#berrysphase

[undercat-overdog]

🔮?

🔮You can reach into the Beyond and ask the Professor to settle one (1) debate for you. He won’t even waffle on the answer, honest. What do you ask him?

I wouldn't trust his answer for population numbers, but he's very good with geography and distances, so I'd like to have a mile/kilometer scale for both a map of Beleriand and the one in LotR (broadly the west of Middle-earth).

If I were feeling mean, I'd tell him all about plate mechanics and ask him to explain his mountain ranges. Trying to come up with a rationale for them would occupy the next century of his afterlife.

#ask #berrysphase #thank you for the ask!! #there's the very obvious 'a wizard/vala/maia' did it for the question about mountains #but he'd still need to try to reconcile it

[circumference-pie]

NiF/Survivors!

They come back in ones and twos, drifting to the gates of Jinling city like leaves on a bitter wind.

Some come with identification papers, saved from conflagration and preserved out of faith. Some come with gifts for those who mourned them, once upon a time. Some come only with tributes for the departed.

They bear battle scars and burn marks, stories of the jianghu, and a thousand other wounds.

They bring back bracelets wrought in steel and stamped with the strokes of their name and the Chiyan designation, scraps of metal that would once have been a death sentence.

Whatever else they bring with them, they bring this.

When the first soldier returns, Jingyan has been expecting it for so long he’s not really expecting it anymore. A man who was a cavalry captain under Lin Xie's vast command, then Mei Changsu’s operative in Langzhou.

Who are you? he asks each man. Where have you been? How many are left?

Did you know the Young Marshal Lin Shu?

He never has to ask the last question. Xiao-Shu spills out of his own accord. Once a lieutenant, appointed by the Young Marshal himself! Been an intelligence agent for the Jiangzuo Alliance, loyal only to the Jiangzuo Chief himself, who was once the Young Marshal Lin Shu.

The answers to the last question vary. Seventy-five, eighty-two, ninety-six. Only the Chief knew.

No — seventy-four, eighty-one, ninety-five.

Fifty-six Chiyan survivors come back. Jingyan assigns each of them a hero’s stipend and a security detail. Sixteen of them disappear, slipping the trained agents, leaving not even notes of farewell.

-----------------------------------

Thanks for asking! <3

#tag games #circ talks #berrysphase

[astrabear]

tagged by @lazaefair. Thank you!

Rules: Pick any ten of your fics, scroll roughly to the midpoint, pick a line (or three) and share it. Then tag ten people.

All of these are for The Old Guard, of course.

The Bronze Age When Lykon first joined them, he made her feel inexplicably old. "Like a grouchy old cat," Quỳnh would tease her, "that just wants to lie by the fire, but the kitten always wants to play."

Hay más tiempo que vida (There is more time than life) Lupe hummed disapprovingly. "Well I want to be with Checho after I die." She poked Andy. "Isn't there someone you want to be with?" "If there is, I won’t find them in heaven, Lupe."

I'll Meet You There They’re lying flat, not looking at each other, but Nicky’s sure he can read Joe’s expression just from how the air moves between them. Joe looks delighted and a little bit wicked.

I Hope That I Get Old Before I Die She turned and saw Andy sitting rigid, her eyes wide and her knuckles white where she held the reins. She was… a wave of nausea rolled over Nile, and she heard Quỳnh gasp when she saw it too. Andy was scared.

Ảo Tưởng "Nile, I'm hurt." He gives her a look so wide-eyed, so innocent, so sincere, that she legitimately feels bad for a moment before she snaps out of it. She wonders how long it took for Nicky to build up an immunity; longer than she's had yet, for sure. (She will learn later that he still hasn't.)

Finders Keepers For five hundred years she'd hammered her rage and terror against unmoving iron, and now she was surrounded by breakable objects and vulnerable people. No wonder she only felt safe around him.

My labor and my leisure too "That animal need," said Joe. "Wanting more, always more. Of life, of feeling, of the people you love. You'd think it would be sated after living so long, but you just get more things you want to keep doing."

when everything that dies shall rise “Not on purpose. I know you wouldn’t on purpose. But that’s just life. We’ll hurt each other, and we won’t mean to, and we’ll feel bad but we’ll survive.”

Coppice Quỳnh stands smiling in the doorway, and something about her posture, the angle of her head, hits Andy like a punch. This isn’t the woman who was thrown into the ocean; that woman is gone. But so is the woman who watched her go.

Tabula Stritta The feelings rush through him, into his mouth and his hands and his gut and the vein throbbing in his temple, but –  maybe –  those feelings aren’t all he is.

I don't have 10 writer buddies with 10+ works to tag. But I'll go with @beepbeepsan, @bewires, @raedear, @isabellehemlock, @flawlessassholes, @ongreenergrasses, @berrysphase and @werebearbearbar

#my fic #tag game

[lazaefair]

Tagged by @aphroditestummyrolls ages ago - thank you!

Rules: Pick any ten of your fics, scroll roughly to the midpoint, pick a line (or three) and share it. Then tag ten people.

(I just went with the ten most recent works to make it easy on myself.)

Spoils (Joe/Nicky, The Old Guard) It’s a downright luxurious prison they’ve put him in – a tower room, complete with windows, a bed (with sheets and furs), and table and chairs. They even brought up a full bath for him an hour after his guards silently deposited him in the room. With real soap, praise be to God.

Love in the Time of Laser Swords (Billy/Goody, The Magnificent Seven 2016) Bili and Goodnight met in a shack in a nameless settlement next to a downed Star Destroyer on a junkyard of a planet, where Bili was grimly knocking back shots of dubiously brewed alien moonshine and Goodnight was…well, Goodnight was hunting him down.

Care (Joe/Nicky, The Old Guard) Joe brightens. Nile tends to make her favorite comfort foods when it's her turn, and they'd rapidly become team favorites, too.

It's a Nice Desk (Joe/Nicky, The Old Guard) “Fuck me, do it,” Joe says, body singing with anticipation. And cries out when Nicky plants his feet, grips Joe’s hips, and gives him what he asked for.

Befriending (Billy/Goody, The Magnificent Seven 2016) “Please,” he manages to whisper, because fuck pride – though the noise Goody lets out in response makes it worth it anyway – and it does the trick again, because then Goody’s pushing in, huge hard unyielding pressure, and Billy’s going limp with relief the farther he gets inside, fucking finally.

Touch, Taste, Smell, Hear (Joe/Nicky/Nile, The Old Guard) It's not that he and Nicky have never taken a third person to bed. It's not even the first time they've slept with a fellow immortal. But this is Nile, new to them: already beloved, but new. Everything she does takes on a fascinating dimension.

This Story Is An Excuse To Picture Yusuf al-Kaysani In The Slave Leia Outfit (Joe/Nicky, The Old Guard) Merrick dies as gracelessly as he lived, eyes bulging and limbs jerking. Unfortunately, he also doesn’t have anything on him that could possibly free Joe from the damn chain. Not even a measly pocket laser.

Bow-Chicka-Bow (Joe/Nicky, The Old Guard) Instead, he gets Nicky bending down over him and dropping a sweet kiss onto his mouth. He pulls back before Joe can kiss him back.

Bare (Joe/Nicky, The Old Guard) “Amore mio,” Nicky groans, already close to losing himself after an entire day of suffering through low-level arousal. “You are never more beautiful than when you are like this.”

Red Leather (Billy/Goody, The Magnificent Seven 2016) Dozens of kisses and two lockpicked doors later, they’re deep enough in the building that the neon-strobed darkness of the club has given way to very un-atmospheric fluorescent lighting – the offices next door, abandoned after office working hours. Which suits them down to the ground.

(Apparently my current M.O. is writing exactly one fic per year, which is nothing but smut.)

Tagging @cypresssunns, @normal-thoughts-official, @yusufstits, @astrabear, @alwaysalreadyangry, @non-un-topo, @frizox, @berrysphase, @babygirlyusuf, @griseldagimpel

#tag game #by lazaefair

[actualmermaid]

i was told you might find this of interest?? some sources I used for historical tog fic, which I got ludicrously into. berrysphase(.)tumblr(.)com/post/679888915170312192/in-some-coming-wind-background-and-sources

Yeeees! I haven't read this one yet, but it looks like one that I'll really enjoy. Mission fic... established relationship... hell yes

Link

[kareenvorbarra]

Silm! Or if you’ve done that one already, Vorkosigan?

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most): points to my url

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped): Drou and Gregor in Cordelia's Honor

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave): Kareen Vorbarra, Harra Csurik, Roic (i still don't know how we got a whole novella from Roic's POV and no first name for him)

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week): Pym and his family, Lily Durona

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave): ok my real problematic fave is Ezar but "poor little meow meow" doesn't feel like it suits him...maybe Bothari?

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason): Kareen again...also Duv and Aral

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell): Serg, Ges, Baron Ryoval, Richars Vorrutyer

#feel like i must be forgetting someone but that's what i get for being into fiction with enormous casts #meme response #berrysphase

[pilferingapples]

@berrysphase replied to your post “Oh No: Area Patriarch Writing for Several Pages On What Women Really...”

I am so glad to be encountering this opinion vicariously

we’re going full “you know why some women won’t sleep with anyone? because in their HEART they are SLUTS and they want more  men’s attention “ and it is real bad  

#berrysphase #talking to people through replies what #LHQ liveblog #gendered slurs #sorry but it is REALLY BAD

[bro-stoevsky]

drcalvin replied to your post “so like theoretically what’s the market like for good omens fanfiction...”

I want it I waaaaaaaantttt

radiojamming replied to your post “so like theoretically what’s the market like for good omens fanfiction...”

BIG MARKET

amazonqueendianaprince replied to your post “so like theoretically what’s the market like for good omens fanfiction...”

VERY LARGE

pottedmusic replied to your post “so like theoretically what’s the market like for good omens fanfiction...”

HUUUGE MARKET, ARE YOU KIDDING ME

kiev4am replied to your post “so like theoretically what’s the market like for good omens fanfiction...”

Excellent market! :)

melannen replied to your post “so like theoretically what’s the market like for good omens fanfiction...”

bullish!

simplyirenic replied to your post “so like theoretically what’s the market like for good omens fanfiction...”

/OPENS MOUTH FEED ME

berrysphase replied to your post “so like theoretically what’s the market like for good omens fanfiction...”

yES

FOLKS thank you for this frank and encouraging market assessment, ITS HAPPENING please set your expectations at a little bit lower than the floor.

#drcalvin #radiojamming #amazonqueendianaprince #pottedmusic #kiev4am #melannen #simplyirenic #berrysphase

[gurguliare]

replies

berrysphase replied to your post “I am having major brainweasels today, if anyone wants to tell me...”

your brain is in excellent company https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/science-ticker/weasel-has-shut-down-large-hadron-collider

holy... shit.

vardasvapors replied to your post “I am having major brainweasels today, if anyone wants to tell me...”

i also went through catchaspark’s ace attorney tag for a primer

vardasvapors replied to your post “I am having major brainweasels today, if anyone wants to tell me...”

i recently was told of the existence of george mcdonald, idk if this is happy-making for u or not but i hope so

oooh, princess and the goblin? i fully intended to read him... at some point, do you have a place you’re starting with? Also Strong Approve Of AA Delving

aretalogue replied to your post “I am having major brainweasels today, if anyone wants to tell me...”

Trace their paths to divine your destiny

I know there are film adaptations of the tale of the heike but I wish to know if there are film adaptations of THAT SCENE IN PARTICULAR

nezdravo replied to your post “I am having major brainweasels today, if anyone wants to tell me...”

julia child the dog just failed to catch a pill pocket so hard that instead, she bit her own butt

Wow I was really really ready to discover that “pill pocket” is a pleasing regional variation on “pillbug” and instead it’s a totally legitimate thing for Julia Child to have been eating? RIDICULOUS. But I love her.

#berrysphase #tumblr as she is spoke #vardasvapors #aretalogue #nezdravo

[vardasvapors]

bunch of replies

ivanaskye replied to your post“its 5am and my gf and i are trying to google a believable theory for...”

we found something tho!!! apparently there’s a possibility that it is.... to comfort baby. when baby stops drinking milk... might still need comfort.., of boob

so REALLY WORRIED TODDLERS are a human-only thing, probably, and the solution was (according to one hypothesis)................ comfort boobies

which as far as I am concerned has very good explanatory potential because humans differ from other apes in many ways including 1) having longer childhoods and 2) being smarter and therefore more ancious

THIS IS THE CUTEST THING esp bc i, too, require comfort boob

thepioden replied to your post “its 5am and my gf and i are trying to google a believable theory for...”

As a biologist: if something seems weird and dumb you can probably blame either sexual selection or genetic drift.

‘it’s sexy’ is an insufficient answer tho :(((( wanna kno......why that kink developed......kinks for Hooge Chest Cysts......

actualmermaid replied to your post “its 5am and my gf and i are trying to google a believable theory for...”

tity good

a compelling point

bamboocounting replied to your post “s— since— since.......? since......when.....is elrond.....a character...”

hfffhdjkshj

berrysphase replied to your post “s— since— since.......? since......when.....is elrond.....a character...”

????????? ?? ?

ivanaskye replied to your post “s— since— since.......? since......when.....is elrond.....a character...”

wh h-how.... could anyone have come to that conclusion.....

nimium-amatrix-ingenii-sui replied to your post “s— since— since.......? since......when.....is elrond.....a character...”

bzuh? who says he's unloved and neglected? he's practically another self-insert?

I KNOW RIGHT????? god i understand why ppl have a special love for characters who ARE unfairly underused and underappreciated by their authors or other fans (this is the fastest way to make me love a character i formerly didn’t care about) but THIS IS NOT ONE OF THEM. also like...........if this is what ur looking for, elros is.........Right There.......

irisseireth replied to your post “s— since— since.......? since......when.....is elrond.....a character...”

More like unloved by Peter Jackson

sdghfyusdgcsdjhcgfsdf THIS IS TRUE and it’s painfully obvious that a large number of silm fans who like to style themselves as More Knowledgable Than LOTR Fans Bc They’ve Read The Silm have never......read lotr......>_>

actualmermaid replied to your post “s— since— since.......? since......when.....is elrond.....a character...”

Struggling to think of who jrrt could have lived MORE than elrond

yeah like.......galadriel? there’s galadriel. 

actualmermaid replied to your post “bamboocounting: @vardasvapors this one was my favorite book cover as...”

Yes!!!!! One of the best Pern books w great cover art!!!!!

eeeeee i’m glad i will keep in mind if i ever finish my to-read list T_T

thelioninmybed replied to your post “can one play magic the gathering with modified tarot cards”

Temperance is OP and should be nerfed

ADD3MANA

ivanaskye replied to your post “can one play magic the gathering with modified tarot cards”

What I keep getting stuck on is which ones are the lands.... I think what you MIGHT have to do is, combine multiple tarot decks into your magic tarot deck hell, and one of the deck’s minor arcana can be lands (used, of course, to play minor arcana from the other decks.) Which doesn’t answer how major arcana fit in UM

what about skirting this problem by making it yu-gi-oh instead of magic the gathering

bamboocounting replied to your post “can one play magic the gathering with modified tarot cards”

how do you normally play it?

VALID POINT

l33tsaber replied to your post “can one play magic the gathering with modified tarot cards”

Conversely, I want to see someone do a tarot spread with the MTG Unglued set.

this is very funny now that ivana explained it to me!!!! i would like this for my birthday

thepioden replied to your post “can one play magic the gathering with modified tarot cards”

As long as one is not a coward

HMMMMMMMMMMMM

simaethae replied to your post “gurguliare replied to your post:                    gurguliare...”

ok but are we really going to have a discussion about pern without mentioning all the magic-companion-animal-facilitated dubcon

i kept trying to rephrase or clarify that but i'm just going to let it stand

THE. WHAT. how is it facilitated. is this like pokemon.

garden-ghoul replied to your post “simaethae replied to your quote “   the descendants of terraformers,...”

mostly fond of "kid me did not have a normal gauge for Too Much Philosophy" because I can so clearly see that being the case

no i’m fond of me!!!!!!!! and yes it was the case bc i didn’t know the difference between ‘this is deep and fresh’ and ‘this is deep but everyone has said it fifty million times and it’s a cliche’ so i was always v impressed

#ivanaskye #athrabething #thepioden #actualmermaid #bamboocounting #irisseireth #berrysphase #nimium-amatrix-ingenii-sui #thelioninmybed #l33tsaber #simaethae #garden-ghoul

[circumference-pie]

Fandom get-to-know-me game!

I was tagged by @harocat and @tockamybeloved, thank you! and later by @fateandloveentwined and @moonsorchid! (figured I'd just retroactively tag you on this one :P) (this is himboblackdragon on my main, btw)

3 ships you like Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan (镇魂 | Guardian, the ship that singlehandedly pulled me back into fandom after a 15-year hiatus) Mei Changsu & Feiliu (琅琊榜 | Nirvana in Fire) Danyin/happiness and fulfillment (苍兰诀 | Love Between Fairy and Devil)

First ship ever Kimberly/Tommy from Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers.

Last song you heard Uhh...something by Glass Animals, probably? I was playing their discography yesterday. ...No, wait, probably one of the insert songs in Love Like the Galaxy.

Favorite childhood book(s) TOO MANY TO LIST -- however, I will pick one at random: Misty of Chincoteague. Horse book.

Currently reading 司命 by 九鹭非香 (Siming by Jiu Lu Fei Xiang), the second book in the Cang Lan Jue series. In Chinese! In English, re-reading the Murderbot Diaries.

Currently watching 星汉灿烂 | Love Like the Galaxy, 且试天下 | Who Rules the World (Zhao Lusi stars in both of them and I confuse plot points sometimes), and the second season of Spy x Family.

Currently consuming Uh, tapwater.

Currently craving Some high-calorie food, I'm starving. Job fulfillment.

I'm going to tag @berrysphase and @blenderfullasarcasm, but only if you wanna.

#circ talks #tag game

[astrabear]

tagged by @beepbeepsan

Three ships: Andy/Quynh and Joe/Nicky from The Old Guard. And uh... um... I've never really cared about shipping otherwise, but I guess... Amina/Saira from We Are Lady Parts?

Last song: Cardi B, "Like It" on the radio on the drive home

Last movie: I got to introduce @alaskandawn to Clue this weekend. Much fun was had by all.

Currently reading: I'm in the middle of multiple history books right now. The one I'm most likely to actually finish is Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present by Christopher Beckwith.

Currently watching: old episodes of the Great British Baking Show (regular and celebrity) that were never on US Netflix

Currently consuming: I just finished a salad made with kale, roasted brussels sprouts and sweet potato, apple, cranberries, and parmesan cheese.

Currently craving: something sweet and icy, like a cold lemonade or a popsicle or sorbet. This is a sign that I'm poorly hydrated.

I shall tag... @doctorqueensanatomy, @fruityculture (I know what your latest movie is already!), and @berrysphase, but the tags come with no obligation.

#tag game #about me

[flopgoblins]

My OC's name is Kohela! He is dark-skinned with yellow eyes and webbed hands and feet. He has teal hair with yellow highlights that he wears long and up, braided with pearls, and wears a (nicely ornamented, ofc) silk garment vaguely like a chiton with loose elbow-length sleeves. He is smart, kind, subtle, and a little vain. He likes his high-status job and has no ambitions beyond it, and is a liar so skilled that he has forgotten the extent to which he is lying to himself.

lie to us, kohela. and teach us your hair secrets. 

#kohela #Other people's OCs #drawing with goblins #berrysphase #we like to think we too are kind subtle smart and vain #...i guess maybe the subtle boat has sailed

[thelioninmybed]

berrysphase replied to your photo “up to our old tricks”

It’s clearly the pinkie which is also and not coincidentally the most exposed but sadly the least conducive to jokes

moringottos replied to your photo “up to our old tricks”

from experience the ring finger is the best to lose and also apparently the easiest to reattach in which case it looks crooked and weird forever but you can do tricks with it and gross out everyone

questionabletimedescisions replied to your photo “up to our old tricks”

I know someone who lost some of their fingers. If you can't reattach, and you're concerned about losing strength, I'd say pointer or pinkie. Apparently the force created between the thumb and the pointer is less than a middle or ring finger. (so unfortunately, If you character needs to keep some strength, I'd suggest not cutting those two, no matter how funny)

It makes me so happy to have friends who will immediately fall over themselves answering a question like this with expert scientific advice and horrific experience.

Anyway like June says, we’re going to have to go with middle because max tragedy is not being able to flip the bird

#berrysphase #moringottos #questionabletimedescisions #replies

[aporeticelenchus]

berrysphase replied to your post: berrysphase replied to your post “Blargh, I...

a truly embarrassing number of my talks have been written at 3 am the night before I have to give them because that is what it takes to get me over the “ugh I don WANNA” hump…   also: go log off and write your talk!    

:( :( :(

Don’t wanna....

#berrysphase #:( :( :(

[minipliny]

berrysphase replied to your post “btw it’s bizarre to be in a situation where i’m like yeah harold bloom...”

Harold bloom is categorically disallowed from having good opinions sorry

oh yeah no you must understand i was in a distracted and maddened state having just read leslie fiedler and dh lawrence

#berrysphase #boy howdy #i should read some.......good secondary sources