#i drew this on a kids game that has an art program on it

[kruelsaffron]

Go away Gary!!!

this is prob sized really small it’s just a screenshot Since I can’t download the actual drawing ^_^’’

#i drew this on a kids game that has an art program on it #i couldn’t draw anything in clip studio for weeks #sometimes you gotta draw in ms paint style programs #art block killer for real #jimmy hopkins #gary smith #bully scholarship edition #bully: scholarship edition #bully canis canem edit #bully cce #bully rockstar #bully game

[inlocusmads]

slam poetry ~ stevie sun x rowan stone

Rowan decides she wants to audiotape the outcomes of her cases instead. With Stevie's involvement, it turns into the world's worst podcast. (Murder at Homecoming)

wc: 1.4k, teen and up, strong language

a/n: written for @choicesjanuary2024, day 16: "relationships". Ever since I finished MaH I really wanted to write something for Stevie and my MC Rowan but somehow writer's block hit. Eventually I stumbled upon this scene from 22 jump street which inspired, well, this whole thing.

Audio recording number -- erm, I might have lost track of this stuff already. Let’s call it Number 3, because I haven’t done this in a while and the previous was Gabriella’s case, which I think has enough audio transcripts of mine being circulated around in several small magazines.

All right, let’s do this one last time. Name’s Rowan, Rowan Stone. I have a missing sister and for the last er, let’s say two years-ish-- I’ve been a -- well, let’s say I’m more than happy to do stuff for this dead-end town. Kind of a hobby, actually. If I’m off the video game controllers and not playing the drums, I’d suppose. I don’t like cop work, not a fan of sitting at a desk either. My policy is to just toss paper at annoying people. Hate the clicky-clicky sounds of keyboards, hate when people cross-talk - people in general. 

Are you recording tapes again?

Stevie, arghh, this is going in the archives, for heaven’s sake! Now I’ve got to do it again.

What’s it for?

The -- thing, the-- 

You’ve forgotten, haven’t you?

No, it’s like -- you know how I have been writing down my case reports as of lately?

When have you ever maintained an archive?

I thought it would look good on my resume or something, isn’t documenting a big thing now? You take five hundred photos everyday.

Someone has to document you moments before a disaster.

The idea is that I don’t have to deal with stupid keyboard clicks. You know the kind of annoying noise they make? 

Aw man, I thought you were into the weird detective aesthetic with the smokey room and the brown furniture and this rusty-ass typewriter.

Anyway, well, I was meaning to record this tape as a summation of what happened with Pierre and the test scores thing that I cracked. You know how he ended up hacking into the school’s servers and everything. Blew out of proportion, I tell you. Pierre was right there and yet everyone had to blame it on Brian. The dude hasn’t seen sunlight in over ten days from that tendon he pulled. 

That’s it?

Yeah, I mean, that covers it, right? 

Okay, Ro, I love you, but you are the absolute worst at summing things up.

You’re not pulling a twenty questions on this, are you? Vogue 75 questions or something?

I am surprised you know what vogue is.

Of course, it’s that Madonna song. Kidding.  Honestly if it weren’t for Stevie right now, I would have been done in ten minutes.

Right, isn’t that what Einstein said? Spend time with a girl for five minutes and it’ll feel like ten or something? 

Totally not what Einstein said, but go on.

He also sat on a stove or something, right? Reckon he got his rear end burned or something?

Listeners, I humbly submit to you the stuff I put up with on an everyday basis. No, Stevie, I don’t suppose anyone wrote a thesis on Einstein’s charred end and I don’t think nobody wants to either.

Who are you even talking to? I mean, what’s this thing even for?

A Case-Revisiter.

You’d be better off typing on a keyboard, though.

I’ll pay you twenty bucks hourly to help me with this.

Nahh. No offense, but like I have way better things to do. Have I ever told you the time when I graffitied the vice principal’s desk? Serves him right for cutting off funding for the arts program to fund a get this, SEASONAL, emphasis on “seasonal” baseball league that somehow never happens. Oh my god, Rowan, you should look into this. If anyone smells like embezzlement and uh -- a bunch of other shit, it is this dude. Anyway, the graffiti was hilarious though. I drew like uh, like this erm- thing, y’know?

And who’s terrible at summing up again?

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait-- I’m trying to like, remember-

Right. Listeners, you might as well get bundled up for the next ten years.

Who are you even distributing these tapes to, even? I mean, I know there’s a market out there for feet and true crime, but like, we’re neither. 

True crime sucks, by the way.

We should put like a picture of a foot, but with blood and stuff. Yay, podcasting.

For the record, listeners, this is your standard Stevie-Does-Oddly-Specific-Jokes-Because-She’s-Run-Out-of-Material segment.

Unless this is for your personal use, which is like, okay weirdo. I mean, if you really want to go to sleep with my voice running in the background, you can do so with some discretion. Like actually asking me.

For the last time, this is -- honestly I have no idea why I am doing this. My dad found this tape recorder thing and I was like, sweet, I don’t need to store hundreds of voice notes in my phone anymore.

You have voice notes?

Yes, actually. Some of them are long elaborate slam poetry things about you, falafels and the justice system.

Aw, you write slam poetry about falafels?

I’ve only got one line, though.

What is it?

Falafels are great. They’re -- your-- 

Rowan Stone, everybody. Will give Sappho a run for her money. Not the historical Sappho, the one I know from Couscous. It’s like this grimy run-down club that plays Avicii and Avicii only but they have these slam poetry nights where people just walk in with shit like ‘roses are red, violets are blue’. 

Weren’t we talking about Pierre?

Pierre’s shit at keeping secrets. That’s why he gave you such an easy case. Donovan and I had the whole forging-ID business and this dude walks up and asks if he could get into this place, like a molerat and he blew our cover. Pierre, if you’re listening to this, fuck you for ruining my business and everything, y’know? I was running that like my own battalion of tin soldiers that puts Kathy Neighbourhood-Woman’s Christmas decorations to shame. Also, stop ruining school for us and forge your report cards like a normal person.

Let the record show that this is the first and last audio-memo-whatever-the-heck-this-is I am ever doing.

Good. Let’s go out. Come on.

There’s this fun karaoke place down the road that just opened up. But I do have --

I’ll punch you if you say work. You’re a child! An infant! A-- uh, small human person.

Chores, I have chores. Mom’s already pissed that I have, maybe pissed some people off at school for turning in my assignments late.

Get out of chores, y’know? Also you probably saved the whole town or something. Not cool, Mr and Mrs Stone. Also is it me or do you also see how weird the whole process of ‘grounding’ is? You get chores as a penalty for not doing homework. That’s like getting shot in your leg but being treated for an allergy to mushrooms. 

Karaoke sucks though. We should get absolutely wasted in a bar.

I don’t know if you’re being serious or not.

Honestly, it’s difficult, because on one hand, it’s like-- nothing good happens in Beachwood. Karaoke places get shut down. Bars are raided because I dunno- for reasons. Carnivals are an excuse for sponsors to get more money into their pockets which ruins the experience for everyone. Arcades are no longer fun because the games are rigged to make you funnel as many quarters as possible.

You know, I thought dating would bring out a change in you, but you still sound like a grandma who has a picture of Aragorn thinking it’s Jesus.

It’s so difficult to make a change, though. I still think we should just do something familiar.

I am not having a repeat of the tuna salad incident.

Remember when this audio recording was supposed to be about Pierre?

Pierre who?

Now I remember this is why I had a crush on you.

The baiting isn’t going to work. I do it with nuance. What you do resembles a pathetic wet cat. You are not dragging me to the tuna-salad place. Please.

But I wrote some poetry, besides the falafel stuff. Here, listen to this. Titled ‘For Stevie’.

Someone kill me, please. 

‘Slam Poetry! Lots of yelling! Waving-’

Pierre, where the fuck are you, Pierre?

‘Generic compliments about hair and eyes. Specific instances where I decided I liked her. Stevie! Ste-uh-vee-’

Okay, forget I ever said you were cool.

‘Not to be confused with steeds or the V in sweaters. Ancient Romans! Lots of uh, gerunds. Loving, big lovey-doving, uh-- girlfriending. Girl, friends -- ding. Doorbell. I reach out- press the button. Butane gas prices. Pa-pa-pa-’

All right, I’m pressing this button.

Wait, wait, wait, I’m not done yet, I’m not do--

***

Tagging:

perma: @quixoticdreamer16 @tessa-liam @stars-are-within-me

I don't know if I ever plan on writing for MaH consistently, but if you are interested in these fun lil stuff, let me know! (Say even a potential Nora-meets-Rowan crossover fic) I'm also thinking if this garners a bit of interest, I'll do a character sheet for Rowan. Thank you so much for reading!

#w:inlocusmads #murder at homecoming #stevie sun x mc #stevie x rowan #choices january challenge

[blood-and-pizza]

I wanna talk about a few of my fan animatronics for FNAF, so beware! LOTS of old fan art ahead:

Catie the Cat - my first FNAF OC, created all the way back in 2014. She went through multiple name changes before she finally got her current one. Originally conceptualized as a flirty, sultry lounge singer animatronic from the FNAF 1 era, she gradually evolved into a playful party girl who's an amazing vocalist AND a drummer. Catie is a light blue cat who originally did not have hair, but eventually gained golden blonde hair on her later iterations. Catie's playful nature has always been a part of her, charming both kids and adults alike. I admittedly haven't had the chance to develop her as much as I would like.

Brewster the Rooster - One of my more recent FNAF OCs from 2023. He was part of my Kawaii line of fanimatronics and was called "Brewster the Bishonen Rooster". Currently, Brewster has sort of become one of my favorite OCs, though I haven't done much with him. He's basically a character known for his good looks, and he's developed such an ego about it he literally thinks he's the main character of the universe. And he uses this information to be as sweet and kind and nice and helpful to everyone as much as possible. He's an egomaniac, but if he had a heart, it would be golden. He's a well-meaning himbo who has a secret love of disco music and calls people "dude" regardless of what gender they are. Oh, and his crow is terrifying as fuck and bone-chilling if he's hunting you down for some reason. If you hear him crow, he already knows where you are. Better run...

Monica Gator - I know, I know. I'm sure other people have their own Monica Gator fanimatronics. But I couldn't come up with a better name for this girl:

Inspired by Montgomery Gator and his awful relationship with Bonnie the Bunny, Monica has a love of rabbits. She thinks they're cute... and tasty, too! She also flirts with rabbit animatronics, but they're too terrified of what she'll do to them if they return her affections.

Pammy P. Parmesan - A mouse girl animatronic who's meant to be a female version of Chuck E. Cheese. Her restaurant, Pammy's Pizza Palace, was a rival to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Fazbear Entertainment ended up buying the rights to Pammy and her friends, which include Catie the Cat, Prissy Poodle, and Molly Mallard (formerly known as Dee Dee Duck). I drew art of the original Pammy P. Parmesan animatronic, who was injected with remnant and made to work as the janitor when the Kawaii animatronics with Berli Honeybear took over that location. I also drew a Glamrock version of her but it's kinda crappy to be honest, and I'd LOVE to redesign her.

There's also Kawaii Bonnet and Kitsune Foxy, who are both part of my Kawaii line of fanimatronics:

There are also three more characters I've mentioned before on this blog but haven't finalized designs for:

Melody and Harmony Pomene, Melissa Pomene's AI daughters from my Fazbear Estate AU, are supposed to have animatronic bodies at some point. But I haven't finalized designs for them yet. All I've come up with them is how they look as programs on a screen on Melissa's laptop:

Melody is on the left, and Harmony is on the right.

And the final character, one I truly haven't envisioned a look for... is Spring Chica, the springlock Chica the Chicken suit haunted by Fredbear's Family Diner's creative consultant, Francine Cantor, who got too close to William Afton and ended up dead for it. I've never drawn Spring Chica. I only know she wanted to kill William Afton and canonically doesn't get to... but in a Time Paradox ending she was successful and... well, I don't know what happens after that. Depends on how she decides to kill William.

Yeah, point is, I never came up with a design for Spring Chica. I should. I want her story to be realized in game form at some point.

#fnaf #fnaf oc #fnaf ocs #fan art #my art #my ocs #fanimatronic #image heavy #long post #i will add image descriptions later i promise please stand by

[neorukix]

If there were to be a visual novel fleshing out Tamers 2018 into a full story, with Ruki as the protagonist for obvious reasons, how many routes would you prefer it to have?

If you've never played a visual novel before, a route is a single coherent branch of story. A route may have multiple endings but the body of the plot must remain the same.

For reference, FSN and FMDM have three, Tsukihime has five, and Umineko and Mahoyo have one.

Uffff, this is quite a hard question for me; mostly because I don't really want to see new Tamers content and for it to become the next "adventure nostalgia sells" or a new "tri." (overall if K*naka is involved in any way) but oh well, that ain't stopping us fans from doing "fan stuff" right? So, if we ignore my complex feelings over new Tamers content, I can freely think on things :3

As someone who is obsessed with Digimon Survive, I find the 4 routes formula to be neat (plus the bad end which is just "game over" so, that makes it 5?) but I would also love to have at least 2 extra routes (for survive, I would love to see a different kid getting killed by part 5) so, following my taste in plots I think 5 routes would be ok, considering I don't really know what kind of trouble/adventure we could get.

BUT, since we are already here, I'd like to indeed take the 2018 CD drama in consideration and for the story to be about Ruki going to look for Renamon and maybe unveil the mystery behind Takato's disappearance plus, for the sake of "evolution" progress and fights, we could have Renamon soon in the story just to find there are awful things going on in the Digital World and only Ruki can save them all, how about that? (And since I'm gay af, let me have the prologue with Ruki comforting Juri over Takato's absence).

Look, I'm just making this up as I'm typing here so take it with a grain of salt (in if I can make content about this or nah xD).

The Good True end would be saving Takato and the Digital World plus having a convenient gate for the Digis to live happily with their tamers again (like Adv02).

The Good end would be saving Takato and the Digital World but they have to say bye again to their Digis to have angst (ง ื▿ ื)ว

The Neutral end would be Saving the Digital World but Takato (or Renamon) dies :3c

The Alright end would be saving Takato (and Renamon) but dissaster falls upon the Digital World and later, the Real World, idk

And the Bad end is everyone dies, even Ruki XDD. Ok, maybe no but it would be interesting if everyone but Ruki is saved like, Ruki dies saving everyone.

Plus, if we follow Survive formula, we can have the option of the bad end in which Ruki decides saving the world is too much of a pain and goes back home without Renamon, ending in everyone dying anyway :3.

Don't ask me about what kind of enemy they would be fighting because my Royal Knights, Yggdrasil and Olympus XII biases would play a heavy role here so I don't want to think on anything right now, but it would be interesting to be something like in X-evolution in which Digis are killed either by the RK or the X program (but to not go with my biases, we will have to think on something else instead of the RK, Yggdrasil and X antibody).

Maybe we can have the rest of the Tamers cast to join in later in the story so we don't ignore them (ง ื▿ ื)ว

And since I already drew a fakemon evo for Miyuki's Sakuyamon, it would be neat for Ruki to have that one too :D

Ok, this was actually fun to think! Thank you Anon-san uwu

So guys, who or what would you want to see as enemy for Ruki and Renamon? I would also like a little "wink" at IceDevimon returning (and don't tell me that's impossible because Guilmon ate him because I know) but I don't want him to be that final boss.

Now, let me promo my adult Ruki stuff for people who are new or didn't knew I had a separete art blog ;3 (everything is SFW so, don't worry).

#digimon #digimon tamers #makino ruki #memo #txt #asks #my digimon queen #my art #anon #I went overboard with this I guess #but yes I had fun thinking on this #can't really picture Ruki running away tho xD #if I weren't lazy this would be a very interesting project to do #but my main issue would be the villain :/ #tamers has 'villains' that aren't digis at the end #so I would totally love to see a digi as the bad guy this time around #and that is were I would run out of ideas tehee #as stated earlier I would totally put the RK there #and maybe the RK Dukemon to be the Tamers Dukemon with a brainwash or something #that would make sense? like I imagine Takato and Guilmon being permanently fused #so Yggdrasil would force them to be the RK and fight Ruki and Renamon #but yeah #I would be afraid of doing this project alone #mostly if it ends up being a visual novel #I would love to contribute with the art but not the story or programming XD #ok I might have abussed the tags once again sorry #thanks for giving me something to think on Anon san! #also put those rkgks of 28 years old Ruki I once did when people asked me more about her #just so this ask is not text only because idk how to illustrate the rest xD #is my own art so I can repost it whenever I want uwu

[danimalphantom]

I saw that ask blog on my feed the other day and wanted to answer some - I picked ones I knew

1. Art programs you have but don’t use

Ms paint 😌

3. Where ideas come from when you were little

TV shows (KND, ATLA, pokemon), books (diary of a wimpy kid, judy moody), games (poptropica, wizard101). I’m missing a lot

7. A medium of art you don’t work in but appreciate

Watercolor and paint in general because wowow

8. An old project idea you’ve lost interest in

Ok so I was starting a series of animations where I would animate characters lipsyncing to parts of songs but I made 1 1/2 of them (a fish and a ghost) before giving up lmaooo

10. Favorite piece of clothing to draw

Hats 🤠

11. Music you listen to while drawing

Depending on my mood either lofi, nature documentary audios, or one of my spotify playlists (a lot of neo-soul/r&b type stuff)

12. Easiest part of the body to draw

I really like eyebrows lol

19. Favorite inanimate objects to draw

Swords/knives (shiny)

20. Something everyone else finds hard to draw  but you enjoy

Bikes and cars - I drew a lot of cars starting out so that helped haha

21. Art styles nothing like your own but you like anyway

Tough, there’s a lot but there’s this youtuber called vewn. The vibe is completely different from what I wanna do but it’s so interesting

23. Do you use different layer modes

I barely know how to use layer modes but I’d like to learn it especially if I wanna color a lot of small things at once or do cool effects

24. Do your references include stock images

Yea + they’re hilarious

25. Something your art has been compared to that you were not inspired by

6teen (my earlier digital art), newspaper comics

[bergwerkderbilder]

Piggeldy und Frederick - it's a German TV show for kids that has been running continuously (~100 episodes in reruns) since the 1970s. I was delighted to find out that there was an exhibition in a museum near me because I love it very much. And I for sure did not appreciate the art of it enough before.

The art and animation was all down by a couple, Elke and Dietrich Loewe (he drew and animated, she wrote the scripts and did all the cutting out of the characters and props). You can watch a lot of it on YouTube, it's always about the small pig asking a question and then they wander around with the big pig trying more or less successfully to answer the question. Advent Beach

@flamethrowing-hurdy-gurdy I think you might get a kick out of this

(fuck me wrong blog but I am not doing it all over again. Sorry, people who come here for gaming gifs, your regular program will resume presently)

#piggedly & frederick

[livewireprojects]

This would have been up earlier but I went over the reblogging limit because I was trying to reblog posts I mistakenly reblogged to my art blog before removing them from the blog. If you’re on my art blog just click “My website” if you want those posts.(Due to the way the theme is coded I just put the link to my main blog in the only other spot I could link it in) This mistake was due to reblogging from the Tumblr app at the time as I didn’t check with account I was on or maybe it was bugged.

Day 25 was Happy Holidays Not pictured are Yuta, Touko, Komaru, the three's kids(I only now remember the kids would be adults in this) & the Hope Warriors(explained later), I didn't think about it at the time of drawing this. This is either a non-despair AU or an AU were people survived due to the person next to Ichigo being Mondo & Chihiro's daughter. I was originally covering everything with green & red(sketch was originally in blue) but couldn't make it work for me so only the writing has it. Later today I realized I should have made the sketches black since the blue is out of place for this. So this is the Togami family when the twins are adults Len has warmed up to Yasushi during collage & returns his affection even if he can still be a little like he usually is to others or when pouting/angry. Len ends up having quadruplets a bit after collage, he loves his daughters but he often worries for the youngest of the 4 kids & the only boy. The baby boy is a bit like his aunt as a baby, timid & easily scared. Yasushi has calmed some but is still friendly & bubbly/cheerful, he's working on his swimming career but is always making sure to be there for his family. Ichigo in a timeline were her lover's parents are alive goes on the marry her childhood friend/eventual sweet heart Ami. Ami like Ichigo was a shy girl but when when mad(which isn't often, maybe pouty & stuff but not mad & still not often) is a lot like her father Mondo. Ami when unable to talk to Ichigo or anyone else about something will go to her older half brother Daichi, whose dad is Ami's other dad Ishimaru, both kids' mom is Chihiro. Ichigo has matured some but is still the sweet & shy girl she's always been, while her brother is working with their dad as the next heir of the family Ichigo -with help- has worked on a program to help other kids with trouble learning to figure out a way that works for them while also still doing great with puzzle games. The grandkids I drew for the twins, like I mentioned Len had quads but Ichigo has only had one kid while she's the stepmom to Ami's daughter. Neither like to talk about what lead to their eldest daughter but they love her & she's doing well with her moms & sibling. For some reason S & I had a bunch of random crossover stuff. For reasons unknown their daughter is pretty much Homaru from Madoka Magica. Homaru doesn't remember what happened in her past life yet but at the moment she's more interested in helping her parents take care of her sibling.(I don't have a gender nor name for the baby yet) Homaru tries to be mature for her age, something that makes it feel like she got it from her uncle Len despite not being related to the twins. Despite this she's a gentle person that does her best for her family. Her sibling likes to sleep a lot but is cheerful & likes to snuggle. So this time it's kind of my fault for the kid while S added Homaru, so the only son & the youngest kid of Yasushi & Len is Shinji.(No explanation I'm sorry) So in order of who is sitting/next to who it's Shinji(as mentioned the youngest), Miki(born before him), Aiko(second born) & Sumiko(first born) Sumiko often seems to have this dazed daydreaming look as she stares into space & is happy but when she isn't enjoying herself to imagining whatever an one year old can she's a smart baby. When focusing she might be able to figure out were you left something. Aiko is a lot like her dad, cheerful, energetic & seems to like sports. They have her in baby pants/leggings because she'd trip over her dress from all the crawling she does. Miki is a smart baby & likes to listen to mommy read to her, she is observant like her sister Sumiko & might be a little like her mom when she's not being a happy baby. Shinji as mentioned is scared of the still very new world around him like his aunt when she was his age. He's usually clinging to his mom, when not clinging to his mom he's listening to music & seems to be mimicking(the best an one year old can) playing a piano. Some times it seems like he knows someone is missing.

Go check out @naegamimonth

#naegamimonth2020 #naegami #shared OC #my art #naegami month #naegi x togami #makoto naegi x byakuya togami

[to-read-or-not-to-read3088]

70+ disabled, neurodiverse and chronically ill authors COLLAB

This post is in collaboration with several other bloggers whose links are included here:

Artie Carden

Anniek

Hi! It’s been a while since I posted anything, but this post has been a month in the making. I have twenty books by twenty authors for my part in this collaboration, and you can check out the other parts of the collab with the links at the top of the post.

I haven’t read some of these books but almost all of them are on my to be read pile, and I did extensive research to make sure I got this right, but please let me know if there are any mistakes or if anything needs to be corrected.

1. Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee

📷

Meet Cute Diary follows Noah Ramirez who thinks he’s an expert on romance. He must be for his blog, the Meet Cute Diary, a collection of trans happily ever afters. There’s just one problem. All the stories are fake. What started off as the fantasies of a trans boy who was afraid to step out of the closet has grown into a beacon of hope for trans readers across the globe. Noah’s world unravels when a troll exposes the blog as fiction, and the only way to save the Diary is to convince everyone that the stories are true, but he doesn’t have any proof. That’s when Drew walks into Noah’s life, and the pieces fall into place. Drew is willing to fake date Noah to save the Diary. But when Noah’s feelings grow beyond their staged romance, he realises that dating in real life isn’t the same as finding love on the page.

The author, Emery Lee, is a kid lit author, artist and YouTuber hailing from a mixed racial background. After graduating with a degree in creative writing, e’s gone on to author novels, short stories and webcomics. When away from reading and writing, you’ll likely find em engaged in art or snuggling with cute dogs.

Emery Lee is nonbinary, and uses e/em pronouns, and e’s debut book, Meet Cute Diary, features a side character who is also nonbinary (and asexual!). Emery is also neurodivergent, and frequently speaks about what its like being a writer with adhd on twitter.

Meet Cute Diary is a book I only discovered last month, when it was published, but I’m excited to read it. It has representation of all kinds, and I love any book that has even a little mention of an asexual character because its so rare to see.

2. Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

📷

At Niveus Private Academy money paves the hallways, and the students are never less than perfect. Until now. Because an anonymous texter calling themselves Aces, is bringing two students’ dark secrets to light. Devon, a talented musician, buries himself in rehearsals, but he can’t escape the spotlight when his private photos go public. Chiamaka, head girl, isn’t afraid to get what she wants, but soon everyone will know the price she has paid for power. Someone is out to get them both. Someone who holds all the aces. And they’re planning much more than a high school game.

Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, is the author of the instant New York Times and IndieBound bestseller, Ace of Spades, billed as ‘Get out meets Gossip Girl’. Entertainment Weekly has called it “this summer’s hottest YA debut”. She was born and raised in Croydon, South London, and Faridah moved to the Scottish Highlands for her undergraduate degree where she completed a BA in English Literature. She has established and runs and mentorship scheme for unagented writers of colour, helping them on their journey to get published. Faridah has also written for NME, The Bookseller, Readers Digest and gal-dem.

Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé’s book is one that I pre-ordered months in advance, after discovering that I actually really liked this sub-genre of YA, and although I still haven’t read it yet (sorry!), I’m still super excited to dive into it. From what I hear, it has some gay rep, which we all know by now is something I seek out in my books.

3. Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses by Kristen O’Neal

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Priya has worked hard to pursue her pre med dreams at Stanford, but a diagnosis of chronic Lyme disease during her sophomore year sends her straight back to her loving but overbearing family in New Jersey and leaves her wondering if she’ll ever be able to return to the way things were. Thankfully she has her online pen pal, Brigid, and the rest of the members of “oof ouch my bones,” a virtual support group that meets on Discord to crack jokes and vent about their own chronic illnesses. When Brigid suddenly goes offline, Priya does something very out of character; she steals the family car and drives to Pennsylvania to check on Brigid. Priya isn’t sure what to expect, but it isn’t the creature that’s shut in the basement. With Brigid nowhere in sight, Priya begins to puzzle together an impossible but obvious truth: the creature might be werewolf – and the werewolf might be Brigid. As Brigid’s unique condition worsens, their friendship will be deepened and challenged in unexpected ways, forcing them to reckon with their own ideas of what it means to be normal.

Kristen O’Neal is a freelance writer who’s written for sites like Buzzfeed Reader, Christianity Today, Birth.Movies.Death, LitHub and Electric Literature. She writes about faith, culture, and unexplained phenomena. Her debut novel, Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses is based on her own experiences with being chronically ill. Kristen has two autoimmune disorders and “a number of other problems and issues” with her body. According to her website, she is doing much better than she used to, but still has flares somewhat regularly.

I cannot describe the feeling of seeing a published book with the best group chat name I have ever seen. Oof ouch my bones is absolutely something that I would be part of if it really existed, because its just such a mood, and funny at the same time. I pre ordered this book too, but like all the others, I still haven’t gotten around to reading it. I’m super excited about it though and cannot recommend it enough.

4. Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales

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Will Tavares is the dream summer fling – he’s fun, affectionate, kind – but just when Ollie thinks he’s found his Happily Ever After, summer vacation ends, and Will stops texting Ollie back. Now Ollie is one prince short of his fairy tale ending, and to complicate the fairy tale further, a family emergency sees Ollie uprooted and enrolled at a new school across the country. Which he minds a little less when he realises it’s the same school Will goes to…except Ollie finds out that the sweet, comfortably queer guy he knew from summer isn’t the same one attending Collinswood High. This Will is a class clown, closeted – and to be honest, a jerk. Ollie has no intention of pining after a guy who clearly isn’t ready for a relationship, especially since this new, bro-y jock version of Will seems to go from hot to cold every other week. But then Will starts “coincidentally” popping up in every area of Ollie’s life, from music class to the lunch table, and Ollie finds his resolve weakening. The last time he gave Will his heart, Will handed it back to him trampled and battered. Ollie would have to be an idiot to trust him with it again. Right? Right.

Sophie Gonzales was born and raised in Whyalla, South Australia, where the Outback Meets the Sea. She now lives in Melbourne, where there’s no outback in sight. Sophie’s been writing since the age of five, when her mother decided to help her type out one of the stories she had come up with in the bathtub. They ran into artistic differences when five-year-old Sophie insisted that everybody die in the end, while her mother wanted the characters to simply go out for a milkshake. Since then, Sophie has been completing her novels without a transcript. Sophie Gonzales tweets about her experiences with ADHD on her twitter.

Only mostly devasted is one of the few books on this list that I’ve read. I read the whole thing in one sitting because I just couldn’t put it down, which is weird because I normally don’t read contemporary at all. I have recommended this book to literally everyone I know, and even bought my best friend a copy to convince her to read it.

5. The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd Jones

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Seventeen-year-old Aderyn ("Ryn") only cares about two things: her family, and her family's graveyard. And right now, both are in dire straits. Since the death of their parents, Ryn and her siblings have been scraping together a meagre existence as gravediggers in the remote village of Colbren, which sits at the foot of a harsh and deadly mountain range that was once home to the fae. The problem with being a gravedigger in Colbren, though, is that the dead don't always stay dead. The risen corpses are known as "bone houses," and legend says that they're the result of a decades-old curse. When Ellis, an apprentice mapmaker with a mysterious past, arrives in town, the bone houses attack with new ferocity. What is it that draws them near? And more importantly, how can they be stopped for good? Together, Ellis and Ryn embark on a journey that will take them deep into the heart of the mountains, where they will have to face both the curse and the long-hidden truths about themselves.

Emily Lloyd-Jones grew up on a vineyard in rural Oregon, where she played in evergreen forests and learned to fear sheep. After graduating from Western Oregon University with an English degree, she enrolled in the publishing program at Rosemont College just outside of Philadelphia. She currently resides in Northern California.

Another book on my to be read pile that I’m super excited to read, but still haven’t gotten around to. This one features disability rep, but because I haven’t read it, I don’t know much more, sorry guys.

6. Mooncakes by Susanne Walker and Wendy Xu

📷Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her grandmothers' bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurrences in their New England town. One fateful night, she follows reports of a white wolf into the woods, and she comes across the unexpected: her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon in the woods. As a werewolf, Tam has been wandering from place to place for years, unable to call any town home. Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help. Their latent feelings are rekindled against the backdrop of witchcraft, untested magic, occult rituals, and family ties both new and old in this enchanting tale of self-discovery.

Suzanne Walker is a Chicago-based writer and editor. She is co-creator of the Hugo-nominated graphic novel Mooncakes (2019, Lion Forge/Oni Press). Her short fiction has been published in Clarkesworld and Uncanny Magazine, and she has published nonfiction articles with Uncanny Magazine, StarTrek.com, Women Write About Comics, and the anthology Barriers and Belonging: Personal Narratives of Disability. She has spoken at numerous conventions on a variety of topics ranging from disability representation in sci-fi/fantasy to comics collaboration.

Wendy Xu is a Brooklyn-based illustrator and comics artist. She is co-creator of and currently draws the webcomic Mooncakes. Her work has been featured on Tor.com, as part of the Chinese American: Exclusion/Inclusion exhibit permanently housed at the Chinese Historical Society of America, and in Shattered: The Asian American Comics Anthology. She occasionally teaches at the Asian American Writers Workshop and currently works as an assistant editor curating young adult and children’s books.

Suzanne Walker suffers from hearing loss, something that she wrote into her graphic novel, Mooncakes, making Nova hard of hearing. I read this in a few years ago as an advance reader copy for Netgalley and it was honestly one of the best graphic novels I have ever read. The main characters are Chinese American, queer AND magic, which is an amazing combination of representation.

7. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

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Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone… A convict with a thirst for revenge A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager A runaway with a privileged past A spy known as the Wraith A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.

Leigh Bardugo is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of fantasy novels and the creator of the Grishaverse (now a Netflix original series) which spans the Shadow and Bone Trilogy, the Six of Crows Duology, The Language of Thorns, and King of Scars—with more to come. Her short stories can be found in multiple anthologies, including the Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy. Her other works include Wonder Woman: Warbringer and Ninth House (Goodreads Choice Winner for Best Fantasy 2019) which is being developed for television by Amazon Studios.

Leigh grew up in Southern California and graduated from Yale University. These days she lives and writes in Los Angeles.

In the acknowledgements section of Six of Crows, Bardugo reveals she suffers from osteonecrosis and sometimes needs to use a cane; this was a source of inspiration for one of the story's six protagonists, master thief and gang boss Kaz Brekker, who uses a cane.

I read Six of Crows a few years ago and I really loved it. I’m not going to pretend I managed to finish the whole Grishaverse series, because I haven’t even gotten close yet, but it really showed Kaz’s struggles with his disability, and his mental health. This is part of a duology, and the duology is part of a large series of books with another duology and trilogy, but Six of Crows can be read without reading the others.

8. Hyperbole and A Half by Allie Brosh

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This is a book I wrote. Because I wrote it, I had to figure out what to put on the back cover to explain what it is. I tried to write a long, third-person summary that would imply how great the book is and also sound vaguely authoritative--like maybe someone who isn’t me wrote it--but I soon discovered that I’m not sneaky enough to pull it off convincingly. So, I decided to just make a list of things that are in the book: Pictures Words Stories about things that happened to me Stories about things that happened to other people because of me Eight billion dollars* Stories about dogs The secret to eternal happiness* *These are lies. Perhaps I have underestimated my sneakiness!

Allie is an American blogger, writer and comic artist best known for her blog in the form of a webcomic Hyperbole and a Half. Brosh started Hyperbole in 2009 and told stories from her life in a mix of text and intentionally crude illustrations. She has published two books telling stories in the same style, both of which have been New York Times bestsellers. Brosh lives with severe depression and ADHD, and her comics on depression have won praise from fans and mental health professionals.

Another book on my tbr that I just haven’t gotten around to but really want to.

9. The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

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What if you aren’t the Chosen One? The one who’s supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever the heck this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death? What if you’re like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again. Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week’s end of the world, and sometimes you just must find the extraordinary in your ordinary life. Even if your best friend is worshipped by mountain lions...

Patrick Ness, an award-winning novelist, has written for England’s Radio 4 and Sunday Telegraph and is a literary critic for The Guardian. He has written many books, including the Chaos Walking Trilogy, The Crash of Hennington, Topics About Which I Know Nothing, and A Monster Calls. He has won numerous awards, including the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, the Booktrust Teenage Prize, and the Costa Children’s Book Award. Born in Virginia, he currently lives in London.

Patrick Ness has written about OCD and anxiety in at least two of his books, inspired by his own experiences with the two disorders and how it affects him (The Rest of Us Just Live Here & Release)

10. Every Heart A Doorway by Seanan McGuire

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Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children No Solicitations No Visitors No Quests Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else. But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children. Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced... they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world. But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter. No matter the cost.

Seanan lives in an idiosyncratically designed labyrinth in the Pacific Northwest, which she shares with her cats, Alice and Thomas, a vast collection of creepy dolls and horror movies, and sufficient books to qualify her as a fire hazard. She has strongly held and oft-expressed beliefs about the origins of the Black Death, the X-Men, and the need for chainsaws in daily life.

Years of writing blurbs for convention program books have fixed Seanan in the habit of writing all her bios in the third person, to sound marginally less dorky. Stress is on the "marginally." It probably doesn't help that she has so many hobbies.

Seanan was the winner of the 2010 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and her novel Feed (as Mira Grant) was named as one of Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2010. In 2013 she became the first person ever to appear five times on the same Hugo Ballot.

Seanan McGuire has an invisible disability due to herniated disks in her spine. She is slowly coming to terms with this, and talks about it occasionally on her twitter, and about the struggles she faces.

I loved this book, and so did my best friend. We both read it in one sitting and talked nonstop about it afterwards. Although short, its filled with amazing characters, plot, and representation (asexual character!!)

11. Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

Each year, eight beautiful girls are chosen as Paper Girls to serve the king. It's the highest honour they could hope for...and the most demeaning. This year, there's a ninth. And instead 📷of paper, she's made of fire. In this richly developed fantasy, Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most persecuted class of people in Ikhara. She lives in a remote village with her father, where the decade-old trauma of watching her mother snatched by royal guards for an unknown fate still haunts her. Now, the guards are back and this time it's Lei they're after -- the girl with the golden eyes whose rumoured beauty has piqued the king's interest. Over weeks of training in the opulent but oppressive palace, Lei and eight other girls learns the skills and charm that befit a king's consort. There, she does the unthinkable -- she falls in love. Her forbidden romance becomes enmeshed with an explosive plot that threatens her world's entire way of life. Lei, still the wide-eyed country girl at heart, must decide how far she's willing to go for justice and revenge.

Natasha Ngan is a writer and yoga teacher. She grew up between Malaysia, where the Chinese side of her family is from, and the UK. This multicultural upbringing continues to influence her writing, and she is passionate about bringing diverse stories to teens. Ngan studied Geography at the University of Cambridge before working as a social media consultant and fashion blogger. She lives in France with her partner, where they recently moved from Paris to be closer to the sea. Her novel Girls of Paper and Fire was a New York Times bestseller. Natasha has a heart condition, and talks about her struggles with her health, and gives updates on her health and her books on twitter.

I’ve heard a lot about this book, but for trigger warning reasons it sadly isn’t on my to be read list. Everything I’ve heard about it says its an amazing book though, and the cover is beautiful.

12. Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde

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Three friends, two love stories, one convention: this fun, feminist love letter to geek culture is all about fandom, friendship, and finding the courage to be yourself. Charlie likes to stand out. She’s a vlogger and actress promoting her first movie at SupaCon, and this is her chance to show fans she’s over her public breakup with co-star Reese Ryan. When internet-famous cool-girl actress Alyssa Huntington arrives as a surprise guest, it seems Charlie’s long-time crush on her isn’t as one-sided as she thought. Taylor likes to blend in. Her brain is wired differently, making her fear change. And there’s one thing in her life she knows will never change: her friendship with her best guy friend Jamie—no matter how much she may secretly want it to. But when she hears about a fan contest for her favourite fandom, she starts to rethink her rules on playing it safe.

Jen Wilde is the YA author of QUEENS OF GEEK, THE BRIGHTSIDERS and GOING OFF SCRIPT. She writes unapologetically queer stories about geeks, rockstars, and fangirls who smash the patriarchy in their own unique ways. Her books have been praised in Teen Vogue, Buzzfeed, Autostraddle, Vulture and Bustle. Originally from Australia, Jen now lives in NYC where she spends her time writing, drinking too much coffee and binging reality TV.

Researching for this collab was the first time this book popped up on my radar as something I might be interested in reading. Jen Wilde, the author, is herself autistic and suffers from anxiety, which gives the narrative “authenticity that is lacking in similar books” according to socialjusticebooks.org.

13. The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli

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Seventeen-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love—she’s lived through it twenty-six times. She crushes hard and crushes often, but always in secret. Because no matter how many times her twin sister, Cassie, tells her to woman up, Molly can’t stomach the idea of rejection. So, she’s careful. Fat girls always have to be careful. Then a cute new girl enters Cassie’s orbit, and for the first time ever, Molly’s cynical twin is a lovesick mess. Meanwhile, Molly’s totally not dying of loneliness—except for the part where she is. Luckily, Cassie’s new girlfriend comes with a cute hipster-boy sidekick. Will is funny and flirtatious and just might be perfect crush material. Maybe more than crush material. And if Molly can win him over, she’ll get her first kiss and she’ll get her twin back. There’s only one problem: Molly’s co-worker Reid. He’s an awkward Tolkien superfan with a season pass to the Ren Faire, and there’s absolutely no way Molly could fall for him. Right?

Becky Albertalli is the author of the acclaimed novels Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (film: Love, Simon), The Upside of Unrequited, and Leah on the Offbeat. She is also the co-author of What If It's Us with Adam Silvera. A former clinical psychologist who specialized in working with children and teens, Becky lives with her family in Atlanta.

Becky Albertalli has generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), and has spoken about it in several interviews, which you can find online. She has also written several characters in her books who also suffer with anxiety. Her first book, Simon vs the Homosapien’s Agenda (or Love, Simon), is the only book of hers that I have read so far, and I loved it. It was the first contemporary book that I read and actually enjoyed.

14. Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth

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Cyra is the sister of the brutal tyrant who rules the Shotet people. Cyra’s current gift gives her pain and power—something her brother exploits, using her to torture his enemies. But Cyra is much more than just a blade in her brother’s hand: she is resilient, quick on her feet, and smarter than he knows. Akos is the son of a farmer and an oracle from the frozen nation-planet of Thuvhe. Protected by his unusual currentgift, Akos is generous in spirit, and his loyalty to his family is limitless. Once Akos and his brother are captured by enemy Shotet soldiers, Akos is desperate to get his brother out alive—no matter what the cost. Then Akos is thrust into Cyra's world, and the enmity between their countries and families seems insurmountable. Will they help each other to survive, or will they destroy one another?

Veronica Roth is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of the Divergent series (Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant, and Four: A Divergent Collection), the Carve the Mark duology (Carve the Mark, the Fates Divide), The End and Other Beginnings collection of short fiction, and many short stories and essays. Her first book for adult audiences, Chosen Ones, is out now. She lives in Chicago.

Veronica Roth suffers from anxiety, like a lot of the authors on this list, and talks about it in interviews. A quote from one: "I've had an anxiety disorder my whole life, so I've been to therapy on and off throughout, before books and after books. I went back and tried to talk through some of the things I was feeling and experiencing, and it was helpful."

I’ve never read any of her books, not even the hugely famous Divergent trilogy, though they’ve been on my radar for years. I’d love to get into her books at some point, but it might take me a few years.

15. How to be Autistic by Charlotte Amelia Poe

📷An urgent, funny, shocking, and impassioned memoir by the winner of the Spectrum Art Prize 2018, How To Be Autistic by Charlotte Amelia Poe presents the rarely shown point of view of someone living with autism. Poe’s voice is confident, moving and often funny, as they reveal to us a very personal account of autism, mental illness, gender and sexual identity. As we follow Charlotte’s journey through school and college, we become as awestruck by their extraordinary passion for life as by the enormous privations that they must undergo to live it. From food and fandom to body modification and comic conventions, Charlotte’s experiences through the torments of schooldays and young adulthood leave us with a riot of conflicting emotions: horror, empathy, despair, laugh-out-loud amusement and, most of all, respect. For Charlotte, autism is a fundamental aspect of their identity and art. They address the reader in a voice that is direct, sharply clever and ironic. They witness their own behaviour with a wry humour as they sympathise with those who care for them, yet all the while challenging the neurotypical narratives of autism as something to be ‘fixed’. This is an exuberant, inspiring, life-changing insight into autism from a viewpoint almost entirely missing from public discussion. ‘I wanted to show the side of autism that you don’t find in books and on Facebook. My story is about survival, fear and, finally, hope. There will be parts that make you want to cover your eyes, but I beg you to read on, because if I can change just one person’s perceptions, if I can help one person with autism feel like they’re less alone, then this will all be worth it.’ Charlotte Amelia Poe is a self-taught artist and writer living in Lowestoft, Suffolk. They also work with video and won the inaugural Spectrum Art Prize with the film they submitted, 'How to Be Autistic’. Myriad published Charlotte's memoir, How to Be Autistic, in September 2019.

Another book I didn’t know about until researching for this post, but I really want to read it because I haven’t read many books about autism, and practically none of them were actually written by someone who actually is autistic. Charlotte uses they/them pronouns.

16. Ask me about my Uterus by Abby Norman

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For any woman who has experienced illness, chronic pain, or endometriosis comes an inspiring memoir advocating for recognition of women's health issues In the fall of 2010, Abby Norman's strong dancer's body dropped forty pounds and grey hairs began to sprout from her temples. She was repeatedly hospitalized in excruciating pain, but the doctors insisted it was a urinary tract infection and sent her home with antibiotics. Unable to get out of bed, much less attend class, Norman dropped out of college and embarked on what would become a years-long journey to discover what was wrong with her. It wasn't until she took matters into her own hands--securing a job in a hospital and educating herself over lunchtime reading in the medical library--that she found an accurate diagnosis of endometriosis. In Ask Me About My Uterus, Norman describes what it was like to have her pain dismissed, to be told it was all in her head, only to be taken seriously when she was accompanied by a boyfriend who confirmed that her sexual performance was, indeed, compromised. Putting her own trials into a broader historical, sociocultural, and political context, Norman shows that women's bodies have long been the battleground of a never-ending war for power, control, medical knowledge, and truth. It's time to refute the belief that being a woman is a pre-existing condition.

Abby Norman’s debut book, ASK ME ABOUT MY UTERUS: A Quest to Make Doctors Believe in Women’s Pain, was published by Bold Type Books (Hachette Book Group) in 2018, with advance praise from Gillian Anderson, Lindsey Fitzharris, Jenny Lawson, and Padma Lakshmi.

The book was praised by The New York Times Book Review, The Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine, The Washington Post, The Sunday Times, The Irish Times, Literary Review, The Times Literary Supplement, The New Republic, Book Riot, Toronto Star, ELLE, Health Magazine, Undark Magazine, BUST Magazine, Bitch Magazine, Ms. Magazine, BBC Radio 5, and other international media outlets.

​In 2019, the paperback edition was published in the U.S. and the Korean translation in Seoul (Momento Publishing/Duran Kim Agency).

​Her work has been featured in Harper’s, Medium, The Independent, Literary Hub, The Rumpus, Mental Floss, Atlas Obscura, and elsewhere. Interviews and profiles have been seen and heard, including NPR/WNYC, BBC, Anchor.fm, The New York Times, Playboy, Forbes, Glamour, Women’s Health, and Bitch Magazine.

Abby Norman suffers from endometriosis, which was a large part of why she wrote her book, and why she advocates so hard for fellow patients at conferences such as Stanford University’s Stanford Medicine X and the Endometriosis Foundation of America’s medical conference and Patient Day. She is

Abby has served on technical expert panels including the National Partnership for Women and Families’ CORE Network (Yale University), the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid, The Society for Women’s Health Research (SWHR), and Health Affairs.

​In 2019, Abby contributed to a paper addressing research gaps and unmet needs in endometriosis published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

This book is definitely one I will be adding to my to be read list, as someone who (unfortunately) also has a uterus, it is important to be informed. And Abby sounds like such a badass who wrote a whole book about her chronic illness to help others with the same condition.

17. Stim: Autistic Anthology by Lizzie Huxley-Jones

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Around one in one hundred people in the UK are autistic, yet there remains a fundamental misunderstanding of what autism is. It is rare that autistic people get to share their own experiences, show how creative and talented and passionate they are, how different they are from media stereotypes. This insightful and eye-opening collection of essays, fiction and visual art showcases the immense talents of some of the UK's most exciting writers and artists - who just happen to be on the spectrum. Here they reclaim the power to speak for themselves and redefine what it means to be autistic. Stim invites the reader into the lives, experiences, minds of the eighteen contributors, and asks them to recognise the hurdles of being autistic in a non-autistic world and to uncover the empathy and understanding necessary to continue to champion brilliant yet unheard voices.

Lizzie (Hux) Huxley-Jones is an autistic author and editor based in London. They are the editor of Stim, an anthology of autistic authors and artists, which was published by Unbound in April 2020 to coincide with World Autism Awareness Week. They are also the author of the children’s biography Sir David Attenborough: A Life Story. They can be found editing at independent micropublisher 3 of Cups Press, and they also advise writers as a freelance sensitivity reader and consultant. In their past career lives, they have been a research diver, a children’s bookseller and digital communications specialist.

I wasn’t even aware that there was an anthology out there by an autistic author, about autism, but now that I do I need to read it.

18. Chimera by Jaecyn Bonê

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Creatures unlike you've imagined before! Welcome to a world where myths and legends collide to create a new breed of monster. Savage and soulful, these monstrosities combine to form the mighty Chimera. In this anthology, talented writers weave 10 tales of fantastical beasts. Featuring stories by: Matt Bliss Jaecyn Boné Alexis L. Carroll Chris Durston Dewi Hargreaves Stephen Howard Samuel Logan Vincent Metzo Braden Rohl Michelle Tang

Jaecyn is a queer, non-binary, disabled Asian-American writer and digital artist fascinated by faeries.

Most of their writing involves wlw romance and faery-inspired creatures. Their first novel, Farzana's Spite is a 10-year-old work in progress and the first novel in The Faerth series. Other works include The Killing Song (novel) and Colour Unknown (short), both of which are also part of the Faerth universe.

Jaecyn's art can be described as a neorealistic pop art style with cel shading. They began their digital art journey with a 5-year-old refurbished iPad using their finger as a stylus and immediately fell in love. They do digital download commissions as well as sell prints of their artwork.

Jaecyn is the Co-Editor in Chief of the Limeoncello Magazine, an online Own Voices literary magazine which debuted its first issue on March 21st, 2021.

When not writing, drawing, or chasing after their two children, they can be found either gardening or practicing their ukulele.

None of Jaecyn Boné’s books are published yet as they are still in the stage of querying, but they contributed to the above anthology, along with nine other authors. I had no idea that this anthology existed, and now I’ll be closely following this author to see when their books get published!

19. Forest of Souls by Lori M Lee

Sirscha Ashwyn comes from nothing, but she’s intent on becoming something. After years of training to become the queen’s next royal spy, her plans are derailed when shamans attack 📷and kill her best friend Saengo. And then Sirscha, somehow, restores Saengo to life. Unveiled as the first soul guide in living memory, Sirscha is summoned to the domain of the Spider King. For centuries, he has used his influence over the Dead Wood—an ancient forest possessed by souls—to enforce peace between the kingdoms. Now, with the trees growing wild and untamed, only a soul guide can restrain them. As war looms, Sirscha must master her newly awakened abilities before the trees shatter the brittle peace, or worse, claim Saengo, the friend she would die for.

Lori M. Lee is the author of speculative novels and short stories. Her books include PAHUA AND THE SOUL STEALER (Disney/Rick Riordan Presents), FOREST OF SOULS and the sequel BROKEN WEB (Page Street), and more. She’s also a contributor to the anthologies A THOUSAND BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS and COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES. She considers herself a unicorn fan, enjoys marathoning TV shows, and loves to write about magic, manipulation, and family.

Lori struggles with anxiety, and the common symptoms like fatigue but she doesn’t let this stop her writing amazing books. I read Forest of Souls earlier this year, and it was seriously one of the best books I’ve ever read. I loved the magic, the characters, the world building. Everything about it, including the plot twist ending that had me losing my mind at 2am, was just so unlike anything I had read in any other fantasy before.

20. A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A Brown

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For Malik, the Solstasia festival is a chance to escape his war-stricken home and start a new life with his sisters in the prosperous desert city of Ziran. But when a vengeful spirit abducts Malik’s younger sister, Nadia, as payment into the city, Malik strikes a fatal deal—kill Karina, Crown Princess of Ziran, for Nadia’s freedom. But Karina has deadly aspirations of her own. Her mother, the Sultana, has been assassinated; her court threatens mutiny; and Solstasia looms like a knife over her neck. Grief-stricken, Karina decides to resurrect her mother through ancient magic . . . requiring the beating heart of a king. And she knows just how to obtain one: by offering her hand in marriage to the victor of the Solstasia competition. When Malik rigs his way into the contest, they are set on a course to destroy each other. But as attraction flares between them and ancient evils stir, will they be able to see their tasks to the death?

Roseanne “Rosie” A. Brown was born in Kumasi, Ghana and immigrated to the wild jungles of central Maryland as a child. Writing was her first love, and she knew from a young age that she wanted to use the power of writing—creative and otherwise—to connect the different cultures she called home. She graduated from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor’s in Journalism and was also a teaching assistant for the school’s Jiménez-Porter Writers’ House program. Her journalistic work has been featured by Voice of America among other outlets.

On the publishing side of things, she has worked as an editorial intern at Entangled Publishing. Rosie was a 2017 Pitch Wars mentee and 2018 Pitch Wars mentor. Rosie currently lives outside Washington D.C., where in her free time she can usually be found wandering the woods, making memes, or thinking about Star Wars.

Roseanne is another author that struggles with anxiety and wrote one of her two main characters with generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), despite it being a fantasy. I don’t even think I can name a fantasy that had a character with anxiety represented so well. This was a book I read around the same time as Forest of Souls, and I loved it. The cover was beautiful, the characters were brilliant, and I just loved the world building, the magic, and the plot. It was just different to the usual fantasy books I read, and I enjoyed the variation so much I’ve had the sequel pre ordered almost a year in advance.

So, this was my 20 books by 20 chronically ill, disabled or neurodiverse authors list. Blurbs and synopsis were compiled between Goodreads and author websites, and bios were found either on Goodreads, author websites or on amazon author pages. All the information about their chronic illnesses, disabilities or neurodivergence was found online, where they had either explicitly said it or written about it, but if I have something wrong, please let me know so I can fix it!

If you have any other suggestions or know any other books and authors that should be on this list, please let me know and I’ll do my best to add it to the list as soon as possible.

Thanks for reading 😊

#bookblr #reviews #recs #books

[buzzdixonwriter]

Another Pointless Top Ten List (But You’ll Keep Reading, Anyway)

My brother Rikk recently mailed me another top ten list of his, in this instance being his top ten favorite TV comedy shows (which he defines as 30 minutes or less, no movies).

The Three Stooges

M*A*S*H

The Andry Griffith Show 

The Beverly Hillbillies

Hogan’s Heroes

I Love Lucy 

The Honeymooners 

All In The Family

Get Smart 

Gilligan’s Island

His honorable mentions include F Troop, The Patty Duke Show, My Three Sons, Gomer Pyle USMC, Batman, Petticoat Junction, Mr. Ed. Bewitched, and I Dream Of Jeanie.

Again, one of those personal favorite lists that you really can’t argue with because it reflects personal tastes and / or fond nostalgia (though I am calling shenanigans on The Three Stooges; they were theatrical shorts shown in movie theaters, not a TV show, and besides, Laurel & Hardy are soooooo much better…).

But of course we’re going to play the game, so I’ll respond, first throwing in a caveat:  No skit comedy shows such as Monty Python’s Flying Circus, The Marty Feldman Show, Benny Hill, Second City TV, The Kids In The Hall, or Love, American Style.

I’m also omitting programs like The Gong Show and Jackass because while hilarious and under 30 minutes, they weren’t scripted or story driven.

So here’s my list:

The Dick Van Dyke Show -- the sitcom art form at peak perfection.  Carl Reiner’s insight into what writing for a mercurial TV star is like (in his case, Sid Caesar on Your Show Of Shows, for Van Dyke’s Rob Petrie it was Carl Reiner as Alan Brady).  If you’ve never seen the show, start off with their two best episodes, “Coast To Coast Big Mouth” and “October Eve” (though they’re all good).  “October Eve” is the one where Sally (Rose Marie) finds a nude painting of Laura (Mary Tyler Moore playing Dick Van Dyke’s wife) in an art gallery.  SALLY:  “There’s a painting here you should know about.”  LAURA: “If it’s what I think it is, I can explain.”  SALLY:  “If you need to explain, it’s what you think it is.”

The Mary Tyler Moore Show – this is the first American novel for television.  It’s a novel of character, not plot, and it traces the growth of Mary Richards, a 30 year old woman-child who realizes she needs to grow up, as she blossoms into a mature, self-reliant adult.  You can select two episodes at random and by comparing her character growth determine not only which season they were filmed but when in that season.

I Love Lucy -- eking out a bronze medal for its longevity and pioneering of the art form.  The first sitcom shot on film, it led the way in the rerun market.  Not just a historical icon but consistently funny.

WKRP In Cincinnati -- as crazy as a sitcom could get and still be within the realm of plausibility.  Never loved by its network, they bounced it around for four seasons until it faded away (it made a syndicated comeback a decade later, of which we shall not speak).  Great supporting staff, dynamite writing.  While they never steered away from serious subject matters (such as an actual rock concert tragedy in Cincinnati where several fans were crushed when rushing the stage), they will be forever and justly remembered for the beloved “Turkey Drop” episode.

Fawlty Towers – only two seasons and a mere 12 episodes and yet more comedic bang for the buck than anything else on this list.  John Cleese as a frustrated, short-tempered, conniving hotelier practically writes itself.  SYBIL FAWLTY:  “You know what I’ll do if I find you’ve been gambling again, don’t you, Basil?”  BASIL:  “You’ll have to sew them back on first, m’dear.”

That Girl -- looking back it can sometimes be hard to judge just how groundbreaking certain shows were.  Marlo Thomas as a struggling young actress finding romance and success in Manhattan seems positively wholesome today, but in the mid-1960s it was considered quite daring and progressive.  The Mary Tyler Moore Show took their opening credits inspiration from Marlo Thomas’ character exploring Manhattan in the opening credits of That Girl.

He & She -- a one season wonder from 1967.  Another daring and progressive show for its era.  Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss played a young married couple, he being a cartoonist who drew a superhero strip (the actor playing the superhero on TV in the series was Jack Cassidy at his manic best).  Another show with a dynamite supporting cast…and just too hip for the room at the time (honorable mention to Love On A Rooftop, a similar show from the previous season that also proved too advanced for audiences at that time).  

Green Acres -- started out silly but quickly took a turn into the surreal, breaking the fourth wall, commenting on the opening credits as they ran by, all sorts of oddball stuff.  Dismissed as a hayseed comedy, the truth is the supporting cast possessed dynamite comedic chops and their sense of timing is a joy to behold.  Forms a loose trilogy with The Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction since all three referenced the same small towns of Hooterville and Pixley  as well as occasional crossovers (honorable mention to the first season of Petticoat Junction which is as pure an example of Americana as one could hope to find and could easily be distilled into a feature film remake).

The Young Ones -- another two season / twelve episode wonder from the UK.  Four stereotypical English college students go through increasing levels of insanity as the series progressed.  Unlike most shows of the era where there was no continuity episode to episode, damage done in an early episode would still be seen for the rest of the series.  (They also would simply end a show when they ran out of time, not resolving that episode’s plot.)  Their random / non sequitur style proved a tremendous influence on shows like Family Guy.

Fernwood 2 Nite / America 2-Nite -- a spin off from the faux soap opera Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, this presented itself as a cable access variety show for Mary Hartman’s hometown of Fernwood.  With Martin Mull as the obnoxious host, Fred Willard as his incurably dense second banana, and TV theme song composer Frank De Vol as the band leader.  Because it’s so rooted in 1970s pop culture it doesn’t age as well as some other shows on the list, but many of the gags still land solidly today.  For the second season the show-within-a-show went nationwide and became America 2-Nite. Very funny, very well written, and all the more remarkable because these guys were doing five episodes a week!

Okay, so what can this list tell us?

Buzz is old.  Like really, really, really old.

Buzz stopped watching sitcoms in the mid-1980s.

There’s a reason for that.  By that time I was writing for TV and trying to get my own work done.  I didn’t have time to sit and watch TV on a regular basis (still don’t), and too often I could see the gears turning and guess where the episode was heading by the end of the first scene (still do).

I’ve veered away from “must watch” TV, especially shows that require the audience to keep track of what’s gone on before.

Tell me I have to see the first six seasons of a show to appreciate what happens in the seventh and you’ve just lost me as a potential viewer.  I’m strictly a one & done kinda guy now (though I will binge watch if a mini-series has a manageable number of episodes, say six).

My list represents a time capsule for what caught my interest and attention during a very formative period of my life, i.e., from the early 1960s as I became more and more aware that writing was where my future lay, to the mid-1980s when I hit a good peak stretch.

I don’t doubt there are great and wonderful hilarious comedies out there that I haven’t seen, I’m just listing what I have seen that did make an impression on me.

Your mileage may vary.*

    © Buzz Dixon

  *  It should vary!  Be your own person!

#media #comedy #sitcoms #Dick Van Dyke #Mary Tyler Moore #Carl Reiner #top ten lists

[mikauzoran]

Ask Game: Mikau’s Headcanons - This Should Be a Drinking Game

Anonymous asked:

5&6

Thank you for the ask! ^.^

(The questions are from this list. So far I’ve done five, six, eleven, and fifteen.)

5. What’s your favorite headcanon you use in fics?

Oh my gosh. There are so many headcanons. XD I was actually just thinking last night that I needed to compile a list and turn it into a drinking game or something. 

Take a sip of tea every time:

1. Félix is Adrien’s older brother (eight years older). He left home at sixteen, married Marinette’s cousin Bridgette, and now lives in Marseille where he’s a homicide detective. Bri runs her own bakery. They have a daughter named Noëlle and a son on the way. Fé used to play the violin competitively growing up, and Adrien learned to play Danse Macabre and the first movement of Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata from him.

2. Émilie was a stage actress, and Adrien used to do the child roles in whatever production she was in, so he grew up backstage and going to the theatre to see his mum a lot. Her signature role was Viola in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. When Gabriel and Émilie met going to high school in Marseille, she was performing Viola and dragged him into being on the costume crew for the school play once she discovered he was an aspiring fashion designer.

3. Adrien decides to pursue a career in acting. He misses performing from when he did it with his mum when he was a kid, and it makes him feel connected to her. He likes getting to portray all kinds of different people and experiencing what it’s like to be someone else. It’s a safe space for him to experience emotions since expressing emotions was frowned upon in his home growing up. The roles he really wants to play are Jean Valjean from Les Mis, the Phantom from Phantom of the Opera, Elphaba from Wicked, and Viola from Twelfth Night.

4. Adrien is originally left-handed but has learned to be ambidextrous. This is my hill to die on, and you can fight me over it. ^w^ It’s probably just production error/the creators not really caring, but I’ve noticed several times in canon where Adrien has been shown doing things left-handed. (I mean, he uses his right hand for things too, but...) In Origins, when he’s walking to class and signing autographs left and right, he does so with his left hand. In Marchand de Sable/Sandman when he’s doing homework in his room, his writing supplies are on his left side. (I just want some left-handed representation. Is that too much to ask? ;-;)

5. Adrien is biromantic asexual. Even when I pair him with Marinette, he’s never not bi. I don’t always write him as ace; sometimes he’s bisexual in my works, but I could see canon Adrien as ace.

6. Adrien’s comfort foods are mint tea and salad. When he was little, when he or  Émilie had a bad day, she would kick the kitchen staff out of the kitchen, and they would make a big salad and some mint tea and enjoy it together. Now that she’s gone, he has mint tea and/or salad when he’s feeling down, and it’s comforting because it reminds him of his mother.

7. Adrien is a total anime nerd. He grew up relatively isolated from the outside world, so he learned about life and “normal”/“acceptable” human behaviour from Disney movies and anime. He’s always wanted to be a Disney princess and a magical girl. He was really inspired by Disney and anime protagonists who overcame the difficulties in their lives to achieve their dreams and find happiness and love. He has a lot of strong, female role models, starting with his mum, so he tends to identify with female characters more strongly than male characters.

8. Adrien is a polyglot. Obviously, he knows French, and he’s learned English because it’s required. Chinese lessons are canonical. He taught himself Japanese so that he could read manga and watch anime in the original (and pass it off as “studying”). He also speaks Russian (see “9″ below). He doesn’t speak Italian, but he has a passing familiarity with the language. He knows some phrases from opera from watching it himself and his mum’s career. He has some of his favourite portions memorized. He can insult someone’s sartorial choices in Italian from listening to his father do so on trips to Milan for business, and he knows survival phrases, but he can’t actually construct sentences or have conversations. He just hasn’t invested himself in it.

9. Adrien’s bodyguard’s name is Victor (really Viktor, but he uses the French spelling to fit in). He’s originally from Russia and still has family there. The reason why he doesn’t speak is because, even though he understands French just fine, he’s self-conscious about speaking it because of his accent. He’s also afraid to make mistakes, especially in front of Gabriel who is not a patient or tolerant man. Victor taught Adrien Russian, so now they can speak together, and no one knows what they’re saying. (Nathalie has picked up a little bit here and there, but not enough to have conversations.) Victor calls Adrien Adrianka. (It’s the Russian diminutive.)

10. Nathalie speaks a little bit of Mandarin Chinese. Her tones are so-so, but she can get her point across. She learned from listening in on Adrien’s lessons so that she could make sure he stayed on top of his curriculum. When Adrien has to miss Chinese lessons on short notice, Adrien’s teacher works with Nathalie instead.

11. Luka loves all music, not just rock or punk like we’ve seen on the show. I mean, the guy is portrayed as music being his whole life, right? He came to music through rock and roll because that’s what he was exposed to through his mother and her music career, but if you dig into the music and look at its history, where it came from, what inspired it, you start wandering back through time until you get to the big names of classical concert music. Luka is an inquisitive, thoughtful guy. I can see him digging into the roots of the music he grew up with and finding all sorts of cool influences. I can see him learning about and experimenting with different types/genres of music.

12. In university, Luka studies Literature with an emphasis on nineteenth and twentieth century Russia. Why? Below is excerpted from my response to a comment asking about this point.

Especially in the nineteenth century during the height of Romanticism, a lot of literary elements and themes made their way into classical music. Program music uses literary texts as a base and illustrates the story with music. Composers drew from the Russian literary tradition as well, particularly in opera. Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades is based on Pushkin's short story, and I just found out a month ago that Shostakovich turned Gogol's short story The Nose into an opera. In the arts, one thing always leads to another. It's like looking up something on Wikipedia. Two hours later you've become an expert on botany or Balkan folk dance. I think Luka would dig into the sources of inspiration for the music he was consuming in order to better understand the works and as a means of getting inspiration himself.

So that's why Russian Literature. I think he'd eventually find his way to it through music. Then, once you find Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky, you really get sucked in. For me, those two have such a way of depicting real human beings and what it means to be human. They really get at deeper human truths. Anna Karenina, Crime and Punishment, and The Idiot really capture that essence for me. (War and Peace too to some extent, but not as much as the other three.) I think Luka would really be drawn to Russian literature too and come to love it for itself apart from the musical inspiration he was able to derive from it.

13. In his teens, Luka takes more of an interesting in the piano and falls in love with the violin. He adds piano and violin performance majors halfway through university and ends up becoming a professional solo pianist as well as a first violin with the Orchestre de Paris.

14. Luka wears reading glasses. I don’t think I’ve used this one much. Actually, I can’t find where I’ve used this at all. :/ Well. I suppose there will be no tea drinking at this time for this headcanon. ^.^;

15. Luka has tattoos. I don’t think I’ve gotten around to this one yet either. Adrien and Luka talk about possible tattoo ideas in Chapter Four of Nachtmusik, but... At any rate, the full extent of the tattoos would be a stylized snake on his pelvis, Odin’s raven’s on his shoulder blades, a stylized snake bracelet under his regular bracelets, and a Chat Noir paw print under his ring. So far the paw print is the only one that I’m one hundred percent positive that will happen. The stylized snake on the pelvis is pretty up there too because in the Jabberwocky/Daisy universe I was going to have Adrien and Marinette squabbling over Luka, and Adrien was going to say that he bet Marinette hadn’t seen Luka’s snake tattoo. When Marinette asks Luka where he has a snake tattoo and learns how low on Luka’s stomach it is, she’s left wondering what’s going on between Adrien and Luka. I’m undecided about the ravens and the snake bracelet.

16. The children are always named Hugo, Louis, and Emma, but the birth order depends upon the pairing. Lukadrienette have Hugo (biologically Luka’s), Emma (Adrien’s), and then Louis (Adrien’s). Lukadrien have Emma (Luka and Rose’s), Louis (Adrien and Rose’s), and then Hugo (Adrien and Juleka’s). Adrienette have Louis, Hugo, and then Emma.

Which is your favourite of my headcanons? Which one would you like to see more of? Did I miss any? ^.^;

#Adrinette #Adrienette #Lukadrien #Lukadrienette #Miraculous Ladybug #Adrien Agreste #Luka Couffaine #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Émilie Agreste #Félix Agreste #Nathalie Sancoeur #Le Gorille #The Gorilla #ML Headcanons #Headcanons #Mikau's Headcanons #Ask Game #Ask Mikau #Mikau #A Little Night Music (Eine Kleine Nachtmusik) #Springtime in Wonderland

[malxlawson]

— && guests may mistake me as ( halsey ), but really i am ( amalia 'mal' lawson + cis female + she/her ) and my DOB is ( 8/6/1995 ). i am applying for the ( maintenance manager ) position as part of the EHP and would like to live in suite ( 202 ). i should be hired because i am ( + passionate, charismatic, thorough ), but i can also be ( - prideful, dramatic, argumentative ) at times. personally, i like to ( creating street art, volunteer community work, organizing protests ) when off the clock, but that won’t interfere with work. thank you for your consideration!

aaaand here we come with our favorite revamped heathen! mal hasn’t had quite as much changed - just a nice lil face lift and we love that for her.

before we get super into it: we have a stats page and a pinterest for your viewing pleasure.

going a little heavy on the triggers just because i want to be sure to cover all my bases!! most everything is just a mention, but we gotta be safe kids! take care of yourselves and remember ilysm.

( pregnancy tw, miscarriage tw, police brutality mentions tw, substance abuse tw )

- amalia raelle lawson was born august 6th, 1995 to marshal and cherisse lawson in oakland, california.

- marshal owned a local bbq restaurant and cherisse was an er nurse. both grew up in rough neighborhoods with rough childhoods, but vowed to make their kids’ lives better than their own.

- three years after mal came into their lives, they had a son; jayden.

- from that day on, mal had a best friend and confidant that she’d go to the ends of the earth to keep by her side.

- their childhoods weren’t easy in the way most kids are - their mom worked long hours and their dad spent most of his days at the restaurant. when their parents were home though (if cherisse wasn’t sleeping off a shift change), they spent their time with their community - be it at the restaurant or at block parties - trying to better it in any way they could manage.

- police brutality mention tw despite their efforts, their community was still plagued by all the injustices every other predominantly black community faces. from a young age, mal learned that the justice system wasn’t built to serve her or the people she considered family.

- police brutality mention tw she was six the first time she heard about a family friend being a victim of excessive force; nine when she saw it. for years after that, she saw mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, and cousins coming to mourn their loved ones - either locked up or taken from them too soon.

- instead of becoming numb to these tragedies, a fire was lit in amalia to change the system - even if she had to dismantle it one piece at a time.

- in the mean time, mal found an outlet for her emotions in art - specifically painting. she started with watercolors and crayolas, but once her parents realized her abilities were beyond what they should have been for a kind her age, they put whatever extra they could manage into mal and her passion for art.

- she was fourteen when she was introduced to street art - graffiti, if you want to get technical. his name was trey and amalia was instantly enamored by him. trey ran with a rougher crowd than mal was used to, but he softened around her.

- pregnancy tw they were young, in love, and reckless. she was fifteen when mal found out she was pregnant. while she wasn’t thrilled about becoming another statistic, she was thrilled about the idea of having a child.

- not entirely pleased with the situation, but always willing to support their children, mal’s parents welcomed trey into the family with open arms and began planning what was sure to be a life full of love for the newest addition to the lawson family.

- miscarriage tw three months into the pregnancy, amalia started to experience cramping and spotting. worried it may be something serious, she had her mom take her to the hospital. it was there they confirmed that mal was experiencing a miscarriage.

- everything changed after that. amalia was no longer the girl who wanted to fight the world’s injustices - she was just a girl who wanted to fight the world. she was angry and bitter at everyone and everything.

- substance abuse tw her relationship with trey quickly began to deteriorate and she turned, for the first time, to the rougher crew he hung out with. booze and drugs quickly became a way for mal to cope with the pain she carried around. she started small - cigarettes and pot - before graduating to the harder stuff, like coke and prescription pills.

- substance abuse tw skipping school to get loaded became a regular occurrence and when the truancy officers showed up at the lawson’s front door, her parents sat mal down for an at home intervention. for as much as they yelled and cried and offered treatment, amalia wasn’t hearing any of it. it wasn’t until jayden snuck into her room late one night to ask if he was going to lose mal like one of his friends had lost his older brother that mal realized her actions weren’t only effecting her life.

- miscarriage tw just before her junior year - with the help of her parents - mal decided it was best for her to leave public school and finish the rest of her schooling online. the same time she started online schooling, amalia started painting again. something she hadn’t done since she found out she’d miscarried.

- being able to stay home meant mal had the space and time to heal in her own ways. when she wasn’t doing school work, amalia was painting to help clear her head. it took some time, but she was finally able to tell her parents what she was going through, both mentally and physically.

- miscarriage tw after she miscarried, mal started to suffer from chronic period and pelvic pain, as well as painful intercourse. she’d also been suffering from symptoms of depression, all of which help lead her down the destructive path she’d gone down.

- several doctor trips later, mal was diagnosed with endometriosis and depression and quickly began treatments for both. despite starting treatments for her endometriosis, doctors told mal the likelihood of her conceiving again was highly unlikely. 

- mal hadn’t expected to hear at 16 that biological children may never be in her future and she was devastated, but she had her support system and their love and willingness to do whatever they could for her helped her cope in a much healthier way.

- by seventeen, amalia was feeling like her life was back on track, though drastically different than she’d imagined. she finished her diploma early and began working for her dad in the restaurant; serving, cooking, even helping fix things when they broke down. slowly but surely, mal mended her relationship with her parents and earned back their trust.

- one day, after some kids had vandalized the restaurant, marshal asked mal if she’d help cover the graffiti. jumping at the chance, amalia spent three days finishing her first big piece - which is still her favorite to this day - a portrait of her family and the community that kept the restaurant going. abstract and colorful, full of life and vibrancy, mal’s piece drew a lot of attention and several offers for her to commission other pieces.

- for the next three years, mal worked at the restaurant and took commissions when she could. life seemed normal again. she even reconnected with trey, mending the relationship that had been broken.

- the day trey proposed was the happiest day of mal’s life. she’d been beyond thrilled! after everything they’d been through, he still wanted to be with her. unfortunately, the bliss didn’t last. their engagement abruptly ended and mal decided it was best if she get away for a while, so as to not slip back into destructive patterns.

- a quick google search brought amalia to the malnati website and their employee housing program. applying was a no brainer and a month later she and jayden were packing their bags and moving to chicago.

- she started as a maid and, in the four years she’s been there, has moved up to the maintenance manager position.

hcs!

- when she’s not working, mal’s usually painting in her suite or sketching at one of the many parks in chicago during the day. at night, you’ll find her taking full advantage of chicago’s nightlife. night’s in for mal lawson are few and far between.

- drugs tw she skates a fine line when it comes to sobriety. she’s careful to drink or use just enough to be sure she’ll have a good time, but it’s a slippery slope. in the four years she’s been in chicago, mal’s slowly started doing more and more, telling herself she’s got a handle on it. truth be told, she’s teetering on the edge of a full blown problem again. 

- super into video games, but partial to anything involving zombies. mal loves a zombie - don’t ask me why. she’s usually down to play among us, valorant, fortnight, and is always down for a little animal crossing when she needs something more chill.

- 90′s hip hop & r&b are mal’s shiiiiiit. she’s at her happiest when she’s got a little tupac on in the background.

- also don’t you dare try to tell her he’s not alive in cuba somewhere living his best life. she ain’t havin’ it.

- when she’s angsty/sad/angry her go to playlist is a lot of punk, rock, grunge. especially of the 90′s persuasion. she stays on brand. her favorites are the offspring, nirvana, the foo fighters, soundgarden, stone temple pilots, the smashing pumpkins, sonic youth, and pixies.

- she’s gluten intolerant and vegetarian.

- mal is a cult classic movie kind of gal. donnie darko, pulp fiction, rocky horror are all on her list of favorites. she’s never going to turn down a good horror/thriller marathon, either.

- she plays a little piano and a little guitar. she picked them up after she started online schooling. she finds both relaxing. she’s by no means going to make a career out of it, but it’s fun!

- hella resting bitch face, but she really is super friendly! she just doesn’t always look it.

- don’t test her, though. she’s got attitude for days and she isn’t afraid to let you know what she thinks or how she feels about you. we ain’t got no time for games, okay?! okay.

- amalia has also very much immersed herself in community work since moving to chicago, especially on the south side. if her parents taught her anything growing up, it’s that she should give back the her community as much as she’s able.

- a lot of her street art celebrates women of color and their beauty. 

- not a fan of cops, still. soz pals.

- when it comes to work, she does her best to make the malnati a decent place to work. she’s all about positive reinforcement and making sure she takes care of her employees. she’s not gonna shy away from telling you ya fucked up, though. she’ll say it with love, though, while also calling you a giant pain in her ass. but with love. okay?! okay.

wanted connections!

- hook ups! : mal is a RAGING bisexual and is not at all afraid to make her appreciation for someone’s physical appearance known. just don’t expect to stay the night. once the deed is done you’ve got about thirty seconds to vacate mal’s suite.

- softies! : make. her. soft. give me someone who makes her break her no sleep over rule, pls and thank. she’s a stubborn, pain in the ass, and sassy af but someone who can make her melt? and act like a teenager in love again? all gooey and gross? yuh. pls.

- good influence! : someone she doesn’t have to drink and party with to have a good time! remind her that she misses things when she’s not sober - that the world is still beautiful and inspiring even when she’s not in a drug induced haze.

- chill baes! : drugs tw people mal just ~ v I b E s ~ with! probs smokin’ a decent amount of weed together. 

- protest pals! : people who are also involved in the community and social justice movements. they happily bail each other out of jail (or, more likely, sit in the back of a squad car together) and attend protests together. bc the buddy system. overthrow the government safely ty.

- rivals! : mal’s got a big mouth and some seriously controversial opinions. she’s not afraid to call people out for being ‘wrong’ and calling them...creative names. she’s bound to have a giant list of people who aren’t her biggest fans.

- bad girl’s club : need i say more? give. me. the girl gang. constantly partying and constantly getting into some kind of mischief and leaving a trail of broken hearts as they go. 

if you made it this far, you deserve SEVERAL high fives and literally all my love. ily all v much and uh, yuh. let’s plot pals. :)

#amalia | ooc #malnatiooc #malnatiintro #insert dj khalid *anotha one* gif here pls

[runearcana]

Reasons I am Terezi:

My soon to be deadname sounds like Terezi.

I have an absurdly long tongue. 

I look and dress like Terezi. [my hair ends up short, and when I straighten it, it always has a curve at the ends like hers. Ive always thought I look like a female version of Karkat and even tried to be more like him.] I primarily wear black t-shirts with nerdy images.

I love mysteries, solving them, and have a knack for knowing the law on an intuitive level.

I had a best fuckin friend forever that I did everything with. We called ourselves the Greythorne Sisters. I was Wither and she was Malice. [telling much?]

When I broke up with her, I.. used my very strong foresight and saw that there would be issues if we stayed friends. Karkat also encouraged me to do it and was outside when I went through with it. After I told her, she literally crumpled, and I hugged her one last time. She didnt expect it at all. ._.

I went insane with regret and self-hatred afterwards.

My ultimate crush looked, acted, and spoke [yelled] EXACTLY like Karkat.

The reason I got into Homestuck was because I was incredibly shocked at how his likeness was captured in the fan art, and even the official art. EVERYTHING is the same except he has grey-blue eyes, caucasion skin color, lacks horns. Everything else is the same. He sounds most like a more masculine version of Broadway Karkat. Very wicked and masculine voice. Extremely intimidating guy despite his size. [hes not short, just shorter than youd expect someone with a cocky personality like his.]

Karkat even called us the Scourge Sisters. 

He hated Vriska. He was jealous of her as well, as anyone interested in me would have been.

I loved Karkat, more than anyone except Vriska, but my self-esteem was too low to believe he legitimately cared about me. On some level I knew he cared about me, but I was too BLIND to see it.

I didnt know I loved Vriska more than Karkat until I had already lost her. v.v

Vriska and I had a serious BDSM relationship [kismesis] after being moirails a very long time. We should have stayed moiraills. :[ It was really my fault that she acted the way she acted.

I am an empath and I can legitimately taste peoples energies. 

I may as well be blind because my eyesight is useless to me without glasses.

My favorite color isnt red, its TEAL, but I have a crazy fetish for fiery guys.

Libra ascendant, which is funny because A. your ascendant was your sign in a previous life, and B. its the realm of your PERSONALITY. [Sun is about your life path and moon is about emotions. :P]

I am creepy and cute [or was when I identified as female]. I love scaring the shit out of people. >:]

I like 1337, but I refuse to type that way all the time even though quirks are awesome conceptually. I mean if I could program the computer to remember my quirk, itd be different, but that isnt a thing yet. Itd definitely spice the internet up much more. :]

I still play with plushies and whatevers at hand and draw with chalk.

I adore dragons and see myself as one because I was born in the year of the dragon. :P

I like to cosplay, and wear capes pretty often. 

Dave is someone I cared about a great deal. He had a crush on me, but I saw him as a brother. Dirk is a total piece of shit and hurt Dave and Karkat and its why they have so much in common. He IS Daves bro. Dave sort of sticks up for him and Dirk has clueless followers. 

Gamzee was a best friend of mine like Dave and we technically had a kismisitude relationship. Gamzee told me Karkat was his best friend but I didnt know it was mutual. He was very upset that Gamzee and I were kinda together.

One night I was sitting at the end of Vriskas bed, thinking she was asleep, and trying not to wake her up with blowing my nose. She was awake and spooked and said she thought I was cackling like a maniac at the end of the bed like a creep. I thought it was pretty much a good assessment.

Another time she told me that while I was asleep, she saw an *evil* me with a sharp toothed grin and grey skin. It didnt seem improbable to me.

John is my biological brother. Hes a Virgo sun, and hes a nerd. :] Hes the only person beside my dad and aunt I talk to. [lots of friends I have, lol.]

Rose is a c*nt but I was fascinated with her for some reason. Rose hates Homestuck because of the fanbase. [lolll]

Kanaya is her sister, not gf/wife. Shes cool, and a reasonable person and was a friend, but we didnt talk much. I dont know why really.. x.x

Aradia was my best friend before Vriska. She and Sollux are married. I had a crush on her hsband and it was awkward.

Equius is an ex. Longest relationship Ive been in was with him.

Eridan is as much of a insufferable asshat as he is in the series, but not good looking in the slightest. He can be.. surprisingly insightful at times. None of us like him, even us INFPs. [Dave and I.]

I see Aranea as my mother. Talks non-stop, ruins lives.. but I used to look up to her.

Calliope was a fellow dragon lover friend that Dave introduced me to. Her handle was Celestial Serpent and she is even more asexual than I am. :]

My friends saw my and Karkats connection as being more like Karkats and Nepetas. He treated me like I was autistic and mostly ignored me. Probably until I confessed to him, and then after I went crazy because I had lost Vriska, and hoped that I could rely on him to be there for me. but despite all that bravado cockiness of his, hes a total wimp. ._.] Karkat and I had a ridiculously brief unspoken relationship that was only through telepathic communication and I got beyond frustrated and kissed a woman, and it was over like that. No one knows about this but us. Its another thing that I have ruminated on and hated myself for and deeply regretted.

I envy gamer girls who are actually good at games and wish I could be more confident and popular. v.v; [Latula]

I had a character on Gaiaonline with the Chucku Norisu scarf and the winged staff item and people drew freebie art of it for me, and when I looked at my pictures after learning about Homestuck it was pretty crazy.

Vriska [best artist I know] drew a character that looked a lot like Terezi that I had liked a lot.

I was very isolated when I was young. Neglected by my parents for the most part and felt too different from other humans. I always wanted a tree house and bulit my own club house that I hung out in as a kid.

My friends pretty much unfairly looked down on and even despised Vriska except Gamzee.

I love the taste and sight of blood. [Im a sadist.]

Dave made a proposition that he, me and Karkat be in a poly relationship and I turned it down. [I did not want to share Karkles with ANYONE. I know in the comic Dave actually disliked the idea, but the poly thing came up with the three of us. I dont know if Karkat was cool with it or not because he always used Dave as our go-between, but if Dave made the offer it must have been Karkat approved. Asshole. -.-]

Karkat and Dave live together and are more than likely morails. Karkat isnt attracted to Dave, but Dave has said he is attracted to Karkat.

I had a dragon umbrella that looked like a cane that I loved a lot.

Karkat is pretty much the unofficial group leader, or at least he was in my opinion. I could see Sollux saying Id make a better leader, though, because Im more clear-headed and calm about things and people from that group respected me [more than I was aware of].

We are all connected somehow.. but the main group consisted of Dave, Gamzee, Rose, Kanaya, me [Terezi], Karkat, and a few people I didnt see as characters from Homestuck. Vriska was not allowed to hang out with us at first. When she finally got her freedom [with my help] she wouldnt hang with the group, and they saw her as taking me away from them. They thought she treated me poorly, but she really didnt. -.- [Vriska did nothing wrong, theyre all just jerks.]

I dont hang out or talk to any of them anymore except John. Im always finding myself reminiscing and I really just wish I could forget I ever met them so I could start over fresh.

I have a spirit guide that is a DRAGON and teaches me anything Id like to know, especially in esoteric matters. His name is Shadowfall Ryu. Ryu is Japanese for Dragon. [lusus] and I agonize that I dont know him irl. Everyone knows about him. I have drawn so much art of him and talked about him so much. He is my ideal self. [i know the lusus in the comics is female, but whatever. Its still interesting.]

I collect dragon stuff, including plushies. I still play with them and wish others would play with me.

List goes on and on.

I cant make this stuff up.

[altalksaboutstuff]

Shantae: 1/2 Genie Hero

From the 16th of this month, March 2020, to the 15th of next month, April 2020, Games with Gold has the excellent platformer – Shantae: ½ Genie Hero. As long as you have an active Xbox Live or Xbox Gamepass Ultimate subscription

It's ��FREE” to download during that period but even after April 15th, you can keep playing it, it won't leave your library and if you let your subscription expire it will still remain, you just can't play it.

I have had Gamepass for about a year now, I wanted to kind of document my journey and time with games on Gamepass and one of the first that I played when I got the service last year was Shantae: ½ Genie Hero.  Unfortunately, this game is no longer available on the service and I thought back in September of 2019 that I had lost my chance to talk about it in a relevant sense, but lo and behold its back now – kind of, in a zombie-esque way.

The game expiring from Gamepass was actually the launching point for me to a Switch.  It was my birthday in September and Shantae was just about to be removed from the service, great present Microsoft.  I was kind of depressed that in this moment in my life that I had spent about a quarter of a year playing the game that was just going to up and leave.  Now I could have bought it and at a discount but if I did that I would be getting just the base game that I was practically done with.  I also had all this extra money from my birthday burning a hole in my pocket and instead doing something smart like putting towards my mortgage – I ended up buying a Switch to cheer me up.  And what does the Switch have but the physical version of Shantae: ½ Genie Hero that includes all the DLC.  

THAT – and the fact that one of my favorite games of all time was just remade – Link's Awakening. 

So I got those two games to cope with the fact that I wouldn't be able to play Shantae on Gamepass anymore in a few days ...but I had also gotten my wife a Switch Lite for our anniversary so I kind of wanted a reason to give it to them early and we had a Switcheversay on September 28th. 

NERD!

On a side note of this tangent – I feel like I'm always a little behind with Nintendo, with my earliest exposure to Nintendo being no different.  Way back in the dark ages of the early 1990s I was a Genesis Lad.  After school I was in a program where I first got to play a Nintendo game, there were NES consoles, games and Ataris as well.  While kids at school were telling me, “YA GOTTA PLAY Donkey Kong Country 2 and Mega Man X!” The cutting edge stuff of the time, I would root around and find other games like Donkey Kong Jr. and Mega Man 2 on NES.  Now don't get me wrong, those were great games I loved then and still love now but I was behind the times. I just didn't have a Super Nintendo, like most of my peers that I went to school with.  I just had the Sega. So when most were playing Super Mario World, Chrono Trigger and A Link to Past – I was playing Sonic... Sonic (Sonic 2)... and Sonic... (Sonic 3 but not & knuckles)

BUT Sonic is great!

When my friends had a Gameboy Advance, I still had a Gameboy Color.  When the DS was the hot handheld, I got a Gameboy Advance, I got a 3DS around the time Fire Emblem Fates came out when it seemed like everyone was clamoring for a new portable technology and I got a Wii U when it was all but dead.  As previous stated, I only got a Switch last September.  Heck, I haven't even played the new Mary-o yet

Pushing forwarding in the way back machine to the time when I was a still a young teen, at the age of 14, I remember a Gameboy Color game came out that I really wanted to get – Shantae.  I don't even know why I really wanted it other than it was a new Gameboy Color game when new Gameboy Color games weren't coming out.  Like, I remember the Gameboy Advance came out about a year ago but  I didn't need one according to my parents-

Me: Mom, can I get a Gameboy Advanced? Mom: You have Gameboy Advance at Home ::At home::

So the impact of a new Gameboy Color game coming out - blew … me … away.  

Of course - I didn't get that game either.

Now don't get me wrong, I still got games as a kid on birthdays and Christmas but I feel like the games I didn't get are the ones I look back at and think – If only...

(^I never had a Neo Geo but I wanted this game)

Love you Mom and Dad

Back to Shantae though

Tangents aside – why do I think I like this game?

Why is it when I played Half Genie Hero in June of 2019 did I really got hooked on it well until the end of summer? I play, play, played it – all the modes, collect the endings, the tedious achievements like Queen of the Seven Cheese where you have to beat Risky Boots by just chomping at her as a mouse doing 1 damage at at a time.... ugh!  For achievements I even … gasp (teeth noise) … speed ran it.  And successfully, not on my first attempt though!  Or … at least successfully enough to get the endings and achievements.  I've never speed ran a game before, at least on purpose.  I drew bad fan art!  

(^Unlike everything else on this post, I actually drew that [sorry])

For the first time in my life I even looked into Fan Fiction.  

Which, on a side note, I don't recommend you look at most of the fan fiction that I’ve seen if you are at work.

The game really got its hooks into me and I'm not exactly sure why but I think I might know.

Well, it feels like a SEGA Genesis game – long story short.

Short story long - I think the best way to classify what kind of game this is, is Metroidvania.  You have a mini map and you unlock powers that later allow you to explore the rest of the levels you had previous been to and there are collectibles and upgrades you can buy in game.  As you play you can upgrade how Shantae attacks by purchasing upgrades for her hair whip attack or armor but the big mechanic is the transformations – you can turn into animals with varied attacks and abilities as well as some other inanimate objects and living things like this tree 

- to help you better get across the stages and discover the secrets of Sequin Land.

I've also read its kind of Mega Man– ish which I had never really thought about before but yeah, because I do love some Mega Man.  It has a lot of obstacles/the levels are kinds of obstacle courses like the early NES Mega Man games and there are two areas particularly in my mind – The factory in Mermaid Falls and the Hypno Baron's Castle part of the … Hypno Baron's Castle stage.  Well most of it is actually like an obstacle course now that I think about it

The score is by Jake Kauffman and man, AND if I ever make a game I want that guy doing my music.  I mentioned the factory part of Mermaid Falls before – the best track in the game and maybe even in any game I've ever heard is Counterfeit Mermaids,  its such an earworm,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkXd26E_Ynw

I feel like this song and Neo Town Burning are the two best games 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yParHIzy1nA

You are going to be in the camp that one is better than the other (though Counterfeit Mermaids is clearly the superior track, ahem)

Its a great soundtrack, I find myself tuning into it during my commute to work and sometime even turning off my podcast or audio books to listen to this soundtrack (yes Even Neo Town Burning too).  The game's lead voice actress according IMDB is Cristina Valenzuela (sometimes credited as Cristina Vee) who sings the games title theme that also appears in the first level, Scuttle Town the first time you play the level and also when you first boot up the game its there too. POW! Give it a listen – sample plays and fades.  Its great.  This soundtrack is really memorable and still in my rotation almost a year after I played it for the first time.

The characters themselves too are varied in personality and the styles are now toted as being“in high definition”.  

Shantae is my least favorite but I think that works well in the sense of self insert. And that's not to say Shantae doesn't have a personality, she is kind of bubbly and she cares a lot about her ties such as to her family - such her uncle Mimic and her late mother - and to her friends.  The three main friends that back Shantae during her journey (that also get their own adventure in the DLC)

Sky - a somewhat more responsible friend of your that is out to give you some counsel and a ride to each stage on her cool bird

Bolo – who offers a bit of comic relief

Rotty Tops the zombie that is a true friend that shows up to support you and cheer you on, in one time literally too.  

By the way there is also Risky Boots (the best character, IMO) who is the larger than life antagonist to akin to a comic book villain.

But even with the “HD” graphics, and incredible score everything about just feels like … a Sega game.  I can't really put it to words to do it justice, like, it has the essence of games I grew up with.  I know a lot of people already had that nostalgia rush with Freedom Planet or Sonic Mania but I only just got Freedom Planet on Switch

Which is great so far, by the way

and Sonic Mania is on my to do pile 

so for me – Shantae was it.  

I felt that joy like I was 5 years old playing Sonic 2 for the first time.  I took me something embarrassing like 8 hours to beat the first time.  But after I beat it, I immediately wanted to play it again.  I almost NEVER want to replay a game after I beat it – Best case is I take a break and play it again in a year. While it took me a laughable amount of hours to beat the game the first time but by the time I was really invested and on the 3rd or 4th time replaying it, I was completing it in under 2 hours.  I was looking up speed running strats and Youtube videos of people speed running the game to compare and contrast how I played the game.  I never, ever thought that I would speed run a game. Super Metroid still takes me an embarrassing number of hours to play and I've beat that almost as many times as Shantae now.

Having played both the Xbox One and Switch versions they look pretty similar and seem to play about the same.  I noticed that the game seems to run a bit better on the Xbox One and the load times aren't as long

So I really recommend you get this game.  I'm super jealous if you've never played it, you get to experience it for the first time!  If you don't have an Xbox One but have a Switch you can get the physical version for pretty cheap, used I got this copy for about $20 and it has all the game content.  And with the DLC you can finally play as Risky Boots!

It goes without saying that the game I am most excited for this year, 2020 is going to be Shantae and the Seven Sirens.

If you don't have an Xbox or a Switch, the game is also on PC too. Steam has sales, last time the Ultimate Edition was on sale it was only about $21 (show pic) and with a plug and play controls great.  

And just as I was checking before posting this, it is on sale for $20.99 until March 30th, 2020

Its also on PS4, I guess if you don’t have any other options

#shantae #shantae half genie hero #half genie hero #risky boots #sega #nostaliga #games with gold #xbox one #switch #pc #video games #games #metroidvania #bolo #rottytops #sky #wayforward #xbox #ps4 #steam #sonic #super mario #sanic #mario #gunstar heroes #gunstar #freedom planet #super metroid #metroid #castlevania

[olivervaga]

BASICS.

Name: Oliver Edward Vaga

Nickname: Ollie to friends/family, Apollo to the society

Gender & Pronouns: Cis-male, he/him

Age & DOB: 29, December 15, 1990

Zodiac sign: Sagittarius

Orientation: Bisexual

Nationality: American

Ethnicity: Mixed, 1/2 Indian and 1/2 caucasian

Religion: Agnostic

HISTORY.

Hometown: San Diego, Cali

Father: Idris Vaga

Mother: Lenora Dupoint

Siblings, if any: N/A

Extended family: ( if relevant )

Educational background: Graduated from Penn State and was a quarterback on their football team. Ollie has his BA in Arts and Sciences with a focus on art history.

Languages spoken: English and Spanish fluently, but some of the countries he’s spent more time in, like France, he can speak casually.

Occupational history: Literally, he is a spoiled rich kid. His only job has been an Instagram Influencer. However, he always intended on going to the NFL, which unfortunately did not happen.

Achievements:

successfully avoided imprisonment in numerous countries 2016 — present (kidding).

captain of the nittany lions 2014 — 2016

helped his father to create a functional food program for homeless in 2010

successfully created numerous popup art galleries throughout the world in 2018 — present

THE SOCIETY.

Codename: Apollo

Meaning: Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians. He is the God of Healing, Medicine, Archery, Music and Poetry. Basically, I chose this because like Ollie, Apollo is very layered.

Traditionalist or Reformist?: Truthfully, Ollie would be more of a reformist, but he isn’t the type to rock the boat so he would be quiet about his opinions… unless he applied himself towards reforming the society which would be an interesting plot. Ollie is primarily seeking purpose within the society.

Goals in the society: As mentioned above, Ollie is primarily seeking purpose. He hopes that the society can help give him that. After losing his football dreams, he hasn’t had any sense of purpose since, besides random little tasks, like bringing the joy of art around the world. Ultimately, for him, however, that feels meaningless.

Opinion on the society: At the moment, Ollie is focused on the people within the society, and presently, a lot of people he likes are in it. Therefore, he enjoys the society. His feelings haven’t gone any deeper besides a useful avenue.

PERSONALITY.

MBTI: ENFP

Enneagram: Type Seven

Temperament: Sanguine

Hogwarts House: Slytherclaw

Inspirations/Parallels: I drew some inspiration from Nate Archibald, Johnny Storm and Kate Bishop.

Tropes: the casanova, fun personified, hidden depths, really gets around

YOUR MUSE AS ..:

A piece of art:

A song: Capsize - Frenship

A book: The Great Gatsby

A movie: Superbad LMAO

A TV show: Fear Factor

A historical era: 1960s for sure

A historical figure: Louis the Debonaire, trying but never quite making the mark

A fictional character: Johnny Storm

A colour: Red

An animal: A penguin

YOUR MUSE’S DREAM ..:

Job: Honestly, Ollie is unsure. I think he’d get the most gratification from coaching football and tying it in with his dad’s charity organization, but… he does not know that yet.

Vacation: An elaborate, tame, organized adventure through the Amazon. Nothing that he has to plan, nothing that’s too dangerous, but it’d be exciting, unique, and something that Ollie could brag about afterwards.

Day: The perfect day for Ollie would be to wake up to breakfast in bed — something fancy, like croissants, eggs Benedict, etc., and then get a workout in. After all that was finished, he would immediately head to a beautiful art gallery in Paris and then take a quick flight to Spain and have dinner there with his closest friends and then party all night. Probably more of a fun, intimate party with chatting and games and food if he was with his favs. If it were a mix, a big rager.

As a child: As a child, Ollie was as arguably lose as he is now. It was always expected that he would inherit either the law firm or charity organization, but it became clear he wasn’t overly interested. He was spoiled, pampered, never wanted anything, but he did fixate on things… specifically, football and that became what his parents wanted for him. Unfortunately, he came up short. He never whined or fussed, but Ollie did need constant attention and if he didn’t get it, he caused chaos, similar to now.

Last night: Ollie was texting Mavi all night, most likely, and was at some party that he met tons of people at. He went home with someone and then left after breakfast! It’s a normal Ollie night.

That they gave up on: Football, although that was because he never made it to the NFL and it became clear he never would.

That they have right now: Currently, Ollie has the freedom to be able to ‘find himself.’ That direction is questionable and unexpected, but he’s grateful for the time he’s been given and he now know he loves multiple things: people, his friends, art, football… he knows he’s lucky.

Quick Biography:

Oliver was born to two wildly successful entrepreneurs. His mother created a law firm that expanded across the world while his father headed a charity organization. The latter, of course, wasn’t nearly as lucrative. Oliver from a young age was a bright kid, but he was never disciplined, and that carried on throughout his life. He would always come up short when it came to applying himself. For example, it’d be a subject he excelled at, but when the test came, he didn’t bother studying, instead in the pursuit of pleasure. Really, pleasure ruled his life, and his parents allowed it.

For years, he fucked around that way, doing enough to be considered bright, but never brilliant. The only thing he did apply himself in was sports, and his favourite among them was football. Still, he wasn’t brilliant, but he did manage to become Captain of the Penn State Lions. Ollie, having been given everything, expected that he would make the NFL. When he was never scouted, Ollie was devastated. Coming from a background of constantly getting what he wanted, it was horrifying, but he never allowed his parents to buy his way in.

After graduating with a BA in Art History, Ollie went on a bit of a bender. He traveled the world, mostly partying and drinking, with the occasional inspired moment leading to popup galleries with artists that would have never been discovered otherwise. Again, he was bright, but uninspired. During his exploits, Ollie became an Instagram Influencer, and while it’s mostly luxury, he always does what he can for young aspiring artists.

Currently, Ollie joined the society in order to find direction. He feels genuinely lost, uninspired and he needs something more in his life, but he still expects things to be handed to him.

Personality wise, Ollie is very outgoing. He loves people and human contact and he loves to spend time with others. He’s constantly in the pursuit of max pleasure and adrenaline. He’s also extremely hyper. That said, Ollie is also very kind and generous.

#bio #gilded:intro

[an-american-teen-against-crime]

Heather McKay, Lou Talbot & Scott Varnell

omg ya’ll are so nice on here but I’ll warn ya’ll I can never give a short answer no matter how hard I try

Heather McKay: Do you care about fashion?

Yes and no. I was really into fashion design as a kid, used to draw my own designs then realized I liked to make character designs more haha. I like to look cool/cute and I like certain styles, but some fashion trends I simply cannot get behind. I really like clothes tho and they make me feel cool so yeah. Other days though I find myself wearing multi-colored socks and berkenstocks with camo pants and goodness know what t-shirt so really who knows haha XD

Lou Talbot: What did you major in or what would you like to major in, if applicable?

Haha so I’ve actually been dealing with this question today. I’m currently trying to figure that out, I was maybe going to do mass com but then I was worried that wouldn’t lead me in as artsy of a direction as I had hoped (if you take one direction it leads into like film/tv stuff etc) so I could still do that, or maybe english/creative writing. I would honestly love to do animation/cartooning but my school doesn’t really have a program for that so I’d have to transfer. Also as a last resort anthropology is still on the table cuz I freakin love it. 

Scott Varnell: What are you really passionate about?

Ha! Literally everything. Art, comics, tv/movies, film making, books, writing, character/story analysis, Nancy Drew games (lol), fandoms, so many fandoms (Marvel, Dc, Star Wars, doctor who, supernatural to name a few) Karate/martial arts, some areas of history and science, specifically Anthro/archeology, nature, food, social/civil (?) rights if that’s what you call it, musicals, my faith, also I don’t know a lot about space but if you asked me about it I probably wouldn’t stop. Basically I am kind of an over-passionate person lol 

Seriously though, thank you so much for the ask! I really had fun doing this and btw I love your blog :3

[bballer24143-blog]

Why Matt Rhule has a chance to be a successful NFL coach

By Sam Mehr                                                                                                      1/28/20

Image courtesy The Athletic

           As the wheels of the NFL coaching carousel churned once again in the winter of 2020, an interesting hire came across the newswires. The Carolina Panthers hired former Baylor coach Matt Rhule as their next head coach to replace veteran coach Ron Rivera. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Panthers doled out a 7 year 60 million dollar contract (which can reach 70 million if incentives are reached). In short, the Panthers made a colossal commitment to a guy who has only 1 year of NFL experience (2012 as an assistant offensive line coach with the New York Giants). Additionally, the track record of head coaches transitioning from college to the NFL has been mixed at best. At any rate, I believe the marriage between Rhule and the Panthers has the chance to be a fruitful one for a variety of reasons.

           Matt Rhule has a strong resume as a winning coach. A former linebacker at Penn State in the mid-1990s, Rhule has been a head coach at Temple University (2013-2016) and Baylor University (2017-2019). Following a 2-10 debut season at Temple, he increased the win total for the Owls over his next three seasons there. He won 10 games in each of his last two seasons at Temple (10-4 in 2015 and 10-3 in 2016). Rhule joined Baylor in 2017, a football program in ruins following a sexual assault scandal that enveloped figures such as head coach Art Briles and president Kenneth Starr. Following a 1-11 inaugural season at the helm, Rhule led Baylor to a 7-6 record in 2018 (including a win over Vanderbilt in the Texas Bowl). In 2019, Baylor finished 11-3, and was invited to the prestigious Sugar Bowl (which they lost to Georgia). The point is that Rhule has consistently turned teams around. Thus, he has the chance to be an elixir for a Panthers team in need of a home improvement, as they have finished 29-35 over the last 4 seasons (with only one playoff appearance) since their Super Bowl trip in 2015.

           Schematically, Matt Rhule has proven himself to be cutting edge. According to Zach Barnett of FootballScoop.com, Rhule ran an offense at Temple that was run-heavy. He utilized big personnel (2 running backs and 2 tight ends on the field at the same time). At Baylor, Barnett noted that he adopted the run-pass option system (a system where, on a given play, the quarterback puts the ball in the belly of the running back and either hands off or pulls the football and passes it). Rhule implemented this offense, Barnett wrote, because he recruited a lot of Texas high schoolers who ran that system at their respective schools. In short, Rhule has proven himself to be adaptable in terms of his x’s and o’s. This flexibility is critical in the NFL, where the opponent changes week to week, and trends throughout the league take hold as time passes by (ie the NFL becoming more pass-oriented in the late 2000s, etc). Finally, Rhule picked a bright young offensive coordinator in Joe Brady. Brady spent two seasons (2017-2018) as an offensive assistant with the New Orleans Saints. He worked under head coach Sean Payton, one of the best offensive minds in the NFL over his 14 seasons and counting with the Saints. Additionally, he got to observe future hall of fame quarterback Drew Brees. In 2019, Brady moved to LSU, a program that won the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship. Brady won the Broyles Award, an honor granted to the best assistant coach in college football, and assisted an offense that ranked first in all of college football in points per game (48.4).

           Matt Rhule has a personality that is conducive to him being successful in the NFL. Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer wrote in January 2020 that when Rhule was at Baylor, he had an open dialogue with faculty in regards to whether his players were late or not when going to classes. This anecdote shows Rhule demands accountability and discipline from his players, two characteristics that translate well to winning football games. In that same article, Tom Coughlin, the former New York Giants head coach, said about Rhule, “He’s so humble; no ego.” Coughlin later added, “He is very good at helping players get better because he comes off as so human. He’s good about admitting mistakes, and that’s a way of saying he wants to get better and help everyone else get better.” These quotes from Tom Coughlin illustrate that Rhule is a very easygoing person (ie not someone who has an overinflated sense of self), and an open-minded nature. I think these qualities make him relatable to players, who will in turn want to accept his coaching and play hard for him. Matt Lombardo of NJ.com wrote in January 2020 about Rhule. Lombardo spoke with Brandon Noble, a teammate of Rhule’s at Penn State, and an assistant with Rhule at Temple. Noble said, “Matt always had a chip on his shoulder…that idea and that mentality he brought to Temple, all of those kids were reminded of it when we went to play Notre Dame and when they went to play Penn State and eventually beat them. Those guys had that chip-on-their-shoulder mentality. That ‘Temple tough,’ Northeast thing…Matt has it and he gets guys to believe it.” Noble’s quote illustrates that Rhule instills toughness in his players, and toughness is perhaps the most fundamental quality needed in a football team. Additionally, the above quote demonstrates that Rhule is a strong motivator to his players, which is one of the most important traits a coach needs in order to have success.

           The Panthers roster has pieces that Rhule can utilize in order to attain success. Admittedly, there is some uncertainty at the quarterback position. Cam Newton, a former MVP and 3-time Pro Bowler, is recovering from foot surgery, and has a contract that can be voided with only a 2 million dollar salary cap hit. Also, Luke Kuechly, a future hall of fame linebacker, announced his retirement in January. Therefore, things aren’t perfect from a roster standpoint for Carolina. However, there are talented players still left over on both sides of the football. The offensive fulcrum for the Panthers is running back Christian McCaffrey. McCaffrey, a quick, powerful runner who is a great receiver as well, is one of the best players in the NFL.  In addition, the Panthers have D J Moore, a 22 year old wide receiver who caught 87 passes in 2019. Opposite Moore is Curtis Samuel, a versatile receiver who, besides catching the football, is capable of running it on reverses, sweep plays, etc. The Panthers have some talented defensive personnel under contract as well. Defensive tackle Kawann Short is a disruptive player who is stout vs the run, and can push the pocket and rush the quarterback (32.5 sacks over 7 seasons in the NFL). Defensive end/linebacker Brian Burns, the 16th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, is a fast player who is a promising pass rusher (7.5 sacks in his debut season). Finally, the Panthers have linebacker Shaq Thompson. Thompson is a speedy linebacker who is a tremendous athlete (he played linebacker, safety, and running back in college at Washington). Upon signing a 4 year 54 million dollar contract extension in December 2019, general manager Marty Hurney referred to him in a statement as “very versatile” and “the blueprint for what we want at the position.”

           The hiring of Matt Rhule was one that was not without risk. Furthermore, the Panthers gave an astounding commitment both in terms of years and finances to their new head coach. However, Rhule has an excellent resume as a team builder. He is also very intelligent, both in terms of his football iq, and his ability to connect with his players. Finally, he possesses talented players at his disposal. Mixing all the variables together, I absolutely believe that Matt Rhule can be a home run addition for the Carolina Panthers.  

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