#I thought everyone was talking about a totally different site...

[mostlymilkwood]

when I onginally played Hate Plus I just did it over 3 days like you’re meant to so I’ve never seen the secret skip option

[thejournallo]

Explain the basic: Energy manipulation

Disclaimer: in this chapter you are going to learn the physical and spiritual meaning of energy! Everything I will talk about is information that I got from books and sites online and even videos on YouTube. In my years of practice, I learned as much as I could out of curiosity and what works best for me. I suggest you do the same by learning as much as you can on your own (I will be here making posts teaching this kind of stuff) from multiple sources.

tags: @koda-manifesting

As always, I will love to hear your thoughts! and if you have any questions, I will be more than happy to answer them! If you liked it, leave a comment or reblog (that is always appreciated!). if you are intrested in more method check the masterlist!

When it comes to energy manipulation, we have to remember the 12 laws of the universe!  According to these laws, we are all connected; everyone vibrates at different rates, and energy is always changing! We can use the knowledge that those laws gave us to manipulate the energy that is around us in different aspects. Before we start to talk about what energy manipulation is, let's learn what energy is, even in a more scientific aspect.

witchcraft: 

"Energy" is often referred to as the life force or spiritual power that flows through all living things and the universe itself. People who practice witchcraft often work with this energy to bring about desired changes in their lives or the world around them. This energy is believed to be manipulable through various practices such as rituals, spells, meditation, and visualization.of course Different traditions and practitioners may have their own specific beliefs and terminology surrounding energy, but it is generally understood to be a fundamental aspect of the spiritual and metaphysical realms of witchcraft.

manipulating energy: 

More often than not, we manipulate this energy, which can happen on a daily basis without our knowledge. In a more visual explanation, we are surrounded by a bubble. Bubble = spiritual energy. When we go out and do our daily things and have our daily experiences, we give some piece of bubble. Energy manipulation is understood if we are using our bubble, understood when we have to use it and use it to our own advantage. for example, "If I feel this kind of bad feeling from a person, I will use a piece of my bubble to protect myself." I used my spiritual energy to protect myself from negativity.

science:

Energy is defined as the capacity to do work or produce heat. It exists in various forms such as kinetic energy (the energy of motion), potential energy (stored energy), thermal energy (the energy associated with temperature), chemical energy (energy stored in the bonds of chemical compounds), electromagnetic energy (energy carried by light and other electromagnetic waves), and many others.

The law of conservation of energy states that energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be transformed from one form to another. This means that the total energy within a closed system remains constant over time, even as it may change from one form to another.

Energy plays a fundamental role in all physical processes and is a central concept in fields such as physics, chemistry, and engineering. It's a crucial aspect of understanding the behavior of matter and the interactions between different systems in the universe.

Why am I talking about physical energy?

because we can use physical energy to practice witchcraft. Let me give you another visual example.  We are going on a walk to feel relaxed and release some tense energy. We are using kinetic energy to protect our peace.  It is all in the intention and the mindset when you use this kind of physical manipulation; even lighting a candle before a spell means using thermal energy to protect the space. (I'm saying protection as an example.) You can do pretty much anything; a walk can equal aboundance if that's what you want.

NSFW TALK AHEAD (MINOR DO NOT INTERACT)

It is a bit uncomfortable for me to talk about this, but it has to be said. Carnal acts like sex or masturbation can also be used to manipulate energy, and it is a whole practice in itself called red magic, where you use the build-up energy of the orgasm and the peak release to put your intention in the world. The tricky part is to actually concentrate on your intention until you release it. 

[ihavethedreamies]

First Kisses | NCT 127

NCT 127 - All Members

Rating: E for Everyone

Word Count: About 300 for each, so about 2.4k total

Pairing: NCT 127 x GN!Reader (Separate)

Genre: Reader-Insert, Drabble, Fluff

Summary: Your first kiss with each member of NCT 127!

Author's Note: I have never wrote drabble-length things before, so I am proud of myself I kept these so short.

I tried to keep these gender-neutral, so let me know if I didn't, but it might still be slightly implied in these the reader is AFAB, I don't think so though…

PS. Mark's and Haechan's are different from the ones for Dream…

Edited (8/28/24)

-> NCT Dream <-

-> WayV <-

I am cross-posting this on Archive. Please reblog! If you know anyone that would like this or future fics but they aren't on here my name and icon are exactly the same on the other site. Happy reading!

Taeyong

You chewed lazily on a strand of licorice, chest pressed to the back of the chair Taeyong stole from Doyoung's room. While you were by no means a noob when it came to video games, you knew little about battle royale shooters. However, Taeyong wanted you to watch while he played. You didn't mind, you constantly watched YouTube games, but not games like that. Not really caring about what he was doing, you found your gaze drifting to his face. He really was so freaking gorgeous. "Did you see that?" His question snapped you out of your daze and you quickly looked back at the screen. Replying with a vague hum in agreement, the pause menu flashed over his screen. "You okay?" Taeyong turned to you fully, looking over your face. "Y-yeah, why?" "You're really quiet today, you normally comment more." "Oh, yeah, just…thinking." "About what?" HIs foot rested on the base of your chair, pulling it closer, only the backrest between you two. HIs concerned look had morphed into something more playful. You licked your lips, trying to think of a lie, not about how hot he was. You tried not to reel back when he brought his face closer. Why was your friend so- "Thinking about kissing me?" He smirked and your face erupted into a blush. You nearly went cross-eyes when he leaned in, "Hm?" You took the chance, closing the distance, softly pressing your lips to his. He smiled against it, kissing you back, deepening it. When you separated, his fond smile floored you. "Been thinking about that awhile."

Johnny

You could feel his eyes on you, but you chose not to acknowledge it. Continuing to chop up the various ingredients for the fried rice you were preparing, his eyes followed. But he wasn't watching what you were doing, Johnny was staring at your face. Why? You weren't for sure. "Everything okay?" You finally asked him. "Yeah, why?" He rested his chin on his palm. "You're staring. Again." "You're just so pretty." Johnny smiled. It wasn't his, 'I'm sexy and I know it,' smile; it was warm and soft. Like when he sees a puppy; it was pure. That's what threw you off. To the point that you halted all action, paddle held over the steaming rice in the cooker. "Huh?" "You're beautiful." He had no room to talk. "Is that why you've been staring at me?" "Of course." You balked at his response. Your friend was an amazing flirt, but that's not what he was doing. He said it like he was informing you of something you should already know. "You think I'm beautiful?" You put the rice paddle down. Johnny sighed dramatically, getting up off the stool, coming around the counter to your side. He cupped your cheek in his big hand, and before you could question him further, he leaned down and kissed you. Johnny swallowed your gasp, deepening the kiss. You gaped at him when he pulled away. "(Y/N), you're the most beautiful person I have ever seen." He had no room to talk.

Yuta

Your eyes fluttered open, trying to recognize where you were. The TV was on, the sequel to the movie you had put on playing. Still trying to form a coherent thought, you heard a soft grumble behind you, an arm wrapping tighter around your middle. This sensation brought a flood of recognition over your mind, realizing you were in Yuta's living room. You must have fallen asleep together on the couch. You startled when you felt him sigh behind you, his warm breath ruffling the hair on the back of your neck. The arm of his you were laying on moved under your head as he brought his hand up. Yuta's hand rested on your forehead, which he used to pull you back into him more along with the arm around your waist. "It's late, just stay the night here." His voice was rough from sleeping. Were you two dating? Pretty much. But sleeping over? You haven't even kissed yet, still transitioning from friends to something more. "Stay over?" We haven't even kissed yet." You huffed, letting out a nervous chuckle. Yuta hummed in response, then your view of the room spun as he rolled you to face him. You barely got to see his cocky, smug grin before he closed the distance, lips sealing over yours. When Yuta pulled back, you whined in protest, making him chuckle. "There, now you can stay over."

Doyoung

You shuffled out of your room, rubbing sleep out of your eyes. The morning light shining in your room had no access to your living room, keeping it dark. Your guest was still asleep, wrapped in your spare comforter on your couch. Smiling to yourself, you padded softly toward him, sitting on the floor to get a better view. It was late after you two finished your dinner and movie date, so you let Doyoung stay the night. Ever the gentleman, he insisted on the couch. You smiled, only his face was visible out of the blanket cocoon. So cute. You felt a bit like a creep, just watching him sleep, but he was just too precious. Gently, you brushed some errant hairs from his forehead, looking at every detail of his face. Flinching back when he groaned a bit, you held your breath, worried you had wakened him. "(Y/N)?" His voice was quiet, eyes still closed, you didn't know if he was still asleep or not. "Yes?" You whispered in reply. When he didn't respond back, you assumed he was still asleep, or had fallen back to sleep. Carefully getting up so you could let him continue, you yelped dramatically when his hand grabbed yours, yanking you down onto the couch with him. He had sat up as he pulled you down, so you ended up in his lap. Doyoung wrapped his arms around you, laying his head on your shoulder, cheek on your collarbone. "Morning, precious." You kissed the crown of his head. He pulled back after this, frowning slightly. Before you could ask him what was wrong, he clicked his tongue, kissing you back, but on the lips instead. When he retreated, he flashed a sleepy grin. "Morning, love."

Jaehyun

Slamming the door to your car, you sat back in the seat with a huff, fuming. You thought girls bullying other people over boys stopped in high school, yet here you were, in college. You know about Jaehyun's not so little fan-club but had been able to avoid them. But they had learned that not only were you two friends, that there was something more going on there. God forbid they learn how long it had been going on. Not wanting to drive while angry, you just sat in your car. You jumped when your phone started to ring through the car speaker when you started it. "Hey." Your voice was obviously strained. "Where are you?" Jaehyun sounded out of breath. "In my car-" "Don't go anywhere." He hung up. You blinked in shock at the call-ended flashing on the screen. Your attention was pulled away by someone knocking on the window. It was some girl, and two others were behind her, arms crossed. You sighed, rolling the window down just enough. "You're (Y/N)?" You hummed and she scoffed. "You need to leave Jaehyun alone-" "And you need to leave." You sighed as he arrived, opening the passenger side door. After he was seated, you pulled out of the parking spot, leaving the girls gaping. Neither of you said anything till you parked again at your apartment complex. He took your hand in his, "I'm sorry." You met his guilty gaze, then shook your head. "It's not your fault." He stroked the back of your hand with his thumb. Instead of replying, he leaned over the center console, capturing your lips with his. You smiled when he pulled back, "do that again and we'll call it even." So, he did.

Jungwoo

The show playing was one you had seen many times before, but since Jungwoo never had, you were rewatching it with him. Your elbow was rested on the armrest of the couch, cheek resting on your fist. Your other hand was stroking Jungwoo's soft hair as he laid on your lap. He was getting over being sick, but since you were the one who gave him the cold, you didn't mind him being all over you. He was normally clingy, let alone if he didn't feel good, like a small child. It was fine to you though; he was too cute to not let him get away with just about anything. "(Y/N?)" His soft voice was still a bit nasally. "Yes?" "I'm sorry I ruined out first date…" "What do you mean?" Your hand halted, looking down at him. He rolled over so he was laying on his back, letting him look up at you. "I nearly passed out when we were walking to the restaurant…" He drifted off, fingers coming up to nervously fiddle with your hoodie string. "Jungwoo, you had a fever, its fine." You huffed, shocked that he felt guilty about that. You were the one that got him sick. "Still… We had finally decided to go for it, then…" "Jungwoo-" He continued to ramble, apologizing, and complaining about himself. It was getting on your nerves, there was no reason for him to feel so bad. Wanting him to stop, you leaned down, lips briefly pressing to his still moving ones. You sat back up straight, face pink from the act. His was as well, but it already was from the cold he had. You flinched when his hand rested on your cheek, pulling you back down. "I can’t give this cold back to you, right?"

Mark

"Can I get this?" Mark asked, coming up to you with a frozen cheesecake. You glanced at it, not liking that he asked you as if you were his parent. "Sure? Why are you asking?" You shook your head as he put the dessert in the cart. "J-just making sure." You rolled your eyes, continuing down the aisle, glancing at your shopping list to make sure you got everything for the meal you were going to prepare. Having to buy enough food to feed nine ravenous young men was a little pricy, but everyone agreed to split the cost and send you the money, so it didn't matter what extra stuff Mark wanted. As you traversed the next aisle, you noticed his gaze focused on something on the shelf. He halted in front of it, so you turned to look at it. It was a candy necklace kit. "Let's do this!" He grabbed it and you chuckled, nodding for him to put it in the cart. "B-but just us…" He added and you raised your eyebrow. "Just us?" "Not the others. We can just make them for each other after they leave…" "You want to make me a necklace?" You teased, the tips of his ears turning red, his characteristic laugh leaving his lips. "Yeah… and I don't want you to eat it or take it off!" Mark's determined look went to your face, and you had a hard time not guffawing. "Okay, Mark." "I'm serious, don't take it off." He reiterated as you got in the car to head back to your place, the box in his hands. "I won't." "Promise?" He held out his pinky and you shook your head but completed the hand motion. Before you could your hand back though, he used your linked pinkies to haul you closer over the console, gently pressing his lips to yours. You sat back slowly, gaping at him, face equally as red. He raised an eyebrow.

Haechan

"I'm getting tired of this, (Y/N)." Donghyuck huffed at your side, and you tilted your head, confused. When he noticed your glance, he sighed, stopping. Holding your linked hands up between you two so they were in front of your face, he sighed. "This is about as far as we've gone." You looked around, wondering what the hell he was going on about, you were only halfway to his place. "This, (Y/N)." He shook your hands to draw your attention there. "What do you mean?" "We've only held hands! You've kissed my cheek and that’s about it! I'm tired of it!" If it wasn't for the silly whine of his voice, you would think him genuinely upset. "What are you getting at?" You continued your questions and he groaned; you were very smart for being so dense. "Kisses! I want you to kiss me!" Donghyuck whined louder, it nearly echoed off the stone walls of the back road you were walking. His frustration took you aback. "Why do I have to initiate?" You nearly shouted, annoyed with his dramatics. He immediately quieted, blinking at you, so very pretty- "Fine!" He yelled back and hauled you even closer with your linked hands, his soft lips touching your chapped ones. As soon as he tasted the lip balm you had put on just minutes earlier, he groaned and deepened the kiss. You squeaked a bit when your back hit the stone wall, trying to match his pace, but he was fervent. When he finally stepped back, you were almost panting. He nodded with a satisfied nod and continued on with your walk like he hadn't just swallowed your tongue.

-> NCT Dream <-

-> WayV <-

Master-Master List

NCT Master List

[jonquilyst]

Day 0 - Introduction

🎵 Dear Mom and Dad, I’m doin’ fine. You guys are on my mind… 🎵

Welcome to the premiere of THE 2ND SEASON of Total Drama Sims: the hottest, freshest reality TV show on simblr. I'm your host jonquilyst, though if you tuned in to the show last season, you'll already know who I am!

14 more teenagers have gathered to put their wits, guts, and strength to the test to seek out the ✨ grand prize. ✨ Like last season, they will compete in crazy challenges, deal with less-than-perfect living arrangements, and face the judgement of each other!

🎵 You asked me what I wanted to be, and I think the answer is plain to see… 🎵

🎵 I wanna live close to the sun. Pack your bags 'cause I’ve already won… 🎵

Allow me to give you the grand tour of the no-longer-abandoned film lot we claimed for this season! Instead of cabins, contestants will be staying in these cramped trailers, just like actors on set! There's one for each team with 7 beds each and complimentary bathrooms.

Our mess hall is a bit less rustic than the one we had at the summer camp, but it's got that same ol' charm with 2 dining tables and a small living area for everyone's convenience!

Now, on to the fun part: replacing the shoddy outhouse, our contestants' destination for providing their juicy confessionals will be a makeup trailer right behind the trailers! Get used to it: it'll appear every single day with a different contestant providing their thoughts.

And finally, the auditorium! This will be the site of our ever-so-exciting elimination ceremonies. In front of it is the walk-of-shame, where losers will say goodbye to Total Drama Sims to catch the lame-o-sine at the very end!

🎵 Everything to prove nothing’s in my way. I’ll get there one day! 🎵

Now, allow me to formally introduce you to our 14 new contestants!

(from left to right; top to bottom)

(also fun fact: the poses are all different this time, so everyone's portrait is truly unique to them!)

ASHLEE SCHAEFER (she/her) by @shmoodlet - A rap artist who always wants to be the center of attention

BRODY SHERMAN (he/him) by @aniraklova - A football captain who loves to party and cause mischief

COFFEE BEAN (she/her) by @riverofjazzsims - A gloomy and introverted polyglot who was entered into the competition by her twin sister so she can have more typical teenager experiences

DREW PINTO (she/they) by @witheringscreations - A talented track athlete who wants to make friendships outside of those she trains with

ENZO ESPINOZA (he/him) by @seyvia - A handsome model who wants to prove to his brothers that he's the most exceptional sibling

FLO HARPER (she/her) by @akitasimblr - A nosy "rebel" (she only dresses the part) who secretly loves to bake

HANS SOMME (he/him) by @ethicaltreatmentofcowplants - A physically gifted, socially inept snob who doesn't think TDS will be that hard

LIANA MORRIS (she/her) by @bloomingkyras - An introverted computer whiz who chose to compete in TDS so she wouldn't have to go to her grandparents' house

NEAL WARD (he/him) by @nakasumi-sims - Son of famous actor Judith Ward. Judith signed him up for TDS2 so he could be occupied while she's filming overseas

PAULINA CALLAWAY (she/her) by @cowplant-ate-my-sim - A cheerful girl who signed up for TDS so she could have a free vacation

TAKASHI ABBOTTSFORD (he/him) by @stargazer-sims - A friendly and talkative boy who thinks he'd be good at TDS due to growing up in a large chaotic family

TONI STROUD (she/her) by @simsinfinitylt - A creative and imaginative thespian who is determined to make a name for herself

TRISTAN BACHMAN (he/him) by @micrathene-w - A snarky academic genius who accidentally arrived at TDS when he was meant to go to his academic decathlon meet

WILLABELLE LOWES (she/her) by @invisiblequeen - An overachiever who is confident she'll win TDS

🎵 I WANNA BE, I WANNA BE, I WANNA BE FAMOUS! 🎵

Wait... What About Teams?

Yea... about that: teams will be sorted a little differently this season! Instead of randomized teams right away, they are being formed after the first socialization day, when everyone has time to form relationships! Shortly before the first challenge, two people will be selected at random to be the "captains" of the teams. From there, they will select their teammates schoolyard-style (alternating between boys and girls) based on their relationships with the other contestants!

[chronically-ghosted]

i totally agree that it’s ridiculous for people to write fics for films that haven’t been released yet, but the problem isn’t the smut itself. people have every right to write porn if that scratches the itch.

i think your main point is the most important: it’s impossible to write a thoughtful, inspired fic when we don’t even know the story it’s based on. no one knows who this character is or what he’s like.

at this point, everyone should just call a spade a spade and write pedro rpf. all they care about is seeing his face in different situations.

so my earlier post was not so much a statement on Pedro Pascal Character fanfiction/porn, but the commercialization of art and I interpreted the thoughts and opinions of others through the lens of the medium I most often express myself with, which is fanfiction.

let me be clear: i have no problem with smut - pwp or otherwise. people are allowed to write whatever they want, about whoever they want, with whatever tropes make them happy.

my overall focus (and granted it was probably very muddled by the end of those - what, like three reblogs?) was an interrogation of fanfiction as art, and the state of art in this modern era. and after doing some more thinking and listening to more people much smarter than me (thank you to everyone who dm-ed me directly to talk further about this), my opinion is thus: the creation of content (not art) is more ubiquitous today is not because we are getting more stupid as a society, not because of our failing attention spans, not because we are on the brink of moral collapse but because we physically do not have the mental strength to be intellectually curious as a direct result of constant, distracting, emotionally-draining stimuli.

i can explain what i mean below the cut with two primary examples, specifically regarding the shift in fanfiction cult, and yes, the prominence of smutty oneshots in the pedro pascal character fandom of which this blog is a part of.

I have been in various fandoms for almost twenty years. I have been writing fanfiction for almost that same amount of time. In recent years, I've noticed two trends that initially discouraged me, but that I now believe is a symptom of our adjustment to a modern, constantly online era.

A severe lack of engagement within the artistic artifacts of a fandom

The quality of the fanfiction itself (because yes I do consider fanfiction to be an artform) has gone down hill - mostly.

Lack of engagement:

Art is inherently created to be shared. This is especially true for fandom because the community lives or dies by how many people are interacting with each other and sharing ideas (news, theories, fanart, fanfic, etc). If you say a fandom is dead, it means there haven't been any new posts or fic about it in years. So I don't wanna hear it when people say, "oh write for yourself, you shouldn't be chasing engagement" because that is antithetical to the very concept of fanfiction.

In recent years, I have seen and experienced myself engagement in my work only so far as a like or kudo. This is not how it used to be. Message boards (yes I am that old) and niche fandom sites were constantly abuzz with media sharing and excitement, and everyone enjoyed some version of praise (unless you got hit by the antis but they're never fun anyway). Initially I blamed this drop in engagement on laziness: people just want the next thing, they can't be bothered to appreciate the hard work writers put in and they just see content and art as the same thing - stuff to consume.

But I myself am GUILTY of minimal reblogs and comments and I LOVE what I'm writing - the impact certain works leave me with is long, long lasting but for some goddamn reason, I can't sit down and praise the author's works. Am I lazy? Possibly, but this is also not an isolated behavior and it's on the rise: people do not have time to engage with fandom/fanfic like they used to. Most people I know have worked at least two or three jobs at some point in their lives to just to make rent. This gen z is the first generation in DECADES to be worse off economically than their parents. With an interest rate at 8%, who the fuck can afford the security of a home anymore? We work ourselves to the bone for scraps and the realization that The Dream has officially died. And so what do we want to do in the free time we do have? Engage with the very bare minimum. We want to read things that we can at best skim, things we don't have to think about or engage with in any meaningful way. We want a way to turn off the noise of the next apocalypse and sometimes the best we can do is the tap of a thumb.

Which brings me to my next point: what the fuck happened to thoughtful fanfiction?

But this question is inextricably linked to the points above: oneshots are easier to write, faster to write, and if you write fic that is basically "Mad libs porn" (without ever engaging in the actual medium because it is literally not released yet), you are doing the most minimal work for the most amount of engagement. But I can't fault ANYONE for doing that. It feels good to be told your smut is "so hot" or "this exploded my panties" and in this era where the time available to create is so fucking small and minimized of course you're going to write for the most popular character, whether or not you're interested in the source material because we want our art to matter to someone. Intellectual pundits loooove to lambast our "shorter attention spans" but fuck, when are we allowed the time to think - in between this "100 year storm" that's happened twice in the past five years, or the global pandemic that turned millions of deaths into a political punching bag, or the next video of a white woman crying wolf to the police over an innocent black man, or - or - or - or

In a day where reality and the world as we know seems to be holding onto a thread, we turn to comfort: comforting tropes (dbf to rape/kidnap fantasies), comforting fanfic (pwp), and comforting ways to engage with fandom. There is nothing wrong with wanting your art to be appreciated and there's nothing wrong with inherently wrong with pwp - but I do believe its symptomatic of a MUCH larger and more sinister movement within ALL art right now.

I come from the generation who banished fanfic authors for scrubbing off the filing numbers to their fics and publishing it as original content because, in our communities, they were selling out. Fanfiction is inherently an act of rebellion. Every time you write fanfiction you break canon, an established structure with its own rules and boundaries. So by trying to appeal to the masses, to curb your own writing to fit whatever is mainstream, you are doing a disservice to yourself AND to the art of fanfiction. If something you write becomes popular, wonderful, great, you are very lucky and there is nothing wrong with that either. But do not sell out your 13 beloved fans who WILL take the time to leave a comment, who WILL take the time to reblog because your weird little fic spoke to them on a fundamental level and now is with them for the rest of their lives - in favor of a 100 thumb taps.

If you've made it here, thank you very much for reading. I've added some links to some additional references to see how this concept of "populist" art is having a serious negative down turn in the quality of art, but is also not any one individuals personal failings:

Why the world is addicted to background tv by Kayleigh Day

How Modern Audience are failing cinema by Like Stories of Old

Rupi Kaur episode of Rehash podcast

I'm always here to talk fic and art and what makes you excited about your writing. Much love and please rest. We need you here.

[r4d1c4lw31rd0]

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 (≧▽≦) [𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫!𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐱 𝐎𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬!𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞]

Experimenting with this banner thingy- Anyways this is something I decided to finish up 💪🏼💪🏼 I totally did not get this idea while listening to sad romance songs 💀 Won't be writing for a little while because I'm going through some things right now but I hope this is good enough for my fellow Venture enjoyers!

Summary: Reader has been pining for our oblivious little archaeologist for months now, and close to when they're supposed to leave they finally decide to be upfront and confess with a song!

Warnings: Nothing! It's Fluff with just a tad bit of angst! Also no use of Y/N

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

You watched on in silence, not really enjoying this party. You were supposed to be performing tonight, a celebration for the Wayfinders and their success in discovering a new artifact today. You'd been briefed about it, but you hadn't been paying much attention. Your thoughts had drifted to that stupid archaeologist you'd been pining for for months now. Sloane Cameron, though commonly referred to as Venture, had captured your heart quicker than you had wanted.

Sweet, funny, energetic, passionate . . . what more could you want from a person? You didn't realize it at first, dismissing it as admiration, but when the two of you kept seeing each other, it was far to late. They'd wormed their way into your brain, and they weren't going away anytime soon. You had been invited to the dig site by a relative of yours who worked at the Petra site, and it was Sloane themself who made you feel the most welcomed.

The time you two had spent together had been . . . wonderful. They talked, quite a bit, but you didn't mind, considering yourself someone who preferred to listen instead. They didn't quite realize how sexy they looked talking so in depth about their profession and findings. It warmed your heart, and you had been caught staring quite a few times.

They showed you their favorite spots to frequent when they needed alone time, taught you about different artifacts and the history of Petra, and on more than one occasion you had fallen asleep in their tent listening to them ramble and woken up covered by their coat while they were sleeping awkwardly in their chair. For a moment, you were convinced they liked you, but you were well aware that they did nice things for everyone. It was difficult to tell if you were special or if they just treated everyone this way.

Too shy to completely come clean about your blossoming feelings, you began to drop hints. You went out of your way to hang out with them whenever they were free, always offered to take important documents to them, hell you were even extra touchy and flirtatious with them. To your disappointment, it all went over their head. Every. Single. Time.

"Thanks! You're such a great friend" was the most common response you got whenever you brought them things. Your compliments were slightly more successful, but the ones they gave were all so plainly platonic it hurt. Any innuendos you gave were taken so seriously that you had made an indent in the wall of your own tent from banging your head against it so frequently.

Your pining was so obvious to everyone else but them. Most people felt pity, and even tried to help you out. Sloane's response?

"What? No no no! They're just being friendly! Trust me, I'd be able to tell if they liked me like that!"

You thought about shaking them violently and yelling how you felt to them but even then they had a skull so thick you were pretty sure they'd find some kind of excuse not to believe you. No matter what you tried, they just didn't get it.

To cope, you turned to writing your feelings down in the form of song lyrics. Pages upon pages filled with your feelings. You practically spilled your guts on those pages, and yet nothing ever truly felt like it'd get the point across. Not until tonight. You had the perfect song to sing for them, but you weren't sure it'd smooth over well. You were due to leave the site tomorrow, and with some urging from your friend you decided tonight was the night. You'd be leaving tomorrow anyway, so if they did reject you you wouldn't have to face the embarrassment for long.

You were watching them from across room, observing them from afar. They never looked so dashing before, hair slightly more cared for compered to how messy it usually was. They wore a very clean white button up, sleeves rolled up just to their elbows. Various tattoos littered both arms, and the muscle they hid beneath all those layers was on full display. The black slacks they wore hugged their figure comfortably, suspenders with funky little designs on them attached and giving them that familiar nerdy vibe they naturally gave off. To top it all off, they had a bright yellow bow-tie on, adding to their charm.

Currently, you were watching them speak with another co-worker of theirs. She was so pretty, and certainly looked much better than you did. You thought so at least. Your arm tightened around your waist as a flush came across your cheeks. Your brows furrowed as you looked away from the two giggling lilies, downing the rest of the alcohol in your cup. This was stupid. You couldn't do this. God, what if they looked embarrassed? What if they looked at you with disgust? Hell what if they flat out rejected you in front of everyone here!? This was such a stupid plan, you didn't completely think things out.

"You're up next." You snapped out of your thoughts, looking over to your friend. He smiled at you, nudging you with his elbow. "Loosen up, you look constipated with all that frowning your doing."

You smacked his arm as the two of you chuckled, and he leaned against the wall beside you.

"Seriously though, what's got you wound up so tight?" He looked down at you, sympathy written all over him. He probably already knew, but you still wanted to confide in him anyway.

"I'm just super fucking nervous." You sighed, throwing the cup into the trashcan next to you. "What if they don't get it? Or they reject me? I don't want to embarrass them in front of all their coworkers, they'd hate me for the rest of forever and I don't think I can live with myself if that happens."

A hand rested itself on your shoulder, followed by a couple of pats. "You're overthinking for one, but you make some valid points. Whatever happens, happens. It won't be the end of the world, I can promise you that much."

"Certainly feels like it."

That got a good laugh out of him as he shook his head at your dramatics. "Whatever. It's too late to back out now. We're finna go on and you better be ready. If they don't get it now, they probably never will in all honesty."

As he walked to the back of the stage, you began to follow, casting one more glance at your crush. They were still chatting it up with their co-worker, but they were looking at you. You flushed immediately. Did they know?

Raising a cup to you, Sloane mouthed the words 'Good Luck!' and you felt the familiar sting of disappointment, Of course. They were just being a good friend. You gave them a thumbs up in response, shuffling backstage with the rest of your band mates. Taking a deep breath, you prepared yourself mentally for just about any outcome.

You heard the announcer begin your introduction as you stepped up onto the stage, curtains still drawn shut. Your heart pounded in your chest, and you could physically feel the anxiety coursing through your veins. No going back now. It was now or never.

There was applause as the curtains began to draw back, stage light on you as you held onto the mic, looking out at the crowd. You'd performed in front of people before, but it felt so much more intense now than ever.

"GOOOOOOOOOOD EVENING LADIES, GENTS, AND PARTY PEOPLE OF ALL GENDERS!" Your voice boomed over the speakers as you announced yourself, taking the mic from the stand. There was more applause and whistles as you raised your hand to calm the crowd.

"Thank you all for allowing me to be your entertainment for tonight, it is an honor to be celebrating this accomplishment with you all. The song you're about to hear will get your body movin' and groovin', but is also directed at a special someone who has yet to catch on the vibes I'm shootin', so here's to hoping it finally penetrates their thick skull."

There was a unanimous amount of "ooos" and "aaahs", and as you gave the crowd one last glance, you could see Venture's sweet confused face.

You took a deep before you signaled for your band to start. As the guitarist started up, you faced the crowd, ready to face anything.

"Don't you notice how, I get quiet when there's no one else around?~ Me and you in awkward silence!"

Your voice rang out clear over the crowd, making direct eye contact with Sloane as you pointed at them.

"Don't you dare, look at me that way!~ I don't need reminders of how you don't feel the same!" You did your own little spin as you placed your hand on your chest, keeping your gaze locked on them.

"Oh the burning, pain~ Listening to you harp on 'bout some new soulmate. 'She's so perfect' blah blah BLAH! Oh how I wish, you'd wake up one day! Run to me, confess your love at least just let me say-"

Your face flushed at the way their eyes widened as you stepped towards the edge of the stage with each word sung, watching as they were pushed as close to the front as they could be. There was no doubt this was for them.

"That when I talk to you, oh cupid walks right through and shoots an arrow through my heart~ And I sound like a loon but don't you feel it too!? Confess, I loved you from the start~"

You couldn't tell what they were feeling, only that their cheeks were just as flushed as yours and their mouth was agape. You stepped back, continuing through with the rest of the song, occasionally making eye contact with Venture who had yet to run off with embarrassment. As you reached the end of the song, you walked towards the edge of the stage, crouching down slightly, pouring the rest of your heart out as you looked at them.

Most of the people were dancing, but Sloane continued to stare up at you, watching as you poured your heart out to them, conveying everything you've been trying to for the past months the best way you knew how.

"Confess I've loved you, just thinking of you~" you paused, letting your band mates play their short solo before finishing off the lyrics. "You know I've loved you from the start~"

You let out a shaky breath as people applauded, bowing as the curtains began to close. You immediately ran over to your friend, panicking and whispering to them.

"Did you see them!? They totally hated it oh my god this was such a bad idea. I can't face them after this!" You buried your face into your hands, trembling with anxiety as he gently rubbed your back.

"Hey now, at least give them a chance to respond yeah?" He chuckled, though continued to comfort you and hype you up.

Your stomach fluttered with anxiety as you walked off the stage, and low and behold there they were, looking around like a lost puppy, thinking they might've missed you. When they caught sight of you, you both seemed to freeze, and you weren't sure you could talk to them alone.

"We'll let the two of ya talk, yeah?" Your friend patted your back encouragingly as he and the rest of the band walked off, giving you a thumbs up.

You approached Sloane, who had yet to say anything. Both of you were flush on the face, neither one saying a word.

"So . . . Did you mean that stuff? On stage I mean . . ." Their voice was quiet, breaking the painful silence.

"Yes-" You paused, feeling like you replied a bit too fast, a bit too enthusiastically. "I mean- Yes, I did. I meant every word of it." You looked down at your feet fiddling with you hands. "I've felt that way for a while now actually . . ."

They chuckled, and for a moment you prepared yourself for rejection, tensing up.

"Sorry! I don't mean to laugh it's just-" They let out a sigh, rubbing the back of their neck. "I feel really stupid, not seeing it before."

You looked up, hope sparking up in your gaze. They smiled, hands hesitantly coming up to take you own into theirs, stopping you from wringing them anymore.

"I'm sorry if I made you feel like I didn't . . . like you too." They started of, casting their gaze to the side. "Because I do. You're really special and I enjoy hanging out with you, I just didn't want to get my hopes up-"

"Just kiss me already-" You blurted out, slapping a hand over your mouth.

Sloane laughed, looking at you with adoration. "I've made you wait long enough." They whispered, taking your hand from your face and pressing a soft, warm kiss to your lips.

You were all too eager to reciprocate, hand holding onto theirs as butterflies fluttered in your stomach, this time not from anxiety. God, this was so worth the wait. As you two parted, you felt breathless, grinning like an idiot.

"Was it how you imagned?" They joked.

"Better." You pulled them in for another kiss, wrapping your arms around their neck as you felt their hands glue themselves to your waist, pulling you right up against their body.

Kissing someone had never felt so good. All too soon it ended, and they looked at you, now with a slight frown.

"You're leaving tomorrow aren't you? Why'd you wait so long to tell me?" They sounded upset and frustrated.

Slightly embarrassed, you looked down at the floor, pulling away from them. "I tried, but you just . . ." Sighing, you paused. Blaming them was not what you wanted to do. "I . . . I was afraid you'd reject me. I mean I thought maybe there was a chance you liked me too but you were just so nice with everyone, and if you didn't like me back I didn't want to be here and have to face you everyday so today was the perfect day to do it. But, now that I know you do like me back I really wished I'd said something earlier, I feel really stupid for-"

Their hands cupped your face, stopping your anxious rambling. They made you face them, smiling softly and sympathetically.

"I get it. I do wish you had said something sooner, but we can't change that now. What matters to me is that you told me, and if you'll have me, I'd be glad to work things out with you . . ." Sloane's voice was soft, caring, everything you knew it to be. Their thumb rubbed slow, soft circles on you cheek and your own hands came up to cup the back of theirs.

"Y-Yeah . . . I'd like that."

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

(Requests currently closed!)

[milaisreading]

Hiii good morning i was reading ur manager series and am totally in love with it specially the scenes where rin and reo decide to use their captain and rich-boy powers (the plushie one is my absolute fav) and i was wondering if i could request shidou and sae/kaiser/ness reaction to yns plushie or keychain? More than anyone else i wanna know shidous reaction🤭

Author : I didn't expect that story to be so popular since I came up with it at like 3 am☠️ but I hope you like this and thank you for the request🩷

Warnings ⚠️: Reader uses she/her. Requests are open

⚽️Blue lock belongs to:Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura⚽️

Shidou:

"Blue Lock is really that big now?" Loki commented as him and a few of his teammates were in the changing room of PXG, looking at a phone.

"Yeah! My sister wanted to buy one of the plushies and the site crashed like 3 times."

"Geez. Blue Lock 11 have boy group level fame." One chuckled as Shidou walked in, confused with the commotion.

"What are you guys looking at?" The blonde asked as he walked up closer, with the teammate showing him his screen.

"The guys who beat you, Blue Lock have now merch. Every girl or guy I know won't stop talking about them. My sister ordered like a collection of these plush toys."

"Haha my brother ordered all the keychains." Shidou was amused at the revelation, taking a mental note to tease Rin about it later.

"My sister has been complaining how hard it was to get the (Y/n) plush toy version. Every time there was a restock it got like sold out in a matter of minutes."

Now that was something Shidou had great interest in. The manager of Blue Lock has plushies? Shidou wanted to laugh.

'Hah! This is gold! But why would anyone buy that? A smaller version of (Y/n)? The whole replica? Small and soft...' Shidou's thoughts wandered off and he felt giddiness the more he imagined the item.

"Shidou, where are you going? We still need to train?" Loki called out as the taller walked out.

"I need to make fun of Rin for that plush toy of his!"

"Not again." Loki sighed and facepalmed.

The same night Shidou went on the Blue Lock website, where he found the said plush toy of the girl, and with absolutely no 2nd thought bought it.

'So adorable~' The boy grinned.

'I think 10 of these are a reasonable number.'

Sae:

Once in a while Sae would travel back to Japan to visit Blue Lock and his brother. Although he spent most of the time around (Y/n), trying to get her to join Madrid as their manager. The idea itself would be shut down by not only (Y/n), but also by Rin, who by now wouldn't leave the girl's side if he was around. This visit was a little bit different though. Since it was holiday season, Ego and Anri has sent everyone home and Sae was bummed a little. His brother wouldn't tell him anything relating to (Y/n).

'Brat.' Sae would roll his eyes at Rin's glares and him telling the older how his manager was none of Sae's business. The two weeks in Japan went by pretty quickly and it was Sae's time to go back. His mom, dad and Rin would drive him to the airport.

"It's in Rin's room?" Sae asked as his mom nodded her head.

"Yeah, I left your scarf there on accident, can you please get it? We need to hurry up to the airport and Rin is already outside."

Sae sighed and nodded his head, walking to the familiar door.

Opening it, Sae immediately spotted his red scarf and went to take it, only to freeze up when he noticed something on Rin's bed. On it was a smaller and softer version of (Y/n) staring up at him. Sae stood there for a moment and then quickly walked to the bed, picking the item up.

Sae stared at the soft toy in awe, astonished with how detailed it was.

'She looks adorable... nearly as adorable as the real (Y/n)? Where did Rin even find this? And why us he so reckless with it...' Sae sighed, patting (Y/n)'s head over and over.

"Sae! Hurry up!"

He turned to the door as his mother called for him. Sae shook his head and put the plush toy in his backpack and then took his scarf.

"Since you refused to tell me anything, I am taking (Y/n) with me. She is too adorable for Rin, anyways."

The next day, Sae was in his room and hugging the plush toy, enjoying the softness.

'So cute... so soft... I wonder if the real (Y/n) is even better to hug.' Sae's moment of peace was interrupted by his phone ringing.

"Hello." He said, already knowing who it is. He has been ignoring Rin's calls ever since he landed in Madrid.

"You thief! Did you take her?!" Rin yelled, obviously upset that his plushie was missing.

"Yes. She is really soft." Sae taunted.

"You bastard! I will come to Madrid and beat your ass!" Rin threatened.

"Do it and I will tell (Y/n) you had this thing to begin with. Imagine how much easier it will be to get her on my club then." Sae smirked as he got no answer in return and ended the call.

'Mine.' He thought as he hugged the plushie closer to himself.

Kaiser:

"What are you even looking at, Ness?" Kaiser raised his eyebrow as he saw his teammate and close friend smiling down at his phone.

'He looks like a child in a candy store.' Kaiser thought as Ness looked up at him in surprise, before showing him his phone.

"My package arrived today! I can't wait till I pick it up." The boy admitted as Kaiser went over the tracking history.

"From Japan? What did you even get there?"

"Huh? You didn't see it?" Ness wondered, making Kaiser even more confused.

"See what? Stop talking in circles."

"Blue Lock just released new merch and restocks-"

"Ness... please don't tell me you bought merch from THEM?"Kaiser asked in disbelief. As far as he knew, the only person in Blue Lock Ness liked was (Y/n).

'But there is no way they made merch of her. It's always about the players, not managers.' Kaiser thought.

"There was a cute plushie of (Y/n) and her figurine as well as a keychain... I had to get it!" Ness defended with an embarrassed look.

"Hold up... there is merch of her?" Kaiser wondered as Ness nodded his head.

"Yes! The plushie looks so adorable, I can't wait till I hold it." Ness cheered while Kaiser went to look at the item.

"Hmmm..."

A few weeks later...

It was late at night in Japan as (Y/n)'s phone rang. Panicked and still dizzy from her sleep, she took her phone and answered it.

"Helloo?" She slurred out, wondering who it could be.

"What a day to be alive, you never told me you had merch!" Kaiser laughed from the other side.

"Kaiser? Do you even know how late it is here? And what about the merch?" (Y/n) asked, a little annoyed but she was too tired to argue.

"It's kinda cute that my little Liebling is a star now. Don't forget about me when your merch sells out." Kaiser laughed.

"Shut up! I want to sleep!" She yelled but Kaiser kept on going and (Y/n) was forced to listen to his talk for another 10 minutes.

Kaiser on the other hand was sitting in his living room as the (Y/n) plushie sat on his lap, getting headpats from time to time.

Ness:

Ness was honestly not expecting to fin anything interesting the evening after a training. It was honestly normal, he showered, ate his dinner and went on his phone, to see what Blue Lock were up to. In all honesty he just wanted to see if there were any pictures or video clips with (Y/n) in them. But instead of that, he found an announcement on new merch.

"Huh? Plushies, keychains and figurines?" Ness mumbled and opened the link, boredly scrolling down the site as all of them were from players.

"Boring-" Ness stopped himself as he saw a familiar shade of (h/c) hair and stopped. Blinking at the items that were displayed, Ness took in the plushie, keychain and figurine that was displayed of (Y/n), all tiny and adorable.

"I need this. I don't even know what I entered this site for again." Ness mumbled as she put the items into the cart.

"You bought it?!" (Y/n) yelled from the other side of the phone. Ness giggled and hugged the plushie of the girl.

"Yeah! You have no idea how soft it is! I have been hugging it ever since it came hours ago." Ness said as the line went quiet for a moment.

"...and what do you think? How is the merch of me?" (Y/n) asked nervously as Ness looked down lovingly at her plushie replica.

"It's cute! Very soft and I love how well detailed it is. It's nearly as cute as you."

"A-ah?! You think so?! I... I need to go now and talk with Ego-san over something! See you, Ness!"

"See ya~" Ness said and ended the call, then looked down at the plushie again.

"So cute..." He smiled, giving a small kiss to the toy's forehead.

[polyamorousmood]

Hi there, I want to thank you first for running such a helpful page!

So I'm actually just starting to explore polyamory. My girlfriend has been poly since I met her over a dating site, but I'll admit when we first started dating my insecurities made me not want to hear much about her other partners.

But over time, I started realizing not only that I may want to date more people but that I was missing out on a part of my girlfriend by avoiding something that is a feature of her person. And luckily we did have a good talk about it! We are gonna have a tabletop game night soon for me to hang with some of her partners, and maybe I'll be lucky and they find something to like in me too.

But honestly, it still gives me some anxiety to see her talk about her time with other people. I hate feeling jealous like that after wanting to work on it! I just really love her and don't want my insecurities to make us break up. Do you have any good advice for how I can help reassure and center myself?

I just want this girl to be happy and I'd like to be able to continue to be someone who makes her happy

Well, then I'll start by saying you're welcome! I'm so pleased you get something nice out of this blog 🥰

I have talked several times about how to handle jealousy I was going to post links, but honestly, it'd be like 6 links at this point. Search for "#jealousy" on this blog and you can find them. Please read those, they contain good thoughts.

I am struggling to find the words to explain just how touching I find it that you're opening up to this side of your partner. Its the sweetest, most beautiful of revelations. As a poly person I feel what you said is very true, and I would be really touched you're wanting to open that up.

I would therefore also be very concerned with making sure it went well, and be willing to do a lot to help you out. So I think it'd be a good idea for you to make dedicated time to thoroughly talk over your concerns with your partner before, and talk about how you felt about everything after. I find it useful to mention anything, even if you dealt with it and it ended up okay. Its totally fair and in fact probably helpful to your partner to say "it was a little weird at first when you gave X a hug, but I realized that was stupid and I think I'm okay now."

I think for someone in your position, who is working on expanding what you're comfortable with -- and as something not mentioned in the other posts I've made -- its going to be important to find the sweet spot for growth. That is, generally exposing yourself to situations that are uncomfortable, but that you're able to accept/work through/handle. Factors for this could include (but are not limited to):

length of exposure

topics/types of discussion (sex, similarities/differences between you and other partners, attractiveness, (dis)enjoyment of activities with other partners, etc)

type of activity

what sort of affection is shared with whom

the degree of "publicness"

Think it through, and start out with some things you know you can handle. Again, if you want to make progress, you should be seeking something that is a bit uncomfortable, but not so much discomfort you can't get over it in a timely manner. (As an example, my cutoff would probably be something like "I'm still bothered by the end of the next day, and after talking to my partner about it," but its okay if yours is somewhere else.)

Also worth noting you don't have to have a "total success" to be successful here. There may be certain things you're never fully comfortable with seeing/hearing about. Since it sounds like everyone else is okay with you not being comfortable with any knowledge, I'd be surprised if it'd be a problem for you to maintain a few boundaries about it, even after you've put in a lot of work to being more open.👍

Since you mentioned already that you're uncomfortable with her sharing things she'd done with others, I'd like to offer three points to that specifically.

Congrats fr fr on that self-awareness! 🧠Legit you should be proud

You can start small here too. If you're not ready to know full details about something, but want to try something, maybe just ask her to give you a one-sentence summary when you ask how it went so you can practice!

I want to offer you a reframing here. I think you're likely feeling insecure when she mentions fun with her other partners because your thought is something sorta like "she has so much fun with them, she can't even stop thinking about it when she's with me... she must like that more..." . . . But what if... instead... you worked on replacing that thought with something like "she loves me so much, she wants to share even her special experiences from her other partners with me"? Does that feel more wholesome? and do you think that paints your partner in a kinder light, too?

I wish you the very best of luck, but quite frankly, I don't think you need it. I think you've done very well so far, and will continue to do so under your own power. And I do hope you feel powerful for tackling this.

And as always, I LIVE for updates. I'm proud of you!! 💙💖🖤🥰

[helshollowhalls]

I have some thoughts. On Mysta's graduation. And the current state of Nijisanji in general.

At the end of the day, I am not surprised. I expected someone else to graduate first, hell I even expected Niji to keep more of an iron grip on their money makers aka Luxiem in order to milk them for more cash, but I digress.

Mysta is graduating and it only goes to show that their 'money first, talent... third? last?' approach comes back to bite them in the arse. This might be the potential wakeup call for everyone who has yet to realize that the entire English branch of Nijisanji is crumbling away in record time because of the absolutely abysmal talent management and treatment of the livers.

I refrained from speculating who would be the next ones to graduate after Nina - simply because I will leave that job to the anonymous leakers on the site/platform that shall not be named here. Apparently Shu and Vox were brought up as the potential next people to graduate (this is according to a recent Depressed Nousagi stream but he didn't show any screenshots so take that with a massive bucket of salt.) Mysta was allegedly also mentioned down the line, but he seemingly wasn't the first choice.

Honestly, if you think about it the entirety of Luxiem must be so done mentally. They didn't know what to expect when they signed up to become Nijisanji's first male English-speaking Vtuber group. They waltz onto the scene, explode in popularity all over the world out of nowhere basically and suddenly they're Niji EN's favorite child. The company is milking them for all they have because OH BOI do they rake in the cash - not to mention from a target audience that was completely ignored before in the EN corporate sphere - female viewers.

In a lot of things the boys weren't given any choice. Jazz On The Clock? The first ever second unit song in Niji EN ever and it was released even before their anniversary. With Luxiem being the fourth EN wave in total it felt a little counterintuitive - Wouldn't they start another potential wave of unit songs with LazuLight, their first wave? Well, now that Light Me Up is out and Pomu talked about the entire fiasco of LazuLight basically fighting management tooth and nail to be allowed a second unit song, I think most of us can guess how things are going at Anycolor. And in case you're not entirely convinced, just look at the amount of Luxiem merch Niji has put out compared to any other EN wave.

It's not just JotC, but their anniversary/irl Japan meetup stream as well. That stream was something that personally really rubbed me the wrong way because it felt very inauthentic. It felt like the five of them were just shoved into a room at the Niji HQ to play Smash and do some batsus while the executives and managers proceeded to lock the doors and breath down their necks for the entirety of the stream. The stream had a very different feel to it - Comparing it to other Luxiem collab streams or even other anniversary streams. Management didn't consider it necessary to order Obsydia or Ethyria to Japan and record their anniversary streams at the Niji HQ - Well, that would be because none of them make the company as much sweet sweet cash as Luxiem - Closest would maybe be Selen. And even she has been public about the management fuck-ups - I am talking about her outfit design contest here, of course.

But back to Luxiem. I don't follow them as closely as I used to in the beginning, infact I am only subscribed to Shu out of the five, so let's start from here.

The entire wave collectively tweeted very salty and sarcastic remarks about the official announcement of the EN 3D Live Concert being "postponed due to COVID" earlier this year. But out of all of them, it seemingly hit Shu the hardest. I noticed that he was streaming less and less, infact he still isn't streaming as much as he used to.

Ike... oh boi, where do I even begin. Judging from his spontaneous irl hangout with Vox recently and the amount of projects he has been involved in as a vocal mixer, not to mention his two recent songs of which one is an original, this man seems to be working 30 hours a day and is stressed to the max.

Mysta made his personal situation and his ongoing burnout/lack of goals to work towards very clear in his graduation announcement stream, so I won't go into detail.

Vox has also been streaming less frequently. During the course of his employment at Nijisanji he got diagnosed with ADHD and PTSD (I believe), started therapy and medication, had a panic attack during an ASMR stream, started new projects and also some personal issues in his private life to deal with.

I have to be honest about Luca - I don't really know anything about what is going on with him apart from the fact that he planned to move again and got a puppy.

In conclusion, I could see reasons for anyone of them graduating anytime soon. Management isn't treating them well - Management isn't treating anyone in EN well, it seems - and at some point that fact doesn't warrant staying with the company anymore. Plus, money isn't really an issue for any of them at this point I assume - Especially Vox and Mysta. Both of them have enough money to fulfill their potential aspirations as indies or under another agency or manager.

Infact, apart from a couple of livers I can see anyone graduating next because of how Nijisanji handles things.

Some may argue that it all started going downhill when they kicked Yugo or when Zaion got terminated - Regardless of what you think, at the end of the day, the entire branch is seemingly falling apart right in front of us and Nijisanji's reputation is tanking, especially with the English-speaking fanbase, while Hololive idly sits by and watches the drama unfold.

The consequences of Mysta leaving and the message it sends about Nijisanji and how they treat their livers can't be understated.

[al-the-remix]

Random fandom thoughts/feelings

The reblog button is turned off on this post but I think it's another incredibly important one to be thinking about. I enjoy their framing of how the profit economy of other social media sites has been bleeding into fandom spaces on both tumblr, and like this post focuses on, Ao3. It's something that I've been noticing more and more and it really rubs me the wrong way and I feel like OP's post words it perfectly in a way I've been struggling to express.

This sort of connects the previous post I reblogged on the topic talking about how fandom is not a good in road for becoming internet famous.

A facet of this that's really bamboozled me recently is that I feel like i've been seeing more and more of is the idea that a singular person has a right to call "dibs" on a specific piece of media. Which is honestly totally fucking wild to me and if I'm being totally frank kind of dumb.

Every single one of us who interacts with fandom and by extent and IP is flirting with copy right law, the consequences of which everyone should be extremely familiar with by now with the fall of LJ and various lawsuits by authors, dmca notices, etc.

We have all heard the adage "there's no such thing as an original idea"; the idea that everything we create is the amalgamation of all the things that influence us, good and bad.

This is totally normal and good, actually.

For example, if I and another person both watch a TV show, see a production photograph that we really like and decide to draw it and post them one after the other it would be considered extremely bad behaviour to then turn around and make a big stink about how someone else had the gall to turn around and draw the same thing that I did. We can all look at a picture, video, lyrics to a song, become inspired and create something wildly different based on our tastes and influences--but we also are equally, if not more so, likely to create something nearly identical to our peers, especially in a fandom space where ideas are concentrated and we are all consuming each other's thoughts, opinions, and creations. More than once I've come up with an idea for a fic or a drawing that someone else had had a nearly identical execution of without us communicating or viewing each other's work. That's just the way the human brain works, we're hard wired to make connections in a fairly similar way.

You do not have a right to call dibs on any one photograph, clip of video, song lyrics or any other bit of media you might consume.

This stands for artists, writers, gif makers, AMV creators, and any other way you choose to express your love of fandom creatively.

If you are really hard pressed to focus on the numbers and work at being ~influential~ the burden is on you to distinguish yourself creatively.

There's a reason why not being able to see follower counts is so important to the way fandom and tumblr functions. The concept of ~small creators~ and ~big creators~ or BNF or whatever are all burdens you place on yourselves. No one is taking anything away from you by engaging with the same bit of media you are in a similar way. We all have a right to express ourselves creatively and emotionally through any snippet of media that sparks our interest. You do not get to "own it" just because you happened to pump something out first. There are no creative "dibs". This isn't even some sort of "fandom" etiquette thing that has gone thus unspoken. It's a strange possessive thing that I've seen crop up more and more as the idea of being a capital "C" Creator brain rots people's minds and atrophies their ability to be creative.

Sort of on a tangent, but I have a bunch of other personal random thoughts about how this push to be prolific stagnates fandom, but these are more complicated for me and I'm not as clear on how I want to express them. On one had I am completely on board with the "there is no such thing as cringe" mindset and that everyone has a right to create whatever super indulgent thing they want to without having to suffer people being snobby about it. But, on the other hand I feel very strongly that the cycle of people seeing one trope or characterization being repeated repeated over and over and gaining popularity, reading only that--writing only that--leading others to also only consume that, really stymies creativity and makes it harder to grow the fandom if people that are trying to enter aren't into That One Thing, while also ostracizing people who are already in the fandom that aren't into That One Thing. I strongly believe that people's tastes are at least 70% just what they're exposed to, and obviously not everyone is going to be into whatever weird niche concept they're exposed to through fandom, but the more they are the more opportunity they have to expand that horizon. I don't know how many times I've gotten a version of the "I wasn't sure I would like this but I gave it a shot and it turns out I really love it!" and how good that feels and how much I wish other people were emboldened to do the same instead of being so wrapped up in how their work may or may not be received.

This is mostly a subjective thing though, so it's less cut and dry. Like for example, I really struggle with engaging with transgender fic despite being transgender myself because of the way most AFAB fic is written to the point where I avoid it now almost entirely. Which, frankly, really fucking sucks but also I will be the first person to fight for other's ability to write transgender characters wether they appeal my personal feelings and taste or not.

Anyway, this is one of the reasons I'm so protective of fandom community events, especially ones that employ aspects of the fandom gift economy such as exchanges. There are one of the few wholly un self-centred places left where the focus is on gifting someone something they will love and giving back to the fandom at large by flooding it with art and opportunities appreciation and engagement with each other. It is not supposed to be an opportunity for you to think about yourself and "getting something good" in return or using it a convenient deadline. It also offers you an opportunity to engage with fic tropes and genres that you've never considered writing or reading before.

TL;DR if you've found yourself recently squabbling over how many notes your gifs, art, writing, etc. has been getting compared to other people instead of focusing on forging community ties and your own creative expression, I'm sorry to say you're doing it wrong.

[prettyoddfever]

why are you so against ryden

I'm literally only pointing out why specific examples of "Ryden proof" don't work, or were misinterpreted by people who don't know much about the band. If me being pro-reality means that you consider me anti-Ryden then, uh… you might want to examine that more.

As long as we're on this topic, I'm going to expand on an older post here and go off on a tangent:

I actually loved the Ryden part of the fandom in the pre-split days! Ryden felt like a fandom-wide inside joke that united so many fans and sparked so much creativity (sometimes it reminded me of inventing bs symbolism in english & art classes lol). I didn’t read the slash, but it’s not like those kids stayed exclusively over in their communities… they were everywhere. A lot of my favorite accounts were massive Ryden fans & fic authors. but even the most die-hard shippers in 2006 & 2007 would scoff if new fans asked if they were ever being serious with their comments. It was all just entertaining wish fulfillment done to amuse themselves. They would act like it was a legit alternate reality and write long funny primers & posts like “look guys, they are in love. this is facts… here I go with my proof," but when it came down to whether or not they actually thought it was real… no, of course not. The fanfic authors were the first to laugh and say they weren’t hurting anyone because nobody actually believed Ryden was real and everyone was on the same page. They argued that every single band had a slash community and it just came with the fame. Some fans genuinely wanted Ryden to be real, while others thought it was entertaining how you could cherry-pick events & isolate them from any context to make Ryden look plausible. And both groups were taking matters into their own hands by trying to tie enough pictures & random dots together to make it look like a happy alternate reality that satisfied everyone. It was funny.

The majority of the pre-split fandom understood that Ryden wasn’t real, so people were on the same page when they shared their “proof.” It was like an inside joke. For example, I’ll argue that unicorns could be real because I know that the person I’m talking to is aware of reality. I can get as creative as I want and just have fun because we’re both on the same page… and the other person will be like “well yes of course they’re obviously real.” It looks like we agree. But that does not mean that we truly believe it lol... we're just bored & entertaining ourselves. Someone else who is unsure whether or not unicorns actually exist might read our convo and conclude that we are certain unicorns are real and have proof! But I never intended for my silly convo with my friend to be taken that seriously.

For me, Ryden was more about the fandom. It was just fun to see a picture or new moment and wait to see if anyone else spotted the same potential too. The slash accounts across different sites/forums would even make fun of themselves for how far they would go to make everything fit Ryden. At times it felt like an affectionate joke about the band and the fandom. 

I’d say the Ryden craze first took over with the huge surge of new fans during the summer 2006 tour (around the time Brendon & Ryan started fully going for the mic sharing each night). This was back when the band still read the forums and different fan sites and were trying to get a sense of what their fans were saying (such a bad idea lol). I was never totally clear on where the guys stood on Ryden in 2006 but it seemed like they were in on the joke… but it was so confusing at the same time. Like one minute they’d complain about the disgusting “pornfiction” in an interview and the next minute they’d be hamming it up for meet & greet pictures. Bden would practically hump Ryan’s leg during a show and then Ryan would suggestively run his hand up Bden’s thigh during a meet & greet exactly when he knew fans were watching… and then they’d both act like they didn’t get why fans ever came up with stories about them. I’m not saying their actions meant they were asking for something btw. I’m just saying that it’s equally true that the guys would claim they weren’t huge on Ryden and that they intentionally fueled the fire to get fans to laugh/scream at the right time. The band was super aware that the Ryden fans were a huge part of the fandom who drove a lot of the hype online… so it seemed like in late 2006 the guys were just trying to connect with a fanbase they were being quickly distanced from as they got more & more famous. Then in 2008 the guys intentionally added extra Ryden elements to their stage routine because they knew what a lot of fans still wanted to see.

So my conclusion was that it was all in good fun (except making suggestive comments to the band irl was horrible… people were even saying some seriously gross stuff to Zack about the boys and taking it waaaaay too far). During the lull of 2007, and even into 2008, there seemed to be a whole section of the fandom that was more invested in their fanfic communities than the irl band (they’d often come onto other boards & communities to ask for facts or details for their fanfics and watching the replies they got was like watching a really bad game of telephone haha so I’m guessing those plots diverged from reality pretty quickly). New fans were also being introduced to the band through fanfiction and seemed more intent on just spotting Ryden moments and learning the fanfic version of history rather than any real-life history. So by late 2008 there was definitely a small crowd who was taking Ryden more seriously and also understood less about the band. But I wasn't always sure if their tone was totally serious or not, because the joking posts had often been written in a serious tone too.

Side note on that: when I started this account in 2020 I hadn't thought about P!ATD much while I had been sick for years. I was just trying to throw myself back into the mindset of 2006 and rediscover a time when my world had been awesome & I was healthy. So when I saw all the sun/moon theories that had formed after I'd left the fandom I was like YES omg this is amazing. I lived for that kind of stuff. But then it was confusing how the same people who were currently posting all of the “ryden was real” stuff were the same ones who would quickly point out that another one of my Ryden posts wasn’t what really happened or that a photo manip that I considered fun was actually fake…  I mean, obviously??? I didn’t get why there was any difference between everything. It took me a few months to get a read on the current fandom and realize that things weren't being done in the same joking spirit. I started struggling to explain why I was posting Ryden-ish stuff if I didn’t necessarily believe what I was saying (and again I’m having a hard time explaining here because it never felt like the fandom was making up crap we didn’t stand behind back then! we were serious that we believed it was a darn good connection/theory or photoshop job haha). Ryden used to be like this shared alternate lens to view events through that felt like teamwork to create. We would intentionally pretend like years of full context didn't exist and create our own parallel narrative that could coexist with reality in our minds. But now it feels like people are sharing "Ryden proof" for real as though the piles of creative nonsense are an actual recap of historic events... and you need to pick some kind of "side" to believe? Idk, it's weird. I dropped any remaining nostalgia connected with Ryden content and ended up shifting the tone & focus of my account to organizing actual facts, media, and info about events I remember.

I don't think it's ok that moments in the band's history are often distorted or erased in order to pass off certain examples of “Ryden proof” as real now. It would be a shame for ridiculous Ryden stories to be prioritized as key info about the band while normal info about band members & events gets ignored now (ex: turning Northern Downpour into some kind of Ryden thing totally erases what Ryan wanted to do with the song). A lot of people have told me that they don’t care what actually happened because they prefer their ideas anyways. And that’s fine, as long as you’re aware that what you’re choosing doesn't track with reality. (Also, I always felt like knowing the real events or original photos from a manip gave me more appreciation for how creative people were… but I suppose that’s because Ryden was more about the fandom for me).

SIDE TANGENT: I drifted away from the fandom after summer 2009 when I got sick, so I don’t know specifically what happened over the next couple years to get so many fans who were impressively uninformed about the band yet super intense about Ryden at the same time... but I'm also not surprised I guess. Some knowledge about the band absolutely faded to the background in the last half of 2006 as the overwhelming amount of newer fans invented their own answers and were more interested in freaking out over cute guys than actually taking the time to learn about the band. The knowledge wasn't lost, it was just drowned out for a while in the midst of their enthusiastic chatter. It felt like a waste of time to correct them too because they were absolutely everywhere and they weren't really harming anyone by screaming things like Ryan took his mom as a date to the VMAs lol. Maybe there was a surge of younger fans by 2010-2011 who didn't have the context to know what they were looking at too, and were very enthusiastic about Ryden? I don't know. This is all purely speculation on my part.

I actually don't care whether anyone thinks Ryden was real or not... that's definitely not my focus and I'm not trying to convince anyone of a "side" either. You can conclude whatever you want. My focus in my posts is simply to provide context for some of the inaccurate stories & examples that are currently being passed around as though they're actual history. I don't expect anyone to care. But at least the info is still available for any younger fans who might be interested in the real-life band.

[justa-smalltown-gargoyle]

Hey batman/batfam people, I wanted to talk about something. I know this might not be received well, but...this is my blog. So if you disagree with me, feel free to block me! Literally that's what's great about this site. (I've been trying to do so on my end, but I thought I'd reach out a bit.....idk maybe try to form some understanding?)

I have been a batman fan since like...age 13 or something. Batman as a character means so fucking much to me, as does all his kids and massive extended family. (can't forget Alfred, Kate, Lucius, and Jeff Gordon!!) And I know that they mean a lot to you guys too.

In comic book and fandom spaces we talk a lot about misrepresentation of characters in fandom, but even in "canon" or rather published/produced content. I have beef with a lot of live action adaptions of Batman for example.

The thing with comic book characters, even more than some fandoms/pieces of media, is that there is SO MUCH content out there, that two people can say they like this one character but those two versions might be in total contradiction. But does that make one right over the other? does that make one superior?

Now, I hate Ben Affleck's Batman. And to fans of his, I'd say, you want the punisher, not Batman, because to me, that goes against who Batman is fundamentally. I read the comics, watch a lot of the animated stuff, and formed my own opinion and version of Batman. However, and this seems to be a controversial take, i really enjoy Wayne Family Adventures.

I see a lot of hate on here for WFA (and on tiktok but they're another beast), which, it's not for everyone, that's okay! Not everyone has to like what I like. But what I don't agree with, is that people who like WFA are seen as "not true batman fans", "they haven't ever read a comic". "they only like the flat fanon versions of the characters", etc.

These comments I would like to rebut- some comic readers such as myself might enjoy WFA. There might be people that have never read a comic or even watched anything batman related but like WFA. Are they not valid to enjoy that and have their own fandom for that? Are they not allowed to be fans of Batman?

I also would ask, how much of WFA did you actually read? In it's nature, it's suppose to be the bat family on their time off, or more light stories, but it actually addresses things like Jason's trauma, Duke moving in to the Manor, Damian struggling to fit in at school, things like that. Now if you read pretty far and still didn't like the portrayal of the characters, that's fine, I'm not asking you to change your opinion, however I am asking you to make space for those who do enjoy it, or that WFA is their first introduction or only experience with the Batman and co.

WFA isn't perfect, but it holds a special place in my heart, and gives me more content for Not Perfect but Trying and Cares Dad Bruce Wayne which I am grateful for. And tbh I feel like it just shows other sides to the characters we don't see that often!

And again, obvi people have their opinions, I guess I'm just asking for us to be more aware and create a space where people can feel free and excited to talk about these characters that we all love. I enjoy content and discussions I see in the tags and different blogs but then I see the hate for WFA fans and it just puts a real damper on otherwise really good content.

Anyways, thanks for reading!

[wifegideonnav]

I'm new to Tumblr. How do Tumblr users usually engage with each other?

well first of all welcome haha. the main ways to engage with people are:

liking and reblogging. platforms like instagram and tiktok run on likes and an algorithm, but on tumblr, people almost exclusively use their dashboard and turn off suggested content, so they’re only seeing what people actually reblog onto their dash. that’s why people on this site are so adamant about reblogs, because likes basically do nothing. i saw someone say once that anything you would like on a different social media, you should reblog on here, and i totally agree. and don’t worry about how old a post is, or about reblogging something you’ve previously reblogged. there are posts from 2014 that i regularly see on my dash a decade later, so literally don’t feel awkward, it’s 100% normal to engage with old posts.

tags. there are three main ways tags are used: labeling original content so people find it in searches, internal organization systems when reblogging or posting (for instance, many people have a tag for their original posts, and will tag reblogs by fandom or character or whatever - important note that reblogs do not show up in search results), and to make sotto voce comments on a post. it’s normal for people to make jokes, add their own commentary, ramble about something semi relevant, or say something to op in the tags on posts they reblog.

reblog additions. every time you reblog, you have the chance to add something to the post, which unlike tags will be retained when someone reblogs from you. a good rule of thumb is to comment instead of tagging when it’s something you actually want other people to engage with, as opposed to tags where you’re just kind of expressing yourself lol. don’t be surprised however if you see people’s tags getting screenshotted and added to a reblog. if this happens because the screenshotter likes what the tag writer said, it’s jokingly referred to as “passing peer review.” (and of course people screenshot tags to criticize or mock them as well.) essentially, tags are like being at a big group dinner and saying something to the person next to you as an aside, and then sometimes that person goes “hey everyone listen to this”

post comments. there’s also an option on every post (unless op has turned it off) for people to comment on the post itself, not on a specific reblog. mostly this is useful for talking to people on personal posts or posts with reblogs turned off. on a bigger post, just reblog it and put your thoughts in an addition or tag.

asks. seems like you figured this one out! lmao. asks are used for a wide variety of things, but essentially it can either be a prompt for someone to make a post or a way of having an interaction/conversation with someone without dming them.

dms. these work like dms everywhere else, except the functionality is limited and it kinda sucks.

games. there are also many varieties of games that people play with each other, ranging from ask games (things like “rec me some music” or a post with prompts and people send you some from that list), tag games (typically there are questions you answer then you tag other people to fill them out for themselves) handwriting tags, follow chains, giveaways, name/url playlists, and more. with the addition of polls, brackets have gotten popular too (eg the tumblr sexyman bracket). there also used to be a lot of in-character ask blogs, where a user would set up a blog and roleplay as a specific character that people could send questions to (there still are some but way fewer and way less popular than there used to be)

to be honest i feel like i have to put “discourse” and “drama” on this list too. people on this site loveeee having the most insane arguments of all time and then everyone else memes the hell out of it. google “sonic for real justice” for an example lmao. (of course there’s also very unfunny political and fandom discourse that goes on as well. i would advise you to avoid discourse blogs as a general rule regardless of whether you agree with their position or not)

tagging people. you can also @ people in posts you think they’d like or if you feel like they have relevant input. typically this is something you would do either to people you’ve spoken to before, or a big blog with an established persona and rapport with their followers (eg if you follow a blog about snakes and you see a random post with snake info that seems wrong but you’re not sure, so you tag them to ask for their expertise).

and this isn’t a specific “mode” of communication but it’s also a thing to “interpret” (for lack of a better word) other people’s posts. for instance, people drawing a photo from the original post (i cant find it but there was a post going around recently where op posted an aesthetic photo of an egg cooking and then several people painted it), or people trying/recreating something a post was about (example). it was also a thing for a minute there where people would rewrite funny exchanges as shakespearean dialogue

those are all the ways i can think of, although im sure i’ve missed some (if other people think of any pls add on!). good luck, and i hope you’re able to meet some cool people!

[futurebird]

Where are the image descriptions on this site?!

How is it that Mastodon (aka the fediverse) has tumblr beat for having image descriptions? I almost NEVER see images without a description there. But here? It's an epidemic. Listen, they don't need to be long or fancy, just say what the image is! Think of it this way, if the image is a part of a joke did you say enough so people could get it? Would your post make any sense without the image included? What text would you add so that it could still make sense? (It's true that descriptions can sometimes occur in context, or using text that isn't in that particular box. But, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the sheer volume of posts that are mostly images and not a one has a word to describe them. Those posts are just useless spam to many people. ) I always thought refusing to reblog undescribed images was a little extreme. But I totally get it now. From here out? If I don't have the time to add an image description myself? I'm not going to reblog it. I'm not the only person like this. I know many people who simply won't reblog anything with undescribed images. I'm fed up! ( It will take some time for my queue to catch up. I'm slowly adding descriptions in there too. In fact, it was going through my queue and seeing how many descriptions I'd need to add that set me off. Why do I have to fix everything? Were it just one or two missing, that's fine, but it's most of them. If everyone just described their images in the first place when they posted it would be taken care of ... When you get in the habit of doing it you don't really notice the 30 seconds it takes. I didn't always know to do this, and maybe you didn't either but you can start today!)

But I post mostly art, why do I need descriptions?

Image descriptions aren't just helpful to people who are totally blind. ( And as @the-smol-machine pointed out in the comments totally blind people enjoy art. ) Descriptions help everyone who uses screen readers including many people with sight. There are different degrees (and kinds) of blindness and since many blind people enjoy art, if you describe your art this helps. Don't you want more people to enjoy your art? For example, my niece loves art, but to look at it she needs to make it much bigger and spend some time taking it in bit by bit. She only bothers if she knows what it might be and a description helps her put the image together in her mind. Descriptions also help with other disabilities that don't have anything to do with sight, but rather how people process information. Heck, I generally enjoy reading them myself just to know that I got everything the poster wanted from the image. (I'm not an expert on this topic at all. Suggestions badly wanted, but I am frustrated and annoyed that "describe the images" isn't more of a normal tumblr thing. )

[thatfoxnamedfinley]

LET'S BURN aka Morning Star thoughts

YOU KNOW HOW WE DO

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT lets GOOoOooooOooooooOOO

Trigg was a gay icon "Stay close. Nut to butts here, dont be shy."

RAGNARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

I cried UGLY TEARS on my drive home from work. The only time I cried during the book. Ragnar talking about how he will build him a house next to his but don't come to the Veil too quickly because it will take him a while to build it. Telling his sister to live for more. Smiling even at the end.

PB, why bro. You have damaged me by doing the following.

1.) Killing Pax (THE ENDING DONT TOUCH ME, WELL GET TO IT)

2.) Killing Pax's archetype replacement

You make me like Pax, you take him away. You make me LOVE Ragnar and you take him away. Ragnar UNDERSTOOD, he understood the Rising and what it all meant more than most and you TOOK HIM AWAYYYYYYY. *Slams fist on table*

Ok ok ok ok also small side note when they crashed and encountered Cassius and Aja (i love to hate this bitch) and Mustang has her bow drawn on Cassius and is like

I WILL PUT YOU DOWN

and in my brain I'm like "nah she wouldn't"

and then she FIRES the shot into Cassius' neck

((the plot armor on this man is actually crazy))

And I had this amazing moment when listening to the audiobook that I got goosies...I imagined the snow around her and her hair blowing around her face and DETERMINATION in her eyes as she fires the shot

I was so PROUD of her

I was like

Sevro and Darrow's fight was awesome. Sweet, even. Talking about how he can see the protectiveness in Darrow's eyes when he was looking at the refugees on Tinos. His head on Darrow's knee. Talking about Eo & Sevro talking about how all he wanted was to cause wrath in the wake of his father's murder. He questions his leadership abilities and doesn't want it. I understand because he was the one that was still looking for Darrow. Saved him from torment and torture. He came back different, broken and defeated. Sad. ANGRY. Then how quickly leadership fell back to Darrow when he was the one that worked during that year that the Rising wavered when everyone thought The Reaper had been killed.

OH OH OH

one of my favorite parts of this book was The Reaper's speech. Because he wasn't Darrow, he was REAPER. He's also dramatic as fuck and I love him. He was standing up there in front of Refugees and I got GOOOOOOSIIESSS bitch when the people were like, reaching out to touch him, I was like THIS SHIT IS CRAZY. He has no branding and he's like

"I STAND BEFORE YOU A MAN UNBOUND" and people are gasping in shit cause he's like the first person in hundreds of years to bear no sigils of color.

"I speak now to Golds, to the Aureate who rule. I have walked your halls, broken your schools, eaten at your tables and suffered your gallows. You tried to kill me. You could not. I know your power. I know your pride. And I have seen how you will fall. For 700 years you have ruled over the dominion of man, and this is all you have given us. It is not enough."

I could see why people wanted to follow him. That speech was fucking EPIC.

Other thoughts. Romulus us gunna be a problem. I also think Lysander is going to have a big role. Idk what but my spidey sense is tingling. After all that trauma he was just TOTALLY OK to talk to the Ash Lord and help get the plan moving...?

Pls dont tell this little boi is about to be Jackal 2.0

OMFG THE JACKAL

BOIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII this man is inSANE!

Nuclear warfare because he wasn't getting his way??? Wanting Darrow to kill himself LIVE? DARROWS HAND GETTIGN CHOPPED OFF

BRO I THOUGHT CASSIUS BETRAYED THEM I WAS SO FCKING PISSED. I was like YO CASSIUS IT IS ON FUCKING SITE THE NEXT TIME WE SEE YOU BRO COUNT ON IT COUNT YOUR DAYS

Then I was like oh ok nevermind

All because of that little fucking holocube, the GOAT of GOATS. Showing Cassius' family being disposed of.

I have a few GOATs of this book.

(secret GOAT is Sophocles. i want to give him a jellybean)

1.) Mustang. Firing that arrow and in the discussion with Romulus she was KEY.

2.) The defiant Pink that opened the bay on the Moonbreaker. Shaking but defiant, angry at her overlords. Amazing moment.

3.) Victra. Her moment when she saw Darrow having to make a hard decision and blowing the stuff on Ganymede to cripple Romulus and The Rim. "Share some of the load, darling. This is on me." What a fucking GOAT.

4.) Sevro. CRUCIAL to taking Aja down. That shit was 3 v 1 and they would NOT have won without him. Him low to the ground moving like an animal smirking like "YOURE GUNNA DIEEE TODAY BITCH" im like

Because Aja was such a THREAT bro. I was so NERVOUS someone was going to die and they almost did!

OH OH OH (im so sorry i was up all night until like 9am finishing the audiobook so Im kind of delirious) Darrow rushing Octavia on LIVE TV and going like *shink shink shink shink shink shink shink* in her stomach with his teeth bared and I'm like YAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS BITCCHHHHHH

Finally, I was oddly, ODDLY uderstanding of why Mustand kept baby Pax a secret. For a split second I was like "WOAH WAIT WTF-" But then I was like ".....Yeah, no that makes sense." She understood what Darrow wanted but wasn't sure if the Rising would be like the genecide of Golds, her people. So she wasn't sure she couldt rust him. I get it. Nodding in understanding. Valid. She wanted to see if he was capable of BUILDING. She knows he can destroy. But can he follow up the revolution by actually building a better future.

Now she knows he can, and he has a BABBBBYYYY

I do know there is a massive time jump in the next book and multiple POVs. I'm nervous but ready.

*Random side side note

Sevro and Victra came out of nowhere for me and was something I didn't get at all

*side side side note

The Telemanus' are also GOATs

Kavax and Daxo are babies

*side side side side note, one of my other favorite moments was before they drilled with their clawdrills intot he Moonbreaker and Darrow says

"Drills hot. Helmets up. LET'S BURN." GOOOOSSSIESS

audiobook narrator performance was FANTASTIC

[drdemonprince]

Probably a trivial question during a shitty time globally, but I'm going a bit crazy trying to figure this out and need help.

For some reason, people cancel last-minute alarmingly frequently when I host gatherings on days that are extremely important to me. I am talking mainly about my birthday and that of my partner but also a huge milestone graduation do last year was a nightmare as well. Neither I nor my partner have any meaningful relationships with our families anymore due to political differences and rely on our friends for the sense of home and belonging most people get from families.

Except this is a bit of a wasteland, as I struggle to form and maintain close friendships because of how unreliable and disappointing people have been for a while. This is not an individual (although there are a couple of people who I know will cancel every time) but a pattern. Someone will forget to book the right train ticket, another will only lurk on the event group chat and then comment for the first time before the event to say no. One person memorably just said they wanted to keep the option of a weekend gateway open so they could only come to my graduation party if they decided not to do that. Am I missing something here? Is this normal? I need consistency and dependability to feel safe and I feel like people I'd normally choose as friends (witty, nerdy interests, progressive) turn out to be incredibly bad at showing up for me when I need them. A friend I thought was close went completely mum after I graduated and didn't congratulate me at all - after having discussed the degree and its struggles with me for 2 years. Part of me feels like I need to rebuild my circle from scratch and maybe find people I can talk to honestly about my needs from the beginning of the friendship. But it feels so late and desolate to start this process in my mid-thirties. Everyone else has friends they grew up with and who know everything about their lives. Meanwhile, I am at the stage where I have no close friends at all anymore because my needs seem too absurd to even discuss with anyone except my partner, and if I do, I just lose friendships. I remember reading your piece on how to do social things as an autistic person last year and feeling very inspired so I thought I'd reach out to you.

This is all exceedingly, exceedingly normal, especially in the days post COVID for a variety of reasons. When I make plans with people, I assume that roughly 30-75% of the people invited are not going to show up, and I've completely made my peace with that. A friend of mine hosted a movie night a few weeks back, invited I believe around 15 people, and ultimately four showed up, many people being last-minute cancellations or total no shows.

This happens for a variety of reasons. Many people are very socially anxious and decide at the last minute they don't have it in them to show up because they're freaking out. Other people say yes when the event is days or weeks down the line, wanting in the abstract to be there, but then on the actual day of the event, practical daily life constraints are far more visible than they were when the event was just an idea, and so then they have to bail. Other people feel really bad saying no, and so they wait for the last minute to share that they can't make it. And lots of people are so bombarded with notifications on a variety of social media sites and chatting platforms that they just forget all that they've committed to. And then you add into that random illness, flat tires, crying kids, and the like, and you have a lot of reasons why people don't show up to things.

Personally, I have come to accept this. If I go into event planning assuming most people can't make it, my feelings aren't hurt. Every person who does show up is a gift. My invites are an opportunity, a true invitation, not an obligation or an expectation. I don't hurt my feelings in advance by telling myself that I need a high turnout for my birthday or that because I've worked hard making a certain dish for a party (I never actually do that admittedly lol) that a lot of people need to come and eat it.

And I invite people that I like and want to see, over and over again, because I care about them, and I want to show them that I care about them and that I understand they have other things going on and I am not offended that life got in the way for them. I want them to feel loved and included, even if they can't make it. Even the gesture of inviting a person to an event and them showing some interest is a meaningful act of maintaining social connections, for me. And so if they can't make it on the day of, that's fine by me.

I'm 35. My friends are anywhere from 21 to 60-something. People cancel events because of sick kids, broken down cars, long work weeks, depression, double-bookings, writing deadlines, social anxiety, busted ankles, not wanting to see one person they're currently having a difficult situation with, and any number of other factors. If you love people long enough, they get really complicated and their lives get really hard. I find that the most beautiful and friendship-sustaining thing one can do is to not take it personally, because you're going to need that same grace yourself plenty of times. People will drop of the map for months or years sometimes because they're going through hell, and you dont to deprive yourself of being open to reconnection when they're available again.

There's really no need to read anything into the randomness of life. This stuff will happen, so it's rational to expect it, and loving to not mind it too much.

Do you need to make some new friends? Maybe so! I have multiple different friend groups and I think that's healthy. You may find the no-shows less painful if you have more people to lean on. It's always good to form new connections, learn new things about yourself, expand your skills and understanding of the world through new information and experiences. But should you start over, and ditch your friends who are flakey? I don't think so. To be loved is to be sometimes flaked upon (and to flake). In this capitalistic, individualistic hellscape it's vitally important that we extend one another grace.