#Guys please help this is the first time i've made a fandom post about a fictional character

[caixxa]

Hello

Niche character obsession time.

Ruben is a TV host on Gammelmark LokalTV. Jakob Norrgård's character is the star of 2 episodes of KAJ's julkalender, on Yle Areena or YouTube.

Ruben's voice may sound as boring as it is bored, but behind the ugly grandpa sweater and poorly positioned glasses there is, let me tell you, a nasty, twisted man. He's a player, a fuckboy, a slut. A (a word I don't use lightly) whore, even.

He sends his reporter Sven out in the cold to do useless bird watching inserts

While Sven's wife Maj-Lis works for free in his comfortable living room studio, holding the spotlight on Ruben. They have other plans, too:

(In the next episode, Ruben's planning a jitterbug lesson with Maj-Lis - who has now left bird watcher Sven - at a swinger club. Jitterbug, sure.)

The second episode (only on Yle Areena) introduces a music guest. Johnny is 11 and plays the sax.

Surprised?

Ruben is certain that the wild oats he has sown are mighty and potent (breeding kink hello??)

And he's very pleased with himself

(poor confused Johnny 😭😂)

[carlos-in-glasses]

Favorite Lone Star Fandom Memories

Thank you @thisbuildinghasfeelings for coming up with this lovely idea! And thank you for the tags @firstprince-history-huh @heartstringsduet @tellmegoodbye @nisbanisba

@carlossreaders @she-walked-away @reyesstrand @rmd-writes

@welcometololaland @nancys-braids @everlastingday @strandnreyes

I have had the best time being part of this fandom so far. Whatever I expected when I first rocked up in September 2022, it wasn't this. What a time we have had. We've been through so much. We've laughed, we've cried, we've swooned, we all became experts on baseball, TV ratings, various laws, and probably know a map of Austin better than we know a map of our own hometowns. I hope with everything I have that this place continues to thrive with love for Tarlos and 911 Lone Star. I hope that I've made some friends for life. I hope that this time during the show's run will be remembered fondly. We got unlucky with this cancellation, but oh my goodness, in other ways we have been so lucky.

First, please enjoy Elaine Paige singing Memory from Cats the Musical. A song for how I'm feeling right now. I promise it's not a Rickroll and I sincerely apologise if you got caught up with me accidentally Rickrolling Lem the other week.

Now! Some memories!:

The time @thisbuildinghasfeelings wanted to know what hospital Carlos would have been taken to after Bridges shot him. I was CRYING LAUGHING because she went to the Texas sub-reddit and was all “Hypothetically, if someone were to get shot in the desert…” and left this message, which quickly got deleted by the mods who probably thought she’d just shot someone:

The time I met @heartstringsduet irl in London last year and wore the below t-shirt, which I got at the 2023 Paris Convention with @cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut by my side 😭. And just being able to talk to them in person about life and the show and hug them!!!! And speaking of the 2023 Paris Convention – I got to to look right into the ultimate cow-eyes and tell this guy that he played my favourite character of all time:

The time I got my ass handed to me by @lemonlyman-dotcom because I used the word vest instead of tank top in a WIP.

The fics I wrote that came out of conversations with others/prompts – they wouldn’t exist without some of you. It makes the writing life feel a lot less solitary and also a lot more about the world's most fun mystery box. Thank you so much

Leaving the most batshit comments on poor @rmd-writes and @welcometololaland fic (Un)Professional Services You two really were troopers in the face of that.

Reading fic so good I've spent the next day at work daydreaming about it and looking forward to the next chapters of chaptered fics – and then getting to tell people how much I enjoyed their work! It’s amazing. YOU ARE ALL SO TALENTED.

Posting Sensitivity, my first fic, and refreshing the page to see that I had 8 kudos. I was blown away. And the comments and responses to other fics that have made all the difference during many tough weeks. Thank you, thank you.

The reactions to when I introduced my poor boyfriend to my Tarlos blanket and then when I put it over my legs lmao:

@goodways post about Carlos’ slutty buttonless shirt look in 1x02 – I can’t find the post, but it was gold! And just so many other Shannon posts omg. The blank sign made for Carlos. Iconic.

When @strandnreyes posted this about TK’s absurd camera roll in 4x04.

Of course when Rafael Silva told me that Tarlos switch and @reasonandfaithinharmony made a gif set out of it!

The Tarlos wedding. I brought a mini bottle of Prosecco for the occasion.

The time I thought @ladytessa74 invented Frog and Toad for chapter 3 of The Lovely April. Also...chapter 3 of The Lovely April genuinely helped me cope with the show's cancellation. So that was a biggie.

The art that has been made for my fics by @heartstringsduet @whatsintheboxmh @thisbuildinghasfeelings and @bonheur-cafe. Absolutely extraordinary. I can’t believe it. Thank you forever. Once again, you’re so talented.

Finding the show. Finding you.

Open tag and tags below!:

@paperstorm @goodways @lightningboltreader @alrightbuckaroo

@cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut @herefortarlos @bonheur-cafe

@lemonlyman-dotcom @ladytessa74 @liminalmemories21

@freneticfloetry @chicgeekgirl89 @sugdenlovesdingle

@reasonandfaithinharmony @carlos-tk @pimento-playing-hopscotch @eclectic-sassycoweyes

@fangirl-paba @actual-sleeping-beauty @kiwichaeng @literateowl

@emsprovisions @ironheartwriter @sapphic--kiwi @butchreyes

@captain-gillian @laelipoo @nancys-braids @goldenskykaysani

@hereghostslive @anactualcaseofthetruth @henrygrass

@theghostofashton @the-126-family @rangersoup

@annoyingcloudearthquake @butch-buckley - if you want to share/haven't already! No pressure ever! ❤️🩷🧡💛💚💙🩵💜

[chocodile]

Hiya! I was the advice anon from a few days back! First of thank you so so so so much for taking the time to not just answer but give such thorough advice! I really appreciate it so much, shared it with other friends of mine who have similar anxieties as I do. I really do appreciate it so much. Even if the internet isn’t how it used to be with less algorithms and numbers, I hope that I can still find my own enjoyment. I do have a best friend who I reconnected with 4 years ago and he gave me back that spark I was losing being one of the first people genuinely in love with my work much how I love his!

And yes please! I would love to hear your thoughts on meeting other creators and how to “launch” stories , and create that community! I love hearing the insight and introspection of fellow artists ! Everyone has different experiences that can be learned from and I just love reading what artists have to say about their work or methods ! Don’t worry about length, the more the better (of course please do not stress or worry about it, take all the time you need!)

Thank you again for answering my questions earnestly, made my week!

Hey Anon, sorry this took a while to get to! I've been pretty busy. I'm glad you found the first post helpful!

Regarding audience building and finding other creators... as I mentioned, I have a lot of thoughts. Here's a bunch of slightly disjointed notes on I've put together…

AUDIENCE BUILDING TIPS FROM SOMEONE WHO KINDA DID IT:

TIP 1: FIND OTHERS WITH SIMILAR INTERESTS!

Making OCs and original stories can be kind of isolating compared to, say, fandom. Best we can do is find specific points to bond over.

What is your story about? Does it involve heavy research into a specific topic, like speculative biology or real-world history? Look up tags related to this and see if anyone else is doing characters or stories based around this topic.

Does it share a theme with a popular media property? See if you can sneakily trick some of the fans of that media property into looking at your thing, too. ;) For example, a high-fantasy story might do well to court D&D fans. If you're writing a romance story, try to think of other stories and popular fandom ships that share themes with yours. You can follow artists who draw for that fandom, draw fan art for it, or make an AU of your character in that setting. Or all of the above.

This can even apply to very superficial things. Like, is your main character a woman with red hair and glasses? Did you find another artist whose favorite OC is a woman with red hair and glasses? That's a connection opportunity! And chances are, that artist may have friends or fans who ALSO like red haired women with glasses. Superficial appearance might feel like a silly thing to bond over, but catching someone's eye with your design is often the first step toward them engaging with the character more deeply.

Of course, you shouldn't be doing this as a cynical attention-grab… I absolutely wouldn't recommend courting a fandom for something you don't personally enjoy, and I wouldn't recommend following artists purely in hopes that they follow you back. That's a recipe for feeling miserable and resentful when it inevitably doesn't "pay off" immediately. Building relationships and establishing yourself in spaces takes time, and it needs to be something you enjoy doing or you'll just feel frustrated and give up.

TIP 2: BE THE ONE TO REACH OUT FIRST, BE CONSISTENT, BUT HAVE REASONABLE EXPECTATIONS.

So you've found someone you think is cool! Their story has werewolves in it, and so does yours. You think their main character is pretty cool and would like to know more about them. (And, secretly, you want them to ask you about your characters, too!)

So, get the ball rolling! Go ahead and ask them about their guy! It's scary, but that's often what you gotta do. If, after a few messages, they seem amenable, you can eventually start dropping tidbits about YOUR guy and YOUR story. "Your description of how the transformation sequence feels is very vivid and cool! In MY OWN werewolf story, transformation goes more like this…" or "Your guy who hates his werewolf side wouldn't see eye to eye with my werewolf character, who sees it as a blessing because…"

See if they bite on that. If they don't, maybe they're just not interested. But a lot of creators are interested in that kind of connection!

Some caveats here:

While many artists love that sort of attention, some people can be kinda defensive of their creations and become standoffish and prickly when strangers try to chum it up with them about OC stuff. If someone is like that, leave them be and don't try to force it.

Super popular artists tend to have way more messages than they can keep up with. You're very, very unlikely to develop an equally reciprocal friendship with them as a stranger in a short amount of time, and it's absolutely not anything personal. That's not to say you shouldn't bother interacting with them, just don't feel stung if they don't respond or follow you back. (This kind of overwhelm happens at much lower levels than you might think!) In my own experience, friendliness with a popular artist tends to happen when you're a consistent positive presence over a long period of time (often multiple years, but at least a span of 6+ months). And even then you will not be in their "inner circle" with the friends they've known for a decade, and that's fine!

Artists with smaller followings are way more likely to be receptive to following you back and doing the reciprocal friendship thing.

TIP 3: FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT.

If you do manage to make a connection with someone, or get a friend or two on board with your story, commenting and sending asks and stuff publicly is extremely helpful for audience-building. Not only does it increase your visibility, but it gives shy audience members "permission" to comment themselves, and a template for what kind of comments you find agreeable. A lot of people will think "Oh I want to comment… but what if I say something wrong and they get mad? I'll just say nothing instead." If you demonstrate that you respond in a friendly manner, they'll feel more comfortable. People are herd animals like that.

Also, people love the audience engagement aspect of sending "asks" and seeing responses to comments drawn. It doesn't need to be an "ask", though--one of the first things I did for Amaranthine was draw Hyden reacting to people's tags. You could even invent a question no one actually asked and draw a response, just to show people that you are open to that kind of thing.

In fact, way back before Amaranthine, I proposed a plan to collaborate with my friends to astroturf audience engagement to launch a story by sending each other and ourselves fake anon asks with questions. I ended up not having to do that--Amaranthine's popularity caught me completely by surprise--but if I ever have to cold launch a brand new story, I would probably send myself some fake anon asks to get the ball rolling, hah. Feel free to steal this idea and try it yourself!

TIP 4: SHOW CHARACTER, SHOW LORE, OVERSHARE, AND DO IT OFTEN!

There are tons of characters on the internet. What makes them memorable is sometimes their design, but usually it's their personality and story. If people don't know anything about a character except their name, physical appearance, gender, sexuality, and three character traits, they might think "aw, that's a neat character!" but probably won't think much more than that. They may like the cool art but probably won't say a lot about it beyond #cool art.

But if you draw the same character living out their daily life, interacting with friends and lovers and enemies, hanging out in their messy room, a flashback to them as an angry teenager, a short mini-comic of the incident that got them expelled from necromancer school, all coupled with little lore tidbits that offer a deeper look into their life, world, and inner psychology… that's when they start feeling like a PERSON, not just a cool design. Couple this with the asks and stuff from tip 3 and they become "a person I, the viewer, can reach out to and engage with".

It feels vulnerable to put this stuff out there initially, when you're not getting much feedback. But by having this built-up library of art and info people can read through, new viewers will arrive, think "hey, this character seems cool!" and instead of stopping there, they'll binge on your archives. It's very fulfilling to see a new person find your stuff and then see a strong of "likes" on older pieces as they go through your story/OC tag.

…Also, people have short attention spans, and modern social media means a lot of people won't see and certainly won't remember everything you post. Kwillow and I occasionally joke about "whoa, I can't believe I got a question about a topic I already answered! Don't they remember this 1 single post I made about the topic four years ago?" NO, THEY ABSOLUTELY DO NOT. You need to restate things, repost things, etc because people are probably not paying THAT much attention. You can't just put it out there once, especially the really juicy stuff!

You also gotta stick with stuff even if it feels like it's not working. Put your stuff up on a bunch of different platforms and cast a wide net. You might only get 1 comment on Tumblr, but if you post it to Bluesky, DeviantArt, Instagram, etc, and each of those gets 1 comment, then that's 4 comments. Think of posting on other sites like extra slot machine pulls. Even the ones with bad odds are still worth doing when the cost to pull the lever is basically nothing.

TIP 5: THE BITTER PILL:

Bitter pill to swallow: Modern social media favors things that can be distilled down into hashtags/tropes/aesthetics. Furries, punks, cottagecore, monsterfucker, D&D-esque, enemies to lovers, princess-core, werewolves… the harder something is to reblog with #aesthetic, the harder it is to sell in general. It'll always be harder to sell Bob The Regular Human Guy's story than it would be to sell that same Bob as a furry, or Bob as a shy punk with a shipping-fanfic-trope-friendly crush on a guy at a coffee shop. This doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't try, but it is something to be aware of. Like, if your thing isn't doing social media numbers, odds are high it's not bad, just not hashtaggable enough.

This is one of the reasons I say to try to focus on yourself and a small group of like-minded friends first. You can't count on social media mechanisms to help boost you if you're marching to the beat of your own drum. You can try to use tropes and fandom for your benefit, as described in #1, but even so it's often kind of an uphill battle.

However, if you have a ton of energy and love for your project then the awesome glowing power of your passion will help draw people to you. People like that energy! It may never be huge social media numbers, but do remember that every single person who interacts with your stuff is A WHOLE ENTIRE REAL PERSON, and that's pretty damn cool. 10 notes on something is 10 entire people standing in your living room giving you the thumbs up.

Anyway, hope at least a few of these tips are helpful! The social media landscape for artists is, frankly, very bad right now, and if you are struggling and feeling discouraged you are not alone. But there are still ways to find each other even in this landscape!

[babykittenteach]

A couple extra notes about the theft post, and then I kinda hope to be done making any posts. I swear this is not a drama blog. I'm Todd in the Shadows taking a break from music videos to well actually James Someton and then hopefully never doing it again. Cut for length, no reblogs because I'm not trying to get anywhere with this except explaining some thoughts.

No one's really brought this up in reply to me, but just to be clear in case anything sounds like claiming ownership over ideas: being inspired by other people is normal and good. You are supposed to be, I would argue. Particularly, when we're in fandom and these are all transformative works. When I've made a piece of art, if it was inspired by someone else, I am going to be mentioning them. I ask authors if they don't mind art, I tag people who inspired things and link to their posts, etc. etc. I'm happy to do that. Not just because it's the right thing to do, but I actively enjoy getting to use art as part of an ongoing media conversation. I like getting positive attention and little numbers that go up for my work, yeah, but that's not why I'm driven to draw or write. I'm trying to express something in me to other people, and I hope they respond. I can't imagine trying to hide that conversation. Especially if it means I can foist off blame for something cursed onto someone else. Helpful guide by unadulteratedkr here, btw. See, this is a very easy thing to do, linking.

Further, I make art. Occasionally. Allegedly, I even write. I am 100% certain something I've made has been similar to something that already existed that I just wasn't previously aware of. That happens. It's normal. I accidentally did that with my username. I don't think random coincidence things like that are plagiarism or even necessarily a bad thing. If you find out later that someone had already done something and you want to be clear about it, just add like a little note? But most of the time it's obvious people just had similar ideas. It's not, for instance, an ongoing behavior stretching months and at times being "literally saw the original 11 minutes ago" or "kudos'd the original last night."

Like, for real, fuck this guy. I glossed over this in the post, but reaching out to me like that privately when he found out I also write was almost certainly groundwork. If I may explain: I talk to people a lot about things I make because they come say hi. That's normal, it's lovely, it's good, it makes me happy. Please do not for one second get suspicious of normal people who are, even when the world is this fucked, by and large good. I promise most people are good. This guy used a good and normal thing for another purpose, like someone hiding a hand buzzer in a handshake. People are good; that guy's an asshole. I don't think for one second that normal human interaction was why Atticus reached out to me the way he did. Given what I know about how he talked to other people and how he justified his bad behavior to them, with more and more examples of this popping up from newly revealed private interactions, he was using the access and the good faith of apparent friendship to get things and get away with things. After almost a year of my being in the fandom, that was the first time he'd slid into my private messages and it was probably to test the waters. See if I was going to gush back, see if I was hungry for approval, etc. because then I'd be easier to jerk around. You make excuses for people you look up to; you make excuses for people who give you something you need. That's what he did, and I'm not saying that to lecture anyone; the opposite. It's why he got away with things, because people want friendship and approval. It's why, even after one of the most frustrating fandom periods of my life, I genuinely am sorry for people who got jerked around even when they didn't want to hear me out.

If someone hurts you and tries to guilt you into forgiving them with shit like "our friendship means so much to me" and [insert medical or mental health reason here] instead of just admitting they fucked up, please please please please please pleasepleasepleasePLEASE be careful with them. When I hit the block button on him, I even sent the prediction that he would make a post about it to friends. He hit the "i thought we were friendly" and the "I'm so stressed about--" points real quick. If I had bothered to explain it to him, it would have looked like all the other Didn't Mean Tos he's been revealed to have done. Please have more respect for your feelings than he did.

tl;dr-- okay but no, really, honestly, truly fffffffffffffffuck this guy. I hope to not make another post about this. If you need to, you can dm me here or on Discord, babykittenteach there too.

[berrysemifreddo]

Greetings from a new HL enjoyer💝

Hey guys! So I've been playing HL for a while (about 27 hours so far, still level 22 lol) and loving this game (the hotties and the cabbages) so far. And to be honest the first time I saw Garreth in classroom I just…couldn't help liking this cutie. I don't usually mod my game but I heavily modded my MC and make Garreth my companion XD (used the companion mod).

Then I started collecting images. And I was so surprised to see that people in this fandom aren't super anti-AI like some other fandoms😳and there's even a hashtag for Garreth AI! So I figured, well, if people like it…Imma train a model of this little Gryffindor angel. Took about a day to curate and label the dataset and about 2 hours to train.

I'm not entirely sure but I think most people here who make Garreth AI were using SD models (look like SD1.5 and SDXL)? I've been obsessed with Flux Dev recently so I used that base model to train. Turned out pretty decent I'd say!

I haven't made so many images yet, but if you guys like what I made I'll surely do more! :) I haven't tried doing photorealism or other art style yet but I'm pretty sure this model would be quite flexible, I added some regularization images after all. Alright, enough of rambling of my nerdy stuff, hope you guys like these pics!🥰(Also forgive me that he had visibly less freckles than in actual game😂Maybe I should put that in my captions next time)

(Also screenshot of me and Garreth chilling in vivarium)

(Tumblr ate my post the first time so I'm trying again, please Tumblr I'm not a heking spam let me ouuuuut)

[galvanizedfriend]

HIII if you don’t mind sharing, what are your fav klaroline fics? New and old, I’m in need of new reads 🙏

I'm probably not the best person to be doing new fic recs. 🥲 I have sadly not been reading that much Klaroline myself these days. When I do read fic, it's for other stuff. So my recs are either old or new-ish. 😂 But hopefully you can find something to your liking that haven't read yet here.

Buckle up because I took my sweet time with this list, nonnie.

. Inertia Overcome by @avari20

The first KC fanfic I remember reading the reason why I finally got pulled into the fandom after years of watching TVD as a reasonable spectator (so rly, if you guys can't stand to see me around anymore after all this time, it's this fic's fault for being so good). Honestly one of this fandom's statement works. If you haven't read it yet, please do.

. Timeless by @marvelouskatie

Same as the above. One of the most iconic KC fics of all time imho. The canon AU to end all canon AU. When I first decided to come out of the shadows and create a tumblr and actually start interacting with folks, this was the first fic that was recced to me. I was very grateful then, and now I'm here to pass this knowledge on.

. Picturesque by @supernutellastuff

Honestly of the sweetest, most heartwarming fics I've ever read! It's a human AU that's a How I Met Your Mother sort of adaptation, and honestly the first time I've ever enjoyed HIMYM. I love a good ensemble fic and this is just it! Supernutella is so talented.

. Quiet Light by @definedareasofuncertainty

This fic was WRITTEN FOR ME because of how much I pestered my friend Luiza about Carolijah and this will forever feel like a trophy to my heart. 🥰 It made me feel ALL THE FEELINGS. I hated Caroline, I loved Caroline, I loved my baby Elijah, I hated him, I also hated Klaus (he's such a fucking asshole omfg), but then the end was just DHAGHDDASAS!! You think you're in for a certain kind of story and it turns out to be so much more. It is, deep down, about the brothers, how selfish they are, how they can hurt each other more than anyone, but how they love one another above anything else, even when they want to kill each other (and fall in love with their brother's girl!!!). It's beautiful, like everything Luiza writes, and it genuinely made me cry.

. long limbs and frozen swim by @definedareasofuncertainty

I saw a discussion the other day about how whoever wrote this fic JUST GOT IT, and I have to say I completely agree with the person who made that comment. Luiza just NAILS Caroline's grief and loneliness after her mother's death, how isolating and gut-wrenching it is. Klaus being the person who finds her, who knows exactly what to say without her ever having to spell it out, the one who can truly see her, is so honest too. This fic is sensitive and absolutely beautiful. Luiza's writing is perfection and this is for sure one of my all-time favorites.

. Whisper to me, Help me remember by @lalainajanes

This story reimagines the plot with the "villains" of TO S3 in a way that proves my point that the premise of that season was good, but execution was absolute crap. All of the potential the De Martels had to be incredible antagonists was completely destroyed at the hands of the show writers - but explored to perfection by Laine's much more capable hands. Klaus is freed after 10 years in captivity to find that Caroline had been working with Tristan this whole time in order to take him down - except something is not quite right about that. While you're at it, please read all of Laine's fics! It's a delight.

. Into the Woods by @jinxedwood

I wept when I read this because it's the post-TO canon fic I didn't even know I needed. Caroline's search for a way to stop her twins' merger ends up leading her to someone who's been watching over her on the Other Side. 😭 I thought I'd always rather live in denial when it came to how TO ended, but this fic made my heart so full! Also, jinxedwood's use of fae mythology here was incredible.

. All I Need by @euvixen

This story is HOT. It taught me things about the werewolf AU universe I was not prepared to learn, but I am a much happier person after reading it. It's a canon mates AU that will leave you 🥵🥵🥵🥵 I speak as though the story was merely about the smut, but it's actually much more than that. A TVD S3 reimagine of sorts that is incredibly satisfying. That's my favorite season of TVD, but this is still even better.

. the birth and death of the day by @little-miss-sunny-daisy

Anyone who's known me for a some time knows how this fic was my entire personality for a while there. I'm obsessed with Kelly's writing, and I have this fic on a freaking pedestal. I first started reading it when it was on a six years hiatus, and I was *so* into it I didn't even bother me that it might never get updated because it was so good I was just happy I'd found it. But then my silly comments inspired Kelly to come back to it, finish it, and it has honestly been my greatest accomplishment as a part of this fandom because this is a masterpiece. It's a TVD/Supernatural crossover where Caroline is a step-sister to the Superbros. It's truly, truly epic, with beautiful writing. This could genuinely be a show. It's amazing, just read it.

. this is a harvest by @highgaarden

This, right here, is the perfect Klaroline-within-canon story. This is the story that put my revolt to rest and gave my spirit some much deserved peace where those two are concerned. This is exactly what canon should've been like. I'm not even joking, this is IT. If you'd asked me what I thought the perfect Klaroline development should be like I probably would've said something very vague because I couldn’t explain it, I’m not that great or creative a writer, but now I can just show you this story and let you bask in the amazingness of a fantastic read that will not only keep you thoroughly entertained, but will also be the answer to all the questions you didn't even know you had.

. Paradise Lost by Borzoi

When i grow up, I want to learn how to write like Borzoi. All of their fics are incredible novella-like reads. It's addictive. And this is probably my favorite (it varies though, sometimes I'm in a Parisian Deal era). What happens after Klaus and Caroline sleep together in 5x11, and how they eventually find their way back to each other. It's just one of those stories that you can't stop reading after you start. It's so rich, so deep, so perfectly IC. One of those fics to end all fics.

. The Stubborn Grace of Being Loved Regardless by @helpless-in-sleep One of the modern day classics, if you will. This fic is such a stunning, vivid and delicate picture of Caroline's mind as she was dealing with the consequences of the abuse she suffered at the hands of Damon. She's still human, but she's probably more IC than we've seen her ever on the show when it comes to this. The bond she forms with Klaus is truly incredible too, and speaks a lot of how the two of them really do have a lot in common (even with Caroline still as a human), but it's really the Caroline study part of the story that touches me. The writing is absolutely beautiful as well.

. it takes a while to settle down by theviolinist

This story is a punch to your stomach, but it is PERFECTION in 8k words. It's hot, it's bittersweet, it's SO in character and, in my head, I kinda like to pretend that this is what happened before Caroline married Stefan. lol

. Wanderlust by @bellemorte180 Anybody who was a part of fandom around the time this story was being published can tell you how much of an EVENT it was. There were discussion groups about the mystery. It was so entertaining. Erica's attention to detail and how she wove the little clues throughout the chapters made this a genuine thriller. I particularly some of the side-characters here. It's honestly another fandom staple I think everyone should read.

--

In terms of newer fics that I can rec you, I have two that are on my TBR. One of them is a WIP that I've been slowly going through, and the other one I know was recently finished.

. make them bow by @stars-and-darkness

This was recced to me by two friends recently and I started reading it a while back and thought it was incredible! I have sadly been awful with keeping up with stuff, but just based on the raving reviews and the five chapters I read, I fully believe it to be just as awesome as it seems to be. The writing was so good, and I was just in love with Klaus' voice in this story. It was so reminescent of early-days TVD Klaus, which is by far my favorite Klaus of all. Sexy and dangerous and so smooth. I loved it! Need to get back to it.

. Wolf Club by @Radioactive79

Listen, if you like kid fics, this is absolutely for you. The whole story is narrated by an eight-year-old OC, the daughter of Ray Sutton, the first werewolf Klaus kills when he's trying to start his mass-production of hybrids. She's a little wolf herself, and a while little thing who was subjected to her fair share of child trauma. Klaus has no idea what to do with her, but ends up taking her with him as continues on his journey, and ends up forging a bond with the little girl. I cannot tell you how delicious this story is. It has Klaroline, yes, but for me the little girl is the absolute star of the company. I usually hate OCs, especially children, in fics, but this one is AMAZING. Seriously. The way this story is written is glorious. I can't recommend it enough.

[7mrcxyz]

★ HI THERE!

(new intro woo it looks fancy now)

☆ WELCOME TO MY PAGE!!! the name's Sebastian or Seven, also known as your local idiot. i mainly go by they/he/she!

i'm a random autistic techum guy on the internet who wishes to share his stuff cause why not. (wow what a combo)

i am a MINOR btw! so please refrain from asking weird stuff, aight? thanks.

i will mainly post my art on here (art in general, not just drawings!), i might also occasionally ramble.

here's some more stuff about me, if you care! ☆

☆ sites to know more bout me!!

my strawpage: https://7mrcxyz.straw.page/ (main one to check!)

my pronouns.page: https://en.pronouns.page/@7mrcxyz (moreso made to learn more abt my gender identity than myself but hey)

★ WHERE TO FIND ME:

first, here obviously.

☆ DISCORD: 7mrcxyz

^ i will most likely not accept friend requests unless i know you enough. but you're still free to dm me a question or something if you wish to.

☆ YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@7mrcxyz

☆ ROBLOX: kelsey123kawaii, soon will change it to 7mrcxyz.

if you want my switch fc or something related to that, dm me on discord please! i might also share it if i'm hosting some games or sum.

★ MY TAGS:

some might think this is useless. but i'd rather make my own tags for my rambling n such incase someone cares lol. it also makes things more…organised in some way? whatever, here they are. please note at the time i'm writing this i didn't make most of them yet lol

☆ #7mrcxyz art: my art. duh

☆ #7mrcxyz ramblings: when i get yappin. yup

☆ #7mrcxyz asks: when i answer asks. it's as if it wasn't in the name/sarc

☆ #7mrcxyz OCs: i'm not sure i'll use that one much, i would like to keep my projects secret! but sometimes i just can't help but share them lol. so yea!

^ THIS TAG ALSO APPLIES TO MY OWN DESIGNS OF ALREADY EXISTING CHARACTERS FOR MY ROBLOX PROJECTS, FOR EXAMPLE MY C00LKIDD DESIGN FROM A BIT AGO!!!

☆ #paint03: i'm somehow the ceo of this ship so i thought i'd make a tag for em. they're so awesome

★ MORE!!!

☆ you're free to ask or tell me anything, whether it's on here or discord dms! you can ask me to draw silly things and if i'm in the mood to do so, i'll answer with EPIC art! (pun intended)

i'm in many fandoms, which i'll tag as much as i can down here. although lately i've mainly been into roblox and robot related fandoms! i love robots and lego wannabes with weird hacker lore they're so cool

i believe that is all. thank you for reading, and if you do look at my art, i hope you'll like it!

have a great day or night! ☆

[strangesthirdeye]

✨HAPPY 300+ FOLLOWERS TO ME✨

Me: *open my account door hall gently with a sweet smile on my face* ok, kiddos.. I have good news to share.

Doctor: ohh, good news. I love hearing good news. *glances at Donna excitedly*

Donna: you always love everything, Doctor.

Crowley: *sprawling on my massage chair in the corner of the hall* nguhh- damn.. this massage chair is something. *fiddling with the remote control for the massage chair*

Aziraphale; *snatches remote control from Crowley's hand* Crowley! It's not good to play someone's stuff, like that. What if it's broken?

Crowley: *shrugs* just want to increase the speed.

Aziraphale: *sighs before helping Crowley increase the speed on the massage chair* So.. what is the good news you want to share?

Stephen: *crossed his arms against his chest while leaning against the wall* Don't tell me that you have new ideas for other fanfics while you haven't finished the old ones yet.

Wong: Is it the continuation of Snape's fanfics that you promised him a few months ago? because as far as I know you have made two fanfics for him. That's why he seems in a good mood lately.

Severus: I've been in my own mood for a long time... what makes you sense that I've been in a good mood lately?

Wong: *shrugs* maybe because you don't always make a few snarky remarks the moment Dhani enters this noble hall.

Severus: who says if I don't make a few snarky remarks to Dhani I'm in a good mood? Tell me, Mister Wong.

Me: guys, settle down ler.. just chill out.. we don't need history to repeat itself..

Sherlock: With what you say first, old things will be repeated without having to be told because your mouth is the type that likes to talk without thinking about the consequences.

John: *massage his nose* Sherlock.. just.. let Dhani tell what the good news is so that this meeting will not be long.

Me: John's right.. if you don't want this meeting to be long, you need to let me do the talking. While y'all.. Listen to me.

Them: *grumbled before agreeing with what I said*

Me: *nods* good.. now *press the button to open the projector* This is the good news I want to share.

Doctor and Donna: *raise their eyebrows to show they are impressed*

Sherlock: *narrows his eyes*

John: *mouth agape*

Severus: *keeps his stoic face*

Crowley: *opens his black tinted glasses slightly to see clearly*

Aziraphale: *stunned*

Loki: *blew his lips* that's growing fast.

Stephen and Wong: *disbelieving*

Stephen: that's very fast because a few months ago it was only 200.. now it has increased to 300

Me: 322 actually.

Donna: Well, if 22 unfollows you, it will be 300 exactly.

Doctor: no no.. don't do that

Me: woi! don't jinx it!

Aziraphale: but- but you don't post any fanfics these days.. how come it can be so many?

Me: i did posted something a few days ago, okay.. two incorrect memes and Chapter 13 Unspoken Love..

Stephen: of course it's about their fandom *nods his head at Aziraphale and Crowley*

Crowley: Did I sense jealousy, Doctor? *smirks*

Stephen: *glares at Crowley* I don't need those kind of incorrect to make me jealous.. At least I have a full chapter

Crowley: *rolls his eyes, annoyed with Stephen*

Sherlock: plus about the two of them too *gesture towards Doctor and Donna* something about Y/n making dad jokes.

Donna: don't remind me of that please *groans*

Doctor: it's funny.

Donna: for you, yes.. but me? no.

John: Well at least she doesn't make dark jokes right?

Doctor and Donna: ...

John: right?

Me: *write notes* that's a good idea, Johnny boy.. Might make dark jokes for incorrect Sherlock too *grins*

John: for God's sake!

Sherlock: I don't have any comments to make.

Stephen: whatever.. as long as my lists will be full of fanfics only.

Me: who says your lists will be full of fanfics only? Your Unspoken Love series alone has taken time to complete and you want your list to be full of fanfics only? Huh! in a dream.

Stephen: you-

Severus: did i get new fics?

Me: let me check.. *open my notes app* hmm.. Supreme Strange imagine.. Little Star miniseries, Sherlock's.. Ahh not yet

Severus: pardon?

Me: *glance at Severus* not yet lah.. sorry.. but don't worry, Sevvy, I will do it.

Severus: she always says the same thing but won't do it.

Me: oh! don't let me not do it

Loki: Am I getting new fics too?

Me: same goes to you.. i still have a few paragraphs for Too Many Secret part 2 which is not ready yet. It's a long fic. So it will take time to prepare.

Loki: not ready yet? I thought it was ready?! it's been what? a few months!.

Me: oh! you have to remember that I use my phone to write all these fanfics okay! that's why it takes time!

Loki: i sense deception! she has a new laptop which she didn't use for writing instead she uses it to read fanfics!

Me: I'm still not used to writing using a laptop because I'm so used to using the phone to write, you snake!

Loki: This is ridiculous. *cross his arms*

Donna: seriously, what is our purpose for gathering at this meeting? to roast each other? I thought it was to celebrate 300+ followers.

Aziraphale: I must say that, although Dhani is the type who is slow to update or post something but in the end her work will finish in no time.

Severus: she has really bad writer's block.. that's why she's a bit slow to write fanfics.

Me: is that judging or a compliment? because I'm gonna take it as a compliment even though it's a bit harsh.

Severus: none of the above

Me: okay, compliment then.

Doctor: Well, at least she writes, right?

Egon: that's right, but judging by some of the abandoned fanfics in her notes apps says something.

Them: *turned their heads to look at the source of the voice*

Stephen: who are you?

Sherlock: new character crush i suppose.

Doctor: She added character crush again?

Egon: I don't know how I can be here actually. All this started a few months ago where Dhani got bored and decided to watch Ghostbusters. My name is Egon Spengler

Donna and Wong: *look at each other*

John: *raises eyebrows* she sure has a taste for men who are introverted and high functioning and intelligent and cold..

Me: it's not my fault that they are all fine.

Aziraphale: so you're going to start making fanfics for him?

Me: I'm still thinking about that, actually.

Crowley: great! more abandoned fanfics *clapping his hands*

Me: why are you all being so cruel this day? you all should raise my spirit to write so that I will write diligently..

Aziraphale: oh, Dhani.. don't be sad.. Just.. you don't need to rush for time to write.. You have plenty of time to write and do other things.. Just take your time and relax.

Donna: yes, just sit and relax.. having tea and sleep..

Sherlock: gosh that's kinda boring

John: *smack Sherlock on the back of the head* shut up

Egon: I don't mind if I don't have fanfics about me.. I mean.. I'm still new so only 'seniors' have fanfics, right?

Me: oh, don't worry! I will try to do it.

Loki: well let's just don't rush. I mean you have a lot of time to write.. so there's no need to rush.

Donna: yeah, Loki's right.. I mean.. we are just Characters.. so we can only entertain you.. all our dialogue and actions are in your hands.

Stephen: and you kind of use us to motivate you to write or do other things.

Wong: that's right.

Crowley: Ngh- don't stress too much.. Everything will be okay in the blink of an eye.

Me: *tears up* oh guys... thank you!

Them: no problem

Wong: so.. is there anything else you want to talk about?

Me: nahh.. I think this is enough.. you can go.

Stephen: *stands up* right.. if you say that *open portals* in you go, gentleman and lady.

Crowley: *points his index finger at me* remember what I said. *enter portal*

Aziraphale: it was nice to see you all again.. thank goodness we don't have to argue before going home.

Severus: at least we all got what we wanted.

John: yeah.

Aziraphale: i think i should go, see you guys later! *enter the portal and the portal directly vanish*

Sherlock: *nods in farewell before entering the portal*

John: see you guys later *enter portal*

Severus: i must go before all those dunderheads do inappropriate things.. Farewell *enters the portal*

Egon: it was nice to meet you all.. I hope we can get to know each other more.. goodbye *enter portal*

Loki: I think this is the time for me to withdraw.. until next time. *disappears*

Wong: I should go then *enter the portal*

Stephen: *look at me who is watching they all go in front of me* Dhani. ..

Me: hmm?

Stephen: *walks closer to me and stands in front of me* as a first fictional character that you like, I must say that.. you grow up fast.. mentally.. physically you look like a 12 year old girl although your age is more than 18 years old.. so it's a bit different from the others because you can remember all the plots and stories even though they've been left for a long time. Consider you have short term memory but you can still remember all the stories and plots for your stories that you abandoned.. That's why you are always slow to update because you always follow the mood to write.. not because you have no ideas...

Me: so you mean that I'm lazy to write? Even though I have an idea to write.

Stephen: more or less like that..

Me: wha- what the hell! i thought you wanted to give me advice instead you just want to tell me that i'm lazy.. sheshh...

Stephen: it's not my fault.. I'm just telling you in a way that's not straight forward.

Me: wouldn't it be nice if you just told me straight forward.. haiyaa

Stephen: well I don't want you to be offended.

Me: of course I will be offended if you said like that.. but I just accept it because it's true. Heh..

Stephen: *nods and pat my head* good.. well, i shall go back to my realms.

Me: right, bye bye! *closes my account hall door loudly*

[fkinkindagauche]

Fanfic Writer Interview

Thank you for tagging me @dame-zoom-a-lot! I can never resist a tag from you.

What fandoms do you write in?

Right now just Stranger Things. I wrote one lil OFMD fic and one The Locked Tomb fic years ago, but nothing recent. However, I am working on another OFMD fic for the @fandomtrumpshate auction that I'm excited about. And I'm doing a re-read of The Locked Tomb and champing at the bit to write Gideon again so that may happen, too.

How many words did you publish in 2024?

233K. Which is honestly embarrassing given I started in July. I'm terrified of what this year's total is going to be.

What are your top three fics you wrote last year?

Someone To Bleed, Possibly Maybe, Cocoon

What was your biggest pit of despair moment?

Oh I get into pits of existential despair at least once a week, where I ask myself what the fuck I'm even doing with my life which also includes fanfic writing. But that's just regular Gauche-brain stuff. The biggest pit of despair was probably when I first started posting Someone To Bleed. I was pretty new to the fandom, and the first two longer fics I'd posted were omegaverse, which, IMO, get a lot of love and views even if nobody knows who the fuck the author is, because there's a shit-ton of delightful freaks in fandom who want people to fuck each other wolfishly. I wasn't expecting how much longer it would take for people to find my fic when it wasn't in that omegaverse sweet spot, but instead in the pretty oversaturated vampire subgenre. It didn't get much traction at all when it was first posted, and I loved it so much that it was hard for me to handle as someone just starting out. But I got over it.

What have you learned?

Having a beta actually really helps. I know, WHAT A SHOCK. I started out as a grumpy loner who just wanted to sit on my fanfic hoard like a little goblin and "beta everything myself", but then through the @eddiemunsonbigbang server I started working with @dame-zoom-a-lot as a beta, and then I just made her keep beta-ing my stuff. He would have made me put a period somewhere in that run-on sentence, I'm sure. Not only has it improved my writing (obviously), but it's also just so much more fun to be able to talk to someone about what I'm creating.

Did you beta any fics last year? Any faves you want to shout out?

I'm trying to remember if there were any I actually beta'd last year. I've done a BUNCH already in 2025, but last year... It was probably all Steddie Winter Exchange stuff. I beta'd in the morning by @the-winged-doe, that was a good Upside Down-y twist on sex pollen. One Night in the City by @kayleeofcamelot was a vampire fic AND an omegaverse fic, and very cute!

What three fics from last year did you love?

It's illegal for you to ask me to keep it to three. But I'll fucking do it, fine. - Cheating a little already and saying @dame-zoom-a-lot's whole series for Metalsandwich Bingo, Object Oriented Magicking. Absolutely fantastic worldbuilding, good smut, fantastic Billy characterization (and all of them, it's just harder for me to find writers whose Billy voices I like). Do It Scared was my particular favorite. - The Fish Guy series by @stevieschrodinger. Such cool monster biology, and THEY'RE SO SWEET IT KILLS ME. - Stiff by Day, Stiffer by Night by @oralmisery. Absolutely 10/10 crackfic, I think about it every time I see a mannequin.

What ideas are percolating for this year?

SO MANY. I'm currently writing a Fruity Four murder fic that's very heavy on Platonic Stobin, with side Steddie and Ronance, and I'm really enjoying it. I want to actually do some substantive work on my Twin Peaks AU instead of just thinking about it all the time. Was thinking about doing an arranged marriage omegaverse thing because I need to collect all the tropes like Pokémon. And, of course, the OFMD thing I mentioned for FTH. I am also going to keep doing the Mer Harringrove universe, I just need to get back in the mood.

Always an open tag, PLEASE do it if you want to even if you haven't been specifically tagged because I am looking you in the eye and tagging you right now, whoever you are.

Specific tags (picking some random moots, sorry if you've already been tagged!): @kayleeofcamelot, @cxwzkeys, @onirislanding, @runninriot, @mojowitchcraft

[dearheart42regenerated]

MOTORCITY SEASON 2 MASTERPOST

once upon a time, over 10 years ago, just a few months after the announcement that Motorcity was officially canceled...the creators of the show took pity on their heartbroken fandom and gave us several glimpses of what season 2 might have been like. they saw how much we loved Motorcity and gave us every scrap of info they could at the time, so that we could use those scraps to imagine our own personal "Season 2" - whether it continue on in our fics, our fanart, or simply our own heads.

I'm making this masterpost so that none of this material will be lost or forgotten, and so any fanartists/fic writers still hanging around today can use it for inspiration. if there's any related material I've missed, PLEASE feel free to add it in a reblog or let me know in my inbox! I want this list to be as complete as we can make it! :)

--

The Season 2 That Never Was: A Comprehensive List

Motorcity Season 2 Rough Intro "Scratch audio by our very own Chris P." (x)

-> backup download

--

Season 2 Writer's Wall posted (and later deleted) by @chrisprynoski on twitter, and shared on tumblr by @peopleofmotorcity, these pictures of the writer's wall showed us a "rough sketch" of what could have been, and gave our imaginations SO many fun theories and possibilities to play with. every blurry sticky note was a treasure to us. :')

-> original tumblr posts: x x x x x x x x x x x x -> image masterpost -> google drive folder

--

Chris Prynoski's Fan Interview + Tumblr Q&A's this whole interview on youtube is a delight to listen to, and Part 2 in particular has some interesting bits about season 2. (skip to 17:10 for some good stuff about Texas and Chuck's backgrounds!)

-> Part 1 -> Part 2

Chris P also answered several juicy season 2 questions on tumblr. sadly his blog is deactivated now, but you can still read through all of them at the links below!

-> image masterpost -> google drive folder

--

Capri Chilton - Mike Chilton's long lost big sister! I can't remember where or when it was first revealed that they were considering giving Mike a secret older sister, and I haven't been able to track down the origin. that being said, when it was revealed, the fandom loved the idea so much that they begged the creators to make it canon. Chris P busted out the "magical canon stick", gave us this delightful concept sketch, and "Capri Chilton" was born!

--

The Motorcity Series Bible "To help you all understand what it is you are reading, this is the material that Titmouse used to help pitch Motorcity, and it was also a tool for writers to use when coming up with episodes to help understand who the characters were before there was any other reference. That being said, this was one of the very first documents about Motorcity, so many things have changed or evolved from these early concepts." (x)

-> original tumblr posts: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 -> image backups -> PDF download

EDIT: the COMPLETE series bible has now been leaked by Lost Media Busters on X (Twitter) and helpfully shared by @waksworldrebooted!!

--> here is a google drive download for the full PDF file!

--

Motorcity Series Bible - Redacted Version (Pages 1, 2, 17, 19, 20) funfact: @peopleofmotorcity was the official? unofficial? tumblr blog for Motorcity, and it was run by a guy named Mac - an animator for the show who loved to tease and joke around with the fandom. before revealing the actual first 13 pages of the series bible, he posted this censored version as a prank - a mix of truth and trolling! it's up to the fandom to decide which is which. ;)

-> original tumblr posts: 1 2 17 19 20 -> image backups -> PDF download

--

MTV Era Motorcity Masterpost a fantastic collection of glimpses into the original pilot/pitch trailer that would evolve into the show we know and love today, found and compiled by @waksworldrebooted. "In 2000, Chris Prynoski pitched a cartoon called Motorcity. He made a card and a website promoting the show, which wouldn't see the light of day until the Walt Disney Company got their hands on it."

--> tumblr masterpost (including wayback links to the old website) --> twitter sources from Chris P himself :)

--

Motorcity Unaired Pilot - 2009 Disney Version Originally aired during Comic Con 2012, the pilot was recorded and then posted on YouTube by Allison Simmons in July of 2012, later being privatized in 2022. The video was re uploaded onto VKVideo 22 days after its original posting to YouTube and is still currently available to watch online. (x)

--> backup download --> also viewable here!

--

if I find more material, I will add it here! :)

[revolutionsingingintherainnn]

Prompt List

Hey, guys! I've made a list of prompts that y'all can send in, along with the driver you want! I am going to start with F1 imagines, and maybe, later on, I'll include other fandoms too.

Feel free to send in stuff aside from this as well!

“We should get married.”

“What would happen if I kissed you right now?”

“I never really left.”

Using each other’s phones without supervision 

Having their first serious fight

“Seeing you like this, I fell even more in love with you.”

“You love me again.” “Who said I stopped?”

“Maybe this was a mistake.”

“Do I make you nervous?”

raspberry lip gloss

pajama bottoms

flushed cheeks

a fogged up mirror

colouring tattoos

lipstick marks on shirt collars

silver bangles

six missed calls

“Silly me to assume that you would care.”

“I can’t believe that we finally made it.”

“We’re ride or die, remember?”

“I’ll be here forever. For as long as you’ll have me.”

“If you insult them, you insult me.”

“We’re a package deal.”

“I could pick you out from a room full of thousands of people.”

“I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“You’ve saved me so many times; it’s only right that I return the favor.”

“Did you seriously drop everything just to come here?”

“You are my home.”

“I saved this for you.”

“I got you your favourite.”

“I haven’t watched any of it without you.”

“This reminded me of you.”

“You can have the last one.”

“You could put a knife to my throat and I wouldn’t flinch.”

“I made this for you.”

“I knew you would be there. You always are.”

“I don’t care about what they think, I care about you.”

“I know, I know, I’m stuck with you. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“really? i never knew that about you.”

“who’d buying you flowers that isn’t me?”

“isn’t paying for dinner a date thing?”

“for you, i’d do anything.” “i know.”

a tattoo parlour, buzzing with machinery and walls lined with artwork .

an otherwise empty parking lot .

the thick crowd of an audience at a show .

“Wanna dance?”

“i love that about you.”

“your hugs are the best.”

“could you get any cuter?”

“please come back to bed.”

“god, you’re just the cutest.”

“wow. you look really good”.

“can you come here? please?”

“you’re freezing! take my jacket.”

stargazing

“I wish I could hate you.”

“I can hate your guts but still respect you.”

physical touch as a love language

words of affirmation as a love language

acts of services as a love language

“I miss home.”

“You’re safe with me.”

accidentally calling the other wife/husband

a forgotten anniversary gift hidden in a closet

“I think I need help.”

a cherished photograph tucked inside a book

an old, faded love note found in a pocket

a favorite blanket with a small, stitched heart

“What if we get caught?”

“Would you please just kiss me?”

a faded Polaroid tucked behind a mirror

a handwritten recipe with personal notes in the margins

leaving post-its everywhere

thunderstorms

“Thank you for taking care of me.”

Pet names/Nicknames

sleeping arrangements

grabbing the other’s hand so they don’t fall

guiding each other through a crowded room with gentle touches

helping someone zip up a jacket in a chilly wind

subtle protection

“I’m sitting front row. I always do.”

cozy pizza night

sandcastles

“You scared me!”

coming home after a long day

dancing in the rain

domestic life

time difference

hugs

scrunchies

painted nails

promise rings

face masks

sunday morning breakfasts

warm cups of cocoa

late night conversations

movie marathons on rainy day

staying up all night and watching the sunrise together

building a fort with blankets and pillows

[that-s-it]

Goodbye Mercair

On January 7th of 2017, i posted my first song ever. It was a shitty self-insert megalo that never got any likes and barely got listened to. But i didn't really make it to get popular, i knew at the time that that would never happen and i was okay with it, because i didn't make that song for that. That first song was my way of thanking this community for helping me so much during a grim part of my life, to thank YOU, Undertale/Deltarune fan just for being there, creating stuff, and making people happy... I wanted to pay back the happiness this community gave me, and it has been like that ever since.

But now i realize, after 7 years, that... I'm not needed here. Whether i'm here or not, people would still be happy. People would have banger songs to listen to and characters to obsese over, without me. And that's wonderful! I enjoy seeing people happy more than i enjoy seeing myself. Just like in real life too, i'm the kind of person that can disappear from earth, and almost nobody would notice. But it's not like i can blame them, in the last 7 years i've been here i barely talked to anybody, i barely interacted and i barely got any friends.

And also, i'll just never be able to pay my debts with this community. I owe you guys so much, but nothing of what i do will ever be enough, not for me at least. And now i just have nothing to offer. I have no new ideas, i'll have no way of composing in what seems like months at this point, and i just lost my motivation. I've ran out of excuses to justify my presence in this place.

But also, in all honesty... After 7 years of creating stuff, even though i told myself that i never did it for popularity... I just thought i would stop feeling like a nobody, and that i'd stop feeling jealous of everyone else's success on this community. Is that ungrateful of me? Am i being greedy and not appreciative enough of what i got? Honestly, that's another reason of why i decided to leave; i'm just so secretly jealous of every other famous person in this fandom, i just think it'd be unfair for you guys to have a person like me around here. Ungrateful, greedy, jealous.

So i decided it's just time. To give up. To leave.

Once i'm done writing this letter, it'll be over. I'll stop being a musician, and i'll stop being an artist too. But please don't be sad about that. I don't want you to be sad. I want you to keep being happy, living in this fandom, like always. Keep making banger tracks, keep making cool art whether it's of your favorite characters or your own awesome ocs, keep talking to your friends and the people who love you, and overall, just forget about me. Forget about all of this. All my creations, all my characters, songs and concepts, they're not worthy of your praise. But everyone else's stuff is. So please, don't remember me or else i won't be able to leave this place in peace.

And now, i guess the question people are more interested in right now is "What will happen to all your stuff then?" Well, as some may have noticed, i've already taken down all of my original tracks from my soundcloud account, except for the covers/songs i made for other people and collabs, which are still up, since they're either not my characters, or i just wasn't the only one that worked on it, and it would be unfair to delete it. The soundcloud account will soon go unnamed, and i'll erase any connection to me it has, so people will be able to listen to those songs, without my name in it. As for my Tumblr and Twitter account... I'm now debating on whether or not to delete them, or just do the same and erase my name from both of them. I also gotta point out the possibility of me regreting this decision, but even if i do, i'm most likely not coming back.

So that's it. But before i go, i want to apologize. For everything.

I'm sorry i wasn't the best at what i did.

I'm sorry if my music wasn't good enough to make you smile or bang your head to it.

I'm sorry if my artistic abilities never catched your eye.

I'm sorry that i was never able to make a character you could obsess over.

I'm sorry if i was just too awkward and unfunny when talking to you.

I'm sorry if i was never able to become your friend and be someone you could talk to on the daily.

And most of all, i'm sorry for thinking that i could be like you. That i could be one of you.

All of you are so talented... SO incredibly talented and such good people... You're all legitimatlly amazing, and don't let people tell you otherwise. You're all gonna do great stuff in the future with the skills you have now, i guarantee it.

Well, i have to go now.

Thank you. For everything, and for what you did for me so many years ago. Thanks to you, i managed to be happy for the last 7 years of my life.

Goodbye UTDR.

[gf-brainrot-central]

Background details/me blabbing about my askblog yaaay!! Mostly because it's difficult for me to get motivated as it is! Plus maybe after being inactive for 2 years (rip 💀) this will help pique interest? Idk I just wanna talk about my sillies tbh. And the Axolotl needs a break you know? My guy's watching over an entire multiverse.

First off. The post about my LGBTQIA+ headcanons here: https://www.tumblr.com/craycray-wolf/737090570384703488/while-in-wait-for-the-book-of-bill-already-hard?source=share

It's still accurate to how I feel about the characters...mostly. In the time since I made this post, I have since been converted to "Grunkle Stan is bi" and I'm now preaching the Good Word 🤟

Anyway with that now amended, here's some stuff!

I originally made the majority of the posts about where everyone is now back in 2022, when I intended to have the blog launched as part of the 10th anniversary of Gravity Falls airing.

Well clearly that didn't pan (🩷💛💙🍳) out but maybe it was so it could instead coincide with all the revelations from TBoB! Life is kinda a beautiful thing sometimes.

Anyway point being, I'll have to tweak the timeline a bit. Which is fine because I wanted Dippin Dots and Mabes to hold some jobs before college anyway so really my lack of updating is just an excuse for this. That's the major point I could think of but if I didn't properly consider others please sound off 📣 (yes I'm a cringe emoji user AND I'M PROUD)

Soos and Melody are still attempting to conceive because they want at least one bio child if they can but they're working on adoption.

Many assume Gus Burnside to be missing or worse dead. But maybe... he's still out there somewhere...with his physical body fulfilling a deal. But y'know! No one can say for certain!

To be completely honest I'm still figuring out my interpretation of Bill's backstory. Sorry about that.

Though the reason the Axolotl has contacted our dimension to begin with has to do with his concern...about a certain someone. And who better to give a helping hand than the fandom and the Zodiac?

Since Stan taught Wendy how to hot wire vehicles and whatnot, they one day found a fairly intact Harley motorcycle in the dump. They fix it up together and Stan declares it hers. This is where her Harley previously mentioned in other posts comes from.

When did this happen? I've always assumed the Stans come back to land from time to time, including some summers. So likely during summer but a holiday could work too!

Mabel loves being a passenger. Dipper not so much unless he clings tight. Wendy installs a seat back at some point and this helps ease his anxiety. A little. He likes seeing the scenery though so he'll bare through it if asked to ride. Not to mention he cares for Wendy and thus doesn't want to deny her sharing her joy.

Robbie probably figured out he wanted to be an anime artist while doodling in college classes he wasn't paying attention to. Either he was in generals or some other degree at this point. He only drew in private during high school.

THIS NEXT SECTION WILL BE SHIPS 🚨 YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

Pacifica during her high school/diner years thought she like liked Dipper. And well, she was Dipper's rebound crush so at around 15 or so they dated for a while. Pacifica however eventually realizes she's actually a lesbian and was misinterpreting her care for Dippin Dots, as well as thinking she only had so many options initially. Dipper realizes it was to cope with Wendy.

Therefore they cut off romantic ties on good terms and continue to be good friends.

(I have nothing against Dipcifica, it's cute. I'm just personally a Mabcifica person and enjoy my lesbian Pacifica hc)

In their early college years Mabel and Pacifica become girlfriends, LET'S GOOOOOO

Candy and Dipper have began to catch each other's eyes... they've healed from the events of Roadside Attraction in the years since and now they can have a healthier relationship in several ways. I WILL DIE FOR THIS SHIP OKAY

Fiddleford and Ford are sweet old man boyfriends. Though romance baffles Ford it makes enough sense with Fiddleford.

Stan is Stan. Though maybe all of his family coming out awakes something in him... something new to explore about himself...

Past Billford will likely be discussed at some point, though they haven't been a thing for decades and it was toxic to begin with.

Grenda and Marius are of course married ❤️ Candy, Mabel, and Pacifica were her bridesmaids. Mabel and Candy were piling over each other trying to get the bouquet, though Wendy catches it. Uninterested in marriage she throws it back out and reflexively Dipper catches it. After confused for a solid moment he tosses it and finally Pacifica then catches it.

_________

SHIP SECTION FINISHED ⚠️

The Pines Twins revisit Gravity Falls every summer until their high school graduation. Well *maybe* they go one more after graduation but then they have job schedules to contend with.

One of those summers (probably when the Mystery Twins are 15) their parents surprise them with a visit! But then they start to question everything because y'know. Weird town.

Eventually the truth comes out about everything, and they better understand their kids.

It wasn't the easiest summer but an important one.

They let their children return because they know how dearly they love their time there, albeit with ground rules established.

As for their jobs, Mabel was a barista and Dipper restocked shelves at a grocery store.

Dipper now has come to care for his birth name and birthmark. He still likes going by Dipper but he insists that only those close with him use the name. The only reason he still wears bangs is that his hairstyle is just comfortable and familiar. This also keeps his birthmark special as only some get to see it (in full).

Mabel still loves knitting and sweaters, but she's experimented a lot with fashion throughout the years. She now has more variety in her wardrobe than sweaters and skirts.

The twins live in dorms with a couple roommates and return back to their childhood home during holidays and summer. They intend to live in Gravity Falls once they get all their education/credentials.

Waddles is an old man but still kickin'. The parents were initially upset with his presence but were convinced by Stan to begrudgingly keep him. They grew to care for the piggy as well.

The family cat (Sniffles) has since passed :(

They have a dog (Honey) now though! She was a puppy from a dog Dipper once dogsat. The owners didn't realize said dog was preggo. It was a whole thing. Anyway Mabel loves putting her in cute outfits that match Waddles, something she used to do with Sniffles.

Mabel is a k-pop multistan (originating from Candy and Grenda introducing it to her) and absolutely loves drinking boba/jelly milk tea. Dipper likes the sound of k-pop music but isn't a fan the same way his sister is. He likes milk tea but the boba pearls themselves freak him the heck out.

There's a lot more but I'm blanking 🤪

[w-sss]

✨HAPPY SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY✨

Heyo! I don't really often write any long posts and I don't know where to start, really. But this time I'm writing on a special occasion, Mystic messenger is now 7 years old now!

Well, first of all let me congratulate both the fans and Cheritz who gave us this wonderful game. Together we've been through meme moments, creative & traumatic moments, and we also overcame the rumour that the game would be taken off the Google play/Appstore and removed (really, do you guys know how much that scared the fandom? If anything, I think we're all looking forward to at least the 10th anniversary, and hopefully the subsequent ones if possible. Either way, prosperity to Cheritz! Thanks for surprising us all these 7 years with new artwork and more content. I just can't help but congratulate them because I'm sure that a lot of work has been done during these 7 years).

Secondly my first question after the whole 7 year anniversary thing beong announced was "how long have I been asleep?". Like yes, I've been in the fandom for probably about three years (because I remember that I caught out of all the existing anniversary screensavers only the one with cups, who remembers, remembers, and who knows, knows), but I am pleased and pleasantly surprised by the fact that the guys continue to release some content after 7 years!!!! (by the way, I like the style of the new artist, so native, so canonical, in my opinion (P.S. I love all the artists who drew screensavers and all the rest of the artwork in the game, I just could not help but note the work of the new artist, they are very cosy in my opinion).

Thirdly, look who decided to participate in an event from Cheritz for the first time ever (first time in 7 years. I've actually made attempts to participate, but you know my boneheadedness (you probably don't, because like I said, I don't write long posts often) and inability to catch up and post everything in time)? I did, of course. But I didn't find in their tumblr post the template they mentioned (I just don't use twitter (it doesn't work in my country and surprisingly it doesn't work with a VPN either), maybe the template is there), nor information about whether I should post my email or account info here... Just in case I suddenly get lucky....

Oh well, what else can I say in conclusion? I present to you Saeyoung (crying, from happiness of course) and MC in her wedding look (lol, I look similar to her in real life (I even have a meme on this topic that I'll probably post later), so I guess you could say I'm killing two birds with one stone (proverbial, no killing)). I'm glad that I was finally able to accurately portray 707 the way I imagine him in my head.

And I congratulate all of us once again on the anniversary (and on the party theme, which if not everyone, then every third person was looking forward to, I believe ;) ).

[mixterglacia]

For my creatives out there.

Con' Crit is a wonderful thing. But if you're going to approach an individual artist that is just posting something they worked on? Please at least ask.

HOWEVER.

Anything like say, a show? Anything with a crew behind it? That's a lot more fair game. Like you don't have to be a dick, but directors/team leads SHOULD EXPECT IT. SHOULD UNDERSTAND IF THEY WANT TO PASS IT ALONG TO THEIR TEAMS. AND BE CAPABLE OF JUST IGNORING IT IF THEY AREN'T INTERESTED.

Directors are responsible for many things, but tantamount amongst them is BEING THE FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE FOR THEIR CREW.

You are the name, you are the one calling shots, you are the one that can take the risks/hits. Your crew is not. They are your lifeblood. They are NOTHING compared to you. Just as you are NOTHING without them. You should do everything in your power to make sure they aren't being chewed up and spat out.

I have very little respect for directors that aren't willing to at least keep their staff safe.

I HAVE ZERO RESPECT FOR DIRECTORS THAT USE THEIR CREW LIKE SHIELDS BECAUSE THEY NEVER LEARNED THAT CON' CRIT' OF THEIR SHOW =/= CRIT' OF THEM AS A PERSON.

Sure, if someone's attacking some individual piece YOU YOURSELF MADE, they're rude if they didn't ask. Block and move on.

If you, as a director, can't tolerate any level of con' crit' on the show you run? Here's my genuine advice. I actually mean this, so please PLEASE listen to me.

Have a separate account for yourself (very clearly identifiable/searchable. like brands have.) that is run by a professional social media manager. This way you can still get info that can HELP your team to them safely, and not feel personally attacked.

That way you keep your peace, and your show can still implement feedback.

Once you get to the level of being a fully published series? As in, you are A PROFESSIONAL? You can't expect the same kindnesses granted to it as you did before you got famous.

At the end of the day? Yes. The internet can be an extremely vicious and cruel place. I truly have sympathy for people when it comes to that.

People. Not shows.

When you get to the point of genuinely liking/saying people shouldn't send you, the director, criticism? That's when you need to reevaluate your relationship to social media. Because crit is going to happen.

Either ignore it, implement it (within reason), or you really need to question if allowing unrestricted access to you (the individual) is smart.

Your show needs you. Your crew needs you. Your fans need you.

And no, a healthy response isn't "oh this guy said my show sucks, fandom wack him." That's reserved for genuinely dangerous/racist/violent cases.

Teach your community that this happens when things get big. They can engage, but you need to remind them that they aren't your personal attack dogs. They are here to enjoy what you make. Uplift them. Show them through your actions, that it's okay to laugh when someone makes a dumb (in your opinion) take.

You are setting the tone for your community. Remember that.

(Frankly, this is about who you assume it to be, but this goes for anyone who needs to hear it. If you run a show, people expressing their distaste for it is not a personal attack. I get it. It's your baby. But that baby is a massive property now. You can let it speak for itself. If you truly believe in your show's quality? Then prove it. Stop acting like you're a victim when all of your peers are far and away proving you don't have to act like this. I assure you they all get as much hate. But they understand it'll get worse the more they react out of anger.)

FOR CLARITY:

I'm not saying you can just be a dick. I'm not saying I expect this to be sent to/seen by her. (In fact, she clearly finds the very act of con crit offensive.)

AGAIN. THIS IS FOR LARGE SCALE THINGS. IF IT'S A RANDOM FAN/SINGLE RANDOM ASS CREW MEMBER THAT'S JUST ENJOYING THEMSELVES/DOING THEIR JOBS?

LEAVE THEM BE OR ASK POLITELY.

Especially if they're young. As I've said NUMEROUS times. Don't swing on civilians.

[imsoquarky]

OKAY IM GONNA TALK ABOUT TMNT MM NOW

WARNING FOR SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT!!! THIS IS A RAMBLE POST, I AINT TIPTOEING AROUND IT!!!

Also, probably gonna start making # for post types. I feel like I reblog so much stuff that it's hard to find my actual content-

♠️ - ♣️ - ♥️ - ♦️

Starting off the bat, everyone who said Rise lovers were gonna love MM were absolutely correct. I adored this movie with every fiber of my being and I really think it could bring new people into the TMNT fandom just as ROTTMNT did.

While I will always be sad that Rise did not get the merch it deserved, I am over the moon that MM is getting it. The toys I've seen and merch I've gotten are already extraordinary. For the most part they are very very well made and most of it doesn't look like they've seen their entire family be brutally ripped limb from limb.

But moving away from my opinions about merch which is a whole other bag of worms being the physical item lover I am. THE MOVIE WAS BEAUTIFUL!!!

The storyline, the characters, the voice acting, the line delivery, the writing, the comedy, and ofc most of all

THE ART!! OMG THE ART!!! I LOVED EVERY SINGLE BIT!!! I see so much dragging on the art of this movie because it's ugly BUT THATS THE WHOLE POINT!!! It's meant to be messy, asymmetrical, even uncomfortable at times. Every character is so vastly different from the last, including every single background character. Some of my favorite overall designs were Splinter, April, Stockman, Superfly, Mondo Gecko, and even that fuckin BEAST Superfly turned into at the end.

This was the first iteration I watched where Splinter started out as a rat, being only into the more modern media, I had no idea that he was originally a pet. I could go on and on about MM Splinter and that is what I am going to do. I LOVED HIM. SO MUCH. He was such a dad, and an absolute badass when he wanted to be. Kicking ass to save his sons and just worried out of his mind about them. Despite his distain for humans, he was willing to take their help when it was offered. Instead of reprimanding his sons right then and there, he'd give them a hug and make sure they were safe beforehand. And when he saved them from getting their blood taken (I'm not calling it milking, please don't make me omg- /lh), he was like "I told you so!" but not in like.. a toxic way?? I never thought Splinter would end up as my favorite of any iteration, yet... here we are.

But y'all probably aren't all that interested in my gushing about Splinter yeah? Let's talk about the turtles, going from my favorite to least favorite (not to say I don't absolutely love them all, I just like some more than others.)

Raphael and Donnie are tied, but I'll start with just Raph. Raphael very much reminded me of when I was younger. Down to the struggled with volume & um... well, anger issues. Deep down, he loves and cares about his brothers, but he wants to branch out and meet new people. It's not that he doesn't want them to be there when he dies, it's that he wants to know other people outside of them. He loves them, but it's only natural to not want to ONLY have them.

Donatello was a silly guy, lots of playful jabs at his brothers and I just loved him. Also, the guy can DRIVE. Technically, being old enough, most places I know you can get a learners permit, so he probably realistically could drive. Despite complaining about having a "giant stick" much like 2012 Donnie, I found myself less annoyed by his complaints. Maybe I'm bias? Who knows. Point is, I loved him.

Leonardo, like Raph, was extremely relatable. With his upbringing and having a very anxious father, it makes sense to have such chronic anxiety. I swear, sometimes I feel like a mix between MM Leo and MM Raph. While ofc, I wasn't a fan of the little crush on April, it's not unrealistic. This is the first girl they've met and he has dreams of getting a girlfriend, obviously a 15 year old like that is gonna fall head over heels for the first girl he sees. Hell, when I first found out girls could like girls I honestly wasn't much different. (Ofc, I'm not a girl anymore, but that's besides the point here). But April shutting him down at prom was a relief, I'm hoping it just stays as a little puppy crush. It was handled SO much better than 2012 ever did, and I'm standing by that.

Now Michelangelo. Mikey was the SWEETEST OMG. Him and Mondo were an adorable duo and I'm hoping in future content we get more of them. Also, what is with Mikey and almost getting hit with cars in this film? I think the mans needs to keep away from the streets because he's like the critters down here in Kansas, very bad luck with cars. Only reason he's probably my least fav here is because I guess I don't have much to say about him, like, specifically?

Anyways. That's a lot of rambling, someone please talk to me about MM.