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archer973 · 3 years

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for the fanfic ask game! L, S, U, V and W!

L: How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

I am a consummate "edit as you go" person (which is a habit I have actually been trying to break myself of), but I usually do at least one big editing read through before I post something. I also have a tendency to edit any time I do a reread of my progress, which I generally do if I have stepped away from a fic for any amount of time.

S: Any fandom tropes you can't resist?

Oh man, so many! There Was Only One Bed and Huddling For Warmth are some classics I can never pass up. Accidental Baby Acquisition is also always fun (particularly when an unlikely character ends up being the baby whisperer). Also, Person(s) A forcing Person B to eat/sleep/go to medical/generally take care of themselves is always a yes please for me, especially if Person A is trying very hard to pretend their concern is purely professional and has nothing whatsoever to do with any tender feelings, romantic or otherwise. (SWTCW fandom, I am looking at you, you beautiful people!) And that's not even getting started on the sexy times tropes I devour at any opportunity.

U: Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much.

Oof, this is a tough one, since I am less of a person who follows writers and more of a person who follows ships. But I will read literally anything @blue-charlotte (hayj on AO3) writes, and not just because I devoured a good dozen of her fics before realizing they were written by the same person, but also because she is the Marlie/CM2 shipper of my heart and was one of the first people to welcome me into the Revo fandom (which, as someone who was mostly writing “problematic” ships and was a little worried about a mob with pitchforks, I cannot even begin to explain how much her kindness meant to me).

@veliseraptor is someone who, even though we don’t share any fandoms anymore, I always enjoying seeing post updates and headcanons and fic ideas, because she is a meticulous, dedicated writer who has honestly been an inspiration to me when it comes to writing angst/whump/dark fics. Her determination in the face of The Purity Police has inspired and reassured me on nights when I am worrying about the reception of my own headcanons/fics, and given me the confidence to tell anon haters to firmly go suck on an exhaust pipe. (Seriously, if you like The Untamed, go check her out, Lise is a lovely human being and her work is a joy to read)

I haven’t found them on Tumblr yet, but countessofbiscuit gets a spot on this list because they have written some of my all time favorite SWTCW fics and the way they write the clones is one of my favorites so far, so I am 100% more likely to read a SW fic if I see it is written by them.

V: If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?

This is hard, because the fic itself is absolutely perfect, but I would love to play in the world of Erinyes_kiss' 'The Hart, The Hind, and The Hound', for a multitude of reasons. Besides the fact that it is probably one of my favorite fics to date, it was also one of the first fics to really get me on the CM2 bandwagon. I would read an entire novel of this fic, I love the premise so much. But as for personally writing in/around it, the structure of the fic itself leaves plenty of room for expansion/extrapolation, without having to risk compromising the original work. Also, I feel like I have a similar enough writing style that I would be able to (hopefully) do an addition justice.

W: Do you like more general prompts, or more specific ones?

There are pros and cons to both. If I am going to be writing a full-fledged fic for an exchange or something, I tend to like more general/broader prompts, since that way there is room for if the story takes a few turns (as my stories have a tendency of doing). However, if you're talking ideas/headcanons/inspirations, I love the super specific ones. Slice of life ones in particular, since those can be written without having to work them into a larger prompt.

Thank you so much, @loupettes, for sending an ask! (I won’t lie, there was a little bit of ‘Senpai Noticed Me?’, because I love your presence in the Doctor Who fandom so much, and think you are just such a lovely human being!)

#ask game #ruby answers asks #sorry i rambled a bit #but i love these things

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snickiebear · 3 years

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Hi bby! 1, 2, 3, 6, 16, 27, 29, 33, 35! 🖤

mittens!!! loml!!

1. From one to five stars, how would you rate your writing? (No downplaying yourself!)

oh goodness... um, i’d say a 4?? yeah, that sounds about right, only because i often make so many tense mistakes and even when i edit there’s always something to fix. and just,,, im still learning a lot (aren’t we all). plus, sometimes the stuff i put out needs so much more work (see: my recent shisaku fic... i want to tear it up and put it back together.. ugh.. also wt&r, just everything)

2. Why do you write fanfiction?

OH GOODIE! i just... well, i wrote a lot when i was twelve-fourteenish, then kind of on and off through the years. never really had anything to ground me and get me to take writing seriously. and then i found naruto and sakura who has so much unused potential and it just made me so angry to see her treated that way.

point being, the naruto fandom (more specifically the sakura fandom) rooted me down and allowed me be able to grow as a writer even though i’ve only been posting since january my writing style has changed so much, and i can physically feel myself becoming a better writer.

plus, i just love it. the thrill of being able to use these characters and pairings and do what i want with them?? i drink it up, i love it!!! its so freeing and such a great way to really dig deep within writing itself.

3. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

i think its just the way i word things, you and a lot of others call it poetry but meh i just call it fancy words or word vomit from my brain AHAHHAHA

also, my thing is God Killers, God Eaters, and Angry Wrathful Women at this point, so maybe thats another thing?

but honestly,,, i have no clue... you’d have to ask my lovely readers, im so thankful for them 😭

6. What element of writing do you find comes easily?

plot probably. this changes often though. usually when i have an idea, the rest comes to mind and i jot it down and come back and change things and stuff, so thats usually pretty easy tbh... at least for now LMAO

and inner dialogue, inner struggles, showing the entire internal thing. its fun writing that angsty part of a story, the small insights into a character’s mind, how miserable and alone they feel. or, perhaps how happy they are, overjoyed and at peace.

OH AND WORLD BUILDING. i pride myself so much on my world building. i honestly think thats one of the better things im good at! just weaving small details into the text, and subtly building a world within your mind, oh i love it so much!!!!

16. Any guilty pleasure trope(s)?

mmmm nothing really comes to mind? men simping for women who could kick their ass? tho idk if thats really a guilty pleasure....am very fond of same age aus, sometimes mafia aus too... ummm,, yeah

(probably big dick tenzo tbh... and the fact that kakashi’s face is a legal weapon AHAHAHA,,, and broken, vunreble men. also, shattered, all consuming women.)

27. What’s the nicest comment you’ve ever received?

oh god... i cannot chose! you, ele, al, and hika leave the kindest comments, and literally any comment on the things i write just make me so so so so so HAPPY. i just them more than kudos tbh.

but! one comment on the intimacy of being understood i always come back to. it was left by GuardianMars and they wrote that the fic was like a “love letter to the pairing.” and that well. i think about that comment all the time.

there have been so many others comments that have utterly touched my heart and that i will go to read on terrible, horrible days and i value ALL comments. especially those who say “i’m rereading this again” or “i’ll read anything you put out” that just. there is something so intimate about that, that utter faith and loyalty that i do not know what to do with.

its so touching and makes me truly believe in the good of the world.

29. Have you ever gone outside of your comfort zone for a fic? How did it turn out?

yes! i am attempting to get better at writing smut because ol&w is going to have some fucking in it so i experimented in that shisaku fic and just..... yeah idk man. idk... its something i do want to get better at cause, meh why not? and i want to write some good porn for my readers damnit! HAHAHA

33. Is there anything you wish your audience knew about your writing or writing process?

hmmm,,, probably that i stress so much and yet so little at the same time? allow me to elaborate! i stress so much about whether my writing is actually good or if people are just being nice LMAO and also posting, i get cold sweats and a thumping heart and yiKES

but also, i enjoy writing so its like “fuck you (jk ily guys) imma write what i wanna!”...do you see my issue? HAHAHA

also, im a planner. most of the time, and a lot of the details in my more serious fics (ol&w) are blink and miss details but they’re important and i LOVE foreshadowing!!!! like yes, i will vaguely mention something and itll simply come back with a vengeance!

35. Ramble about any fic-related thing you want!

aaaaaa okokok thank you for this ask LMAO i just love talking about writing and rambling (as i often do,, im a long winded person, im very sorry)!

but anyways! my summer semester just started up and i’m taking three purely online classes and the college im attending (im a dual enrollment student; meaning a high school and college kid,, taking advantage of the system!) fucked up my schedule so! im taking two TWELVE WEEK CLASSES that will end in AUGUST???? and then my fall sem starts five days later so... no summer break for nadia! yay...

writing will be very slow and updates will be too, which i am so sad and frustrated about because i’ve finally hit a paved road and now we’re driving into the forest! all bumps and bruises damnit! BUT worry not! i (as i said above, am i severe planner. every day has a plan, i am also an avid lover of lists also. i have lists for EVERYTHING) am working out a schedule so that i can get all my school shit done as soon as i can (while not failing) and write while hopefully not burning myself out.

ol&w is such an intricate fic and im truly trying to give it the justice it deserves,,, im just hoping that my dear readers can bear with me HAHAHAHA there is honestly so much going on in that fic; shikamaru’s development, the underlying plot, the hate to love build up, the world building, and then laying down the foundations for the next fic (because yes, this is supposed to be a trilogy.. question is; will i be able to write it?) (answer: maybe. hopefully. i desperately want to but it might take some time.)

BUT ASLO i have so many oneshots i want to write! kisame week! kakashi week! kibasaku long fic! and not to mention my og work that i plan on rewriting and putting up on ao3 because a few people showed some interest. there is just so much to do and write and i am itching to do it all! but. well, but school, and the exhaustion of insomnia, and the weight of stress, sigh.

shit sucks, it is what it is. but writing is like my safe haven and i just love pouring all myself into my fics and then baring my soul to you all and you take a peek and decide to keep looking. that is my favorite part of this little pocket of tumblr.

this was not really... fic related? more like a dump of issues! so sorry about that AHAHAHAH

anyways! thank you so much mittens! :)))))))))

pick my brain!

#silly things from silly friends

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cyberkevvideo · 4 years

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My Changes to “Way of the Wicked“, Extras 3: Extraplanar Hunters

I kind of had the first one in the back of my mind for a while, but always forgot to put it down on paper, but thanks to vlogger Dungeon Dad converting a bunch of old 3.5 and Pathfinder 1e monsters to 5e, I was reminded that these creatures were very different in 3.5 compared to Pathfinder, and why I had originally considering at least the inevitable for this adventure path.

As always, for space reasons, I’ll be cropping the encounter build.

I do not have a Patreon or a Kickstarter, but I do have a Ko-Fi page (linked) for those who would like to support my work. There is no pressure or obligation to do so, however, but a like and a share would definitely be appreciated. Of this and my older work.

Just before get to it, I hope everyone’s staying safe right now.

There are three sets of stats this time around, and two of them are actually one NPC; a hound archon and his dragon mount. More on that later, including a description regarding how the concept exists. This is what I was talking in the last entry regarding this being something that was skipped over in the Pathfinder bestiary from its 3.5 version.

I’ll say for starters, I didn’t give the NPCs any traits. Those are for PCs, more often than not, but admittedly that was a staple of Gary’s builds to try make the NPCs able to stand up to the villains more. It also felt like an in-joke that the NPCs were the heroic PCs all along. If you want to give them one trait, that’s fine, but for these ones, I didn’t feel it was overly necessary to do so. The only one I even considered was the hound archon, and only to give him armor expert to negate the final armor check penalty to skills.

For starters, inevitables are the very definition of law. Each one has a specific mandate for how things should or shouldn’t be, and how everything interacts with the multiverse.

For starters, we have a zelekhuts are defined as “ bounty hunters and executioners all rolled into one.” The PCs were supposed to die or at least be judged and sent to the salt mines. They escaped. That needs to be rectified. By all means, you can use the standard CR 9 version and have it appear during Book 2, but mine is slightly different. More so because in Book 2, unless you’re doing this incredibly early, the villains may have already amassed a literal army, if only undead. A CR 9 inevitable isn’t going to cut it. My version would appear much later, and it’s also a little different from your regular zelekhut.

I’ll say now, that the reason Judiceye is a variant is because most zelekhuts would just arrive and rain down lawful smiting on their chosen to die. But this one is more crafty. Mitra has seen what the villains can do, and how devious they are, not to mention how large their ever growing army has become. This particular zelekhut’s duty is to show up at the end of Book 3, during the winter months, free any and all prisoners as best as it can, and cause in-fighting among the bugbears and other riffraff that have joined the 9th Knot. If it can take out some unwanted undead, all the better. The PCs are supposed to lose a portion of their troops at the end of winter anyhow due to them running away and leaving their minions high and dry, so this just furthers that plot line all the while putting the PCs on edge. There’s either a traitor among them or maybe the villains just can’t control their people, showing just how unfit they are. And if they start executing their own men for not listening when it’s really just the zelekhut? All the better to use as kindling to create riots and arguments, and really give the villains a run for their money. It’d make for a long winter indeed. And right before the king shows up, or whenever the time is right in the GM’s mind, and the Knot is near their breaking point (possibly when there’s the most confusion), the zelekhut can start a major brawl and try its luck in taking out the PCs. Even better, with its greater hat of disguise, it can change itself to look like whomever it needs to. Just needs Intel first. It can be a PC, a bugbear, a vampire, the medusa half-fiend, or whoever. Doesn’t matter. Because it start a fight, then leave, and turn into someone else. Whatever needs to be done to take down the PCs.

I will not that the DD for the elemental combat style is from the Pathfinder Disciple's Doctrine. Normally I would go OGL and Core, but this time I need some extra damage, and this was about the only way to pull it off. Also, the reason the hat’s trapped is because these things aren’t supposed to normally have treasure. This will destroy the treasure and maybe do some damage to the PCs at the same time.

JUDICEYE (CR 16; XP 76,800) Variant advanced zelekhut ranger (guildbreakerUI) 7 LN Large outsider (extraplanar, inevitable, lawful) Init +11; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, true seeing; Perception +25 DEFENSE AC 31, touch 17, flat-footed 23 (+1 armor, +7 Dex, +1 dodge, +13 natural, –1 size) hp 236 (21d10+121); regeneration 5 (chaotic) Fort +18, Ref +16, Will +15 Defensive Abilities constructed; DR 10/chaotic, DR 3/— (small ranged piercing weapons); SR 27 OFFENSE Speed 50 ft., fly 60 ft. (average) Melee 2 chains +31 (3d6+10/19–20 plus 1d6 electricity and trip) Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. Special Attacks favored enemy (goblinoids +2), favored organization (Knots of Asmodeus +4) Spell-Like Abilities (CL 14th; concentration +18) Constant—true seeing At will—clairaudience/clairvoyance, dimensional anchor, dispel magic, fear (W-DC 18), hold person (W-DC 17), locate creature 3/day—hold monster (W-DC 19), mark of justice 1/week—lesser geas (W-DC 17) Ranger Spells Prepared (CL 4th; concentration +8) 2nd—chameleon stride 1st—lead blades, resist energy STATISTICS Str 30, Dex 24, Con 18, Int 10, Wis 18, Cha 18 Base Atk +21; CMB +32; CMD 50 (54 vs. trip) Feats Combat Reflexes, Dodge, EnduranceB, Improved Critical (chains), Improved Initiative, Improved Natural Attack (chains), Improved Vital Strike, Inner FlameARG, Mobility, Power Attack, Scorching WeaponsARG, Step Up, Weapon Focus (chain), Vital Strike Skills Acrobatics +25 (+33 jump), Bluff +15, Disguise +15, Diplomacy +17, Fly +19, Knowledge (local) +10, Knowledge (planes) +13, Perception +25, Sense Motive +21, Spellcraft +11, Stealth +21, Survival +17; Racial Modifiers +4 Perception, +4 Sense Motive Languages truespeech SQ chains, combat style (elementalDD), crowd stride, deep cover, favored terrain (urban +2), read the cityUI, track +3 Gear quilted clothUE, greater hat of disguise (trapped: maximized fireball; 60 fire damage, R-DC 19) SPECIAL ABILITIES Chains (Ex) A zelekhut’s arms end in long lengths of barbed metal. These chains deal slashing damage and 1d6 points of electricity damage with each hit. Constructed (Ex) Although inevitables are living outsiders, their bodies are constructed of physical components, and in many ways they function as constructs. For the purposes of effects targeting creatures by type (such as a ranger’s favored enemy and bane weapons), inevitables count as both outsiders and constructs. They are immune to death effects, disease, mind-affecting effects, necromancy effects, paralysis, poison, sleep, stun, and any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects, or is harmless). Inevitables are not subject to nonlethal damage, ability damage, ability drain, fatigue, exhaustion, or energy drain. They are not at risk of death from massive damage. They have bonus hit points as constructs of their size.

Catching up on a few posts from GMs and players who are going through “Way of the Wicked”, most groups are having no issue whatsoever with the AP because they have a necromancer and a cleric who are creating epic armies of undead. That said, there have been one or two groups that have found themselves struggling, if only because they never rescued Grumblejack, or he died on them back during Branderscar because they all bailed and abandoned the ogre. As such, they’re finding that as the game is progressing, they’re having issues. I’ve got something to help potentially counteract that, if only for one part of the book.

It’s a Book 5 add-on that I thought of. Marut inevitables go after those who artificially extend their life. Namely, lichdom. Now, depending on the PCs, this could be yet another encounter for them too. If they’re using the feat tree that turns them into a vampire or lich, or they all became vampires in the alternate version of the story where Thorn’s a vampire, this thing’s coming after them. There’s just no way around that. However, my initial thought for this, so as to help parties that are having troubles, is the marut came to take down the now ex-Cardinal Thorn, but was dominated and sent after the party. This encounter would take place on the main floor, probably as soon as the PCs entered the cathedral. If the PCs have the means, they could break the control and have it join them in the final battle against Thorn. But you’re asking, “how can Thorn use that spell? It’s not a cleric spell and it’s 9th level.” It’s also a 6th level summoner spell, so miracle would work to cast it. This would reduce Thorn’s 9th level spells by 1, and hopefully that’s enough for the PCs who are struggling. After that though, the marut would leave, its mission completed.

Finally, my last inevitable add-on, and this would be for whenever someone in the party broke a contract (or someone attached to the party, etc). It can even be someone the party is dealing with, who broke a contract, and they summon one to go after that person/creature. The kolyarut is all about negotiating bargains, and they don’t like it when contracts and negotiations break down. They punish all oath-breakers. As stated: “They care little for the terms of the agreements in question, only that promises are fulfilled, debts are paid, and balance is maintained.“ They are definitely someone that the PCs want on their side. Pit fiends and contract devils are great, but they don’t necessarily like to get their hands dirty. They just want souls and payment. Kolyaruts, on the other hand, will always make the time.

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And now, the ultimate combo that’s just bonkers. I even did a small feat sink on this one despite it actually being something in the original edition that happens for free, and just adds to the CR.

As for where you would encounter this one, there’s any number of ways. 1) Could be a fight not long after they finish Book 3. Mitra might send the archon as an avenger for what happened. 2) Could right after Spring arrives and the villains are fleeing from the king and his army. This could either be an air battle or the very second they land, but before Tiadora arrives. 3) They could arrive with any other encounter, boosting the over all combat and aiding whomever else decides to attack the villains. You could even hold out until Book 6 with this one, if you really wanted to.

The monster info on this variant hound archon reads as thus:

Hound Archon Hero Mounts

In the course of their adventures, many hound archon heroes befriend bronze dragons, which may come to serve as their mounts. The relationship between these mounts and their celestial riders goes beyond even the special bond between paladin and mount. The dragon and the archon are naturally allies and friends, as can be expected of two powerful servants of cosmic justice. The juvenile bronze dragon mount gains 2 additional HD, 4 points of Strength, an additional 4 points of natural armor, improved evasion, and +10 feet to speed in all its movement forms. The dragon cannot, however, command other creatures of its type as other kinds of paladin mounts can.

Note: Under normal circumstances the Draconic Companion from the Dragon Companion Handbook would give you a dragon and have it go up as an animal companion, with the Dragon Companion Mastery feat giving you their full power. Hound Archon Heroes already get an equivalent ability for free so I’m revising the feat to instead give: frightful presence 1/day, +2 Dex instead of +2 Str (which is a swap option you can choose), SR 5 + paladin level, share spells, empathic link, and two of the four bonus dragon feats. However, I’m ignoring the other two bonus feats the dragon would normally gain, additional bonuses to Str/Con/natural armor, and standard ability score increases every 4 Hit Die. The trade off being that a standard bronze dragon has higher mental stats and spells, so it easily balances out.

Overall, this not all that different from the 3.5 Monster Manual version, and should be considered a difficult CR 16 encounter. Also, their wealth is for a CR 16 NPC. Bartel shares it with his dragon mount.

BARTEL, THE HOUND ARCHON HERO (CR 16; XP 76,800) Male Advanced variant hound archon paladin 11 LG Medium outsider (archon, extraplanar, good, lawful) Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., detect evil, low-light vision, scent; Perception +18 Aura courage (10 ft.), justice (10 ft.), menace (20 ft.; W-DC 21), magic circle against evil, resolve (10 ft.) DEFENSE AC 33, touch 12, flat-footed 31 (+9 armor, +2 Dex, +12 natural); +2 deflection vs. evil hp 229 (19 HD; 19d10+125) Fort +24, Ref +16, Will +21; +4 vs. poison, +2 resistance vs. evil DR 10/evil; Immune charm, disease, electricity, fear, petrification; SR 27 OFFENSE Speed 40 ft. Melee +2 cold iron greatsword +29/+24/+19/+14 (2d6+12/17–20), bite +22 (1d8+4) or bite +27 (1d8+8), slam +27 (1d4+4) Special Attacks channel energy (W-DC 20, 6d6), smite evil 4/day (+5 atk & AC, +11 dmg) Spell-Like Abilities (CL 6th; concentration +11) Constant—detect evil, magic circle against evil At will—aid, continual flame, greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs. of objects only), message Paladin Spell-Like Abilities (CL 11th; concentration +16) At will—detect evil Paladin Spells Prepared (CL 8th; concentration +13) 3rd—heal mount 2nd—bull’s strength, eagle’s splendor, resist energy 1st—divine favor, hero’s defianceAPG, protection from evil, shield of fortificationACG STATISTICS Str 24, Dex 14, Con 22, Int 12, Wis 20, Cha 20 Base Atk +19; CMB +26; CMD 38; +2 vs. evil Feats Blind-Fight, Draconic CompanionDCH, Improved Critical (greatsword), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Mounted Combat, Power Attack, Ride-by Attack, Weapon Focus (greatsword), Word of HealingUM Skills Acrobatics +14, Diplomacy +19, Knowledge (arcana) +12, Intimidate +15, Perception +18, Ride +18, Sense Motive +19, Spellcraft +10, Stealth +14, Survival +18; Racial Modifiers +4 Stealth, +4 Survival; ACP –1 Languages Celestial, Draconic, Infernal; truespeech SQ aura (overwhelming good), code of conduct, change shape (beast shape II), divine bond (dragon mount; Arlakaida), lay on hands (5d6, 7/day), mercies (cursed, dazed, fatigued) Combat Gear wand of cure light wounds (15 charges), holy water (2); Other Gear +3 mithral breastplate, +2 cold iron greatsword, amulet of mighty fists +1, belt of mighty constitution +2 SPECIAL ABILITIES Aura of Menace (Su) A righteous aura surrounds archons that fight or get angry. Any hostile creature within a 20-foot radius of an archon must succeed on a Will save to resist its effects. The save DC varies with the type of archon, is Charisma-based, and includes a +2 racial bonus. Those who fail take a –2 penalty on attacks, AC, and saves for 24 hours or until they successfully hit the archon that generated the aura. A creature that has resisted or broken the effect cannot be affected again by the same archon’s aura for 24 hours. Change Shape (Su) A hound archon can assume any canine form of Small to Large size, as if using beast shape II. While in canine form, the hound archon loses its bite, slam, and greatsword attacks, but gains the bite attack of the form it chooses. For the purposes of this ability, canines include any dog-like or wolf-like creature of the animal type.

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ARLAKAIDA THE BRONZE (CR —; XP —) Female juvenile bronze dragon LG Large dragon (water) Init +6; Senses dragon senses; Perception +25 Aura frightful presence 1/day (90 ft.; targets are shaken for 14 rounds; W-DC 21) DEFENSE AC 36, touch 13, flat-footed 33 (+5 armor, +2 Dex, +2 deflection, +18 natural, –1 size) hp 161 (14d12+70) Fort +16, Ref +13, Will +15 Defensive Abilities improved evasion; Immune electricity, paralysis, sleep; SR 16 OFFENSE Speed 50 ft., fly 130 ft. (poor), swim 60 ft. Melee bite +25 (2d6+15), 2 claws +24 (1d8+11), tail slap +22 (1d8+15), 2 wings +22 (1d6+6) Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft. (10 ft. with bite) Special Attacks breath weapon (80-ft. line, R-DC 24, 12d6 electricity), repulsion breath Spell-Like Abilities (CL 14th; concentration +18) At will—create food and water, speak with animals Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 4th; concentration +8) 2nd (4/day)—mirror image 1st (7/day)—alarm, obscuring mist, true strike 0 (at will)—detect magic, light, mage hand, message, prestidigitation, resistance STATISTICS Str 29, Dex 14, Con 21, Int 18, Wis 19, Cha 18 Base Atk +14; CMB +26; CMD 40 (44 vs. trip) Feats Ability Focus (breath weapon), Alertness, Flyby Attack, Improved Initiative, Multiattack, Powerful BreathB, Quick Breath WeaponB, Vital Strike, Weapon Focus (bite) Skills Diplomacy +19, Fly +12, Handle Animal +16, Heal +16, Intimidate +19, Knowledge (arcana) +19, Perception +25, Sense Motive +25, Spellcraft +20, Stealth +14, Swim +29; Racial Modifiers +8 Swim Languages Aquan, Common, Draconic, Elven, Gnome SQ empathic link, change shape (animal or humanoid, polymorph), share spells, water breathing, wave mastery (40 mins) Gear +2 studded leather barding, amulet of mighty fists +2, belt of physical perfection +2, cloak of resistance +2, ring of protection +2 SPECIAL ABILITIES Dragon Senses (Ex) Dragons have darkvision 120 ft. and blindsense 60 ft. They see four times as well as a human in dim light and twice as well in normal light. Frightful Presence (Ex) This special quality makes a dragon’s very presence unsettling to foes. Activating this ability is a free action that is usually part of an attack or charge. This ability affects only opponents with fewer Hit Dice than the dragon’s. An opponent that succeeds on its saving throw is immune to the dragon’s frightful presence for 24 hours. Multiple uses of a dragon’s presence don’t stack. This ability is a mind-affecting aura. Paladin Mount (Ex) Arlakaida cannot command other creatures of its type (bronze dragons) as other kinds of paladin mounts can. Quick Breath Weapon (Ex) Arlakaida is able to unleash her breath weapon and deliver an attack before her opponent is the wiser. On her turn, Arlakaida can choose to use her breath weapon in place of her bite or one of her claw attacks. Repulsion Breath (Su) Instead of a line of electricity, a bronze dragon can breathe a cone of repulsion gas. Targets must make a Will save or be compelled to do nothing but move away from the dragon for 1d6 rounds plus 1 round per age category. This is a mind-affecting compulsion effect. Water Breathing (Ex) A bronze dragon breathes water and can use its breath weapon, spells, and abilities underwater. Wave Mastery (Su) For up to 10 minutes per age category per day, a juvenile bronze dragon, along with creatures or vessels within 50 feet, can move at twice its normal speed in water. ------------------------------------------------------------

And that’s everything. I don’t know that I’ll ever have more to add to this particular adventure path, but maybe I will. Just depends on how inspired I get.

In the meantime, I hope everyone who is running or playing “Way of the Wicked” is having a fantastic time.

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fandomplethora · 4 years

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mystic messenger webtoon

(repost since my last post disappeared OTL)

LONG POST

warning: unorganized, rambling thoughts lol. (i’m all over the place right now, guys)

you guys. i have never been more excited and more *terrified* in my life.

let’s break it down.

it is officially announced that mystic messenger, as a webtoon, will be returning to us on april 11th. the prologue has already been released today.

LINK BUT HAHA IT’S ALL IN KOREAN T_T

from what i have been able to read *very briefly* is that there is no plan for an english (or any other language) translation just yet. it will be released on bookcube, a pay to read site.

(someone on reddit mentioned a hope that it may come to tappytoon or tapas? but there is no confirmation of any other site besides bookcube.)

that being said - we have *wonderful* people in this fandom already ready with some english translations! at the very least :’)

B O O M

creds, yo

let’s go into my (personal) negative outlooks first! (maybe i shouldn’t use an exclamation point when talking somewhat negatively...)

1. (not super negative) b u t - our mc is different. :,( i’m just attached to the idea of mc w/ bangs and long brown hair - the gold eyes. while other mc’s have made their way into art and ect...the mc from the game is the most popular one. i don’t understand the need for the change...besides to perhaps build upon this new version of the story with a brand new character. because mc *like this*, in this format, is a new character. she will, hopefully, have her own personality and traits and maybe backstory? even a minor one. b u t that could also, in the eyes of some people, be a negative...and, to others, a positive. we, as players, have been the mc this entire time so while good ending mc is looked at as, mainly, canon - which brings some fundamental characteristics to her character such as being empathetic, kind and...holy shit, incredibly *flexible* (like, apartment bomb? “nbd.” brand new group of people? “dope, let’s be friends.” cult? “well, what are we gonna do about it then.” mc, are you okay? mc: “are y o u g u y s okay tho?”) mc has not had her own story. does this mean she will now? now we may get new traits on top of those, a unique personality to who t h i s character is.

SIDE NOTE: *SLAMS HANDS ON TABLE* ya’ll, holy shit...is MC getting a name? she has to get a name now. AAAAA, okay this may go another direction and i may just have another character in this damn story i’d willingly throw myself in front of a car for. dAMN IT.

2. okay, it somewhat makes sense that saeyoung would NOT be there in the introduction of the four to this mc shown in the webtoon prologue. same with jihyun. of course, with saeran. but my fear is...i want equal relationship development with every character. unless they are approaching this in a “reset” type of way...(which i’m not sure if they will tbh).

from, my guess, the already meeting of them (all at the same time) shows us that we may just be on one big route with almosteverything included? which i am down for. but...then do it like that, right? bring saeyoung and jihyun into the picture, as well, more consistently. bring vanderwood in too due to his major role in saeyoung’s route, the secret endings and the entirety of another story. (y’know? what could be considered the “main plotline” that affects everyone in mm.) he IS a part of it. also, more moments with saeran. perhaps we will get (new) more mint eye scenes? a type of back and forth?

i’m really not trying to dictate how this story should go. i really am interested in this new take and what it may come with. but i just want...everyone there, y’know? i want those relationships equally delved into - how we all got to know them as we completed all routes and other dlc’s on the game.

3. i’m just...kind of scared of being disappointed. or *too much* changing. or...characters being made out in a way they are not? if that makes sense. i’m not trying to set it up for that...to play some “i’ve been here over three years and i know more than you” type of role, haha. they can bring in all of the angst from the game...but maybe change a few things to handle it better? deeper? make sure characters are more universally okay? add some things in too if you want! i also understand if not everything makes it in.

but they have a chance of really reigniting the fandom and also growing it. mm is a wonderful story that does capture your heart. and cheritz has done a lot of good, more good than bad in my eyes (personally!)...but also...sometimes have messed up too. i just want them to do the game, the characters and themselves justice.

P O S I T I V I T Y T I M E

1. okay, guys. c’mon. this mc is super cute UwU (not that that is what it’s all about lol) but i’m hoping we get to know her as a new character with unique traits. i’m excited to see her added into the story and for her interactions. we should all root for her! because we have allll been her shoes already, guys. <3 (also, as someone else pointed out, peep that bisexual bob, ya’ll.) let’s do this!

2. THE ART STYLE IS A M A Z I N G. they ALL look so good to me. i saw them and immediately went “there they are”. :’) kind of got emotional, ngl.

3. i do believe in one positive change that is going to happen! we are meeting them *right away* at least from what i can tell from this panel -

i think this makes sense in order to see the story in this form (and i even said this so long ago in another post when musing about changes if they ever made mm into a tv show). meeting them right away makes sense. and i am glad they are doing it this way! that made me excited to see. (and now you guys know what i mean about every character, hopefully, getting the part they deserve in this webtoon that i mentioned earlier.)

4. so, i may be getting ahead of myself and i am NOT trying to continually ask for more and more. but the fact that this game became a webtoon...means it could become a show one day. perhaps this is a way to test the waters? feel it out and see where things go. either way though, a webtoon happening (all on it’s own) is beyond exciting.

5. there will be new additions to this fandom! just the other day (and, as i’m sure, many of us feel too) i just miss this game and fandom so much. i’m not ready for it to just be over, i think. mystic messenger meant, it means, so much to me - so much to others. it is a wonderful story, a different approach to this genre while including important themes and filled with i n c r e d i b l e characters. things are not perfect but maybe...this can be the boost we all need again. and i am excited to welcome people into this fandom!

let’s all be kind to each other.

final thoughts;

i’m probably going to hunting down a translation all over the place on april 11th (and every release following, haha). i hope we do see this story translated in numerous languages - to include our, truly, worldwide fandom. i will be reading this and i am excited for this new part and chapter of this fandom and story! to see it this way and read it as such. i’m glad to see a boost to this fandom and to find my love for mystic messenger again...and hopefully others will too!

overall - THANK YOU, CHERITZ. and while i am incredibly nervous - i am going to remain (mostly) positive and excited! and only *slightly* skeptical.

i’d love to hear anyone else’s thoughts and discuss more about this.

and i can’t wait to see you all (and welcome even more) into the messenger again. <3

until then!

oh, and also...

...same, mc. same.

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selfship-loving · 4 years

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That imagine, but with Jyushi tho???

Asking for Advice

I hope you like it! I changed the prompt a bit so I could make Usa suffer a bit.

Usa stretches lazily as she lays on her bed, wallowing in her own boredom. She thinks about what she should do for a few moments before her hearing her phone rings. Hearing the sound of her beloved crushes ringtone, she quickly fumbles and answers the phone, letting out a forced casual “Hey.”

Jyushi immediately starts talking frantically. “Usa, I really need your help figuring something out! It’s super duper important!” he exclaims.

Usa blinks at his sudden proclamation before responding calmly. “Of course. Whats up?” “I need to ask you in person!”

Usa gasps at his sudden proclamation but steels herself and answers “Of course. Would you like to meet up somewhere to talk?”

“Thank you so much! I’ll meet you at your place in a few minutes!” Jyushi exclaims before hanging up.

Usa giggles to herself as she gets up from her bed, excitedly beginning to organize her place and thinking to herself about how lucky she is that no one is home. Just as she finishes putting a blanket in its place, the doorbell rings. Usa perks up at this and clumsily runs to her door to answer it.

Jyushi goes to ring the doorbell again but stops as Usa slams the door open. “Usa-chan! Finally!” he cries dramatically.

Usa laughs and ushers Jyushi in, leading him to the couch. he throws herself down on the couch near him and asks “Tell me, what did you need my help with?”

Jyushi clutches his chest and swoons. “I need advice! On how to confess my feelings to…someone…” He trails off nervously at the end of his sentence, stopping himself from saying something.

Usa frowns and shifts uncomfortably. “Oh..” she responds quietly, trying her best to hide her disappointment. She shakes her disappointment out of her voice and forces a smile. “Well, every girl is different so each confession should be catered to the girl, or person i guess. I mean, you don’t have to like girls or boys, you can like anyone you want but…” she trails off as soon as she realizes she’s ranting. Usa shakily continues “Tell me about this person. If I know more, maybe I can give you more specific advice.”

Jyushi nods and starts speaking excitedly “She’s a big fan of mine! And she’s really cute too! Truly a sight to behold so I know we’d look so good together.”

Usa nods numly and smiles. “Wow, she sounds perfect for you. I’m so glad you’ve found someone like that!” she says sincerely.

He looks at her happily. “She is perfect. I’ve never really felt this way around anyone before and I don’t want to lose her. Now, how should I confess? I need your help, pleasseeeee~” Jyushi proclaims dramatically.

Usa giggles and nods, contemplating how to respond. After a few seconds of thinking, she perks up and says “Well, you said she was a fan of you? Maybe you can sing her a love song? I’m sure she’d be super flattered!”

Jyushi gasps “That’s perfect! Where should I do it?”

“Do you have any places where you have a special memory with this girl?”

Jyushi nods “Yes! Usa, you’re a genius! Thank you so much!” He pulls her into a tight hug before getting up and rushing out. “I need to set something up! Thanks again!”

“Yeah, anytime…” She looks down at her lap sadly, feeling her heart clench. “As long as he’s happy, I need to be happy for him…” Usa soberly gets up from the couch and drags herself to her room. “As long as he’s happy…” she says solemnly. Her lips quiver as she throws herself on her bed, her heart getting heavier the more she repeats this to herself. “Should’ve never gotten my hopes up. You would have thought I learned after last time but-but…” She trails off and buries her face into her pillow, beginning to sob. Eventually, she falls asleep.

An hour later, Usa hears her phone ring. She reluctantly answers her phone. “Uhh Hewwo? Whos this?” she asks groggily.

“Usa, you have to get over to Meijo Park, specifically that one tree you tripped on and twisted your ankle on.” They both laugh fondly at the memory.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can. I wouldn’t want to rush through and hurt myself again.”

“What? You don’t want me to take care of you and carry you to safety like last time?” Jyushi asks teasingly.

“Nah. You almost dropped me like, 3 times.” she giggles.

Usa sleepily drags herself out of bed but ends up tripping over her bedsheets and falling to the ground in a hard thump.

Jyushi gasps over the phone and questions “Usa-chan, are you ok?”

She nods in response before realizing he can’t see her so he wouldn’t be able to see her nod. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just got a bit tangled in my bed sheets. But it’s fine, I’ll be over as soon as I can.”

Jyushi sighs in relief. “Thank you. I’ll see you in a bit~”

Usa hangs up and detangles herself from her sheets, grumbling quietly. “When will I stop letting myself get strung along with these people. This never ends well.”

Meanwhile, Jyushi waits patiently for Usa underneath their tree, the tree where Jyushi fell in love with Usa. “I hope she comes. She seemed upset when I last saw her…” He shakes his head. “Now’s not the time to worry! It’s time to charm my lady!” Jyushi starts some vocal warmups before Usa arrives.

Usa walks slowly, watching the ground to make sure she doesn’t trip on anything. As she arrives, she hears Jyushi call her name. She looks up and sees the tree covered in fairy lights and other decorations, and right next to the tree is Jyushi, dressed as a prince.

When he sees Usa arriving, he runs to her and hugs her, soon after he slides an arm around her waist and guides her to the tree.

Usa stares at him with wide eyes and tries to stutter out a sentence “W-what are you doing? Jyushi, where is-where the girl you like? Is this where you’re gonna confess to her? Why’d you bring me-“

She’s cut off by Jyushi placing a finger on her lips.

Jyushis hand goes to stroke her cheek and he smiles fondly. “Please, just listen.” He says softly.

As he pulls away, Usa reaches out for him. “Wait-“

“Usa, just listen~”

Usas mouth snaps closed and she leans against the tree.

Jyushi goes to turn on a hidden CD player. He hums along to the song until he hears his cue. He soon starts belting out a love song that could bring anyone to their knees. As he sings, he walks over to Usa and holds her against his chest, swaying gently.

Usa blushes wildly but allows herself to be swayed. She wraps her arms around his neck and looks up at him fondly.

He smiles down at her as he sings, slowing his swaying as he finishes his song. When he sings the last lyrics, he places his forehead against hers and closes his eyes, enjoying the closeness.

Usa stares at him hopefully and questions “Uh, J-Jyushi? Where’s that song from? I’ve never heard it before.”

Jyushi opens his eyes and laughs, leaning down to inch their lips closer together. “I love you, my darling. I hope you liked my song. I wrote it just for you~”

Usa gasps and looks around before looking back at him. “Me?” She asks dumbfounded.

Jyushi nods and tangled his fingers in her hair. “Who else is here?”

“N-no one I guess but I just never expected someone like you to like-uh, love someone like-”

Jyushi cuts her off and places a soft kiss on her lips.

Usa gaps against his lips and tries to pull away out of shock but Jyushi’s fingers in her hair keep her against his lips.

Usa closes her eyes and enjoys the moment before Jyushi pulls away. He quietly speaks up “I’m glad you’d advice worked. It’d be so tragic if you rejected me after all of this work. And all of those hours I spent writing that song.”

Usa perks up. “Hours? When did you write that song?” She asks curiously.

“I’ve been writing that song for a few weeks but today I had the inspiration to finish it and confess to you~”

She giggles and pulls him down for another quick kiss on his lips. “I’m so glad you did this for me. I was so sad after you asked me for advice. My heart was so broken all I could do was wallow in my bed and cry!” Usa swoons in his arms dramatically and clutches her chest. “My heart was shattered. But now my prince has healed it~”

Jyushi laughs a heavenly laugh and picks her up, princess style. He asked with a wink “Would you like to go home and cuddle with me, Princess?”

Usa nods eagerly and hugs his torso tightly. “Yes please. You need to make it up to me for scaring me like that.” she says teasingly.

Jyushi laughs and starts walking to Usas place. “I promise I’ll never make you cry like that again! And if anyone else makes you cry, I’ll make sure to bring them to justice!” he proclaims loudly.

Usa laughs and covers his mouth with her hand. “Jyushi no! Someone might hear!” She says in between laughs.

Jyushi nuzzles her hands fondly. “I’ll proclaim my love to the entire world, if you want me to~”

“You don’t have to! I think being with me is enough.”

Jyushi smiles and leans down to kiss her one last time before arriving at her house.

The two lovers enter her house to cuddle, content with themselves because they know they’re loved by each other.

#jyusa #morino usagi #aimono jyushi #usagi morino #jyushi aimono #hypnosis mic #oc x canon #feel free to send in an ask like this for another character #enchanted writing #isa answers #saccharine moon

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gimmesomeclout-blog · 5 years

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The Final Blog Post

For my final blog post of my first year, I wanted to highlight the two topics that intrigued me the most, orientalism and the avant garde. Orientalism is a concept that blew my mind; it made me question the things around me, whether it was a social issue or a product, it stimulated me to ask whether or not it was a produce of orientalism. Orientalism revolves around history; I kept asking myself the question, 'What if history was different?' and would begin to imagine the various timelines that the world could have fallen into. The avant garde fascinated me ; it was interesting for me to research different pieces of art and artists and finding out what was considered groundbreaking for it's time, when you compare these innovative new methods to the pieces that are created today, you can really see how the influence of such an artist or piece has slowly and gradually developed into another style or merged with other ones to create a completely new style or genre. The various lectures throughout the year have encouraged me to ask more questions than ever about everything around me, the tantalising subjects of each lecture were what made me look at things differently and sparked my curiosity into the world around me and it's origin.

Edward W. Said said in his groundbreaking book, Orientalism, said that Orientalism is the basic distinction between East and West as the starting point for elaborate theories, epics, novels, social descriptions, and political accounts concerning the Orient, its people, customs, ‘mind,’ destiny and so on.”

In essence, Orientalism is a thought process that imagines, emphasizes, and distorts differences of Arab peoples and cultures as compared to that of Europe and the U.S. It often involves seeing Arab culture as exotic, backward, uncivilised, and at times dangerous, whilst simultaneously viewing European culture as civilised, innovative and prestigious.

Because of Orientalism, the Western Civilisation saw themselves as more superior and civilised; since the Western civilisation is the dominant one in history, they painted an untrue picture of those in the Eastern culture. Art, history and all other historical accounts of the Eastern civilisation paint a darker picture for them; showing them to be misogynistic and savage.

An example of this would be the French colonisation of Algeria from 1830 to 1962. French entrepreneurs produced postcards of Algerian women that were circulated in France. Rather than actually capturing the Algerian women in their day-to-day lives, French photographers actually set them up in a studio which made them look strange in the French colonial perspective. The postcards depicted them in a way to make Algerian customs to look exotic, backwards and strange. This is an example of how Arab women were exoticized and eroticised for the pleasure of male European voyeurs who had fantasises of penetrating the harem.

Although Orientalism only refers to the places within the orient, Africa is still effected by the views of the occident. The Western people looked down on Africa when they first arrived there, they saw them as exotic, uncivilised and savage people and then decided that their culture was superior and started the slave trade. To this day, black people are still prejudiced by Western culture; after Hurricane Katrina, people would go to stores and take whatever they could, but when the media showed this: black and other ethnic people were ‘looting’ rather than ‘gathering supplies’ when white people were shown doing the exact same thing.

The historical impact of Orientalism can be seen in both a negative and positive way. The positive way of looking at Orientalism is that it has benefited our technology, standard of life and social life. Because of the history we currently have, everything that has happened thus far has brought us to this age of technology; where we’re able to connect with those on the other side of the world, get information and broadcast our opinions instantaneously. The negative way of looking at the historical impact of Orientalism is much more complex. In this way, orientalism paved the way for white supremacy: we can only make assumptions as to what would’ve happened differently if the moments in history where the occident didn’t see the orient as inferior; would we still have the technology that we do today? Would it be more or less advanced than the present? Would racism between Western cultures and everywhere else still be present? What would beauty standards be like? Unfortunately, there's no way of knowing and all we can do is speculate about what could have been.

The Avant Garde is defined as the new and experimental ideas and methods in art, music or literature; avant garde is the word ‘vanguard’ in French, the vanguard are soldiers who fight at the front line and push forward against entrenched opposition, and the artists, composers and writers who were pushing and innovating past the norms of their time were very much comparable to the vanguard.

Real progress can only be made through failure and whoever wishes to advance must be prepared to fail. The avant garde is all about constant innovation, taking risks and thinking forward, so that the boundaries are always being pushed. Without the avant garde, the creative arts would be stagnant and would be full of artists, composers/musicians and writers etc. that all do things the same way; there would be no originality and we wouldn’t be able to innovate and improve anything around us.

The avant garde started in the nineteenth century, with artists such as Kirchner, Gaugin and Courbet who were challenging long-established concepts and ideas about art and fighting an entrenched establishment. Kirchner was an expressionist painter from the nineteenth century; he was part of a group called Die Brücke (The Bridge). They were called the bridge because they were trying to abstain from the traditional academic styles and find a new way of artistic expression, therefore forming a bridge between the past style and the present. Kirchner was able to express freedom, energy and feeling through his use of brush strokes and evocative colours. This approach and style is why Kirchner is considered to be an avant grade artist. Unfortunately, Kirchner was labelled a ‘degenerate artist’ by the Nazis, leading his works to be censored and denied the work public exposure. Because of artists like Kirchner, artists were inspired to express themselves in their own ways, this birthed many art movements of the twentieth century such as expressionism featuring artists like Van Gogh and Munch, cubism, futurism and many more.

In the contemporary creative arts, the avant grade are still pushing boundaries of their respective arts and are probably more frequent than ever. Because of the sheer number of people who are now involved in the arts, there are more and more people everyday trying to innovate and expand beyond the norms and beyond what should be possible.

I believe that the avant grade and creativity go hand-in-hand, one cannot exist without the other. One of the most avant garde creatives of our generation, Steve Jobs, said this, “Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesise new things.” Jobs put it perfectly; because of all of these creatives who are able to synthesise new things, the bridge between the past and the present is getting bigger. Creatives are becoming more and more frequent, and there will be a lot of things that will be seen as weird or crazy, maybe it's simply pushing the boundaries of it's respective art, or maybe it's just avant garde.

I’ve learnt a lot from my first year on this course; I’m leaving my first year at Kingston knowing that I picked the right course for me, I have a very good set of lecturers and course leaders and that I’ve gained more than just institutional intelligence from them. I found the subject matter of each lecture very engaging, but it was the lecturers that drove the topics into me and made me question everything around me and within me. As a British-Filipino growing up in a lower-class area, there were social, ethical and racial issues that I witnessed and experienced first hand; it was only because of the lectures that I attended, I was able to understand why such things were and still are happening. The course content is so much more stimulating than I had anticipated; the creative and cultural industries looks at many more problems, issues and stigmas within society and the industry, I didn’t know more than half of the things we were taught before coming onto the course. Hopefully this final blog post has done justice to my lecturers and course leaders, that I am more than capable of being able to talk about concepts and social issues and their effects on society and the industry; that I am more than the fashionable (?), loud-mouthed, quick-to-comment young Asian adult that I appear to be on the surface, and that maybe, just maybe, some of the intelligence, social awareness and understanding of my inspirational lecturers and course leaders may have been passed onto me.

References:

Name unavailable, What is Orientalism? | Reclaiming Identity: Dismantling Arab Stereotypes, Arabstereotypes.org, Website, http://arabstereotypes.org/why-stereotypes/what-orientalism

Name unavailable, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, En.wikipedia.org, Website, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Ludwig_Kirchner

Name unavailable, What is the Avant-Garde? Art Movements & Styles, YouTube, Website/Video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0hQydmGdYA

Barbara I Gongini, Avant-Garde Fashion: A Modern Definition - Barbara I Gongini, Barbaraigongini.com, Website, https://barbaraigongini.com/universe/blog/avant-garde-fashion-a-modern-definition/

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randombydesign · 6 years

Text

Survivor Series 2017 Predictions.

Back again. Not gonna give some big, wordy intro. We’re just gonna get into it.

Kick-Off Match: Enzo Amore (c) vs. Kalisto (Cruiserweight Championship)

As much as I really don’t like Enzo, he’s really only relevant with the title on him. Without the belt, he’s just another guy on 205 Live. And one who doesn’t have as much in-ring pizzazz as the other members. With the cruiserweight championship, he claims of being a big star are just that, claims. Kalisto was never supposed to be given a title opportunity in the first place, but Neville’s untimely walk-out made them adjust on the spot. It’s clear they want Enzo to be the face of 205 Live for a while, and unfortunately, he’s only good on 205 at the top.

Winner: Enzo Amore.

The Miz vs. Baron Corbin (IC Champion vs. US Champion)

I think this is the sleeper match. The one that has the potential to exceed expectations. It’s been surprisingly personal in the build up, with Miz telling Corbin he’s a nobody to Corbin mentioning Miz’s wife and unborn child. I expect to see a much more fired up Miz than normal on Sunday. That said this one could honestly go either way. But I ultimately see Miz taking the W. Miz winning for Team Raw will allow him to stroke his ego and give him further fuel against general manager Angle. I also Miz is just the stronger of the two champions right now and the result should reflect that. But I wouldn’t be surprised with a Corbin victory.

Winner: The Miz

The Bar vs. The Usos (RAW Tag Team Champions vs. SD Live Tag Team Champions)

The Usos have been so good on SD. Granted, so have Sheamus and Cesaro, but the Usos have been on a whole other level in my opinion. The Bar became tag team champions two weeks ago I think just to set up New Day-Shield. I personally think their reign as tag team champions will be a transitional one. The titles were given to them so Ambrose and Rollins could join Roman Reigns in a dream match against The Patriarchs of Positivity. I expect their reign to end shortly after Survivor Series has come and gone. Not to mention the fact that last year in the 10 v 10 Raw tag team vs. SD tag team survivor series match, it came down to Sheamus/Cesaro vs the Usos. Which the former won. The Usos winning gives them some nice redemption from last year.

Winners: The Usos

Alexa Bliss vs. Charlotte Flair (RAW Women’s Champion vs. SD Live Women’s Champion)

I personally think this match is going to be much better than Alexa vs Nattie. Alexa needs to face a top face from SD Live, not another heel. And while this match doesn’t have a lot of on-screen build-up, there’s definitely a story here. Alexa Bliss has dominated Raw and is a multi-time Raw Women’s Champion. Just like how Charlotte was when she was on Raw. A lot of the things Alexa has done in the last year, Charlotte did it first. That’s not to say that I think Alexa Bliss is a knockoff version of Charlotte. I’m honestly just tired of Alexa Bliss, the heel, always winning clean as a whistle. It’s been very....odd booking with her. Charlotte also needs a huge win after becoming SD Women’s Champion to assert herself as champion.

Winner: Charlotte Flair

Alicia Fox, Nia Jax, Asuka, Sasha Banks, and Bayley vs. Becky Lynch, Carmella, Tamina, Naomi, and Natayla (RAW Women vs. SD Women Elimination Match)

Team Raw has Asuka. I highly doubt Asuka’s undefeated streak gets thrown away in an elimination match. It’s too soon and her being dethroned by someone not even on the same show as her is bad booking. I also think Sasha needs a good showing after being eliminated somewhat unceremoniously last year. A fairly early elimination of Bayley could also be good storytelling in what I hope is an eventual Bayley heel turn.

Winners: Team Raw. Sole survivors: Asuka, and maybe Sasha

The New Day vs. The Shield.

I love the New Day. But the Shield need to win. This is their first big match since reuniting. And beating one of the best teams in the New Day reasserts themselves as the dominant Hounds of Justice that they once were. I suppose a New Day heel turn is possible, but they still sell so much merch that it wouldn’t be cost efficient.

Winners: The Shield

Brock Lesnar vs. AJ Styles (Universal Champion vs. WWE Title)

I feel really bad for Jinder. They spent so many weeks advertising Jinder vs. Brock and then it got changed for AJ at the last minute. I understand why they did it. Because AJ vs. Brock is a much bigger draw and no one was really feeling the Maharaja vs The Beast. But still, I can’t help but feel a bit bad for him. That being said, AJ Styles vs Brock Lesnar is a dream match in any part of the world and a match that will definitely tear the house down. As much as I want AJ to win, the person that pins Brock Lesnar will have so much momentum, and that person should obviously be a Raw superstar on the same brand as Lesnar. Plus if Jinder is winning the championship back in December for WWE’s tour of India, then AJ might just be champion to sell the first ever Universal-WWE Champion. Will not complain about the outcome either way, should be a classic. Possible Jinder interference.

Winner: Hopefully, AJ Styles, realistically, Brock Lesnar

Kurt Angle, Braun Strowman, Samoa Joe, Finn Balor and Triple H vs. Shane McMahon, Randy Orton, Bobby Roode, Shinsuke Nakamura and John Cena. (RAW vs. SD Live 5v5 Elimination Match)

A lot could happen in this match. Hunter and Kurt could have descension which could lead to them getting eliminated, Jason Jordan could come out and attack Kurt or to a lesser extent Hunter. Kane will almost certainly play a part in Strowman’s elimination. John’s definitely a wildcard, but I see him getting eliminated by a younger talent like Finn or Joe. What really happens depends on what they wanna go with. On the one hand, Stephanie basically said Kurt’s out of a job if Raw doesn’t win, and I’d rather Monday Night Raw not go through another general manager so quickly. SD Live won last year, so I feel like it’s logical that Raw should win this year, but this one could really go either way. I don’t personally think there are too many part timers in this match. They want this to be a stacked card and Triple H, Shane, Cena and Angle are all huge names. Not to mention the dream matches you get from Cena-Balor, Triple H-Nakamura and so on. But maybe my opinion isn’t what’s most popular.

Winners: Team Raw.

Thanks for stomaching the awful predictions post. I don’t know when I’ll be able to do it again. Looking forward to this Sunday more than I have in a long time for a show.

#WWE #survivorseries #wwe network #kurt angle #shane mcmahon #raw #smackdown live #raw v sd #ppv

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gothxmsirxns-blog · 7 years

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Home

Pairing: Young Justice x Reader [platonic] Kaldur x Reader [romantic]

Relationship: friends and past relationship

Request: nope

Plot: based on theses prompts; 50. Promise me you’ll come back...I need you to promise me,49. I can’t promise you that, 51. I missed you,‘don’t break my heart and tell me you’ve forgotten me’, 91. How long has it been?

Key: [Y/N]= your name, [h/c] = hair colour, [e/c] = eye colour.

Words: 1,588

A/N: I’m sorry I haven’t uploaded anything in so long. I’m hopefully getting back on track soon.

3 years ago

The mission had been long, and it had been physically exhausting on the young heroes and this was obvious as they walked into the main area of Mount Justice where they were greeted with Batman and and Black Canary staring them down, Canary with soft eyes and Batman with his usual hard stare as they all joined them around the screens on the computer that seemed to be broadcasting all their mistakes from the mission, well more specifically [Y/N]’s mistakes.

The young hero had been the newest addition to the team and, and though she had been there close to a year upon recommendation of Doctor Fate after seeing her magical potential she was still having difficulty controlling her magic and she once again put the demon in danger by not being able to keep it in check.

Looking to the ground, she rubbed her arm with her opposite hand and let out a gentle sigh, she didn’t know what was wrong with her or why her magic always seemed to go nuclear when she tried something even slightly more difficult than a defensive or telekinetic spell, but it did. And now the team was getting punished for it.

The feeling of a warm hand wrapping around her own hand and pulling it down to the side, away from her arm that she had unconsciously stopped rubbing and started digging her nails into, broke the [h/c] girl out of her thoughts and forced her to turn to face the man she had come to call her boyfriend.

A comforting smile was on the Atlantean’s face as he rubbed his thumb softly over the knuckles of the girl as the team was dismissed. Another sigh left her lips as she looked into the eyes of Kaldur, the two of them being the only two remaining as Batman had left for Gotham and Canary was beginning her sessions with some of the team to go over the trauma of the mission.

“I’m useless-” another sigh left the young girl's lips as she used her free hand to move some hair out of her face, “- I can’t do anything right.” A comforting smile made it’s way onto Kaldur’s face as he removed his hand from [Y/N]’s, only to bring it up with his free hand and cup her cheeks as he spoke to her.

“You are doing fine my love. You are still learning.” Another sigh passed the girl's lips and she cast her eyes to the ground again, “You are still improving. This time 12 months ago you had no idea that you had magic and now look at you, you are doing amazing.”

While she enjoyed hearing the encouraging words coming from Kaldur, [Y/N] knew they weren’t true. What was true was up until 12 months ago she had no idea what she could do, she thought she was normal, that was until her family was in danger and she found herself unconsciously casting a shielding spell around them, protecting them from shrapnel and gunfire. That was how the League found her, well more Doctor Fate, and he recognised the potential in her and took her under his wing, bringing her into the team almost immediately to allow her to learn with those her own age as well as from him.

It was also then that she learned she was adopted and her adoptive parents had no idea what she could do, though they didn’t love her any less, and they had been trying to find out everything they could about her birth parents ever since then to giver her a chance to find out who she really was and how she was born with magic.

“We both know that’s not true. Kaldur, I’ve been working with Doctor Fate for a year and I can’t even do a simple tracking spell! I-” Huffing slightly, she crossed her arms over her chest and looked to the man, “I have to leave.”

Kaldur’s eyes widened as he processed her words, he hadn’t expected that and he didn’t want that. He was sure the team didn’t want that either, they adored the girl despite her misfortunes and thought of her as a sister. “W-What? Why?”

[Y/N]’s tongue darted past her lips as she felt them dry up, along with her throat, a direct response to having to tell Kaldur that she had to leave. “My birth parents? Their from a homo magi community that’s really reclusive. They, uh, when we contacted them to find out about my parents they told me they could help me.”

“I have to go.” She stepped closer to the boy, closing the small gap that had been between them as she spoke because this might be the last time she spoke to him for a while, the last time her lips would touch his for a while.

“Promise me you’ll come back” He looked down to the girl, his hand reaching out to push some hair behind her ear, “I need you to promise me” A soft sigh pushed passed [Y/N]’s lips and she once again looked to the ground, a nervous tick she had. “I can’t promise you that.”

It was the truth, she didn’t know if she would be back. She didn’t know the price she would have to pay to learn to control her magic, and she didn’t want to leave with empty promises in the air. So, that was the last thing said before the girl leaned up and pressed a kiss to Kaldur’s lips, their last kiss before she left.

Present, 3 years later.

The team was tired, they always were after a fight and they had just gotten out of the showers when they were called to the training area for a briefing for their next mission, well a continuation of their current mission that seemed to be broken into sub-divisions of missions like in a video game, and a long groan left the lips of many of the members. But they went anyway.

This team, this team consisted of Kaldur, L’Gann, M’Gann, Connor, Bart, Artemis, Tim, Jaime, Barbara,Virgil and Cassie, it was a new configuration that took some getting used to as old members had left and new ones had joined and they were getting used to the others abilities and fighting styles. But they were a good team, they got along well and worked well together but this newest mission was kicking their ass and so Batman had called in reinforcements.

Before the team stood a girl, with long [h/c] hair that looked familiar and [e/c] eyes that sparkled with excitement and happiness and she overall looked familiar, like a friend not seen in years and the feeling of knowing nagged at the back of the original teams mind as if they should know this person and yet they don’t.

“Who is this?” It was Kaldur that broke the silence and a gentle laugh filled the air, it came from the lips of the stranger who was standing with their arms crossed and their eyebrow raised as they looked over the team. “Don’t break my heart and tell me you’ve forgotten me?” And it was then that everything clicked.

Smiles broke out onto the faces of M’Gann and Artemis as the girls walked forward and wrapped their arms around their old team mate while Connor and Kaldur remained frozen, trying to comprehend what was happening. “[Y/N]!” It was the declaration of her name by M’Gann that broke the boys out of their trance as realisation dawned upon them. However, the remainder of the team remained confused as to who their stranger was and how she was known to the original team.

“I missed you. All of you.” She looked to her former teammates, though there was 2 missing, she still spoke the truth, she had missed them all. “Where did you go?” A little chuckle left the girls mouth and she tilted her head slightly and let out a ‘tt’ sound, “That’s complicated. Because it was technically another dimension so we will not talk about it.”

A light laugh left Kaldurs lips as he stared at the girl with an eyebrow raised, “Of course you would end up in an alternate dimension.” [Y/N] pouted slightly, “Okay. It was deliberate? I was supposed to be there.” Kaldur laughed at the girl and a kind smiles were shared between the two.

“How long has it been?” [Y/N] questioned her friends, after all she wasn’t sure because she was preoccupied, “Three years.” Shock dawned on [Y/N]’s face, she honestly hadn’t realised she was gone that long.

“Not that I don’t love you being back, but, why are you back?” Licking her lips slightly she thought for a moment, “I thought it was time for me to come home and Batman needed reinforcements for your fight against Faust. I wanted to come back, Batman just gave me a reason too.”

“Wait, so you’re back for good?” M’Gann’s voice raised a few octaves at the end of the question to match the squeal she let out when the girl answered her question with a nod, “I’m back for good.”

The friends were broken out of their conversation and brought back to reality as a new voice broke through the crowd, the voice of Virgil Hawkins who’s tone matched the looks on the rest of the team, “Can someone explain what is going on?”

#kaldur x reader #kaldur imagine #kaldur'ahm x reader #kaldura'ahm imagine #kaldur'ahm #young justice x reader #young justice imagine #young justice #dc imagines #dc x reader #imagine

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spekture · 7 years

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While searching for more comic and anime conventions to attend, I came across Alamo City Comic Con located in… you guessed it, San Antonio (for those of you who guessed “Alamo City” no marks!), but if you’re from Texas, you should of guessed correctly. Unfortunately it was over a holiday weekend and I already had other plans for the majority of it. For many, that extra day on a holiday weekend would have made the travel just a little easier. However, since I had plans for Saturday and Monday already, I decided to make the three hour journey (each way!) and squeeze in attendance at the con on Sunday. I know, I’m crazy like that.

My daughter found out I was going and decided to tag along for the adventure. We woke up early Sunday morning to make the drive and once we arrived to town, we made a quick pit stop to fuel up with food before attempting to tackle the con. After eating, we found parking at a nearby garage by the River Walk and made our way back to the Henry B. Convention Center where the con was being held. I was not in costume this time, but my daughter wore her kangaroo onesie with a pair of my old boxing gloves for her fighting kangaroo costume.

Once we made our way inside, we headed over to the badge pick-up area. We walked up to get our badges, but to our disappointment there were no more badges and they were issuing wristbands instead. It was only an hour after opening but they were already out of badges I guess, so unfortunately we won’t be able to add ACCC badges from this year’s con, into our collection. After checking panel times I was encountered another disappointment, two of the panels I wanted to see that day were cancelled! The only upside of that was that I was able to spend more time looking around the con and not worrying about the time.

We proceeded to make our way to the exhibit hall to see the special guest, vendors, and of course, all the cosplayers that were attending. To start off, we walked through the guest area to see the actors and other guests that were present, and they had a great line-up here… many of which, my daughter had never seen. She did know a few, including Rob Schneider from ‘Grown Ups’, which is “a-maze-ing” (a little joke from one of her favorite parts, if you have seen the movie you know what I mean!). We continued around the guest area which led me to Val Kilmer, one of the speakers on a panel I wanted to watch. This was one actor I had really wanted to see, but his area was a little more secluded than some of the other guests. Walls with black curtains were put up in his area with a line of fans waiting their turn to see him. A series long-running joke from ‘Psych’ is about none other than Val Kilmer, that one being “I´d also be lying if I said Val Kilmer still looks like Val Kilmer.” Due to the small area, and large line-up, it looked like I wasn’t going to be seeing him this time… I did check on prices, but photos were crossed off the price list along with some other items. There were also signs requesting that “NO cameras or cell phones” be brought into the area. Since I wasn’t going to leave my gear with someone else (along with our phones!) that pretty much ended any plans I had about being able to see Val Kilmer that day. After realizing this, I dropped to the floor and let out a loud dramatic “NNnnnooooOOoooo!” that could be heard for miles…. or at least that’s how I’m telling the story now!

We continued walking around through that area with more signs saying “No Pictures” so I had to keep my camera low to my waist, gunslinger style, (hey, it’s Texas!). Shortly after that, we began walking through the vendor and artist sections to see what new goodies we wanted. My daughter ended up finding a few things she really liked so we made a few purchases. With it being a Sunday, the attendance seemed kind of light in my opinion, but this was the first time I have attended this con and my previous experiences were all in much larger venues so my perception could be skewed. I did hear the previous year had a better in attendance, but with the date being different from their usual September or October dates, that might of played into part of it, as well as the holiday weekend giving some of the usual attendees other weekend adventure plans.

I continued walking around the venue snapping photos of various cosplayers as we continued down each row. After a few hours, we made our way to the guest cosplayers area to see who was there, a few of them I already knew. I hung around for a while trying to get photos, but it did take some patience as I wasn’t the only one who wanted photos or a chance to chat with them. In this hall, there was also the live drawing panel set up. We sat and watch the a few parts of the session including ‘(Light Saber Noise) – Star Wars with Dave Dorman!’ And ‘Tell me a story! – Teen Titans and Justice League Unlimited with Shannon Denton!’. After watching the Teen Titans panel and watching some of the sketching going on there, as well as watching some of the artists sketching at their own tables, I had the itch to start drawing again too. It’s been a few years, but maybe I will pick it back up.

We made a few more rounds of the hall just to make sure we’d seen everything, and then we then made our way upstairs to the gaming room and to see what panels were going on up there. We were not there very long before we decided to head out and do some sightseeing, since this was my daughter’s first time in San Antonio. I heard Saturday’s attendance was much better than what I experienced on Sunday, but overall it was a good con. Hopefully next year’s con is back to it’s regular schedule and I can return to see more!

#gallery-0-6 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-6 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 16%; } #gallery-0-6 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-6 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Military Demonstration team for Operation Homefront

Peter Brock arriving

Automotive legend Peter Brock

TIRES!

BRAKES!

MORE TIRES!

Alex Ventura makes a one day trip to cover the Alamo City Comic Con. #spekture #cosplay #comiccon #sanantonio #texas While searching for more comic and anime conventions to attend, I came across Alamo City Comic Con…

#cosplay #San Antonio #texas

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dwtsreviewarchive · 7 years

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DWTS S24 Week 1 RECAP / REVIEW

The 400th episode!

All 4 judges! All season!

No All Access this season

1. Normani Kordei & Val Chmerkovskiy - Quickstep (7+6+7+7=27) Great first dance of the season. Normani is obviously a natural performer, it shows on her face. She never looked uncomfortable or lost, which is tough feat for any celeb even the seasoned performers.Pretty tough choreography from Val, which I appreciated in the first week. He obviously knows he’s a potential winner on his hands & isn’t going hold back.

2. Nancy Kerrigan & Artem Chigventsev - V. Waltz (7+7+7+7=28) I’m so glad Nancy Kerrigan is on the show, huge fan of her career. Her & Artem have a cute seemingly easy relationship. Very elegant V. Waltz, she definitely can improve she still has her figure skating gracefulness & body language which is great.

3. Chris Kattan & Witney Carson - Cha Cha Cha (5+4+4+4=17) I’m a huge fan of Chris’ SNL work, it’s really hilarious stuff if you’ve never seen any of it. I had no idea Chris had broke his neck sometime ago. Good for him for not letting it hold him from taking a challenge like DWTS. He’s not the best dancer, I’m not gonna rag on him anymore than his scores seem to be doing. I will say I agree with Julianne that Chris & Witney should keep the humor because that’s what makes him special from the other celebs.

4. Bonner Bolton & Sharna Burgess - Cha Cha Cha (6+5+5+6=22) I have no idea who this guy is, this dance doesn’t make me want to know particularly know more, hopefully Sharna’s magic will change my mind. He’s cute but I hope he doesn’t rest on that.

5. Charro & Keo Motsepe - Salsa (6+5+5+5=21) She’s a lot. A whole lot. But she’s entertaining & that’s what makes her perfect for a show like this. Their salsa was fun but I’m skeptical of how she’ll be able to handle more muted dances.

6. Nick Viall & Peta Murgatroyd (6+6+6+6=24) I just don’t care about the The Bachelor or Bachelorette no matter how much ABC forces it down our throats. I’m tired of these wanna be celebs looking for fame love, with no real legitimacy. Ok rant over. Nick is just alright, nothing that jumps at you but he’s not hopeless. Peta can definitely whip him into something.

So excited to have Peta back, she’s always been one of my favorites. Motherhood looks so good on her, she’s one fiere, hot, mama. I’m with Erin, if that’s what having a baby does to your body, than yes I’ll have about 3 or 4.

7. Heather Morris & Maksim Chmerkovskiy - V. Waltz (7+7+7+7=28) I like this pairing. Mak’s forceful & now dad-like nature, could be good for Heather to find her confidence again. I really liked how understated this V. W. was choreographed. Once Heather really gets her bearings, I think she can be a force.

8. David Ross & Lindsay Arnold - Quickstep (7+7+7+7=28) David is the first MLB player to compete on DWTS, which is probably an advantage cause we have nothing to compare him to. I didn’t have any expectations but I was still really impressed with his skills & footwork. He’s a really likable guy & he’s paired with on the most likable & competent pro dancers, I’m watching these two.

That Go Cubs song is an ear-worm.

9. Erika Jayne & Gleb Savchenko - Salsa (6+6+6+6=24) Once again, I have no idea who Erika is but she definitely left an impression. She had confidence which is more than most celebs who this show can muster up, so that’s refreshing for Week 1. There definitely is some potential here, she’s a natural performer & showed no hesitation. I would like for Gleb to bring something deeper out of her than just this sexy kitten unicorn but I can’t say I have high expectations for that to happen.

10. Rashad Jennings & Emma Slater - Cha Cha Cha (8+7+8+8=31) Some nice eye candy on this season, Rashad is the cherry & whipped cream on top. He is really cute with a nice personality AND he can dance. He & Emma really had a great song (24k Magic) and did it justice. I like he’s looser than your average football player, which will help him in other styles & he has rhythm. These two are going to be GOOD.

How amazing would that be to see Emma vs. Sasha in the finals? They both have contenders.

11. Mr. T & Kym Herjavec - Cha Cha Cha (5+5+5+5=20) Mr. T is a legend & I’m not gonna dare criticise his first week. All I’m going to say is he’s the kind of celeb this show was made for. His determination is inspiring & just a joy to watch, even if he is dancing to his own beat.

12. Simone Biles & Sasha Farber - Tango (8+8+8+8=32) I mean c’mon, these two are the “One To Beat”. She’s obviously the shoo-in to win, because history repeats itself & she’s that good. Couples like this are exciting to watch because they raise the bar & you really want to see them top themselves each week. Simone & Sasha absolutely have competition this season (Hi Rashad, Normani, Heather) but when your as good as they are, sometimes your biggest competition is yourself. I’m really excited for Sasha, he’s been showing up & showing out in his last couple of seasons, especially with Terra so, it;ll be interesting to see how he handles the pressure of having so much talent in Simone & expectations from the viewers & judges. Their tango was solid, Simone is so poised when she dances and confident when she throws her legs in the air or around Sasha, if that was Week 1, I can’t imagine what Week 10 would or will look like.

#dwts #dwts 24 #dancing with the stars #DWTS Recap #recaps

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mysteryshelf · 6 years

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BLOG TOUR - The Solicitor

Welcome to

THE PULP AND MYSTERY SHELF!

DISCLAIMER: This content has been provided to THE PULP AND MYSTERY SHELF by Pump Up Your Book Tours. No compensation was received. This information required by the Federal Trade Commission.

Title: THE SOLICITOR Author: Sean Keefer Publisher: Four Hounds Creative Pages: 386 Genre: Mystery

When you make your living fighting for justice, the last place you expect to wake up is behind bars.

Attorney Noah Parks has spent his life keeping people out of jail. When he’s charged with the murder of a candidate for Charleston County Solicitor he finds himself on the wrong side of the law for a crime he says he didn’t commit.

No longer fighting for others and now relying on the help of the few people he does trust, Noah must fight to clear his name and find the real killer before it’s too late.

His search will lead him through a maze of deceptions, lies, family turmoil and treachery that spans generations.

The Solicitor is set in historic Charleston and the surrounding South Carolina Lowcountry where under the surface things are not always as genteel as they appear.

ORDER YOUR COPY:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR:

What initially got you interested in writing?

One day I had a “What if…” thought about a rather intriguing legal situation. I started thinking about it more and more. When I realized I wasn’t going to shake the thought, I started writing and my first book was the product.

What genres do you write in?

I write in the mystery/thriller genre. As I live in, and write about, South Carolina, you could likely get away with putting “Southern” before either of those monikers.

What drew you to writing these specific genres?

I believe that I am a product of you write what you read and I have always been attracted to the mystery and legal thriller genre as a reader so it was an obvious choice for me to start in this realm as a writer.

How did you break into the field?

Dogged determination and unyielding persistence. Since I have started writing, I have kept asking myself, “What can I do to make myself a better writer?” Then I try to do just that.

What do you want readers to take away from reading your works?

I want readers to be able to step away from their lives, even if just for a moment, to get lost in the characters you will find in my books. Beyond that my hope is that readers will keep wanting to come back for more.

What do you find most rewarding about writing?

There is little I enjoy more than talking to readers and getting feedback on my writing. I know time is a commodity for everyone so for readers to take the time to read my writing, I am flattered and humbled.

What do you find most challenging about writing?

For me finding the time to write when balancing the other commitments I have.

What advice would you give to people wanting to enter the field?

All that separates writers from non-writers is having something on paper that can be edited and expanded. If you want to be a writer, just write. Then keep writing. Start with a story and get it on paper. Then edit it to make it better.

What type of books do you enjoy reading?

I still enjoy mysteries and thrillers, though Southern literary fiction is one of my favorite genres. I also enjoy reading cookbooks and good horror and suspense.

Is there anything else besides writing you think people would find interesting about you?

For some reason people find it entertaining that I am a vegetarian who loves to make barbeque and cure bacon. When I’m not writing or cooking, I’m generally playing guitar or keeping people happily divorced. That and I have four dogs and a portion of the proceeds from my writing go to canine rescue groups.

What are the best ways to connect with you, or find out more about your work?

Visit SeanKeefer.com or connect with me on Facebook at @TheNoahParksMysteries or on Instagram at @TheNoahParksMysteries.

Prologue:

The sun’s arrival just as it cleared the horizon had always marked my favorite time of day. It wasn’t unusual to find me at dawn on the Carolina shore gazing to the east in anticipation, the ocean breeze softly brushing my face. The fleeting moments when the first rays of sunlight painted an explosion of color were more than enough to leave me knowing I was fortunate having witnessed it. Those, those were my favorite mornings and anything that followed was a bit less complicated, easier to handle.

I found myself in desperate need of such a morning.

But today there would be only cold concrete.

For the past five days, my sunrise had been a sliver of light crawling across the floor of my jail cell.

At first, I’d looked forward to it, but on the third day I realized I’d need a lot more to get me through the day, otherwise, that mere slice of sun would soon be pushing me into the icy grip of depression.

I’d quickly learned jail had a way of ushering in melancholy, even for the most optimistic. Most everyone inside, even the guards, were simply miserable.

My bail hearing had been a waste of everyone’s time. Accused murders don’t get bail with their first request, sometimes not on the second, if at all. The fact I’m a lawyer wasn’t helping. The last thing a judge wants to do is give the impression that a lawyer, particularly a criminal attorney like me, is entitled to special treatment.

Things change fast. Days earlier, my life, while not perfect, had been good.

I’d taken my girlfriend to the airport to catch a late-night flight to Chicago. She’d recently relocated to Charleston, but was wrapping up her ties to Chicago.

After returning from the airport, I turned on ESPN, eager to hear what the talking heads had to say about the South Carolina Gamecock’s next football game. As was the case for most Gamecock fans, their football season sanity ebbed or flowed with the team’s weekly performance.

It was a cool fall night and the windows were open as I watched TV from bed, my dog at my feet. Both he and I looked up as we heard a car outside–odd for that time of night in our quiet neighborhood.

The sound of the doorbell was even more unexpected, so much so I didn’t immediately get up. Rarely did anyone just drop by, especially near midnight. The second ring was immediately followed by a knock. I got out of bed, pulled on jeans and a T-shirt and went down the stairs. Austin, my Australian Shepherd, was barking and jumping beside me as I unlocked the door. He sat on my command.

I opened the door to the sight of a tall black man in plainclothes with a Charleston Police Department badge on his belt. Three uniformed Charleston County deputy sheriffs flanked him. Three police cars occupied my drive. An unmarked cruiser in the cul-de-sac completed the scene. Thankfully none had their lights on. I shifted my gaze back to the officers. Not a smile among them.

This couldn’t be good, I remember thinking.

“Noah, how about I come in?” Emmett Gabriel said. He looked me straight in the eyes. We were the same height, just under six feet tall, but the lack of a smile, his badge, and the deputies that flanked him made him feel bigger and much stronger than me.

I’d heard his voice many times before. At the police station, in his backyard, over a meal, on my back deck, other times through the years but never near midnight with other police officers standing on my front porch.

“Since when have you ever asked permission to come in the house? What’s wrong?”

“Noah, let’s talk inside?”

I just stood in the doorway. Silent and motionless.

One of the officers behind him coughed, jarring me back to reality.

I stepped to the side. “Sorry, certainly, come in.”

“Wait outside,” Gabriel said to the deputies.

We walked down the short hallway into my living room in silence.

“Where’s Anna Beth?”

A feeling of panic ran through me as he asked about my girlfriend.

“Is she okay?”

“As far as I know. She not here?”

“No. Chicago trip.”

The feeling of panic faded to one of wonder, wondering why at midnight a detective I knew was standing, unannounced, in my living room while three other anxious officers were staged on my front porch. I asked why he was here. Wonder quickly faded with the next words I heard.

“The officers outside have a warrant for your arrest.”

Having never been one to miss the obvious, I remember uttering my insightful reply, “A warrant?”

“Yes, for the murder of Andrew Stephens.

While growing up in South Carolina, Sean didn’t realize it, but he was absorbing the styles, mannerisms, idiosyncrasies, dialects and the culture of his home. Add to this the time he spent traveling the other Carolina for school and then North America for work, he collected a vast array of experiences and observations from which to draw upon and bring together in his writing.

After studying law in North Carolina, Sean settled in Charleston, South Carolina and instantly became enamored with the people as well as the city.

One day he started writing and the words, generally, kept flowing. A page became a chapter which ultimately became a book known as The Trust. After this the process started again and The Solicitor was the end result. Hopefully, if you are reading this you either have, or soon will have, your very own copy of one or both.

The experience of taking two novels from conceptualization to print has been one of frustration peppered with increasing amounts of reward. Each step from the first words hitting the page to ultimately holding a book in hand has been a personal reward.

When Sean is not writing he practices Family Law and works as a Domestic Mediator and lives with his Wife and an ever-expanding pack of rescue canines – the current count is 4. As well, Sean can frequently be found wandering the lowcountry of South Carolina with his camera, playing guitar in assorted venues around Charleston or exploring the underwater world of the southeast.

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BLOG TOUR – The Solicitor was originally published on the Wordpress version of The Pulp and Mystery Shelf with Shannon Muir

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