#Because I checked the artist and I can't find his account but it looks like it the same perssone doing almost all his thumbnail

[geluckgk]

Look at the thumbnail of 악어 first best-of, they all look so cute !

I love the tiny paw bad has, Tina's cut horn, Tubbo is ultra cute (and not dead wich is great) Acau is obiously looking very handsome and we can see a little mouse hiding in the background 🤏

[chlorinecake]

🎙️ star-crossed lovers 【 薄幸な恋人 】 ⛦

summ✩ry ⭑⭒⭑ As rehearsals and promotions for your big collab stage with Enhypen become progressively more intense, you and Niki face challenges that might effect your secret relationship and standing with the company...

p✩iring ⭑⭒⭑ idol!niki x popstar!reader PREVIOUSLY

cont✩ins ⭑⭒⭑ band au, fluff, secret romance, kissing + a slightly heated make-out scene, mild bullying, LOTS of drama, reader is younger than Niki, 3.6k words

It felt strange having your hair, makeup, and clothes managed by someone else, especially in such a meticulous way.

Today was the big day of the Riot Grrlz x Enhypen fan meeting that Hybe was hosting in honor of your upcoming collaboration stage, the event acting as some sort of promotional.

The fashion theme for the day, as decided by the likes of an online poll distributed by Enhypen's Instagram account, was 'Schoolgirl / Schoolboy,' which meant everyone would be dressed in plaid neck ties and neatly-ironed button-down blazers.

“This'll have to do,” murmured one of the makeup artist's on duty, simply dusting you with a bit of blush, some gloss, and shimmery eye shadow because they couldn't find a foundation shade that matched your skin color.

“I can't find my contact solution!” Serenity exclaimed frantically in the dressing studio, searching through her sparkly teal duffle bag for the fifth time this hour.

Of course none of you were willing to assist her on the aimless contact solution hunt, especially not with the way she verbally harassed the makeup crew for not "lining her eyes right."

“Just let it go, Ren,” Sunghoon said with an annoyed sigh, “the stylists are making all of us wear glasses for the concept today anyways...”

“Okay first of all, don't call me by my nickname. Second, it's not my vision I'm worried about, but my image,” she clarified matter-of-factly, “I wanna impress the Korean fans with a big and bright boba eye moment...”

“You have sooo many problems,” Jade added with a similar irritation, rolling her eyes at the diva before a hairstylist ran over to clip in another track of fake hair.

“Tell me about it,” Serenity huffed despairingly, sticking her arms out like a scarecrow as the fashion crew adjusted the belt around her waist.

“Let's just try and maintain a good mood before the meeting guys,” you started optimistically amongst the tension, “the fans might pick up on our bad energy if we all show up pouting like this...”

“Easy for you to say,” Niki replied teasingly, “you slept like a baby last night… meanwhile, you kept me up with your insistent snoring…”

“Did not,” you whined in protest, looking back at his attractively playful expression, “it’s not my fault that the stories you tell in your groggy bedtime voice are so relaxing.”

Niki meant to reply but was rudely interrupted by Serenity’s stinky attitude, “Aww, late night bonding moment, I see? Hope a little ‘story time’ was as far as it got for you two lovebirds...”

You and Niki shook your heads in unison at her senseless comment, the rest of Enhypen and your band mates soon rushing out of the dressing room and outside to the awaiting limousine as the schedule manager directed.

“Make sure you have everything you need, guys! We’re running a bit behind on time and can’t afford any more set-backs,” exclaimed a tall, broad man in athletic wear, a black Hybe hat topping off his look.

“Got it, sir,” Jungwon replied politely, double-checking his leather cross-body bag before stepping into the vehicle, the rest of you following after him.

You didn’t expect to see Miss Kim in the front seat with the chauffeur, but you greeted her nonetheless.

“Morning, Miss Kim!,” You and Hearin started enthusiastically.

“Morning, Riot Grrlz,” she returned while not looking at any of you, writing hasty yet neat notes down on her clipboard, “I’ll be bold and assume you ladies have never attended any sort of fan event, correct?”

“Y-yes, that is correct,” Jade answered before you, crossing her legs in her seat, “this’ll be our very first experience today…”

“Oh, that’s cool for you then, isn’t it? Don’t worry if you don’t know what to say or do, by the way... just copy us,” you heard Heeseung encourage somewhere behind you, but your mind was more focused on the way Niki’s hand accidentally brushed against yours while you two glared out of the same window...

Accidentally… maybe…

“I was just getting around to that, Heeseung,” Miss Kim continued after clearing her coffee-stained throat, “Korean fans as a whole are pretty cutthroat, and whether you’re a foreigner or not, they expect you to present yourself a certain way…”

“Perfect,” Sunoo thought out loud, “they expect you to be perfect…”

“That’s just the way this idol life goes, I'm afraid,” Jungwon sighed from his seat, not empathetically, but in a realistic sense.

“Either way, you girls should be safe to mirror whatever the boys are doing if you ever feel confused…” Miss Kim trailed off, the limo being just a few feet from reaching the fan meeting center, “Good luck today, you all.”

▶︎ ၊၊||၊|။||||။‌‌‌‌‌၊| • • •

Things were turning out surprisingly smooth at the event, to say the least.

Needless to mention, you and Niki stayed pretty close the entire time, and the fans seemed to be amused by your attempt at famous duo heart poses with him.

“Just extend your hand like this,” he instructed while giggling, watching as your overhead heart ended up looking more like an oval to the audience.

Serenity was received as a fan favorite, too, her “boba eye” look captivating the male attendees while others were more entertained in her beginner Korean skills.

“Hwaiting,” she exclaimed confidently before the fans one too many times for your tolerance, Sunghoon’s face clearly showing just how much he was enjoying not being the cringiest person in the room for once.

Or, at least that was until an older fan requested that he and Sunoo sing and dance to the infamous aeygo Ottoke song for good luck at the show tomorrow.

“The things we do for engene,” the two boys collectively thought to themselves while fastening coquette bunny ears atop their heads, hoping that their enthusiasm would override the embarrassment.

It was all just such a culture shock for you and your group.

“Uhhh, a little help here?” Haerin worriedly called out to Jake as a particularly excited Korean fan approached her with a lot to say that she could barely understand.

“Oh- allow me,” Jake offered between the language barrier, translating to Haerin what the fan was trying to tell her.

“She thinks I’m a what now?”

“A K-pop Idol, mostly because of your trendy look today,” Jungwon giggled warmly, “the prophesied eighth member of Enhypen, in fact...”

Haerin laughed with both embarrassment and flattery, trying her best to explain to the young fan that she was a member of the Riot Grrlz and Riot Grrlz only.

Interactive activities continued just as well after this, the event nearing its end as you and Niki did a few TikTok dance challenges for the fans on stage.

Dance challenges that you had practiced with him in eery hours of the night, or whenever you two were left alone in the dance studio.

That, alongside other things too… like stealing sweet kisses here and there… or nearly melting while staring into each others love struck eyes—

“____, right?” A fan asked, approaching you with a blue marker and square of paper.

“Yes, that’s me. Nice to meet you,” you returned, keeping eye contact with her, despite the dark shades she wore.

“Nice to meet you, too! I have so many questions to ask you about what it’s like working with Enhypen!… and I really like your hair, too! The highlights look really nice with your outfit hehe… ALSO, I've been listening to a lot of your groups songs recently, and my favorite has to be the main track from your most recent album, it’s so unique!…” the fans voice eventually trailed off shyly.

“Oh my goodness, sorry for rambling!! Uhmmm, can I get your autograph by any chance?”

“Aww, thank you,” you smiled brightly, “and it’s okay! I find it cute how interested you are in my experience and music…”

Your hand reached out to grab the marker from her grasp, your body leaning forward slightly as you signed your name on the photo, resting your weight on the desk before you.

So lost in the moment, you didn’t even realize that the photo you had just signed was one of you and Niki hanging out just outside of Yeouido Park the other night.

It was impossible to hold back the gasp that escaped your throat at the realization, your finger loosing its grip around the marker as your stunned eyes met her knowing ones.

“Look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she chuckled in a facetiously sweet tone, you and her hands fighting over the now autographed-polaroid before your grip overthrew hers.

“Where did you get that—”

“Your secret’s safe with me, alright?” She interrupted with a sharp whisper, “So long as you work on distancing yourself from Niki moving forward…”

You blinked in feigned confusion at her words, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, we’re just colleagues—”

“And he’s an idol,” she cut in again, “idols don’t belong to silly American girls like you… you don’t even belong in our world…”

At this point, you're certain she could see how upset you were with her, and you didn't even care to hide it. “Everyone has welcomed me here, expect for you… and to what gain? I’m here with my band solely for work purposes, and I can assure you there is nothing you have to worry about concerning my professionalism.”

Your strong reply seemed to have rubbed her the wrong way, one of her hands fastening the bag over her shoulder while the other adjusted the glasses sitting at her nose.

“Thank you for your time,” she nearly growled at you, that same phony smile plastered to her lips before she hurriedly walked away, disappearing into the crowd of fans.

You let out a breath that you didn't even know you'd been holding, trying to calm yourself down before anyone noticed the silent commotion that had occurred on your side of the meeting booth.

All you could do was hope that this was the only copy or evidence of you and Niki hanging out that night as you folded the paper into a small square, tucking it under your sleeve in a way that no one would notice.

Above all though, you were just glad that the event was coming to an end soon, a few on-set staff members already helping to put away some stage props, meanwhile Sunoo, Heeseung, and Jade helped themselves to bringing along some gifts from fans.

“Hey... uhm, Heeseung? Can I-”

“Yes, Jade,” Heeseung answered with a giggle, “you can have all of my kitty plush gifts...”

▶︎ ၊၊||၊|။||||။‌‌‌‌‌၊| • • •

The limo ride back to the HYBE building was quiet, the sole thought roaming in the back of your mind being that one fan's cruel words…

…𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶… 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥...

It wasn’t like you were trying to infiltrate the world of K-pop.

You and your group were simply expanding your collab horizons upon being invited, and it seriously boggled you how anyone would have a problem with that—

“Knock knock,” Niki said with a smile in his voice from behind the door to your private backstage dressing room, waiting for your cue that it was safe for him to come in.

“You can come in, Niki,” you replied softly, standing in front of the body length wall mirror while struggling to fix your hair into a suitable style for the stage practice in a few minutes.

“Hi,” you greeted again once he reached you, watching as his eyes traced your reflection, almost immediately picking up on your nervous demeanor.

“You did great today, ____, y’know that?” He started with a low voice, guiding your stressed hands away from your head and resting them at your sides.

“Niki, I have to get ready—”

“And you already look more than prepared,” he encouraged, securing his hands around your waist before leaving a kiss below your ear, “gorgeous, even...”

“Thanks,” you answered shyly, somehow already feeling a bit better about things now that he was near you.

“So. Are you gonna tell me what’s got you upset or are we gonna make this a guessing game?” He teased, making you chuckle a bit as his attempt to cheer you up.

Your eyes fell to the floor, his grip on you loosening as a little sigh escaped your freshly glossed lips.

“A fan…,” you began quietly, “at the meeting today… she asked me to sign this photo.”

Reaching into your bra, you pulled out the mysterious square photo and watched with a pout as Niki carefully unfolded it from each corner.

“I… I don’t understand…” he stuttered, eyes glazing over the sight of you and him holding hands at the firework show that night.

“I know, it’s my fault that—”

“No…,” he interrupted your words before meeting your guilt-ridden eyes, “I don’t understand why you’re letting this get to you…”

“Excuse me?” You asked with a confused expression, “if something like this gets out, it could ruin both of our careers, y’know?”

“Sure,” he responded nonchalantly with a shrug, “but I couldn’t care less about some jealous sasaeng’s creepy little photo fest… by now, it’s gonna take a lot more than an innocent, harmless photo of us hanging out to make me question our status in this field.”

“You never take anything seriously, Nishimura,” you smiled with a sigh, shaking your head as you watched his fingers tear the photo to pieces.

“Well you’re definitely an exception to that trait of mine,” he smirked, tucking the torn shreds of paper into his back pocket before finding your face in his hands, placing a tender kiss to your left cheek.

“How sweet of you to say,” you whispered softly, grabbing the neckline of his shirt and pulling him closer to your height, “now how about you kiss me properly this time?”

He hummed at your teasing tone, sharp features softening as he tilted his head, sealing the space between you and him with the sweet kiss you’d been waiting for.

“I’ll never get tired of this,” Niki sighed against your lips, his right hand removing the rubber band securing your ponytail so his fingers could roam freely through your curls.

Things were escalating pretty quickly now, both of your breaths sounding more labored with each second as you stumbled backwards onto the desk, his energy leading the kiss as he remained on top of you.

It was almost more than you could handle, his hands roaming at your sides before your eyes barely fluttered open, the sight of his slightly blushed button-nose making you feel like melting on the spot.

Thats when you realized his pink hue was a result of two reasons: (1) The way your hands shyly clung to his shoulders right now, and (2) the shadow of footsteps peeking behind your dressing room door.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Hello? Miss ____, its Kim... Are you decent?”

“Erm, one second!” You responded in an obvious frantic.

Niki helped you get up from the vanity table, kneeling down quickly to hide himself under the it as the stern lady made her way into the room anyway.

“Sorry to intrude,” she began abruptly, not even taking note of your currently disheveled hair and flushed expression, “but I’ve unfortunately been appointed as the bearer of bad news for today…”

“Oh... uhm, w- what is it, is everyone alright?” You asked with a concerned tone, trying to take your mind off the fact that a Niki stained with the glimmer of your peach flavored lipgloss all over his mouth was literally under your desk right now, a mere two feet away from Miss Kim’s leather boots.

“For the most part, yes… but it concerns one of your band mates… Serenity, specifically… Since you are the leader of your group, I found it humble to have at least this much respect to tell you first in private.”

You let out a breath, closing your eyes for a moment before opening them back up, restoring your usually confident aura and making eye contact with the woman.

“Thank you, Miss Kim… I’m listening…”

▶︎ ၊၊||၊|။||||။‌‌‌‌‌၊| • • •

The sounds of shoes rhythmically scuffing, mics going in and out of focus, and layered fits of heavy breathing filled your ears for the next two hours.

Design tech, stage directors, and performers alike were giving it their all to perfect things before the big show coming up.

You paced around the shiny stage, a sweat rag secured lazily around your neck as you and the Enhypen members just got through with rehearsing the main choreo at the performing arena for the first time.

Everyone except Jay and Jade that is, who were still busy with working on their guitar duet for the intro show backstage with the music writers.

“I have no idea how you can still see after being in front of these bright stage lights all the time,” you huffed out tiredly, glancing at Sunoo who only shrugged while taking a few gulps from his grey water bottle.

“I’m not too sure either, but for the lot of us, it’s just something you have to get used to,” he tried warmly before letting himself fall on the ground, limbs spread out like an exhausted snowman as sweat trickled down his forehead.

“Here, lemme show you a little trick I like to use,” Niki offered with a smile while approaching you from behind, his larger frame casting a shadow before you.

“Look down there,” he started, guiding your waist with one hand as he pointed ahead of you with the other, “do you see the tech crew down there?”

You looked to where his finger was pointing, eyes being met with the sight of workers who sat in reclining chairs while others drank some coffee, a few sporadic employees carrying clipboards with stacks of paper, giving out orders to their fellow floor members.

“Yeah, I see them,” you answered, making Niki laugh slightly for reasons you didn’t fully understand.

“That means you’re too close then,” he replied, still holding your waist as he guided you to take a few steps back, which ended up being more steps for you given the leg length differences.

“There’s a rule of thumb that if you can see the audience, they can’t see you… are the lights still bothering you now?”

“Not as much, actually,” you said, turning to face him as he still held you close, everything in your body fighting not to kiss him in this moment given the way he looked back at you, “thanks again…”

“Anytime,” he smirked smuggly, “but uhhh, I think people might be looking at us now—”

“Oh,” you giggled shyly, backing a few inches away from him.

“Ahem,” a nagging voice cleared from beside you two, breaking the wholesome presence of the moment.

“Do you guys think you’re invisible or something?” Serenity asked, crossing her arms while staring the both of you up.

“Uhm…. No?” Niki answered for you, furrowing his eyes at the blue-eyed diva.

“Then why’re you just standing there? You’re blocking my light…”

You let out a scoff at her words, feeling baffled at the thought of how insecure girls like her could have such egotistical tendencies.

“Sorry, Serenity…,” you said half-heartedly, “didn’t mean to disturb your… solo mid-break practice session...”

“Really appreciate it, leader lady,” she replied sarcastically, very intentionally bumping into your shoulder as she walked past you before stopping in her tracks, a loose copy of the stage schedule getting caught under her baby pink sneakers.

She leaned down to pick it up, examining the text before her eyes stumbled over a line of bolded words. All of this was for reasons she didn’t understand, but either way, would soon resent.

“Ugh?!!” She exclaimed with a confused scoff, “HYBE is kicking me from the show??”

Your eyes widened at her words, the furious, confused, and torn look on her face doing nothing but make Niki smirk to himself, “Serenity, I can explain—”

“And you knew about this, didn’t you?” She accused with balled fists, looking between your nervous face and Niki’s shamelessly proud one.

“I just found out today, okay? But Miss Kim specifically instructed me not to say anything about until she revealed it to you herself after practice,” you clarified with a shaky voice.

“Please,” she said with a scoff, “And what’s with the face, Nishimura Nimrod? Huh!? Your little girlfriend told you before she told me, her own band mat—”

“I didnt tell him anything!” You retorted with a slightly raised voice, cracking with nerves you couldn't keep buried anymore.

You never liked being in the hot seat unless you were sitting there with Niki, thanks to his ability to always maintain his cool under pressure...

However, for some reason, even with him next to you right now, you still felt like hurling yourself to the ground.

“You had to have told me him something, so just stop with your insistent lies, ____,” Serenity spat, poking a finger in the center of your chest. Hard.

“You couldn’t wait to get rid of me, its been all over your rotten little face ever since we got here… You’re so jealous of me and it’s honestly depressing at this point…”

Oh Serenity, you thought in your mind, if only you knew this was all brought on by yourself…

You’d had enough of her ignorant speech, holding a fierce eye contact with her while trying to conceal the tears forming behind your eyes.

The sadness growing in your heart…

“None of this was my decision, Ren, so if you have a bone to pick with someone, try taking it up with Miss Kim herself,” you said firmly, walking back a few steps in case she tried touching you again, “I'm sure she'd be more than happy to inform you on her reasons for exiling you from the main activities…”

“What’s going on you guys?” Haerin asked timidly in the midst of the chaos, having just come back from washing up in the restroom.

Serenity practically burned holes in your face with her venomous glare before turning sharply on her heel, footsteps loud and startling as she marched off the stage, murmuring a string of curses under her breath.

“Soooo,” Sunghoon started with a curious accent, “I’m usually not the best at comprehending things, but I’m assuming that whatever just happened was a lot more serious than the usual Riot Grrlz drama, correct?”

“Yeah, what's the big deal ____?,” Jade asked alongside Jake, who gave your shoulder a comforting shake.

You fought with everything in your body to not to let any tears fall...

Because in this moment, it just felt right to cry, but at the same time, was it really worth appearing weak in front of everyone?

Everyone who counted on you to remain strong?

You exhaled with a deep breath, wiping the pricks of moisture from your eyes before speaking, “Serenity won’t be performing with us for the special stage anymore… only the ending song.”

A cacophony of gasps filled the room at your words, Jungwon having picked up the loose schedule copy to analyze it for himself, the bolded words reading:

>> SERENITY TAYLOR Authorized to be PULLED from Furthering Her Performance Activities in Sight of Behavioral Decency Violations Under HYBE's Collaboration and Code of Conduct Standards

“Will she be allowed to attend the award show at least,” Heeseung inquired, not out of empathy, but curiosity as all of this was unfolding pretty fast.

“Perhaps, but for now, we can rest on the thought that we’ll have one less problem while preparing from here on out,” you answered, feeling a large hand take your hand in theirs before giving it a gentle squeeze.

Niki.

“Either way, the show must go on you guys,” he said with a deep voice, the faintest smile being on his face as he looked back at you, dark eyes sparkling with sincerity.

The stage lights flickered from ahead and above you, a key indicator that the radio would be picking up again soon, playing the instrumental to your practice track.

“Mic check everyone and it’s back to rehearsals in five,” yelled out a staff member from below the stage, the ten of you now lining up in formation while adjusting your headsets around your ears.

There was only one thought that remained in your head as the choreographer hopped up center stage to explain how the performance would accommodate for Serenity's sudden absence:

The show must go on.

🎙️For my baby, @microwvdstrawb3rri3s 💕 This is episode 3 for ya ~ Thanks for being so patient with me :3

⛦ TAGS: @squoxle @nikisvanillaccola @yourmomscuntis2tighy @nikimeows @kimjiho1 @nikipedia07 @nishimuradaniel @ashgonedash @laurradoesloveu @caithefly @samhomo @rikikiynikilcykiki @3ngene--frvr @illymontyshit @filmofhybe @whoslug @nikiiitties

🎙️ Feel free to check out more fun reads on the pinned post at my home page ~

[1dmonthlyficroundup]

— 1D Monthly Fic Roundup —

Hi, and welcome to the 1D Monthly Fic Roundup for July 2024! Below you’ll find 1D fics that were all published this month. We hope you’ll check out these new fics! If you would like to submit your own fic, please check this post on how to submit or visit our blog @1dmonthlyficroundup​. You can find all our other posts here.

Happy reading!

＊ Peeping by jacaranda_bloom / @jacaranda-bloom [E, 16k, Harry/Louis]

Louis hates his job as an accountant and desperately wants to be a teacher. Of course, that would mean going back to uni, which he can’t afford if he wants to keep up the mortgage payments on his house. It’s Niall that suggests Louis gets a housemate.

Harry is great around the house, loves cooking and cleaning, and everything is fine, lovely even. That is until Louis locks himself out of the house, and in his attempts to get inside, he stumbles upon Harry wanking to a video of Louis playing footy.

OR Louis has a thing for his housemate, Harry is under the impression that clothing around the house is an optional extra, and neither of them seem to be able to stop wanking long enough to get their shit together and admit their true feelings.

＊ Unbonded by jacaranda_bloom / @jacaranda-bloom [E, 24k, Louis/Harry]

“Look,” Louis says firmly. “Last time I checked, I’m still the pack leader, so you damn well better listen to me. It was Harry who worked out what I’d been poisoned with, then nursed me back to health. And it was Harry who thwarted the plan for my second assassination attempt by literally throwing himself in front of an arrow intended for me, nearly dying in the process, which is why we’re even having this argument in the first place. So if you think I’m going to set foot outside of this hut until he’s fully healed, you’ve all seriously misread the situation, and even more importantly, you’ve all seriously misread me.”

OR the one where Harry is an omega who has been cast out from his pack, Louis is the alpha leader of the pack where Harry finds a new home, Liam is an alpha with heart of gold, and Niall is a cook who can't seem to stop setting himself on fire.

＊ frightened by the bite, no harsher than the bark by localopa / @voulezloux [T, 21k, Louis/Harry]

louis loves going to the barricade during his shows. if it’s because he’s got a bit (lot) of touch deprivation and is using it as an excuse to have his big alpha bodyguard, harry, touch him, well, that’s a secret he doesn’t need to tell.

＊ the past might be painful, but i’m in love with our future by localopa / @voulezloux [T, 10k, Harry/Louis]

it takes a lot of convincing for louis to let harry take him to his first pride. harry understands his worries and fears. really, he does. he just wants to show his boyfriend that he doesn’t have to be alone anymore.

a don’t be afraid to love (and love again) time stamp. Part 2 of trans louis verse

＊ If Life Is a Photograph by @allwaswell16 [T, 2k, Louis/Harry]

Harry gets plucked out of the crowd to take Louis’ crew pic on stage in Guadalajara.

＊ It Was Electric Touch by @allwaswell16 [E, 2k, Harry/Louis]

Harry, assistant to The Snuts' manager, has been indulging in fantasies about the headliner and founder of the Away From Home Festival, Louis Tomlinson. He gets the chance to indulge in the real thing at the after party.

＊ Tastes Like Violets by @allwaswell16 [T, 2k, Louis/Harry]

Pop star Harry Styles has a bit of a crush on his makeup artist's brother.

Or Louis has a death metal band, Harry doesn't mind public challenges via Twitter, and Lottie thinks they're both hopelessly chaotic.

＊ Coração selvagem by Stria / @nooradeservedbetter [NR, 50k, Louis/Harry]

Louis keeps his eyes on the Wolf, careful about every movement he makes. He keeps his head tilted, deliberately showing the right side of his neck; the mating gland is on the other side, but this still shows he’s not a threat. Zayn answers at the third ring. “Lou?” he asks, confusion seeping into his voice. “Zed,” Louis says quietly, trying to keep his tone as calm as possible. “Zed, I’ve found Harry. He’s feral.”

Or, Louis' life in his newfound Pack gets disrupted by an old flame coming back for him, shifted and feral.

＊ No Surprises by @louislittletomlintum [E, 21k, Harry/Louis]

The thing was, Louis worked in an office, and it was fine. It could be worse.

But maybe, it could be better.

“I smoke socially, sometimes. Depends who I’m with,” Harry shrugged, taking another puff. Louis watched his soft little lips wrap around it and purse just slightly on the inhale. It wasn’t the first time he considered if Harry was perfectly made just to torment him.

“Hm. I won’t send you to jail for now, then. On crimes of fibbing,” Louis decided benevolently. He was about to open his mouth to spout off some other shite before he saw Harry had a bit of a pensive look in his features despite how his eyes were a little glassy.

“Lou,” he began, and god Louis loved that he’d earned that little nickname off of him. “Can I ask you summat?” Harry added, tapping the ash of the cigarette in the tray before taking another puff.

“You just did,” Louis smiled because Harry walked right into that one. “But I’ll give you another,”

“How did you know you were queer?”

or; an office au where louis is a loveable brat and harry is working himself out

＊ Listening to Intuition by @lululawrence [NR, 5k, Louis/Harry]

Now that Zayn was laying it all out like this, Louis got to wondering… could it be possible that he was never able to get a really good handle on what exactly aromanticism was because he’d never felt romantic attraction, and without that key piece, how could he possibly figure out what it truly meant to be lacking it?

Louis has a good grasp of his own identity and how all the pieces of him fit together in his life as a queer man in a committed relationship with his partner. Or so he thinks until his favorite aroace TikTok creator shows him another possibility he may have previously overlooked. Part 1 of Looking for a Good Time

＊ Smells Like TEAM Spirit by @persephoneflouwers [NR, 10k, Harry/Louis]

Punk Louis and quarterback Harry have been secretly dating for years. Feeling overwhelmed by his commitments, Harry suggests a short break, fearing he can't give Louis enough time. As Louis reflects on his vulnerabilities, Harry struggles on the field without him. Part 1 of ~ Pocket Tales unfolding on Screen ~

＊ If Control is My Religion… by LetTheMusicMoveYou / @letthemusicmoveyou28 [E, 14k, Louis/Harry]

“So just to recap, you’ve been vomiting every single morning, and then you seem to be fine for the rest of the day?”

Louis nods. “Except for yesterday when Liam was eating a tuna sandwich after practice and it smelled vile. Who the hell even likes tuna sandwiches?”

Niall sighs in the way that a disappointed parent might. “Louis, please don’t take this in the wrong way, because I’m not judging you at all. But is there any possibility that you’re pregnant?”

Louis scoffs. Technically, it is possible. Louis’ known he was a male carrier since his routine physical when he was sixteen. But it isn’t actually possible, not really. He and Harry always use a condom.

Except for that one day a few weeks ago when Louis had forgotten to buy more and they couldn’t wait. And the time the week before that when the condom had broke, but they both figured it was probably fine.

Shit.

(Or the one where Louis is a professional football player, who’s in a very mutually beneficial no-strings-attached relationship with the team’s medical trainer Harry. Everything in Louis’ life is exactly how he wants it. Until he finds himself unexpectedly pregnant).

＊ Forward by itsraininginengland / @ilovellama14 [E, 10k, Harry/Louis]

Harry and Louis must keep moving forward.

Quiet scenes from an older Louis and Harry, who are always working to be better together.

＊ Yesterday’s gone (it’ll be better than before) by red_panda28 / @red-pandaaa [E, 3k, Louis/Harry]

Leo’s frown. His attempt to call after Louis. Ed saying he was surprised to see Louis here. All those little moments fell into place the moment he spotted Harry Styles.

Harry Styles, his former bandmate.

Harry Styles, who he hadn’t seen face to face in over three years.

Harry Styles, who was technically still Harry Tomlinson-Styles.

OR Louis and Harry run into each other at the Euros, there's a mix up at the hotel and they have a past

＊ Following the Good Vibes by @lululawrence [NR, 6k, Harry/Louis]

"Oh my god, I can't believe it's really you!" Zayn said with a wide smile, hands on his hips as if he was truly stunned over the fact this guy was sitting just a couple of seats behind him. "I thought it might be when I heard your voice, but I haven't seen you in years! How are you doing..."

It was then Zayn realized he didn't have a fucking clue what this guy's name was and he was pretending they were long lost friends.

After an awkward pause, Zayn finally tacked on, "...Chad!"

When Zayn rescues a stranger named Harry from an awkward plane ride beside a total dick, he doesn't think much of it. Harry as the chance to pay it forward on a later flight, and in doing so he just might set into motion pieces that will determine the path his future takes. Part 2 of Looking for a Good Time

＊ It's Not That I Don't Want You by @parmahamlarrie [E, 12k, Louis/Harry]

It begins with a benign comment during a night in watching a show with his lovely boyfriend, Louis, and leads Harry to a months long journey to understand himself better. Will Harry figure out what makes him feel so different from everyone else? And will he find the courage to tell his boyfriend?

Or a character study into Ace Harry with the most supportive boyfriend, Louis.

＊ I'd Rather You (Hold Me)by we_are_the_same / @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed [T, 14k, Zayn/Louis]

He frowns when he hears the dial tone. By now, he knows just how many times the sound will come through, tinny on the speakers, before it clicks over to voicemail, and yet he still feels his heart trip over itself whenever the voice first comes through.

“Hi, you’ve reached Zayn-”

He sighs, rubbing at his forehead, where his headache always tends to bloom when he’s stressed. “Fuck’s sake,” he grumbles, disconnecting the call and resisting the childish urge to redial immediately, knowing that if Zayn’s not picking up now, he won’t no matter how much Louis bugs him.

It’s just - this isn’t like them. It isn’t like Zayn to dodge his calls for days, not unless he’s seriously incapacitated or dead, but if that were the case, Louis would’ve heard. Because Louis is his emergency contact, for one, and both their families know how much they mean to one another. Someone would’ve called, if something had happened, unless Zayn was dead in his own house, and, oh God, what if Zayn’s dead in his own house and Louis has been mentally calling him a dickhead while he’s rotting on the bathroom floor?

Spoiler: Zayn isn't dead. There is however, suddenly a baby.

＊ coming home by @nouies [E, 2k, Louis/Harry]

It’s coming home, one way or another.

＊ Never Wanted Love, Just A Fancy Car by LiveLaughLoveLarry / @loveislarryislove [M, 7k, Harry/fLouis]

“Anyways,” the man says, “someone as handsome as you shouldn’t be sitting all alone with an empty glass. Can I get you a drink?”Louis raises an eyebrow, snorting. “It’s an open bar,” he says. “The company is buying the drinks.”“Well.” The man laughs nervously. “I suppose so. But it is my company, so. I guess I already bought you a drink?”Louis feels his head jerk up in surprise, his mouth falling open as he looks into the face of COO Harry Styles, son of founder and CEO Desmond Styles.

When graphic designer Louis gets asked out by C-suite executive Harry, he thinks Harry is trying to take advantage of him. But he's willing to take advantage of him right back, if that's what it takes to get ahead in life and get his sister's new business off the ground.

＊ your brightest star by staybeautiful / @harruandlou [E, 35k, Louis/Harry]

“My baby,” Louis whispered into Harry’s neck, closing his eyes tightly into the embrace. Harry squeezed him closer and Louis could feel him nodding into his throat before he kissed him gently behind the ear.

“I love you,” Harry mumbled into his shoulder.

He tried to move closer, but they were already pressed together from cheek to where their ankles were tangled precariously together. “Me too, me too.”

“I’ve missed you so much,” he whispered, just for Louis’ ears. They swayed slightly, like a delicate dance to the distilled noise around them.

“Oh, darling. Sunshine.”

Or a series of timestamps from the sunshine, baby! universe 𖤓 Part 2 of you're the sun to me

＊ we could be enough by @hellolovers13 [M, 5k, Harry/Louis]

“You know I am flirting with you, right?”

Louis freezes mid-bite. Just manages not to choke on his steak.

Harry laughs a bit too loudly, almost like he’s nervous. “Yeah, should’ve known you weren’t the observant kind. You think I get this dressed up for a random dinner with a mate on a Tuesday night?”

or Louis never imagined anyone could love him for who he truly is.

Then he meets Harry.

＊ Just The Way You Are by @enchantedlandcoffee [G, 780 words, Louis/Harry]

"Do you miss it?" "Miss what, love?" He could hear the frown in Louis’ voice, and tried to subtly release soothing pheromones into the kitchen "You know...sex and all that." "Where's this coming from, Haz?"

Or, the one where Harry confesses his worries, and Louis reassures him. Part 1 of I Just Wanna Love You

＊ This Feels Like Home by @enchantedlandcoffee [G, 300 words, Harry/Louis]

After one too many nights alone in a hotel bed, Harry flies home on a whim to surprise his husband.

[darling-deerest-dead]

what artists do you like on pixiv👉👈i am not really in the know about that website lol

...This is because I talked about tall Sirius, isn't it? 🤣 Well, I'm more of a tag scroller than anything and these are the relevant tags: dog/deer, sirije, deer/dog. The last is the tag for bottom Sirius and does fall prey to the usual modern fandom problems, though they at least make the boys the same height.

As for favourite artist it is Nipye, Nipye hands down. But she rode her Prongsfoot (and Tomarry, Jily, Drarry) fame into a legitimate career as a manhwa artist and nuked her accounts. All we have left is Naruto. I suspect a couple more artists have also ridden their Prongsfoot fame into paying careers because the dog/deer tag seems to have shrunk from 100+ works at the beginning of the year to just 80+ when I checked just now.

Maru is another artist I really like for their watercolour style drawings. They're a prolific HP fanartist in general and still actively updating. It might take a bit of digging to get to the Prongsfoot stuff (and since we're not in Japan, we're shit out of luck with their Prongsfoot anthology doujinshi). They also draw James and Sirius being super cuddly even in gen Marauders fanart and I am eternally grateful. Have Sirius and James with baby Harry as a bonus.

Pubupu11 is half the dog/deer tag at this point and I really love their Sirius. Pictures from this art log are reposted particularly often on Pinterest, though notice those cowards never repost the ones where Sirius is kissing James hard. There is no end to the good stuff with pub. Sadly their last post was on James' birthday this year.

Nodafuji does fancomics and has less work up. Nothing Can Start Now works even if you can't read Japanese (and the look of devastation on Sirius' face is haunting). This alpha!James/alpha!Sirius fancomic is also good if you don't mind running it through google translate.

Mon does mainly deer/dog, so the uke-ification is there but I find it bearable. These two pieces of art live in my head rent-free for starters. Here is Sirius laying down James' wand at his grave. This is for the bottom!Sirius Fest, where there's a wordless bit in the middle where Padfoot transform into Sirius before jumping into James' arms that really gets me every time.

[stychu-stych]

Hi, sorry if this is weird but I'm saw in your bio that your a tattoo artist but I found your account theough some cult of the lamb art (it looks cool af) and I've been planning to do illustration and animation at unj but I've also been considering a tattoo artist apprenticeship after i finish that msybe? could you possibly tell me what irs like as an apprentice and if you think I could do my courses at uni and then do an apprenticeship after? I've really been struggling considering my choices and if you had any advice or information about being a tattoo artist weather its on an apprenticeship or actually as a career I would really appreciate it if you had any information for me! I'm so sorry if this is weird and of course you dont have to tell me anything if you don't want to or am uncomfortable too but I'm really curious and with no other sources 😭 (also finding your account may just be like my idol and inspiration while I struggle through school and what I do in the future 😭❤️)

That took me a while to answer because I never feel experienced enough to advise people 😭 Or maybe I should say - I don't feel in a position to advise because, as I once said, I'm mostly a self-taught working at home studio (now almost in my own art workshop with my fiancée) and I don't have much experience working in typical tattoo studio and with other tattoo artists. But I'll try my best ✨

There're many differences between apprenticeship in different countries (and tattooing in general) for example - Poland has one of the lowest price list in Europe but still a lot of people can't afford tattoos. Or that in UK being a tattoo apprentice is a long process. I know for sure that a lot of tattoo artists I know struggle with number of clients compared to previous years. And it won't change for a long time for sure because of inflation. So if you want to start tattooing you need to know that you won't earn much money for a year at least (as I said- it might looks different in another countries)

Also as a tattoo artist (even as a apprentice) you still need to take care of your social media which sometimes can be exhausting and depressing. And I'm telling all of this because I know that you probably won't find this kind of information on other tattoo artists' profiles (unfortunately strategy "look how my life is perfect" works for social media and for getting clients)

But on the brighter side - being a tattoo apprentice isn't something you have to dedicate your whole life to it. Lot of people I know have a second job to be financially stable. I myself don't live only from tattooing - I also help my fiancée with our online store (with our fanmerch and original artworks) and go on conventions with our booth. So you always can do multiple things at once and if you'll decide that tattooing isn't for you - nothing is lost!

The best way to know more about tattoo apprenticeship in your area is to check some groups - for example on facebook- dedicated to learning tattooing

I know that this post is sooo long but believe me, I barely touched the topic. I could write an entire essay about that topic djdbdjdh

Have some wolf lady because I like adding pics to posts sjdbsjsb

[j0kers-light]

Hi Chaos! MASSIVE FAN of your work!

A little headcannon/short story idea (If you find it suitable and to your liking, of course <3)

We keep on hearing of how y/n interacts on social media- but what about the Joker? Does he have a secret account for fun, does he stay away from it or is there a third alternative?

Bonus! (In honor of Spotify wrapped coming out): What type of music genre do you think the Joker enjoys listening to?

Hey hi anon!!! 🖤✨

wow, haven't had one of these in a hot minute. I miss answering anon... 🥺🥺ANYHOO!!!

THANK YOU FOR BEING A MASSIVE FAN! I LOVES YOU MUCH! *opens up my docs so I can work hard to make content for mi sweet loving anon*

Let's get into it! Straight to the point because I can go into heavy detail AND I WILL. I WILL GO INTO HEAVY DETAIL! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

First and foremost, Joker isn't addicted to modern technology like we are as a culture, this man is soooo old fashion it makes your eyes roll.

He doesn't see the appeal of TikTok or apps like Snapchat even if the filters make him all sparkly and look cool.

Joker will take silly selfies with you if you beg him to and he lets you save some on your phone however; if he sees them anywhere else-- say goodbye to fun selfies forever!

He can't have any evidence of his real face floating around. Phones can be hacked! So you suggest Polaroids and Joker breathes a sigh of relief.

Get it? Polaroid? Just like in the infamous photo Joker snapped in the chapter Push and Pull! 🤭

If Joker uses any social media platforms, it’s in an anonymous fashion.

Joker is on Twitch because he's secretly a gamer but he doesn't use a cam. He loves stalking your personal blog and he's always going down a rabbit hole on YouTube.

You won't find him anywhere that requires a legal profile. Anything that can be traced back to him and most importantly you is a no go. He won't risk you being used as blackmail or worse.

He'll check your Patreon from time to time if you're a digital artist or something of the sort but other than that, his phone is used primary for communication with you.

Joker would rather leave behind sticky notes or his signature playing cards than send a text. He scatters the apartment with little love notes; it’s so corny but sweet.

Now on the other hand if you need assistance whether it be for a skit, making a reel, etc., best believe Joker will hold your camera for you, he'll help you edit videos, he’ll even direct the content so its the best on the internet!

He'll be so supportive if you're a content creator. Scratch that. Joker is supportive in everything you do!

Granted he doesn't understands a lick of social media or its lingo, he will go above and beyond to make sure your content is phenomenal.

Need a nice shot of the Gotham Bridge or a background of somewhere cool? Its mysteriously empty for your use...

Need good lighting for a quick reel? Joker is setting off explosions in the background. Fire is really good natural lighting... far better than a ring light. 👀

Whatever you need, say the word and its yours. Joker will get anything for his Light.

THAT BEING SAID! BONUS ASK ITS A TWO FOR ONE DEAL!

I think I answered a similar ask like this but I'll do it again because I love to answer questions!! (I have a confession to make. I do not have a Spotify... so I can't do the viral wrapped thingy but I'm aware of it!)

I fully support Joker being older than you (teehee we stan mature older men around these parts!!)

That being said.. Joker grew up with good music like back when music meant something—not just mindless noise to add onto a video for likes.

He has an ear for jazz, crooner, classic R&B, and the occasional rock, heavy metal stuff if it has relatable lyrics (it channels his inner psycho don't judge him)

He cannot stand pop music or anything that's featured on the top 100's or played on repeat in a department store. He will stab someone over it. No questions asked.

If his Bunny is singing/dancing along to it he might make an exception because your voice is so soothing to him, it puts a different spin to the song. There's still a fifty fifty change he's tuning it out.

But he strongly believes all boy bands should be executed, no exceptions. That's where he draws the line.

Totally forgot I made a oneshot about Joker and music too!

Slippery When Wet lol...

Hope that answered your ask beloved! 🖤✨

[montague-fortnite]

What is this site... oh, whatever, I'm Montague, you probably know me. In fact, you SHOULD know me.

Alright, I'm not gonna be on this site a hell of a lot, but listen up because theres rules you need to follow. My blog isn't some place to mess around, so lets keep it civil.

1. Im here because of other people, so dont expect me to be a dog to answer at every mention of my name or every question you just have to ask me.

2. No disrespectful behaviour under my posts or towards me. Im too busy working to tolerate peoples foolish behaviour. (No homophobia, transphobia, racism, sexism and the likes of it. You get it by now, right? Good.)

3. No NSFW, im always working, so nothing unsafe for that should happen here. I can't have people look over my shoulder at work and see that. (Suggestive is ok but minimal)

4. I may not be what you expected me to be, just because I dont follow your perfect little perception of me does not mean you can tell me off on it. (My canon is my own, simple as that.)

5. Keep your gross problematic stuff away from me, your weird ships, and inappropriate stuff. And that being said, don't pick a fight if I get with someone not of your liking. I pick and choose who I get to stay around, not you.

(No proshippers, and this blog might contain ship content, dont get mad if it's not someone you like. Not your choice, never was.)

{Keep reading to find tags, guides, and my idea of canon for this blog}

-----------------------

Alright, now here's a few guides for you. Since some people don't know how to contact me, this is how;

My ask blog, I won't check it super often, but it's where you can contact me easiest. Anything weird asked in there is being ignored, so dont bother really.

Mentioning me in posts, feel free to, questions, posts, fanart, whatever you want. But if it's fanart, I prefer you only tag me in content you've made. {That's just to avoid random artists getting uncomfortable by rp accounts}. In reality, I can't stop you doing whatever, though.

-----------------------

Tags I'll be using just to organise. It keeps me sane instead of getting lost in my own blog.

#Montague Asks - self-explanatory, ask me things, I reply and tag it with that.

#Montague RP Art - any art I make relating to this blog will be tagged with this. If you make an ask or mention me somewhere, there's a chance I will reply with an artwork so this will be the tag for it.

#Montague Puppet - I'll use that when speaking OOC, because well... I'm puppeting this account. I will also use {} when speaking OOC to make it clearer when it's not Montague talking.

#Fortnite tumblrverse - Another tag I'll use when in character, open for other fortnite RP accounts to use.

Montague canon;

Hi hello!! Its the puppet behind Montague here, im not fully knowledged on how Montague may act or what lore he may have besides the society and character lines from NPCs. So if anything seems off its most likely me trying to define my own canon. As time goes on canon may change.

Important note, this account is run by a minor. If this bothers you, not my problem. You can stay or you can leave that is up to you.

HCs applying to this account:

Montague, in my perception, is definitely not straight. I personally haven't applied a specific attraction to Montague, so it'll be vague whenever mentioned.

Montague is not Cis in this blog! But more often than not, he won't openly discuss that, and not many people know. He's rich, he got the surgerys before meeting most people he knows.

Whenever Montague gets hurt and has an open scar, sometimes diamonds will grow there depending on stress levels. This can cause a wound to open up more, so Montague, being an often stressed person, doesn't help this. This is why he has so many guards. Montague without guards is fine. He's fully capable of winning a fight. But it's a safety precaution he put in for himself.

Montague wears makeup, lots. He most likely has plenty of scars from when he got into fights as a teen. Because of this, he spends an hour covering them up. Some need makeup because of their positioning. The scars follow the previous HC of diamond growth, making them more permanent.

Any other HCs youll have to find out by asking the man himself. Asks appreciated!! Thats all for now.

[kharmii]

Sluttified Volo gift art. First one with Emmet is a lingerie redesign of Weilder Volo from @nerdyghostclub. Second and third are from @diviously on Twitter where they posted it under a layer of protection. You probably need a Twitter account to see it. My version is faithful to the original design, except where I failed to make him as thicc, and I also borrowed the heels from the first artist. Last drawing that's supposed to be Volo being assaulted by Giratina tentacles is an almost direct copy of an unfinished sketch from this Twitter artist's poipiku account. I can't find it, so they may have deleted in the many, many months since I started drawing Volo Cheesecake.

Side note: Volo looks indignant in the first drawing because Emmet is being an asshole. He's saying something like, "I am Emmet. *picks up train schedule* My steam train is set to run through your railway every fifteen minutes for the next eight hours. My brother here will be the railway inspector who will make sure I'm running on time at full speed. -Not that there's a question. -Because you are an insatiable whore. -And I am a Subway Boss. I am Emmet."

Ingo: *checks another ticky box in his mental list of Volo fantasies*

[greenlantern94to04]

Green Lantern #54 (August 1994)

Ah, this one. Everything's coming up Kyle Rayner! He's getting the hang of this "Green Lantern" thing, just defeated a Superman villain (with Superman's help, but still), and is finally back together with his smart, sexy, and responsible girlfriend Alex (who honestly seems better suited for being a superhero than him). The first pages of this issue go out of their way to make it clear to us that they are definitely having sex and it is very hot.

The next morning, as Kyle lays on Alex's bed (because they had sex), he sees something on TV about weird stuff like dinosaurs, conquistadors, and Elvis being sighted around LA. Alex convinces him to suit up (he's currently nude, on account of the sex) and go check it out. She declines to tag along and take pictures this time because it's her day off, but she promises she'll have a "surprise" for him when he gets back (I'm gonna go ahead and guess the surprise is more sex).

As Kyle flies off, he sees that a bunch of futuristic buildings have for some reason materialized right in the middle of the city, along with some very confused future pedestrians. Apparently, safety regulations are a lot more lax in the year 2088, because the buildings start crumbling when one of LA's customary earthquakes happens to hit. Kyle realizes pretty fast that he can't stop a quake with his ring, but he can brace the structures against it to minimize the damage.

Then, the future buildings and future people fade away. Another disaster averted by the New Green Lantern! The end.

Wait, there are still 9 more pages left in the comic? Huh. While all of that was happening with Kyle, Alex received a visit from a flower delivery guy. She figured they must be from Kyle (to thank her for all the sex), but when she looks at the card, she sees that it says "I'm going to kill you." Turns out the flower delivery guy is supervillain Major Force, who has been commissioned by a shady government agency to kill Kyle and steal his ring, in no particular order.

MF grabs Alex (who tries to resist with a kitchen knife, but he's invulnerable) and tells her to give up information about her superhero boyfriend. She pretends not to know what he's talking about, and without even giving her another chance to squeal, he just chokes her until she loses consciousness in her kitchen, then says "I'm hungry."

Later, Kyle comes back to Alex's home all giddy and eager to collect his surprise. He finds a note from her that says "Surprise for you in the fridge," although he notices that her handwriting looks funny (almost like some big goon with quantum-powered metal skin wrote it). Then he looks there and finds... the origin of the term "fridging."

That's about the most abrupt tonal change I can remember in a comic; Kyle is so distraught, even the art style changes (okay, that's because this issue has multiple artists). So, yes, Major Force killed Alex and stuffed her body in the fridge, and now he expects Kyle to just give up his ring and lay down as he gets killed too. Instead, Kyle throws the MFer through the wall and they start fighting in Alex's front yard. MF is amused to find out that the green energy from Kyle's ring can actually hurt him, but the amusement doesn't last when he's being bludgeoned by a green mallet.

Kyle is going to kill MF (we know because he says "I'm going to kill you now"), but then the mallet his ring created suddenly evaporates. After several issues of usage, Kyle's ring picked this moment to run out of energy (we know because he says "I'm... running out of energy"). We end the issue with Kyle saying "it's dead" as a pissed-off MF is about to hit him with a quantum punch. TO BE CONTINUED!

Character-Watch:

So long, Alex! You were too good for this comic, or at least this particular issue. Unlike 90% of recurring characters who die in superhero comics, she'll never be brought back to life. From now on, she'll only appear in flashbacks or when someone wants to mess with Kyle's head, like with that nasty "Black Lantern" zombie business. An alternate version of her will briefly appear in a sort of "Spider-Gwen" type situation, a scenario that I'm surprised hasn't been explored more given how much DC has embraced alternate timelines over the past decade. But hey, at least her death served to teach Kyle an important lesson: buy a fridge lock.

Plotline-Watch:

The time-related chaos is, of course, caused by the events of the Zero Hour crossover, which hasn't even started yet, but that's time travel for you.

Incidentally, I wonder how many readers assumed Alex would be brought back via time-related shenanigans at the end of the storyline, which would have been a cop-out but also made the whole thing a little less distasteful (then again, if that was the case I might be here saying how cool and transgressive it would have been if they'd just left Alex dead...).

It has always bugged me that the handwriting in the ridiculous "I'm going to kill you" note is very different from the one in the infamous "fridge" one. Did Major Force have one of the agents write it? Did he buy it pre-written at Hallmark? Also: how did he know Kyle had been promised a "surprise"? I guess we're meant to assume that's a coincidence, but it's possible Alex muttered "But... I promised Kyle... a surp--" off-panel before dying.

The shady government agent who flies Major Force to LA tells him to extract whatever information he can about that glowing green rock that was found in the alley where Kyle got his ring, but MF didn't even ask her about it. The guy is pretty bad at his job.

It's too bad that the nice future girl Kyle saved from the earthquake, who seemed very grateful to him before she faded back to the future, won't appear again when Kyle visits the 2090's. Maybe she could have given him that surprise he's still owed.

This was one heck of a time to find out that Kyle's ring does need to be recharged from time to time. We'll find out how next issue.

Did I mention Kyle and Alex were having sex? Because they were for sure having sex.

NEXT: Guest-starring Green Lantern (a different one)! Also, Zero Hour!

[cryptid-artha]

An Artist Beware

I don't do these very often, but this is something I feel warrants a warning because this is something that could, potentially, do real harm.

Without further ado

The user in question is a person named Zoffu. (Here and on Toyhouse, as well as YCH Commishes, and I think Instagram) I am going to explain what happened, and warn others from buying from them in the future.

It started with this whole fiasco. I won an auction on an adoptable that I saw a few times and liked. It was a cute design. I enjoyed the colors, but there were a couple things I would change if I won. The bidding was at $8 so I figured might as well. I was going to redraw it or have them do edits, because it had human feet on an anthro which I don't like. I personally prefer digitigrade feet, humanoid feet just look off on anthro characters.

They refused to sell an adoptable that I won the bidding on, and THEN accused me of being a zoophile to somebody else. Why? Because I gave a code to somebody for their friend. Guy said his name was Ethan, wasn't really into the adoptable scene that much, just liked looking at the creative character designs and art.

Of course I was happy to help! I love Toyhouse, and I love buying and selling adopts! I honestly wanted to find the person and give them some characters from my sales account once the invite was used, just to get them started, when they reached out to me and told me that Zoffu LITERALLY TOLD THEM I WAS A ZOOPHILE!!!!!!! That is not ok. That is in no way ok. Baseless accusations like that can really damage a person.

He said he wanted to ask me directly because that was a big accusation, and also said that he felt I was in the right to know that this person may have been going around saying that shit about me. I wouldn't know. The fucker blocked me over some petty bullshit.

They wanted to control what you have in your gallery. Their TOS said they "check their sold designs regularly" to "Make sure you aren't breaking their TOS" and it's like. Why does it matter? When you sell something to me, it stops belonging to you, and starts belonging to me. You can't control what I did with it. It's mine. I paid you. What's stopping somebody from reselling it in the future and me getting ahold of it?

Honestly, if they want to control what happens to designs they make so badly, maybe they just shouldn't make and sell designs.

ANYWAY. The reason for this beware is that the person accused me of being a zoophile, to another person, in a way where they could easily find me. They straight up just referred me to me as "A zoophile they blocked". False accusations are extremely damaging, because a LOT of people just believe everything at face value.

Be REALLY!!!! careful when getting anything from this artist. Extremely careful. Unless, of course, you want to be accused of being a zoophile and have that accusion spread to other people who may or may not have even a very thin connection to you!

[fourseasonsfigs]

LV 1854

Following up yesterday's Shizuka is today's LV model Gong Jun!

I actually adore Louis Vuitton. Many, many, (many) years ago, when I got my first bonus check at work, I was so proud of myself that I bought myself a LV handbag. A ridiculous use of money, especially at that time, but I wanted to reward myself for working so hard with a fancy purse. I still have the handbag, and every time I look at it I remember how it felt to hold that check in my hands, and feel that sense of accomplishment and joy. I still love it as much as I did then, after all these years. So I can't tell you how delighted I was when Gong Jun became the ambassador for LV!

I'm not saying I necessarily like all their fashion looks, because I don't, but I don't think the point of high fashion is to necessarily like the looks. I think it's more about appreciating the artistry. Some outfits, I must admit, I am just too artistically impaired to appreciate. But put Junjun in LV, and suddenly my artistic appreciation goes way, way up.

The inspiration for this fig is Junjun's pics from one of his photo shoots for LV on his Weibo account on August 17 last year:

This is the exact inspiration pic for the fig! See how his leg is kicked up like that and his arm is alongside his crossbody bag?

I love those flowy white pants on him! Also a big fan of that crossbody bag, it seems a lot bigger and more functional than the one he was wearing at the concert. Which I love for obvious sentimental reasons, but it's the smallest and most impractical thing in the world. I can fit my phone and the world's tiniest wallet in it, and that's literally it. Well, and a lip balm, Junjun was right about that when he showed it off at the concert.

There is a LOT going on with this jacket. For fig comparison purposes, I tried to find this jacket on the US LV site, but was unable to. So I went to their China site, and found it! It is the Multi Patches Mixed Leather Varsity Blouson Jacket, for a cool 46,500 RMB (roughly $6,700 USD).

The patch saying LV 1854, the year the house was founded in France, is of course the name of this fig. Huh, wizards. Go figure!

And another 1854 patch on this sleeve! Two patches, I guess, if we count the #54. So much detail on this. Alright, on to the fig!

Ahhh he's so cute even all packaged up for traveling! His perfect little face, and the beauty mark on his ear right there.

Unfortunately, his cute little kicked-up foot pose means that he can't stand up at all, even for a single glamor shot. So on he went onto a standee. I don't typically like to do this, but I glued him down immediately. He's really heavy - that head of his is solid! My experience with heavy headed figs with any tilt to the side has been that the weight of the fig will topple them over. I have learned this the hard way as figs have gone careening down my display shelves! I was not going to risk his precious little self, so out came the glue, and he's not budging now.

Since this is a light colored outfit, I figured I'd put him on a non-white background for better contrast. Wow, his hair looks incredible from this angle! I love this hairstyle on him, and fig-wise it's perfect.

The detail here on his coat is fantastic. You can also see how his foot is totally lifted up there off the base - it's not resting on the fig stand at all.

Ah this is a good angle to see his foot kicked up too. He looks long and lean from this angle - definitely Junjun's proportions.

Again, really fantastic level of detail on the jacket here. It's hard to see all the patches clearly Junjun's photos, but if you scroll back and forth on the actual jacket photos you'll see this is an excellent rendering at this small of a scale.

You get a little bit of the flowy look of the pants here, while still preserving all the detail on his white and blue shoes. This fig maker does a phenomenal job!

Speaking of the shoes, this is a great angle for the detail on them.

Ahahaha, I see the wizards! And of course, instead of the name of the maison, we have Gong Jun's English name.

Here you definitely get the flowy lines of his pants, and please note the little fold line in his ear, so cute (wow, never in my life did I think I'd be commenting on a fig's ear fold, life really is stranger than fiction). His eyes are expressive and beautiful, and his hair is absolutely perfect! This is another great angle of those fancy shoes, too.

Here's a zoomed in pic of the front so you can see the really incredible level of detail.

I made sure to get a bottoms-up photo before I glued him on the standee!

The top down pic is not too exciting, I admit.

A+ box cards from this fig maker. Just like with yesterday's Shizuka card, she uses the actual background from the photo.

I can't believe I forgot to mention how much I love his rascally little quirked up smile there. My favorite! Junjun you cutie!

Thank you fig maker for literally listing out every piece of the inspiration for this fig on the box card! Even down to the time stamp. Amazing.

There wasn't any box art - these all came in plain white boxes, but no matter when the card art is this lovely.

Come back tomorrow to see the last fig in this series of releases!

Material: Resin

Fig Count: 346

Scene Count: 24

Rating: A varsity jacket has never looked so good!

[link back to Master Fig Index for more posts]

[sugalaritae]

harrow's december reads

hi!! happy end of the year!! my job was spectacularly boring this month and i did a lot of reading while i was working. i don't think i've ever read this many fics in one month, so i'm pretty proud of myself. i've read like 3 from tumblr and they have been reblogged and screamed about and you can check them all out here

i've read some really amazing fics this year and i wish i had kept track of all of them!! 💖💖

here we go:

trust in the weather by melodiusb au:witches - yoongi x namjoon x jimin

Jimin’s heartbeat synced to Namjoon and Yoongi’s in the seconds after the wedding ritual was complete. He can only tell when he focuses that it’s three beats now, instead of one. But it occurs to him, as he’s tripping over a root three feet below the surface, that he’s still alone. Namjoon and Yoongi did this five years ago. Jimin is five years behind them--more, if you count the time they were engaged--and he always will be. And he’s stuck here, and with them, for the rest of his life.

sonámbulo by batman au: inception (movie) - taehyung x jungkook

One painting, one mission, one hundred days.

starving (& other artistic mediums) by TAHC (orphan account) au: college(?) - yoongi x namjoon

It became a permanent thing the next year in August. But neither of them knew it was going to become a permanent thing. To them it just looked like a temporary thing. A slightly permanent, temporary thing. Or; Namjoon and Yoongi are both struggling artists, throw a baby into the mix and they're struggling parents as well. Throw love into the mix and they're just struggling.

the wait by @kkulfm-2 au: the old guard (movie)

When Jungkook takes too long to come back from his latest death, Yoongi begins to spiral.

summer;blue by batman au: witches - taehyung x jungkook

More than you can manage, more than you can hide: a study in light.

up we go by Oh_Hey_Tae au: witches - yoongi x jimin x taehyung

“If you’re a witch that works with plants, then why are all of yours dead? That can’t be good for business.” The room dims again, and Jimin lifts a hand to flip off the ceiling. Taehyung knows he’s sad and that’s why the shop darkens and he shouldn’t find it funny—but he can’t help it. Because this is ridiculous. The good kind of ridiculous. The amazing kind. (Or: Taehyung has a green thumb, Jimin runs a magical store, and Yoongi can kind of see dead people.)

by tomorrow by Oh_Hey_Tae au: college - yoongi x taehyung

“Why are you freaking out now?” Seokjin asks, and the seconds tick by and suddenly the atmosphere shifts. “Ahh, I get it.” Yoongi perks up, swivels, spots Taehyung stepping from the hall into the room and he’s in fitted slacks and the baby blue button-up from earlier and he looks divine. Yoongi’s heart just stopped and he’s not sure how to get it beating again. Namjoon’s a doctor. A doctor in training, but some form of medical professional regardless. Namjoon knows CPR and cardiac arrest symptoms and all that shit. He’ll know Yoongi’s dying. “Perfect timing. Let’s eat.” Or he’s going to wink at Yoongi and send suggestive eyebrow raises the whole night. Great. Fabulous. (Or: Yoongi loves Taehyung and Taehyung loves Yoongi and somewhere along the way they figure that out.)

when night comes by Oh_Hey_Tae au: supernatural/folklore - jungkook x everyone

Jungkook’s tipsy, but he’s not buzzed enough to miss that he doesn’t recognize any of the four dozen people here. And seeing as his friends aren’t ones to ditch and there’s no way they’d play a prank this mean on him, Jungkook reaches the conclusion that he just walked into a stranger’s very expensive home, uninvited, and started eating their food and petting their well-dressed dog. (Or: Jungkook shows up to the wrong Halloween party and meets the most powerful family in Seoul.)

don't go where i can't follow by Black_Ranger (ongoing fic) au: pacific rim - hoseok x jungkook

It's been 4 years, 1 month, and 20 days since he's last set foot inside a jaeger. Jung Hoseok thought he'd outrun his past but it still doggedly haunts him. When monsters keep rising from the deep, the PPDC comes calling for one of their best. Who is he to refuse?

tell me again by Oh_Hey_Tae au: college - yoongi x taehyung

It’s a boy. A boy in a silk pajama set. A boy in a silk pajama set with a nametag too small to read who’s colorfully cursing in the thickest Daegu drawl Yoongi’s heard since he left home and it’s absolutely, without a doubt, the most beautiful sound Yoongi’s ever heard in his life. (Or: Yoongi falls in love with people’s voices and, in consequence, falls in love with Taehyung.)

let the light in by sharpa au: witches - yoongi x jungkook

There is magic in the world, but for years Jungkook has shied away from his gift. (It's intrusive, unwelcome, dangerous.) Now, he's in New York City, battling loneliness and a college course he hates. Until on one particularly bad day, he turns down a side street in East Village and his life changes forever. (Or: six boys run a magical emporium together and Jeon Jungkook is looking for a place to belong.)

steady as the morning by sharpa au: witches - yoongi x jungkook

Seven magical boys and an old house in New York City. (A series of moments set post Let the Light In.)

telepathy by sharpa au: non!idol but still in music - yoongi x hoseok x namjoon

Yoongi can't believe his luck: set up on a blind date with Kim Namjoon, the boy who took part of his heart with him at twenty-three and never gave it back. They haven't spoken in years, since they imploded, and the awkwardness now is soul-crushing—sat across from each other in a trendy Itaewon restaurant with too much and not enough to say. But the gorgeous boy two tables over might change everything.

[twotangledsisters]

I checked out your Tiktok (I assume your Tiktok?), love your MoonSunEugene thing!

I noticed you had other drawings on there I haven't seen on tumblr though (unless I'm just stupid and can't find them)! I was wondering if they'd be posted here or just on tiktok?

Hi! Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed my little AU ideas XD

And yes, that is my TikTok account! It's not really Tangled related... But it's got Tangled content on it at the moment xD

And you're not stupid! Firstly, because tumblr isn't always the easiest for finding stuff, but secondly because you are right and there are pieces on TikTok that aren't on Tumblr.

Anything that's not in the 'My Art' section on my blog's page, you can assume was never uploaded! So, for example, there's a Cassandra profile and a New Dream fanart on TikTok that hasn't been uploaded.

Will they be uploaded?

Maybe...

Look, I'm going to be fully 100% honest. I'm not in the best mindset right now. My anxiety and depression are not behaving great. I'm on my meds, talking to doctors, eating, sleeping . All the important stuff are A-OK under control!

So I don't want anybody worrying!

However, the one thing I get the least control over is emotions and overthinking.

Recently I've been overthinking uncontrollably, and that's lead to several quite unfortunate meltdowns.

And I realised that one of the triggers to overthinking episodes was Tumblr. Simply because my art never does great on tumblr. I know some people really like it and whenever I get nice comments on it, I am just thrilled! Super grateful and love the mutuals who are there for me no matter what! I cannot understate how much I smile at every nice comment!

However, most of my art won't make it to ten notes, and even my best pieces might make it to fifty if they're super lucky.

And when I'm on my dashboard, I see soooo much amazing art that just gets so much love and attention! And I have this really clear memory of another artist saying 'oh, whenever I post in this fandom people interact so much!'

And now when I post art and it only reaches mutuals, I think 'why doesn't the fandom like my art?' which then leads me to overanalyse every single piece, searching for every imperfection until I hate that drawing.

Or, worse, my brain will go 'it's not the art, it's you, they hate you and want you dead'.

Which is fully not a logical conclusion to be drawing.

Unfortunately, logic and anxiety refuse to see eye to eye.

Then another thing is, I'm not really looking at my dashboard at all. Because it's triggering me. So then when I do find the bravery to post a piece of art, and people are nice and interact, I feel like I'm a horrible person. Because I'm receiving these lovely positive words, but then I'm not seeing other people's posts and returning those nice words.

Again, not a logical thought because my contribution is the art.

But I still feel guilty.

I think I've gone on a pretty major ramble there... The question was, will I post them?

The answer is still maybe.

If and when, I'm having a good day and find the energy, I'll probably share the finished pieces.

But right now I'm just avoiding triggers. Even if the triggers are completely illogical, I know!

[the-firebird69]

The credit card company is stopping charges I place and I can't use the card and they stop it on everything then they say it's fraud it takes 2 weeks to straighten out and I don't have two weeks then it continuously doing this so I have to get another card and use a different company because it's just annoying as hell and the process takes forever and the people at the card company don't understand you're making this unbearable I'm going to screwed me I'm sure but what a damn nuisance

--also people seem to surface they have a problem with our son constantly in his face right up to him and don't understand the nature of their crime it is a crime and they will be held accountable most likely put into prison oh boy there's a loss with people around here what he's doing is illegal Daniel people placing charges on him right now just completely ignores it and is oblivious like our son says you need someone standing next to him so they can throw them into a truck

--other things too setting them up to do it in the first place is very illegal who's going on the list of people to actually help him with money and such and their act is so bad and so rancid it brings a tear to the eye you're a dumb a****** so in his brother getting a fight cuz that's what they're looking for the Trump and they get their asses kicked then it's not a real big deal they don't have much power and Trump is falling it's necessary and it helps us and it sure does remove some freaking pains in the asses permanently so working out how that would work and when the funeral would be and where and who would get him there and we found out that people are already up to it and have already planned to do it one of them that is planned to do it is Mac himself and he is going ahead with it now and yeah obviously someone would have to move out of the dust regardless of the attitude. What a winner and a whiner okay this guy is a little baby it was a stupid s*** full of senile people who don't think radiation does anything to them is annoying as hell okay the bus was coming up and they try to get my rate and try to get him into a fight and s*** then what a friend what are friends for how Paul dodos I mean you're just a f****** huge moronic b****** artist and you're a douchebag where people are all dying because of you you're smart enough it's time for you to check out and holy s*** wouldn't an a****** you are people are walking by and they're saying the same thing you're trying to dump dust on him because you're a stupid fight and really you're getting radiation on yourself and a lot of it you're trying to get ahead of trump who wants to use the ebike we did what we wanted and we don't want it on the credit card and Trump's grandkid is going against him and she's going to pay he says because he wanted it to go through and finds her doing a stupid thing she is an imp to him and he's going to take care of it he says it really she does it every single time and the guys never ready he's a f****** loser and it's really Sarah threatening for stuff so they're holding him off this little show is going to end very soon and it's terrible they are completely gone and lost hateful pieces of s*** and he's outside saying it too I'm an hateful piece of s*** and it's proud of it and what did you expect okay and he'll have to do it inside because Perry the homo is in his way we don't like him in a way it's a pain in the ass and who says he has to heat them up because he's such an impetuous little f**** and swine I'm going to take care of that piece of s***

Thor Freya

Olympus

[allthemusic]

Week ending: 31st July

Well, we're going dark, this week. Dark and dramatic, and I am here for it, with a tour of some of the all-time least healthy Biblical romances, and then a ballad about an attempted teen suicide. So, uh, that's something that exists.

Hard Headed Woman - Elvis Presley (peaked at Number 2)

Well, this song is the definition of a problematic favourite. It's good, rowdy fun, with Elvis at his least tame best, but also yikes, Elvis! Some real questionable stuff about women, here.

The excuse here is of course that this is a soundtrack song, from the Elvis vehicle King Creole, in which Elvis plays Danny, a poor boy from New Orleans, who gets involved in crime and falls for the girl of a local gangster, and gets into all sort of scrapes, including singing songs to distract people from a robbery. Which is the flimsiest excuse for including songs in a film possibly ever, but hey. It's enough that we can asusme this is meant to be an "in character" song. It was Elvis' favourite film he was in, apparently, and he even got his military service deferred to finish shooting it. I'd probably watch it - it seems to have been pretty well received.

I cannot, however, work out how, for the life of me, this song factors in. Its whole point is just "hey, aren't women troublesome", except I can't find any justification for that in the film. I simply have no idea why Danny, in character, would be singing this. So yeah, we have this song, completely out of nowehere, aout how a hard-headed woman, a soft-hearted man / Been the cause of trouble ever since the world began. Which is just great.

Our examples are all Biblical, from Adam and Eve, to Samson and Delilah, to Jezebel and Ahab, all examples of how bothersome women are. Except - and this is what bugs me - these are all cases where the man is very much also shown to be at fault. Like, Elvis can sing all he likes about Adam telling Eve don't you let me catch you messin' round that apple tree, but the actual account has Adam eating the apple, then trying to lie and shift the blame to Eve, when they get found out. Samson - hardly a role model - deliberately tells Delilah to mess with his hair, after she already tried to defeat him three times.And while you can make a case for the previous two cases being a bit of artistic license, I don't think by any stretch that you can argue that Ahab as a king was doing swell before Jezebel came along.

My only thought on this front is that it might be deliberate, which would be clever, making this a song about how men always want to blame women for their own weakness, and not just about "grrr those pesky women". But that seems a bit subtle, and would require a level of Biblical close reading that I'm just not sure is the point here. Instead, I think the point's just meant to be that Elvis is lamenting how men are led astray by their women, and still love it. Hence the - admittedly quite funny - line about how I got a woman, a head like a rock / If she ever went away, I'd cry around the clock. Elvis complains about his lady, but he loves her really, promise!

Musically, it's a riot, like the 12-bar blues love child of Jailhouse Rock and Rock Around the Clock, with more jazzy trumpet bits throughout. It's frenetic, but in a careful, controlled way, and as ever, Elvis sounds like he's having a heck of a lot of fun. And I think this is what carries the song, despite the somewhat questionable lyrics - you're simply having too much fun to care, by the time we're getting all Biblical about it.

I should note, just because I'm keeping tabs on it, that Elvis' diction reaches an all-time low here. There are quite a few lyrics here I had to check, including one about "that negro Jezebel" that both shocked and confused me before I looked it up and found that it should have been "that evil Jezebel". And there were quite a few more harmless moments that caught me out, too. I'm not saying this as a bad thing, because part of what makes rock what it is is the slurring of words, and the step away from the clear, careful enunciation of previous generations. And we're definitely seeing that, here.

Endless Sleep - Marty Wilde (4)

I hadn't heard of Marty Wilde, but he sure has a heck of a name, very cool, very action-hero. Predictably, it's not his birth name - he was born in Blackheath under the considerably less cool name Reginald Leonard Smith, only to change it when he was spotted playing in London clubs by one Larry Parnes, an impresario who was the backer behind various low-level British stars at this point, and who liked to give his protégés cool-sounding stage names like Billy Fury and Dickie Pride. So yeah, Marty Wilde was just another of those early British rockers, a sort of British attempt to emulate American rockers and rollers.

I have to say, from this one song, I don't mind him at all. He's got a good voice for it, all anguish and wailing, with all the little hiccups and flicks that are apparently necessary to be a rock and roll artist at this point. Musically, I also really like this song, with its twangy guitar and bluesy tune. In particular, the distortion on the guitar in the intro and the outro is really cool.

And then you get to the lyrics. Because it turns out this song is a cover of an American original, and is our first example of a teenage tragedy ballad, a niche 1950s genre that I kind of love? Nicknamed "death discs" or "splatter platters", they were this whole genre of sentimental, dramatic songs that were from the point of view of a teenager, lamenting the untimely death of their love interest. It's a sort of Romeo and Juliet vibe, combined with some of the darkness of more traditional folk murder ballads, and the result is not unlike something you'd find in a particularly shamelessly self-indulgent hurt/comfort fanfic, or possibly a particularly trashy Victorian novel, the sort that more respectable writers would look down their noses at and accuse of corrupting young women.

And for all that people looked down at these teenage tales of woe, you can see how they're just a evelopment of the sort of thing you are also seeing in more mainstream songs. Like, the original of Endless Sleep was written by one Jody Reynolds, who wrote it after hearing Heartbreak Hotel, which is also quite a dark song. And so we get the story here of a teenage boy who's had a row with his girlfriend. Thus it starts with a glorious bit of scene-setting, as we hear about how the night was black, rain fallin' down / Looked for my baby, she's nowehere around. Ominous, already, and then we hear about how Jody traced her footsteps down to the shore / 'Fraid she's gone forever more. Even the sea itself is tauting him, at this point, telling him how I took your baby from you away, and then he hears a voice, calling to him: Come join me, baby, in endless sleep. So yeah. We've seemingly got a slighted girlfriend, who's attempted suicide by jumping in the ocean, and is now calling to Jody to get him to join her. Talk about dark.

It was too dark, apparently, for the record execs, who insisted that Jody save his girl at the end. And so we get a rather tacked on verse where he saves her from the waves, stole her away from the angry sea. Which is fine, I guess. I don't know, I'd have been fine with it ending more tragically. But we're still in the early days of death ballads, there'll be plenty of tragedy to come. Marty does a good job, with it all, and I'm mostly pretty charmed. I always appreciate a song that tells a story, and I also enjoy the darkness of these teen tragedy ballads. They're sort of proto-emo, custom designed to both annoy and concern parents, and I, for one, love it.

Also, unrelated, but I've just seen that Marty Wilde got an album into the UK albums charts in 2020? Even wilder (Wilde-er?) it's a collaboration with his kids, including one Kim Wilde. Who's the singer behind the song Kids in America. I always assumed from the title of that song that she was, you know, American. But no. British, and the child of this early rock and roller who's apparently still rocking, 8 decades on. So that's something.

I didn't expect Marty to beat out Elvis, but I think he maybe has to. He's our first death disc, and like I've said, it's a genre I'm inexplicably really fond of. Plus Marty just seems cool, and the song itself sounds great, to boot. Contrast with Elvis' questionable exegesis, and I think the winner has to be Marty, this week.

Favourite song of the bunch: Endless Sleep

[friendly-neighborhood-arsonist]

Ok so, I personally wouldn't mind if every 10th or 20th post on my dash isn't by someone I follow. However I don't want it to get Facebook or Instagram bad.

I'd also like a toggle that can remove specific posts I've already reacted to (like, comment, reblog, etc). By specific I mean if I like reblog A, the original and reblog B will still show up in my feed but not reblog A.

I'd also like the ability to toggle off my posts being in my feed i made them I don't need to see them again..

I know a lot of tumblr users are mad at this but tumblr IS a company and they do need to make money somehow. More people looking at more posts = more ads = more money.

And yeah if you want to follow meme accounts those are super easy to find. However on one of my other blogs which was a reptile blog I struggled finding people to follow. I had to scour through tags and posts to try and find new accounts, I looked at basically every account recommended to me. It was HARD to find reptile accounts I wanted to follow because I didn't want ANY reptile account. I don't want to see Bob keeping his snakes in tanks way too small for them on repticarpet with one hide and no cover. I don't want to follow an account on my reptile tumblr that posts about their snake every 20th post and other stuff the rest of the time (which you find a lot of those looking through tags). AND I was so sick of my account's super slow growth and tiny reach despite me taking several minutes with each post adding tags.

And before yall come at me, that account was made for education both for people who owned reptiles and those who didn't. The whole point of the account was to teach people. It's not teaching anyone if it's not even reaching anyone!!!!

That blog wasn't like this one that's full of ramblings and reblogs. I would spend like an hour writing and tagging a post for it to get like 3 likes if I was lucky. Even after making dozens of posts and being on the platform for awhile. I've been on Instagram for a much smaller amount of time, have maybe ~25 posts and have a much larger follower amount and engagement rate over there. I get instagram not being the same as tumblr. Trust me I do, and I do love tumblr. But in my experience tumblr is SHIT for creators as it doesn't push their work out to anyone. You know what gets recommended to me time and time again when I check out my for you? Memes, reblogs, rants, general blogging stuff. Art and other "creator" stuff is super rare!! And I follow artists.

I feel like on tumblr if you're a creative you grow at such a snail's pace even if you spend ages doing tags and make high quality stuff. Your only hope is to get a viral post or get picked up my a much more popular blog.

Tumblr is great for people wanting to goof off, rant or be silly not so much for creatives. I can guarantee you the ONLY reason I got any engagement at all on my reptile tumblr was because I stuffed my posts FULL of tags. Which I hate doing!!! But on this account I tag like every 40th post and even the untagged ones get engagement because people see them from my mutuals who reblog stuff.

The algorithmic feed idea sucks, we all agree there.

However if yall can't handle seeing a small amount of posts in your feed from tumblrs you don't follow so they can have a chance at growing that's on you.

Listen if they make it so like every 5th post isn't by someone who follows ill be yelling to staff about it just like you guys. However if they do go through with implementing it I might actually revive my reptile blog because it gives me some hope.

Because @staff is too cowardly…