#ALSO MY FOURTH MOST POPULAR POST IS ABOUT FOUR OMG

[trashdorito]

I posted 7,522 times in 2021

105 posts created (1%)

7417 posts reblogged (99%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 70.6 posts.

I added 188 tags in 2021

#best pile - 63 posts

#e3 spoilers - 20 posts

#iconic - 18 posts

#linked universe - 17 posts

#deltarune spoilers - 17 posts

#!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - 14 posts

#me - 12 posts

#botw 2 - 11 posts

#age of calamity - 8 posts

#!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - 8 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#shrack sounds like when your cat throws up vodka right next to you and you need to wake up for the most important day of your life in 1 hour

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

You know that feeling when the author gives this one character so much attention. Like, a lot of attention? Yeah this is the consequences of that attention

73 notes • Posted 2021-10-19 17:00:46 GMT

#4

Four, my beloved,

WHERE DID YOUR BRAINCELL GO

83 notes • Posted 2021-07-25 23:32:58 GMT

#3

Haha am I funny yet?

@ryssbelle @beabigshot I love both of your aus and the fact that both of them came from dreams and are now very popular is so funny to me

120 notes • Posted 2021-10-12 18:20:09 GMT

#2

Ok I'm hopping on the ship rating train so this goes out to @botwstoriesandsuch since its their fault.

10. I have Teba x Saki here cause they're really adorable and Saki has to deal with her husband being a chaotic dumbass

5/10

9. Here is my only Daruk ship which is Daruk x him being aroace. Why? Oh because I said so.

6/10 no I am not projecting shut up

8. Revali x Mipha comes next cause HWAOC maked me like them. Revali beings caring and soft to her makes my heart melt

7/10

7. Did I fall in love with yiga husbands? Absolutely. I'm pretty sure Kohga fell in love the moment he saw Sooga with his huge ass swords that are definitely taller than him. Sooga didn't realize he fell in love until his dying breath, hoping Kohga got away safely

7/10 oops I'm sad now :-)

6. So here I got Zelda x Impa cause I really think they would be cute, since the game shows that Impa puts a lot of effort into caring for zelda. Zelda would also fall for the badass ninja.

7/10

5. Now we got Zelpha because I love them. Have you seen the way Mipha spins on her trident like a badass? Zelda sure has and she panicking. Did yall see Zelda destroy the fucking Calamity (after link fuckin jumped up 30ft to slice the fucker in half)? Mipha sure as hell did and she's having her bisexual awakening so she double panicking

8/10

4. Here i have platonic Robbie x Purah cause they're chaotic gay scientists who tease Impa for being their token straight friend (even though she gay for zel)

8/10

3. The only one Urbosa can be shipped with is the Queen of Hyrule. I personally think the queen and the fucker king rhoam were in an arranged marriage and the queen and Urbosa got married at Gerudo Town. The two talk shit about the King a lot (since they're married) so when the queen died of illness Urbosa 100% thinks Rhoam had her assassinated and absolutely wants to kill him but she has no proof.

9/10

2. One of my favorites: King Rhoam x Me hunting him for sport. Need I continue?

16/10 each extra point is for everyone who would hunt him with me. Points will always vary but will never drop below this number.

1. A surprise to no one: Revalink. Yes I love them. Enemies to lovers? Yes. The banter? I'd die. The puns? Abso-fucking-lutely. And I'm totally not projecting onto either of them why would anyone think that definitely not.

10/10

140 notes • Posted 2021-02-08 19:23:03 GMT

#1

This is the other side of the meme I just made lol

191 notes • Posted 2021-10-19 16:54:07 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #of course my memes are what's my most popular #also two of my top tags are just !!!!!!!!! lol #ALSO MY FOURTH MOST POPULAR POST IS ABOUT FOUR OMG #my longest tag threw me for a loop what the fuck was I thinking with the cat vomit #also damn over 7000 posts #thats a lot #also ignore my top tag that's just how I save some posts to look at later #ALSO I HAVE 10000 POSTS HOLY SHIT

[five-wow]

Author Asks

Rules: answer these questions and tag five other fic writers to do the same.

I was tagged by the wonderful @novemberhush. Thank you, omg, because I love rambling about writing and this is the best kind of opportunity to do so, handed on a silver platter, ahh. 😊

-

Author Name: Square / Squares / SquaresAreNotCircles

Fandoms You Write For: I’m a fandom hopper! In the past year or so it’s been Hawaii Five-0 (a truly ridiculous amount), Shadowhunters, Venom, Harry Potter, due South and Stargate Atlantis. Other fandoms I’ve written at least one fic for are Twilight, Doctor Who, Torchwood, Glee, BBC Merlin, BBC Atlantis, Teen Wolf, In The Flesh, Star Wars, Supernatural, the MCU and High School Musical. And uh, Alexander the Great/Voltaire fic (which would be... history fandom? RPF?) and one (1) Judas/Jesus Biblefic. If we’re getting really technical, also a tiny little bit of One Direction fic.

It should be noted that all of this is about fic that ended up getting posted somewhere on the interwebs - there are multiple Star Trek (TOS/AOS and DS9) fics lingering in my drafts (!! one day I will finish one of them), as well as some How To Train Your Dragon, The Good Place and Deadpool stuff, and definitely more I’ve forgotten.

Where You Post: Since I made the switch to writing in English everything has landed on ao3, but I used to write mostly in Dutch, so there’s still close to a million words, I think, under my name on quizlet.nl (not to be confused with quizlet.com, which is a very different website).

Most Popular One-Shot: That depends on how you’re measuring popularity! Going by kudos, it’s Tell me I’m perfect (but tell me the truth), a Magnus/Alec Shadowhunters fic. It’s the truth is a really old fic about Percy Weasley/Oliver Wood from Harry Potter that has the most hits out of all my works, and That time Steve kissed every single Avenger (and also Bucky), an MCU Steve/Bucky fic, has the greatest number of comment threads.

Also, since this is an h50 blog: for my fic in this fandom Wanted: partner (in crime) has the most kudos and hits; You had me at meow has the most comments.

Most Popular Multi-Chapter Story: I’m working on one for h50 (going slowly, so slowly), but I don’t have any posted to ao3. I used to write a lot of multi-chaptered work in my quizlet.nl days, and I think my most popular fic there was probably the second fic I ever wrote, when I was fourteen or fifteen, which was a next-gen Harry Potter fic with shifting and overlapping POVs from the three Potter kids. It was kind of, well, not great, but it’s probably what really cemented my writing habit, it’s still my longest fic ever (over a 100k!) and I got my first fandom friends out of it, including one I’m still in contact with to this day, even though neither of us writes much if anything for Harry Potter anymore.

Favourite Story You Wrote: Ohhh, that’s such an impossible question, especially because I’ve been churning out one-shots like I might actually be getting paid for it, so there’s so much to choose from, which is a thing I have difficulty doing at the best of times, holy shit. Uh, I once wrote a 70k Remus/Sirius (Harry Potter) modern college-ish AU in Dutch that I still like; weirdly, I think that Biblefic holds up (also Dutch), and the HSM fic is fun to reread once in a while because of the fourth wall break, as is That escalated quickly, a Percy/Oliver fic. Ooh, and the fic about Shuri and Stucky and a goat!

For h50, it’s even harder to choose, because my preferences change pretty much weekly (a combination of newer fic being shinier, looking back at fic from even just a few months ago and finding things I would have done differently now, and comments influencing the way I personally look at my own fic), but right now, I’d say I still really like the fic where Steve adopts some guinea pigs, the one with the slightly tipsy team bonding by talking about mutual crushes and this 9.11 coda fix fluff getting together thing.

Story You Were Nervous to Post: That Biblefic, haha, because it’s a very complicated topic and my aim was definitely not to offend. People were really sweet about it, though! Mostly, they were kind of shocked it wasn’t crack, but that’s fair, because so was I.

Also pretty much anything I post in a new fandom, really, and low key just... anything at all. I’m always a little scared I tagged something super badly or accidentally copy-pasted the wrong text or unknowingly wrote something super offensive or whatever, despite my double- and triplechecking of the posting form. (I’m also still kind of scared people on ao3 will randomly decide they hate my fic and my writing and me personally (ao3 is really big and very anonymous and coming from the small town that was quizlet.nl even in its heyday, that’s scary), but that fear has abated as I’ve posted more, just because the data is showing pretty conclusively that thought is as irrational as it sounds. Everyone is always so nice, gosh.)

How Do You Pick Your Titles: Mostly, I steal lines from random songs. I have a small pile of song lyrics to use as potential titles, because going on a seperate hunt for every new fic would take most of my waking hours. Sometimes, I’ll use a pun (like You had me at meow or Retail Therapy) or something else that I think sounds good, especially if the fic is mostly comedy and/or has a specific premise that would do well in a title (like Five times the Governor of Hawaii suspects his taskforce leaders are violating fraternization policies (and one time they tell him they are)).

Do You Outline: I’m mostly writing fic of (sometimes much) less than 5k at the moment, so not really. I do sometimes write tiny bits of a bunch of scenes and then fill in the rest around that, which is a kind of outline, in a way. For longer works, I usually make a one page bullet point list of things that need to happen and work from there, because I can’t do really extensive outlining or I’ll just get caught up in the details and lose all of the oversight a tool like that is supposed to give you, as well as most of my enthusiasm for the project.

How Many Of Your Stories Are Complete: Of the ones posted? On ao3, all of them, because unfinished posted one-shot works would require some strange bending of those concepts. On quizlet.nl, I do have some abandoned works, but I think 80% is finished.

In-Progress: SO MUCH. Seriously, just, so much, oh god. I’d really like to write another Stargate Atlantis fic (and I have 30% of one done), and something more for due South, too, and maybe a small Percy/Oliver thing again some time because they were my very first OTP and I kind of miss them, but mostly I have, like, 100+ half written things for h50. I really wish that number was an exaggeration. There’s no way they’ll all get finished, but maybe... a third? Mayhaps?

That One Truly Long H50 Fic that I was already talking about way back in October last year is also eternally “in progress”. The thing is that it has about 25k now, after a year, and I think it needs... at least four times that. Probably. So either I’ll have to stick with this fandom and my slow progress for another three years to have a shot at getting it finished, or I’ll need to find a way to up the speed a little. Maybe I could try working on it for NaNo this November? That would be pretty awesome, but honestly, part of why it’s moving this slowly is because NaNo-style fast and messy writing for this scares me a little, because I might end up writing a lot, decide it’s not what I wanted for it, and become too intimidated to ever edit and/or rewrite the entire thing. But idk, I probably just need to get over my own fears, because I really do want to write Longer Fic again. Short stuff is fun and feels really productive and that’s great, but I miss the actual slow burn and build-up that only 50k+ words can give you.

Coming Soon: Hopefully a lot? For h50, that is. I have no idea what’s getting posted next, because I’m never entirely sure what’s going to be finished next and something really random might come jumping in, but at the moment I’m trying to direct most of my energies at a slightly longer fic I’ve been working on for months (not The Long Fic, a different one), a fic labeled “9.01 memory loss fic”, another one temporarly entitled “Perfect Kauai beach house vacation”, and maybe an ace!Steve fic I’ve been working on, if I ever manage to uh, actually finish that, instead of rewriting three sentences during every round of editing and never actually adding anything to fill in the gaps it still has. There will also be more season 10 codas, in all likelihood.

Do You Accept Prompts: I’ve never done that before in the traditional way, but I’m thinking about it! I’d love to try (and it would be a breath of fresh air, in some ways!), but the main thing holding me back is that I have way too much on my plate with just my own ideas to work off of, and I don’t want to disappoint people. Maybe if I do drabble-ish prompt fills? It’s definitely been on my mind.

Upcoming Story You’re the Most Excited For: I’m excited for a lot of stuff, but honestly, the top spot right now probably goes to the ace!Steve fic. I’m not even sure it’s that good, necessarily, but it’s, idk, really cathartic, I suppose. Seriously self-indulgent in strange but very good ways. I really like writing it. (Second spot goes to the beach vacation fic, because I haven’t actually written that much for it, but it’s been my go-to easy happy place for the last few weeks.)

-

I’m tagging @love2hulksmash @thekristen999 @stephmcx @girlonastring @flowerfan2 and @pterawaters, which is six people because I can’t count, but I’m about to make it seven because I’m also tagging you, the person reading this (hi there!). Say I tagged you and tag me so I can read it! I know that kind of thing can feel awkward, but it won’t be, because I’m cheering you on. Go for it, if you want to do it. :D

#tagged in #writing #* #question: [requires maybe two words to be answered] #me: [writes two lengty paragraphs] #i guess that also tells you something about what kind of writer i am

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 188: Hard Knocks Path to Redemption

Previously on BnHA: The Todoroki kids sans Shouto (and Dabi lulz) visited their mom at the hospital and awkwardly discussed Endeavor officially becoming the #1 hero. Shouto’s older brother Natsuo wasn’t happy about it, saying that the world doesn’t know about “what he did” and how he treated his family. But interestingly, Rei came to his defense, saying that things were more complex than that. She said she doesn’t know what’s going on in his heart, “but he hasn’t left us behind.” We then cut to Endeavor’s fight with the High Tide Noumu, which basically consisted of Endeavor hovering for a few seconds with his flames, and then getting very violently flung through a building. Like, he was basically used as a human laser saw to cut the top of this high rise clean off. A bunch of people nearly fell to their deaths, but thankfully Hawks saved them all with his ridiculously OP Mighty Wings quirk. Speaking of Hawks, idk but it sure is some shifty bullshit that Your Highness Noumu just happened to attack him and Endeavor in this building right when they were having a chitchat about Noumus. Something is definitely up you guys.

Today on BnHA: Endeavor continues to battle the High Heaven Noumu and pulls off some impressive feats, such as dicing a falling building into tiny pieces with his flames so that the spectators below don’t get crushed. Unfortunately these techniques come at a price, and he finds himself beginning to struggle due to the heat building up in his body. Meanwhile the High Hopes Noumu remains mostly unfazed, even dispatching a bunch of disgusting slimy clone things to wreak some havoc and distract Hawks and the other pros on the scene so that they can’t assist. Realizing he has no choice but to Go For It, Endeavor powers up his flames and hits the Noumu with massive flame attack: Prominence Burn. Unfortunately the Noumu anticipates his actions and is able to avoid being completely disintegrated. He regenerates, and then brutally slashes/stabs Endeavor in the most ironic spots possible -- his torso (nearly the same place where All Might was wounded by AFO), and his left eye (don’t think I have to explain this one lol). It’s all very violent, and probably not the sort of thing you’d want your child to witness on live television -- oh hey there Shouto. Didn’t see you there. Uh... well, shit.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 209 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

interesting title!

I wonder which of his four kids this is referring to? ngl I’ve been missing the U.A. kids for these past couple chapters so it would be nice to get Shouto back in here

holy shittttt

thiiiiiiiis is bad. that is some serious destruction. not something they can just shrug their shoulders about later, especially in BnHA where damage like this actually has lasting consequences

lol some other heroes are watching from a distance and they’re all “did Endeavor just Vidalia Chop Wizard that whole fucking building”

meanwhile Hawks is tumbling to safety on a nearby rooftop

and he’s referring here to Endeavor’s opening line in the chapter, “I’ll dice you up and burn you until there’s nothing left”

(ETA: in addition to being the first reluctant hero in the series, Hawks is also the quippiest we’ve had by far. Hawks is all your dialogue polished up by a Marvel screenwriting team or what)

I appreciate Hawks’s efforts at combat banter, but all I keep thinking is that those pieces actually did look remarkably neat and uniform, and that it wouldn’t kill him to show a little appreciation for what was honest to god one of the most insane quirk feats we’ve seen to date

also, looking at this picture more closely, my disbelief is gonna need a little more suspending, because I honestly don’t feel like either of them should currently be able to fly the way they’re doing lol. Hawks’s wings are in a pretty sorry state at the moment

and here comes High Treason Noumu back at them again, and he’s grumbling “bird...” like he’s all pissy at Hawks

lol what is this

what the hell is this quirk. does he shoot air gun fists or something. and this other guy has all of his fingers fucking disconnected for no apparent reason. like, what the hell is that even gonna do besides gross people out

(ETA: and isn’t this Tokage’s quirk as well. getting lazy are we Horikoshi)

now High Score Noumu is doing something disturbing oh god

ffffffffff WHAT IS THIS. WHY DO WE HAVE TO LOOK AT A CLOSE UP OF IT

Endeavor’s hitting it with another fire blast. thanks man

and now he’s doing a mental tally of the thing’s quirks

and don’t forget “can fucking talk.” not to mention what I still think is the most intriguing one of all, “has Kurogiri’s fucking face”

oh and I guess this is a new one

fucking gross ew fuck sick gross ugh!! why are they so gooey sob

I don’t really understand what’s going on but Endeavor seems to have it all figured out, so here

okay so he wants to fight strong opponents like Endeavor so he made some disgusting clones to deal with the small fries I guess

-- hold up. that muscle amplification quirk... that looks and sounds a whole lot like Muscular’s, though

is it just coincidence? that this Noumu just so happens to be so strikingly similar to not one but two captured villains previously associated with the League?? just what in the hell is going on here dammit

meanwhile, as Endeavor observed, the Noumus that emerged from his body look completely different and appear to be just your everyday run-of-the-mill Noumus

just a little grosser is all

Hawks is swooping down and taking them out without much effort. looks like he’s gotten most of his feathers back too

he’s telling everyone to keep evacuating

and he says that to be frank, power struggles aren’t his “forte”

so he’s acknowledging that he doesn’t have the All Might Factor, so to speak? that even though he’s strong and popular, he’s not at that level of always beating the big bads no matter what?

you know, that actually makes some sense. I can maybe understand a little better just why he was bothering Endeavor so much. that is, if it weren’t for the fact that I STILL DON’T TRUST YOU, HAWKS, YOU SUSPICIOUS LITTLE SERAPH

High Speed Noumu is asking Endeavor if he’s done shooting those red hot little slice-and-dice death rays

oh snap this thing really is smart

it’s not just talking and thinking, it’s fucking analyzing. there’s some real brainpower at work in this thing

now Endeavor is talking about his quirk, and I’m just gonna post the panel because like hell am I gonna try to summarize this

he was thinking this a few panels earlier, too. that he’s got a lot of heat built up now

and now he’s thinking about Rei and his kids with their ice powers

fuck me but every single time I start wanting to root for Endeavor he’s gotta go and remind us of this, though

also!? fourth kid alert!?? and this kid seems to have white hair just like all the others, and seems to be younger than Natsuo in this shot. which would seem to go against the prevailing theory? explain yourself, manga

(ETA: lol and I got an ask about this just today. I gotta give this some thought. but I still think it’s Dabi! maybe Endeavor is just confused about what his non-Shouto children looks like because he spent so much time ignoring them all!)

so now Highlander Noumu is making a crazy face and extending his arms or muscle fibers or whatever the fuck these things are again, and saying he wants to test out his new power on Endeavor

shiiiiiit this does not look good

this doesn’t seem like the kind of move he can maintain for very long given what he was saying earlier

he’s shouting at the Noumu that he’ll incinerate him until there’s nothing left, and his regeneration won’t be enough

well this has worked before, to be fair. back in Hosu

but why do I get the feeling that isn’t going to be the case this time, though

lollllll

is this the literal translation. is there some other meaning of “prominence” other than “famous and well-known” that I’m not thinking of. I guess it can also mean “something that sticks out a lot”, but I don’t see how that would apply to this attack

basically, to me this reads as “Endeavor’s I-Wanna-Be-Famous Big Fire Attack”

and damned if that just doesn’t say it all, though

he’s thinking back to what he said at the JP Hero Billboard thing. “just watch me”

and that he won’t disgrace himself by failing here

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh shit

HE WAS SO CLOSE

THIS THING IS REALLY FUCKING HARDCORE OMG

OH MY GOD

you’re telling me that Endeavor’s attack actually worked, but that he wasn’t able to disintegrate the whole Noumu because HE FUCKING RIPPED HIS OWN FUCKING HEAD OFF AND FRISBEE-D IT TO SAFETY AHEAD OF TIME!?

OH SHIT

goddamn -- fucking --

DAMMIT. COME ON ENDEAVOR. DON’T FUCKING DIE, DUDE. FUCKING GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER AND BEAT THIS HIGH FIVE NOUMU ALREADY, THE WORLD NEEDS YOU

ARE YOU SERIOUS

ARE YOU TELLING ME THE TWO OF THEM JUST HAPPENED TO BE WATCHING?? ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS, SHIT

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

motherfucker oh shit you guysssss

(ETA: how does he even still have that eye though)

you guys. oh shit. this is so bad. you don’t understand

shit. because let me tell you, the very first thing that ran through my head was that he’s going to look so much hotter now and fuck, you guys. I KNOW THAT’S NOT WHAT I’M SUPPOSED TO BE THINKING RIGHT NOW. BUT I CAN’T HELP IT. noooo what the hell is wrong with me I feel like slapping myself lmao

I fucking started laughing in real life at my own absurd reaction. I am ruining the mood of this chapter so damn fast

nooooooo

the parallels, though. oh shit. the same eye

and did Shouto’s quirk activate just now?? are those flames on his left side? oh shit

okay I need to get myself under control. fucking stop this now. stop thinking about how much hotter Endeavor is going to be with a big ol’ slashy scar along the left side of his face. and maybe an eyepatch. oh god. no, stop

(ETA: I really thought there was going to be an eyepatch. how does he still have that eye)

and now we’re cutting back to U.A. and Aizawa is gently telling Eri he’s gonna take her back to his room and I can’t you guys. first Endeavor losing his fucking eye and now Aizawa being a loving, protective parent on two counts, because LOOK WHAT HE SAYS RIGHT AFTER

now All Might is gripping at his stomach wound nooooo

seems like every big hero has That Moment, huh

oh fuckkkkk

fuuuuuck, Endeavor. going for that hard knocks path to redemption, huh

but I fucking can’t, though, because I just keep picturing Horikoshi’s creative process. like, you fucking troll, though. goes and creates the worst character of all time (not literally, I’m just being dramatic here just let me have this) and does his absolute fucking best to make him as terrible as possible, and then challenges himself to redeem him nonetheless. “how can I make readers actually feel sympathy for Todoroki fucking Enji in spite of everything? oh I know I’ll take away everything he ever wanted and make him finally start to realize what was really important and have him finally start trying to be a better husband and father. and then I’ll fucking murder him”

and like, I really need to stop laughing at this chapter, though. I’m ruining it, I know. if it helps, it’s not mirthful laughter though! the best way I can describe it is “haunted house laughter.” like, this is how I react when I’m walking through any sort of haunted attraction, and I’m really tense and excited and on edge. my weird natural response is usually to start laughing, possibly as my brain’s way of psyching myself up to be brave and reminding myself that it’s not real and they’re only actors. I feel like that, for some reason. and I don’t know why, but it’s actually a very positive thing, because this is the first time in quite a while that I’ve gotten this excited about the manga, actually

so I’m sorry, Endeavor. I’m not laughing at you, I’m laughing because OH SHIT THIS IS GETTING GOOD and I’m really loving it. and also because Horikoshi has got some serious balls

(ETA: and because this is Kamino all over again. and I was fucking pumped. angst!! stakes!! tension!! there was just a ton of adrenaline all of a sudden and I didn’t really know what to do with it so my brain was like “well then let’s just do something really weird!”)

anyway, so we’re cutting back to Shouto and U.A., where Shouto is watching his dad die on live television

aaaaaand that’s the chapter end

my god. this went from “eh” to “epic” in like .06 seconds. is this the fight that anon was talking about a while back? because this was pretty damn good, I gotta say. fucking damn

#bnha #boku no hero academia #hawks #endeavor #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #makeste reads bnha #I was gonna say something about it being unrealistic that everyone just happened to be watching tv at this exact time #but then I thought well maybe they got a news alert sent to their phones or something #and if that's the case that means shouto probably got the same news alert #so of course he came down to see what was going on #and damn though because that's a really brutal way of finding out that your dad is about to be murdered on live television #I hope everyone gave shouto some hugs after all this because the poor kid got put through the wringer

[junker-town]

The Chicago Sky are peaking at the perfect time

Photo by Chris Marion/NBAE via Getty Images

This is the Chicago Sky team we thought we’d see at the beginning of the season.

The Chicago Sky announced to the WNBA they were serious about going from a plucky upstart to a legitimate title contender when they signed living legend Candace Parker away from the Los Angeles Sparks at the start of the offseason. In adding Parker, the Sky didn’t just acquired a hometown icon (Parker grew up in suburban Naperville) and one of the most versatile players in the history of the sport. They also took on the burden of raised expectations.

When WNBA general managers were polled at the start of the year on who would win the championship, the Sky were tied for the second most popular pick after the Las Vegas Aces. While the Sky had a tantalizing mix of proven veterans and ascending talents on paper, they quickly learned how fragile contender status can be.

In their season opening win against the Washington Mystics, Parker went down with an ankle injury. The Sky had enough to win their next game against the Atlanta Dream, but the toll of losing Parker quickly set in. Chicago lost seven straight games without Parker, and didn’t break the streak until she returned three weeks later. Once it happened, the Sky couldn’t lose: they followed that seven-game losing streak with a seven-game winning streak, and showed signs of what the could team look like at its best.

It was that kind of season for the Sky, one defined by bouts of inconsistency. Chicago ended the year at 16-16 overall with the league’s No. 7 offense, No. 6 defense, and No. 6 net rating. In the 12-team WNBA, that is the definition of average.

The Sky have looked anything but average since entering the postseason, though. Chicago won two single elimination playoff games — first against the Dallas Wings, then against the favored Minnesota Lynx — to crash the semifinals. Waiting for Chicago was the league-best Connecticut Sun, a team that won the most games in the WNBA, finished with the best net rating, and also boasted the league MVP in dynamic big Jonquel Jones.

If the Sky were intimidated, you couldn’t tell from Game 1. The Sky won a double overtime thriller, 101-95, to give Connecticut only their second home loss of the season. The Sun responded by suffocating the Sky offense in the fourth quarter of Game 2 to even the series 1-1.

The Sky have their work cut out for them if they’re going to reach the WNBA Finals. Connecticut is that good. But after so much offseason hype, the Sky finally look like the team they were promised to be. With two Hall of Fame veterans, arguably the greatest shooter in the history of women’s basketball, and a pair of athletic wings flying up and down the court, the Sky are a team that’s hard to take your eyes off of. Here’s what makes them so much fun to watch.

Courtney Vandersloot is the Point Goddess

Courtney Vandersloot has a case as being one of the greatest point guards in the history of women’s basketball. If you think that sounds overly ambitious, just check the numbers.

Vandersloot has spent her entire WNBA career with the Sky after being taken No. 3 overall in the 2011 draft. She finished her college days at Gonzaga at No. 3 all-time in total assists. Now 32 years old, Vandersloot only seems to be getting better every year. She’s led the WNBA in assists five straight years, and is routinely putting up almost 100 more assists than her closest competition. She averages the most assists per game in league history by almost a full assist of No. 2 Ticha Penicheiro.

Game 1 against the Sun was Sloot at her best: 12 points, 18 assists, 10 rebounds, four steals, and two blocks in 44 minutes. It was only the second triple-double ever in the WNBA playoffs.

The greatest point guards seem to have a gift to pass their teammates open — not just pass to open teammates. Vandersloot has it. She sees the game two steps ahead of anyone else on the court. Having another basketball genius in Parker on her team has created some beautiful moments of symmetry all year.

This might have been the best of her 18 dimes with the Sky needing every bucket in overtime.

There have been some great passes in this game, like this Vandersloot feed to Parker pic.twitter.com/uaB1nO9syi

— Internet #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) September 29, 2021

The Sky posted the third highest assist percentage in league history this season, and Vandersloot’s imprint is all over that number. She has total control over every possession and a true gift for getting her teammates the ball in position to score. To watch her as a floor general is to see a master at work.

Candace Parker still has it

Parker has been a phenom since she entered the basketball world. She won the dunk contest at the 2004 McDonald’s All-American Game. She finished her career at Tennessee with two national titles, two Wooden Awards, and one very memorable dunk. She was the first pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft and won Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season — something only Wilt Chamberlain and Wes Unseld can say. She won another MVP in 2013, and her first WNBA championship with the Sparks in 2016. There’s also her two gold medals, her nine All-WNBA team selections, and her Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2020.

I think you get the picture: Parker is an icon in the game, and will be a Hall of Fame inductee as soon as her career is over. Now at 35 years old, she’s showing she still has a lot left in the tank.

At 6’4, Parker is the total package on the floor. She can handle like a guard.

Nasty crossover by Candace Parker in transition. Her layup extended the Sky lead to 3. pic.twitter.com/mBJkFIvOuq

— Positive Residual (@presidual) September 29, 2021

Pass like a guard.

watching this candace parker pass on repeat for foreverpic.twitter.com/ZdaQMhP1He

— whitney medworth (@its_whitney) September 29, 2021

Shoot like a guard:

Protect the rim like a center:

How many players in the history of the game can block a shot like this and immediately throw an incredible outlet pass the way Parker did in the first game of the season against the Mystics?

THIS CANDACE PARKER BLOCK AND PASS MY GOD pic.twitter.com/toG5kqCe77

— whitney medworth (@its_whitney) May 15, 2021

Parker is still so dynamic even late in her career. It’s not just her historic combination of size and skill that makes her so effective — she’s also one of the great basketball minds around.

Without Parker this season, the Sky struggled to win a game. With her, they’re going toe-to-toe with the league’s best team in the semifinals. Appreciate her while you still can.

Allie Quigley is a knockdown shooter off any action

Quigley is another Chicagoland legend who played her high school ball at Joliet Catholic and her college ball at DePaul. She’s a long-time staple on the Sky, and like her wife Vandersloot, she also seems to be getting better with age.

Now 35 years old, Quigley is a three-time All-Star (2017-2019) and two-time Sixth Woman of the Year. She’s also one of the best shooters in league history. She has three Three-Point Shootout titles to her name, and wowed fans with her run in the event in 2018.

Like so many of the greatest shooters ever, Quigley is extra difficult to contain because of her ability to off motion. The Sky run her in an endless loop of actions to free her from three, and she’s able to hit with just a tiny bit of daylight.

Watch how quickly she gets the shot up coming off this pindown:

Allie Quigley’s just so quick to her shot. She’s being denied under the basket, so she escapes and gets a pindown, which is all the space she needs to launch the 3. pic.twitter.com/UMTSHF6C6K

— Positive Residual (@presidual) September 26, 2021

All Quigley did in her age-35 season is hit 45.4 percent of her threes on 4.6 attempts per game. Playing off two historic passers this season has made Quigley even more dangerous.

Diamond DeShields and Kahleah Copper add athleticism on the wing

The Sky are led by their three veteran stars, but it’s a pair of younger players on the wings who give the team an added boost of defense, athleticism, and on-ball juice.

Kahleah Copper came to the Sky in the Elena Delle Donne trade. After being a bench player in her first three years, Copper made a star turn in the bubble by more than doubling her scoring average. This season, she earned her first All-Star team selection, and led the team in scoring.

Copper is a 6’1 wing who can pressure the ball defensively, and fearlessly slash to the basket on offense. Her jaunts to the lane have been incredibly fun to watch all season.

KAHLEAH OMG @kahleahcopper | #skytown pic.twitter.com/fY4wM7PONX

— Chicago Sky (@chicagosky) October 1, 2021

As Copper has ascended, Diamond DeShields has taken a small step back. There was a time when DeShields looked like a future star — now she’s coming off the bench where she injects energy into any lineup.

At her best, DeShields can fly all over the floor and make highlight reel plays on both ends. There aren’t many wings in the league effortlessly elevating for a block like this:

Diamond DeShields said NOPE pic.twitter.com/T2gzBUi7rz

— ESPN (@espn) October 1, 2021

Just look at the explosion on this drive:

Diamond did THAT. @diamonddoesit1 pic.twitter.com/brbD2PHjry

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) September 29, 2021

DeShields isn’t always the most efficient scorer, but when she’s on top of her game, the Sky are the best version of themselves. On a team with such a solid veteran foundation, it’s Copper and DeShields that have the potential to take the Sky to the next level.

For as talented as the Sky are, Connecticut can be even better

Jonquel Jones is a dominant offensive player in the middle who can bully her way to points inside, stretch the floor with her jumper, and attack the glass for tip-ins and put-backs. Alyssa Thomas is a physical force and somehow seems to be back at the peak of her powers after tearing her Achilles in January. Brionna Jones is a load as an interior scorer, and DeWanna Bonner is a 6’4 wing who can score from all three levels. It’s no fluke the Sun were the best team this season.

Sun vs. Sky is a wonderful stylistic clash with great players all over the floor. It was a winding road to get here for Chicago, but this is the team the Sky thought they had all year long.

[fondly-stargazing]

do the ice cream asks

bruh i didn’t even see this until now SORRY

chocolate: when was your first kiss? fourth of july of the summer going into senior year (yes i was a late bloomer)french vanilla: how old are you? 19cotton candy: three places you want to travel to? bora bora, santorini/greece in general, iran strawberry: a language you wish you could speak? korean or farsicoffee: favorite cosmetic brands? i don’t mind the generic drug store brands but i also like urban decaymint chocolate chip: indoors or outdoors? both cookie dough: do you play any instruments? i used to play pianorocky road: favorite songs at the moment? i mean the ballad of mona lisa by panic! at the disco will always be an all time favorite, but i’m really digging awkward by san cisco and budapest by george ezra at the momentbutter pecan: favorite songs for life? OH LOL i guess i already answered this in the previous askcheesecake: what's your zodiac sign? virgotoasted coconut: the beach or the pool? beach all the waychocolate chip: what's your most popular post? it wasn’t a post itself per se but i once made a comment on a popular post and it spread around and caused me to gain a bunch of followers at one point lolbubblegum: books or movies? i like both but if it was between a book and it’s movie adaptation, i prefer the bookpistachio: manga or anime? both are sinssalted caramel: favorite movies? i love hiyao miyazaki movies and the star wars films birthday cake: favorite books? oh god i have so many but the harry potter series probably take the cakemoose tracks: favorites for manga? ew orange sherbet: favorites for anime? yikespeanut butter: favorite academic subject? astronomyblack raspberry: do you have any pets? 3 fish, 2 rabbits, 1 kittymango: when and why did you start your blog? beginning of sophomore year of hs and only because a bunch of my friends had one so i wanted to be a part of itmocha: ideal weather conditions? warm with a cool breezeblack cherry: four words that describe you? weird, funny, emo, bubbly (yes i know the last two basically cancel each other out LOL)neapolitan: things that stress you out? LIFE!!!raspberry truffle: favorite kind of music? pop punk, alternative rock, edmchocolate marshmallow: favorite brands of candy? whatever brand makes those awesome sour belts that you can get at candy storestoffee: a card game that you're good at? spoons and kings cup lollemon custard: do you eat breakfast? occasionally dark chocolate: turn ons? grinding, lip biting, neck kisses, knowing that i turned the other person onfudge: turn offs? unhygienic, bigotry peach: how do you relax? laying in bed either listening to music, binge watching shows, or browsing the interwebspraline: a popular book you haven't read yet? the maze runner and like 95% of dystopian novels because fuck that superman: do you like sweaters? love emcherry: do you drink tea or coffee? both but i prefer teadulce de leche: an instrument you wish you could play? drums and ukulele blackberry: have you ever laughed so hard you cried? multiple timesginger: a new feature you wish tumblr could have? where do i even begin...blueberry lemon: favorite blogs? there’s a bunch of mutuals that i absolutely love and frankly i’m too tired to write out all the url’s but they know who they are heh almond: favorite mean girls quote? “if you’re from africa then why are you white”butterscotch: what color are your nails right now? it’s like hella chipped but the nail polish is a super dark red/purple that looks black unless it’s hit by lightcinnamon: have you ever been confessed to? confessed to about what lolblue moon: have you ever had a crush on someone? multiple times sadlycappuccino crunch: do you take naps? more often than i shouldmint: the most embarrassing thing you've ever done? basically beg my basically ex to take me back after him and i “broke up”brownie batter: do you like sushi? love itkey lime: where do you want to be right now? in a happy place while not being in a depressed state of mindred velvet: do you wear prescription glasses? 20/20 vision babygreen tea: favorite flavors of ice cream? raspberry will always be my fav but i also like rainbow sherbet and persian rose water ice cream and mango and lychee but omg if there is an earl grey flavored ice cream out there i bet i would love it