#for context it is currently 10:27 where I live

[fishklok]

Seonag Tallach Full Bio

I finally finished my huge full bio for Seonag.

Basics

Name:  Seonag Tallach

Name Origin:  Scottish

Name Meaning: “God is gracious”, “Large browed”

Nickname/Stage Name:  Shava

Name Pronunciation: SHO-nahk (or SHO-nah) TA-lakh

Birthday:  July 19th, 1980

Star Sign:  Cancer Sun, Libra Moon, Scorpio Rising

Chinese Zodiac: Metal Monkey

Age--

Season 1: 26

Season 2: 27

Season 3: 29

Season 4: 31

DSR: 33

Family: Ciaran (father), Anna (mother), Sine (younger sister), Niall (uncle), Doirin (aunt), Seoras (cousin), Scrunt (cat)

Family Dynamic: Seonag currently keeps a respectful distance from her older relatives.  Other than the occasional phone call, she doesn’t do much to keep in touch.  She’s closer to her aunt, uncle, and cousin than her immediate family, but she also knows she can’t visit them without the rest of her family finding out.  Seonag doesn’t have any desire to seek out her biological parents.  At least not enough of a desire to do anything actionable.

Upbringing:  Seonag is ethnically Japanese, but she was adopted by a Scottish family when she was a baby.  She was born with glaucoma in her right eye and had to get most of it surgically removed.  Her father is a construction worker and her mother was a nurse.  Her father was very politically active, especially in the Scottish liberation efforts.  Overall Seonag’s upbringing was stable, but she was always under the impression that she wasn’t measuring up – especially when compared to her younger sister (who is blood-related to her parents).  Growing up, she used to go to her aunt and uncle’s house after school instead of heading home.  Her cousin, Seoras, helped shape her music tastes.  Seonag realized she was trans when she was 15, but she didn’t have the vocabulary to describe what she was experiencing, so she settled for just being seen as “effeminate” and just “weird”.  At age 17, Seonag left home for London to be with a guy she met on an online message board.  But on the way (just over an hour of traveling later), she got a bad vibe so she stopped in Edinburgh where her life truly began.

Current Residence: Edinburgh, Scotland (Season 1-2) Somewhere in the United States (Season 3-Doomstar)

Birthplace: Perth, Scotland

Languages Known:  English (native), Scots (native), Scottish-Gaelic (semi-fluent), Japanese (beginner)

Profession: Record store cashier

Hobbies: Playing guitar, sewing, skateboarding

Skills/Talents:  Seonag’s cousin taught her how to play guitar when she was 10.  She started playing the bagpipes when she was 18.  Seonag is also pretty good at sewing and making clothes.

Band: In Sluagh-Ghairm, Seonag performed lead vocals as well as backup guitar and bagpipes.

Gender: Trans woman

Pronouns: She/her

Gender Expression:  Seonag is now at a point in her gender expression where she feels comfortable toying with both masculinity and femininity.  When she does play with masculinity, it’s more like she enjoys “looking masculine in a feminine way”.  She loves wearing baggy shirts, tripp pants, and beanies, but she also loves makeup and she will never pass up an opportunity to wear a pretty dress.  She no longer feels like she has to shift between “female/male-presenting” depending on the social context (she does not consider herself genderfluid or nonbinary), but rather she figured out what counts as “women’s clothing” to her.

Sexuality: Bisexual

Romantic Identity: Biromantic.

Preferences: Seonag mostly likes men who don’t challenge her with the threat of potential self-improvement.  She usually gravitates towards butch women.  She prefers to play a more submissive role in the bedroom and in relationships, but most of the people she dates want her to be more dominant (usually for fetish reasons), so she felt pressured to play along. 

Experience: Seonag has a rocky love life, which usually manifests as her changing major parts of her sense of self and personality for her partner.   Most of her experience comes from hook-ups or short-lived relationships.  She doesn’t know if she’s interested in finding a long-term partner because she never allowed herself to consider that.  But as things are now, she’s doing fine on her own.

Nationality: Scottish

Race: Japanese

Reference--

Face Claim: Ataru Nakamura

Voice Claim: Shirley Manson

Religion: Christian (Church of Scotland)

Details: Seonag is still devoted to her church and religion.  She goes to church on Sunday (when she can), and she prays every night before bed and during challenging times (and especially before concerts).  Even though her faith is important to her, she tends to keep it to herself because her peers often assume she’s joking.  Also as a trans woman, she still has a complicated relationship with her church and some of the people who attend.  But the religion itself still brings her a sense of comfort and belonging, so she makes it work for her.

Appearance

Body--

Build:  Seonag has a long, lanky build with slightly-toned arms.  She has long legs and large hands and feet.

Height: 6’1

Skin (color, complexion, etc):  Seonag has fair skin with a golden undertone and she doesn’t tan.

Handedness: Left

Hair--

Color: Black

Texture: Straight, thick

Usual Styling: Kept down with straight bangs.  She grows her hair out over the course of the series (just above shoulders during season 1, reaches past shoulders during DSR).  Occasionally wears it up, but other than that she doesn’t do much with the styling.  Most products and curlers tend to slip right out.

Facial Features:  Seonag has a rather angular face, a long nose, full lips with a defined cupid’s bow, and narrow mono-lidded eyes.

Eye Color: Brown.

Misc: Seonag has sharp teeth.  Whether this is literal or artistic stylization is up to you.

Fashion Sense:

Clothes:  Wears a lot of black.  Band shirts, tripp pants, studded belts, leather jackets, fishnets, and combat boots.  She usually wears sweatpants or boxers around her flat, but she likes dressing up more for shows.  Loves leather.

Accessories: Her go-to eyepatch is a plain black one, but she designed custom patches for special occasions.  Also almost always wears a black choker of some kind.  She has gauges in her ears.

Styling:  Either a deliberate hot mess or an accidental hot mess.  She puts way more effort into her looks when she’s playing a show.  Her concert looks also tend to incorporate more traditional Scottish elements like tartan.

Misc: Seonag started sewing her own clothes because when she was early in her transition, she felt uncomfortable shopping in the women’s department (and it was sometimes hard for her to find clothes that fit her height).  To this day, she still creates most of her clothes or customizes them in some way, but now it’s out of a love for creating the clothes herself.

Personality

Personality Description: Off-stage, Seonag tends to come off as awkward and reclusive.  She’s not exactly shy, in fact, she often has a tendency to say the wrong thing.  She tends to keep her emotions bottled up behind a thick layer of sarcasm, impulsivity, and claims of being a “lone wolf”.  In reality, it’s very easy for Seonag to form connections (attachments) with people, but her fear of being abandoned prevents her from opening up.

Strengths:  Seonag has an acute level of emotional intelligence and she’s quick to stand up for her loved ones.  She’s a quick-thinker and she’s very good at surviving on her own.  She also has a good sense of humor about herself.

Weaknesses:  When Seonag puts her trust in someone, she has a tendency to bend to the whims of that person regardless of her own interests or comfort levels.  This is mostly to ward off the possibility of being abandoned.  She also has a bad habit of self-sabotaging her relationships/careers/etc because she’s afraid of failure, but failure feels inevitable.

Goals:  Find a new music project that inspires her.

Fears:  Abandonment, failure, public speaking (performing on stage doesn’t count).

Secrets:  When she sees that her former bandmates are performing in their new bands, Seonag will sometimes send anonymous “concerns” to the venue in the hopes of getting the show canceled. 

Timeline

Pre-Series--

Daily Life: Seonag was fronting her band, Sluagh-Ghairm.

Important Figures: Other band members.

Notable Moments: Got kicked out of Sluagh-Ghairm in 2004.  Met Mihika in 2005.

During Series--

Daily Life: Working in a record store, running her music blog, living with Mihika.

Important Figures: Mihika (roommate), Magnus Hammersmith (celebrity crush), St. Cecilia (celebrity crush/friend(?))

Notable Moments: Moved in with Mihika in 2006, started her blog, was contacted by the Revengencers in 2008 (turned them down because she thought it was a joke).  Interviewed Magnus and fucked him.

Post-Series/DSR--

Daily Life:  The same, but now she’s in therapy.

Important Figures: Mihika (still roommate)

Notable Moments: Her blog got some more traction after Toki’s disappearance.  At some point, she visited Japan to reconnect with her heritage and find her birth parents.

Music

Musical Background:

Instruments:  Rhythm guitar, bagpipes

Band: Sluagh-Ghairm

Years Active: 2000-2004

Genre: Folk-punk, Celtic punk, post-punk.

Other Members: Seonag Tallach (vocalist, rhythm guitar, bagpipes), Kevin MacGregor (lead guitar), Leon Webster (drums), Nishaa Bhatti (bass), Finn Moore (bagpipes), Scott Byrne (hurdy-gurdy, accordion).

Level of Fame: Most well-known in British punk circles

Strengths: Skilled instrumentation, energetic performances, politically-evocative lyrics.

Weaknesses: Lack of communication within the band, identity crisis.

Symbology

Color: Green

Animal: Raccoon

Gemstone: Ruby

Tarot Card: 8 of Cups

MBTI: INFP

Enneagram: The Loyalist

The Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Favorites

Food: Curry

Least Favorite: Blood pudding

Drink: Monster Energy

Least Favorite: Cow’s milk

Color: Green

Least Favorite: Bright/neon purple

Animal: Racoon

Least Favorite: Wasps

Music Genre: Punk, Scottish folk, metal, hyperpop

Least Favorite: Opera, dubstep (because of an ex.  She’d probably like it without the negative association)

Music Artist: The Exploited, Dethklok, Magnus Hammersmith, Against Me!, The Smiths, Dropkick Murphys, The Real McKenzies, KMFDM, The Shaggs.

Least Favorite: Her band after she left.

Weather: Cloudy with fog.

Least Favorite: The sun.

Character Relationships

Italics = Just Seonag’s opinion since they never met.

Nathan Explosion: Very talented frontman.  Good voice.  Appears to be the most stable in the band.

Pickles the Drummer:  Kinda “knows” him because his sister-in-law is her roommate’s best friend.  Not too familiar with his work in the 80s, but she likes his drumming.

Skwisgaar Skwigelf: Studied his guitar solos like a scientist.  Utterly amazed by his work, and jealous of how pretty he is.

William Murderface:  Her roommate really likes Planet Piss, but Seonag doesn’t see the appeal.  Still likes Murderface and finds his antics/personality to be the most enjoyable.

Toki Wartooth:  Not Magnus.  0/10.  Jk, she thinks Toki’s fine.  She does like how the band’s work got more melodic after he joined, but she likes to be an edgy contrarian in the Dethklok forums by bringing up Magnus, so she keeps her enjoyment to herself.

Charles Offdensen: White guy in suit 0/10

Dick Knubbler: Had to get used to his style on Dethklok’s albums, but learned to like it.  Also wants to know where he got his cyber eyes.

Abigail Remeltindtdrinc:  Didn’t notice too much of a difference between her production work and Knubbler’s.  Thinks it’s kinda fucked up that she took the blame for Dethklok breaking up (never knew Abigail’s relationship with the band was anything other than professional).

John Twinkletits:  No way of knowing he exists.

Melmord Fjordslorn:  Saw that magazine cover about Dethklok getting a new manager, but hasn’t heard much else.  Her roommate swears she has seen him since, though.

Seth:  Knows he’s Pickles’ brother and covered his status as Dethklok Australia’s manager on her blog, but that’s about it.

Amber:  Has hung out with her, but only in the context of her being her roommate’s best friend.  Doesn’t know too much about her beyond that (and being Seth’s wife).

Dr. Rockso:  Admires his stage presence.  Aware of his past, but either way she’s not drawn to his sound.

Magnus Hammersmith:  When she heard Dethklok’s earlier demos and album, she was always drawn to his style.  This interest eventually morphed into a big stupid crush.  This loyalty didn’t stop her from auditioning to replace him (didn’t get the part).  She met Magnus sometime in 2008 when she interviewed him for her blog.  Magnus also knew her through her own band, and they were able to bond over getting kicked out of their respective groups.  Then they banged.  They kept in touch for a few years, but lost contact after Magnus became more involved with the Revengencers.  Seonag just assumed he had celebrity stuff to do.

Metal Masked Assassin: No way of knowing he exists.

Mr. Salacia: No way of knowing he exists.

Edgar Jomfru:  Was a big fan of the site he ran with his brother (diefordethklok was part of her blog’s webring), but when he dropped off the map Seonag just assume he lost interest.  Never looked into it.

Group Relationships

Dethklok:  Despite her trolling on forums, Seonag is legitimately a huge Dethklok fan.  She’s been to a couple of concerts, conventions, and she follows their activity.  She just thinks the really avid fans are hilarious.

The Revengencers:  Never learned that they were a legitimate group.  She always assumed they were a couple internet weirdos who took trolling Dethklok fans too seriously.

The Tribunal:  Doesn’t know they exist.  The idea of them feels like something one of her buddies would have come up with while high.

Snakes N’ Barrels:  They just exist as a footnote in Dethklok’s history to her.

#metalocalypse #mtl oc #metalocalypse oc #seonag tallach

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Thoughts on First Thing/Collaborator – Daniel Kitson (2023):

I wrote a post last week about how I saw the livestream of Kitson’s Ghost Story show, which is pretty much a remake of the Christmas show he’d already done. That’s one of the only two full shows he’s done this year (not counting just messing around with improv/up-a-chicken-style WIP), and the other one is also pretty much just a slightly different version of a show he’s done before. Which backs up the veracity of the thing he’s said in almost everything he’s done this year, which is that he’s out of ideas.

And yet, I am not complaining one bit. You’d think I should be, right? And I could understand another Kitson fan, a proper one who lives in Britain and has been going to see him in person for years, being a bit disappointed. But I haven’t been. I have been collecting all the Daniel Kitson I can find for the past year and a half, and lots of it has been similar, but I like hearing the updates as he progresses in both his artistic skills and worldview.

I think a lot of his shows can be considered companions to each other. Where Once Was Wonder feels like an update to Weltanschuung. Keep is a 10-year-later update to 66A Church Road. Something Other Than Everything is an update to Impotent Fury of the Privileged. A Short Series of Disagreements Presented Here in Chronological Order is… he was up against a deadline to have something to take to America and couldn’t think of anything new so he basically wrote Gregory Church again. Maybe a Ghost Story is A Story for Christmas but for Halloween. I enjoy spotting the many parallels between Mouse and Tree. And I realize that depending how generous you want to be, you could call something a “parallel” or “homage”, or you could call it derivative (of his own work, to be fair, which is at least better than being derivative of someone else). But I do tend to be generous, looking at any repetition as a “two cakes” situation. Why would I complain about having more of a thing I love?

I’d previously said the companion show to Polyphony is As of 152 GMT on Friday 27 April 2012, This Show Has No Title. I still think that’s true, and those two plus First Thing (which I’m going to call the show that was called First Thing in London and Edinburgh over the summer and has now been called Collaborator in Bristol, I’m picking one name to save time and I knew it as First Thing for too long to have changed how I think of it yet) can be a sort of trilogy. Three shows in which Daniel Kitson struggles to think of a new idea, so instead, he writes a play in which he is the main character, and the play is about his own writing process and back catalogue and it discusses his current lack of ideas. 2012, 2015, and 2023.

If anything, the fact that he’s done this twice before makes me less concerned about him spending 2023 insisting he has no new ideas. Okay, Daniel. You said that in 2012. You said it via an hour-long well-written story that plays with fourth walls and reality and shit like that. Then you had several new ideas in the next few years, wrote a few more lovely things (Analog.Ue, Tree, the Christmas thing, After the Beginning), and then wrote another play about how he doesn’t have any ideas. Then wrote a few more great things, and another play eight years later about having no ideas. Surely he has at least a few more cycles of this left in him before retiring to make pots for the rest of his life. And if he doesn’t, then he’s created lots of wonderful original things already and I wouldn’t begrudge him a few years of repetition before going off to make pots for the rest of his life.

So those are my thoughts about it in the larger context of that back catalogue that he wishes everyone would stop going on about. Aside from that context, however, I think First Thing is an enormously fun show. Especially the latest versions, when he hasn’t made fundamental changes but has cleaned up a lot of the dialogue, made it faster and snappier and it flows well and the jokes are spread consistently and the points are made in a sensible order and it’s just really well done.

It's Daniel Kitson at his most meta, it references all the older things about Daniel Kitson and when it runs out of those it starts referencing itself. It’s a retrospective of his career, and to be fair to him, I think his career has been long and varied enough to justify at least two retrospectives. But it is more than that, it’s got ruminations on art in general, and performance in general, and audience participation in general.

It’s kind of an apology, and I always find it interesting when artists do that. Write some art that exists to apologize for different art they’ve made. Simon Amstell’s Grandma’s House. Great Big Sea’s Dear Hometown. Daniel Kitson’s First Thing. What an odd assortment of examples.

In this case he’s looking back at the early days of his career, which I of course find interesting as an early 00s comedy historian, specifically a Chocolate Milk Gang historian, specifically, really, a Daniel Kitson historian. It makes a lot of references to things I’ve heard about, and in a couple of instances to things I’ve actually heard, in recordings from those years. I find it really fascinating to go directly between First Thing and hearing a few specific old recordings from the early 00s where he’s doing the things that he apologizes for in First Thing. Though I think most of the stuff for which he owes apologies is even older than that and from before most of my collection, from the late 90s. There is a documentary from 1999 that documents a little bit of it, and… yep, it is pretty rough. It’s not great.

He's obviously talking about his Late ‘n’ Live days as well, which I do really enjoy seeing, because I think it’s funny when Daniel Kitson is dragging a drunk Johnny Vegas off stage or wrestling David O’Doherty or rap battling David O’Doherty (they did do a lot of that back in the day) or taking apart a cow. Probably less funny when he’s yelling horrible things at audience members, though to be fair you could argue that some of those audience members were very literally asking for it at Live ‘n’ Live, I don’t mean in the sense that they deserved it, I mean in the sense that they showed up to a gig like that because they wanted that to happen. And if they really, honestly want that to be happen, then I guess that can be fun too.

This gets into all kinds of other questions about when and why it’s all right for a comedian to call the audience cunts. Obviously it has a lot to do with context, with whether they showed up to a type of gig where that should be expected, with whether they were heckling in a way to suggest they want that (which is its own problem – rewarding heckling by giving them the thing they want is a good way to ruin comedy overall).

I’d say it has to do with more specific things too – I wrote recently about seeing people online say they were upset that Daniel Kitson called an audience member fat in 2006, and someone else said he used to do that stuff but doesn’t anymore, and someone else said yes he does because he called someone a pedophile recently. Now this is a difficult thing to justify and there’s really no way to make it sound all right out of context, but I think that’s not a fair comparison because calling someone fat is a lot worse than calling them a pedophile. Because the former is a genuine insult, they probably really are fat and you’re telling them you think that’s wrong and you’re telling all the fat people in the crowd that you think how they look is wrong and you don’t respect those members of your audience. While calling someone a pedophile is very obviously a joke and doesn’t pick on a real thing about the person. However… that’s a tough distinction to explain, I’m not confident that I did it successfully here or that I could anywhere. All I can say is I’ve heard Daniel Kitson call people fat (in very old recordings) and I’ve heard him call people pedophiles and I feel like I can hear the difference. You could also make an absolutely fair argument that pedophiles do actually exist and there could be people in the crowd who’ve had their lives ruined by them and won’t enjoy hearing a comedian make light of the idea that one could be in the room. I don’t have a good answer to that, I think I might have just talked myself out of my own justification. I similarly don’t have an amazing explanation for why I as a feminist think the word “cunt” is okay even though I’m often less cool with a word like “bitch”, except to say that “dick” is also an insult because I think we’ve just agreed that genitals are taboo in society so therefore they’re a mean thing to call someone and the insults don’t have to be gendered unless you gender them. I’d be fairly suspicious of a man who only called women cunts, but I’m pleased to say Daniel Kitson applies it liberally across genders.

These are flimsy explanations at best, I’m not really confident in any of them. I just mean that I have heard Daniel Kitson call people cunts in a way that I’ve found hilarious, and I’ve heard him call other people names in a way that’s felt horrible and mean, and I wish I could find a more logically consistent way to differentiate between the two. I’ve also heard some comedians say almost the same thing but in slightly different ways and slightly different contexts, leaving one seem like a funny bit of harsh crowd work and another seem horrible. The status of the comedian comes into play too – if they choose to play a lower status then they can get away with more because it feels like punching up. But also, if they actually are too low a status, then I think excessive insulting can feel a bit cheap and desperate. Kitson might be in the perfect position that way, that he genuinely is sufficiently high-status so the audience trusts that he knows what he’s doing and can do this without really hurting anyone (anymore), but also plays low status enough so it doesn’t feel like he’s doing any real harm.

Back in the day – in the really early days of his compering at rough clubs and first couple years of Late ‘n’ Live – I think he was lower status but played a bit higher status, and that’s a good way to immediately sound more harsh. These are days I’ve only glimpsed through tiny clips as there’s barely a record of them, but I’ve read about them in some articles, and have heard Kitson tell stories of them in many later years. They are most clearly summed up in these paragraphs from this article in the Australian publication The Age from 2007:

For a couple of years, he learned to tough it out with audiences as the compere at the weekly new talent night at one of London's top comedy venues. “It was absolutely invaluable, up to a point,” he says. “It made me confident on stage; it made me not value any gig too much; it made me feel I could talk to people, but I did it slightly too long.” In 1999, he was doing the same thing in Edinburgh. “And somebody said, ‘Look, you've got to be careful; not every gig is the Comedy Café’. It was genuine advice and I thought, ‘f---'. “I realised I'd gone too far down that road and I was no longer doing the thing I'd originally wanted to do on stage. I remember sitting outside, nearly in tears, saying, ‘I’m shit’. And I probably was. I had loads of people saying no, you're brilliant, you're going to be huge and I'd say, 'But this is shit, hateful, bullying shit!' And that was a real turning point. It was after that that I decided right, I'm going to do a show that is material-based, not just me f---ing around.”

I've heard him tell that story on stage too, when he says the person who gave him that advice was small-faced man (and... possibly some things that are a lot less fun than having a small face and the reality of some comedians being horrible is exactly why being jokingly horrible isn't always all fun and games even for the genuinely nice ones, but let's not worry about that right now) Trevor Lock, along with Andrew Maxwell. When the three of them did a joint show in Edinburgh in 1999, which is where he also did a show with the Comedy Cafe, which was the rough London comedy club he's talking about. In Edinburgh in 1999, he took part in two shows - one with the Comedy Cafe where he'd been performing in London, and one with Andrew Maxwell and Trevor Lock.

The former is partly documented in this documentary about Edinburgh that year, so I can confirm that it's pretty fucking rough. A show that he did with fellow Comedy Cafe performer Lee Canterbury, and also appearing in the documentary is Noel Faulkner, owner of the Comedy Cafe who had taken them to Edinburgh like children on a school trip, it sort of seemed. That latter is the show where apparently Andrew Maxwell and Trevor Lock - hardly the epitome of thoughtful and restrained comedians - had to tell him to take it down a notch because you can't treat an Edinburgh show that's not in a truck like it's the Comedy Cafe.

...I may have recently gone through all the Edinburgh programs since his first year in Edinburgh, which was 1999, and taken screenshots of all Daniel Kitson's entries to put in a folder, because that's the sort of thing I do, so here are the two from that first year:

Amazing that at the time, his late-night (start time: 22:45, 00:30) Gilded Balloon show was the restrained one compared to the other one he was doing. Having seen some of the other preserved in a documentary, I can confirm that this is the case. It would be a couple of years later that he took over compering Late 'n' Live, where I think his skills at dealing with tough audiences were welcomed. This is where he did things like yell at audience members for using the bathroom.

After that, in 2002, he won the Perrier Award at the same time as Phoenix Nights was happening, and then he got bigger crowds as a result of both those things, including crowds of people who were just there to see the guy from the quite abrasive sitcom, and who wanted to see him call people cunts. And that was when he hit the brakes very hard on all the momentum he'd built in that direction, wrote the sensitive theatrical touching story show A Made Up Story in 2003 to put off all the people who want to hear him say "cunt", and developed his entire schtick about wanting to be small and un-advertised and refusing to perform on Friday or Saturday nights and starting shows at odd hours and doing everything he could to get rid of the shitty audience he'd cultivated by being shitty. In 2006 (the same year he left his agent, I think - though that might have been 2005) he fucked off from the raucous Late 'n' Live to go host Honourable Men of Art, at The Stand that was for artists rather than the Gilded Balloon that was for raucousness, to have a nice nerdy show with the other Chocolate Milk Gang nerds. He didn't even take some of his biggest stand-up shows to Edinburgh, instead writing more sensitive theatre things and performing those there. I've heard recordings from 2006 in which hecklers have tried to get into arguments with him, and he's said he doesn't do that stuff anymore, he used to be like that but now he's not, if they're here because they remember when he used to spar with hecklers and call everyone cunts then they should go away because he's changed. Though I've also heard him say that and then proceed to get drawn into some rough stuff with the audience anyway.

In his efforts to backtrack on all the things he hated about what he'd done in his early days, when he was only 22 and really should be easily forgiven for being a bit of a dick for what wasn't even all that much time in the grand scheme of things - he may, arguably, have slightly overcorrected. Just a bit. Surely there's some sort of middle ground he could have found. But I think one of my favourite things about Daniel Kitson is the way he eschews the middle ground. Whatever he's doing, he's anything but average.

I'm aware that I've veered wildly off topic, by the way. I realized I was going that way a few paragraphs back and decided to just go on rather than acknowledging it. But I feel like I should acknowledge it now. This is barely related to the show First Thing. But it is related to it a little bit. Because First Thing is him talking, nearly 25 years later, about those days of his career. And apologizing for them, even going so far as to write some of his slated audience members in as characters to come back to haunt him.

I like the show. It's basically Polyphony again, but I very much like Polyphony - it's one of my favourite things he's ever done - and I'm happy to have another Polyphony. Polyphony and As of 152 GMT on Friday 27 April 2012, This Show Has No Title are a similar idea executed very differently. Polyphony and First Thing are pretty much the same idea executed pretty much the same way. Which I think is great! Two cakes!

I think I fit into the exact category that's a target audience for something like this. Someone who knows nothing about Kitson's career history won't get a lot of the references in First Thing. Some who follows his career closely like a normal person will already know about Polyphony and find this repetitive. But someone like me - an obsessive collector of as many versions of Kitson as I can possibly find - will get the references and just be pleased to have a new version of the retrospective on them.

I don't think you have to know his whole history to enjoy this show, though. Because like I said, it's about broader stuff. What art is, what performance art is, what audience participation is, under what circumstances comedians should be allowed to call people cunts. You know, universal themes.

...I started this show planning to write a sort of review of a Daniel Kitson show, and didn't intend to do the long off-topic history lesson in the middle of it. But personally, I find the show more interesting when knowing the context. And there's a lot of context. But even if you have no context, it's a fun hour of the audience all getting to take part and there are good jokes and it made me laugh and that's what actually matters, isn't it?

[lastwave]

do all the asks for dnd renfield i double dare you

DARE TAKEN.

1: How did you come up with your OCs name?

tha dracula special interest

2: Does your OC have a theme?

OH I JUST TALKED ABT THIS!! we decided that this piano of sigmas theme is very him

3: What is their Class?

SOULKNIFE ROGUE. he was going to be a college of whispers bard but then his charisma needed to be shit. also soulknife is cooler and directly tied to the dracula curse (haven't figured out the exact details)

4: What is their Race?

human. lol

5: Are they from a Module or a Homebrew?

the Heckna! module :)

6: What TTRPG are they from? (D&D, VTM, or something else?)

D&D!

7: Have you gotten to actively play them/introduce them to the story yet?

ive rped as him so ya!

8: What do they look like? (Do you have art of them? Are you open to fan art?)

ohh ok ok. so u know my dracula renfield design? that but he has multiple outfits and he dyes one half of his hair brown because he has trouble coming to terms with the fact hes old LOL

9: What is their personality like?

answered this bad boy

10: What’s their relationship with their parents like?

oughhhh god. ok. he has very mixed feelings on his birth parents. they did what was best to keep him safe as a kid but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt (see iliveinprocrastination's ask abt number 11 for context). he has had a lot of parental and mentorial figures in his life tho and i think he loves all of them. and misses them very deeply

11: Where did they grow up? Do they miss it? Would they ever go back if they could?

answered this one<3

12: Did they have any backstory adventures before joining the party? If not, what were they doing before they were introduced?

ehhhhhh? they werent really adventures but he did have an eventful life pre campaign due to being a traveling act (escape artist & contortionist)

13: What is their alignment? What would THEY say their alignment is? Does it matter to them?

answered this bad boy too

14: Are there any secrets to their backstory you know, but they don’t know yet? (Secret parentage perhaps?)

not that i know of. unless the dm has plans i dont know abt

15: Do they have a favorite food?

onion soup 👍

16: Least favorite food?

gooseberries

17: What means the most to them? (Not a person)

BAILEY HIS MEXICAN REDLEG TARANTULA FRIEND

18: Who means the most to them?

hrm. thats a good question. i dont know<3 out of living people probably elaine? first long-ish friendship in a WHILE.

19: Do they hate anything? (Not a person)

gooey textures ?

20: Do they hate anyone?

dracula LOL. he Will hate heckna later but he hasnt gotten there yet

21: Are they currently in a romance? (NPC or PC)

this man is ace/aro (probably more greyromantic but yanno. under the umbrella) so no

22: Do they have any romance in their backstory? If it ended, how did it end?

midlife crisis where he tried to convince himself he enjoyed dating and hookups

23: Do they have a favorite school of magic?

he does not know that humans can do magic yet

24: Least favorite school of magic?

see above

25: Have they ever lost someone important to them?

yea. sorry for putting u in the blender old man its for the themes and motifs and plot

26: If you had the choice, would you rather they have a happy ending, a bittersweet ending, or a tragic ending?

HAPPY. LET HIM REST MY GOD.

27: Are they a liar? Do they lie to the party, or only to others? Do they usually think they have a good reason?

liar is a strong word. he will if he feels its in his vested interest in survival to. hes not a good liar, but hes very good at avoiding truths.

28: What’s the worst thing they’ve ever done? How do they feel about it?

he used to be like. really mean when he was younger in the whole. scaring people department. he probably did a pretty mean spirited joke on someone that didn't end well. i think he feels bad about it.

29: What’s the best thing they’ve ever done? How do they feel about it?

oughhhhh u know? whatever good hes done for other people i dont think he recognizes it because for the longest time he was never able to see the results. im gonna have to think abt this one

30: Who is their favorite NPC? Or PC if they’re an NPC?

bailey counts as an npc right

31: Least favorite NPC? Or PC if they’re an NPC?

unknown at the moment but it will prooobably be heckna

32: If they suddenly lost their class and had to pick a new one, what would they choose? What would YOU choose for them?

he would choose ranger probably. id choose abberrant mind sorcerer because it fucks

33: If they played the TTRPG they’re from, what would they play as?

FIRBOLG CIRCLE OF DREAMS DRUID NAMED FREYA W/ THE FEYLOST BACKGROUND

34: What is their biggest flaw?

answered this and the next one

35: What do they think their biggest flaw is?

see above

36: What is the best thing about them?

he cares a lot for the people around him. he doesn't make it known verbally but u can tell by his actions

37: What do they think the best thing about them is?

he thinks hes soooo funny

38: What would happen if they suddenly appeared on Earth?

he would simply go back to sleep because it would be a dream 2 him

39: If they suddenly appeared on Earth, what time period would you place them in? What location? Why?

victorian era london. puts him back in his habitat

skipping 40 because idk ❤️

[hollyevolving]

Sure, let's re-do the 40 Things meme. Some things have changed, some haven't.

-

1. Do you like blue cheese? Nope

2. Have you ever smoked? Not tobacco, and not in many years

3. Do you own a gun? Nope

4. What flavour kool aid? None

5. What do you think of hot dogs? Generally tasty

6. There wasn't a 6. Now there is.

7. What is your favorite movie? The Crow

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Coffee

9. Can you do a push up? Yes

10. What's your favourite jewelry? The onyx necklace that Dan "Chip" Henley made for me.

11. What is your favorite hobby? Hard to choose, but in the end it's singing

12. Do you have ADHD? Yup

13. Do you wear glasses? Yup

14. What was your favourite cartoon? Belle & Sebastian

15. Name three things you did today? Worked, tried on a new tunic, watched some more Vikings

16. Name three drinks you drink regularly? Water, coffee, chocolate protein shake

17. Current worries? money, health, time...the usual

18. There wasn't an 18. "It's Gorgug. Keep going."

19. Favourite place to be? anywhere with good company

20. How did you bring in the New Year? alone

21. Where would you like to go? Everywhere, but Scotland is definitely on the list

22. Name five people who will do this? No idea

23. Do you wear slippers? I prefer cozy socks

24. What is your color? Black, delft blue, crimson, pastel pink

25. Do you like sleeping in satin sheets? Nah, they don't breathe. Cotton for me!

26. Can you whistle? Only breathing in, cannot whistle out

27. Where are you now? at my desk in my living room

28. Would you be a pirate? As in, living entirely outside the law and needing to steal everything to survive, having no access to medical care and little choice regarding food? No. But it's fun to pretend to be a fantasy pirate.

29. Favourite Food? Sushi. Specifically raw salmon

30. There wasn't a 30. ""All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies. And whenever they catch you, they will kill you. But first they must catch you, digger, listener, runner, Prince with the Swift Warning. Be cunning and full of tricks, and your people will never be destroyed."

31. There wasn't a 31, either. "In the same way your heart feels and your mind thinks, you, mortal beings, are the instrument by which the universe cares. If you choose to care, then the universe cares. If you don't, then it doesn't." -- Brennan Lee Mulligan

32. What's in your pockets? Nothing

33. Last thing that made you laugh? a tumblr shitpost

34. What's your favorite animal? Need context. Cats are my favorite housepets.

35. What's your most recent injury? I'm always injured thanks to my crappy skeleton.

36. How many TVs in your house? I don't own a TV (queue Harvey Danger)

37. Worst Pain? I regularly dislocate joints thanks to the EDS, my right hip continually grows and then grinds off osteophytes from its interior lunate surface thanks to a skeletal defect, I have been tattooed over my spine and over my sciatic nerve, and I can say definitively that a periodontal scaling & root planing hurts worse than anything else I've ever experienced by an order of magnitude.

38. Do you like to dance? sure do (my janky bones are more comfortable dancing than jogging)

39. Are your parents still together? Divorced, and my dad died about 20 years later

40. Do you enjoy camping? I really can't camp out anymore; I can't sleep anywhere except my own bed, at home, alone. But I do miss SCA camping.

#me #40 things meme

[goddessofthedawn]

at the end of january: what do my best/worst books of the year look like?

I did this a couple times last year, kind of randomly, and I think I want to keep a better updated version this year. Of course, this does include re-reads, and my final, Top 19 of 2024 will not, but... here we go. Current top ten, worst 5 books of the year.

I've read 32 books this year, for context.

10. Holly by Stephen King

This was not my favorite Stephen King book (I rated it four stars), but it's not a bad Stephen King book. I could appreciate what it was trying to do and it was definitely gross at times. I love gross!

9. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Re-read! I read this with one of my groups of fifth graders and By God there is a Reason This Man Is Still The King of Middle Grade. 

8. Can We All Be Feminists? by June Eric-Udorie

Nonfiction essay collection. I felt like it said a lot but was more of an introduction to intersectional feminism than anything. 

7. The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee

I've stated that this mostly made me want to re-read Gentleman's Guide, but it was also a decent story with characters that I cared about, so, you know. 

6. The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan

Oh man this book. This one was intense. This one was a lot. Almost made me cry, a little, a couple of times.Very dark, very poignant, a good one.

5. Save the Date by Morgan Matson

My first five star read of this list! This is actually the book at the BOTTOM of my five star books from this year and last year, but it was very cute and I could appreciate it. 

4. Electric Idol by Katee Robert

Read Neon Gods last year. Was OK with it. Read this at the beginning of this year and holy FUCK was it everything I wanted and more. 

3. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

This was my first full-length Shirley Jackson novel and goddam was it good. Of course it was good. It was Shirley Jackson. 

2. The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

This book has been talked up since its inception and yeah, it is hyped up for a reason. One of those situations where if I hadn't been in front of a room of fifth graders, I would have been bawling my eyes out. 

1. Needful Things by Stephen King

A re-read takes my number one spot for the year, currently. What can I say--I love the town books.

And, just for some fun, my current five least favorites of the year, with the absolute worst at the end. 

5. Savage Delinquents by Alan Bennett

This wasn't a bad book. It just really wasn't very good. 

4. The Silent Blade by RA Salvatore

Same here. This also claims to be a first book in a series but I do feel like I shouldn't have jumped in, um, here. 

3. Memories by Francine Pascal

SAVE ME FROM SWEET VALLEY HIGH

2. 27 Hours by Tristina Wright

This book is barricaded behind controversy and at the end of the day it just isn't very good. Like, man, if you're going to be controversial and racist at least be good. Or interesting.

1. Art is the Lie by Courtney Cook Hopp

For the love of God. Twilight but worse. 

But at the end of the day, hey, none of these books are anywhere near as bad as LEFT BEHIND BY TIM LAHAYE

[firaknight]

@kirbyofthestars hands you rock kandi hands you rock kandi hands you rock kandi hands y-

#my art #rock kandi #ribbon kirby #kirby #prince fluff #adeleine kirby #kirby 64 #kirbys epic yarn #kirby series #you have no idea how fucking fast I colored this to get it out before today ended #for context it is currently 10:27 where I live #10:27 at night to be precise #and I went FAST #anyways here’s some memes #and a headcannon!!!! #Adeleine sorta 4th wheels a lot because the rock kandi trio are too short to do a lot of shit (amusement parks being one of these things) #so Adeleine acts as the height requirement since she’s very tall #everyone’s super chill with her being there #her and Ribbon live together in my headcannon (as friends that are basically family at this point) so it makes a little more sense #anyways HI LORENA HERE YOU GO

[margarethx]

The Sambucky fandom spends a lot of time and energy on calling out writers for using problematic, often straight up racist, tropes in their fics. And rightfully so, because some of said tropes are not only unplesant to read for many readers, but also harmful if they help to perpetuate some awful stereotypes. That being said... I feel like we need to show the other side of the spectrum more often and sometimes focus on people who don’t make these mistakes.

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

So here is my personal THANK YOU! to all the writers who have never used these offensive stereotypes in their Sambucky fanfiction and who:

1. Give as much attention to Sam’s side of the story as they give to Bucky’s and do not focus solely on Bucky’s emotions about their developing relationship when it’s a mixed POV.

2. Acknowledge Sam’s trauma and all the loss he experienced in the past (not only in the context where his pain is used to help him better connect with another person who’s hurting).

3. Show other characters (Bucky or not) helping Sam go through his more diffucult moments (bad days, nightmares, painful flashbacks).

4. Show Sam having these more difficult moments.

5. Don’t act like Bucky’s traumatic past is enough of an excuse for his unpleasant behaviour towards Sam. (E.g. they don’t write a story where Sam forgives Bucky every mean, ignorant comment without thinking, just because Bucky’s sad.)

6. Show Sam experiencing variety of emotions - not just frustration and adoration towards Bucky. Show him being sad, happy, disappointed, confused, hopeful, dejected, relieved, terrified, confident etc.

7. Show Sam being the more vulnerable one in the relationship (in general or just in cerain situations)

8. Write scenes where Sam is shy or a little awkward (about his relationship with Bucky or about something else). Also write him being insecure sometimes.

9. Write just as much about Sam’s appearance as they do about Bucky’s. (Both as a narrator and through a character’s compliments or thoughts.)

10. Mention how beautiful Sam’s eyes are... especially if there is more than one line about them. (Plus mention their colour like... at all.)

11. Describe Sam’s appearance focusing on something outside of his smile or muscles. (Not that these are not nice, but there are other things to compliment and they’re hardly ever pointed out.) (Very much including hair or skincolour.)

12. Write Sam making mistakes, but not in a way that insinuates that he’s stupid or incompetent, but in a way that shows he’s a normal person who can sometimes be wrong and own up to it. (Unless he’s the only person in the story who always messes up...)

13. Show Sam being very competent. And show Bucky appreciating Sam’s competence, skills, and knowledge in various fields. (Also write Sam being a badass.)

14. Write about Sam’s background in pararescue, his medical training, skills in combat, flexibility, speed, ability to fly, ability to fix his advanced equipment, strenght, the fact that he’s pretty stealthy etc...

15. Write about the importance of Sam’s relationship with Steve even when Steve’s past connection to Bucky is not relevant to the story at any point.

16. Write Bucky being openly grateful for all the things that Sam did for him and write Bucky helping Sam back even when Sam didn’t specifically ask, because they genuinely care about each other.

17. Write about Sam’s past as a therapist not in the context of him helping Bucky get better, but because it’s relevant to the story and it’s something he has a lot of experience with. Or simply because it’s a significant part of his previous life journey.

18. Show Sam being frustrated or angry without falling into bad stereotypes. And show why his anger was justified and he had the right to react like that, because he doesn’t have to be polite and dyplomatic about everything if other people (Bucky very much included) don’t act respectful towards him in the first place.

19. Acknowledge that Sam is AJ and Cass’s actual uncle. The kids might like Bucky, but they’ve known and loved Sam for way longer... and I rarely see that mentioned.

20. Write about Sam’s past romantic relationships without focusing only on Bucky being jealous about them.

21. Show Sam’s interactions with other characters - not just in a romantic context, but also in terms of friendships (MCU Natasha was closer to Sam than Bucky and fics rarely talk about that), professional cooperation, rivalry and so on.

22. Mention the social commentary brought up in tfatws without brushing it to the side or downplaying the importance of Sam’s race in the formation of his character and storyline.

23. Acknowledge that Sam is human and his body is not enhanced in any way... without making it sound like he’s too weak to do the job.

24. But also... write about Bucky using his super strenght to carry Sam around and to pick him up all the time (for whatever reason), because it’s cute. Sue me.

25. Point out that Sam is slightly shorter than Bucky without always making Sam weirdly insecure about it.

26. Write Sam as Bucky’s first choice... not a second option he picked for the lack of a better candidate for a boyfriend.

27. Understand that Sam has a life outside of Bucky even if their friendship and romantic relationship are obviously very important for him.

28. Write Bucky touching Sam in reassuring, delicate ways. (Holding his hands,  cupping his face, touching his hair, kissing the tip of his nose.)

29. Let Sam make harmless jokes, be charming, and be actually a nice person even when he’s not actively helping anyone. Just let him have a complex, but pleasant personality.

30. Let him be sarcastic without making him mean.

31. Add Figaro (Sam’s cat) to the stories about pets. Or show Sam’s emotional attachment to Redwing, even when it’s still a drone, not a bird.

32. Don’t forget that Riley died. And Sam’s parents died. And his close friends died. And other close friend left him without saying goodbye... etc. (Also don’t forget he himself died at one point...)

33. Mention and discuss Sam’s sexuality and romantic orientation (both in the tags to the story and in the actual text). ...I feel like it’s often unspecified for no reason while Bucky’s identity is clear from the start.

34. Give Sam little hobbys and interests that are unrelated to his work or his ability to make other people’s lives better.

35. Write about Sam’s fears and doubts while not forgetting he’s generally a very brave, mostly confident person.

36. Make the audience feel like Sam is a necessary part of the story. Not just a character added hastily at the end of writing just so the author can tag his name, because the ship he’s a part of is currently more popular than before and showind him at last minute will attract some readers to click.

and... 37. Do the things mentioned above in all of their Sambucky stories and use more than one of these ideas at a time.

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

To people who wrote stories with these tropes... You guys are doing a great job and I appreaciate your work a lot. It’s easy to focus on complaining, because the Sam/Bucky tag on Ao3 was always kind of a mess, but my day genuinely gets better every time I find one of your stories. So thank you again and keep it up :>

(Side note: if you have any recommendations for fics that use the ideas I wrote in this post feel free to link them in the comments. Because the bar is hanging pretty low at this point and some authors still wouldn’t be able to cross a single point from my list if they examined their - allegendly - “Sambucky” stories... so we should promote the content that is actually good.)

#sam wilson #samuel thomas wilson #bucky barnes #james bucky barnes #captain america #captain america sam wilson #the falcon #white wolf #winter soldier #sambucky #sam x bucky #winterfalcon #tfatws #the falcon and the winter soldier #mcu #marvel

[draculas-fem-aro-husbando]

Nature Asks

Cedar: What is your favorite country(ies) and why do you like them?

Wood: What was your favorite childhood Tv Show(s)?

Height: What Childhood TV show did you personally find creepy or that causes you nightmares in your childhood?

Grapevine: Favorite Vine(s)? (The Social Media App)

Scenery : Do you consider Black and White Colors why or why not?(It means the artist colors not race)

Rosemary: What was your favorite childhood book?

Cabin: Dream-house and where would you like it to be built or be?

Wildflowers: Favorite Childhood game of all time?

Thorns: First book you ever read.

Groundhog: Favorite conspiracy theory?

Poison Ivy: Weirdest thing that happened to you when you were in the woods or forest.

Dogwood: Favorite Out of Context Quote and if you can or feel comfortable explain some of the situation on how it happened.

Rainwater: First plant you ever took care of and how it turned out.

Night Sky: Favorite thing you do at night or a favorite constellation or both.

Pine: Talk about your s/o(s) and talk about , if comfortable , how you first met.

Peppermint: Favorite memory from your childhood.

Spearmint: Would you rather live by the sea or in the forest?

Rock: What is your gender and sexuality and if comfortable , tell us a bit about how you figured this out.

Log:  What are your Own Characters and which are your favorites?

Leaves: First Fandom you were ever in.

Grapes: First fanfic you ever wrote and if can or comfortable give us a link.

Sticks: What new skill or thing did you learn during the pandemic?

Fire: When did you join Tumblr?

Wild berries: What tumblr post made you famous or gained you the most followers?

Campfire Songs: What is your favorite song(s) and who is your favorite singer?

Lake: How many posts , followers , and mutuals do you have?

Gems: Favorite gemstone(s) of all time and if you can give us some facts about it!

Abandoned Ballpark: Favorite Sport?

Picnic Tables: Favorite Coffee or Tea?

Bluebird: Favorite Dessert?

Grass: Favorite Shade of Green?

Swallow: Favorite shade of blue?

Sun: Favorite shade of yellow?

Tiger Lily:  Favorite shade of orange?

Violet: Favorite Shade of purple?

Cardinal: Favorite Shade of Red?

Mates: Is Romance important to you or not?

Clouds: Platonic Relationships more important to you or Romantic Relationships more important to you?

Day: If you could have 10 wishes , what would you wish for?

Winds: Finish the sentence. The most important things to me are ______.

Deer: What would you like your wedding to be or look like?

Fur: What colors have you dyed your hair?

Fossils: What century do you find the most interesting?

Bears: Current Hyperfixiation?

Fern: What date(s) would you take your platonic s/o(s) or s/o(s) on?

Hiking: Where was your first field trip?

Ranger: Are you a pet parent or plant parent?

Sunflower: Favorite sad song?

Bunny: Favorite Art medium or company to create art products?

Wolf: First ever fandom drawing or fanfic and if you can and are comfortable , show us.

Cougar: If you could have any amount of money for a day what would it be and what would you spend it on?

Creek: If you could meet any historical figure from the past who would you want to meet and why?Tell us a little bit about them.

Apple Blossoms: Favorite Aesthetic(s)?

Pear Blossoms: Favorite Musical(s) and if you want to Infodump about it.

Lost Colony: Your favorite headcannons of the fandoms your currently in.

Pirates: Do you wear glasses or contacts or have 20/20 Vision?

Seasons: Favorite Season(s)?

Survival: Do you cook and are you a good cook and if so what is the best dish you have ever made?

Map: Favorite Class writer or Actor and your favorite movie they starred in or book they wrote.

Cycle: If you could go back in time 6 times what would you change of your past?

Frogs: How did you come up with your url?

Human: Favorite picrew you have ever made or piece of art you ever made?

Trees: What things do you use to wind down or to motivate you?

Inlet: Favorite quote and a line from a book/movie that you can relate to?

Tomato: Do you prefer fruits or vegetables?

Ocean: Favorite Animal and if you can infodump a bit about your favorite animal.

Fish: Neon or pastel or light or dark colors?

Carnivore: Favorite superhero and villain?

Chickens: Do you have a preference when it comes to finding platonic s/o(s) or s/o(s)?

Mariana Trench:What is the funniest Anon or ask you’ve gotten?

Roses: Favorite Fairytale?

Lion: Have you ever wanted to be a Monarch or dreamed about it?

Which do you Prefer Asks

1. Crush or Ginger Ale?

2.Animals or Plants?

3.Fandoms or Infodumps?

4.School or work?

5.Excitement or Calm?

6.Art or Writing?

7.Reading or playing sports?

8.Tumblr or Twitter?

9.Wattpad or Fanfiction.Net?

10.Being alone or going out with friends?

11.Instagram or Snapchat?

12.Exercise or Sleeping?

13.Hockey or Ice Skating?

14.Miraculous Ladybug or Spongebob?

15.Marvel or DC?

16.Anime or Sci-Fi?

17.Musicals or Plays?

18.Surfing or Swimming?

19.Phone or Tablet?

20.Color or Black and White?

21.Pizza or Ice Cream?

22.A few best friends or lots of just friends?

23.Organized or messy?

24.Flowers or Cactus?

25.Frogs or Rats?

26.Singing or dancing?

27.Makeup or Hair Dye?

#tw long post #ask games #ask bait tw #tw ask bait #ask bait #tw food mention #food mention tw #tw animals #animals tw #nature #nature ask games #ask to tag #long post tw #long post #1411 follower special

[austentatious]

27 December 2021

11:37 PM

Here are more books that I read since June. Other books I read earlier in the year are here.

5. No Matter the Wreckage by Sarah Kay, 4/5

I’ve always been a huge fan of Sarah Kay’s poetry. I love how she plays with words and form and but to read her work as opposed to watching and listening are entirely different experiences. Nevertheless, her collection of poetry is nostalgic, accessible, and beautiful. It’s a great introduction to modern poetry. It is not pretentious, only soulful.

6. Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, 3.5/5

I’ve always wondered why a book called Siddhartha was written by someone German. I always saw it on bookshelves but never bothered to buy it until I read Demian by the same author and so I’m on a quest to read his other works. Both works have similarities, despite differences in context. Both describe a journey to discovery of the self but Siddhartha is a merging of Eastern and Western philosophies. In the end, we realize that these two hemispheres can coexist in thought and philosophy.

7. Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky, 4/5

Not a book I lightly recommend to just anyone but if anyone would want to understand why it’s so difficult to believe God exists, then they should read Ivan’s monologue on pain and suffering. Everything else is drama and flare in true Dostoevsky style. You can find bits of comedy in there, if you squint a little.

8. The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula Le Guin, 3.75/5

It’s a short story! A quick read recommended by the BTS’s discography, but will surely make you stop and think for a while about happiness and suffering, and just how capable we are of kindness.

9. The Consolations of Philosophy by Alain de Botton, 3/5

I read Essays on Love and liked it so I sought to read his other works but this had a different style of writing--it’s really more of an essay on different philosophies and how we may live by them, if we don’t already. It tells you that all philosophers from before experienced what we currently do (at least at the base of it all), and that the only difference is they were able to write it more eloquently than we are capable of expressing.

10. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong, 4/5

I always see people quoting Ocean Vuong and I just had to read where all these come from so I read this brief but gorgeous work--a semi-autobiography of a poet of color, an epistolary by a gay Asian son to his illiterate mother. It is both touching and gut-wrenching: the honesty, the gruesomeness, the softness of human experience. Suffice it to say, I feel like I am using English all wrong.

#eshi #books #book #read #reading #literature #litblr #booklr #ocean vuong #fyodor dostoevsky #brothers karamazov #on earth we're briefly gorgeous #the consolations of philosophy #alain de botton #ursula le guin #the ones who walk away from omelas #siddhartha #hermann hesse #no matter the wreckage #sarah kay #reading challenge

[potteresque-ire]

hello, ily metas! thank you for taking the time for them. i hope you dont mind an ask with two follow up questions to your metas i'm curious about: 1) has mxtx rly been sentenced? i have seen others also share this news but other fans have quickly dismissed and gotten pissed at these reports for being fake news that are bad for mxtx, and as fearmongering. 2) for those who want to support yizhan but not the ccp, do you have advice how to navigate fan support and interaction with their media?

Hello! I apologise for the late reply!  You’ve brought up some interesting points, so please forgive me for responding with an essay.

First, about MXTX — This is a follow-up to this post.

Unfortunately, this is all we got—all everyone has got about MXTX’s current situation: on 2020/11/10, she was sentenced in Hangzhou Shang Cheng District’s People’s Court (杭州市上城區人民法院). No details were given on her verdict, due to “人民法院認為不宜在互聯網公布的其它情形”  (“The People’s Court decided it inappropriate to announce further details on the internet”). Here’s a link with the screenshot that showed all the information released about the case that day.

There are enough copies of similar screenshots to this one online, with the differences dependent on where the publisher pulled the information from the same website: 中國裁判文書網, an online archive of verdicts run by China Supreme People’s Court. There’re few reasons, therefore, to believe the information on the screenshot was fake. The link I used was Sina’s Financial News, which I believe is trustworthy enough for China’s standard.

It is also important to note, of course, that two scenarios may still render this screenshot irrelevant. 1) The verdict, which was not mentioned in the screenshot, was “not guilty” and 2) the name listed in the case, 袁依楣, was not MXTX at all.

Few have seemed to suspect 2) to be a possibility. Her real name might have been prior knowledge among some fans, or the combination of her surname and city of residence. 1) has been the where the concern / debate is.

I included China’s rate of conviction in the original post for this reason: acquittal is exceedingly rare (<0.1%) for the arrested in China. This short article discussed some reasons.

So, is it possible that MXTX is now a free woman? Yes. Is it likely? Not at all.

Still, since the probability that MXTX is imprisoned isn’t 100%, is spreading this news smearing her name? Fear-mongering?

I can only answer for myself, Anon, but my answer is no for both questions, which is why I’ve felt comfortable posting about her case. MXTX’s alleged “crimes” are things we already knew she did, or common practices among Chinese IP writers. We know she penned MDZS and other BL works; we know MDZS, in particular, has an 18+ element. She was said to have sold merch based on her works, but that wasn’t unusual at all for writers in Jinjiang, where she published her writing. Even those who don’t like her have seemed to agree that it was her writing that got her into trouble, not some other crimes she could’ve committed.

IMO, a guilty verdict doesn’t tell us as much about her as it does about the judicial system, the business practices of her country. It’s worth re-mentioning that media giants such as Tencent are closely tied to the government; Tencent’s WeChat, for example, is part of China’s Great Firewall and is used for surveillance, for censorship and removal of political dissidents. What MXTX’s case hints at is this: the government has (very likely) convicted her, while its close allies are continuing to use her works—works that got her into legal trouble in the first place—to make money. Some fans of MXTX have questioned if the courts have censored the details of the case to save the embarrassment of the rich and powerful, calling what has happened to MXTX 人血饅頭 (“human blood steamed buns”), an idiom used to describe the act of profiting out of someone elses’ life.

As for fear-mongering, here are my thoughts ~ it would’ve been fear-mongering if the public has access to the facts, and not years after they happen. Specifically, it would’ve been fear-mongering to leak the rumours of MXTX’s sentencing, when the judicial system is transparent and the case details will soon be published for all to see. Why? Because “fear” comes from the unknown, and “-monger” is the unnecessary promotion, stirring-up of this fear.

To promote, stir up anything, one needs a reference level. The reference level in this scenario is this: what is the level of fear if the facts about MXTX’s (and other BL writers’) situation are known? Of course, this knowledge doesn’t make MXTX’s experience any easier or more just; it doesn’t cause her less fear. However, she isn’t the target audience of this likely-to-be-true rumour. The target audience is the public and in particular, those who consume and/or generate BL material online.

What is the level of fear among this population if the facts about MXTX’s (and other BL writers’) situation are known? It’s the (relative) comfort in knowing the government’s stance on what they do: how the administration feels about BL, 18+ BL, and their distribution methods. The comfort comes from having the right information to decide how to act accordingly. For example, if I’m a BL writer based in China and I know the court has found MXTX guilty of bypassing publishing houses but not of writing M/M romance, then I’ll know to not produce paper versions of my writing, but I can keep writing.

This reference level of fear is unavailable here, however, since the government has decided to withhold all details about the case. Without this reference level, fear-mongering becomes a ... difficult to define concept.

Are these likely-to-be-true rumours agents of fear, or are they hints on how to survive in a country that lacks transparency?

Continuing with the example of I being a Chinese BL writer, since I cannot expect to hear more facts about MXTX, this rumour is all I’ve got in choosing what to do with my hobby, in deciding whether it is safe to continue. As I’m aware that a rumour isn’t a fact, I first research on the rumour’s likelihood of truth (similar to what I’ve done for MXTX’s case), and cross my fingers that I don’t get it wrong.

By doing so, I’m turning these rumours into my survival guide.

Is it risky? Yes. Is it exhausting? Absolutely. But this is the way of life for people who live under secretive, authoritarian governments—the authoritarian element making it impossible to demand more facts. It may take people outside such regimes some time to get used to—to the lifestyle, and to the idea that, in a place where news is often synonymous with propaganda, rumours are breadcrumbs of truth that should be sieved through with equal care as one would sieve through the news. Heeding, considering the probable truth of what the authority has deemed to be fear-mongering rumours can be a matter of literal life and death. 

Take...COVID. (I apologize for bringing up this unpleasant topic!)

I shall link to an article about the early spread of COVID in Wuhan here and ask: were Dr. Li Wenliang and the seven other doctors fear-mongering? Wuhanese chose to believe in the government, but at what cost to them? What would the world be like today if they took the early COVID rumours as true and masked up like Hong Kongers—Hong Kongers who weren’t any smarter or better, but had simply learned their painful lessons from the 2003 SARS epidemic? 

(Why hadn’t the Wuhanese learned? Because the government has long changed the narrative of SARS, taught their people that the illness originated in Hong Kong.) 

(How can one learn from past mistakes if one pretends those mistakes never existed?)

You must be wondering, Anon, why I’m talking about COVID when your next question is about YiZhan. The death of Dr Li Wenliang on February 7th, 2020, sparked a demand for freedom of speech rarely seen in internet-age China. Its fury, its ferocity forced the government to change its stance on Dr Li, again an unusual move. Since January 2020, Weibo had been censoring COVID news and opinion pieces that shedded a negative light to the central government; after the death of Dr Li, the censorship apparatus stepped up, making way for the propaganda machine to kick in later and change the narrative of the pandemic.

Here are some questions without definite answers, but may be food for thought for YiZhan fans:

1) While the Chinese government’s censorship apparatus (including Weibo) might have silenced the voices of dissent, of mourning on the surface, was it more likely to pacify, or fuel the anger of netizens, many of whom had lost loved ones, many of whom were still under quarantine?

2) Less than three weeks after the death of Dr Li, a group of fans demanded even *more* censorship from the government—the closing of an internet website that had been seen as a relatively free space to express oneself. How would these netizens react, even though they knew little about these fans or their idol?  

(It was, in the context of the massive silencing of COVID discussions in China, that I learned about the ban of AO3. There had been rumours that the government would censor more websites on 2020/03/01. When I read about AO3′s ban on 2/27, my thoughts were 1) Hmm. This came two days early. 2) AO3? Really?)

(I wouldn’t watch The Untamed or know who Gg was until several months later.)

Now, Anon, this is a good time to get to your CCP (Chinese Communist Party) question.

The very short answer is no. There’s no way to support YiZhan without, to a certain level, supporting the CCP. As mentioned above, the media companies are all part of China’s surveillance system. Weibo is where freedom of speech is curbed. Our two boys have been part of the propaganda machine; the BBC article linked above had a tiny picture of Gg on it, as he was a performer in the Hero in Harm’s Way (最美逆行者), a “real-life based” drama on COVID. DD just did a show glorying the Chinese police force (and here’s a video of the same force welding doors to lock in COVID-stricken residents).

Nonetheless, here’s my first advice: please do not beat yourself up for supporting YiZhan!

Gg and Dd are people who live within the system, inside the Great Firewall. They understand the world the way their government has taught them to—not only in school, but also in the news and media. Like most youths in every country, they’re patriotic—and to expect them to be otherwise, especially because of information they don’t have, is both unrealistic and unfair. Even if they do know about certain things impermissible within the Firewall, in China (as in many Communists countries), openly expressing / performing one’s proper political leanings (ie. loyalty towards CCP) is among the most important pre-requisites for any job. This has been especially true for c-ent in recent years .

They, like most of their countrymen, are doing what they have to do.

In this case, it comes to us, our decisions on how to interact with their works. How should we deal with them, their propaganda elements?

The answer, of course, varies from person to person. Personally, I’ve chosen the approaches of “immunisation” and “restriction”. By “immunisation”, I mean learning about as much historical and sociopolitical facts from non-CCP sponsored sources; this is understandably difficult for someone who doesn’t already have some familiarity with the culture and politics of the region, and/or cannot read the language. 

Restriction means limiting my consumption of media produced by China. I avoid shows (dramas, documentaries, variety etc) featuring topics that are likely to contain heavy propaganda, such as the military, the police, Hong Kong/Macao/Taiwan, and of course, anything pertaining to the CCP, from its rise to its governance of the country.

In general, I’m wary of all information presented about the post-monarchy years (post 1911), even though CCP wouldn’t begin its reign until after WWII (1949). Why so early? 1) Because CCP was formed in 1921 and so its glorification requires a change of narrative since then; 2) because the Nationalist Party (Kuomintang, KMT), which governed China between 1912 and 1949 (the so-called Republican Era 民國), would end up exiling to and setting up a new government in Taiwan.

How much propaganda should one expect in shows depicting the country post-1911? The current TV and webdrama directives (previously discussed in this post) offer some hints. Here are my translations of the relevant items:

D7) Dramas about the Republican era: Glorification of the Republican Era, the Beiyang Government, and Warlord Era requires strict control.

D10) Crime drama: crime drama is the focus of content auditing. The Ministry of Public Security (Pie note: in charge of law enforcement, ie, police) will be involved in the audit. The process of crime solving cannot be exposed; criminal psychology and motivations can however be depicted in detail. Undercover police cannot use drugs or kill, or damage the image of the police force. Criminals must be punished by law.

D12) Dramas featuring realistic topics: realistic topics must adhere to the correct world view, philosophy of life and moral values. They cannot place too strong an emphasis on social conflicts, must showcase the beautiful lives of the commoners. Regular folks should display larger-than-life sentiments and aspirations; they can pursue wealth, but must use proper means to do so; they cannot damage the public image of specific employment types, groups and social organisations. Do not preach negative or decadent world view, philosophy of life and moral values. Do not exaggerate, amplify social issues; do not over showcase, display the darker sides of society; do not preach affluence, avoid things that have no basis in real life.

D16) Dramas featuring the Revolution (Pie note: CCP’s coming to power): 2019 is the publicity period of the 70th Anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. Although the “Three Importances” (important revolution, important people, important events) are still encouraged, the  National Radio and Television Administration requires all departments, at all levels, to strengthen the control of content and the overall management of the industry, and focus on the auditing of content pertaining to the Sino-Japanese war and espionage dramas.

These directives (as those translated in the other post) are as vague as they are restrictive, and to err on the side of caution, production companies tend to “overachieve” to avoid going against headwinds at the censorship board. This means their products have a tendency to malign the Republican Era (D7). It means they will likely twist history in trying to depict the CCP as faultless heroes (D16). It means they'll probably present a utopian-like society and call it reality-based (D12), a society in which the good guys share the same values as the CCP and always win (D10).

Yes, my “restriction” means I skipped Hero in Harm’s Way. It means I’ve never listened to Gg’s version of 我和我的祖國 despite my absolute adoration of his voice. It means I just missed Dd’s performance in the law enforcement celebration event. It means I don’t plan on watching Being A Hero and Ace Troops.

So here’s where I’ve drawn the line, Anon, but it doesn’t mean that’s what anyone should do. Only you alone can decide where your own comfort zone is. I write these metas in the hopes that it can offer a … gateway for those who’d like to understand, with a more telescopic lens, Gg and Dd’s country—a country that holds a particularly strong hold over its citizens’ fate including, yes, their romantic fate. It’s not my wish to impose my opinions on anyone.

If I have other hopes… It’s this. Please, as long as it’s safe for you to talk, do not self-censor—especially about facts, especially on sites like Tumblr or Twitter that have long been banned by the Chinese government. I don’t mean one should go about and confront those who insist on a different version of reality. To undo opinions rooted in years of education, IMO, the process has to be voluntary, and the information is already at the fingertips of those who’re surfing these sites and wish to learn more. More importantly, open discussions of these topics may be risky for those who still have close ties to China, and keeping them safe should always be the top priority. 

What I mean is simply this ~ please do not feel obliged to agree with every perspective presented in YiZhan’s work just because you support the leads. Please do not feel you must remain silent about the CCP—its good, bad and ugly—just because your favourite stars happen to come from the country it’s ruling. And please remember: “Chinese”, as a term, has always included people who live outside CCP’s control, many of whom still fully embrace the culture, traditions and values of Historical China, a 5000-years long string of dynasties with shifting borders, ethnic makeup and customs. The Untamed is a mainland Chinese production, yes, but its genre, its manner of presenting certain traditions, wouldn’t have been developed, or flourished, without the diaspora. The CCP has only been the ruling party of one country, the People’s Republic of China, for 71 years, and as a party with foreign (soviet) roots and a record of destroying the pillar of the country’s tradition, Confucianism, it doesn’t own a monopolistic say on how every Chinese should think and act—no matter how much it insists it does—or how everyone should think and speak about China and its people.

It isn’t qualified.

#Anonymous #pie metas #pie answers #BJYX #yizhan

[dayseternal-blog]

If you ever finish answering all of yours awaiting asks...

45 questions for you 👀

https://myaekingheart.tumblr.com/post/650107314353897472/fic-writer-ask-game

Lolllll BADLUCKBREBIS, you are so funny.

Inspiration and Reading Asks:

1. How long ago did you start reading fanfiction? Writing fanfiction?

It looks like I started writing in 2017. I've been reflecting recently on how there are so many regularly active writers now compared to in 2017-2018. It was the tail-end of some of my fave writer's activity within fandom. Utsus was posting less and less. The Tumblr NaruHina fandom seemed to disappear, a whole community of writers left for other things (matchaball, nekomamoru, magmawrites, cherryjutsu, spyder-m, tenney-shoes, eliphya, among others). 2018 was a very quiet year, but! I avidly read katarinahime and bunnyhoodlum's works! In 2019, quirrrky restarted things with NaruHina Week!

2. How do you spend your time when it comes to fanfiction? Are you primarily a fic reader, writer, or a perfect 50/50 split of both?

Recently I’m primarily a reader!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Because there's so many writers now!!!!!!!!

3. Are there any fics that inspired you to write what you do?

Yeah, let’s list them.  “A Special Friend” by agitosgirl inspired “Nightdreams.  “Medicine” by @grimmjowkurosakidrake​ inspired “White Lilies.  “Torch Song” by @mmmbuttery inspired “About You.”  The language in “Unless the World Were to End” by @bunny-hoodlum​ inspired the language in “That was the plan.”  “In Between Drinks” by @peppercornpress inspired “In Between Drinks NH.”

4. Link your three favorite fics right now.

“Operation: Bring Home Naruto” by Dragonwannabe - Rated T, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Complete. Hinata's been assigned the mission of getting Naruto back home safely after his last dangerous assignment. But can she handle the undercover identity as his girlfriend that she’d been given without revealing her true feelings for him?

“The Mission” by Lunawraythe - Rated M, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Ongoing. It wasn't that Hinata never expected to work with Naruto, just never on a mission quite like this.

“The Loving Type” by @peppercornpresses - Rated M, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Ongoing. A few years have passed since the Fourth Shinobi War, in which...Rookie Nine steadily advances in rank. Naruto gets engaged. Hinata leaves Konoha. And Kakashi schemes for days.

5. What are your fanfic pet peeves? Do they have a huge effect on whether or not you decide to read something?

ahhh.  I do have quite a few pet peeves.  If the fic is Canon-Compliant or Canon-Divergent, I expect Naruto and Hinata to behave like Japanese people.  Say what you want, but the Naruto Universe is definitely Japanese in my book.  So that means no shoes in the house.  Nothing rattles me more than reading Hinata taking her sandals off before climbing into bed.  Like, what?  she was wearing her outdoor shoes indoors this whole time??

mmm... another pet peeve is when the writer describes Hinata in a kimono, but it sounds like an American Halloween costume, like the slutty version, instead of an actual kimono.

mmm... and the other big pet peeve I have is when it’s Hinata’s first time eating ramen because Naruto is showing her the wonders of ramen.  lol.  why.  how.  in what world would a Japanese person make it to their teenage years without ever eating ramen.

I have a bunch of other little pet peeves regarding Japanese culture in fanfics.  But in general, it doesn’t stop me from reading the fic if I'm already in the middle of it.  I’ll continue reading it and will probably recommend it to other people anyway. If I can tell based on the summary, then it's not for me, and I don't read it. If this makes anyone feel nervous about writing fanfiction, that's not my intention! I would also be happy to be a sensitivity reader if necessary.

6. How do you find new fic to read? Where do you primarily read fanfiction?

I primarily read fanfics on AO3 and ffnet.  I find new ones by constantly checking the Hyuuga Hinata/Uzumaki Naruto tag on AO3 or looking into a writer’s favorites list on ffnet.

7. Do you prefer to read short fics or long fics?

Short fics.

8. How often do you reblog/comment on fics that you like?

I reblog pretty often. I don't comment as often as I used to😕 I used to comment on every fic I liked.

9. Tag 3 fic writers you think are underrated/unknown in the fandom/fanfiction community.

Uhh?? Idk. I think recently the writing group here is pretty tight, everyone seems to know everyone.

10. What’s your favorite fandom, pairing, or character to read fic for?

Naruto fandom and NaruHina.

Fanfiction Writing Asks:

11. How do you come up with your fic titles?

I usually take it from words used in the story or from the prompt.

12. Tell the author your favorite fic title of theirs (not the fic, strictly title). Author: what’s your favorite title you’ve come up with and why?

I think...maybe "Tell Me of Forevers" or "Nightdreams." I like those because they aren't taken word-for-word directly from the story, but touch on a theme in the story.

13. Do you outline your fics? How much of a headache would someone get if they just looked at an outline of yours without reading the fic?

Yes, I outline. They wouldn't get a headache, I think. It's usually just a summary.

14. Do you have a personal word minimum that you hold yourself too? Why or why not?

Nope. I didn't know people do that.

15. Tell the author your favorite fic of theirs. What’s your (the author’s) favorite fic you’ve written?

My favorite fic continues to be "It's No Secret."

16. Do you research for your fics? If so, how deep of a rabbit hole have you gone down by accident when researching?

Yes, I do. I've done historical and folktale research for "Little Samurai." I did area/location research for "Last Chance." I did historical research for "About You." I did fairy tale research for "Catskin." I did a ton of astronomy research for "The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl." And I did lighting research for "Inspo." I go pretty deep.

17. How obsessively do you sit and stare at your fic after you’ve just posted and wait for feedback?

I don't. I usually have something else I need to do or I go to bed.

18. Do you have a WIP that you keep telling yourself you’ll eventually get back to, but deep down you know that’s probably a lie?

I actually think I can finish all of mine if I just try.

19. Do you edit your fics after you write them, or do you prefer to just hit post and run (because it’s someone else’s problem now)?

I always edit before posting to AO3. Anything I post directly on Tumblr might not be edited.

20. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

Posting!

21. What’s your least favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

Starting a new chapter.

22. Do you take fic requests? If so, for what characters and why?

On occasion. If someone sends me a request, I'll think about writing it. Sometimes I do write and post it, sometimes I leave them in my drafts for a better day.

23. What’s your absolute favorite trope to write?

From what I already have posted, probably friends-to-lovers, secret relationship/forbidden love, or high school au. I don't think I have an intentional favorite.

24. What’s a trope that you’d like to never hear about as long as you live, let alone write?

Public humiliation / public degradation.

25. Do you listen to music as you write? If possible, link your writing playlist.

No, not usually.

26. What’s your biggest distraction when writing?

Tumblr feed, all the pictures to scroll through mindlessly.

27. Do you like to give your readers some warning of what might be coming or just slap them in the face with content at random?

lol, whatever is fine.

28. How do you deal with writing pressure (ie: pressure to update, negative comments, deadlines, etc)?

Well, pressure to update is not a big deal to me. I do this for fun, so I don't think I unnecessarily pressure myself too much. With negative comments, I don't get too many of those, and I think I do my best to avoid situations where I might get negative feedback.

29. Have you ever written for an exchange or event of some kind? Which one(s)? Did you enjoy it?

Yeah, I like the events. My favorite was NH2020, the year-long one last year. I also enjoyed the Secret Santa last year since @badluckbrebis was my giftee.

30. Post a snippet from your current WIP without context - no more than 300 words.

haha😈

Ecstasy slides through his veins, blooming over his mind, cocooning him in pleasant sensations, cum shooting out in eager twitches against hot, milking flesh.

31. Of the characters you write for, which is your favorite? Has that choice been swayed at all by your followers/readers’ reactions to certain ones?

Naruto Uzumaki, always.

32. Copy and paste your top three favorite lines/jokes/sentences you’ve ever written. What fics do they come from?

Top 3 faves in order:

That was the plan: "She shifts in his arms, and cloth and cleavage come pillowing up to his face, and he’s certain that she’s scooped from the same puffy stuff his adolescent daydreams were made of."

Tell Me of Forevers: "What he wouldn’t do to inspire every blush, every smile of hers for an eternity when such moments already only speak “forever” to him."

White Lilies: "Whether at his feet, in his eyes, ears, mind, if not reaching his heart, she never landed anywhere. (It’s okay.)"

I consider "White Lilies" to have my technically best writing, so it was kind of hard to choose just one line from that fic! But I decided that one's my favorite line from the whole story.

33. What do you like writing better: one shots or multi-chapter stuff?

One-shots.

34. How much of yourself and your life experiences do you put into your writing? What do you think your readers’ image of you is?

A lot of my life experiences are in my writing. Hmm, I think readers probably think I'm...hmm...either empathetic or really perverted?

35. How much has writing fic changed your life?

I spend a lot less time on real-life social media than before.

36. Are there any fics or fandoms you’re embarrassed to have written or been part of?

I'm kind of embarrassed of "Honeymoon at the Hot Springs" lol. It's fine.

37. Give an update on your current WIP - if you don’t have one, give a sneak peek to a title or idea that you have and would like to write.

My current WIP is that A/B/O fic I started for February Smut Month Prompts: Sweet as Candy or Love Bites. I'm going to title it "Sweet As," and it'll be about how Naruto and Hinata become Alpha/Omega mates. It's really kinky, really smutty, and totally what I would want to read.

38. What does your writing process look like? How chaotic is it on a scale of 1 (very tame) to 10 (you can’t handle this kind of chaos)?

uhh???? a 1?? I've never once thought of my writing process as chaotic. Ahh, then I think of bunnyhoodlum's multiple drafts for the same chapter, and I realize that there exist types of writing processes that I would not be able to handle...

39. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

My smut.

40. How did you come up with the idea for [x fic]?

41. What’s your most popular fic (with the most notes on tumblr, most hits/kudos on ao3)?

Idk about Tumblr,,, maybe White Lilies got the most attention here. My most popular fic is Nightdreams on AO3.

42. Asker: pick three of the author’s works. Author: rank them 1 (the best) - 3 (the worst) based on whatever criteria you want - this could be something totally random that isn’t quality related (like simply ranking fics based on how many trains appear in them) - have fun!

43. Talk about a positive experience with fanfiction or the fanfiction community that you will always remember.

I will always remember how people congratulated me for finishing White Lilies😭 Also, when peppercornpresses made that FIRST art of my story, I just, I just stared at it all day.

44. Rant about something writing related.

hmmm, I don't feel like ranting about anything. I just recently ranted about my pet peeves above.

45. Fic specific questions - if you have any weird questions about specific works, here’s your shot to ask them!

I did them all! Nice questions.

#anon #*anon* #fic writer ask game #i will send these questions right back at you

[minecraftrelatedrandomness]

Aqua’s Live Reactions: “Las Nevadas”

Once again, despite knowing when exactly the livestream would happen, I decided to pull a Ge0rgeN0tF0und and slept through the latest lore event... though in my defense, the stream started at 5am in my time zone. Since the official vod still isn’t uploaded, I’m watching an unofficial one, so thank you to my friend Emily from Discord for uploading it.

As usual, a few things before we begin:

I basically don’t know what happens during the livestream, even though I woke up at 8am or so. Sure, I’ve seen a few minor spoilers through browsing Reddit and Tumblr (I’ve refused to interact with major blogs I follow to avoid them actively), but overall, I know next to nothing.

No one’s updated TV Tropes yet, so thank God I don’t have that as a source of spoilers. I might update them after watching the vod, though.

This whole post is within the context of the SMP, so /rp and /dsmp applies to everything under the cut.

If you don’t know what happened, be warned, as spoilers go unmarked. I’m only adding the spoiler tag because it’s within the first 24 hours of the stream.

I have a bingo card for this stream, actually! You’ll see it filled out at the end of the post.

0:08 -- Why is there a countdown? Is this plot-significant in any way? *asks* No, apparently it’s not, so let’s skip the first 12 minutes, I suppose! Considerate man lets us grab the popcorn and be prepared to choke on it

12:05 -- LET’S GOOOOOOOOOOO... wait a minute, he said he was going to kill Techno on the notification? HOW DOES THIS PLAY INTO THE PLOT--

12:18 -- “all recorded in Minecraft” guess no more real life smash cuts like on March 16th, then? also, is this a desert?

12:24 -- WHY IS HE SUDDENLY RIDING A WHITE HORSE, WHERE DID OSSIUM GO

12:27 -- “the start of las nevadas” LET’S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

12:40 -- LMAO FLASHBACK CUT TO THE FINAL CONTROL ROOM DUEL, ANOTHER CHECKBOX ON THE BINGO SHEET

12:44 -- HOLY FUCK IT’S THE CASINO CITY!!

13:02 -- That explains the title, the hit list! He’s got Dream already, and hence the title! He’s going after Techno... again.

13:07 -- THE HELL IS THAT FACE

13:10 -- Visiting Dream every day, as demonstrated in the last stream!

13:36 -- EPISODE 3 LET’S GOOOOOOOOOOOOO I’M SO HYPED

13:47 -- OH MY GOD HE’S ACTUALLY DOING IT HOLY COW (another one bites the dust)

14:15 -- WHAT ARE YOU DOING.... OH NO THE C!DR3AM APOLOGISTS ARE GONNA HAVE A FIELD DAY OVER THIS................... i’m scared

15:00 -- oh so the torture WAS partially revenge-motivated........................

15:05 -- OH WAIT I FORGOT TO CHECK OFF THE TRAUMA BOX... done

15:37 -- THEY’RE TALKING ABOUT THE DEAL, RIGHT? THE LEONINE CONTRACT?

16:50 -- the fandom be coming to a halt at this... techno visiting dream? people have been speaking of this interaction in the fanfics for months. this could be life-changing 

17:47 -- if this is what you promised him, then you’d do your goddamn best to keep that promise, okay?

18:26 -- “what if sapnap comes” OH BOY OH BOY YOU’RE LITERALLY TALKING TO THE MAN ENGAGED TO HIM AND ALSO IS CURRENTLY HAVING RELATIONSHIP ISSUES. DO NOT SPEAK OF SAPNAP LIKE THIS. THIS BETTER NOT BE HOW THE RELATIONSHIP ANGST GETS DRAGGED INTO THIS MESS. IT BETTER NOT.

20:11 -- JESUS CHRIST MAN..............

20:53 -- I’ve heard rumours about Exile... oh boy....... I don’t like this thing one bit. Not at all. Can’t we just get this over with? (props to the content creators though)

21:20 -- watching this shit is actually slightly distressing. actually does make me slightly uncomfortable here in the studio.

21:32 -- we’re done, I hope. we’re done? are we done? (oh no there’s gonna be so much apologist discourse over this because I myself actually feel a little bad for c!dream over this shit)

21:38 -- I hear rain?

21:56 -- chapter 1? so we’re finally done with the prologue that’s gonna spark so goddamn much discourse?

22:19 -- is that an alleyway? with a campfire?

22:36 -- WHOA! LOUDNESS ALERT

22:39-23:10 -- “easy job, no innocents, big reward, easy money, peaceful heist” oh and was there a horseman? I couldn’t see clearly who it is, but there’s someone there and a horse? and an enchanted... pickaxe?? and what’s that massive crackle-tearing sound?

23:10 -- someone shot an arrow and the sound stops? new scene?

23:20 -- WHAT THE HELL IS THAT RED SHIT??!! the nether?????

23:35 -- there’s someone in armour? black? lots of lava?? q, is that you in that new skin of yours? and... why do I hear distant screaming???

23:51 -- the loud thunder actually makes me slightly uncomfortable, I feel

24:05 -- FOOLISH?!!?

24:29 -- “the pursuit of peace”... why did it just blink out like a malfunctioning security cam?? and time is ticking?

24:43 -- hey! it’s morning in las nevadas!

24:48 -- SAM!!

24:53 -- yeah, why’s there a villager back there? a cook?! a gourmet chef for the gamblin’ city?

25:21 -- stop talking over people, Q. it’s impolite. also, you showing him dream’s note... that you made him write under threat of death? (oh, apparently not!)

25:48 -- *silence* shit, we got the fiances angst alright

26:04 -- “why are you so worked up? calm down” because they broke his heart and he’s still not over it, I think?

26:23 -- FOOLISH!!

26:57 -- “he’s a good fighter” FOOLISH LORE?!!?

27:30 -- “everything we’ve done, we’ve done it for justice” ooh boy

28:00 -- FOOLISH LORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

28:49 -- “and now he’s wasting his days away building” no, he’s not, he’s said it’s like his healthy coping mechanism, don’t do this to foolish of all people

29:53 -- I’m with you on this, Sam. Q, don’t drag the old man out of retirement, because you’re gonna get zapped istg

30:05 -- IT’S HIS ANCIENT EGYPTIAN STYLE HOLIDAY HOME!!

30:33 -- YES IT’S HIM, IT’S THE BOY!! THE BOYS!!

31:15 -- the banquet gets mentioned!! he cares!!!

31:56 -- yes, he does know kinoko. he’s still evidently heartbroke over it. please don’t do this. why is this the way fiances angst manifests. why. you literally see his facial expression fall, right?

32:59 -- “it’s a big country” yeah, five whole maps’ worth, iirc

34:08 -- does this shit count as miscommunication? I think it might. if it does, another one bites the dust...

34:36 -- don’t let people’s pasts define them. define them by their present. and that’s to the “fans” bashing on content creators for “not knowing better” as well.

35:47 -- from one tactic from another, huh? blackmail to fuckin’ real estate?

36:13 -- yeah, that’s one MASSIVE build... Q, don’t do this, let him have his peace

36:32 -- YEP, THAT’S A CAPITALIST ARC ALRIGHT

36:43 -- oh for fuck’s sake........................ at this rate, I’m becoming a foolish apologist

37:33 -- so you’re going the fuckin’ capitalistic pragmatism route, I see what you did there, haha art major useless, hahahaha /s

38:19 -- “after I let you die at the red banquet” MOTHERFUCKER. YOU DAMN WELL MOURNED HIM. WE ALL SAW THAT VOD. WE GODDAMN SAW IT. ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS, FUCKER. WHAT THE FUCK. THIS IS WHY I AM NOT AN APOLOGIST FOR Q. WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING. OH WAIT YOU’RE GOING DOWN THE WILBUR ROUTE OH NO THAT EXPLAINS A LOT--

39:38 -- oh great, manipulate mansplain malewife be on the case again. as much I love the phrase, please stop. please no. and when the time comes, explain to the fandom, the pain and heartbreak you put us teenagers through. when will you learn, that this is your legacy, your lore is your legacy. as they twist your characterization... 

40:09 -- holy FUCK he went off on the wilbur route. he took the cynicism and pragmatism and goddamn ran with it to the logical extreme of capitalism. sir... I live in the most capitalistic city in the goddamn world, but even I think you’ve gone off the deep end. it’s getting harder to defend you from the haters, ya know, as someone who heavily sympathizes with you.

41:06 -- i’M SORRY TO SAY THIS, FOOLISH, BUT KILL THIS MAN WHERE HE STANDS, PLEASE. PERSONAL GROWTH? FOOLISH ALREADY HAD HIS CHARACTER ARC OFF SCREEN, AGES AGO. THAT WAS HIS PERSONAL GROWTH, THAT VIOLENCE ISN’T THE ANSWER. YOU SICK FUCK. YOU ABSOLUTE BASTARD. /lh

42:35 -- OKAY, THANKS FOR THE REMINDER OF WHY I SYMPATHIZE FOR YOU, YOU’RE LEGIT GONNA MAKE ME CRY AT THIS RATE

43:29 -- chapter 2! oh, and I think... foolish probably just realized that q kind of fell down the rabbit hole... just like he himself did, ages ago. it’s such a weird dichotomy we have here. so weird.

43:33 -- old style camera countdown stock footage!

43:49 -- THE SLIME!!!!!!!!!!!!

44:04 -- “rest in peace Tommyinnit LOL” of all the slime chunks you could have used, you had to use THAT?!

44:25 -- “...slime children. gross” I thought slimes reproduced asexually?? like you kill a big slime and two smaller slimes are produced???

44:58 -- “so all around us, the environment, everything, it’s all slime?” “always has been.”

45:21 -- that “unless” is so fuckin’ ominous

45:38 -- mysterious dark figure?

45:43 -- oh! it’s Q in his new skin! I can recognize those eyes’ positioning anywhere! and no, I’m not making fun of your “condition”.

45:53 -- WHY IS HE USING AN ELYTRA???!!!! I thought it was banned?!!! or is this winged!Quackity confirmed???

45:59 -- *flying* *land harshly and lose half his health* “FUCK” LMFAO HE TOOK A MASSIVE L RIGHT THERE

46:41 -- sanitary conditions?? what are we on now??

46:56 -- NO ONE EXPECTS CHARLIE SLIMECICLE

47:11 -- did he just murder charlie?! canon life lost?! and what is this beeping?

47:23 -- interrogation scene?

48:04 -- 300 bones? are you a child? it’s 206 bones in an adult human, sir, unless minecraft anatomy is different?

49:25 -- slimecicle lore. also suspiciously specific denial.

49:50 -- “something about a purple guy?” PURPLED?!!?

49:51 -- “you broke his ufo” PURPLED!!!!!!! F IN THE CHAT FOR THE UFO THOUGH

50:48 -- he was about to take a canon life but then-- wait what? is something happening?

51:14 -- IT’S SNOWING!!

51:25 -- “this is called coke” no it’s not :] (affectionate)

52:00 -- thank you, charlie slimecicle. VERY specific. /s

52:07 -- “red shirt blond guy” TOMMYINNIT?!!?

52:12 -- “dead guy but not anymore” WILBUR?! IS THIS HOW QUACKITY FOUND OUT ABOUT WILBUR BEING REVIVED?!

54:03 -- “a spy” “a friend” MY HEART MY HEART AHHHHH

54:11 -- CHAPTER 3!! I also looked slightly ahead and is that... Fundy? Wilbur?!

54:14 -- GOING BACK IN TIME TO SEE SOMETHING DIFFERENT WOO

54:17 -- ONE WEEK BEFORE THE RED BANQUET, LET’S GOOOOOOOOO

54:44 -- PURPLED?!?! also, what’s this rule about no minors in the gambling country, made ages ago?

56:28 -- are they using a walkie talkie? is that why it all sounds so... crackly? the audio? and there’s the ufo... with disgusting blood vines growing all over it... is this where it goes kaboom?

56:44 -- now that you’ve said it, he’s probably gonna show up any second now

57:02 -- you get his attention... by making his old home go kaboom?!

58:09 -- OKAY YOU’RE ACTUALLY DOING THIS, THANKS TO FLYPAW FOR THE HEADS-UP

58:43 -- he’s really goofing off by breaking a shroomlight in the wall to make a window, huh? (affectionate)

58:52 -- LOOK WHO’S HERE!!!!!!! IT’S HIM!!!!!!

1:01:54 -- so THIS is how he got purpled on his side for the banquet... wonder if it also goes into him recruiting techno as well

1:05:22 -- THE RED BANQUET!!

1:05:37 -- it still doesn’t resolve the problem of how he’s been getting money from though.... like we know it’s based in las nevadas. we KNOW. but anything concrete behind that? no! people didn’t even know it existed back then! how were you supposed to get your cash? unless you’ve been... heh... mining off camera

1:06:11 -- after the red banquet, and that’s a good question, sir!

1:06:45 -- “where’s my money?” LMFAOOOOOOOOOOO

1:07:24 -- BRUH. HE DID WHAT JUST NOW. HE DID WHAT?! YOU WHAT. WHAT. WHAT...

1:08:03 -- you’re... ACTIVELY DESTROYING HIS LEGACY?! WHAT THE LEGITIMATE FUCK?!!? SIR?? IT’S GETTING VERY HARD TO DEFEND YOU, AND YOU’D BETTER HAVE SOME DAMN GOOD EXPLANATION FOR ALL OF THIS. YOU BETTER. 

1:09:25 -- it starts thundering the moment q gives out the new proposition. this is textbook ominous stuff. don’t make a deal with the devil. i see how fundy’s lore gets roped in here. because he has less than good intentions...

1:10:07 -- “potential” seems to be an arc word here

1:10:37 -- “if you join me then that won’t be the last piece of evidence you were ever around” YOU DESTROYED HIS LEGACY, YOU DIPSHIT, AND YOU COME IN WITH THE PROPOSITION THAT YOU CAN BUILD HIM A LEGACY?? A NEW ONE????? BRUH........ WHAT THE HELL?! guess dream saw the minors and said “is anyone gonna manipulate that” and didn’t wait for an answer... forgot purpled... and then mr alex quackity shows up and says “i’ll finish the job for you” and goes and manipulates the last minor. great job.

1:12:00 -- says the man planning to use people for their abilities and skills...

1:14:21 -- ...fundy?

1:14:49 -- he’s ready to go to bed... nightmare time?

1:15:43 -- he woke up... in the mesa?

1:16:09 -- it’s him alright! I didn’t watch his March 30th lore stream, but I’m starting to get where he’s coming from...

1:16:44 -- not only is he still in the mesa, but he’s greeted by a man who’s very evidently shown to be spiraling badly. this is NOT going to end well.

1:18:15 -- is that... a tower? w-his tower? I don’t know Fundy and his lore very well tbh...

1:18:32 -- the ruins of l’manburg... the walls... what has happened? are we still in a nightmare?

1:19:41 -- the camarva-- oh. oh. the lore stream. of course... shit......

1:21:45 -- he’s... recruiting. ‘”he” had horrific intentions despite a good-sounding premise’... the march 30th lore stream...

1:22:06 -- why is his voice getting echoey?

1:22:48 -- “if you think about it, you don’t matter” BITCH WE PULLING THAT CARD NOW. WHY? WHY. WHY.

1:24:10 -- dude you’re acting like a stereotypical supervillain... fundy... resist the call... please... 

1:25:26 -- the music is acting up...

1:26:05 -- MOTHERFUCKER HE’S HERE, STOP TERRORIZING THE POOR GUY............

1:26:19 -- revivedbur! how’s it been?

1:26:24 -- wait, that’s an old clip, if a subscribe thing pops up....

1:27:19 -- it’s a sign!

1:27:31 -- revivedbur ran off to las nevadas! he joins the casino gang!

1:27:51 -- the beanie duo crumbs........................

1:28:20 -- A MASSIVE ROUND OF APPLAUSE, TO THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND HIMSELF!!!!

(there may be future amendments on the bingo card)

#dream smp #quackity #aqua live reacts #/rp /dsmp #tw torture #tw derealization #tw manipulation #tw death mention #tw death threats #las nevadas #dream #awesamdude #foolish gamers #slimecicle #purpled #fundylive #wilbur soot #my post #dream smp spoilers #tw violence #tw explosion #long post #23 may 2021 #beanie bros

[bisexualoftheblade-old]

how many wips do you have? like what are they all, and not the number of wips in a fandom? what are all the names?

okay. fuck you. fuck you so much. fuck you.

i’m putting this under a read more cut no one else deserves to see this shit. a lot of these are requests, and for those i will just write out the request itself

Shadowhunters:

domestic polycule fluff with tem, jessa, and will because im not a coward

Supernatural

- hehe hoho i request destiel hehehe

- request 61/? cai cai cai cai i need you to rewrite the destiel scene but yk. GOOD. not like i'm in the know about the spn fandom or anything, it's been years for me. but DO IT

Bright Sessions

- caleb/adam grisha AU

- mark bryant vs. united states aka sue the AM

- caleb/adam college fluff

Umbrella Acaademy

- request 31/? i want a ben and klaus drabble please spare me some brotherly bickering

- AND SO BEGINS NIGHT 4 with request 13/? oooh oooh can i get a raymond and allison playlist??? i think their vibes together would SLAP

- hi there night 2 is technically morning 3 but who's counting not me anyway request 5/? can i get a ben moodboard? gotta rep my tua bb

Percy Jackson

- request 9/? can i get a percabeth moodboard or quote edit?? like god they're the og couple goals take me back to high school cai

- For the 100 follower things :D Jercy getting caught in the rain

- request 29/? a drabble about literally anything to do with pjo. i’ll be happy with anyone and anything i’m love these children

- *somersaults in like I’m a real fancy acrobat* hello ello ello may I request some camp half blood chaos possible involving *does a flip* ✨side characters✨ <3

Penumbra Podcast 

- request 52/? drabble about the penumbra podcast. this is for ren bc ren likes it and i don't actually know anything about it. juno? i think? that's the one ren likes. write it for ren

- Tpp ghost hunting / buzzfeed unsolved au

- sad juno smut

- final resting place fic go brrrr

Marvel

- request 6/? i'm going to my roots y'all can i get a spider-man playlist? if not a playlist then i'd honestly be happy with literally anything involving spider-man

- request 15/? i'm going crazy this is recorded evidence of me actually losing it ANYWAY can i get a quote edit for something from iron man? literally anything that man says is gold so cai's choice :D he deserved better in endgame i'm still bitter

- request 42/? do another spidey thing that differs from the other spidey thing

- request 73/? you have Opinions. rant about infinity way and/or endgame. go.

- request 74/? quote edit for deadpool!!

- spideytorch relationship character study

- peter parker as a tired grad student monitoring the young avengers (send help)

Six of Crows

- okay listen i wasn't going to request anything bc i worry about you but also? if you want to/have the time hit me with a playlist for our girl nina zenik

- request 43/? fuckin give me the ending anya should have had. she is alive and with her new son and having a great time

- request 45/? inej moodboard?

- request 47/? will you make literally any meme of your choosing for six of crows?

- request 48/? write a drabble for kaz, my favorite bastard

- okay so i don't actually like nina or mattias that much but i still wanna hear about your thoughts (and also see if you'll change my mind)

- kaz brekker turning 18 fic. birthday party, everyone singing, whole shebang. i need it stat

- religious trauma fic aka i started shipping kaz/alina/inej and i can’t stop

- kaz trauma soup (he has D.I.D. and you can’t prove me wrong)

- my two redacted fics for @grishaversebigbang​

- wesper fake dating

- six of crows bright sessions crossover: everyone gets therapy

TMA

- uhh... s1 gang having a nice time? melanie getting to have some Pride™️? some "fun" horror thing?

- request 7/? spare steph and jason bonding? please sir? spare some for a humble child such as myself?

- okay so this was meant for night 3 but i had midterm shit SO this is honorary night 3 let's DO THIS request 8/? i want a moodboard of extremely out of context magnus archives shit like i mean confuse the FUCK out of me i don't go here i know Nothing about it

- request 11/? OKAY so i need tim stoker meeting tim drake now i need my timmy to meet your tim plus i want to see character differences no i'm not trying to create a tim stoker in my head so i can read a's fic while NOT thinking of tim drake whaaaaaat you're crazy

- request 18(i think)/? i need a quote edit of every time within the first like. 15 eps of tam where jon is like “sounds fake but go off” thank u bb

- request 40/? i challenge you to write a tma drabble based only on the episodes i've heard. i'm currently halfway through episode 23

- Jon being lovingly bullied into taking a break. I'm aware this has been written a million times but it is one of my favorite things.

- spiral!sasha AU

- extinction martin go brrrrr

- high school era timsasha. they've both been friends for years, and everyone always asks when they will be a couple. they decide to fake date, to prove everyone wrong and show what a bad couple they would be. turns out that's a bit trickier than they thought

- after sasha comes back, tim is broken. he can't let go, scared that if he looks away for even a minute he'll lose her again. sasha suggests shibari as a way for him to give up control

- sasha pov mag 19 au, sacrificing herself to save the others, knows that if she gives herself up to the not!them it will let the others live

- this is the "tim finds a polaroid of sasha" trope

- early archives days,, long nights in research,,, clothes sharing,, somft. late nights and falling asleep at their desks warm and safe in the other's presence

- two parts: timsasha as kids, each picking a constellation that is "theirs". just soft kid antics. tim at sasha's grave glancing up to see their constellations

- continuing your job’s a joke (you’re broke)

DC Comics

- TIMSTEPH HADESTOWN AU,,,

- my redacted fic for @batfam-big-bang​

- request for you to get a decent amount of sleep? serious answer, dickkori, SAL's Venus

- request 4/? timsteph morning after 👀 mayhaps?

- a concept: nonbinary stephanie brown

- teehee hi mom, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, but can i request damian angst for your accomplishments 100 followers?

- hi you can ignore my first request if you want, or you can ignore this one. but bls possibly write some bikini ra’s? -the bikini bitch

- request 27/? jay is asking through me for a jondami playlist but tbh i also want it so win win yk?

- "I don't know how to help you but I can help you find someone who does" with bruce and jason? im just craving bruce being a good day to jason for once

- “I am putting you in time out because you need to understand the consequences of your actions.” with steph and jason as dumbass disaster bi best friends pretty please?

- request 32/? timsteph patrol date!!!

- request 33/? timsteph *gala* date? mayhaps??

- request 37/? tim drake drabble but make it Edgy cai

- request 39/? drabble of a prank war between tim and damian

- joyfire cuddly fluff please? or like just any outlaw fluff if joyfire isnt your thing (feel free to add every member of the outlaws, dont feel like u gotta stick with jason, kori, roy i love them all)

- barbara and robin! jason fluff? bonding over books or something?

- request 62/? i need a drabble about the chaotic trio jason, tim, and steph i'm love them ty

- request 63/? batfam x mcu crossover. batfam meets ironfam. give me ALL the cliches. ALL OF THEM

- request 64/? young justice x young avengers - jay cuz idk SHIT about the young avengers

- request 66/? jondami moodboard pls and ty

- request 67/? timsteph moodboard!!!!!!

- request 69/? HEHEHE kinky 😏 i would v much like a timsteph drabble of the almost first time. does that make sense? like i don't want you to go all the way NSFW cuz i know that's against the rules and i'm a rule follower. but like they *almost* go all the way. this could be fade to black or some shit i don't care just make it a lil steamy and have Fun

- i request damian angst! all of it

- hmm... maybe i request? jondami?

- mayhaps,,,,some batfam,,,,,committing crimes? ily be gay do crime <3 - lu

- How about a ficlet with Steph and Cass?

Found Family Bingo Prompts

- no powers au

- tunnel

- first day

- join the club

- hurt/comfort

- experiment

- playing favorites

- hold on

- possession

- 10 o’clock

- singing

- road

- snitch

- curfew

- timer

- fantasy au

- zombie au

- dreams

- campfire

- are you okay

- movie night

- games

- scared

Miscellaneous

- a request: Write A Drabble, Coward

- is it too late to request a moodboard for me?

- request 20/? i’m going off book because i’m in a Chaotic Mood™️ can you just absolutely vibe check me like go off cai demolish me

- request 21/? i formally request that you pick a favorite cai. i don’t care what that favorite pertains to, just pick a favorite something

- request 23/? roast me

- request 24/? can i have a buzzfeed unsolved spoopy playlist but spoiler alert it’s not spoopy bc shane doesn’t believe does this make sense it has been a Day™️

- request 25/50 i want a jake and amy fic make it Soft cai i’m love them b99 is so good

- request 28/? i know nothing about the lord of the rings so make something that will confuse the shit out of me

- request 34/? malvie and jaylos moodboards 😈

- request 35/? a moodboard for the bbb mods!! perceive all of us!!!

- request 36/? moodboard for the tua mods too???? mayhaps??

- request 41/? doctor WHO? idk but i want a drabble of him and the one character i know from doctor who which is rose

- request 46/? make an alignment meme with our group, have fun!!!

- request 49/? i want you to kin assign me a character from every fandom you can/want to. go feral

- request 50!!!!/? this is a special request. the most special request. can you make a bastards tbh playlist? i want our vibes encapsulated. i want us in music form. i want to hear those songs and be like "that's me and cai" and smile.

- requests 51/? i know jack shit about good omens. explain it to me in the most confusing way possible. make me know less by the end than i know now

- request 53/? can you write a mel aesthetic? i'm Curious

- request 54/? give me a list of book recs cai i want some good book recs pls

- request 56/? edit a picture of US together too

- request 58/? oooh can i have a disney edit? like. hm. i just really love disney and i want anything to do with disney. like a quote or an aesthetic or an aesthetic edit i just want disney.

- request 59/? i would v much like a recipe for carbonara. i've never had it but it sounds fucking delicious

- request 60/? ooh hey can i get a makeup tutorial? i know you like makeup, i'm shit at doing makeup. teach me

- request 65/? i need the most emo playlist you can make that vibes with dear evan hansen thank you

- request 68/? i want a superwholock moodboard. this can be serious, with the actual fandoms in mind, or literally what the era felt like. the insanity. the horror.

- request 70/? ooh ooh ooh do you have a good bread recipe?? i wanna get that bread

- request 71/? i want a playlist with the vibes of summoning a demon. please don't ask questions. i don't have answers. and if i do, no i don't.

- For the requests, how about writing something based on a friend?

- request 75/? MMMM i want literally anything to do with natasha, pierre, and the great comet of 1812

- request 76/? i want some healthy recipes. help a girl out

- a feral bbb quote or two?

- you perceive my plant but now I dare thee to perceive mine own visage

- okay this is a two for one request. 1. you did the bee movie script so now we need a shrek two script edit 2. sleep please

- Pansexual mb for my lil queer soul?

- my (probably) final request is just for you to ramble about something, i don't really care what

- HI ILY CONGRATS AS WELL CAUSE IM LATE BUT CONGRATS. could i request a pirates of the caribbean (or just pirates) or whatever you what to do, free range.

- mood board for the beluga whales who got brought to the animal sanctuary in Iceland please?

- 100 follower request: Moodboard for my stuffed cow Oaky?

#cai's 200 #asks #mininacl

[bopinion]

2021 / 27

Aperçu of the Week:

He who goes his own way grows wings (Zen wisdom).

Bad News of the Week:

"Small measures, big impact" is the headline of an article on the Tagesschau website about a study by the German Institute of Economic Affairs (Institut der Wirtschaft / IW) that shows four ways Joe Sixpack could reduce his personal carbon footprint. And the numbers are impressive. If German households threw away only half the food they do now, that would save 6 million tons of CO2. A fifth less meat consumption would save almost 10 million tons. Buying one-fifth less new clothing per year would save as much as 12 million. And eliminating domestic flights in favor of rail would save another 2 million tons.

Wow! So why am I telling you about this under "Bad News"? Because these numbers are far less impressive in a different context. Because they would only reduce the CO2 footprint per capita and year by 0.6 tons from the current level of about 11 tons. But to limit global warming to the generally accepted minimum target of 1.5 degrees Celsius, a reduction to less than one ton would be necessary. And not even a complete renunciation of meat, throwaways, fashion and air travel would be enough to achieve this.

In order to spare future generations this enormous sword of Damocles, not only are many radical cuts in our accustomed everyday comforts necessary, but also a fundamental paradigm shift in practically every area of life - from consumption to mobility to the world of work. Driving to the organic market in an electric car and taking the old glass to the recycling center won't be enough. And not even Bill Gates will surprise us next week with an invention that converts greenhouse gases into a clean energy source at the push of a button. Likewise, Elon Musk's Mars colonies will be a little while in coming.

So what it would take first is radical honesty. The admission that all these small, well-intentioned symbolic measures, such as abolishing plastic cups for coffee-to-go, are simply by far not enough to maintain a planet worth living on. But there is no alternative. It's a shame that humanity's change management has failed in almost every significant task in history. The problem is quite simply the prioritization. For example, the military budget of the USA alone would be sufficient to sustainably abolish hunger worldwide - three times over. Or a single month's profit on Wall Street to end child labor and give all children access to education. Who knows, maybe if one of those children from Uganda had attended a school instead of slaving in a mine and had been given a hot lunch instead of malaria, he or she would become the genius who has the crucial idea for the miracle at the push of a button. But we idiots will reliably know how to prevent that. Congratulations!

Good News of the Week:

The pandemic has once again proven how important the so-called "state capable of acting" is for the well-being of its citizens. Especially in contrast to failed states such as Mali, Afghanistan or increasingly Haiti. An essential basis of a such capable state is its financial strength, in order to be able to cope with crises of any kind or, ideally, to prevent them from arising in the first place (social peace etc.). These crises must increasingly be seen in an international context - from Corona to climate.

The financial scope, in turn, is determined by the balance of expenditures and revenues - and the latter are fed almost exclusively by the taxes levied by the states. And this issue, too, must increasingly be seen in an international context, since companies, unlike citizens, are literally boundless in their tax-relevant actions. Which, to put it mildly, gives them room to maneuver - or more clearly: to avoid taxes. As a result, the well-known representatives of Economy 2.0 such as Amazon, Google, Apple and Facebook have come in for criticism.

Therefore, the news from the summit meeting of the G20 finance ministers in Venice yesterday can be absolutely welcomed: after a long struggle, an agreement had been reached on a global minimum tax for large corporations. An agreement providing for a 15% minimum tax is to be implemented as early as 2023. Under the umbrella of the OECD, 131 countries have already agreed to this - including the key heavyweights in this respect, above all the USA.

One aspect in particular is worth mentioning: companies are to pay taxes not only in their home country, but above all where the profits are generated. This benefits emerging countries in particular. On the other hand, companies will no longer benefit fully from doing business in low-tax countries, as the difference will then be levied at the company's legal domicile. Sounds good. And fair.

Personal happy moment of the week:

The day before yesterday was my daughter's high school graduation. After her 18th birthday, the second big step into the adult world. And the proud dad wavered between melancholic and tears of joy. There she is on stage getting her "certificate of maturity" - the world is open to her. I was also particularly pleased with her confident demeanor from organizing the event behind the scenes to making speeches to the audience up front. And the respect she received: from classmates, but also from teachers and even from other parents. Yes, the world really is open to her. You go, girl!

I couldn't care less...

...that England will lose to Italy tonight. After all, the final of UEFA Euro 2020 will be played in London - and the famous "Wembley goal" still has an effect... ;-)

As I write this...

...we are waiting for the next storm and hailstorm. And we know that we are much better off here than for example in the northwest of North America. Who still doubts the man-made climate change: look out of the damn window!

#thoughts #aperçu #bad news #good news #happy moments #news of the week #Zen #ard tagesschau #carbon footprint #co2 #sword of damocles #change management #pandemic #state capable of acting #g20 #oecd #minimum tax #Economy 2.0 #high school graduation #proud dad #uefa 2020 #climate change #uganda #bill gates #elon musk #prom #abitur

[eldritchsurveys]

984.

1. When was the last time someone saw you naked? >> That’s a good question. Sparrow sees me in various states of undress sometimes, but I don’t remember the last time I was fully naked long enough to be seen by anyone. The only time I’m nude is when I’m in the shower or putting on moisturiser directly after said shower (which I do in my room).

2. If you could bring someone back from the dead and spend an hour with them, who would it be and what would you do/say? >> I don’t want to do this. I wouldn’t want to do that to the person, either, like... that sounds traumatic as fuck. (Now, if it were an Inworld type of situation, that’d be way different.)

3. What is the greatest loss you’ve endured? >> Various aspects of myself, I guess. But maybe they’re not truly lost. I have no way of knowing right now.

4. How would you describe your current mood? >> Neutral. I am rarely in an actual mood of any sort when I get this question, obviously -- I tend to only do surveys when I’m in this state, because it’s hard to focus on survey questions (or anything, really) if I’m actively having an emotion.

5. When was the last time you did something you were embarrassed by? >> I don’t remember.

6. What was the last thing you lied about? >> I don’t know, lying isn’t something I normally do -- unless lying by omission counts, because I don’t say literally everything that I’m thinking or tell everyone literally everything about a situation. Or whatever.

7. Where is your favorite place to have sex? >> Inworld.

8. What is your earliest memory? >> I have a vague impression of being on the floor of a dog breeder’s house? When we got my childhood dog Roxie, I guess.

9. Do you ever drink or get high alone? >> I often drink alone just because I’m in the house alone during the times when I’m most likely to drink. I like to just vibe, and not have to worry about “putting on my human suit” or whatever. Sometimes I like to be weird and dreamy or dance-y and vibrant when I’m intoxicated and I like to have space to do that.

10. What type of a drunk are you? >> I don’t know, I haven’t been drunk in a long time. I think at this point in my life I’m probably just a sleepy, cranky drunk. Which is partly why I don’t drink nearly enough to get there, lol.

11. What song (or a few songs, whatever) means a lot to you and why? >> Death is the Road to Awe means a lot to me because The Fountain as a whole means a lot to me and the music is a big part of that whole yarn-ball of meaningfulness. It’s something I really can’t explain. The feelings I have about the movie and the song are on the “this is actually kind of painful in its intensity” level of emotional connection.

12. When was the last time you revealed your feelings for someone? Were they accepted or rejected? >> I don’t remember. Revealing my feelings isn’t a common activity here in Mordredland, as I’m sure is obvious, and I rarely have any remarkable (or share-able) feelings about people anyway.

13. What was the reason behind your last visit to the hospital? >> I think the last time I was in a hospital was when Sparrow’s sister had her child.

14. How do you tend to deal with a breakup? >> ---

15. What is the “worst” drug you’ve done? Are there any you will never try, or any you want to try? >> I don’t classify drugs this way, so I don’t know how to answer this question. The drug I know I will never try is crack, and a drug I am interested in trying is shrooms.

16. What is something you’ve done that you truly regret? >> ---

17. What does it mean to you to be a good person? Do you feel you are a good person? >> I am uninterested in the “good person” designation. I just want to be valuable to and loved by a few people, maybe. That’d be nice.

18. What is your philosophy on life/how do you generally choose to live or conduct yourself? >> I don’t think I have an overall life philosophy, because that seems terribly impractical at best. Life is so complex. Maybe that’s a philosophy -- rejoice in and value the complexity of life. *shrug* 

19. Do you view animals as being just as important as people? Why or why not? >> Hmm. I think a living thing should be allowed to live out its life and not be abused or willfully subjected to conditions that disrupt its quality of life. That’s really it, though.

20. When was the last time you were up all night and why? >> I don’t remember the last time that happened.

21. What is the worst thing you’ve done to yourself? What is the worst thing someone else has done to you? >> I don’t know what the worst thing I’ve done to myself is, but one not-great thing I’ve done to myself is become a chronic self-injurer. One not-great thing someone else has done to me is, well, I don’t know, physically abuse me repeatedly?

22. What is the most personal thing you’re willing to reveal? >> I’m not sure.

23. What made you stop talking to the last person you cut out of your life? >> The fact that he emotionally abused me, probably. That’ll do it.

24. Is there a situation or person you haven’t been able to get over/forgive? >> There are a lot of things I haven’t “gotten over” because their traumatic nature changed the way I am as a person and now I have to deal with that. I don’t really see a point in forgiveness, personally -- what I do see a point is forgiving myself and treating myself better than I’ve been treated.

25. Who was the last person to yell at you? Did you yell back? >> I don’t remember.

26. Where did your last injury come from? >> I don’t know! I just have this random gouge on my finger, like someone just took a small sample of my skin.

27. What are some kinks or turn-ons you have, if any? >> Trying to describe the things I like is hard because 1) it’s often dependent on context and 2) it’s more... specific kinds of things happening in specific kinds of situations and I don’t want to like, have to lay out a whole scenario, lol.

28. What are you like during arguments? >> I have an insanely heightened physical response to conflict, for some reason (I say “for some reason” like I’m not literally post-traumatic, but I don’t know what exactly contributed to this particular symptom) -- crazy heartbeat, flushed skin, shaking, the whole nine. So I guess I’d say I go full monkey-brain during arguments and I tend to do/say whatever will get me the fuck out of the situation because I cannot process anything but “I’m in danger and these people are dangerous and did I mention DANGER”. I’ve been working on trying to express myself rationally during perceived-conflict or actual-conflict situations, but it’s a long process and mostly I just try to avoid getting into the position to begin with.

29. What is the worst thing you have said to another person? >> *shrug* Who knows.

30. Where do you like to be kissed? >> Everywhere, when a person I’m available to in that way is doing it. (So, Inworlders.)

31. What is more difficult for you, looking into someones eyes when you are telling someone how you feel, or looking into someones eyes when they are telling you how they feel? >> I don’t look into people’s eyes, period. It’s the practice of eye contact itself that is inconceivably difficult for me.

32. Think of the last time you were REALLY angry. WHY were you angry? Do you still feel the same way? >> I really don’t remember the last time I was legitimately furious (and not just using bluster to suppress a more vulnerable feeling).

33. You are on a flight from Honolulu to Chicago non-stop. There is a fire in the back of the plane. You have enough time to make ONE phone call. Who do you call? What do you tell them? >> Why was I in Honolulu, though...? I need more context for this situation that I cannot imagine myself in.

34. You are at the doctor’s office and he has just informed you that you have approximately one month to live. Do you tell anyone/everyone you are going to die? What do you do with your remaining days? Would you be afraid? >> Well, obviously I tell my spouse, and then I guess... some people I hang out with online? I don’t know what I would do with my remaining days because I can’t imagine what it’s like to be in that situation and how it would change my priorities. And, of fucking course I’d be afraid.

35. You can have one of the following two things. Which do you choose? Why? Usually when someone says that, a list of two things would follow. <--

36. You are walking down the street on your way to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss has told you if you are late even once more, you are fired. Do you take the time to save the dogs life? Why or Why not? >> I don’t work, so that’s the first problem with this question. In a general sense, though, I would probably risk a consequence of that caliber in order to try to save a life if I can. (I don’t know about this specific situation, though, because I can’t swim...)

37. Would you rather be hurt by the one you trust the most or the one you love the most? >> It’s people that I trust and love (those are the same thing, sorry, I don’t get how they can be separate *shrug*) that would have the best chance of hurting me, because of the emotional attachment...

38. Your best friend confesses that he/she has feelings for you more than just friendship. He/she is falling in love with you. What do you (or did you) do/say? >> ---

39. Think of the last person who you know that died. You have the chance to give them 1 hour of life back, but you have to give up one year of yours. Do you do it? Why or Why not? >> No, man, we went through this already in an earlier question. No matter how you present the circumstances, I’m not bringing anyone back from the dead, period.

40. Are you the kind of friend that you would want to have as a friend? >> Well, I don’t know???

41. Does love = sex? >> Inworld, it does, because that’s just how it works for Us.

42.Your boss tells your coworker that they have to let them go because of work shortage, and they are the newest employee. You have been there much longer. Your coworker has a family to support and no other means of income. Do you go to your boss and offer to leave the company? Why or Why not? >> ---

43.When was the last time you told someone HONESTLY how you felt regardless of how difficult it was for you to say? Who was it? What did you have to tell the person? >> I haven’t done that in a long time, idk.

44. What would be (or what was) harder for you to tell a member of the opposite sex, you love them or that you do not love them back? >> I think the “I don’t love you back” conversation would be way harder, lmao. People get really upset about that sort of thing.

45. What do you think would be the hardest thing for you to give up? Why would it be hard to lose? >> *shrug*?? 

46. Excluding romantic love, when was the last time you told someone you loved them. Who were they to you? >> ---

47. If there was one moment and one time in the last month what would you change and why? >> No.

48.Imagine it is a dark night, you are alone, it is raining outside, you hear someone walking around outside your window. WHO do you wish was there with you? >> My apartment is on the third floor... my biggest concern would be “how the fuck is this person walking on air???” I don’t know why I’d want anyone in particular with me -- why, so we can both be killed by this apparent superhuman? lmao.

49. Would you give a homeless person CPR if they were dying? Why or Why not? >> If I felt confident in my ability to perform CPR, I might. I think it’s mostly the fear that I’m going to do it wrong and... idk, kill the person quicker? that would prevent me from doing it. It does sound vaguely irrational when I write it out like that, but hey.

50.You are holding onto your grandmother’s hand and the hand of a newborn that you do not know as they hang over the edge of a cliff. You have to let one go to save the other. Who do you let fall to their death? What was your rationale for making the decision? >> ---

51. Are you old fashioned? >> No.

52. When was the last time you were nice to someone and did NOT expect anything in return for it? >> I’m not “nice to” people. I just treat people with basic respect and consideration, and of course I expect that in return...

53.Which would you choose, true love with a guarantee of a broken heart, or never loved at all? Why? >> ---

54.If you could do anything or wish anything, what would it be? >> ---

55. What was the last thing you ate? >> A few toasted vanilla Smashmallows.

56. What kind of guys are you usually attracted to? >> ---

57. What’s the stupidest thing that’s happened to you that ended a friendship? >> I don’t think any of the things that ended my friendships were stupid. It just sucked.

58. What’s the longest amount of time you’ve had sex for? >> Inworld, probably... an hour and a half, maybe 2 hours? Outworld, I don’t remember or care.

59. What reality shows do you watch? >> I don’t think I watch any. I’m trying to think if anything I’ve watched on purpose qualifies as “reality” and I... don’t think so? Untold Stores of the ER is basically just dramatisations of allegedly-real stories, so maybe that’s the closest thing to reality tv that I watch? Man, I do love that show. Oh, wait, those cooking shows! Those are reality TV, right? Okay, yeah, I watch stuff like that.

60. Post a video of yourself here: >> No.

61. Where do you work? >> ---

62. Have you ever gone up to a car thinking it was yours and tried to get in it? >> ---

63. Where do you buy most of your clothes? >> I don’t have a designated place where I buy most of my clothes. I shop for clothes so infrequently that it’s really just “wherever has the specific item that I want”.

64. If you were very intelligent and had the capability to have any profession, what would you like to be? Getting tired of the unrealistic hypotheticals. <-- My constant mood with surveys.

65. What’s your most irrational fear? >> ---

66. How many radio stations do you listen to? >> Zero.

67. What kind of music do they have? >> ---

68. Would you rather go to Greece or Hawaii? >> Oh, but I would go to either...

69. Musicals: Yay or Nay? >> Yay :)

70. What are the next concerts you’ll be going to? >> Ha! Hilarious.

71. What was the last conversation you had with your best friend about? >> ---

72. Are you one of those people that LOVE to hug others? >> Inworld I will spend all day cuddling if I can. Outworld, I legitimately cannot remember the last time I initiated a hug with someone. It’s been years.

#surveys #survey #random survey

[andsotheuniverseended]

cephas my beloved

so i don't know if what you meant here was "answer all thirty of the dnd meme questions for cephas" but that is how i'm interpreting it so i'mma go ahead and put it under a cut

(also for those not in the know, Cephas (they/she/him/any pronoun you like) is my stone construct witch. yes those are both homebrew things I found online. i use this witch and just recently updated them to the 3.0 version and i'm very excited about it)

1. if one of their friends was jumping on a bed and asked your character to join them, would they?

Yes, absolutely, of course. The bed would then immediately break because Cephas is a couple tons of solid rock, but that's on their friends for not thinking it through. Or maybe that was the plan. Either way, Cephas is on board.

2. would your character carry around a tiny bath and body works hand sanitizer? if yes, would it have a specific scent?

I mean, Ceph does carry around smelling salts enchanted to smell like whatever would make someone feel better in the moment? Which is kind of the same thing? But anyways the real answer is Probably Not unless it was a gift, because Cephas has no sense of smell and has no need to sanitize.

3. does your character paint their nails? do they wait for them to dry fully afterwards?

Technically he doesn't have nails but Cephas will happily allow themselves to be painted over any part of their body, and will stay completely still until it's dry. I know because the party his done this to them before.

4. if you cut open your character’s heart and there was something inside, what would it be? why?

Hm. I mean. Literally speaking, no heart, you just find stone in there. Figuratively speaking... a jade earring. representative of their first steps towards freedom.

5. do/would your character carry lots of hair ties on their wrist?

Nah, not unless one of the other party members asked.

6. what parts of your character’s voice/manner of speaking are distinct, if any?

Hm. Mostly just that their voice is pretty rough and low. Otherwise I think they talk pretty normal??

7. what’s the first thing your character’s eyes are drawn to on a map?

New places. To all the parts of the world they haven't seen yet, and want to.

8. how did your character feel when they left home for the first time?

Okay I'm going to go with the definition of home that means Cephas has to feel like it's home, which would mean the place where they lived with their BFF Effie. And I think the first time they left there, with an intent to go out and adventure, they felt really excited, happy, and like they were finally doing what they were meant to be doing. They'd been feeling very restless up until that point, so it's kind of like scratching an itch. Very satisfying.

9. where does your character look when they’re the only one walking down a road?

All around. She likes to see everything and doesn't get particularly worried about other people or robbers or things like that, so there's a lot of being generally distracted by whatever scenery they're passing through. Sometimes he'll just stop and pretend to be a statue on the side of the road and people watch for a while, if there's time for it.

10. does your character have tattoos? were they alone the first time they got one?

Being made of stone, my darling Cephas can't get tattoos. If they had actual flesh I do think they'd wanna get some.

11. if a button came loose from your character’s shirt, would they make sure the replacement matched?

Cephas doesn't wear clothes, and if they did 'matching' would not be the thing they cared about, so for sure No.

12. how loudly do they cry?

Gods I feel like a lot of these answers are just "Cephas is a stone construct and therefore cannot/does not do the thing" but like Cephas is a stone construct and cannot cry. There have been a lot of times where they wished they could, but their body wasn't built for it. Typically if they're sad, they're quiet about it, reserved.

13. does your character like holding hands? do they do it often?

Yes! But he doesn't do it very often at all. Stone isn't comfortable for other people to hold, and they have to be careful not to hurt people when touching them, so it's generally more dangerous for whoever they're holding hands with than its worth.

14. is your character more likely to wear a necktie, a bowtie, or a bolo tie? (if any at all)

Again, no clothes. But I think Cephas would enjoy a good bolo tie.

15. have you ever said something as your character that stuck with you for a while after? what was it?

Oh lord. Uhhh... hm, well there was this one thing but it is very dependent on the context of the moment. Which is that they were talking with another character who was frustrated about not knowing things, and talking about how in order to be people you have to ask questions even if you don't get answers, you have to keep asking questions. And then they discovered something that was a step in a mystery they'd been trying to deal with and Cephas said "and sometimes you do get answers" and I don't know why but that one did stick with me.

16. what does getting flustered look like for your character?

Stuttering. Awkward hand movements. Maybe reverting to the old "I am but a simple construct with no consciousness" trick if they're really feeling out of sorts.

17. does your character have to glance at their hands to remember left and right?

Ha, no. Cephas knows what they're doing, unlike me.

18. does your character have stuffed animals? would they if they could? what kind?

Hm, no, xe doesn't. But I think they would if they ever settled down and stopped traveling. Even if Cephas can't really feel the softness, they would like it. And they'd be very careful with them too. As for the kind... I'm thinking those, like, huge round ones? Fuck there was a name for them. Squishables?? I think???

19. does your character walk or run down stairs?

Walk, typically. Running could damage things lol

20. if your character saw a turtle stuck on its back, would they flip it over?

Oh yes 100%. And also try and talk to the turtle and see if it needed any further assistance.

21. has your character ever climbed out of a window? would they do it again?

I don't have a moment in mind specifically, but there's no way Cephas hasn't, and they would absolutely do it again.

22. what’s your character’s ideal way to wake up? what usually wakes them up?

Cephas doesn't so much sleep as... go into Obedient Construct mode for four hours, which is to say they will obey any order given to them. Ideal way to wake up from that is in some weird/compromising position because it means his friends were messing with them and they love that. And they can't be woken up unnaturally, so its just that after Four Hours something in their head goes Ding and they're back.

23. what’s the pettiest thing your character’s ever done?

Dyed a nobleman's hair bright pink because he was kind of rude to them when they were pretending to be a normal construct.

24. what made your character the angriest they’ve ever been?

Cephas... doesn't really do anger, generally. But! There was a man who pretended to be a prophet of a god, and collected a small group of true believers. And then he took over a town, and made the townsfolk slaves. And that really got to Cephas, in a very personal way. (They did take care of the man and they still have mixed feelings about doing it.)

25. how does you character smile?

With great effort. Cephas wasn't built to emote, so any facial expressions are subtle and take a lot of concentration and effort to make happen. Over time they've gotten more practiced at this and can do it almost without thought, but it's still the smallest movements for a great amount of toil.

26. does your know the names of their constellations? how did they learn them?

I think, some of them? Cephas lived with her best friend's family for a long time and I think they would've learned some of them there. But then they also definitely made a game out of making up constellations and naming them whatever they wanted, so it's a toss up whether what they know is a real constellation or one they made up and then forgot they made up.

27. do/would your character draw or write on themself?

Oh yeah, for sure.

28. would your character race someone to the top of a tall tree for bragging rights?

Not for bragging rights, but absolutely yes Cephas would race someone. And they would lose because they are big and heavy and not made for climbing, but its more about the fun of it than the winning or the losing for them.

29. is there an artist whose style you associate with your character? (visual or otherwise; poets and musicians, etc. count)

Hmm... not really?? I don't really associate artists with my characters. My friend drew Cephas once, so I think that's the closest I'm gonna get to that. Maybe Delta Rae? I feel like Delta Rae has got those witchy vibes, and that makes me think Cephas.

30. how has your character’s first impressions of their party members changed since they met them? have they stayed the same?

Oh this is delightful because when Ceph first met the party, they were pretending to be a normal construct, so the DM was 'playing' them. Which meant I got to sit there and watch, and so I wrote down what Cephas was thinking. They only met the first three members of the party that day, but I literally have it written down that it was three "good first impressions" because one of them stole a book, another one turned invisible to draw a face on a trash can, and the third called Cephas 'interesting'. Overall impression? A group of messes who just went through something tough and are not dealing with it super well.

Current impression? A surprisingly competent group of messes who are working through some stuff, and very much don't like talking about their feelings. Also, I'm invested.

Seriously though it started out as Cephas thinking they seemed fun and wanting a distraction, and now Cephas is like actually really invested in all of them and their growth and wants to help them as much as they can.

#Cephas #dnd #this was. long. but also fun. #also anon u called cephas 'my beloved' and i was like Ah? did i send this ask to myself?? #maybe i did maybe i willed it into existence #anyways i love Cephas they're weird and beautiful and love their party and they have to leave soon and i am sad #Universe Answers