Soulmate AU

Well, this is gonna be an abrupt change from the last post, but I'm such a disaster I have to talk about it. But FIRST a little background.

Mel and Est and I have been talking about Soulmate AUs lately (AU= alternate universe). It's ideas about worlds where you have a soulmate and something indicates that. For example:

-A tattoo of each others’ names on their wrist/palm/etc

-A tattoo of each others’ first words to one another

-A timer for when they shall first meet

-See colour for the first time when you meet, fades away when they die

- You stop aging at a certain age, until you meet your soulmate and grow old together.

- Songs sung by your soulmate is stuck in your head. 

-Whenever you lose an item (like a sock), it ends up in your soulmates’ possession somehow 

- Everyone receives a special accessory (hat, watch, necklace, bracelet, etc) that is exactly alike with their soulmate. Many people, when they meet their soulmate, like to swap theirs with the other. 

- If you haven’t met your soulmate but have been in the same vicinity of each other (like passing each other on a street or in the same building), that day will keep repeating until you find each other. 

Just things like that. We've been talking about them. That sets the scene for me today.

Time: 5:40

Place: the line for Chick-Fil-A

I have a class at 6 with my big brother, and I decided to buy us chocolate shakes before I get there. So I'm in line, headphones in, JAMMING out to "This Is Me" from The Greatest Showman OST (aside, this movie comes out in December and I AM SO STOKED FOR IT), and a person comes up behind me in the line. I can tell that I've been noticed (like, you know that feeling, when you're aware that another human is aware of you?), but I'm casually jammin' and about to order, so I don't do anything.

Well, fast forward approximately 45 seconds and I've ordered and he's ordered and then he starts talking to me- a silly debate about whether waiting for food or finishing food is worse, and we discussed the merits of Chick-Fil-A, and meanwhile my internal panic is slowly increasing because this guy is CUTE and he's talking to me and joking with me and WHAT, we trade names, he asks me what I'm doing at BYU (snarky me wanted to say, umm, studying?), I say planning on going into music ed, it's my first semester, so I'm still figuring life out, he goes, Oh, wow, first semester, welcome to BYU then! even though it's-wait is it December, it feels like December- and I'm laughing, no it's November, don't make it December yet!

And then they called my name up at the counter, I went up and got my food and legit SCURRIED away, saying, it was nice to meet you and panicking all the while.

And I mean bigtime. Stomach in knots. Hyperventilating. Took me like 15 minutes to calm down. But I still get butterflies if I think about it again.

Maybe I'm just bad at social. Probably I am bad at social. BUT THEN THERE'S THIS CRAZY PART OF ME

That's like, I should've chatted a minute longer, hung out for a second, asked him what he's doing, we could've talked about missions, it was an easy conversation and LIKE WHAT IF HE WAS MY SOULMATE AND I JUST RUINED IT.

Listen,

I don't believe in one single destined soulmate.

It's just all this talk of soulmate AUs has been running around, and I think it's getting to me.

Also, he made me laugh. Which was nice.

I'm a disaster.

Fangirl Friday: Webcomics II

I intended to make this Fangirl Friday a weekly post. Then crazy happened. But here's another one, again on webcomics- because I've found a few more I really enjoy.

Riven Seal is lovely. I'm just gonna give you the official synopsis, because I'm not sure how to sum up: "Riven Seal is a Victorian fantasy webcomic set in a world where magic has replaced technology and the advent of demon summoning has caused massive social and economic changes. While the story hosts a large cast of characters, a young man named Janus lies at the center of web of fate that connects them all. His encounter with a unbound demon will bring about a series of trials, dangers and magic that has not been seen in centuries." Janus has some very interesting friends (and he's 16. Just so you know. The cast page has SPOILERS but it's nice to know his age). It's obvious early on that Janus is magically gifted, but his guardian is keeping him back. We don't know why yet... RivenSeal is fairly young, but I think it's worth getting into. The art is so lovely, and the story is intriguing!
Updates: Mondays    start date unavailable; as of this post has 148 pages

Lighter Than Heir is not like the other webcomics I'd recommend. It's set in a sort of alternate steampunky reality, in a Germany(ish) place that had previously been at war with a Spain(ish) place. Zeppelin Von Schultheiss is our hero, the 19 year old daughter of a deceased war hero who joins the Steinbech army as soon as she can. Also, she's a volant- naturally gifted with the ability to fly. She has high hopes to be a hero, but boot camp... Is rough. I don't really like Zeppelin (although I think she's getting more likeable as the comic wears on), but I fell in love with the characters around her, her fellow army recruits, who you meet in boot camp:
Emmerich Hertz, mechanically gifted and determined to do well. He also hates Zeppelin... For reasons we see later.
Fritz Roth, who starts out as a jerk, but he grew up on the streets. We see his soft side later, and you really start to like him. Also the resident tough guy.
Ria Klein started out as a fashion model, and IS THE NICEST PERSON. Seriously. She's so cute. And actually does really well at the soldier business.
Mathis Schultz who was an actor, and joined the army to support himself and his actress girlfriend. He tries to smooth edges... He's the little brother of the group, sort of.
Ada Fleischer fangirls hard about things... Joins the army because ZEPPELIN VON SCHULTHEISS but is quickly disenchanted. BUT. She falls in love with the mechs and the guns and mostly the mechs, and she's AWESOME.
For me, the other characters made it worth it, even with kind of hating the protagonist. BUT. The reason this comic is really not like the others is, well, there's a lot of violence. All is not well between Steinbrech and Zamora, and conflict is a-brewin'. And also, there's a bit of a language problem. But it's a neat comic, with a compelling, and believable story.
Updates: M/W/F     running since May 2011

Headless Bliss is LOVELY. It started out as a concept- what happens to the stories we make up and never use? and the author decided to take all her partially fleshed-out stories and put them into one comic. It's an absolutely stunning visual art style, and starts out with an adorable protagonist- Annun, the princess of the demon realms. It's a lovely little world to get lost in.
Updates: T/Th     running since October 2014

So, that's all for today folks! Happy webcomic readin'!

(update 14 October 2015)
I found two new comics today and I don't want to lose them.

The Lonely Vincent Bellingham is one I've found before, but refound, and I adore it. To sum up: "This is a story about Vincent.  (But not really.) Vincent's been on sabbatical recently, and promised his professor to visit his old friend. Because of this, some say Vincent's a nice fellow. But he's not, honestly. (Nice people don't try to run away from their families, homes and responsibilities.) Lucky for him, Vincent finds all the excuses he needs when the "old friend" turns out to be Victoria, a mysterious woman with two interesting children."
That's the official about(with two small edits for spoilers). And that's everything you need to know. It's a charming art style, and an intriguing story. It makes me grin.
Updates W/F    running since December 2014

Clockwork is interesting. It's been recommended by the writers of Girl Genius, which I love, so that's a big point in its favour. Again, stealing the official story: "Cog Kleinschmidt works happily as an artisan within the stronghold of the world’s leading empire, Mercia Fortress. He finds his life taking a screeching turn upon the arrival of a diplomat from the Kingdom of Arcadia, who needs something from Cog - whether he agrees or not!" Cog is best friends with Boris, the prince of Mercia, and they often spend time with Christian, an Arcadian scientist who's lived in Mercia for years.
The interesting thing about this story is that we are dropped in at a time of peril- magic users, in the name of Arcadia, are launching terrorist attacks on Mercia, and Arcadian nobles are dying. Nobody knows why... DRAMA. It's a fun story, with interesting characters. Definitely worth a look!
Updates Wednesdays    running since June 2015

World Domination, pt II

So, a while back, I wrote this post about a conversation Bon and I were having about taking over the world. (I would recommend reading it before reading this post, but anyway) We'd been discussing all sorts of things, but in that post, the conversation ended here:

Me: What part of actually ruling the world is less fun than a failed attempt?

Bon: It's the excitement of not knowing if you will succeed, the tension of thinking you're monsters will eat your face, then the relief as you wrest control at the last second. It's exhilarating! Or painful...

Me: I prefer the exhilaration with as little pain as possible. It that's boring, then I guess that's me!

But now I have more! Okay, I've had more for a while... The previous post was the conversation up to August 14. I'm going to post the rest of it now, which covers August 15-17. Bon and I then started talking about missions, because he left for his on August 19, and then our conversation really ended.
But! The rest of the world domination conversation:

Bon: But the fun is in the gamble! Plus if you do it enough times, maybe the heroes will get inept. Or you win, it's a win win! (unless you get killed by monsters)

Me: I suppose I can see your point... But I'd still like to stack the odds a little farther in our favour.

Bon: Fair enough...

Me: It'll be worth the wait when we rule the world.

Then the conversation moved on to that mission life and whatnot. And now he's kickin' it in Louisiana, which is wonderful.

And here's the deal. I'm seriously so glad I knew this kid. He was one of my best friends sixth grade (when I met him) through eighth grade (after which I moved from Podunk to Myneton), and reconnecting with him these last few months was awesome. He's the funny best friend I remembered, although taller... But it was so great to rekindle that bond, to get to know him again, and to realise that some friendships just... Never go away. He's seriously great.

World Domination

So, I've been texting one of my friends from Podunk, Bon, this whole summer, and recently, our conversation has been awesome. I feel the need to share.

But first, a little background. I met Bon in the sixth grade, and he was one of my best friends from then until I moved to Myneton. We sort of lost touch... But have recently reconnected. He's definitely still AWESOME.
I met Tas in the seventh grade. He's a wonderful, one-of-a-kind hilarious, and I ADORE him. So. Now that you know who these two people are, I'm going to relay the conversation between Bon and I.

This part of our texting conversation began on July 21, and has continued sporadically since then, becoming better and better. The scene opens here, a few days after I visited Myneton:
*as always, typos are left as they occurred in the conversation*

Me: I adore you people. I'm totally gonna crash your ten year reunion!

Bon: Haha, do it. We'll still be the same. Just older. Except maybe Tas, he's going to go crazy in college

Me: I really will though! And Tas is *already* crazy. He raises carnivorous plants and ships his friends and if he goes crazier in college, it'll be something to see.

Bon: Oh yeah, Tas will become like An insane genius who will try to invent a death ray. He'll also become a pro gamer and set up a fake dating site, then lose it all in a bet. Then solve world hunger and become wildly rich. That's my prediction.

Me: Wow. That's ambitious. But, I could see it. Also, he plays oboe in the New York Philharmonic the whole time.

Bon: Of course. Still though, I think I was on to something with Tas bring a pro gamer.

Me: Oh, yacht. That's totally a valid option for his future. I can see it. ;)

Bon: For sure. He'll probably have a yacht too. Oh yacht. :)

Me: Thanks for just running with that. ^_^ The only question remaining is whether he'd still associate with us peasants when he's got all that crazy stuff going on.

Bon: Indeed. Then again, I'm hoping to be just as rich and knowing how smart you are, you could be too, so we should be good.

Me: With our combined genius, anything could happen. We'd be the most POWERFUL trioin the fire nation, and together we'd DOMINATE the world!

Bon: First if all, loved the reference. It was quite sharp. Be careful, with that Wit you might pierce the hull of a fire navy battleship killing thousands.
And second, heck yes'm. Take over the world in days.

Me: Ahahaha YAAAS! And even if our own mothers think we are monsters... Well, we'll rule the world, so who cares?

[note: those last three messages reference the Avatar: the Last Airbender tv show, which is AWESOME.]

Bon: Exactly! Because power and money at clearly the most important things!

Me: Indeed! Nothing else matters in life!

Bon: Plus then we'd be super villains,which is awesome!

Me: We'd really have to work on our presentation, so we'd really be super villains!

[note: Megamind reference!]

Bon: Of course. Does that mean Tas will be the super hero? Because that would be a great backstory.

Me: No, we're all three supervillains together, an unstoppable team! Somebody else will have to be the superhero!

Bon: I don't know. At best Tas is the villain who turns good and betrays us. Tas is just too good.

Me: Hmmm... You're probably right... He'll give away our secret weaknesses.

Bon: And right after we catch the hero too.......what a drag.

Me: *sigh* Why does it always go that way? I want it to be like Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog. I want the villains to win!

Bon: Ummmmmm......but then who is the one who dies? I really don't think that Dr horrible had that happy an ending for anyone.

Me: I dunno, it was pretty good for the E.L.E. Also, I never specified happy... I just said the villains win!

[note: Dr. Horrible is AMAZING. Go look it up on Youtube and watch it.]

Bon: True. Still gotta decide who has to die in this scenario, though...

Me: Well, that's depressing.

Bon: Yeah, so let's not shoot for Dr horrible. Maybe like mega mind or something?

Me: But... The villain turns good. I guess we could go that route, but I think it would ruin the 'betrayal by Tas' storyline.

Bon: Yeah... What movie has the villain win but isn't a tragedy???

Me: Umm... Umm... Umm...

Bon: We'll have to make it own (gasp!)

Me: Original thought? Perish the idea! How MARVELOUS.

Bon: Let's see... The story will open in a large city all black and white like a detective show. The camera will slowly zoom into a large building...

Me: Where the three of us, stylishly dressed and in the most dramatically furnished room, are plotting our takeover of the world.

Bon: Yes, Tas would be like a well dressed spy, whereas I would be a crazy scientist with crazy gadgets. I'm betting you woulds be the mastermind

Me: I can definitely go with that. So, what's the evil plan?

Bon: Hmm... That's the hard part. An evil plan that hasn't been done to death... You're the schemer, any ideas?

Me: Kill all honeybees, except from our personal farm, monopolise the honey and beeswax industries... Go from there.
Spread socialism as we go.
On our way to communism that we run, and world power.

Bon: I like it! It's big. Just needs some death ray and freezing ozone, and we'll have a master plan!

Me: Alternatively, we drain the oceans and transfer them to Mars (you up for portal use?), so we'll control BOTH planets... Twice the landmass, twice the potential, all the GLORY.

Bon: Love it. We can then create star ports, speed expansion and science and make a galactic empire. All by thinking with portals.

Me: Exactly! Now, the only question left is why Tas would defect from a plan as astounding as that one?

Bon: Clearly he is not a fan of our totalitarian government. Either that or he is secretly a tree hugger and loves bees.

Me: Well, I'm not a fan of totalitarian governments either... But it's TOTALLY different when I'm in charge! Oh! Maybe Tas wants to be the Supreme Overlord, and since he can't be (because I AM) he betrays us?
Or, the honeybee thing.

Bon: I'm betting on the supreme overlord one. But then, even though he turns good because of selfish reasons, he finds he likes being a hero and narrowly escapes to reform a rebellion that he quelled earlier in the story. Then all we need is some giant monsters somewhere in there and we're good!

Me: We're brilliant. We engineer and control the monsters ourselves. They're nearly impossible to defeat, but Tas knows all their weaknesses. It'll sell millions of copies!

Bon: Brilliant! We'll be rich in no time! We better get someone on the movie rights. We night even get rich enough to really take over the world.

Me: Infallible. We're marvelous!

Bon: Best crime trio/duo this side of Jupiter!

Me: Yes. It'll be MARVELOUS.

Bon: Let's do it. I'll get on the death ray and scary monsters.

Me: Good. I'll work on the details of the plan, and hiring underlings.

Bon: Just make sure you get some good underlings. Ones who can aim, not like storm troopers and every other henchmen ever.

Me: I know... We'll have to find a way to counter 'shooting against the hero' syndrome. ALSO. We need villain identities!

Bon: True... Never really thought about the identities... Any good ideas?

Me: Tas can be Sir Sneaks-a-Lot, you'll be Dr. Gizmo, and I'll be the Mastermind.
Kidding. Totally kidding.

Bon: I feel like... Those names give away our jobs. Is gotta be subtle.

Me: Hey, I don't see you with any ideas. ;) C'mon, the Mastermind is good! You can be Dr. Maniac... And Tas is... Is... Midnight Malice.
Okay, I'll admit, Dr. Maniac isn't OPTIMAL, but as a set, the names sound cool! And, Tas can change to Midnight Marvel or Midnight Miracle or something when he betrays us. It's totally perfect!

Bon: OK, midnight marvel does sound awesome. I like them, though could we drop the Dr? I don't have a Phd, nor do I really want to get one in being crazy...

Me: Valid. Mastermind, Maniac, and Midnight Malice. Now we have identities- we can REALLY take over the world!

Bon: OK! Let's do it! Next Tuesday seems like a good day! Let's shoot for world domination by then.

[note: that text was sent August 6, so Tuesday was August 11.]

Me: Wow, that's an aggressive deadline. Are the monsters going to be ready?

Bon: I'm getting there I've made them, but so far all they're done is try to tear my face of.... Hungry little guys. We do have Tas....i mean midnight malice is going to Hungary, so I figured we could have an agent in Europe.

[note: Tas entered the MTC on August 5 for a mission to Hungary. Bon enters the MTC August 19 for a mission to Louisiana.]

Me: I'm not sure if those monsters rote
sound ready to use. Also, Midnight Malice won't be in Hungary for a few weeks, so we won't HAVE a Europe agent.

Bon: Meh, he's getting there. And monsters are better if you can't really control them anyways

Me: Valid point. I mean if we can't control them, no one else can, right?

Bon: Exactly! Besides, I'm sure we can figure it out before they kill tons of people and rebel

Me: Nawh, stopping them can be Tas's job, after he betrays us.

[note: it's now August 11.]

Me: So... World domination today? We've got like six hours left...

Bon: Oh Uh.... Sure? Not really sure how to start. I didn't think we'd get that far. I thought for sure the monsters would get free and easy my face by now...

Me: Well, that's not productive. It was YOUR deadline, buddy! ;)

Bon: Yeah... But in my defense, you are the planner. So what's the plan.

Me: My plan was a later goal for domination, sometime when the monsters are ready and we actually have an agent in Europe. :P

Bon: Oh fine... If you don't want any suspense... It would have been so exciting, but no, you want a "well thought out" plan with a chance of success...

Me: Yes. When I say world domination, I mean it. :D

Bon: [sigh] fine......it's just so much less fun

Me: What part of actually ruling the world is less fun than a failed attempt?

Bon: It's the excitement of not knowing if you will succeed, the tension of thinking you're monsters will eat your face, then the relief as you wrest control at the last second. It's exhilarating! Or painful...

Me: I prefer the exhilaration with as little pain as possible. It that's boring, then I guess that's me!

And that is where the plan for world domination currently stands. Watch out, we're coming. ALSO. I LOVE my friends!

Fangirl Friday: Webcomics

That's right, I'm committing to a weekly post! Every Friday, I'm going to post about something that I love, or am currently obsessed with or something of the like. :D

Today, I just feel the need to share one of my geeky obsessions- webcomics. Most of these are online graphic novels, and they're BRILLIANT and LOVELY and I want to share.
***Because I can't pick favourites, these are roughly in order of how I found them***

Looking For Group is a fantasy type epic adventure story; it starts out as a joke about all sorts of fantasy-genre tropes and things, but along the way, developed into much more than that. Cale'Anon, the hero, meets Benny, an interesting priestess/healer, and Richard, a warlock whose titles include Chief Warlock of the Brothers of Darkness, Lord of the Thirteen Hells, Master of the Bones, Emperor of the Black, Lord of the Undead, Lord of the Dance, Mistress of Magma, and Mayor of a little village up the coast. It's a rollicking good time!
PLUS, they've recently(ish) started running a comic called Non-Player Character that provides backgrounds and histories for other characters that meet Cale, Richard, Benny, and their crew. AND, they run a weekly silly strip about Richard. It's AWESOME.
Updates: LFG----M/Th     start date unavailable, as of this posting has 882 pages
              NPC----T/F     start date unavailable, as of this posting has 147 pages, in 15 stories
              TDA----W     start date unavailable, as of this posting has 67 pages

Girl Genius is a sci-fi steampunk mad-science romance adventure featuring a girl named Agatha, who is incredible. All sorts of crazy shenanigans and adventures occur, and Girl Genius features an incredible cast, including a talking cat, the handsome genius son of a tyrant baron, a warrior princess from a lost nation, and many more. ALSO- the Jagers. Once human, now something else, they serve the Heterodyne family... And speak with German accents provide fantastic comic relief along with intense backstory.
It's AWESOME.
Updates M/W/F     running since Nov 2002

Namesake is a fantasy story that cleverly weaves together many of your favourite classic stories, including Alice in Wonderland, the Wizard of Oz, and more. Starring a girl named Emma, who is a Namesake (the next person to live through the storyline of a famous story and help save that world), and her younger sister Elaine, a writer (the people who chronicle Namesake stories and help link the different worlds together), and full of deception, intrigue, secret societies and an epic battle for good and evil, Namesake is AMAZING. Also, the artwork is absolutely GORGEOUS!
Updates T/Th/Sa     running since Sep 2010

Retail is a syndicated comic that runs in newspapers. I actually remember when it debuted in my paper, and when I found it online, I was pretty stoked! It follows the employee's of Grumbel's, a big chain retail store, especially Marla, Cooper, and Val. The cast of characters is amusing, the customers they deal with are often hilariously horrifying, and their manager, Stuart, is (of course) the stereotypical corporate drone. It's a lot of fun. Also WAY different from everything else I'm sharing... but oh well!
Updates daily!     running since January 2006

Blindsprings is lovely. It's an interesting fantasy-type comic that investigates a world where magic and science don't coexist very well, and centers on Tamaura, a princess lost in time, and Harris, an academic who tries to fix everything. She goes on adventures... And he blunders. So far, that's what's up. That's actually an atrocious description, but TRUST me, you'll love it!
Updates T/Th/Sa     Running since Oct 2013

The Forgotten Order is an interesting magic adventure story. However, it only updates once a week... So progress is slow! But, it focuses on Trystan, the magical runt of a very talented family, and Kay, her possessed/cursed servant doll... Who has a mysterious past and many mysteries of her own. It is thoroughly enchanting.
Updates Mondays     Running since Dec 2011

Rickety Stitch and the Gelatinous Goo is a ridiculous adventure story about a self aware skeleton who decides he wants more out of life than serving a lich forever, and who sets off as a wandering bard. His best friend/sidekick is a Gelatinous Goo- a large jello-like being, who only Rickety can understand. Honestly, this comic is hilarious! Also, it has the really cool bonus feature that the author posts Lore three times a week- little tidbits about the world that add to the storyline and help explain concepts. It's really a charming comic.
Updates: Comic   M/W     start date unavailable, as of this posting has 109 pages
                Lore     T/Th/F     start date unavailable, as of this posting has 141 pages

So, there's that. Just a few of the things I love, and that I hope you'll love too! :]