lifeofkj said: You get known for a thing, it sticks around. :) If I had more Final Fantasy friends on here, I can guarantee that they would all have said Paine.

I can live with it, at least, heehee.  And I know what you mean.

lifeofkj said: :D My work here is done.

Curse you XD

lifeofkj said: Harder than Tony vs. Steve? ;)

IT ACTUALLY WAS HARDER, DAMNIT.

lifeofkj said: March 5th. Coming up! Also it ends in a zero and I’m trying not to care too much about that. >.>

Whoa, another March 5th!  And yes, oooh.  And don’t worry—age doesn’t matter here on the internets, right?  Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. /okay, I quote Star Wars at the drop of a hat, but the sentiment holds

lifeofkj said: Yay, more March birthdays. :) I know a lot of people with birthdays in March and late February. Including myself!

Yes, it seems to be a popular month for birthdays, doesn’t it?  And ooh, when is yours? :D

and-umar said: *bug hugs*

*hug hug hug* <3

and-umar said: yeah, she doesn’t sound very appropriate, sorry

I’m not that upset—I know she was trying to be nice/sound concerned, I was just a little like … who wants to be told they don’t look good, even if they KNOW they don’t look good?  And I did kind of take it as “oh, you look like shit.” (Also raccoon, what.)

apeacebone said: *hugs* ah, sorry I wasn’t on, or I would gladly have listened to a rant if you needed it. <3 I think it’s one of those days all around, though. I hope you feel better.

*hugs tight* Thanks. <3  I appreciate that.  It’s okay, I’m feeling much better now.  I really just needed rest, I think.  Same to you, if you had a nasty day yourself!

lifeofkj said: I find Final Fantasy music very motivating, especially the Black Mages albums if you have them.

Yesss, those were exactly the ones I used. :D

uminoko said: Oooh, I got one for you. I’m a Russian Buddhist convert, so in contemplations (like The Heart Sutra), I start out in Pali, then switch to English, then Russian. Same phrases feel completely different and shed light on different aspects of practice, IMO.

Whoa, that’s FASCINATING.  The fact that you switch for different phrases.  Ah, I just find that really interesting.  Thank you!

lifeofkj said: Would story snippets incentivize you and/or cheer you up? (or would you rather not be tantalized with snippets before the story is finished?)

THEY WOULD DO ALL OF THOSE THINGS. :D :D :D And I would so rather be tantalized.  Show me show me? <3

closetwhatcloset said: ugh every time
lifeofkj said: I do this ALL THE TIME.

Yes!  So do I.  Ahaha.  This time was just so blatant I couldn’t help but be amused.

lifeofkj asked: When you write a Marvel story, how do you decide which universe is your setting? Do you try to keep each story within a single continuity, or do you tend to mix and match?

That’s a really good question, haha.  Usually the story has some sort of distinctive feature I want to explore in it that marks it as one universe or another right away.  Like … I want to explore the history of the team that the Avengers have in 616, maybe, which is something they don’t have as much in the other verses.  Or I want it to be light and for even the angst to be fairly even?  Then I’d go for Marvel Adventures.  And then sometimes I get the idea based on the different ways the characters or relationships come across in the different verses.  Like, I want to write this story about MCU Tony, and so on.  I sort of conceive of the characters in all the universes having the same base, uh, self, I guess you could say, and then that self changes and grows differently based on different sets of circumstances faced by that character in that universe—so to continue using Tony as an example, I don’t see 616 Tony as a default, either, but as the way Tony has turned out based very specifically on his 616 experiences.  But Tony Stark is always going to be an insecure, arrogant, brilliant mess rife with control issues, because that’s … fundamental to his character in some way.

So usually what universe it’s going to be in is a fundamental part of the storyline somehow.

The other thing is that I really like taking ideas from comic book arcs and characters and trying to figure out how they’d work in MCU.  I haven’t actually finished any of these attempts, but I really enjoy the fun of thinking about how to update and alter them to fit into that universe and, oftentimes, to a more modern sensibility.  So I don’t mix and match, unless it’s the point of the story, to update a story arc or something like that.

lifeofkj said: I like how your head has the same tilt as your stuffed friend in the first pic. :)

I totally did this on purpose, and I am deeply pleased that you noticed. :)