Hiatus

Wasup me Picassos?  Sorry I didn't post yesterday, I was gone all day.  Now look, I know I took a break from the blog back in September, but I need another one, this time because of scheduling issues.  I am kinda overwhelmed with writing projects from school and my personal writing career and I will be for the next couple of weeks.  So, I'm going to go on hiatus for a couple weeks.  I'll try to post when I can, but I most definitely will not have a regular upload schedule for a while.  I'll build up blog drafts when I have time, I'll post every now and again, but, for the most part, you won't see me.  I'll probably return to my normal, weekly, upload schedule some time in March, but for now, I need a breather.  I'll see you guys in March!

Over and out!
<3 Ary

An Author's adrenalin rush

Writing is hard.  Us writers put A LOT of time and effort into our work.  Coffee replaces blood in our veins, sleep becomes a distant memory, our eyes are permanently bloodshot from staring at our Words documents for hours on end, and don't even get me started on writer's block!  We work hard, and sometimes, with little to no reward.  But!  For every six hours of missed sleep and every twelve cups of coffee we drink, there is one magical moment when you get a comment, favorite, or if the writing gods permit, a new follower!

A couple months ago, I started a second blog, but this one is for fanfiction (no, I will not explain what that is), and, it's pretty small compared to the other fanfiction blogs I follow.  I knew I wouldn't be popular over night, but I was still hoping I would have a few likes and reposts on my writing.

After I posted a few fics, I was beginning to get discouraged with how little attention my blog was getting.  I had only about 15 followers, half of them ad blogs, half of my works weren't getting any notes at all, and the other half got six notes or less.  I had only ever gotten two requests and one of them was my friend who told me to start my fanfic blog.  At this point I had posted a little over fifteen fics; I had spent a really long time on all that writing!  And I was barely being rewarded for my diligence and creativity!  That was until a few days ago...

I was running out of ideas.  I hadn't been getting any requests so I had to come up with the writing prompts myself, but I was rapidly running out of creative juices.  I had been able to come up with one more fic, then I would be completely spent.  It was about a soldier during WWII talking to his girlfriend right before he leaves for the army.  I felt I had done pretty well on it and I thought people would like it, though my doubts told me it would be ignored just like the rest of my writing.

Before posting it, I added an author's note at the beginning of the fic, as I usually do.  In this little author's note I half-jokingly said, "help guys, I'm running out of ideas, please send requests,".  I knew people would ignore my needy plea, so I didn't check my blog until the next day.

I checked my blog, expecting to see a barren ask box and blank notifications board, but, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I had gotten, not one, but TWO requests!  I eagerly wrote, edited, and posted the first one, entitled "CUDDLE BUDDY" and in my author's note, I thanked the anonymous requester profusely!  But, after such an intense burst of writing energy, I was creatively spent, so I took a break before filling the next request.

The day after that, I started writing out the second request.  As soon as I posted it, again, thanking the requester profusely, the fic started getting notes.  I was pretty surprised, considering I still have fics, that were posted before Thanksgiving, that have zero notes at all.  After checking my blog's activity, I saw that I had gained three new followers!  That may not seem like a lot, but to a small blog like mine, that meant the world!

So, as I am writing this, I have 28 followers and "CUDDLE BUDDY" has a whopping 124 notes, including favorites and reposts!!!!  And, yesterday, I had gotten a request for a part two to "CUDDLE BUDDY"!!!!  Four days ago I barely had 18 followers and an empty inbox. Now, I've gained ten followers in 24 hours when it took me three months to get 18, and I'm getting requests for sequels!

As a writer, it feels so good to finally get recognition for my work!  I feel so happy and I've gotten my writing mojo back and then some!  So please, take time to let the writer in your life know that their hard labor and creativity is appreciated.

Over and out!
<3 Ary

The mystery of Steve's leather jacket

 NOTE: minor spoiler alert.


         Captain America!  America's new hope, God's righteous man, the man out of time, the star-spangled man with a plan, living proof that perfection is indeed attainable!  We all love Captain America.  We love his big heart, his excellent leadership, or, if you're weird like me, you love his snazzy leather jacket.

          Steve's jacket is a fairly iconic piece in Steve's everyday apparel; he wears it numerous times throughout the multiple Marvel movies he appears in.  But, where exactly did he get his jacket?  This is the mystery of Steve's leather jacket! *dun dun dun*


          "Well Ary, ever think that maybe Steve got it at the store, like a normal person?" Ya see, that's the thing, we see Steve wear it in the 40s during WWII, and, if you know anything about WWII, you know that leather was heavily rationed during this time, so that jacket would either have not existed or have been extremely expensive.  But, in Bucky's flashbacks in CATWS (Captain America: the Winter Soldier) we see that Steve lived in a shabby Brooklyn apartment, meaning Steve lived fairly modestly and probably couldn't afford a nice jacket like the one we see him wear all the time.

"Well Ary, maybe he got it in the 30s," Again, Steve lived very modestly and could not afford a jacket like that, and we have the Great Depression to consider.  So every other average American citizen would have been struggling financially as well.

          After pondering about how Steve could've acquired that jacket, given the state of the government in that era and Steve's waste-not-want-not way of living, I came to a dead end in my search.  After thinking that questioning the origins of Captain America's leather jacket was a wild, fangirl goose chase, my brother pointed out that Steve's jacket looked like a WWI aviator's jacket.  Then it hit me.  You know who fought in WWI?  Joseph Rogers, aka, Steven Grant Rogers's dad.

          Here's my theory: we know that Steve's father, Joseph, died from a tear gas attack during WWI before Steve was born, as it is said in CATFA (Captain America: the First Avenger).  It is very likely that Joseph's jacket was given to Sarah Rogers, Steve's mother, as a condolence from the military.  Now knowing that Steve would never know, or even see his father, Sarah would've given the jacket to him so he would have something to know his father by.  That would also explain why the jacket always looks new and clean, Steve would've take phenomenal care of his late father's jacket.

          When I presented this theory to my friend Jori, the girl who got me into the MCU in the first place, she thought it was a very good theory.  But, she also presented another theory; what of the jacket is Bucky's?  We see that Steve only starts wearing the jacket after Bucky is drafted, so maybe it was a gift from Bucky to Steve, so Steve would have something to remember his best friend by while he was away.   That would also explain why we never see pre-serum Steve wear the jacket.  If Bucky didn't give Steve the jacket until right before he left, then Steve wouldn't even have the chance to wear it until the next day.  But, the next day, Steve was transformed into Captain America, so again, Steve didn't really have the chance to wear the jacket.  But, we see steve wear the jacket for the first time right after he performs his show for the 107th. 

         So, where do you think Steve got his leather jacket?  Was it his dad's?  Was it a goodbye present from Bucky?  Or did Steve simply buy it himself?  Tell me in the comments!

Over and Out!

<3 Ary

Happy whatever the heck you celebrate!

Happy holidays everybody!  Oh I'm sorry, did I offend you?
Yea... This irritates me.

December.  Home to many holidays!  Christmas, New years, *cough* my birthday *cough*, Kwanza, Hannukah, Ramadan, and many others.  This is a lot to keep track of, but what's even harder, is figuring out which holiday each individual on this earth celebrates.  But this predicament is easily solved with the simple phrase, "Happy Holidays!" or "Seasons Greetings!".  But, apparently, saying "happy holidays" is unChristian.  My question is, why?

Why does every obnoxious, hyper-conservative Christian find this phrase so appalling?

"Ary!  They're trying to take Christmas away from us!"
How?  "Happy Holidays" is just easier, and less rude than saying, "happy whatever the heck you celebrate!" to people you pass by on the street.  No one is trying to take Christmas away from anyone, if anything, you're trying to take the other holidays away from non-Christmas celebrators by saying Christmas is the only/ best holiday to celebrate this time of year.

"But Christmas is the most widely celebrated!"
In the US maybe.  But typically it's only Atheists, Christians, and some Messianic Jews that celebrate Christmas.  Most other religions don't.

"But Ary!  They're trying to take Christ out of Christmas!"
Oh please, Christmas celebrators have already done that.

Guys, "happy holidays" is an all-inclusive phrase, that happens to be easier than saying, "Happy Christmas, New year, Kwanza, Hannukah, Ramadan, or whatever other random holidays you can possibly celebrate!".  Now I'm not saying that saying "Merry Christmas" is bad, not at all.  It's just that not all people happen to celebrate Christmas.  You can say "Merry Christmas" as much as you want, as long as you don't get offended by people saying "Happy Hannukah" or "Joyful Kwanza" to you.

In case you haven't been paying attention in Sunday school, Christmas isn't about getting upset over stupid stuff like "Happy Holidays" or red Starbucks coffee cups, it's about, giving to others and of yourself.  it's about Christ, the savior of the universe, coming down to earth to redeem us from our sins, even though we did absolutely nothing to deserve it.  It's about loving one another as fellow humans and, more importantly, children of GOD and brothers in Christ.  GOD doesn't care what you say to others as you pass by them in the park, what he cares about is you loving Him and all others around you.  Chrismas has been diluted into this holiday of mass consumerism and greed, don't make it worse by placing it above all other holidays as the "all mighty alpha holiday".

Remember, we are celebrating Christ and his arrival on earth, not the day marked on the calendar.
Happy holidays everyone!
<3 Ary

Captain America: the lamest Avenger

IMPORTANT NOTE FROM ARY: I LOVE CAPTAIN AMERICA!!!  I just recently got into the MCU (Marvel cinematic universe) and I am absolutely in LOVE with it!  This is not me hating on Cap, his movies, or his comics!  It's just me putting our perspective of good ol' Cap into a new light.  I fully stand behind this argument, but again, this is not me hating on Cap; I'm simply putting my thoughts into writing.   Also, spoiler alert.


          Captain America: hero of WWII, leader of the Avengers, the perfect zero to hero story.  But is Steve Rogers really all he's cracked up to be?  As a superhero, I would have to say no.  Why?  Well, let me tell you.


          In order to become Captain America, Steve Rogers was injected with a super soldier serum to enhance his physical form.  Because of this serum, Steve was given the body of an Adonis, the strength of ten men, the ability to run twice as fast as the average man, enhanced physical endurance, and accelerated cell regeneration (he heals quickly).  This is all really cool!  But the problem is, it's all been done before in better ways!  Now I'm not saying that all superpowers should be exclusive to one superhero, what I'm saying is his powers are the same as other heros' powers but on a much tamer level.

          For example, his super strength.  Steve has the strength of ten men, but the problem is is that other heroes have the same thing, but they're much stronger.  Take Thor for example.  He's a lot stronger than Steve!  Maybe that's a bit of a harsh comparison, considering Thor isn't really human, but a god.  But what about Bruce?  He's also a lot stronger than Steve.


          Or what about Steve's increased running speed?  Quicksilver (aka Pietro Maximoff) had a speed that greatly surpassed Steve's!  Now maybe since Pietro is dead he doesn't count, but he was still much faster than Steve ever was.

          Next up, enhanced physical endurance.  Steve is able to fight harder for longer, run for greater distances and is able to take a few more punches than the other Avengers... Except for Thor... and Bruce... and Wolverine.  Yes, I know Wolverine's not an Avenger, but still, you get the point.  Wolverine is able to fully heal literally one second after getting wounded, to the point where he's almost immortal.  And Bruce once said that if he shot himself, the Hulk would come out and spit the bullet right back out.

          And finally, enhanced cell regeneration.  Now, with Dr. Cho's awesome medical technology, she can reproduce cell tissue right over a wound, like she did with Clint in Age of Ultron.  And Thor, being a god, can use magic to heal quickly.  Also, Barry Allen (aka the Flash.  And yes, I know he's from DC, but still) has accelerated cell regeneration and, of course, superhuman speed.  Both of which exceed Captain America's ability to do those things.  Not to mention Wolverine, once again.

          Now, I'm not saying Steve is useless as a superhero, not at all!  He's a great leader and understanding friend, not to mention he's the perfect counterbalance to Tony's reckless behavior.  As a writer and actor, I can greatly appreciate Steve's honorable character in the MCU.  We can really see Steve as a real human being because of his relatability and vulnerability.

         We first see Steve as a little guy who never backs down from a fight, even though his chances of winning are slim.  Then, we see him as the perfect soldier, ready and willing to use his skills for the good of his country only for him to be disappointed and paraded around as a showgirl.  But, he keeps going, determined to do prove himself.  He stands up for what he believes in, he always protects his friends, and even stays humble despite being the heartthrob of all America.  We even get to see how Steve expresses his emotions.  Just like me, he's an artist.  Even though the artistic side of Steve isn't really built upon or pointed out, we still get a glimpse into his heart and mind because of it.

          But as much we see Steve succeed, we still see him screw up every once in a while.  He regularly disobeys his orders, he foolishly tries to enlist even though his every single one of his ailments disqualifies him as a soldier, and he even lies on his enlistment form five times.

          But what really takes the cake, and what I think I like best about Steve, is that we get to see just how broken he is.  We see him cry, we see him go into fits of rage and frustration, we get to see his worst fears, his greatest regret, and even see him long for the life that he never got to live.  Heck, we even see him struggle with mental illness!

          Steve is a phenomenal character, one well worth adoring.  Steven Grant Rogers, Captain America, is a leader, an artist, trustworthy, determined, humble, willing to lay down his life for those he loves, but most of all, he's imperfect and broken, just like the rest of us.  Yes, as a hero, he's kinda lame, but what he lacks in the superhero department, he more than makes up for in character, charm, and story!

          I love all of the Avengers (except for Vision, sorry not sorry), but I love Steve the most.  Yes, I know I just built up an entire argument saying that he was the lamest of all the Avengers, but notice I never said he was the lamest superhero.  Steve may not be a Norwegian god, a highly trained sharpshooter, or philanthropist billionaire, but he's definitely one of, if not the best, Avenger out there.  Steve is a kind-hearted man who is willing to fight for his beliefs, family, and country, and I definitely think that's what makes you a true superhero.  Not the strength of your muscles, but the strength of your heart, and Steve Rogers definitely has the strongest heart of all the Avengers.

This week in History:embalming a chicken

The following events took place on 11/2/2016

I shoved salt up a chicken's butt.

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY! *please read in announcer's voice*

TOPIC ONE:  The Ancient Egyptian mummification process is a very interesting subject.  Whilst most teachers would make a slide show or a handout to teach their students about this process, Dr. Parker took on a more hands-on approach.  We had already known that our class was going to mummify a chicken, the previous year's sophomore's told us and so did Dr. Parker at the beginning of the school year, but none of us expected it to be so... awkward.

When I walked into the classroom and saw that Dr. P brought a raw chicken from the grocery store into the class, my heart sunk, but at the same time became very elated.  Ever since I knew about this little demonstration, I was so excited about it!  Unlike the rest my class.

A fellow classmate, Lydia, and I were the one's who volunteered to do all the dirty work; no one else was willing to touch the chicken.  We had to massage perfume, alcohol, and almond milk into the raw chicken's body.  But there was a buttload (no pun intended) of salt and baking soda involved.  The purpose of the salt and baking powder was to dry out the chicken, so we had to stuff the chicken full of it!

We named out chicken Bobine and we buried her on 12/7/2016.  RIP Bobine.

Over and out!
<3 Ary

Jefferson; the Mad Hatter

NOTE: This entire post it about the tv show OUAT (Once Upon a Time) and does contain mild spoilers for both the tv show and the graphic novels.  So if you're not familiar with this show or don't watch it, I would suggest you skip this one.

Meet Jefferson.  Jefferson here is one of my favorite characters from one of my favorite shows; Once Upon a Time (we'll call it OUAT for short).  He may have only been in 4 episodes of the show, but he managed to steal the show.  He first appeared in the episode "Hat Trick" which aired around the beginning of 2012, so I would have just turned 11.  I was OBSESSED with Jefferson! I thought it was really cool that he was Jefferson and the Mad Hatter at the same time!  I also liked how his character starts as a selfish thief, then develops into a kind-hearted, loving father.  I was also very impressed at how the actor who portrayed him added more depth and emotion to such a classic character from such a classic book.  To my eleven-year-old self, he was just the coolest thing ever!  Then, in one of his last appearances, I found out that Jefferson had a daughter named Grace (in the real world she was called Paige).  So eleven-year-old me thought, 'how could he have a daughter without a wife?'.  Immediately, my little brain thought of Rapunzel.  You see, the Disney movie 'Tangled' had come out in December of the previous year and Rapunzel had become my  favorite Disney princess.  And as of then, Rapunzel had not yet been featured in OUAT.  So, naturally, I wanted my two favorite characters, Jefferson and Rapunzel to be a couple.

I had decided that it was a good idea to write a story featuring them together explaining how they met, how Rapunzel, Jefferson's wife, died, and how Grace, their daughter, handled growing up with only one parent.  I will admit, I was not the best writer at age 11, so this story was very poorly written.  I cringe every time I think of it.  But eventually, I had forgotten about my story, Jefferson, and my favorite fictional couple.

Earlier this year I had gotten interested in the Marvel cinematic universe.  One of my favorite characters was Bucky Barnes, who was played by Sebastian Stan.  Gradually, I had grown very fond of Sebastian Stan and his phenomenal acting ability!  So, I was looking up some Sebastian Stan stuff on social media when I come across this GIF set with the caption "does anyone remember when Seb played Jefferson/Mad Hatter on Once Upon a Time?  That was great!".  I was awestruck.  My favorite actor played one of my former favorite characters?!  Almost instantly, I remembered my old story idea and immediately started slaving over my keyboard, rewriting my old story.

Now, since it had been more than 5 years since I had watched Jefferson's episodes, I had to do a lot of research to make my story aligned properly with the plot of the show.  As I was reading about Jefferson on the OUAT wiki, I discovered that OUAT graphic novels were published in 2015.  One of them being "Out of the Past".  I got really excited and looked up the plot of the novel.  I found out that this book gave Jefferson some much-needed backstory about him and his wife!

Fast-forward to the first week of September.  This really nice librarian named Rebecca told me that our library had this book plus another OUAT graphic novel about a different minor character that I was/am very fond of.  So I checked them out and began reading.  The Sunday after I had checked the books out, I had read "Out of the Past".  I was quite enjoying it!  Jefferson's real wife, Priscilla, was a really awesome character that I ADOREh, even though she's not my beloved Rapunzel.  But, what surprised me was that the book almost completely ruined the, seemingly, kind, selfless, semi-respectable Jefferson for me.


"What happened?" you ask, well, in the one Jefferson-centric episode in the tv series, Jefferson says that the reason he doesn't go to Wonderland anymore is that his wife died during a thieving mission while they were there.  Now, in this episode, Jefferson hesitantly goes back to Wonderland on a mission with the Evil Queen after she offers him a great reward that he can support his daughter with if he helps her.  Jefferson does get stuck in Wonderland, unintentionally leaving his young daughter alone in the Enchanted forest.  In the show, this is depicted as a kind, selfless, strong, character being caught during a weak moment in which he makes a mistake.  But, in the book, he does almost the same exact thing!

In the book, Jefferson goes to Wonderland behind his wife and daughter's back to retrieve a rare and valuable object so he can sell it for a great price and support his family with the profit. While Jefferson is in Wonderland, he gets captured and Priscilla has to rescue him.  Priscilla dies before they can get back home to Grace, but before she dies she asks Jefferson to give up dangerous missions and stealing for good.  When Jefferson gets home he promises himself and his deceased wife that he'll never go on another mission and leave Grace alone ever again  Now this is all well and good but that book takes place before the tv show episode!  This means that Jefferson went back on his word and left Grace alone for a chance at great riches for the second time!

This was so heartbreakingly frustrating to me!  Jefferson was so beautifully depicted as a strong, loving, and selfless father who happened to make a mistake with the purpose of good intentions during a weak moment in his life.  But with the events of the book taken into mind, it's really Jefferson being swayed by his bad habit of valuing riches and objects over his own family and their wellbeing thus making the same mistake twice.  If anything, it seems he has the same problem as Rumpelstiltskin but a little tamer.  I feel that the writers of the book went against Jefferson's character and made him more like a foolish and selfish villain rather than the caring, slightly naive father he was meant to be.  Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz (creators of Once Upon a Time), if you're reading this, please tell me that this was a mistake and that Jefferson is still the wonderful and strong character that I fell in love with as a little kid.

Have a magical week!
<3 Ary

PS. Okay, I'm sorry that this was so long and pointless, but I just had to get this off my chest!  Anyway, thanks for sticking around and tolerating me and my long winded rant about a character that no one else cares about.  Hopefully, I'll see you next week with another, much more interesting, post!