#also working on a big commission but i don't want to show yet...... only when finished.........

[drreadnought]

wip compilation

3d

2d unfinished bigger works

dooblers

that is all 4 now also my comms are open

[factual-fantasy]

⁽ᴹᵃˢᵗᵉʳ ᵖᵒˢᵗ ᵒᶠ ᵐᵃˢᵗᵉʳ ᵖᵒˢᵗˢ ᵐᵒᵇᶦˡᵉ ˡᶦⁿᵏ⁾

💫FAQ below the keep reading💫

(I intend to return to this post frequently and update the FAQ whenever new frequent questions arrive :}} )

Do you take commissions?: I do not. <:( Sorry!

Do you take drawing suggestions?: At the moment, I do not. Sorry!

Why don't you like fanart?: The simple answer is it just makes me very uncomfortable. It feels icky when someone I don't know draws something I designed without asking me. I get that most artists love fanart and don't see it that way/feel that way about it.. but I do. And even if people ask for permission first, I just like to keep my works to myself..

How can we show support if you don't like fanart?: Comments! In what ever form they make take. Reblogs, asks, direct comments, tags?? Which ever way you choose! My absolute favorite part of posting on Tumblr is reading all the responses. Whether its a huge paragraph or a simple "Loved this! 💖" It always makes me smile to see people comment! :}}}

What drawing program do you use?: FireAlpaca! Its a free program and is easy for beginners to learn, yet also has a lot of tools available for the pros! Though be warned. It can be a bit buggy at times and has some weird quirks you're gonna have to learn how to work around.. 😅

Why are your sonas hands bloody and bandaged?: When I was first designing my sona, it looked kind'a plain.. I wanted to add something to my sonas hands, but I wasn't sure what.. at the time, my hands were covered in Band-Aids due to dry skin and cat scratches. Looking at my patched hands I thought "Hey! My sona could have these edgy bandaged hands! They can represent my "artists hands" and my love for angst as well!" and so that's what I drew <XDD

Do you have any other socials?: I have a YouTube channel, but I haven't posted to it in a few years now 💀 other than that, Tumblr is the only place I post my artwork to! :}

When will you get back to your FNAF AU?: No idea tbh.. Currently, I am battling some health problems that are keeping me away from my big PC. So working on my FNAF AU isn't something I feel like I can do right now.. hopefully I can get past this health trial, get back to my PC with all my FNAF files and get back to the AU soon.. <:/

When will you get back to Octonauts?: I'm not sure. I had some uncomfortable experiences with the fandom recently and so I decided to just step back for a bit and stop posting about it. Who's to say when I'll come back.. (See this post for more details)

[fobnsfwdoodlesbackup]

Hi y'all, I just wanted to talk a little about the behind the scenes of what I've been up to, to give y'all a little transparency and to open myself up for any tips or input! 🙏 Thank you for your continued support and for taking the time to look at my art 🫶

First and foremost I wanted to give some transparency about my art capacity.

As og followers may remember, I started this blog when I was doing art full time. Eventually my living expenses grew and I had to go back to work. I find myself in a cycle of "I'll make more art soon, once I get a job!" And "I'll make more art soon, once I am done with this job!" I lost my most recent job suddenly, having had an extension waved over my head until the last day(October 7th). Now I'm excited to have more time for art, but I am also feeling a rush to get a new job ASAP as I've been living paycheck to paycheck. I dream of doing this work full time, I'm just scared it's not quite there yet and I worry that I come off as scammy or dishonest when I anticipate more stability around the corner.

Second, I've been struggling with the Patreon. It's taken me a while to come to terms with this, but from what I've seen Patreon is not intuitive at all from the creator end. It doesn't do a good job of organizing addresses, emails, showing who or who isn't subscribed to me, or organizing and displaying the work I put on there. I've been really shocked by this experience, since lots of big names use Patreon. It's been a great way to streamline support, but it's been unhelpful in every other regard. I would like to continue using it, but I will most likely post more wips or process videos there in the future.

Which brings me to my third point, zines. I love making zines so much, it feels personal and fulfilling and fun! However the Patreon issues make it harder to keep information in order about where to send zines, or even where to message folks about them. In addition to this, the post office has been a big barrier to me, oftentimes only being open at the same time as my dayjob. Making zines can take days, then sending them out is a whole other monster.

This work is so important to me. Drawing peoples fantasies, representing body types, creating work around sexuality and the human experience feels like what I'm meant to do. I've made comics since I was a kid. This is the dream to me. The friends I've been able to make through this work are so important to me, and the conversations have been invaluable. Not to mention fun! I wanna doodle, I wanna draw hot stuff, I wanna thirst over these dudes! I want to play!

But I also just want to be transparent about the barriers I'm working around to share that experience. I'm completely self taught, both in art AND in running shops, building websites, running 8 accounts, etc. I take a lot of time to learn the logistics of these things, and try to make them make sense for my relationship with y'all (I do not want to paywall my art!! I don't want to!!!). This year my desktop broke down (the main one I use for all paintings and digital art). I've paused my Etsy shops and my Patreon to try to catch up with things. Trying to learn to paint in a completely different program. Then lost my job with no savings.

At the end of the day I don't want anything to come between me sharing my art with you. I wish I could doodle a thing, take a picture, and post it here. No third party site, no shop, no subscription. Just sharing my art with you. I promise I'm trying to figure out how to stay as close to that as possible, and I want to thank y'all for sticking with me as I untangle all of that.

So, what can you expect in the near future?

I'm working on a couple of painting commissions right now, which you should be able to see in the next couple of days! I want to catch up on kinktober and get those posted as well. There's a comic commission in progress which I'm very eager to work on, and which I think y'all will be excited for! To ease the weight of the Patreon I think I may do less zines/polls there and more wips and process videos! If possible, I want to do more full colored work too.

Thank you again for enjoying my work, and if you have any input or tips my inbox is always open 🙏🫶💕

[maximumwobblerbanditdonut]

First vs. last day of Outlander table read.

How it started

How it ended

Grand Banqueting Hall at Barnbougle Castle

However, the Outlander table read has certainly not always lived the high style, since the former warehouse complex that became Outlander's home in 2013.

The point of a table read is the opportunity for the cast and crew to get together to read the script aloud and not attend prepared for a show.

A table read (also known as a read-through) is a crucial pre-production process for film, TV and stage. It is the first time everyone involved is assembled in one room: including actors, writers, directors, producers and other key people. The people reading the script back will generally be the actors who will be starring in the screenplay. So them or the director can make objections if you think a choice isn’t correct.

If you’ve understood what’s a table reading is a way of showing your director and fellow cast members what you're going to do with the role. The space you use for your table read doesn’t have to be an exquisite stage or set. If you want to set a professional tone for the project, however, a theatre or working performance space would be a wise choice.

Furthermore, actors do not need to print their scripts; a copy is provided as seen on SH's Instagram. During the table read, someone reads the notes and the parts that have not been distributed yet. This helps set the scene and allows the director to fully focus on listening to the actors. Pencils and highlighters are provided, but it's a good idea to bring your own just in case, as taking notes is an essential part of the process. At this table, there are no pencils in front of the actors, only one laptop. Perhaps they don't need to remember what's important, which is very unusual.

Industry-standard table reads are a lot different from the private table reads. They will take place after you’ve got your script commissioned and pre-production is largely at an end.

It’s often helpful to record the table read so that you can review it later on. That way, you will be able to remember certain aspects of the script of those areas that need improvement. You don’t need anything grandiose or hire a film crew, just a simple, static camera in the back of the room that records clear audio should be suitable.

Even major cable networks like Netflix or HBO with a superior budget than STARZ maintain a low profile when it comes to the latest table read. This includes directors, producers, and actors with very solid careers who earn more per episode than most people who met at the Grand Banqueting Hall for an entire year. They avoid publicity when reading their scripts and certainly don’t see them doing their pre-production work in a luxurious setting.

Look at the spaces chosen during the last read table of some acclaimed TV series that ran for eight seasons and more 🎬

The final table read of Games of Thrones season 8 was in the same place in Titanic studios in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Or the Big Bang Theory, final scene table read after 12 seasons were at the set - property of program creators and CBS.

The cast of NBC's The Office - Finale - Table Read

I was happy that the Outlander production selected Barnbougle Castle, a majestic family home. However, I was surprised that Barnbougle Castle was chosen for a table read event rather than a close as a final flourish. The table read was treated as a grand spectacle, with guests attending a private event, which seemed extravagant considering that reading a script is a normal part of an actor's job. The event included a choir, special catering, and even embroidered cotton napkins from season 8 of Outlander. Fans might be wondering where they can buy these napkins as part of their Outlander memorabilia.

Table reading is both challenging and important. One significant thing to note is that you don't need to hire a fancy place to read the script. However, this table read seems to be a farewell to the Outlander colleagues and employees for making the workplace a fun place over the past 10 years. Unless the Outlander STARZ production has “an ace up the sleeve” It seems the grandeur of this table read would mark Outlander's GOODBYE to Scotland. After this little is left to be shown.

While season 8 will be Outlander’s last — and is currently in production — the last half of season 7 has yet to drop on Starz. The series will return on November 22 with eight episodes premiering weekly.

…….. My thoughts on it!

Posted 15th August 2024

[masonic-critical]

x - Double Toasted Interview Pre-Helluva Boss Prouction

Seeing vivzie flub her numbers and mouth over her """team""" within this video is very telling.

"40 or 50 people or so I think i would have to check and make sure on discord--we have sorta 10-ish people in my core team with my animators. I'm a main compositor with my friend while my background artist and cleanup team of 15 or so is just so-big it's so Huge its so large! We have so many people working on this project and just handling with so many key components over backgrounds and key framing the lip syncs, my background artists doing so much work. I feel like and hope people will really stay on"

Interviewee Joke: 'Oh how many animators do I have [again], no-oh god no!!!'

It's insane to think Helluva Boss has over 80+ animation credits which is definitely not a good thing. It's one thing in industry to have a large studio but it's another thing of collaborating artists coming and going to work on an ongoing series is not a good thing to flaunt. Even if your show has won two independent animation awards you should take pride over producing to actually make something good instead of flaunting the fact that you acknowledge the bare minimum of abuse, rape, misogyny, supremacy, classism, sexism, or gender critical writing fails face first in every episode.

Her favorite movies being Cat's Don't Dance/Who Framed Roger Rabbit and referencing BoJack Horseman even referencing that they anthropomorphize their themes being prejudice and STORYTELLING DEVICES, so what story is Helluva Boss even telling right now???? She claimed to even want to write about dark themes and mature adult topics about prejudice and yet has nothing to show for it after 6 years of nothing burger that is Helluva Boss and Hazbin Production :/

She fully admits that patreon and merch hauls fund hazbin/helluva production and that she fully handles the patreon money herself she budgets to push towards 'Hazbin' to 'Pay her small team'. She wanted to try to promote a Kickstarter over the pilot pre-A24 pickup before she made it big-time which is weird to hear when she didn't even have hazbin finished while boarding out 4 episodes of helluva bosses' first season. Even if it was supposed to allegedly be a 1 season show only. It's weird to try to discern which show she's trying to elaborate/talk about which one.

X - Evidence of the promotional videos for Helluva Boss/Hazbin. Strangely enough it has always been together instead of separated meaning she was attempting to garner hype for her series through Helluva Boss Merchandising and attempting to cyphen even more money over small Hazbin merchandising.

X - Here is Vivs' patreon promo earlier before the Hazbin pilot. Discussing how much she wanted to have a bigger budget at the time to fund her animation. Talks about Zoophobia Reboot and there has never been discussion since. Originally charged 10$ for private qna's. 50$ for discord access calls, unsure if this is still a Patreon feature. Also unsure over the 100$/500$ speeddraw commissions she promo'd... There is another production patreon she teases that holds nothing beside the Vivziepop name.

The show being placed upon rehabilitation and redemption despite the focus only being towards 'A Disney/Tim Burton Princess in Hell' goes to show that she had no direction of where she wanted to take Angel or Charlie. Charlie always being based on a porcelain doll? Greek/Religious Context/Egyptian mythology where???

"The best animation in it, is not done by me"

Within full admission of her nervous attitude without naming anyone within her team and just referred to everyone as 'My team/Crew' is very telling of how humbling she really even is.

Thr 'Yotta' she refers to is in reference to Studio Yotta, Helluva Boss is funded and produced alongside Horseless Cowboy with Horvitz towards the Casting Direction, meaning she's been funded with a major video game industry since day 1 of Helluva Bosses' production ergo, Vivziepop/Spindlehorse/Vivienne Medranno has never been independent in her entire production malpractice. She stated to be aware and know of wanting to work under SAG is very intriguing given that since Moxxie has been absent for half of season 2 its probably due to Richard striking as my best guess to the messy writing of broken railroad tracks that was supposed to be Helluva Boss production.

While it is one thing to have connections in industry to connect and come together and credit within your artists and studios, Vivzie does not have a studio. The merch sales/Patreon/YouTube QnA's directly go towards paying her animators, voice actors, and production management but not at all a 'Studio' she promotes herself as. All animation work and shots are handled through Discord and emails online this has been proven time and time again.

The fact that the pilot has been pushed aside so much over Helluva Boss and not a genuine interest to have redemption or care and love within the disguised nightmare that is Helluva Bosses' writing. She loves to flaunt demonology and love towards hell of aesthetics with demons/monsters she fails to actually represent the actual Demons of folklore/hell world building in HB leaves me to be worried... That she discredits actual Demon culture by stating

'I don't know have you seen one? They don't exist its just been human mysticism, Demons can be anything. Have you been to Hell?' Without realizinf she will fail to depict the Lord of the Flies as Gluttony....

"--It might not ever happen to work together with [Ke$ha] professionally would be a dream honestly. --The next Ke$ha song I want to animate is either is going to be official or is something that she wrote for one of MY projects or something"

She did and she made her state 'There's like, a rainbow inside my vagina.' Wooow so professional, "Cotton Candy" so originally produced to be so professionally Disney-Grade. The fact that she halted and couldn't release season 1's full finale due to having Ke$ha break her contract with legal battles and corporate music industry bindings during the Dr. Luke 2016 trial, waiting until 2020 to finally release it within this year and have Lukewarm perception because Rose cannot even sing within the episode its a replacement actor to sing for her! She just wrote the bare minimum draft of a song to submit for you to animate! Time and time again viv just flaunts herself to throw herself out there over 'Look at my projects aren't they neat!" And then be a monster during production of hoarding artists to herself and trash talking/harboring a group of bullies within her 'Core Crew'.

"Zoophobia is my Childhood project, it had everything and it was a mess. It was the magic of a childhood story told by an adult because I was in college while working on it at the time. It's the incubation chamber for all of my projects now. When I go back to it, it will be a complete reboot but for now it's on the shelf.... I lost all passion for it but I love my characters in it."

... And yet she hasn't talked about the comic since Bad-Luck Jacks' animation release nearly 4 years ago? All merchandising she promotes is about Helluva Boss and barely anything towards Hazbin or Zoophobia which is supposedly 'In-Production' while these merchandising of stickers, pins, skateboards, switch cases, posters, sketchbooks covers of Demonic stickers, sexualized hornybait, racist and transphobic enamel pins that can't keep character skin colors correct, and puzzles because of course! All of which, is merchandising of HELLUVA BOSS!

Vivziepop only views her characters as dollar signs. She still features her old Zoophobia designs within her Redbubble account goes to show how much profit she loves to make with other peoples' character designs.

X X Evidence of the Above Statement with the character KiKi/Christine [Cherry Bomb] originally being from Zoophobia before redesigned into Hazbin

X

Zoophobia concepts of what we lost rambling from Viv herself....

X

An interview of 7 years I didn't get to discuss over

X - A Season 1 Helluva Boss poor promotional trailer trying to garner hype for the series acting as if it was telling a cohesive story with actual plot happening with little Stolas screen time. It makes me wonder if season 1 was an entirely different drive of writing thoughts and artist drafts compared to season 2's production.

X - Helluva Boss Season 2 promotional storyboard conception, Two years ahead of time and finally all the boards make sense for season 2 and there still is no eventual plot besides setting up Fizz and Ozzy over Belzebub and Tex or any returning season 1 villain akin to D.H.O.R.K. or Cherub/Verrosika and especially no sight of Moxxie and Millie development besides fight scenes.

It makes me think of however much season 3 will suffer to spiral into production.

[linkemon]

Negotiations (Kambe Daisuke x Reader x Katō Haru)

Friendly reminder that English is not my first language. You can check my Masterlists both in English and Polish here. Consider supporting me on Ko-fi. You can also check out my commissions if you’re interested.

Other oneshots can be found here.

ᴋᴀᴍʙᴇ ᴀꜱᴋꜱ [ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ] ꜰᴏʀ ʜᴇʟᴘ ɪɴ ᴘᴏʟɪᴄᴇ ɴᴇɢᴏᴛɪᴀᴛɪᴏɴꜱ. ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏᴍᴀɴ ᴅᴏᴇꜱɴ'ᴛ ᴇxᴘᴇᴄᴛ ʜᴏᴡ ɪᴛ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴇɴᴅ…

ᴀᴅᴅɪᴛɪᴏɴᴀʟ ɪɴꜰᴏʀᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ: 1. ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ᴀʀᴇ ᴛᴡᴏ ᴠᴇʀ��ɪᴏɴꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴜʀɴᴀᴍᴇ ᴀᴠᴀɪʟᴀʙʟᴇ: ᴋᴀɴʙᴇ (ʀᴏᴍᴀɴɪᴢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ) ᴀɴᴅ ᴋᴀᴍʙᴇ (ᴇɴɢʟɪꜱʜ ᴠᴇʀꜱɪᴏɴ). ɪ ᴄʜᴏꜱᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ꜰɪʀꜱᴛ ᴏɴᴇ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ'ꜱ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪ ꜱᴛɪᴄᴋ ᴛᴏ ꜰᴏʀ ᴀʟʟ ᴍʏ ꜱʜᴏᴛꜱ.

— Kanbe-san, would you like it? — [Reader] held out a colourful box towards him.

— What's that? — he asked, glancing towards the bento.

— Nothing big. I made an extra portion. — The woman looked away. — Some rice and vegetables.

She didn't want to admit to her co-worker that she spent an entire hour making second breakfast. It almost made her late for work. However, she knew that Daisuke didn't eat just anything and she was afraid to offer him any food.

— Ooo, [Reader]-san did you make it yourself? — Katō looked over her shoulder.

He had slightly windblown hair. It was easy to guess that he had just entered the office because he still hadn't taken off his jacket.

— Don't waste your time on him — he continued. — Plebeian — he drew quotation marks in the air — food is not up to his standards. But I'll be happy to taste it.

— As it happens, I'd love to try…

— Too late! — Haru snatched the box and that's all they saw.

— Sorry, maybe next time you'll get it. — The woman smiled slightly.

— That's okay. — Kanbe glanced towards his lost breakfast. — We need to talk. I have a proposition for you.

***

Daisuke discreetly pressed the earring again. Unfortunately, to no avail. HEUSC did not respond in any way. The characteristic quiet beeping was not heard. Someone must have disabled the system in the residence. The man could not inform Suzue about the situation and asked the services to stay away. It was a hopeless situation.

A man named Ichiban Takata stood in front of him. Cornered on the roof of a skyscraper, he began threatening that the group would not get out alive if they did not meet his demands. The gun was aimed directly at him and Haru.

The attacker's hand was shaking slightly and beads of sweat were beading on his forehead. It was clear in his eyes that he didn't really know what he was doing. It occurred to Kanbe that maybe someone else was behind this and he was just a pawn. However, this hypothesis had to wait.

— I want a helicopter! — the thief shouted. — One police pilot inside!

He visibly swallowed, choosing his next words.

— You — he pointed to [Reader] — come over, take the phone and contact those downstairs. I give them ten minutes.

— They won't be able to do it in such a short time...— she muttered.

The woman felt heat washing over her. She never took part in the negotiations. Daisuke asked her to take on this new role. Unfortunately, the original plan failed when someone cut off communication with the crew under the building.

— If they won't make it, I'll kill him! — He pointed the gun at Haru. — Next one in another ten minutes!

The thief dropped the phone and then kicked it lightly towards her.

— Turn on speakerphone.

She approached slowly. She picked up the phone with a trembling hand. She knew Hoshino's number by heart and yet she made a mistake twice.

— [Reader], is it over? — She heard the voice of a friend from the First Division on the phone.

— Send a helicopter within ten minutes. — She looked at Ichiban with concern.

— What are you talking about? We won't be able to do it a time like this. Let Kanbe-san arrange his private one for you.

His voice clearly showed his annoyance.

— It must be police one. Only one pilot — she added, seeing the barrel heading towards Daisuke.

— Listen, I'm not a miracle worker. Twenty-five must be enough for you...

Wildness flared in the thief's eyes the moment he heard this.

— You don't take me seriously. — The attacker laughed, tilting his head back. — I'll damage you a little and you'll start trying harder!

He pulled the trigger.

[Reader] instinctively jumped as if she were practicing. She grabbed Takata's wrist, pointing the gun in a different direction. The man was so strong that he pulled her down. They fell onto the hard concrete roof. They rolled almost to the edge. The struggle was accompanied by the sounds of gunshots.

Someone was shouting from downstairs. Apparently the police had already realized that the plan had failed.

Kanbe was the first to reach the two fighting and pulled out his gun. Haru pulled Ichiban down with all his strength, pinning him to the ground.

— Do not move! — the detective aimed.

He pushed the bag of money away. He suspected there might have been something else there. He preferred not to take risks.

— [Reader]!

The woman was lying in a rapidly growing pool of blood. She pressed her stomach, breathing heavily. Eyelids drooped involuntarily.

— She doesn't answer!

***

Haru ran towards the mansion. He regretted that he had allowed himself to be detained by the police for so long.

The light of the lamps illuminated the omnipresent darkness. It was already after midnight when he reached the long white corridor. It seemed to him that the entire journey from the place of the accident had no end.

Everything around looked sterile and quiet.

Every automatic door let him through without any problem. Apparently HEUSC was told he was coming here.

Only at the huge glass window did he meet the first living soul — a nurse carrying a bloody sheet. Kanbe was standing right behind her, staring blankly at what was happening on the operating table.

[Reader] lay limp, hooked up to the machines keeping her alive. Katō watched as the doctors performed the surgery. He felt powerless. He was always ready to act and now he couldn't do anything. He placed his hand against the cool glass as if it would help him get to the other side.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the detective's stoic expression. It's been a long time since he felt such open anger and hatred towards anyone. When he thought about it more, he was sure it had never happened to him. This case was an exception.

Everything he did and said was the exact opposite of what the man had believed all his life. He presented the opposite image of a real policeman.

Haru had held back his outbursts after their first stormy encounter. But now the situation has taken its toll.

— It's all your fault! — Blinded by anger, he grabbed him by the collar and pushed him towards the wall.

Daisuke didn't react. He was still staring intently at the operating room.

It was hard for the millionaire to describe what he was feeling right now. He believed in [Reader]. He wanted her to become part of his team and work with him. When she agreed to take part in the action, he was secretly glad that he would spend more time with her.

Now the defeat hit him painfully. Its bitter taste danced in the recesses of his mind.

He didn't predict everything. No amount of banknotes from the family fortune could help him guess how the woman would behave.

— Calm down. It won't help her in any way...

— Do you think that since you arranged transport and the best doctors, everything is fine?

The blow came quickly. He knew boxing well. He trained for years, and yet despite his knowledge, he could not defend himself against this attack. As blood dripped onto his previously pristine suit, he realized he needed a physical hit. He wanted to receive it because it was a punishment for his own negligence and greed. The one and only time he really wanted something so bad, it ruined everything.

He held an embroidered handkerchief to his bleeding nose.

The anger in his opponent's eyes was replaced by terror. Only after a while did he realize what was happening behind the glass.

— Damn it! We're losing her. Defibrillator! Step aside! Three, two, one...

The voices blended into one as he stood shoulder to shoulder with his enemy, watching what was happening. Only her name escaped his lips. In a voice so quiet that no one heard it.

The cold chilled him from head to toe. He wouldn't let himself move.

— She's stabilizing. Heart rate is normal.

— We continue.

He released the breath he had been holding for a long time.

***

Haru knocked gently on the white door.

— Come in. — A slightly sleepy but familiar voice answered him.

He pressed the door handle. Outside the doorway, he almost bumped into a basket of flowers. To his surprise, the entire hospital room was full of them. Various colours and species together created a picturesque composition.

— What is all of this? — he asked.

— Daisuke sent them to me. He even attached a letter of apology and...— [Reader] did not finish.

She had a nasty cough. Katō felt his heart tighten at the sight.

— It's a bit old-fashioned. Adorable, isn't it? — she added.

He didn't like the way the millionaire solved everything. He himself came to meet the woman face to face. Meanwhile, Kanbe was unable to do even that. It made him feel a little better, even if he was consumed with guilt.

— You should drink a lot, so I brought you something extra. — He pulled the bag from behind his back.

— My favourite. — She looked thirsty at the tea. — Thanks.

Haru also pulled out a chocolate cake.

— I am not allowed. My parents left a moment before you. The doctor told them that I would get over it but he strictly forbade sweets — she moaned.

— Don't worry. When you get out of here, we'll go to the pastry shop. — He winked.

There was an awkward silence. Haru tried to gather words but his mind was a black hole. Only his face showed how much he was fighting with himself.

The woman rose to a sitting position.

— I know what you want to say. — She sighed.

— You shouldn't jump then. — He clenched his fist firmly.

— It was my decision!

— We could've handle it! You didn't  have to! — The man got up from the chair.

— You are a policeman. How can you say that?

— I can say that because...

— What are those screams? — Kanbe entered the room.

— Everything's all right. I was just explaining the situation to Katō-san. — She touched her head with her hand and a sharp pain shot through it.

She knew it was nerves. She was forbidden to get angry. Just like a lot of other things from the list titled: 'You've had surgery and you mustn't...'.

The millionaire nodded, sitting on the other side of the bed.

— I called Hoshino. He said they recreated the situation. There was an 87% chance one of you would have been hit dead, so I'm going to be glad I got attacked. We're all here in one piece and that's what counts.

— You almost died! — Haru pointed an accusing finger at her. — And you — he turned his head towards Daisuke — how can you be so calm?

— Kanbe-san explained everything he wanted to say in the letter. Trust me, he cares as much as you do. — She smiled slightly.

— I still stand by what I wrote. Do you already have your answer? — the previously silent man chimed in.

The senior policeman didn't miss the way [Reader] blushed after being asked the question.

— What do you two are up to again?

The woman glanced at the millionaire. He nodded. He made it clear that she could say it.

— I was asked out on a date — she whispered embarrassed.

— By whom? — Haru's voice rose by an octave.

It took him a moment to realize that he had asked a question with an obvious answer.

— Him? — He looked in disbelief. — But you haven't given him an answer yet?

[Reader] nodded.

— Then please think about it. I know I can't provide you with as much comfort as he does but I promise I will take care of you, protect you, cook you dinner, take care of you when you are sick, and try to make you happy. I will put all my strength into it because you are worth it. — He bowed.

He knew he couldn't pour all the feelings behind it into this confession. However, he didn't have time and he didn't want to miss his chance.

He didn't have a fortune but he knew he didn't need it. He had a number of other advantages and hard work.

Daisuke looked at him. He knew they had always been rivals in this matter. They just never came out about it until now.

— Let me repeat what I wrote in the letter again. [Reader], you are unique, you have a number of virtues and if you just give me time, I will list them all. Thanks to you I strive to become a better person, so I promise that I will try and learn every day. This accident made me realize how much I care about you, so give me a chance. I will do my best to be worthy of you — he concluded.

The woman looked at both men. She knew a lot about them but still not everything. But it didn't change her feelings. After all, she had known for a long time...

— I don't need time — she said confidently. — Yesterday I sorted everything out in my head. You are both close to me but only one of you I have been thinking about for a long time and it's...

[leggerefiore]

OMG!!! i haven't seen this HC question anywhere yet.... The Twins (and their starters) reaction to finding out their S/O is a plushie designer and make proto-type plushies of said designs

mmm feels like I haven't done one of these in a while, I assumed you meant like s/o made plushies of them

▲Ingo▼

● He finds your talent quite sweet and adorable. The only times he involved himself with fabric had gone interestingly (his mother noted the crooked sew on his slacks and asked if he needed help), but he enjoys seeing you go from conceptual designing stage to planning to action. He's just stunned you can turn a pile of fabric and stuffing into a genuine cute item. It's something he comes to adore and offer his help to you in any way.

● He actually wants to learn how to do it… For personal reasons. As much as he would love to commission you, he secretly wishes to make something for you and Emmet. His brother would adore a personally made gift, and he would like to show his love towards you and gratitude for teaching him. Ingo's creations are… not the best, but it's apparent they were made with love. The awkwardly shaped Litwick holding a heart is placed somewhere in your home, hopefully.

● When he catches you making a plush of him and his Chandelure, he was admittedly a bit flustered. Assuredly, there are better people to recreate than him? He also shuddered at the thought of making something as complicatedly shaped as his Chandelure as a plush. You sheepishly held out the prototype. You then screeched as Chandelure floated it away and disappeared off with it. Ingo couldn't hold back a laugh at his jealous pokemon's actions. You sighed and shook your head. He gazed at your Chandelure plushie softly. “Bravo, dearest!! That's sweet of you, but I must apologise for the robbery,” Ingo clapped his hands, “She's… Infatuated with anything that reminds her of me. She stole a rider's keychain once…” A small laugh escaped you.

(You stole your plushie back from her. She still has yet to forgive you.)

▽Emmet△

○ He staaaaaares. It's interesting. Emmet likes plushies, don't get him wrong, but he's never met anyone who makes them. His curiosity is piqued. Prepare yourself for questions. He wants to know and silently observe you making one. It's neat! And cute. He loves it. Soft coos and compliments of your work become a common thing. His adoration for your talent is a silent one, but anything you give to him is proudly displayed.

○ He would try to learn in his own to make something to gift to you. Emmet is not the best with his hands, he did somehow many to stab his thumb multiple times with a needle the only time he tried to fix a tear in a t-shirt he owned, but he's trying his best. Elesa is recruited into this task, but gives up after seeing his worst attempt. It was… terrifying. At some point, he finds an online guide for a Joltik and manages to make one for you. It's scary how well it's made. (He would never ruin a Joltik.)

○ He doesn't say a word as he watches you add the finishing touches onto a plush of him. An Eelektross plush laid nearby. Emmet gave a big grin as he released his starter. The electric type blinked his eyes a few times before floating over to you to see the plush. You jumped at the sudden eel intrusion and turn to spot your boyfriend in the doorway. “Verrry cute! I love them! Heehee, I don't think I've ever seen anyone make an Eelektross plush,” his grin was big as he stepped in, “Mmm… It seems Eelmmet likes me more.” You turned around to see the giant eel cuddling the small Emmet plush. It was hard to not just give it to him then and there.

(Eelektross politely returned it after Emmet asked him to. The eel then hugged you.)

[ideasarestuckinmyhead]

Hiiiiiiiiiii :D I hope your having a good day and was wondering if could make some Charlie and Casper with Casper being an animator or artists of some sort <3

Artist Casper:

He's 10000% supporting you. He loves when you draw him bc he feels giddy. Also when your drawing he asks if he can sit with you in the same room.

If he can sit close to you he'll ask what your drawing and watch you for a bit while chatting.

If you can draw while talking (projecting) you both talk about different concepts for OC's animations and more.

If not he'll be quiet and look when you show him the progress of the art work.

Has bought art supplies for you when needed. Like if he gets a text when on break he goes to the lil craft store and buys you some.

PLEASE DRAW ON HIM. HE FEELS SO COOL OR PRETTY WHEN YOU DO!

If you make him a sona for a TV show or Game he likes he's giving you a big smooch.

If you have a social media he's hyping you up. Also #1 defender if someone says your art is trash!

He definitely shows off art work your comfortable with him sharing to people.

Lowkey the reason why you have lots of commissions with art pieces bc he shows you off so much.

"My partner is an amazing artist I have to show you this!" -Charlie as he pulls out his 200+ album on his phone.

Let's Pete know your a good artist and probably make some art pieces in the restaurant so people can come in and see. They might even get some pizzas bc of it!

He has accidentally drank your paint water (if you use it)

Also accidentally broke some supplies! He apologized so much but you told him it was fine bc you have like 20+ more of it (projecting)

I feel like he'd try and draw or paint with you. If you show him how to do it. PLEASE THE LIL PROUD SMILE AS HE SHOWS OFF HIS FIRST ART PIECE HE WANTED YOU TO SEE-

I feel like he'd do graffiti with you if your down for it. It gives him nostalgia bc both of you did that when y'all were younger.

He also makes sure to remind you that you don't need another sketch book the other one isn't finished yet. No Cas don't give him puppy eyes it's a no.....okay fine but only ONE!

THIS WAS SO FUN TO DO BC IM A ARTIST TO! I prefer traditional but I wanna try to do digital! I'm doing oil pastels rn too! Soon gonna learn how to use water colors!

[deke-rivers-1957]

Kung Fu Elvis Part 3

If you're new to this series, the point of this is to find out which Elvis character is the best fighter given an uninterrupted hand to hand combat styled fight. The goal is to rank each individual Elvis character and then within each tier determine who would win against who.

How I plan on determining this will be by finding each character's age, size and general background. How well a character does in on screen fights will also be considered but analyzed on a case by case basis. Sometimes an Elvis character loses a fight simply because it's a comedy, or due to the low quality stage fighting wins because his opponents are laughably weak.

At the end of the day this is all headcanon as these are all fictional characters. If you disagree with how I rank a character I would love to hear your thoughts on where you would put them.

Wild in the Country is a movie that doesn't have a particular year. You would have to use the cars seen in the movie to determine when it takes place. Despite the presence of cars from the 40s, you also see a 1961 Chrysler New Yorker. Culturally speaking, you can also tell this is the early 1960s as you have Glenn going to therapy instead of immediately being institutionalized, a black man working with a white attorney showing the progression away from segregation, and college being a somewhat viable option with attendance steadily increasing since 1957. Given that Glenn doesn't have much of a job and has a rough and tumble backstory, it's likely that he isn't getting a full three square meals a day.

Even though I said on some sources, Glenn is stated to be 25, I could see someone make the argument that he's younger. Since no one claimed that he was a bit "too old" to be a college student, I'd say he's about 20/21 years old. Glenn being drunk is a non-issue because I don't see this town as being the type to care about enforcing drinking laws. In fact, Glenn's dad is an alcoholic and his uncle has it readily available which would make it more likely for Glenn to have drank before he turned 21.

Kissin Cousins relies heavily on the US military wanting land to build an airbase for the sake of national defense. Given that the Cuban Missile Crisis would serve as a big motivator to have a solidified air defense, we can assume this movie takes place a little after October 1962. Josh is an Air Force pilot and since he doesn't have anything on his uniform to suggest he was involved in a war or military intervention, it's fair to say that he's been living comfortably yet still has to be at least somewhat fit. Jodie meanwhile has been living up in the mountains his whole life where everyone lives off the land, so there isn't a lot of room to take in an excessive amount of calories. That also means, given his lifestyle and his work as a wrestler, Jodie by necessity has to stay in shape.

Going off of Josh's rank as a 2nd LT. I would say that he's anywhere between 25-30 years old. He never mentions being involved in Korea so that would make him under 30 in 1963. Given that there's no war, it takes a little longer to be promoted so even if Josh went to the academy and graduated, he'd still need a couple more years to be a commissioned officer. If you're in the Air Force, please correct me on how this worked during the 60s. As for Jodie, I have nothing to go off of. We don't have anything in mountain life that's age based. We can only assume that since Jodie is played by Elvis, he's at least an adult. For simplicity's sake, I'd say he's about the same age as Josh.

Despite having a somewhat specific timeline, Kid Galahad doesn't have a specific date. What we can assume is that it's after the 1920s since a poster of the real Jack Dempsey fight from 1921 is shown to be really old. Since the movie was filmed in 1961, I wouldn't be surprised if it was thrown in to a be 40th anniversary nod to it. Given that we see a contemporary Lincoln Continental, I would think this takes place throughout 1961. Mushy Callahan exists in this movie's universe is shown to be an older man, indicating that this takes place well after his prime since he retired in the 1930s. Walter being stationed in Okinawa for the army doesn't really give you a specific clue of when it takes place since the US had a persistent military presence in Japan after their surrender in WWII. Walter never mentions a war though, so we can assume that this takes place after Korea yet before the US sent group troops to Vietnam in 1965. We can assume that him being a soldier and a mechanic meant that he's relatively strong and fit.

Walter only has a canonical baptism date of August 14th 1939 in Cream Valley, New York. Given the context clue of his parents dying when he was 14 months old and that he lived with his family in Kentucky since then, we would assume he was baptized before they died. He was baptized by an Irish Catholic priest if he was allowed to marry Rose, an Irish Catholic so that means his parents likely abided by Catholic guidelines that a healthy baby is baptized within a few weeks or months of birth. Therefore, I would assume he was born in 1939 which in 1961 would make him about 22 years old.

This movie is about as specific as you can get with the time period. The Seattle World's Fair only lasts 6 months from April to October, 1962. We also know that Mike and Danny fly over a potato field. Potatoes can have a variety of planting and harvesting times, but it's common for them to be harvested in August or September. Since the fair isn't overflowing with kids, we can assume most schools have already opened. Sue-Lin's 7 years old so she's old enough to go to school, yet she's able to attend. If we assume that Mr. Ling was saving up money to take Sue-Lin to the fair, he would've had to have been saving money throughout the summer so he can take Sue-Lin right before her schooling starts, so we can assume that this takes place in either August or September, 1962. Mike being a recently destitute crop duster, likely had enough money to eat properly. He would also have to be fit enough to have any chance at becoming a test pilot or an astronaut.

We don't Mike's exact age, but we can make a guess based on certain elements of his life. If he wants to apply to NASA he has to be below the age of 35, have a degree in most commonly engineering, etc. Mike doesn't feel concerned about the age requirement so we assume that he has a few years to wait. We know Mike was in the Army for 3 years and that it takes about 4 years to get a degree in engineering. If we assume Mike did meet that requirement, he likely did it right after he left the Army using his VA benefits. Since the youngest you can be to join the Army is 18, Mike at his youngest finished his degree when he was 25. Since he worked with Danny as a crop duster for 3 years that would make him at least 28. So for simplicity's sake we'll stick with him being 28 years old.

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

Glenn might have an age advantage, but he's not at all in a good position to be the best fighter. He's a hot-headed character when he fights and only fought people who were impaired to some degree. He seems to win because of adrenaline and luck. He's similar to Deke from part 1 in that his ability to get proper nutrition is questionable at the very least. Given that he's the young, scrappy and hungry character I don't see him being able to have a long fight. If fact, I can see him being completely unable to win a planned fight. With no motivation to fight as his life isn't on the line, he just wouldn't do that well.

Therefore, Glenn is the worst fighter of this group but that's not an insult. With the exception of Jodie, everyone else has military training. Glenn is still in B tier simply because for the average person, he could beat them in a fight. He just wouldn't stand a chance against the other fighters in this group.

Josh and Jodie only fight each other. No one won because Azalea and Selena interrupted their fight. If you look at this realistically though, I don't see this as an even match. Josh having military training doesn't really help him if he was in a fight. He's an Air Force pilot so he's very unlikely to face someone one on one. Also he would have a gun which doesn't reflect your physical abilities. Jodie is essentially the strongest man in the whole mountain village. You can't live in the mountains your whole life, with no contact to the outside world, and not develop any type of muscle. The only gun they have is a hunting rifle, so must confrontations likely are settled through physical force. That gives Jodie a lot more experience with physical combat.

Therefore, Josh would be in B tier but above Glenn. Josh in general is more physically fit than Glenn. Simply having better nutrition by being in the Air Force would give Josh more energy. Glenn having the age advantage doesn't help him since he wouldn't have the stamina from lack of nourishment. Jodie on the other hand would be in A tier. Brute strength would be enough to win against the average person which Josh basically is. If you take him being a champion wrestler seriously, I don't see how Jodie could realistically lose against someone like Josh in a purely physical fight. I can't rank him higher because even this is based purely on what I think should happen. The movie just doesn't give us enough to know for sure.

Walter won every single fight, won against professional opponents, and won against opponents despite being unarmed. Even in the beginning when he had no technique, he still won his practice match against Joey with one punch. As a professional boxer, he's nothing but physically fit. You know that his camp is going to give him nothing but the best. We see him train and even when he's not training he's working with a heavy duty Model T.

Walter is easily the best fighter of this group. A character like Walter is the reason why this project exists. He is what this project is about: finding the best fighter in the ECU in a hand to hand combat, alone, and uninterrupted. Definitely an S tier fighter as he has direct boxing training, has an age advantage, and has never gotten out of shape. The only thing I question is how realistic it is for him to not get knocked out after being punched. The movie is making it sound as if this is some bizarre ability that I simply don't know if it could even exist in real life. I would still put him ahead of Jodie because if we do believe that Walter's ability to not get knocked out is a legit thing that can happen, then Jodie's brute strength is useless. It would be an insanely entertaining match since you just know that Jodie would be fueled by his hatred for losing.

Mike has only won fights that don't fit my proper criteria. I really think he can win on his own but the movie simply doesn't depict the fights like that. Then again, these are more akin to street fights where things aren't always fair. Adrenaline might play a big role in his fight against Vince, but again Mike being able to maintain a certain level of technique is a sign of skill.

Mike. E is in A tier and I can see him winning some good fights. Despite being a crop duster pilot, Mike being in the Army does give him an advantage. He has to have a bunch of stamina and it shows with him being able to run all over Seattle and still manage to fight Vince. However, without any official solo fights, I can't give him the edge over Jodie. If Jodie being the champion wrestler is a fact, then he would have more canonical solo wins than Mike.

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

To summarize for this part:

Walter is in S tier.

Jodie is in A tier.

Mike E. is in A tier but below Jodie.

Josh is in B tier.

Glenn is in B tier but below Josh.

Tagging: @karel-in-wonderland, @crash-and-cure, @lynettethemadscientist, @leighpc, @alienelvisobsession,

@seredelgi, @southcarolinawoman, @arrolyn1114, @ash-omalley, @snicks-12,

@freudianslumber, @be-my-ally, @xanatenshi @vintagepresley, @peaceloveelvis,

@tupelomiss, @peskybedtime, @squaggleson, @idk583838, @mercsandmonsters,

@smokeymountainboy and @lookingforrainbows.

[ilgaksu]

🎉 and 💔 for the fic writer asks?

from this series of fic writer asks

🎉 What leads you to consider a fic a success?

definitely engagement. i actually have several fics abandoned currently because of lack of engagement.

(the one that came to my mind immediately is the fic discussing hei xiazi's past as a sex worker in canon, which never did as well as i hoped, but also i had very limited hopes for the appeal of a fic about a cis and very masc man's relationship to female-oriented sex work. it is, however, entirely accurate to the actual sex work industry in the country he was operating in, as well as refusing to view sex work with anything but respect for a profession. do i sound bitter? i'm a little bit bitter.)

in my original writing career, engagement is less of a pressing issue to me because i have exchanged actual money or some other form of renumeration for labour. fic for me is less a handing over an item (because outside of a commission, you haven't paid for access to it and also then do not take any ownership of it or rights to it) and more of a form of communication with other fans. i want the influencer-capitalism shift of fan subculture into content creators and content consumers as two separate groups to die in a fire, actually. subcultures should not seek to mimic the dominant culture; modern fandom was created, as i've said before to a friend, by a group of women in a house talking about star trek, who had the audacity to treat each other as equals to each other and to men, when the world refused to view any of them as such. there is no such thing as "more equal than others" outside of animal farm, and especially not based on productivity.

having said that, i think if i was pretending that engagement isn't part of the reason i'm spending my limited time on earth writing two fictional and borrowed people, i would be being disingenuous. i am using it as a form of communication and communion with other people who love the thing i love, and the fic itself is a way of me expressing and processing my love, especially in a sociohistorical era where we are often far more distanced from who we want to be in community with. everyone wants their work and love to be acknowledged, and the use of their time, especially when it's on something that is viewed as a waste of it in the dominant culture; especially when it's viewed as silly and small, because current western culture denigrates love of the silly and small, especially a big love of something that cannot be made fully marketable. and so, it's hard to feel like a little kid at show and tell with your craft project, only to feel as if all the other kids are just walking by. it's why i'm always open to questions about characterisation and construction of fics/headcanons/theories, as well as writing craft; i just don't discuss the last one unless asked very often because i dislike seeming as though i need to provide a thesis defense for my creative practice to preface my work. like, what are you, my phd supervisor?

but to go on further, because it's my blog and i can elaborate if i want to, there are other aspects too. to follow the argument for engagement further, i sometimes get comments that echo that i have verbalised or represented an experience that felt personal to someone, and personal to the point of it feeling isolating. when i specialised in trauma studies, i focused a whole dissertation on caruth's theory of the unspeakable in trauma and looked it with a literary studies focus. caruth argues, to try and condense it quickly, that trauma is the experience of an unspeakable event, and, by that argument, we can surmise that only by articulating the trauma can someone begin to process that trauma. (i think a lot about what it means to live in a current culture that is trauma-obsessed and obsessed with making our trauma marketable for the algorithm to the total invasion of privacy, and yet deeply lacking in empathy to when trauma makes a person behave outside the bounds of what they consider acceptable, btw. but that's another topic for another day.)

so, for example, getting a comment saying that someone has felt seen and heard feels incredible to me. even if that's the only comment i get on that fic, it feels like this form of communication in a world that's starved us of that kind of communication, and that will make the real work and time that goes into writing feel worthwhile.

however, overall, i've moved away from as being as metrics-focused as i once was. when i began writing in heihua fandom, for example, i assumed, with absolute certainty, that nobody was reading, that nobody was interested in what i had to say, that nothing i was writing would be viewed with grace. and as a result, i felt free in a way i hadn't in previous fandoms where i was very publically involved; if i was writing alone, just for me, what would i write? and so now a great deal of is a fic a success for me is based in: do i read it back to myself and enjoy the process of that? does it feel like, if it wasn't written by me, and i wasn't worried about egocentricity, i would acknowledge that this fic was made entirely to my own tastes? am i having fun? did i love the process?

those are the questions i try to focus on now, and so now it's about 50/50 with that and actual external engagement, which is huge progress.

💔 Is there a fic of yours that broke your heart?

OH, BOY, THIS ONE'S THE BRUTAL QUESTION.

short answer: yes, there's been several, and i immediately thought of them when you asked.

longer answer in a reply that's already had a very long answer:

several fics of mine reflect claustrophobia and hopelessness i felt at that point in my personal life. i am proud of them and i am proud of myself for them, but not because i believe the purpose of pain is to make art, or that it makes personal misery worthwhile. i am proud of them because of their honesty. they break my heart in that to look at these works at the point in my life i'm at now is to feel an intense love and compassion for the version of me who wrote them. i try and avoid autobiographical readings of my work, because i think they're often used to pigeonhole marginalised creators to fit into the box of literary criticism, but i think it's important as a creator to value how you can see your own personal development outside of just skill development in your own creative work.

[mytragedyperson]

Honestly kind of excited about stranger things season 5. I saw a post that said they were going back to S1 groups in S5, which is probably just kids, teens, adults, or I guess teens, young adults, older adults. I'm kind of lowkey excited to see how the other characters react to Argyle, if he's there which I'm pretty sure he will be.

I'm pretty sure Steve and El are going to die this season, Steve because they've wanted to kill him since S1 and El because Millie wants to die or wants more deaths in the show but also I feel like the Duffer brothers would definitely do something that ends the show as it began. We see a scene of the kids, now teenagers playing D&d before the show ends as it began, with will saying goodbye to Mike before going home, only now they're boyfriends. The show arguably began with the party and particularly will and Mike. It would be kind of beautiful if the show ended with them too.

Speaking of Will, kinda want a scene where he and Robin talk. Maybe Robin realises his feelings for Mike and talks to him about it. Robin adopts will and takes him under her wing.

Also I feel like, if Steve died that would be the thing that encourages the characters, all of them to fight back harder. Robin losing her best friend, the kids losing their older brother figure, all of them losing someone who's always been there, always been reliable, always put himself between them and danger, and if he dies tyring to protect one of them, maybe protecting Jonathan, that would not only encourage them to fight back, but also be a beautiful end to his character. And stancy don't get back together because that wouldn't really make sense for either of their characters or arcs. Also extra shootout to Dustin finding out he's dead or seeing him die and having a "not you, I already lost Eddie, I can't lose you too" moment.

Dustin doesn't die. I'm sorry if Dustin dies that will be too much for me personally.

I've seen people saying Mike might get vecna'd, makes a lot of sense. If baler is endgame, kinda want a scene where Mike is getting vecnad and El is trying to help him, it's not working, will tries and Mike manages to fight it and has a Max escaping Vecna moment. This would be pretty good evidence that it truly is requited and would show what the endgame is.

Will plays a big role in helping kill Vecna, maybe we find out why he was allowed to live. I know Vecna may have wanted a spy but why Will? When he was taken El wasn't known yet. When Vecna took Barb he killed her pretty soon after. Will survived, was allowed to live and later escape. He was used as a spy but after that the ficus shifted to El, stopping her. Either way El and Vecna probably will fight again and either El will kill him but destroy herself in the process by using her powers to much, or she'll lose and be killed.

Jancy will discuss their problems. Haven't decided if I think they'll break up or not but I do think they'll be endgame so even if they do break up canonically I'd imagine they'd get back together in the future.

Also possibly Mike and Will getting Murrayed in some way or Mike and el depending on which is endgame, preferably byler, because if they're not endgame it makes very little sense for him to be in live with Mike for 4 seasons

Also a scene where Mike either talks to El about the painting she apparently commissioned and El is like "I didn't commission a painting" or Mike rereads El's letters and realises the painting is the one El thought was for a girl Will liked. This could leads to Will and Mike having an argument about Will lying about the painting and Will blurting out that he likes Mike. However if this did happen, I think I'd be happier if Will was the one getting vecnaed and Mike trying to save him. Mike has another monologue but there's a clear difference between this monologue and the El monologue in that it seems more genuine and personal to their relationship, he references their meeting mentioned in S2, their fight in S3, how will showing him his painting in S4 gave him courage, how losing him in S1 felt like his world got ripped out from under him, maybe he mentions the jumping off the cliff to save Dustin scene in S1 in some way, maybe he apologises for forgetting his birthday, or maybe he didn't forget, maybe he had a present for him but never gave it to him because he was too busy arguing with him. Maybe he reminds him they're supposed to go crazy together, that it's up to them like always. Basically a big monologue mentioning events from last seasons and ends with Mike admitting he loves him too, he was just scared to admit it. Before this event him and El broke up because of the problems in their relationship that were never truly addressed or understood. And Mike saves will.

OK sorry it appears my predictions for S5 turned into a mini fanfiction so let's try and bring it back.

Idk what will happen with max but el will try to save her and, if she succeeds, lumax will be endgame.

Joyce or Hopper could die but I really hope they don't.

I feel like Robin could die but they wouldn't have much reason to kill her so probably won't, thankfully.

If el doesn't die and mileven is endgame, somehow, I feel like will could die, but this feels like it would be a less satisfying ending to me personally.

Obviously these are all just my opinions on what I think will happen. I could be wrong, they could just kill Mike or Nancy or Jonathan. Or they could decide to have Nancy and Robin get together. But these feel less likely and wouldn't make as much sense to me as the rest of what I've said

I hope we'll see more rockie but if we do it will probably be short scenes between all the action.

[arizonaconservativegal]

Hi there. Californian desperately looking to flee this coming summer. Was once considering Arizona but I’m concerned that the election chaos of CA is in AZ too and now you have a Democrat governor. Is this still a place I can safely flee or is AZ lost like Cali now? Honestly asking. I don’t want to absorb the work and expense of relocating just to be in the same place.

I might give it a year and see how much Katie Hobbs is able to bypass or bully the legislature. I think they'll be able to keep her in check but they have an unfortunate habit of being certifiably insane so I hate to put all my hopes on them. In general, I don't expect the next four years to be super fun here but I wouldn't say the fight is over yet. Our state party doesn't know what the fuck it's doing but if they get their shit together, the state is very winnable. We may have had a big influx of Californians moving here since covid but this is still a slightly right of center state.

I'll give you my usual warnings about moving here:

If you're renting, you should know that housing prices in the cities / larger towns have shot up about 50% in about four years and show no signs of slowing. Be ready for that. I don't know offhand what the trend has been for the more rural areas, but I imagine it's gone up a fair bit too. Still much, much cheaper than California though.

If you're buying, you need to very thoroughly dig into the water rights where you buy or you might find yourself in a lot of expensive trouble very quickly. This is especially true if you are looking at a rural area but several unincorporated areas on the edges of Phoenix have learned the hard way recently that hiring water haulers isn't cheap.

In most of the state, illegal immigration tends to be more of a political issue than a daily life issue but for areas on the border and along major drug corridors, it is a very serious problem. Good luck getting into a hospital in Yuma - they're overflowing with illegal immigrants. I also personally know people who cannot go outside on their own property at night because the cartels use it to traffick all sorts of things and they will shoot you if they see you.

We did manage to hold on to the corporation commission, which regulates the power companies, so I'm not too worried about this unless the legislature does something dumb, but we do need a new power plant soon or we may be looking at rolling blackouts in the not super distant future... I think it'll be okay but it would have been good to have a Republican in the governor's office to smooth that process a bit.

We have a very low income tax and property taxes tend to be low for primary residences. People think this means we are a low tax state. What they forget is that we have a very high sales tax - nearly 10% in some areas. All said and done, we're fairly average for total tax rates when compared with other states. It's still a lot better than California, but I don't want you to be surprised.

You need a car to get around here. Public transportation exists but isn't very functional and nothing is close enough to walk. Make sure you get a new Arizona plate (you only need one) because otherwise everyone will see your Cali plates and automatically hate you.

And the last warning I have is that yes, it really does get fuck-off hot here in the summer. Expect temperatures to never fall below 100 for the entire month of July. If Phoenix doesn't get a straight week of 115+, that's a mild summer. If you're from LA, you probably know what to expect. Otherwise, make sure you have a good AC system - and you want AC, not a swamp cooler. Trust me.

All that said, it's really a great state to live in. It's raining today and that's a rare enough event that everyone gets excited for it. There really is nothing like a southern Arizona sunset. Jeans and a button down shirt count as formal attire in half the state, especially when paired with cowboy boots. Most of the population is from somewhere else so you can find restaurants with quality food from anywhere you like. In most of the state, you will literally never have to shovel snow or scrape ice off your windshield. We have all the major sports franchises so you can go to big games when you want and they don't totally suck but none of the teams are good enough that anyone really expects you to root for them over your home team. We have more biomes here than any other state in the country so whatever kind of environment you want, you can get. Natural disasters don't happen in most of the state - the worst thing is forest fires in the north which are usually manageable. We have a weirdly huge historic car community because our climate is so dry that the cars don't rust. People put Christmas lights on cacti. Haboobs look like the apocalypse is rolling in but are really just a funny word for the newscasters to say a lot. You will see people wearing a bolo tie unironically. I once saw a woman put a tumbleweed in the back of a minivan. I love it here.

[truly-morgan]

[College AU, HC's muse]

HuaLian | Heaven Official’s Blessing Modern AU 26-03-2021

[#hualian modern]

What if they were in college when they "first" met? hc is an art student, people even starting to wonder if he's even /trying/ to graduate or if he's going to stay in the program forever.

xl is doing some general courses, not sure where he'll go in life, his seemingly bad luck makes it that he fails classes because of bad things happening when he just trying his best.

throughout the months he sees hc statues and paintings since they are being exposed by the course, somehow they are really eye-catching with how realistic the man can get sometimes. hc seems to often include one man in his project and xl can't shrug off the feeling that the person depicted seems /familiar/.

Then one day, in his unluckiness, he bumps into someone as he's trying to get to class without being more late than he already is. The stranger spills his coffee on him, yet rather than the angry reaction he expected xl only hears a "Are you okay?".

hc is looking at him, trying to see if any coffee has gotten onto him, ignoring the fact that the coffee got all over his clothes. xl is then the one worried, asking if hc is alright, hoping he didn't burn himself with the coffee, asking if he can do something to help him.

"Why not buy me another coffee?" tease the stranger with a grin.

xl accept, finding it only fair despite not having much money. it's okay, he knows a cheap but good coffee shop he could take him to. hc is obviously taken aback that it works but takes the opportunity anyway. It won't show itself again.

So when classes are done, he joins a hc who has changed clothes, making him worry he might have ruined the other. He's quickly being reassured that it was not the case, they were clothes he usually wears when working with clay, as to not dirty his everyday clothes.

This leads to xl asking curiously what he's studying, not believing him when he says he's the one doing these pieces of art he has been enjoying in the past months.

"If gege wants I can show him what I am currently working on" he is being suggested and xl accept immediately.

And like this, it becomes a thing to go get coffee, hc often lets xl hang around when he's working on a project, not bothered by the man who usually either sits in silence, works on some homework or talks with him when he's not working on really detailed parts.

others from hc classes wonder who is the young man always by his side, not daring to disturb them because of the weirdly intimate aura around them, as if they were all alone in the room or something. fx and mq, xl roommates and childhood acquaintance slash friends are starting to wonder who is hc, since he's often over to help xl around or come pick him up to take him on what are clearly dates, despite xl being seemingly oblivious about how the man is looking at him.

Then, one day, hc finally suggests bringing xl to his place, where his art studio also is. Of course, xl accepts, only to be surprised by how big it is. hx place is basically only the studio, two rooms connected and much smaller, one being his room. even the kitchen is in a corner of the room.

xl jokingly asked if he's secretly the heir to a rich family, only to be told that it is mostly paid by hc job plus the many commission he takes on, making cl wonder how come hc finds so much time to hang out with him.

"That and the square is more industrial, so it's less demanded and cheaper". xl isn't sure of the validity of this, but seeing how hc looks like most of the time, he clearly doesn't have problem with money, so maybe he don't need to worry.

hc shows him around a bit, even trying to teach him how to sculpt clay, which xl does enjoy doing despite barely making a cat-shaped form. hc promise him he could get better with more practice. They end up eating, having order while playing around with clay.

Then hc gets a phone call from his boss, leaving xl alone for a bit. xl decide to look more into what hc did, having already been told he could look at whatever he wanted to. He goes through what he assumes to be school sketchbook, filled with drawings of models While reaching for something higher he ends up knocking down an art portfolio folder, many pieces of paper spilling on the ground. he quickly tries to pick them up, only for his eyes to catch up on one of the drawings.

Was it... him?

It leads him to pick up the paper, finding out it is indeed a drawing of him. Then after looking more closely, he realised they are /all/drawings and sketches of him. He isn't sure what is the most troubling: some clearly being of him at school while he was working on something or the one clearly drawn without him as a model.

He then looks around more, only to find other portfolios filled with him. He even found a good amount of statues made of him, most rather small.

he realises that his schoolwork works most likely are him too, now that he sees some without any alteration made to his appearance to hide it /just enough/ for it to not look evident.

hc comes back to the studio to find an xl standing among many versions of himself, clearly looking a bit unsure as to what he should be thinking of this.

On look from xl and he knows what his question is "Yes, it's you" replies hc straightforwardly.

xl simply nodded, as he looked around a bit more, before hc decided to join him to help pick up his work. "I didn't mean to make gege uncomfortable, I will stop or get rid of these if this is what you want," he said, although something in his eye didn't seem like he wanted to do the latter option.

"Did I know you... before?" finally asked xl, not believing he was interesting enough for a stranger to suddenly start doing /this many/pieces of art with him.

he then learns that actually, xl had saved him once and had somehow also stumbled onto him later on a couple of times.

He finally remembered the young boy he had saved from drowning after falling into a river, surprised hc had recognised him now that they were both older.

This had was a bit much for xl to take in, going back home, and letting hc accompany him to the bus station "just to be safe" he was told.

When he get back to his apartment, fx seems to catch up on his troubled mind despite trying to hide it, finally admitting to what he had just learned after some (a lot) of insisting on fx and mq sides. They are both much more worried than he is, finally finding something to pin on hc for being /this/ obsessed with him, now understanding where the weird impression was coming from.

at first, they don't want for xl to hang out with him anymore, because what if he's not just an obsessed artist, but also dangerous?

So they both follow him around, making sure xl isn't alone with hc. for a time it does work, even clearly getting under hc skin despite him trying not to show it around xl. Then it fails when one of xl classes finishes earlier than the usual, hc already waiting for him, asking if they could talk. xl can't find it in him to refuse, following him back into an empty classroom.

"I am truly sorry for having troubled gege to the point he feels the need to have two guard dog with him all the time" he apologises, xl unsure if it wasn't also joking.

xl tries explaining to him it was only fx and mq doing, that after some time he didn't really mind it, having finally digested the news.

It was weird thinking that it wasn't enough and that he still wanted hc in his life because he had gotten this important in the span of nearly a year.

This is also when hc decided to confess his love, wanting to be fully transparent now, not to definitely scare the man away later on if he ever finds out by accident. One time was enough, he didn't want to make his love worry and feel trouble like this another time.

xl wasn't sure if he should be surprised or not, yet he finds himself rather enjoying the confession, happy that it is actually the case.

yet he doesn't know how to answer, still unable to put full word to his feeling. He sees hc approach him, one of his hands hovering near his cheek, not touching him quite yet. he was then asked permission for a kiss, making him feel warm that he was asking like this. he really didn't understand where fx and mq distrust was coming from when he was asking his permission even for a kiss. He accepted and upon being touched this gently, then a bit more passionately, he finds out he wouldn't mind having this all the time.

Only a couple of days later does xl decide to confess his love, having had the time to think about it and finds out that he had fallen in love with hc. delighted and happy would be too weak of words to describe how hc feels about it, now even more affectionate and teasing towards xl. Everything works out really well for them at the end of the day and even fx and mq have to accept xl won't change his mind.

Original

[pbandjesse]

Today was a lot better. A lot of that was probably because I wasn't in so much pain. Things felt better all around.

I slept better. I woke up at 7 and was sure it was time to get up and was very pleased to find I did not have to get up yet.

But when I did I felt a lot better. While my lip is still swollen it isn't hot and painful. Just kind of a scab. So I'm not as miserable. This was good.

I got up and made the bed and got dressed. I liked my outfit very much. And got ready for the day. I had a little sandwich. I vacuumed.

And then I finally. Finally got to work on my commission for Rosia. She answered me right away when I chose the font and loved the one I chose. I was scared about the embroidery paper but it wasn't as bad as I feared. I got it placed. And we started.

I got the A completed within the hour. And I made a few mistakes. But overall it went well and she loved it. So I kept working. I worked until 11. And I'm so excited about how well it is going. Even though gold floss is a nightmare to work with it is going really well!!

At 11 I had some vegetable time and had a little snack. I brought in stuff from the car. I felt very productive. I would also sort the plush I have for sale for the market and then it was time to go.

I drove to awah and Paris was coming in about that same time. It was nice to see her. And soon after Naomi was there too. We had an excellent conversation about my art in grad school and the through lines from undergrad to now. And it felt like. Really invigorating to talk about it. I don't get to talk about my work as much now that I'm not showing in galleries. I think maybe I would like to make gallery work again. Well see. I have some ideas floating around in my head.

And our class went really well. Everyone loved this mosaic bird house project. All the parents and aids and even us wanted to make them. So we had a ton of fun. Just talking and making and it really felt like community today.

A few people stayed through to the second hour. And I found that a few people are signed up for my class next week and are interested in private classes with me if I offer those in the fall. Which is so cool. I want to make that happen. I think that would just an awesome thing to do.

We finished up with getting all our mosaics as done as possible. I was super proud of everyone for their hard work. And then we were cleaning up. I alarmed the building. And headed home.

I texted James about getting dinner out tonight. And then when I got home I got back into my embroidery. Only 2 letters left! I worked until they got back here. A little later then they projected but that's okay. I'm glad they enjoyed their bike ride back. Besides a little sprinkle it had been a beautiful day.

They did the laundry. And I chilled on the couch. And once it was time to switch the laundry to the dryer we went down together and then walked to brass tap.

And it was a really nice walk there. And dinner was excellent. We talked about what we're going to do tomorrow and fears about our big trip. I'm really excited and it feels good and reassuring that we are on the same page with if things go wrong. We're in it together.

After dinner the walk home was rough on me. I was struggling a lot. My body was not having fun. But we got home, through many complaints.

When we got back James went and got the clean laundry and I got in bed for a little while. Eventually James joined me. And once the sun set I took a bath. Sadly I am out of bubbles. But it was still very nice.

Now we are in bed. And I am pretty cold. James stubbed their toes really bad in the kitchen. But they are icing them. And soon we will go to sleep.

We have the day off tomorrow. And I'm really looking forward to it. I hope it is a good day. I hope you all sleep good tonight. Take csre of yourself!! Wash your hands!!

[sunderedazem]

Going to add! With some basic site-mechanics tips for ao3 newcomers mixed in, because I'd hazard a guess that some of the lack of etiquette might be remedied if new folks understood how to use this kind of website a little better - it runs very differently from the algorithm-spam of many websites today, and people who missed early internet days due to lack of access or lack of being born yet might face a bit of a learning curve.

Prefacing all this with - as stated earlier, ao3 is not a social media site. It is an archive. That means it's more similar to JSTOR or other online research databases than it is to social-media fandom hubs. It's just Not Built the same. If attention and statistics are your driving force, this site *will* disappoint.

Learn some database searching tricks! Most search engines will respond to certain phrasing (i.e. searching something like 'dog*' will return multiple results beginning with "dog" such as dog, doggo, doge, dogs, dogged, dogma, etc), and ao3 is no exception. Here's a helpful starter site for these kinds of tricks. They should also work on regular search engines like Google!

Make sure to check tags when a fic updates, especially if the author has noted something like "rating may change" or "additional tags to be added". Sometimes a surprise shock factor tag might show up that you don't like after the fic has been posted - seat-of-the-pants authors get bouts of Horrible Whimsy sometimes, and while most will warn of major changes in notes, ultimately it is on the reader to tag-check. (I am seat-of-the-pants authors)

While constructive criticism (unless specifically okayed) is usually considered rude, you can always politely ask an author to add a tag you feel may be relevant. They might say no (which is their call - only the major archive tags are required checkboxes) but asking never hurts as long as you respect the decision they make.

Learn to use site skins! There's plenty of available ones on ao3 for you to choose from that can modify your ao3 site appearance to something that better suits your tastes or needs, or filter certain things from results for you, and you don't have to be particularly ao3-savvy to apply a pre-built site skin - the option to preview and apply is built in through the site itself.

Learn a little HTML! You can insert clickable hyperlinks to your tumblr or social media or etc this way, format your fics if you want to, and you can also embed images into the text of your fics using html. You can also use this to customize site skins! (It's also very handy for customizing your tumblr too, btw)

Choose Not to Warn is not the same as No Archive Warnings Apply. If you go into a CNTW fic you're knowingly walking into something that could be incredibly disturbing or triggering, and not be explicitly tagged for that disturbing or triggering thing - the CNTW tag covers it. It's a risk you have to accept when you read that fic.

Authors can see what you say in your bookmarks, even if said bookmarks aren't visible to others. (Giving a story a "grade" in bookmarks is not the move, folks)

Favoriting tags pins them to the ao3 homepage! Very useful for quickly finding fics with your favorite ships or tropes or characters.

Do NOT mention the word "commissions" or anything similar when posting your fic - this will get your story removed because AO3's big legal defense of fanfic hinges on people NOT making money from it. This also means do NOT link to a commission site or a Ko-fi. It's not personal, it's just so they can keep themselves from eating a lawsuit.

Edit: one more! Essays and meta ARE allowed - fannish nonfiction is totally cool, just tag it appropriately.

AO3 Etiquette

It would seem a whole new kind of AO3 reader/writer is emerging and it is becoming clear not everyone quite understands how the website community works. Here is some basic guidance on how most people expect you to go about using AO3 to keep this a fun community archive that funtions correctly:

Kudos is for when the story was interesting enough to make you finish reading. If it sucked or was badly written, you probably left. If you finished - you kudos.

If you liked it, you should comment. It can be long and detailed or a literal keysmash. Writers don't care, we just love comments.

No critisism unless the author has specifically asked or agreed to hear it. Even constructive critisism is a no-no unless an author note tells you it's okay. Many people write as a fun hobby or a way to cope with, among other things, insecurity. Don't ruin that for them.

Do not comment to ask the author to write/update something else. It's tacky and off-putting and will probably have the opposite effect than the one you want.

There is no algorithm, it's an archive. Use the search and filter function to add/remove the pairings/characters/tropes etc. you want to read about and it will find you the fics that fit the bill.

For this to work, writers must tag and rate stories. This avoids readers finding the wrong things and missing the stuff they want. I don't care how cringy that trope is in your eyes - it gets tagged.

Character A/Character B means a ROMANTIC or SEXUAL relationship of some kind. Character A&Character B is PLANTONIC, like friendship or family.

Nothing is banned. This is an implicit rule because banning one thing is a slipperly slope to banning another and another, until nothing is allowed anymore. Do not expect anyone to censor for you. Because of the tags system, you are responsible for your own reading experience.

People can create new chapters and sequels/fic series any time after they "complete" a story. So it's considered perfectly normal to subscribe, even to a finished story. You can even subscribe to the author instead just to cover your bases.

Do not repost stories or change the publishing date without an extremely good reason (like a complete top to bottom rewrite). It's an archive, not social media. No one cares what's the most recent, only what fits their tag needs.

Avoid deleting a story you wrote if you hate it - orphan it so others can still enjoy it, without it being connected to you anymore.

This is a creative fanfiction archive. No essays on your insights or theories please. There are other places for that.

I KNOW there's plenty more I missed but I'm trying to cover most of the basics that people seem to be struggling with.

I invite anyone to add to this, but please explain, don't berate.

[keefwho]

May 07 - 2024 Tuesday

10:31pm

4.5/10

Im writing on time tonight because DS went to sleep early and I did my dishes early partly because my tummy hurts.

This morning I did my whole body shave with the manscaped attachment I don't usually use which was a good idea, it's bigger than the thing I usually use. It's just not as good at trimming unless you are only going against the grain. I took my shower and for breakfast I made oatmeal using some frozen cut up apples and a side of spam. It was a light breakfast since I've been eating big meals lately. I did my monthly finances finally, just 2 days late.

For work today I warmed up by sketching human torsos but my head wasn't really in it so I didn't do a great job. That didn't bode well for what commissions were going to turn out like. It was just one of those days. I had a bit of trouble on the commission because GT, the guy paying for it, just wanted me to redraw a black and white image of a guy on a motorcycle but as a cat instead. Partway in I didn't think my usual process would be best so I decided to wing it instead and do something more like a lineless color study which turned out to be a good idea. I stopped stream halfway through because little things kept going wrong and my tablet died which required me to restart my computer. DS seemed upset at that which sucks because she's definitely my favorite viewer to have.

Off stream I asked TK if she wanted to hang out in her server VC while I worked. She said she had just showered and likes to wind down after so in a bit we could. In the meantime I worked on the commission with some music. I got distracted a few times but not too badly. She alerted me when she was good to go so I joined her and her boyfriend to chill. NJ joined as well. I mostly listened until I decided to speak up about some frustrations I had today. It turned into a big rant session to NJ who was kinda becoming my therapist for some reason. He asked some good questions but didn't have very good advice in my opinion. He also implied every thing I said was wrong which wasn't productive, I felt like I was defending myself at every turn on things I was confident I was right about. Eventually the topic was abandoned and I left briefly to start lunch. I made stir fry rice with canned ham and mixed vegetables. It came out okay, I wish I had added more jalapenos. I continued work in the call. TK asked what I was working on and I had to explain it was someone's character performing receiving fellatio. Then I worked on something of my own which was my otter giving head and I actually showed them that one since they were curious. It was a strangely classic case of showing "normies" some relatively extreme furry art, but they appreciated the quality of it. Especially the background. After an hour of working on that, I switched to my custom pony VRchat avatar. I more or less finished work on the basic body shape I think, but I'm not sure I'm sold on it yet. TK left and I hung out with the other guys until I was done working. Then I got off to decompress.

I watched episode 2 of Black Mirror this evening. I already got all my thoughts on it out to DS, but my view was trying to positive in that maybe their society would improve with the introduction of the guy's podcast on the state of the system. I think it was left open ended. I got the impression at the end that it was implied he had a LOT of work ahead of him. After watching, I booted up KSP with the goal of further figuring out a way to organize my crafts and do a couple missions. The craft organizer mod is unfortunately bugged which makes it very hard to use. I might just have to get rid of it and think of another way to organize. DS got in bed early and we called to do our usual routine of puzzles and KH2. She talked to me a bit about her struggles lately and I empathize with all of it. It's stuff I'm also working on and making headway I think. Its progress I wish I could share with her somehow without lecturing about how I'm doing it. I know the best thing I can do is support her as she figures out what works for her which I'm eager to witness and hear about. I reached the end of the game in KH2 and next is the final final boss I think. After DS fell asleep I continued KSP a little bit. I also ate the first chicken strip I've made that come un-cooked which was something I was very slightly worried about. I knew it wouldn't really be a big deal, and it wasn't. Since they're frozen it isn't very gross handling them. I just know I gotta wash my hands when I'm done. Its unrelated that my tummy has hurt all afternoon and evening and still is. I keep having to go but it's all ordinary. This has happened before, its just uncommon for me. No idea what could have my stomach like this but I think it's already passing. I getting very cozy watching a Twitch streamer play Fallout 4, I'm probably gonna watch until I happen to pass out.

I wanted to practice "self as context" from my ACT book today but I didn't out of simple laziness. I'm guilty of feeling like I already know everything I need to know but that is foolish and I know it. I turned this journal into a sort of practice by writing it from the perspective that I'm reading it which helps me provide better context for events and makes me look at my own writing style. It helps prevent rambling in a way that I ignore and forget about as soon as the words have been typed.