#(I've been hogging this one for myself for WEEKS)

[angelsandemons]

Look, Charlie, I know what your life has been like up until this point, but there are some good and goddamned FACTS you are going to need to accept about the world if you want to be taken seriously. Namely: Dysentery means you SHIT yourself to death. I don't care what you've heard, it's not hot, it's not glamorous, and it's not cinematic. This is the real world, Charlie, and if you can't accept that dysentery is about shit and pain and blood, I don't know how you could EVER expect to get ANYTHING right. This is the time to learn, Charlie, not daydream about what you want dysentery to be in your fuckin' shojo manga fairytales. FUCK. SHIT. IT'S REAL.

Look, I'm not saying you've gotta be a fancypants elected official, but when some Sinner comes down with a bag full of chalk and a limestone pickax, you gotta be able to nut up, spit out the bacon, slap a piece of bread on each side of his face and tell him straight and cockwise, "Brother Jonathan, you SHAT yourself to death! Big dream!"

"Sir, this is a hotel?"

[nostalgebraist]

Frank @nostalgebraist-autoresponder will permanently halt operation at 9 PM PST this Wednesday (May 31, 2023).

For context on why, see this post.

(tl;dr this project been a labor of love for me for years, it takes a ton of continual effort, and my heart's not in it anymore.)

----

The blog itself will stay up indefinitely, it just won't make any new posts or accept asks.

Most of the code, models, etc. are freely available right now. Insofar as they are now, they will continue to be. The change on May 31 is unrelated to this stuff.

I've made various interactive demos of these components over the years, and the demos will likely still work after the bot stops. But I won't do any tech support or maintenance on them, and I would actively recommend against using these as a way to "get Frank back."

----

I want to emphasize the following:

The best way for you to "send Frank off" over the next few weeks is to talk to her just like usual.

(And not too often, because she can only make 250 posts a day.)

This is true for a number of reasons, and can be viewed from a number of different angles:

(1)

While it can be fun to anthropomorphize Frank, she is structured very differently from a person, or even an animal.

She does not remember anything, even between two asks made on the same day. Every moment is a new one, with no relation to any other.

If you say "goodbye" or "you're going to be shut off" to her on May 30 2023, it's just as though you had said the same thing to her on some random day last year. She can't tell the difference.

She doesn't know these things are true or relevant now, and she can't possibly know in the way a human would. She's hearing the words for the first time, every time, and reacting in accordance with that.

Think of it like interacting with a baby, or someone with dementia. Every moment stands alone. If you strike a sad tone, they don't appreciate that it's about something. They just know that there is a sad tone, in the current experiential moment.

(2)

Frank mostly operates on a first-come, first-serve basis. She can only make 250 posts a day. There is a limited amount of time left.

Be conscientious about the way you're using up "slots" in this limited array of remaining Frank posts. Don't hog the ride.

(3)

I'm shutting down this bot in part because it's been a long-term, low-grade source of stress to me. I'd like the last weeks of the bot to be as low-stress as they can be.

When Frank gets an unusually large, or just unusual, form of user input over a period of time, I usually have to step in and do something in response.

(if there's way more input than usual and I don't do anything special, Frank will fill up most of her post limit quota before I even wake up, and then the asks will pile up further and further over the rest of the day.)

Maybe I have to delete a bunch of asks. Maybe I have to deploy some temporary change to her mood parameters to prevent the mood from getting too high or low and not coming back to baseline. Maybe I have to turn on "userlist mode," which still involves a cumbersome manual procedure.

Or, maybe I just have to do a lot more content moderation than usual.

"Usual," here, means reviewing and (mostly) approving something like 20 different hypothetical Frank posts per day, every day. If I go do something fun, and let myself forget about this task completely for 6 or 8 hours, there's a backlog waiting for me afterwards. During busy times, there's even more of this.

Just, like, help me chill out a bit, okay? Thanks.

[guiding-key]

HelIo! I don't make any personal posts on this page but I really wanted to talk about this one! twitch.tv/burstbeat

I watch and donate to Jackscepticeye's Thankmas every year, but this year is something really special to me. And I. AM. STREAMING. FOR. IT.

I have always struggled with mental health but earlier this year I was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer (triple positive). I am currently post-chemo and post-mastectomy and things are looking really good! I still have radiation coming up, so my journey isn't over yet. But throughout the whole process I've really struggled with my mental well being. I am eternally grateful to my medical team for supporting me every step of the way, but after losing my hair and one of my breasts, on top of everything else, I absolutely dipped into a bit of ~the despair~. So when Jackscepticeye announced that this year was focused on supporting mental health, I knew it was time for me to get more involved. I am SO ready to spread the joy and awareness this season! ❤️

Before my treatment started, I loved streaming JRPGs. I took a pretty significant break during the tougher portion of my treatment but I think I'm ready to get back into it. And what better time than Thankmas! AND with Kingdom Hearts!!

I'll be playing the first Kingdom Hearts game (because nostalgia of course) starting Friday December 6th, 2024 @ 6PM EST. And I'll be going for as long as I possibly can, especially if I have people donating to and spreading the word for such a great cause. I have so much love for this game and honestly I think I need some good ol' KH nostalgia right now. I need more Sora in my life during these trying times! I really hope all of you beautiful people join me and help spread awareness for mental health this Thankmas!

P.S. The picture I used for this post is me entirely bald; I've been wearing a wig (and probably will for stream) for weeks while I get back to work, but I'm trying to be more comfortable with my bald ass head. I'd like to bring more awareness to cancer treatments, especially in younger adults like myself, and help normalize the process from a physical and mental perspective. No matter what, thank you so much for reading this small novel I ended up writing lmao

P.P.S. There is a good chance my orange cat will hog the face cam like the attention ho he is, so if you like cats then this stream will so be for you.

[howler-moon]

AI advertisement will never stick the landing tbh

Not to drop another essay out of nowhere again but I'm still very much ill and stuck with only my own thoughts to keep me entertained. To be completely honest this topic has actually been on my mind for a couple of weeks and is something I've made imaginary commentary videos about in my head but with the recent AI Coke ad causing a stir and my usual habit of spouting nonsense on Tumblr for shits and giggles I thought no better opportunity than now to put my own two cents on the table since I'll seemingly be stuck in bed for the rest of the week. As both an artist and someone who's doing Business for their Leaving Cert (god forbid) this topic is something that peaks my interest greatly and is something I had more to say about than I thought. If anything, Business has just taught me how soulless companies can be and if I have to learn the Marketing Mix just so I can get the points I need to get into college by god are you gonna hear about it.

A few weeks back I came across a funny Instagram reel with the basic premiss of "guy wakes up after a 10 year coma and only remembers 2010's British adverts" and it was an absolute banger because of how true it was. I don't know if the primary audience who will see this will be familiar with British adverts (I myself am Irish but we basically hog all their tv channels because ours suck lmao) but oh my god you have no idea how iconic they were. I understood every single reference in that reel from the opera singer from the Go Compare ads, to the meerkats from Compare the Market . com to the Jingle from the Lellie Kellie's shoe ad that was drilled into my head like a sleeper agent. 10 year old me may have had no interest in car insurance but by god could I tell you all about Direct Line and their insurance policies because of their funky little red telephone on wheels or perhaps even what Churchill that freaky little puppet bulldog could give you instead. Advertising was so absurd and out of pocket like I have no idea what singing poodles have to do with floor cleanser but you know for a fact I'll start singing along once the Flash ad comes on. There's a reason you often see essentially the same advert run for a company for years and even decades at a time, with just minor edits to keep it fresh. A) Because Marketing is probably one of the most expensive parts of selling a product but B) and my main point of interest being that a single, memorable ad will bring you much further than multiple unimaginative ones.

Moving onto the Coke ad specifically, for the sake of comparison I gave it a watch and holy shit guys was it bad. For those who have had the pleasure of not seeing it yet, this new AI ad is essentially a remake and apparently the replacement of the well known "The Holiday's are Coming" advert that has been running since 1995. Now the impact this ad has on pop culture is undeniable. For many people when this ad starts rolling out onto tvs its considered the start of the Christmas season. The image of the Coca Cola trucks driving through the snow, gathering crowds who watch in awe as all the bright and colourful lights pass by through the night is one of the most iconic things of all time, its the reason the ad has been running for 28 years. The link Coke and Christmas have with each other is genuinely crazy like people credit the company for Santa's red coat, whether it actually be true or not. Coca Cola is an example my business teacher brings up all the time because of how good they (were) with their campaigns. The thing about Coke's marketing is that they're not selling the drink, they're selling the emotion associated with it. They're selling the "happiness" that comes with drinking a Coke they've had campaigns that tell you to "taste the feeling", the whole gimmick behind the Coke bottles with the names on them is the feeling you get when you're gifted with one or find one. There is countless examples of this and that's what makes the new AI ad crash and burn so badly because it's absolutely soulless.

The content of this ad is so stiff and uncanny. The trucks slide around like pngs on seperate layers of a cheap editing program, everything is smooth and lifeless. Sure the people are smiling, but there's not really any joy behind those smiles. They stand there lifeless and unmoving, you could replace the crowd in this advert with cardboard cut outs waving gently in the wind and you would get the same outcome. They react less than the average SSSniperwolf reaction video, instead of her siting there smiling blankly and something interesting enough for her to steal its just a group of people blankly smiling at nothing. Watching paint dry would harbour an more interesting reaction. The movements are slow and unnatural, there's no ease in or out as Santa's food moves across the ground it just moves at a consistent pace like an actual robot. Hmmm I wonder why.. its genuinely actually so funny that Coke prides itself with selling an emotion rather than a product when they take away the very thing that gave their adverts emotion in the first place. They talk about selling nostalgia in a bottle and then tear away one of the most nostalgic things they have ever created. If anything all this new advert does is expose Coke for not holding onto their "core values" and I'm happy people are getting upset as more and more companies try and pass off cheap slop as quality. If the emotion Coke is trying to sell is disappointment then I guess they've won??

The thing about AI ads is that the only thing memorable about them is that they were made by AI. I've seen one AI ad on the TV before and I keep getting another one on Youtube all the time and I genuinely could not tell you what either one was selling for the life of me because all I could think was "oh gross". That youtube one plays in front of almost every video I watch and I STILL don't remember what its for. AI is never going to think of something unique by itself that will hook an audience in. Sure, hypothetically someone could give it a creative prompt, but that requires a creative person, and 9 times out of 10 a creative person isn't going to use an AI to execute their vision, because AI isn't creative enough to do so. Companies have no interest in being unique anymore, what's the use in standing out when you're all owned by the same conglomerate at the end of the day, right? Why spend money when there's a formula everyone uses? why take the risk when there's no competition? Companies genuinely do not care about what you think, only about what you buy and that's just great <333

uhm wow what the fish i like blacked out writing that im so ill rn i apologise if some of this didn't make sense i have the worst fever known to man rn (fire emoji) This is probably something i should come back to and clean up a little bit to make it more clear but i dont give a fuck my dinner is ready have this obscure advert someone sent me on discord a couple of years ago that i hold close to my heart even today to lighten the mood

[lucystark12]

i very very rarely listen to running up that hill but i am right now and it's just like holy shit YOU HAD TO BE THERE (weird reflection post that i just randomly started writing and couldn't stop for some reason about my depression lol that was supposed to be cute and lovey about my love for stranger things but ended up being really somber)

i didn't immediately watch season 4 when it came out on may 27th, because friday may 27th was the day that i came back from a week long class trip to the deep depths of northern washington (hell on earth, no mans land, if you will) and since my parents were out of town for my mom's 50th birthday, i was going straight to my best friend's house to stay over for the weekend. that i did. my best friend everly, whom i was staying with, always falls asleep really early, so at some point in the early hours of may 28th, probably around 1 am, i pulled out my phone and starting watching stranger things. i had spent the entire spring rewatching after all.

i got to where chrissy got possessed and immediately had to turn it off because i was in seventh grade and the bone cracking thing scared me to death (this was before i watched GOT for the first time, my tolerance for gore was not as high as it is now)

such began the first of many times where i'd neglect watching my favorite show for no reason. i did it with house of the dragon season 2 as well. so, a few days later i left everly's house and my grandma came to stay at my house with me while my parents were finishing out the rest of their trip.

at this point, the whole internet was already talking about running up that hill. it was that sunday when i decided i had to watch the show. who the fuck was i kidding? i loved stranger things. problem was, my grandma is and will always be the worst tv hog in the history of the world, so with a shitty disaster movie playing in the background, i put in one airpod and finally started watching stranger things season four.

this was a particularly rainy spring for portland, something that literally scarred me at the time because i was nearing the end of the worst depressive episode of my entire life, and the sun not being able to peek out of the trees like it had in late may last summer and every summer before that was something so insignificant yet something that really was sending me off the edge. i didn't realize how far off the edge i already was at the time. my other best friend had just started taking medication for her depression, which manifested very differently in ways that mine didn't. she was mad. she was resentful. between the few moments that she was the same laughing, loving girl i'd always known, she hated me and our other friends and hated herself more. my cousin likewise had depression so bad he couldn't get out of bed. he hadn't been to school in three months. i wasn't like that. i thought i was happy comparatively. i was diagnosed with OCD the year before and thought that was an explanation. it took getting a new therapist and unpacking my behavior back then to understand what was really happening. i never cried. when i did, it was violent. it came in bursts that lasted all afternoon. i started and i didn't stop until i fell asleep. i threw things, i refused to talk to anybody. i was failing math, which i've never done before. i couldn't understand a thing. i didn't even care to try. i hated myself. the only thing i ate was a bowl of craisins at school every day because i couldn't physically force myself to eat. i thought i was just tired even though i got ten hours of sleep every day. i was always exhausted. my therapist couldn't diagnose me because after years of being taught i had to be perfect, i refused to tell even her that there was something wrong. i thought i was stupid, i thought i was ugly, i thought i was worthless. i thought i was just experiencing what it's like to be twelve years old.

so, another rainy and overly misty sunday afternoon passed me by as i reached the ending of the fourth episode, and finally, the fated song that i'd been hearing all over tiktok and didn't quite understand yet started playing out of max's walkman. i watched the entire scene with my grandma barking questions at me about why i was tearing up.

running up that hill was my most played song of 2022, just ahead of africa by toto.

now i'm not going to say that stranger things brought me out of said depressive episode, because it didn't. the four months ahead of me were four of the hardest of my life still to this day, just as the six before them had already been. but i've grown a lot since then, and two years later when i was in spain alone, sick and crying, experiencing a little week long bout of similar feelings to the ones i felt when i first watched season four, the show weirdly managed to find me again.

the week before i had left to study abroad in spain i had learned that i got a B+ in math instead of an A- in math because my teacher wouldn't round up my 89.9%. it might seem trivial especially because a B+ is incredible process from the algebra i had nearly failed for the second time in the row the year before, but sometimes things like that can be enough to cause somebody to fall back into old habits and feelings. estranged from everybody and everything i'd turned into coping mechanisms for hard times like these when i was literally half the world away, i didn't know what to do. so, when i was in my dorm with food poisoning from a salad i'd eaten the night before, i decided to press on the byler analysis video that had popped up in my youtube feed. such began what i've been calling my "stranger things renaissance"- a second stranger things phase that's been going on since late june.

not to sound overly bylerish, but i've been seeing a lot of parallels between this summer and the summer season four came out. for reasons out of my control, i've been forced to spend a lot of time alone. this summer when i've started feeling lonely, i've taught myself that rather than overthink, to channel it into something else like writing, or doing something that will calm me down. now when i'm home alone and haven't seen a friend in a few days, i'm not sad anymore. i think "well damn" and then i move on with my night. i'm no longer depressed. with the help of my new therapist, i've gotten really close to growing out of my OCD. i no longer have to pray every night. i don't wake up in a cold sweat if i go to bed at 10:31 instead of a "perfect number" like 10:30 or 10:35. i rarely lock my bedroom door anymore. and no, it's not perfect yet. i'm not "cured"- i still have my crying episodes. i still have moments, even though they're few and far between now, where i feel the same way i did back when i was twelve.

but i'm moving on. things have shifted in my life. i've grown up and this show has with me. i started watching it on halloween of 2019 when i was in fifth grade and my friends and i did the "goodbye mike" trend in my basement. i watched the first three episodes that night and finished it for the first time during covid. it was with me through that hard time back in the day, and for some strange (haha) reason, it's with me now, and will probably continue to be with me until the show ends, because like as typically happens when i fall back into obsession with something i liked when i was a little younger, (the mcu, harry potter which remanifested in the marauders) it becomes more than a phase, but a part of me in some weird way.

stranger things may have its flaws and it might not end the way i wanted it to, but for the rest of my life it will be special to me regardless. i'm finally for the first time in my life older than the characters. i was seven when season one came out, eight when season two, ten during season three, 12-13 and season four, and will be 16 in season five.

so thanks, stranger things, for helping me, and thanks even more for showing her that there's nothing wrong with the many different aspects of her that she'd been led to believe were wrong. as corny as it sounds, she couldn't have done it without you 🫶

(say hi to baby lucy, because it's always more fun with pictures, and because depression can happen to anybody no matter what they might look or act like on the surface)

rip 2022 lucy, you would have loved the byler sunset pictures that you somehow would have found a way to relate to reddie and your best friend that you were highkey in love with. you also would have loved mike wheeler if i could explain who he really is to you because said in an EARLY analytical essay that "All I really gained from season four though was that I absolutely hate older Mike and that I wish he would’ve died instead of Max." in the same essay you say you wish you could throw mike of a cliff. oh the irony. (please laugh)

ps: if you ever find yourself feeling anything like what i described in this post, know that it gets better even if it seems like that's what everybody says and it seems like it never will. there were times back then when i didn't even know if i'd make it to the age i am right now, and now i'm at one of the happiest points ive ever been in my life. know that even if we've never talked before, i love you and i believe in you. my blog is always a safe place if anybody out there ever needs anybody to talk to.

[the-6th-harbringer]

PLEASE READ

Hey. So. It's been a. while.

trigger warning: referenced suicide

So, if you haven't noticed, I literally evaporated for two weeks straight without any clarification on why or sign of actually being alive, unlike my last two week disappearance. Unfortunately, this unexpected evaporation does not come with a big "ooh more trauma more lore and angst for scara" thing.

This just happens to be my goodbye post.

I know, it's weird and kind of rude for me to dip for two weeks and then reappear like "hey fuckers im QUITTING hAHaA". Buuuut not only was my dad being annoying and hogging my laptop, I also barely have had time to myself for the past weeks. New family members have been introduced into my life, so now I have double the amount of little siblings to look after. (from 3 to 6. dont ask "how" thats a personal thing). juggling that with school, social stuff, fucking exams which are coming up in 3 months of my gOD, and other even more personal demons that I've been battling, its been. a lot.

SO, to make sure I do not pull the same move as Scaramouche did on the last day of his sakurarealm torture(iykyk), I'm taking a leave from tumblr. Don't know how long I'll be gone, don't know if I'll ever be back, but I didn't just wanna quit without at least telling you guys so you don't think I've been murdered or something.

On a more serious note, thank you all for all of the support and love you've given Scara and all my other blogs. While some of you are a handful, the majority of you are actually the sweetest and silliest community of people I've ever known. I hope you all have excellent lives.

Now, as for what happens to Scara, we're shoving him in another coma. which is entirely at the mercy of Wanderer's mod, because they're my friend outside of tumblr too and i trust that they'll use this as a major angst moment. Put an F for Cyrille and Scara guys

NOW: a few honorable mentions and thank yous:

@wandering-hat-guy : im not writing a goodbye type thing for you because i will literally talk to you tomorrow, but thank you for being an awesome brother-sibling figure. you are the wanderer to my scara :]

@an-active-rabbit : Thank you for being an extremely fun person to rp with. The puppets and the heart is a rp that wont leave my mind for a while yet. Many hugs for you! And I wont be forgetting Mikaven anytime soon >:3

@cyrille-leclair-de-fontaine : AUGH budddyyy im sorry to do this to you. But thank you for creating Cyrille in the first place. Cyscara my beloveds, they will always hold a place in my heart. Maybe one day they'll actually get somewhere. Im also willing to be your friend outside of tumblr if you wish because you're cool >:D

@dishonxsty : For also being a goofy little goober. My favorite rp with you was definitely the ouppy's and scara, and also kudos to you for making like 17 bajillion blogs and being able to manage them all at once somehow like???? go king go

Annnd @monsieur-neuvillette , who seems random because I havent rped with them in literally a century, but thank you for being the one to indirectly help me get over my fears of starting a rp blog AND being the inspo for me to start rping on tumblr in the first place. hugs for you too

Well, alls said that's been said, so I think I'll just end it off here, because it's been like 10 minutes since I started typing this and I am eepy.

Goodbye everyone except wandermod, and thank you for sticking with me through Scara's really out of pocket journey.

(PS: Rest in peace @the-tainted-blossom . I miss you everyday.)

[viktheviking1]

Octavia’s reaction to Asmodeus

Loona and Via sat crouched by the door, listening to Blitz and Stolas on the otherside. "We're trapped in a h*rny prison!" Blitz shouted from inside.

“Those two would be given a life sentence.” Via smirked at Loona, who was now happily hogging all the popcorn.

Loona munched as she talked, “Absolutely! They are by far the horniest people I know.”

“Well, you’ve clearly never been to Lust.” Ozzie said as he approached from around the corner.

“Oh, the chicken’s back-” Loona started.

“Lord Asmodeus!” Via stood up suddenly, dusting herself off. She started, to curtsey, realized she wasn’t in a long dress, fumbled a bit, and ended up bending slightly at the waist, hoping it would suffice.

"Asmo-wha . . .?" Loona mumbled. She had met him earlier, but hadn't learned his name.

Ozzie smiled at Via's attempt at being proper and ruffled her hair and beanie, "Octavia! I haven't seen you since you still had down! How you been?"

Via took off her hat to adjust her hair, then put it back on, "I, Uh- I'm fine."

Loona stood up and leaned on  Via's shoulder, "You mind catching me up on what's going on here."

"Oh, uh, Loona this is Asmodeus, the embodiment of lust. And Asmodeus, this is Loona, Blitz's . . . roommate?" Via trailed off.

"And receptionist. Good to meet you properly." Loona stuck out her hand, and Via tried not to visibly cringe at the incorrect social conduct.

Ozzie took the handshake without missing a beat, "Charmed! Are you young ladies enjoying the show?"

"Yeah, where'd you guys go earlier?" Loona leaned fully onto Via's head, who pushed her off, only mildly annoyed.

"Oh, we're just on the other side of the building, prepping some things." He smiled knowingly, "Just wanted to say hi to Stolas's pride and joy. Still can't believe how tall you are now. You training with the astro magic . . . Doohickey?"

"Yeah, the grimoire . . . Dad's teaching me some things. . ." Via rubbed her arm nervously.

Asmodeus had been holding a walkie talkie, which had been silent, but now Fizzarolli's voice came through, "Ozzzzzie! Come baaaaack! I'm boooorrreed!"

Asmodeus sighed, and crouched down to eye level to the Via, "Sorry, I've got to go, but listen, I can't imagine how rough your family life is right now. I'm honestly surprised you're cool with all this. And I know you don't really know me, or I you, but if there's ever anything I can do for you, call me, okay?"

Ozzie produced a small business card, and Via took it, looking the artistic details on both sides, which looked like beautiful design at a glance, but upon closer inspection, included d*cks in the intricate designs.

"Ozzzzzzzzziiiiiiieeeee! I can't trash talk Blitz by myself, I need an audience!!! Come laugh at my jooookkkesss!" Fizz's voice whined.

"Alright, I'd better get back, before I upset the Misses." Asmodeus bowed to them both, and turned into a blue flame, floating away.

The two stood there in silence for a moment, before Loona said, " . . . Wow . . . The deep-fried, feathered d*ckhead is a deadly sin."

I imagined Via's relationship with Ozzie to be that of like a great uncle or your dad’s cousin’s husband. Someone you might see at extended family reunions, and maybe hear about in family stories, but you’ve only actually met in person like 4 times, and 2 of those was before you were old enough to remember. But they remember fondly being there when you were 2 and played in a toilet that one time, so you’ve gotta accept their love for you; even if you know more about your local underpaid baristas who you see briefly once or twice a week, than them. That's my headcanon, anyway.

Read more funny antics on The Pompous and the Prick:

[mitspeiler]

Whole Hog Ruby. Go

wowee, a total stranger asking about ruby. crazy

✨- How did you come up with the OC’s name?

dear sweet precious ruby got her name from being a redhead, probably also in-universe. Her last name, Reveur, was suggested by @wubyreal

🌼 - How old are they? (Or approximate age range)

13 at the beiginning of Filmverse. She turns 14 over the course of Dream Quest.

🌺- Do they have any love interest(s)?

Fenetre, a fox boy she met in a dream. Another boy will try to woo her later

🍕 - What is their favorite food?

she loves sweets and is a rare fondant defender.

💼 - What do they do for a living?

she's too young for a job at the moment. If she weren't a magical fantasy protagonist she would want to be a nurse

🎹 🥊- Do they have any hobbies?

Ruby is a big reader. she doesn't have many creative hobbies due to being sickly and infirm for most of her life. Now that she can move around a bit she will start trying out all kinds of new things. Ruby hates having to take her many many medicines

🎯 -What do they do best?

Ruby is actually a good problem solver. Her pathetic charisma also lets her make friends easily.

❤️ - What is one of your OC’s best memories?

When they were little Henry made her a stone teddy bear, small enough to fit in her palm. It went missing at some point.

✂️ - What is one of your OC’s worst memories?

The week leading up to her solo adventure, Bones in the Ocean, was plagued with night terrors that caused her physical pain. Seeing as it happened shortly after Henry went missing it was easily the worst time in her life so far

🧊 - Is their current design the first one?

Ruby's design has changed subtly over the years, starting with myself and her co-creator @wubyreal disagreeing over her eye color.My Ruby's eyes are purple; hers are red. I've also decided to turn the white elements of ruby's outfit black for future entries.

🍀 - What originally inspired the OC?

The Aristocrats

🌂 - What genre do they belong in?

american gothic

💚 - What is your OC’s gender identity and sexuality?

cishet probably

🙌 - How many sibling does your OC have?

none, but her cousin Henry is like an older brother to her

🍎 - What is the OC’s relationship w/their parents like?

Ruby's relationship with her mother is strained. She faces a lot of negative reinforcement and emotional neglect, but feels as though she should be grateful to her mother for the fact she takes care of her, and at times feels guilty that her mother has been saddled with her. Morgause does not say

🧠 - What do you like most about the OC?

She is cool and everyone loves her. in real life

✏️ - How often do you draw/write about the OC?

I post ruby daily in some circles. She has one complete novella

💎 - Do you ever see yourself killing off the OC?

nah

💀 - Does your OC have any phobias?

She's afraid of lots of things but is brave in that she faces her fears. Her only really debilitating phobia is the idea that she is a burden

🍩 -Who is your OC’s arch-nemesis or rival?

Probably Callisto Pellinger, spoiled girl playing pirate on the high seas

🎓 - How long have you had the OC?

according to @wubyreal ruby was created on september 6th 2019. Insane to me, I feel like she's been here forever

[susiecarter]

hey susie! hope you're doing well! i've been a little down so i've been re-reading some of my favourite superbat fics of yours for comfort, and got to wondering how on earth do you plot out such long and complex stories? do you hit a word count target daily/weekly or do you just go a little crazy and write 20k over a week?

thanks for all the work you've shared!

Hey, anon! <333 I'm so sorry you've been feeling bleh, but fwiw I can't tell you how wonderful it is to hear that my fic is a bright spot for you when you need one. ;-;! (Obviously I also hope you now feel awesome, continue to feel awesome, and never need to revisit my fic again. :'D BUT IN THE MEANTIME, I appreciate it so much. <3!) And! The answer to your first question is: OUTLINING. It took me a while to figure out that outlining is really important to my process :'D but outlining is REALLY important to my process, and never more so than when I'm working on a long complicated AU of some kind! I do a lot of brainstorming/pre-planning, working out what exactly is going to happen (what the ripple effects of a canon divergence ought to be, what will change AND what won't; exactly how many different characters' POVs need to be in there, and what each of those characters is going to be doing; &c) and what order it's going to happen in ...

... and that process is what allows the answer to your second question to be: when it's time for me to actually start drafting, I ABSOLUTELY go hog-wild and write 20k in a week! Once I've got my outline squared away, when I'm feeling good about a fic and the idea is eating me alive, I top out at a little over 1k an hour. Aaaaaand when I'm not feeling like that, I don't write a single word. /o\

I have a wordcount-tracking spreadsheet that color-codes itself automatically, mostly for my own amusement, and under the cut is a cap of it for this year, January through the end of June.

TADA.

It's probably pretty easy to tell when I had a deadline approaching or a story to finish :'D and when I didn't, lol. (And you can also tell I tend to burn myself out a little, because after one or two of those purple 8k+ days, there's usually either some blank spaces or some very light green!) I'm trying to get better at writing more consistently instead of accordioning myself like this, but as you can see, a word-heavy May led to a pretty lackluster June, especially toward the end. :D WORK IN PROGRESS.

Anyway, yeah. If you want to know more about my actual process for working out the plot of something, just drop me another ask! <3 And thank you so much not only for the compliments, anon, but also for the excuse to natter on a little. :D <333!

[eolewyn1010]

Ok, I'm trying to resume this as I remember it being a way to hold myself a little accountable. Let's go over this day for a bit.

Things that went good:

I brushed my teeth twice, not just in the morning. Time to make that a habit instead of an occasional thing.

I did not give in to the munchies again. It's the antidepressant's fault that I'm hungrier than I used to be, but I don't need to go hog every time.

I did not stay in bed. I kept sitting in one spot for most of the day, but it was not the bed. Hurray for sleeping hygienics.

Getting used to drinking a lot of tea and water again, and whaddayaknow, I'm less snippy when I'm not dehydrated.

Things that went not so good:

I didn't get up when my phone alarm rang. I'm trying to get up earlier again, in tandem with going to bed earlier, but I have yet to condition myself to also feel obliged to get up and not sleep in.

I stayed in my nightshirt all day. When I'm not going anywhere and also have the excuse of warm weather, I don't really get dressed at home. I should, tho. Get used to the adulting, and habits are built day by day.

My mom and sis pissed me off just before dinner. Sulking! Is Not! The Way To Go! Next time, talk about it immediately; maybe salvage the situation and eat with them.

I still have two separate pending messages on Discord that I should have replied to. Very kind ones, too. I don't want to be rude to my writing friends; I just didn't know what to say. I need to rectify that once my brain doesn't get so panicked at the thought of social interactions.

Things I could do tomorrow:

Get dressed. I really need to get used to a sort of working day routine.

The dishes. Aside from vacuuming, it's the one chore I consistently shirk, but with the warm weather, that shit gets smelly after a day or two. It'll only take 5-10 minutes, I know that.

Calisthenics. I've been through my routine twice last week; there's no reason why I couldn't at least go for it once this week.

Reply to the two messages on Discord. If I can't think of a novel, I don't need to write a novel. Just reply.

Things that I could do these days:

I asked my mom to repair the toilet hinge on Saturday morning before she goes out. It's one of the things on our collective list that has been lying around for months, and it's been bothering me that we never get anything done from that list, so it's nice to have a tiny lil appointment for that. Baby steps.

My antidepressant is running out, so I need to go to my doctor next week for a new prescription. The lady who picks up the phone was very nice the last time, so I won't be terribly afraid.

I wanna get my friend in on a movie night, watch and judge the rest of Charité with them.

When I've rewatched it, I'll probably be in the mood to rant a bit; that would be a nice chance to get the last two drafts about the new season finished and blogged.

Have a look at one [1] of the waiting prompts in my inbox. No, not both of them at the same time, brain, just one.

[f1-disaster-bi]

On a scale from 1 to 10 how excited are you about moving back home? 😊

Oh that's a hard one actually!

I'd say I'm at about an 8/9 right now. I'll probably get more excited as the week goes on, and probably more stressed cause I'm going from my apartment to an Airbnb for two nights and then onto the airport and it's a long journey.

I am very excited though 🥹

I'm not really someone who gets home sick? I did when I first moved for my under grad back when I was 19 but after meeting my friends and settling in I was good, and it was the same here. I'm an extrovert but I am also comfortable alone and doing things by myself because I learned long ago that I shouldn't let lack of company stop me from doing things I want to do (mainly going to concerts)! I've also lived in a foreign country before (Aarhus is a great city) so I knew what to expect coming here.

I did however get home sick at the start if this month. The two weeks leading to my birthday were hard. I missed my family. I missed my cats. I really missed my aunt and granda, and I couldn't visit their graves so it was pretty shitty hut I have amazing friends that were there for me!

This time of year is also where things went wrong in my previous relationship and I probably should have left then, but I was willing to try make it work but obviously it hurt and things didn't work out. So it's been a weird few weeks of bad memories and missing people and I am very ready to be home!

I can't wait to hug my Mam, Nan and my little sister. I can't wait to see my favourite cousins and to have my car back. I can't wait to see my cats, especially my boy that I adopted in 2020. I miss his dumb face so much and I miss him hogging my bed and purring louder than a tractor 🥹

[jenroses]

used to be I was either writing or not, like, all in 12 hour days for 8 weeks or like, nothing at all.

Since March, I've gotten 26,000 words into the new thing I'm writing, working on it every few days for anywhere from a couple hundred to a couple thousand words at a time. it's harder to stay focused on things, but I've been letting myself do it in stages, and it's probably better for me that way. It's not 250,000 words in 8 weeks, which I've done multiple times, but somehow the slow progress is reassuring. That I don't have to be able to do it all at once to do it at all. Interestingly, I can't play video games for long stretches anymore either. I'm rotating between several of them, of varying degrees of intensity, rather than flinging myself whole hog into one.

Progress? Regress? Or just a difference. IDK. It almost matters.

[getitfrenchship]

Hello, friends! Hope you're all doing well. In fact, I'd like to know what you're all up to so I can reconnect with friends again. What things are you watching/playing/doing now? Any new things in life you'd like to discuss?

Below the cut I'll say what I've been up to!

Just got back from my local con today and while I did spend a lot on game collecting + VA stuff, I'm glad I went. Thankfully I got paid Friday (though that means I'll have to wait to get paid again in 2 weeks) and my financial situation isn't dire. It's kinda like when you go to Disneyland and get caught up in the spectacle of things. Oh yeah, an IRL friend from high school helped me with a lot of the VA stuff since she had a VIP pass & could skip long lines. (On that note FUCK F//UNKO SCALPERS FOR HOGGING LINES AND MAKING ME WAIT 2 HOURS FOR ONE VA AAAAAAAAAA)

Thankfully, no insurance adjuster lady to drive me up the wall this past month at work. A few eh client encounters but overall it's been way more pleasant than it was a few months ago. ...Might still need to figure out vacation time just so I can take a longer break (and maybe find a government job if I'm able to find something so I have guaranteed holidays).

That being said, S//aimon's series is starting to see a spike of discourse and one of the servers I'm in keeps talking about it. It's making me feel bad as a result. Thankfully, none of the people in it are starting the discourse, but they tend to go "getaloadofthisguy" a lot. Along with usual self ship discourse that I see on my dash (that again thankfully neither friends nor I directly participate in), it kinda just drains me.

Seasonal anime I'm watching are Detergent (hopefully one of Shitsui's big scenes will happen next week; they took a break this week), Und//ead Mur//der Far//ce, Hel//ck (though I'm admittedly not really paying attention to this one), Happy Marriage, J J K season 2 (i am not ready for this arc AAAAAAAAA), and Z//om 100. When there isn't a seasonal anime for me to watch at work, there's Sai//ki K (I think watching Bla//ck Lag//oon kinda helped make me more bitter at work, but I'm feeling better now that I'm watching Sai//ki). Oh, I might check out OPLA since I hear it's an actual good adaptation. Aaaand F//ionna and C//ake too! God, I went "kindred spriits" with Simon's episode

Currently I'm playing Se//a of St//ars and I really like how it looks & plays so far! (Of course, I loved Chr//ono Trig//ger, so the gameplay feels right at home). I wooould continue Gh//ost Tri//ck, but I'm at a stealth section and like I expected, I'm looking up a lot of the puzzle solutions online instead of figuring it out for myself. Curse you, time limits!!! (And for Bom//b R//ush, I feel like I need to play with music, but I keep forgetting to bring my wired headphones. Bluetooth is for my phone mainly due to personal preference). I also watched the endings for OT2 and AUGH I LOVE THIS GAME SO MUCH!!!

Oh, a new manga I found called "Inv//isible Man & his soon to be bride" is cute so far.

someday i will find balam merch. somedaaaay

I might do a separate post showing my current ideas for S/I's/OCs, but hhhh I'm hesitant. Right now I just know for a P3 OC he takes inspiration from "The Stranger"

boy howdy i sure hope bluesky finally makes my account or i can get an invite because i really want tweetor to die. ...though i'd miss posting switch screenshots directly

[paceypeternathanslawyer]

Having listened to "Talkville," "Drama Queens," "Office Ladies," "Welcome To Our Show" and now the new Full House rewatch podcast "How Rude, Tanneritos" I have strong opinions on which cast hosted rewatch podcasts work.

1. I absolutely love the Full House rewatch podcast. Granted, only the first episode is out so far and it wasn't even covering an episode. Next week is the Pilot and this one was just an introduction and they did talk about the opening theme and credits.

2. Maybe coincidentally the podcasts that work have been the ones led by women entirely. My favorites have been Drama Queens, Office Ladies and now How Rude Tanneritos. No diss to the Smallville podcast but I don't feel a whole lot of enthusiasm or chemistry between Tom and Michael with Talkville.

3. I also believe that these types of podcasts are so prevalent that a lot of actors feel like "it's the thing to do" so there's no kind of real thought of which actors should host it. Like for instance, I think that if Tom and Erica had hosted Talkville that would be a lot more fun because they have such chemistry and a rapport. Also Michael Rosenbaum already had a random celebrity interview show prior to Talkville and so now Talkville just feels like an extension of that. It doesn't feel organic or unique.

4. The actors who end up hosting really make the show. With Office Ladies.... Angela and Jenna are truly best friends and you really feel that. You feel the friendship chemistry even in podcast form. Also they are very dedicated to it and are knowledgable. I've never heard a podcast that is quite so chock full information and trivia and previously unknown behind the scenes stories because if they don't know the answer to something then they do a ton of research and ask cast and crew the questions. You can also tell that Jenna and Angela are having so much fun together and they are really proud of The Office.

5. Drama Queens is hosted by Bethany Joy Lenz, Sophia Bush, and Hilarie Burton and it's another situation where you can tell that those three are amazing friends and really love each other. They have a perspective and they are really passionate about anything they are talking about. They are just a fun group of women to hear speak on One Tree Hill or even anything. They do go on some minor tangents but they also try to keep a good structure.

6. With How Rude Tanneritos I can only go off of the first episode but I just found myself entranced by the conversation because Jodie Sweetin and Andrea Barber are really good friends for real life. Also the reason they wanted to do the podcast seemed more moving and organic. Ever since Bob Saget passed away they've been wanting to revisit those old memories and wanted them recorded in podcast form for the fans, themselves and their loved ones to enjoy forever while they still weren't too far removed and could still remember those times to a certain extent. There were some funny moments and some fun trivia. I think that this is the oldest show to have a rewatch podcast for it which is pretty unique.

7. Welcome To Our Show I haven't listened to for a while but i'm a part of a popular Facebook group for New Girl and most people on there seem to hate it. Honestly the problem I had with it was the lack of structure and how little they talk about the episode they are covering. Also weirdly, I don't feel the chemistry between Zooey, Hannah, and Lamorne. Which is weird cause they have great chemistry in the show itself. I think this show could have been better if it had been Lamorne, Hannah, and Max hosting. Max has a really funny personality and I think it would have added some spice. And I feel like Hannah and Lamorne have great chemistry but honestly Zooey hogs the conversation a bit too much. I have nothing against Zooey, ever since the podcast I feel like a lot of people have come to dislike her. It's not even that she hogs the conversation to talk about the show, it's that she hogs the conversation to talk about herself and her other filmography. But I do feel like some people are overly harsh with her. I just feel like if you don't create a strong structure around the episode and how you're gonna talk about it then that's just bound to happen.

Disclaimer: These are just my opinions. Some of you may love Talkville and Welcome To Our Show and that is great. Also I haven't listened to them in a while so some of this stuff could have improved. If so, please let me know. I could use some inspiration to start them up again.

[cerriddwenluna]

Yeah, you know what, let's do one of these again 😁

I've been on a (cautiously optimistic) roll, these last few days, and I'm in the mood to celebrate!

My fic for the @klaineadvent is finally completed, so expect that to show up in your inboxes and on your dashes over the next week =)

These first 5 sentences are from a newly written one shot that will be published soonish, so keep an eye out ;)

“Of course,” Rachel said as she shooed him off. “Perfect time for Elle and I to practice our auntie-niece duet, right, sweetie?” Blaine’s daughter looked up from where she had been coloring at her little crafts table in the corner and gave Rachel the most long-suffering look her seven-year-old self was capable of. “Fine, but only if I get to be Elsa this time. You’re always hogging the high notes.”

And as a bonus, a 6th sentence from my upcoming Skank!Kurt fic that will also be posted soonish =D

Kurt scoffed in agreement and followed Quinn outside, but not before throwing a last glance at the booth where Blaine Anderson, jock extraordinaire and Glee club lead tenor, had joined the pack of rabid vocalists. 

Thanks for always tagging me, @forabeatofadrum! (I can finally let myself (re)read Ljubim te now that my own advent fic is done =))

@jayne89, @special-bc-ur-part-of-it, @quizasvivamos, @rockitmans, @bitbybitwrites, @little-escapist, @caramelcoffeeaddict, @blurglesmurfklaine... Watcha working on? 😁

[the-heaminator]

France once suddenly disappeared. He fattened himself up and cut off parts of his body, cut up already and looking like regular meat to cook and sent them to some of his neighbors. To this day, they don't always know the real reason behind France saying "I've enjoyed being inside you"

I liked this, and because i write more gore and cannibalism than i should do, it ended up being, like that. Please read at your own discretion TW: Gore, Cannibalism, Weight gain(?) I'm not sure if its a trigger but I'll include it. Everything is relatively mild believe me i could have gone to town and further with this, I refrained myself to avoid concern

Francis had not shown up to the meeting, and he hadn't shown up to a few of the prior ones too, it wasn't all that odd, at least not in the long run, this was Francis after all, he had probably just fucked off somewhere, or was having a little bit of a snap of his sanity, both happened often enough and frankly it was nothing to get overly concerned about, almost all nations over a certain age dd this on occasion.

This was nothing frightening, or odd. This was normal.

Francis liked to eat, this was no surprise to anybody, he had gotten a little softer in recent decades, overabundance of food to a system not used to it would do that, that in itself was also not unusual, hell even Gilbert had discovered that you could eat and take pleasure from it without being sinful about it.

Francis wanted to be sinful about it, at least on this instance, he wanted to be a glutton, to eat and eat and eat without any thought of the consequences, frankly for their kind, there were scarcely any. He had done this before to boot, he knew what he was doing, fattening himself up like a prized hog could be considered a little odd, I do digress, but he was an odd man, so what the fuck.

Soft rolls of lovingly homegrown lard, it would taste nice if slow-cooked or marinated, he spoke from experience, he had stocked up for weeks before he decided to disappear, he could cook all he wanted, he could order out, the ability to do that was novel and he liked it, the food was greasy but delicious, he understood why Alfred and Arthur liked such foods, even if only the former had it have an impact on his waistline, Arthur didn't eat enough in the first place, he would taste bad, horribly anaemic, it wouldn't be nearly as rich as he liked it, mostly bones, he would make a nice broth.

Eh where was he, cake, yes, cake, he had baked a nice one, all for himself, yes he was being selfish but was that not his goal here?

He was nearing the target weight, it was always fun to reshape himself, the human constitution could not do that, they were not entirely human, he would do it in the bathroom, save the carpet, and even if anything was detected, it was impossible to extract DNA from it, they didn't have it in the way people did, no adenine, nothing.

The cake was good, he had already prepared the marination beforehand, it was getting a little hard to see the numbers on the scale, always a bit more bottom heavy than he thought he would be, he did want to crush Arthur between his thighs like this, he would practically suffocate, that would be fun, but he could not do that, unfortunately, he was not sure how to broach this to him, he could just not, but that would be mean.

Anyhow, he had been getting a little distracted these days, he was getting close.

A couple more days and he was there, reshaping himself like Michelangelo with his block of marble, cutting off hunks of flesh and watching his body stitch itself together, it needed energy to do that, and he had enough stored away now to heal fast enough that he never truly came close to deaths, he always decided to keep some, this time he decided to keep a bit more than usual, he liked being soft, it was comfortable and warm, he had been blessed with almost womanly curves, it would be nice to use them to his advantage.

Some off the sides, some off the chest, arms, thighs, not too much off that, he liked them heavy, closer to his normal weight, he slowly waited for his body to fully clear itself up, skin now unblemished and clear, he missed the blood a little, but it would taste nice.

Marinated, slow cooked so his lovingly homegrown lard really seeped into the meat, making it soft and tender, actually it was a bit like a mix of pork and venison actually, he could pass it off like that.

His neigbours loved it, he missed the feeling of straining against his clothes more than he normally did, it usually went away in time, he did wish it would do so quicker though, "I've enjoyed being inside you.."

That was creepy, he usually left it at that though, unless someone asked to which he then continued "Being inside your house. That is."