#also classes have started again so I don’t have a TON of free time

[cupophrogs]

PROGRESS!!!

[acowardinmordor]

You Left Me - You Miss Me - 4

Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four

Hi, time for more, arguably making things better, but also arguably making things much worse.

----

There was a diner a block and a half from their apartment. Steve found it when the sky opened up during his jog one morning. Snow, he could have handled, he was dressed for it. Slushy sleet mixed with hail was another matter. He ducked inside to hide until it passed, chatted with the owner for a bit, and brought Robin with him the next day because they had an amazing spread of waffle toppings, including crumbled bacon, and Steve knew she’d go crazy about it.

He was correct, and it was their go to spot, not just for breakfast. 

At the end of January, Rebecca sat down to join them, and handed Steve an application. 

Steve was already working at a JC Penny in the stock room, and picked up a few hours at a roller rink filling in when someone called out. They had enough money to live. Not decadently, but they could cover all their bills, and keep gas in the car, and buy supplies for Robin’s classes.  

“Uh, Rebecca, I’m- thank you? But. My memory sucks, and my hearing isn’t great, and if someone starts getting rude, I’m going to get rude back to them, and --”

“This is a diner, hun,” she stopped him, “You write the orders down, you can always tell someone to say it again, and the fact you can shut down anyone that gives you lip is why I think you’ll be good at it. Like I said, it’s a diner. We don’t have to be all sunshine and daisies here.”

“I’m working at another--”

“Over at the mall and the rink, I know. And I know you’re free Monday through Wednesday mornings. And,” she stressed, “staff gets free meals and first dibs on the day olds.”

“Dingus!" Robin gasped and grabbed his arm. "Do it, do it. Stevie. Please, oh my god, please, you have to take it. You can bring me the brioche buns. And that apple butter. And that thing with the nuts! Steeevveee, don’t you love your soulmate? Please? I cou--”

So Steve took the job, and worked a few mornings a week. By the third week of February, he stopped feeling like he was going to fuck up any second. He understood why Rebecca liked his ability to get bitchy in the face of difficult customers, and he and Robin had cupboards well stocked with random take homes. 

He liked it. Starting at five in the morning took some getting used to, but he was done by one, and traded off with a middle aged mom named Susan after the lunch rush settled down. Was it a ton of money? No. But he got more tips than he expected to, and the brioche really was delicious. 

The last week of February, he was working alone on a Tuesday, at the start of the lunch rush, expecting Susan to arrive soon, and an easy day. 

“Be with you in a minute,” he called to whoever just came inside, bussing half a dozen empty plates from table two after dropping off more creamer at table four. He looped back, ducking behind the counter to put the plates on the pass through for Nick to grab. 

He dropped the entire stack before he got there.

His hands clenched down, his muscles locked, and even though it should have made him hold harder, everything slipped, and either shattered on the tiles or banged into his feet.

Jim Hopper winced from his seat at the counter. “Sorry, kid.”

The couple of other diners glanced up to check on him, and John looked around the window from the kitchen. Steve didn’t move. Couldn't. Could barely breathe.

“Is it back?”

“No.”

His exhale shook out of him before he shoved down the panic.

“Then whatever this is can wait.” 

“I’m just here to talk.”

“And I said it can wait.”

He swept up the broken dishes, shrugged off John’s silent offer to throw Hopper out, and reminded himself there was no reason to think that the Upside Down was back. That meant this was going to be more awkward and less dangerous, and he was going to hate it, but it was still the better version of the day. 

“What’ll you have?” 

“Kid, I’m here to talk cause I didn’t think you’d want me at your place.”

“And I’m at work, and this is a diner, so what’ll you have?”

“Steve--”

“I’ll bring you coffee. I’m not talking about this while I’m working.”

“Coffee’s good. When are you off?”

Steve gave his bitchiest smile, didn’t answer, and went to seat the couple that just walked in. 

The lunch rush was a mercy. Susan handled Hopper, and gave him the iciest service anyone had ever gotten under that roof. Hopper took it gracefully, but he didn’t shift, or push, or give any indication that he wasn’t willing to sit there til midnight if he had to. 

Normally, Steve would get some lunch to go and head home. If the weather was bad, he ate at the booth in the corner to wait it out. With the way his stomach was twisting, unable to separate Hopper from what his arrival could mean, he wasn’t going to keep food down. He filled a glass of water, then silently gestured Hop to follow. 

“Good to see you, Steve,” he said when they sat. “You and Robin doing okay up here?”

“We’re fine. Why are you here? If it isn’t something to do with, you know, then why are you here?”

“Maybe I just came up to check on you.”

“Did you?” Steve snorted into his drink when that question made Hopper’s face twist up. “So what is this?”

“I am here to check on you. There’s something else, but I came here because I’m checking on you. Me and you weren’t all that close, but you had Mrs Buckley give me your info so I’d know where you were.”

“Yeah, in case of an emergency. And you said there wasn’t any emergency. Plus, you had my phone number, so you could have called, which would be way less weird than showing up while I’m at work, you know?”

Hopper scratched at his cheek. “It’s not an emergency compared to all the reasons you wanted me to be able to find you, but if you ask those kids, this may as well be the end of the world again.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right.”

“Yeah, well. Henderson is gonna get himself arrested if he keeps trying to steal the mail and find something addressed to you. Max keeps pushing El to try and find you. The only reason they haven’t gone completely crazy is because of the Buckleys telling them that you’re fine. She gave me your address and number, and she talked for a little bit about the kids.” 

Steve smiled at that. Mrs Buckley had never talked a ‘little bit’ about anything in her life. Either she was holding the line on being rude to anyone that might bother them, or Hop was pretending he hadn’t listened to a solid hour of rambling.  

“Still haven’t told me why you’re here.”

“Want to ask if I can -- shit, I don’t know. I can route mail back and forth so they never have your address or something. I’d rather give them your info so I don’t have to be involved, but I already know you won’t agree to that.”

Steve ignored the pause that Hopper left there. Conversation and good manners said he should concede to something so he wouldn’t inconvenience the man too much. The last month with Robin supporting his choice kept his mouth shut. She’d be pissed at him if he folded, and worse, she’d help him get through all the pain it caused if he did talk to the kids again. Then he’d feel guilty and sad. 

“Alright,” Hopper grumbled, “Didn’t think you would, but you know how those kids can be. Can’t fault me for trying.”

“So, we’re done? You sat here all this time just to talk for three minutes?”

“Almost.” 

“So….” At least Steve could enjoy the fact that neither of them were enjoying this.  Hopper winced a bit before he spoke. 

“I didn’t tell any of the kids I was coming up to see you. None of them knew, and none of them are gonna know. Didn’t even tell Joyce why, just that I was driving up to Indy. Already had a plan in case they tried to tail me up here. So, had a surprise this morning when I got to my truck. it might change your answer.”

“Didn’t know you were so dramatic about stuff.”

“Side effect of two hours with that surprise, I guess. Eddie Munson came up with me.”

Any of the kids would have hurt. 

Henderson might have made him cry. 

Eddie Munson? That didn’t make sense. 

They weren’t friends, never had been. The Upside Down meant they were connected, but they were never more than acquaintances, even when Steve was desperately trying to keep them all close. Sure, he’d taken over as the chauffeur for the kids, and everyone’s new best friend, but that didn’t explain why he’d bother to come up to talk to Steve. 

“What the hell? Why?”

“He asked.”

“And you said yes.”

“He said please.”

That was not the whole story. There was something getting skipped over, left out. Hopper tolerated Munson, but he wouldn’t do him a favor if there wasn’t some kind of monster involved. 

“Wait, you’ve been here for two hours.”

“Yep.”

“Did you just leave him in your truck this whole time? That front came through overnight. The high is thirty four today.”

“Yeah, I did,” Hopper said flatly. “He told me he wanted to come up so he could talk to you. Told me a little bit about why. And I said yes and I let him come, but I told him that I was gonna talk to you first. If you said no, he was gonna stay in that seat clear back to Hawkins, and keep his mouth shut about this whole thing.”

“How’d he know what you were doing?”

“No clue.”

“What does he want to talk about?”

“Not gonna say it for him.” Hopper shifted towards the edge of the booth. “So, want me to tell him to buckle back up, or tell him to get his ass in here?”

A quick consult with the imaginary Robin in his head left him just as confused, but curious as hell. He agreed, and fidgeted with a napkin, struggling to think of any reason why Eddie Munson would want to talk to him, or what the hell he said that the kids hadn’t that convinced Hopper to drive him up. 

Stuck in his head, Steve jumped when a mess of a man in denim and leather slid shivering into the seat opposite. The scars on his face and hands were less vivid than they were last time they saw each other, but they still worked as a thermometer. Steve's did the same.

“Why the hell were you sitting in the cold, man?”

Eddie blinked, and froze where he was rubbing his hands together trying to get feeling back. “Hopper took the keys.”

Steve’s turn to blink. This was the guy taking care of his kids. 

“Susan?” He called, gesturing for two when she lifted the coffee carafe in a question.

“You don’t need to do that.”

“Dude, I don’t know what the hell you’re doing here or why you care or what the hell is happening, but I’m not gonna let you sit there shaking cause you’re a dumbass who doesn’t know what gloves are.”

Steve watched packet after packet of sugar pour into Eddie’s, while he stirred a splash of half and half into his own cup. Eddie took a gulp, hissed at the heat, and clutched at the mug, eyes glued to the nicked surface of the table. 

“I’m sorry.”

“For rotting your teeth out? That’s your choice, Munson.”

“No,” Eddie insisted, voice hoarse, “I’m sorry about the kids.”

Steve took a breath, took a sip, took another breath. “Look, man, that’s not on you. You play D&D with them, and you like all their nerdy shit. I was -- They grew up. We got through everything, all of that, we won, and they grew up. It’s not your fault that they like you more than they liked me. So, thanks, I guess, but--”

“Steve. No. They didn’t. They -- those kids did not suddenly grow up and decide they didn’t like you anymore. You are their favorite person anywhere, ever, you will be for the rest of eternity, and they don’t understand why no one will tell them how to reach you. They put on a really good show about being mad about it, but, come on, you know what they’re like. They want to apologize cause they know they hurt you, and they want to fix it, and just, you gotta let them try, Steve. You gotta let them talk to you. They miss you so fucking much.”

“Look, I know how they get, and I know how dramatic they are, but it’s still not your fault--”

“It is. Steve. It is my fault. That’s - That’s why you have to talk to them. Cause they didn’t grow up and get over you or decide they didn’t care about you. Those kids are crazy about you, and they never stopped, and they’re hurt right now cause they don’t understand why you left them, and you gotta fix it with them, please.”

Something pinged weird in his ear when he heard the way Munson’s voice cracked. Not just worry, not just helping, not just caring about the kids. Guilt. He was taking the blame for it, even though that didn’t make any sense. The kids were - brats, gremlins, terrors, the most stubborn people he’d ever met, and he knew Nancy Wheeler. If they wanted to be around him, they would be around him. 

It wasn’t Eddie’s fault, or anyone’s fault. It hurt like hell, and Steve wished it wasn’t true, but this was just life. Kids grew up, their interests moved. Friendships changed and ended. 

But that crack of guilt…

“How is it your fault and not theirs that they stopped wanting to ever see me?”

Eddie’s hands stopped shaking from the cold before he got the coffee. 

His hands were shaking again.

Trembled in the time between Steve asking, and Eddie managing to respond.  

“I, uh, I asked them to.”

----

Don't be too mad at him yet. He has a lot more to say.

Part Five >>>

[suplicyy]

hey hey hey (i sound like bokuto LOOOL) since your requests are open 👀👀 can you write something about kuroo again? i know i’m boring asf but i just can’t ignore my need to read everything about him you write. i was thinking, since they’re both in nekoma high (reader can be a second or third year like him, your choice) but maybe they’re in different classes so he would pay visit to her during breaks or even during lessons, i don’t know why but i feel like this is something he would definitely, he loves the attention after all. this is just my little idea, then you have completely free rein. thank u so much!! and dw about it taking time, i bet it’ll be worth the waiting (btw I LOVED kuroo headcannons, they’re so himm)

If you two were from different classes

Kuroo Tetsurou x Reader

— Summary: You two are from the same school, but both are in different classes.

— Tags/Genre: Fem!Reader (implied) | Fluff | Headcanons

— Warnings: None!

Before you guys started dating, you really couldn't understand how it always seemed like Kuroo was around, even though he wasn't even in your class.

There wasn't a day that went by where Kuroo wasn't barging into your classroom just to talk to you.

When I say he would do anything to see you even in separate classes, I mean anything.

There are times when even when he doesn't go to school for some reason, he always finds a way to go into school just to see you and then leave as if he had never been there.

Except for the days when he's sick as hell and can't even get out of bed. (but he would pester you via text message telling you to come visit him)

Or sometimes when Kuroo's homeroom teacher lets his students out for break early, but your homeroom teacher doesn't, so he stands next to your classroom door, patiently waiting for you to come out.

And at those times, please don't look out the hallway window, or you'll find Kuroo staring at you with some grimace through the window.

He once did just that and you burst out laughing in the middle of your math teacher's explanation, which made you have to spend all your break time helping him with a ton of paperwork.

And of course Kuroo begged the teacher to let him help you.

At least once in his life, he probably tried to pass himself off as a student of your class just to be with you. And when the teacher asked why Kuroo was in his class, he just said "You must be mistaken, teacher, I've always been from here" as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

And it's safe to say that after that, the teacher kicked him out of your classroom and gave him a nearly 10-minute lecture on how wrong it is to lie.

Someone stop him please, this boy is jumping at any opportunity to be near you...😭

LISTEN!! He would DEFINITELY tell you all the gossip that happened in his classroom.

If he knew of something scandalous, such as falsehoods between classmates, or even fights, he would rush to tell you everything and in full detail.

Many people know you two as a gossipy couple.

And I also say that whenever he has the chance, he would bring his own snack to your classroom so you can eat together, and he even brings Kenma every now and then. (only when Kuroo promises to buy him a new game)

— A/N: I really enjoyed writing this one because I identified with your request😭 At school, all my friends are in another class, while I am all alone in other, and whenever the bell rings for break, I run to their classroom to be with them!!

And don't worry about asking for the same character several times, I'm managing to get into a good writing rhythm!! So ask as many times as you want, and I will try to follow this rhythm!!

[yoonia]

— Hello and welcome, 2025!!

I’ve already written my reflection and recap from 2024 on my 2024 Tumblr Wrapped post so I won’t say a lot more about the past year except to say, “Thank f*ck it’s over,” and, “I’m glad I survived...for now.” 

I’ve also shared my main goals for 2025 on the same post, but overall, I’m really looking forward to be able to get as many WIPs out as possible this year and finish a ton of series that have been on hiatus for a long time. I also have some new ideas that are begging for me to write and release, and I’m really looking forward to it. I hope you’ll stay tuned for my future plans as well. 

How to follow/keep up with my updates

On Tumblr — you can follow my updates and posting schedule through my “Schedules & Progress” post. I also share monthly psa posts to share what fics I’ll be working that month and sneak peeks of my WIPs 

On Patreon — I post monthly writing journal which details my overall WIP plans, progress tracker, and my daily writing progress (with daily written word count and details of what I’m working on that day). This is also where I would usually rant while I write, whether it’s about my writing process or my day to day life, so you can get a closer insight of how I work and write and keep up with my daily progress and maybe get a glimpse of what's happening in my life to know why I'm not around lol. I also share teasers of my WIPs that I don’t share on Tumblr. I might start doing this on Ko-fi as well this year as I’m prepping to open my Ko-fi shop

On social media — I post sneak peeks and links to my updated fics on X which you can use to keep up with my writing, either those updated on Tumblr or other platforms (AO3, Wattpad, Inkitt). I’ve also created an account on Bluesky to specifically share my writing progress. I might also use this account to share sneak peeks of my original stories instead of X

How you can support me and my writing

Like, kudos, comment, reblog — pretty much any of these basic ways you can do to support a writer on Tumblr will be much appreciated. Seeing you in my notifs and reading your comments and feedbacks have been extremely helpful to give me the motivation (and oftentimes, the inspiration) to continue writing. Please don’t stop. And I’m not just talking about me. Please support other writers the best way you know you can

Say hi — it's so easy. My ask box is always open. Just talk to me from time to time and let me know there's someone there and that I'm not (always) talking to a void lol. I know that, due to timezone differences and my hectic life outside Tumblr, I might get back to your message rather late. But I'll be there to answer and say hi back

Patreon subscription — your monthly subscription on my Patreon account will help me A LOT. In return, I always share exclusive contents that you can only find here. You’ll find spoilers, deleted scenes, explicit scenes, fic teasers, a glimpse of my storyboards and inspiration boards. This year, you will also get access to my Writing Class (with downloadable practice sheets) and a first look at my original stories

Ko-fi donations and commissions — I have been limiting my commissions due to the fact that I still have a couple commissions need to be done, but I’ll be opening it up again this year. I might not open as many slots as I usually do with the amount of work I have in line and many writing plans scheduled, so feel free to contact me if you’re interested. Or, you can simply drop by and send me donations through my Ko-fi account here

What I’ll be working on this year

This is normally where I show you some teasers of my WIPs. But I have so many WIPs to catch up on and I’ve also learned that I don’t always get to keep up with my own plans and I don’t want to leave you hoping and hanging while I’m suddenly inspired to work on other things. If you haven’t caught on with the WIPs hinted on the banner above, here are some visuals to show you what will be my main focus in 2025.

Note: they will not be released in chronological order and some may take time to finish. Let’s see if you can guess which fics these visuals represent and if there’s any of the fics you’re excited to see listed in this.

[scaredshadowsswap]

hello hello I love your stuff so much! how would each staff respond to being pranked? would they prank back? tattle?

Thanks! I love writing stuff so it works out great!

Clef:

The one piece of advice with Clef is don’t dish out what you can’t take. Clef’s response to being pranked would be considered a grand overreaction, and even the most minor of pranks would have him responding with a prank that could ruin your week, month, year, or life depending on how generous he’s feeling. Clef would not fight in a prank war, he would end the prank war immediately. That being said, you can prank Clef, he won’t tattle. He may or may not kill you, so be careful (we all know what happened with that D-Class Costume Party). It also depends on how well he knows you and if he sees you as an asset. If you prank him without knowing him well, it better be a damn funny prank or you’re not going to survive his counter-attack. Clef would be willing to “team up” in a prank war against someone else, but it would just be him sending you to go do his dirty work.

Kondraki:

Kondraki does not like pranks, don’t try it. He won’t tattle on you, but I just feel like he would have no issue holding you up against a wall by your collar and bashing your head in on it. I imagine Draven tried to prank him once, and was lectured for hours and grounded for weeks. He’s no snitch, but by the end of it, you’ll probably wish he was. Kondraki would absoutely not form an alliance with you in a prank war, and would fight anyone in participation.

Gears:

Why would you prank someone with no emotions who is so high-ranking? Like it’s an option, but not a good one. In terms of what he’d do, I don’t think it would be interesting. He’d call you in for questioning, call witnesses, and file a full-fledged incident report. Then, he’d let HR decide on an outcome. I don’t know if he can tattle to anyone since he’s at the top, but it would probably be the most boring outcome, until you find yourself mysteriously on 82 different mailing lists, all which send you daily emails…

Iceberg:

I feel like Ice would try to start a prank war and would want to have some fun rivalry going on, but he just doesn’t get pranks? Like, he’ll try to get back at you, but what he does just isn’t as funny. Like instead of moving your furniture three inches to the left, the he’d just throw a cup of water at you in passing, which would make anyone who sees it in passing just think he’s an asshole. He’s not trying to be, he just really wants to participate in a prank war with someone. Feel free to team up with him against another group of people, as long as you come up with the prank ideas. He’d be more than happy to help you execute your plans against other people, and would have a lot of ideas for how to better your pranks.

Shaw:

It’s a blast. Shaw is the reigning champ of prank wars, and has had ones that go on for months with Clef. Shaw has had so much time to come up with new pranks, and can reuse old pranks when people die, so they have a ton of material. Shaw is also nice to prank because they’ll match the intensity of your prank and won’t go much past it. Occasionally, a prank will push the boundaries, but when that happens, it is Shaw’s way of trying to egg you on to continue the battle. Usually, someone just kinda stops or you both will call a truce (for the time being), but once Shaw knows that you find pranks funny, they won’t really hesitate to prank you again. You may team up against someone sometimes, but Shaw holds no alliances and is really just doing this for fun.

Glass:

It depends on the nature of the prank. Glass will take harmless pranks in stride and enjoy them, but he is more aware than anyone else that not all pranks are harmless. Hurting someone’s self-esteem is a no-no for him, and so are any pranks that result in physical injuries. So, he might laugh if you wrap all his pens in wrapping paper, but he would not be a fan of someone ordering a singing telegram as a joke at his expense. Surprisingly, even with tame pranks, Glass will not prank you back. I think Glass is too concerned that his actions may hurt someone, so he will be unwilling to partake in your prank wars or join a team to prank someone else. If it goes too far, Glass’s reputation could be ruined, and he is not willing to do that when so many people trust him.

Rights:

When I talk about “prank alliances” forming in other people’s, I’m talking about Rights. She’ll form a prank alliance with someone to pull off some pretty crazy pranks, which’ll mean you may also need a partner to match her level. She does value her work, so I don’t recommend messing with that, but she’s okay with modertate-intensity pranks generally. She doesn’t really like long prank wars like Shaw, and prefers hers to last a week or so but not much longer. She will definitely ask for your help, maybe even if you’re a stranger. She has a ton of fun with these and likes to use it to bond with some coworkers.

Strelnikov:

It depends but generally not recommended. He won’t tattle on you, but he probably won’t find it very funny, and it’s not as fun if the person you’re pranking doesn’t really think it’s funny. He doesn’t get upset, he’s just completely stoic about it, and will maybe give you a look, but not much else. He wouldn’t really participate in prank wars because 1.) he’s the leader of an MTF, anyone below him wouldn’t dare, and 2.) people got sick of him not really finding it funny. His lack of reaction has really dissuaded people from pranking him, and he probably wouldn’t join your prank alliance simply because it’s not really his sense of humor.

[grailfinders]

Grailfinders #342: Konstantinos XI

today on Grailfinders we’ve got an actual leader of one of Traum’s many realms, it’s Konstantinos XI. I love that one, can’t wait for Rhapsodies of Vana’diel to come out. all jokes aside, Constantine is a Crown Paladin to give his all for his empire, and a Clockwork Sorcerer to use his imperial bloodline to protect it as best he can.

check out his build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

next up: the rule of cool, part two! …l

Ancestry & Background

our boy Connie is a Human, but a special human that can defend stuff better than most humans, so he’s got a Mark of the Sentinel on him. that means he gets +2 Constitution and +1 Wisdom, as well as a Sentinel’s Intuition for a bonus d4 on all insight and perception checks. you can also cast a Guardian’s Shield once a day for free, which is literally just the shield spell, and you have an extended spell list which we’ve included in the character sheet- the spells we’d find useful are in bold. finally, you’re a Vigilant Guardian, letting you swap places with someone who is being attacked next to you, taking the damage in their stead, once a day.

you’re also a Noble, so you get proficiency in History and Persuasion.

Ability Scores

first up, you gotta have Constitution- it helps you not die. I mean you definitely do die, but I promise you it’ll take a while, and hurt the whole time. second is Charisma. again, you’re going to die, but god damn if you don’t look cool doing it. third is Strength bc you still have to wield big swords when you don’t have help. that means your Wisdom is a little lower than I’d like what with your religiocity, and that means your Dexterity is neutral. you wear armor all the time, so I have nothing to go off of here. that means we’re dumping Intelligence. I’m sure Constantine is pretty smart, but we need something to be weak.

Class Levels

1. Paladin 1: starting at level one, paladins get proficiency in Wisdom and Charisma saves, as well as Athletics checks to outlast errybody, and religion, to crusade as a hobby. you also get a divine sense to detect otherworldly enemies. you could always do this, it just never came up irl.

also you can Lay on Hands to touch people and heal them a lil bit. this is even less in-character, but hey, extra survivability.

2. Paladin 2: second level paladins get a Fighting Style, like Great Weapon Fighting. if you’re using a two-handed melee weapon, you can re-roll damage dice that land on 1 or 2 the first time. you could also argue for dueling if you want, but paladins will definitely get more use out of the former. and that’s because you can dump extra dice into your attacks with a Divine Smite, spending a spell slot to add radiant damage to your sword. what spell slots, you ask? well…

you can cast Spells now! you cast and prepare them using your Charisma, and that means you can swap them around each day, so don’t worry too much about specifics! that being said, I’d recommend picking up Bless to improve everyone’s saving throws! if you wanna help with attacks more, you can grant yourself divine favor, for a lil bonus damage with every hit for a minute.

3. Paladin 3: at third level you dedicate yourself to the Crown, which sounds noble, but since you’re the ruler you’re dedicating your life to yourself, which is pretty average tbh. still, you can use Channel Divinity once a short rest in one of two ways- you can issue a Champion Challenge to force nearby creatures to stay nearby until you get ko’d or bored, or you can Turn the Tide and give a couple bloodied allies some HP back. it’s not a lot of HP though so I expect the former will be used more. (though the latter could be used to revive a ton of people in one go.) if there’s only one person you’re worried about, you could use your freebie spell Compelled Duel instead to force them to fight you as long as you only fight them. it’s always prepared now bc you’re a crown paladin, as is Command if you want to act like an emperor sometime.

you also have Divine Health so you don’t get sick anymore unless the plot demands it.

4. Paladin 4: at level four, you get your first Ability Score Improvement! that improves your ability scores, like Strength and Constitution, rounding both of those up for more powerful swordery and less powerful death scenes. yeah you can make those look cool, but like, you can only do it once.

5. Paladin 5: fifth level paladins get an Extra Attack each attack action, so now you can combo a bit. you also get second level spells, including your freebies Warding Bond and Zone of Truth. we don’t really need the latter, but the former gives us a way to eat damage for another ally, further cementing our place as a tanky boi.

if you’re looking for other spells, Find Steed makes you. y’know, a rider? and Magic Weapon gives you a little crit boost by adding +1 to all your attack and damage rolls. also you can use aid to heal without “healing” since Constantine doesn’t have any healing in his kit. it’s not “in” character, but it’s not “out” of character either.

6. Paladin 6: at sixth level you exude an Aura of Protection, adding your charisma bonus to everyone’s saves, as long as they’re within 10’ of you. you could argue this is a “wall” of sorts, but one wall a city does not make, so let’s keep building.

7. Paladin 7: seventh level paladins become even more annoying to fight if they’re pledged to a crown, since they specifically can use Divine Allegiance as a reaction to take the damage intended for someone next to you. this is why we grabbed all that constitution earlier.

8. Sorcerer 1: but why take damage at all when you can just build more walls? admittedly we don’t get any of those right away, but as a Clockwork sorcerer we do get access to some nice Spells that also use your Charisma. (tho the spell slot rules get a little weird at this point so check your phb for how many you’ve got!) Green-Flame Blade is basically a paladin smite but spread to two people, while Sword Burst goes even further and hits everyone around you. you also get Light because what self-respecting servant doesn’t glow in the dark on command, and you also get Thunderclap for a lightweight siege weapon. in the same vein, you can use first level spells like Catapult to throw literal siege weapons around. if they’re less than 5 lbs, anyway. (it’s mostly just summoned dudes throwing bombs anyways, so it tracks.) though you can up the weight limit by upcasting it. you can also get one half of dropping boiling oil on people with the Grease spell.

you also get Alarm and Protection from Evil & Good for free, though the bigger boon for this build is your ability to Restore Balance as a reaction, negating any kind of advantage or disadvantage affecting one kind of d20 roll, up to proficiency times a day.

9. Sorcerer 2: second level sorcerers get a Font of Magic, which basically gives them an extra spell slot right now. I will say you get your level in sorcery points each day, but that doesn’t mean much beyond the one spell right now.

you can also mess up attacks more thanks to grabbing Silvery Barbs! now you can basically force someone to roll at disadvantage even if you use restore balance, and if this causes the attacker to fail, you can give an ally advantage on their next attack!

10. Sorcerer 3: third level sorcerers can use Metamagic, spending sorcery points to alter their spells. if you’re chucking catapult materiel in melee range, you probably want to pick up Careful spells to ensure any allies caught in the crossfire can make their saves. or you can make your spells have the range of real catapults with the Distant spell metamagic, doubling its range.

speaking of siege weapons, you can make a battering ram now with Knock, letting you force open any door in your way, so long as you’re cool with a big freakin’ noise. you also get the freebies Aid and Lesser Restoration. we already talked about aid, but that means you can free up another prep slot from your paladin spell lists.

11. Sorcerer 4: use this ASI to round up your Strength for more powerful attacks. you can also Message Chaldea if you’re in trouble, or use Shatter for a bigger catapult.

12. Sorcerer 5: fifth level sorcerers get Magical Guidance, so if you fail a skill check you can spend a sorcery point to reroll it. that’s what I call some imperial privilege! you also get a better bomb for your buds thanks to Fireball, plus the freebes Dispel Magic and Protection from Energy.

13. Sorcerer 6: sixth level clockwork souls can become a Bastion of Law, spending sorcery points to build a wall of magic around yourself or an ally, letting them reduce incoming damage by between 1-5d8 damage. the creature with the shield can choose when to use it, and it doesn’t even cost their reaction! you can use this as much as you want, through you can only have one bastion up at a time.

that being said, you can still protect yourself… sometimes… with Blink. admittedly this is a big stretch, but having a fifty-fifty chance to move to the ethereal plane combos great with your champion’s challenge, giving you the classic combo of taunt and invincibility. why force six guys to fight you and stick around for them to do it?

14. Sorcerer 7: seventh level sorcerers get fourth level spells! we’re picking up Stoneskin for even more damage reduction, natch, but your freebies are actually pretty nice this time. Summon Construct is one of the only summons we can get, but at least you have a soldier to hold your greatsword now. you also get Freedom of Movement which prevents you from being tied up or paralyzed. Konstantinos doesn’t actually get any debuff resistance in-game, but it could come in handy.

15. Paladin 8: eighth level paladins get another ASI, so bump up that Charisma for stronger spells and auras.

16. Paladin 9: ninth level paladins get third level spells, including your freebies Aura of Vitality and Spirit Guardians. I can’t condone the former bc again, Constantine doesn’t get healing, but I guess you can use the latter to make some guards for the very short-term.

I’d still suggest picking some spells of your own, like Crusader’s Mantle to give every roman around you a damage bonus (though you don’t have to be so picky), and Magic Circle for another, albeit situational, way to gain a defensive advantage. I imagine you’ll have plenty of arguments with King Hassan, so having a spot to stand in where he can’t instantly kill you would be helpful.

17. Paladin 10: tenth level paladins exude an Aura of Courage, preventing you and anyone within 10’ of you from being frightened. convincing people to fight until they die is usually hard. this makes it easier.

18. Paladin 11: at our last level of paladin you get an Improved Divine Smite, making every attack you land a little more holy. and by that, I mean they all do a touch of radiant damage to throw even more dice into the mix. everybody loves more dice.

19. Sorcerer 8: we’re not done with the build yet! easing back into sorcerer, we get one last ASI to turn you into an Inspiring Leader. you might not be able to heal that much, but temporary HP is still on the table, so long as you have ten minutes to spare for a rousing speech. this adds just over 20 temporary HP to up to six allies so everyone can stay in the fight a bit longer.

that being said there aren’t any more fourth level spells I want so… Tongues? I mean you’re christian, it tracks. you can talk to anyone and they can talk back, plus it’ll make Inspiring leader even better since it widens your options for health recipients.

20. Sorcerer 9: the real reason we were in sorcerer so long is because Constantine is a construction worker. his noble phantasm can make a wall, and while they’re a bit vague as to whether this is a literal wall or a figurative one, I tried to cover both, since you get Wall of Force for free and pick up Wall of Stone as a choice. the former is nigh-invincible, and nigh-invisible, preventing all damage and creatures from passing through for up to a minute, even spreading into the ethereal plane. if the wall goes up where someone’s standing, they’re forced harmlessly to one side or the other.

the latter can cover more space at the cost of being less durable, and creatures can escape being trapped by it with a saving throw. that being said, it can be used to make bridges, and will even become a real object in the world if you hold concentration the full ten minutes.

you also get Greater Restoration but that’s not why we’re here. s'free tho, so that's something!

Pros & Cons

Pros:

shockingly, the defensively oriented servant is good on defense, with powered-up saves, ways to prevent advantage on incoming attacks, and even the ability to build literal walls between you and whatever wants you dead. special shout-out to the Champion Challenge/Blink combo, letting you lock down the movement of several enemies and then just not be there for them to hit. thank goodness the former only cares about physical distance, not which dimension you’re in.

while you’re great at building up walls, you’re also good at letting people in and helping the party. with careful blasts to protect any squishy party members caught in your bombthrowing, infectious auras of positivity helping everyone stay alive, and your inspirational speeches adding plenty of health to your party’s total, you’re just as good at keeping the party going as you are keeping yourself alive.

while again the focus was on building walls, you’re also great at tearing them down, thanks to your literal and figurative burst damage. like all paladins you can pump up your damage with smites, but you also have spells like shatter and knock to break through the enemies’ defenses to boot.

Cons:

your first Con is literally your constitution! even with that stat as high as it is, being half-sorcerer brings your health total down to just “pretty good” for a frontline fighter- plus, focusing so hard on that meant both your attacks and your spells aren’t that powerful either. even with smites, your damage output might be a bit lackluster.

you’re also a bit picky when it comes to spells, since I didn’t want to grab anything with real healing available. paladins aren’t healing powerhouses like clerics, but ignoring healing altogether means that every fight you’re in is on a timer from the word go.

speaking of spells, you need those for smites and your best defensive options, so you’re burning the candle at both ends there. then again you also need them for sorcery points to get skill bonuses, so I guess it’s burning at… troth ends? whatever, you’re gonna run out of magic faster than you’d like.

[bearsanpancakes]

Mitsuki Izumi - IDOL STAR LIVE 2023 Rabbit Chat

[Note: I am translating from the Taiwanese server of IDOLiSH7, not the Japanese server! Translations might differ from the original Japanese version due to that, but it shouldn’t make too much of a difference overall!]

ㅤ

Mitsuki: Tamaki~ 😄

Mitsuki: Do you have some time to spare?

Tamaki: Mikki~ [1]

Tamaki: Yup! What’s up?

Mitsuki: A: Fruit tart

Mitsuki: B: Chocolate cake

Mitsuki: Pick one‼️

Tamaki: What!? That’s impossible to pick from!!!!!

Tamaki: B…

Tamaki: Actually, hang on

Tamaki: A

Tamaki: Hm………….

Tamaki: I choose both 🥺🥺

Mitsuki: Lolol

Mitsuki: I might be able to make both if I start early in the morning 🤔

Tamaki: Huh!? Mikki, you’re making them yourself!?

Mitsuki: Yup! I have some spare time over the weekends and I haven’t made cakes in a while, so I wanted to try making them again

Mitsuki: My job finished early and I wanted to buy some supplies before heading home, so I asked for your opinion 😄💪

Mitsuki:

Tamaki: So that’s why you asked me, I’m glad about that

Tamaki: I love Mikki’s cakes the most

Tamaki: I’m super looking forward to it!!!!

Tamaki:

Mitsuki: I’m the one who’s glad to hear that you’re glad!!!

Tamaki: Hehe

Tamaki: But is it really okay for you to make both of them?

Mitsuki: Yup! That’s because this is also a reward for you!

Mitsuki: I heard you’ve been working hard to prepare for your exams after all 💪

Tamaki:

Tamaki:

Mitsuki: Huh, what’s wrong?

Tamaki: Actually, I can’t muster up the energy to work hard…

Mitsuki: Didn’t you return to your room early last night after saying you wanted to study, though?

Tamaki: I mean yeah, but

Tamaki: I instantly fell asleep the moment I opened up my books

Tamaki: I also wanted So-chan to keep an eye on me while I studied in the break room earlier

Tamaki: But I left my books at the dorm

Tamaki: I can’t muster up the energy to work hard anymore…

Mitsuki: What are you talking about? You’re already working hard!

Mitsuki: The fact that you returned to your room early and wanted Sogo to keep an eye on you is already really impressive!!

Mitsuki: Tamaki, you’re excellent!

Tamaki: Mikki…

Mitsuki: Alright! You wouldn’t feel at ease if I said the cake was a reward, right? Then feel free to have some cake as a way to lighten your mood and help you concentrate instead 🙂👌

Tamaki: Mikki!!!!! 😭😭

Mitsuki: I just sent Iori a text about the cake as well 👌 It’s impressive that both you and Iori are working hard for your studies and as an idol…!

Tamaki: That’s because Idol Star Live will be held soon

Tamaki: Iorin should be fine, but I’ll cause trouble for everyone if my results are bad and I have to take supplementary classes

Mitsuki: Hey now… you wouldn't be causing any trouble at all

Mitsuki: I’d definitely pat your head if you were in front of me right now!!!!

Tamaki: Then I’d have to crouch down so that your hand can reach my head 😏

Mitsuki: I can reach your head even if you don’t crouch!!! (lol)

Tamaki: Thanks

Tamaki: Mikki Tamaki: I’ll do something for you as thanks after my exams!

Mitsuki: There’s no need! Your thoughtfulness makes me glad enough 😆

Tamaki: Nope, I made up my mind

Tamaki: I’ll buy tons of cake with Iorin at your family’s bakery!!

Mitsuki: Lololol

Tamaki: Ah, but Iorin’s buying stuff from his family’s own bakery, I don’t think this counts as thanks then lol

Mitsuki: That's not true! My parents said that they feel happy watching the both of you and Isumi come to the bakery after school and enjoy their food 😋

Mitsuki: I’m sure I’d be super duper happy if I got to see you guys like that as well! I’ll be waiting for the thank you gift ✌️✨

Tamaki: Alright!

Tamaki: I’ll start giving it my all tomorrow just for this

Tamaki:

Mitsuki: That’s the spirit! Don’t push yourself too hard though

Mitsuki:

ㅤ

End of Rabbit Chat

ㅤ

[1] - The formatting on tumblr is really bad so I wasn't able to include it, but Tamaki ended this sentence with a little King Pudding emoji! Here's what the line actually looked like:

[screampied]

hi vegas! i really love both you and your work! and i have a couple of questions that i hope you don’t mind answering ( feel free to ignore the questions if you don’t feel comfortable answering ) 🎀

1) Did anybody inspire you to start writing; was writing smut the first thing you wanted to write about?

2) How is your writing super good? ; did it take a lot of time to get where you are right now for your writing process ( I kind of didn’t know how to phrase that question, but i hope it makes sense )

3) Do you ever think that you’re gonna stop writing smut?

thank you if you do answer these questions! and keep doing your super cool and amazing work :3

QUESTIONS I LOVE QUESTIONS 🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️.

sorta !!! i’ve always been a writer before coming to tumblr, i mostly wrote short stories / poems ‘n haikus. i used to be so obsessed with like horror, angst, thriller, and suspense stuff. heavy on the angst hehe, im always a angst girlie at heart. and actually !!! it’s kinda silly how i switched to smut. i was reading this ghostface fic on ao3 (that i still can’t find to this day sobs) and uuuugh that inspired me heavily to try writing smut on my own. if i find that fic again i honestly might die, actually i think it was a series. that also inspired the way i write dirty talk, so beautiful writer if you see this, i love u 💔💔

thank you ohmigosh :’)))) lots of time n practice i suppose, and my journalism, english and creative writing classes helped me a ton !!! i’ve been learning english for nearly a decade now n im finally fluent so that’s cool !!! ofc, ill still have errors here n there 🧌🧌. but also i read, like a lot. in 2021, i was actually planning on publishing a book but LMAOO the public eye is very scary, i chickened out. might come back to it one day though. it was a sorta suspenful psychological horror plot with a very angst ending :3

and hmmm, eventually maybe. i think all good things will come to an end, and i can’t see myself running screampied forever but !!! im gonna try to make the best of it in the mean time 🕺🕺. so yeah, ill always still write, i love writing! one day i wanna write like a script or a screenplay, i love film stuff too so that would be pretty neat.

THANKU FOR THE QUESTIONS MWAHMWAH <3 💋

[stellahikaru]

State of The Starry Path Hotel #4 (March 1st 2024)

Hello! Welcome to the fourth installment of the State of The Starry Path and the first one in March! I thought about doing a monthly wrap up but considering I didn’t get much done in February, I decided against it. OKAY NOW ONTO THE UPDATE!

Mini Life Update

It feels like I have so little time these days. I needed to help do some fixes for the main assignments of my capstone project so that took up most of my time and energy for the first part of the week. Then I was focused on assignments for my other classes for the rest of the week and before I knew it, it was Friday again. Man, I wish I had more time in general. 

On the bright side, I will be on break for next week! I can finally relax and take some time for myself. While I will need to do some school related things during my break, the fact that I do not need to go to class means I can focus on relaxing, playing video games, and content creation of course!

Content Creation Progress Update

So I ended up not really thinking about content creation at all this week. I feel terrible about it but what can I do besides move forward? Thankfully, I will be off of school for the following week so I can get some work done on YouTube videos.

This Week’s Goals

Make an ideas list and write down a minimum of 5 ideas: This goal is a holdover from last week but since I will not be in school, I will have more time to devote to it this week. 

Choose 1 idea and start a video script for it: Once I finish writing down some ideas, I’m going to choose one and start writing a script for it. Unfortunately I won’t be able to record any audio or gameplay because I won’t have my main PC with me, but 

Research editing software: I’m going to look for a free or low cost editing software that I can use to make videos. Even though I won’t be able to test it while on my break, I can still install it when I come back to my PC. 

This Month’s Goals

Make one YouTube video: I want to make a Youtube video this month even if it’s terrible. The majority of the weekly goals are going to be focused on this for the month.

This Year’s Goals

Get monetized on YouTube: I want to eventually make money off of my content so I’m hoping to get monetized on YouTube this year. This is going to be a tall order, but I hope I can keep working towards this with my weekly and monthly goals!

Become an Affiliate on Twitch: Despite making Twitch less of a priority, I still want to be able to become an affiliate on Twitch. While I do need to find a way to meet the seven days streaming requirement, I want to be able to draw in viewers first. 

Gain 100 followers on any social media besides YouTube or Twitch: I actually am over halfway to 100 followers on Twitter as of writing this, but I still don’t get a ton of engagement on my post. In addition, most of the followers I have gotten are those annoying GFX bots and it’s a little bit disheartening. I also want to build up a following on Tumblr and Bluesky as well! 

Make a community Discord server: Once I build up a community, I want to create a Discord server for people to hang out in. However, I want to wait until there is a demand for a Discord server. This goal is lower priority compared to the other goals but I hope that this does end up happening this year!

Final Thoughts

I can’t wait to be able to relax and not have to think about school all the time this week. Hopefully this month I can hit the ground running and actually be able to finish the goals I set out for myself this week. Also I do want to make an announcement regarding streams for the next couple of weeks. I will not be streaming tomorrow or next Saturday. Since I am planning on going back to my parent’s house, I will need to spend tomorrow preparing for the drive there and then the following Saturday is when I’m planning on coming back, so I do not want to pressure myself to get back in time for a stream. My next stream will be on Saturday March 16th at 2 PM EST. However, I will make sure to write a blog post for next week! Anyway, I hope your stay was bright and your journey is filled with light!

[sweetandglovelyart]

Hopefully going to start posting some art again soon! Sorry again that I haven’t been posting much the past couple of months, grad school has been killing me since I had a ton of things to get done this semester.

On top of just doing regular grad school stuff like working on my research and working as a teaching assistant I also had two back to back conferences to go to that were less than a week apart and I had to present a poster at both of them 🫠 and of course the main important thing I had to focus on this semester was defending my proposed topic for my dissertation. I did it last week and my committee and my advisor said I did a very nice job with it, so all the work paid off, but preparing for it was definitely both time consuming and stressful. So all of that is why I haven’t been drawing or posting much the past couple months, but the semester is over so hopefully I’ll be able to get more art done during winter break.

I’ll still have work to do over the break of course though 🫠 since I don’t have to help run classes I can focus more on my research during the break, but I’ll have a bit more free time so I’m going to try and draw and post more often. I’m finishing my Squeak Squad drawing (that is very late for the Squeak Squad anniversary 🫠) and then I need to get back to both the comic and fanfiction version of Knightfall in Dream Land. Anyway that’s just a little update on life and art stuff from me. Sorry that I keep saying I’m going to post art only to not post anything lmao, finishing the PhD is taking up most of my time and attention right now… 🫠

[stellariders]

How have you gotten so far in your rewatch!? I’m only on episode 9! Ngl, I’ve been staying up late to watch. I think I’ll try to watch like 2 a day. It’s gonna take some time, but I’m def loving it! I rlly do think that I enjoy the previous szns better. But then again I think that every szn has its own vibe to it.

lol that’s a fair question. i more so skimmed through episodes 10-11 cause i had rewatched those episodes right before my official rewatch from the beginning. i didn’t feel like rewatching it again.

but, im on summer break from college so i’ve got a ton of free time right now . i do have an online summer class that starts tomorrow and goes for like a month so i don’t think i’ll be able to watch as many starting tomorrow 😭

also, when i write my thoughts, i usually draft them so i can add more thoughts. sometimes i forget to post it when i finish an episode so when i actually post them, i’ll have already started/ finished another episode. does that make sense? lol

[glorified-red]

Red, you’re a seasoned college student. What types of jobs/internships did you have?

Snd do you have any tips for time management?I’ll be taking 18 credits starting in the fall plus working two jobs so I can graduate early

Do you use google calendar ?

I suppose I am!

I ended up looking up on-campus jobs that were close to my field to see what I could get into. This led to opportunities within the library, the writing center, tutoring, etc. They typically hire students but if you negotiate, you can probably work a semester unpayed and count it as an internship (that’s what I did).

My college also has a ton of publishing journals where students can have internships as editors and publishers. They also have certain professors who oversee internship opportunities. If your college is the same, try to see if you can reach out to professors or advisors who can guide you through internship opportunities.

18 credits is intense. I wish you the best of luck.

When it comes to time management, it’s all about priority and energy. Prioritize what is due soonest or holds the biggest weight. You’re not going to have the time or energy to give 100% on every single assignment you do—that’s the reality of taking that many classes. Figure out what assignments you can give 50% on and which ones you HAVE to give 100%. Make your effort proportional to how important an assignment is so you don’t burn yourself out.

I’m not gonna say 18 credits and two jobs is impossible, but if you end up getting to withdrawal or drop season and youre having a hard time, it’s not a bad thing to drop or withdrawal from a class to take later.

You can always retake a class but you only have one chance with your mental health.

Some things I do:

- have a calendar. I don’t use google calendar but I hear it’s good.

- look into some organizational thing to keep track of assignments. With so many classes, things are more likely to slip through the cracks. I use a spreadsheet but I’ve seen others use a planner or a canvas extension? There’s also apps to track school assignments. Look into those. Don’t just trust yourself to remember.

- reflect on how you’re doing FREQUENTLY so that you can catch when you need a break before it’s too late.

- make doing assignments fun. I go to cafes so I can be around other productive people and get myself a sweet treat as motivation. Go to the library! Make your desk cute and fun! And comfy!

- have friends who will support and motivate you to prioritize your academic and career goals. It’s very easy to feel disappointed when your social life disappears in semesters like these (and it will). So find friends who will go to libraries with you and go on study dates.

- take a goddamn break. Don’t let an assignment keep you up too late. School is never worth losing yourself along the way. Rest and sleep. Once again:

You can always retake a class but you only have one chance with your mental health.

- go! To! Office! Hours! If your professors offer extra hours to talk to them—-GO. It never hurts and most professors genuinely want to help. You’d be stupid to assume college is all about “figuring it out yourself” nO. Make friends with your classmates. Ask questions. Be confused. Say you don’t understand. It is okay and EXPECTED.

Good luck and if you have any other questions or any advice, feel free to stop on by!

[mamukeeto]

New blog post!

New blog post is up! This is a long one, but it goes into detail about what's been going on for me personally and for LMC over the past ~3 months + details plans for the next 4-6 months. Give it a read here or check it out in full under the break below!

Happy belated new year! + updates

It’s been about 3 months since my last blog post, so I figure it’s past time for an update! First off; happy new year! We made it to 2024! I think 2023 was pretty rough for a lot of people, myself included, so we should all feel proud that we made it another year. Existing is exhausting, and every new day is an adventure. I definitely struggled a lot in 2023, and want to go over some of that in this post. With that said, let’s get into the nitty gritty of things…

First up, as of tomorrow I’m attending classes again. It was supposed to be today, but class was cancelled due to inclement weather. My schedule will be completely full Mondays and Wednesdays (8:30am-6:30pm CST), so if you reach out on those two days please allow some extra time for a response. Tuesdays I’ll also be in class, but I only have two on that day as opposed to three on MW, so I’ll have a little bit more leeway that day (I expect I’ll be occupied 10:30am-4:30pm CST). My planned schedule is Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday as class days (with Tuesday evening open for commission work as necessary) and Thursday, Friday, and Saturday as work days, with ideally Sunday as an off/relaxation day but I’ll be using it to keep up on commissions and emails if I need to. I understand that college is a big commitment while I work on clearing out my queue, but I truly feel that it’s the best option to move forward and continue to grow as well as plan out a career and the next 5-10 years of my adult life. Emails/updates/messages will be responded to daily on Thursdays through Saturdays and I’ll do my absolute best to have quick turnaround times on Sundays through Wednesdays, but can’t guarantee it. Regardless, I’m instating a new personal policy of replying to all emails within 24 hours. Communication is still something I’m struggling with and working on, but I am very much dedicated to improving and holding myself to a high standard of customer service. I’ll also be updating my email signature with a few more tidbits of info to reflect as such :) Additionally, anyone awaiting a response to their email or a progress update will be receiving one this week.

Next up, some personal updates! I had a bit of a bumpy ride closing out 2023 due to aging out of my parents’ insurance and having to get my Very Own Insurance Plan. I was rationing my meds until the 1st because I couldn’t afford to pay $200+ out of pocket for them, which resulted in a brief period of poor communication and general sluggishness/feeling like a zombie (those of you with ADHD probably know exactly what I mean). As of January 5th, I’m back on all my meds for good and don’t foresee any issues occurring with getting them, as they’re free with my insurance plan and I live in an area that doesn’t seem to be affected by shortages, thank god. I was also able to pass my first semester of college with a 4.0, which I am INCREDIBLY proud of, and one of my long-term goals this year is to get healthier and more physically active as well as be more open and transparent with myself and my work/the costume making process. This year I’m also aiming to claw my way out of the messy financial pit I ended up in, thanks in part to the Financial Audit podcast by Caleb Hammer. I highly encourage watching it if you’re financially illiterate, temporarily in a bad spot, or you’re just looking for something to listen to. I didn’t receive much of a financial education in my impressionable years and thus ended up in a rather poor spot, and I very much want to fix that and start building toward my future. This podcast and accompanying resources is helping me a TON in that regard. This brings me to my next topic, which is commission and business updates.

The first thing I want to address is ongoing refunds for those whose commissions were cancelled or delayed; ALL refunds will be returned no later than February 8th. I’ve been refunding people as quickly as I can over the past few months with income from my shop and finished commissions, and I’m pleased to announce that the last refunds should be sent out by that date and I do not anticipate any delays. Picking up the pieces of my struggles over the summer has been an incredibly difficult process for me personally, as it’s been incredibly embarrassing to let people down and to feel like a failure as a business owner, but please know that I am dedicated to making things right with each and every person affected, no matter what “making things right” may look like. I started my business in 2019 with no prior experience managing a business, and that was my first mistake I think, and I feel so incredibly sorry to anyone whose cosplay plans/convention plans/finances I’ve negatively affected due to my lack of experience and lack of business etiquette. I was very much “taking things as they come” and struggled very hard with time management and reasonable expectations from myself, which I am still working on, and looking back on it now I think I was destined for failure and lucky to have made it as far as I did before it became a problem. I’ve been doing a LOT of self-reflection as well as attending bimonthly therapy sessions while working through this process and while I think I’ll be able to manage taking on one or two commissions at a time (read as: per semester) after my queue is emptied, I don’t feel comfortable opening commissions on a larger scale for the foreseeable future. My current plan is to finish my 2-year fashion degree and then go to my current college for a 2-year business degree, then transfer to a university to major in fashion and minor in business. I love being able to create things for people, but it’s been made quite clear that I need a real education in business before I can do things at the scale I was trying to do them. None of the mistakes I’ve made or things I’ve done have been out of malice, but I understand that I’ve had a negative effect on people regardless and I want to be able to rectify those effects and make sure nothing like them ever happens again. And to be clear, for anyone who isn’t aware: I’ve missed deadlines for multiple clients due to poor communication and poor time management, as well as struggled to refund cancelled or overdue commissions due to a fragile financial situation (part of which is compounded by not being able to properly manage my time and get commissions finished quicker). If you’ve heard or seen someone recommending to not work with me, this is what they are referring to, and I’m incredibly ashamed of it. The issue has still been ongoing, albeit on a lesser scale, while I work on cleaning up the mess and that’s the primary reason I’ve had commissions closed since August. I don’t expect the people I’ve affected to forgive me, but I do ask that anyone watching or reading to please allow me the chance to prove that I’m working on changing and becoming the business owner I should have been from the very beginning. If anyone would like to reach out to discuss these issues, be you a past client, current client, or someone who wasn’t personally involved, I am happy to discuss anything and everything in more detail through email (which can be found via my Contact page).

On a lighter note, let’s briefly talk shop updates. I’m taking a backseat on artist alleys this year to focus on commissions, with the exception of applying for Naka-Kon as it’s within 15 minutes of my house and thus a very small financial and time commitment. I’m also letting new products take a backseat for the same reason; new items will be fairly sparse until my queue is emptied as I want to focus my money and time on commissions until everything is concluded. I should have been doing this last year as well, but the time management was again an issue here; I thought I could handle having my hands in multiple pots and justified it by “diversifying my income” in order to bring in more money to issue refunds faster. I will still be running my shop, as it brings in enough money to be worth the small amount of time I do spend filling orders, but don’t expect any new items for at least the next 4-6 months.

To conclude this post, I want to again apologize. I feel very guilty and ashamed for letting things get as bad as they did, and I’m deeply sorry to anyone impacted. I hope that by the time I make my next blog post, I’ll have more positive updates to share regarding this process and can start showing the results of my first big steps toward marked improvement. Thank you to anyone who has read this far and to anyone who has ever commissioned or supported me. I want to make you all proud going forward.

[chorusfm]

Sonic Blume – “Falling Behind” (Video)

Today is a great day to share the news that indie rock band, Sonic Blume, have released their latest single and video for “Falling Behind.” Sonic Blume is Max Connery on vocals/guitar/synth, Danny Murray on drums, Noah Sullivan on guitar/synth, and James Waltsak on bass, and this NJ-based band is onto great things on this track. The single comes from their latest LP, All Your Favorite Songs that is out everywhere you stream your music now. I was also able to catch up with this talented band for a brief interview below. Thanks for connecting with me today! Can you first tell me about the lyrical inspiration behind your single, “Falling Behind”? I wrote this song with my friend and incredibly talented musician and songwriter, Adrian Simon, who puts out music under the name Ade. When we wrote this song, I was in college, doing all of my classes on zoom from my parent’s house. And with living back at home, I sort of felt like I was in high school again, and that I wasn’t really getting older. I felt stuck in this same old routine and couldn’t break free from the mundanity of it all. These feelings were the inspiration behind this song. Also, “Come Together,” by The Beatles was a big inspiration behind the flow and style of lyrics in the song, with the endless metaphors that can seem almost nonsensical at first. I understand you recently released a new LP called All Your Favorite Songs. How has the fan reaction been to the new material? Any favorites stand out from either the fan perspective or from the band, personally? It’s been really cool! Some of the songs we have been playing live for a bit now. “Rocky & I” has been in our set for a while, and seemed to be a song that a lot of people and was sort of a favorite before it even came out. So it was exciting to finally put that song out. But what’s always sort of interesting and has been really cool for this record, is when people respond to songs that you maybe don’t expect them to. The songs “Daylily” and “Staring at the Sun” weren’t singles and are on the back half of the record, but we’ve gotten a lot of good feedback on those songs which is awesome to hear. My favorite is definitely “Without a Sound.” I like that it feels like a good balance between the sound on this record, and some of our older stuff, and also the song means a lot to me too. I know you’re from New Jersey, can you let me know some of the benefits and/or potential drawbacks for making music in such a musically rich area? It’s really amazing. I honestly can’t really think of any drawbacks. The scene that we’re a part of is so active and talented, and very communal too. Everyone plays in everyone else’s projects. I have a ton of fun getting to play in my friends’ bands. It’s really easy to feel inspired that way too, I think, just being able to be a part of a scene where everyone is so supportive and creative. Another huge plus is just the physical location of New Jersey, where you’re so close to both NYC and Philly at all times and have access to playing in both cities whenever. Now that the new record is out, what is 2024 looking like for Sonic Blume? Really we’re just hoping to play as many shows as we can. Over the past year, we started doing some east coast touring a little bit, but we want to do a lot more of that. We want to play in a lot of places we haven’t been yet, and try to keep the momentum going. And who knows, possibly new music too. Not entirely sure what 2024 holds for us yet! --- Please consider becoming a member so we can keep bringing you stories like this one. ◎ https://chorus.fm/features/sonic-blume-falling-behind-video/

[umichenginabroad]

Week 4 - Toulouse, France

So I say week 4, but I think it's because I added a few days here and there to include or exclude days relevant to each location. My bad, I was just going for a nice flow. Anyway this was really my fifth week in France! It started off pretty slow, with just dinner on the town and relaxing the first few days. Tuesday was the 4th, and everyone wanted to celebrate the 4th of July with us Americans, so we went out and got a few drinks. It was just silly and fun.

ISAE Supaero - the school and an old church we walked by after dinner.

The Capitolium (a political building on the main square) during the day and at night.

Wednesday was when things got a little more exciting. We had a morning visit to La Halle des Machines, which is a museum for wooden and electronic machines used in these pretty interesting shows. There was the Minotaure, which is a minotaur sort of, but it’s half horse on the bottom instead of half man. It was huge and sprayed “snot” at people on the ground. We also go to take a short ride on it, if that helps give any indication of the size. There was also a track where you could slide an iron down, and when the iron passed a certain point, flames shot out around the track. In the afternoon, we got a tour of Toulouse and some of its history. There were a good number of buildings I hadn’t seen yet, so it was cool to see them around town. After the tour, we split for dinner, and later, a few of us went to a karaoke bar. The three of us Michigan kids there did Mr. Brightside again, of course, and I also did You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift with Meagan and Fran (two students from Southampton). It was a long but very fun night!

The Minotaure, Sam pushing the iron, and Gina after we got sprayed with fake snow (bubbles).

An abbey where monks used to stay which is now open for students to come in and relax.

Thursday, we had class in the morning then we went to Aeroscopia. It had a ton of old planes inside, including a concorde and a huge Lego X-Wing fighter. I don’t know much about planes (more of a space girl), so I mostly just ooh-ed and ahh-ed as we walked around. Friday followed like Thursday, but a visit to Cité de l’Espace. instead. It shows the history of space, including some space stations you can walk through, and it has a planetarium. I wanted to enjoy it more, but it was mostly outside and over 90 degrees, so I won’t lie, I was a little miserable at times. We did go out to the bar later that night to celebrate the last weekend in France for most of the program (all non-UMich students’ portion of the program ended on the 12th, and ours ended on the 16th).

The concorde and the Lego X-Wing.

A model of the Ariane 5 and part of the inside of a space station.

Saturday was the hottest day in Toulouse so far. We went out to enjoy a food festival, but it was outside. I did eat some pasta and try some free samples, but I was sweating so badly that we ended up going home after an hour or two. However! On the way back, I did get to try my very first boba, and it was delicious! A little expensive, but definitely worth it. To do something with aircon, we went back out to the movies later. The only thing playing in English at a decent time was Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, so I rewatched that (a good number hadn’t seen it before). Plus, it was super cool to catch all the clues and easter eggs I’d missed the first time!

The food festival, the floor of the boba shop, and the boba itself.

Sunday, I slept in too late and then didn’t feel like doing anything because it was so hot and I was so tired, so I just had a lazy day in my room. It was definitely nice to have a day to myself to recuperate from the almost nonstop action of the trip.

That’s all for week 5! See you for the week 6 update soon!

Aryanna Thompson

Aerospace Engineering

Aerospace Summer Program

[appreciatingtokrev]

thank you! i'm happy to be back <3

that is a long time when things are going downhill but it is better to get out rather than later. that's great, it does show personal growth for both of you and it is nicer for things to end on a more positive note or a positive development. it really doesn't, everything become a hot boiling cauldron of mess and that's true otherwise ill feelings may start to develop too if the attempts keep failing or misunderstandings occurs.

isn't the pc version only for windows users though? i don't think gi and the others were planned for the play stations but they did so well so the company was able to do that. i suppose they don't see the need? because there will be more pc users than switch users and i highly doubt the game would be free for the switch version.

oh, i'm assuming he wasn't allow to teach the classes that you were in then? that's good because it probably would been a problematic problem to have. that is more convenience and that does sound like a funny story 🤣 that was the only incident so it's never been too bad.

if it's from tiktok then we had seen it. it is hard to depart from a childhood friend but the association would only lead to trouble and another reason why koko might been more keen to do it too since inui life would probably been in danger if they still kept ties with each other.

it is a realistic version considering how vile bonten crimes were but maybe inui might had died instead? because the last timeline in s1 both inui and koko are members of the corrupt version of toman. but it is hard to figure it out considering koko was only show in one page during the whole arc 😭 also, have you ever tried cosplaying? i'm getting the outfit together for makima (chainsaw man) but it's only bc i REALLY like the outfit and it's normal clothes that i can wear afterwards. but finding the blazer was a pain in the ass though 😭

i’m glad <3

yeahh lol. i just really really wanted us to work out bc i didn’t wanna lose them as a friend but that ended up not going great until a few weeks ago adhjfhf. very true, yeah.

hm not sure but i thought you can run gi on other systems too... never tried it or know anyone who does tho so what do i know. but if that’s the case, it’d surprise me ngl. hm. so i googled if it would be free on switch, and the speculators mostly said probably yes. bc, after all, one of it’s big advertisements is that it’s free (though you can spend a shit ton of money on gacha if you want to). honestly i just think it’s funny that they confirmed that gi will come to switch one day and then never talked about it again lmao

nope he’s never teached me, we would asked the school not to make him teach me if it was ever a possibility. tho it’s not even really a possibility bc the school i’m going to has like. two types of switzerland’s highschool? the fms & the gymnasium (not a gym-). that probably doesn’t tell you anything adgjhdh but while my dad could teach in either it’s only ever been the gymnasium and i’m in the fms now so yeah lol.

yes, very true. hm.. possibly, he’s dead, yeah, definitely realistic. maybe i’m mixing things up but isn’t bonten the timeline in which inupi & draken run a bikeshop together? adhjfhf. ig the big difference going on between koko & inupi in the bad toman and the bonten timeline is that koko chose to stay before, and then chose to leave. plus i don’t think corrupt toman was a sudden thing, it just gradually went bad so a lot of the people stayed thinking it will get better until it was too late. they originally didn’t know what they’d signed up for. meanwhile koko knew what he was getting into with bonten from the start so he got inupi away from it earlier.

never tried cosplaying and it makes me wanna cry 😭 one day i’ll sew myself venti’s whole outfit and cosplay him, that’s been a dream for nearly two years now... generally i hope to start cosplaying sometime when i move out & make my own money, but that likely won’t be in less than... 7 years 😭 so maybe i will start earlier. anyways that said i’m pretty close to a not 100% accurate low cost cosplay for valhalla kazutora (which was kinda an accident, i just started making my own merch bc i can’t order it lol) bc i’ve made his earring and am working on the jacket.. inverted colors but still. i just gotta FINALLY paint the logo on. and i wear similar pants on the daily plus my boots are boot enough i think. so technically i have everything except a wig lol. also also makima :0 ngl she looks pretty hot plus true, her outfit is practical, so i def get why you’re cosplaying her. even if i don’t like her at all too... ah i can imagine the blazer being hard to find 😭 tho i’m happy you managed to do it eventually!!