side quests too. Maybe the gunfights get a bit samey after a while, but it’s an enjoyable open world to explore and is filled with oddities and mysteries galore.

21. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

The first Metal Gear game to make the list, and easily the most underrated of the bunch. It gets a lot of flak for the missing final episode that would have had Venom fight the young Liquid Snake, and while it does suck that that moment isn’t in the game, the story still feels plenty complete and well-done without it. Venom might be one of the most fascinating characters in the series, and the game has some of the most brutal gutpunches and tearjerking moments in the franchise. Maybe it’s just because I’m predisposed to love Metal Gear, but I loved this game even though I was well aware of what it didn’t have.

20. Final Fantasy VII

Not to be a basic bitch, but this is my favorite Final Fantasy. I mean, the cast is all so cool and fun, the story is great, Sephiroth is an amazing villain, and there’s plenty of obscure and obtuse ways of finding secrets that make a strategy guide practically mandatory if you want the most out of the game. What’s not to love? I think I was mostly surprised by how good the game actually was; it’s always high on lists of the best games ever, and it definitely earns that. The fact that Aerith’s death still made me tear up despite being common knowledge is a testament to just how amazing this Fantasy is.

19. Mother 3

EarthBound coasts by on its fun, lighthearted quirkiness… but what if you took that and applied heaping helpings of darkness and a more solid story? That’s Mother 3, a beautiful tale filled with the same out there humor as its predecessor as well as a lot of more mature and deeper themes than even the original tackled (mind you, Earthbound wasn’t devoid of deeper themes to begin with, so this is saying something). The ending is one of the few times I have openly sobbed while playing a video game. They need to officially release this in the West, because I will buy it day one. Fuck, I’ll pre-order it!

18. Yoshi’s Island

If this game was only one of the most charmingly animated games ever made, that would be enough to earn it at least some respect. But it’s also one of the best platformers in a series that invented the genre, centered around a truly inspired baby-carrying gimmick and featuring all manner of creative boss battles and one of the most earwormy soundtracks ever made. That’s enough to get it a spot on this list, but the fact it solidified Shy Guys as a Mario mainstay and not just a one-shot enemy? That gets it into my top 20.

17. Spyro Reignited Trilogy

It’s kind of cheating since it’s all three games in one package, but it’s my list, I make the rules. I view this as the definitive way to play Spyro; the redesigns are all fantastic (especially Elora) and the fact Tom Kenny is now the lovable purple scamp across all three games is wonderful. They even made the first game more enjoyable and even visually interesting, even though it’s still the weakest link in the series! And as much of a Crash Bandicoot stan as I am, the fact this game allows you to switch between the newly composed arrangements of the songs and the original Copeland tracks is a big W over the Bandicoot remakes only having the new versions of the songs.

16. Metal Gear Rising

This is perhaps the most badass game ever made. The first level has Raiden battling through a war zone and then fighting a RAY singlehandedly, leaping across missiles and slicing it in half while the most fucking awesome metal music blares in the background. The game just decides to get even more insane from there. People have argued against it being canon for years, but these people are stupid. This game is just as insane and politically-charged as the rest of the series, so in my book, it’s fucking canon.

15. Undertale

This game’s time in the spotlight has faded a bit, but that only makes it easier for me to look back on it and say, “Damn, that’s one of the finest games ever made.” It has all the quirkiness of the Mother series with unique combat and a stellar story, a cast of likable characters, and some of the best boss fights I’ve ever been through. Best of all, it’s a game that practically encourages and even rewards you for being nice! I still love it, even after all the discourse and skyrocketing popularity, and nothing will make me budge on that love.

14. Hades

I’m a big fan of Greek mythology, so this is yet another game that would have had to try really hard to make me hate it. Thankfully, all its efforts were put into areas that made me love it instead. While the roguelike gameplay is well done, the writing and story are really the stars here, with fantastic character interactions between desperate god Zagreus, the gods of Olympus, and the various denizens of the underworld really making this game something truly special.

13. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time

Sometimes this game feels like the designers saw all those articles and reviews comparing the first game to Dark Souls and took it to heart, because some of the levels in this game are absolutely brutal—especially if you’re going for 100% completion. But that same difficulty makes playing through the levels a lot of fun as well; it’s probably the most challenging Crash outing to date. It really polishes and updates the Crash formula for the modern age, and hopefully they expand on this in a future game. If nothing else, it finally lets you play as Dingodile, which is a dream come true.

12. Grand Theft Auto V

It’s wacky. It’s cartoonish. It has a surprisingly good story about three criminals from different walks of life becoming fire-forged friends as they violently work out their emotional issues. There’s just so much to do and so much to see, all sorts of collectibles and side missions, and more black comedy than you can shake a stick at, and all of it is made all the more enjoyable because the main villain protagonists are a likable bunch of nutjobs. Hell, sometimes I just like to hop into a car, put on some tunes, and cruise around until I can cause some mayhem, and the fact that’s just as valid as doing a bunch of story missions really makes me love the game.

11. Silent Hill 2

While the first and third games are good in their own rights, I vastly prefer the psychological horror and the monsters manifesting as living allegories for trauma with heavy and dark symbolism as opposed to the evil cult narrative. Plus, you know, this one has Pyramid Head in it, and his presence makes sense instead of simply being there cuz he’s cool.

10. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials & Tribulations

The Ace Attorney series is one of my favorites, and I love just about all the games in it and even the ones I don’t love always have one or two solid cases that keep me coming back. But pound for pound my favorite game in the series is the third one, the one that lets you play as Mia Fey, introduces the callous murderer Dahlia Hawthorne, and has you match wits with the coffee-guzzling prosecutor Godot. Even the filler cases are entertaining, with the one where Phoenix has to get to the bottom of a murder involving his evil doppleganger being wildly amusing (which is more than can be said for that circus case in the second game or cases two through three in the fourth).

9. Live A Live

Few games can boast the sheer variety this game has on display, with levels changing up their style to give everything from standard RPG fair to a prolonged timed puzzle to a fighting game pastiche to an incredibly tense survival horror experience. We also have the precursor to Undertale here in a ninja-themed level where you can spare everyone you come across or otherwise brutally murder them. And while the stories remain relatively simple in every time period you visit, it doesn’t stop them from hitting hard when they need to, like with the fantasy RPG deconstruction that is Oersted’s chapter. This game would easily have switched places with the next game if the final level played a bit more to the game’s strengths, but hey, it’s still good enough to be in the top 10.

8. Chrono Trigger

Square’s other time travel story is definitely the superior one even if it’s a traditional JRPG through and through. Of course, that is because it completely and fully takes advantage of its premise, with actions you take in one time period affecting others in turn, not to mention the vast amount of bonus bosses and sidequests there are to keep the multiple playthroughs to acquire all the endings fresh and fun. I’ve sunk so much time into getting all the endings on the DS version, and I’ve never once been bored even after visiting the Middle Ages or the ruined future world a dozen times.

7. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

There are few games that I love revisiting more than this one. This is Metroidvania at its peak, a perfect blend of action, platforming, and RPG elements into one glorious Gothic horror monster mash package. What’s truly fun with this one is the myriad ways there are to bust the game right open. I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve grinded for hours so that I could dual-wield Crissaegrims and trivialize the Dracula and Galamoth battles.

6. Psychonauts 2

The original Psychonauts is fun and quirky, and is only really held back by a pretty sloppy final level. This game, though? This game is damn near perfect. Nearly every level here is fun and memorable, and the ways Raz has to help each person deal with their mental trauma is a lot more nuanced and tasteful than the original game’s fair-for-its-time takes on dealing with mental illness. The minds of Ford’s old crew as well as Ford himself provide some of the best Psychonauts content to date, and really, who can hate a level that ends with Jack Black as a gay psychic rock star viking performing a musical number to obliterate his own insecurities?

5. Kingdom Hearts II

This is where the Kingdom Hearts franchise peaked, and it’s a high note they’ve yet to reach again. Sure, the tutorial prologue level drags on for quite a long while, but once you get to play as Sora again, ooh boy is this basically the perfect meeting of the worlds of Disney and Square. The Disney worlds are a lot more fleshed out and have twice the plot due to midgame return visits, the combat is more exciting with fun little reaction commands to let you pull off crazy maneuvers, and you get to hang out with Tron and the most based of all Disney heroes, Chicken Little. Best of all, the story manages to strike the perfect balance between being complex and silly without disappearing all the way up its own ass like later entries would.

4. Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy

In my house, there was a legend that I had beaten this game to completion one hundred times. I’m not entirely sure how accurate that is, but considering how often I replayed this growing up it can’t be too far off. This is one of the most gorgeous platformers around, and Naughty Dog’s final shot at a genre they’d perfected with their Crash Bandicoot games. Even all these years later the visuals are breathtaking; I still am in awe at how you can see the entire world from atop Snowy Mountain. Every day I cry because they decided to turn the series into GTA clones instead of continuing to explore the gorgeous fantasy world they created in this game.

3. Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy

The original Crash Bandicoot was the first game I ever played, and the rest of the series were cornerstones of my childhood. Imagine how elated I was when they not only remade the games, but they created the single definitive way to play them! Sure, the soundtrack being redone can be a little hit or miss, but they completely unfucked the brutal difficulty of the first game (and this is even with adding back the ball-bustingly hard “Stormy Ascent” level) and for the most part left the latter two games entirely untouched save a graphical boost and the ability to play as my girl Coco. Playable Coco alone makes this a dream come true.

2. Batman: Arkham City

The Arkham series is one of the most consistently great series, and this is its greatest entry. The titular city is massive, with so many things to do, and the combat and puzzles are polished to perfection. Add in some actual detective work, some truly epic boss battles against iconic Batman villains like Clayface and Mr. Freeze (and also Solomon Grundy, because why the fuck not?), the ability to play as Catwoman, and one of the most shocking and tragic tales the Dark Knight has ever been in, and I’m more than happy to call it my second favorite game ever.

1. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

Of course, there was no hope Arkham City had at overcoming this game. This is Kojima’s magnum opus, not least because the entire rest of the Metal Gear series revolves around the events that transpire in this story. After the mindfuck that was the second game, it’s nice to return to a more coherent story, one detailing how Big Boss came to be the man that Snake fought in Zanzibar Land. Everything in the series sprang forth because of the actions the characters take here, and each subsequent game just makes this one better and better. Every single boss battle is unique and engaging, and the final battle is one of the most heartbreaking moments in all of gaming. I still cry every single time I get to the ending. It's such an amazing game, with a relatively simple yet still strong and convoluted story populated with a Russian madman with inexplicable lightning powers, a spirit medium's ghost, and a man who controls bees. God bless Hideo Kojima, that absolute madman.

[vegalores]

Tom Cruise Challenge

1: First movie of his you remember seeing.

Interview With The Vampire 🧛🏻 it was around midnight or just before, in 1998 and I was seven years old. When my brother and I were younger, my Mum set up little pillow and blanket forts in the living room while she slept on the sofa. There was one night when I hadn’t gotten to sleep yet but I pretended I was so as to not alert her to the fact I ended up watching that movie with her while I lay there hiding my open eyes by facing the tv instead of where she sat on the sofa. My mum is a huge fan of Brad Pitt, so she was watching it for that reason. I recall being both equally terrified and infatuated with Lestat. I only informed her I had snuck a viewing of that movie about three years ago and she was highly entertained.

2: The last movie of his you watched.

Had a much needed rewatch of Rain Man about two hours ago because I was browsing our movie library and spotted it on the first page so just decided that would do just fine. I’ve not watched it for at least four years, but it’s a classic and a gorgeous story, if you’re in the right mood for it. I generally get pretty emotional and end up deep diving into my feels.

3: Which movie of his have you watched the most?

Probably a handful if not all of them, because I rewatch all of my favourites every now and then, so since my Tom adoration began, there’s been a shitload of rewatches. I’d estimate that the ones I lean more toward for repeated viewings are Mission Impossible II, Interview With The Vampire, War Of The Worlds, Top Gun, Cocktail, Jerry Maguire, Jack Reacher and Vanilla Sky. They tend to fall into the most loved and appreciated of his movies, but I do cycle through a whole bunch of them.

4: Favorite Movie

Interview With The Vampire, hands down. As far as horror is concerned, it’s that one. Second place is Mission Impossible II and that never changes to be fair.

5: Least Favorite Movie

There are a handful I don’t really care for, including Edge Of Tomorrow, Tropic Thunder, Collateral. I just don’t find myself enjoying them very much when I watch them.

6: Favorite Character

Lestat, of course. I’m so attached to this character because of that first viewing at the impressionable age of seven. It began my lifelong appreciation of Cruise and has held strong over all the years. The light has never dimmed with that one.

7: Least Favorite Character

Les Grossman, naturally. I don’t know.. just don’t enjoy that movie or that character at all. Another one would probably be Nick Morton, mainly cause I couldn’t get into those movies at all, though I did try a number of times.

8: Underrated Movie

Far And Away 👌 also Legend, The Colour Of Money, Days Of Thunder and American Made! I wanna see way more love for all of those movies because I absolutely love them to bits.

9: Most Overrated Movie

Interview is possibly overrated? and so is Top Gun? as far as that term goes anyway, but I do not list them with distaste lol cause I really love those movies. I’m just assuming what other people would consider the most overrated.

10: Favorite Haircut

I have always loved his shoulder length ( or just above ) hair so that will always be my favourite of his styles. Thinking along the lines of his Mission Impossible II haircut and also how it is in Rain Man; both very lovely hairstyles.

11: Least Favorite Haircut

Anything that’s like super short really, like Mission Impossible, the very first one, or Jack Reacher. I think he looks better with his hair at least a little longer than that.

12: Which Movie would you like to see a sequel to?

Most of his movies that don’t have sequels, which is a lot. I want sequels to all of them because I love his characters so much. I would have loved more Chronicles movies so we could get more of his Lestat. I also would have loved a sequel to Far And Away so we could see their lives together <3 Vanilla Sky is one that also desperately needs a sequel. I also really want a Rain Man sequel and maybe also Cocktail.

13: Favorite line from one of his movies

“ You complete me. ” Rain Man

“ Don’t call me son. I’m a lawyer and an officer in the United States Navy, and you’re under arrest, you son of a bitch. ” A Few Good Men

“ Everything ends badly, otherwise it wouldn’t end. ” Cocktail

“ Don’t be afraid. I’m going to give you the choice I never had. ” Interview With The Vampire

14: Favorite scene from one of his movies

15: Favorite Mission Impossible movie

The second one! I know 99% of people hate that one the most, but it is and always has been my ansolute favourite out of the lot of them. Even as further movies for that franchise have been made, it has remained the best to me.

16: Favorite stunt

Most of his stunts for the Mission franchise! especially the one in which he is flinging himself around a rock face in number II and also his climb of the Burj Khalifa in Ghost Protocol.

17: Favorite run

All of them 🤣 they are all uniquely special. I like the run he did in Vanilla Sky a lot, though. That’s probably the best of them.

18: Which Character did you relate to the most?

Erm, probably either Jack from Legend or Joseph from Far & Away, cause I don’t think I relate to his others all that much.

19: Which Character (from books, comics etc. or a possible remake) would you love to see Tom play?

I just want to see him keep playing Lestat 😭 but I know that is not the question, lol. I’d like to see him as Heathcliff cause after Lestat, Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights is my second favourite character in literature, so definitely him.

20: If you could only watch one film of his for the rest of time, which would it be and why?

That would be a tie between my top two, so either Interview or the second Mission movie. Both for very different reasons. I’m probably gonna have to choose just one and pick Interview 😅 for the purpose of the question, but still.

21: A director you would like to see him work with.

James Cameron or Tim Burton! two of my favourites, but also would like to see him work with Spielberg again.

22: A scene where "he does that thing with his face that makes you die inside" the most

23: A sleeper hit. A movie that on the first watch you only thought of as okay, but over time it's become a favorite.

Most likely, for me, that would be Days Of Thunder. I’d never been a car girly until the first Fast movie came out, so getting into Days Of Thunder back in the day was a hard one. The one thing that helped massively, beside Tom of course, was the fact that Zimmer did the score. I absolutely loveee Zimmer. I do now very much enjoy that movie and can appreciate things a lot more.

24: Out of the three films in which he was nominated for an Oscar (Born on the 4th of July, Jerry Maguire, and Magnolia), which one SHOULD have won him the trophy and why.

See now, each of those movies is fantastic in its own way, so that’s quite hard because the performances he gave in each cannot be compared to one another. My favourite out of those movies is Jerry Maguire, but in terms of Oscars, I would say he should have gotten it for Frank TJ Mackey. While that movie is not focused entirely on that character and explores the lives of many others, Mackey had the biggest impact.

25: What's the performance that you think should have been nominated for an Oscar and why?

I wanna say Lestat so badly here. I think his take was spot on and the man did so much research and spent so much time in the books that he just embodied that character as a whole. He is the very reason I love that vampire so much and it is ‘cause of him that I even have a fascination with vampires in the first place. I have to give him credit where credit is due. Lestat is a character I think he portrayed beautifully and he did deserve a nomination for that role. Also, probably Daniel Kaffee? A Few Good Men is another fantastic performance for him.

26: Favorite 80s era Movie? Like besides Top Gun because that's obvious.

Cocktail! that gets the number one spot for this because omg younger me was obsessed with this movie and Brian. I still am but I’ve calmed down over the years, lol. That character is just perfection, in every sense of the word. I’m also still going back and forth on whether or not I’m gonna splurge and get myself a Cocktails and Dreams sign, though I don’t have a bar ✌️

27: Favorite co-star?

I really love him alongside Elisabeth Shue. I think they worked really well together. He was fantastic starring alongside Dustin Hoffman as well! and I also really like him working with Simon Pegg. They both work really well together, too.

28: Favorite fight scene? Like in everything counting M:l!

Mission Impossible II, that fight scene with the bikes will hold a special place in my heart forever. I really like his fight scenes in both Reacher movies as well, but especially the first movie and the scene where he ends up taking a bat to the back of his head and falls into the bathtub. So much is happening in that scene, it’s all over the place and so funny.

29: Actor you'd like to see him work with. (We know he's already been with everyone else ;))

My other favourites! lol. Tom is my all time favourite actor, so I would like to see him work with Johnny Depp, Gary Oldman, Leonardo Dicaprio. For the ladies, my three queens! Goldie Hawn, Emmy Rossum and Bryce Dallas Howard 🤗

30: Favorite TOM era in General?

Early 90’s to early 00’s seems to be my favourite so I’m gonna go with that cause it’s a pretty good range. I do love him in the 80’s and the 2010’s and onward, but anything between 1990 and 2006 at least, holds my heart the most.

[n0rmandysr1]

20 Questions For Fic Writers

Tagged by @natsora cheers!

Tagging @swaps55 @mallaidhsomo @gardensystemtv no pressure!

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

24

2. what’s your total ao3 word count?

903,419

3. what fandoms do you write for?

Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Baldur's Gate, Critical Role

4. what are your top five fics by kudos?

wipe me clean with dirty hands (Baldur's Gate)

Encroachment (Mass Effect)

Fianchetto (Mass Effect)

Vendetta (Mass Effect)

Offside (Critical Role)

5. do you respond to comments?

Always, but it sometimes takes me a while

6. what’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

don't you know (i dream of you): Perfect Machine is probably angstier but I haven't quite finished the last chapter, so of my finished fics, this one is it, given the character death and it all being about grief post Baldur's Gate 3.

7. what’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Honestly my fics with happy endings aren't finished yet and they're more...bittersweet with explorations of trauma than straight up happy lmaoo.

8. do you get hate on fics?

I've gotten some weird comments before but honestly not really a lot of hate. Juust a few that crack me up like the person who thought i hate men because Emilia saves Kaidan in Encroachment...which canonically happens.......

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

BG3 has made me write much more smut than I used to. Used to be an occasionally thing but more often now. All wlw pretty much.

10. do you write crossovers? what’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Not really, no.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of!

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

Yep. One of my DA fics got translated into russian

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

Yes, I co-write with a couple of buddies.

14. what’s your all-time favorite ship?

Hard question. Used to be Ash/femshep easily, but now probably a tie between Tav/Karlach and Ash/Shep

15. what’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Hmm, I think I have intention and capability to ifnish the majority of my WIPs. The only onee that might fit ismy post war ME fic, mostly cause I'm not entirely sure what I really want to do with it outside of some ideas I want to explore.

16. what are your writing strengths?

Characters and combat

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

Description sometimes of like, surroundings and that stuff. I find character stuff more interesting so can sometimes be a bit too bare bones with that.

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Nah. II do one off words sometimes but if a character is speaking in another lanmguage I'll usually write it in english with mention that they;re talking in another language.

19. first fandom you wrote for?

Eragon llmao. That was my mediocre book series I loved as a teenager what can I say.

20. favorite fic you’ve ever written?

I have a big soft spot for Encroachment. it was the first big fic I finished, it was born out of me wanting to see the ash/shep milscifii fic I wanted in the world. I've gotten some very loyal readers over the last six years I appreciate immensely.

[rythmicjea]

20 Questions (plus a bonus) for Fic Authors

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

24

2. What is your AO3 wordcount?

222,958

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently: Riverdale (and I have an ongoing Zack & Cody fic)

Past: Doctor Who, The Magicians, and Star Wars

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Haven't broken 100 kudos on a fic yet but I'm close!

I. My Dearest Korkie with 91

II. 6-2-4-8-4-6-3 with 75

III. Plums and Mugs with 70

IV. Casualty with 69

V. Kindness in Lies with 54

5. Do you respond to comments?

Every. Single. One. I love them. Fuck me up with questions about what you've just read. If it's not spoiler-y then I'm happy to explain. Hell, even if it might be a tad spoiler-y I still will lol.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Oof... that would probably be a tie between We Had Fun (the main character just straight up kills people) or We Belong Together (where it seems like the couple doesn't actually end up together, but I promise they do!).

7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I love making people cry. I used to say "if you're not crying, I didn't do my job". But um... do WIPs count if I already know how they are going to end? lol

I'm going to say for finished I Only Have Eyes For You (This will make you cry) and The Magician Queen (this is a classic Holiday Hallmark Happy Ending)

For WIP (that is actually finished I'm just not posting all at once) The Suite Adult Life

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not yet. I welcome thoughtful critiques though!

9. Do you write smut? If so, which kind?

LMAO. By looking at my repertoire you would think the answer is "no". However, I literally wrote a collection of short stories just to write smut. It ended up more tame than expected and very romantic. BUT I do have some pretty explicit scenes in some stories.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest crossover you’ve ever written?

No. I've just not been inspired and I tend to stay away from reading crossovers.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No :(

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

No, but I've tried to get people to write with me.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

OMG that's like asking who my favorite child is? I mean that's just so unfair- it's Jeronica. Jughead/Veronica is my heart and soul. 80 years of sexual tension just can't be beat lol.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I hate to say it but... I don't have any. I think Not Another Riverdale Love Story (nicknamed Narwals) is the closest. But I know how it's going to end and I just posted chapter 7 and am currently working on chapter 10. OO! I know, it's pure porn. Just pr0n all day long. Rockin Around The Christmas Tree. I have two out of the four chapters posted. I have the last chapter 75% of the way finished. I just have to write smut for one pairing and then it'll be finished.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Existing dialogue and minute details. I like to use and reimagine current dialogue of the shows into my stories. And I drop blink and you miss them hints throughout.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Smut. I've gotten a lot of compliments but I still think I suck at it lol.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I'm pretty good at French but I love writing dialogue in another language. I don't write whole scenes in it. But I have two characters that know passible Japanese so I dropped some in a chapter. But I make sure to translate in the ending A/N.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Sailor Moon!! All the way back when NO ONE knew what fanfiction was.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Oh goodness... I love them all for different reasons. I think if I were to do this as Word Association it would be My Dearest Korkie. It's G-rated and less than 400 words but packs a punch! I think it really proves that a G-rated short short story can be just as good as a 300k+ multi-chapter E rated fic.

Bonus Question

21. What story of yours do you think needs more love?

The Suite Adult Life - I wrote this without knowing the show existed until I was suggested clips on YouTube. I never watched the clips, I just did one google search, read one synopsis, and one relationship timeline. Then out popped 100k+ words... I'm still kind of baffled by it lol.

Tagging- anyone else who wants to participate!