#yet another ancient wip from like 2016

[gerhardtz]

20 Questions for Writers

OKAY so Tumblr decided to start blasting Line of Duty posts onto my dash again and I saw @ac12bookworminthetardis do this tag (I have no idea how long ago, apologies if I'm tagging you over something ancient) and wanted to give it a go ^__^

I know we don't know each other, apologies if me tagging you like this is weird !!

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 11 public, two hidden (awaiting rewrites to make public again)

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 24,985, as of this post

3. What fandoms do you write for? Mostly Fargo! In fact, almost exclusively Fargo these days. I haven't written for another fandom in years. I've considered returning to writing Doctor Who fic, though. Maybe LoD if I end up hyperfixating again.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? Dazed & Confused (96 | Doctor Who) When The Clock Struck Thirteen (23 | Doctor Who) One Hour Ahead of the Possee (9 | Fargo) Dead Boys (6 | Fargo) A Promise Made In Blood (6 | Fargo)

5. Do you respond to comments? Always! They always make my day, and I try my best to respond to them with as much insight as possible ^__^

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? It's not complete yet, but Drop It, Doe Eyes is definitely going to have the saddest ending. Sorry JethRye enjoyers. It's rough.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Dazed & Confused, I suppose, though it was only a oneshot drabble from back in the day. As for my current WIPs, I think One Hour Ahead of the Possee will be the happiest. I've kind of accepted that it's a fix-it fic at this point LOLLLL

8. Do you get hate on fics? Nope! And I thankfully never have.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yepppp I sure do. I haven't published any of it (yet) but it will definitely be included in my JethRye fic, and probably a fair few future oneshots. Though most of the smut I've written as of late has been for my OC stories rather than fics.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? Yes! @pastelspindash and I are slowly working through a Fargo x Sonic crossover AU which we are taking WAY too seriously lmao.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I'm aware of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Nope.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Not yet, but I will with the FargoxSonic crossover.

14. What’s your all time favourite ship? ALL TIME FAVOURITE??? I couldn't choose one. Genuinely. Here are some of my favourites though! Lester Nygaard/Lorne Malvo (Fargo) Peggy Blumquist/Constance Heck (Fargo) Steve Arnott/Dot Cottan (Line of Duty) The Doctor/Jack Harkness (Doctor Who) Cal Lightman/Gillian Foster (Lie to Me)

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Ughhh my Xenoblade Chronicles AU, Lone Homs. It's been hidden for a while now because I changed a lot about my OC after writing the first few chapters, and then never ended up rewriting it. I haven't cared about Xenoblade in years now so I doubt I'll get around to it :/

16. What are your writing strengths? I think probably dialogue, especially capturing characters' voices. I've had people tell me a few times that I'm quite good at it -- especially in Fargo fics ^__^

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Well first of all I NEVER WRITE ANYTHINGGGG I'm so slow! Writing is so hard!!!! And second of all I'm not great at descriptions unless I really put my soul into it. I'm a screenwriter first and foremost, so prose is hard for me.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I'm not proficient enough in a language right now to be able to do that T__T

19. First fandom you wrote for? I don't have it in me to admit that!!! It was back in 2016 and I'm taking it to the grave. You can try to guess if you want.

Let's just pretend my first fic was when I started writing Doctor Who fic back in 2019.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? Hmmmm. Either One Hour Ahead of the Possee, or Dead Boys. The first has just been super fun to write and I'm proud of the prose. The second I'm SUPER proud of how I juggled so many characters in one scene ^__^

[presumenothing]

vast, even endless 

submachine games, by mateuz skutnik // AO3

Later they will call you Elizabeth the merciful, among other things, but before all that you are Liz: scientist by training, explorer by necessity, friend by choice.

Very possibly Murtaugh’s only friend, in all of the seven layers and beyond, but that’s mostly on Mur. You try to make the best of it anyway.

i.

Everyone calls you Elizabeth, at first.

Everyone, that is, except Murtaugh.

Which is not surprising in the least.

Even then, back in your first days at the Core, when you were more than acquaintances but not quite yet friends, he talked to you more than anyone else.

Which is not to say that he spoke very much at all.

This was before – before the Lighthouse and the portals and all the destruction that no one could have seen coming.

(Well, perhaps Mur could. He’s always known a great number of things, after all. Certainly more than he ever bothered telling.)

Not that you particularly object to it, of course. He says Liz and my dear Liz and you know full well that it’s a term of endearment, so you smile and answer to it.

You also start calling him Mur.

The first time you say it, it’s in half-joking retaliation, tinged with more than a little exasperation on a day when both the Lab (and him, if you are to be honest) have been more than a little frustrating. He’d wandered over to your workstation, managing to unerringly avoid all the wires snaking about on the ground despite the abstraction in his gaze, which is something you’ve learned to expect.

“Yes, Mur?” you’d said, scratching out one line of equations before looking up to find him returning your gaze, looking straight at you. Not three inches (or layers) to the left, but right at you, pale blue eyes startlingly focused.

Then he smiles, and that’s – unexpected, too, but not in a bad way.

(You can’t help but notice: the team at the Lab pick up the habit of calling you Liz easily enough, but even now you’ve never heard anyone referring to Mur by anything less than his full name.

Of course you notice.

You know, too, what the others say behind your backs. No-one had really understood it back then, not even you – the true significance of the layers still had been unknown, beyond the faintest inkling, but somehow everyone had known instinctually that Murtaugh is different from the rest of you, in a fundamental way.

You know it, too, but you call him Mur anyway.)

.

ii.

Mur falls to his knees, his eyes wide in mute horror, and you cross the distance between you, glaring anyone still holding up their weapons into varyingly grudging submission (they will respect you, you have ensured that much if nothing else).

“What have I done, Liz?” he says, in a voice barely above a whisper, eyes focused for the first time in what must be decades. “What have I done?”

You wonder – is it seven times worse for him, seeing the damage sevenfold over at once?

“Maybe you should just let them.” The words are still spilling from him, like a dam broken. “Kill me. Look at what I’ve d-”

“Which is why you’re going to help me fix it,” you say firmly, in a tone that brooks no argument. “And if I ever hear you mentioning that I should let anyone kill you again, Murtaugh, I will slap you so hard you won’t know which way is up, I swear to Shiva.”

“But–”

“Indulge me in a hypothetical exercise, since you insist. Say I let them kill you.” You’re right in front of him now – sitting, not crouching, you’re a practical person and this is already shaping up to be a long conversation. “What good does that do?”

The silence around you is weighted, a lever ready to tip on whatever answer he might give, but you know better than to expect that.

Not aloud, at least. You have never been able to fully keep up with Murtaugh’s thought processes when it comes to karma and the layers, no-one can, but in almost everything else you can manage a fair prediction of how he will think.

It’s why you had insisted that the confrontation be here, in the knot that holds everything together in more than seven ways. If Mur could be confronted with this and still not see how badly he’s erred, you would not have stepped in front of those who would end him; but you’d been certain that he would realise the state that your realities have fallen to, and he has.

Just as you know he will see another truth in this – that none of you can even have a hope of repairing the subnet, without the person who’d wrought the destruction in the first place.

It’s not too different to what you’ve been trying to tell him all this time. But Murtaugh is a prodigy, and an increasingly paranoid one besides; the only conclusions he will truly trust are his own.

What you needed all along was for him to convince himself, and from the look in his eyes when he finally looks back up you can see that he has.

…that only leaves everyone else around you (and their many, many guns) to convince, then.

Well. It’s not like you ever expected this to be easy, after all.

.

iii.

“Rule one,” you say, writing it clearly on a sheet of paper, “if I tell you not to do something, you stop immediately. No arguments.”

You pause and consider your audience briefly, then scratch out that last sentence with a sigh.

“Okay, arguments allowed, but stop first. Are we clear?”

“Crystal,” answers Mur, but his voice is abstracted, and not in the layer-blinded way you’re more accustomed to.

The feeling of being closely watched finally dawns on you, and you look up to find – yes, Mur staring right at you, instead of the rules you’re writing up.

You raise an eyebrow at him. “What is it? I’m not one of your experiment samples, you know.”

“Is this how it’s going to be?” he asks instead. “You making all the decisions from now on?”

You don’t even bristle at the words – from anyone else, the question would seem derisive, even accusatory, but you know Mur is just asking it for the same reason he always has. Curiosity.

(You think, with no little amount of weary amusement, that this is what started everything in the first place. Curiosity and a cat. How fitting.)

“I think I can rather confidently declare that you making the decisions turned out fairly terribly the last time.” The gesture at everything around you is unnecessary, but you do it anyway; let it be known that you are not beyond being petty even to him. “So yes, the decision-making will be unilateral for now. Your comments are still welcome, though.”

He’s still looking at you with that startling focus, but you already know to expect that. Not so much the expression on his face, which corresponds in no way to the frankly rather insulting declaration you just made, and anyone else would have accused him of not paying attention but you also know that would be patently false. “My dear Liz. What did I ever do to deserve you?”

You cannot suppress a snort in response, and you do not try. “Shiva knows I ask myself the same question everyday. Now, are we going to do this or not?”

.

.

.

And when he appeared, Murtaugh was finally able to see what has happened. He fell to his knees. She came to him, sat down beside him and they started talking.

The bullets never reached them.

– Submachine 9: The Temple

[pumpkincentaur]

WIP RE-INTRODUCTION: Stringshatter (formerly known as A City Without Stars)

In the city of Aleister's End, anything can happen--it's a city of magic, where humanity is nonexistent and the extraordinary reigns supreme. As such, strange things happen every day to its residents... including Katsurou Kuroda, one of the city's many good-for-nothing shady characters. But when Katsurou finds himself with the last four years robbed from his memories and strange machinery wired to his chest, things take a turn towards a bizarre world even he never foresaw himself walking into. And, of course, since it's Katsurou, it gets worse--the mysterious organization he once worked for has cursed him to die in thirty days, and left him with a single cryptic instruction: REDEEM YOURSELF OR DIE.        

Sure, Katsurou has the help of yet another mysterious organization devoted to opposing his former employers, but it's not that simple. He can't remember what he's supposed to be redeeming himself for... and if he doesn't succeed, his former employers will set off a chain of events leading up to the end of the world.

WIP INFORMATION

Genre: urban fantasy/sci-fi/cyberpunk

Type: Book 1 of 3 in a trilogy

Status: second draft in progress

Expected Word Count: 85-90k

WIP Page: here (also linked in the title above)

WIP Tag: #stsh or #ryodtrilogy

If you’d like to be added to the tag list for this WIP, either let me know on this post or send me an ask.

Taglist (tagging all of the old CWS and Maybridge peeps since this is the same WIP but actually outlined properly) and more info under the cut.

Yes, we are once again attempting Maybridge/How to Break a Deadly Curse/A City Without Stars... except this time the project has an actual good title, as well as an actual detailed outline, AND a slightly less detailed outline for the entire trilogy! Wow!

Everyone’s favourite jerkwad (one Katsurou Kuroda) is back, with some new faces and some old ones. I’ve had renewed enthusiasm for this WIP pop up, and I’m very excited to be working on it now that I have a coherent plan for the entire trilogy. This project will probably take up the rest of my year, and my current goal is to have the second draft of STSH done by the end of 2020.

But, if you’re new to this ANCIENT WIP that has existed on this blog in some form or another since I joined Writeblr... fret not! STSH features a jerkward, not-a-hero protagonist (a trademark of mine... Katsurou is my OG jerk protag), a vaguely dystopian urban fantasy universe where magical folk and humans have lived alongside each other since the beginning of time (no magical masquerade tropes here, the humans have known all along), and a whole lot of lies and the liars who tell them. A fair amount has changed since the previous iteration of this WIP, but a lot has stayed the same. But if you want to find out what’s changed, you’ll have to read on!

This WIP has been, in some way or another, my baby since 2016, when I was in Japan for a student exchange at the babyish age of 16. Now, after four freaking years, I finally feel like I have a coherent plan for it and an actual direction to take it in. Hopefully you’ll all enjoy it as much as I do.

Taglist: @dahladahlabills, @radley-writes, @isanyonetoknow, @eloandrianos

[lordmomohismomoness]

In Universe AU

So let us melt and make no noise by LittleLostStar

Rated M 69K+ words WIP last updated Jan 2021

When a mission to the South Pole goes awry, Prince Zuko awakens in the home of a healer named Katara and finds his heart is damaged and his bending has vanished. His quest to find the last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe is his destiny-- the one chance to regain his honour and return home. But as time passes and Zuko's heart heals, it becomes clear that Katara is protecting an ancient secret of her own, and that both of their destinies are entwined in ways never before thought possible.

In The Same Candlelight by Like A Dove

Rated T 76K words Complete 2012

In a world where there is no war, Zuko and Katara spend their summers together. Growing up is messy, embarrassing, and at times sad, but they think it might be okay because they have each other. Edited summary.

The Lucky Dragon - A Short Zutara by Damagectrl

Rated G 16K words Complete 2019

With no 100 Year War ever happening and an aging Avatar Aang meditating any scuffles, there isn’t much threat of annihilation from the other nations. Nature, however, is another story. After an algae bloom decimates the local fish population and sends the tribe to the brink of starvation, the Southern Water tribal elders are approached by Fire Lord Iroh and offered access to Fire Nation fishing waters until the fish repopulate.

In exchange: his beloved nephew needs an escort to his cousin’s coronation. Everyone seems in begrudging agreement. Except Katara, who after being requested for the task, flees and accidentally ends up on the last island she wanted to be on with a man and his young, friendly dragon - Druk

Butterflies and Hurricanes by Rerbirth of the Phoenix

Rated T 103K+ words Complete 2012

"You may find yourself capturing hearts that you are forbidden to keep." She is a servant. He is a Prince. Together they are about to go against everything that keeps the world at peace. Zutara

Warnings: Tearbender

Oceans Away by PearofAnons

Rated M 56K words WIP Last updated Dec 2020

The irony was not lost on him. The moment his wife told him he did not have her heart was the very moment he realized she had long captured his.

or

In their world many would mistaken their tale as some grand love story, but if you were to ask those close to them, they would say it was really quite simple. Family, duty, honor. With these two stubborn fools, love wasn't originally part of the plan, it just grew quietly along the way.

Contain Smut

Subterfuge by Smylealong

Rated M 113K words WIP last updated Oct 2020

Thirty years ago, the Fire Nation attacked, throwing the world off balance. Katara entered the Fire Nation war camp at Ba Sing Se as a healer, prepared to do whatever it takes to play her part in stopping the war. Getting kidnapped with the Fire Prince and falling in love with him were not parts of the plan. AU. Zutara.

Trigger Warnings: Sexual Assault, Incest, Graphic Depiction of Violence

Call Me Katto by ShamelessLiar

Rated M 272K words Completed 2015

The Avatar awakens two years late, when only a token resistance still struggles against the Fire Nation. Katara disguises herself as a boy to follow Sokka into war. Not only must she hide her gender from her comrades, she has to help the Avatar while also dodging the creepy prince who’s taken such an intense interest in her. AU for timing.

Cursed Kiss by AlwaysZutarian

Rated E 136K words WIP Last Updated Feb 2021

Cursed to live with the body of a fearsome beast, Zuko hid from a cruel world that would not hesitate to destroy him, consumed with rage for those who had betrayed him, resigned to a lifetime of solitude. But then a ray of hope came in the form of a beautiful, blue-eyed woman. Could she look beyond his physical appearance and break his curse? Or would he forever remain alone?

Princess of the Concubines by Turion

Rated E 68K words WIP Last Update Jul 2020

An heir, never banished. A Water Tribe Princess bound in golden shackles and a gilded cage. The Avatar returns to a world much changed and divided. Horrors of the war plague him, yet the memory of her daunting blue eyes haunt him. "AANG RUN!" a guttural scream ripped itself from her throat. "KATARA!"

Warnings: Rape, BDSM

Shimmering Scarlet Scales by Hippomatrix

Rated T 7K words Completed 2016

Katara never thought she'd see a dragon. They were thought to be extinct. Yet here she was, healing a dragon she'd found in the woods (of burn wounds no less) and letting him follow her home. She didn't mean to bond with him, but that's what happened, and he became her constant companion and protector. If only it had stayed that simple.

Warning: is rated T but contains smut

Lonely Hearts Club by iRockYourSocks

Rated M 1K words Completed 2013

Katara was ready, albeit unhappy, for her new life as the wife of a northern warrior. A fateful trip to Ember Island opens her eyes to an alternative path in life.

Consume me with fire; flood me with desire by Dacamima

Rated E 86K words Completed 2020

“You have to be sure, Katara. The way I feel… if you let me put my hands on you… I want you so much. I’ll consume you.”

Arousal shot through Katara like a lightning-bolt at his words. He felt it too, whatever that charged energy between them was. Even now, it thrashed within her like a wild thing.

Breathlessly, she said, “Touch me, please Zuko.”

---

A whole canon rewrite where Katara and Zuko get to know each other MUCH better and earlier in the series. Featuring canon-divergences, angst and pining, fluff, and a whole lot of smut.

[lavalampelfchild]

Lava’s Art Masterpost

Hey, all!  Welcome to my art masterpost!  I have no idea if this is a thing that is done typically for art, but oh well, I like organizing things, so here we are!  What you’ll find here is mostly Dragon Age, with a few non-DA pieces in there, and there’s a range of styles I like to use, depending on my mood.  But a lot of what you’ll see will most likely combine lineart with some other form of coloring/shading.

Feel free to browse at your leisure, and I hope anyone who stumbles upon this enjoys what they find! :D And thank you to anyone who sees this and likes, or reblogs, or even just stops by to peruse a bit!  

All that said, away we go!

Digital Portraits:

1. Portrait of Nameless Woman, 2020 - This one is just an experiment with a watercolor brush that I did.  It’s not anatomically perfect, but I enjoyed playing around with shading.

2. Sketch of Aja Amell, 2020 - This one is basically sketch practice with my Amell~  Not really the most expressive pictures, but it’s a start toward drawing her more expressively.  Full disclosure: Aja is one of those OCs of mine that I have had trouble with deciding on a definitive appearance for several pictures, and I really want to work on upping my level of consistency when drawing her.

3. Long-Haired Fenris, 2020 - Exactly what it sounds like; this was for practice drawing Fenris’s features (I love how distinct they are), but with long hair because I am weak for it.  This one was a fun piece to shade, and mixing the stylized lineart that I normally use with a greyscale shading spectrum was really enjoyable.

4. Portrait of Ilorin Lavellan, 2016 - This is an oldie.  Basically practicing expressions, and it is technically a WIP, but I’m still very happy with how the shading turned out, especially because this is actually (aside from the unfinished hair) one of the more minimal pieces I’ve done in terms of lineart  It’s still there, and it still shapes the flow of the picture in some ways, but it also ends up flowing with the shading instead of standing out next to it, which I like.  (Both styles are good, though, and I love seeing other artists try both too.)

5. Old Portrait of Aja Amell, 2016 - Much older picture I did of Aja; she... honestly looks very little like the newer one, I think, and that consistency is something I’m still working on, but this one was the first picture of Aja with that particular hairstyle I drew.  What I like about this picture is how young she looks; it fits with her image as a fresh and sheltered Circle mage who’s only about 20 years old at the time of DAO.

6. Old Portrait of Trilyn, 2016 - They very first piece of art I posted to tumblr~ It’s not exactly how I envision Trilyn anymore, but it was still very fun to draw, and helped me get a feel for drawing him in the future. 

Dynamic Movement Pictures/”Moment’s in Time”:

1. Tabris in Arl’s Estate, 2020 - TW: blood.  I am super proud of this one.  My ultimate goal is to draw all of my Warden DAO OCs, and I could not believe I’ve never drawn my Tabris, and so here she is.  This was, in large part, practicing expressions because I absolutely love art that depicts characters in motion, or capturing some kind of expression.

2. Velyn in the Rain, 2017 - This one was actually based on some art that I saw in a Teen Wolf fic!  It was an experiment with a more expressive style (and one of the first pieces I did without lineart left in the finished version) and it was a huge step out of my comfort zone.  But overall, I am extremely happy with how it turned out.

3. Jem Nocking an Arrow, 2016 - And here is the lineart version.  This was entirely an excuse to draw my DAI baby, Jem, and to do a cool archer pose because archers are my fav, and I love characters in motion.

4. Solas Teaching Trilyn Fade Magic, 2016 - This one was a painterly picture that was also (like the Velyn picture) something which I tried to keep lineart out of.  Overall, I am proud of a lot of parts of the pic, but I think I would definitely go back over it and change a few things now if I had the patience.

5. Trilyn Closeup WIP, 2016 - TW: injury, blood, mention of abuse in the author’s note.  A lot of early pictures I have are of my OC, Trilyn, and this is one of my absolute favorites.  His entire upper body is technically in the picture, but I hadn’t finished rendering it yet, so this was what I posted.  And it was an experiment with a cross-hatching style with the pencil tool for some texture, with air brush shading and a blurring tool.  It’s a style I had fun playing around with!

6. Trilyn Blood Ritual, 2016 - TW: blood, injury (the slight cut used to supply the ritual with blood).  This one was definitely a sort of “captured moment” from a backstory I gave Trilyn, and I think what I was really going for was an atmospheric piece that could fit with any potential fic I wanted to write for Trilyn.  And then it ended up being practice for extreme lighting/shading techniques, and drawing the blood and the gross mass of demon ichor (or whatever the heck that is) turned out to be highlights of making the piece for me.

Art + Text:

1. Freedom and Control, 2020 - TW: scars, but very difficult to see.  This one was ambitious for me!  It started originally just as Solas and my Tal-Vashoth OC, Saara, facing each other, because I love the dynamic I’ve built for them in my head, but then it turned into an attempt at a tarot-esque background, and just sorta grew from there... Overall, I’m happy with how it turned out, especially with how Solas and Saara themselves turned out.  The version you can actually see a larger view is here.  

2. Marianna and Delia Codex and Art, Pt. 1, 2020 - I love writing my own codex entries, first off, and I love combining art with text to create a (hopefully) seamless work.  This work was an attempt to flesh out these OCs of mine with both art (because unique facial structures are hard for me to get down, but so important regardless) and text (because writing~).  I think it turned out well overall, but there are elements of the portraits that I might at some point touch up a bit.

3. Marianna and Delia Codex and Art, Pt. 2, 2020 - Part 2, with what I refer to as a “DAI Outfit Change” because I have always loved seeing fans show their own OCs as they look in DAO, DA2, and then finally DAI.  So I absolutely wanted to jump on that bandwagon myself.  The skin tones are a little off (and I’m sorry about that!) because I was playing with the watercolor brush at that point, and it dilutes the colors I use.  Still working to figure that out, but I was very happy with the overall lineart and structures of the faces.

4. Alistair/Aja Amell Picture with a Blurb, 2017 - Ooooold, old, old, old, OLD!  I still love the art, and I’m soooo happy with how the interaction between Alistair and Aja turned out (drawing kisses is extremely difficult for me; I always end up creating a distorted weird lip-creature, instead of realistically puckered lips...).  I’m not as happy with the blurb that went with it?  At that point, I was still very much figuring out my own DAO worldstate, and the characterization for everyone, so, eh.  Take it with a grain of salt!

Unfinished Costume Designs:

1. Ancient Elvhen Armor with Dwarven Influence, 2018 - People who do costume design work are amazing and mystical beings, and I wish I could do what they do.  This was an attempt at merging the Keeper robes from DAI with a more dwarven armor aesthetic, solely because I created an ancient elvhen character, Ceda, who was taken in by the Cad’halash dwarves mentioned in the Witch Hunt dlc, and I wanted this character to have a mix of the elven style of armor and the dwarven style.  I’m overall decently happy with it, but there’s still that persistent level of self-criticism present.

2. Herald of Andraste Outfit WIP, 2016 - This was a very old picture, not one I showed around a lot, but the idea for this was entirely born of my intense interest in how fashion and outfit designs could be used to create a symbolic image for the Herald of Andraste.  In general, I love the combination of ceremonial armor with long and flowing cloth, so that was what I went for here.  I’m still actually very proud of how this came out, and headcanon something similar for my Herald in my canon DAI worldstate.

Pencil Sketches:

1. Quick Saara Sketch, 2019 - TW: saarebas mouth scars.  Exactly what it says; very quick sketch of Saara I did in a small notebook I carry around with me.  This was basically a test for myself to see if I could manage to draw Saara with the features and facial structure I envisioned for her without needing to use a lot of references.

2. Mass Effect Character Sketch; Jesse, 2018 - Similar reason for drawing this one as the above Saara sketch!  With these characters, I love sometimes the way they can turn out with the specific character creator used for them, and when I draw them, I enjoy trying to create a definitive look for them using what I get from the CC, and my own knowledge of Hooman Faces.

3. Saara Sketch, 2017 - TW: saarebas mouth scars.  A more detailed sketch of Saara than the one above, and one I definitely put more time into overall.  It’s currently the profile picture I’m using for ao3, and is the definitive go-to reference picture I use whenever imagining Saara in a fic, or for other Saara pics I make.  I am extremely proud of this picture, and feel like I should work in graphite more often.  It’s such fun, and the texture is so nice to look at.

4. Sketch of Nameless Alamarri Woman, 2017 - This was a sketch I did of what I envisioned some Alamarri tribes to look like; I used artistic depictions of Gaul tribes and hairstyles for inspiration, and have used this as a go-to reference for my version of Alamarri tribes.  Nothing super notable about this one, but I really liked the way the shape of her face turned out.

Events and Gifts:

1. Another Scar, 2020 - TW: blood, injuries, gore.  The most recent piece of art on the list, and a gift for @cartadwarfwithaheartofgold; featuring sisterly love between Rica and fem!Brosca, which was her requested prompt.  This was a tough piece for me because of the difficulty with the lighting I dealt with.  For some reason, that one particular element of it gave me so much trouble.  Overall, I’m very happy with how it turned out, though, especially the skin tones of the sisters; Brosca I always sort of like as having this greyish, more gaunt look to her, while Rica I like seeing with a darker, richer, and warmer tone to her.  

2. A Very Cousland Christmas!, 2019 - This was for a holiday exchange for a server, and I drew a friend’s Cousland (Elissa, the girl on the left) with my Cousland (Gazza, the girl on the right).  I love kid-fic, and I love kid-art, and so I decided... baby Cousland art!  Drawing kid proportions was the toughest part, I recall, and I thiiiink it turned out well, and I’m still quite proud of it overall.  Elissa’s design came entirely from my friend, but I added the holly~

3. Exchange Gift with Dis Brosca and Mabari, 2018 - This was an exchange gift for @fanfoolishness, using her lovely Dis Brosca, and was my first real attempt at backgrounds... I struggled with the coherence of the foreground and background a bit, but I’m still very proud of how it turned out, especially with the colors I had to work with.  What I also really enjoyed working with was the lighting and the expression on Dis’s face.  Backlit subjects are always fun to play around with!

4. Inktober Picture, “Deep”, 2017 - TW: scars, injury, mentions of abuse in the author’s note/attached dialogue snippets.  This was for an Inktober prompt (the only one I’ve ever done, sadly... because I am bad with deadlines...), and again features Trilyn.  Trilyn’s backstory has him a former slave in Tevinter, and a lot of the early works I do for him are sort of deep-dives into his life there.  It’s all meant to be an exploration of the things he endures, and then those moments when he overcomes it all and takes back his own autonomy and self.  This art is definitely provocative, and I can understand if not everyone likes it, but to me, I just wanted to show just what he faces (without glorifying it) before showing the moment of his own triumph.

5. Christmas Holiday Picture with my Brosca and a Friend’s Amell, 2017 - This was a piece of art drawn first by a friend of mine, @nanahuatli~  She drew the Amell, the background, the mistletoe, etc.  All I did was add my Brosca to the mix to finish the image.  It was a lot of fun to do, 1) because it was fun trying to match her style so that the picture looked cohesive, 2) because I love doing collabs with friends, and 3) because it was just such a fun thing to imagine my surly short Brosca, looking at this weird plant/fungus/thing dangling over some puckering human!  It was an absolute joy to do this collab with her!  

6. OC Kiss Week Pic of Jem and Saara, 2017 - TW: saarebas mouth scars.  A spur-of-the-moment thing meant to demonstrate just what kind of dynamic my OC, Jem, has with my other OC, Saara (both of whom are members of Leliana’s network in DAI).  This was a very quick picture (deadlines...) and was mostly just to have fun drawing these two characters interacting, and to see if I could make them look like themselves.  I think I did a decent job with it overall, especially with Jem’s kissy-face!  (Again... drawing kisses are the bane of my existence, although hands and feet take a close second.)

[theancientgeekoroman]

hi! i'm a high-schooler who wants to pursue a career in classics and ancient history and you're a massive inspiration to me, I was wondering if you have any advice for an aspiring classicist

Hey! I’m glad to be an inspiration :3

So, the first thing I would suggest is to read, read, read. I know it’s expensive to get a lot of books, but remember that public libraries (and check your high school library, too!) might have many of the books you might want to read before you head into a Classics program.

If you would prefer to have these things online so you can access a lot of different things, here are my favorite websites to refer to:

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/

https://www.gutenberg.org/

http://www.sacred-texts.com/search.htm

The next thing to remember is that if you’re an undergraduate student, you’re not going to know everything in every class. Be open to exploring - take courses that have a focus on the ancient world, but don’t be afraid to stray into other courses (I took enough Medieval courses (history, literature, art history) that I was one course away from a minor). One of the things that I would recommend is searching for schools that have a program you think you’ll enjoy and e-mail the professors! I e-mailed the director of the Classical Studies department at Villanova University back and forth for a long time before I applied to the graduate program and she was quite supportive and explained things well to me. This was a big reason I decided that I decided that Villanova was right for me. The professors and how they interact with potential students will tell you a lot about the faculty as well as the program. Look through the potential courses at the universities you’re interested in, and whether they have all the courses, you would be interested in, including courses for other aspects of the field.

Classics courses can be under Anthropology or Archaeology, Art History, English/Literature, Greek/Latin, Library Sciences, Law, Museum Studies, Theatre, etc. If you’re interested in exploring any of these areas of Classics, I would suggest exploring these courses if the university offers them as well. This would also help you hone in on what area of the field you might be most interested in pursuing - a lot of people who go into Classics either end up teaching or working in a museum, from my experience. However, those aren’t your only choices, and we’ll get back to that more towards the end :3

If you’re not sure if you’d like archaeology, if you can afford an archaeological field school, I would say try to participate in one when you’re an undergraduate student, or if you can’t, see if your local state parks have any need for archaeological volunteers. That’s something that I’ve been investigating in Las Vegas (where I live); this isn’t Classics specifically, but much of the work will be similar so you can gauge whether you like digging enough to do it for a living. This past summer I did my first archaeological field school (three years after I completed my B.A. in History/Classics), so if you wait a little longer, that’s okay, too. But, I loved it, and I definitely want to dig again, so I think that it’s important to find a way to pursue those opportunities when you can (I was lucky to get a full-time job a year before I went and was able to save up - I didn’t take any vacation time in the year and a half from when I was hired until after the field school). There are field school scholarships that you can apply to, like the Jane C. Waldbaum Archaeological Field School Scholarship (https://www.archaeological.org/grants/708), that are for students pursuing their first field school, amongst other funding, so make sure you look everywhere and ask your university if they have a database for field school funding. A lot of your anthropology and archaeology professors will be helpful in asking about this. Your university might also have archaeology opportunities on campus as well; my alma mater, the University of Delaware, had an Archaeology Laboratory that I volunteered in for extra credit and continued to do so once my course was over because I enjoyed it so much. See what’s around and how you can help out!

In the same vein, if you’re interested in museum work, look to see if you can volunteer over the summer, or once you’re a university student, see if you can enroll in an internship for credit. Sometimes your university galleries and museums might have a program, so look into that, too! I did a Curatorial Apprenticeship Program at the University of Delaware and was able to conduct an Independent Study for credit through the museum program (now the University of Delaware has a Museum Studies minor). I’ve always known that my end goal was to be a curator, but there’s plenty of other aspects of museums you can explore: education, administration, museum libraries, and a lot of other departments, depending on the size of the institution. If you’re in the U.S., you can check my museum post to see if your state has ancient art (https://theancientgeekoroman.tumblr.com/post/179105816745/master-list-of-museums-with-greek-roman), and if you’re in another country, don’t worry, I’m working on master lists for other countries, too.    

Many courses may be taught in translation (especially if you’re taking it as an English Literature or Foreign Language in Translation course), so see if you can find the best or most highly recommended translations by professors. See what the book lists are for the courses at the universities you’re looking at and try to find your favorite translation. I just bought the Emily Wilson translation of The Odyssey, which I have a feeling will be my favorite translation. This is The Iliad translation I have (http://www.librarything.com/work/3426497/book/161094444), The Aeneid (http://www.librarything.com/work/11862/book/161072440), Metamorphoses (http://www.librarything.com/work/3439/book/161072432), and The Love Songs of Sappho (http://www.librarything.com/work/237534/book/161093187). All of these were assigned textbooks for my Biblical and Classical Literature and Mythology courses at the University of Delaware between 2007-2015 (those links take you to my LibraryThing, which will tell you most of the books that I own or I have on my wishlist, if you want to check them out; I haven’t finished organizing their categories yet, though, so it’s a WIP).   

If you haven’t been exposed to Ancient Greek or Latin at the high school level and university will be the first time you encounter these languages (as was true for me), you don’t necessarily have to know anything by the first day of class. However, if you would like a head start, here are some lessons on Ancient Greek in YouTube format (http://www.openculture.com/2016/08/learn-ancient-greek-in-64-free-lessons-from-brandeis-harvard.html) and in text format (https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/eieol/grkol). Latin, unsurprisingly, has a lot more resources for free online learning (I even bought a Udemy course to review my Latin): The University of Texas at Austin: https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/eieol/latol, http://learn101.org/latin.php, and this list is good to consult: https://www.omniglot.com/language/articles/latinapps.htm. I haven’t used all of these myself, so explore and see which ones would be best for you and works best for how you learn.

If you decide to continue with Classics into the graduate level, keep in mind that you’ll need German AND French or Italian. I took both French and Italian as an undergraduate and I can read French pretty well because I took it for four years in high school and studied abroad in Caen for five weeks as an undergraduate. Italian I can kind of read alright, but I know no German, which I need to work on. So, if you have a language requirement and your Latin or Greek does not count, keep those languages in mind. (Sometimes you have to take a certain amount of Latin or Ancient Greek for it to count, and your program may not require as many ancient language courses for your major as the language requirement for the university, etc. I only needed to take Ancient Greek or Latin, but I decided I wanted to do both.)

Classics is an extremely interdisciplinary field, so you have a lot of options, both as an undergraduate and a graduate student. You don’t necessarily need to go straight into graduate school, either. You can teach at the high school level, you can go into archaeology fieldwork or museum work, or do a variety of other things. It’s up to you. I took a year off, got a different Master of Arts degree before I applied to my M.A. in Classical Studies. It’s different for everyone. I’ll be 30 when I get my M.A. in Classical Studies, so take your time and explore things that call to you. Don’t rush things and have fun!

Of course, I’m sure you want to know “What can I do with a Classics degree?” Luckily, many places have already made lists like this! Here they are:

https://www.angelo.edu/services/career/majors/classics.php

https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/careers/subjects/classics/

https://classicalstudies.org/education/careers-for-classicists/an-undergraduate-degree-in-the-classics

https://www.exeter.ac.uk/media/universityofexeter/careersandemployability/subjectfactsheets/subjectfacsheets/2016ese030_Classics_st1.pdf

http://loveofhistory.com/what-jobs-can-you-get-with-an-ancient-history-and-classics-degree/

https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/what-can-i-do-with-my-degree/classics

And I made a post with different places that post Classics positions as well, for when you’re ready to look for those (I check them regularly to see the requirements people want for these positions to either match up or if I need further training or credentials): https://theancientgeekoroman.tumblr.com/post/178955792555/since-im-still-in-my-ma-program-for-classical   

TLDR & recap:

Read, read, read

Research your potential schools

Volunteer

Explore aspects of the field

Have fun!

Additionally, I found this list of people that have Classics degrees :3

https://rogueclassicism.com/folks-you-didnt-know-maybe-had-classics-degrees/

I hope you found this helpful and I apologize for the length, but feel free to drop me a line whenever you like if you need more advice or would like me to expand on any of my experiences!

All the best,

The Ancient Geeko-Roman

P.S. Folklore Fiancé wanted to make sure I didn’t overwhelm you and wanted to encourage you to make sure you take your time and take breaks when studying. Don’t overwhelm yourself with your research; take your time to explore different areas and don’t tackle too many things at once. *takes off parent hat*

[summertime-children]

WIP Challenge

Tagged by @kikithedeceiver​ (thanks~)

Tagging: @starspatter​, @cookiehoodie​ and Meli if she ever sees this bc I want a snippet of all her unwritten knkd fics (?) (and if any writer out there needs a nudge to share their WIPs, feel tagged!)

Challenge: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous.

I’ll do what what Kiki did and post titles of my WIPs with comments and short fragments of them? I’ll share here only my kagepro WIPs (so basically kidokano/Kano ones lol). A little warning before we start: it’s going to be very long lol bc I can’t finish fics to save a live and I have... lots of ideas, plus I never get to talk about them >.> Also they’re going to be getting gradually worse bc I’ll go from newest to ancient-est. (Full disclosure tho, those aren’t raw quotes from my WIPs bc some had so visible grammar errors, I just had to fix them + I always put notes in my works, like every second word lol) Here we go.

Listen

Comment: This is the freshiest one, I was writing bits of it merely the day before, and because of that I still naively believe I will finish and post it soon, so I won’t say anything more about it.

”I want you to understand. You… need to know there’s so much to love about you!”

“Haha like what?” he laughed with bitter sounding laugh, something that must had slipped as it was followed by a face she had occasion to see only a few times- a face of regret. Regret of choosing wrong words, wrong mask to put on or forgetting to put her at all.

Different ways to say it

Comment: Just a short fluff where Kano’s snarky bottomness is showing lol

“You should’ve asked ‘Can you kiss me?’ instead.”

Kano is dumbfounded for a few seconds before he snorts.

“Right.” he begins with a playful grin “Let me fix that. Can you, Kido Tsubomi, the fierce leader of Mekakushi Dan, my girlfriend, my sun, my stars, the love of my life, the love of my thousands other lives, do me an absolute honor and light up my da-“

He didn’t even manage to finish before he felt the pair of soft lips landed on his, catching his words.

New chapter

Comment: Won’t say much about it because it’s supposed to be a gift for certain someone~ But here’s a little sneak peek 👀

That was weird. They never really talked about having any pets. They talked about having kids (as much as stating that they want to make a family together during several separate occasions counts), but the topic of having pets was never brought up and in a timespan of living together and even moreso of living alone together, they already had plenty of opportunities to get one. And yet Kano always knew that when Kido pictured their future family together there was also present a small ball of fur waving its tail and he could see it in her eyes at that moment more visibly than ever.

GrimReaper!Kido x Vampire!Kano

Comment: I was very disappointed with the knkd fanwork of that one Halloween art, so I decided to write something that would satisfy me (with no success so far rip).

The black figure that merged with the ubiquitous dark hanged up the big scythe they were holding on the wall, among the collection of similar but different in sizes scythes, proceeded to take off their shoes (but then put them quickly back on, changing their mind as soon as their feet met with the concrete) and pulled off the black hood of their cloak to reveal the long green hair, something that finally stood out in the darkness, before walking deeper into the room.

I can’t wait to fall in love with you

Comment: Inspired by well, that one sentence that is in the title and lowkey (?) by Meli’s lovely fic~ It’s the kind of fic that I myself call “(not) soulmates au”. It revolves around the idea that after so many timelines of falling in love with each other, they’re just bound to fall in love again... Even when they don’t remember their past lives...

“Oh man, I can’t wait to fall in love with you.” Kido turned her gaze towards the blond lying next to her on the couch. Her widened from being taken aback by his statement eyes met his golden, cat-like ones, tinted with the strange warm spark that she could feel she had yearn for a very long time. It lasted only a second though because soon her brows furrowed and her gaze dropped from those well-too-familiar (given the circumstances) eyes to her hands.

Two cats

Comment: Set in the sort of the au where they never died? On one winter day Kano takes stray cat to his house to take care of. It’s solely Kano fic btw.

Forgetting for a moment about his own advice (why he should had kept repeating it in his head) he looked over his shoulder to see if his stalker was still there and in that moment their gazes lock. “Crap.” He couldn’t help but think ‘curiosity killed the cat’ as a pair of similar eyes to his stared back at him.

hbd kido

Comment: Product of my procrastination. (As you may tell, I have a problem with it). One year I was slightly~ more productive and was kinda disappointed that I didn’t manage to write Christmas fic. So then I thought that I could save some time and write this fic where Kido has joint Birthday-NewYear party with Christmas decorations still lying around (including mistletoe *cough cough*) just in time for KidoKano Day killing not two, but even four birds with one stone. It’s sort of high school au btw.

“Hi.” The boy tried again. His face was embellished with wide grin and slightly flashed cheeks and in his hand she noticed a can of beer. Oh no.

“Hi, Kano.” She said with disinclination. It wasn’t like she didn’t like the guy. Even more, in the normal situation, like average day in the school, she would find a conversation with him a nice or refreshing thing. He was one of a few people that actually knew about her existence and despite her previous prejudice he turned out to be a pretty nice guy.

Christmas Event

Comment: I’m not sure what Christmas event that was for lol.

For Kano it was this time of a year when his Mother would stay home the whole day instead of going to work and she would be more kind to him. Though he wouldn’t call it exactly this way (it’s not like he felt she wasn’t kind to him normally after all), but she was definitely more forgiving.

Affectionate meme Requests

Comment: Requested for the writing meme in the year 2016. Keeps it as a reminder of how big loser I am (?) (just what this post manages to do so far lol) The prompt was “love bite” >.>

From her spot she couldn’t see him quite clear, due to the still turned off lights, so it was only up to her imagination to decide whether he recollected his mask or not. Maybe it was the second after all, because excluding two golden eyes that shone at her there were two bright spots that stood out in the dark, both marked on his skin.

M!KidoKano

Comment: It was supposed to be male!Kido x Kano fic and yeah... I’m emberassed about it tbh. Like, by the fact I wanted to write it itself. Idk now I find it rather weird to genderbend only one person from the pairing, especially in the fic and for that reason I won’t share fragment from it. Sadly it’s one of my better written pieces lol and going back to it I see I made male!Kido no differnt from the regular Kido... which makes it a good genderbend I guess, but also completely unnecessary.

Angsty Kano fic

Comment: I have no idea lol There’s almost nothing written there.

Even Greater Fear

Comment: Despite what title may suggest it’s more fluffy than angsty. KanoKido family fluff where Kano gets anxious about how happy he is now and that he might someday lose it too. Featuring my knkd fankids, Naoki and Reika.   

“Mom, dad is sad!” announced Reika with reproach. This she wasn’t expecting.

“What?” Tsubomi asked out of surprise and was followed by a low groan coming from behind the couch that could belong only to her beloved husband.  

“No, I’m not.”  She watched how the expressions of her children slowly changed from the ones of concern to the ones of disappointment and disgust.

“And he’s denying it.”

Inverted

Comment: Silly engagement scenario. If I ever finish that, it'll be my comedic genius’ peak I swear (?)  

He was clearly getting more nervous, the longer the searching wasn’t bringing any results. He let go of Kido’s hand and got his another one to help him search for whatever was supposed to be in that pocket. However, after a while his movements completely stopped and with some kind of dread in the eyes he whispered under his breath, “It’s gone.”

Time

Comment: Angsty setomary fic I wanted to write for SetoMary Spring (anyone remember that?) 

When she moved out to her new family the first thing she noticed was that time has significantly slowed down. Oddly, somehow it did accelerate at the same time. It was hard to explain and she herself couldn’t understand the feeling nor did she give it much consideration, but for the first period of living in that new world, new pace of that very activity- living- has struck her.

One in a million

Comment: An actual soulmates au (with the variation of the red thread concept). It’s way too ambitious for me lol (starting with the fact that it’s supposed to be multi-chapter story). I won’t share a fragment of it bc not much’s written and bc tbh there would be spoilers, in case I ever do post it. I could write about the concept in a seperate post though because I did a lot of world-building for it. (A lot for me, ok?)

Clear and present

Comment: Ghost AU. Baby Kano hides one time in the abandoned, partly burned mantion and that’s where he meets the ghost of (scary) green-haired teenage girl he befriends. Somehow got inspired by that anthology comic? Also I would listen to this song while attempting to write it lol. Not much was written though.

What I didn’t

Comment: This one’s rare. My only attempt at writing harutaka fanfic. (Funnily enough last safe was on kidokano day?... many years ago.)  In the manga Takane was pretty excited to give Haruka a present for his birthday, but he had an attack and was hospitalized so she didn’t and it wasn’t said (?) if she ever gave it to him later. So my idea for this fic was that she didn’t and how she was now trying to give it to him after three years. Took huge inspiration from this song: {x}

She didn’t have to wait long until there were heard slow, but at the same time hurried footsteps behind the door and soon it was followed by the sound of doors being unlocked. The doors before her opened revealing the light-brown-haired boy wearing excited smile and slightly oversized green sweater with embroidered reindeer. And one of these was just the warmest thing in this cold winter world.

Sneeze like a kitten

Comment: Inspired by one line from Gravity Falls lol It was just another thing I wanted to add to list of similarities between Kano and cats and I’m sure it would bring Kido joy too ;3 But as much as I still find this idea cute it is so awkwardly written lol. I kinda appreciate that it’s from Rin’s POV and that I tried using kinda fancier English for that reason (as fancy as I knew back then lol), but I guess first person fics will always sound weird. It’s set in a different route I guess where they sort of met before the orphanage.

Soon I noticed all her glances seemed to be directed at small boy with blond hair sitting alone on the bench, a little away from the playground. At first I was fairly surprised, not understanding why this particular boy had become her spot of interest, but giving more attentive look at the boy made me instantly realize reasons of her intent glances.

Connection

Comment: I have almost nothing written there and I barely remember it, but from what I can see it must be my original idea for the “formal event” prompt from the very first kanokido week. I... think it was sort of an au where they never died and they met at some sort of fancy party held by Kido’s parents where Kano was a waiter.

Oof that’s all (I mean all from the folder on my pc, but I won’t be getting into that). For a fair portion of it, I gotta objectively say there’s absolutely zero chance of me ever finishing them, but then (aside from the freshest ones that I still have on my mind) revisiting all those WIPs made me really want to revive some of them owo (some I would have to completely re-write tho OTL)

[vivarocksteady]

Creator Tag Meme 2017

Tagged by @tiggeryumyumm​ 

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 favorite works you’ve created this year (fics, art, edits, etc!) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you’ve brought into the world in 2017. Tag as many writers/artists/etc as you want (fan or original!) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works! 

2017 was a bit of a BANNER YEAR for me and I don’t mind telling you about it! After finally getting a diagnosis and treatment in 2016 for a disorder that had been ruining my life, I wrote more fanfic last year (and other stuff) than I have since, well, idk, probably since I was a teenager to be honest. 

Influence (Brooklyn 99) Holt and Kevin adopted Jake as a baby. 

I wrote this around February-ish, and it was the first fic I wrote in over a year, and in 2016 I barely wrote fanfic so that hardly counts anyway. I had never written a kid-fic before, like, exploring characters as kids or de-aging or anything, but surrogate fathers are among my favourite things in the world, so I just indulged myself. I think I captured what I thought were the most important elements of Jake’s frenemy-ship with Doug Judy, while considering what Jake would’ve thought about it BEFORE he became a fully trained cop. This was a lot more popular than I was expecting, especially as I haven’t written anything else in this fandom, and it even inspired another AU by @startofamoment, which was very exciting! I have a bunch more ideas for this series but haven’t had time to work on them yet. 

Marzipan (Spartacus) Agron misses butter. 

This was not my first Spartacus fic, and I worked harder/longer on the other one, but I think I’m prouder of this one. It’s REALLY short for me-- I am a textbook over-writer. So I’m proud that I managed to take what I thought were pretty big emotions and keep the story succinct, while still having some character growth, I think. This also inspired a sequel, which made me feel great!

Love Him, Protect Him (Ace Attorney) A Truman Show AU starring Edgeworth. 

I have mixed feelings about this one. I started writing it on a whim, and the fact that I actually stuck through it and finished it is, for me, pretty freaking amazing. My whole life is a collection of started-but-not-finished projects, so finishing this on my own, without an external deadline like a Big Bang or something, is major for me. The actual story is weird, lol. It was also more popular than I expected, but I still think about it and think “Hrm this has the potential to be really embarrassing.” But I liked it, IDK. I guess I feel that way because this all started when I was like “The Truman Show wasn’t actually that good” and @tiggeryumyumm​ called my bluff and made me watch it again. Anndd a month of writing later, here we are, lol. 

Our Thoughts Were Wicked By Design (Ace Attorney) Ancient Rome AU inspired by Spartacus. (WIP)

Whew, this one. So this one is super niche and has very few readers, but the readers who keep commenting every chapter really get me pumped. It’s really ambitious and kind of messy, but again, the fact that I’m still working on this six months later is pretty major for me. I’m learning a lot from it, getting used to throwing stuff out and rewriting and learning how to get through parts to get through other parts and edit what turns out to not be necessary (Or, like, would if I hadn’t already posted it, lol.) 

Tagging: @ten-bobcats @rivier @narrativepriorities @startofamoment @prncecharmnn @prospectkiss and whoever else wants to do it!

[tsumoos]

Azureshipping - Fanfic Recommendations.

I literally have no idea if people still read fanfics about this couple since the show is like 20 years old but I’m going to make one anyway because I’m trash for this ship. Be warned though some of these stories will probably never be finished but definitely are worth the read.

Chaptered

Advice From a 5,000 Year Old Pharaoh by aphrael21

Kaiba needs a date. 

Teen, 78k, 20 Chapters, WIP. {Last Updated: Jun 27, 2009}

Past, Present, Destiny and Future by Redenzione

The group are stuck in ancient Egypt and run across a past none know or even understand.

Mature, 12k, 3 Chapters, WIP {Last Updated: Feb 13, 2011}

Deception by Thallein

Ever since Tea can remember, she's wanted to become a dancer. Now, her dream is finally within reach, but there is one obstacle standing in her way. Seto Kaiba.

Teen, 15k, 5 Chapters, WIP. {Last Updated: Apr 19, 2004}

Feelings That Shouldn’t Be by Living Arrow

Living her dream in New-York, Anzu never expected to see Kaiba again, but when she does, he's colder than ever. Anzu is determined to help him, can she pierce the walls around his heart, can she even stand what awaits behind them?

Mature, 101k, 39 Chapters, WIP. {Last Updated: Sep 10, 2012}

Gold Digger by Anshu

"Don't deride me," he warned. "Don't provoke me," she vied. "Don't resist me," he approached. "You don't possess me," she survived. "You're very angry," he considered. "Yet, you remain deluded," she defied.

Teen, 62k, 40 Chapters - Completed + Has A Prequel (Isn’t Finished Yet)

Like The Rain by Revolutionnaire Rouge

The rain has a funny way of getting in your eyes, but Anzu and Seto find that sometimes you need to blur the boundaries in order to see clearly again... And things are definitely starting to get blurry.

Teen, 125k, 15 Chapters, WIP. {Last Updated: Aug 9, 2010}

Mixing Business with Pleasure by twilight eyes 8120

Anzu bit out, 'Try a different flavor ice cream next time.' 'I take it you don't want to play with me,' Kaiba accused, 'You'd have enjoyed it.' He closed the door behind him. No matter what logic said, Seto Kaiba already meant too much to her.

Teen, 76k, 15 Chapters, WIP. {Last Updated: Oct 17, 2007}

O' Blessed Child of Mine by Flashchimp

"He may be your husband, but don't forget, I'm the one carrying his child. I have a greater right on Seto than you." Serenity's words were like daggers to Tea's heart, and she knew she had lost this battle.

Mature, 53k, 11 Chapters - COMPLETED.

Sapphire Dreams by AlienDemon

Mai and Joey invite Tea and Yugi to go to a club. But their night of fun is ruined when they run into none other than Seto Kaiba.

Teen, 31k, 10 Chapters, WIP. {Last Updated: Oct 15, 2015}

Secret Indulgences by twilight eyes 8120

Her fingers stilled as she looked up, and noticed a familiar logo on his discarded jacket. His soft moan caused her to jerk back. It couldn't be... him... fate wasn't THAT cruel.

Mature, 25k, 6 Chapters, WIP. {Last Updated: Nov 13, 2005}

Spectrum by AudibleHush

Anzu’s summer plans were primarily about rest and relaxation. They did not involve answering to the most arrogant jerk she’d ever had the displeasure of knowing. And they certainly didn’t involve falling for said jerk…

Mature, 50k, 9 Chapters, WIP. {Last Updated: Nov 17, 2005}

The Bachelor by Flashchimp

Tea couldn't believe what had happened to her. Her vacation had effectively turned into a nightmare because she had agreed to do a favor. Now she was a contestant on Domino's very first Bachelor show. Worst of all, the bachelor was Seto Kaiba. How could she win his heart when her true desire was to wring his neck?

Teen, 137k, 15 Chapters - COMPLETED.

What Doesn't Kill You by Azurite

Téa Gardner lost everything in a single night: her home, her family, her very livelihood. Of all people to help her in this time of need, Seto Kaiba is the one to give her another chance.

Mature, 547k, 28 Chapters, WIP. {Last Updated: Aug 6, 2016}

Where This May Lead by Geniusgirl The Original

I'm more than willing to offer myself. Do you want my presence or need my help? Who knows where that might lead? ...Solace comes in many forms, from many sources. She is their source.

Kids +, 4k, 5 Chapters - COMPLETED.

Oneshots

Claustrophobia by TechnicolorNina

Anzu and Kaiba get stuck in a dark room . . . and nobody else knows it

Teen, 9k.

Cruel to Be Kind by Nietzsche's Itch

Seto and Anzu meet in a lawyer's office several years later, and find they have more in common than they did before.

Teen, 2k

Egyptian Silk by Valentine'sNinja

There was nothing like waking up to the feel of Egyptian silk against her skin, in particular the silk of his skin.

Mature, 4k.

Feel Beautiful by Geniusgirl The Original

While escaping Noa's virtual world, Anzu realizes that you can't waste time because your life just may be shorter than you expected. So, she acts.

Teen, 2k.

From Business To Pleasure by Higuchimon

Kaiba Seto never noticed when he fell. He didn't even notice he'd stumbled in the first place.

Teen, 11k.

Getting Over It by DarkShadowFlame

Seto and Mai are dating, and neither Joey, Téa, or Mai is very happy about that.

Teen, 31k.

Reach by AudibleHush

So much space exists between them. The difference between smiles, and frowns, friends and isolation. And all he wants is to touch her.

Kids +, 2k.

Sente by Geniusgirl The Original

TO: skaiba @ kc.co.jp: “Téa’s single again. It’s been nine years. Do it for me if not for yourself... Yugi.” And then there's the phone call.

Teen, 3k.

To See Her Dance by DarkShadowFlame

Looking at home among the tasteful décor of the Kaiba household hangs a glossy photo of a ballerina, the moment captured in midpose, the girl vibrantly alive.

Kids +, 2k.

Up Among The Trees by Artemis_Day

Anzu was really starting to regret going on this trip. First she's attacked by monkeys, and now she's been captured by some kind of wild jungle man with no sense of personal space

Teen, 3k.

[waynekelton]

The Best War Games for Android & iOS

If you have ever looked for wargames on your iPad/android device you will know what I mean when I say it’s akin to walking into a swamp to find your wallet. Hundreds upon hundreds of tower defense, sniper and risk clones drown out the truly decent experiences. Like the 'strategy' genre at large, free-to-play 'gacha' games have invaded our app stores and are proving nigh impossible to resist.

Weary of warfare? How about some Sports management games instead?

Still, equipped with the latest in swamp draining technology, we've been able to bring together a crack squad of some of the best android and iOS war games currently available.

Recent Releases & Community Suggestions

Pacific Fire (Android Only) - review WIP!

Fort Sumter

Assault on Arnham (Wargamer.com Review)

Pike & Shot (if you have a pre-iOS 11 device)

Heroes of Normandie (Review)

Publisher: Slitherine Platform: iOS Universal Price: $14.99 (with additional IAP DLC)

Not only is this an adaptation of a pretty decent physical war game of the same name, it's a pretty decent war game on its own merits as well. Taking inspiration from classic hex-and-counter style games, Heroes of Normandie instead used a square grid and more 'to scale' counter pieces that depict squads of troops, vehicles and individual commanders. Really it's a squad level-tactical game that involves die-rolls, action cards, but also careful use of your units' abilities and the surrounding terrain.

Slitherine actually did an excellent job adapting this game to digital, retaining the 'larger-than'life' art style of the board and playing pieces, and offering a way to play the game without having to try and read the rule-book (which was kinda terribly laid out) and dealing with all those pieces. Slitherine were parhaps a little ahead of the curve when they launched this in 2016, as it hasn't really been getting the post-release support we'd expect despite the digital board game port genre in general growing in popularity. At $14.99 it's definitely one of the more expensive games out there, but we'd dare say if you want something meaty, but portable, this is worth the expense. Slitherine have always been Android averse, so we doubt it'll ever appear there, but there was a patch as recent as March 2019, demonstrating that they haven't totally abandoned the game.

Wars Across the Worlds (Review)

Publisher: Plug-In Digital Platform: iOS Universal Price: $1.99 (With IAPs)

WatW's premise is to present a universal war game system so that it can applied to a range of scenarios and settings from across history. You could be fighting in the forests of Tannenberg one minute, storming the beaches the Normandy the next, before finally taking on the Syrians in the Six Days War.

We were very impressed with how well the mechanics translates from era to era, giving a consistently fun and challenging experience. Bespoke flavour is introduced via the card system, which can offer meaningful tactical and strategic choices. The base game only comes with the tutorial and one additional scenario (hence the cheap price), but so far none of the $1-a-pop scenario offerings have disappointed. The Berlin 1945 scenario (priced $2.99) is currently our favourite.

Vietnam '65 (Review)

Publisher: Slitherine Platform: iPad Price: $9.99

The core mechanics simulate the nature of counter insurgency operational warfare in a plausible and realistic manner. The constant pressure to keep a presence out in the field makes it difficult to scrape together the forces you need for the big sweeps to destroy the core enemy bases without comprising somewhere. The result is a demanding just one more turn experience. The developer made a follow-up game, Afghanistan '11, which is also really good and covers the events following the 2001 War in Afghanistan. You're put in charge of American forces as you try and build up the 'hearts & minds' of the local populace, whilst also tackling Taliban-sponsored insurgents. Sadly, Apple arbitrarily removed the game from the App store last year and it has yet to return. You can still pick it up on PC though, if you want.

Panzer Corps (Review)

Publisher: Slitherine Platform: iPad Price: $19.99

Panzer Corps has been hailed as the 'the spiritual successor' to the Panzer General series. If you don’t know Panzer General it was a wildly successful 1990’s war game. Panzer Corps is light-weight operational level WW2 game play that allows you to play a series of linked scenarios in which your forces will upgrade over time though around 800-unit types. The challenge is taking a specific objective within a time limit whilst retaining your force. Probably not for anyone who is interested in an actual simulation or specific order of battles.

Also Consider:  OpenPanzer, a completely free alternative to Panzer Corps which you can read more about on our ‘free games’ lists for iOS and Android.

Carrier Battles 4 Guadalcanal (Review)

Publisher: Avalon Digital Platform: iOS Universal Price: $6.99

This is an outstanding pacific carrier battles game played out at the operational level. The excellent AI, easy interface and accessibility combined with realism and plausibility makes this game a must if you have a vague interest in naval operations. But most of all I love how this game gets you so quickly to the interesting decision points and the thick of the fighting.

At the time of writing, a successful Kickstarter means that this game will be coming to Android (and Desktop PC) in the near future. Huzzah!

Drive on Moscow (Review)

Publisher: Slitherine Platform: iPad Price: $9.99

This is an operational level, area activation game allowing you to defend or drive or Moscow with realistic units. Battling against time you face a series of agonising decisions in this game, constantly trying to figure out when is a good time to push ahead or fall back to a new line. The outcome is determined by your skill in judging those correct moments. Realistic, tense and accessible, this a most excellent game indeed.

Also Consider: There is another game in Shenendoah's original 'lite' war game series, Battle of the Bulge, which is iOS Universal and well worth checking out.

John Tiller Software

Publisher: John Tiller Software Platforms: Android, iPad Price: Free - $2.99

Modern Campaigns Series

This is a series of four operational level games covering the Arab-Israeli wars, a hypothetical cold war gone hot in Germany in the 80s and Quang Tri offensive in 1972. These games provide detailed order of battle, some good fog of war and a realistic tactical combat element. However, the core system is somewhat dated, the AI isn’t great and the experience doesn’t provide a particularly plausible command simulation if that matters to you. If you don’t like endless drop-down menus then these games aren’t for you, accessibility is not a key strength here.

Modern Campaigns: Quang Tri '72 

Modern Campaigns: Mideast '67 

Modern Campaigns: North German Plain '85 

Modern Campaigns: Fulda Gap '85 

John Tiller's Civil War Battles

There are a ton of civil war battle games on the various stores and most of them are a complete waste of time from a wargame perspective. However, the JTS Civil War Battles series does provide a tactically solid game with a strong order of battle backed up with good combat mechanics.

However, like Modern Campaigns the core system is dated and the overall simulation of the command experience doesn’t feel right. You will be hard pushed to find a better hard core tactical wargame of the ACW out there and with 11 games in the series you will be kept busy. Note, unlike the Modern Campaign games, not every game in this series has been released onto Android:

Civil War Battles

The Battle of Antietam

The Battle of Shiloh

The Battle of Chancellorsville

The Battles of the Peninsula

The Battle of Chickamauga

Battles in the Ozark

The Battle of Corinth

The Petersburg Campaign

The Battle of Atlanta

The Battle of Franklin

Also Consider: There are more JTS games on iOS than Android, but in addition to the above JTS has put out some of their Panzer Campaigns and an air warfare and naval warfare game. All are worth checking out, and some are even free!

Alternatively if you want something lighter then look to Hexwar and their series of Civil War: 186X games or their slightly more complex game American Civil War Battles based on the wildly popular Terrible Swift Sword board game Great Battles of the American Civil War.

Conflict Series

Developer: Joni Nuutinen Platform: Android Price: Free to $5.99

The conflict series covers an absolutely huge number of WW2 operational level games that have been put out by this Finnish designer. The main thing about this series is that they are very accessible, time to combat is very quick and its probably the main reason for their success. This is combined with reasonable pricing and a design that makes you want to take just one more turn. On the downside the games don’t look great, they are all pretty similar and the AI can be very poor which without 2 players makes the game long term viability pretty limited.

Nuutinen's gamelist is a bit too numerous to list here (and it doesn't appear that he's on iOS?), so check out this link for the full list of games he's created. 

Command & Colours: The Great War (Review)

Publisher: Hex War Platform: iPad, Android Price: $9.99

While we weren't that impressed during our review, the team at HexWar have been putting a lot of work into their digital adaptation since its release. It has some new well themed mechanics that well represent the tactical challenges of the era and to be fair, there's not a lot of digital WW1 games on mobile around. Since we've just come out of the 100th anniversary at the end of the war, this one might be worth reconsidering if it comes up on sale again.

Ancient Battle: Hannibal

Publisher: Hex War Platform: iOS Universal Price: $4.99

It’s hard not to like the Punic Wars with its diverse number of units, colourful characters and wide ranging geography. This game offers different battle scenarios in a traditional hex, you go, I go format linked together by a wider campaign. Whilst their games are pretty standard one thing that HexWar really surpasses in is in its ability to make their games look great and accessible.

This is not only immersive but it allows the player to quickly get to the hard decisions and the crucial turning points that one can agonise over and reflect upon later. The base engine used by HexWar has been used across a number of their games including the early and late medieval and Napoleonic wars. So there are plenty of different era’s here to pick and choose from if you are looking for some serious plate metal on your horse.

Napoleonics: Waterloo

Publisher: DK Simulations (David Kershaw) Platform: Android Price: $1.99

David Kershaw has a traditional mix of mobile wargames that are none too dissimilar to the conflict series but Napoleonics: Waterloo stands out as it takes the mechanics of the Napoleon’s Triumph and Bonaparte at Marango board games and ports them to Android (I couldn't locate them on the app store -ED). If you are bored of traditional hex war games and want something that better reflects the challenges of a real command and battle using a different kind of mechanic then look no further.

What are your favourite android or iOS war games? Let us know in the comments!

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