#Also. Thank you for saying something it made me the good kind of emo

[spacebuck]

i think the objective correct answer for when you have no one specific to chat about a fandom thing with is you should try shouting about it on main, and hopefully someone will eventually come out of the void to shout back to you

but obviously i'm just saying this in all anonymous hypocrisy, I don't do it either lol

i'm in the same boat but that's kind of just the way i live my life all the time lol i've always been too shy to really try to actually get a fandom conversation going with anyone online.

but i hope you find yourself a hyperfixation buddy soon! 🩶

Honestly you are so so right and you should say it ncjsnxnd

I left tunglr for a bit due to some. Life events and trauma. And I have definitely forgotten how to Fandom here lmao. I Def run into the issue of being too awkward to start conversations and I am hyperawareness that the Fandom I'm on the fringes of are Known for being Really Not Great as a whole but the ones who make it on tumble Def won't be the swarms of puritan minors that's for sure jckdncndnc

And hey. If we share a hyperfixations. You can always come yarn even if you wanted to stay anon, this is your blanket permission to do so!! If we do not, I hope you also find a hf buddy too!! 💕

[liesmyth]

I'm always thinking about how G— was an engineer. A damn good one: the sole engineer of the cryo project, good enough that of all the ten billion, the FTL project chose him to inspect their work, back when the project was still a pipe dream. He was a man from an immigrant family in an underprivileged area who became arguably the world's best engineer, which is impressive in its own right, but it gets me thinking... Pre-Resurrection, John says they can't grow food on Mars (and for all John's unreliability, that's pretty believable, given that the high perchlorate concentration in Martian soil is one of the big obstacles to carrying out a sustained Mars mission), and as silly as this might sound, the engineer and scientist divide is real, and of all the nerds that John resurrected, I can't imagine it was the artist or the contract lawyer or the medical and chemistry experts that made the Mars installation viable. Gideon made a House out of it, and one that accepts recruits from across the Dominican system! "Saint of Duty" is said to fit him, evident in his loyalty and commitment to the Cohort and fighting the Resurrection Beasts, but I have to wonder, how much of that was his commitment to making shit work? I can't shake the image of a couple million people awaking to a ruined world, and someone had to get the other Houses settled, figure out spacecraft and space habitats using what little supplies they have left, and what better candidate for that than the man who canonically engineered spacecraft twice?

ANON I love this so much. You're SO right, and you put into words something about G1deon and John's shared background that I've tried to articulate for a while. In the very first chapter, John says, "It wasn’t that they didn’t have the money for a bigger team; we were simply the only ones capable of what they were asking."

This was an incredibly elite team. They were a brilliant bunch of hyperspecialised nerds. And, like, among John's squad, A- and M- and everyone else started out as colleagues — very smart people he probably met in academic circles, where being smart was kind of a prerequisite. It was their research that brought them together to begin with.

G1deon, though! He was John's friend growing up. John knew his grandparents. They spotted each other spare changes for snacks!! Then John went on to Dilworth, then to university and then overseas, and G1deon had his own (probably different) academic path, and maybe they only stayed vaguely in touch, but when it was time to look for an engineer that could help them build spaceships constructed to provide life support to the whole of humanity for centuries — and G1deon was the guy for that.

The fact that two boys from similar underprivileged backgrounds individually made huge breakthroughs in their chosen fields, and got to work together on a project that was meant to save the world... I bet at the time it felt like a miraculous coincidence. I think they thought, if they'd made it that far, that they could do anything.

(yet another layer to the tragedy of what happened etc etc. G1deon torn between John and P—. John stopping G1deon's heart)

Thank you so much for all your thoughts about the Mars space installation, also — I wonder how long there was between Mars becoming the Second House (founded by G1deon! he and Pyrrha did the bulk of the work!) and the institution of the Third House, which doesn't have a named founder and might very well have been a shared project built on the blueprint of what G1deon set up. "the man who canonically engineered spacecraft twice" — my god I love this so much. It's G1deon emo hours today

[eustasskiddsprosthetic]

Lads, it's been such a long time since I've returned to my roots—Lu/Law/Lu and I'm happy to say I have an idea! I've read a thread discussing dilf Luffy and it reminded me of my own Dilf!Lulaw fic I wrote some time ago. I'm OBSESSED with Dilf Luffy so follow me.

Law and Luffy are childhood friends. Law babysits Luffy when they were 13 and 6 respectively and they get along. Law would teach Luffy about the anatomy of various small animals, showing him how to dissect (or pretty much butcher) any type of animal they could find and Luffy would watch, quietly and thoroughly intrigued.

When Luffy was 10 years old, he thought the 17 year old Law was just the coolest guy ever, apart from Ace and Sabo. Law's tall, super smart and his deep voice (whenever it doesn't crack) is super nice.

Sure, he's stuffy and a nerd but if Luffy throws enough rocks at Law's window, Law's the best guy to prank people with! He has backup plans after backup plans to get them both out of trouble. He one-ups Luffy's ideas in a non-condescending way. He's also super pretty when he laughs...

When Law's 20, he tells Luffy that he's moving overseas on some sort of scholarship to Japan. Luffy had no idea what Japan was but Ace and Sabo tell him it's a pretty country with plenty of food. Luffy made Law promise to take him there some day, and Law agreed to, figuring why not.

Sabo also tells Luffy to get his contact information and Law agreed, giving Luffy his phone number and social media handles in case he wanted to text.

And text, Luffy did!

"HEY TRAFFY!! I MISS YOU!!!!! HOW'S ANIME JAPAN!!"

[insert image] "This is my new dorm."

"looks boring lul :P"

"Not allowed to decorate too much, unfortunately. However, I have a roommate soon."

"ROOMIE!! WHO WHO WHO"

"My partner. I'm seeing someone atm."

"atm? wots that Traffy 0_0"

"It means 'at the moment'."

"Oh."

For some reason Luffy felt kind of sad. Maybe it's one of those emo spurts as he's growing up but Traffy never dated when they hung out. Did Traffy not tell him anything? That's upsetting.

"Who is it!!! They btr be nice to u >:("

"Don't worry about that. They're very kind to me. I'm looking for a nice picture to show you."

And Traffy sent Luffy a picture of the guy. It's a tall, buff guy with reddish-brown hair and a scruffy chin. Luffy felt his chin and realised he had a little stubble.

Luffy said that the guy looked plain when Ace walked past and asked what's up. Deep down though, Luffy was annoyed that he's actually quite good looking and that he's way older.

"Is there something wrong, Luffy?"

"wot"

"I don't know. You're the first person I told this to... Sorry, I didn't know you're not supportive."

"Support what"

"I like men, Luffy. I'm gay."

"0-0" Luffy thought of how to respond. A couple friends told him something similar before but he seriously didn't care. "is fine lol"

"Really?"

"YUP !! NO WORRIES HAHAHAHAHA I DIDNGT KNOW YOU HAD A BOYFIE WHY DIDNT YOU TELL ME!!"

"I didn't know how you'd react." And then Traffy was seen typing for a few minutes. "Thank you for not dismissing me."

"!!!!"

They text on and off more from there. Indeed, it felt like when they were kids where Luffy would share whatever's on his mind with Traffy and Traffy would reply politely. They talked about whatever, sometimes deep things, sometimes lighter things but it's usually always fun.

Sometimes, Traffy would talk about his relationship with Drake, as Luffy learned his name later and for some reason, that's Luffy's least favourite subject.

Traffy was neither happy nor unhappy. He talked about him the same way Traffy talked about the weather in anime, Japan. Heck, Law probably liked Ace and Sabo more and they don't even talk!

Luffy didn't have the words or courage to ask whether Traffy really loved Drake and so he never talked about it. As he got older, he couldn't accept that Law—the coolest, nicest, raddest guy ever—would marry some guy.

Law invited Luffy to the wedding ceremony but Luffy couldn't go, partly because he had exams and mostly because he just refused to. Ace and Sabo were surprised to hear that but they eventually understood why.

Whenever Luffy pulled up Law's wedding pictures on their social medias, he would only pinch his fingers on the screen to zoom in on Law's barely smiling, kind of sad face. He'd pout and ask what made Drake so special...

They talk on and off but life got in the way for them.

Law's busy with his hectic job as a surgeon. Law's trying to take more time off social media to be more offline. Law's going to therapy and journalling more. Of course there's his marriage.

Luffy's life's developing nicely too. Luffy's busy with all his friends and being present for them. He's his brother's biggest cheerleaders in their respective sports teams. He's also trying to study a little bit more to do well enough to make it in college.

And so they stop texting for a day. And then a month. And then a year. And then a decade rolls by easily. It's as if they never met.

...

And now, Luffy's 40 and he settled into a nice suburban area as a single-pringle. His house became less of a home and more of a gathering space.

Ace and Sabo drive over to have wild cookouts with their respective partners and kids. Zoro and Sanji come over to drink alcohol. Nami and Usopp for movie dates. Franky gave Luffy a sexy ice cream machine. Robin and Chopper would come over to bird watch in Luffy's backyard. Brook would host charity concerns in his front yard for the children and Luffy let Jimbe tutor kids in his living room.

Life hadn't felt so full in a while. Luffy smiled at his framed pictures and thought, "Wah... I've made it."

One day, he heard some people move into the vacant house next door. After all, how could he not hear them? They were arguing so fucking loudly.

"Shut up, nerd! I do what I want to do!"

"If you're as smart as you say you are you'd be more careful! Those drums are expensive! Be nice to them!"

"They ain't your drums, shit head!"

"But I'm responsible!"

And then Luffy heard something fall down and it made this horrible noise. Enough! He said. He put on a shirt and walked outside. There, he saw the culprit of all that noise.

It's some big man, a guy as big as Luffy with flaming red hair and a permanent scowl. He turned to Luffy and said, "What's your fucking problem? Can't a guy move into his fucking house?"

Luffy hated his attitude—what's his problem!

"I asked ya a fucking question, dipshit."

"I don't like you, you're a jerk!"

"Oh, is that-"

"Shut up, Eustass!" Both Luffy and the guy turned their heads to face the balcony.

And Luffy gasped.

On the balcony, stood a tall man who moved gracefully like an ice prince. He wore a loose Sora the Warrior tee shirt, tucked into light jeans. He had piercings on his ears. His jawline was sharp.

"You're annoying me, Eustass. Hurry up."

"Shut up!"

The not-Eustass-guy turned to face Luffy when he realised Luffy was staring. It started with an apologetic look and then he looked cold, annoyed. Why was Luffy staring so much and so intensely? The man squinted as if that would help him. He frowned and put his glasses on. The man blinked rapidly, in complete disbelief.

"I-" Luffy broke into a large grin when the other man's coldness morphed to surprise. Slowly, he warmed up and there's this warm look in his eye that took Luffy back to when he asked Traffy a question about the frog he was dissecting in the woods for Luffy's entertainment.

No way. Luffy shook his head. NO FUCKING WAY.

He made a little sign and Luffy knew what it meant even years later. It meant that he promised that he'd be back. He kept his promise. About twenty minutes later, Luffy heard a knock on the door. He never sprinted this fast in his life.

"Hi-" And Luffy enveloped the guy in the biggest bear hug he had ever given. He's just so fucking happy! And then Luffy pulled away to actually see him for himself. He was always handsome but since when was he smoking hot? Tall, thin-hipped and slightly muscular.

He looked up at Luffy and his sharp, annoyed eyes softened with tender affection. OH YES WAY!

"Hello, as I was saying. It's been a while."

"Hell yeah! How've you been, Traffy!" It's nice to even say his name again! He felt like a little kid again! Traffy smiled indulgently when Luffy slapped his back.

"I'm alright, thank you."

Luffy saw that Traffy was fiddling with his ring finger and said so. Traffy noticed it too and apologised for the habit.

"I'm going through a divorce now. Eustass, being nice for once, offered to let me stay with him and his partner while I figure out what I want to do with myself. It'll take time for my dad to get that carpet installed in his new house nearby so here I am now to kill time."

"D-divorce?"

"We fell out of love, let's put it bluntly," Law said, now distant. "I found out he's been cheating on me."

"Oh." Luffy suddenly felt like that dumb thirteen year old who didn't know how to handle Law coming out to him. "That sucks."

"Yes, it indeed 'sucks'. I was so shocked I didn't even cry about it for a week when I found out last year."

There was the awkwardness of feeling like one of them did something terribly wrong. Law smiled tersely.

"Enough about that, I'm keeping my hands full with idiots who claim that they want to 'help me out'." Law laughed gently. "Some classmates from Anime, Japan are coming to visit for a few days next week. I wonder how they're doing."

Luffy smiled. His heart ached.

"What do you want to do, Traffy?"`

"Me?" Law gave it thought. He glanced to the side. "Well, first things first, I have to help Eustass over there move in."

"After that?"

"After?" Law blinked. "I'm not sure. Probably brush up on my Japanese. Why?"

Bright-eyed and a little bit scared, Luffy said, "Let's go out!"

"Huh?"

"It'll be fun!" Luffy was totally winging it. "We can get beef bowl at Sanji's place! Do you like camping, Traffy? Ace and Sabo set up a really cool fire place out back—why don't we fire that up later! How about ice cream? Robin made cheese cake too! It's super yummy!"

Law started laughing so much tears came out. Luffy thought with some sadness that Law wasn't done crying about his divorce.

"You haven't changed at all!" Law said, smiling widely. Luffy felt proud of himself for that much. He didn't realise how much of a hole Traffy left behind in his heart when they stopped contacting each other.

Life doesn't give second chances but maybe, just maybe...

"It's really nice seeing you again, Luffy. I... I've missed you. It's been a bit lonely these few months, so let's catch up, i-if you want."

Maybe Luffy could finally show Traffy just how much he loved him...

[absolutebl]

BL recs (from any country) that don't have any s*x scenes? I'm too ace to enjoy them at all. Happy ending preferred, angst v welcome:)

BLs Without Sex Scenes

Oof, this is a hard one. Is a dead fish kiss okay? I do have a heat sorting on the spreadsheet of doom, and there are some with no kissing at all, but a dead fish kiss is in most of the HEA ones.

BLs with No Kisses

21 Days Theory (Thailand, YouTube) - the only thing I didn't like about this pulp was the fact that they don't kiss, so... yeah, this is my first pick for you. Very YA first love angsty, fantastic queer rep and side characters. RECOMMENDED

My Esports Genius Brother (China, Gaga?) - it's hella odd censored bromance but enjoyable. No real angst tho.

HIStory My Hero (Taiwan, Viki) - basically a BL with no sex or kissing, but also body-swap so is it BL? I can't remember the end but I think it's happy?

Silhouette of Your Voice AKA Hidamari ga Kikoeru (Japan, ????) - this 2017 yaoi adaptation is a full on BL just no kissing at all. The source manga (I Hear the Sunspot) is a favorite of mine and the casting was decent. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for you (but not in general). Grey only.

Love of Siam (Thailand, ????) ALL THE ANGST, I'm pretty sure the most they do is hug, I could be v wrong though because too sad for me to ever rewatch. Very formative to the Thai BL industry.

The Lover (BL cut) (Korea ????) sometimes you can find the BL cut on YT, it has slapstick comedic sexualized moments that are maybe a little homophobic (or something), no actual sex or kissing, but no angst at all. (Korea's working some shizz out with this early offering.)

Kabe Koji AKA Kabesaa Doujin Sakka no Neko Yashiki-kun wa Shounin Yokkyuu wo Kojirasete iru (Japan, Viki) - I watched this and I was excited about it before it aired, but I seem to have expunged it from my memory and kept no screen caps in annoyance, so that's all I got.

Love in Spring AKA Spring of Crush (Korea, ????) - a crossdressing historical that flew utterly under the radar. I decided it just wasn't really BL, but it has BL aspects and it's kinda a little queer... or something. Grey only.

Evening Cafe (Thai pulp, YouTube) - No heat and no kisses, but a decent lead pair, about a boy who works in a cafe and the new employee who has a crush on him. That’s it, that's the whole story.

A Shoulder to Cry On (Korea, Viki) - Has no kissing and many people found it really good as @isisanna-blog reminded me, thank you). It certainly has ALL THE ANGST. (I did not like it at all, but I'm a terrible judge of this kind of BL.)

What Did You Eat Yesterday? (Japan ???) - this is such a lovely show, very warm and comforting and slice of life. There is very little angst, they too old for that shit, but little to no sexual content either. It's very warm and loving. A safe extremely yet queer show - and oh boy do we not get many of those. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Censored Bromances

So No Kisses (TM) for the gays but the hets might do stuff I didn't pay attention to. All these from China. Some happy, most not.

The Untamed

Word of Honor

Guardian

SCI Mysteries

Stay With Me AKA Addicted 2.0 (I never watched this so there may be rough play)

Mr CEO Falling in Love With Me

The Fairy Fox

Youth in the Breeze

Precise Shot

Advance Bravely

His Cat AKA His Cat Boyfriend

The Male Queen: Han Zi Gao

The "Ghost Boyfriend" series

Past Youth

I Go To School Not By Bus (Hong Kong short)

Recommended Shorts with no kisses, but cute & fun

The 8.2 Second Rule (Japan YouTube)

One Last Order (Korea, Gaga)

Love Advisor (Thailand, YouTube)

BLs with Dead Fish Kisses (maybe? only one, if any)

His the series: I Didn't Think I Would Fall In Love (Japan ????) - (NOT His the movie) this one has all the angst you could want in your whole life. ALL OF IT. Japan wins at emo, it's their THING.

Cherry Magic AKA 30 Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard AKA 30-sai made Dotei Da to Mahotsukai ni Nareru rashii AKA Cheri Maho (Japan ????) - there's sort of some bed tussling and implied sex but you could imagine them just being snuggles for the mains, the sides have dead fish kiss. In general there's some angst but not much. It's fluffy and great. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Bonus: overt ace representation for one of the side characters.

Meow Ears Up (Thailand Viki) - sides may kiss? I enjoyed this pulp especially at the start, the premise is fun. I think my biggest complaint was lack of kissing.

My Love Mix Up AKA Kieta Hatsukoi (Japan Viki), a case could be made for a demi seme in this BL. So much frenetic angst around bisexual identity crisis. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

My Ride (Thailand Gaga) - my favorite Thai BL pulp the sides have a good kiss and the mains do kiss but it's v dead fish, not at all sexual, and it comes at the very end. Otherwise extremely chaste, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this BL, queer and complex and engaging.

I Want to See Only You AKA Kimi no Koto Dake Mite Itai (Japan ????) - This is a beautiful piece of cinema well acted, about two boys who are opposite personalities and grew up together. The only kiss is the one pictured above, v dead fish. Full review here.

Nobleman Ryu's Wedding (Korea WeTV) - 12th Night goes BL in this cross dressing historical that ended up feeling like a Cinderfella fairy tale, lightly dramatic and utterly charming. Full review. There is one dead fishy kiss at the end but it's otherwise aggressively pure.

If you like this last style of KBL (with a kiss at the end being okay, I have quite a few more to recommend). Until 2022, most KBLs only had one dead fish kiss in them, so you are pretty safe with pre 2022 KBLs. They tend to be quite chaste and de-sexualized. Other good examples: Wish You, Light on Me.

That's all folx.

Some of the above I may be misremembering (since I don't rewatch this kind of BL and my memory is shit). And I may have forgotten some too, so I hope comments with jump in.

Others to consider:

(source)

[turtle-bun]

“This iteration of the Turtles and this iteration of the Turtles wouldn’t get along cuz of this!” “These two iterations wouldn’t get along because of that!”

FUCK YOU THEY ARE ALL BEST FRIENDS THAT SUPPORT EACH OTHER CUZ I SAY SO!!

(Please note I wrote this BEFORE watching Mutant Mayhem which is why they aren’t in it. I just forgot to post it lol 😅)

Rise!Leo: You all are so stern and serious. I feel like I should start being more stern and serious. Should I?

BatmanVs!Leo: Please don’t, it’ll be hell on your already waning mental health. /hj

Bayverse!Leo: I feel we need at least one funny Leo to break up the collective seriousness of the rest of us.

87 Leo: I thought me and my brothers counted as the “funny” version of all of us?

12 Leo: You guys are more of a “silly” version of us���sillier? Like the concept of turtles being ninjas is already silly as it is. Which there is nothing wrong with that, just that your cartoon logic is just very hard to keep up with sometimes.

87 Leo: That’s understandable.

Mirage Leo: I’m just jealous that you all get to be in color. Black and white gets so boring once you learn there’s color!

07 Leo: But your universe does have this cool graphic design to it that I’M very jealous of.

03 Leo: Of course, you fucking would be you dramatic edgelord. /j

07 Leo: I know the fucking EMO of the group did not just call me an edgelord! /j

Rise!Leo: Omg we love an E-girl!

12 Leo: *wheeze of laughter*

---

87 Raph: I just don’t think it’s fair that you guys get to be tall, is all! It’s discrimination! /hj

12 Raph: Practically working against your own kind! /j

Rise!Raph: *snorts* I don’t think that’s a bodily function we can control you guys!

Bayverse!Raph: It was a conscious decision on my end.

Rise!Raph: *chokes with laughter*

87 Raph: You goddamn bastard! /j

Bayverse!Raph: Cope and seeth my dude.

07 Raph: Now look, 87 I know it’s very difficult, especially for you, but we gotta be the bigger person here.

87 Raph: I will kick your goddamn ass, kid!

03 Raph: Well, good for you in being the bigger person. I will continue to be small and petty my entire life!

*Collective snorting laughter from all Raphs*

87 Raph: No, no, wait! You are not allowed to be funnier than me!

03 Raph: Tough break, shorty, I have to have SOMETHING other than punching shit.

87 Raph: Take up knitting! I don’t care! Just keep away from my bit! That’s like my entire personality! /hj

03 Raph: See you joke about that but I am fucking GREAT at knitting!

Bayverse!Raph: Amen to that! I ain’t spend half my damn life in the Hashi and NOT be able to knit a fucking epic scarf!

---

07 Donnie: Are you saying I worked a 9 to 5 job FOR NOTHING!

BatmanVs!Donnie: I honestly did not think that embezzling funds from rich corporate assholes plus the Shredder and his Foot Clan was an actual option we had!

12 Donnie: I am actually so mad that I did not think of that!

Rise!Donnie: Honestly, I didn’t think of it until like a few years back because our dad is still, somehow, getting royalties from his Lou Jitsu movie days. But I also have expensive taste in equipment and needed a little pocket change.

03 Donnie: I could have actually bought a Play Station when it came out instead of having to fix up the broken one Mikey found in the dump!

87 Donnie: I’m just now realizing how much stuff we had to make from scratch just because we couldn’t afford it.

Rise!Donnie: That’s true. But like also you guys still made a bunch of cool stuff with JUST junk you found! That’s amazing!

Bayverse!Donnie: Thanks but we could have made even cooler stuff if we had your type of funding. I mean, look at this shit! *excitingly pointing at Rise!Donnie’s battle shell*

Rise!Donnie: Please understand that YOU have made holo-screen, intercom, wrist watches, that connect to your motherboard home computer. All of which you MADE WITH JUNK! How is that not amazing?!

07 Donnie: Amazing for you probably. But if I were to do that shit myself I wouldn’t sleep for a week!

BatmanVs!Donnie: I second that! One sugar daddy please!

Rise!Donnie: *wheeze of laughter*

---

03 Mikey: I still can't believe you met freaking BATMAN! Like holy shit dude!

12 Mikey: *sobbing* I’m so jealous! I’m forever jealous!

BatmanVs!Mikey: Yeah, it was pretty cool. But YOU (03 Mikey) met the entire Justice Force! And became a member! Your legacy was so awesome Silver Sentry’s grandson took up your name!

03 Mikey: Yeah but you road in the BATMOBILE and got to press all the buttons!

Bayverse!Mikey: *sulking on the floor* LIFE ISN’T FAIR AND I HATE IT HERE!

Rise!Mikey: *pouting* I never get to meet my heroes! And when I do they turn out to be insane!

12 Mikey: Bro same! Chris Brandford was just a giant jerk!

87 Mikey: Bugman was pretty cool, though maybe a little weird. Still, he was no Justice Force or Batman!

07 Mikey: *whining* I just want the life you have! Why does god ALWAYS have favorites?!

Ronin!Mikey: *dramatic sigh of jealousy* He truly does.

[rainba]

I wanna start a blog and you are really inspirational do you have any advice for people making their first blog?:3

(I got a tip for you, and it's pink..../ref)

Awwwe, that’s sweet of you to say! (´｡• ω •｡`) ♡ I do have a little bit of advice for people making their first-time blog!

I would say, to start out with, you should have maaaybe a general play as to what you wanna post? Like, do you want to make just fanfiction? OC content? Etc? You could have a couple of posts planned in a row, and then post them slowly. And if you wanna have a few people notice your stuff, I would say post something as a “hook” of sorts! ( ´ ▽ ` ) I also try to have my posts be a little bit colorful, just so they stand out more... But that's just a me thing.

If you wanna make a blog about one of your OCs, I would say to think about your OCs biggest, most important trait(s), and then really focus on them. After you get the main point in, then you can slowly branch out from there, fleshing out your characters. (≧◡≦) ♡

Like, for me, I think I ended up doing that unintentionally with Kairos– I really focused on how silly and pathetic he is in the fic with him getting naughty with a pillow. (Which… I can’t believe that it has over 1,500 notes?? Silly cute goth/emo boy fucking a pillow might be my magnum opus. Can’t even complain or anything, I actually still like it, hehe ( ´ ꒳ ` ).)

But this is all just general advice–! I’m not even sure if any of it is good advice, really, it’s just something I think I’ve noticed/how I feel.

For advice that I'm confident in, though, here’s a few points!

I’m someone who always feels deeply insecure every time I’m about to post. Like… “Is it good enough? Did I mistype anything? Does the picture look okay enough?” Every time I make something, I find myself stuck in this constant loop of rechecking everything, hoping that I might catch something that’s off. Sometimes I just stare at a piece I’ve made, and I just really don’t like it that much and wanna delete it. My, um... My mouse is forever edging that "post" button. So, here’s my advice on how I’ve been dealing with these kinds of feelings!

“It’s not that serious.” 

Just go ahead and post whatever you want! It doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t have to be the best thing you’ve ever made. It’s all for fun at the end of the day– it’s really not that serious.

“Just go ahead and post it! The sooner I get this out of the way, the sooner I can work on something else that might be even better!”

After I’ve read over something a couple of times, I usually have to forcefully stop and tell myself that. ^^;;;; The piece you’re making right now might not be perfect, it might not ever be, so… Why fight with it? Writing or drawing anything is good practice, so you can just call it that! Just call it a practice piece, the steppingstone for the next greater thing you’re gonna make. Who knows, when you post a piece, you might eventually come to find that you actually really like it, and you were just fooling yourself as you were editing. ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

“Someone out there might really like what I make, so I should share it!”

I swear, for as long as I can remember, I’ve always been a sucker for yanderes. There’s just something about them that has always spoken to my soft, gothic heart… (o˘◡˘o) But, uh, finding good yandere content has always been a struggle!!

For all these years I’ve been hunting for good content, and I hadn’t really found any until the past 2-3 years. But it wasn’t through big, official content or anything– all of my favorite yandere stuff has been created by small little people on the internet. I’m so very thankful that so many talented people have come around and shared their works!! Without it, I feel like I would still be a lost soul, painfully searching through a barren desert, trying to find ‘water’ known as dark romance content of anime boys… wahh. ( ´ ▿ ` )

So, how does that tangent relate to you and your blog? Think of it like this: your blog could be the water in someone’s desert. Your OCs could be everything that somebody is hoping for! Your writing could be the reason why someone excitedly turns on their phone and checks Tumblr every day! There’s no need to be afraid or nervous about posting. Just post what you love– if you love it, then that means somebody out there is going to love it too. 

One of my favorite parts about this blog is sharing what I love with other people who love the same things. Every comment, every reblog with the silly tags, every ask, etc... It all keeps me really motivated. I'm super glad that I'm able to make fellow yandere-lovers happy!! It's an honor!

☆*:.｡.o(≧▽≦)o.｡.:*☆

(Also, I just really love seeing people make stuff. Creativity is such a beautiful thing to me. A little more on a serious note... I really despise AI art and AI writing. Seeing the joy of creation being slowly dampened and taken away is really disheartening- so I will always encourage people to make and post genuine stuff, no matter what! Please, put your love and your heart out there, simply to spite AI. ~~~)

TLDR: go ahead and post! Just do it!

(Also... Help... What are you referencing? 😭)

[toomuchracket]

todays dad!matty brain rot: introducing baba to Allen and mayhem and them being very protective of her and licking her when she learns to crawl. and when she’s a bit bigger, she likes to sit on a kitchen towel and the doggies drag her around the house while she giggles uncontrollably 🥹

this honestly made me SO EMO oh my god i love the dogs!! also not to harp on about makeup youtube icon/entrepreneur jamie genevieve, but this video of her dogs meeting her newborn daughter is genuinely the vibe i think you and matty would go for with introducing the baba to allen and mayhem. obviously, they'll be able to sense something is Up when you're pregnant, and innately they'll know there's another human in your stomach - i reckon they like to sit on the couch beside you when you're pregnant, noses nestled into your stomach, and they're quite overprotective of you. mayhem especially - allen's too mature and unbothered to care - seems to enjoy barking at matty (same lmfao) every time he walks over to you too energetically, as if he's worried his dad will trip over and squish you when he lands (not a totally improbable thing, given how clumsy matty is lol), which irritates matty and entertains you to no end.

anyway, in terms of baba's arrival - i think you come home from the hospital after two or three days post-birth, so matty quite sensibly takes the little outfits that baba's been wearing in the hospital back to the house (i.e. he leaves the hospital the morning after her birth with the outfit she had on the first day/night, and repeats this until she herself comes home), both to get them cleaned and also to let the dogs get used to her scent. and they're so gentle with her when you do bring her home! they're over to you first to say hello (they've missed their mum lol), before sniffing tentatively at the baby carrier and licking the baba lmao; she doesn't cry or anything, she just lies there blinking contentedly. and i think both dogs are very protective over the baba - allen stands guard at her crib while she sleeps, while mayhem follows her about the house as she starts to crawl and gently nudges her away from things that he thinks might hurt her (like the vacuum cleaner lmfao) - and they're so patient with her. you and matty kind of worry that they'll get crabby and bark at her if she's too rough with them as she grows and develops and all, even though you're always supervising and you teach her to be nice to them, but all of your babies (fur or not) are good as gold.

that little game you mentioned is so cute - i can absolutely see baba shrieking with laughter as the doggies tug her around the kitchen floor (matty films it the first time it happens, giggling just as much as his daughter), and i can also see the dogs being used more like horses after she learns how to climb. they put up with it, but you quickly explain to her that she can't do that to them and nominate matty instead (he's like "oh gee thanks sweetheart" but he does it anyway because he loves his kid and it makes her happy lmao). and as baba gets older and learns how to read, i honestly think that you often find her sitting on the dogs' big cushion in the living room, one on either side of her as she "reads them a bedtime story", bless her. but yeah - the doggies love the babas, and the babas love the doggies <3

[happiness-of-the-pursuit]

Get to Know Me

Hi! I got tagged in two different getting to know people tag games so I am combining them into one :) thanks will be at the bottom :)

Tags below the cut :) but also everyone that I tagged in an answer is welcome to play!

First Set

Last song: Dear Theodosia (@user-anakin, @saintlynomenclature @read-and-write- and I were being emo about all the Hamilton and RWRB parallels, listen to this song & think of Burr as Ellen/Oscar and Hamilton as Arthur)

Last film: Ferrari

Currently reading: Fic, lol, rn I am not chipping away at my tbr and instead slowly rereading Made the Right Selection by @clottedcreamfudge b/c @affectionatelyrs and I love cheerleader Alex/football player Henry

Currently watching: i don't really watch TV besides sports, but I guess Percy Jackson counts ???

Currently consuming: the last thing I ate was a ton of crunchy seasoned chickpeas

Currently craving: dark-chocolate covered honeycomb candy from Sprouts and also cheeto puffs. always, to both.

Next Set

1. Were you named after anyone?

birth name, no, but Rhys is a family name

2. When was the last time you cried?

i literally never cry but listening to dear theodosia in the car and thinking about the rwrb parallels made me tear up???? wild

3. Do you have kids?

nope

4. What sports do you play/have you played?

soccer, basketball, lacrosse, swimming, volleyball, softball, track, cross country, tennis, kickball (I come by sporty spice nickname honestly). tbh I feel like I'm missing some, but I have played all of these at some point

5. Do you use sarcasm?

yeah (and then follows the anxiety that people think I'm being serious)

6. What’s the first thing you notice about people?

their smile, probably, and general facial expressions

7. What’s your eye color?

grey/blue/green to be interpreted by others based on what I'm wearing or the lighting lol

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

sucker for love stories so probably happy ending, but scary movies are fun in big groups

9. Any talents?

see 4 aka sports, I'm kind of a jack of all trades master of none athletically. i can also do a pretty good array of voices or impressions, but not on command as much as when I'm reading something (when I was teaching kids would beg to me to read aloud, which was cute)

10. Where were you born?

this feels doxxy so I shall go southern USA

11. What are your hobbies?

writing, reading, watching basketball or f1, falling down a youtube spiral

12. Do you have any pets?

two dogs, two cats

13. How tall are you?

5' 4" i'm just a little guy

14. Favorite subject in school?

history or english, but i also love ap calc lol

15. Dream job?

i mean i'd love to just be a writer and get to travel/work from anywhere, but also people say making a hobby your job can be dangerous so maybe it's for the best (that's what I tell myself)

This was fun! Thanks for the tags for one or both of these @myheartalivewrites @firenati0n @cultofsappho @suseagull04 @14carrotghoul!!!

In addition to those already tagged, tagging @littlemisskittentoes @inexplicablymine @rockyroadkylers @hgejfmw-hgejhsf @gayrootvegetable @gay-flyboys :)

[rottingsam]

tag game!

thank you @hellhoundlair for the tag!

Do you make your bed? no, because i am just going to mess it up again anyways and its kind of harsh to make my bed with the position it’s in anyways

What's your favorite number? 17

What is your job? it’s a secret but i ship samdean like its my day job :)

If you could go back to school, would you? i am in school right now! however, I wouldn’t want to go back to high school, elementary or even my previous years in college…they were not very fun.

Can you parallel park? hell yeah

A job you had that would surprise people? not technically a job but i did get paid for it. some summers i would work horse stables and it was kind of fun, i like horses. i just don’t think by looking at me or seeing the way i behave, that people would assume i do jobs like that on occasion.

Do you think aliens are real? yes, i think that the world is too big for their not be. maybe not in the traditional way people thing, but i will bet on Some Planet in Some Galaxy very Far Away there is another form of life out there- intelligent or not.

Can you drive a manual car? yeas

What's your guilty pleasure? nothing about pleasure is guilty but i also don’t do anything that would be considered a “guilty pleasure”

Tattoos? soon hopefully! there’s not very many good studios around me and i want to put something on my body forever, im willing to spend big and travel far when the time is right. i would like cybersigilism pieces on hips, with a fawn incorporated on my left side and lamb on my left. maybe a tramp stamp. and i like bluer inks rather than just stark black. yeah

Favorite color? green and yellow

Favorite type of music? i like Midwestern emo a lot. also alternative rock, and traditionally what is referred to as “emo” for the past year or so i’ve been a huge fan of flyleaf, when listening to music i tend to focus on the lyrical elements. but i also like heavy guitar, or when the guitar is very very prominent in a song

Do you like puzzles? sometimes! i like sudoku and brain teasers but i don’t really like assembling traditional puzzles

Any phobias? i dont know what it is called but when i am by myself i am constantly scared that i am not really by myself and someone is secretly watching me or hiding somewhere

Favorite childhood sport? golf

Do you talk to yourself? yes, frequently because i have a lot to say all the time and i always feel like i just talk at my friends so i just talk to myself when i have new things to say most of the time

What movies do you adore? i don’t watch movies hardly ever, but i will say Creep and Creep 2. they made me so deeply uncomfortable and i can’t wait until the third movie is finalized. it is so weird and disturbing and i love it!!!!!

Coffee or tea? i liked iced coffee or frappes a lot

First thing you wanted to be when you grew up? i really really really really wanted to be a doll

tagging: @sin-stained

[thisaintascenereviews]

Various Artists – Barbie: The Album

Mentioning the phrase “pop music” seems to illicit a lot of reactions, usually within the realms of “I love it” and “I hate it.” Most people either seem to love pop music, or at the very least, certain artists within it, or they loathe it. I wanted to preface this review with my own rather complicated history with pop, because pop music is a genre that I have a rather strange “relationship” with. I got into music during the early to mid-00s, when pop music was in an interesting place, thanks to house / dubstep music being huge, and a lot of well-established artists now were just getting started, such as Lady Gaga, Kesha, The Jonas Brothers, Justin Timberlake, Bruno Mars, and many more, but pop music was starting to become boring and bland. I was also much more into emo, pop-punk, and metalcore, although I would come to realize years later, a lot of the pop-punk that I listened to was merely pop-rock with an emo lens through it. Thirteen-year-old me thought I was the bee’s knees for listening to that edgier and darker kind of music (I did like some “classic rock” at the time, too), and I thought that was “real music,” as every preteen and teenager tends to think during adolescence. I just didn’t find anything to like when it came to “mainstream” music, but that all changed in the winter of 2012.

I remember it like yesterday, because it was one of those things you won’t forget. I was in FYE, and I had just discovered the magic of that store, but I was looking around for whatever I could find. I was always looking for anything at all, and I could spend hours in music stores, but I ended up finding a copy of Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Say what you will about Jackson as a person, as well as his legacy, but Thriller is one of the best albums ever made. Without going detail into it, it’s a record that I knew about without even knowing anything about pop music. It’s one of those albums that I knew I needed to hear, so I picked it up for a good price (they always had stuff on sale, too, and that really helped my decision picking it up), and I ended up falling head over heels for it. What was interesting, however, is that, despite being released in the 1980s, it changed my perception of what pop music is, let alone what it can be. Ever since then, I became a fan of pop music, and for years after, I enjoyed plenty of pop records, such as albums from Justin Timberlake, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Harry Styles’ solo material, just to name a few artists, but listening to that record opened up a whole new world for me.

Pop music, at its core, is escapism. Whether it’s from their own lives, or wanting to live through their favorite pop singers, they want to escape. The same can be said for all kinds of music, but pop music has always been “popular” for a reason. When people think of pop music, they think of catchy, accessible, and “safe” music that doesn’t push boundaries or offend anyone. When I listened to Thriller, that misconception was completely shattered. That was when I took pop music seriously, and every now and again, you can find a great pop record, but a lot of pop music is still relatively safe, tame, and bland. Not that it’s bad, but it doesn’t push any boundaries, although that’s not the point, since it’s to sell records and make money.

I’ve found myself not as interested in pop music over the years, thanks to own tastes shifting, and pop music as a whole changing. It just hasn’t appealed to me, minus a few artists, but every once in awhile, I’ll find something I like and that “something” right now is the Barbie movie soundtrack. This film, released just a few weeks ago, is the latest topic in the pop culture zeitgeist, alongside Oppenheimer, and alongside the film, a soundtrack was released that caught my curiosity by featuring some of the most popular names in pop, such as Lizzo, Khalid, the Kid Laroi, Dua Lipa, Karol G, and Billie Eilish, although one of the big songs from this record is the remix / interpolation of “Barbie Girl” by Aqua that features Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice. That’s a very stacked list of artists, let alone the whole record being produced by Mark Ronson of “Uptown Funk” fame.

Despite not listening to a lot of pop music anymore, I was curious to see how this soundtrack would pan out, especially not having seen the film yet. You can talk about this album in two ways, the first being how it holds up on its own as a soundtrack, and the second as a soundtrack after seeing the film, but because I haven’t seen the movie yet, I thought I’d first talk about it on its own, and then talk about it again once I see the movie, or write a small companion piece to along with this. Soundtracks typically are companion pieces to the movie or show they accompany, and there is often an expectation that they need to be as good, if not better, than the work they’re apart of. I won’t comment on the film, as I haven’t seen it yet, but I will say that the soundtrack works quite well on its own. The soundtrack doesn’t say anything or do anything that pushes any kind of boundary, and it does what you’d expect a Barbie soundtrack to do, which is give you an album’s worth of catchy, fun, and summery jams, and that’s okay! I’ve talked about many times how not everything needs to be deep, and this is a perfect example of that.

The Barbie soundtrack is fun, lighthearted, catchy, and enjoyable from beginning to end. A lot of the songs are quite good, if not great, and it feels like a cohesive soundtrack, instead feeling like a random soundtrack, instead feeling like a random assortment of artists. I’m curious as to how these songs work in the film, but a lot of solid tracks are here, such as ���Pink” by Lizzo, “Speed Drive” by Charlie XCX, “Silver Platter” by Khalid, or the “Barbie Girl” remix I mentioned earlier. It won’t blow your mind, or ultimately change the way you think about pop music, but it’s a fun ride through the world of Barbie. There are a few standouts, such as Billie Eilish’s “What Were We Made For,” which I guarantee is going to do some numbers in the coming weeks, but there are also a few songs that don’t add anything or do anything, such as the Tame Impala song “Journey To The Real World,” which seems to have a better purpose in the movie, but it’s only a minute long, so it doesn’t really do anything or go anywhere. Haim has a song, too, entitled “Home,” and it’s a good song, but it’s nothing really that special. I enjoy listening to it, but I wouldn’t pretend it’s one of my favorites. If anything at all, listen to the soundtrack and pick out your favorites, but I don’t think anything on here is worth outright skipping, although Gayle (who’s famous for “abcdefu” from a couple of years ago) does have a weird song that interpolates “Butterfly” by Crazy Town. It’s kind of fun, but also very weird and makes no sense, especially for the Barbie movie, so I don’t know how that song fits into the overall narrative, but it’s a decent song, nonetheless.

I’m interested to see how the songs from the soundtrack fit into the film, so when I go back and listen to the soundtrack after seeing it, I can picture the songs in my head. I’m very excited to see how “I’m Just Ken” by Ryan Gosling, who plays Ken in the movie, fits into the film, because that’s one of the funniest songs here. Nonetheless, this is a soundtrack that works for what it is – a catchy and fun good time. You don’t need anything more sometimes, since not everything needs to be deep, challenging, or have an underlying message to it. Sometimes a song or album can be fun, and you can enjoy it merely on a surface level. Sometimes enjoying things at face value is all you need. Pop music is at an interesting place right now because there’s nothing happening within the genre. I mean, the top three songs in the country as of this moment are country songs, so there’s no trend or overall idea that’s getting traction, unless you look at the trends of artists interpolating songs (the “Barbie Girl” remix is a perfect example of that), or the influence of nostalgia, but pop music is at a crossroads right now, so it’ll be interesting to see how this soundtrack charts and the impact that is has, especially since the film itself is doing very well at the moment. If you’re a fan of pop music, it’s worth hearing, because it has some catchy and fun summer jams on it, even if it won’t necessarily change your life.

[chromotps]

h-hey so. I saw your tweet? from such a long time ago (eh no I think it was october) that was about cora/law and something something basically law being soooo much into cora and sick of waiting in general (can I also mention here. the 1975 - fallingforyou and especially the /you said some day we might, when i’m closer to your height/ line) so uhhhhh what about. a cora lives AU when they reunite once law becomes a warlord (also don’t tell me the 100 hearts weren’t meant for cora) and cora has been somehow found and brought back to life by the marines??? but kept hidden from public information for as long as doflamingo was running loose and rampant. but after dressrosa it’s no longer important and anyway they meet again and it’s all. reserved and polite and cora is just happy to see law all grown up and how much influence and power he has etc etc meanwhile law. keeps inviting him to the most high-end/expensive restaurants. buys him the most expensive wine. gets him heart-themed jewelry. the finest silk shirts/scarves. some rare types of tobacco. basically like a reverse sugar daddy thing except it’s law who absolutely spoils cora except cora doesn’t really have any idea what to do with it? bc law just says it’s bc cora took care of him all these years ago and now law wants to reciprocate. except he’s. way too invested in this/there’s something else in his eyes when he looks at cora, instead of just gratitude. IDK IM JUST. they’re such a weird ship to me bc i can’t stomach it at all in any other form than Cora lives AU and they meet as adults + the age diff/dynamic remains kinds the same (master/protegee? sorta) + law is just so fucking into him it’s unreal. bc hes spent so much time thinking about Cora? growing up? much longer than he had actually known him. so he kind of became something mystical in his mind, so when he finally meets him in flesh again? law can’t really deal with whatever he’s feeling toward him except it’s a whole fucking lot. again idk even what I wanted to say through this it’s just back to that tweet - yes I also think it’s a shame there isn’t more coralaw where law is the one leading the relationship/courting cora (or. domming him. like you said) and generally being lowkey obsessed about him. thanks lmfao and bye

HJGSFGSDjgdfshj first off this ask made my day... is there anything like the internet to bring together two fans of a very niche and specific dynamic ANYWAY

GOSH I do love the idea of Law spoiling Cora, especially bc like, from what we saw Cora went from a life of luxury in his youth, to one of struggle and then eventually medium-ish comfort, and was happy to throw it all away again for Law when they went on the run. So it's like, now Law can give that all back to Cora easily and I'd even sort of read it a bit as Law subconsciously trying to show how he's not just some little kid anymore so let him sleep with you Corazon, look, you think a guy who gives you this many silk shirts doesn't know how to show you a good time

Cora getting a little overwhelmed when the gifts and meals start being sprinkled with signs of courting... like, a brush of a hand or Law bringing them somewhere secluded on a walk and carefully getting into Cora's space. Asking Cora to be his +1 to big fancy dinners and escorting him around with a hand on his back ahahaHA

Cora can't deny that Law is just like, a dream guy, but he's gonna need a little extra push to let go of that sense of propriety saying that "they really shouldn't do this"

I tried responding to some other parts of the ask but it got really long and sort of turned into me just rambling about lawcora, so... i separated it all from here 😂

GOSH the 100 hearts being for Cora... another hopelessly romantic tribute from Law, the most Extra Adult-ass Emo walking around. It's exactly like you said, that's one of my favorite things about Law around Cora--the depth of his emotion... we know Law had this deep capacity for hatred when they first met—he was just this well of resentment and anger, even as a kid. But after seeing just how far Cora would go for him, that intensity got completely redirected into love (or "low-key obsession" haha—the naming his pirate crew after Cora and modeling his coat and tattoos after him). It's especially wild considering how "reserved" Law is around others, I guess? Like, he wants everyone around him to Stop Being So Ridiculous, but I feel like with Cora he would just want more and more, to draw out bigger and bigger reactions from him and encourage Cora to screw convention and run off with him. bc in his head they're all that really matter...? he's an all-or-nothing kind of guy!! I guess

And yeeeeah on Cora's side, it's definitely a difficult ship to pin down. I'm kind of like you, really picky about how I'd want it to play out... Part of me doesn't want Cora to be completely oblivious, and I don't love when people strip out how much of a badass/tough/discerning guy he is (though I do love the klutzy, naive-ish side of him). I don't know......... I think I like how I laid it out in the tweet, where Law has always sort of harbored feelings for Cora in the form of puppy love that transformed into an all-consuming fixation. Then it's just a matter of Cora finding out about it, denying those feelings (but the reason changes from "I couldn't see Law that way!!" to "he couldn't really feel that way about me/he could find someone more 'his equal' (in age? status? what excuses are you making Cora??)" over time. And at that point, when Law knows Cora wants him just as bad but is holding back from it, he just snaps. 😂

If they really did have just one long separation, and then a sudden reunion, I like the idea of Law re-learning who Cora really is... Like, he has faded memories of Cora's bravery and goofiness and weird little habits, but he wasn't prepared to meet him again and only end up liking him MORE. He learns about what Cora went through as a kid/in Doffy's shadow, and seeing how he still stayed so kind and brave just makes Law wilder than ever about him lmao!!

[arcielee]

Interview With a Writer

I know I usually do Ewanverse or HotD, but I fell in love with this story. Thank you @bhxrdy for indulging me and answering my questions. 💜 As always, Interview With a Writer is my ongoing series of the talented souls on Tumblr and ao3, and their brilliant writing!

Dividers by @saradika

Name: bhxrdy

Story: timeless

Paring: modern Finan x original female character

Warnings: Explicit/18+, be mindful of chapter warnings!

So, when did you start writing?

I started really writing, like 10 years ago now - right into 2013. I had discovered and gotten very into (I'm shy to say) k-pop, and at the time, social media was new to me. I had joined a couple of forums here and there, but really got into the thick of it once I joined Twitter and Tumblr. It was also then - for the 1st time - that I found out about fanfiction, which was an unfamiliar concept to me.

Its a bit blurry, but I remember I started reading a few stories here and there about my fave group at the time and - I don't remember the specifics but - I had eventually started coming up with wild scenarios, small ideas here and there, that I wanted to put down on paper.

Writing in general was relatively new to me (a few years before, when I was in high school, I was writing "poems" and other notes in a massive emo-like notebook - all because of a boy of course), so the idea of creating something substantial, like the fics I had read so far, was a bit terrifying but also kind of exciting because I stumbled on something brand new to me and was dying to be part of it along with some new online friends I had made (which I unfortunately lost touch with over the years).

Within the span of 2013-2015, I wrote 28 stories (on a 3rd party site) - a mix of one shots and multi-chaptered fics, which includes 2 unfinished stories - which were left to die by 2017-2018. I had finished school and started working, which totally changed my routine. The lack of interactions in the fandom didn't help either as by then, it was pretty much dying from the band's moving on and eventually disbanding. The stories are still there, my account is still there, as I don't have the heart to take it down. I've spent so much time on them, and loved every genre I wrote. I either went fluffly fluff or super angst and dark, all of them fun to write.

After that I moved away from the fandom as well and just the k-pop scene in general. I took a hiatus from writing altogether too - the will of it had died so I mostly focused on editing. And then, I started back again in 2020, wrote a couple of stuff on Tumblr (for the 1st time) until I stopped again a few months later. The inspiration stopped and I just couldn't bring myself to write anymore. So I moved away.

And then this year, TLK happened and I just had the inspiration back on the tip of my fingers, just swirling in my brain and was dying to write it down, so I gave it another shot and wrote my first Finan fanfic. It was very rusty getting back into it after so long but I'm glad I did because I got to meet amazing people which I'm grateful for.

I have a tendency of daydreaming a lot, I can easily get lost it my own head. Finding out I could actually just write them down, liberating everything I held up and see them face to face vs. just thinking about them, became a whole new ball game.

Where did the plot for timeless come from?

It hit me out of nowhere and happened when I was re-watching The Originals (TVD spin off). I'm not sure how, but it physically/literally stopped me in my tracks (mind you I wasn't doing anything special, just going to the kitchen to get a snack) as if I was hit on the head with it, like, "Yes! omg! shit! this is it!!"

I immediately picked up my phone and started typing random thoughts and notes down for the story. It was very rough, just generalized ideas of what could happen. Some of those ideas did change trajectory from where they started, but I'm hoping they were good changes and worth the story telling 😊

Watching The Originals helped with the inspiration. I knew Finan was always meant to be cursed, I just had to figure out the best way to present it. I also drew inspiration from other witch shows like Charmed, A Discovery of Witches, and BTVS. I love anything related to the supernatural and witchcraft, so it was fun coming up with the initial layout of the story.

At the beginning, I debated if it should be a one-shot or multi-chapter based on how much I had come up with. I was 99% sure I would stick with the one-shot, but eventually the 1% took over and I just went from there...the lines took a life of their own.

Explain your interpretation of Finan. What drives him? Why is he the way he is in timeless?

I was mostly trying to stay true to how his character was built on the show and transport that in writing within the concept of the story (I'm sure I've strayed, but hopefully that's alright).

When we first meet Finan, he's infiltrated modern day life as if he was part of that world, always. Then he meets a woman on a random night and everything changes for him.

Thinking of it this way, the man has been by himself for a thousand years - the life he knew, his family, his friends - everything from his past has disappeared and he is all alone, and so he was just at this point in his existence where he was done with everything, partly discouraged from being immortal, partly begrudgingly accepting of his fate as a man who will never die.

But then he meets Rebecca, a woman who has no inkling whatsoever of who Finan is, i.e. their meet up was random passing of time in the(ir) universe. Once they meet, his life alters. She was the light at the end of a tunnel, she was a beacon of hope. Meeting her, befriending her - he found purpose again. He was ready to fight again, to live like a normal man again.

Throughout the story, I tried to focus on this aspect specifically - on the basis that he is hopeful to become a free man again. And though, there is conflict within himself, to the point he was ready to give up again, I'd like to think that Rebecca was simply someone he needed in his life. Not because of what she could do for him, but because of who she was, as a character, as a person to him. She put her life on hold for him and in return, the universe gave them something that everyone wants - to love and be loved and not be so alone in the world.

Finan, having been alone for a century, found his drive through Rebecca - through her presence, always standing by his side and fighting for him. Them falling in love was an added bonus.

Do you feel Rebecca/Bex complement Finan in this?

I would like to think that she does, because she gave him a new spark into his life, allowing him to feel truly alive again - which was something he had been deprived off since his original lifetime (i.e. since the TLK era).

With Bex's stubbornness driving him insane at times, I think it also helped him on the hope aspect - she was willing to go to the ends of the earth for him, for someone she had just met all because she wanted to make things right, to help him (a stranger, when they met) find peace. She wasn't reluctant about it nor did he even ask for help (he was the apprehensive/suspicious one). And I believe, at the end of the day, it all came down to how they felt about each other from the night they met. They unintentionally nurtured a connection they created until it became so immense, they ended up wearing it naturally, like a second skin.

Not only was she his anchor to the world of the living, Bex had become the part of him that died a long time ago. This makes me believe - in a some kind of weird way - that she was his soulmate. That, despite the heaviness of the curse, Finan was meant to cross path with her, that the(ir) universe gave him a break in the form of a kind-hearted and stubborn as a mule witch. A woman who would end up gifting him a second chance, and the opportunity to experience the good aspect of life again (as well as love).

Where did the dreams and the curse lore come from?

The dreams part of the story was inspired by The Originals, as there is the concept of the “other side” where non-resting souls are (the cemetery/graveyard scene description was inspired by the one they have on the show) - so I leveraged it and made it so Bex was forced into contact with another witch while sleeping instead of through a spell (as she had no reason to contact the dead while awake).

For the curse, I knew what I wanted out of it as it was already part of the original draft when I first came up with this story idea. I knew where it was taking me and how I would want it built - the reasoning behind it though was a bit if the tough part which I had also integrated into the storyline with Bex losing her shit over it.

Any chance of a sequel? Or do have anything else you are working on next?

So, unfortunately no sequel. But it does not mean I haven't thought of an epilogue - or kind of. Just random scenes with Bex of what life is after the ending that randomly play out in my head. I don't think I'll want to write them mostly because I want to keep the ending as is.

I'm working through a few other stories at the moment. The priority ones are for Osferth (a one-chaptered drabble for your 1k celebration, and a multi-chaptered fic which will also tap into the supernatural concept), which I am hoping to get started - officially - very soon!

I have some others dangling as well, which should eventually come soon as well - this includes Finan, Sihtric and Aemond.

Do you have a personal favorite story you'd like to share?

There are so many to choose from! We Were Something, Don't You Think? by Maggie (@inthedayswhenlandswerefew), as well as Comet Donati and Have You No Idea That You’re In Deep?

Some other favorites include Wolf-Heart by @gemini-mama, Crimes of Passion by @itbmojojoejo, Sanctuary by @st-eve-barnes, and Winterwood by @lonnson

There is also a myriad of Finan x Aisling (OFC) fics by @persephones-journey which are heart-wrenching and good.

And Fire in Her Eyes by @emilyhufflepufftlk is another amazing one for Finan fans.

[sanstropfremir]

Hello, A rover, A gambler, A libertine. I just wanted to say that I really love your blog and all the info you give on stage designing and outfit styling, and basically any other info you have to share about what work goes into making a performance/video look the way it looks. It's really informative and I always love food for brain so mwahhh thank youu.

That being said, I'm very new to the k-pop scene and even newer to being a SHINee fan, but I am already pretty deep down the hole and I absolutely adoreee them and your insight on them (specially Taemin) has made me appreciate them as artists sooooo much moree.

So if you don't mind could you share some thoughts about the Hard era styling? I would love to hear your thoughts on it!! I hope you're doing good <3

not the full government name slfjlskjdf you can just call me d! thank you for sticking around and reading 😊

as for the hard styling, i'm a fan! a lot of people have compared hard and dcm for various reasons (mostly negative ones bc they both are proving to be controversial shinee tracks) but i'm going use the comparison to talk about the styling bc i think the intentions were really similar, but hard was more effective. a thread that's been present in shinee's post military cbs is 'shinee twist on a modern industry trend', which is not a wrong way to go about anchoring cbs, especially since it does work as far as attracting new fans goes, but it does have a built in flaw where if the contemporaneous trends themselves don't have a strong thematic basis then............obviously trying to do any kind of twist on them takes a lot more conceptual work. this is the problem that dcm had; dcm was very much a 'look we can do what the kids do!' but what the kids were doing in late 2020/early 2021 was very formless and right before the crash of the 'fourth gen hardcore bg' trend, so it was a lot of disconnected but persistant loose threads from the entire fourth gen era that had culminated into a mush. so in the shinee's stylists' attempt to make some kind of sense of it they kinda also created a mush. but a different kind of mush. my hypothesis is that the stylists and creative team didn't want to commit seriously to a specific concept bc that wasn't on trend at the time, and so that's why dcm had several different promising ideas but then botched them all on the landing bc the creative team got cold feet about going against the grain for the first cb back in three years. personally i don't agree with their strategy bc there are a lot of flaws with dcm and the whole reality/fake reality concept ended up being racist when they could have very easily not done that, but the strategy DID work and it seems that the creative team were right about fans not being as interested in concept based cbs bc atlantis got paid dust. anyways.

how does this compare to hard? well, hard has the same ideological footing: shinee twist on a current trend. and the current trend this time is an actual concept! so already hard has an easier base to stand on because there IS something there thematically to work with. all the threads are very clearly anchored in the 'y2k' but the shinee twist is that it's more based in late 90s/early 00s hiphop, which is both sonically relevant and different from the hyperpop esque candy crush that a lot of the y2k stylings have become. the oversized shapes and loud logos are all prominent in early hiphop styling (and thus popular culture on a 5ish year delay), and elements like neon colours, layering unconventional garments together and repurposing military looks are all hallmarks of subculture fashion from the 00s, namely skater/emo/punk. the styling feels coherant and put together bc it's drawing from historical evidence (feels fucking WEIRD saying that about the 90s oof) and trends that did actually exist and were worn by real people. but of course with the typical kpop level of exaggeration, obvs.

[sailoryooons]

Okay so Im going to be super honest with you right now, I am terrified of what my digital footprint looks like. I have been reading fanfic for an unhealthy amount of years but it's literally the only thing that keeps me sane. I have always refused to comment or interact much with posts wether it was Wattpad, AO3, or Tumblr. I've always just been terrified of what my future college could find (lol 🥲). So with that being said fuck my digital footprint I hope my college finds this and reads Carved because it literally changed me. When I tell you I found it on AO3 at midnight and then read it all in one sitting and then sat there for like 3 hours trying to figure out how I was supposed to continue living life. Like how was I supposed to go on acting like I didn't just read the most ( dude i can't even find the right way to describe it awe-inspiring and magnificent don't cover it) incredible piece of contemporary literature I had ever read and then not be able to talk about it with anyone because I have no IRL friends who understand what reading fanfic like this is like. In conclusion, I am not trying to persuade you to continue writing it because I also understand that you do this because you enjoy it and I don't want to pressure you into something you won't enjoy; that's the opposite of what you should do. But, whenever you feel like picking up the series (if you do, again, I think it should always be your choice) I will be reading every chapter and having an existential crisis because I will once again have to keep it to myself.

P.S. You are literally my favorite author. I think you are an incredible person and your mind amazes like seriously every time I read something you made my jaw is on the floor and I don't have the strength to pick it back up. I just can't express to you how much I love everything you make.

Hope u have wonderful day :)

Oh my goodness okay well first of all, hi hello thank you for risking your digital footprint for me. I obviously don't care about mine because I am totally answering this on my work computer like an absolute lunatic but fuck it shibal as we say.

Honestly this is one of the nicest things someone has ever told me. Period. Full stop. To know that you enjoyed it that much, even though I wrote so little of it is... wow. I have big feelings. I definitely have a really really big soft spot for that idea and always sort of ... regretted abandoning it? I know it's a REALLY good idea, I think I just used to be intimidated and I was also afraid of writing some of the violence and darkness it requires to actually be the story that I imagined. I'm a lot more confident now, though, so it's been weighing on me a lot.

Thank yo so much for your kind words I'm emo at work right now borderline wanting to cry because this was such a touching thing to read and idk having someone who likes what I write that much is really rewarding and overwhelming.

Thank you for making my day. Wow. I'm just. AHHH. This made me feel really good. Thank you.

[dev-nxbody-h3re]

i come for more *ominous music*

Micheal? how did you meet every one of the tormentors and what are your thoughts one them?

that is all i asked for *Ascends*

(in case you didn't know, i actually made a video on this exact scenario on my youtube channel :D i haven't uploaded in a bit but i SWEAR im still doing stuff T-T)

Michael: Well, that's actually a bit of a funny story.. it was in 6th.. no, it was 7th grade, so we were about 12 I think. I tried skipping lunch because I thought the school rules were dogshit and I was some kind of pre-bad boy even before I hit highschool. But the hall monitor told me to get the fuck back in there or she'd give me detention- which was bullshit, but whatever.

So I go back into the cafeteria and there's only one table open. I'm thinking, oh fucking great, there's Assholes 1, 2, and 3, I'm gonna be stuck here for the next half-hour. I gotta tell you though, they were the cutest kids. I had a distinctly British, swagless demeanor at the time so I looked constantly dead inside- more than I ended up actually being later. But I digress, I should continue the story. So I'm being mopey and emo about it because I'm 12 and that's the most important thing I have to deal with.

I look away for one moment and these motherfuckers have me surrounded. They've been trying to force me to be their friend for a bit now, and they're about to annoy me into accepting their friendship. Eventually I decide that I'm fighting a losing battle and accept their offer of friendship, thinking that I'll just be their friend for one lunch period and that'll be that.

Yeah.. we ended up being friends for the rest of our lives. And then after, too. Granted, there was like forty years between them dying and then coming back but like, I think it still counts.

My opinion of them? God, you'll be lucky if this response doesn't take up your entire screen. Sorry but- well, I'm not really sorry, because 1, I like talking about my friends, and 2, you actually asked for this. Congratulations, you're getting exactly what you asked for! Yay!

Let's start with James. Now look, okay, I can admit this is going to be ridiculously sappy, so why don't we just pretend that I'm actually saying something deep, and.. and enlightening, or something. Just between us. Okay. Honestly, James is literally just the best. He's always been there for me even when I haven't asked, just- God, I love him so much. There's so much I want to talk about but this would actually be enormous- I don't think either of us really thought this through. Whatever. He's amazing, and funny, and pretty, and I'm very in love with him, 10/10 friend and boyfriend, would recommend. Except I wouldn't, because he's not up for grabs.

Moving on to Matthew.. where do I even start? Let's just get one thing out of the way, he's so cool. Like, if Jeremy is cool in a cool way, Matthew is cool in a loser way. He's just.. a guy. In my house! Sometimes I'll wake up and be sad like usual and then I see Matthew and I'm like "Oh!! A guy!! A funky dude!!" and then everything's good again. Very huggable, my best loser, 10/10 friend, love him very much. I would throw myself into a volcano for him.

And finally, Taylor. God, they're gorgeous. Obviously that's not all, but. Fuck. Taylor is literally the only one of us who has any sort of fashion sense at all, it's insane. Taylor's also smart as fuck, even if they don't think so. They're so insecure about themself I just kinda wanna squeeze them and shake them around a bit until they finally get it inside their head that they're so perfect. Taylor is absolutely the most perfect human on planet Earth and they live with me! I've never been luckier in my life! So incredibly cool in the least straight way possible, I love them more than life itself, 10/10 human ever.

There's your answer. This got a bit out of my control, but in my defense this is what you asked for. I could've gone into so much detail your head would've exploded, but I didn't. And thank god you didn't ask about Jeremy, or Evan, or Elizabeth, or literally anybody else because I have so much to say about them this response would've been so fucking long.

Bye.

[avhies20]

2022 has been such a great year for tv and movies for me. So to wrap it up, here are my top 5 favorite movies for this year! Long post ahead, because I want to gush about this films.

5. The Black Phone

I loved this movie because the focus was more on the victims themselves. The film humanized them. They showed that they had lives and they had so much ahead of them. Oftentimes, these kind of films glorify the killers, but this film thankfully did not do that. They did not even try to show a backstory for The Grabber that will make us sympathize for him. We were just given some hints. Doing that highlights the fact what he is, which is a child killer.

Also, the performances by the child actors were so good, especially Madeleine McGraw (Finney's determined and brave little sister) They really did such a phenomenal job. I hope they get to be in more movies.

4.The Batman

Initially, I thought this would be the best film I've watched this year but still this movie has a special place in my heart. Emo bruce wearing eye make up, played by Robert Pattinson. I can't believe that happened, but wow I am so thankful for it. In all seriousness though, this movie was marketed as an incredibly dark and violent film. It was, but I did not expect it to have such a hopeful message. That was something that I really needed at the time that I watched that film.

Another thing that made this one of my favorites is how they did Seline Kyle. They did not oversexualize her and we got to see more of her vulnerable side. Besides that, I also love the parallels between her and Bruce/Batman.

Lastly, shout out to the soundtrack. When it first came out, I replayed it over and over.

3. Nope

Jordan Peele did it again! This is such a thrilling sci-fi horror film. I'd like to appreciate the clever and gorgeous design of Jean Jacket (that's such a cool name too). There's a lot of sequences that were incredibly memorable for different reasons and it would be too long for me to talk about. But my favorite scene would probably the showdown between Jean Jacket and OJ. I think that scene showcases the main theme of this film.

Another reason why this film is a fave of mine is because it's a film where you can come up with a lot of interpretations and theories. Seeing all the Chekhov's guns paying off was so satisfying.

Before I end this part, I'd like to say that this is my first time seeing Keke Palmer's work. And wow she's such a fun to watch. She brought a really enthusiastic energy to the film that made me love it even more.

2. Glass Onion

This is my most anticipated release for December (December for me because I could not watch it during its theatre release in November) and it did not disappoint. I just want to say I want a full on movie franchise of Benoit Blanc's mystery adventures. Give me MORE. I love murder mysteries and whodunnits and this ticks everything I always wanted in a mystery story. The social commentary it does is also so on point and done in such a fun way. We get to see it come alive through a variety of crazy fun characters with an interesting ensemble of actors.

Half way through, this movie went into a direction that I did not expect. Props to Janelle Monàe for making such a convincing performance, which helped in really selling that twist. I also loved their dynamic and chaotic chemistry with Daniel Craig's Blanc. Them working as investigating partners was such a delight. Lastly, I appreciate that in the end, Blanc was more of just a "helper." It was Helen who was ultimately the "hero," it was her actions that ultimately brought Miles down.

1. Everything Everywhere All at Once

Finally we're here, this movie was the best for me. This movie made me laugh out loud (that d*ldo scene caught me off guard, not gonna lie), made me cry, made me sob, and made me rethink certain aspects of life. After watching this film, I just had to sit back and process everything for a while. The themes and messages from this film felt a little too close for me.

I feel like the editing needs a paragraph of appreciation here, because the editing of this film is WILD! I cannot believe how they even did this. Round of applause for the editors and I hope they got paid wonderfully for their amazing work.

Moving on to the performances, I just want to say that Stephanie Hsu is a talented actress. Go watch her audition tape too because she needs to be booked in more projects. Of course Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, and all the other performers were amazing.

I hope more people get to watch this and see for themselves how much heart and thought was poured into this film.

That's all for for now. I hope 2023 would give us an equally interesting and fun set of films to enjoy. Have a great day to you all!