in memory of stan lee

i got the text at two pm yesterday. my friend, in all caps, texted me that Stan Lee had died earlier that morning. and i almost started crying, at the cash register of the bagel shop i work at. my boss asked me what's wrong, and i told her. she gasped.

i texted my parents and my friends, and we all grieved over the sudden death of someone that has made such an impact on our lives, especially our childhood. my dad grew up reading the same comics that my siblings and i read now. comics were, and are, such a big part of his life, and now ours.

it's so sad to me, because it feels like the death of my childhood. now, that sounds overdramatic (and looks overdramatic as i'm writing this ;), but in a way, it's true. i talked about how much Marvel Comics means to me here (and yes, i'm using the same pics. i'm sorry, i have zero energy + time to take more pics as i've got a spanish exam tomorrow + physics homework -_-).

with geniuses Jack Kirby and Steve Dikto (among many other brilliant artists), Stan Lee created so many incredible characters, both heroes and villains. without him, we would have never known Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, Black Panther, Thor, Dr. Strange, Dr. Doom, Doctor Octopus, Magneto, the X-Men, and many, many more.

part of the reason why Marvel's superheroes were so popular and remain so today is their humanity. Stan Lee said in an interview in 1992 that his goal was to make them feel like "real flesh-and-blood characters with personality", thus giving them fears, insecurities, and humor. he revolutionized the superhero mentality, giving people heroes that were very similar to them.

Stan Lee truly is a superhero. through his imagination, he gave numerous generations heroes to look up to, heroes that exemplified traits that we aspire to have, heroes that served our country and protected the people.

in the words of Chris Evans (from a tweet he posted yesterday):

there will never be another Stan Lee. 

for decades he provided both young and old with adventure, escape, comfort, confidence, inspiration, strength, friendship, and joy. 

he exuded love and kindness and will leave an indelible mark on so, so, so many lives. 

excelsior! 

thank you, Stan Lee. 

thank you for giving me childhood heroes that i still love. thank you for illustrating the classic battle between good and evil. thank you for inspiring me to write my own superhero books. thank you for the MCU, none of which would be possible without your incredible imagination and original characters. thank you for your commitment to providing quality entertainment for children and adults throughout countless decades, by writing hundreds, if not thousands, of comic book issues. 

apologies for the rambling

post, but i really wanted 

to write one in memory of 

Stan Lee. :)

who's your favorite Marvel

superhero? 

mine's a tie between 

Marvel Girl, Bucky Barnes,
and Spider-Man.

<3 <3,

allison riera

words i strongly dislike / aka HATE

so, there is a running joke in my family that i'm super weird about words. it started this june, but i have no idea how. all i remember is sitting in the passenger seat of our van, heading to the beach with my family, and my dad throwing words at me like "what about this one?" me: "eww gross." dad: "okay, this one!"

summary: i am a very literary person. i love to read and, therefore, words have a special + vivid meaning. thus, certain words are absolutely disgusting and graphically descriptive, and make me gag. i apologize in advance for the disgustingness, xD.


. moist

DO I REALLY HAVE TO EXPLAIN THIS ONE??? i think it's a universal truth that everyone hates this word. seriously, i looked it up. it's the grossest word according to a nationwide (?) poll. *gags*


. damp

it's just gross, okay? i don't know why it bothers me, but ewwww.


. snigger

ewwww. idk, maybe it's the way it's said, but it really grosses me out.


. puddle

blehh. when i told dad this one, he said, "so this sentence would bother you? a puddle of moist, damp mildew." and i gagged.


. backwash

'nuff said.


. snuffle

some things....just don't need to be explained. they're just gross.


. cocoon

this is actually my dad's idea...this word really grosses him out. it's okay when used as a verb, but the noun usage is *gags*.


. casing

every time we have sausage for dinner, my brothers love to gross me out by using this word as often as possible. x_x

. mildew

I'M SO SORRY FOR HAVING SUCH A GROSS BLOG POST!
me: ooh this is a great idea.  i'll write about all the really nasty and disgusting words.
me *after writing it* : oh no, what have i done. i'm going to make everyone sick.

I'M SO SORRY! unless i'm just the weird one and these words don't bother you?


. stump

yup.


. digit

in reference to fingers. *cringes*


. stubby

fun story: at a family lunch with my grandparents + aunt, uncle, + cousins, i was telling my aunt about our "game" (dad and i try to find words to gross each other out), and she thought it was hilarious.
update at next lunch: my aunt tells me that now, her family is doing the same thing, but to find the words that gross "cousin allison" out. xD


. pouch

for some reason, this word really bothers me.


. burrow 

just looking at this word makes me want to gag.


. congeal

again, some words are just nasty. like this one.


. molt

-_-

. tub

relatively new addition to my growing list of nasty words. i was in physics class last week, and this is how the conversation went:

friend #1, reading from textbook: place the tub on the board-
me: ew, tub is a gross word.
friend #2: huh yea, i can see that.
*five minutes later*
friend #3: OH MY GOSH, tub is a nasty word! i can't stop thinking about it! okay guys, no one say tub anymore. we'll say container.

and for the rest of class, we made everyone say container instead, xD.

y'all, i am so sorry for this disgusting blog post, xD. next week, i'll have a post with all my favorite words, really good descriptive + vivid ones that instead of gagging, make me laugh. ;) 

what words gross you out?

or am i just the weird one

that's super sensitive to

words? xD

who's excited for "the 

crimes of grindelwald"

ME!

<3 <3,

allison 

h a l l o w e e n 2 0 1 8

halloween '18 was a night of craziness and laughing. it was crowding around the kitchen table, bumping elbows and eating tacos. clapping and grinning at dumb jokes, passing bowls of rice and beans.


it was carving a pumpkin with my little siblings, getting sticky goop and seeds all over the porch and my clothes. it was listening to hamilton and carefully sawing through layers of pumpkin.

it was taking too many pictures, of running to the door at the doorbell ringing. laughing at costumes and scaring my brother by hiding behind doors. shuffling cards and playing music way too loud, raiding the candy bowl and throwing starbursts everywhere.






it was my friend and i dressing up as the winter soldier, and laughing as everyone said we looked identical. (also the guy who asked if i was bionic woman <3)


it was walking around the darkened neighborhood with my friends and brother, them laughingly saying i was their chaperone (as i've passed the age of trick or treating). it was one of my friends and my brother dancing obnoxiously in the cul-de-sac, waving a lightsaber in the darkness.


it was jumping on the couch in the basement, knocking elbows and knees into each other as candy was poured from bags. it was fighting over chocolate bars and throwing jawbreakers at each other.


it was curling up on the couch with all my friends + brothers, the lights dimmed and us laughing and talking about everything. of pretending not to hear when our parents called for us to come up.


of taking pictures and pictures, wanting to keep this day a memory forever. it's my last halloween at home (#college next year 0_0), and i'll miss these days of sugar and laughter.

how did y'all spend

your halloween? 

also,

what's your favorite 

type of candy?

cookies + cream

hershey bars are

my absolute favorite

<3 <3,

allison 

know the novel / part one: introductory

today, i'm participating in a brand new linkup created by the amazing Christine Smith! it's a three part series, over three months, and i'm very excited to do it ;).

anyone is welcome to participate, and you don't have to be doing NaNo in order to participate ;).

i'm using my current WIP, "Versus". ;) there's going to be a post sometime next week fully introducing it, xD

what first sparked the idea for this story?

hmm, probably my childhood of reading Marvel comics. ;) i've always wanted to write a superhero story, and after i read "Renegades", that really sparked my interest in writing one. so, i developed characters + a rough idea of a plot, wrote a sketchy + loose outline (one page, xD), and here i am. ;)

share a blurb!

Charisse Kim just wants to fit in and forget her family's dark reputation as the villains with otherworldly powers. Unwilling to identify herself with them, Charisse refuses to reveal her own superpower, controlling and dissolving into smoke at will. 

Meanwhile, Evan Madsen conceals his own power out of a terror of injuring people. With a touch of his hands, he can turn anything into gold. A power easily corrupted and taken advantage of. A power that destroyed his childhood. 

The two meet at the coffee shop they work at and form an unlikely friendship. And for awhile, Charisse and Evan feel like they belong in a city of misfits and villains. 

Until everything changes. 

A superhero suddenly arrives in the city, determined to destroy the dark villains. Evan, angered by report after report of people with superpowers terrorizing and injuring innocents, decides it's time to rescue the city and thus becomes Alchemy. But at what cost? 

Charisse is disturbed by the merciless actions of the mysterious Alchemy, who claims he's saving the city. And when the beloved superhero becomes like the very villains he despises, it's up to Charisse to don the moniker Psycho and fight back. 

Friends by day, foes by night. 

Who becomes the hero? 

where does the story take place?

what are some of your favorite aspects 

of the setting? 

the story takes place in a dystopian, futuristic world, where select people are born with superpowers. the powers are referred to as otherworldly gifts, and no one knows where they come from. the world is divided into numerous cities, each governed by a Council. 

"versus" mainly occurs in Emitton City (name subject to change ;), a particularly desolate city. the city is comprised of factories and dark, shadowed alleys, thus giving the city a smoggy, dark atmosphere. 

i like how cliche the setting is....city with tall buildings, dark smoke and smog filling the air, narrow alleys, cobblestoned streets. very superhero-esque, xD. 

tell us about your protagonist. 

in the eyes of the city, Evan is the protagonist. the hero, the one who destroys the villains, no matter at what cost. 

according to her moral code, Charisse is the protagonist. she fights back against injustice and cruelty, believing firmly that no matter how evil a person is, they deserve a fair trial and justice. 

therefore, both characters are protagonists and antagonists. ;)

who (or what) is the antagonist?

ummm, probably just the concept of what defines a hero. if that makes sense, xD. is the hero the one who defeats the villains, even tho he's merciless? or is the hero the one who fights against such merciless killing, believing that every one deserves a fair trial? 

in their alter egos, Alchemy and Psycho are each other's antagonists. 

i can't say much more, because i don't know  because #spoilers. xD

what excites you most about this novel?

SUPERHEROES. 

seriously tho, i've dreamed of writing my own superhero story. i'm so excited to create my own superheroes + supervillains, giving them unique powers, + writing a story similar to a marvel comic book. 

SO EXCITED, xD. 

is this going to be a series? standalone? 

something else?

so far, it's a standalone. we'll see if anything changes, xD. i find that i'm better with writing standalones, as i like wrapping everything up in the end. *shrug*

are you plotting? pantsing? both?

besides a one page "outline", 100% pantsing. that's how i work, xD. i find that writing outlines stresses me out, as of now, i don't know how this story will end. :/ 

i'll write a post about my writing style, but a summary: i come up with characters + a really rough story plot. then i write a messy first draft, sort of "discovery writing". i have a list of things that i know that i want to include, like random snippets of dialogue or events. ;)

name a few things that make this story

unique.

hmm, i'm trying to spin the cliche of superheroes treating their powers as curses / gifts. ya'know, the x-men line where Storm, who can control the weather, says, "There's nothing wrong with us." and Rogue, who can kill with a touch of her hand, says, "yes, there is."

it's the opposite in my story. Alchemy views his power as a gift, while Psycho thinks it's a curse. 

share a fun "extra" of the story.

pinterest board! 

also, brief soundtrack: 

everybody knows / sigrid

the king arthur soundtrack / specifically the devil + the huntsman

bohemian rhapsody / queen

carry on wayward son / peter hollens

the winter soldier sountrack 

say something / pentatonix

are y'all planning to join

Christine's linkup? 

also, are you planning

to dress up for halloween? 

 my friend and i are going 

as the winter soldier. ;)

<3 <3, 

allison