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carriagelamp · 3 years

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Art of Aardman

I found myself a cheap copy of the Shaun the Sheep movie, so I was rewatching a bunch of Aardman films earlier this month and decided to hunt down some books too. For anyone that doesn’t know, Aardman is a British stop-motion studio that does fantastic work like Wallace and Gromit, Shaun the Sheep, Chicken Run, Early Man… tons of cool stuff. They’re always quirky and funny and warm-hearted. This was just a very nice art book for anyone that’s a fan of Aardman stop motion and wants to see a bit extra; it shows some cool concept art and blows up the neat details in Aardman work, especially in their intricate stuff like The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!

Asterix and the Picts (Asterix and the Chariot Race, and How Obelix Fell Into The Magic Potion)

I decided to try a couple of the new Asterix comics that were done by the new team, just to see if they stand up to the old ones (that and How Obelix Fell Into The Magic Potion cause I’d never read that one before). They were pretty decent! Asterix and the Picts was my favourite of the two though I wouldn’t say either are going to contest for my favourite Asterix comic... but still! The art looks good and the stories felt like what I would expect, they made for a pleasant couple evenings of reading especially since it’s been so long since I’ve read a new Asterix comic. If you’ve never read Asterix it’s one of the biggest name French comic series in North America, as far as I know and very worth the read. It’s about a single Gaulish village that’s holding out against the invading Romans through sheer force of will, slapstick hijinks, and a magical super-strength potion brewed by their druid. Lots of fantastic visuals and cute wordplay, even in the English translations.

Bear

I found out about this bastion of Canadian literature via tumblr post that was losing its collective mind over the fact that some bizarre bear-based erotica novella somehow won the most prestigious literary prize available in Canada. Since I too found this hilarious and unspeakably bizarre I had to give it a read, obviously. And yes, the flat surface level summary is... a librarian moves out into rural Ontario and falls in love with a literal for-real not-supernatural-not-a-joke bear. And I have to say… it is actually worthy of an award, which I was not expecting given that I was there for a laugh. It has beautiful writing, and the subtextual story is pretty interesting… it kind of makes me think of The Haunting of Hill House actually in terms of themes. (Womanhood, personhood, independence, autonomy partially achieved through escaping the male gaze by claiming non-human lovers... listen if I were still in university I would right a paper comparing the two novels).

I dunno man, it’s fucking weird. Actually a well-written book, but sure is about a woman falling in love with a literal bear. Give it a read if you want something bonkers but like… high-brow bonkers.

Hunger Pangs: True Love Bites

Best book I have read in like… a while. A long while. I am not a fast reader, and I consumed 90% of this book over a weekend. It’s not at all like Terry Pratchett, but at the same time it scratched an itch for me that I haven’t had satisfied since Pratchett’s death. A very clever, hilariously funny poly romance between a disabled werewolf, an anxious vampire lord, and an incredibly powerful woman, with heaps of social satire, political commentary, and sinister undertones. The whole thing reads a bit like fanfiction and I say that in the most flattering way possible -- it is so easy to jump right in and be immediately taken over by the characters and the world and the plot, you never feel like you’re fighting to engage even though the world-building is fascinating and expansive. It welcomes you in right away, it was the book equivalent of a quilt and a hug which is something I sorely needed with all this pandemic bullshit. If you read any of the books on this list, go read that one while I sit here in pain waiting for the sequel.

Kid Paddle

I watched the cartoon of Kid Paddle as a kid and was thinking about it recently, so I decided to hunt down some of the original comics online. They’re fun and weird, with a cute art style and fantastic monsters designs. (My favourites are always about Kid either daydreaming or playing games that involve Midam’s weird warty troll creatures. It’s like a cross between Calvin and Hobbes and Foxtrot with the fun sort of quirks that I love in Belgian comics. Unfortunately, unlike Asterix, I’ve only come across these ones in French, but if you can read French it’s totally worth popping over to The Internet Archive and reading the ones they have available.

The Last Firehawk: The Golden Temple

The lastest Firehawk book. Despite being written for quite young readers, I did enjoy the early books in this series quite a bit. They’re about a young owl and squirrel who found an egg for a magical species that was believed to be extinct. With the newly hatched firehawk, the three of them head off on a mission to find an ancient firehawk magic that could save the entire forest. Very basic adventure story but a good intro to the tropes for children. Unfortunately the quality really feels like it drops with each subsequent book; this will probably be the last one I bother reading.

Lumberjanes: The Moon Is Up

I honestly think I enjoy these Lumberjanes novels even more than the comics just because it really gives time to delve into each story and examine how the camper are really thinking and feeling about everything. (Also I’m always weak for novelizations of anything.) The Moon Is Up is a book that focuses more on Jo, and takes place during the camp’s much anticipated Galaxy Wars, a competition between cabins that goes over several days. While the campers prepare for these challenges though, they also run into a strange little creature with a penchant for cheese and theft. Roanoke cabin needs to keep ahead in Galaxy Wars and somehow deal with the fearsome Moon Pirates that a closing in...

Lumberjanes v4 (Out Of Time)

One of the Lumberjanes comics, a cool, girl-focused, queer comic series. Honestly, this is just a fun series that I never got as into as I should have. My advice is honestly to skip book one because it gets better as it continues, and I’ve really been enjoying the later books now that I’ve given it another go. It follows five campers at Miss Qiunzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s Camp for Hardcore Lady Types (Jo, April, Molly, Mal, and Ripley) as they handle all sorts of challenges, from friendship to crushes, camp activities to supernatural horrors, getting badges to not being brutally killed. Great if you liked the vibe of Gravity Falls but want it to be queer-er.

Mooncakes

Another queer graphic novel, but unfortunately not a very good one. It really looked appealing and I had high hopes, but the book itself really didn’t hold up… I actually couldn’t even finish it, the plot was just too… non-existent. The art is fairly mediocre once you actually look at it, especially backgrounds, and it feels very… placid. Not much conflict or excitement or even a very compelling reason to keep reading. If you just want a soft queer supernatural you may get more mileage out of it than me, but it didn’t really do it for me. There’s better queer graphic novels out there.

New Boy In Town

One of the worst books I have ever read. My girlfriend had ordered a very different book online but through a frankly stupendous error was sent this 1980s pulp romance instead. Absolutely nauseating on levels I couldn’t even begin to enumerate here. Naturally we read the whole thing out loud. Probably took us 10 times longer to finish than it warranted because I had to stop every two sentences to lose my mind. If you like bad decisions, baffling hetero courting rituals, built-in cultural Christianity without actually calling it that, and gold panning then boy howdy is this the book for you.

(seriously, you better have patience for gold-panning if you attempt this one, because I sure learn that I don’t)

Piggies

This was a picture book I enjoyed as a kid and had a reason to reread recently. Honestly it’s just very cute and simple, and the art is completely mesmerizing. Wonderful if you know a young child that would enjoy a simple goofy boardbook.

Shaun the Sheep: Tales From Mossy Bottom

Related to my Aardman fascination earlier this month. I tried reading a varieties of Shaun the Sheep books — most of which are mediocre at best — but the Tales From Mossy Bottom Farm series is genuinely good. Just chapter books, of course, but the illustrations match the series’ concept art and each story feels like it could have jumped directly out of an episode. They’re just cute and feel-good! Kinda like Footrot Flats but more for kids, and from the sheep’s perspective moreso than the dog’s.

#aardman animation #shaun the sheep #lumberjanes #kid paddle #asterix #the last firehawk #hunger pangs: true love bites #marian engel #bear #canadian literature #canlit #queer lit #book review #book reviews #chatter

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vulpiximisa · 3 years

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here is a post of Why I Like Nanamaru Sanbatsu which may or may not also be a Reasons Why You Should Watch Nanamaru Sanbatsu but it’s not made with the intent of persuasion and more of me just gushing over things because this isn’t spoiler friendly

1) Niche Sport

I’m not a stranger to “Sport but it doesn’t involve Ball or Sweat”. That’s a lie, the players sweat a lot in Chihayafuru. The fact that Sasaijma (and then another character in the later chapters in the manga) refer to Karuta is a reason enough to pick up the series. Hikaru no Go was one of my earlier sports anime as well. It’s not like I was a fan of Go or Karuta either but the way the characters wholeheartedly loved what they were doing (and competitively), it made me love it as well. The same definitely goes for Quiz Bowl. While the two I listed were something I completely had no clue how the rules go, Quiz Bowl is a bit more obvious so it’s easier to get into.

(kinda hate these promo pics because there looks like so many fcking charas but really you just need to remember like 5 of them)

2) Nerdy Protag in a Sports anime

Actually coming from YowaPeda, Crunchyroll recommended this amongst other things. YowaPeda did the trope a lot better, given that you’d never associate an Otaku with Biking while a Bookworm being associated with Quiz Bowl does not seem unheard of. But the idea of a nerdy protagonist in a competitive sport was still an allure.

And oops, I think Koshiyama is a cutie so there’s a huge bias towards that. The fact that Horie Shun who voices Enta Jinnai from Sarazanmai voices Koshiyama Shiki gave me a laugh and he actually fits his role very well. Further emphasizes his cuteness without Enta’s weird gay crush lol

3) Ishikawa Kaito

I’m not above watching anime for seiyuu reasons alone but I actually went in blind with this series and to my surprise one of my favs was in it. I’d known Kaito mostly for Kageyama Tobio first, but he’s gone through so many other roles that I enjoy (Kaki from Pokemon SM, Iida from BokuHero, Mimura Subaru from 2.43) and I’ve watched a lot of seiyuu events/radios with him so I’m just a big fan of him in general. Dunno if I should have just merged this point with the next but-

4) Mikuriya Chisato

Kaito has The Range and can do whatever role he wants (I’m most impressed by his role as Alan from BNA) but I think I have a weakness for when he’s slightly an asshole. Mikuriya gave off the generic rival trope, which he kind of is. I got some Subaru vibes from him as well. I don’t know if he’s canonically handsome, but yes I think he’s very good looking for an anime character. Plus the fact that he’s The Cool Guy but is participating in such a sport as Quiz Bowl. AND the moe gap that is his feminine sounding first name and the possibility that he might also actually be an otaku is 👌👌👌👌

My friend had tagged something with him as “Chazz Princeton with a haircut” and while Not Entirely, he is the “We are not friends, we are rivals but I interact and help you enough that we are practically friends but i will continue to deny it” and I love that trope. The way he’s so not interested in Gorls or Nonsense reminds me of Manga Manjoume, though nowhere as serious because he is not above nonsense himself.

5) Fukami Mari

The moment she was introduced, I had very low expectations for her. Of course she is the one that drags Koshiyama into the Quiz Bowl world BUT she doesn’t fall into the trope of “Female is very good at The Thing, BUT Newbie Male MC does it better than her almost immediately”. I’m so glad for that because as you go on with the series, she is very much an entire character and not just a female support cast.

She loves Quiz Bowl but she’s not the best or even very good at it. Her childhood friend from another school (which I was 75% betting that it was going to be a male and a potential love interest) turned out to be a female friend. Instead of “cat fight”, they are still very amicable towards each other and support each other but also acknowledge each other as rivals. The fact that Yuki had only started Quiz Bowl because of Mari but liked it enough to continue on by herself, I think that’s really great.

The anime doesn’t get to it, but she confronts her brother about why he quit Quiz Bowl and challenges him. She has her own goals and ambitions and you see her working on it. She also has her strengths and weaknesses and is a vital addition to the Buzou Quiz Team. Fukami Mari is A Good Girl and I won’t tolerate any slander towards her. The way the beginning of the series sexuallizes her via putting her and Koshiyama into generic anime situations is so uncomfortable but I’m glad they move past that later.

Also since their group isn’t technically a Club (?) Mari isn’t just Female Manager. A plus to Quiz Bowl being Co-Ed sport.

6) Quiz Questions

I like trivia. It’s a little harder to guess the questions along with the anime because you’d have to pause all the time and half the time the contestants are going to buzz in early before you hear the entire question. Unfortunately, unless you actually are a fan of random knowledge or a huge nerd, the questions might actually be hard as well. I literally only knew about 3 questions asked in the entire series and its the anime/manga related ones lol. Still, I enjoyed seeing the characters draw their conclusions and to know what each character’s strong and weak points were. (Mikuriya using Math to calculate the Day of the Week from the past was 😚👌)

7) Side Characters

The first one I’m thinking is obviously Sonohara Akira. The moment of his first appearance, I had a hunch that it wasn’t exactly as it looked. He’s a little schemer but he has his own code of ethics, so he’s not all that bad. (Also hes A Gamer, so Relatable.) The fact that he’s related to Sonohara of Asagaoka makes it all the more interesting because they're’ so different. The way everyone reacts to him is so interesting because he doesn’t take it seriously while everyone else does. My favorite interactions with him aside from the Akiba Squad are the ones with Ookura. (I actually prefer to ship them over Niina/Akira lol)

Sasajima, mysterious Quiz Master with a past related to Fukami’s brother, who used to go to the Prestigious Quiz King School. Character wise, he doesn’t seem interesting but I love his idea of what a Quiz Bowl should be. My favorite parts of a series is when they love the thing they do, and that having fun is what is the most important. Of course you have to be fairly good at the thing first to be able to enjoy yourself freely but he never brags and is a supportive senpai.

Jinko. She’s cute. That’s good enough for me lol. I guess her Electronics Thing is also pretty cool. I like seeing the Sasajimas interact.

8) Ship

Okay, well, its obvious where I fall here. I don’t remember the last time I’ve watched such a generic sport series with a one on one protag vs rival. I’m not above shipping the “obvious/main” ship, as SasuNaru and Edgewright are some of my ships. However I didn’t ship Akira/Hikaru and I don’t ship KageHina but I do ship something like Manjoume/Judai and if asked MakoHaru vs RinHaru, I’d pick the latter, so it might just be a matter of tastes and I won’t fall immediately into every “rival” ship.

So why would I ship Mikuriya/Koshiyama? Because I love it when the Cool Guy falls for the Nerd and EXTRA POINTS if the Cool Guy is also secretly a nerd too. When I mean secretly a nerd, I don’t mean Mikuriya being on quiz bowl but that he might be a closet Otaku. (ImaSaka is everything about this trope.)

Anyway, they are the main two rivals in the series, so of course they acknowledge each other. Koshiyama took it so dramatically but in the past, nobody cared about his presence, let alone think that he’s a Threat. Mikuriya is a Hot Shot and thinks he’s better than everyone but this newb with potential beat him one time (unofficially) so he’s automatically curious.

Even though it is Hot Blooded Competition, Mikuriya always seems to encourage and cheer Koshiyama on (in his own rival-y way of course) whenever he feels down about not being strong enough to compete with him. (When they were lining up for the Third round at Asagaoka) Even when Koshiyama lost, after Mikuriya had a huge handicap, Mikuriya tells him he’ll take him on anytime. The fact that he wants to do Quiz Bowl with (against) him, is practically Sports Anime confession. “I won’t wait for you, Git Gud” “Okay I will Git Gud so we can fight again” *Fist Bump* What are you guys doing.

It might just be the art style but there is a copious amount of blushing happening every time the two interact. Also that height difference!! Mikuriya is 172 while Koshiyama is 153, I fucking love it.

Uhhhh that’s about it. I would like to gush more but there’s only a few chapters of the manga that’s been fan translated and it’s not even half of what’s actually out there. (I think the manga is complete by now?) There’s only one anime season of the series, and I doubt there’s going to be more so RIP me.

#pixi post #nanamaru sanbatsu #7o3x #7o3x fastest finger first #nana maru san batsu #theres no point in tagging it because people who are in the tag have already seen it #long post #in case mobile wont add the read more

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ashdoestheartthing · 4 years

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jinkies gang, it's an introduction post !!!

hey everyone !!! i'm gonna do a bit of an intro post to this account, cause mainly i'm gonna be posting whatever and i think it needs a little coherence probably!!!

about me

i'm currently in highschool, studying math psychology and english a-levels (brit school thing) !!! i hate it here!

i'm 17, still figuring stuff out, and i go by they/them pronouns but also she/her !!! gender is wack, y'all.

i'm a gemini sun, aquarius moon, ENFP-T, type 7 enneagram, gryffinpuff, chaotic good... and i just really think personality quizzes and stuff are neat.

i'm desi, based in the middle east !!!

i say i'm gay a lot for someone who's bi (pan?? i dunno man) and almost exclusively likes fictional characters that fit the leo valdez™ trope.

i'm 5'8" , which is not relevant information at all but i'm really proud of that fact given desi people are short as heck, so you have to know too.

i'm missing that serotonin juice boyz,,,, hit me up w some of that dopamine,,,, pleas,,,,

i like playing videogames, roleplaying, doing both of those with my friends, my friends in general, my very neat girlfriend and also dogs are pretty funky!!!!! also the color red!!!!!

what i'll be posting about

mainly oc stuff and art challenges honestly !!! i'm in love with all 32 of my ocs and would honestly die for them.

i'm also likely to post art from whatever my current hyperfixation is,,, which changes,,,, a lot.

some constant fandoms i'm likely to post will be pjo/hoo, she-ra, dnd, bojack horseman, butterfly soup... etc.

what mediums i'll be using

tradigital artist babeyyyy!!!!

i honestly like doing traditional art more, more specifically pen lineart and pencil sketches, but digital art looks prettier on post usually so that'll be there too.

i'm not great using layers in digital art so pardon me.

why make a blog?

mainly. because instagram's shadowban fricked me over for absolutely no reason. my instagram is the exact same url as my tumblr, but now i'm here as well cause frick instagram rights man!!!!!! why am i making an art blog in general? man i freaking love art, and heck, even though i kinda wanna do something psych related in the future, i love love love making and creating art and fictional universes and i wanna make sure i keep drawing, even as a side job. this is kinda my headstart at that.

main goals for this blog?

i'd... really really like to hit 1k honestly. i got up to 900 ish on my Instagram but that's deadweight now and i've just always wanted a tiny following man 👉👈 i feel like that'd motivate me to draw instead of lie around all day

i also want to finally get started on my webcomic that has not done much for the past year!!!!

draw and post something at leassst weekly come on brain you can do this.

participate in art challenges man!!!!!

That's all, folks

#artists on tumblr #introduction post #artist intro #art blog #heres me #first post #pjo fanart #oc art #butterfly soup art #poc artist #lgbt artist #neurodivergent artist

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sineala · 5 years

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Author Meme

Author Name:

Sineala

Fandoms You Write For:

Currently, Marvel Comics. You may also remember me from The Eagle.

Where You Post:

AO3.

Most Popular Multi-Chapter Story:

Thrust Issues (616), a 130,000-word Steve/Tony story in which Captain America has an extremely large penis and his BFF Iron Man would like to help him lose his virginity. I write only the finest and most classy of literature. It has eight sex scenes.

Favorite Story You Wrote:

Straight on till Morning (616), my Steve/Tony Star Trek AU. You mean I get to take two of my favorite fandoms and paste them together? I basically just had a whole lot of fun throwing in all my favorite tropes from both canons and trying to come up with a way to translate the Avengers characters into the Star Trek universe.

I'm also pretty proud of Double Time (616/Noir) because I feel like it was one of those stories that came off exactly how I imagined it in my head and that almost never happens.

Story You Were Nervous to Post:

Chosen Man (The Eagle), which I wrote when I first got into the fandom, then waited about two years without posting it, and then finally posted it when the fandom was mostly dead. I didn't have an outline and I actually didn't have a beta and I just kept writing until it looked like somehow I had an ending. (I also did pretty much the same thing with Arcadia (Pros). I guess I like to finish novel-length stories and then wait years before posting them. I have a lot of anxiety, okay? I sign up for challenges because otherwise I would literally never post anything.)

How Do You Choose Your Titles:

I was going to say it's all song titles but maybe it's more like 50% song titles. Most of the Eagle stories are quotations in Latin. I have a rule for myself that I'm not allowed to title the story in Latin unless it's actually set in Ancient Rome.

Do You Outline:

Definitely. I wouldn't be able to remember what was supposed to happen without it.

Complete:

263 stories. Ha. Um. Yes. Well. No, wait, there's that unfinished Eagle space AU story. 262, I guess. Maybe I should just mark that complete. It kind of has an ending? A couple of the stories are translations of Latin fic (mostly mine) into English.

In-Progress:

When My Heart Bleeds: The Madame Masque story that was going to be one of my RBBs this spring before RL intervened. An established-relationship Steve/Tony AU of the Avengers v3 Nefaria Protocols arc. Featuring Whitney Frost (of course), a whole lot of hurt/comfort, a very familiar flophouse, Tony's alcoholism rearing its ugly head, a very protective and occasionally terrifying Steve, and a bunch of Avengers attempting to do the right thing based on extremely limited information. Status: done, currently in beta. 150,000 words.

Untitled Star Trek AU Sequel: Steve and Tony are on the worst shore leave ever, and it's getting worse by the minute. The fate of the Federation hangs in the balance. It was supposed to be a nice relaxing shore leave and then everything went wrong. Currently 100,000 words and I am supposed to be working on it now so we will see how this goes. Still near the end of chapter 3 (out of 6). I’m going to finish! I swear! I wrote some words last night!

MTH 2018 Collaboration With Kiyaar: We've got... ideas. Definitely we have several of those. We're gonna destroy you.

Coming Soon/Not Yet Started:

My ideas file is huge. Here are some of the more complicated ideas and not the ones that are just, like, “Steve in his commercial art days ends up drawing gay porn for rent money" or “the RT node breaks Tony’s dick.”

1930s Thoroughbred racing AU: Steve is a jockey. Tony is an owner/trainer. Together, they're going to try to win the Triple Crown. And, you know, fall in love. And there will probably be some h/c as Steve will probably fall off a horse or two.

All-Time Low sequel(s): I swear I'm going to fix them, and that means h/c all the way up to the blizzard.

Double Time sequel: I don't know if I'm really going to write this, but it would be fun. It would be 616 Director/Commander -- Secret Invasion but this time it goes better because Steve is alive and that way Tony can actually focus on things that are not all-consuming grief. Also, this time Steve would know the Illuminati exist.

Other Star Trek AU: Assuming I am not completely burned out on Star Trek AUs after finishing the SotM sequel, Phoenix keeps drawing art for an entirely different Star Trek AU (trust me, it would be an entirely different Star Trek AU) and I would very much like to write something for it because it delights me so much.

Secret Sub Steve: That D/s AU I posted the premise of a while back, in which Steve is a sub (frankly, a pretty terrible sub) and Rebirth is intended to make him a dom. It does not, and Steve has to lie about who he is as he falls apart more and more... and then he meets Tony, who turns out to be the dom he has been waiting for.

Another D/s AU: In which Steve and Tony meet on an anonymous hook-up site and, gosh, they get along so well, these two complete strangers. It's like they've known each other for years.

Time-travel identity porn: A ToS-era story after Tony is Iron Man but before the Avengers show up, in which he is visited by a man from the future who says his name is Steve Rogers, he says he needs Tony's help to get home, he knows a whole lot of things about Tony that no one else does, and he's very, very easy to fall for.

Do You Accept Prompts:

Not outside of fannish auction situations; it stresses me out too much to try to write fic to specifications, but I make an exception for charity. Speaking of which, I am offering another story for MTH this year, and this time I promise it's going to be a short one (5k or so), so I will definitely finish it. So if you’ve ever wanted me to write you something short and sweet (or short and heartwrenching, you know, whichever), I can make that happen.

Upcoming Story You Are Most Excited to Write:

I dunno, man. Either the sub Steve story or the ATL sequels. Honestly, I will just be happy to be finally done with the WIPs I am working on now. They are SO LONG.

Tagged By:

@mizzy2k

Tagging:

Anyone who wants to do it!

#posts i actually wrote

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kouzaires · 4 years

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For the ask game, answer all the questions you want to answer! I'm curious about the answers to all of them, but I'm not gonna ask them all, so you can just decide which ones you want to answer :)

AJDHDJDHKS THANK U FOR THIS FREEDOM. feel free to ask other questions or follow ups bc i super love talking abt my fics huhu <3

A: Of the fanfic you’ve written, which is your favorite and why?

OKAY i know most of u follow me for botw but my absolute favorite fic is the one i wrote for the end of haikyuu’s manga run, “there’s a mountaintop (that i’m dreaming of)”!!!! haikyuu will always have such a huge piece of my heart and i was so happy that i got into fic writing bc it let me express my love for the series in a creative way <3 i wrote it in like three days at an intense speed (for me), and i love that it’s able to resonate with other fans too!

F: Is there a song or a playlist to associate with [insert fic]?

most of my fics rn are titled based on cool songs that get stuck in my head!!!!! so id really love it if ppl listen to the specific songs i mention in the author’s notes because i usu play them on repeat while writing for certain vibes

H: How would you describe your writing style?

always, always evolving. all my old works are simultaneously stuff i could never replicate and yet absolutely brimming with stupid mistakes, so rereading old work is kind of odd for me.

J: What’s your favorite fanfic trope? Have you written it?

i mean i’m pretty into coffee shop aus (and to an extent, university aus) and yall know how that turned out HAHAHAHA!! but in general i have a Lot of fave tropes, not all of which i’ll probably end up writing about.

L: Which of your fanfics was the most emotionally challenging to write?

definitely “how does your garden grow?”, the ongoing mipha fic. it took me months to finish bc the last few chapters have so many intense scenes that i wasn’t always emotionally ready to write. plus, the fic itself was also rly long and i did struggle with tying together everyone’s motivations and storylines in a coherent way. but i’m glad i finished it before my summer ended!!!

N: Any fic ideas brewing that you’d care to share?

i have a couple, but they’re all for the haikyuu fandom and i dunno if u guys can relate lol. i’m taking a break from botw fics for now!!

O: What are your thoughts on people writing fanfic of your fanfic? / S: How do you feel about fan art inspired by your writing?

I WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER AND EVER. FOR REAL. I ABSOLUTELY SUPPORT ANY OF THIS AS LONG AS YOU INFORM ME ABOUT IT SO I CAN SHOWER YOU WITH LOVE!!!!!

Q: Do you like getting prompts from your readers?

i dont mind it i guess? but only if they understand that i might not necessarily use them, or i could use them but for a different fandom or story. my writing is really heavily dependent on my personal interest to write a particular story, so i find it difficult to write solely bc another person told me to.

V: Are there certain comments you’ve received on your stories that have stuck with you?

all of them. but very specifically, the comments that talk about emotions or how the reader actually felt are my absolute favorites bc the idea that i was able to touch another person’s heart is just akdhdkhdlsjsl

Y: What are your thoughts on your personal satisfaction with something you’ve written vs. the popularity of your stories? Do you tend to be most satisfied with your most popular stories?

well, i haven’t written so much that you could call it a trend exactly, but as of now it does seem like the stuff i was most passionate about also became the most popular. although i dunno how it’ll go with the mipha fic, because so far it’s not getting a lot of hits even if i poured so much time and effort into it y’know? then again, it really picks up in the latter chapters so eh

Z: Is there a story you’ve written that doesn’t seem to get much love?

as i mentioned, the mipha fic isn’t doing so well right now, though i’m hoping it’s just bc it’s unfinished at the moment!! aside from that, i also have to say the haikyuu goodbye fic? bc while it is my most popular story (given the large fandom size), i also think it’s not getting as much exposure as it could simply bc it’s a gen work and not shippy. plus, my tumblr post about it got almost zero notes so uh sad

bless u for asking me!! to everyone: pls feel free to join my ask memes huhu i love doing these things

#ask #ask meme #coffeeverse au #kinda

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zachvillasource · 5 years

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interview | zach villa - schonmagazine.com

As the infamous Night Stalker, Iowa-born actor Zach Villa is a chaotic evil in the latest series of American Horror Story. Entitled AHS: 1984, the show plays off the hopes and tropes of the 1980s, incorporating elements from films like Friday the 13th and Halloween into a spine-tingling thrill ride. The chief villain of the series is Villa’s Richard Ramirez, a reality-based serial killer set on making the lead characters’ lives a living hell — quite literally.

In real life, however, Villa is an obvious contrast. A multihyphenate with a strong career across a range of disciplines, he first caught the attention of the mainstream from his collaboration with Evan Rachel Wood in the project Rebel and a Basketcase. Now, as AHS: 1984 keeps audiences around the world thoroughly spooked, Villa opens up to Schön! about growing up in Iowa, his willingness to collaborate with Taylor Swift, and the unexpected call that announced his role on American Horror Story.

How did you get your start in acting?

Well, I’ve been on stage since I was two, so the whole shebang started quite early. Acting, oddly, was an afterthought when I first started. I had been dancing and singing on stage for years, idolising great song-and-dance performers like Gene Kelly, Donald O’ Connor, and Sammy Davis Jr. when it occurred to me that I should probably focus on learning the craft of acting if I wanted to continue pursuing that particular path in the entertainment industry. I had focused intensely on two out of the three “triple threat” disciplines, so I guessed it was time that I figured out the third part. It was an accessory to being able to perform musical theatre roles more effectively, and I guess that backfired in a sense and became a more central focus as I developed.

Iowa isn’t the most common birthplace for a big-time actor. What does your family — and presumably other Midwestern relatives — think of your journey into Hollywood?

They are both thrilled and confused. Don’t get me wrong — my family is very happy for me, and while we have had our spats over the years about whether or not I should be pursuing a highly volatile, financial unstable career, they have ultimately come through and rooted for me and my success.

That being said, I think pursuing a career in the mainstream entertainment industry is a very singular experience. Unless you’ve lived it and hit the pavement in NYC, L.A., etc., it’s very hard to understand the day-to-day struggles of a performing artist. I think that certain regions of the country are — generally — a majority of media consumers as opposed to creators, and there is a disconnect between the public and those of us pursuing an arts career that propagates the fallacy of things being easy and breezy, since you don’t have to get up every day at 6 AM, go to the office, and then come home and make dinner. People see that lack of structure as undisciplined and fancy-free. Let me tell you, it’s anything but. Artists have to hit the pavement in a very different way that is highly varied from day to day, and that uncertainty introduces a unique kind of stress, in addition, to actually trying to be good at your job. I always say that booking work is my “job” as an actor, and when I actually book a gig, that’s where the job ends and the craft and career begins. Translating that to someone without firsthand experience can be infuriatingly difficult.

Where were you when you found out about landing AHS: 1984 and the scope of your role? What did you do?Who did you call first?

I was in the studio recording an audiobook — one of the many ways that this particular actor has been able to supplement their income, and it has been such a gift. I was waiting on the call, and I stopped narrating mid-sentence — much to the puzzlement of my audio engineer — and picked up. I got the news, opened the door of the vocal booth and leaned against the front wall, sliding down to a sitting fetal position, and started to tear up. I called a few close friends and family and walked around for the better part of an hour mildly freaking out. The studio staff secretly went and bought a bottle of champagne down the street, and after I finished my page quota for the day they surprised me with a toast. Then everything in my life became a blur.

Of course, without spoiling anything, what can you tell us about your role as Richard Ramirez in AHS: 1984?

Oh, that’s a very difficult question. Richard Ramirez was a real person. I am playing a character that shares his name and is informed by him and his history. Beyond that, you’ll just have to wait and see.

What was the most memorable moment from shooting the series?

I can’t say my absolute favourite without revealing secrets! But I’ll say that the encounter with the hiker in episode two was quite “fun” — if you can call pretending to murder someone “fun.” The makeup and FX team on the show is the best in the biz, and the blood rig that was used in that scene was just wild. It was messy and crazy, and [there was] high pressure to get it right in one take, and I loved it.

What’s your method for getting into character, both in the weeks and moments leading up to a shoot or performance?

I have to play these cards close to the chest. Some of it is instinct. I just feel as though I am inside the character’s head at some point after spending enough time with the material, but it’s different with each role.

Sometimes I need to know how they sound, sometimes it’s historical research. It’s ALWAYS spending an exorbitant amount of time with the script — that’s the golden rule for me. Whether its Shakespeare or the 200th episode of Friends, you have to start with the text as an actor, and the most minute differences in phrasing, punctuation, word choice, etc. are clues to how this person operates as a human being and in the world. I always come back to the text. Any other secret sauce that I do I’ll keep secret for now.

What’s been the most challenging part of playing a character like this?

I’ll modify the question to ask what’s the most important part of playing a character like this… and that, I think, is being able to let it go at the end of the day — which I don’t always succeed in doing. Sometimes after an intense shoot it takes me a minute to let go of the energy I was carrying around on set. I pride myself on being able to flip in and out, but that is challenging from time to time for me on this particular project.

If you could only watch one film and one television series for the rest of your life, which would you choose?

The Back to the Future Trilogy for movies and Battlestar Galactica for TV. Nerd alert.

Apart from acting (and dance) you’re also well-versed in music. How did you begin as a musician?

The same time that I started hearing it, so very, very early. Growing up with a dance studio attached to your house, you hear a lot of very diverse music over the years. That all seeped into my subconscious, and I was writing full-on symphonies in my head walking through the woods in Iowa when I was seven or eight years old. Mind you, I didn’t have the skills to put that into writing or notation — and still don’t, not for the symphonies anyway.

I learned how to read music by playing the violin in elementary school. I didn’t pick up a guitar or actually start producing original music in any tangible way until my junior year at Interlochen Arts Academy. There, my roommate Filip — a wildly talented self-taught metal guitarist and visual arts student from Macedonia — taught me things here and there, and I also taught myself by ear. The Internet, man.

Who are some other musicians with whom you’d like to collaborate?

St. Vincent. Top of the list. Blink 182 — a childhood dream. Jimmy Eat World. John Mayer but only if he lets me be in his next ridiculous green screen music video. Mac Ayers, Tears For Fears, Snail Mail, and oh, I dunno… Taylor Swift. Come at me.

Who are your biggest musical inspirations? And what have you been listening to lately?

Biggest? That’s tough because it changes with each project. Tower of Power is a huge influence for me. My first band was funk-based, and man, they are so groovy. If you don’t know, now you know go listen to them. St. Vincent. Jimmy Eat World. And, regardless of the drama surrounding this artist from time to time, John Mayer. He really is one of the great guitarists of our generation, and more importantly, the songwriting that he produces is top-notch. I’ve learned a lot from diving deep into his material over the years. Miles Davis, and jazz in general, is huge for me. Brain fuel. Listening lately to Sleater-Kinney’s new record, Knuckle Puck, and a lot of 2000s pop-punk.

What else can we look forward to from Zach Villa — be in 2019, 2020 or later?

World domination.

The track on the video content [for this shoot] is the first single — a tease if you will — of my new solo project. Go check it out. My band Sorry Kyle will be dropping a ton of music over the next few months if you’re into punk and emo.

And that’s just music. Acting-wise, post-AHS I’m waiting to see what comes down the pipe. I’m always creating. I want to be fluid in music, movement, film and TV, directing, etc. There’s no time like the present and the present is, well, now. So hang on tight.

#zach villa #ahs cast #american horror story #ahs 1984 #interview #photoshoots #*

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bookenders · 5 years

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11/11/11 Tag Game: 16/17/18?

Back again to spill the tea about myself for all you lovely people.Thanks @cataclysmic-writer, @maybeillwriteit and @aurisadventure for the tags!

My answers are under the cut. 😊

Rules: Answer the 11 questions of the person who tagged you, make up 11 questions, then tag 11 people to answer them.

Bilbo Taggins: @brittanyisart, @quilloftheclouds, @brittanyisart, @brynwrites, @creatvrae, @elisabethrosewrites, @elizabethsyson, @ren-c-leyn, @yetmorestories, @pinespittinink, @timefire25

My Questions:

What are your thoughts on throw pillows?

Do you have any podcast recommendations? How about TV shows?

What month would you be on a calendar, and what would the picture be?

What is one book that you absolutely love, no matter what anyone else has to say about it?

What’s your favorite kind of scented candle?

What’s your favorite urban legend?

Would you ever go on an arctic expedition?

What’s the furthest from home you’ve ever been?

What is the best snack?

How purple do you allow your prose to be/get? What’s your purple limit? Is there one?

What’s one word/line/scene/character that you want to put in a story, but you haven’t found the right place for yet?

@cataclysmic-writer‘s questions:

What do you eat or drink while writing? It varies depending on how I’m feelin’. Usually a big giant glass of water. I used to have coffee and/or tea, but it always got cold because I forgot about it. That’s actually how I used to measure my progress, by how cold the drink was. And coffee got me too jazzed to sit still, so I stopped drinking while writing. Good for academic papers, though.

Best piece of advice you ever received? Like... ever? Okay. People are more interested in themselves/absorbed with themselves to really care what you’re doing. Very empowering for someone with real bad social anxiety (like myself heyooo).

Which book inspired you to write the most? I’ve talked about Laurie Halse Anderson’s Wintergirls before, and I’m gonna mention it again. And that I went to a signing for her new book Shout and I got to thank her and my life has been enriched a thousand-fold.

Which author do you try to emulate when you write? Oh, man, I do not do this at all. Okay, well, not at all, because I find it to be a valuable writing exercise to practice with. But I super don’t. I’ve done projects where I’ve emulated Walt Whitman, Philip Levine, Tolkien, Dostoevsky, Poe (eugh), and Anne Valente. Those were super fun. I like imitating styles and I’ve gotten pretty darn good at it. Sometimes I tell myself to put a Gaiman-like twist on a section, though, or describe something like another author if it fits the tone for funsies. But I like writing like me!

Where did you get the idea for your current wip? I’ve already talked about Heart to Heart, so I’ll talk about “Fish Food!” This one happened when I was pondering superheroes, James Bond, tropes, evil monologues, and the like. I had the image of a hero tied up and dangling over a pit of piranhas while the villain detailed his evil plan. But the hero didn’t follow the script. And then, like every one of my short stories, it spun way out of control. I started to think of what heroes would inhabit this world that erupted from the fertile soil of my brain and suddenly I had a big complicated story that I was excited about. And it was funny, which is a change for me.

Do you have a go-to beta reader/writing buddy you bounce ideas off of? I do! One of my goodest friends is a fellow writer and she’s my spaghetti wall if I need assistance. We went through the same creative writing program one year apart and had different teachers, so we offer each other pretty different advice, and it’s great. She’s super into fae lore, too, which is ridiculously helpful for me, a nerd who is writing a light fantasy story with fae in it. We operate in different styles and genres, though, so sometimes idea-bouncing is a little tricky.

Which of your WIPs is your favorite? Of the ones I’m working on right now? Probably “Incarnate.” Partly because it’s closer to my usual writing fare, partly because it’s weird and disturbing in my favorite ways, partly because the ending is really cool and surprising in a way that hits you long after you finish it. I also like it because it’s hard for me to write. Yay, challenges!

Tea, coffee, or soda? Tea for chillin’, coffee for workin’, soda for pizza times.

If you could have any fantasy creature as a pet, which would you have? A brownie to clean my house, or a domovoi to act as a weird home security system would be neat. For non-practical purposes, I’d also say a pegasus. I can ride pretty well and it’d be so convenient to just fly everywhere on my awesome horse buddy.

Do you like creepy/scary movies? NOPE. I am a big chicken shit when it comes to spooky things. As a kid, I was terrified of E.T. That’s how bad it was.

What genre do you have yet to write in, but want to write soon? Hm. Maybe historical fiction? I already play with it a little bit without actually going into the history part of it too deeply. Maybe I’ll give it a shot in the future. I’ve always wanted to give magical realism a good try, though. It’s always been hard for me to write.

________________________________________

@aurisadventure‘s questions:

1. Who is your favorite oc? Why?

Right now, it’s Lithium from “Fish Food.” She’s just so fun. I also just figured out a big part of Jill’s character that I’m excited to add to H2H!

2. What is your favorite thing to do when you’re not writing?

I got into cooking a while ago, and that’s pretty fun. I do yoga sometimes. I read a bunch. I also like putting things together. Honestly, I’m a big giant nerd who likes learning in their spare time.

3. What is your least favoured genre?

Hard sci-fi is really hard for me to get into. And some contemporary stuff, but it’s not as bad as hard sci-fi.

4. Top three favorite video games? (Any console)

DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS (with Awakening DLC, obvs) (except for the goddamn Mage Circle Fade part I hate it and it deserves to burn in hell)

Ori and the Blind Forest (I’m stuck on the last stupid fire volcano level and I’m so mad because it’s hard but this game is beautiful)

To The Moon (so many tears, such good story)

Honorable mention to Assassin’s Creed 2.

(I love RPGs.)

5. What’s the craziest thing you’ve done for inspiration?

Hm. I don’t really go out and seek inspiration like this. I just consume a whole lot of art in varying mediums.

I went to a poetry slam one time. Does that count?

6. Buggy or Cart?

Horses, buggy. Oxen, cart. As much as I’d like to be Gandalf...

7. Have you finished any of your wips?

I am so goddamn close to finishing “When Your Song is Over and Done” I can taste it. I’m hoping to write that last stupid scene this week. It’s been the one WIP that’s been kicking my ass lately. How rude.

I’m a short story writer, so I finish a lot of my WIPs. It’s kinda nice. That’s also why longer projects scare me.

8. But like… can I read it?

😉

In the meantime, you can read these!

9. What is your favorite animal? Why?

Highland Cows! Just look at them.

I’m sure I have a more interesting answer for this, but honestly, cows are all I can think of. I love cows.

10. Name one place you want to visit more than anything.

Norway! Not sure why. Seems like a really cool place to be.

(I lied I love space and want to go to the observatories.)

11. What is your most cherished childhood memory?

Saturday mornings curled up in my grandfather’s armchair watching TV and eating Burger King before we go visit the animals at the farm.

________________________________________

@maybeillwriteit‘s questions:

1. Which oc would you most like to go for a drink with?

I don’t drink, but I think Treena would be an excellent conversation partner.

2. Where do you like to write? Bed? Desk? Cafe? etc etc

I have a desk in my room. Not that I usually write at it. I’m good anywhere I can sit up straight and rest my arms.

3. Which of your ocs do you think people are most likely to make fanart for?

Eventually, I hope Mel. I love her character design. Or the superheroes and villains from “Fish Food.” They all have really distinct appearances and cool costumes/uniforms.

4. Favourite piece of writing advice you’ve received?

Probably the time my mentor also admitted he hated writing dialogue, but that sometimes you just gotta.

5. Which place in your stories would you like to live? (i’ve read this sentence ten times and i ain’t convinced it’s grammatically correct lol)

(maybe: In which place/where in your stories would you most like to live? I dunno this one’s freaking my brain.)

Linsay would be the best place to live, I think. A very chill small town that has everything you need, very supportive soon-to-be friends, an apothecary on stand-by, and lovely weather. Its residents are fiercely protective and are very willing to look the other way where the law is concerned if it helps someone.

6. Do any authors/books influence your writing? Which ones?

Oh, tons. Jim Butcher, Laurie Halse Anderson, George Saunders, Anne Valente, Tolkien, Gaiman, Matt Bell, Aimee Bender, and a whole bunch more authors. And, if you wanna get all heartfelt about it, every single book I’ve read has influenced my writing, whether it’s learning how to do something, learning how not to do something, or finding a new technique that jives with my style.

7. Pick one song that represents your wip.

I’ve done a bunch of song stuff with H2H, so this is for “Fish Food:”

Honestly, my first instinct is “Superboy and the Invisible Girl” from Next to Normal. But it’s not quite right.

I also wanna say “Super Friends” from Holy Musical B@man.

But in my heart, I know the true answer is “Under Pressure.” How could it not be?

8. Favourite thing about being a writer?

The feels! I love writing things and getting my own feels out, then making other people feel things. It’s so satisfying.

9. Characters or plot, what came first?

Characters! Oh my God, always characters. And before characters, concept and theme(s). Sometimes a scene just pops into my head and I have to figure out who these people are and why they’re there.

10. Do you like writing prompts?

I do indeedy. They’re pretty helpful when I’m stuck. I only write for the ones that instantly spark an idea in my brain, though. All the ones I’m getting for my 800 followers celebration are insanely good.

11. Part of your wip that you’re most excited to write?

Oh, man! So many!

H2H: The climax! Well, one of them. The one of the magic incidents and Mel and Gemma’s relationship, to be specific.

Fish Food: When my main two dudes meet Lithium! And figure out what’s going on with her. Or anything about Lithium’s real life. Her story is wild.

WYSiOaD: The goddamn rooftop scene that’s been kicking my ass for a month. It’s gonna be so emotional and poignant and great and I can’t wait for it to be over.

#writeblr #amwriting #about me #tag game #writer tag #11/11/11 tag game #my process #my writing process #tunes

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lululawrence · 6 years

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Annual Writing Self-Evaluation

All answers should be about works published in 2017.

I was tagged by @allwaswell16 and @londonfoginacup and @flamboyantommo and I feel like maybe someone else…so here I am lol also this got hella long, so i’m gonna put most of this under a cut.

1. List of works published this year:

listen. believe it or not i published 40 fics this year. 40. in 2017. SO i’m gonna just…list them in chronological order, k? k. (this is why this is gonna have to have a read more)

1. Easy, Breezy, Beautiful 2. Bloody Mary 3. I Don’t Know What To Believe 4. The Day is Up and Calling 5. Bend Me, Shape Me with @a-writerwrites and @dimpled-halo 6. I Found a Love 7. That’s Not My Name 8. Be a Daymaker 9. Love Me Like You Do 10. What Happens Next 11. Validation 12. Cake, Phone, Harry 13. Same White Shirt 14. Now That It’s Over 15. A Word We’ve Only Heard 16. No Chance At All 17. (Make You Want To) Scream 18. Nothing Please Me More Than You 19. Let Me Make It Better 20. My Cup of Tea

21. (And Things Will Be) Hard at Times 22. Mistaken Identity with like the entire group chat 23. Wait for the End to Change 24. If It’s Meant To Be (It’ll Be, It’ll Be) 25. You Can Read Me Anything 26. (This Could Be Forever) Right Now 27. Will Love Be There 28. With You In Your Dreams 29. Couldn’t See Past Me, Till I Saw You 30. All I Want Is To Be Free 31. One Taste And He Want It 32. Better Walk That (Pap) Walk, Baby with @suddenclarityharry 33. Love So Soft 34. Got This Feeling In Our Souls 35. We’re Both Stubborn (Two Hearts in One Home) 36. Before I Knew That I Had Begun 37. A Real Work of Art 38. You Can’t Blame Me For Tryin’ 39. Christmas at the Holly Lodge 40. You’ve Got My Heart

Okay, and now I’m exhausted. You still with me? Bless you.

2. Work you are most proud of (and why):

@someonethatsfunny actually asked me a few months ago what work I’m most proud of, and I truly don’t know. I’m super proud of (Make You Want To) Scream, because bodyswap is hella hard to write, fam, and I DID IT. I’m proud of my reverse bang, All I Want Is To Be Free, because it was the first time I’d ever really teamed up with an artist like that. I wrote my first historical AU, my first ABO, my first cowrites, my first…A LOT of things, and all of them stretched me so incredibly so I’m not really sure which one I’m most proud of.

3. Work you are least proud of (and why):

I dunno. I have some that I’ve forgotten I wrote this year, but I am still proud of it because have you ever published 40 fics in a year? Just the fact I was able to do that has me patting myself on the back, so yeah. There are some I don’t like as much, but I’m damn proud for what I was able to publish this year.

4. A favorite excerpt of your writing:

They walked past a street performer, Louis completely focused on the church. Rather than walking to the entrance though, Harry first guided Louis towards another corner.

“This part here? It’s completely black like this because it’s the only part of the building that remained standing after the bombing. They were able to salvage it and recreate it as best they could to look like the original.”

Louis leaned in closer to Harry, as if he needed to physically feel him there with him.

“The Hofkirche and the Kreuzkirche are both incredible in their own way, and according to most, none of these churches can even begin to inspire you or impress you in the way that other cathedrals, like the Cologne Cathedral, do, but the Frauenkirche?” Harry paused here as he tried to pull his thoughts together. “I feel like she’s the perfect symbol of Dresden. Of people in general. So often we find ourselves having to rebuild and start from scratch when plans we had hoped and planned on fall through, but even if we are only left with some stones and the corner of the building, we can be strong again.”

Louis was no longer looking at the church but was looking at Harry.

“Well shit, Haz. Is that what you said when you did your episode on Dresden?”

Harry rubbed his hand nervously through his hair before wrapping his arm around Louis’ shoulders. Harry couldn’t help pulling Louis even closer than he already was, and Louis didn’t resist. He moved his Döner to his right hand and wrapped his arm around Harry’s waist.

“No.” Harry swallowed roughly before placing a soft kiss in Louis’ hair. “No, that’s the special version only you get.”

Louis tilted his head back, his blue eyes studying Harry intently. “I like that I get the special version,” he whispered.

From If It’s Meant To Be (It’ll Be, It’ll Be)

5. Share or describe a favorite comment you received:

Oh gosh. I love so many different comments and there were some this year that truly brought me to tears, but some of my favorites were on Validation. It floors me still that people took what I wrote in a fic and started to actually put it into play in their lives. Something that I wrote inspired them to change how they approached some situations and that just…wow. Incredible.

6. A time when writing was really, really hard:

Honestly, most of this year writing was my therapy. It was how I coped with everything life was throwing at me, but the hardest time for me writing wise was this month. I wasn’t feeling inspired, I was having a crazy hard time even carving out ten minutes to write, and I was exhausted all the time. Even with that, though, I was able to write two fics, so I’m proud of myself for pushing through. Especially since I now have five million ideas of things to write again haha

7. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you:

Oof. Uhm…like everything? For real. So many times I was writing and things happened that I didn’t anticipate or plan for and it turned out better than I ever imagined.

8. How did you grow as a writer this year:

SO MANY WAYS. My big goal for writing this year was to write more, and HOLY MOTHER DID I WRITE MORE. In talking with @briannamarguerite, she mentioned once that writing is a muscle and it can be strengthened when you use it more, and through this year I absolutely agree. I started the year off with a challenge I did with a group of people who became incredible friends (shout out to wordplay peeps @a-writerwrites, @taggiecb, @becomeawendybird, @afirethatcannotdie, @dinosaursmate, @phd-mama, @londonfoginacup, and @allwaswell16!) to write a fic a week, all using the same one word prompt, and that kind of set up the average I ended up keeping through the rest of the year of publishing a fic about every week and a half. I also branched out on tropes I had never written before, tried co-writing, different structures for fics, etc. I feel like this year was a huge one for trying new things and going out of my comfort zone, so I’m actually really incredibly proud of myself for all the ways I feel like I grew this year.

9. How do you hope to grow next year:

I want to focus on the quality I’m putting out. I worked on quantity and telling myself I could do it, so now I want to focus a little more on editing myself really well. Being really happy with not just the story I’m putting out, but the way it’s written. I also am finally publishing a fic I’ve been working on, off and on, since 2015 next year, and that’s the longest fic I’ve written to date, so lots of ways for me to try to stretch myself still!

10. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc):

Oh holy mother. @silentlarryshipper as a massive support for keeping me going at the beginning of the year for sure! I couldn’t have done this without her. All the wordplay peeps I mentioned above as well. @becomeawendybird, @gettingaphdinlarry, and @briannamarguerite for being the best, most brutal and thorough betas ever, I love all you guys SO DAMN MUCH! And without a doubt every last one of the ladies not already mentioned who were more than willing to yell encouragement at me, even when I was being ridiculous: @freetheankles, @dinosaursmate, @haloeverlasting, @indiaalphawhiskey, @dimpled-halo, @a-writerwrites, @suddenclarityharry, @londonfoginacup!

11. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year:

Oh yes. My love story to Dresden has all my true feelings for the city, some of the ridiculous scenes from the mpregs i wrote are personal stories of my own, a lot of locations are from my own life, etc.

12. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers:

Don’t give up and find yourself a support crew! Having multiple writing support group chats was one of the best things to come out of this entire year for me. The other people you surround yourself with can make the biggest difference as to whether a project gets finished or not.

13. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year:

oh yes! currently i have a to write or to publish list of:

wibbly wobbly, timey wimey fic (which might be my big bang after all)

a couple birthday fics to come

Marcel exchange fic

ABO exchange fic

a flicker album fic

a fic based off of Charlie Puth’s song attention

so we’ll see how that all turns out. lol

14. Tag three writers/artists whose answers you’d like to read.

if you were tagged in this and haven’t done it already, please consider yourself tagged now! (or if you’re reading this and haven’t been tagged and want to, please tag me and say I told you to do it! I want to read your answers!!) OH and I would also love to hear from @justalittlelouislove :D

#mine #writing stuff #about me #this was so long #i'm sorry #but I LOVE THIS TOO #so there's that #fic stuff

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themockingcrows · 7 years

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Movie Marathon Musings

Day 1 of @johndaveweek.

Written for/inspired by a piece of art by Stribird [X]

AO3 mirror: [X] This fic is SFW.

What was meant to be a movie night, a night for best bros being bros, turns awkward fast when John begins to realize just how much his mind wanders when Dave falls asleep against him in the middle of a Lord of the Rings marathon. Has he been not noticing things that were directly in front of him..? Or is he imagining things that aren't there to begin with?

It was supposed to be a movie night. A normal, standard, bro hangout time filled with action sequences, awesome music and way too much junk food. John had been promised nachos and popcorn, sodas, and acting out the sequences he and Dave knew word for word by heart, because really what the fuck else happens when two people know the same movies so well and are in the same room together for this many hours? Admit it, it totally happens.

It was supposed to be all that, at least. But it wasn't.

By the time they'd finished The Fellowship Of The Ring, half the snacks were gone and the all too familiar lazy cozy feeling started to sink into their bones. That strange, hypnotic sensation that came with movie marathons like this, brains slowing down to run more like background noise than anything active, everything on auto-pilot. A robbery could happen in that stage and the pair would probably look up and tell the perpetrator to be quiet and maybe turn the flashlight off to keep the nice dim atmosphere going.

Dave got up and yawned, stretching as he shook his arms and then his legs out to wake his limbs back up, and went to put the next movie in.

“Hey, don't tell me you're tired already,” John said, changing his own position to sit more upright once again, having spent the last hour of the movie laying on his side slumped against the edge of the sofa. He was fairly sure he could make out circles under Dave's eyes.. but then again, shades make everything look a little shadowed and he usually had trouble sleeping. Maybe it was catching up to him during the hypnotic drone of hobbits and magic.

“Me? Tired? Nah, man, I'm relaxed. I'm in this for the long haul. We can watch the other three movies after we finish these ones if you still feel up to it. Maybe order a pizza, make fun of Cucumberdick, take shots every time someone's Extra.”

“Dave, you'll kill me if we do that. Alcohol poisoning is a thing, Dave, my liver will sue.”

After ensuring everything was set and the completed movie was put back safely in its case, Dave returned to take a seat beside John and slouched back against the cushions, just close enough for their upper arms to touch. Warm, casual proximity. It was something John loved about hanging out with Dave, that connection feeling. It always made him feel so warm..

“Let it sue, then. Or we could be doing juice shots or something else cheap considering how many fuckin' hours of movies there are to sit through. Or if you REALLY want a great idea, we can attach somethin' dumb to the screen and take a dab of hot sauce every time a character lines up with it just right.”

“That's a WORSE idea, though!”

“Worse, or better.”

“Worse, I literally just said that, WORSE!”

“You say that now, but you'll come to understand my genius later and regret shit talkin' me about it,”Dave declared as he reached for the remote and flopped back again, lifting his feet to prop them up on the coffee table in a clear spot.

“Your genius is chock full of half baked ideas and bullshit,” John said, punching his friend's upper arm with maybe enough force to sting before settling on the cushions again when no immediate counter attack seemed coming his way. “And hot sauce.” ..Huh. Maybe Dave actually WAS tired. Most he'd done was sway with the pressure and smirk at him.

“Sounds like good ideas if they're bullshit to you and coated in hot sauce. Spicy wing challenge this bitch: we do nothin' except what I say for 24 hours, no questions asked. Hope you like Vegas, John, it'll be a hell of an experience,” Dave said as he found his way through the menu and set up the subtitles, voice a little quieter but still plenty clear.

“No. In fact, hell no. That's the worst idea ever, Dave, we'd probably wake up the next day in ugly suits in a heart shaped tub, married and surrounded by Elvis impersonators offering us fancy crepes,” John said, sticking his tongue out. Why the hell had his mind jumped that direction? Well. Wasn't that what normally happened during Vegas blackouts with best friends? Get sloppy drunk together, want to be together forever, and run off to get married then wake up to the results and scramble for an annulment? It was all over movies and stuff as the most common trope, had to happen at least ONCE in a while.

“Aw, John, you proposing? Does it have to be crepes, can the accumulated Elvii in our presence offer like. I dunno, a burrito as big as my head instead? Everything's bigger in Vegas, hook me up, let me eat well during my honeymoon at least.”

“I'm no-!”

“At least I know how you feel now, even if it involves some ugly ass suits. Remind me during Spicy Wing Challenge Dave Day to get us something decent to wear before getting' smashed so we at least can avoid the fate that is being forever immortalized on film in Dumb and Dumber-esque suits, oh Lloyd to my Harry.”

“Oh shut up, it was just the first thing that came to mind,” John huffed, reaching his foot up to thwack the side of Dave's calf before setting again with a pout firmly on his lips as the opening sequence finished and the rest of the movie began to filter into the dim lighting of the room just like before to lull them back to peace. Dave snorted, slapped loosely at him with his far hand, then went still to watch the screen. It's why they were here, after all: watch the movies like a ritual, eat way too much junk food, have some chill bro time.

Till Dave fell asleep.

John saw the struggle happening on screen at the same time as he saw it happening on Dave's face, lips going slack and head drooping forward a few times in a row, only to be jerked upright as he startled awake. Enough times of this, of swaying in place with fatigue, and Dave eventually leaned towards the only other source of warmth on the couch: right snug against John's side. It wasn't the first time he'd done this, not by a long shot. A lot of movie marathons involved a Dave nap for some reason, just like clockwork, to the point where John sometimes wondered if part of the reason he wanted to do super long marathons was so he could get some good sleep in with the help of his roped in buddy.

It was.. kind of hard to not stare, John found. The flickering lights from the screen painted Dave's pale hair with different colors, catching the highlights and turning pastel for brief mmoments before going brighter than white and back again. It highlighted the hollows of his cheeks, the edges of his lips, and even the flash of his lashes behind his shades. Like this, limp and mouth half open to softly breathe, it was hard for John to picture anything other than the word 'beautiful'. What the fuck, even his guy friends were pretty, he was surrounded by beautiful people, what the fuuuuuuuuck.

Dave shifted as John stared at him, cuddling a bit closer and heaving a soft sigh out his nose as his lips closed a fraction. Yep. Still pretty. Still nearly-but-not-quite snoring. Still curled up against him like he was renting property on John's torso. Still... ...Still..

..Fuck.

What John had said jokingly about Vegas earlier was flickering in his mind like wildfire, and he wanted to scream. Namely, what would Dave look like in a suit. No. John knew what he'd look like in a suit, he owned two and looked like a completely different person when he was wearing them, his mind was wondering how he'd look in a suit crammed in an empty heart shaped tub, sleeping off a hangover perfumed by cologne and cocktails. Would he be cuddled close like this against John's body, breathing soft, completely trusting and relaxed? Would the hand resting on his own stomach be sporting a wedding band the right size, or would it be ridiculously over sized for his slim hands? Would he rush to get an annulment soon as he was coherent?

… What if he didn't? What if that was just A Thing?

John hissed a soft breath and shook his head, looking to the screen as if he'd been electrocuted. Wow, holy shit, he'd been in a daze for probably fifteen minutes if he remembered the movie right. Or was it twenty? Twenty fucking minutes daydreaming about being married to his hot friend in Vega-

WHOA, WOW, NO, WAIT, HOLD THE FUCK UP. John could hear brakes slamming on, tires skidding, and he was only half certain it was inside his own mind for how loud it was. His heart hammered and warmth his his cheeks, making him thankful that not only was Dave asleep, but that he wouldn't have to ever explain the weird as hell progression his thoughts were taking all at once. He'd thought Dave was pretty. Beautiful, even. Aesthetically pleasing. Totally different connotation than hot. DIFFERENT. D. I . F. F. E. R. E. N. T. Somehow.

Though. ..Being perfectly honest, he was hot. It was weird to think that about your best bro though, right? It was weird to think that about any of his friends even if it was true, and John knew better than to say it, but it didn't stop the obvious from being obvious. Or the obvious from being nestled beside him like a cat in sunlight, warm and just enough weight to feel substantial.

...Could he put his arm around him? Would that be weird? It'd be weird, wouldn't it. Why did he want to put his arm around him. Oh. Yes, because he was sleeping and it'd suck if he fell or rolled off the couch somehow, right? No. Because he was pressing against John's arm awkwardly and making it numb? Maybe. Yeah, that might be it, that sounded plausible, right? Biting his lower lip, John carefully wiggled his arm and lifted it, letting Dave drop an inch so he was flat against his ribs. In his daze, Dave briefly startled with a soft “Mhh?” but didn't wake fully, letting his body seek the more direct warmth, planting his face against the side of John's t-shirt and beginning to slowly breathe again.

Another soft, barely there sound came from Dave. A satisfied “Nnn..” on a particularly long, slow exhale, and John felt his heart clench tight as a fist in his chest as his stomach flipped. Fuck. Danger. Danger, danger, danger, he was hearing the claxon in his head but couldn't stop his mind from wandering. The adventure unfolding on screen, familiar as wonderful as it was, wasn't nearly as interesting as the short guy nested on the sofa with him. John held his breath as he lowered his hand slowly, the Mission Impossible theme trying to invade his thoughts, and settled his palm on his friend's hip.

No complaints, no shuffling. If anything, Dave seemed.. happy? Maybe it was just the extra security feeling of being held at play, John couldn't even begin to guess. Hell, he couldn't begin to breathe properly anymore. This was a lot to be coming to terms with for a guy, especially while war was being waged about six feet away to epic music.

John's best friend was hot, and he was acutely aware of it. John's hot best friend, Dave, was fast asleep under his arm like it was his second home, and his hand was on his hip like it belonged there. Said hot best friend, who happens to look amazing in a suit, would probably look great at a wedding in Vegas. Preferably hooked on John's arm and looking excited instead of absolutely shitfaced drunk. He looked great when he smiled, and John loved making him laugh specifically to get that crooked quirk of his lips to explode into a full blown laugh as often as he could. The sound made his own spirits lift like clouds, made him feel giddy, made his chest ache an-

..Oh.

Oh, god, was that what this was? Was that was a crush was? It was, right? John had felt the patter in his chest a few times in his life, but never quite like this: where it felt so good it hurt. Was this a crush on Dave?

Fuck, how long had this been happening? John's mind raced and his pulse picked up, warmth spreading sharply down his neck as the flush grew more and more intense. Fuck. FUCK, THIS WAS TOTALLY A FUCKING CRUSH, WHY DID HE NEVER NOTICE THAT?! He slapped his own forehead with his free hand and stifled a strangled screech of frustration best he could, squirming in place, trying to not kick his legs to avoid jostling the sleeper against his side too much.

John 'My Emotional Processing Skills Are Equivalent To Windows Explorer' Egbert had struck again, and he wanted to crawl into a pit and die. Years. Literal years. Years worth of interactions, of feeling that tug in his chest, that ache when he heard Dave had brief relationships that hadn't quite worked out that wasn't anywhere near the sensation of feeling happy for your friend being happy. Fucking. Years. YEARS of missing his own point, smiling, and carrying on while his heart was on fire.

Had anyone noticed? Was he giving off some kind of signal? ...Had DAVE ever tried to put off a signal? Did Dave know? Oh, fuck, did Dave know and think he knew and he DIDN'T know so he didn-

“...Oh. Shit,” Dave mumbled, shifting under John's arm and pushing himself to sit upright, rubbing at his face and yawning. “Fuck. Sorry, man, your supreme coziness struck again. You're gonna start chargin' by the hour soon, huh.” His accent was a bit thicker whenever he was sleepy, slow and sweet like syrup over top the rough crags of sleepiness. When John didn't respond to him, he looked up in confusion, wondering if the movie marathon had claimed a second victim. If so, it was DEFINITELY time for a snack break, maybe a quick jog to the store for a few energy drinks.

John was red. Unbelievably red in the face, from his cheeks to his ears to his neck down past the front dip of his t-shirt. He was all but radiating heat, expression startled, lips parted as if he'd tried to shriek and failed.

“..Uh. John? Yo. John. Earth to John, you alright?” Dave asked, brows furrowing. “You feeling sick or something?”

At a loss for words and unable to explain things let alone control himself perfectly, John let out the strangled shriek of a squeal he'd tried to contain earlier, completely in line with his own thoughts as he tossed his head back on the couch cushions, rolled his body, and let his legs flail over Dave's like an extension of the sofa as he covered his face. This was going to take a lot of explaining, he could already feel it.

..With any luck, Dave would enjoy hearing it all, though, rambly and confusing as it was. It was apparently a long time coming, and he could only hope Dave not only understood, but was interested in figuring out just how many signs he'd missed.

“What, finally pop a boner 'cause someone hot as me was sleeping on you?” Dave asked, lips lifting in his usual smirk as he shifted his position to follow where John had rolled, climbing on him without a second's hesitation, too familiar with John by that point to second guess the action. “Or do you pop'em all the time and only now got busted?”

“It's. ..Fuck. You wouldn't understand. I don't understand! I don't understand a goddamn thing apparently, but here we are! And here you are! And me! And us! An-”

“How about you take a breath and try to tell me clear as you can, a'ight?” Dave said, dropping down so his chin was rested on his folded hands, peering at John from atop his chest. “From the beginning.”

“It might.. take a while.”

“I can handle it. You're comfortable.”

“You're not helping!”

“Sure I am. I'm keepin' you from jumping up and running around like a chicken with your head cut off so you can talk about what's making you scream. What'd I miss between falling asleep and waking up,” Dave insisted. “Inquiring minds wanna know, John.”

“I just. ..I was remembering things and felt really stupid, so don't mind me,” John insisted, waving his hand as if to dispel any further curiosity. “I realized I'd not caught on to something obvious, realized how long it's been that way, and wanted to kick myself and then you woke up so it was. ..Yeah.”

“What, finally figured out I was hitting on you?”

“No, I wa- what. What?”

Dave quirked a brow and stared at him. “...Seriously? Not even a hint? A'ight, I guess scrap that then, what were yo-”

“No! No, don't scrap it, I just don't get what you mean!” John said hurriedly, uncovering his face to stare up at Dave. “When were you hitting on me? I didn't know you were at any point, when were you?”

“When wasn't I. Holy shit, am I that bad at passing on the message or are you just really bad at answering the other end of the line?” Dave asked, brows furrowing as he let his head roll to the side.

“This! This is what I was screaming about! Just. Not the hitting on me thing, I didn't know that, I was-. I'm. I mean, I didn't. ...I didn't know,” John admitted. “I just thought you were being my best friend.”

Dave groaned a bit.

“I AM your best friend, you douche. I always wanna be your best friend, I don't want that to stop. I just thought, hey, we get along great and we're already always together so. ..Why not combined them, y'know? Maybe that might work as a bit more, and as a fallback we'd still be best bros,” Dave said. He wondered if that was part of the reason his other attempts at dating hadn't really gone so well: there just wasn't as much in common as with John, wasn't that urge to stick next to him, to see what kinds of plans they could make together for maximum fun. He could see a Vegas wedding happening between them earlier when John made that joke, and it hadn't made his stomach drop in terror or worry.

Being married to his best friend in the world? Sign him the fuck up. Take all the stress and worry and confusion out of things, just roll along in that same well oiled flow he and John had after years of being partners in crime.

“..Okay. So. I know I literally just said that I didn't notice any of this, and I'm kicking myself for not realizing shit for actual full years, but I'm gonna go ahead and ask. Are you being serious right now, o-”

“YES. Fuck, John, throw me a bone here. I'm being serious, we are having this conversation right now, this is a thing that is happening to you, this is me projecting my intent as loud and clear as I functionally can without catching on fire from removing my cloak of irony and sarcasm for this long,” Dave said. “..What do you say, man?”

“I say. ...I say you're pinching my spleen, move your elbow.”

“JOHN.”

“Okay! Geeze, trying to deflect stress with a joke not recommended, got it, John said, lifting his hands immediately. “I uh. ..I guess? We kinda are together all the time anyway, what would even change?” He hadn't officially dated anyone before, but from seeing his friends and people around him there weren't usually that many changes.

“Nope. We'd basically be the exact same as usual. Hang out, go places together, chill a lot, talk. Same old same old. There'd just be more reason to do this,” Dave said, scooting his body forward on John's torso to press their lips together for a brief moment. Again, John froze, eyes widening, face scarlet as highlighted by the movie still droning on nearby, mouth opening and closing a few slow times like a fish. Short circuit: achieved.

“... I'll let ya think on it,” Dave said, amused. “Though, that'd probably require another sample, huh,” he reasoned, dipping down again for another kiss, holding it longer this time.

While John eventually agreed out loud to giving the dating thing a try, it took the rest of the film's length worth of samples to help convince him it was a fantastic idea, with a promise of more after a snack break. After all: there was more movie to get through and keep awake during.

Easy.

#johndaveweek #johndave #john egbert #dave strider #homestuck #pepsicola #hammertime #my fic

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press-a-repeatedly · 5 years

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Zul’s Top 9 Games of 2018

By Zul Edwards

Heyyy it’s me. I’m back! What a year! 2018 has come and gone and many awesome games have been played by everyone here at PAR. The votes were tallied, the results are in, and I am included in that bunch. However, some of the games I played and loved this year were no-shows on our list. Some AMAZING games that I think deserve a little love on our corner on the internet. So, I thought, if you out there reading this were interested, (spoiler alert, nobody is) here is my OWN personal top nine games of 2018.

So, let’s get this thing started with my number 9!... oh yeah, I only played 9 games in 2018. heh.

9) No Man’s Sky – So I was one of those gamers who was excited for NMS when it was first announced a few years back. Thought the idea of exploring a quintillion planet was awesome. Then the game came out, I heard it sucked, and I ignored it. Enter a couple years later when it was on sale, had a ton of updates and new features: true online with friends, customizable characters, base building, and a brand-new story. However, it wasn’t enough to keep me hooked. Don’t get me wrong, I liked exploring the various galaxies and doing various side quests, engaging in dogfights with pirates and mining for space gold, but overall it just still felt so empty, so repetitious, and so… blah. I guess I still prefer quality over quantity, even if the quantity is in the quintillions.

8) The Alliance Alive – The first on the list of “Games only Zul played this year”. The Alliance Alive is a 3DS game from the creators of the classic “Legend of Legacy”, literally a game I borrowed from Justin, played for all of 30 minutes, then promptly returned to Justin never to be spoken of again. So, to my surprise when he told me the same studio was making another game, The Alliance Alive, but it was helmed by one of the writers of the Suikoden franchise, I was cautiously optimistic. Much to my (pleasant) surprise, the game was good! A blend of classic JRPG turned based battles with flairs of modernization: skills learned through fighting, increased stats based on the location of fighters in battles, and a darker story not usually found in those classic SNES/PS1 RPGs this seems to emulate. While the main characters fall into some pretty cliché tropes, the side characters really shine. From giant axe-wielding lizard men that remind me of my own D&D character, to a demon-dog-man butler, to a mad child genius scientist who rides a duck robot, this game has a lot of flavor. I really should go back and finish.

7) Chasm – While it’s no secret that I love Castlevania games, I think it’s fair to say I’m not really a giant fan of Metroidvania games. I prefer the simpler side-scrolling action of Castlevania, constantly moving forward towards a goal of smacking Drac in the face with a metal whip, to the backtracking and map completing chore of most Metroidvania games. With that said, something about the less intense and simpler format of Chasm kept me hooked till the end. I didn’t mind backtracking and completing the map in Chasm because it wasn’t as vast or complicated as other games in the genre. It was colorful, had great music, stellar pixel art and a fun yet challenging battle system and platforming. Overall it was a blast to play, but it just got overshadowed in a year filled with superior games.

6) God of War – “WHAT THE FUCK?” I hear you slam on your keyboards as I place the unrivaled GOTY in a paltry 6th place. Don’t get me wrong, this game is good. In fact, it’s VERY good. However, for whatever reason, I guess this game didn’t hook me like it did for everyone else. I only have a passing familiarity with the GoW series. Even though I’m a diehard SonyBoy, I only ever played GoW 1 and never beat it. Kratos and Atreus are some of the best written and best-acted characters to come out of a video game in this year or any year. Hell, if we had a “best new character” category again this year, I would struggle to not put Atreus in the top 3. The music is amazing, the writing is fantastic, the scope, cinematography and the constant one camera perspective were all stellar achievements in the medium of gaming, not to mention I’m pretty much obsessed with all things Norse… BUT. I dunno. Little things kept taking me out of it. Atreus’s sudden, jarring mood swings. The poor pacing in certain parts. The sudden introduction of major characters and/or story elements, that felt kind of brushed over and/or rushed. The lackluster side content, the padding and the empty worlds. The game is good. But it never felt great to me. Most games that I love, I think about when I’m not playing them, then I rush home from work to play them because I want to complete them, either for the story or because the gameplay is addicting, but this game felt more like a chore sometimes. I didn’t even buy it, I just borrowed it from Butch earlier in the year when it came out. I’m sorry Cory. I tried but I just didn’t love this game.

5) Moonlighter – Now here’s a game I absolutely adored. Flew under my radar and was recommended by Nick. By day you’re a humble shopkeeper, selling various wares and curios. By night, (by… MOONLIGHT) you explore dungeons ala Link to the Past style in a top-down view, into randomly generated maps. Each area has different items to collect & new materials to find, which you bring back to the shop to sell, which with the money you earn, can craft new weapons, which will get you further into dungeons, which will mean you find more items to sell which means you make more gold to spend on armor and weapons, which means you can get better materials to keep delving deeper, WHICH MEANS… ahem. Ah yes. That classic feedback loop. It sucked me in. It’s simple but effective in keeping me engaged. Coupled with a great art style, fluid beautiful pixel graphics and a surprisingly good amount of story for this type of game, Moonlighter took a nice chunk of my time early in the year.

4) Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom – Another entry in “Games only Zul played this year”, NNK2 was a surprise hit for me. I never played NNK1 and heard rather negative things about it from Nick over the years. I bought NNK2 on a whim months after it came out because it was on sale and I was craving a good JRPG, and it did not disappoint. I loved pretty much everything about this game. The music, the story, the beautiful not quite Ghibli, but practically Ghibli art style, the characters, the mechanics, the town building, the combat… it was everything I was looking for. There were certainly parts in the middle that lagged a bit, and the general “go to town > solve town’s problem > make an alliance with the town” could be considered cliché or predictable, but every town felt unique and its inhabitants all felt genuine. Recruiting citizens into your kingdom and assigning them all a role in your castle was a time sink I didn’t realize I would be so into, but I think I spent more hours on that than anything else in the game. And it also gets marks for being the other child in a video game besides Atreus, King Evan, that I didn’t want to strangle, and in fact by the time the credits rolled, he’d probably be #2 or 3 in Best Character of the Year for me.

3) Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Now as far as JRPGS go, Dragon Quest is the ultimate grand-daddy, even more so than Final Fantasy, but it was a series I never really got into. I played some previous games in the series and found passing enjoyment in a couple titles but never enough to ever want to complete a game or seek out other entries in the series. That all kind of changed when I played DQ 11. DQ has never really strayed too far from its classic turn-based JRPG roots. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” would be their mantra I assume, and I love it. In a time when the turn-based system is all but gone from genre giant Final Fantasy, DQ has instead chosen to stick with it, and fully master the dying style. It was hands down the best JRPG I’ve played all year, and probably one of the best I’ve played in several years. It has everything: a great story, compelling characters, awesome music, amazing art style, engaging combat, fun side quests, a challenging yet fair difficulty curve, and it’s actually, really funny on top of all that. While the length might scare people away, (I clocked in right around 120 hours after getting the platinum trophy for 100% completion of the game) it’s some of the best time I spent gaming in a long time. It’s a classic in a modern era. It’s weird, if you said to teenage Zul “one of your favorite JRPGs ever will be Dragon Quest 11, and one of your least favorite JRPGs will be Final Fantasy 15”, he would never have believed you… but here we are.

2) Monster Hunter World – Ah yes. The one oddball in my gaming repertoire. I think we all have one of these, right? That one game/series that for whatever reason, sits outside your normal gaming habits, yet you love it, nonetheless. Maybe you love Halo and FPS games, but you also really like Animal Crossing for some reason. Or maybe you’re a diehard Dark Souls series fan but just can’t get enough of Cooking Mama as well. Variety is the spice of life they say, and while I’m primarily a “character & story first, RPGs, video games are art” kind of dude, something about smashing Monsters in the face with a giant hammer has kept me hooked on the Monster Hunter series for nearly 10 years. I love the challenging but fair battles, the deep customization, the various weapons and armors for both male and female hunters, the varied and unique monsters that all have their own ecology, musical themes, and battle styles you must learn and adapt to if you want to survive. It’s also linking up with friends (or even strangers online) and tackling a beast as a team. For all these reasons and so much more, this series sunk its claws in me from the very first time I played it, and it hasn’t let go. Monster Hunter World is the next-gen, beautifully realized game I’ve wanted for years; and it took the story, art, gameplay, and fun I’ve come to expect from this series to another level.

1) Red Dead Redemption II – I honestly don’t know how to write about this game. I can say all the other things I’ve said up until now about how great the music is (it’s amazing), how varied and alive the characters feel (they’re amazing), how stunningly awe-inspiring the scenery is or how fluid and lifelike the character animations are (they’re amazing), how the story and personal journey of Arthur Morgan literally brought me to tears more than once (he’s #1 in Best Characters btw. And they’re amazing), how rich every side quest is, how fun the mini-games are, how great the dialogue is, or any of the other truly breath-taking aspects of the game, but I don’t think I could do them justice. Hell, I don’t even know how to put them into words myself inside my own head. To me, this is one of those games that surpasses all of that. Yea, it has flaws, every game does, everyTHING does, but to me, it’s perfect, warts and all. I can’t give it much higher praise than that, and it is absolutely the best game I played in years. When a game can give me an extensional crisis during some of its final moments, I think it’s safe to say that It’ll stick with me and has undoubtedly set a very high bar for all future games. The team at Rockstar outdid themselves and have my thanks for bringing this game into the world.

PHEW. Well, that’s it. Top 9 games of 2018 according to Zully Boy. Another great year in gaming for me personally and here’s to another great year in 2019! Lots to look forward to, and hopefully some hidden gems that’ll surprise me along the way. Happy Gaming everyone!

#goty gameoftheyear top10 top9

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kinsie · 7 years

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So, I'm going to kick out an update for MetaDoom in a couple of days. This makes a few sizeable changes under the hood, but most of it (barring some nice cosmetic tweaks and one or two balance changes) should be invisible to players outside of maybe running a little better. Now I have to start thinking seriously about what the future holds, both for MetaDoom and for my Doom modding in general.

Nevander's about to kick out his Doom 64 conversion, so odds are I'll take a little time off from MetaDoom to "vanilla-fy" it and make it gameplay mod-compliant, like I did with PSX Doom TC a while back. After that, though, there are a few things I want to tackle with MetaDoom in the future:

THE BFG: On the surface, if you only play in single-player, the BFG is fine. That's a pretty big if, however - while GZDoom's netcode situation could be politely described as "butt", it very likely won't stay that way forever. And in multiplayer, the BFG is a mess - the beams don't shoot out at hostile players, and the points rewarded by the beam attacks killing monsters are only rewarded to player one. A lot of the code for this attack was "borrowed" from Xaser's Argent mod before it underwent its ZScript-ification, so if I want to get to the root of the problem, I'll have to rewrite - and rethink - large swathes of it.

Also, the altfire is kind of crap, too, but that's all on me. I can handle that.

THE SPIDER DEMON: The Spider Demon is a difficult monster to work with and design for. I have a design written up for new moves and abilities intended to make it more appropriate as a final boss, and a big pile of sounds taken from Doom 4 and ready for additional manipulation... but this leaves a big, art-shaped hole in my plans. The Spider Demon doesn't have a lot of good alternate sprite sets out there, partly due to it not appearing in as many games as the other bosses, but mostly because of it being so fucking enormous, and that size makes it difficult to hit up artists to help me with a new sprite set. In addition, the new moves I have planned will require new frames, increasing the load.

There are a number of ways to go ahead with this, and few of them are ideal. Currently I'm leaning towards cutting down my plans and working with what I have, focusing on delivering the core of the idea using some loose-n-crappy modifications of the default Doom sprites... it'd be a bit disappointing, but I can extend and improve it further later.

Alternatively, I could poorly resize and recolour the Doom 64 Arachnotron and glue a skull to its face... ehhh, actually, nevermind.

TRITES: Trites are an interesting challenge. They're iconic to the Doom 3 experience, but they don't really fit well into Doom 2's bestiary anywhere, and their Headcrab-esque gameplay design is a trope that I've personally never been huge on. I'd like to redesign their gameplay to use the ceiling-walking trick from Strife's spider-bot, which will be a lot easier now that ZScript is a thing! As to what they'd replace, I'm learning towards making them weak and having a Spectre spawn generate 3-4, which will have its own problems with spawning inside walls etc. that will need to be dealt with.

I might also make them togglable, just for the arachnophobia peeps out there. I mean, why not, right?

MORE MONSTER VARIANTS: Clearly, my job here is not finished. I'd like to address a couple that have been on my mind recently...

Arch-Vile: Obviously, the key "get" here is the Doom 4 Summoner. I have a gameplay design hashed out for this guy, involving the Imp Lord's teleportation trick and summoning hordes of weak melee Zombies, but I've yet to piece together sprites for it. I have a very clear idea in my head of what I want to do, I just haven't gotten around to properly executing it yet.

Mancubus: There are two key variants I want to do here - the Doom 64 Manc (which I will probably name the Druj after one of the Doom 2 RPG variants) and the Doom 4 Cyber-Manc. These two monsters have the polar opposite problems - the Druj has sprites but no gameplay design, and the Cyber has gameplay design but no sprites. I'll have to talk to people and see what I can figure out.

PLAYER GENDER: This is something a friend of mine has requested, and with the presence of Crash in Q3A and Major Morgan from Doom 2 RPG, it's totally canon. I have some ideas on how to do this, at least as far as player sounds and HUD face (which may or may not take some inventory item hackery depending on what Graf's ZScript status bars can do). Changing anything else would probably require Gross Hacks™, or at least, way more art editing than I'm prepared to do.

If I do this though, I'd at least like to also accommodate the "other" gender option in player info, just for consistency's sake. Quake 2 (and parts of the ZDoom source code) accommodate this with a bulky-ass cyborg option - a HUD face for this mode would be tricky, but sound effects will be cake. As to what resources to use, I'll probably try and get permission to use Xaser's female hud face from Psychic (sans shades, of course), since it's in the same visual style as the standard Doomguy face and would require minimal massaging to look right. For the cyborg HUD face... I dunno, Hayden's head from Doom 4, maybe?

THE FUTURE: At least on the surface, at a noise-being-made level, MetaDoom is probably one of the less successful of my Big Mods, as you could probably tell by my complete failure to hide how disgruntled I am about it. I think, ultimately, it's due to the mod being comparatively straight-faced and adhering to the standard Doom gameplay in comparison to Reelism's arcade crazytown. Releasing in the wake of the D4D juggernaut probably didn't help much, either.

This isn't to say I'm disappointed with the mod - far from it, I'm super-proud of what I've accomplished - but as a creature that thrives off feedback, it's kind of difficult to shake the feeling of shouting into the void. And with that feeling comes thoughts of veering off and working on a different mod concept I've been massaging for a while. Something akin to a modern take on Cory Whittle's community-defining work blended with the casual insanity of the BUILD engine's games. However, while an attitude and feel is clearly present, the entire rest of the mod concept is still very nebulous, and ultimately all I have to show for it right now is a catchy name and an elevator pitch that changes every other week.

GZDoom has changed dramatically since MetaDoom was first announced last July, and it's continuing to evolve and expand and grow hair in gross places. Ultimately, I'm going to keep The Next Thing on hold as the next generation engine feature set formulates, and continue to work on MetaDoom, using it as something of an R&D lab for new features of possible relevance. We're entering a strange new world, and I want to make sure I'm well-equipped for it. Or at least, so I know just how fucked I am without actual programmers backing my illiterate ass up. Either/Or, really.

#gaming #doom #modding #gzdoom #metadoom

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veeteeshirt · 7 years

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the unabashed tag

let’s stop hiding who we are to “fit in”. here’s a challenge/tag to help us embrace the odd and awkward bits of ourselves.

rules:

-list 10 weird facts about yourself and your past you don’t usually share or like, but don’t be ashamed. brag about that stuff, dude. be proud.

-tag 5 mutuals, 3 of your favorite blogs, and 2 strangers who need some love

here’s to a proud and powerful 2017

i think i probably enjoy holding hands and i may even like casual cuddling but i don’t know how to ask someone and i’m worried it’d be weird if asked for that since i have sort of been established as an emotionally and physically distant sort of person. but i do find myself craving it quite often now. sometimes i wish people would stroke or touch my hair.

i like pretty generic sounding indie... pop? folk-ish sounding? music. like it all sounds basically the same to me and i don’t actually know the bands, but it generally sounds nice to me and i can vibe with it. also the album art is usually pretty or neat.

i got a teddy bear once for christmas when i was a kid from my grandmother and i spent the rest of the time at her house pouting because i hated it because it wasn’t a cool toy or something. i was kind of a brat.

i used to blow up two balloons, stuff them up my shirt, and walk around my room listening to brittney spears. i was like. 8 maybe. also i aggressively loved brittney spears at the time.

i find it hard to be emotionally empathetic to someone’s feelings whether they’re distressed or happy or scared. i understand a person feels hurt/happy/sad/whatever on an intellectual level and respect their feelings but i think that’s the extent.

i like the idea of people taking pretty aesthetic pictures of me but generally do not like spontaneous pictures of me because it doesn’t let me pose and look pretty. i love the idea of having like a photo journal and taking lots of pictures of friends, adventures, places, food, etc but i don’t really do enough to do that and i forget to take pictures when i do go and do something.

i don’t do this much anymore, but i rant in the car sometimes (when i’m alone) about something that got me passionately upset about.

i’m surprisingly pretty sentimental and am kind of a sucker for hallmark cards. i get them for my parents, but i’d never get them for my friends because i dunno i think they’d just laugh at me. i’d get embarrassed if anyone but my parents got one for me.

i mess/touch my hair when i’m nervous or stressed to calm me down. apparently this goes way back to when i was a baby/very tiny kiddo an i would twirl a lock of hair around my finger before i went to sleep.

i really like slice of life animes, the trope where a group of rag tag friends become like a family to each other, and strong friendships in any media. i dunno i guess a lot of the stuff i like in media can be considered to be super corny but i love the idea of adventure, someone finding themselves, making friendships along the way and being free to grow into their own. if there’s magic stuff involved it’s even better.

anyway uh i guess there’s that! i don’t know who to tag but if you like talking about yourself and want to do it feel free to have at it.

#vee talks #about vee

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my-happy-little-bean · 7 years

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eleven questions pt. 1

yo. after having a weekend of pretty much all crying, i am really happy to open my email and find out that i have been tagged in not only one, but two tag...things. that’s insane. i don’t have that many friends :p

so this is part one! my dearest friend @themessafterthemarty, who is a super cool person who makes super cool art, tagged me in this, and probably has provided me impossible questions. i guess we can start :)

1. Are you a “go to bed at 9 pm” person or a “oops it’s 5 in the morning” person, or something completely different?

i mean, at the time of me answering this question, it is 9:31 pm and i am supposed to be in bed right now :’) but i am definitely not a 5 am kind of gal — i would say midnight? probably less, because ib keeps a girl hustling #academiclifestylechoseme #alwaysgrindin’ #sendhelp

2. If you could pick one place and time in history to travel to - whether it be just to experience it, enjoy the aesthetic, just meet someone, to find the answer to a question, or whatever else - without worrying about things like paradoxes or dying of plague or being murdered, which would it be and why? (NOTE: history according to my school was anything 10+ years ago)

well i have always wanted to see a beatles concert live, so maybe some time in the 60′s-70′s? it’s either that, or maybe i’ll be all cliché and say the victorian era. sorry to disappoint with such a boring answer, man :’)

3. What is your main/favourite hobby/pastime (outside of just internet-living)?

reading (though we will chat about that later) and writing. it’s probably really boring of me to say, but there’s something about exploring someone else’s world and being able to make your own — it’s just excited :)

4. What was your main/favourite pastime as a child, that you may or may not have continued doing? Do you still like it, even if you may have quit?

reading. i used to love reading so much. i would have my nose in a book for as long as i can, really. and i can’t really find the time to do it anymore, and it doesn’t make me as happy as it used to be. maybe it’s because i changed as a person. i think i have some kind of depression (or at least, i am sad a lot (disclaimer: i am not a professional, so i shouldn’t really assume those kind of things — y’all know what to do/not to do with self-diagnosing, right? pls tell me then)) and whenever i try to go back to it, it just makes me miss the happy girl i used to be.

luckily, i have tried to get back into it again. maybe it was the time i never had, but you make time for things you love; or at least, used to love. because i want to like it. it made me happy once, and perhaps it can make me happy again.

wow. who knew reading would bring such deep matters. dammit who made these questions...oh right. well you’re lucky you are my friend :P

5. What’s one activity you want to do but you never have/can’t regularly? (because of money, time, opportunity, nerves…)

probs playing the ukulele. i got that for my birthday and while i know a few songs, i would love to take the time to actually learn the instrument. this is probably because of time, and money if i ever wanted to get proper lessons, but i guess i have youtube and a free version of yousician :’)

6. If you were a fantasy character travelling across the land to go on a great quest to save the world, what would you want your animal companion to be?

a dog. is that boring? i dunno, can the dog have powers? can i bring my own dog? kiko is a very good companion. sure, he ate my chicken wing today and we aren’t on the best terms, but he can run really fast and is really cute. if i could save the world in any way, i would choose for it to be with my doggy. as long as there isn’t any animal-sacrifices-itself-for-human kind of tropes. you know i can’t do that. i bet you can’t do that. im sorry for even bringing it up. i love you kiko *hugs dog*

7. What’s the most dominating colour(s) in your room/living area?

well my walls are blue, but most of my furniture is dark brown wood (i.e desk, bedframe, etc.) i dunno what that says about me, but i personally like it. though i’ve been meaning to redecorate, and i wanted some kind of midnight forest kind of thing? because, you know, the wood? maybe a dark blue/purple. who knows :p

8. If you could have any super-power, what would it be? (you can define the limitations/power yourself)

probably teleportation, with no contradictions or anything — i don’t have to do certain things, be naked, or die or whatever. just plain ol’ teleportation. wow, i am really boring :P no, i just think it’d be cool to be able to jump from place to place, wherever. im not even talking about random places — maybe just back to my house when i forget my pencil case when going to school or just being able to visit my friend’s house before having dinner. yeah. teleportation. ace.

9. Favourite movie genre? (Musicals, horror, superhero movies, rom-coms…) Are there any that you both love and hate, or that you just have a mixed relationship to?

i think mystery/comedy will always be my favourite. those two genres are really fun; especially together. as for love and hate, i am going to have to say superhero movies. because when you’re a fan of a certain superhero universe and it gets butchered, or you were just excited for it and it was terrible, you can expect a lot of pissed off reactions from me *cough cough* suicide squad *throws up*. but you do it right, like guardians of the galaxy vol. 2 recently did for me, then you get my love :)

10. What is one random thing you dream of buying but can’t because of money or storage or parents or maybe because you just really don’t need it even though you also do? (like a jacuzzi, a Batman bust, Mozart’s complete works or a sleeping bag that makes it look like you’re being eaten by a shark)

well, i kind of just want a pool. my god am i boring. i think it would just be fun! like one with cool rocks on the side and a mini waterfall or something. it’s expensive, there’s no room, i don’t even need it — but how frickin cool would it be to have a pool in a town where hardly no one/absolutely everyone has one :P

11. What was your favourite subject in school? Were there any classes that you wanted to like, but just couldn’t?

i freakin’ love english. im almost upset that we got a teacher who marked easy last semester because i would’ve loved the challenge. english is just so much fun to me. i will edit your work as hard as i can. im one of those people :P

i really want(ed) to like science. it’s probably because it is the one thing that might help a wannabe psych major, but like, come on. why it gotta be so complicated???

part 2 comes tomorrow. yeah. im one of those people. i also want sleep :P

#gabbie gabbles

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