#I've been working on this on and off for like two months now

[planetsnakes]

I get this y'all right. I've never used AI to write an essay and never will

why the hell am i only given three months to write four different essays tho? Like sure some of the problem is my poor time management because I literally just became an adult.

For my dissertation I had to submit 3000 words (all jam pa ked full of fucking research) I had a couple of months to write this essay so what they did was wait until we had two months to show us how to write the essay, on a retreat which I couldn't go to thanks to getting sick. I asked if i could see the example essays another time and this just never happened due to copyright bullshit.

Now I didn't just get sick. I got really sick. 3 days in A&E just to be kicked out because they didn't find the problem. Literally everyone in my life is worried about me im so brave. The uni assured me this would be taken into consideration as long as I could get a doctors note.

I could not get a doctors note. They wont even pick up the phone it's been a month since I submitted this request.

So I spent ages setting up meetings to discuss with people in the uni my problems so they could write me a note. They didn't.

Now it's too far into the year to defer. I will lose so much fucking money if I give up now so here I go!

I completed the essay in like two weeks and I think i got something wrong on the timescale but ive been sick since november on and off getting better and worse.

I cant even remember writing a single essay for my university im fairly certain I'll never use these skills again because the only people who write academic papers are academics and I don't want to be an academic.

I can hear you saying "this isn't the norm"! Everyone goes through this at least once.

I know a lot abt uni life, I know a degree can be taken away if they found out someone cheated to get it no matter how long it's been since they got the degree. I know I didn't work this hard to never know if I could make it on my own merit

Yet there are places where the university could have supported me better. Students are expected to do so much and im gonna be so real the you're only cheating yourself narrative is just annoying. I could do this much better if every time I wasn't rushed because they gave me the resources last minute or constantly told me to check back later.

I'm fortunate enough to always get an extension when I ask thanks to my DID diagnosis & I actually considered myself lucky when I caught covid (yeah I also caught fucking covid I was sick for so long I missed so many lectures that I can't catch up on at all) but like seriously?

I haven't even mentioned the poverty, living conditions, the fact most of us have to work through uni, ow the internet changed the way unis talk to students, covid messing students up or international students and how unfair the system is to them.

I feel this could be a chance at a brilliant conversation about how much stress students are put under because even when we have the skills we don't get the opportunity to use them

[weaselle]

i have a dog client (just one, starting a new business is hard) and she's a two-ish year old husky who was rescued only a couple months ago. I've been working with her for a couple weeks now and she just decided she could trust me yesterday. And i think the reasons why are interesting

So huskies can be sort of aloof, it's easy for a husky to decide they don't really care about you unless you are doing the exact thing that holds their attention. But it was more than that with this dog (she's named after a cheese, let's call her Gouda because she's [mario voice] a good-a dog) I think her experience in life thus far has been a bit traumatic

(this doesn't mean she was beaten or anything, everyone always jumps to that conclusion, but dogs are sensitive social creatures, and just being an orphan in a system that controls you so completely and never knowing who you can form a close bond with could be real trauma... i was given up at a young age by my own parents and it fucked me up pretty good even though i was adopted by my aunt, so i can only imagine what it might be like for a dog to be passed around for two years)

Anyway, she is very withdrawn (tho loving with her new family) and also tends to raise hackles and stiffen up when meeting dogs. For this reason i've been walking and running her alone because i walk some other dogs (not clients, it's part of my customer acquisition technique to be seen out with a pack of dogs) and a couple of those dogs are ... also not the friendliest. So i wanted to set her up for success by giving her time to get comfortable around me and the new activity before i introduced a possible stressful situation of other (grumpy) dogs.

At the meeting there was a growling and snapping situation and I had to use my Big Dog voice (just a big deep "hey" with my full diaphragm) and get between them and shut it down. Then they settled and we went on the walk, during which time there was an additional teeth and snarl moment from the other grumpy dog that i shut down immediately. The rest of the walk they were fine - during the second half i transitioned away from walking between the two, and ended with them walking next to each other close enough to bump and they did great.

Anyway, when i went to drop off Gouda at home, for the first time she really responded to my goodbye, licking my face and nuzzling my ear and bumping her head into my chest, whereas before she wouldn't even walk back over to me for goodbye petting once she was home.

I'm pretty sure it was the interactions with the other dog that did it. Specifically three things

A: for the first time she saw me defend her against another dog, so she knew she could count on me to back her up so she could relax

B: she saw that i was maintaining order and discipline and wouldn't allow dogs to be in altercations so she could relax

C: this is the more nebulous one but one i think is the most interesting: I believe the situation with the other dogs helped her to see me at a high level of disapproval, yet remain within behavior parameters that allow her to feel safe. In other words, she saw me in a situation where dogs were breaking the rules in a pretty big way - a semi fight situation where theoretically i would be at my most threatening or angry - and my response was not scary, i didn't get physical or punish or hold a grudge etc.

I think that last one really cemented it for her, because now Gouda knows if she gets something wrong and makes me "angry" it's going to be okay. So she can relax.

Taken all together, her experience yesterday was that i will defend her against other dogs, i can and will maintain order in the pack, and, importantly, even if she gets something really wrong or i'm in an "angry" situation, i'm safe to be around.

and now we're good friends.

[sheigarche]

girl shut up

I'm going to assume this is about Life is Strange because that's what I've been talking about the most in the last 2 months and I don't think any of my other fandoms would be bother by my posts.

So here are some hot take ideas for LIS posts I've never made because I thought it might upset some fans, but maybe I shouldn't be so quiet about it after all.

Pricefield vs DE

It seems like everything in Double Exposure was deliberately written to justify Chloe breaking up with Max.

Chloe showed that she was paranoid that Max may be using her powers to manipulate the relationship to make it work and that's exactly what Max did to Amanda and got call out for it in the end.

She also expressed how Max is unable to let go of the past and is haunt by it. So most of the game we see Max (and the player) holding on to it and struggling to move on until the very end. Some fans still can't do it and doesn't want Max to do it, but that's exactly why Chloe left.

Many people didn't realize it, but Max was struggling to establish herself as a real photographer in the years she was with Chloe, but quick became famous and recognized in the years after they broke up.

To me that's the game trying to sell the idea that they are better off without each other.

Chaseprice

Victoria and Chloe's posts in DE don't show anything explicitly romantic, it could just be friendship, but the intention to make it look like something more is pretty clear to me.

The writers chose sentences like "can you handle it, Chase?" and "I'll buy you a beer" on purpose and know exactly what the players will think of it.

Besides Victoria shows a desire in going from wherever she lives to see Chloe, and then Chloe makes plans to do a little detour to go see Victoria. Whatever this relationship is, they're making it work long distance with effort on both sides. Mutual interest.

I wouldn't be surprised if in the sequel we see one post or two subtly hinting that they're actually together. A picture on Crosstalk, maybe a comment from someone else on their posts.

Hell, I can even imagine an art gallery event of some sort where Max is invited and can bring her chosen love interest and Victoria is there with Chloe as her date... And that's how the devs manage to have a natural last conversation between Max and Chloe in person to give closure to their relationship.

And I kind of expect Victoria to come to them at some point, a little jealous or just proud of her girlfriend.

Langfield

Some people keep saying that Max wouldn't be interested in Vinh... But that's wrong.

The reality is that it was the first game's choices and Max's journey is what makes them fit together so well.

Yes, okay, maybe 18-year-old Max wouldn't like this emotionally dry 28-year-old Vinh. Maybe 18-year-old Max would have liked way more to know the enthusiastic drama student 18-year-old Vinh, who dreamed of being an actor.

Now this 28-year-old Max, full of traumas and complexes knows enough about life to see through 28-year-old Vinh's walls and realize that he is not dry, but afloat and barely keeping himself together. That's why she can really connect with him, as a friend or more.

It was the traumas and secrets that made her interesting to Vinh, just like his traumas and regrets are what make Max interested in him.

They fit together because they share some similar emotional experiences and they know how the other might be feeling in certain situations. And when they are together, they can laugh about it, have fun and be themselves, even if just for a moment.

Amberprice

Honestly I left this fandom years ago without shipping Pricefield or Amberprice, because of some reservations about Chloe's character. But now I'm back because of DE and I decided to finish Before the Storm... I can't get Rachel out of my head!

Seriously, what's this magic in their scenes and why can't I stop watching them on loop?

I always thought I had a crush on Max, but I actually have a crush on Rachel Amber of all characters. Maybe I am Chloe Price all along 😂

You know a ship is good when it changes your perception of the characters.

[weaselle]

sure! -- massive spoilers for All You Zombies by Robert Heinlein down below. Buckle up, it's wild

let's see, do i have to look it up? probably it's such a knot. okay uh

Story starts Some Guy telling his story to Bartender. Turns out Some Guy actually grew up as Some Girl in an orphanage.

As a teen Some Girl is seduced by This Dude and gets preggers, at which point This Dude fucks off. After a difficult childbirth Some Girl wakes up and ...

the Docs are like, yo while you were out we had to do some major surgery to save the baby and it turns out you were born intersex! with like, internalized male genitalia? i guess? and the child birth complications and surgery damage was so severe it was easier to just make you a man??? So anyway, sorry or congrats or whatever to you Some Girl .. you're Some Guy now.

Soooo instead of being a space hooker like Some Girl planned, Some Guy now writes something like an advice column under the pen name Unmarried Woman or something. (Somehow all this is easier for us to accept than there not being a thriving gay community willing to pay for sex among the we're-known-for-paying-for-sex space colonists who seem to be mostly men. idk why space hooker wasn't still a viable option, but whatever)

Bartender is like, cool story bro, you know what's crazy is, i can actually find and bring you to where This Dude is if you want some closure. Some Guy is like YES that asshole i was only 17 when he seduced me and left me preggo, i'm gonna get his ass let's gooo

Bartender says bet, so, check it out - this... is my time machine. See, you know where you were at the time This Dude seduced you, and i can bring you to when that was. Ta-dah!

Anyway Bartender brings Some Guy back to about a year before the difficult childbirth, then pops forward a year and, just, steals a baby. Which is clearly THE baby. And drops the baby off at the orphanage Some Girl grew up in. See what happened?

Then Bartender goes and gets Some Guy from a couple months after he dropped him off. Like, Some Guy has been living in the past for a couple of months. And of course Some Guy from the future has managed seduce his Some Girl self, becoming This Dude. Who, having gotten themself preggannenant, is now fucking off back to his own time with the Bartender, leaving herself pregnant with a baby that will grow up to be Some Girl, who is also themself.

Anyway Bartender picks up Some Guy from her past to bring him to their present

Only the Bartender is revealed to actually be an undercover agent working for the Time Travel Secret Service of Time Protectors Agency or whatever. And Bartender recruits Some Guy into said TTSSTP Agency to protect the timeline.

Some Guy gets trained into the TTSSTP Agency and is assigned an undercover mission... AS THE BARTENDER.

Every major character in this story is the same person. Someone who trains themself to go undercover and time travel back to seduce themself so they could get pregnant with themself and ensure their circular existence.

At the very end, this Someone lays in the dark mission accomplished touching the surgery scars. As they do so, they think something like "okay, so that explains where i come from, but why are there all these zombies?"

personally i think it's a bit like ending your story "and then she screamed until she woke up and it was all a dream" and then trying to disguise your bad ending as being possibly clever by titling your book "The Wakeful Scream" but whatever. The concept is certainly intriguing, and heinlein is a somewhat decent author who explores it competently for us, tho he is certainly not as great as some consider him to be, in my opinion.

The Cat Who Walked Through Walls by heinlein for example, is one of the two books i've ever thrown at a wall in anger at the author having tricked me into reading their bullshit.

Anyway there you have it. OP's "I'm pregnant with you and it's me" is basically the plot of this actual short story printed by a publishing house.

I’m pregnant with you and it’s me

[scummy-writes]

I'm not very good at sappy messages, and every time I make a post where I talk, I get really long winded and go on a tangent and I feel like if I ever get officially diagnosed with adhd or similar, it will come off as no surprise to many people.

2024 has been rough for me, and it's no doubt that 2025 will have a lot of it's own issues. I'm getting better at recognizing specific issues with myself and steps to take to better my mental health. Due to this, there's been long 'droughts' of my writing. I feel a lot of shame with it regardless of how much I recognize that it's silly to be ashamed that I'm not writing genitles smacking against each other often.

I love writing a lot. Years ago, probably...5 or 6 years ago.. I thought I was never going to write again. I remember a friend, rightfully, encouraging me to take a break and that not writing for a few months wouldn't do anything bad, but it was such a scary idea to me. Now, I'm very lucky if I manage a 2k fanfic in a month or two.

Somehow, you guys have stuck around despite of it. I have a tendancy to distance myself from this blog - unsure of how healthy it is, but I post with little expectations. I do get genuinely surprised at receiving nice messages. The little christmas tree messages, that I got too busy to individually respond to? I was expecting two messages, and got like 12. How crazy is that?? I got a mailed in gift to me from someone I never knew I would get to meet IRL one day. I've gotten to meet more people than I ever thought I would in my lifetime, and make friends or aquintances.

I am...very bad, at being super social, with everyone. the way I distance myself through having no expectations is that i get surprised when people want to talk to me, and I come off as standoffish because of the surprise and social anxiety. I will be blunt and say there are a few thousand following me, on top of the server, the projects, the constant attempt at trrying to catch up reading fanfics and the games, I miss messages. I miss kind words that I read in the moment and swear I'll respond to when I'm not busy, but then I am busy all of the time due to being poor at managing what is on my plate.

I went on a tangent again, haha. man.

thank you for staying with me through 2024. it's very difficult for me to accept that some of you just like me outside of my writing or what I make. That likely comes off crass, or possibly accidentally rude, but for a long time I have viewed this blog as constant apologies for not being able to provide enough fanfic, when it's been very unnessacary due to no one ever asking for an apology. You guys have been very kind to me and patient when I go on my apology ramblings, and I am very thankful for that.

Thank you for those of you who found me in 2023, 2022, 2021, and even from before then, and stayed here this whole time. I want to work on making this space more friendly for myself, instead of a blog of apologies. I want to be a bit more free with myself on here, and I'm thankful for harboring a group of people willing to take time out of their days to follow what I post, and to be kind enough to send positive messages my way, regardless of the subject.

Thank you for all of the encouragement and unanswered comments, replies, reblogs, and messages. I promise I do read them, and I appreciate them very much.

I hope 2025 treats y'all well, despite any hardships that might come up. At least we've got simpin' on our side!

[theswanqu22n]

Thinking you could live without me...

fluff? wtv, but you and colin broke off your relationship of almost a year.

It was nothing new when you and Colin argued over silly things, but the last few months were just exhausting...or maybe just for him, because for you? honestly no. If it were up to you, you would simply fight for the relationship, but it seems like Colin just wanted an excuse to break things off with you.

And the worst of all? You and he worked in the same place with separate offices but constant glances in all the rooms of the station.

And yes, you helped him get a better position than the one he was in, and he paid you back by giving in? By giving in? I mean, you didn't expect anything more than real love between the two of you, and you didn't force him either... but he seemed to feel nothing anymore and that had really made you sad. You cried at night when you heard the music that reminded you of him, or even saw the photos of the two of you that you still kept in your photo gallery.

Did he feel the same way? No idea, you just knew that when you turned to look at him he would just ignore you or avoid looking at you, creating a big lump in your throat and making you cry in secret from the women's bathroom at the station; thank goodness no one knew.

This time, everyone was called to a meeting because the December holidays were approaching and the expected thing was to finish everything and have that time free. The chief entered almost last with Colin following behind, you tried to avoid looking at him but the horrible thing was feeling his aroma enter your nostrils... your stomach simply twisted. And it was that, even though you wanted to avoid looking at him, he sat right in front of you, and his gaze could have looked somewhere else, but as if he knew how you felt... he looked at you.

His dark brown eyes directly scanned your face and then looked at the chief trying to pay attention but then looked back at you, and you couldn't take it, you just looked at him the same, he shook his head and looked at the chief...again ignoring you.

was it so hard for him to keep eye contact with you? all you wanted was to... go back in time to when he would tell you to sit next to him, and you would hold hands and look at each other whispering stupid things and not paying attention to the meetings.

but he looked so good without you, that you even doubted that he would ever be with you.

...

Everyone was leaving the meeting room and you were the last to leave. Colin was standing in the hallway using his phone, and instead of continuing on your way, you simply walked up to him, clearing your throat to get his attention. What did he do? He just looked up at you and then at his phone.

"avoiding me?" You asked, sighing a little and looking around until it was just the two of you there, Colin shook his head and frowned.

"No, I've just been busy, you know. Working," he said, still using his phone.

"can you...put down your phone?" You said trying to at least have a conversation without technology around, but he annoyed lowered his phone and put it in his pants pocket.

"Listen y/n, we don't have to talk 24/7, okay? We broke up two months ago. Get over it" he told you, and you knew something was wrong, why would he talk to you like that? you two never had a bad relationship.

"Colin- you avoid me... you avoid what we had for almost a year, I can't believe you're so cold" you said confused and got closer to him but he backed away.

"It's not being cold, y/n, it's being mature" he said and raised his eyebrows. "You're nice, and I honestly loved being with you...but, can't we, you know? We don't have time and I lost interest a while ago."

"Colin you're being completely immature right now, ignoring me, not even looking at me! Tell me... did I do something wrong or-" but before you said anything he interrupted you.

"No! Just leave me alone okay? She texted me again" he told you pausing at the end, and you felt your body cold.

oh wow, so his ex fiancée came back.

You just looked at him and took a step back, he sighed and leaned his head against the wall, then looked at you.

"I'm sorry. But... I don't know, she drives me crazy." he said looking at you hoping that wasn't hard for you, but shit it was, what did he expect?

You couldn't cry, no, not now, and besides, you didn't feel like it, maybe it was just the anger you felt now.

"I literally helped you get to where you are right now! Otherwise you'd be just some damn detective, you used me!?" You yelled at him but he frowned at you.

"no" he shook his head making you chuckle bitterly.

"yeah, right"

You nodded and looked away, then at the ground and your lips trembled.

He noticed how you felt and that made him feel bad in the end, but his reasons? Yes, they were different.

No, his ex didn't text him again, he just said that so you wouldn't ask any more questions. Did he miss you? Yes, Did he used you? Never.

The reason was that he was threatened during one of his investigations, and he not only distanced himself from you, but also from his family... he only wanted to protect them. Protect you. And the worst part? He had bought you an engagement ring and he couldn't give it to you until he solved the damn case... and if he didn't, he would see you with someone else.

but he couldn't let you know because you wouldn't give a shit and you would want to be with him, but you came first...before him.

"Leave my house keys in my office. I have to go."

That's what he told you, and you sniffed, looking away so as not to look at him, your eyes red, he couldn't see you like that, that's why he preferred to leave right now.

He raised his hand a little, wanting to touch you, but he promised himself something...something that would hurt you more than him: if he didn't touch you, it would hurt him less not to be able to be with you now.

He backed off and left you alone, with your emotions melting your heart, you hated him, you hated the lie he told you...and because of that, now you hated his ex more.

[onecentpie]

2025 Project Updates!

Heyyy people! It's been a busy few months and a while since I've given any public update on what I've been working on, so here's that now woohoo.

ODDBALL ADVENTURES

FINAL EPISODE: EVICTED

We're still working on storyboards, but I have a little jump on animation. We posted a preview of it on the channel back in November. We also wanna get started on a special side project for it too, and that'll be a surprise teehee. Here's a few more board previews oooh.

SUBWAY HOTDOGS

Also shared a preview for this back in November. We've had this audio laying around for a while and we finally got to it boarded by the amazing Anselmo and staticbrain_tv. This will be a slightly longer short and have limited animation like the Christmas Spirits video last year.

You can find it's own Tumblr blog here with comics and more updates galore yay.

WORK IN PROGRESS

PILOT

So what's going on with WIPToon? Last year I got the first quarter of it all animated! 2 and a half minutes of animation are done. Before I got back to boards, I wanted to do re-write of the second half. I think it flows much better now thanks to the help of @commanderrcat.

Everything is thumbnailed and I'm working back on storyboards in-between my other freelance work. Here's some previews!

SNOW DAY SHORT

A few months ago I had a cute little idea for a WIPToon Snow Day short. A few weeks ago, @commanderrcat, @fishiecomics and I finally got around to writing it. Without those two it'd probably stay just in my head haha. It still needs a board artist but hoping I can work on that on and off in-between the pilot.

Here's it's own dedicated Tumblr blog too!

MORE STUFF

I've been working on a music video on and off for about a year or so- actively since about November (A lot of that time was just finding a visual style I liked for it). I'm like 60% animated with it and hoping to finish it soon :D

I've been busy on a lot of projects last year. I was a cleanup artist for The Boys: Paranormal Paranoia, I've been doing a lot of animation for TheAmaazing, and I was even the lead animator for Eddsworld's latest episode, Pinheads. Aside from one post I didn't talk about it much because I took my break right after, but it was great to lead the team as a proper animation director and have an even more direct hand in designs and visual style. Maybe I'll post a few concept arts and layout drawings in a future post, who knows.

Been a busy few months working on stuff behind the curtain. I'm excited to share all these new things coming. Have a happy new year everyone!! xoxo -PB

[fancydunamancy]

Folks, don't be stupid like me and if you need to get off meds, TAPER SLOWLY. I've taken all sorts of different meds and never had any issues stopping them cold turkey, until my latest ones took me by surprise. I went too fast and I have now been feeling like crap for six months. The first two months were the worst, I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep (I think my longest streak was 10 days in a row without sleep), I wanted to die. And you still have to fucking go on doing your work and chores through all of this. It's not fun.

I dont think some people understand how truly awful and hellish withdrawals from some psych medications are.

[yellow-faerie]

I have been absolutely enchanted by @nabooro's worldbuilding and conlang since I first came across it over a year ago; having recently got back into Star Wars (and, as always, coming back to my favourite planet and group of characters) I found myself wanting to write something focusing on Sabé, as I see her using this worldbuilding and conland that was created so lovingly.

This is slightly inspired by the Queen's books, which I read and enjoyed, but as I disagree with a lot of the direction the books went (either due to my own attachment to certain Legends aspects or due to the fact I just didn't like them) this fic is definitely not compliant to their canon.

I have also taken a lot of inspiration from a host of different fanfics I've read over the years, so if you see something familiar, there is a good chance I was inspired by it but didn't realise!

Anyway, this has been a lot of fun to write so I'm looking forward to sharing it :)

[flowerakatsuka]

.*🍀 KUROKARA LORE [ 01 ] — rainy day reunion. 🌹*.

after putting off finishing the art and writing for this post, i finally dump the first major bit of kurokara lore on ya'll — their " first " meeting! i also wanted to include the song i imagine being the bgm for this lore event so please enjoy while you read the post. :3c

SO, i imagine this taking place during the first half of season 2 ( probably around episode 5 since rainy season is during summer in japan. )

their meeting happens one day in june, when karamatsu had decided to make the most of the ( at the time ) sunny weather and gallivant around akatsuka. the previous night hadn’t been the best — with osomatsu eating the pudding he had saved for later, being forced to buy the rest of his brothers snacks when he went to go replace it, and then getting splashed by a car going through a rain puddle on the way back from the konbini. but it was a new day, surely it will be kinder to him with how beautiful the weather was!

well, it seemed like kara’s bad luck from the previous day had decided to linger. everything he had decided to do to enjoy himself that day was not going in his favor ; totoko had already left home to go on a date when he tried to visit, catching only tiny cans and broken sunglasses at the fishing hole, the last croquette being sold to the previous customer. he even tripped and fell in front of the girls he was attempting to flirt with. at this point, he was really starting to wonder if he was cursed or something, but quickly picked himself back up and tried to reassure himself. there was no way this day could get worse, after all.

yeah, it definitely could.

meanwhile, kuroba had just managed to bring in the last of the store’s outside decorations before the rain really started to come down. thankfully, they were lucky enough to spot the accumulating storm clouds early and act accordingly. still, it was strange how suddenly it started raining when there wasn’t anything about it in the weather report that morning. sure, it was rainy season, but the rain really came out of nowhere. before they could get too lost in their pondering about weird weather patterns, they spotted someone walking through the ongoing downpour with nothing to protect them from the rain.

karamatsu was trudging through the rain on his way back home, having already resigned himself to whatever divine punishment he had brought on. it took him a moment to notice the shadow that had overtaken him and blocked the rain, only really coming to when a concerned voice called out to him.

kuroba handed him a towel to draw himself off with and suggested he wait out the rain in their shop ; walking around in rain like that wouldn’t be doing himself any favors, after all. taking them up on their offer, they let karamatsu in and excused themself into the back for a moment. while wandering around the shop, he wondered why he hadn’t remembered there was another flower shop in akatsuka... Until he recognized the shop’s name : yotsubana florals.

he definitely remembered passing by there in the past and being greeted by the kind granny that ran it before. kuroba overheard him wondering aloud if they had sold the shop and cleared some things up for him. they’re actually the previous owners’ grandchild, having taken over the store’s ownership and daily operations not too long ago after their grandmother’s passing and grandfather’s ( forced ) retirement. with things clarified, they directed karamatsu to a spot in the shop where he could relax while he waits out the rain and handed him a cup of tea to help warm him up.

much to his delight, it ended up being his favorite.

kuroba struck up a conversation with karamatsu while they continued their work and the two hit it off pretty quickly. their chat bounced from topic to topic and, in spite of him lulling back into his usual casanova shtick, they both seemed to have plenty of fun talking with each other. so much so that karamatsu hadn’t realized how much time had passed when he noticed that the rain was starting to let up.

he decided that it’d be best for him to head out despite there still being light rain, which kuroba had some objections to.

after being told to be careful and sent off with a wave goodbye, karamatsu started to head back home. he couldn’t help but wonder if his luck was starting to turn around while looking at the clover-patterned umbrella.

a week or two passes after that and it’s rained a few more times since then. unfortunately for kuroba, their umbrella still hadn’t been returned yet. it was a shame, they’ve had that umbrella for a long time, ( and they were being genuine when they said they’d like to chat more with the person they helped, ) but there wasn’t much that could be done about it. at least, there was a bit of reprieve from the frequent rain that day.

just as they had finally resigned themself to getting a new umbrella, the shop’s door opened with a jingle and a familiar face entered with much more bravado than he had before. karamatsu was ready to put on the best casanova act he’s got, this could be the first beautiful chapter of his own sweeping love story, after all. he explained that a mild fever had kept him from coming back sooner, but assured kuroba that it wasn’t a result of the other day by going “ it seems not everyone shares your stunning kindness, “ and leaves it at that. ( really, he tried seeing if he could get something like his meeting with kuroba to happen again by standing out in the rain with. obviously poor results. )

while he came to return kuroba’s umbrella, he also hoped to return the kindness of his ✨ rainy day savior ✨ and, well, what’s a better way to show that than by showing patronage.

yeah, he really didn’t think that all the way through. karamatsu quickly perks back up when they tell him they were just teasing and would be happy to make up a bouquet for him, especially if he’s willing to stay and chat…

AND THAT’S ALL I���VE GOT! sorry that this took me forever to finish, so many different things kept on getting in the way. but i’m really happy to have some more kurokara lore out now, i’m hoping i can get some more out soon. >;3c

[selamat-linting]

resignation letter is the most potent painkiller. i love you resignation letter i love you one month notice <3

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

This post is a solid nine months old by now, but I have an addition to it.

I picked out a few How Do You Cope episodes to listen to in the last couple of weeks - I've not gone through that whole podcast in my usual completist way, but I decided to pick out some the feature guests I found interesting (I did Paul Sinha, Sally Phillips, Jordan Gray, Josie Long, Alex Brooker, Chris Packham, and Mark Watson). There was a bunch of interesting stuff in a bunch of those episodes that I meant to post about, but I listened while doing other holiday stuff and didn't sit down to write it.

This, however, I made sure to save. As soon as I heard it, I made a note to myself to remember to cut this out and add it to my collection of clips of John Robins talking shit about Stewart Lee. Because I find it extremely amusing that John Robins turned up to an interview with Mark Watson, in 2019, with a quote from Stewart Lee that he thinks is Clarkson-esque, just so he can throw that at Mark eight years after their actual feud, because it gives him an excuse to shoehorn in talking shit about Stewart Lee. In this case, by accusing Stewart Lee of sounding like Alan Partridge, which... might be just a touch hypocritical, coming from Robins. I mean, I'm generally on John Robins' side here, and I'm definitely on Mark Watson's side in that particular feud (I obviously think Stewart Lee is a brilliant comedian who is rightly accoladed, but he does seem like he's probably a dick), but I don't know if accusing other people of sounding a bit Partridge-y is John Robins' best move.

I do respect how committed John Robins is to the grudge. I enjoy listening to him try to sound reasonable and not shout "I hate that fucking guy" every time Stewart Lee's name gets mentioned. But then also, he'll take any tenuous opportunity, like interviewing a comedian whom Stewart Lee was a dick about in 2011, to bring up what a dick Stewart Lee is. As a frequent holder of grudges myself, I find it funny to listen to people struggle with them that way.

This was unfortunately not where the relatable content in this podcast interview ended, as there was some very interesting chat near the end about how Mark Watson uses running to turn off his brain and take the edge off anxiety, and John Robins said he uses alcohol for that, and Mark said he also used alcohol for the same thing. And then two of my favourite comedians, who have talked a lot in their work about anxiety and alcohol problems, and I have spent a lot of time listening to a whole lot of both their work and being interested in their perspectives on those issues - those two comedians talked to each other about how alcohol and exercise can achieve similar ways of turning off a frustrating brain. And I had just been thinking a lot lately about how when I try to cut out alcohol, and try to find healthier things to replace what excessive drinking has done for me through so many years, the most useful replacement I have is getting on the treadmill and running until I can breathe or stand and throat and lungs are on fire. That is the closest physical/psychological sensation that I can get to the thing I like best about alcohol, without actually consuming alcohol. And Mark Watson and John Robins discussed that exact phenomenon for a bit, and I was going to cut out that clip and post about it on here too, but honestly, writing an entire post about that would get way too depressing, and I don't feel like doing a long, over-share-y depression post on this second day of the new year. So I'm condensing my thoughts about it into one run-on paragraph (trust me, if I dedicated its own post to that clip, the post would be far longer than this paragraph) on the end of a post for John Robins talking shit about Stewart Lee. I'm going to try dry January again this year, and I think it will probably be less tough than it was last year, as by the end of 2024, I was starting to be able to go 4 or 5 weeks at a time without drinking and not even be too bothered by that. Dry January made me want to jump off a cliff and into a fire in 2024, it took all year to go from that to being able to not drink for a month just because I didn't need it and it was okay, I want to start extending that time in 2025. Again, I know this personal over share-y bit has gotten long, but trust me, it could have been far longer, if I hadn't decided to confine it to one run-on paragraph. Happy New Year.

There was one day last week when my coworker asked me what I did the night before, and I thought, "I organized my John Robins and Elis James audio clips folder, the one with a whole big mess of files because pretty much any time they discuss anything that seems like it might be a long-running thread I'll mark the timestamp in my notes and then cut out the clip when I get home in case this does become a big thread and I want to make a compilation of it, but as I got along I don't know what will and won't turn into anything so I try to err on the side of just saving everything, well last night went through the folder and made a few sub-folders to group together clips that discuss the same type of thing so that making posts about it in the future will be easier. Why, what did you do?"

I didn't say that, obviously, I said "I just had a quiet night, why, what did you do?" and she told me about how she had her kids help her cook dinner and then watched a Troll movie with them before putting them to bed but then had to wake up at 1 AM because her kid was crying so that was her night, and it made it seem like an even better idea that I hadn't gotten into mine.

Anyway, on a completely separate note, does anyone want to see the running record I'm keeping of John Robins' feud with Stewart Lee, every time he's mentioned it up to the point I'm at now in the radio show, which is September 2016? I've entitled this collection: John Robins Talking Shit About Stewart Lee and/or Denying That He Talks Shit About Stewart Lee, Sometimes Doing Both In The Same Breath:

Looking at all the evidence together, I think Stewart Lee did get him kicked off a gig on purpose, not just had him bumped due to lack of time, because he didn't like his opinions. And, to be fair to some more recent and possibly stupidly over-the-top comments that Robins has made on the subject, that is arguably a touch McCarthyist.

[sysig]

New toys ✨ (Patreon)

[jakeperalta]

spent weeks psyching myself up to stand up to my mum and then immediately got shot down by her 😃👍

[c0rpsedemon]

there's so much manga i have to read it's unreal 😭

[thelastspeecher]

btw I started watching MLP and I now see why ages ago I got an AO3 comment saying that the commenter imagined Angie as having Applejack's voice