Ari, she/her. A passionate writer of Ranma 1/2 fanfic and original novels, battles insomnia and holiday blues while championing creative escapes and social justice. Prof by me, FMC Relarial from Irae, published... eventually.
I kinda-sorta did before, but not really, so here's a new one. I'll also be rolling the status updates for my fanfics in here for those of you following me for my apparent obsession with Ranma and elves...
My name is Ari, she/her. Nice to meet you!
I'm a trans swordsmith, armorer, jeweler, and watchmaker. I'm also an artist and author, and like all creatives, I have my days where I love my works and days where I hate them and think they're trash. For example, I did the trans flag colors on the rank pips of my PFP, but they're too tiny to see, so I'm planning to redo it out of frustration!
I'm here to build friendships and community. So feel free to send me a message or an ask about metalwork if you're looking for answers or curious. Tag games are great, too, I try to get to them within a day or so of the notif.
Also part of the Storyteller's Speakeasy server on discord, come say hello!
Original Works:
Red Angel Saga (Irae, Interitus, Impere): The story of Relarial, an elven mercenary warlord and grandmother, as she attempts to avenge the death of her family, recover from that terrible loss, and return to some semblance of a life she understands. Rated R (for Relarial, hah!) for ultraviolence and the fact that she can't avoid constant profanities.
-Status: Book 1 is being revised/rewritten, book 2 is rough drafted, and book 3 is outlined and halfway drafted.
Blades of Fate (Iron Fist in a Velvet Glove): Captain Malekah Thaynn was a divisive figure, known to some as a hero and others as the 'Butcher of Borderwatch.' The latter helped get her tossed into a dark hole for years until someone thought she'd be useful to their ambitions. But you don't pick up the epithet of a butcher of anything by playing nice with assholes.
-Status: Book 1 is a rough drafted hot mess, but it's my hot mess, I guess.
Fanfiction:
Wet Behind the (Long) Ears: What if Ranma was knocked into the 'Spring of Drowned *Elf* Girl'?
-Status: Part 1 is complete, and I am contemplating continuation!
The Stone Will Sing: Thematic companion to WB(L)E. Maybe Ranma's so short as a girl is because it was a young dwarf girl who drowned in Nyannichuan. Or perhaps the Khazad didn't die out, but vanished as a distinct race. Worldbuilding crossover with LoTR.
-Status: Have yet to be accused of blasphemy against Tolkien. Second arc updating!
Big Wish in a Small Pond: What happens when you mix video games, wishing swords, and a damn fool? More trouble for Saotome Ranma, that's what.
-Status: First arc completed at chapter 11!
Blood in the Water: Nǚyāoguàinìquán: the Spring of Drowned Demoness. Though a redheaded Ranma still emerges from the waters, things quickly prove to be more than they seem.
-Status: 6 chapters posted!
Once We Were Warriors: OC Relarial is isekai'd into a 1996 Tokyo shared by Ranma 1/2 and Sailor Moon. This was prompted by a convo w/ a friend about our OCs as Senshi.
-Status: Complete!
A Fire Inside Me: Sequel to OWWW. The things from the space between spaces that followed Relarial from her world to Japan are becoming an increasing threat. Only by working together can the semi-feral martial artists (looking at you, Saotome Genma!) of Nerima and the Sailor Senshi fight back.
-Status: Posting, chapter 6 is up.
Twice the Curse? Double the Fun!: Ranma discovers that P-chan is actually his old frenemy Ryoga. But somehow the Lost Boy managed to get himself *two* Jusenkyo curses. ...or, did he? One-shot for muffinmoonn.
-Status: Drafting, using as a nice palate cleanser when I get stressed with other writing.
Child of Sin: Soun and Genma end up in debt to an old-school fae, but one of them (nobody is surprised) reneges on the deal. Amusement at his suffering ensues.
Shout out to my mom who explains my transition as "Having a daughterpillar turn into a Boyterfly". It doesn't erase the fact I was an adorable little girl, and also affirms my gender now. I love my mother.
After much thought and consideration, I have decided to make a permanent change to how the Dwarrow Scholar project operates. Effective immediately, all Dwarrow Scholar Neo-Khuzdul lessons, grammar resources, and educational materials, both past and future, are now completely FREE for everyone.
Over the years, this project has grown far beyond what I originally imagined. What began as a personal fascination became a community effort involving learners, readers, researchers, and Tolkien enthusiasts from around the world. Because of that, I have come to believe that the best and only future for this work is one where it remains freely accessible to everyone who wishes to learn from it.
My goal has always been the preservation, development, and sharing of Neo-Khuzdul. By removing all paywalls, I hope to help ensure that this work remains available to both current and future generations of learners.
Patreon will remain the primary home of the course, with new lessons, downloads, grammar files, exercises, dictionaries, and supporting materials continuing to be released here. In the coming months, I will also begin releasing the lesson videos publicly on YouTube, allowing even more people to discover and learn the language. Furthermore, the website itself is currently undergoing an overhaul, which will include the addition of nearly 100 new and updated documents.
To everyone who has supported this project over the years, thank you. Your support helped fund the research, hosting, software, lesson creation, videos, voice actors, artwork, website development, and countless hours that made these resources possible. Quite simply, much of what exists today would not exist without you.
This work has never truly belonged to me alone. It has become part of a wider community of learners, enthusiasts, and friends, and I am incredibly proud of what we have built together.
For those who don't know: Ikumi Nakamura is the woman who was senior artist on Bayonetta, and designed the titular character along with Hideki Kamiya. Their greatest moment of bonding was over their insistence that Bayonetta keep her glasses on at all times.
Nakamura cannot go to horny jail. She is the warden.
I’d been feeling pretty dysphoric lately after seeing a photo a coworker took of me while I was working at a miniature convention. You know how sometimes pictures taken by other people just look... wrong? Like somehow they capture a completely different version of you. I didn’t feel feminine in it at all. It just didn’t look like me, the me I see in the mirror, the me I’ve been growing into.
So this morning I was doing my usual routine before work: grabbing breakfast at a local restaurant. I headed to the bathroom. Even now, as a trans woman, I still get nervous about using the women’s restroom because there’s always that little voice in the back of my head telling me I don’t pass well enough yet.
I ended up using the men’s room and was walking out when a woman stopped me.
She looked genuinely concerned and said, "Ma’am, you’re in the wrong bathroom. That’s the men’s bathroom."
Then she pointed toward the women’s restroom.
When I just stood there for a second, completely caught off guard, she pointed at the sign again and said, "They should really make that thing more visible."
And honestly? As a gay trans girl who'd spent the last few days spiraling over a photo and picking apart every masculine feature I thought everyone else must be seeing, that was probably the most unexpected bit of validation I could have gotten.
What we’ve gotta understand is that “the modern Internet is abolishing spaces for adults” and “the modern Internet is abolishing space for children” are compatible phenomena. Neither group is being favoured: the modern Internet is abolishing spaces for adults (i.e., because grown-up topics aren’t advertiser friendly) and the modern Internet is abolishing spaces for children (i.e., because online communities which consist principally of people who have no money are hard to sell things to). The Internet that contemporary corporate interests are trying to build isn’t a space for anyone – it’s the digital equivalent of an Ikea showroom.
Like, when I say that the greater part of contemporary social media is fundamentally hostile to human life, I’m not indulging in hyperbole or constructing an ironic metaphor. I mean that 100% literally.
I feel like I need to share this because idk if Europeans are familiar with the presence of Aldi in the US, but at least especially in my area they’ve been growing a lot recently. Like Aldi bought out some local failing grocery chains where I live (Louisiana) and have opened Aldis in all these somewhat rural communities and small towns, which for the record I’m fine with
But as a result of this they are advertising a lot more in my area and also in many cases, the people in these areas have never been confronted with Aldi or any European grocery store. So the ads that Aldi is pushing out to its new US customer base feature a cowboy shopping at Aldi who is explaining to new Aldi customers how Aldi works. Like this cowboy is explaining you gotta put a quarter in the shopping cart and why there are very little name brands. A cowboy is how they want to reach their American customer base. They gave us a cowboy
so i’ve eliminated my phone from the “staying up all night” equation by getting an alarm clock and charging said phone in another room, but this resulted in a second, secret problem of staying up too late drawing because i still had my tablet. i don’t wanna move my tablet to another room as well because i like having a little bit of drawing time before bed so for about a week i was like….. oh i’ll just force myself off at the correct time eventually. one of these days that will happen.
but last night realized i'm never gonna just gain the willpower to curb my bad habits at random, that’s the entire reason i took the phone out of the room, so i just. set my tablet to turn completely greyscale from 12:30am to 8am to prevent me from staying up all night drawing. and guess who actually fucking went to bed the second his tablet turned grey.
moral of the story and a lesson i think everyone can take from this is don’t expect yourself to just get over your bad habits through sheer force of will. it won’t fucking happen. instead make them as annoying as possible to continue. make them completely unsatisfying. sabotage your bad habits.
There’s an emotion only unlocked when you live in a house with multiple stories. I call it “the stair emotion” and it’s when you realize the object you need is on the other side of yet another trip up and down those goddamn stairs. It’s the closest I get to transcending the desire for material goods. Maybe I don’t need that notebook. Maybe I don’t need anything.
Bear religion probably fucking rocks. You're a fucking bear, you're the deadliest thing on earth, once a year an endless supply of salmon just flings itself up the river to gorge on and then you nap for 3 months.
The most delicious food in the world is protected by tiny demons who can defend it from everyone except you. Your natural armor is thick enough that you can just eat the damn hive while they buzz around you. God's chosen animals right there
Regular bears tell stories of angel bears sent by the Bear God, pure white and twice as strong as any normal bear could be, who rule the summit of the Earth and kill all who stand in their path.
And they are right, those bears exist and totally do that. Humans just have fake angels as a cope.
the new york times has such a great series of elevated butter noodles, if you ever want a super fast easy dinner that still feels grown up and you can emulsify pasta water + butter together basically the sky is your limit
ya got
gochujang butter noodles
peanut butter noodles
chili crisp fettuccine alfredo
miso butter noodles
any one of these + a bag of salad or whatever vegetable side you find easiest/cheapest, and you've got yourself a full meal that tastes far above the effort you put in.
Words and Swords @patternwelded-quill - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
