#anyways i was just going to say i adore the worldbuilding from just the aspect of demons and slayers to the small n more intricate details | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bonesandthebees · 1 year

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hi there! i've never sent an ask in before so i'm not entirely familiar with how it's supposed to be done, but here i go anyway lol

you are genuinely such a talented writer! anytime i read one of your works, new or old, i'm blown away by just how well it flows and how authentic and consistent the characters are. as someone who also writes fanfiction that is an incredibly useful skill, and one that i really love to see in others work because it makes it so easy to become engrossed in the characters and the storyline and feel like you're right there beside them, experiencing the fictional world in tandem.

i'm writing this immediately after reading the latest chapter of a glass divine, and let me just say i'm adoring this fic already!!! sci-fi fics are my bread and butter and i absolutely love seeing the worldbuilding that has already been laid out especially with the religion aspect that is going on in a glass divine. the worldbuilding is very distinct from anything else i've read, especially regarding the pythia and all of the regulations surrounding him--from the blindfold to having to leave his name behind when he took up the old pythia's mantle. i imagine that it must have been a really hard transition for the pythia when he was young (especially seeing some of the flashbacks in the latest chapter, it seemed like he was taken against his will).

as well as the history of the deathlings--i think it's so cool!!! they've all got such cool cybernetic enhancements (just thinking about them gets me really excited because i think engineering is really really awesome dskjdfjgsdff) and i think it was really cool to include how the cybernetics, while they are enhancements and can make one stronger, aren't always perfect and can sometimes even prove to be a hinderance (especially when it comes to tommy's cybernetic lungs. sam mentioned that they weren't his best work because he was in a hurry, and while they do operate well, they aren't perfect.) as is with all machines--none are perfect, since they are constantly improving and evolving, and as time goes on and newer, more efficent ones are created, the older ones will become less and less relevant (again, seeing as tommy said they'd worked for him "all these years" makes me wonder just how old the lungs actually are. and on another note, even if they were sam's best work at the time, after so long they'd be outdated as he might have found ways to build a more efficent set of lungs later on.) it also makes me curious as to why tommy would need them in the first place, though i suppose i'll just have to wait and see to find that out!

the next fic on my reading list is stars, which i read the first few chapters of forever ago but fell behind on reading for some reason. i'm super excited to read it!!

but anyway those are all my rambles for now lol. hope you have a great day :D

-⚡️(i'm putting an emoji down just in case i send another ask in the future lmao. i hope no one else has used this one)

Oh thank you so much this is so sweet!! It means so much when people point out character consistency because that’s something I put a lot of effort into. I love figuring out how to keep a character true to their original form while throwing them into so many different worlds and changing parts of them accordingly. It’s just such a fun exercise for my writing skills.

(Also for posterity this ask was sent before I posted chapter 5 of glass sorry for late answer)

I’m so glad you’re enjoying glass so far!! It’s such a fun world to play around in. I’ve always wanted an excuse to worldbuild some heavy fictional theology, and I’ve also always been fascinated by the concept of oracles/prophets in fiction. Fun fact, the original inspo for glass came from an OG story I came up with years ago based off a dream I had about an order of priestesses who received visions of the future from their goddess. Anyway I’ve had a very fun time throwing that into a cyberpunk setting and playing around with the sci fi elements and connecting it to the religious themes

Oh it was definitely a hard transition for the Pythia and we’ll learn more about what he went through soon

I’m having such a fun time with the cybernetics. One of my favorite parts of cyberpunk worlds are cybernetics, but I get annoyed when it’s often treated like just a normal limb/organ when it’s still a prosthetic replacement. Just because it’s high tech doesn’t mean it’s perfect! I definitely have taken some ideas with the difficulties for the cybernetics from FMA and how it handles automail. While automail is a fantastic mechanical prosthetic, it still comes with issues which we see talked about in the show/manga. Going into cold weather is dangerous, his automail gets destroyed regularly, he has phantom pain from his lost limbs, etc. It’s not perfect and that’s what I love about it. So I’m trying to convey a similar idea with the glass cybernetics.

You’re completely right about the lungs. Even if they were Sam’s better work, technology is constantly advancing. They’re out of date even if they were done with more time and materials at hand. You’ll find out more about why he got them soon enough :)

Oh I hope you enjoy stars!! It’s certainly a ride lol

Welcome to the anon club!

#lightning anon #ask #through a glass divine

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dwter · 2 years

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girl...... you watch dubbed anime....... what the hecck

also, the mugen train arc was also turned into episodes. essentially s2 was split into 2 parts. part 1 is the mugen train movie recap, part 2 is the actual new season.

they put the movie into episode format because not everyone could see the movie, but its the same stuff. except the first episode is bonus a bonus episode that isnt in the movie with rengoku to get to know his character.

so essentially, s2: 1. s2 mugen train, episode 1 2. mugen train in movie or episode format (i recommend movie format) 3. actual next arc s2 entertainment district

if that makes any sense?? soryr if i made it confusing

ALSO. there after credits scenes in the episodes, some of them are just silly goofs while others are actually. well, impactful to the characters id say and lets us understand them more. so i defo recommend those.

also i have a website i use to anime that might not exactly be the most legal but it releases stuff on the actual date (altho u definitely want adblock with it bc. yknow how those sites are) so if u want that then i can share

fgjdbnjhgkgjf sorry if i worded this badly, i can re-explain if needed but i hope it makes sense??

HAIIII im going to answer both of ur asks all in one post for clarity HAHA (some spoilers for anyone who wants to read, but the main one is given a warning ^___^)

but yes u do watch dubbed anime ….. im sorry im sorr y i csnt help who i am (flawed fundamentally) 😞 AND OOOOOO THANK U FOR ALL THE CLARIFICATION! glad i saw this bc i was actually going to watch the movie with my friend tmr LOL. so PepoG episode 1 then movie GOT IT! about the after credit scenes, i noticed when watching the dub that the post-credit scenes werent dubbed and there also werent subs so i just didnt watch LMFAO but if theyre important i will definitely take a look later! :O and i do have a website but id love to hear urs jic if u wanna share OMG thank u for offering its very sweet ☹️🤍

AND IVE HEARD SO MANY GOOD THINGS ABT S2 AND THE TRAIN ARC !!!!! i saw charlie moistcritical rate s2 95% on the moist meter like thats insanely good. im so fawking excited to understand the hype AHHHHHHH !!! AND OMG YEAH the art style and animation in s1 is so so cool i esp love the style of the thick/emphasized outlines AND THE FIGHT SCENESSSSS OMGGGGG i usually dont care for fight scenes but the ones in demon slayer are GAURGEOUS and when (SPOILER WARNING FOR ANYONE READING) he attempts to slide rui’s head off and theres all that orange fire, nezukos pinkish explosions and just all that COLOUR ….. i was seriously in awe it was incredible i cant believe it gets even BETTER ….. so exciting !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OK SO MY FAVS SO FAR: at the top of the list (unsurprisingly) ITS TANJIRO MY SWEET BOY AND SHINING STAR 😭🌟 im sorry i just have so much love in my heart for kindhearted, genuine characters and thats the core of who he is and he makes my heart so warm and soppy and the world both deserves him but also doesnt and hes just so oo o oo o ….. My tanjirogie 😞💚 ANOTHER FAV OF MINE IS ZENITSU! i love his crybabyisms and think hes such a nice mix of sweet and annoying and i always look forward to him being on screen :))) and hes definitely the character im most excited to see the progress of 100%. i also love his lil sparrow such a tiny lil guy eueueueu 😞🤍 also this isnt a specific character but i loved so many of the demons tanjiro faces and fights and i cried so so much watching s1 bc of their deaths. even ones i thought wouldnt get to me bc of their cruelties did and i just ended up sobbing hearing their stories bc its like tanjiro said, theyre such sad and hopeless beings and so often just victims to either circumstance or life as a whole and its just. god. theyre just so heartbreaking and getting to hear their backstories/getting glimpses of them at the end of every fight where they lost and were dying was one of if not my favourite part of the show. anyways because i am hateful here are some characters i hate (not bc theyre poorly written i just am bitter) FIRSTLY: the hashira can go fuck themselves 😒🖕 (shinobu and giyu are excluded from this my scrumblies) i hate their pretentiousness, i hate how they hurt nezuko and i hate how they are all major dicks despite their entire thing being to help people. SECONDLY: fuck muzan! i actually love his character and hes such an amazing villain but i burn with so much hatred towards him it isnt even funny i seriously want his head on a fawking sick 𝖍𝖊 𝖓𝖊𝖊𝖉𝖘 𝖙𝖔 𝖐𝖎𝖑𝖑 𝖍𝖎𝖒𝖘𝖊𝖑𝖋 𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙 𝕹𝕰𝕺𝖂 . but he also kind of slays and every time hes on screen my eyes are glued hes suchhhh a good villain from the untouchability to the sometimes soft, often violent carefully crafted manipulation Hes Perfect. like i hate him but hes also amazing and one of the big reasons i love the story so much. speaking of the story, I LOVE IT SM! i havent spoken much about it yet but nezuko and tanjiro’s relationship means so much to me and i love getting to see them grow and having to relearn how to get to normal but also how nothing between them has changed at all, and how they love each other the exact same amount and way from then and how theyd always do anything to protect one another. its so so sweet to watch and an incredible motivation for the plot bc i am rooting for them so much too as the viewer not only because the characters themselves are so incredibly loveable and kind (bc they are) but also because its so Believable considering the world they live in and the character building of those two. tanjiro cares about her so much, lost everyone he loved to the guy who also turned his sister this way, and is so genuinely warmhearted like it just makes so much sense why he does all of this and i never blamed him for a moment why he pursues such a daunting goal. because it always, ALWAYS seems worth it. it always does. and making it so ur viewer understands the point and motivations of the mc and plot, now thats good storytelling! I JUST HIT TEXT LIMIT SO ILL STOP NOW HELP ?

#ask #I CANT BELIEVE I JUST FOUND OUT ABT THE FACT TUMBKR HAS A TEXT LIMIT FROM THIS HELP ME :?/&;?/&;?2$:#IM SO SORRY TO SUBJECTING U TO THIS FAWKING ESSAY 😭😭😭#anyways i was just going to say i adore the worldbuilding from just the aspect of demons and slayers to the small n more intricate details #like the specific blood demon arts and breathing techniques ^___^ they are so so cool to me n i love learning more abt it while watching !!!#OK NO MORE NOW LORDDDD im sorry for being deranged and unable to shut the fuck up Help me #AND THANK U FOR THE ASKS AS A WHOLE its so fun to answer and think abt and im glad u enjoy hearing abt my thoughts as well 😭🤍#catKISS catKISS catKISSSSSSS #essay #sajdd

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belle-keys · 2 years

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Now that you've read cc1... Thoughts, if you don't mind?

Alright, let's go. Just want to point out that I still don't support SJM as a person, and I'm still a critic of her writing regardless of my feelings about any of these new characters. Also note that this is just a tangle of thoughts and not a proper review.

- I would give a kidney or any selection of organs for Ruhn Danaan, like I love that man so much. Definitely my favorite character in the book. Danika is my second favorite character. I really like Bryce and Hunt as individuals (despite the overwhelming Main Character Syndrome they display). That being said, I don't ship them. Their romance is pretty generic, kinda boring and cringey in this book. I'm not saying I wish it didn't exist, but I could not care less about the ship itself. Doesn’t matter to me personally if they sail or sink.

- Side characters: I absolutely adore Lehebah, Syrinx, Jesiba, Tharion, and Isaiah to death! I have a major crush on Micah, given that I figured out he was the Big Bad early on in the book and got to appreciate him in a Sexy Villain Dictator light. Hypaxia and Fury are on my radar as favorite side characters too, once I get to know more about them in the future book.

- I like the City. It's messy as hell, and not nearly as good as other recents fantasy worlds written by women (*cough* RF Kuang's Nikan), but it's really gritty and fun! I like the mix of modern and ancient in Crescent City. It feels kinda like Gotham, if it were more supernatural. The actual lore and the different creatures in Midgard is too... messy, as I said, for me to praise, but I like how it all comes together withing the city confines to create an ambiance, even if it's not coherent. I think the messenger otters and the intense bureaucracy in literally *everything* are my favorite aspects of the world.

- I feel like someone who’s more versed in high fantasy than me can articulate why the mixing all these different mythogies, belief systems, and folklores in a single book is a bad idea. We got the Fall of Lucifer and Judeo-Christian elements, ancient Rome, celtic and norse mythology, and a few more things packed into one setting. Like, the world is called Midgard… but it’s run by these demigods formed born from stars… who command batallions of Judeo-Christian angels. Oh, and then the citizens worship these other five gods who aren’t actually linked to the demigods and who feel vaguely roman. Sometimes it was interesting, but it really bugged me because the worldbuilding just didn’t mesh. It felt, even though this may not be true, like Janet was making stuff up as she went along and the editor just sighed and decided to roll with it.

- Sarah J. Maas still absolutely sucks at writing believable trauma. I got so fed up the torture porn -> hurt/comfort pipeline, like please write something else Janet. This isn't AO3, and they still do it better anyway. Sarah also sucks at writing warfare and believable civilian casualty, but I digress.

- You see what went down in Jesibah's library with Micah and Lele and Syrinx and the whole revelation about the Horn??? Favorite scene!!! I was super emotional reading that, like it really reminded me of Dobby. I really enjoyed that scene even though it was heart-breaking as hell. Another scene I adored was the Summit scene cus it really reminded me of bullshit like UN Assemblies and the G7 Summit where leaders meet up to brag about how fancy they are and then fail at productivity.

- There is room for me to like both Bryce and Hunt more, once they hopefully stop with their Mary Sue Pick Me behavior in Book 2. They were just far too generic for me sometimes. I like Bryce just an ounce more than Aelin and Feyre, and I like Hunt more than Rhys and Rowan. No one in this book is on the same tier as Dorian and Lucien except for (maybe) Ruhn (because I need to see how the second book goes before I decide). Bryce self-victimizes too much and Hunt is plain stupid most of the time, and I’ve seen this a thousand times before. I rolled my eyes so hard when it was revealed Bryce was special and royal all this time like bruh, that shit was cliché asf.

- I lost a year to my lifespan everytime someone “snarled”, “growled”, or “purred”. I also got back pain everytime there was a sentence that was actually just a clause with a fullstop, because *dramatic effect* amirite.

Okay, that’s all for now. I’m sure I’ll have a lot more thoughts on this 800 page behemoth, but I finished it like 5 seconds ago, so I’ll stop here.

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lululawrence · 3 years

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Hi! I just got done reading No One Likes to be Alone and I loved it! You mention at the beginning that you love nesting fics so if you don't mind sharing I would love to know what your favorite nesting fics are.

ahhhhhhhh thank youuuuu! and YES I SURE DO!!! oh there are some excellent ones out there. let’s see... favorites are hard for me, but here’s the best I can do for you (i’m grouping them by pairing, because most are larry, but not all... and please know that my absolute favorite nesting fic of all isn’t on this list because it was deleted and i CRY):

Larry

There's No Other Place by @nikogda - I LOVE THIS FIC VERY MUCH A LOT. i mean... hybrid a/b/o nesting. perfection! the entire world building in this fic is so incredibly detailed and cool and the VIBE is amazing. everything is fleshed out and so unique and interesting, but the incredibly personal vibe of the nesting!!!! i cannot even explain how much i love it. louis thinks he’s being SO SNEAKY and he is NOT but that’s okay. haha anyway, a great fic for sure and while the nesting isn’t the most important aspect, it’s definitely more than just a minor detail.

When Tomorrow Comes by @jacaranda-bloom - ALPHA. NESTING. ALPHA NESTING. HOW BRILLIANT???? i honestly could NOT believe i had struck gold when i saw this post hahaha i’d never even considered??? the WORLDS this fic opened for me, and it was done so so brilliantly. niall is sooooo shady, and poor harry doesn’t have a clue it’s even happening, and omg i just... this fic is amazing and it’s because of dee that i’m going to be exploring alpha nesting in at least two of my nesting series fics that i’ll be writing at some point lol highest honors and five gold stars to dee.

We Both Got Nothing to Hide by @chloehl10 - A SECRET NEST. oh gosh louis is SO ASHAMED. and harry’s shit just keeps going missing. but louis NEEDS HIS NEST. a;sdkgha;sdlkfjas zayn of course is the one who figures it out, cause he’s smart like that, but oh gosh the emotions connected to nesting in this one and the complex kind of... shame almost? it’s a suuuuper interesting worldbuilding detail that i really enjoyed exploring in this fic

Do Not Falter (There's a Star Ahead) by @londonfoginacup - christmas eve desperate cuddles and nesting!!! i looooove how louis doesn’t even think twice, he just lets it happen and... sigh. yes. this one is just so soft, i love it.

The Nearness of You by @rockstarlouis - established relationship SUUUUPER PREGNANT nesting!!! there are a few fics on this list that immediately came to mind when you asked about my favs, and this is one of those. i rarely like to read established relationship fics for whatever reason, but this fic??? SO SOFT. SO LOVELY. AND THE DYNAMIC IS SO PERFECT. i just love how careful louis is with the nest. it is so wonderful. i adore.

Tastes like Strawberries by @sadaveniren - THE STRESSED NESTING! that turns into SO much more than harry expected and it’s just WONDERFUL. i love this fic so much, from the start of it to the way things go a bit differently from how they maybe traditionally do in omegaverse. it’s a really fun fic with some a+ nesting smut. hahaha

Safety Nest by @lululawrence - I KNOW i’m sorry i’m including myself haha but this was my first attempt at nesting, and i still love it very much a lot. my drabbles don’t get much attention or love (outside of emmu, because this one was written for her haha), so i just wanted to put it out there as a fic with some nesting. hehe so thank you for indulging me here

Ziam

If you let me be your man by @lightwoodsmagic - ooooomg this fic has me giggling just remembering how great it is. it’s got an aspect of embarrassment, because zayn is just SO out of it already and he doesn’t even realize it, and liam is so soft and lovely and more than willing to help him safely get home, but the misunderstanding! and zayn just wants liam in his nest so badly. it is SO VERY SWEET! but also silly and gahhhhh i might have to reread this one tonight, actually haha

Narry

a little tenderness by @disgruntledkittenface - listen, the impossible has been done. i now love narry, and it’s because of this fic. all i’m gonna say is ace alpha harry needs to help recently broken up omega niall through depri, and OHHHHH it’s soooo soft and perfect and i just screamed at her most of the time i was reading. It really is just absolute perfection and niall’s nest is just *chef’s kiss*

these are not in any way the only nesting fics out there, nor the only great ones. i did my best to only list favorites. i would also like to point you to a nesting rec that @londonfoginacup made, because she is my cohort in the quest for more nesting fics in this fandom. lollll you can find her wonderful rec here. and don’t forget to leave the authors kudos and nice comments to show appreciation for their hard work!

#fic rec #a/b/o fic rec #abo fic rec #my fic rec #nesting fic rec #i really fucking do love nesting omg #so much #Anonymous #asks #mine

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kaizokuou-ni-naru · 4 years

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Some Reasons I Love One Piece

So I set up a poll to ask what I should do for my 4000 follower milestone, and something like 85% of the responses to my poll said you wanted me to do a compilation of stuff I love about One Piece! So hell yeah, get ready for me to talk about pirates for way too long (a sentence that could also serve as an accurate blog description).

Before that though, lemme just say- thank you all! Seriously! When I started this blog I figured I’d be extremely lucky to end up with like a thousand followers, and now I have four times that and it just keeps growing, which just constantly baffles and amazes me. I adore every one of you, and you’re providing me something fun and productive to do in quarantine, and I love you for that.

Anyways! Let’s talk good shit.

Let’s start with Luffy. The whole story starts with him, after all.

I love Luffy, just as a character. He’s one of my favorite protagonists in anything, ever, when ordinarily protagonist characters don’t really appeal to me all that much. I genuinely think he might be my favorite character in One Piece now that I sit down and really think about it. I love how unconventional of a main character he is- he actively shuns the idea of being a hero and is in fact the most chaotic neutral motherfucker on the planet, and yet he’s so friendly and loyal and fun that you straight up can’t not love him both in-universe and out.

I also love the Strawhats just in general, both as a group and individually. Found family is one of my all-time favorite story tropes, and they do it better than like, the vast majority of stories out there. They’re all so completely unique from each other and play off each other so well and they really do feel like a family. I love how often Oda just shows them fucking around and hanging out. (One of my only gripes with post-timeskip is how much time they spend split apart.) I think it says a lot about them that I struggled so much when someone asked me to rank the Strawhats a few months back and had to rearrange the list like four times. I just!! Love them all!!

One of my favorite things about One Piece is that it’s the story of Luffy’s rise, and that it occurs in a world that’s so solidly scaled and well-developed that all progress he makes actually feels tangible and impactful. Some of my favorite moments in One Piece are the ones where we can see how far he and the crew have come and see other people’s reactions. His reappearance at Sabaody after the timeskip is my favorite scene in the manga, full stop. His entrance at Marineford and all of the Decks of the World cover stories delight me for the same reason.

Speaking of the worldbuilding, god it’s so good? I think one of the greatest potential strengths of a long manga is that its just got so much time to establish and build on so much information, and sometimes that leads to mangaka kind of tying themselves in knots with too much lore and explanation, but Oda just fucking nails it.

I recently read a conversation during Zou where the Strawhats are talking to Inuarashi, Nekomamushi and the Wano folks about all their mutual acquaintances on the Roger Pirates- Brook asks about Crocus, Franky mentions Tom, etc- and I had a moment where I realized how in pretty much any other series all those connections might seem contrived, but in One Piece it works so well. So much time has been dedicated to establishing all these facts and characters and connections over years and hundreds of chapters that when they do come together, it just feels so satisfying.

Like, at Twin Cape Crocus mentions he was a ship’s doctor and then mentions Roger as the Strawhats leave, at Thriller Bark we find out he’s Brook’s friend, at Sabaody in conversation with Rayleigh we find out for sure which ship he was a doctor on and that he joined them to look for Brook’s crew- and it all just falls together so nicely. One Piece is maybe the strongest series I’ve ever read in terms of how it establishes its characters and concepts and how they all fit into the world and cross over and connect with each other. The world of One Piece is huge, but it also feels so alive and interconnected, and that’s just wonderful.

I love how hopeful One Piece is. I was talking to a friend a couple months ago who doesn’t watch it, and she kind of dismissed it as ‘a show where nobody dies.’ Which- setting aside the fact that that’s just not fucking true- my first response to that was, “So?” I think it’s nice that we can all know for pretty much certain that the Strawhats will achieve their dreams in the end. There’ll be a happy ending, and Luffy’s going to be Pirate King, we’ve known that from the start. The fun is in seeing how they get there.

Aside from a few specific cases, I also really like how Oda does his character writing just in general. The female characters in One Piece generally get a bad rap, largely from people who haven’t watched the show and judge it on the (admittedly exaggerated) artstyle, but fuck if I haven’t seen such a widely varied and developed and flawed female cast writing-wise since- I don’t even know. Oda does a really good job of giving his characters, both male and female, unique and memorable personalities, which is super fucking impressive considering just how many there are. Similarly, I’m impressed by how new characters are introduced without getting repetitive or annoying, and very often those characters are really fantastic. I could talk about all the different One Piece characters I love and why, but we would legitimately be here all day.

I also love how unlike a lot of long-running series like this, characters don’t just go away when their time in the spotlight is done. In just about any other series, characters like Buggy and Coby and Crocodile would just be gone and never to be heard from again after they’ve served their purpose. Instead you have the stupid clown villain from the second arc becoming a fucking shichibukai several hundred chapters later, and it makes sense in the context of the story! The whole concept of the cover stories works really well towards this aspect of One Piece, letting us see what all these other characters are up to without taking attention off the main story. This fits in with the interconnectedness I mentioned earlier, too.

And I like how (and I know there are people who will argue this, I have had them in my inbox, but I do not care) One Piece has stayed so strong for so long. I’ve mentioned before that both of my favorite big arcs are pre-timeskip- Alabasta, for the civil war storyline and great supporting cast and villains, and W7/Enies Lobby, for the epic emotional highs and lowers + ANOTHER great supporting cast. But like, I’ve been enjoying the more recent arcs just as much! Honestly, now that I’ve finished Dressrosa, I think it definitely ranks up there among my favorites as well, for how chaotic and fun and high-stakes the whole thing felt when I was binging through it. I’m only a few chapters into Whole Cake Island so far but it seems very promising, and I’m really excited to get to Wano from what I’ve seen of it.

I haven’t even really touched on the art yet, either. I know the artstyle turns some people off of the series, for how kind of cartoony it is sometimes and how different it is from most other series, but honestly I just love it. I wasn’t sure about it at the start but it grew on me very fast. Hell, I have a whole tag (which I should use more) dedicated just to appreciation of pretty panels.

And the action scenes in One Piece are so fun and expressive and creative and almost always at least a little silly just by the nature of Luffy’s powers. I don’t think I’ve ever been bored during a One Piece fight. And the splash pages are frequently just breathtaking. I’m a writing person, not an art person, so I’m bad at putting this kind of thing into words nearly as well, but- yeah. One Piece Art Good. (My friend Narramin also has a really, really good series of posts about how great the visual storytelling in OP is starting here that I highly recommend, if you’re interested.)

Finally, I think my favorite thing about One Piece is that it’s all one story, start to end. I kind of touched on this above with the worldbuilding thing, but you can see what a ridiculous degree of thought and planning Oda has put into his story, and how well everything comes together. It’s the main aspect that got me to give One Piece a try in the first place- I heard how good and thought-out the long term storytelling is, and I just eat that shit up. I don’t think I’ve ever had the level of trust in a creator to handle and end their story satisfyingly that I have in Oda. It’s a good feeling.

#took me so long to write this post that im now like #a third of the way to 5k #which is ridiculous #feel free to ask me to elaborate on any of this!!#i write better meta when i have a single topic to focus on fjdsh #which is one of the reasons this took so long #so yeah ask box open!!#jonny talks #one piece #not japanese #long post #opmeta

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lizziestudieshistory · 2 years

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Books of 2022 - January

I’m baffled that it’s February ALREADY, what is going on?! Anyway, here’s the books I read (and one I DNFed) in January.

The Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien (Lord of the Rings #1)

I started this year in a bad place and things were pretty dark, so I decided to reread The Lord of the Rings for a little bit of familiarity and comfort. It did not disappoint, Tolkien never does. These books have been with me for most of my life, I can barely remember a time without them, and they never fail to make me feel at home and safe.

I don’t think I actually need to review this book - everyone and their mother knows what they’re about, and I don’t need to add any more praise onto the already existing mound! If you want more thoughts from me about specific aspects then feel free to send me an ask because I’m not sure what to say about it that I haven’t already.

The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

This was my book club read for January and it was fine? The Woman in White is not really a rereadable book, at least it's not for me. Now I know the plot and mysteries I found a lot of its charm had diminished. However, this is a FANTASTIC novel for first time readers. It’s full of twists and turns (presented at a slow, leisurely pace), and a few really brilliant characters - Mariam, Mr Fairlie, and Count Fosco stand out to me.

I would highly recommend giving this book a go if you haven’t tried it (or Collins) before, especially as this is still my favourite Collins book to date. If you want to see what my thoughts were the first time I read The Woman in White then check out my 2019 review here.

The Hod King - Josiah Bancroft (The Books of Babel #3; DNF c. page 230)

I really tried with both this book and this series. I actually really liked Senlin Ascends (the first installment) and thought the series would only improve as we moved into less worldbuilding and more plot/character. This was not the case.

I've come to care less and less about Senlin and his crew as I've progressed through the series. The Tower became less intriguing as we learnt more and I got bored with the wacky worldbuilding. I’ve just stopped caring and I feel like I'm kicking a dead horse. I'm dragging it one because I keep thinking that there’s only 4 books and I should finish it because I'm over halfway through.

Well I’m being ruthless - I had such a mediocre reading year last year because I didn’t DNF books that were only okay...so I’ve decided to DNF The Books of Babel here. I might come back if I start thinking about it too much but right now I just don’t want to read it and it’s not worth making myself push through just to complete the series.

Measure for Measure - William Shakespeare

Okay, I’m trying to get back into reading a Shakespeare play every month until I’ve finished them all. Coming back with Measure for Measure was probably not the best choice I could have made.

This play is fine, but it’s a problem play for a reason. It’s tonally a mess, and I’m not sure if Shakespeare is trying to highlight the abuse of women or not. Well he is, but he’s not necessarily doing it in a good way for a modern reader. With my 21st century head on, I felt so uncomfortable with the ending of this play - everyone gets married! But one marriage is based on sexual assault and a technicality (between an abuser and some fairly random woman), and the other is between the Duke and Isabella who WANTED TO BE A NUN - probably suggests that she didn’t want to get married... It just doesn’t sit well with me and this wasn’t a play that I enjoyed. I didn’t even get any quotes or passages that I would want to remember... Overall it was fine by Shakespeare’s standards, but it’s not one I’d want to revisit in the future.

The Silmarillion - J.R.R. Tolkien

Here’s the big boy! My undying love from all of Tolkien’s writings about Middle Earth. I ADORE The Silmarillion, so much so that’s it’s probably not healthy, and it definitely occupies too much of my brain. Not that I’m complaining.

I’ve spent the vast majority of January annotating The Silmarillion - pulling out the links to the rest of Tolkien’s work, gushing over my favourite characters (Finrod), and, to be perfectly honest, sobbing over the constant waves of tragedy. It’s not a happy book.

I’ve had so much fun reflecting on Tolkien’s influences and pondering on questions I have about the legendarium (I spent WAY TOO MUCH TIME on Gil-galad parents and debating how Gildor is related to Finrod.) It's a book that I can’t help but fall into and annotating it only improved my experience. I’m never happier than when I can over think relatively minor aspects of history that we have too little evidence for to ever find a satisfactory answer to our questions - and this is basically what The Silmarillion is, but Tolkien!

It’s atmospheric (in an academic kind of way) and the sheer weight of the history it contains permeates every page. It’s very high and epic fantasy with the feel of real world myths, legends, and history, so it’s inevitable that I’m going to get on with this book.

I also just love sad books... Why be happy when your favourites can make you miserable?! I genuinely prefer to be miserable.

In all seriousness, I don’t think this is a book for everyone - it’s difficult, dense, and distant from the characters. It’s closer to a short story anthology or mythology collection than it is a novel. However, I do think it’s worth giving The Silmarillion a shot if you’re still craving to scratch that Tolkien itch after The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit - just bare in mind it’s the story of the Silmarils that people wander into, rather than a traditional narrative focusing on characters or a main plotline. (I’m happy to give tips on ‘how to read The Silmarillion’ if anyone is interested in that because I do think it’s a book that needs a reading guide!)

#books of 2022 #reading #bookblr #mini book reviews #j.r.r. tolkien #fellowship of the ring #lord of the rings #the silmarillion #wilkie collins #the woman in white #william shakespeare #measure for measure

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wavesmp3 · 3 years

Text

directors cut: oasis

[doing this entirely for myself, out of pure self indulgence lol] [this will be very messy/poorly organized and there will be spoilers]

okay so where to even begin omg..... we will start with the origins of oasis:

its actually, techinically a spin off of the world from this drabble with dino from svt. which the world in this drabble is what the world from oasis would look like very far in the future. but i changed a lot between writing that drabble and creating oasis. but there should be a scene in the drabble that is very similar to a part in oasis (hint: the first vision they got from saskila was not just a random vision with no meaning.......hehe)

but that drabble (its titled dreamscapes) was inspired by a mix of this post on tumblr about how nuclear waste warning signs sounded very cool and the book that i was reading called the children of blood and bone by tomi adeyemi

and then after i had made that drabble i saw dee’s (@/atbzkingdom’s) post about the time capsule collab, and i had a couple ideas of what i could do for it but i ultimately decided on what would eventually become oasis !! so i guess we really have dee and that collab to thank for this piece lol

now for the timeline of me writing:

so i started outlining this piece in the first couple days of january, and normally outlines take me a while to come up with just because i struggle in coming up with plot, but i knew that my spring semester of classes would be starting soon and that I didn’t have a lot of time so i just sort of grinded an outline out as well several paragraphs of pure worldbuilding.

and then i started writing

and wow i was Really writing!! at my peak productivity i was easily getting down like 2k a day which for me is insane (for reference, i wrote 1k a day for tsiytt and i struggled my way through that)

but then life happens classes had begun and my writing for oasis slowly become nothing...

i really only found the time to work on the piece every other weekend, so i was really nervous that i wouldn’t finish in time (which technically i didn’t cause it was supposed to come out march 1st) but luckily i did

and at some point in february, i had lost so much of my momentum and motivation for this piece that i almost gave up on it. (at this point i was writing the scenes after they find the seat of wisdom destroyed) but again luckily i did not, but i personally can definitely see a decline in the quality of my writing towards the end (i mean maybe its in my head, but its sort of like i can see the loss of love for the wip in my writing at the end of it)

but don’t misunderstand, i still love oasis!! and in all honesty, i’m already considering starting a second draft to it, which is way sooner than i thought i would lol

also when i started writing this piece, i began writing it in the order that it would be read, but then halfway i switched to writing chronologically

anyways, something i learned while writing this piece, is that writing is a marathon. whereas, even with my longer pieces, i always viewed writing as a sprint. so as i start venturing into original works and more lengthy pieces of writing, i think this was a very valuable lesson for me to have learned.

okay now to the good stuff lol: [the first word of the bullet about the next chapter (?) is bolded for some crumbs of an organized commentary]

so this is jumping to the first past bit... but when i first wrote farah i had a very different plan for her character than who she ended up being. i had imagined that she’d be a lot more cold and a tough love sort of person. so that’s who i was writing when she’s first introduced in the flashback, but she very quickly become a much kinder full of love sort of person. but anyways i mention this because whenever i read that first part and the introduction of her character, i’m always a bit taken aback by how like mean here character is to crown then lol

also zoar !!!! its a terrible place, but i love that underground city

i also wrote the first flashback after i had written the scene where crown and chanhee are talking at his place in andhor, so the whole “fearless” connection was done very purposefully here since i knew how it’d be referenced in the next scene. someone mentioned this small connection in their reblog but i cant remember who

also rashi is my favorite character xD

i personally think how crown and chanhee became friends (the running thing) is so cute

this first bit of conversation between crown and chanhee when it switches back to the present and chanhee is giving them a tour of andhor is actually quite important to me, in the sense that its the first glimpse of how their actual relationship works and how they act together and just like their dynamic despite the fact that they havent seen each other in so long

and yeah i think kyu mentioned this and a few others, but i love how awkward it is when chanhee and crown are in his home in andhor, cause one: they havent seen each other in years! but also: anyone else find going to someone’s place for the first time oddly intimate, like wow you’re opening up your home to me and now suddenly idk how to sit or stand or what to do with my arms... maybe just me LMAO

DUDE i struggled so hard with making it so that chanhee knew how impossible this whole mission was going to be without actually revealing that he knows about the mirror. it was so hard for me, hopefully it came out alright though. if anyone is reading this, did the twist(s) come as a shock to you? did you see it coming? or did it feel like it came out of absolutely no where and not in a good way?

yes i did name the desert after the department store kohls .....

i was so excited to explain all the mage types, i had so much fun writing this whole chapter

fun fact: there was originally another sub group of psyche mages called dream mages who had like powers with dreams and stuff, but it ended up being irrelevant and really underdeveloped so it took it out

if anyone else was raised catholic or is catholic then i’d hope you recognize the names of all the relics.... i stole them from a prayer in the rosary whoops

it took me very long time to figure out exactly how the whole soul for the relic business would work, and idk if im a 100% satisfied with what it is/how it works/how it plays into rashi giving chanhee the locket

the note new gives crown.... the first slice of their friendship blooming, bro i eat that shit up

this part where crown and rashi are talking after the lesson is actually one of my favorites. (like i said i love rashi, but i just really love her interreacting with crown, i think they have such an interesting dynamic and one that i’ve seen irl a lot between students and teachers, where the student adores the teacher... i’ll get more into this later) but moving on, i like it for a number of reasons. one: it’s the first time we as readers get to see rashi talk outside of her role as lesson master. two: i love crown getting this validation from rashi. it’s not really expanded on a lot, but crown’s magic is definitely a bit of an insecurity for them, in the way that they don’t feel like it belongs to them. but here rashi comes, this person that crown looks up to so much, and telling crown that they’re a bit similar when it comes to having magic. and surprising crown by comforting them. and... idk i just really love this moment for crown.

okay this line: “You call your mom Rashi?” is a lowkey reference to game plan,, if anyone knows what i’m talking about then please come clown me for nearly having the entire movie memorized

oh, i also find the capital really cool. in my head the capital was always one huge building that contains an entire city but i realized while editing that i never really explained that, so idk if i successfully described the capital as cool as it is to me

also the five friends part.....CUTE

when chanhee says “i know. i remember.” !!! girl i felt that line with my entire chest. idk why

okay wait this part: “But that knowledge seems to fall flat right now. Because despite everything, curiosity won the war.” i love it so much, its that tiny of sliver of hope that gets me personally

i think this part where crown’s pride is so hurt by no one telling them about chanhee’s healing magic is quite important because its a glimpse of how stubborn and prideful and headstrong of a character they can be

also this : “ ‘and do you believe everything rashi says’ / without hesitation, you answer, ‘yes, of course’ “ this is another example of how highly crown thinks of rashi while growing up, almost to a fault. to the point where crown thought rashi could do no wrong. which i think is so interesting to think about when contrasted with the fight crown and chanhee have in the jungle where crown is the one discussing how rashi was wrong. i just like how much growth crown has had between all these years. and their opinion / perspective on rashi is one of the largest indicators of that growth.

I also just really like that paragraph where shadow vs healing is explained... I think chanhee’s magic is so sick

oh also the names thing.... I can’t remember where I got the idea to do that from but im so glad I did. its one of my favorite aspects to this world, and it looks like a lot of other people enjoyed it as well. but apart from the intimacy of it, i love how the use of names affects one’s magic. and that paragraph where they go through all that a mage could do with a name. it gives me chills. just cause.... the possibilities

so many people have mentioned this line.... but I must too, so this part: “magic always comes with a price. this is new’s” ..... crazy

saskila scares me omg

again the first vision they see is not a random scene.... the easter eggs I planted with that mwahaha

yeah that scene where they’re outside the tent discussing who should give their name to saskila..... I love that scene chanhee’s “I don’t have anyone but you” and crown deflecting all that tension with the pinky promise and the saskila calling them lovers.... mwah

this random scene about the hot summer and laying with Farah and new in the gardens is another one of my favorite, it’s just so sweet

but this next scene makes me so sad

like I know what happens and I know that everything turns out okay but I get so scared for crown

yeah just that entire part after Rashi gets to them and when they’re going to the infirmary and before crown passes out... I love that whole part. i think i did an effective job of writing the gravity of that whole moment. cause it makes me a little stunned every time I read it. and I was pretty nervous about not being able to do that scene and that moment justice so I’m glad it turned out like it did

and again this line: magic always comes with a price, and in your case, it comes with several.

okay this part after they jump out of the ship and crown is talking to Chanhee but that other dude is talking too... I hope it’s not too confusing. I really wanted to show through the writing that this was all happening at the same time, but idk it came out well. like in my mind I have such a clear picture of this scene, but I have no clue if I did effective job of showing you guys what I’m seeing through the writing

oh yeah, crowns thing about dual wielding and engulfing the blades in flames.... I find that so cool. they’re so sick for that

yeah also the part where crowns hurt and they give Chanhee their name and they use it.... great moment, but I feel like my writing is a bit lacking here. i just know it could be better.

I think at this point of writing my classes had started, and again the disparity in writing quality is so obvious to me

but the line where chanhee is describing how it all feels, and it says “chanhee feels golden” was inspired by daylight by taylor swift, theres a line in that song that goes “i used to think love would be burning red, but its golden” and like hello the parallels between that and crown’s fire magic.... something to think about

so this next part where it’s back to the past and crown is getting in trouble (as crown does) but the part where crown is like asking but not directly asking for rashi’s name.... that part is so crazy to me cause it’s feels so out of place. but it was purposeful. i was trying to show that crown’s growing and that they’re at this weird age where they feel invincible. and also i wanted to put more emphasis on how being royal and the heir to the throne kind of effects the relationships crown has

and the last line of this part when rashi says “never abuse it” it gives me chills whew

the next part ... another part that i had high hopes for in the outlining stages of writing, but when it came to actually writing, this scene totally flopped, i’m gonna try not to dwell on this part too much cause i just know most of my comments will be about how much i don’t like it. but just overall, this scene could have been SO MUCH BETTER !

omg this little interaction: ““Look!” Chanhee deadpans, shooting you a glare. “The match is about to begin.” / “Wish me luck.” / “I hope you lose.”” i think its so funny and cute

“ Your eyes immediately got to Rashi “ another example of how highly crown regards rashi

“In Wurltan.” hmmmmmm sus.... *laughs in i love mentioning things that won’t make sense to reader until later*

okay this: “Yes, but not just any mage. I…” your voice trails off, pulling at your fingers and looking anywhere but at him. “I wanted you to know.” i cannot stand these two omg

okay this part: “Chanhee thinks and overthinks the words spoken between you both. His mind drifts off to last night as well, that moment in the tent where you shared your warmth. He doesn’t even realize he’s staring at you until you give him a funny look. He quickly looks away and wonders if you’re overthinking everything as relentlessly as he is.” this part makes me think about what ina said about how chanhee shows his love by keeping you in his thoughts and YEAH chanhee’s love language in this piece is thinking about you and staring LOL

i hate this next part, not cause i don’t like it or anything it just makes me sad

but this line: “Like if someone shoved you from behind right now, you wouldn’t push back; you’d let yourself fall straight to the ground.” i actually love that line

also this next entire bit i see SO clearly in mind, i hope i wrote it well enough so that you all saw it clearly too

when chanhee wipes the dirt.... girl i’m wiping my tears

this line : “We’ll lean on each other.” mini love declaration sighhhhhh

yeah that whole part i love so much

the seat of wisdom :(((( no!!!!!

so about this line: “He stares at his palms, at all the lies buried under each nail and at all the secrets shoved in every crack. He watches as they all blow up in front of his face.” >> i had like ten different versions of it before i settled on this one lol

okay so the first part of the last past flashback with crown realizing their true feelings... so soft

news gone, rashis’s dead, :((( it makes me so sad

gosh okay this paragraph..... “I’ve always wondered why the gods blessed me and you the way that they have. They entrusted you with such great power. The only person to be both a healing and shadow mage in centuries. And then,” a tear falls from her eye, “they entrusted you to me.” Chanhee thinks this might be the first time he’s seen Rashi cry. “But now I have reason to believe that this was no accident. I’m beginning to think that the gods have always known it would come to this. And I’m starting,” she falters there, “I’m starting to spite them for it.” it hurts so bad im sorry

the first confrontation with harlan took me so long to write, and i’m still not sure if i actually like it, so again i will refrain from commenting lol

but the part where crown screams : “YOU LOST THE MIRROR OF JUSTICE!” I think i told kyu this but this line makes me laugh because in my head its said the same way bella says: “you nicknamed my daughter after the lochness monster” whenever i see that line i smile lol

honestly this argument scene..... one of my absolute faves,,, everything lina said about it in that reblog just yes!yes!yes!! i can’t even comment about a particular part because all of it i love so much. its another part that leaves me slightly speechless.

but my favorite part of it might be how it ends hehe

these next couple parts were a bit diffucult to write because obviously the air between crown and chanhee is not very light right now so it was just hard to navigate their dynamic at these moments until they apologize but hopefully it turned out alright

i really like this line: “But this moment—with the scent of Harlan’s wine under his nose and the chill of Harlan’s blade against his neck—this moment feels nothing like those. It feels empty.”

“ Chanhee just stares at you.“ -- staring as a love language exhibit b

this whole part... chills bro

“Chanhee exhales because for the first time since this afternoon he looks at your face and sees you.” -- exhibit c ....

okay wait another one of my favorite parts here: the spilled glass metaphor!! again please reference lina’s rb on this because everything said there... could not have said better myself. inspired by this writing advice by ocean vuong and yeah i just think the metaphor speaks for itself, one of my favorite lines (well paragraph) from the entire piece, actually from ALL of my works

it was so hard to think up all of yumi’s different names, i was struggling

them talking about how farah will be happy to see chanhee...... how do i break it to you crown.....she’s dead...... awkward

red streak q! yesss. also i’m so sorry for killing off farah

also kyunyu bestiessss

tbh this whole paragraph: “I get this overwhelming burst of honesty. As if what you both speak of is more than just a simple truth, as if it’s a commandant you blindly follow. What’s even odder is that I only feel that burst when you speak of each other.” Q stops walking and turns so that he faces Chanhee directly. “You speak of Crown constantly. And last night, when I met Crown, your title never left from the tip of their tongue. Humans are so simple really. We mention what we love.” Q pauses for a moment, bringing a hand under his chin. “Do you love Crown?” --i wrote it for myself no regrets

oh wait this bit too : “Quietly, Chanhee says, “I know.” / “Have you been watching?” / “I’ve been waiting.” / “For what?” / He meets your eyes. “For you.”” -- sometimes i do things that live rent free in my own mind

okay im so sorry for just quoting myself but this too : “ He sits back slightly. Shocked. Not by his love for you, but rather by how easily love walked into his heart and settled between his lungs “

lol the part where they try fooling q... why are crown and chanhee like this

the running !!!

yeah also every part after that... tears okay

yumi’s magic !!! its so cool to me, i love it so much

i surprisingly don’t have much to say about the end... i mean i like it, but i just don’t have any comments. the last line tho... good one shawna

okay im done for you sake i hope no one read this lmao

#oasis #mine #not sure what else to tag this lol #oh #directors commentary #this got so long for no reason

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gilded-green · 3 years

Note

In celebration of the 10th anniversary, I’ll probably reread GG and send updates/highlight areas and as for commentary. Probably XD

But first. What aspect of Gilded Green was your favorite? What was something you put in a lot of world building for but never got to show either in fic or on tumblr. Who is your favorite character and why, what makes them special in your eyes? Which character has turned into a completely different one as soon as you started writing them? Which part of the fic did you like most when you finished it, do you still like it? Similarly, which part do you dislike most?

Lasty, anything about gg2’s story you want to share/talk about/rant?

-love, the dai li fangirl

Haha, no pressure! But at the same time yes if you do feel free to send me passages for commentary here! <3

What aspect was my favorite? Hmmm. *thinking face* I think, when I first came up with it, I was just thrilled to have these two small things - minor character Lu Ten, overlooked villain organization Dai Li - that I was able to combine into something so big. That was pretty nifty!

As I started developing the story, I think what really caught my attention was the fact that “Wow, all these characters are awful people!” Like. The Dai Li aren’t good.The Fire Nation aren’t good. Lu Ten is a victim but also an oppressor. All off these people have extremely different beliefs and worldviews - Fire supremacist, police state enforcers, classist academic gatekeepers - and all of them think THEY’RE in the right here and none of them are. I think Tien and Hoang might be the only people with a decent, non-oppressive worldview in the story so far. XD I was growing out of the storytelling trope of black-and-white morality at the time, so it was really fun to start experimenting with writing awful people as enjoyable, sympathetic characters.

World building? Hmm. I was just learning how to use my worldbuilding muscles back then. I seem to remember reading up a lot on how brainwashing actually works in the real world and going “I don’t think this is compatible with what we have in ATLA” and just kinda tossing that whole thing out. XD I also recall looking up a lot of stuff for the bits about Jouin, some of which - kalua pig! - has since shown up again in WFFD. I also recall someone on FFdotnet at the time saying “All this chapter did was tell us more about a dead character than the living one” and I was just kinda like -_- yes because he is DEAD and this is your chance to feel sorry about that, we’ll get plenty more of the living one later on account of him still being, y’know, alive. XD

Oh, and Shirong’s personal side projects. I finally got into that a bit in A Meeting of Minds, but the dude DOES have his own stuff going on, which Delun so rudely interrupted to drag him off to see Long Feng about brainwashing a Firebender.

I also did a bunch of research for the birthday party interlude, I think. Mostly appropriate alcohol for such an occasion? And....okay, this’ll sound funny, but.....food containers. I wanted Fen to pack up leftovers for Suyin and Shirong. That’s what my Italian family does after get-togethers, and I assumed that a Chinese family/friend group would do the same! But I also had, like, zero exposure to everyday Chinese life, let alone everyday Chinese life in the 1800s, and I just didn’t have the...idk, cultural osmosis? to figure it out. Like, if you asked me how Victorians would transfer food I’d probably come up with “Idk, wrap it in cloth and stuff it in a basket?” and I assumed people living in modern China would also be able to explain what their people did for food storage/transport 150 years ago but I didn’t have that cultural background, now, did I??? Also this was 10-12 years ago I was looking this up, mind you, the internet was still very different, there was plenty of information on Chinese historical events but not on everyday life objects, CDramas weren’t easy to find if they were translated at all and I certainly didn’t know they existed, and no one was posting beautiful aesthetic videos of life in a rural Chinese mountain village to youtube yet. Eventually I learned that bamboo baskets were a thing, but there wasn’t much info on THOSE either and I wasn’t sure how to describe them, so I just tentatively typed “basket” and called it a day. XD

YOU CANNOT ASK ME TO CHOOSE MY FAVORITE CHARACTER THAT’S LIKE ASKING ME TO CHOOSE BETWEEN MY CHILDREN!!! *shoves Yong off a cliff*

I’m very fond of the Dai family, along with the Trungs and Sais. I’m very proud of how Tuan turned out. I adore Yuan, who you’ve barely met, and Xun, who you haven’t. Huang and Wu Sheng are also definite faves and I can’t wait for y’all to get to know them better.

Characters do usually behave for me in terms of personality development. They surprise me, but they never really turn out to be the complete OPPOSITE of what I was expecting? They just kinda develop organically. Huang and Wu Sheng surprised me, tho, those boys got deep. I knew they had the potential, but developing their backstory actually caused Stingrae and I to develop Ba Sing Se’s socio-political backstory and Long Feng’s rise to power, all because of an inkling I had. That was a very satisfying few years of worldbuilding and story development.

Um, favorite part of the fic....idk, I’m very fond of the final scene, with Azula and her wall chunk from Lu Ten. I’m doubly fond of it because of how it always resonates with readers. Heck, during Azula week last year, I used that chunk of rock as an ongoing theme in Sandstone, and someone commented like “I DIDN’T REALIZE YOU’RE THE ONE WHO WROTE GILDED GREEN” and that made me really happy!

Lu Ten’s time stuck underground - I used the seven stages of grief to get through that one and it was very helpful in structuring that part of the story, and I figured it was deep or something because PSYCHOLOGY.

I’m also proud of myself for getting through the dark brainwashing scenes. So, like, FYI, fanfiction could get...very dark, back in the 00s. People love to play purity police these days and complain about how nasty people get can, but listen. Listen. Do you have any idea how dark FFdotnet got back in the day? Legolas And Aragorn Get Captured By Orcs And Brutally Tortured was an entire genre. I feel like torture fic was actually a lot more common back then, and darkfic in general - I’m sure someone could write a whole thesis on why it’s not so prevalent anymore, I’m gonna guess the fact that fandom is less-insulated and more public now could be part of it, maybe also the fact that the internet is more social media/influencer culture based so people care about their image, and also the purity police which is its own kettle of worms, but I also think that the Bush Administration had something to do with it? You have all these kids who were pre-teens when 9/11 happened, growing up during the Iraq War with an awful presidential administration while everyone was scared and conservative Christianity started to realize that their control over the nation’s “morality” might be slipping and reacted accordingly......yeah there was a lot of darkfic back then.

And I read a lot of darkfic too, but, uh....well, statistically speaking, a lot of writing is bad, okay? A lot of those fics were just weird; you could see where the writer had this idea, and also where they failed to execute it in a way that resonated or made sense. And whatever, writers were young and just wanted to pound out some catharsis, it’s cool, but it still just felt narratively awkward when you could tell how the writer was more focused on LET’S MAKE THIS AS DARK AS POSSIBLE instead of “Let’s tell this as well as possible.”

So the first several attempts at writing the brainwashing scenes, I was nervous because I didn’t want to get TOO dark, and when I finally decided “eff it” and said to Stingrae “I think I need to let this be as dark as it needs to be” I was still nervous because I didn’t want it to end up WEIRD. Idk if that makes sense, but anyway I seem to have done a decent job at it!

As for parts I dislike the most, uhhhhh Iroh’s retreat (I didn’t care, I just wanted to get it over with), Enlai might’ve been promoted too fast? idk, the fact that I came up with Nanyue AFTER I finished publishing GG so I couldn’t work that into the Quy bits, the fact that I was young and innocent and didn’t understand sexual slang or innuendo and randomly chose Dong as the name of the court physician which could lead to some awful puns except no one ever seemed to pick up on that and maybe I’ll regret pointing it out but the man IS going to appear again so I might as well get the first shot in myself. XD

I might have GG2 stuff to talk about but not sure, if I do I’ll make another post on that!

#GG tumblr escapades #GG 10th anniversary

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autumnblogs · 3 years

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Day 11: Melodrama

WIth Act 4 over, we’ve finished setting up the pins on the Earth Side of this story. We are now roughly one quarter of the way through the full story - and Homestuck is set up more or less in four acts, rather than in six acts as its “official” structure would suggest.

Time to start setting up the pins on the other disc.

https://homestuck.com/story/1942

But first, some more of Andrew’s prose to detail the fallout of the Sovereign Slayer’s activity. He’s been a busy man.

Also, Rose goes off the rails, but we knew that already.

This is the part of the story where Rose becomes an antagonist, in my opinion. More on that later. More after the break.

https://homestuck.com/story/1955

A letter from another version of Earth.

One of the very first things that we learn about Jake is that one of his all time favorite movies is Weekend at Bernie’s, an association that is part of a long list of red-herrings that link Jake up with Lord English, but of which nothing ultimately comes. It’s an association mostly because Bernie is a corpse who is also a puppet (like Doc Scratch, for example).

All that has already been pointed out by a lot of people before me, so moving on.

https://homestuck.com/story/1957

Just missed her.

https://homestuck.com/story/1993

Act 5 off to a great start, and while Karkat is in many ways a parallel to John (via their shared interests), right away, this action compares Karkat to Dave. Their reaction to being misnamed by the command prompt is pretty much identical.

https://homestuck.com/story/1994

Like I said, Karkat is pretty much immediately compared to John in terms of their shared interests, what with his Terrible Taste in Movies and his Amateur Coding.

One thing that stands out as endearing to me that I’ve probably not thought so much about before is Karkat’s practicing with his Sickle in his room. It reminds me of lightsaber wielding kids on early youtube.

https://homestuck.com/story/1995

So let’s break this and the next few pages down. Viewing the narration through the same James-Joycesque lens of “Narration is more or less identical with the characters’ thought processes,” that we have been so far, Karkat seems pretty ambivalent about existing as a troll, going as far as to describe his bad dreams as *terrible.*

Do all Trolls have dreams as bad as Karkat does? Is it a chucklevoodoos thing? Maybe it’s specifically a Karkat thing.

https://homestuck.com/story/1996

Karkat gets distracted instantly by intrusive thoughts and does something else that’s very Johnlike.

https://homestuck.com/story/1998

Aw c’mon. Early Sandler isn’t even that bad. Then again, it’s been a while since I’ve watched this one, maybe it’s worse than I remember it.

https://homestuck.com/story/1999

This section of the story is even more time-agnostic than the rest of the story, and a lot of it is told in past tense prospective action, which says to me that what we’re experiencing here is the various trolls on the meteor at the End of Act 4 collectively remembering what has taken place in the past, while the parts of this segment that are narrated in the present tense are being relayed to us via the characters in the narrative present (which is to say, the events which are being relayed to us in the panel.)

https://homestuck.com/story/2008

I wonder if Troll Will Smith is a Troll Scientologist?

https://homestuck.com/story/2010

I didn’t like the Trolls very much originally. They’re so ornery and pissy with each other all the time, with the exception of Gamzee and Tavros, but on a reread, especially keeping the things in mind that I’m keeping in mind, all of these characters are a lot more tolerable.

Using the cipher that we’ve established from reading the characters as basically attempting to perform what is culturally expected of them in the first four acts, we can immediately decode what is going on between Karkat and his friends - they are trying to be the best trolls they can be, or at least, live up to certain ideals/stereotypes the way that Dave tries to live up to the stereotype of the coolguy, or John emulates the mangrit and fatherliness and so on of his father figures.

But something is way *way* more wrong with Alternia’s role models than Earth’s.

That’s all from a Watsonian perspective. From a Doylist perspective, there are very explicit stereotypes each of these characters is designed around - commonplace annoying internet people from the ‘00s (pronounce that as Naughts).

https://homestuck.com/story/2012

There’s a lot of early installment weirdness in the first bits of Troll Stuff we get where it’s clear that Andrew was riffing and trying to find clear definitions for their relationships - it’s somewhat poorly known these days, I think, but Andrew has said in the past that he hates worldbuilding, and it kind of shows. (Did I mention that Kanaya Sollux friendship back when those two were interacting not long ago? That’s another one of those bits of early installment weirdness).

Anyway, the actual bit of early installment weirdness that I’m drawing attention to is the fact that the Subjugglators are described as being an Obscure Cult here, but later Homestuck Media (and even stuff within Homestuck, honestly) will make them out to be basically the only major aspect of being a Purple Blood.

https://homestuck.com/story/2013

Gamzee’s ignorance and his bliss are pretty much immediately linked to one another.

That said, I’m not going to dive too deep into Gamzee’s inner life. Like a lot of the trolls, in spite of his great relevance, he’s a bit of a joke character, and the joke is on us - whatever is going on inside this lad’s head is a puzzle for most of the comic.

Gamzee has a Freudian excuse in the form of his absent Lusus, which incidentally, is a parallel to Jade - the Nurture is the same, but the Nature is very differently. Unfortunately, when God was handing out Natures, he gave Gamzee one of the really bad ones, so he’s a worthless goddamn piece of shit.

https://homestuck.com/story/2024

Already into the first few troll conversations, and we’re setting up some stuff for later. Gamzee and Terezi’s very first conversation demonstrates the terrible chemistry that the two have together - Gamzee legitimately unsettles Terezi, and there’s just nothing at all she can do to bother him.

https://homestuck.com/story/2025

Sollux is probably so handy with this coding language because of his ability to hear the voices of the imminently deceased - so he can write programs that will execute along a pretty reasonable time frame.

https://homestuck.com/story/2027

Leader is a phrase that ends up being used in conjunction with Karkat a lot, and the concept of leadership is another one of those things that Homestuck Talks About but not a thing that Homestuck Is About, at least in the sense that leadership as a role is part of the comic’s broader commentary on cultural reproduction, the same way that Homestuck’s conversation about gender is, or Homestuck’s conversation about Roles in general.

What do you want to be when you grow up? Karkat wants to be a leader.

As long as Sollux is making his first appearance as a character, I want to take a second to say that as a character, he’s always been pretty tough and enigmatic for me to write, especially in the sense that he‘s frequently referred to melodramatic and sensitive or similar terms by people around him, but he actually doesn’t really seem that way in most cases - he just seems like a guy who wants to his own devices, and is generally pretty non-reactive to other peoples’ bullshit. Maybe he’s melodramatic in the way that Dave is, hyping himself up as a coolguy who is the best there is, but then again, Sollux kind of lives up to his own hype, considering that up until the last possible moment, he wins pretty much every fight he’s in handily, adapts Sburb personally, and has more romantic success than just about everyone else in the comic.

Maybe Karkat’s just projecting.

https://homestuck.com/story/2031

Roleplaying - a concept that I’ve used frequently to refer to the way that John and his chums perform rituals in order to relate to their culture and parents - is made explicit through the language of Flarping, which for the Trolls, serves as a way for them to literally act out the adventures of their long-dead ancestors, although it strikes me that it’s probably a lot more gainful for highbloods like Terezi and Vriska than it is in general for lowbloods like Aradia and Tavros.

I’ll get this out of the way up front instead of commenting it on a drip feed throughout Terezi’s upcoming courtblock roleplay - Terezi is the kind of kid who aspires to be a Cop. Or a lawyer, anyway, which in Alternian Law, is the same thing as a cop. In the wake of 2020′s scads of police brutality, and in general, having grown up into a nasty commie, it’s kind of hard to look at Terezi the same way.

While it’s clear that Terezi is remorseful later on toward her earlier attitudes and behaviors, Terezi is at least ambivalent, and at worst a purely antagonistic force throughout a lot of early Homestuck because of her authoritarian tendencies and her honestly pretty psychopathic behavior. She plays games with her friends’ lives.

https://homestuck.com/story/2047

Terezi adores having power over other people and making them helpless. For Terezi, alienation takes the form of emotional distance from the people that she’s tormenting. It makes it so much easier for her to conceive of them as wicked people who need to die.

https://homestuck.com/story/2055

Nepeta is an adorable girl who deserves all the good things. All of them.

That said, as long as we’re commentating and not glurging, Nepeta’s internet troll stereotype is probably less familiar these days, and I say probably less, but I can’t say for sure - it’s like this really specific thing that existed during the late ‘00s, where you had this highly specific stereotype, which I’ll call the Furry Artist Roleplayer, and I really hope that I’m not talking out of my ass by generalizing anecodtal evidence, but I know people who were pretty much exactly the Nepeta stereotype around the time that Act 5 was being written! Roleplaying in IRCs or on specialty forums with other people, all drawing art of their anthro OCs and writing stories about each other’s characters. That sort of thing still probably exists these days, but if it does, I’m not really part of any communities anymore where it leaks into the mainstream.

https://homestuck.com/story/2058

Okay, yup, Karkat is 100% projecting “Melodrama” on all the people around him. In a literal sense, Melodrama refers to theatrics that are exaggerated and sensationalized in such a way as to appeal to the emotions, often prioritizing spectacle and physical action over deep characterization.

Actually, if we’re taking it in the literal sense of the word, just about every character in Homestuck is pretty melodramatic - I keep talking about the way that they roleplay rituals and associate with symbols even when they fail to structures of power and culture that those rituals and symbols point to - performative participation without any actual substance. That’s practically the definition of Melodrama.

But Karkat is, perhaps, the most Melodramatic of all.

https://homestuck.com/story/2065

Aradia is one of my favorite characters in Homestuck, and possibly my favorite, something I can be up front about.

Our introduction to her is brief, and right out of the gate one thing about her is apparent - her relationship with destruction is central to her characterization.

https://homestuck.com/story/2069

While I was going to wait for the Hemospectrum to come up explicitly, now’s as good a time as any to talk about the fact that Andrew uses Troll society to comment on hierarchy a lot - hierarchy of just all kinds. Ageism is one of those, and Gerontocracy in particular in Alternia. In Alternia, just one of the ways that the oppression of the Hemospectrum manifests is the way that the Empire systematically takes advantage of its children by basically leaving them completely to their own devices. Trolls don’t have family units normally, but the fact that Troll adults are all offworld is not a “natural” part of Troll Society, it’s a decision. And while it’s a decision made by the Empress, it’s still one that, to some extent, benefits adult trolls at the expense of the children, since they’re not around spending energy on raising kids who are expected to raise themselves from the word go.

It’s honestly pretty late, and I’m tuckered out because of the steroids that I’m on, and the cough medicine, so in spite of the comparatively pretty short amount of reading I’ve done tonight, I’m going to call it here.

Cam signing off, Alive and a little High.

#liveblogging #commentary #nurture #nature #trolls

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neriad13 · 3 years

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Favorite Media of 2020!

There was a large swathe of this year during which I was unable to concentrate on reading (as there probably was for a lot of other typically-frequent readers), so, as a result, I ended up listening to way more podcasts and watching way more TV shows. Not a bad thing, but boy did I read way less books than usual.

However, for the first time in a while, the amount of fiction I read was about equal with the amount of nonfiction I read. Last year’s reading resolution was to read more fiction, so...success??

I did read a lot of phenomenal fiction when I had the energy to do so this year.

Books - Fiction

The Martian - Andy Weir

This book is the hardest of the hard sci fi I think I’ve ever read. Every single aspect of it is minutely researched and calculated. The author literally wrote equations to write this book. The science is insanely impressive and yet...it never loses its sense of humor or humanity in the mix. In fact, they’re the thing that drives the entire story.

Warlock Holmes - G. S. Denning

Way early in the year I was strolling down the fantasy aisle at the library, when this cover caught my eye. I took one look at it, went “oh, this looks silly” and...proceeded to devour the entire series in a matter of weeks.

It is very silly. Especially when it’s pointing out something that was silly in the original. There’s something so satisfying about Watson immediately answering Holmes with the correct number of steps in their flat when he’s trying to make his point about how most people don’t pay attention to things like that.

World War Z - Max Brooks

Every single scenario in here could easily support an entire book. A park ranger whose job it is to contain the yearly zombie spring thaw? HECK YES. I’d read tens of thousands of words about that. A Chinese admiral who defaults, steals the government’s premier submarine, loads it up with the families of his underlings and takes to the sea for years to live in the maritime economy that has sprung up in a world where everyone is trying to escape the shore? That could be an entire movie on its own.

Every chapter was more creative than the last and as a huge worldbuilding fan, this book was so, so fun.

An Unkindness of Ghosts - Rivers Solomon

In which a queer, neurodivergent protagonist solves a mystery on a spaceship which is a microcosm of antebellum era politics! This had a beautiful, mysterious, wonder-inducing writing style and it was a joy to peer into the wildly differing minds of every single character.

Books - Nonfiction

Underland - Robert MacFarlane

In every chapter, the author visits a different hole. Basically.

It’s an exploration of caves, catacombs, mines, nuclear waste facilities and the hidden underbelly of every forest. It was fascinating. And fundamentally changed how I look at time.

Rejected Princesses - Jason Porath

After years of having enjoyed the web entries, I finally got my hands on the first book and was not disappointed.

There are the more entertaining entries, of course and the art is as charming as always, but what struck me the most were the more difficult stories. The deeper you go into this book, the more horrific it gets. The author does not hold back on the indignities suffered by the historical figures he writes about. It’s terrible...but also very, very illuminating.

The Gift of Fear - Gavin De Becker

This book - while maintaining all the essential information in it - could be pared down to one sentence in a sea of blank pages and that sentence would be: trust your instincts. End of story.

But in a world where instincts are either customarily suppressed or going haywire, it’s not quite that easy, which is why I’m glad there is more to the book.

I picked it up thinking “ha ha, betcha can’t help a person with anxiety who fears all the time already” and...what it actually ended up doing was giving me the tools to differentiate between real fear and unfounded fear. And did help with the anxiety quite a bit.

Fanfiction

Watch Over Me - cakeisatruth

A Bioshock fic from the point of view of a little sister who is learning how to trust and be an ordinary child again. Dark and sweet. An excellent combo.

All That is Visible - Ultima_Thule

An exploration of a minor character in a well researched historical context? That’s my jam! How did they know?? A Tron fic about what it’s like to be a female programmer in the 70s.

Graphic Novels

The Adventure Zone - McElroys + Carey Pietsch

Yesssssssss! It was a running-to-the-library type event whenever my library got a new volume in. The jokes are so good, the art is so lively and the ways in which they added the details that the podcast couldn’t necessarily get across is *mwah*

Trail of Blood - Shuuzou Oshimi

Hoooooooly shit, the art style of this one!! It’s beautifully detailed and expressive, sure, but the real draw for me was how it changes with the emotional state of the main character. There’s this sequence in which he’s consumed with anxiety at school and all of his classmates become blurry and unfocused, until they can’t be recognized as humans at all, that particularly sticks with me.

It’s a horror story about a kid who witnesses his loving mother push his cousin off a cliff for seemingly no reason and is then obligated by her to keep the secret, which is eating him from the inside out. It’s so good, guys, please read it.

Level Up - Gene Lien Yang/Thien Pham

A story about a kid who is haunted by his late father’s desire for him to become a gastroenterologist. It’s funny and touching and the ending gave me what I can only describe as a feeling of exhilaration. Y’know that feeling when something unexpected but not out of left field, perfectly in tune with the narrative arc and gut bustingly funny happens, all in the same panel? That one.

Film

Searching

This is a fairly standard thriller about a dad trying to find out what happened to his missing daughter. It’s also found footage...but not in the usual way, which was what made it so compelling to me. It’s told through the dad’s phone calls, google searches, social media interactions, news footage, security cameras and webcams. It was such a cool way to tell a story.

Train to Busan

There’s a lot that’s already been said about this movie and I don’t think there’s much more I can meaningfully add to that. Suffice to say that ya gotta take care of each other if you’re going to survive a zombie apocalypse!!

TV Series

My Brother’s Husband

As close to a perfect adaptation as a person can get (barring the entire conversation in English which was...oof). I was so happy when they took it a step further and showed Kana and Yaichi actually getting to meet Mike’s family.

Zumbo’s Just Desserts

I watched a lot of baking shows this year. Like...a lot. They were my much-needed comfort viewing for the year and this one was my favorite, even over The Great British Baking Show (which I LOVE). Why? Because the pastry chef for whom it’s named makes such bizarre and wonderful desserts and fosters an environment in which the competitors do the same. I’ve never seen anything like a lot of the desserts that make an appearance on this show. Every single episode was an awesome surprise and so help me, this show had better get a third season.

She-ra and the Princesses of Power

There’s also a lot that’s been said about this one, so I won’t say much more. Suffice to say: DAMN. That’s how you do an 80s toy tie-in cartoon remake.

Infinity Train

This show’s premise is probably the most unique I’ve seen in recent years. Its balance of comedy, horror and existential dread is also *mwah* I also love how much it trusts the viewer to figure things out on their own.

Primal

A late entry sliding in before the year ends! I finally got to watch the second half of the first season last weekend and it was EXCELLENT. The pacing, the brutal fight scenes, the adorable dinosaur antics, the animation, the quiet moments - *mwah-mwah-mwah-mwah-mwah*

The most emotional moment for me was the part in which the protagonists watch, with sorrow, as the rabid dinosaur who’s been trying to kill them all night dies an excruciating death.

Also it sets up a fascinating new plotline right before ending in a cliffhanger!! Another one for the ‘had better get a next season’ list.

Games

Night in the Woods

This is one that’s been on my to play list for a few years and I was so glad I finally got my hands on it. It’s like...The Millennial Experience (TM), the game. I felt so seen, playing it. The character writing was fantastic.

Prey

I don’t know why I put off finishing this for so long. I guess I wasn’t in the right alien killing headspace for a while?? Anyway, the setting is gorgeous, the alien biology is weird and cool, the ethics are delightfully murky and the interconnectedness of the station was really cool, especially in the OH SHIT moments at the end.

Podcasts

The Adventure Zone

I tried to narrow this down to one favorite arc, but found that I couldn’t do it. I love Balance for its comedy and creative energy. I love Amnesty for its drama and acting. I am loving Graduation for the depth of its world and the way in which the real story behind everything that’s happened is slowly unfurling. It’s a good podcast all around.

The Magnus Archives

Who obsessively listened to every single season while playing Minecraft in about a month? Surely not me, nooooo. Of course not.

There’s also been a lot said on this one, so I’ll keep it brief. I’ve seen things in here that I haven’t really seen elsewhere in horror. My particular favorites were the creepy psychiatric hospital in which the horror comes not from the patients, but from the denial of the doctor to believe them about their mental illnesses and every single thing related to the Anthropocene. The one with the Amazonian village made out of trash - CHILLS.

#tma #taz #prey 2017 #night in the woods #infinity train #warlock holmes #she-ra #zumbo's just desserts #a thought

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kahans · 3 years

Text

i was tagged by @fillippas and @radiantsusan to list the top 10 books i read in 2020. thank u both so much! <3

so i’ve only read 18 going on 19 books this year (pathetic i know) but it’s still better than last year so we’re going to say this is a good year of literature for me. to narrow things down even further i’m also going to exclude rereads. anyway, in no particular order, here are my favorite books read in 2020! under the cut because i don’t hate my followers lmao

jade city by fonda lee - imagine six of crows but everyone is allowed to swear and it’s set in a fantasy version of eastern asia in the mid-20th century. yeah, it’s that awesome. 11/10 recommend, though it is an adult fantasy novel, the first of three, and contains two (you could argue but that’s my count) explicit sex scenes, some violence, and strong language

emma by jane austen - i don’t have much to say about this book except that i was not expecting it to be so funny? like honestly the whole book was hilarious from the actual plot to austen’s choice of prose.

supernova by marissa meyer - this book is the third of the renegades series, and it has everything you could want from a young adult novel about superheroes: complex morality, exploration of social issues, found family—and most importantly, enemies to lovers—all set in a fictional city analogous to gotham city. if you were a fan of the lunar chronicles, you’ll probably like the renegades series

queen of nothing by holly black - if you like enemies to lovers and faeries, you’ll probably like this conclusion to the folk of the air trilogy. the way the author presented the enemies to lovers trope was healthy and well-written, in my opinion, and the world of the faery, extant parallel to our own, is so aesthetically pleasing and beautifully described. the main character’s fears and motivations are well supported by the plot and her own circumstances. also there was a little kid who didn’t constantly annoy me for once, so that’s also a nice bonus.

the song of achilles by madeline miller - honestly in fifty years i wouldn’t be surprised if this book was considered one of the classics. everything from the characters to the prose to the romance was beautifully done. as an amateur writer, i especially admired miller’s use of language. obviously she had source material to build upon but her choice of words fit so well with the setting and type of novel she wrote. now there are several raw ass quotes from this book that live in my mind rent fee

the secret history by donna tartt - when i first started this book all i could think was, what the heck is this book about? the writing was pretty, if not a little verbose, and the characters intriguing, but the plot dragged so much it took me forever to finish the book. by my estimation, things really started to get going about a third of the way through, and by then i was hooked and really began to enjoy things. like the entry just prior to this one, several of the quotes live in my brain rent free. some of the scenes do also, though mostly because they were delightfully absurd

the foxhole court by nora sakavic - okay, okay, make fun of me for jumping on the bandwagon all you want, but i had to see what all of the hype was about. i haven’t read all three, so i’m just passing a judgment on this book alone: i do not understand why people adore this book so much (please don’t kill me it’s just an opinion). maybe it gets better in the second and third novels, but there were some pretty...yikes things going on i wasn’t too comfy with. but i do like the characters and their dynamic

ballad of songbirds and snakes by suzanne collins - if this had been anything but a hunger games book i probably wouldn’t have put it on this list. that makes it sound really bad, but my expectations were high and this book was...so... slow. and dry. it was interesting to read how some of the aspects of the hunger games came to be, and of course i loved lucy gray baird, but she was probably the only highlight in a cast of otherwise bland characters. i feel like collins wrote this book as current sociopolitical commentary to give it a deeper meaning beyond a cash grab profiting off of her reader’s love of the first series.

frankenstein by mary shelley - i think part of what makes this book so good is knowing the details surrounding its creation and publication. i mean, have you ever written a book so unique and good it revolutionized a whole genre of literature? yeah, me neither. i’m one of the few who read kiersten white’s the dark descent of elizabeth frankenstein before the novel on which it was based so i might give that a reread as well because [saoirse ronan voice] women.

we rule the night by claire elizabeth bartlett - so I’m going to be honest: this book was not as good as I expected. The worldbuilding was lackluster and the magic system, while interesting, was not fleshed out enough to fully make the quasi-russian setting really come alive. however, one of the main characters was a disabled girl, and while I can’t speak for disabled people as I am not one myself, i enjoyed the way her disability was integrated into the magic system and how it was portrayed by the author.

Tagging: @opticarrow, @coachday, @cressisaqueen, @venkasring, and anyone else who wants to do this tag! (The whole mini review proceeding each book is not necessary to complete the tag, I’m just extra)

#thanks for tagging me!#sorry this took so long but it’s done now #lit #your obedient servant em

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fountainpenguin · 4 years

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Could you tell us more about the Reedfilter AU? What makes it different? Any favorite parts or ideas in mind?

Reedfilter Rules AU is basically as opposite as I can be from my Riddleverse Classic headcanons without contradicting the actual FOP canon (and without overlapping my other AUs, such as my “King Me” AU).

I like to think of it as “the AU that might have been my canon if I hadn’t found Wolbachia pipientis.” Delving deeply into Wolbachia was the thing that forced me to make ALL my FOP worldbuilding deep to balance it. Reedfilter Rules AU is somewhat deep, but sticks very close to show canon. It’s more detailed than the show, but not chaotically deep.

In Riddleverse Classic, there’s a pretty even balance between animal DNA and human-like DNA. In the “Little Imperfections” universe, animal DNA is played up and human-like DNA is played down. In Reedfilter Rules, human-like DNA is played up and animal DNA is barely acknowledged (the Fae in RR are pretty much just small humans with wings). These Pixies don’t have Wolbachia, so H.P. is not the Pixie holotype. He and Sanderson are just friends.

The RR AU is named after the Head Pixie who preceded our H.P. (Rani Reedfilter) since most of the pieces I’ve written for it are told from her point of view. Pixies are a long-established species in this universe, and are considered the oldest and most advanced of the Fae races instead of the youngest.

Certain aspects of my worldbuilding (such as gyne and drone biology, the Refracts, and the honey-lock) don’t exist in the R-Rules verse. The Anti-Fairies don’t have their zodiac culture. Again, the Rules-verse sticks close to show canon and isn’t too complex; you get evil Antis and busy Pixies while Fairy World is just as fluffy and air-headed as ever, haha.

[More under the cut]

The inner workings of Pixie World are the most fleshed out part of RR AU. The Head Pixie position is even more powerful here than it is in my Classic works due to the sheer number of Pixies in existence (we’re talking a hundred companies united under a single boss- Head Pixie XXXVI, Rani Reedfilter).

It’s a blatant dictatorship where the Head Pixie’s rules always go, no questions asked. Marriages are arranged, jobs are assigned, and you can only reproduce with permission. Laughter is practically outlawed because the image of a crisp, intelligent pixie is so important to their brand. Extremely cold, strict place. This is the world Fergus grew up in before he took over from Reedfilter.

Classic!Fergus is blatant with his manipulation. He’s loud, proud, stubborn, and would NEVER stoop to the sucking up that RR!Fergus does. In RR, Fergus Whimsifinado - or Head Pixie XXXVII - rises through the ranks of Pixies Inc. by flirting with Rani Reedfilter in a universe where all pixie marriages are arranged and the Head is forbidden to have a spouse. R-Rules Fergus ain’t as averse to kisses as his Classic counterpart.... If seduction gets him what he wants, he won’t hesitate. And he didn’t.

Obviously, my ‘fic Origin of the Pixies isn’t canon in the R-Rules universe. Fergus was born and raised in Pixie society as one of many instead of being raised in Fairy World as an oddball with a wing mutation. Ambrosine was never matched with another woman after he had Fergus, so he never had Emery. Instead, I allowed this version of Fergus to follow through on his childhood dream of naming his daughter Emery.

And a daughter he indeed had, following his fling(s) with Reedfilter. Little Emery has Rani’s green eyes, so it’s pretty dang obvious that Rani is (was) her mother, but who’s going to protest? There ain’t no Pixie Council to balance power. Gossip all you want, but the Head Pixie’s word is law.

(Looks a lot like his father in this ‘verse, doesn’t he?)

Classic!Sanderson is H.P.’s sassy, egotistical, easily-made-jealous firstborn. However, in the Reedfilter AU, they aren’t related at all. RR!Sanderson - AKA Ennet - is extremely high-strung. He has low self-esteem, constantly thinks himself a failure, and on top of that he’s a HUGE gossip.

Classic!Sanderson is arguably smarter than the other pixies, but R!Rules Sandy is VERY trusting and naive. He’ll fall for anything twice over and believes everything H.P. says (H.P. messes with him because it’s funny). Sandy didn’t come into the picture until after Fergus became Head Pixie, but as their friendship deepens he becomes H.P.’s ears in the hallways.

Rani was nice enough to pair Sandy with a wife despite his half-pixie / half-wisp blood, as she believed him loyal to the company and wanted to show her trust in him. Sandy respects her immensely because of that, and even respected her enough to attempt pregnancy with his match when instructed to (something he bailed out of doing when Fergus matched him up with a different lady). He was horrified by Rani’s death..... and extremely suspicious of his new boss.

Despite his concerns about his new boss, Sanderson envisions himself as H.P.’s loyal sidekick, oblivious to the fact that H.P. would stab him in the back without remorse if the situation required him to. But H.P. genuinely likes RR!Sanderson, probably due to the fact that he and Sandy are the only pixie/wisp crossbreeds in the whole company. He still teases him, but I like to think this version of H.P. is better at asking Sanderson’s advice for problems and his consent to being teased. He’s more likely to stop messing around if he sees Sanderson upset than Classic H.P. is. Not as big a jerk as you could have been.

It’s honestly a beloved AU of mine because... it’s really interesting to play H.P. and Sanderson as literal friends instead of the distant parent/clingy child relationship they have in Riddleverse Classic. Reedfilter Rules has female pixies, arranged marriages, and boring businessmen unapologetically plotting evil... What more could you ask for?

Anti-Fairy World is also different in this AU. Anti-Schnozmo was raised to take over Anti-Fairy World from birth until Anti-Cosmo, ah... “took care of him.” AC is even brattier in this AU than he is in my Classic universe (a lot like Foop). Additionally, the High Countess position doesn’t mean anything... No political power for Anti-Wanda in this universe :(

I thought it would be interesting if Anti-Cosmo’s Deadly Sin was still Lust, but the only reason he’s married to Anti-Wanda in RR!AU is because his mother arranged them. He tolerates Anti-Wanda, he even likes her, but he doesn’t truly love her and doesn’t care if she knows it. He has illegitimate children in this verse (this is where Eury and Talon fit in) because the honey-lock isn’t a thing. Foop is his only legitimate child and therefore the legal heir to the throne (High Count is balanced by the Anti-Fairy Council and he can’t declare an illegitimate child his heir).

RR!Anti-Cosmo and H.P. are rival rulers who barely know each other. After taking over from Reedfilter, H.P. starts flirting with AC too in an attempt to snag Anti-Fairy World from under him, blind to the fact that Anti-Cosmo is toying with him and intends to betray him right back. Or, Anti-Cosmo flirts with him in an attempt to swipe Pixie World. Who knows. I’m not sure how far that relationship goes, just that I can see the two flirting in RR universe to mirror the fact they fight all the time in Classic.

(....... Maybe they still fight)

I created Reedfilter Rules AU back in 2016, and I still write drabbles for it because I find the concept endearing despite its cliches. I love writing in this ‘verse because I love pixies, but I haven’t posted the main ‘fic due to the, uhhhhh... //Gestures at story that revolves around a creepy guy sleeping his way up the corporate ladder, probably seducing his rival on the side idk, is this really what you want to read??

Anyway, I adore Reedfilter Rules AU and think about it a lot, so if you guys want to see more, let me know. “Only an Idea” (#83 of the 130 Prompts) takes place in the R-Rules universe and tells how H.P. and Sanderson first met.

#asks #Anon #FAIRIES!#Reedfilter Rules #ridwriting #I'm wasp dad trash #We're Pixies!#Sanderson is neat #The bat with the hat #The toughest tag #apparently art #130 Prompts #screenshots #Fairy Idol #Long post #This is the third time I've tried to submit this please don't break again #If the Read More gets moved into the ask box I'm sorry; just view on blog if so

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aesirfalling · 4 years

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From your writing asks: #1, 8, 10, 26, and 28 :) I wasn't sure if you had wanted me to answer any specific ones myself, but since it was an ask I wanted to respond properly~

I definitely wanted you to answer some specific ones yourself :^)

What themes would you like to write about that you feel don’t get explored very often?

I think this is obvious to everyone who’s read my more recent fics (so like... my fics from 2016 onwards?), but I like to write “realistically,” especially in regards to joys and pain. When people write about angst things like breakups and depression and physical illnesses they are sometimes hesitant (rightfully or understandably so, in many cases) to really get into the nitty gritty, and in many cases, uglier parts of them, but like, they’re a part of life and people in our lives don’t have a good time (or even many good moments at all) when these kinds of things happen to them. Those moments are still important, though, and I personally feel like embracing the dark aspects of those things makes getting through them in the end more emotionally and existentially powerful? If that makes sense. I’m definitely still wrestling with, like, the extent to which I should write such things (esp. since like, in most cases, fic readers are not reading your fic to suffer), but I think my underlying sentiment as a writer is to examine/meet feelings and life unflinchingly and with some kind of grace.

(I’ll get to the joys eventually. I swear. I have that draft of the second chapter of Lost and Found in my Google Drive. There’s Radiance and the mood in that, too. I just don’t like to write too much preemptive joy.)

The other thing I want to bring up as well is a kind of like... infrastructural realism? Or is it like, socioeconomic, worldly things? Like we’ve talked about this as well RE: how I’m covering Hope in my fics and how you worldbuild a lot around missions and such in yours. I think this is mostly a fic thing since to do this well requires a longer fic with a lot of forethought, and most people don’t have time for that. And honestly most people don’t like Hope for the structural engineering work he put into building new planets either

Favorite dialogue in your wip? (If asked more than once, respond with a new piece each time)

Oh man this interlude is going to be CHOKE FULL of dialogue that will kill me and most of them haven’t even been written yet

But the things that I’ve already put down on my dump file are like all dialogue

Here I just wrote up this thing

Snow: Go on then. Tell me that you don’t miss the stars. Tell me that you are okay with just sitting here day by day, pretending that you don’t know anything, pretending that you don’t have regrets and wants. Tell me that you don’t care if I won’t invite you to the wedding with Serah, if Light finds another man, or if some orphanage is burning on the other side of town. Tell me -

Hope: I don’t think you understand. I never needed anyone to motivate me.

Hope: I needed someone to stop me.

What scene was the most fun to write for you and why?

Hmm... we might have to establish a definition for ‘fun’ :P

I think in more recent memory, I’ve had the most fun writing the dialogue between Hope and E1 in the Intermission, because I relish all opportunities to write him (especially in FWWCH where I’m usually banned from writing in his POV) and writing two of him is just double the fun. I also adore all occasions where introspective idiots have to talk to other versions of themselves because it’s kind of like. The inevitable 404 error when they realize they are actually empathizing with themselves is tearjerker and heartwarming central.

What do you feel like you need to work on as a growing writer? How can you improve?

Oh lordy there are so many things. Lemme just list a few off the top of my head

1) Linguistic ability: There is definitely a part of me that is sad about the fact that leaving my home country at the age of 11 has left me in a place where I am kind of bilingual but kind of... not really “Native” in either. Like, I have this lingering feeling that I’ll never get to the level of a “Native” English speaker/writer, and I definitely hit like language ability walls all the time when I write - things wouldn’t feel naturally lyrical, I’d run out of words, I wouldn’t know how to describe something the way it should be described, the sentence structure variety is pitiful, etc. I think it’s especially apparent when you’re writing a long fic, where like you have to deal with the same things over and over (e.g. writing Hope cooking, or how Lightning physically perceives him, etc) and there’s more of a limit on where natural inspiration can take you. I should read more good prose (since that’s apparently how I get better at English) but, ugh, effort.

2) Characterization: how many times have I whined about how much I suck at writing Lightning lmaooooooo I think the general thing is like, everyone is decent at writing someone they personally relate to, but we struggle when we try to write outside of our comfort zone. Lightning is definitely the poster child of “character unlike me that I’m trying to get a hold of,” but I think I struggled even more trying to write Fang, and I’d probably struggle trying to write someone like Cid seriously. I think a large part of the struggle is trying to morph yourself into that character (or, like, dissociating from yourself and just... “becoming” that character depending on how you view writing meta??) since like, just understanding someone is not enough. Just understanding someone won’t let you write convincing dialogue where they talk and move around the way they usually do. You have to like, become them and that’s really hard when you have a strong writer’s ego (I know, shocking, coming from me.)

3) Worldbuilding: wtf am I even doing with Hope’s White Lotus thing lmaoooooo anyway a world could always be more interesting, consistent, realistic, nuanced etc. And not necessarily through more word count on the worldbuilding-y stuff. I think it’s more about understanding the factors driving the world than anything else. Like what the resources are, who has power/agency, how things are done (e.g., in our world, decisions are mostly made by individual nation states, although large corporate entities often have immense political influence). AND THEN JUST LIKE CHARACTERS THERE’S THE STRUGGLE WITH EXECUTING THEM - like just because I understand there are rich oligarchs behind things doesn’t mean I’m good at writing the Great Gatsby. I dunno, I have a perpetual sense of imposter syndrome when I try to understand and write things about the world, regardless of whether or not the world is real. I feel like a large part of this goes back to the fact that I’m still only in my 20s and haven’t seen much of the ‘real world’ as they say, although I guess I’m technically still way ahead of most fic writers.

4) General writer’s attitude: this influences themes and the heart of one’s writing. When I say that I care a lot about the grace and dignity of my narratives and my characters, it ties back into this - I want to tell human stories, and I want to tell stories that reflect on our struggles and our faith despite said struggles. It’s the kind of lens that I filter all my words through and impacts every word I write. The obvious problem, then, is that my writing’s only ever going to be as perceptive or sympathetic as I am, and that’s something that I can and should always work on. Am I too obsessed with tragedy? Am I honestly far better at posing questions than providing solutions, even when I highly value solutions? How do I become the kind of writer and person that I want to be without driving myself insane or losing touch with the people that I want my writing to speak to?

5) Discipline: Am I ever going to finish FWWCH (or H&L or any of my other WIPs lmao)? Stay tuned.

I think a lot of my self-doubt as a writer comes from just how much I know I can improve on tbh

Do you need background noise to write? If so, what do you listen to?

I wouldn’t say I work with “background noise” - I work with mood-appropriate playlists (did you know I’ve been gratuitously naming all my fic chapters after songs?), or you know, the good ole 2 o’clock cosmic silence. It’s pretty interesting to me actually, since I also have an engineering degree and like... I need silence when I’m trying to logick things like math or the correct wording for a formal writing thing (e.g. a grant or policy proposal). So my creative hemisphere wants stimulation while my mechanical brain wants silence. Figures.

#thank you for sending these in ;_;#writing tag #long post

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vaguely-concerned · 4 years

Text

Mass Effect: Annihilation thoughts

TL;DR I fucking LOVED IT, a balm to my heart after struggling through Nexus Uprising! Also canonical lesbians! The sweetest quarian & his badass grandma! Elcor Hamlet except this time it’ll make you cry!!!

- Aaaaaah the audiobook reader is Tom Taylorson (so male Ryder)!! Fryda Wolf (female Ryder) read the two others and did a nice job, but man I’m soft for his voice in a way only rivaled by (...outside-of-Overwatch!)Jennifer Hale and Nicholas Boulton haha. He also has a much better handle on the pronunciations and voices for the different alien species -- delightful, I’m still cackling over his pitch perfect elcor impersonation. (Bioware please give him more Scott Ryder to voice I miss my son)

- I’m only about half an hour in and this is already SO much better than Nexus Uprising, it really does feel like a brave new galaxy haha. Very funny, very warm and smart and engaging in how it does its characterization and Valente clearly has affection for the setting and the universe, she and Jemisin both do incredible jobs with these.

- I’m fucking crying laughing at this cross-species near-brawl over a flower arrangement, god I love Mass Effect SO MUCH (what a neat idea though. something blooming quietly even when no one can see it. impractical as hell and hilariously including a high-nutrition celery now, but still neat)

Taylorson continues to wonderful things with the voices, that volus suit sound is so good. (he’s just generally really good at comedy) also a volus bellowing insults ‘moments before punching an anti-bouquet batarian in the groin’ sdafhjklsahfsjadkhfklajshdfkjlsadhf

- a high as a kite elcor... what a time to be alive, to get to read this book

I have already reached the ‘I LOVE EVERYONE IN THIS BAR’ stage with these characters, hard boiled drell detective lady and sweet sweet quarian first officer and manically enthusiastic elcor doctor TOT I would die for any one of you!!!

- The quarian/multispecies ark was built for long-term habitation, potentially over multiple generations. So what you’re telling me is that the quarians are the only ones who fucking thought this through and the rest of the Initiative probably should have listened to the people who’ve essentially been living on arks for ages. Who’d’ve thunk huh lol. (I guess the in-universe explanation is that people like the mysterious benefactor just wanted those arks yeeted to Andromeda ASAP, no time to get fancy in case the Reapers changed up their schedule. Fair enough)

- ;n; petition to let senna have a SAM pls (also uh. how happy do you think the stringently anti-AI quarian pathfinder will be when he finds out about everyone else’s SAMs lol lol lol he’s going to PASS OUT FROM RAGE upon meeting ryder. well he sounds like an asshole, I hope he dies so senna gets a chance)

- I can’t BELIEVE yorrik is an anti-stratfordianist, i am betRAYED! disgraceful, how can I still love you knowing this (and yet I do he is extremely funny and sweet)!!! (at least his theory is that this so-called ‘shakespeare’ was actually an elcor, which makes it better somehow lol. anything so long as he’s not an oxfordian tbh)

senna and yorrik’s friendship is so good and wholesome

- I really love the consistent alien POVs in this book, mass effect should indulge in this more -- everyone loves this universe so much, bioware, stop making us squint through a human lense to look at it!!

- oh of course quarian ‘pirates’ exist, the people who’re thrown out of the fleet must be doing something huh.

- haven’t written that many notes in a while just because I’m enjoying myself so much, I keep forgetting

- lfsdkhfsajkldhfskadjhfsjakdfhsdkjfh communist volus!!!! this is not a drill, communist volus! I am completely and utterly charmed by this entire book

- the quarian ancestor VI is so interesting and weirdly touching. senna is adorable (and relatably neurotic lol)

grandma AI smoking T___________T I love everything about this, she’s so cool. the worldbuilding being done around pre-geth revolution rannoch here... exquisite

- way to make me cry about batarians cat valente ;_______;

- the voice acting is SO FUCKING GOOD! I keep forgetting it’s one dude reading all these characters haha, I caught myself wanting to look up who voiced this dying batarian. (special shoutout that he does so many wonderfully distinct and specific female voices!)

- haHA I KNEW the quarian VI was a full AI (or near enough that it makes little difference tbh)!!! this fabulous grandma was self aware the entire time b i t c h e s !!!!

- the running joke of borbala’s ‘you need ______? I can make _______ happen’ is SO satisfying hahaha

ooooooh serious femslash vibes!!!! initially I thought batarian ex-crime matriarch was too old for drell PI, but this is undeniable. (I don’t think we actually ever get to know how old annex is, anyway, come to think of it) I guess if asari get to be five times older than everyone else and still fuck freely this isn’t really that weird lol

- “don’t look! it’s not so bad if you don’t look!” ofhsdalfhskldlsfjas oh senna baby boy

hey qetsi? qetsi both senna and I love grandma liat more than you. stand the fuck down

- NOOOO GRANDMA LIAT ;______________________________________;

- do you think SAM could meet liat (either ship!liat or just grandma!liat).... and have... a friend ;_________; (a cool laidback friend who isn’t a murderous angaran ai who might very well go the murder suicide sort of friendship route lol)

anyway I miss SAM a lot and love him??

- yorrik noooooooooooo this is awful everything is bad and terrible I love all of them so much why must senna be sad and watch everything he loves fade away 😭😭😭

“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood/Clean from my hand?” He realized he’d forgotten to preface the words with an emotion. Now they wouldn’t understand what he meant.

Oh. Oh what a way to drive home the sadness and loneliness of this moment f u c k (and again the emotion taylorson brings to it jesus cHRIST)

I’m destroyed over how much senna and yorrik love each other, cross species found family out here wrecking my heart in true mass effect style

- yorrik is such a great character though. he’d be so easy to make a one-note joke character (like most elcor have been in canon lbr), but there’s nuance and depth and just enough satsifyingly believable alienness there. (I love the staunch elcor ‘you can’t call anything love that hasn’t lasted at least two centuries’ perspective haha) his memories of his childhood and disappointment with his profession and everything... goodnight sweet prince indeed :(

- they went and made elcor hamlet heartbreaking how dare they

(to be real for a second I think some of the human culture references are a little bit clunky, but the elcor hamlet stuff is perfect. contextualizing a throwaway joke from the original trilogy and giving it emotional depth, helping us see it from the elcor perspective and how frustrating and lonely it is to be so fundamentally not emotionally understood or seen on a level most of the other races are, despite their other differences, even though you have all these feelings and want to communicate... its very good.)

fun additional fact: both mordin and yorrik have played/wanted to play polonius in a production of hamlet! though I guess mordin is the slightly problematic fave in that duo and yorrik is a sweet melancholic angel who has never done anything wrong in his life, I would say protect him but I guess it’s too late for that D:

- qetsi giving off some real ophelia vibes here, I wish yorrik was here to see it, he’s the only one who’d properly appreciate it despite it all

- I. am. SO FUCKING HUNGRY for more mass effect after this (well even more so than usual) I’m so hyped!! I love this universe so much! I want a new andromeda game with senna as quarian pathfinder and grandma liat as the ship’s AI and see how they interact with ryder and SAM! (honestly though I feel like senna might be the one who’d translate the most cleanly into a game, I think there’s a lot of potential in him that’s barely being realized towards the end there with his deep righteous rage cutting through his uncertainty. also I just want nice things for him. is that so much to ask. he is a good boy, yorrik was so right.)

- aaaah not just femslash vibes, canonical lesbians, this is not a drill! I can’t wait until they propose... ‘we get shit done together, want to be in good cop/bad cop with me until the day we die y/n?’

- the ME universe doesn’t feel quite itself without all these ‘background’ species hanging around, I suddenly realize. I dream of an Andromeda sequel with all of them on the board and in play again Y-------Y

- potential Liat and SAM dynamics are so fucking interesting though! if she becomes/is confirmed as a full AI (all I hope and dream of), you’ll have two artificial intelligences with such different starting points but not that dissimilar goals? Liat was an organic person once who’s looking out for her family even now, and SAM is completely artificial but also intimately tied to and protecting His People. (and pulling a whole lot of symbolic weight re: the strength of familial/interpersonal relationships to boot; he’s the best way alec ryder managed to connect with his children. even though he was dead. because as established alec ryder was a disaster of a person)

- I enjoyed the loose murder mystery structure of this quite a lot, but that might also be because nexus uprising is so shapeless and meandering by comparison that I’d be relieved by anything else (sorry I’ll stop ragging on NU soon it just. took some hours of my life I can’t get back)

- jemisin did great stuff for characters already in andromeda (cora, SAM, alec ryder) and valente made me remember just why I love this universe so much and desperately want these aspects brought to andromeda too... and now I’ve exhausted all the fresh mass effect content I had available to me and will sit here consumed with lust for the rest of the time it takes for a new game to be announced thank you and goodbye

#mass effect #mass effect andromeda #mass effect annihilation #*vibrates silently with cravings for more mass effect all while knowing it's gonna be a good goddamn while yet*#thank you cat valente this was a very nice gift

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takeseffort · 5 years

Text

O O C

NAME : monroe, though some of you know me as mango thanks to a friend of mine filling my queue on an old RP blog with over 100 pictures of fucking mangos, so there’s definitely that.

FACECLAIM : I don’t really have a mun faceclaim, I just use whatever icons aren’t associated with the blog I’m posting on, so miscellaneous, other muses, faceless icons. I used to use a combination of belle, baymax, or gogo but ya girl is lazy when it comes to non-rp icons.

PRONOUNS : she/her, they/them.

HEIGHT : I was 5′2 forever but my last appointment they put down 5′4/5′5 & I haven’t recovered.

BIRTHDAY : april 10. I’m an aries raised by a leo & a scorpio.

AESTHETIC : I have an entire personal aesthetic board on pinterest & I feel like that says a lot more about me than I’d like to admit tbh.

LAST SONG YOU LISTENED TO : heroes never die - david chappell (unless you count the sailor moon theme, since that’s what I now have on as background noise)

FAVORITE MUSE (S) YOU’VE WRITTEN : is it cheating for me to say all of them? each of them is so stupidly unique, but I guess Alec. he’s challenging for me in a way none of my other muses are, but the problem is Jonathan is so flexible. don’t make me choose tbh.

* GETTING TO KNOW THE ACCOUNT :

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO TAKE ON THIS MUSE : it was a whole host of things. Alec was always a character that stuck with me long after I’d finished the first three books of TMI & also TID, but I read them long before I was into writing canon characters so it never occurred to me to write him as a muse. I remember being so excited to see the movie at first... & then being disappointed in Alec’s casting to the point I didn’t think on it again after that. looking back, I find that fucking hilarious because I don’t actually have a problem with the casting but what the entire fuck was that bondage inspired wardrobe? anyway. flash forward a few years, I vaguely got back into it when I watched an episode during a weekly friend dinner, but the real push was when RPers from the show started crossing my dash. I wanted to interact with them, & friends who were making verses for the show/universe. I usually make verses for new material on an existing muse before I consider making a muse, & usually it’s enough so I did this with Brock & to this day I fucking adore what I came up with for him, but it did NOT get me where I wanted to be. thinking on it a bit harder, I decided to go ahead & bite the bullet, making the muse that kept nudging me. & thus, Alec was brought to life.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE ASPECTS OF YOUR CURRENT MUSE : I love the fact that there’s expansive canon for him across multiple mediums - there’s the books, which are well established, with amazing world-building & deep characterization, there’s the movie which gives me a decent visualization of that same world-building, then there’s the show, which gives me an alternate take on a few things, introduces new material & characters for him to interact with, & challenges my creative drive, so I guess this makes my answer his blended canon.

WHAT’S YOUR BIGGEST INSPIRATION WHEN IT COMES TO WRITING : my biggest inspiration remains meta-writing & exploring worldbuilding with my partners - this is how I develop everything & sustain muse. outside of that, I tend to listen to scores from source material if they’re available, & I also make my own playlists that help. sometimes if I feel particularly drained or the creative well is dry, I re-read or re-watch key scenes, but most of that only nudges me - the biggest source of inspiration comes from talking & plotting with partners. it always has, always will.

FAVORITE TYPES OF THREADS : I used to be terrified of angst, now I tend to prefer it. hurt/comfort, domestic slices of life. I also have an extreme fondness for AU threads, because I can’t think of a better challenge than taking my muse & seeing if I can transpose their canon self into a whole new world.

BIGGEST STRUGGLE IN REGARDS TO YOUR CURRENT MUSE : I lost Alec for a hot minute - not just losing his blog thanks to random termination, but I also just straight up lost his muse, forcing me to slide onto my other muse in the fandom as my main for nine months. Ever since that, it’s been hard to find the same motivation & fire that first encompassed this blog but it’s slowly coming back. Also, verses. Unlike Jon, Alec is far harder to verse-craft for.

Tagged by: @runedwhip Tagging: @erchommai, @tallowes (Lirael or Harry), @murios (clary), @hiddensteel, @johnscn, @lcdgerbled, @dawnheroics, @seraphbled, @faerieborne, @warricrsbcw, @bornmajesdane, & @enoughrunning because I don’t interact with any of y’all enough.

#✧ ❛ venti coldbrew extra shot ❜ || mun #✧ ❛ that was an understatement ❜ || ooc #long post

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