#I think the old one was done in like 2014-ish

[eriathalia]

How to mess with a picture that I actually liked:

picking gold leaf over gold paint and then having it stick everywhere it's not supposed to T_T

The splashes were an attempt to tie things in...and kinda made it worse. *siiiigh*

Still, to all fellow artists out there:

Don't give up. And keep your old stuff.

Even if you are not 100% happy with the result, you will still see improvement and growth.

Trust me on that (see under the cut)

Even if I could have done better, I can say there has been some drastic improvement in my skill. (At least imo)

Found this old pice the other day:

Not awful, but still a massive contrast.

[ashtcnirwin]

🌻

[saltedriceball]

How I imagine the Mystreet characters

Because they’re block-shaped in the show, but my 12 yr old ass imagined them as real people. 🕺

* I mainly kept up with Aphmau when I was 10-12 years old, I fully stopped watching after Mystreet 5 *

* I didn’t watch MCD 🙊 *

*this is mostly PDH (my fav, I was 12)*

Aphmau

It’s just Jess.

Kawaii Chan

Like average height

5’4” ish

Thick thighs save lives

Whole wardrobe is baby pink and white

Idk grown me thinks she was a cam girl (in Mystreet, not Phoenix Drop ✋)

And she made bank too

She’s not very athletic, but she’s just like blessed proportion-wise

Pale, but not as much as portrayed

Idk I always thought she’d actually be Japanese since she uses Japanese terms

Pin straight hair she curls only at the bottom

Like ribbon

Katelyn

Quite tall

5’9”ish

Muscular but in like a

~she’s a runner she’s a track star~

Type of way

She just looks athletic

Flat though

Paler than KC

Her hair is wavy-curly naturally

She kinda lets it just flow or it’s in a ponytail

Zane

Quite chubby

Idk how anyone watched that show and thought

*man who despises the outdoors, hates exercise, and enjoys sweet things*

“Must be tall and skinny”

The fan art I viewed in middle school legit surprised me.

He was definitely super duper skinny in high school

Adolescent metabolism and all

He is definitely like 5’8”

He is very pale

Does indeed burn almost immediately in the sun

Has an emo boy hair cut

Like Anthony from Smosh way back in the day

He also has piercings: lip, ears (multiple), septum, eyebrow)

Also has tattoos

Freckled, especially on his body

He has random scars from injuries growing up

Inflicted by his brothers

Mostly Garroth

Garroth

Muscular

But also quite chubby

Just kinda in the middle

Like 6’

Overall just a big guy

Just looks like he gives good hugs

He also has a beard

Not a big floofy one

But it’s there

He looks very Northern European idk

Has a lot of arm hair, and it’s very blond

So you don’t see it until up close

Also pale

And very freckled

Also wears a watch

And his outfit is the most average outfit for a man

Khaki shorts, a white tee, a plaid button up unbuttoned, a watch, and sneakers

This outfit could be spotted on an elementary schooler’s spring picture day

Or on my literal father 👨🏻

His hair is quite curly

Not in a spiral curl, but more of a wavy-curly way

Laurance

This man is brown imo

Very tall

Like 6’3”

Super skinny

To where he looks even taller than he is

Just built like that ya know

His hair is a pony tail as an adult

But it was in a Superman sort of curly situation in high achool

I get the vibe he likes being outside

Doesn’t work out, but loves a good hotgirlwalk

Aaron

A little more like the common fan art of 2016

Tall, but only like 5’10”

Absolute beefcake of a guy

But also like has some body fat

He is not rock hard, but you can see his muscles

I imagine he has thick thighs

Fat ass too

But that’s just how his body fat distributes, so like yeah he has visible abs

Idk that’s all I’ve got

There was enough consistent fanart in my atmosphere at the time that that’s how I imagine him

Dante

Never thought too hard about him

His hair is definitely curly

More than Garroths

He has especially big eyes

He’s like lean muscular

Just very average white guy

Like 5’11”

Looks young for his age

Michi

Absolute 2014 tumblr girly

Owns something with galaxy print

Very thin

With tig ole bitties

Wears thigh high socks, mini skirts, and tank tops with sweaters

Has the swoopy bangs of the era

Poses in up angle selfies like 🙂

So her head looks like a raindrop in the photo

Edits her ig photos to look more aesthetic

Teony

Tall

Girl next door

Well done, natural make up

Straightened hair

Smiling a lot

Even if it’s fake

Idk her character that well

Never thought too hard about it

But she’s like supermodel pretty

Ein

I only remember high school him

But he was like

Young guy skinny

Like you could see he had arm muscles in a tank top

In an old 5SOS type of way

His head is actually boxy shaped

Like 5’11”

White

Never thought too hard about adult Ein

Lucinda

White

Her hair is dyed with spells

It’s styled well, in a Jessica rabbit hairstyle

It’s curled

Body shaped like a coke bottle

Hourglass for days

She’s just hot

Gene

Hi why was this cast so white washed

White

His hair is not naturally black

It’s like medium brown

It’s also straight but he gets it permed

Wears eyeliner

Lots of bracelets and piercings

Tall guy like 6’1”

Cadenza

She spends a lot of money dying her hair that color

White

Tall like 5’10”

Her dress is floor length

And loose

Could command a room

Guy

Barbie doll

Hi Ken

Built like an upside down isosceles triangle

Muscular

Back muscles for days

Looks like he could do triathlons in Ancient Greece

Like 6’5”

This man is good to look at

Ivy

Michi but pink

Jeffory

The most golden retriever man you could imagine

Like 6’3”

Athletic muscular

Melissa

The most beautiful woman you’ve ever seen

Tall like 5’11”

Long legs

Nicole

Don’t know don’t care

Miscellaneous really

Wasn’t in the show enough

Reese

Nick Bean dyed pink

Vylad

Drake Bell in his Drake and Josh era precisely

No more no less

Except he always has a scarf even if it’s hot out

Sylvanna

Aphmau, tall

Zianna

Button nose

A really petite lady

Her hair is black but with gray sprinkled in

The most smiley lady you ever did see

Mother gothel if you breathed life back into her

Hot

Kai

Forgot about him for a sec

Ok gears turning

Tall

Very calm energy

Redhead

Idk he wasn’t that relevant for me

Jenny

Also in the 2014 tumblr girly category

But a little more Bethany Mota with it

A little less galaxy print

A little more Jennxpenn vibes

Wears hella eyeliner

Her outfit is black cutoff jean shorts, an oversized shirt so you can see her white tank top underneath

Her hair is naturally that light

Wears converse only

[smokeprincess24]

Hey could you make a Morpheus x reader story where yn finds out she's pregnant whit his child but she doesn't want the baby so she leaves and dissapears so he makes it his mission to find her..😅ik it's long but it would be an honor!

At first I was going to decline the question because I haven't done anything written for a fandom since 2014-5 and what I've done as a sandman has been more phrases and loose ideas than anything else, besides that when I read it the first few times I didn't know how or what where to direct the idea but then I said fuck it I'll do it with the OC that I have in mind and its story (I'm more of creating my character with a back story and everything but never taking it to "paper")

So here's a warning 1 (and the most important) I don't speak English I can read and listen to it but I'm not that good at writing it so here I am using google translator for this (if there's something wrong let me know so I can edit it, sometimes the translator It is not so exact and although I check that if it is well written, I may miss some errors)

2. for convenience because I'm not so good at writing (not even in my own language -Spanish-) this will be a headcanon (I think it can be considered like this) but very detailed

so here goes nothing

(ps: I always give my OCs the same name but for the convenience of the sandman community I will refer to the character as her or y/n)

•Everything was going well, she had an boyfriend, they already had a year of relationship (and almost two since she found him in the basement)

•Johanna once jokingly told her that she was going to end up with a hot emo boyfriend who looks like he pouts 24/7 (and it would probably end badly), she definitely wasn't wrong. Luckily having a hot emo boyfriend means tons of hot time.

•Y/n usually alternated the days between The Dreaming and her apartment

•Morpheus was simply attached to her, always seeking her touch, from holding her hand to laying her down and fucking her on one of the library tables, but he was always close to her in his free time, it was as if they were in a honey moon phase (for a whole year)

•But then it started

•Y/n do not tend to get sick (or stay sick for a long time) thanks to their ancestry, she also hates vomiting and basically doing so is the peak of a possible illness.

•One day she began to feel tired, aching all over her body and one morning she woke up quickly from a dream to run to the bathroom

•Out of the corner of his eye she could see Matthew at er window, possibly his abrupt exit from The Dreaming caused Morpheus to send to look how she was

she was in bed all day but she thought they were just seasonal illnesses

•Oh boy, they weren't

•Fortunately the days passed and Y/N was able to recover even feeling nauseated from time to time (convincing herself that it was because she hadn't eaten much because she was sick)

• It wasn't until a week later that his roommate and best friend commented (joking) that it was a good thing she had taken a break from her boyfriend, because if they kept fucking like that she was going to end up pregnant.

•At first Y/N just laughed and let it go, until she remembered that she had been weeks without her period, this definitely freaked her out

•She waited until she was alone in her apartment to go to the pharmacy so she could get a test, a simple piss on a stick, a negative and everything ended, probably she was just thinking to much about it and really was nothing

•Over the years, she'd learned that the universe's favorite game was to contradict her and make things difficult, and this time the universe had given her the big middle finger.

•A bit of a panic attack here, okay? a fucking baby is a big responsibility for 18-20(ish) year olds

•Yep she was definitely screwed

•She could only think of Johanna when she had told at the beginning of her adolescence how she should have to scare the boys (emos and edgys) away from her, or else she would end up "knock up"

•Yeah she was definitely fuck up (and not in a good way)

ok here is the first part, I have several things planned for the morpheus part but I needed to cut it and upload this to know if (I) this had a future or what

ps: I accept suggestions for a title

ps2: you can make requests and I can try to write something, both within the sandman universe with or without my OC

[sansloii]

Name: Hollis! ( though, i go by Marshy as well and have for about 6 years )

Pronouns: she/they

Preferred comms: discord because tumblr ims are questionable at best. i also uninstalled the app because of how often it would just randomly crash for little to no reason so.... if you want to reach me, disco is the safest bet

Name of muse(s): I have eight wonderful creatures of varying temperament. Batch 1 was Mikah. Batch 2 was Penelope, Wynn, Evan, Dakota, and Joseph. Batch 3 was Roderick and Andris. I also am working on fleshing out Vega properly but he's not quite done yet.

Experience in RP: in about 2012-ish, i was into f.andomstuck and i had an oc for that until like.... 2014-ish? it was baby's first blog and i didn't really know what I was doing. I had fun, while it lasted, but i also knew some of the people in this community ( like they went to the same high school as me ) so any issue we had on tumblr would translate into lunchroom confrontations. I didn't enjoy that part so much and my interest for it fizzled out by the time i graduated. then, i jumped over to the fire emblem fandom and made an oc for fire emblem awakening! i think i stayed in that rpc until 2016/2017 and i had two ocs, a mother and her son from the future, that i still very much adore. there were ups and downs and i feel like i was taught.... multiple frustrating lessons during my tenure there. it did help me develop my writing a lot and i have to say that i'm honestly better off having taken the chance to do it.

lastly, i ended up here in 2017 and i'm not leaving. i also have another massive oc blog i'm slowly reworking but i'm trying not to stress myself out lol.

Best experiences: it's very difficult to put specific experiences into words because most of it, for me, is vibes. my best experiences have been interactions and plots with people that I not only get along with but like... you know--we understand each other. like if i decide that i'm not going to rp on tumbles for a month and maybe just stick to headcanons, i can do so without fear that you think i'm wasting your time. or that we can pick up where we left off and it's okay if you respond to the months old thread you had with me. or! we can just stay up until the wee hours of the morning talking about ideas or blorbos or getting really into a discord rps. like it's the vibes that i can come to you like a fart in the night with a gifset or image like "hey this is our muses" and, likewise, you can do the same with me.

to those of you who i vibrate at the speed of light towards at any given moment, you know who you are. thank you for being patient with me and giving me the space to vibe with you :)

Pet peeves / dealbreakers: i feel like every time i open my mouth about pet peeves i have, i sound like a crotchety old person that always has something negative to say deep down ... but w/e. it's my soap box.

i've noticed that since i've come back, it feels like i have to be the one that's chasing some people for interactions or plots more often. or like. right out the gate, they wanna jump from A to Z and be best buds and whatever so we can speedrun everything. or... i'm expected to or have to do most of the work because they're quite literally doing none of it after expressing interest. and like some of that isn't inherently bad! i'll be the first to admit that if we're friendly enough and progress something enough to where it's like... an established thing? we can have something going faster than the speed of sound after that. we can have multiple ships, a dedicated au, a whole slew of worldbuilding shit together and i won't care because i know said person on some level. and that took time + a whole slew of back and forths.

however, it doesn't feel great to express that "hey i want to plot something but it'll take time and like... if we're shipping on top of that, it'll take double that amount" and watch, in real time, as that person just... eventually leaves you on read. and/or just doesn't interact with your content anymore. and i can tell the difference between being preoccupied/ having not great week/taking a break from tumblr entirely/being slow and being put on a shelf/ barely acknowledged very clearly. i shouldn't have to feel like i'm competing for a slot or something, which is the vibes i got sometimes and ( as you would expect ) didn't like.

this isn't directed at anyone i'm currently following, ofc. i know i am not perfect but i also know that i am an extremely patient person, which is how I want to be treated. It's very frustrating to try and try and try again only to get the bare minimum from people i genuinely wanted to interact with. but c'est la vie--such is life--and i move on. i, like many others, have limited time to be on here and if something doesn't bring me joy after a month, two months, three months, I'm more than willing to part with it. there has to be effort on both ends in some way and if you want me to pat your ass, pat my ass too.

Muse preference ( fluff, angst, smut ): you cannot make me choose. now, does that mean that I write them all in equal amounts? certainly not. but it really depends on my mood. sometimes, all i wanna do is talk about soft moments. other times, i want to put my muses in a blender and watch them process what's happening to them. occasionally, i'll let them roam free and be as horny as they like. the key is to always cycle through the three so you don't get burnt out on any one of them.

Plot or memes: uuuuuhhhh it depends? plots are my fucking jam and i like having a general storyline to follow when writing and then figuring out the little details when we get to them. it's a long process but i enjoy the wait and the buildup more than i enjoy air so djsfdvdfvd--

buuuuuut i also think memes are a valueable, valueable springboard into interactions. and plotting straight outta the gate can be intimidating for some. plus, if you want to plot but your head is empty atm, finding and sending memes with the same vibe as the plot point you wanted to discuss is helpful! i'll admit that i'm not great at sending in memes but it's not for lack of wanting to. it's more not knowing what to send and picking a muse to send along with it that trips me up. Plus, not being here most of the day tends to mean i miss a lot of meme reblogs orz

Long or short replies: long replies but i do trim them shorter or rewrite portions of them. sometimes, i will write what i deem to be "too much" for a reply ( e.g: my partner has like 350 words and i'm sitting at like 625 words ) and i'll go back and edit it down to 450-500 if i find stuff that doesn't really move anything along or is just needless padding.

Best time to write: it used to be late night but i pass out too often for that to be effective anymore ( because of my sleep schedule for work ), so i tend to favor late mornings and early afternoon. if i'm writing late at night, it's because i didn't have time during the day to do so.

Are you like your muse(s): n...not really in most cases. like we share some traits here and there but for the most part, my personality, sense of style, and morality deviates from most of them.

tagged by: @rexpyre tagging: @arcxnumvitae @gunrising @royaletiquette @nezumivc103221 @bonesofchaos and anyone else that wants to.

[wrestlingisfake]

Starting to see the discourse on whether Sting should have lost his retirement match.

I know the whole idea is that you're supposed to pass the torch on your way out. But that concept comes from a time when nobody would have imagined a man headlining big show three weeks before his 65th birthday. Realistically, the time for Sting to do the honors and give the rub to the next generation was ten years ago, when he still had something left to give. And he did that--on his way out of TNA, he put over Nick Aldis and EC3, and then in WWE he put over Triple H and Seth Rollins. His career was supposed to be done at that point--everything since then has just been a victory lap.

Look at the end of Undertaker's career. He went out in 2020 on a win, and the last decade of his run saw very few defeats. But in 2010, his final year as a full-time(-ish) guy, he put over Kane repeatedly, and his 2014 loss to Brock Lesnar was at the tail end of when "beating the Undertaker" really meant anything. Same thing with Hulk Hogan--I think he only lost one match (to Sting in 2011) after 2003, but by that point he was just a goofy old man doing a nostalgia act. It's hard to say he didn't "do the honors," though, when you look at the key losses he took in 2002--which is probably the last time he was truly relevant.

It might be nice if every pro wrestler finished up like Jushin Thunder Liger did--you're 54 years old, you can still go, but you can't keep up with the next generation, so you announce a retirement tour and end it by losing a good match to a key guy. But in the West, there's too much money in propping up the old guys until they literally can't walk. So you're going to keep seeing big names pass the torch in their late 40s/early 50s and then circle back for a "nobody's paying to see me job" farewell tour. We've already seen Steve Austin start do to it, and it's only a matter of time before the Rock, Adam Copeland, and John Cena go through the same pattern.

Is this good or bad for wrestling? We'll see. But anybody old-school enough to complain that Sting should have lost his final match would have already been complaining since 2020 that AEW is "killing the business" by letting top young stars sell Sting's offense. You're not going to convince me that any of those guys would be appeased if Sting put over the tag team that turned "killing the business" into a catchphrase.

[purplesurveys]

1884

1. Did you wake up cranky? No, if anything I felt relief that I woke up from my alarm because I've been terrible with that lately.

2. Would you date an 18-year-old at the age you are now?  That doesn't sound very appealing, no thanks.

3. Do you prefer to be friends with girls or boys? Girls for me are more emotional and expressive, and I kind of need that energy. So it checks out – I definitely have more girl friends.

4. Would you ever smile at a stranger? If they do something or are in a situation that warrants me to give them a smile, then yes. Like if they have a dog with them or if I spot them sporting any kind of merch from a fandom I'm in.

5. Can you commit to one person? Yes.

6. How do you look right now? I liked how I look today, tbh. It's a relaxed look that still looks professional – my hair cooperated today too so that's a big win.

7. What exactly are you wearing right now? I have a royal blue oversized-ish polo, brown pants, sneakers.

8. How often do you listen to music? Mostly in the car, but I will sometimes turn on Spotify when I'm working. Has to be work I'm doing on the weekend where the atmosphere is more relaxed, though – I can't listen to music during a normal 9-6. Too distracting.

9. Do you wear jeans or sweats more? Jeans.

10. Do you think your life will change dramatically before 2014? Wow this is a whole decade ago, but no, it didn't really. I was only 15 going 16 at the time, and life wasn't throwing stuff at me yet. A good way to put it is that I was just on the cusp of major changes – by 2014 I got in my first relationship; the year after my grandfather died; the year after that I started college...everything pretty much snowballed from 2014, but not before it.

11. Are you a social or an antisocial person? Social. The professional field I'm in has definitely taught me how to enjoy social interactions more than I ever used to.

12. If the person you like says they like someone else, what would you say? I don't bother with dating and relationships anymore, but I imagine that I would realistically be crushed.

13. Are you good at hiding your feelings? No...I'm transparent as glass.

14. Can you drive a stick shift? Nope.

15. Do you care if people talk badly about you? I'd care in a sense that I'd be annoyed LOL. I barely bother with other people any more as it is – what could I have done for you to talk crap? I've graduated from the phase where I let it actively bother me though. So it's just petty annoyance, and then I let it go.

16. Are you going out of town soon? Not anymore. That's all I did this month but all those plans are done now, so I'm just focusing on getting used to a normal routine again. June alone I've been to Bulacan, Caloocan, Saigon, Da Nang, and Cavite. I'm TIREDDDDD hah and to think I was supposed to even go to Hong Kong with Angela and Hans before I backed out!

17. When was the last time you cried? Earlier this afternoon, in my ride to the office. Hans is proposing to Angela tomorrow and I've been emotional about it ever since he told me haha. We're not gonna be the same after tomorrow :'D

18. Have you ever liked someone you didn’t expect to? Yes.

19. If you could change your eye color, would you? I like what I have now.

20. Name something you have to do tomorrow? I have a bunch of meetings but I will also be paying close attention to my phone because Hans and Angela will 100% call any time.

21. Name something you dislike about the day you’re having. I had a meeting with that one client that irritates me to the ends of the world, and today's call was no different.

22. Have you ever liked one of your best friends of the opposite sex? Nope.

23. Are you nice to everyone? Yeah. You never know what anyone's going through, so I always prefer to just show kindness and patience to everyone – unless of course they give me a reason to take that away.

24. What are you sitting on right now? I'm sitting in my car. I want to wait out the traffic.

25. Do you think you can last in a relationship for 6 months and not cheat? Yes.

26. Have you ever wanted someone you couldn’t have? At one point, yeah.

27. Who was the last person you talked to before you went to bed last night? Reena and Angela, I think.

28. Do you get a lot of colds? No it doesn't happen often...but I do happen to have one now :( I have a sore throat as well and it's so uncomfortable and I hate that I don't know where and who I could have possibly caught it from, because no one else I know seems to have a cold.

29. Have your pants ever fallen down in public? I don't think they have!

30. Does anyone hate you? I can think of one person who might.

31. Do you have someone of the opposite sex you can tell everything to? I'm sure I can, I just prefer not to.

32. Do you like watching scary movies? Sure.

33. Are you a jealous person? Not really. I'm super nonchalant these days lol.

34. If you had to delete one year of your life completely, which would it be? I wish I can say 2020 because that year sucked ass, but my thought process about it is that year had to suck as much as it did to have led me to my happiness and peace today. So let's keep 2020.

My real answer to this would probably be 2017.

35. Did you have a dream last night? I probably did, but as always I forgot the dream as soon as I woke up.

36. Is there anyone you can tell EVERYTHING to? Yeah.

37. Do you think you’ll be married in 5 years? Nope.

38. Do you think someone has feelings for you? No.

39. Do you think someone is thinking about you right now? No.

40. Did you have a good day yesterday? Sure. It was an average day leaning on good.

41. Think back 2 months ago; were you in a relationship? Nope.

42. Is your life anything like it was two years ago? It's the same and different in so many ways. 20s can get very complicated like that.

43. If the person you wish to be with were with you, what would you be doing right now? I'm having a blast being alone right now, haha.

44. What’s the best part about school? The friends part.

45. Do you have any pictures on your Facebook? Sure, but I post very infrequently. Usually just for big big life events or special holidays – I posted pics from my Agust D concert, for example; and I also post greetings for my parents every Father's and Mother's Day.

46. Do you ever pass notes to your friends in school? I never started it. I was always the one being passed notes to, which infuriated me because I often ended up being the one getting caught and getting a stinkeye from the teacher.

47. Do you replay things that have happened in your head? Sure.

48. Were you single over the last summer? Yes.

49. What are you supposed to be doing right now? Nothing. I caught up with all my work backlogs so I'm feeling super satisfied right now haha.

50. Don’t tell me lies, is the last person you texted attractive? He is in a way but he wouldn't be my type.

[warrior-u-preservation]

Interview with The Path Podcast (Full written responses)

(Note: The interview itself will be different, since mod myne represented both mods on the podcast. However, this includes our full feelings on the questions that were provided to us.)

Who are you and how did you end up walking the path of a "warrior u" writer/comic creator?

Myne: I go by worldismyne for fandom related pursuits.

I'd like to clarify that Aisha Thani is the creator of Warrior U. Just like multiple people have written for Stan Lee's creations, I'm just a writer who's received permission from the creator to distribute and monetize works within her universe.

I've been in the WU fandom since 2014; at that time Aisha made the comic, ran an in character ask blog, a concept art blog and the main blog. I can only imagine how much work that was. A hard drive crash killed about 6 or so pages of Ambrosia, the last story arch she was working on; three weeks worth of updates up and gone. I watched writer’s block take hold and kill my favorite series in real time. Having to go back and redo work she’d already done had given her time to look at it and go ‘I can’t post this, this is awful’, but by then all of us were waiting for the next update for over a month, she couldn’t go back and rewrite the entire arch. It didn’t help that this was the origin story for a fan favorite character, so there was all this pressure to make it perfect. Instead, after about six artists made fan comics to feed the hungry fandom… she announced the end. The website, the blogs, one by one they all ran into issues and got shut down. Hundreds of pieces of art and story concepts just… lost. Once the comics were rereleased on gumroad, that was it, the fandom slowly died. Before this project, the last time the creator posted new content was in 2017. Then in the middle of the pandemic, out of nowhere I get 70+ notifications from Coffee reblogging the pieces of art I had saved from the old blog, including drafts from the unfinished issues. 

Coffee: well, i go by coffee online, im 20 years old and when im not working on my various personal projects i work part-time. i was introduced to warrior u WAYY back in the day (i think i was like 9-ish?) by my brother who found out about it through some unknown and mysterious ways. back then i had very limited internet access (meaning i could only visit sites that could be loaded by the internet app on my nintendo dsi), so i pieced together a bit of a plot from what i could find on google images. i wasnt able to fully read the comic until i was 13 (i had to BEG my mom to pay for the pdfs lol), but it had kinda always existed in the back of my mind ever since i was introduced to it. i decided a little over a year ago to start out the tumblr blog because i had recently read through the comic again and was really sad about just how hard it is (or i guess WAS now) to find a lot of things related to the comic. as the name of the blog suggests, its original purpose was to preserve/archive warrior u stuff so it could be more accessable to your average internet user who might not wanna go digging through internet archives. it was originally for official content EXCLUSIVELY, but myne talked me into also including fan-made content (and im glad he did, its WAY harder to find some fan content than i remember it being just a few years ago). its kinda hard to tell how good of a job it does at BEING that archive, but i like to think it could be useful to someone out there.

i had toyed with the idea of finishing the last official story arc- ambrosia- near the beginning of the blogs lifespan, but i knew that it was too big of a project for me to do myself. i didnt wanna dissapoint people by leaving the ALREADY unfinished arc STILL unfinished. i had written in the "about" section of the blog that the dream was a full fandom revival, but i didnt actually expect that to happen. when myne joined the blog we eventually started playing with the idea of finishing ambro. i forget how exactly we officially decided we would do it, but we did! at some point near the beginning of ambro, we had also decided we were gonna write our own fan-arcs and post those too, and the rest is history!

What was it about warrior u that made you say "this is it. i need to make more content of this."

Coffee: honestly? i think it was just how much i enjoy introducing people to the comic. i already make tons of fan content on my own time, so that wasnt really the crazy part. i had shown a couple of my mutuals the comic after i re-read it, and the feeling of seeing other people actually talk about and even make ART of warrior u was absolutely surreal. i guess thats what happens when you just silently admire a dead fandom for years LMAO! another big part of it was HOW the comic ended. after taking a hiatus, the creator ended the comic mid-arc because creating it just wasnt enjoyable anymore, and thats obviously completely fair. however, the arc it ENDED on was elaborating on the backstory of one of (if not THE) most popular characters at the time (and my personal favorite), so i had always wished that the issue could have been finished. its kinda hard to put into words, but finishing ambrosia was like a love letter to the comic and its creator to me. as flawed as the plot of that arc may be (and as unsatisfied with it as the creator was, at least back then) i still felt like it deserved to be finished. it was like fixing an old toy from your childhood, i felt like we were taking care of the comic in a way, giving it the love it deserves. maybe thats just my tendency to personify objects and get overly attached to them coming through, but hey thats how it is sometimes LMAO

Myne: When the comic was still on hiatus after the harddrive crash, some people had asked Aisha if she wanted to hand the series over to other artists to help her. She said she wouldn’t even know where to begin that process or if she’d wanted to do it. I would have offered then, but my skills as an artist and a writer weren’t nearly as strong. I held onto the drafts thinking, one day I’d do it. 

Myne: After Coffee and I started talking I realized, I can do it now. I know what kind of style of pens were used, and I whipped up a page, just the line art and sent to Coffee as a thank you. I thought, it isn’t much, and it’ll take me forever to color everything, but if there’s one person willing to read it, I’ll try. When I explained how difficult it’d be for me to color, he offered to do it for me. Suddenly a page that would take a month for just me to do on my own took 3 days.

Myne: Something, that seemed like a monumental task became a realistic goal. We were able to find, restore, and edit 45 pages within a few months. I’m still amazed we were able to do weekly updates without missing a day. Coffee asked if I’d ever be willing to write fan issues while we were working, not realizing I was the author of the longest fics in the series. Of course I said yes. Seeing Warrior U get finished, even through fan creation, was something I’d wanted to see for years.

You're from Az right, how is the webcomic weeb culture over there as opposed to california?

Myne: Idk about much about Cali, I've noticed the cons are more... professional? Where as Arizona cons have more of a fanclub vibe. Most panels are hosted by your fellow nerds rather than sony or production companies. I will say, that it's become more common and widespread in the last ten years, with multiple anime specific events year round. Back when I was a kid, I'd get made fun of for drawing 'japanese' people all the time.... it was pokemon fanart... Where as nowadays, I feel the average kid recognizes most big name titles thanks to hulu and such. 

What are your favorite anime/manga/webcomics and do any inspire your work?

Coffee: not really an anime, manga, or webcomic, but ive always been super inspired by the "scott pilgrim" series. when i was in middle school i was SUPER into it, reading all the behind the scenes stuff i could find. it even made me look into "comic illustrator" as a career option, but i also did the same thing with "game designer" and "animator" so yknow. as for webcomics, the only one i ever really got into was homestuck. side note- the overlap of oldschool homestuck fans and warrior u fans is FASCINATING to me. my current theory is that all these tumblr kids were looking for other webcomics to read while homestuck was on one of its MANY hiatuses(?) and so a bunch of them flocked to warrior u! theres tons of homestuck crossover content and references in fan art on our blog (some of the art styles also look homestuck-ajacent) so its at least clear that a lot of fans back then were also really into homestuck. ANYWAYS other than that i havent really read many other webcomics tbh? weird considering i MAKE one now but what can i say, im more of a Gamer than anything lol. as for anime, my favorite is easily keroro gunso (or sgt. frog if youre using the dub name)! its another thing i discovered when i was young (this time i was like 8) and have just never gotten over. theres a lot of Questionable stuff in it (prime example is an adult alien being madly in love with a 14 year old girl) but if i dont look at canon its not real so i love it anyways <3.i honestly dont know how many people really know about it since the western fanbase is so small, but its like HUGE in japan (or at least it was at one point, the titular keroro has a cameo in lucky star as a keychian) and the manga is still running to this day iirc. it was created by mine yoshizaki and the basic premise is that a platoon of frog-like aliens come to earth to take it over but they really suck at it. they begin living with humans and from there its kind of a mix between a slice-of-life and monster-of-the-week anime. i cant really say anything in depth about the manga because ive only read the first 5 issues of it, which are basically the same as the anime (fake fan smh), but ive heard that it gets more mature and serious than the anime does (which i guess is bound to happen when it goes on for so long). also the manga has some ecchi moments and blood used for slapstick purposes so if anyone wants to check it out just keep that in mind lol.

Myne: Obviously Warrior U. I'm a bit of a visual novel fiend, so Danganronpa is a series I've found a lot of inspiration from over the years. More recently  Though for the comic, I draw mostly from late 80s / early 90s high fantasy. Things like Labyrinth and Robinhood: Men in Tights. Honestly anytime I get stuck trying to come up with a gag, I look to Mel Brooks. 

So in continuing someone else's work, do you feel a sense of pressure to be just as good as the original?

Coffee: i definitely felt that way when it came to ambrosia, but i feel a lot less pressure when it comes to our upcoming issues. i wrote and made thumbnails for a few small scenes in ambro and i was SO SCARED of those scenes being noticably worse than the rest of the issue. i know the original creator has seen our version of ambro and those scenes by extention, but i dont know her exact thoughts on them. im satisfied with them but theres probably always gonna be that kinda star-struck stage feeling at the thought of the creator reading the scenes i wrote. its like getting stage fright. for our upcoming issues i dont feel as much pressure because theyre fully fan-written. our comics arent official in any sense of the word and theyre basically just fanfiction with extra steps, so its not nearly as stressful as trying to tie together an "official" story. there definitely WOULD be that pressure if we were ever given the rights to warrior u or something (which i dont want to happen) because then it WOULD be official yknow? also if the creator decides to keep up with what we post ill feel a bit more pressure, but i get the feeling that she wants to distance herself from warrior u a bit so im not sure how likely that would be.

Myne:  I do. Partially because, the fan content we’re making is completely free while the original series is purchasable on gumroad. So there’s a chance that some people may start with what we’re working on, then go backwards to the original.  I'm hyper aware of the tonal shift that's about to happen, no matter how much I try, I can't perfectly emulate someone else's writing style. The best I can do is capture the spirit of it. I just keep repeating "it doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be". It's a little harder taking that advice now that it's my scripts we're turning into issues. There is some freedom in knowing the series was never meant to be perfect though.

What drove you to writing the longest fanfiction for the series and how did it feel to be recognized and promoted by the original creator?

Myne: When I was younger, I would write fanfic instead of paying attention in class, and I really wanted a full story about the leads getting together. Knowing that the creator was reading every fanfic at the time added more fuel to the fire. I had a guaranteed audience, the audience. I was so grateful that she recommended it to other fans. That fic was 25k, I've written about 100 K in the last year to help maintain interest in addition to new pages to the comic. To that I blame hyperfixation and hiatus brain. You have to be the biggest fan of the thing you're making.

So i see the that most of your work including the webcomic Warrior U is on tumblr why did u choose to promote om tumblr as opposed to other webcomic outlets like webtoons, mangadex etc?

Coffee: the answer to this one is actually pretty simple; i already had a warrior u blog and tumblr is the social media/blogging site that im most familiar with! we have recently started using comicfury and tapas, but that was entirely mynes idea. im personally pretty content with just hanging out in my little corner of the internet so any attempts to expand or get the word out is mostly (if not entirely) mynes doing LOL!

Myne: It's interesting you bring up those two actually. Webtoons recently come under fire for being pretty crummy to it's indie comics, particularly if you write in any genre other than romance. Mangadex is a pirating website, so most of the comics there are fan translations rather than uploads from the creators : they had a pretty bad data breach a few years back too. At first we only had permission from the creator to upload on tumblr. Once we got permission to move forward with the fanmade run, we branched out to tapas and comicfury. They seemed like the best options for the genre and style we write in. Even still, we see about double the growth in readership on tumblr as opposed to the other outlets, and I think that's mostly because the blog updates daily, even though we only publish one page a week.

Do you have any plans on creating your own webcomic/manga?

Coffee: yes and no. i sometimes draw small fan comics and id like to make more polished and "finished" ones in the future, but nothing with any kind of overarching plot, at least not in the near future. i have a very hard time making original content for whatever reason. i DO have one (1) personal project that is completely original, but i plan on making a game with that. then again i have NO idea what im doing with that project anymore so who knows, maybe one day i WILL decide to turn it into a comic! only time will tell…

Myne: I have a visual novel I'm working on. It's about teen super villains that have to go to reform school. Think teen titans meets gifted kid burnout. The game's been in development hell since our first alpha build and writing about apocalyptic civil unrest wasn't as fun as it was pre 2020. We're about 200k into the draft for the full game and we're having to switch engines, which means cutting a bunch of features, but we're slowly getting there. If that fails, I'll try adapting the story into a comic.

To those people who will see this and decide to strut down the path of comic creation what is some advice you can give them?

Coffee: i think the most HELPFUL advice i could give would be this: you dont have to do everything by yourself. i personally have taken tons of inspiration from indie artists/game designers/etc. some prime examples of this are daisuke amaya aka pixel (who created cave story) and toby fox (who created undertale and deltarune), who both made incredible pieces of art that were defining to me as a person when i discovered them either entirely alone or almost entirely alone. you hear stories all the time of these great pieces of art being made by one or two people, and ive always wanted to be like that. as a result ive alwasy had a hard time reaching out for help when it comes to my art, feeling like if i cant do it all alone that itll never be as good as it could be. as a result though, all this mindset does is keep things from actually getting done and needlessly stress you out. NONE of the warrior u comics would exist if i had never gotten help from myne, and the blog would have probably gone inactive a LONG time ago too. i think thats the biggest lesson ive learned from this whole thing personally. theres absolutely no shame in working with a team of people if thats what needs to happen to see a project be realized.

Myne:  One, try not to put more than 8 panels on a page, that's helped me a bunch with page layout. And two, find someone you can show your work to. That can be a friend, a mutual online, a family member; as long as you have that one person asking "what happens next" you can keep writing. The stories/comics I have that are the longest are because of that. 

What inspires your art and what would u say you consider your style to be?

Myne: Invader Zim, Danganronpa, and Pacthesis have heavily influenced my art style. (pacthesis made a series of free dating sims on deviant art). I've always considered my art style to be pretty shoujo manga, but lately some of my pieces have been labeled too western for weeb spaces.

What advise can you give the next person who wants to draw art and share it with the world?

Coffee: i give the same advice to everyone i meet that says theyre thinking of making art in any form, and i mean it from the bottom of my heart: DO IT! im so in love with art of all kinds and the process of creating it, and i think that getting into any creative hobby is nothing but a good thing and i deeply believe that everyone should do it. whether you wanna draw, write, make music, develop games, sculpt, knit, etc, do it! quality doesnt matter at all, you can make the most technically awful thing in the world but as long as you enjoyed the process of creating it then it still has value. dont be nervous about your art being good enough. if you dont want to share it then you arent obligated to! i dont share like 90% of the stuff that i make but i still create art almost every single day! recently my qpp (queerplatonic partner) has gotten into drawing and im SO happy for them. they primarily use mspaint and a mouse to draw and their art is SO adorable and i love it so much, and im not just saying that because i love them. it doesnt matter what skill level you start at or what tools you have, you can always start making art. and dont compare the art that you make to others art, which i know from experience is a VERY easy trap to fall into. i dont have as much to say about that point because im not as passionate about it but uhhh yeah :3

Myne: Social media algorithms are not going to make you happy; no matter how well you play the game and low engagement does not mean you're a bad artist. If you keep posting and talking to other artists, you'll find your audience.

So at wonder con where we met ylu were cosplaying power from chainsaw man with a group of girls who were cosplaying other chainsaw characters. Do you girls normally group up and cosplay and if so how did you get into it?

Myne:  I was born into cosplay. My parents were gamers and cosplayers, and I started picking my own characters to cosplay when I was 14. I started getting more into it in college when I could find other people to cosplay with, it wasn't until this year I started aiming for photoshoots. I tend to be in at least one large group cosplay a con, and bring a different costume every day.

What was your favorite cosplay you've done?

Myne: It's a toss up between Persona 5 Joker and Alluring Secret Rin. Those were the ones I put the most work in that still hold up. Though I'm currently working on Eris from the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, and that may overtake them.

Have you ever thought to cosplay someone from Warrior U?

Myne:  I do actually! I've cosplayed as the main character Finn a few times. I really like taking simplified designs from comics/cartoons and turning them into heavily detailed looks. '

Where do you see warrior u being in 5 years from now?

Coffee: man, honestly if were STILL working on this project 5 years from now that would be CRAZY. this is already the longest ive worked on a single project before, along with being the most ive ever gotten DONE for a project, so thinking about what it could be like in 5 years is like. WOW. by that point we would have archived most (if not ALL) of the older stuff we could find, so our blog would probably just be new pages and fan interaction if were still going! the dream is still for a full fandom revival, and weve already got a small active fanbase (of like 5 people but still) so who knows, maybe that dream will be a reality?

Myne: We have at least 3 years worth of story drafted and lined up, and even more outlined. So ideally still updating. By then, we'll have some physical releases of the finished arcs that we've written available for purchase online and at select events. The creator has said she has no interest in making physical releases of the original run. I'd love for that to change, but I respect her decision and I won't press the matter. I'm just grateful we have permission to sell anything we make using her characters. 

If you could go back in time 5 years, what advice would you give yourself?

Coffee: 15 and 16 were ROUGH ages for me tbh. i wont get into it because its super personal, but i was struggling with a lot and just generally not having a very good time. i think the best advice i could give to myself would just be that like. things will eventually get better. no matter how dark or hopeless things may be, theres always a silver lining and a light at the end of the tunnel. now if 15 year old me would have taken that to heart is a whole DIFFERENT question, but thats what i would say. 16 was like right before i (finally) started getting treatment for my mental health, so i think considering everything thats what i would say.

Myne: So many bad things happened during those five years, but… I wish I knew what burnout felt like, so I could recognize it. I have this tendency to put my self worth into “how much have you done today”, so once I started working full time and my father passed,  I couldn’t recognize that I was physically and emotionally exhausted some days and needed rest, so I’d just punish myself mentally for not being more motivated. You shouldn’t need permission to rest, and I felt like I had to. It’s healthy to ‘nothing’ sometimes, especially if you’re dealing with things you have no control over.

Coffee: thank you for interviewing myne and i for your podcast :D!! its absolutely wild to think that ive done anything interview-worthy and yet here we are! for anyone thats interested in the comic because of this, i also emplore you to go check out the creators current comic "si3lah" (pronounced like si-ayn-lah i think? the 3 is a stand-in for an arabic letter) on gumroad! it deserves way more attention than it currently has and you should 100% go support the original creator if you like the stuff we do (wink wink).

[blackbird-brewster]

30, 40, 41

Thanks for the ask :D

30. Have you ever written something that was out of your comfort zone? If so, what was it, and how did it affect your approach to writing fic thereafter?

Yes! I don't know what possessed me to start writing [i can't be wrong (to be craving you)] completely out of the blue, but that fic is largely free-form, stream of consciousness, which I hadn't really played with before. And I have to say, what I thought would be a six chapter fic turned into 100k words and it's one of my crowning achievements. I am infinitely proud of how it turned out. But I tapped into a lot of my own experiences to write a realistic look at Emily's PTSD and now....I can't even read the fic without having panic attacks. So that sucks, but hopefully one day I'll be able to enjoy it myself.

[Between You & Me] was quite fun to write because of the way I used flashbacks to move the narrative along and weave threads through the fic. In doing so, it made my timelines SO complicated. I have pages and pages of timeline drafts for that fic, each chapter was re-written multiple times. I would say this was my most frustrating fic to write in terms of chapter planning. But I adore the final product.

Final one I'll mention because it was such a weird little experimental fic, [False Flags and the Art of Misdirection] is SO underrated. It was basically like if Glass Onion was turned into a CM fanfic. Planning the twists and turns and misdirection was a BLAST. Then, I had to created the police 'transcripts' which were dialog from canon, but they wove the story together. It was such a fun fic to write and I'm so proud of it.

40. Do you tend to reread fics or are you a one-and-done kind of person?

Originally when I first started writing CM back in 2014, I would write thing sin one sitting, post them to AO3 and never look back. I wouldn't even do a proof-read (sorry old readers!). I'd say out of my 80-ish fics from back then, I'd only ever read about five. When I came back to writing last July, I went through my original fics and read each one for the first time. There were tons I had no recollection of writing! So it was a wild ride. Now, I re-read my fics constantly! I read fic to my partner at bedtime, it's our cute little routine. They've never watched CM, but they've fallen in love with JJ/Tara/Emily through reading my fic (and me reading them fic from friends). I read them every new chapter I write and it's so special to share that together. Besides reading aloud, I also re-visit tons of my smut for masturbatory purposes, because I know it's exactly what turns me on!

41. Link a fic that made you think, “Wow, I want to write like that.”

[Take My Hand and show Me the Way] was the fic that changed everything for me. MJDuncan is incredible and this really is the cornerstone Jemily fic. I read this and went 'Oh god, I want to write JJ/Emily now!' and so I did, and so I continue to do nearly a decade later.

[Dreams, Schemes, and In-Between] is one of the best rom-com Jemily fics to ever be written. I actually became friends with @otahkoapisiakii bc I went to yell at them how much I adored their writing. Turned out, they felt the same about me. We've been platonically married for going on nine years now.

And now I'm going to come at you directly, because [(I'll be) a place to rest your bones] is one of the most beautifully painful fics I've read and it really stuck with me. I wrote a review on a Friday Fic Recs list, but honestly, I think your writing really helped inspire me as I wrote 'i can't be wrong'

Send Me [Fic Writer Asks]

[mbat]

what is this old thing you cant remember. a roblox dragon game ?

yeah i guess i should try and mention it here shouldnt i lol

preface that i dont think the game is going to be up anymore, but itd be so cool if it was! so, i approximate that it was sometime during 2014-2017 that i played this game. first off, it was a roleplaying game. it had the typical blocky-ish character models of the time, the generic terrain of the time (if you know, you know. i dont even know if those tools are still available in roblox game maker? probably are) and it even had a physical morph room with buttons you step on like roblox rp games tended to have (i think most rp games nowadays dont do that anymore?)

i have to say that this wasnt a wings of fire or wof fantribe game as far as im aware. it was similar in that the dragons were in different 'tribes' that were themed, but thats about as far as the similarities go, aside from them also having themed areas on the map to live in. yknow, snow area for ice dragons, dark rock volcano for fire dragons, etc.

now, an important thing is that i still have the list of the different dragon kinds! i wrote them down when i played it because i loved the idea of the game and i wanted to draw them and write about them and i genuinely dont know if i knew about wings of fire at this point or not. i also have descriptions, but those are less accurate because i dont know how much i changed the descriptions for my own reasons or not. i could say them if people wanted, but again, not the most accurate.

so heres the list of the dragon kinds. i want to believe i didnt add any, but i know for sure i didnt get rid of any.

fire

ice

dark

light

toxic (i want to say these ones were bright purple and bright green)

sand

rock

earth

pastel

cloud (i want to say these ones had bright blue glowing lines on their bodies/horns?)

ocean (notable trait i remember about these ones: they didnt have back legs! just a tail like a fish)

nature

plushie (i remember these ones were about as big as the other dragons heads, and only looked like other kinds, i believe only fire, ice, dark, light, and maybe one more?)

skeletal

metal

also for some reason their wing membranes were typically different colors from their bodies, and i wanna say they were usually bright/saturated colors. not the most important detail, but it was enough that i wrote it down when i was younger

i also believe that a few of them were behind whats known as a VIP area, AKA if people paid robux to the creator either for a badge, or some other way, and got access to a special room with special morphs. i want to say that the skeletal, plushie, maybe ocean and maybe pastel? were in there, but this is also if the game had a VIP room at all.

ive done several searches both on google and roblox itself to try and find this game, but nothing i saw was it or even very close. also, the roblox search function kinda sucks and most of the results are completely irrelevant games anyway.

i know for a fact its not role-play as a dragon by cutemooshi, and i know its not dragon life by shyfoox studios however i do wonder if maybe it was an old or early version of dragon life, but i doubt it. i wish i could ask the staff of shyfoox studios (is it just the one person?) but i dont know how i would lol

also note: i could swear during the tail end of my time playing it that the creator changed it kinda drastically? the issue is that i dont remember any changes because i stopped playing soon after, mainly because i didnt like the changes.

[jjorbles]

(Repost) Why Batman should never use guns

Note: This article was originally posted September 16th, 2014 on the Agony Booth, which I used to write for. Since that site is sadly no longer with us, I’m reposting my old articles here.

Oh, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Will I ever not be talking about you? Every time I think I’m done and can forget about you until next year, another damn picture comes out that I have to discuss. It’s beginning to feel like watching Zack Snyder’s Twitter feed is my whole job now.

In this case, as you’re likely already aware, the picture under scrutiny is the above image of the new Batmobile design. I’m not a fan of it overall; maybe it’s just the angle, but it seems to be a knockoff of the “Tumbler” from Christopher Nolan’s movies with a minimal hint of the ‘89 look. It’s just plain ugly with no style and nothing recognizably “Batmobile-ish” about it*.

[*So hopefully they’ll never actually call it the Batmobile, like they did with the Tumbler, so I don’t have to ever recognize it as the actual Batmobile.]

But aesthetics aren’t what we’re here to talk about. What I’m here to focus on are these things right here:

As if it wasn’t tank-like enough already, this new “Batmobile” has a prominently displayed gun turret on its front hood. There is some precedent for this: I’m told the Batmobile in the upcoming Arkham Knight video game has a similar look, and the Batmobile in the ‘89 film sported hidden artillery under the hood. But this is the first time a movie has featured Batman driving something quite so aggressively militarized in appearance. Likely, it’s meant as yet another reference to The Dark Knight Returns, which from all accounts Dawn of Justice is heavily influenced by, and which featured a huge, tank-like Batmobile armed with rubber bullet-loaded cannons.

As with anything that involves Batman and guns, controversy is unavoidable. The Caped Crusader has a long and complicated history with firearms, and even among the fans, there’s still much disagreement on what Batman’s relationship with guns is or should be. Like any fan, I have an opinion of my own, and given the title of this post, you can probably guess what it is. I don’t think Batman should use guns, regardless of what they’re mounted on. There are reasons for this beyond the political*. It goes straight to the whole idea and psychology of the character.

[*But in the interest of full disclosure: I support gun control, and tend to gravitate towards fictional characters with an aversion to guns. So feel free to pigeonhole anything else I say as part of my “agenda”, if it makes you feel better.]

For context, let’s go back to the beginning. When Batman first appeared in the pages of Detective Comics, as pro Bat-turret supporters are quick to point out, he had no issue with guns or lethal force in general. In those early days, he was frequently seen carrying a pistol, and he sometimes casually slew his enemies, or at the very least showed no remorse when the occasional crook bit it along the way.

However, this gun-toting Batman was very short-lived, lasting only a handful of issues. Batman in these early stories had yet to really develop an identity of his own, borrowing heavily from the Shadow, with a little bit of Zorro thrown in. After his origin was eventually established, writers latched onto the idea of Batman having a code of conduct that forbade using firearms or killing his enemies, and it stuck. It’s become every bit as iconic and important to his character as the death of his parents. Almost every time Batman has been seen holding a gun, it’s universally recognized as code for “Something is seriously wrong with Batman!” Often, it appears on covers as a WTF tease to suck readers in. In many ways, the gun, or at least the use of one, is Batman’s equivalent of kryptonite.

But while it’s pretty universally accepted that Batman doesn’t use guns as a rule in the comics, the movies tend to be less consistent. In seven films, there’s only been one concrete reference to Batman refusing to use guns, when he tells Selina Kyle, “No guns, no killing,” in The Dark Knight Rises. And while no director has ever gone so far as to have Batman pick up a glock, many playfully skirt around the issue any way they can.

As previously mentioned, the Batmobile and other vehicles piloted by the Dark Knight frequently feature guns and other artillery. The rule against killing has been even more brazenly ignored, with Batman frequently sending foes to certain death with either casual indifference or willful intent, the most galling of which was the infamous “I won’t kill you, but I don’t have to save you” moment from the end of Batman Begins.

This has, I’ve noticed, led to a certain divide among Batman fandom. For fans who mostly know the character from the movies, his rules against guns and killing are far less firmly established than it is for fans of the comics or the various animated series. This has led to a large portion of Batman fans coming to the conclusion that Batman’s code is not a hard and fast rule, or if it is, it shouldn’t be. They argue that Batman not killing his foes or refusing to use a gun under any circumstances is impractical. In real life, in order to truly make an impact on crime, Batman would have to kill people, and throwing the Joker repeatedly back in Arkham only to have him escape again and kill more people isn’t doing anyone any good.

To me, this argument misses the point of Batman entirely. First, it’s completely irrelevant to argue practicality about fictional stories, especially stories in science fiction or fantasy settings like comic books. Yes, in the real world, Batman would probably find himself in desperate kill-or-be-killed situations that would force him to off people quite frequently. But Batman doesn’t live in the real world. He lives in Gotham City, an exaggerated pulp/noir universe perpetually stuck in a pseudo-‘30s art deco world where a gangster movie is happening on every street corner every damn night. Batman doesn’t find himself in those situations because the writers are under no obligation to put him in those situations. Batman’s entire arsenal and fighting style are designed around nonlethal force. Batman can always take care of any situation with a Batarang instead of a gun, because it’s fiction and he can do whatever the writers need him to do. And the reason he keeps imprisoning the Joker over and over despite how futile it seems is no one wants to kill off Batman’s most popular nemesis. Duh.

But more importantly, arguing practicality with Batman is especially pointless, because Batman doesn’t do what he does for practical reasons. In case you didn’t notice, the entire premise of Batman is entirely impractical. If Batman really wanted to combat crime, he’d do far more good simply using his personal fortune to improve the police force, or better yet, to improve the economic situation of the city to wipe out poverty, a proven cause of high crime rates. Dressing up as his childhood boogeyman and going around taking down criminals one at a time would have almost no effect on crime overall. It’s a pointless endeavor that would, at best, only serve to feed his own guilty conscience.

So why do it then? Why become Batman? This is supposedly the “World’s Greatest Detective”; surely, he knows somewhere deep down that this isn’t the best way to go about things. The answer is pretty simple: Batman didn’t become Batman to wipe out crime. He became Batman in order to be the guy he wishes had been there the night his parents were killed.

Bruce Wayne isn’t fighting crime in a practical sense. He’s fighting the idea of crime, and his idea of crime is personified in Joe Chill, the man who murdered his parents. That’s what a criminal is to him. That’s what he must fight, and to do that, he must become crime’s opposite, which for him means Joe Chill’s opposite. Joe Chill was a coward, thus criminals are a “superstitious and cowardly lot”. Joe Chill killed his parents, therefore Batman must never kill. Joe Chill carried a gun, therefore Batman will never use guns. Batman doesn’t shun even the brandishing of guns because he has no use for one, but because guns, to him, are the symbol of everything he’s fighting against. Guns are the tools of superstitious and cowardly criminals. Batman, in his mind, is above them. Murder is an act of desperation that the cowardly Joe Chill resorted to, and Batman must never stoop so low. Batman is anti-crime, and if “crime” is Joe Chill, than Batman must never be anything like Joe Chill, even in appearance.

Batman’s entire character has revolved around this concept ever since the classic story “The Origin of Batman” from Batman #47*. In it, Batman finally tracks down Joe Chill, and must decide what to do now that he’s found him. It’s the defining moment for the character, when he chooses not to take revenge and not to kill.

[*This story was beautifully retold in an episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold titled “Chill of the Night!”, which you should definitely check out if you haven’t seen it.]

The best Batman stories are usually about this difference between justice and vengeance. Even Batman Begins touched on this point: “Justice is about harmony, revenge is about you making yourself feel better.” Chill is crime and injustice personified, therefore Batman is justice personified. Batman must never kill or carry a gun, not because it wouldn’t do any good to anyone, but because if he did, he wouldn’t be Batman anymore. To kill would make him like the criminal, the enemies of justice, and guns have no purpose but to kill. Guns are the tool of the criminal and therefore unjust. Batman is the enemy of the criminal and must never resort to their tactics.

I’m not necessarily saying this is a correct or even healthy worldview. I’m saying this is how Batman sees things. It’s the entire point of his character. And the more we get away from it, the more he ceases to be Batman. His story begins to lose all meaning, and he becomes just another vigilante action hero. So yeah, Batman driving around in a friggin’ tank bothers me. We’ve already seen these filmmakers get Superman wrong, we’ve seen signs that they’re getting Wonder Woman wrong, and now it seems like not even Batman is going to feel like himself in this movie. You may disagree, but to me, this is yet another sign that this movie is going to be oppressively dull.

[katherinewilliams221b]

Thaank youu! I haven't been feeling much of a writer lately but let's see

How many works do you have on ao3?

10. It's not much but it's honest work

What's your ao3 total word count?

117,926

What fandoms do you write for?

Harry Potter

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. For a Greater Good, longest and most elaborated, first long-ish shot

2. Of friends and fights, this was a surprise. This was the first fic with no pairing. Only the set up fot my tangled mess of missions for the Order.

3. The World Cup, 1st fic ever for the fandom, honestly a classic.

4. Together, follow up of the world cup, ye old hurt comfort

5. A very walsh christmas, wholesome and bittersweet, a nice holidays fic

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Always. I don't like seeing comments unanswered. Its easier for me to miss them on tumblr more than ao3 but i always check that i have answered. I just know how much courage it takes as a reader to leave one i just want to let them know that i'm grateful for them.

What is the fic you wrote with the angtiest ending?

Ol' Saint Nicholas. For. Sure. That one flopped because the harry potter world is very subtle, no charlie, no other major characters other than the mention of Moody. But man, that fic is The Horrors tm.

What's the fic tou wrote with the happiest ending?

My current wip. Im far from finishing it but the ending is happy. Not sad with a dash of hope, no bittersweet, just happy.

Do you get hate on fics?

Not for the moment. I'm glad the usual readers know what they got into and that those that hop off did so quietly.

What's your all time favourite ship?

Morticia and Gomez are goals ngl. But just for the nostalgia I'm going to say Remington Steele and Laura Holt. It had its issues ngl but they'll be forever in my heart.

Whats a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Honestly Datura stramonium series. I want to si bad to go back to it but I just keep getting ideas for different timelines

What are your writing strengths?

-Outlining plots, i think i have a good balance of planning and let the story take me where it needs to. I'm good at adapting to my characters.

- Dialogues come more naturally for me, I tend to imagine way more clearly a scene of people talking and writing a scene where it looks real.

- I like to keep track of little details. I want to think I am consistent in my writing and the fics are interwined with each other nicely.

What are your writing weaknesses?

-Descriptions of environments and feelings are hard for me, not emotionally, just technically. I always feel like those scenes are out of place. Maybe I'm lacking vocabulary.

-begginings of chapters??? Endings are fine but writing the first sentence of a fic or chapter is challenging.

- slowing the pace. Tightly related to being bad a writing big chunks of text, i tend to give all the info and go home, when some times stories require a little bit more to create a nice atmosphere.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fics?

I've come to respect it if done well after watching 1899 (honestly go watch it bc is a storytelling masterpiece). I understand it as one more tool to tell the story if it's in good measure. I've read some 1899 fics that are a lick to the brain really. Some character speaks a sentence or a word in german and you just know what he's saying, and then you go translate it to check and OR COURSE he said that. Too much can be tiring, even if the translations are in the authors notes. It's also a good strategy to keep readers in the dark just as the characters, like Al said.

First fandom you wrote for?

The Mentalist, I want to say 2014.

Favourite fic you've written?

For a Greater Good and A very Walsh christmas

Tagging @velvethopewrites and maybe @toads-in-my-pockets if...she feels with enough energy? 👉👈

Fic Writer’s 20 Questions!

Thank you so much @whatwouldvalerydo for tagging me in this game - the original post was getting very long so I thought I would post separately.

How many works do you have on A03?

18!

What’s your total A03 word count?

789,856

What fandoms do you write for?

Harry Potter, including spin offs

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The first five Hexley Saga stories, though not in order. In descending order it goes: Mystery, Portrait, Figures, Forest, Staircase.

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do, because I appreciate every comment I receive. I am slow to respond, because I don’t always see them when it’s convenient to reply, and then I forget what I have or haven’t replied to. I’m very disorganised.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I’m not sure if any have truly angsty endings, I tend to like my angst mixed with happiness and humour for something bittersweet. In that vein, maybe Into the Light of the Dark Black Night. However, The Wilderness Years ends on an open and not overly optimistic note.

What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Again, not many have a wholly happy ending… Probably the Hexley Saga, though there is a touch of sadness even to that.

Do you get hate on fics?

I haven’t done, no. I’ve had readers (understandably) drop out after one specific character death, but no actual hate for it. I guess there’s a first time for everything.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I have done, once or twice. I’m not good at it. As for what type… Bad smut? Awkward smut? Idk, I’m just too British for this.

Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

… I’m not even 100% sure what this is so I’m going to say no.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

A touchy subject. No, I haven’t, but I have had and occasionally continue to have issues with aspects of my stories being taken and put into others’ works in ways that have made it obvious that it isn’t a coincidence, but not in ways that I have felt justified in reporting plagiarism on any publishing sites. I have, however, learnt how the Tumblr block button can come in handy.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

No. When in France this spring I considered translating the Hexley Saga into French to help me get my language skills back up but I quickly realised how much work this would be and decided against it.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes - When Stars Ignite was (and still is) a collaboration between me and @lifeofkaze. It was (and still is) an amazing experience and massive learning curve.

What’s your all time favorite ship?

Forever Gomez and Morticia Addams.

What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Whichever one I’m currently writing - I get to the point in every long form story that I think I’ll never finish it. So far, I’ve proved myself wrong.

What are your writing strengths?

Generally: I’m dedicated and very deliberate in my approach. For every single choice I make in my writing, I have a rationality behind it. There is a lot of method in my madness. Also, when I get the wind in my sails, I’m speedy.

Technically: characterisation, humour, emotionality, dialogue.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Generally: good old impostor syndrome and being an incredibly disorganised person.

Technically: action scenes, angst, smut.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Ahh, this is awkward. I actually… am not a massive fan of this. Before you call me a hypocrite (which is a fair criticism here), I think foreign language dialogue is great when it works, but when it’s not done right, it’s completely alienating for a reader and can ruin the story. And it’s hard to get right. So, although I do use it, I don’t enjoy using it, because involves so much work and causes so much anxiety.

My rule when I do use it is that it has to add an extra layer of meaning and enjoyment for people who do understand it or want to look up the translation without taking away from the meaning and enjoyment of people who don’t. I have broken this rule once, because sometimes it’s fun to break the rules, and because I wanted to alienate my readers. I’m actually really proud of the effect it created, so here is a link to this rule-breaking.

First fandom you wrote for?

Jill Murphy’s The Worst Witch, circa 2001.

Favorite fic you’ve written?

That’s a mean question. The answer is probably On This Wild Night, but that one isn’t published yet, so I’m going to choose a few. Figures in the Shadows, because it was the first one where I first felt like my style came naturally to me, Eggshells because it was the first one created in a moment of inspiration, When Stars Ignite because of the friendship that was strengthened in the writing process, Learning to Fly because Charlie Weasley, and Return to the Riddles, because finishing the Hexley Saga was such an achievement and the culmination of two years of hard work that I really hope paid off.

Tagging: @katherinewilliams221b @liiilyevans @turanga4

[watermelonlovershigh]

Harry's Daughter Rose Get's Sick on the One Direction Tour Bus (singledad!harry)

AN: so i turned this Single Dad Harry & His Daughter Rose (journey through life) into a series where i'll write blurbs and maybe a one shot here and there. people seem to love this story so i'm happy to write for it.

This story contains: puking, child crying, comfort

{ singledad!harry - Prince Harry (2014 ish) - Rose age 2 }

word count: 1104

Rose wakes up sick to her little tummy on the One Direction tour bus and Harry cleans her up and all his bandmates help him out and clean up the mess she made with her sick.

On the tour bus, Harry and Rose usually shared a bunk. She's so small that it isn't a big issue. But tonight, Rose was attached to Niall. She fell asleep on Niall's chest when her bedtime rolled around and when they tried to move her, she's just start whining and crying. So Niall told Harry that Rose could just sleep with him in his bunk for the night and Harry agreed.

Harry did think it was weird that Rose had been cranky through-out the day, but didn't put too much thought into it. She is going through her terrible two's after all. But when he's suddenly being woken up by a loud scream coming from Niall's bunk, her moodiness correlating to her terrible two's goes flying out the window. Something else is wrong.

Harry is quick to jump from his bunk and barley has time to let his eyes adjust to the lights before Niall screams, "Harry, oh God. Come ere'." Thinking Rose might be seriously hurt or worse, Harry paces to Niall's bunk and immediately is hit with the stench of vomit. Then he sees Niall gagging into his bare arm. Getting a closer look, Harry sees puke all over Niall's sheets and running down his left arm.

As soon as Rose sees her daddy, she screams a heartbreaking cry, "Daddy, daddy, daddy." making grabby hands. Harry's little girl is covered in her own sick and shook up from the entire experience presumably.

Without second thoughts, Harry reaches into Niall's bunk and lifts up Rose, not caring if he gets covered in throw up. "Shh my love, you alright? Was your tummy just hurting?" he soothingly asks his daughter, but she just tries to burry herself deeper into her daddy's body and wails a loud cry that has Louis, Liam, and Zayn awaking and coming out their bunks to see the commotion.

"Mate, why is she crying for?" Louis asks in a Donny accent but soon sees the scene in front of him and realizes Rose has just been sick.

When Liam sees what's happening, he's quick to say, "Harry, take her to the toilet (the bathroom) and I'll clean up her vomit." Liam has always been the responsible one and the one who does the jobs no one else is willing to do, so cleaning up a bit of sick isn't a problem for him. He's cleaned all of his bandmates sick at some point or another so he can handle a two year olds puke without any problems.

Zayn on the other hand is quick to get back into his bunk, not being able to handle throw up. Just like Niall except Niall got unlucky and was the one who got puked on. That's why Louis goes over to Niall and is trying to comfort him because he's trying not to be sick himself.

Harry walks into the mini bus bathroom holding Rose to his chest and shuts the door, giving them a bit of privacy. He tries to set her on the top of the counter but she refuses, grasping tightly around his neck. "Baby, is your tummy still hurting? I need to know so I can help you."

Rose lifts her head from Harry's shoulder and mumbles, "Yeah, it wrilly hurts daddy." Harry takes that as a sign to go in front of the toilet and kneel down, holding Rose over the bowl. She lets out a few grunting gags before expelling more puke out her tiny mouth. Harry winces at the sight because he hates to see his daughters so sick. It breaks his heart.

Out of the bathroom, Louis has helped Niall clean the vomit off his arm and side, in the mini kitchen on the bus. And Liam has striped Niall's sheets and disinfected the walls and what puke that got on the floor. Zayn is laying in his bunk on his phone, trying to distract himself from what's happening around him.

Rose finally stops throwing up and Harry strips her clothes off, as well as his own (he left his boxers on), and stepped into the buses shower. He cleans them off and removes all puke that got on their bodies. The whole time, Rose wouldn't let go of her daddy. Almost as if he would disappear any second which is far from the truth.

Liam brings them two towels and searches through Roses' luggage to find her some clean sleep ware. He also brings Harry some dry boxers and has managed to put new sheets on Niall's bed. By the time Harry and Rose leave the bus bathroom all fresh and clean, everyone else was settling back into their designated bunks, ready to resume their sleep.

When Harry approaches his bunk, he sees where Liam was kind enough to leave a bucket on the floor beside his bed incase Rose needed to be sick again. Harry slips into his bunk with his daughter Rose to his chest, and holds her into his body heat. Her eyes slowly shuts by the seconds that pass.

When fully laying back down, Harry whispers to his baby girl, "If your tummy starts hurting again, please tell daddy alright. I have a bucket you can use. I love you my darling."

She mutters back, "Wove you." not being able to pronounce her L's very well. Harry gives her wet, clean curls a kiss and rubs his hand over her bony back, hoping to help her fall asleep easier. The covers are pulled up over their bodies and her tiny face is stuffed into Harry's shoulder length, damp hair.

The next day when they awoke, Rose was fine and they never figured out why she got sick in the night. Harry thanked his bandmates and friends for helping out with his daughter because he knows for a fact he wouldn't be able to have done it alone. Single parenting is hard, but even harder when you're on a tour bus and traveling all the time. They always step in and help with Rose when needed and he couldn't me more grateful for the people in his life.

(just edited this at 2 am so sorry for mistakes. this is my last fic before i leave my house to evaluate for the hurricane, so peace out and enjoy)

Masterlist (regular smut, fluff & sicfics)

My Favorite Harry Styles Fics MASTERLIST

Harry Styles Series One Shots Masterlist (for my one shots that go with a series universe)

Harry Styles blurbs, concepts, & short stories Masterlist- (short writing with little to no dialog)

[redrisingsun]

Swedish Holidays for all your Young Royals needs

Due to popular demand (by like five people) here’s a brief description of all the major Swedish holidays and how they’re celebrated because I can’t stand here and pretend as if we really celebrate Christmas the 25th. We have more holidays, I've only written about the ones we celebrate in my family. I come from a working class family and live in Southern Sweden, however I do have family in Stockholm. I'm not religious in any way and as far as I know, most families don't celebrate these holidays because they're religious, but because it's tradition.

yall better appreciate this, it took me literal hours

January

1: Dubbed as one of the collective pizza days in my household. It's the day after New Year, and most people either order in or eat leftovers.

Week 2 or 3: Most people return to their jobs, schools and other daily activities.

February/March

Fettisdagen ("Fat Tuesday"): celebrated 47 days before Easter. The actual date varies, all from early February to early March. It's an old Christian tradition where you'd eat fatty foods before the "before Easter"-fast and is supposedly a thing in other Christian countries as well. These days, most people celebrate by eating semlor with their family, and most don't fast before Easter.

The semla is a sweet bun with whipped cream and almond paste.

Våffeldagen (Waffle Day, 25th of March): I think this day stems from a Christian tradition, but these days the day is mostly to get together with family and eat waffles.

April

Påsk (Easter): Again, the date varies, but Easter is usually in April. Easter stems from Christianity and is celebrated to remember Jesus' death and resurrection. Easter spans over a week, but I personally only celebrate one of those days.

Påskafton (direct translation: Easter Eve, English translation: Holy Saturday) is the Saturday of the Easter week. In my family, the children get to look for Easter eggs (often filled with candy).

Some children also dress up as Påskkärringar (Easter crones) and I think this tradition has to do with the Witch Trials in Sweden, but I'm not sure. Chances are you won't need to know anything about this for your Young Royal fics, because mostly girls dress up.

Sometimes, we decorate eggs.

Later, we sit down to eat together and spend time with our families. Common things to eat for Easter is potatoes, eggs, herring and meatballs.

Valborgsmässoafton (Walpurgis Night, 30th): We burn a big bonfire in the evening to celebrate that spring is here. I live in a fairly small town, so mostly everyone gathers at one spot and burns the fire together. When the bonfire is burned, most people go home and that's it. It's also seen as a reason to have a party (mostly for teenagers and young adults, I think) and get drunk as fuck.

May/June

Sveriges Nationaldagen (Sweden's National Day, 6th of June): Most people are home from school and work. We hoist the Swedish flag. Idk. However, the Royal Family celebrates by getting dressed up in Swedish costumes. This year, the King held a speech and the family went to Skansen (which is an amusement park/zoo. You can read more about it here). There's music and the military does their weird little thing. You can watch the National Day Celebration on Skansen from 2014 here.

Midsommarafton (Midsummer): date varies, but is celebrated a Friday in late June. I'm sure there's a Christian explanation for this one, but I don't personally know it.

Midsommar (midsummer) means middle of the summer.

Again, this is a day to eat and spend time with your family (or drink, depending on who you are). We eat pretty much the same things for Midsummer as we do for Easter.

For Midsummer we also dance around a Midsommarstång (direct translation: Midsummer Pole, English translation: Maypole) and make flower crowns.

How Midsummer is celebrated depends a lot on your age (most teenagers and young adults again see this as a reason to party), where you're from and a million other things.

My personal favorite Midsummer tradition is probably more common in the country than in the city, for example. You're supposed to pick seven different flowers without saying a word. Then, you sleep with the flowers under your pillow. Supposedly, you'll dream of your future husband (or wife! But I think it's more common that women and girls do this). This tradition also varies. Some people say you need nine flowers and some people say you have to climb over fencing for it to count.

Some teenagers or young adults spend time with their friends to party, instead!

You can watch part of a Midsummer celebration at Skansen here.

The Royal Family usually celebrate Midsummer privately, but I think there's usually new pictures of the entire family around this time.

Day after Midsummer: Collective Pizza Day 2. Everyone either eats takeout or leftovers because no one can be bothered to make anything and like half of the population has the worst hangover they've had since New Year.

Summer Holiday Note: most people in Sweden have four weeks of paid leave each summer.

July/August

Kräftpremiär (Crayfish party) - date varies, normally early August. Basically people get together to eat crayfish and drink. You can usually get paper plates and plastic cups and whatever with ugly crayfish motives (which is fun), but I've never done this.

October

Halloween (30th): Halloween is nowhere near as big in Sweden as it is in the States. We just buy some lösgodis ("loose candy", where you can throw whatever kind of candy you want in a bag. See pictures). Trick or treat is so unusual in the town I grew up I've only ever had one kid ask for candy and when I celebrated Halloween with my grandparents (in a city not far from Stockholm), it was the same. I usually buy some candy and watch a horror movie, but that's about it.

However, Halloween is (again) a reason for teenagers and young adults to drink and party.

November

Alla Helgons Dag (All Saints' Day): Date varies, usually early November. It's a day to remember the dead and we usually light a candle at the grave yard.

December

Första Advent (First Advent): Date varies. Sunday four weeks from Christmas Eve. We mostly just light a candle, honestly. Then, each Sunday for the next four weeks, we light a candle. Here's actually the Crown Princess wishing Happy First Advent with her family! Unfortunately without English subtitles, but here's the translation: "Today is the First Advent. Advent means arrival and hope, something that feels extra important this year. (her husband lights the candle) We want to wish everyone a happy first advent!"

Andra Advent (Second Advent): date varies. We light the second candle.

Tredje Advent (Third Advent): date varies. We light the third candle.

Fjärde Advent (Fourth Advent): date varies. We light the fourth candle. In my family we usually decorate the tree this Sunday.

Julafton (Christmas Eve): Celebrated the 24th. YES, THE 24TH. Christmas Eve obviously varies from family to family, but there's a few things most people have in common. Usually, we get one gift in our sock (which hangs on our bedroom doors in my home, because we don't have a mantle) when we wake up. As kids me and my brother almost always got a movie or something to keep us busy until it was time to leave for our grandparents house.

For lunch we eat the Christmas dinner. It's the same damned food as our other holidays. Herring, meatballs, potatoes, sausages etc, but now, we also have julskinka (Christmas ham). Some people eat ham even for Easter, but we only really eat it for Christmas in my family. Obviously the food varies a little from season to season, but as a picky eater I always just eat potatoes, meatballs and ham.

At 3, Kalle Anka (Donald Duck) is on. Yeah, we watch the same damned stuff every year. It's tradition, alright? Anyway, Donald Duck lasts for an hour or so, and first you get to see Santa work in his workshop, then Disney characters wish you a Merry Christmas with scenes from their movies (original, I know). There's Lady and the Tramp, Donald Duck (obviously) and a million other things. Then there's also one or two trailers for movies Disney will release the coming year. I really couldn't be bothered to find everything on YouTube for you to watch, sorry!

After Donald Duck, we open the Christmas gifts in my family. Normally we just rip out gifts open lmao.

After opening the gifts, we usually eat a second time. This time it's time for porridge. Tomtegröt (Santa porridge) is sweet and often served with cinnamon. Usually, everyone is so stuffed at this point that you only eat because you "have" to eat porridge for Christmas (again, at least in my family).

The last thing we do in my family, is to get a puzzle out. My grandpa almost always gets a new puzzle for Christmas, so we'll put that on the dining table and work on it together until it's getting too late for us to stay.

The Royal Family usually release new pictures of the family for Christmas and wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

Day after Christmas: Not a collective pizza day! There's usually too much Christmas food left to be able to order pizza. Usually, we have Christmas food to eat for four-ish days after Christmas, and by then you're getting really tired of it.

Sometimes we watch something on television, but for the most part we just sit around and spend time together. I think the Crown Princess read something from the Bible this year? I'm not actually sure if the Royal Family go to the Christmas Service, but I don't think so.

Nyårsafton (New Year's Eve): last day of the year. We shoot fireworks, eat food and dessert and spend time with family. This day we normally eat something "fancy" or something you we don't usually eat.

At twelve, we go out to light some fireworks (or just watch fireworks). When that dies down, it's time for the cheese platter. My dad wants it, no one else ever eats from it, we still do it every single year because "it's not New Year's without it". When we've had the cheese platter, everyone go to sleep and that's that.

People obviously celebrate this differently, as well. It's not uncommon to go see your friends or have guests over, and some people party rather than have fancy dinner with their parents. I personally prefer spending time with my parents, because that's what New Year's is for me.

Some people give resolutions, but I think it's more common in the States.

Christmas Holiday Note: It's common for people to not work between Christmas and New Year's Eve where I'm from.

Some things you might want to know about the Swedish Royal Family and Sweden overall:

The Royal Family in Young Royals is not the real Royal Family (obviously).

The Royal Family usually spends time on Öland during the summers.

Chances are Wilhelm and his family live at Drottningholm Slott (Drottningholm Palace) and not Stockholm Slott (Stockholm Palace). Drottningholm is used as a home for the current King and Queen and is located west of Stockholm. However, the scenes where Wilhelm is home is shot at a palace called Stora Sundby Slott. I doubt Wilhelm and his family would live here if they were the actual Royal Family since it's used as a place for people to gather when they want to hunt for sport. However, if they truly live at Stora Sundby, it takes almost two hours to drive from Stockholm to the castle.

Bjärstad is AT LEAST two hours away from Stockholm.

Bjärstad to Stora Sundby Castle takes approximately an hour and a half by car, and between nine and twelve hours by bus. Which means these two boys can't just take a twenty minute bus to see each other.

Bjärstad to Drottningholm takes a little over two hours by car and four-ish hours by bus.

Bjärstad to Stockholm Slott takes over two hours by car and three and a half hours by bus.

Hillerska is shot at Kaggeholms Slott (Kaggeholm Palace), and is a hotel.

The age of consent in Sweden is 15, HOWEVER it's illegal to have sex with someone four or more years younger than you if you're not both over the age of 18. Let me illustrate: -Person A is 15 and Person B is 15. It's legal because both are 15. -Person A is 15 and Person B is 20. It's illegal, because there's a five year old gap between them. -Person A is 15 and Person B is 18. It's legal (but probably frowned upon), because they're both 15 or older and there's not a four year gap between them. -Person A is 18 and Person B is 30. It's legal, because both are 18 or older. Idk if this makes sense or if this is what it looks like anymore, but this is what it was like when I still went to school. Obviously people aren't going to run around and call you names if you happen to date someone four years younger than you (I know a girl who met a guy when she was 14 and he was over 20), but please, be mindful of this. Our age of consent doesn't give you a right to be weird and nasty to teenagers (yes, I'm talking about Edvin).

Also, the Royal Family have their own website, which you can find here. As far as I can see, there's more information on the Swedish page, but there's plenty translated to English. You can also read of the Swedish Royal Family and its history on the palaces's website, here.

All pictures have been taken straight from Google. I haven't used any sources, because this is shit I do every single year with my family. Feel free to correct me or add things you do, but keep it respectful, please!

Friendly reminder that I've simplified some parts of this to make sense, specifically the dates of the Advent celebrations.

If there's anything you don't understand or want more information on, you're welcome to contact me! I take pretty long to reply, but I'll definitely try to get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you!

[purplesurveys]

1617

1) What’re your plans for the weekend?  I’ve got an event today, so there’s that. I can’t wait for it to be over; I’m supposed to be dealing with 300 attendees today – literally 10 times as much as I would normally deal with – so with me pushing the extrovert agenda for an additional day in the week, I’m pretty sure I’ll be speeding the fuck back home the moment it’s done.

2) Could you ever be vegetarian - why or why not?  I don’t think so. I wanted to start having a vegan lifestyle in the past; but idk I like certain food too much to completely let go of them. Like sushi.

3) Name a quote from your favorite TV show:  “This is not meth.”

4) What time did you wake up this morning?  I woke up at around 7:50 since I had to be at the dentist by 9 to get braces.

5) What chores do you do around the house?  I mop and sweep the floor daily since it gets very humid in the day, making the floor sticky and gross-ish to walk on; I wash the dishes and fold clothes; then I also do the cleaning-up after the dogs. Not so much ‘around the house’ but I’m also mainly in charge of bringing them to the vet and shouldering the bills.

6) Do you like windchimes, or do they annoy you?  I can live with or without them, but I honestly feel like it would annoy me if heard on a daily basis, lol. I would like having them around the most if I was on vacation somewhere remote. 7) How much sleep do you usually get a night?  Anywhere from 5-7.

8) If you could have any outfit, cost not an issue, what would you get?  I don’t have any outfit ensemble in mind; but I would love some new pairs of shoes. It’s not that mine are on the verge of breaking apart; but it’d be nice to just have a bigger variety to choose from. 9) Do you play any instruments?  I don’t and can’t.

10) What song would you say describes your life right now?  Would probably be more relevant a little later, but Hectic by RM and Colde.

11) Do you have snacks lying around your room?  Yeah, I have a bag of truffle-flavored chips in there.

12) Did you get up to much today? If it’s morning, what are your plans? Yep I’ve already accomplished one errand this morning (getting braces), but I will be very busy in about an hour or so, since my calltime to the event venue is at noon. I’ll be manning registration so it’s gonna be the most socializing out of everyone else in the team bleck. I’m so excited to get back to my bed.

13) What’s your favorite animal to see in the zoo?  None; I usually feel a pang of guilt even when I see animals I would love otherwise, like elephants, eagles, and deer.

14) When do you start back to school or college?  I graduated college three years ago and don’t plan on coming back for a masters or doctoral degree.

15) What other social networking sites are you on?  I’m on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and now Bondee lmfao.

16) What was the best year of your life?  It used to be 2014, but it has since been dethroned by 2021. It would be very hard to top it, too.

17) What plans do you have for the rest of summer?  We don’t have ‘summer.’ We just have hot and very hot.

18) How old is the person you like right now?  I’m not into anyone.  19) Do you get an allowance? How much?  Well no, I’ve been earning my own money since I got a job.

20) What games console is your favorite? What about favorite game?  I’m not a big gamer. I enjoy watching walkthroughs, but I never pick up a console or controller myself.

21) If you could go anywhere right now, where would it be and why?  HOME. Be with the dogs, laze around, watch YouTube. The work week had been pretty busy so I wanted to make the weekend a time for relaxing; but I can’t for half of it.

22) Do your parents nag you a lot? What about? It’s more of just subtle callouts/reminders not to spend as much as I do on K-pop and to be responsible with my money. They’re not as naggy as they used to be.

23) What is there on the walls of your room?  Nothing. When I repainted it last month, I didn’t return the posters and frames on the walls anymore. Nothing but fresh white paint on it now.

24) Is there anyone that just really annoys you?  Sure.

25) What are your plans for tomorrow, anything good?  Aside from our usual Sunday mass, nothing. I hope there’s nothing else that comes up; I didn’t have a weekend last week and now my Saturday is also taken. If tomorrow happens as planned, it would be the first time in like 2 weeks that I can get to spend the weekend at home.

26) If you could wake up tomorrow being able to do one thing perfectly, what would it be?  Dance.

27) You have two wishes to make to help the world, and one can’t be “another wish” or anything similar. What wishes do you make?  Clean water and ample supply of food.

28) Do you reckon world peace is possible or are we just too selfish?  History has shown us time and time again that it isn’t. People are always looking for something to gain.

29) Do you listen to Bright Eyes?  I’m afraid I’ve never heard of them. 30) Are you interested in politics, or do you just not care?  Very interested. Those who choose not to care don’t really sit right with me.

[turtle-in-the-mums]

I like Leo’s unique snoot myself and naturally have headcanons about it. He’s the only turtle with a well-defined muzzle or snout, and I have to think that’s had its up and downsides as he’s grown up. 

If you look at kid-Leo as shown in the 2014 movie, his face isn’t much different from his brothers’ in general shape. If there’s an outlier at that point it’s Donnie--his head is taller than it is wide. He retains that shape straight into physical adulthood, with very few changes. Mikey and Raph change a bit more, but Leo’s face/head shape changes significantly sometime between childhood and physical maturity. 

(Incidentally, I headcanon that the boys roughly split the difference between human and turtle when it came to physical growing up. The average red-eared slider, according to the Internet, will be an adult around age 7. The average human male will be mostly done growing and muscling out sometime in his early twenties. In the Bayverse movies the guys are 15 + however old they were when April released them, and they are resoundingly past the gangly all-bones-and-empty-stomach phase of growing up. They have to have been mostly done with their skeletal development for at least a couple years.)

Anyway, Leonardo’s face is the least human-shaped of the turtles. I like to think that when his jaws started pushing forward and he lost the little hints of a human-ish nose he had as a kid he got worried that maybe he was mutating back toward the animal end of the spectrum. He was definitely self-conscious about it as a kid, and the topic might still be a touchy one with him. His siblings probably teased him about his “pet face” at least now and then when they were kids. They’ve outgrown that kind of cruelty for the most part, but Leo still tenses a little if and when the shape of his face is so much as mentioned. He’s confident that he’s not going to end up a giant pet turtle now, so he can accept how he looks with the maxim “Those who matter don’t mind, and those who mind don’t matter.” Which still carries some built-in negative judgement of himself, but it’s an improvement over his adolescent anxiety.

He does appreciate or at least accept that there are some advantages to his facial anatomy. He’s got a better sense of smell than his brothers (though not as good as Splinter’s), because he’s simply got more room for the scent-sensing cells in his nose. His nostrils point forward and are positioned relatively closer to his eye level than those of his siblings--he can lift just his nose out of the water for a quick breath without exposing much of his head or tilting his neck at a crazy angle. Mikey and Raph both have more human-ish noses in both the 2014 and 2016 movies. Donnie has a flattened version of a human-like nose in 2014 and nares like Leo’s in 2016. Leo’s probably got a stronger bite than his siblings, though given all the other options he has for winning a fight that’s likely to be a purely academic data point.

His facial structure does have the nasty drawback of offering just enough of a defined snout to make a muzzle or bridle a viable tool for controlling or just tormenting him. My Evil Plot Brain likes to try and come up with ways he could actually end up muzzled without there being a body count beforehand. Or at least several bitten-off fingers.

That would make him defensive and conscious of his unusual facial anatomy all over again. I do love slapping the guys and those around them with the fact that they aren’t human and never can be.

And I wanna pet Leo’s adorable little snoot and close-to-chipmunk cheeks.

Okay can we talk about how cute their beaks are? The lil snoots? Snoot kisses are a must!

hell yeah they are!!