#a cat i can jive with

[eepybogboy]

here's my Scarlet Hollow character playlists so far. (I'm working on one for Wayne but it's not in the list yet because it has like three songs on it LOL but you can dig through my profile if you wanna see.) I'll be continuously updating these! Reese's is by far the longest because he's my favorite. if you have any suggestions you should let me know! some songs are included because of lyrical content, and some are just songs I think they'd like, and some just generally fit the vibe the character gives me.

[whereisthedamndaddymanual]

I always kinda laughed at the different types of lives our parents came from

Well educated social media analyst (once only *shrugs*)

Poor brilliant devil (if not crazy and wrapped up in hedonism....especially with sex)

A south and a north. The one in the north(fuck you north is still north even easterly which is west)

[p0orbaby]

I'm so giddy for Wicked so can I request a blurb about Arsenal teen who's into musical theatre and has a show or something that the team go to watch in support???

-

It starts with Leah. It always does. She finds out because you leave your script on the bench at the training ground, a heavily dog-eared copy of Grease. Your name is scrawled in the corner of the front page, along with random doodles—hearts, stars, some vaguely car-like thing that was supposed to be a reference to the Thunder Road scene but ended up looking more like a potato on wheels.

Leah picks it up and, in typical Leah fashion, starts reading it aloud. Dramatically. By the end of her impromptu performance, Katie has joined in, doing the worst American accent you’ve ever heard and shouting, “Tell me about it, stud!”

By the end of the day, the entire squad knows you’re playing Sandy in some local production of Grease.

“Sandy?” Katie says during warm-ups the next day, grinning like the cat that got the cream. “Didn’t know you were into leather trousers”

“I didn’t know you were into reading my stuff,” you fire back, glaring.

“What songs do you get to sing?” Beth asks, suddenly invested.

“All the bangers,” Katie answers for you. “Hopelessly Devoted. You’re the One That I Want. She’s probably been practising the hand jive in her bedroom”

“Can we not do this?” you mutter, stretching in an attempt to hide the faint blush creeping up your neck.

They don’t stop. Beth hums Summer Nights under her breath every time she sees you. Steph suggests the squad should do a Grease theme for a fancy-dress night. Katie spends an entire training session calling you “Sandra Dee,” much to Renée’s exasperation.

And then they buy tickets.

You don’t find out until Leah casually mentions it while you’re tying your boots. “We’re coming to your show, by the way”

“Who’s we?” you ask warily.

“The team”

“All of you?”

“Obviously,” she says, like it’s the most natural thing in the world. “We got the front row”

The night of the performance, you’re convinced something will go wrong. Maybe the mic will cut out, or you’ll trip during Greased Lightning. Or worse—Katie will heckle you from the audience.

As you step onto the stage, the lights blinding, you spot them immediately. They’re hard to miss. Leah’s in the middle, holding a pink ladies’ jacket that looks two sizes too small for her. Katie is beside her, wearing sunglasses indoors and a white T-shirt with “T-Birds” scrawled on it in Sharpie. Beth has a foam finger. Where she got it, you’ll never know.

The show goes on. You hit every note, every step, every wistful glance at Danny Zuko. During You’re the One That I Want, Katie lets out a cheer so loud you almost miss your cue.

By the time the curtain falls, you’re drenched in sweat and half-mortified. The standing ovation feels surreal, though it’s mostly them, clapping and whistling loud enough to make up for the other half of the audience.

Backstage, they barge in like they own the place. Leah hugs you first, grinning like a proud big sister. “You smashed it,” she says.

Beth holds up her phone. “I got the hand jive on video.”

“Delete it”

“Absolutely not”

Katie, predictably, starts singing We Go Together at full volume, much to the annoyance of the cast and crew still trying to pack up.

“You lot are ridiculous,” you say, but you’re smiling, the words softened by the warmth of their support.

Leah drives you home, Katie still singing in the backseat. And despite the chaos, the embarrassment, and Katie’s mangled rendition of Beauty School Dropout, you think to yourself: this is what family feels like.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

2024 tuesdaypost retrospective

it's hard not to make this all about my nearly full 365 days of unemployment. i have cut a great deal from this wrapup. thank you all for your love and support (often financial!) this year :') it has never been scarier to have no familial safety net and i really, really appreciate all of you relative strangers (i have met very few of you in person!)

jobs applied to: my best estimate is 4500 given my daily target balanced with periods of more acute despair and physical illness

interviews: 2

calls to the massachusetts unemployment agency: 73

cats spayed and/or neutered: 3 (phil, orange boy, ruby)

eclipses seen: 1

hurricanes: 1

completely fallow weeks: 5

i have GOT to be more specific about writing out loud what worked and what didn't work instead of resorting to "vibes were off". i also have to remember to be better about saying where i found things and saying the premise/genre of the film. i try to draft these on sunday nights so i can kind of mull things over for a bit, but that rarely happened this year.

highlights of the year: a tomato plant in a five gallon bucket, hotvintagepoll, the eclipse, my new zebrawood desk, throwing my own birthday party (NOT passive aggressive it was very comforting to be in full control), ren faire, the modern zelda games, genshin impact, heist films, naomi novik's temeriare series, Navigational Entanglements by Aliette de Bodard, the Popping Tins newsletter about tinned fish products, new joywave and beyonce and charli xcx and kesha albums, and an actual play podcast focused on critical worldbuilding smart characterization and fun interaction between good friends.

questions? comments? concerns? something about the structure/critique of these posts or a work i talked about really click or really not work for you? i would love to know!

listening

all the tuesdaysongs are in one spotify playlist below. if i recced a whole album (only did that this year with The Offline’s La couleur de la mer and Toshiyuke Honda's SONGS OF THE MILKY WAY ) i put the song i thought most representative of the album.

special shoutouts to the Well There's Your Problem engineering disasters podcast, the Sangfielle season of Friends at the Table, The 404 Media Podcast news/tech/culture podcast, and the Whale Hunting podcast about financial crimes.

i would like to find music through other avenues than the spotify weekly recs playlists, especially since the platform has noticeably nosedived after their last round of firing people. unforch i have yet to find a music influencer/blog/tastemaker/podcast whose tastes jive with my own.

-

reading

the sort of three broad categories of stuff i talk about in the reading section are articles, comics, and actual books. fairly pleased with my RSS feed, which is filling the twitter hole and also has a separate Real US News tab i can look at in a more controlled manner. people seem to have liked the article/book combo bc reading a book a week is usually kind of a heavy lift for people who are employed. as long as i do either an article or a book i feel like this category is checked off in my brain. i would like to do both more weeks and figure out how to do more concise book reports. i am pleased that people seem to like the couple weeks of giant DNF lists where i briefly state why i did not finish a specific older scifi paperback.

shoutout to @rae-being-naughty for introducing me to one of my favorite new authors, t kingfisher! what a delectable niche. those books go down SO easy. shoutouts also to the temeraire books, Trouble And Her Friends by Melissa Scott (what if neuromancer was good?), Dark Wire by Joseph Cox (nonfiction about the encrypted phone company the FBI shadow-ran) and Witch Hat Atelier.

the OPPOSITE of a shoutout to the most frustrating books i did not finish this year, a fragile enchantment by allison saft (the very weird fantasy meghan/harry fantasy au????) and jennifer dugan's the ride of her life, a cowgirl wlw romance that had some kid pop up in the second chapter and yell about how they shipped the leads and were making a tiktok about it. hello??????? huh????? i had that book on hold for SIX MONTHS. what the fuck did people see in that book???

reading and holding and interacting with a physical hard copy book is so much better for my shattered attention span, and i have giant bookcases full of physical books i desperately want to read, but i read ebooks so much faster. a dilemma that will for sure continue into the new year.

-

watching

logged almost 169 things on letterboxd this year so far (almost nice). the giant spike is when i watched a a dozen individually loggable betty boop shorts. tasty tasty stats.

saw one entire film (howl's moving castle) in theaters and i do not think i will be doing that again bc (while fun) it was a very anxiety inducing experience.

more tv and shorts and tv comprised entirely of shorts than i expected to watch this year!

watching highlights of the year:

-

playing

the gaming rig i bought in 2020 is really staring to show its age and only very light-resource pc games are feasible rn. very many thanks to both @sybilius and @pasta-pardner who both bought me games i will one day play!

spent most of the year with big open world exploration/puzzle/action games, as is traditional. barely touched a fallout this year, which is less traditional.

by hours, the ranking is probably

genshin impact

breath of the wild

tears of the kingdom

STUFF SORT on my phone

stardew valley

powerwash simulator

what are people interested in seeing in this section?

the trouble with this section is that has been a thorn in my side basically since i started this series, but games are such a part of my life it feels weird NOT talking about them? but talking about video games is difficult bc none of them are very good. i find myself Still a little burned out on them even after almost three years on from the video games job. finding something fun and free on itch or steam is very time-consuming. every time i talk about genshin i feel like i have to caveat it with one million Don't Play Gacha Games warning stickers like the ones that come on cigarettes. and i don't feel like a screenshot of whatever achievement i hunted on genshin in a specific week is very interesting to people.

maybe the solution is to cut this section for a while and have a special bonus add on section every once in a while??? i dunno. would love to know people's thoughts here on how to make talking about/telling stories about the games i play more interesting.

-

making

the tuesdayposts as a whole have been both very good and very bad for my mental health, bc i really needed a project to work on to break up the soul crushing monotony of writing cover letters. however writing the tuesdaypost every week was often a very anxiety inducing expereince bc i felt like i didn't do much. or did stuff very unevenly. the "point" of the tuesdayposts is to remind myself every week that absorbing a lot of different things helps me stay on a more even keel. esp in times of great unrest. unfortunately, a year of unemployment.

i saw my siblings twice, managed to actually write and post christmas cards, framed a bunch of shit, discovered a new favorite soup, and did some indifferent gardening and cross stitch.

the making section this year tended to be more lifestyle blogging/what i cleaned. a lot of weeks i did not have Anything in the tank except basic vacuuming and halfhearted wiping counters down.

however??? i managed to post three fics??? two were previously written but at least they are no longer languishing on my harddrive??

this goofy little NFT genderswap blondeyes has the craziest hits to kudos ratio on anything ive ever written.

i really do intend on finishing this cait/fahrenheit 5+1. the stars have not been aligned.

this very brief crossover has gotten some of the loveliest comments!!! when i am done directing and choreographing the big prisoner/arcade argument in my brain i am excited to actually write that.

im genuinely for real afraid to ask or expect anything of 2025, but here it comes anyway!

[deadwifemanpain]

They might be cunning, backstabbing, doublecrossing, devilishly good looking bastards but man these cats can jive.

honestly just slapping this here because i loved how i drew the poses alright ciao.

[the-meme-monarch]

Your recent post: https://www.tumblr.com/the-meme-monarch/743147937704689665/what-if-deltarune-beach-episode?source=share Had made me think of something. If darkeners come from objects in the real world, and taking a darkener from one dark world to another makes them turn to stone because they're incompatible, what happens when you make a dark world with a foreign darkener's object already in it? Would they be transformed into a different character? or would they then stay the same character but be compatible with the world? I'm unsure if I explained that right.

well for that post the beach was Technically An Object that they brought to castle town so it became part of it :0c i realize this may break rules of “the room is the world and objects in it are inhabitants” but well I’m pretty sure the computers/tables in the computer lab are what cyber city is. wait yeah and the trash can in the corner is the trash zone. nevermind i think a diorama becoming it’s intended setting works fine actually. ANYWAY but bc it was Brought To castle town nobody’d turn to stone :] but also my thinking for the actual question is

but them Becoming a new character based on the same object is very very interesting now that I’m remembering ralsei’s thing abt ‘the person who opened the fountain influences it’s will’ or smth like that…… like theoretically if someone opened a fountain, it got closed with all the darkners still there, and then a new person opened it, would all those darkners be the same darkners? or be New darkners from the same objects. I’m not too sure what to think abt it bc i don’t really jive with the ‘darkners histories are Backwards written’ like they didn’t exist Until the fountain was opened and then it acts like they’ve always been there. bc. the spamton sweepstakes straight up disproves that. noelle talks about responding to her spam emails and receiving a pipis in cat petterz and that was set Before ch2 happened. before ch1 happened probably. since it was yesterday

[ldysmfrst]

Hi lovely!

I was thinking about AM and how some of them would react to her dancing? Because I know when I'm cleaning or like trying to destress I listen to music and sorta bop around- Just more moving to the beat nothin like hobi or what have you, but just gahh I see a lot of heart eyes and everyone being cute

Hello dear reader!

Thank you for your question. It is a good one! We are not that far in the story yet, but I will answer your question and add it to the story... maybe...💭

Jin—As the oldest, he loves to watch his mates doing something they enjoy. Watching you lose yourself to the music you listen to while doing a mundane thing just makes him smile and allows him a chance to relax with you as you dance in your own world. While he would love to join you, he doesn't because he understands this isn't his time but your time to chill in your way, and he respects that.

Suga—Our lovely sleepy cat has no concerns about watching you dance your stress away. In fact, he will make sure you know that he is there to relax against pillows with a soft, gummy smile and his eyes never leaving your form. When you finally notice and stop, he will encourage you to keep going and lose yourself in it because he loves all of you and all that you do.

J-hope—The dance master himself loves to watch others dance. You warn the others that you do this absentminded dancing when you are stressed or cleaning, but because of your fear of dancing in front of the strict choreographer, you have tried your best to avoid doing any dancing with him around. Unknown to you, he has watched you more times than you know. His heart flutters at your moves, but at the same time, he is sad that you don't feel comfortable yet enough to let him watch. He makes it his goal to find a way to get you to a level of confidence/comfort so you can.

RM���Love, love, LOVES it when you do your dancing and cannot help but join you in dancing. Forget the chores you are doing or where he is going next, his world now revolves around you. Swaying, jiving, and waltzing with you is more important. The world around the two of you fades away as he feels your skin under his hands, your body moving with his, and the love just pours out of his eyes.

Jimin—Dancer extraordinaire, seems to always find you bopping along to something while cooking, cleaning, doing work, folding clothes, you name it. He loves to watch your body move to the rhythms that he can hear and even better when it's something he cannot. His mind creates music to accentuate your dance, then runs off to Yoongi or RM to get it written down, but you will never know that you are his muse.

V— Is your silent supporter. Watching with warmth filling his soul at you being relaxed enough in the packhouse to let go and find ways to take care of yourself. His Alpha still wishes that you would open up more to them and know that your stress is not just your own anymore. After about 5-10 minutes of watching you, he cannot help but to join you. Showing you new moves, learning new ones from you, or just trying to make you laugh to see your gorgeous smile.

Jungkook—The happy, bouncy bunny cannot stay away. You dance, he dances. He joins in whatever chore you are doing, twerking, the robot, waltzing... heck, he would even turn it into a dance-off with you if it made your stress melt away faster. He is never going to let you deal with what gets you down alone once he realizes there is something wrong. If it will make you feel better, he will pull in any other mate and do some kind of crazy dance competition just to hear you laugh.

A familiar feeling among all of them is the flutter in their hearts watching you move. Sometimes, it is just there to settle their own souls that this is real and that you are here; other times, it ignites a fire in their belly for something more. One thing is for sure: everyone will remember what they have seen for months to come, either for lonely nights or ammunition for flirting and teasing.

I hope that answered your question!

[motorcycle-boyy]

Hcs for Darry Curtis?

Random Darry Headcanons!!

he really likes cats?? like i feel like he'd have 2 of em

..plays checkers lol

he never learned how to ride a bike

is an excellent cook! will cook for you all the time

you could be going on a date to a goddamn aquarium and he'd still show up in a suit

favourite song is jive talkin by bee gees :)

speaks a bit of czech!

if pony got an s/o, he'd take him on double dates with yall

holds ur hand when he gets overwhelmed/nervous/angry

not the biggest cuddler but loves when you lean your head on his shoulder or chest

he's really good at soothing you so if you have panic attacks or an anxiety disorder he'd help you to the best of his ability

definitely saves up to buy you things he catches you eyeing in stores

a really good singer! if your lucky he'll serenade you

if you have a good family, he, pony and soda will go to yours for christmas

if you don't? thats okay! he'll let you stay over for the holidays and make sure you are safe and have a good time

reads you bedtime stories :)

if you take meds or vitamins he is such a dad about it. reminds you every morning or whatever time you are supposed to take them and will make sure you stay so he can watch you to make sure you actually took em

sometimes he'll just take you out for a walk at night and let you vent to him

makes sure you dont do any crime. if he finds you did anything- even as small as stealing a candy bar- he will give you a whole ass lecture

will kiss you on the lips (not a makeout but a reg kiss) in front of anyone, even ur family. he doesn't really care or feel shame/embarrassment about pda

slow dancing with him when his brothers are asleep <3

makes more jokes than usual around you

he has a mini garden but sometimes forgets to take care of it

will give u a gentle massage if ur stressed

has a habit of whistling. like he'll walk around the house doing whatever, cooking, watching tv etc and you just hear him whistling

thats abt all i can think of rn! i didnt know if u meant romantic or not so i did random ones. i hope you enjoyed !!

[magpies-gold]

I got really bogged down this weekend on my writing. This is always the thing that wrecked me about NaNoWriMo: 50k words is juuust enough so that I hit the self-doubt super hard.

It’s where I have enough of the world and the characters down so that I can see them clearly enough to recognize where they’re held together with chewing gum and hope. It’s where I can see the road ahead but also I’m on the edge of the first really big gaps that I just have to put 2x4’s over as a makeshift bridge and fill them in correctly later. The piece I need for that is stashed somewhere near the end of the book. It’s when I find spots in the story where the wiring isn’t hooked up yet and the lights are out so I kinda know three or four ways to get from point A to point B and I can’t see which one’s correct so I just have to kinda write them all (the correct answer has a chance at being a Frankenstein’s monster mishmash of all of them!)

It’s nice that my mom’s been reading the mess as I work on it because it means that I have someone to call and say “It’s trash but it’s still trash with potential, yeah?” and talk my way back to having the confidence to continue. Thanks, mom.

So.

Reminder to Self.

First drafts are The Stupidest Version. The characters get spontaneous amnesia. They know things that they shouldn’t. They try to ad lib instead of sticking to the script. The equipment you ordered for the set months ago isn’t here yet so you’re making do with an old fridge and some cardboard as a stand in but it’s really obviously just a fridge that says “warp core” on it in Sharpie. No one can keep a straight face around it. This is all going to get rewritten from scratch in a few months.

It’s the vomit draft. Sometimes (often) you get caught yammering for three hours about one of the character’s childhood and the camera was running the whole time. The characters can’t quite remember their lines or motivations so they repeat themselves five times in five different ways over five different scenes before someone yells “We got it already! Shut up!” You all explore the basement and the sub-basement before realizing that you don’t even need the -house- that you’re in, but you found a key down there that’ll help elsewhere and so it was worth the detour. Two characters don’t jive naturally yet so you either take them out for coffee or hand them nerf bats and engage with -that- for 2k words, coming out the other side all the wiser but with 2k words that will not make the cut. That’s fine. It still needs doing.

And it’s a sketch. I did a drawing earlier today where I drew, erased, and redrew a creature in the background no less than twenty times (at one point just covering the canvas in question marks out of frustration) before I finally figured out what I was doing. Same diff, but writing takes longer. It’s going to have construction lines and eraser marks all over the place, but later I can pick out the good lines and go from there.

Anyone who suggests that writing is anything but barely controlled chaos is, in my opinion, slightly bonkers. It’s herding cats that can phase through walls and travel in time, and in the meanwhile, all you have is a butterfly net with a hole in it.

And sometimes you just need a good pep talk to remind you that yes, it’s supposed to look this janky. Keep going.

[olderthannetfic]

I have sorta an opposite problem re: the whole childfree thing. In that, I adore kids, even babies! My little nephew isn't a year old yet and he's already one of my favourite people with his big smiles and giggles. Problem is, I don't want kids for myself - I'm pretty physically frail and anxious, so I know taking care of a baby full-time is a HORRIBLE idea for me for many reasons, and I'm way happier just babying my cat. But I have family members still like, "oh but you're so good with babies! You'll change your mind ;)" even though I definitely won't.

But I don't feel welcone in childfree spaces either because I don't hate kids, at all, and I get so squigged out about how people can sometimes talk about kids like they're inhuman demon things built solely to annoy. I don't care if people just don't jive with kids, I get that, but I don't jive with being mean to/about them.

--

It's amazing how often people conflate being good at something or even liking it with it being a good idea as a lifestyle choice. Applies to careers, raising kids, adopting a bunch of pets...

[absolutebl]

hi!! i got into bl in 2020 and watched just abt all of them i could get my hands on back then, but i’ve slowly stopped watching them over the last couple years. i loved the feeling watching them gave me, tho, so i wanna get back into it!

my favorites are to my star, semantic error, 2gether, we best love, and tale of thousand stars! i don’t mind high intensity (like physical stuff) but i definitely don’t need it to enjoy a story! if you don’t mind, can you recommend me some newer bls (or gls!) i might like? i’d appreciate it a ton!!! 💕

my favorites are:

to my star,

semantic error,

2gether,

we best love,

tale of thousand stars

I would call all these pretty classic romance BLs. This mostly jives with my own taste so I'll pull some of my favorites for you.

Did you make it to Old Fashion Cupcake?

If not just GO WATCH THAT.

Otherwise...

2023 High Romance BLs to suck you back into the fold

Our Dating Sim (Korea Viki)

If you haven't watched this, it's a must. I actually handed out a 10/10. I NEVER do that. It's a perfect short form KBL, an office set reunion romance featuring geeks that really suits 8 eps with no fluff and no chaff. Just comforting and yummy. I adored every aspect from the casting to the pristinely simple premise to the quietly smooth execution. Sure it’s low stakes, but that makes it high domesticity and extremely warm and gentle. This is a fuzzy blanket of a story - a cozy BL.

From your list this one is most tonally similar to we best love

Love Tractor (Korea iQIYI)

Most of this country-set BL had me feral for the beautiful broken city boy and his hot young farmer. Hyung romance, puppy/cat pairing, open frankness meets jaded reserve, language play, water hose frolicking, only one bed, just all my favorite tropes. This show was basically a light-weight Restart After Come Back Home and I’m not even slightly mad about that.

From your list this is most tonally similar to semantic error

My School President (Thai YouTube)

GMMTV gave us a classic high school set Thai BL with tropes like messy boys singing their feelings that made this one Love Sick for the modern age with all the gentle sweetness and pining ache, but none of the dated damaging tropes or issues. Yes, we’ve seen it all before, but I still ADORED this. And there is a lot to be said for the classics being re-executed perfectly. This show was fantastic, it’s only flaw was the singing (and that’s my baggage). My favourite GMMTV BL offering to date. And yes, I've watched them ALL.

From your list this is most tonally similar to 2gether.

Our Dining Table AKA Bokura no Shokutaku (Japan Gaga)

Lonely salaryman and talented cook (Inukai Atsuhiro - Absolute BL et al) gets accidentally adopted by a college kid and his little brother. I was always gonna love the show if they stuck to the manga (which is very dear to my heart). And they did, paralleling it almost exactly. It’s a quiet & cozy little parable of found family alleviating loneliness. Possibly too slow for some but definitely high up there for me with the best of what Japan can do. It’s only flaw (if I dare say such a thing) is that it is not really “romantic.” Lovely & sweet but the romance beats are being used to build a family relationship, not couple intimacy, it’s OK with me, but not totally BL.

From your list this on is most tonally similar to ... erm ... none, this is a new creature. Might not work for you.

The New Employee (Korea Viki)

So good, SO QUEER, so soft, a near pitch perfect office BL with conflict derived from that setting. Also found family and a lesbian bestie. Sweet & innocent (and out) Seung Hyun scores the office internship of his dreams. On his first day at work he gets into it with his cool reserved (and also v gay) boss. As you do. Frankly? This is what I wanted from this new crop of office set KBLs ALL ALONG.

From your list this is most tonally similar to we best love

Unintentional Love Story (Korea iQIYI)

A boy who just lost his job due to faked corruption charges accidentally discovers his ex-boss's favorite artist, now a recluse. Evil manager offers him his job back if he can convince the artist to rejoin society. Instead, they fall in love. I found the artist character a bit stiff and reserved but Gongchan (maknae of B1A4) is a fucking GIFT as the harried salaryman - he carried this show (which I do not expect from the idol). He was luminous with extraordinarily expressive eyes, just drown in the emoting abyss. The external conflict, social tension and pressure is complex and beautifully executed, plus Korea gave us legit side dishes (NOT a love triangle, hally-fucking-luya).

From your list this is most tonally similar to tale of thousand stars

The Eighth Sense (Korea Viki)

One of the longest BLs Korea has given us and it feels more atmospheric gay coming of age romance than strictly BL. It’s got a bit of an age gap, country boy/city boy, stellar acting, complex characters, and leads with great chemistry and tension. It’s a bit chewy and sticky and less perfect than most KBLs (do I detect a touch of Taiwan?) This one deployed BL tropes (messy eater, shoulder sleep, protective seme, there’s even some hyung-slinging) but front loaded them with painful backstory and tons angst drives the 2nd half. This isn’t in the KBL bubble, there’s sharp edges and lots of triggers. For a BL the darkness of the content left me feeling unsettled (which is the only reason it didn't get a perfect score) but it does have a glorious ending and is HUGELY romantic, that counts for a lot.

From your list this is most tonally similar to to my star 1 & 2. But it's quite heavy so... make sure you're int the right mood.

[nvrcmplt]

Happy New Year everyonnnnnnnne, time for a new yeaaaaaaar. Hope we thrive, jive, dance and prance and live within out selfish era for better mental health and understand the world isn't as shit as the internet likes to make it out to be. You livin', u makin' money, u breathin' and fightin' erryday for the small things that make u happy. Sending y'all hugs 'nd kisses and good lucks for the future days to come! :D Biggest personal goal for this year is, love myself and save money to buy myself and wife a house to live in so I can adopt 900 cats.

[bardic-inspo]

Writer Interview

Playing some catch up on tags. Tagged by the wonderful @pursuitseternal, @marlowethebard, @nyx-knox, @honeybee-bard, @snowfolly,

and @paganwitchisis holy shit thank you all!!

Not sure who all in my circles has done this already, but gonna tag @wilteddreamsofbaldursgate, @astarionancuntnin, @pinkberrytea, @locallegume, @thedreamlessnights,

@ladymdc, and @carooosa if you see this and would like to do it! No worries if not!

When did you start writing?

Around 13/14 years old, doing warrior cats roleplay on proboards forums. Roleplay isn't really my speed anymore, but it eventually bridged me into more traditional narrative writing and then fanfic later. Fallout 4 was the first fandom I really wrote fanfic for.

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

I really love intricate long-running plots with slow-burn pay off, and used to write more in that vein, but got pretty burnt out on it. It felt like it would take so long to get to those big moments I pictured the whole time, by the time I arrived to them, they felt played out in my head. Trying to strike a happy medium now by writing (relatively) shorter and more focused fic/storylines that still pack a punch, but maybe have fewer branches.

Otherwise my genre/theme preferences are generally the same with writing vs. reading and are pretty broad.

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

Not a writer, but I've been told at various times there is a poetical element in a lot of my writing, even in just the sentence structure or how I tend to pace my prose. That makes a lot of sense to me, since I wrote a lot of poetry before getting into writing a lot of prose.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

I used too many tricks on my brain to jump start creativity (yummy beverage, cozy blanket, favorite candle when writing) and now my brain often demands all of these things be in place to do any writing 😬I can sometimes get away without all of them. Usually, I'm writing in my office, which is a pretty blue color with some gold picture frames and often a soothing space. But, I do work from home in there at times, too, and on workdays I can't make myself do creative things in the same spot I sat in working all day. Then, I'll be at my dining table or sitting on my couch, usually with headphones because I have a hard time concentrating with other noise around me.

What’s your most effective way to muster up a muse?

Self care. I mean, making sure I've got sleep/food/hygiene etc. squared away where they should be, even if it means taking a break from the page. Most of the time when I'm trying hard to write and it's just not jiving, it's because I've neglected one of those things, and the words always come easier once I've addressed them.

Playing the game again. Listening to character music. Chatting with friends who love the character, too.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

Yes! A lot of them became apparent to me only after switching fandoms and realizing I was writing about a lot of similar themes. Grief is a big one. Characters who've experienced both a lack of love and a loss of it. Characters who fall in love again or in spite of that loss. The main ships I've written for all feature characters who either loved someone else first or, in Astarion's case, have gone through the forced motions of romance.

Battle couples is another big one. Bisexual battle couples. 🥰

What is your reason for writing?

It's always felt like something I needed to do to feel whole. Not necessarily the sharing the writing or posting it part, or getting a reaction about it, but doing it at all, even just a little. Even if it's just for me. I feel more me when writing is at least a small part of my life. More free. It's my creative outlet.

Is there any specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating?

I adore any comment. I'm borrowing this from someone else's interview post, but I too am a slut for praise. In all honesty though, just knowing I'm not writing into some void or vacuum can be so powerful. Even just a heart emoji comment makes my spirits soar.

The ones that go full red string and corkboard about the plot or characters, or quote what parts stick out to them always stick with me. It lets me know I'm hitting the mark with what I'm trying to convey.

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

I want them to know I'm still good for it even if it takes me a long time.💜That's the biggest thing to me right now. I'm not able to pour it out so quickly as others can. But I hope they know it'll be a good time when I do eventually post.

And also that I'm just some lady. I'm just another human bean. Wanting to share and enjoy stories with other human beans, and connect with a sense of community through those stories.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

Visceral/punchy action scenes, vivid descriptions, setting tone, and portraying character personalities.

How do you feel about your own writing?

My feelings about it change with the tides. Right now, I'm a bit glum, and I think that's because I haven't had much to share or post lately, even though I've been doing lots of writing that isn't ready to be shared yet. On the other hand, I'm having the most fun with it that I've had in a very long time, and that element feels great.

I'm grateful for what I've done, incredibly blessed to have made friends and found community through writing, and ever-striving to find the happy medium of productivity and creativity.

When you write, are you influenced by what others enjoy might enjoy reading, or do you write purely for yourself, or a mix of both?

It's mostly what I'd like hehe. And I'm happy about that. I am often inspired to try things based on what I see in fandom, but if I don't enjoy it, too, I won't pursue it further.

[ach-sss-no]

Things I do if i'm stuck on a WIP

I keep seeing memes about people fighting with their WIPs so maybe you could use some handy weapons?

Some of these are passed around pretty often, but they're in here again because I personally found them useful, as opposed to the common advice I see passed around that has never helped me whatsoever, also, you never know when it's someone's first time seeing something or when it might be worded in a way that makes it more understandable.

Some of these are more useful when you have some options for how to proceed with your story but can't decide on one, and won't be as helpful if you can see no way to proceed.

These are intended primarily for writing and many don't really have other applications I can think of, but some of these strategies should also work for any creative thing you're trying to do that is not progressing in the way you want it to.

Disclaimer: Sometimes none of these work. Good luck!

CRIPES, I'm Stuck

Complain

Tell someone (or pretend to tell someone) who does not know the inner workings of your story all about your story problem in as much detail as you can articulate. The more detail the better, including what events led up to this point and what you want to achieve going forward. Go all the way back to what the main premise is, even. When I do this I often end up figuring out the problem while I am describing it and never even send the message, which is why this can be an imaginary conversation if input from another human is not desired and/or available for whatever reason. You can also tell your problems to your cat, dog, tarantula, or Pokémon team! BONUS: Those things are all cheaper than a therapist!

Randomize

If you have multiple ideas for how to go forward and are paralyzed because you can see no greater or lesser value in any of them, great news! The machine can be trusted! (Disclaimer: The machine cannot be trusted) Go to random.org and use the list randomizer to scramble your potential plot options. Pick the one on top. If you realize you're unhappy with it, examine why. Whatever reason why you've decided you don't like that option after all will help guide you towards what you should be doing instead.

Got any kind of two option yes/no, pass/fail, success/disaster question? Flip a coin! This can be done digitally if you don't have coins lying around (I usually don't myself).

There is also the tried and true method of dice-rolling, which can also be done via app if you don't have dice of the desired type or you've lost yours.

Really stuck? Showrunner's challenge.

Iterate

This is both the least efficient one and the thing I do the most often. Writing a scene? Not sure how it should go? Just write different versions of it until something sticks.

Every time you feel unhappy with the scene, back up to the point that led to whatever you're not jiving with, cut it, and start over from there. I recommend saving all of your different versions so you can reconsider or do some horrific Frankenstein cut-and-paste later.

Like I said: horrendously inefficient. it doesn't have to be pretty... it just has to exist.

Play

Go do something else totally unrelated to writing. Just go do something else you enjoy. Just take a break. Your brain may actually fix your story problem when you ignore it and let it run in the background, and if it doesn't, you get a break. No downside! Chances are, you've heard that before. I'm telling you again because I so often fall prey to the 'but my break will be more satisfying if I fix the problem first' well, it's not getting fixed and I am not equipped to fix it right now or it would be fixed already, so it's break time now.

Work on another project that seems more fun to you at the moment. Battering your head against your current WIP because you think you "should" work on it instead of whatever shinier idea is in your head is probably not helping you progress on that project. Working on something else as a treat may jog your brain to unstuck you from your main idea, and if not, it will lead to a new creative product existing, and even if it never gets finished, you've tricked yourself into thinking art is fun again. No downside!

There's nothing wrong with adding [placeholderlmao] and going on to a part of the story you like better. In fact, knowing what happens later may help you fix the problem point (assuming you don't already know because you either don't work from an outline, or your story has diverged so wildly from the outline that it's not helpful anymore)

Edit

Depending on the length of your project and whether you have already declared parts of it off-limits this may not apply; but if you don't want to go forward right now, it may be a good time to go back and edit what you already have written. Sometimes when I do this I will see a stray idea I mentioned earlier that I can follow up on now, and that gives me a new path forward. I'll also sometimes discover that, while my current story problem is manifesting at my sticking point, the cause of it happened much earlier and needs to be addressed farther back in the story (and once that's done I'm not stuck anymore!) Just like pulling crabgrass out by the roots.

Did you have an outline that has stopped tracking with your story? Maybe you should go look at that outline and revise it to the new version, or at least remind yourself of what you thought was important to put in it. If nothing else, doing this should help you think differently about your story.

Steal

That's right! There are millions on billions of stories out there. Just like infinitely variable humans are built upon skeletons that look very similar, your story is uniquely yours, but its underlying structure probably follows a pattern that other stories with similar goals have used since human communication began. So go look up a story you enjoy that includes a similar scene to the one you're struggling with, and look at what it did to fix the problem you're having. Chances are, there's a way to map that onto your story while keeping your version unique, or at least you can get some helpful hints. Do expand beyond the medium you're working in. There's a lot that novels/movies/games/etc do differently, but basic story beats and interactions between characters are pretty consistent things across anything that's telling a story. If I'm looking for a model for a scene, I always look for something with a similar plot, theme or character dynamic that I thought was done well.

Alternately, do you know of a story that tried to do what you're doing and failed spectacularly? Go look closely at that and see why it's not working. Then ask yourself how those problems could have been avoided. The solution you arrive at may apply to your story as well, or at least lead in the right direction. Alternately-alternately: Do it wrong on purpose for the fun of it and fix it later (or don't fix it later)

Just have no ideas? Hang out with stories with the vibes you want until something clicks. When I was doing this fancomic, I watched The Emperor's New Groove a lot.

Well, there you go. If you think I missed something- which I absolutely did, because the creative process is very individual and there are some highly successful things I never, ever do and can't speak on because I am restricting myself to things I have personally done and found helpful-

-please add it on to this post, and make it longer and longer until no one is ever stuck on a WIP ever again (✿◡‿◡) because they are all too busy reading this infinitely long post to start any projects!

[poessiblyfedya]

your frosted fairytale is complete ! pssst, @stopisa ! your name has been added to the frosted fairytales library. your assigned au with dabi is . . . grease (1978) !

ʚɞ ⁺˖ ⸝⸝ first of all . . . your playlist ! hopelessly devoted to you, olivia newton-john // only girl (in the world), rihanna // rock this town, stray cats // (we're gonna) rock around the clock, bill haley & his comets // tainted love, imelda may // you're the one that i want, john travolta + olivia newton-john // wild child, lee rocker // tutti frutti, little richard // born to hand jive, sha na na.

ʚɞ ⁺˖ ⸝⸝ how about some imagery . . .

ʚɞ ⁺˖ ⸝⸝ put it all together and you get . . .

"oh come on sugar," there's a cheeky grin on his face as the dark haired male sides up to you, the sheer amount of gel in his hair enough to turn it to stone. you figure a lot of effort goes into his morning routine, "can't i at least get ya name?"

"i don't think you quite need it," you respond promptly, folding your arms across your chest. he's so close now that you can smell the leather jacket on his shoulders and faintly, car oil. you swore you recognised him from school but maybe you were just imagining things. one thing is for sure, he was distracting you from getting the snacks you were tasked with getting.

friday night drive-ins were part of your weekly routine with your girls, hair permed and full of hairspray. you'd always hop into one of their cars, sharing snacks and gossiping about love lives - or your lack of one, rather. whilst lost in your thoughts, one of dabi’s arms sneaks around your shoulders to pull you into his side. you stumble in your heels, forced to place your hands on him to balance out the effect of his actions.

dabi wishes he could commit the scowl on your face to memory, especially that sharp sparkle in your eye when they narrow at him. with your chests pressed together, dabi navigates his arm from your shoulders to your waist, tugging you a little closer. warm breaths mingle, fanning across each other's faces.

"isa!" crap. you pull away from dabi before the tall man gets a second chance to react, your friends’ calls for you echoing across the drive-in. how long had it been since you'd left to get snacks? dabi is barely a thought when you turn on your heel to regroup with your presumably concerned friends - with empty hands, no less.

there's little to no attempt to chase you once you make the move to leave, leaning back on his impeccably well-kept 1948 ford de luxe convertible with a small, smug look on his face. dabi can't help but feel that maybe, just maybe, he won that interaction when your name falls from his lips in a murmur, "isa, huh?"

── oh my goodness , isa baby ! the joy i had finding out dabi was the ship sent to me . . . i knew exactly what i wanted to do ! grease au with dabisa ? ! i think so ! enjoy, darling . .✦

[soulmusicsongs]

Female Funk

Female Funk is a list of great female soul singers you might have forgotten. Soul singers with unforgettable voices and iconic songs. Listen to 20 female soul songs!

Baby I’m Leaving You - Geraldine Jones (Baby I’m Leaving You / When You Get Tired Of Me, 1964)

Baby Your A Jive Cat - Sheila Wilkerson (Baby Your A Jive Cat /Can You Do It, 1969)

Boog-A-Dunk - (Sweet Linda Divine, 1970)

Candy Man - Josephine Jones (Candy Man / Candy Man (Instrumental), 197?)

Feelin Good - Sunday’s Child (Sunday’s Child, 1970)

I Can’t Live Without You - Byrdie Green (Sister Byrdie!, 1968)

I Don’t Mind Doin’ It - Jackie Lavant & The Fashions (What Goes Up / I Don’t Mind Doin’ It, 1972)

I'm Not Trying To Make You Pay Pt. 1 - Brenda George (I'm Not Trying To Make You Pay Pt. 1 / I'm Not Trying To Make You Pay Pt. 2, 1971)

The Lady, The Doctor And The Prescription - Inez Foxx (Inez Foxx At Memphis, 1973)

Money Honey - Esther Marrow (Newport News, Virginia, 1970)

Only Mama That’ll Walk The Line - Pat Lundy (Only Mama That’ll Walk The Line / Only Mama That’ll Walk The Line, 1970)

Sad But True - Elaine Armstrong (Sad But True / Precious Minutes, 1968)

Somebody’s Been Lovin’ You (But It Ain’t Been Me) - Jean Wells (Somebody’s Been Lovin’ You (But It Ain’t Been Me) / He Ain’t Doing Bad, 1970)

They're Coming To Take Me Away - Rose Brooks (They're Coming To Take Me Away / I'm Moanin', 1966)

Things Got to Get Better (Get Together) - Marva Whitney (It’s my Thing, 1969)

Think About Me - Marlena Shaw (Just a Matter of Time, 1976)

This Is The Me Me (Not The You You) - Brenda Jones With Groove Holmes (This Is The Me Me (Not The You You) / Morning Children, 1976)

Tightrope - Ten Wheel Drive With Genya Ravan (Construction #1, 1969)

Watch The Dog That Bring The Bone - Sandy Gaye (Talk is Cheap / Watch The Dog That Bring The Bone, 1969)

You - Spanky Wilson (Doin’ It, 1969)

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