#edit: ok I just found out this was like 9 generations after them lol

[cashweasel]

I’ve not seen anyone talk about Julia Belmont yet which is crazy because,, she looks like this?! My honest reaction seeing her on screen was “damn boy that’s your mommy??” Can she be my mommy too? She’s stunning. I want her so bad rip tho queen

#idk what I expected her to look like but not this lol #on my knees fr #also am I the only one who thinks she has a little bit of sypha in her? fjskskdj #I’ve only watched the first ep tonight but istg if we get some trevor and sypha flashbacks that I don’t know about yet #i will break down #edit: ok I just found out this was like 9 generations after them lol #somehow that makes me very sad tho 9 gens and they’re gone and alucard is still here #he met not only their kids but their descendants #:( #castlevania #castlevania nocturne #also richter is baby (literally) he’s a smol child and I love him #babe how old are you? 17?

[alwaysxlarrie]

you know it’s an alwaysxlarrie fic when ... + 2022 writing self evaluation 

ok so i’m a tiiiiiny bit late to the game, so i’m just combining the two tags lol. thank you to @hellolovers13, @larrysballetslippers, @zannithinks, @lunarheslwt, @brightgolden & @momrryrights for tagging me in the moodboard challenge (that’s what i’m calling it lol). hope everyone enjoys my chaotic moodboard hehe & thank you to @neondiamond, @onlythebravest, @lunarheslwt, @greenblueish, @thedevilinmybrain & @loveislarryislove for tagging me in the self evaluation tag !! here we goooo

for the moodboard we’ve got 2013 larry bc that’s my fav era & how i always imagine them in my fics, football player louis, santa’s sleigh, office space, cute notes on a white board, a clothing rack, new york city & gentle touches. i don’t think i need to say there’s not any specific mood theme going on here for anyone to figure that out LMAO but i did try my best regardless :)

1. Number of stories posted to AO3: 9!

2. Word count posted for the year: if i’m counting correctly ..... 93,735 ????

3. Fandoms I wrote for: one direction. i have a fic for the 5sos fandom that i’ve written a few chapters for & was editing it in an ao3 draft but then the page refreshed for some reason & i lost everything & kinda lost steam, so .... maybe it’ll see the light of day next year

4. Pairings: louis/harry, zayn/liam (side pairing), shawn/niall (side pairing)

5. Story with the most…

Kudos: i swear i could give you everything

Bookmarks: also i swear i could give you everything lol

Comments: it’s i swear i could give you everything again LMAO 

Hits: gimme everything you got 

6. Work I’m most proud of (and why): i think i’d say either gimme everything you got or i need something, so tell me something new. gimme everything you got bc i put a lot of my personal experience (give or take) into it & it got such a positive response & that made me super happy. i need something, so tell me something new bc it’s my first ever published fic in general & fic in this fandom.

7. Work I’m least proud of (and why): oooof. prob my sub harry fic. i enjoyed being apart of the fest & i enjoyed the experience, but writing it was so much harder than i’d anticipated & it felt like my writing got very redundant after a few scenes. i’m glad i stuck it out & that i published it, but yeah i def don’t think i did it the justice i’d wanted to.

8. Share or describe a favorite review you received: i’m really enjoying all the reviews/comments i’ve been getting on my cinderella au! it’s my first chaptered fic that i’m posting chapter by chapter, so that’s been really encouraging. but in general, i appreciate all the comments i get. as a small/new writer, i don’t expect to get any comments at all really, so whenever i do, i get excited. there was a comment on my christmas fic santa, won’t you bring me the one i really need? where someone said it was the best christmas fic they’ve ever read :)

9. A time when writing was really, really hard: the sub harry fic lmao. i love service kink harry fics so i was like alright sweet this will be a no brainer & basically, i fucked around & found out. i literally went through like 5 drafts until i finally found a premise that went w the prompt i was using that i felt i could build off of without turning the fic super predictable & dead end. i think if i’d waited to do that type of fic next year & done more research than i’d done for this one, it would’ve gone much better.

10. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you: the beginning of my cinderella au -- i’ve been very vocal about the fact that i write only fluff fics to balance out all the angst in our fandom & then i go & write a cinderella fic & make the first two chapters packed w angst LMAO. it’ll turn around soon, but that’s def the biggest one as of yet for me, i think.

11. A favorite excerpt of your writing: i’m not sure if i have a favorite tbh, but i like this one from i swear i could give you everything: --------------

“So what have you got for us today, Haz?” Louis asked, knocking on the table with his fists, excitement and anticipation both thrumming through his body.

“Well, I was just messing around in the kitchen last night, really,” Harry began, messing with the hem of his shirt and seemingly determined to continue looking at the floor as he made his way towards the fridge a few feet away from the table Louis was now sitting at. “And then I realized I had the ingredients. So. I just figured. Why not, you know?”

Louis furrowed his eyebrows, trying to piece together what Harry was talking about. All he’d done was ask Harry what he’d made. He guessed the ingredients were relevant to the conversation and he did enjoy listening to Harry talk - even if he really was talking some shit - so he decided to humor him. 

“Oh yeah, sweetheart?” Louis prompted as he placed his elbows on the table and rested his chin on one of his hands.

Harry was apparently too busy rummaging around the fridge to even glance back at him when he responded. Which wasn’t rude, really. Louis just. Wanted to see his eyes, was all.

“Yeah, so like. I thought you might enjoy it. You talk about it a lot, anyway. So I figured, I might as well, if I have the ingredients, you know?” 

“Sure, sure. Absolutely. No point in having all the ingredients if you’re not gonna make a good meal out of it.” Louis had completely lost the plot at this point but was still determined to try for Harry.

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

12. How did you grow as a writer this year: well let’s start w the fact that i began the year convinced i’d remain a reader & beta forever. so the fact that i’ve published one fic, let alone nine, is pretty big in itself lol. aside from that, i’ve gotten more comfortable writing smut & dialogue. before i wrote fics, i only wrote original stories & never included dialogue, so those were my biggest weaknesses when i first started writing fic & they’re still not my strengths yet, but i’ve definitely gotten better, i’d like to think.

13. How do you hope to grow next year: i def want to get more comfortable writing smut & building sexual tension. i want to write longer fics. i want to finish at least 5-10 of the 20 wips i have lol. i’d love to finish all of them, but 5-10 is a good goal. i want to write some different genres like historical, slow burns, etc.

14. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc): i have a few! @loveislarryislove is a big one -- if i need help w a metaphor, making sure a sentence sounds right, incorporating tension building touches, brainstorming, honest feedback, etc, annika is my pea in a pod. also @panye, steph is so lovely & helpful when it comes to brainstorming, talking out what phrasing sounds better, she tells me what needs fixing & how to fix it; basically, she’s the better half of our shared brain cell. @zanniscaramouche is pretty much the reason i feel as comfortable as i do writing smut. she’s patient, she gives examples, she’s kind, she knows just how to change wording around to make a description or dialogue top tier. @justanothershadeofblue, is my sprinting buddy (along with zanni when our schedules align!). having a daily sprinting buddy who cheers you on is delightful, especially when they’re as supportive & willing to get sidetracked in off topic convos w me as zjo!

15. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year: gimme everything you got is based on personal experience in terms of the stigmas that come w female masturbation / women being shamed for exploring their bodies. i work in retail, so while that didn’t inspire it’s like i’m powerful with a little bit of tender, it def helped me know bts info lol. lastly, i’ve recently switched my major from psychology to interior design & my minor from interior design to psychology, so i guess my (new) major showed up in you are my destiny (you are the reason that i still believe). hostile work environment was also inspired by my retail job as well LMAO. there’s more in my wips tbh, but as for my currently published fics, that’s it, i think!

16. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers: just remember that how ‘popular’ or ‘unpopular’ your fic may be / may get isn’t an indicator of your talent. write something bc you want to write it, not bc you think it’ll appeal to people. take breaks -- if you’re stuck on a scene or sentence, get up & do something else for a bit. if you keep rereading the same sentence over & over, it’s only going to keep sounding more & more scrambled. you’ll work much better with a clear head & will be able to see where the mistakes -- if any -- actually are.

17. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year: my cinderella au for sure! i started a fic inspired by one of my fav fics staring across the room by the lovely @allwaswell16 & it’s been put to the side for much longer than i’ve wanted. i initially put it to the side to get more practice writing tension building, but def want to finish it next year. i also finally started the sequel to my girl direction fic, so that as well. & the sequel to my christmas fic lmao. i have lots of things i need to finish 😭😭

18. Tag some writers whose answers you’d like to read: i honestly don’t know anyone who hasn’t done or been tagged in either of these yet, but i’ll tag a few anyway lol @lululawrence @thebreadvansstuff @panye @kingsofeverything @voulezloux @infinitelymint @londonfoginacup @twopoppies @littleroverlouis @tommokat @crinkle-eyed-boo @disgruntledkittenface @kingonafiftymetreroad @daggerandrose @homosociallyyours @ireallysawanangel & anyone else who wants to do these!

#tags and challenges #my fics #my writing #fic q&a #finally did it with one day in the year to spare #not counting tomorrow at least lmao #wooooo

[harm0nianecterepassus]

The Right Thing to Do “live commentary” - Part I of the “Rights and Wrongs” series, by LovesBitca8

Here we go again! I have decided to go for this series next. I originally was going to go ahead and read The Auction (ovaries still growing to required size to read Manacled) but i found out that it’s part three of a series??? I’m not sure if it’s 100% necessary to read the two before? (TRTTD and ATWT) so if anyone would be so kind to clarify, thanks in advance!

Anyways, as it says The Auction is part three, my brain can no longer go ahead and just read it- i have to go in order now 😤. So yeah! Let’s crack on, shall we? I have already done a “live commentary” about The Fallout and DMATMOOBIL, i didn’t do one on Isolation but i wish i did, it was perfection, btw. Anyways this is not a “proper” review or critique, just my thoughts while reading, and i don’t even know why i’m writing like i have an audience waiting for me to do this again lol the delusion ~ i will pin this to the top of my profile and update by editing the same post, so yeah! And now without ACTUAL further adue…

Day one: i’m really enjoying this fic so far! I’m on chapter 9, and it feels really “fresh” and “young”, probably bc it’s only a year and a half after the war and the characters are just becoming young adults. It’s always funny to read how they go straight into working for the Ministry and don’t really take a few years to “go to college” lol. It’s nice and a bit more fast-paced, shorter chapters and relatively open descriptions of places and people, which i too appreciate, so my mind can kind of “create” and work around it to imagine the world and ppl around the story. It’s a very nice change of style, and i have just read the reference for The Auction! So clever, i wonder if the author was already thinking about / writing that fic by this time? Anyways, less than a week til i go back to school and won’t have much time to read :( so i will happily destroy whats left of my eyesight to finish this fic before sunday hehe… been thinking about getting a Kindle! I found out you can read fics on there too! (I’m so NOT knowledgeable on this front lol) any suggestions about it?

Day three: chapter 25! We are making good progress! I’m liking how things are going, pretty interesting twist of events! I’m finding it a teenzy bit hard to get ober Lucius Malfoy being “civil” towards hermione, and sometimes Draco’s behavior is a bit too “casual” with other people and colleagues for my brain to comprehend, i guess I’m used to him still a bit cold towards the general public, just because he is more reserved and weary in general. The rest is fitting just fine! I like the bit of banter between ginny, hermione and harry! I’ve never really been a *huge* fan of Ron, be it on the books or the movies, i just think our girl could do SO much better than ending up with him… she pretty muchwas his mom throughout their entire relationship (ok, enough ranting, that’s a topic for another time, sorry to all the romione fandom). Anyways, what i wanted to get to with that last idea, was that i rrally like the trio with Ginny instead of Ronald lol sorry Ron!

I just reached the a/n where the author says there’s alteady three chapters drafted for The Auction! Exciting! We’ll update soon!

Day four: ok, i’m getting a bit annoyed with Hermione’s attitude at work. Like, why would you talk back at your BOSS like that? Doesn’t matter what’s happening between them, you don’t disrespect the person who gave you the chance to do something of your career. I get it, he “used her name” or whatever (it doesn’t even mean anything, if she didn’t bite the bait, he would be left embarassed in front of people like Walter), but dude: the man’s your boss! Why does she act like she’s making him a favor? You want out of you thing with Lucius? TELL DRACO! Is not your responsibility to keep the company afloat, is your damn savior complex, draco is right. Lol i’m getting all worked up here, because this plot is slowly but surely annoying me a little bit. It’s not that hard to work things out, there’s no “real threat” for them and the “right thing to do” isn’t really a huge thing. Am i getting this wrong? I’m very practical and this arrengement of sorts is just too much trouble when things could be very easy!!?????? And seriously, Draco could just freaking tell her to stop being unprofessional and rude in front of others, because she’s!! And he needs to just be the boss…

Well, that’s all for this update!

Day five: I’ve finished! 36 chapters later, the first part of the series is finished. I feel like it was a pretty good, quick read! Pretty entertaining, it made me laugh quite a few times, and was an overall nice story. I feel there were a few plotholes that i would’ve liked to see resolved: like the actual classes being of more critical use or having more of a significance throughout the story, and to go deeper into Lucius plan, maybe? The repercutions of his stabbing plan, maybe a bit more of how H’s career moved forward, ginny and harry’s wedding, ron pretty much disappeared from the story and i thought he would have made a good conflict point. I would have loved a more high-stakes conflict between d and h and their relationship, though. I do feel the ending was a bit rushed, or maybe i’m getting used to the SLOW burn dhrs hehe, but yeah, an overall fun, quick, romantic story! Would recommend this to any first-time dramione reader. I would personally give it a 3 out of 5 stars. Now we move onto the next! I don’t know if i’ll be commenting on Dracos POV. If something gets my attention, i guess i will, but i’m so excited to get to The Auction! Moving on!

#dramione fandom #harry potter #draco malfoy #dramione #hermione granger #dramione fanfic #hermione x draco #ao3 harry potter #fanfiction #harry potter fandom #dhr fanfiction #dhr #dramione fan #the right thing to do #lovesbitca8 #the right and wrong series #the auction #all the wrong things

[logically-asexual]

okay i'm already procrastinating and i don't plan on sleeping any time soon so here we go.

☆ ✩ my personal ranking for every season 1 Sanders Sides episode. ✩ ☆

i think it's going to be pretty similar to @dukeofonions' but let's see if i find something new to contribute haha. i see you didn't include that one about Patton in the Big Game or whatever, so i'm not including it either xd. also i think i'm going to count Accepting Anxiety as one episode only.

edit: i finished and now i dare you to drink a shot of water every time i say the word spanish or a version of the word comfort and become very well hydrated.

#16 I'm in a Disney Show

(i agree with dukeofonions here) i always forget this episode exists. it was ok in terms of being happy for real life Thomas but as a Sanders Sides episode it didn't do anything. the sides were just giving their opinions but it wasn't very funny or interesting. also i'm bitter because it made me look up the episode he was in and i didn't like it at all. i don't know if i'm too old for those Disney shows now but Thomas was literally the only good part of it, everything else was really dull and boring imo. a waste of time.

however, Logan supporting clickbait is one of the funniest things ever, and i'll never forget it.

#15 Becoming A Cartoon

i didn't hate this episode but it was just .. meh.. you know? several factors contribute to this. one, i couldn't feel much nostalgia for Butch Hartman's shows because i watched them in Spanish, and everything feels really weird when they speak English, i don't like how my old cartoons sound in English. two, it was disappointing to me because we were all desperately waiting for Plot™ and instead they give us this short episode about nothing (oh how the tables have turned now it's the other way around haha). and three, i didn't like the style of the animation :/ their faces and expressions freaked me out, Roman's douchey face still haunts me.

#14 Way Too Adult

here i'm biased because i don't like Patton much, and i didn't back when i watched the series the first time either, so this video was a little disappointingwithout the rest. also it wasn't relatable to me because i am still too young and dependent on my parents haha. but Patton is funny and it's funny to laugh at Thomas' struggling.

#13 The Dark Side of Disney

i've never been a fan of Disney movies. i actually never watched Mulan or the Lion King or Aladdin as a kid, so meh. i liked the ending, though, it was cool to see Virgil have fun and be right for once. it does make me a bit uncomfortable because the way Thomas tries too hard with Virgil's mouth movements and his low voice reminds me of a guy that had made me v uncomfortable not long before watching that video. so an icky feel overall.

#12 A New Year of Lying to Myself

this video was actually kind of fogettable to me. i had a hard time connecting the voices in the song to the characters and idk. i don't love it nor hate it, just .. neutral.

#11 My True Identity

pretty much the same opinion as dukeofonions, again. it's a good introduction and it's good that it was the beginning of it all but on its own it's not very special. i think it's awesome on Thomas to have come up with such a clever idea, like choosing the dad, the teacher and the prince and putting them together and match them with thoughts?? that fit so perfectly?? it really is just very impressive when you think about it, that it was just a random idea he had for a short 5 minute video.

#10 Taking on Anxiety

i liked this video a lot because when i watched it i had recently been a lot on tumblr, and found out through relatable posts that i had anxiety. so watching this video was really fun and it made me happy to feel so seen, specially the intro when Thomas just talks about what it's like to have Anxiety and Virgil is so smug about it.

- ★ -

okay now that those are out of the way things are going to get hard... all the following i love with all my heart so i'm going to rank them based on the smallest things.

#9 Growing Up

once more, Patton isn't my favorite. so that's why i'm putting this here, plus the echo at the end askjhsahg, but i love love this video. i remember we were waiting and oh so ready for the angst of nobody taking Patton seriously. and we received!! i love that though Roman and Logan are antagonists here, they're both so happy about Thomas wanting to have a healthy life. and i just adore the way Logan admits his mistake at the end and asks Patton directly. my heart... also aw.. the nostalgia. i remember none of us knew how to spell Patton's name and were writing it in very funny ways until Thomas and Joan told us lol.

#8 The Mind vs The Heart

when i watched this video the first times i didn't like it much, because i only had eyes for Virgil, but later i came back to it and loved it. so taking that into account i'm putting it here. logicality was the first ship i ever shipped in the show because i saw a gifset on tumblr of Patton screaming "what do you know about love?!" and Logan "apparently more than YOU" and the caption said "MARRIED", and i thought hey yeah... anyway. i love them. they're both my dads since that day.

this video is so so so relatable and i love it. Logan and Patton are so much fun arguing and i love how they compromise at the end and work together. im reconsidering.. i might move it higher? no, fine i'll leave it here.

#7 Making Some Changes

this video was absolutely hilarious. i personally couldn't see it as the Sides still once they were acted by Thomas' friends, i enjoyed it more as that bunch being silly and trying to be the sides but failing in so many ways, while sometimes nailing stuff suddenly. i really don't take this one too seriously as an episode. except Joan!Logan and Valerie!Logan, my beloved... i love how Joan acted as Logan and their voice and that they kept their ace ring on.. there's a reason i had them as my icon for so long. and Valerie looks a bit (a lot) like me with the glasses and dressed in dark colors, plus she spoke Spanish and there's .. no words to describe the joy i felt when seeing/hearing that. wait i'm getting emotional...

#6 My Personality Q&A

when i watched this Virgil was my favorite side and i didn't care much about the rest lol. when i heard his answers i related to him SO much it was scary, and also his voice is so soft and it was all very comforting. it was also when i first starting looking at Logan with more attention, because when he brought up Big Hero 6 and Fall Out Boy and said he didn't sing and would recite it like a poem? it only took a couple seconds but my brain said "me" and never went back.

now this video is a little underwhelming to watch for me, most of the appeal for me was in finding out the answers, and also watching it when we didn't know a lot about the sides. now we know more and want to know more so it's not as fun to me as it was first.

i wish so bad they'd do another one, although i know it would be more difficult with a much bigger audience, i think they can manage and i just need it. the chaos.. the energy.. they all being so savage with each other, learning little random facts about them you didn't expect.. i need it.

- ★ -

oh boy top 5 here we go. the next three are practically a tie. i can't choose.

#5 Alone on Valentines Day

i love Valerie, and the idea of this video was perfect and so perfectly excecuted. every side just giving their crazy opinions on how to woo a random stranger, i laughed SO much. first with Logan speaking simlish out of nowhere? at that point i didn't know practically anything about the sims except that it was some video game and the whiplash of Logan going AYO and the rest killed me. then when Roman whipped out that dialogue in Spanish??? my life was completed. i've never felt more happy than i did in that moment gosh. just the hilarity of Roman's drama, the shock of them speaking Spanish suddenly like that, the absolute JOY of seeing a creator i like speak (may i say) perfect Spanish, the other characters' faces after that.. never been happier.

also the conclusion was so cute. Virgil solving the whole problem without wanting to. i loved it.

#4 Am I Original

i think this video speaks for itself. it was fun to watch them all do the ideas Roman had, plus Logan and Virgil nodding at each other, (i love them so much), plus the angst at the end of Roman's perfectionism, plus Roman's just perfect name. this video has it all.

i think Thomas posted it kind of late at night and i watched it at 7am in the classroom as i waited for my classmates to arrive and the class to start. (i usually was like 40 minutes early to school due to mom’s work). i had to contain my laughter and it wasn’t easy.

#3 Losing My Motivation

i started loving this video after a while, when Logan passed Virgil in the position for my favorite side. but once he did this episode was beautiful. it's so funny and i love Logan and Patton's dynamic so much. and the video also so damn relatable in general. i felt so seen with it because they named all the problems i have when procrastinating, down to Patton's vague explanation of his feelings, it's exactly how i feel every time i want to do stuff. and the plot twist! i can hear the dramatic sound effect and see how they all turn to Logan clearly in my head, and it always makes me smile. plus there's so much Logan angst that can be dug up and overanalized. i love to watch it over and over.

#2 Accepting Anxiety

this video was perfect. everything we wanted. we knew it was coming and it delivered perfectly, better than any fanfic done in the waiting time. the week between the parts was agonizing but in a fun way somehow. i remember precisely when i was watching part 2 in my living room. i screamed. and i cried, a lot. i was feeling terrible at that time in my life and Thomas was such a comforting presence and i can't begin to describe how this episode made me feel.

and later it is always fun to rewatch with all their different reactions to being in Virgil's room, the energy of that was on point. Thomas is such a great actor and the characters where just amazingly performed. plus it gave so much to talk adn think about, the idea of the rooms, lots lots of insight into the characters, foreshadowing, so much. it's just perfect i have nothing else to say.

#1 (for purely emotional reasons, ironically) My Negative Thinking

i think Accepting Anxiety is the best episode of the season objectively but my favorite is My Negative Thinking. because i love Virgil and Logan so much and seeing them argue together was and is great. the comfort.. i can't repeat that word enough throughout this post. it's such a soft video while not being overwhelming with Patton and Roman's outbursts. just quiet (mostly) and clear and with perfectly timed humour.

Logan my beloved.. learning spanish... helping me with my own anxiety.. and their debate was so good. and the fact that they were friends i- i can't. Virgil didn't think Logan liked him and Logan told him explicitly that he did and the casual softness of it i cant even. Logan is happy that he tried.. it's just marvelous. Virgil and Logan as best friends will always be my favorite pair, and their dynamic will always be what i strive for in any relationship i might form, with both sides silently comforting each other within their own limits and realistic perspectives. so nice.

- ★ -

so yeah. that's all. thank you if you read all the way up to here. ♡ ♡ ♡

#sanders sides #thomas sanders #logan sanders #virgil sanders #patton sanders #roman sanders

[astrarche-x]

The Poppy War: thoughts

Context: I saw this book heavily recommended on tumblr and even though I didn't research it (to avoid spoilers), it looked like something for me. I also realized recently that I haven't read a modern high fantasy in a while, so when my friend told me "hey, I've read this book and need someone to rant about it with", I was like "sure can I borrow it?". It is worth noting that my friend's tone was rather disapproving and we mostly share our taste in books, but still, I approached The Poppy War with a very favourable mindset.

Which didn't last very long.

Fortunately, after some time the book got better, so: disapproval first, praise later.

- the first part, aka Rin's time in academia, was so predictable and cliche I went through it purely out of malice (to be able to roast it). It was fitting every cliche you can find in a books set at school and bore me to death.

- Jiang: aaaa. This is coming from my personal experiences, but I've had a hard time with my "cool but weird" teacher lately and I just can't get past this trope without being angry at writers who do not acknowledge how toxic it usually is. (tho in Jiang's case it was more or less ok) Also the reveal of his backstory was very predictable.

- Rin: i couldn't bear how "edgy" she was. I started to like her when the actual war begun and she turned from "i'm not like others lol" to "i'm so scared, i want to be safe. also what is sleep". (also because she has been a chaotic mess the whole time and the war actually made it more believable). I had issues with her character though - for example she comes to the academia when she's like 15/16 and even though a lot happens to her over the course of the action, i had a feeling she hasn't actually matured. Did she develop? In terms of abilities, knowledge, rage etc - yes. But I didn't think she was more mature at the end and it really bothered me (as i was still picturing as a 15-year-old and had to constantly remind myself that she's an adult now).

- self-harm: uuh handled in a weird way? It's obvious that Rin's self-harming to cope with stress in academia is not healthy and the context shows that the heroine is under immense pressure which has a bad effect on her, but the narrative seems to present self-harm as a necessity to manage life and never really condemns it - not only explicitly, but any negative consequences of it are also absent.

- this book (and Grishaverse) would be more enjoyable if I hadn't taken that basic Russian course. I cringed every time I read Kitay's name (and it appears quite often...). Literally why name your character China? It's such a bad idea...

- I don't know if the original edition has trigger warnings, but oh boy, i kinda wish Polish one had them too. Not that they would actually stop me from reading this, but I started this book with intent to get some nice escapism with a tad of intellectual challenge and I wasn't quite prepared for what I got. I saw a post that talked about how in fantasy or sci-fi wars are a thing that just happens and serve more as a plot device, but are not treated as like an actual tragedy and how this isn't the case for The Poppy War. I think this is a very good point and I very much agree with this but I wish this book was marketed in a more accurate way (with mention of the genocides) than "cool protagonist goes from poor orphan to badass" (almost literal description from the back cover).

- on genocides: the Golyn Niis part was so hard to read. It totally gave me flashbacks to the time when we talked about Shoah in Polish lessons in high school and I had to read like 4 short stories by Tadeusz Borowski about Auschwitz, one novella by Zofia Nałkowska about investigating Nazi crimes and one book about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising by Hanna Krall & Marek Edelman* (and it was all in the span of like 1-1,5 month) - all of which were written by survivors of said events, so it was an extremely difficult and emotionally exhausting read. Parts of The Poppy War had the same effect on me, so it shows the author really did her research and is to be appreciated, although while I would like to know what happens plot-wise in the next parts of the trilogy, I think it would be too emotionally draining for me to read.

- Having said all this, I found the Speer genocide theme really interesting. The legends and propaganda surrounding it, its impact on both country politics and Altan's (and Rin's) personal stories... Also I really liked how Rin's perception and understanding of it changed. Plus it served really well as a backstory - its effect on the whole plot was huge and manifesting in unexpected places but without the feeling of being hammered into reader's head.

- Altan: that guy. He was an interesting character, but a very unlikeable one. He was such an asshole... (And yeah obvs still trauma and all that but he really was one). Also I found it confusing that at the end of the book Rin was like "omg his power is so strong because he's fueled by revenge!"... duuh? It was obvious since her convo with Jiang about lore students?

- But generally Rin's relation to Altan was for me one of the strong points of this book. I'd say that Rin's emotions regarding him were very realistically written - admiration, longing for approval, the feeling of similarity, anger, frustration about his expectations, the need to rise to the challenge he posed, to be his equal... And then the shock as he fell from the pedestal she constructed; the understanding, the pity and the sadness. I loved how complicated that was and that we as readers got to see that Rin's Altan and the actual Altan were two different persons, even though the narrative is close to Rin's POV.

- Chaghan: he was my fave character. This is, again, personal, but works of fiction work 200% better for me if the characters are well-written - which The Poppy War rather lacked: few characters were interesting and even less were likeable. Chaghan was both - maybe he didn't have a big arc and was rather a secondary character, but he was intriguing, had that close bond with Altan (I ship them) and also was the most competent person in the cike (Quara was the second one). He was very straightforward and had that no-bullshit attitude, but unlike Rin, Altan etc., what he said and his actions actually made sense. So every time he had to went away from the main character I was devastated...

- What I really enjoyed about this book was the parts about shamanism. I'm not an expert about what goes on in modern fantasy, but I have a feeling that a character of a shaman often appears in a very exoticised way (wonder why is that /s), whereas in this book it was treated seriously and was a basis for a great magic system. 9/10 very original take, highly recommend.

* books mentioned: "Medaliony" by Zofia Nałkowska, "Zdążyć przed panem Bogiem" (eng: Shielding the flame) by Hanna Krall & Marek Edelman, Pożegnanie z Marią by Tadeusz Borowski

#the poppy war #book ramblings

[ais-n]

ok so me and some friends have been talking about how much we loved greyson especially because of how meta it was and i wanted to ask if there was any more thought put into the show outside of canon, like who the characters are or about hsin and boyd watching it (like the plot point boyd predicted, that was so cute)

Hey! lol it is hilariously meta to have in there, isn’t it? haha

I don’t think we talked a ton about it beyond just generally what the plot would probably be based on the original story idea. I ended up getting super distracted multiple times in the course of trying to answer this because it got me curious to look back at old notes lol

!!!!!!! Oh my effing god - I legitimately thought we hadn’t talked much about the plot of the show itself but after searching around and remembering that apparently we spelled it Greyson some places and Grayson others I found way more info. (btw the Greyson is probably my fault more recently lol I spell gray as grey so I bet over time I flipped it in my head to being Greyson when it was probably Grayson canonically, but I can’t remember for sure what’s actually in the book itself)

ANYWAY I found a July 20, 2010 email string between “Sonny” and me about Grayson/Greyson with a lot more notes on the whole thing. So it turns out I do have some extra info, shockingly enough.

I put it beneath a cut in case of spoilers. 

THIS IS DIRECTLY FROM MY EMAIL - SO IT IS GOING TO PROBABLY MAKE NO SENSE/BE CONFUSING AF/HAVE NO CONTEXT - also since it was just a regular chat back and forth we were kind of shooting the shit figuring it all out. just a forewarning :) only changes i made were clear spelling typos that made it a little confusing to not fix

+++++++++++++++++

July 20, 2010 emails figuring out Greyson/Grayson 

8:49 am - email from Ais to “Sonny”

btw in grayson i thought of doing an homage to what we originally were going to have icos be, so i thought your one guy could be the one who has the lung sickness in there and we can have whoever we want as other characters. i imagine the one who lost everyone and is all violent to be cypress but he will have his real name, Akiva, because cypress is in my fantasy series. for some reason in my mind, the Feral is named Annika and she's basically a Feral by the end of the first season, and also some of the other characters who werent affected by the war as much probably are basically in middle class or nicer areas. so for some reason in my mind, there's a rich girl named Daphne (could be a different name) and at the end of the first season, she somehow got caught up with Annika (maybe kidnapped?) and the show's plot lines seemed to be implying Daphne will end up as a Feral eventually. im not sure if it'd be Daphne then that people think died at the end of the first season or if it would be someone else. regarding your character (was it Nate?) i think he had a sister didnt he? i thought maybe if he did, he thought she died in the war but actually she lived. she was at a friends house or something so he never saw what occurred with her and when he went there everything was destroyed and the bodies were too mangled and burnt to be identifiable. but maybe she doesnt remember anything or she's hurt in some hospital and recovering, and eventually they could run into each other but she may or may not know who he is. the only thing is i dont think we should have the secret agent aspect to Grayson but we could have one of the other characters be some vigilante or law enforcement person of some sort if we wanted. or we could leave that out altogether. i also completely arbitrarily chose 7 characters so you can increase or decrease as you like.

8:51 am - email from Ais to “Sonny”

also these are just random ideas for the series plot which isnt that important anyway so you can feel free to add/change/suggest/whatever... i just wanted to email you those general ideas before i could forget

8:53 am - email from “Sonny” to Ais

im kind of confused by people becoming ferals unless they were kidnapped and kept among them for long periods of times? because i implied that ferals were people who basically never left the wastelands after the war and became mentally and physically changed because of the way they live and what they saw, so i dont think it would make sense that someone "becomes a feral" unless theyve been kidnapped for some reason and held there for several years until they forget who they were/adapt to the life in the wastelands/bombed out cities. also though, the ones who live very far from working cities and towns are cannibals

9:00 am - email from Ais to “Sonny”

well originally i was thinking she'd be kept there for a long period of time but actually in the context of the show that wouldnt work. so maybe people just thought she was going to be killed by the ferals and eaten by the cannibals at the end of the first season. or she could have nothing to do with the ferals; it was just an idea. also, someone else couldve been in danger of dying in some more normal way, like just a fight with scavengers or something. maybe an unexploded bomb went off too, who knows. or they could also touch on the rebels and have some rebel attack put someone in danger or someone joins some rebel group. i dont really care, theyre all just random ideas im throwing out

9:04 am - email from “Sonny” to Ais

i dont care about what all happens but like you said, her being kept there for long enough time for that to happen wouldnt work on a show unless there was a time jump. i assume the show takes place soon after the war

9:05 am - email from Ais to “Sonny”

yeah so forget about the turning into a feral thing. the main thing was i just thought it could be kind of fun/cool to get in parts of the original icos idea

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Rereading that now, I feel like I sound a bit bitchy in my replies on the feral stuff, even though in looking at it at this moment I think “Sonny”’s response makes total sense and I agree with “him” on that part of the email. No idea if I was feeling pissy/impatient that day and I truly was a bit tetchy in my replies, or if I was just super distracted writing or editing so I was being especially lazy about punctuation and paying attention to tone and accidentally made it sound a little more abrupt than I would if I were trying to be careful about that.

Anyway this seems to be the majority of the extra info I have on it. 

#icos books #in the company of shadows #grayson #hsinliuvega #ask ais

[739337369137371082]

Hey so I found u thru the Halved Live Funnies and I gotta ask... whose Leon? What series these dudes from?

i got this ask and then forgot about it for like 2 days. anyways.

IVE ANSWERED THIS BEFORE BUT. GOD. LEON. ok so like....... long story short last year was when i first played resident evil........ bc we got a copy of re2remake in and.... jesus christ. i hyperfixated so fucking hard for the better part of a year going on into this year. and then i watched hl/vr and well. we know where that went. but now i am once again hyperfixated and now im back to where i was in like.... june of last year LMAO. but anyways i am once again going to ramble under the cut about them <3 (seriously. its very long and doesnt go much of anywhere. also spoilers)

tl/dr:

OK. SO. resident evil. the last time i answered this ask i either hadnt played some of them or just completely forgot the plot of others LOL but now upon beating/playing a large majority of them (besides 6 which i have not touched yet, and 7 is first person and im not rly interested in it rn)...... well others have said this as well but if you like cheesy b action movies you would love resident evil!!! 

the orig 1-2 are more survival horror which is what i like the most. 3 is where it starts branching into more actiony stuff but is still survival horror. but 4 and after is just like..... cheesy action stuff which is fine but not really like.... my thing. altho i do think that they are fun in a “this plot is hilariously bad” type way because i do enjoy horrible things. but people who like resident evil dont like it for the plot they like it for the characters. and for me i latched the fuck onto leon kennedy and tyrant t-00 aka mr fucking x

listen.......... you guys know me relatively well enough to know that i have a type......... and i would define leon as not really fitting under it usually because he is 1. under 6 foot 2. human and 3. very much not a villain. but something about (mostly remake) leon hits fucking different!!!!!! hes kind and means well, thinks about others constantly, looks like an actual fucking person in the in game graphics instead of being some manufactured perfect model, nice voice, etc....... i fucking care him so much. also gameplay wise i find his weapons to be more enjoyable than claires so i always end up playing his route/2nd route the most compared to hers. but i do also like claire :) shes nice and epic

i dont really like the newer leons (4 and afterwards) as much.... i mean a lot of it has to do with trauma and general “growing up” after what happened in re2 but hes just so constantly... snarky? jaded? constantly spouting lines to make him seem cool? when in my head hes very much like... a loser LMAO. i mean dont get me wrong hes a badass. he survives a fucking zombie outbreak and nearly gets murdered dozens of time. thats the definition of badass. but also you cannot change my mind that hes also a anxious loser twunk. there is literally nothing you can do to convince me he is “cool” like the games and movies want to think. this is probably heresy to re fans but this is my truth

https://youtu.be/aVZWuSfGStk?t=129

here is a vid of his cutscenes. obvious spoilers in there but you can skip around and see how cute he is. also yes in his first cutscene he is listening to butt rock. i switch between thinking hes just listening to it because nothing else is on the radio or his taste really is that terrible

also you literally CANNOT convince me that he is straight. the games try SOOOOO hard to get you to ship leon/ada or leon/claire but like...... i cannot see it. he has one of the gayest run animations i have ever seen in re2 remake and i mean... he just radiates gay trans man energy to me. also please look at this small scene from one of the animated movies where a licker jumps on top of him and he wraps his legs around its hips and lifts it off of him to not die. gay king

https://youtu.be/d-VNikxYBPw?t=9

but yes ive basically decided to ignore all characterization from re4 and onwards regarding leon at least. every leon after that is not my leon (except in special cases when im thinking about something like leon/jd from re damnation..... they did jd so dirty and they should have fucking kissed. or how cute he looked in vendetta sometimes)

ANYWAYS. MR X

so basically there are these enemies in resident evil called “tyrants” that are manufactured by the evil capitalist company umbrella that are near indestructible save for like.... rocket launchers or super heavy artillery that youre not buying at your local gun store. and in re2 one of them get sent to the police station where leon and claire are and is told to wipe out all witnesses. (i also do think that 2 or more were sent there... or at least in the area when this happened due to some very obvious plot hole stuff on each route no matter how you play, even tho the devs have come out and said that only 1 existed in the game and that each route is like “a parallel dimension” to each other. i wont go into it more than that but i choose to ignore that)

and well. when i first played it i knew of mr x but didnt like... know much about him other than that he was a monster and Tall (like 7 or 8 feet tall) and that he chased you around. that already sold me on him but then. well. you first encounter him because he lifts up an entire goddamn helicopter and then proceeds to chase you. and it was then that i knew i was in deep shit because he fucking stomped his way into my heart and never left.

mr x basically has serious Side Character Disorder where (even tho the remake made him very cool and epic and did him really well compared to nemesis in re3 remake which is an entire different can of worms) he has LITERALLY no personality or like. thoughts. or anything. hes only there to chase you around and be on screen for like 10 seconds for a couple of cutscenes and then not show up again until the very end of the game for you to fight on leons route. but god. he means so fucking much to me. 

you know how people latch onto random side characters that have no personality and essentially flesh them out more than the creators ever will? thats me with mr x. its gotten to the point where certain songs come on on my spotify and i actually get EMOTIONS or even TEARS because they remind me of him, but its not even really HIM, its the fucking ideas that ive come up with regarding him because all he ever does in game is chase you around and punch you and then die and is never brought up again

but anyways. mr x is a tall monster who chases leon and claire around in their routes but mr x is leons main monster in the game (claire has a different one). he chases leon around, literally never stops looking at him as he chases him, gets hit by an entire fucking car which then explodes BUT THEN chases him down into the sewers and into a secret underground lab just to get to him like a fucking bloodhound who, once he has the scent, will never stop chasing him

(you can see why this made me kind of insane)

just. AGHHH. the tyrants in this series get treated so dirty. i desperately want capcom to give us some sort of tyrant that can actually fucking like.... go against orders and brainwashing or whatever and actually have emotions and thoughts!!!!!!!!!! but capcom would never do anything with it cause its a rough and tough action series and people arent here to see tyrants have some sort of thought process beyond punching and killing and people only want to shoot guns at them instead of thinking about the possibilities of a tyrant that goes against its programming.

i so desperately want an au where mr x got the transmitter shot off of the side of his head (and while capcom never mentioned this ever many re2 fans have since decided that it is what feeds info/orders to him. i flip flop between thinking that it either is near controlling him and prevents free will and thought or that its just giving him orders and that hes just burying/hiding/not showing free will and thought in fear of being killed. either that or someone at umbrella is “piloting” him but also the whole point of tyrants is that theyre supposed to be smart enough to think for themselves somewhat so... eh). GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!

ive explained a bunch of this stuff in my other ask about it but just...... xleon means so much to me when it should not and will never be actually canon

anyways please play re2 remake at least, you dont have to know everything about re1 to like it, just go into it knowing that a few months ago in the mountains outside raccoon city claires brother chris and a few members on his team went to a mansion where they discovered umbrella doing shady zombie shit there. re2 remake was hyped up for years for a reason and it is really good, even if its short (altho i do appreciate short games in this day and age cause not every game needs to be like 60 plus hours long). 

maybe one day when its not late and i can actually think i will explain all this better but todays not that day <3

(EDIT: ALSO RE DAMNATION TYRANTS ARE 14 FEET TALL. AND CHASE AROUND LEON AND ACTUALLY FUCKING RUN. FUN FACT! anyways while i do think jd in that movie and leon should kiss i also want leon and a tyrant from that movie to kiss. bye)

[10-dutchies-12-bicycles]

i was tagged by @purrfectgf thank you!! :3

(for reference’s sake: this was on 2020-1-29)

1. are you named after anyone?

nope. lmao i remember when i was like 13 one of my teachers was also like “ok so youre DEF named after *insert relatively well-known dutch person*” and i said no im not and he was like “just ask ur parents and ull see im right” so i asked my parents and guess what? he wasnt right djshbfjskgbsb

2. when was the last time you cried? 

yesterday lol. i was overwhelmed w LifeTM

3. do you have any kids? 

do my plants count? vfjhsfg

4. do you use sarcasm a lot? 

i would say no? but i think that that means that (playful, not mean) sarcasm has become so ingrained in my regular communication that i ..... dont even notice anymore fdjshfs

5. what’s the first thing you notice about people? 

....what they look like i guess??

6. what’s your eye colour? 

brown, with green and gold around my iris (as an aside: luna @purrfectgf ur eye color sounds SO COOL tbh)

7. scary movie or happy endings? 

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm idk

8. any special talents? 

uuhhh idk... im sometimes good at making events sound like twice as exciting as they actually were lol #adhd

9. where were you born? 

10 km from where i live now vdjhbfjdbfhajfh

10. what are your hobbies? 

as u all may have maybe guessed.... i... might have been hyperfixating on knitting the past few days....... (i found a rly cool but rly ambitious pattern on ravelry and... im scared but also sooo excited. i might yell abt this later so heads up)

also ive never known what to answer if someone asks me what my hobbies are. like ever since i was 8 ive just said like “uuhh.. i like books? and also i play the piano?” and then ppl will be like “oh you play the piano thats so cool!!! :0″ and then i dont have to come up w any other hobbies :)

11. do you have any pets? 

some fish. also last month we got a puppy

also we used to have the absolute best rabbits i loved them so much??? we got them in like... 2010? and they lived until like 2016 or sth like... i miss them :(

12. what sports do you play/have played? 

volleyball :D i played it when i was like 9-10 or sth and then picked it up again 2 years ago

13. how tall are you? 

1.75 or sth idk... taller than 1.72 and shorter than 1.76 i think? so yea xD

14. dream job? 

i think it would be rly cool to have a phd?? or just be a professor in general yk? bc i rly like the combo of teaching and doing research. ever since i was in kindergarten i wanted to be a teacher and that idea never really left me i guess? also doing scientific experiments is just,,, so fun

15. favourite subject in school? 

high school? latin, ancient greek, biology, physics. i also liked french, history, chemistry, just a bunch of stuff rly. dislike: P.E. 😂😂😂 and economics

bachelor? PLANT BIOLOGY!!! and also quantum mechanics is quite cool

ok ill quickly tag @itswrittenintheshinyorbthings. if ure busy pls feel free to only answer question 9 or sth bc i think u would like answering that one vdjshfjdsbf

i might edit this later to tag a few other ppl. im cleaning out my tumblr notification emails so ill prolly find a loottt more tag games. if i find a rly fun one ill tag a lot of ppl that i notice a lot in my notifications (the type of ppl that u dont rly interact with but still see and appreciate yk? that type) so yea uve been warned >:3

and if anyone else would like to do it then pls ofc feel free to!!

#tagginggame #mine #feel free to ignore the tagging date. thats just for info on like.... how old some of these emails are lolll

[resourceanime]

RESOURCEANIME’S: MAGAZINE GRAPHIC TUTORIAL

Hi guys! I’ve had a lot of fun making these magazine covers (and inside features) so I thought it would be cool to do a lil tutorial on the whole process. I will be going into detail for all the steps to create both the covers and the inside features, as well as giving helpful tips and ideas such as font suggestions. 

Difficulty: Easy/Medium (depends on complexity) 

Likes/Reblogs appreciated if you found this helpful!

First let’s do the main magazine cover. I will go over the inside features afterward. 

I will be using this edit as an example for this tutorial. 

Step 1: Creating the Base Cover

Going by Tumblr sizes, I’ve done all my covers at 540px x 750px (or 800px - this is the maximum length you can do). Select File >> New and create your canvas at the sizes suggested. Go ahead and fill it with a background colour of your choice. 

💡Tip: I used colour palettes to help me create my covers so that they all have some variation of colours that will look good together in text while also complimenting the cover itself. Try to choose at least one light colour and one dark colour for contrast. This will help you later on when you write headliners on the cover. 

For the Iwaizumi cover, I simply used the box tool to create a box and filled it in with the light purple colour that you see. This allows a white border around the edges of the cover. 

Step 2: Name the Magazine

Generally, you see the title on the top more often than not, but please feel free to put that title wherever you see fit. The thing with these covers is that you have a lot of freedom on how you place things, the main thing to be cautious about is readability and style. 

I believe that the magazine title is one of the focal points of the cover itself. Graphic viewers should be able to decipher that this is a magazine cover edit immediately when they see it - that’s kind of the whole point. So, font choice for the title is pretty important. 

💡Tip: use fonts that are easy to read - doesn’t need to be plain, but it does have to be simple in my opinion. 

💡Tip: Avoid using Script fonts as they are harder to read. As mentioned before, the title is a focal point. 

💡Tip: Be wary of Decorative types of fonts. If you can find one that is not hard to read, then by all means use it!

👍Font Recommendations for Magazine Titles:

Croco

Ginebra

Muara

Groce

Almonte

Salvalyn

Aliens & Cows

Bohem Press (used for the Reigen cover shown above)

Ranger (not free, used for the Iwaizumi cover shown above) 

Now I have something small that is written as a subtitle below the actual title like “monthly” or “magazine”. This is totally optional! If you do end up using it:

💡Tip: I recommend you use a different font just to add some variation. For example, if you used a thick, bolded font, try contrasting it with a thin font. Script fonts would definitely work here if you so choose to use one. 

💡Tip: If you’d rather use the same font - which is totally ok - try changing the colour of the subtitle or play around with italicizing/underlining it, etc.

💡Tip: As for what the subtitle should be....maybe showing what kind of magazine it is. I was being simple and used just “magazine” for the Reigen one, but I used “monthly” for the Iwaizumi. You could try weekly, daily, or even point out the city which the character is from (i.e. Vogue: India)

Step 3: Add Render of Character 

I will not be showing how to render a character for this tutorial, but please feel free to refer to Step 1 of this Graphic Tutorial to see! Essentially, please be sure to have a render that is somewhat large in size. You want the character to take up as much of the space on the cover as possible. You don’t have to feel like they gotta be in the middle, arrange them however you please! But, they are the focal point of the cover itself, so be sure to have them cover the space as much as possible.

And at this stage I will be adding a psd colouring to Iwaizumi. 

Step 4: Add a Background (optional)

I like being Extra with my edits so I usually add something in the background, whether it be a png or a pattern. This is totally optional, if you’re not into filling up spaces as much then by all means skip the step! 

For the example cover, I put some floral pngs behind Iwaizumi to add more to the empty space in the background. 

I also added a psd colouring to it so that the flowers adhere to the kind of colours I was using.

Step 5: Headliners and Features

This is the part where you will showcase exactly who is being featured and what are some of the contents you will be reading about inside the magazine. This is also the part where you get to play with fonts a lot! Again, readability is key, but you have lots of ways you can work around it. 

Here is what I came up with at the end: 

This anime was about volleyball so I centered a lot of content around working out and training. At this stage I can only really give tips as this is something you will have to experiment with, but I hope these help!

For Headliners & Subheadings:

💡Tip: I used about 4-5 fonts for the headlines/subheading. I recommend that you do the same thing, but just vary the format/arrangement. For example, I used the same font for “Trying to Get Scouted?” headline and “by Iwaizumi Hajime” subheading. They’re both the same font, but they’re in different sizes, different colours, one is a title while the other is subheading. 

💡Tip: Use smaller/thinner font for the descriptions as they are not as important as the headlines. For headlines, use eye-catching stuff - bold, contrasting, even use script if you have to. 

💡Tip: As shown in my example, I think varying the colours also helps.

💡Tip: As for the actual content, as I mentioned before, go with a theme like I did since my character plays volleyball. But don’t feel like you can only have lines that need to hook! You can always make like a little sticker that says “poster inside!” or write a quote from the character.  

👍Font Recommendations for Headlines & Subheadings:

Krinkes

Coyote

Black Jack

Elephant (see: “workout, not burnout” on Iwaizumi cover)

Alien League (see: all thin subheadings on Iwaizumi cover)

Almyra (see: “Naturally Handsome” on Iwaizumi cover)

Ever After (see: all subheadings on Reigen cover)

For Features & Names:

💡Tip: This is another focal point of the cover, so be sure to make it BIG, make it bold, and make it P O P.

💡Tip: I tend to use script fonts for this because making the size bigger helps with readability so it seems appropriate. Don’t feel obligated to use script here tho! 

👍Font Recommendations for Features & Names:

Bebas 

Lactosa

Balqis

Sant’Elia

Valairya (see: “Iwaizumi Hajime” name)

Roadway (see: “featuring seijou’s ace” on Iwaizumi cover)

Jovanka (see: “Reigen Arataka” name) 

Step 6: Create Base for Inside Cover

For the inside cover, I find that this can literally be anything. I’ve normally just stuck a quote in there but be as creative as you like! Go to File >> New at the same size as your cover. I would honestly just duplicate your background (and border if you had one) from the cover onto this new file. Starting back here again:

Step 7: Add Render of Character

Just like before, try to make sure that the character takes up as much space as possible. Place them where you like and add a psd colouring to them!

Step 8: Add a Background (again, optional)

So again, I like filling up the spaces so I added another floral png in the background with a psd colouring. This is optional! 

Step 9: Adding Content

Now this part is more so dependent on how you want to do things. I like filling up spaces and playing around with typography, so that’s basically what I did here. I used two character quotes and formatted them in such a way that they take up a lot of the space. 

Again, this all depends on the theme and style you’re going for. I can’t really help you at this stage as this is more so about how you would like to go about it, but I am happy to give some tips:

💡Tip: I would recommend trying to fill up the space as much as possible again. Maybe make a section that actually has an “article” or do a photo collage of the character, or even just a quote, whatever works! 

💡Tip: Try using eye-catching headlines and have subheadings just like before on the cover. 

💡Tip: Use varying colours and fonts again! Keep things consistent by using the same 4-5 fonts and colours, but try playing around with the arrangement and formatting of them just like we discussed earlier for the cover. 

Step 10: Save!!

And you’re done! Nice work!!

Final Thoughts

So, I think the main takeaway from this is that you’ve got a lot of room to be creative, but you end up having to play around and experiment a lot in order to make things work. The best tip I can give you is to prioritize readability over aesthetics (even I am guilty of trying to choose aesthetics over readability lol).

Hope you guys found this helpful!! 

{ Iwaizumi Magazine Edit } ~ { Reigen Magazine Edit }  

#tutorials #sibylresources #chaoticresources #resourcemarket #yeahps #tut:mine #tut:graphic #haaaa this took me so long i didnt even realize the time go by heck

[purplesurveys]

694

What song are you listening to right now? I’m not listening to anything but the last song I played was Violet by Daniel Caesar; I don’t actually know the song but it was part of a playlist on Spotify. Admit it -- you want a Snuggie. What design/color? I don’t even know what that is, but if it came in pink I’d want one. Do you prefer movies at home or movies at the theatre? Home is cozier and costs much less, haha. How many songs does your iTunes have? Ooh, I haven’t used my iTunes in like half a decade buuuut I think it peaked with around 400-500 songs? Idk, I didn’t explore much as a kid and I liked to stick with my favorite singers/bands. Do you take a shower in the morning or the night before? When I’m off school I like to shower at night - much more comfy that way, and I fall asleep faster. But when I have to leave the house whether to go to school, the mall, to crash at someone’s place, etc. I always bathe a few hours before. Always. I hateeeeee not feeling fresh when I go outside.

What's your academic niche? (History, math, science, etc.) History for sure, but there are some science topics I’m also okay in. Who's your youngest teacher? They’re all already pretty seasoned lol I can’t actually tell. I think it’s Ma’am Cai; welp, at least among my current professors, she’s the one that acts the youngest. Have you ever had the samples people offer you at Costco? I’ve never been in a Costco but I typically don’t get samples from our local groceries because idk, they just look nasty :/ The only samples I get are the free ones they hand over at Starbucks and Coffee Bean, haha. If you had to name your kid after a food, what would his/her name be? I’d take olives and turn it to Olivia, which was always my choice for a girl anyway. But if it really had to be food-inspired I’d go with... Brie for a girl, or Sage for a boy. Miley Cyrus: Inspirational role model or a ho? Get with the times, 2009 survey. This question won’t get away with that word today. Anyway, Miley is a badass. I never changed my mind about her, maybe except for that time she did that performance with Robin Thicke. Are you stressed about anything? Right now no. I’m on a six-week break, I wanna enjoy it without thinking about the stuff that would typically stress me out. When's the last time you had a rock, paper, scissors match? It’s been a few months. What's your favorite anime? I don’t watch anime... the only show I got into was Pokemon. Did you cry when Ash let his Butterfree go with the other Butterfrees? I vaguely remember that but I probably got sad over it when I was younger. Don't you hate it when Facebook auto-corrects your smiley faces and hearts? I don’t mind it. Skinny, flared, ripped, or faded jeans? Ugh I hate all of these. I have a lot of skinny jeans in my closet but they’re always a last resort - my go-to these days is mom jeans. What are you excited for? Meh, nothing in particular. I wanna say my birthday? but who knows what the world is gonna come to be by then. Are you part of the Farmville cult? No I never played. I wasn’t allowed to make a Facebook account at the time when games like that and Petville and Plants vs. Zombies were big. What were you for Halloween? Last year I went as Dora. AND IT WAS SO ANNOYING because the party we were invited to prohibited shorts??? And 1) Dora wore shorts and 2) I searched far and wide for a pair of orange shorts? It was the first time I heard of a dress code that strict for a college party lmao I couldn’t believe it. Thankfully Rita had just bought a pair of orange jeans so she let me borrow those. Have you ever had braces? Back in high school. What year of high school are you in? I am not. What's your favorite flower? Peonies. Would you ever bleach your hair? Probably not. My hair has faced enough damage. Have you ever stood on a frozen solid body of water? No. That sounds scary though. I’ve heard and watched people fall through ice :/ Would you ever take up smoking or drinking? I’m already doing both. Thanks, college and peer pressure! Do those girls with 1,000 friends on Facebook REALLY have that many? I dunno, who knows? It’s always possible. I have a bigger problem with the fact that this question just singled out girls lmao. What holiday is your birthday closest to? Uhh Earth Hour, if it counts? If not, we have Araw ng Kagitingan on April 9 which commemorates the Fall of Bataan during WWII. Are you cyberdyslexic? Is this even a thing? I’ve never heard of this until today. Are you regular dyslexic? No. Is there irregular dyslexia? :((( What would your name be if you were a boy? I don’t know. My parents didn’t think about this either I think. Which person from way back when would you love to hang out with? My great grandpa. Either him or his cousin who wrote a book on history. What color are your eyes? Dark brownnnnnnn ugh this will FOREVER be in surveys won’t it. The forever on-going question: Is Twilight stupid or actually brilliant? It’s so stupid. BUT I LOVE IT ok.  Did you carve pumpkins for Halloween this year? No. We don’t do that here. Does your family use a real pine tree or a plastic one for Christmas? I think most households here use artificial trees. I was already a little old when I found out other countries would use real trees. Do you know anyone with a play-on name? (Chris P. Bacon, Justin Case, etc.) Not personally but super recently someone named their kid COVID BRYANT and it was all over social media for a few days. Covid Bryant. Let that shit sink in. Only Filipinos, man. Do you have any foreign exchange students at your school? Yeah, mostly Koreans and Japanese people. If you had a week to live, what would you do? I don’t have much of a choice, do I... I’m gonna be stuck at home and do the stuff I’ve already been doing in the last three weeks, and just hope I had fun.

Are you good at brain teasers? Some, but I don’t enjoy doing them in general. Is your handwriting nice? I can handle a pen pretty well, if I do say so myself. I have a neater penmanship than most people I know. What's your second language? English.  Is it uncomfortable for you to take showers in glass stalls w/out curtains? Not really but the door has to be locked. Finish the sentence: Remember, remember... The fifth of November? I dunno why I know about that though. Did you understand Shakespeare? No. I always bought the No Fear Shakespeare editions cos I had absolutely no patience to try and understand the original text. What do you want to be when you're older? Rich. What's your favorite dog breed? Golden retriever or pitbull. Are you one of those people who take like, 50 Facebook quizzes at a time? I’ve never taken a Facebook quiz. What was the last shot you got? It was at the roof of my mouth, back when I had a tooth extraction. Ever gotten cavities? A few times. Can you differentiate between the words "your" and "you're?" Yes. Do you use hair ties as bracelets? Lmao always. Don’t most girls do this? What was the last school project you did that you couldn't wait to turn in? My book report for my business journalism class. After I proofread it like 6 times and triple-checked the word count, I couldn’t waitttt to get rid of it. Have you ever graded papers? Sure. I’ve said it in past surveys, but my org hosts journalism workshops to interested schools, whether they’re in elementary, high school, or college. At the end of the day they have to come up with their own articles, and then we check each of them, correct the mistakes, grade them, and give it back to them with our comments. What was your favorite year of school up to this point? Third year of high school. I don’t really have a favorite year of college... I had lows in each of them. What's the latest you've ever woken up? 11 AM. Can you recite the alphabet backwards? For a time I did cos Angela taught me. Then I just never sang it again so I ended up forgetting. If you could master one language in thirty minutes, what would it be? Korean. Are you a sucker for foreign accents? No. Sometimes I find it hard to understand. Where were you born? Is it the same place you live currently? I was born somewhere in Manila, and I live faaar away from there now. How often do you remember your dreams? What did you last dream about? Only if I note them down on my phone. The last dream I remember having was too lengthy for me to want to type it all down, but it involved me and Gabie being exes, and she had her own kid hahaha. When did you learn the ninja turtles were named after Renaissance artists? Pretty early, I guess. I’ve never seen the show though. Do you do yoga? Nope.

#survey #surveys

[wingedcatwblr]

Character Tag

Ok! Cool, I think this time I got tagged by @ragethewriter! And she requested I do Nobou this time around. 

__________________

1. What was the first element of your OC that you remember considering (name, appearance, backstory, etc)?

I made him such a long time ago. I think I made him to stand out at most. A bit of drifting away from the anime-esque cast I had so far. Hence, being a fucking anteater.

2. Did you create them with any other characters/OCs from their universe in mind?

Not at all.

3. How did you choose their name?

I’m 75% sure that his previous name was Alex, but after reading through an anime drawing book they had helpfully listed some japanese names for me to pick. So that’s how he got his name.

4. In developing their backstory, what elements of their world they live in played the most influential parts?

With Nobou’s backstory I had a lot to play with. There are elements of being a child of a tragedy, growing up without parents, feelings inferiority, heritage, obligation, asexuality. But mostly how trauma and tragedy warps someone at a young age.

5. Is there any significance behind their hair colour?

Nope

6. Is there any significance behind their eye colour?

Nada~

7. Is there any significance behind their height?

Zip

8. What, if anything, do you relate to within their character/story?

Perhaps his love and admiration for his mom and Zakuru.

9. Are they based off of you, in some way?

Nobou has a professional bottler of his emotions! Just like me! 

10. Did you know what the OC’s sexuality would be at the time of their creation?

Oddly enough, even though I was not aware of sexuality and all of its quirks, Nobou always came off as a reserved man when it came to love and affection. Not particularity one to give nor to accept it with a smile, at least when he was an adult. (he loved getting hugs from his mom)

Later I learned about the grey spectrum and it all made sense to me.

11. What have you found to be most difficult about creating art for your OC (any form of art, writing, drawing, edits, etc)?

This is in general but facial structures. But specifically for Nobou was getting his body type right and his hair, and depicting the fact that he’s older... God it’s such a challenge sometimes.

12. How far past the canon events that take place in their world have you extended their story, if at all?

My canon is pretty big sooooo, from birth to death really.

13. If you had to narrow it down to 2 things that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be?

1). He always has a ulterior motive

2). He can loosen up, to the right person.

14. What is something about your OC that can make you laugh?

HE’S A FUCKING ANTEATER!

15. What is something about your OC that can make you cry?

Just all the mental pitfalls he fell through in precanon and how he ends up later in the story.

16. Is there some element you regret adding to your OC or their story?

I’m pretty sure at some point I regretted giving him long pretty boy hair lol.

17. What is the most recent thing you’ve discovered about your OC?

That he’s a grey-ace and that he has security issues. 

18. What is your favourite fact about your OC? I think he has the strongest arc.

Now lets tag some people!

@ill-write-when-im-dead @incandescent-creativity @raevenlywrites @sweetcatminteareblog @thekeyten

#tag #tag game #character tag #nobou yakusuka #writing post #writing prompt #wingedcatwblr

[spacetimewraithwrites-archive]

Character Creation Tag

Thanks @starlitesymphony for the tag!

I’ll be answering for Thrive this time, since he’s an alien and the most interesting character of mine imo lol

1. What was the first element of your OC that you remember considering (name, appearance, backstory, etc)? His name. I actually pilfered the name Orthrive’poliea from another WIP concept I had that didn’t end up working out.

2. Did you create them with any other characters/ OC’s from their universe in mind? I may have subconsciously had Warren in mind when creating Thrive’s human appearance. Actually just in general. They’re kind of opposites in lots of ways, but that’s what I felt would help create the most chemistry between them. 

3. How did you choose their name? I think I came up with the nickname Thrive first, then built Orthrive’poliea around it, because I love the idea of him having a nickname that’s an English word even though it makes no sense as an English name. And Orthrive’poliea just kinda fell together on its own. 

4. In developing their backstory, what elements of the world they live in played the most influential parts? Some of it is pretty spoiler-centric so I’ll just mention that he’s very rebellious against obhelian society while also cherishing the “religious” and traditional aspects of his heritage.

5. Is there any significance behind their hair colour? Not really. In human form, he’s blond, and I think it was more that it just felt right.

6. Is there any significance behind their eye colour? In human form he’s got bright, unnaturally green eyes. A shade that’s not immediately captivating, but if you look at him long enough you start to notice that it’s a little odd. I have an idea of the significance in mind, I’m trying to work it in somehow.

7. Is there any significance behind their height? His human form is about 6′2-6′3, and I’ve always had him pegged to be tall but more so after I found someone to use as a reference for him appearance-wise. His natural form is probably somewhere closer to seven feet. No significance other than the need for him to be an intimidating but ethereal figure.

8. What, if anything, do you relate to within their character/ story? He never quite feels like he fits in anywhere he goes. Even later, when he has people to hold onto, he’s always feeling just that little bit out of place.

9. Are they based off you, in some way? Not really. Well...not that I can immediately see, anyway. Maybe the part of me that’s convinced I’m an alien, lol

10. Did you know what the OC’s sexuality would be at the time of their creation? Yeah pretty much. But also, no. Because obhelians don’t reproduce like most species, they’ve evolved out the need for any kind of sexual attraction of their own, but they still have the capacity to love. And obhelians have several different classes of biological sex. Thrive chose to present as a male for simplicity’s sake when he landed on Earth. I guess to put it one way, he’s panromantic? With partial asexuality? He can only feel sexual attraction if he makes physical contact with someone who’s also feeling it. Idk what to call that or if it even matters cuz he ain’t human. But some of that I knew when I created him, and some of it I actually kinda had to rejigger after I’d already written the first draft of the third book lmao

11. What have you found to be most difficult about creating art for your OC (any form of art, writing, drawing, edits, etc)? ….Not using the actual person I use as a reference in edits. I mean...I did once when making the cover for book two (for myself, not to be used when publishing) but I feel really weird about it.

12. How far past the canon events that take place in their world have you extended their story, if at all? Well so far his story goes into five books, and I’ve only just started the first draft of book four, soooooo it’ll probably go on for another ten books knowing me. But to answer the question, I’ve dabbled with prequel-like scribbles in the past surrounding him and his life on Slodia.

13. If you had to narrow it down to 2 things that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be? He’s over eight thousand years old and has seen lots of traumatic bullshit but he’s got an impressive sense of humor and relishes Warren’s witty quips even if he doesn’t show it all the time. And everything he’s been through truly plagues him, and will plague him for the rest of his life, even if it’s just in the background.

14. What is something about your OC that can make you laugh? When he makes little jokes of his own to make Warren laugh. They’re not often nor are they very good a lot of the time but ugghhhhh. Also, he’s surprisingly very expressive when he wants to be, and sometimes his reactions to situations are funny to me.

15. What is something about your OC that can make you cry?  His utter loneliness. The pain he carries with him always from things that happened on Slodia. The idea he’d subconsciously harbored that he was truly unworthy of love by anyone.

16. Is there an elemet that you regret adding to your OC or their story? Let’s just say that it’s uhhhhhh a little hard to work around the bit from question 10 sometimes ok

17. What is the most recent thing you’ve discovered about your OC? He’s got some things he can do that some others of his species can’t. For...reasons.

18. What is your favorite fact about your OC? He’s so god damn fiercely loyal. Like fuck. The things he does, the things he endures for those he cares about, whoa y’all.

#tag game #I'm in love with him can you tell #character profiles

[aaeoluss]

Character creation tag 2(?)

thank u for the tag clarissa ( @clarissalopeswriter ) !!! ur the best

did i already do this for frances ???? i don’t think so lol 

1. What was the first element of your OC that you remember considering (name, appearance, backstory, etc.)?

I think her general plot and how she goes around pretending to be random people with Everett

2. Did you design them with any other characters/OCs from their universe in mind?

yes lol, all three of my mains came as a set 

3. How did you choose their name?

Out of the three, frances’ name was hardest to pick. I slapped everett and kutcher as names onto my characters bc those were names i already wanted to use in a book, but i wasn’t sure for frances. i honestly just stole the name from someone who sat in front of me in critical thinking last semester, and it fit the character well 

4. In developing their backstory, what elements of the world they live in played the most influential parts?

her home life definitely influenced how she turned out. her dad isn’t in the picture, so her and her mom both worked hard to make ends meet, and her grades tanked and she wasn’t really close to her family so yknow. she had to run away and wander through the states lol 

5/6/7. Is there any significance behind their hair colour/eye color/height?

not really. she’s east Asian, and her general features are just sorta based off that 

8. What (if anything) do you relate to within their character/story?

,,,,,,,,not much lol. I’m a 4.0 student and i want to work in an office so like,, im v different. 

oh ! well we’re both half Asian so that’s cool 

9. Are they based off of you, in some way?

not really 

10. Did you know what the OC’s sexuality would be at the time of their creation?

I knew she would like girls, but I wasn’t sure if she was bi/pan or lesbian (i ended up having her be bi. kutcher’s a lesbian and everett is straight) 

11. What have you found to be most difficult about creating art for your OC (any form of art: Writing, drawing, edits etc.)?

ummmmmmmm idk drawing i guess, i haven’t tried to draw her yet but writing her and making edits for her has been smooth sailing 

12. How past the canon events that take place in their world have you extended their story, if at all?

not far. i know how it ends and what’s implied, but i don’t actually know what happens after the book ends lol 

13. If you had to narrow it down to 2 things that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be?

1 - she loves Kutcher 

2 - she’s not completely sure what the rest of her life is going to look like 

14. What is something about your OC that can make you laugh?

she seems like she’d be a pretty neat person, but actually she’s Very untidy 

15. What is something about your OC that can make you cry?

when she’s sad she’s like,,, really sad,, and i’m just like no it’s ok skskksks

16. Is there some element you regret adding to your OC or their story?

not really

17. What is the most recent thing you’ve discovered about your OC?

she really likes taking pictures with her polaroid 

18. What is your favourite fact about your OC?

this isn’t one fact but i just really like her backstory generally lol 

Thanks again for the tag! I’ll tag @fluffythewritingplant 

#tags

[creideamhgradochas]

Thanks to the lovely @lenavonschweetz for taking the time to answer these! Get to know more about lovely Lena, go give her a follow and then show her some love!

These questions are from this list. You should check it out, there’s 50 questions all together and they’d be great to ask your favorite fic writer!

1) How old were you when you first starting writing fan-fiction?

I believe I was like 14 or 15 (omfg it's been 10 years...).  My best friend and I actually got into it together :)

2) Do you prefer writing OC’s or reader inserts? Explain your answer.

Aaaaaah this one is difficult.  I love both for different reasons.  I just recently explained this to a pal, and he freaked out cuz he loved the metaphor so much lol I like to write reader inserts because I feel like a DM of DnD, kinda weaving a story - which is also why I like reading reader inserts.  Because I never reader them and put myself in the Y/N slot, but rather a OC kinda version of myself, like the woman I wish I could be so to speak.  But I also find there are some stories that need to be written as an OC, so I have a love for both forms.

3) What is your favorite genre to write for?

I really like AUs that take characters and put them in totally different situations

4) If you had to delete one of your stories and never speak of it again, which would it be and why?

any of the stories I wrote about A7X members - yes, those are out there lol I wrote them in middle school.  They are GARBAGE and so laughable

5) When is your preferred time to write?

Middle of the night - when I should be sleeping lol

6) Where do you take your inspiration from?

Music, mainly, whether it be lyrics or the feel of a song

7) In your Show Me Love series, what’s your favorite scene that you wrote?

Natasha and the "Accidentally Suck His Dick Pencil™️" scenes lol

8) Have you ever amended a story due to criticisms you’ve received after posting it?

I've fixed errors in stories, and I've considered editing couple of pieces due to severely harsh criticisms , but haven't had time to do so

9) Who is your favorite character to write for? Why?

Romantically - Bucky, of course. Platonically - Nat is my favorite BFF character to write

10) Who is your least favorite character to write for? Why?

Unfortunately, Steve.  I just haven't found a groove for him yet though I wish I had!!

12) How did you come up with the idea for the Show Me Love series? 

Like everything - it was inspired by music lol I was listening to Show Me Love by the band t.A.T.u. when writing the desk scene and it just kinda stuck

13) Do you have any abandoned WIPs?

I don't have any that I've abandoned for good, but I do have a few that I had to put on the back burner because of inspiration that stalled or just flat out writer's block

14) Are there any stories that you’ve written that you’d really love to do a sequel to?

YES.  I'd really like to write sequels to Show Me Love, Never Have I Ever, and Die A Happy Man to name a few.

15) Are there any stories that you wished you’d ended differently?

Before the Worst.  It didn't cooperate with me, and I'm still not 100% satisfied with it.

16) Tell me about another writer(s) who you admire? What is it about them that you admire?

Oh god, All of them!!!  It's very hard to narrow down, but anyone who has the guts to create and share their work with the world is worthy of admiration.  To be specific though, oh god, uuuummmm @sugardaddytonystark, @myattemptatfanfictioning​, @plumfondler​, & @papi-chulo-bucky, & @emilyevanstan (BUT I LOVE SO MANY MORE, NARROWING DOWN IS SO DAMN HARD).  I'd have to go with these folks in particular because they are all so talented and kind and everything I aspire to be in a writer, honestly.  They just have a way with words and world building that is A1!

17) Do you have a story that you look back on and cringe when you reread it?

Can I say all of them? cuz if so, I'd say all of them. lol. Maybe my Loki fic Light in the Hallway.  I was in a dark place and wrote it as a form of catharsis.

18) Do you prefer listening to music when you’re writing or do you need silence?

M U S I C.  always music.

19) Have you ever cried whilst writing a story?

I am a big baby, sooooo yyyyUUUUUP

20) Which part of your Show Me Love series was the hardest to write?

The ending.  I always have a hard time wrapping things up.

21) Do you make a general outline for your stories or do you just go with the flow?

I have a general outline that often morphs along the way

22) What is something you wished you’d known before you started posting fan-fiction?

people can be cruel, BUT, people can also be so kind it's uncanny.  Learn to look for the light in people and just keep writing what makes you happy.  Writing is not a competition, it's a passion :)

23) Do you have a story that you feel doesn’t get as much love as you’d like?

The Bridges of Time.  I get that it's a little off the wall but I just felt an insane need to write it, I wish more people would give it a chance

24) In contrast to 23 is there a story which gets lots of love which you kinda eye roll at?

A hobbit fanfic I wrote on AO3 - Like Flies and Spiders, probably.  I started it when I was a LOT younger then picked it up again and you can tell that the first several chapters were written by a youngin and it's kinda funny lol

25) Are any of your characters based on real people?

Oh, always.  Natasha and Wanda are based on my irl BFFs in every story I write them.  I literally had a friend tell me to drop a pencil and accidentally suck my professor's dick, so there's that lol

26) What’s the biggest compliment you’ve gotten?

OMG  so I just saw this recently, and it literally made me cry: @ok-shuri-buck said "I don't know how I fell in love with you through your writing but I just want you to know it reflects your soul.  I love your soul" I literally WEPT in front of my mother, it was the kindest thing anyone has ever said of my writing and it still makes me smile

27) What’s the harshest criticism you’ve gotten?

as said in response to my 'imagine riding Bucky' drabble, and I quote, "Perfectly good fic ruined by 2nd person POV and that Y/N cop out." But I totally get that some people don't like reader fics, so ah well.  To each their own.

28) Do you share your story ideas with anyone else or do you keep them close to your chest?

I share them with my IRL bff @skrywolf772.  he and I bounce fic ideas back and forth all the time, It's wonderful (Also, he's my basis for sassy Nat BFF just fyi)

29) Do people know you write fan-fiction?

A handful of people do.  Like I said, my two irl BFFS, a girl from school (who I am mutuals with - love ya Lex ;P) and my mom.  Idk if she knows I write fanfiction or not, but she knows I write and post on tumblr

30) What’s you favorite minor character you’ve written?

probably Sam, Tony, or Thor in Never Have I Ever.  I just love writing those little shits as the wackiest teammates

31) What spurs you on during the writing process?

Often when I get the idea for a fic, it's a single sentence that will be later in the plot, so often I find myself writing and building to that specific point.  After that, I have some trouble wrapping things up (which is why I write more multi-shots than full series) but I usually use music to spur me along after I've reached that peak :)

32) What’s your favourite trope to write?

Friends to Lovers. is. mah. SHIT!!

33) Can you remember the first fic you read? What was it about?

Oh lordy, that was like 15 years ago...but I betcha it was a Avenged Sevenfold or Escape the Fate fanfic lololololllllll

34) If you could write only angst, fluff or smut for the rest of your writing life, which would it be and why?

(don't hate me) Angst >:)  it just comes easier to me than the other 2, and I find it so cathartic

#milestone celebration #ask the author #lenavonschweetz

[call-of-quileutes-blog]

ive had a couple glasses of wine and i was tagged by @washington-wolves and @masochisticlion whom fthought i wouldn’t do this  but HA HERE I AM BITCH

last

1. drink - chardonnay  2. phone call - alex  3. text message - abigail  4. song you listened to - I guess thats why they call it the blues by elton john  5. time you cried - sunday bc i met my now 6 day old niece and shes so tiny and im lov her

ever

6. dated someone twice - technically-ish (very short lived both the first and second time) 7. kissed someone and regretted it - ya lol 8. been cheated on - not to my knowledge ???? 9. lost someone special - ya 10. been depressed - ya 11. gotten drunk and thrown up - thats !!!! the !!!! only !!!! sport !!!! im !!!! good !!! at !!!!!!

fave colors

12. marigold 13. forest green 14. any and all shades of pink 

in the last year have you…

15. made new friends - yes!! my lovely lil angel bb abigain !!! @masochisticlion for clearification !! 16. fallen out of love - if you consider like “teenage love” to be love then ye ?? 17. laughed until you cried - to where tears have brimmed but not actually like..........cryin  18. found out someone was talking about you - listen my boss talks shit on ALL OF US LIKE SORRY I GENUINELY LIKE SMASH MOUTH, JULIE 19. met someone who changed you - yes! in good and bad ways !!! im a horrible person thank u for coming to my TED tak!!! 20. found out who your friends are - kind of. theres still a couple on the fence 21. kissed someone on your facebook friends list - ya !!! at least 10 at most 17 (mostly bc i was drunk and i really love my friends)

general

22. how many of your facebook friends do you know irl - probs like 98% lol maybe closer to 95% but who’s keeping count 23. do you have any pets - i have 3 cats !!!! and i love them all !!! 24. do you want to change your name - at this point in my life it doesnt even matter anymore does it 25. what did you do for your last birthday - we have a tradition where we always have my b day at my friend Pbone’s house and they got me a taco pinata and set up a margarita bar and i love them so much ????? 26. what time did you wake up today - 6:30ish bc there was a bunch of shit for me to do at work this AM so i decided to be an actual adult for once and wake up early and go in early to get a head start lol 27. what were you doing at midnight last night -drinking some tea and reading Graveyard Shift articles on FB to put me to sleep lol 28. what is something you can’t wait for - this friday ???? a new job???? not being poor???? my bf to become a millionaire????? 30. what are you listening to right now - die die die y the avett brothers 31. have you ever talked to a person named tom - at least one !!! i actually think i have a cousin named tom 32. something thats getting on your nerves - well the fire alarm just started going off, so that fer sher 33. most visited website - probs tumblr lol 34. hair color - brown 35. long or short hair - i probably have the shortest hair in the twilight fandom ! 36. do you have a crush on someone - alex ! i love him ! and still have a crush on him !! even after (almost) 5 years together !!!  37. what do you like about yourself - my ability to throw hands or my sense of direction

i accidentally deleted 38 lol 39. blood type - who eveen fuckin knows thei blood typ e my dude 40. nicknames - lace, lace-face 41. relationship status - basically married but without he tax benefits 42. zodiac - virgo (leo cusp) 43. pronouns - she/her 44. fave tv shows - Arrow, The Flash, Parks & Rec, The 70′s Show  45. tattoos - i have 2 and thet’re horrible !!! 46. right or left handed - right 47. ever had surgery - YES MANY TIMES**** i accidentally skipped this one and had to come back to edit lol 48. piercings - none rn ! but i used to have my ears, both nostrils, my smiley, and belly button pierced  49. sport -  wats a sport 53. drinking - listen. i love alcohol.  54. i’m about to watch - probs that 70′s show 56. want - @masochisticlion !!! THE!!!!! LOVE!!!! OF !!!!! MY !!!! LIFE!!!!! 57. get married - maybe???? im torturing my mom by not getting married bc she wants me to so badly lmao 58. career - I’ve been thinking abt embalming school !!!

which is better

59. hugs or kisses - a nice, firm handshake for me, pal 60. lips or eyes - probs lips i guess???? 61. shorter or taller - shoerter???? 62. older or younger - it doesnt matter????? 63. nice arms or stomach - i really dont care??????? i dont see ppl for their physical forms ?????? unlesss their lizard ppl ???? 64. hookup or relationship - nether i really wanna die a,one i only keep alex around bc homeboi can cook (im kidding im lov him relashonship) 65. troublemaker or hesitant - my mans is a lil bit of both so imma go with voth lol

have you ever

66. kissed a stranger - yes!!!!  67. drank hard liquor - yes 68. lost glasses - YESSSSSSSSSSSSS 69. turned someone down - homeless men, yes lmoa 70. sex on first date - i think me and alex did it before we even went on a date LMAO  71. broken someones heart - ok so kind of  but no really lol 72. had your heart broken - of course!! im so sensitive !!! my heart gets broken every day !!!! 73. been arrested - yes lol 74. cried when someone died - yes !! 75. fallen for a friend - like a got crushes on lotsa friends but like it wasnt that serious lol

do you believe in

76. yourself - ya!!!!! im the best !!! 77. miracles - possibly? 78. love at first sight - i mean.....maybe???? 79. santa claus - wait whut 80. kiss on a first date - sure

81. angels - sure 

other

82. best friend’s name - Abby ! and Phe and Lauren lol 83. eye color - a nice hickory  84. fave movie - detroit rock city !! 85. fave actor - keabu reeves

ok so imma tag ............... @aphroangel @lapushwerewolves @boysoflapush and uhhhhh im too lazy to tag mor eppl lol

#abt me i guess lmao

[mysticdragon3md3]

md3 watches Given ep1

...

Maybe it's because I’m having a bad day, or maybe my distaste for most abrasive Romance genre tropes is showing.  But I did not have good reactions.  If I didn’t get spoiled on how good this series will eventually get, I probably wouldn’t continue.  Gawd I’m impatient for this to get good.

Mafuyu is sweet though.  ^___^

8:26 PM 9/27/2019

I'm going to watch Given.  After today, I'm too tired and defeated to do anything more ambitious than react to anime. ;_;

And this morning I watched some clips that suggested Mafuyu's tragic past?  I"m really hoping his childhood friend/boyfriend didn't dump him.  They both seemed so nice and in love.  Then again, if his boyfriend died that would also be very sad.  But at least it's not indirectly saying that Mafuyu was worth dumping.  He seems like such a sweet, fragile kid.  

given Episode 1 – Boys in the Band

"I'm not lonely."  I know it's a cliche now for an anime character to try to convince themselves of this with internal monologue, but it's still effectively sad and still pulls the heart-strings.  ;~;

Uenoyama is too sleepy to eat lunch and his friend asks him to play basketball instead of get bread?  omg

Everyone is sure staring at Uenoyama as he walks by though.  I wonder why.

Jeeze!  I don't know why Uenoyama has to be so upset!  What was Mafuyu doing that was even creepy anyway?  Not talking?  Sure, its more common for an anime character to leave when they've discovered they're in someone else's usual nap/hideout spot, but Mafuyu was nice about making room for Uenoyama.  And now he's throwing a tantrum about getting Mafuyu's hopes up and his naptime interrupted?  Careful or you're going to start hitting my real pet peeves and I'll drop this series.  

He just asked a stranger to teach him now to play guitar...Okay?  Well, that escalated quickly.  ^^;  

Thank you, opening theme.  I feel like I need some music to really set the tone---no, just get into this story/world.  I'm the kind of person who hates that Netflix skips opening/ending themes.

jfc  I know I've had a moderately bad day, but this series is just starting and it hit ANOTHER one of my pet peeves?!  Siblings who are nasty to each other?!  Ug.  If it weren't for all the fandom hype over this show and the nice clips I've seen of it beforehand, I would give up on it right now.  Or maybe I need to stop pausing every few seconds to write and dwell on the bad stuff, and just watch the show.  Ok, I'll try that.  I want to record all my initial thoughts for this series if I end up getting deep into the fandom, but rumination isn't good, after all.  Maybe all the annoying parts will go faster if I don't pause to react to all of them.  

"Now that I think about it, I guess I almost cired when I first broke a string, too, becuase I thought I'd broken my guitar"  Aw, Uenoyama is showing empathy.  (Finally.)  

See?  Mafuyu is reasonable.  He paid Uenoyama back for the strings and everything.

I think watching clips and hearing the fandom chatter before actually watching this series was a mistake.  I've been immune to spoilers for most of my life, but they've been starting to actually hurt my viewing in these past few years.  But it's not like when the shock of character deaths were dulled by knowing beforehand, with Madoka Magica.  This time, it's more like I'm _impatient_ to get to the good parts I saw before.  

So Mafuyu is stalking him now?  Now that I think about it, all those BL manga I used to read were quirky like this, huh?  ...Really???

I should have mentioned this before, but this background music is a little odd. It's like it doesn't quite match the tone of this very solid, real-feeling animation.  

But if he's a total newbie, he won't be able to tell the difference between a "godly performance" and a mediocre one!

"Something cool".  LOL  ^-^

OMG are they totally just riffing?  That's pretty cool.  ^___^

"Uecchi"?  Is this in Kansai?  LOL  

This guilt Uenoyama keeps dwelling on is really helping make him a sympathizable character.  

"Uesama"?  LOL

I'm glad Mafuyu tired the school's music club and that his reason for returning to Uenoyama's band was that he was much cooler.  I'll buy that reasoning.  

What is this exploision effect?  I know the animation in this series so far looks great, like they threw lots of money at it, but wow...  Was it supposed to look cheesey on purpose?  

Well, this ending theme is soothing and nice.  

But I'm not caught by this series.  So far, the primary couple has proven so be one half too angry, kinda mean, and plain grumpy to me.  And the other half is so sweet and fragile seeming, that I just feel sorry when he gets yelled at.  I feel like Mafuyu is just Uenoyama's punching bag, even if his actions are driving Uenoyama crazy.  Why does he have to over-react?  

After a month or so of being tempted to watch this series, I finally gave in today because I couldn't wait to get to answering the questions of those tragic backstories I saw some clips and spoilers of.  And maybe I'll stick around to get my answers.  But I can't say I like this series in and of itself so far. Mafuyu is sweet and intriguing, but I don't feel attached to Uenoyama so far.  I kind of want to watch something else, or just browse through the AkiRyu fandom instead.  ...In fact, I will do that.  No need to jump into ep2.  

But when I come back to this series, I should react to it like a movie.  Just watch it without stopping, then write whatever still stuck out to me enough to have inherently gotten a reaction out of me, at the end.  I shouldn't just stop every few minutes to write.  

Maybe the thing that bugs me with Given ep1 is that I prefer couples who actually like each other enough to instantly click.  At least get along together.  I abandoned my favorite shoujo manga circle because they kept insisting on this "falling in love with the person who annoys the heroine (the most)" cliche.  I generally tell people that I don't like Romance genre movies because so many of them revolve around couples who confuse friction and adrenaline for "passion" and attachment.  But that never sat well with me. I never liked the "argue/hate someone so much, you don't realize you're in love with them", as my aunt once put it.  Even the couples I like which might be mistaken for that trope actually arne't as abrasive as many filler episodes would caricature them to be: Ranma/Akane, Ichigo/Rukia. Maybe that's why I'd prefer to browse the AkiRyu fandom right now.  They actually enjoy spending time with each other!  From the first time they met!  ...I dunno...  Maybe Given will get very good, very fast, after this first ep.  Lots of BL manga had rough starts but turned into great series of scenes that were emotionally moving to experience, once the initial situation that contrived the couple to get together, is settled.  Why wouldn't Given be the same?  

I probably shouldn't post this reaction to my blog.  Or maybe have no tags, so the fandom won't come after me.  I don't need flames for my flippant venting that will likely change drastically once I get further into the series and find what I liked about those spoiler clips.  

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

The more time passed after watching Given ep1, the more I tried to use everything else to TRY to figure out why I wasn’t in love with Given (yet). 

6:43 PM 9/28/2019

TOBE!!! CAROLE & TUESDAY EPISODE 14 LIVE REACTION 

by MemoryNK

https://youtu.be/58OI_yufctQ

OMG THIS SHOW!  Just a few clips, edited, talked over by commentary, and I'm already freaking half-crying!  GODDAMNIT!  ;o;  Carole's dad found her, he and his wife wanted to keep her but the wife died and he was unjustly sent to prison, and now he's still on parole and has to return to prison or his parole restrictions on Earth or something---!  ;O;!!!!!!!!!!!  THIS SHOW---! And Carole takes it as hope and something to look forward to, vs typical cliche drama contrived anger!  This show goes for the heart-felt warmth, instead of the contrived anger drama! ;U;  I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!  

Carole and Tuesday season 1 part 2 doesn't release on Netflix for probably a few more MONTHS.  Maybe it was a mistake to see spoilers.  But I've been seeing songs from season 1 part 2 all this time.  But actual scenes, spoiling the story...I went too far.  Maybe I shouldn't have.  

But only because I want to note my emotional reactions.  Especially when I'm having such trouble getting into Given.  I need to now if Carole & Tuesday were able to grab me from ep1, first intros of the main characters,...Because Given is failing hard on that!  And I want to know if I'm justified in not being as attached to Given, or if I was just having a bad day (I wasted all yesterday on that horrible cooking that even made me physically ill ~___~;!)  

6:49 PM 9/28/2019

I came in from my daily walk and had to immediately watch Carole & Tuesday becasue while I was walking, Mafuyu's song from Given was stuck in my head, even though I didn't even know it well.  I started daydreaming about Tuesday and Mafuyu hanging out, jamming, etc., and I couldn't listen to my podcasts while walking anymore.  I had to switch to Carole & Tuesday.  

7:21 PM 9/28/2019

https://mysticdragon3md3.tumblr.com/post/187499907672/md3-watches-carole-tuesday-season-1-part-1

Re-reading my reactions to watching Carole & Tuesday for the first time, I'm surprised how little I say about their characters (until much later episodes).  I wonder if it means they were so agreeable that I didnt' have to rant anything about them.  Because in contrast to my reactions to watching Given ep1 for the first time, I just kept going on and on about their characters---how mean Uenoyama was.  ...omg...I think I don't like Uenoyama.  I mean, I LOVE Carole, and Tuesday is really sweet and cute, but I never mentioned anything about that in my reactions from earlier this month until like halfway through season1 part1.  In fact, a few minutes ago was the first time I reblogged some Carole & Tuesday art with tags like "#my girls" and "i love them!".  I'd hate to say it, but maybe I only realized how good of characters Carole & Tuesday are, because of how abrasive Uenoyama's introduction has been for me.  I mean, I always thought Carole's brash confidence was cool and Tuesday was sweet, but I guess I was taking it as a given, instead of something extraordinarily rare.  ...I'm trying really hard to get into Given, you guys.  All the clips and spoilers I've seen and the music have been good.  But it's becoming clear to me now that Uenoyama is a barrier.  I used to read a lot of BL and those protagonists do tend to be really quirky or always upset to end up in the plot situation for comedic sakes...But when will the series get to Uenoyama being stupidly in love with Mafuyu so I can laugh at him for being an idiot around him?  I'm impatient over here, especially when I usually drop a series as soon as it centers too much on an abrasive character.  There are 20+ anime series every season and 4 seasons every year, and I've got a big backlog of anime to watch, so I can afford to be picky---I _HAVE TO_ be picky.  

6:18 PM 9/29/2019

I've been really bugged by how I have not enjoyed the first episode of Given.  Maybe I got my expectations too high, after watching it because of so much hype over it, and watching spoiler clips that were really intriguing.  But what really gets me, after having finally seen ep1, is that Uenoyama is not very likable!  Why does Mafuyu even like him?!  Well, Mafuyu is a sweethear and will forgive anything, ti seems...I think the problem is that _I_ as an audience member see no reason to like Uenoyama yet.  Why would I want this jerk to continue getting angry as adorable, frail Mafuyu?  Mafuyu doesn't deserve that!  ;o;  

The really bad thing are the comparisons.  I've been re-watching "Carole and Tuesday" repeatedly this month, and though it's not (blatantly) a romance story, there's just so much reason to want to see these 2 characters always be together.  I love watching them, they enjoy each other's company, they are nice to each other equally,---!  And I just realized that Given's Uenoyama and Mafuyu are similar to Kageyama and Hinata from Haikyuu.  Granted, I didn't really get into the KageHina ship (it just had some cute doujins that I personally thought were too dissimilar to the canon characters for me to think of the ship while I watched Haikyuu), but I LIKED the dynamic between Kageyama and Hinata.  WHY?  All Kageyama did was yell and treat Hinata badly whenever he could!...No...That's not true.  The story made certain from the very beginning to establish Kageyama as a more noble person inside, even though he was just so oblivious to how humans should interact, he only knew how to give commands and yell as a frustrated setter/commander.  Kageyama's first personality-establishing scene was him saving Hinata from bullies and proving that he doesn't approve of low, bully-like behaviors.  And I think pegging Kageyama, from the beginning, as seeking penance and his angsting over his regrets, the the whole first season culminating with him learning how to properly share bonds with people vs bossing them around, and thus finally remedying his past regretted behaviors---It all really turned and angry, easily annoyed character that could have become abrasive, into a character of sympathy.  (Plus, he was cool at what he does.  Which is generally another trait a main character nees to garner audience respect.)  So why couldn't Uenoyama do that from the beginning too?!?!  >O<!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!  It's driving me crazy!  I was supposed to like Given!!!!!!!!!  I _WANT_ to like Given!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  ;O;!!!  

#reactions #md3 watches #confused with myself #md3watches #md3 watches given