#and don't feel obligated to read the long sections if you don't want to

[yumeka-sxf]

I try to stay away from negative topics, but after hearing talk on social media yesterday and seeing this post from @such-a-downer, I just had to give my two cents about the complaints regarding yesterday's chapter being "another short mission" and that Endo is somehow being "lazy" or whatever.

I honestly don't understand this mentality of criticizing manga-ka, or any artists really, because they aren't delivering by whatever standards you personally think are appropriate. To me, it just seems like entitlement because Endo has no obligation to cater to any specific fan's wants. This is his story to tell the way he wants, and his characters to develop at the pace he deems fit. This isn't a business contract where we're paying him to deliver content we want every two weeks without fail. If I'm consuming the fruits of someone's creative labor for free, I certainly feel no right to complain if sometimes their content isn't what I wanted or expected. I'm fine with that because 1) I know it's what they (the creator) wanted/needed at the time, and 2) even if a particular chapter wasn't my cup of tea, I know other fellow fans out there somewhere are enjoying the heck out of it, and that's cool!

We also have to remember that SxF is basically a one-man show. If Endo is busy or sick or whatever, it's not like he can have someone fill in for him to write and draw the series. That's what a hiatus is for, that's what making a short chapter instead of a longer one is for...that's how artists should be treated so they don't get burned out and stressed. Plus, art shouldn't be rushed. Any artist knows that there are times when you have trouble coming up with ideas and maybe need a little extra time to develop a more complex section of the story. To immediately jump to conclusions that he's lazy or doesn't know what he's doing is ridiculous. Maybe he didn't feel good for a few days, maybe he's been busy with other SxF events, maybe he just needed more time to get a particular future arc developed, or maybe he just has basic IRL obligations to take care of like we all do...you don't know what's going on in his life, so don't make assumptions.

Another thing to keep in mind is that it's literally impossible to please every fan. One of the comments I read for example, someone was ready to drop the series because we haven't seen much of Yor in "a while." All I could think of was "didn't she just have a pretty big role only four chapters ago when they went to the ski resort?" Plus she was the star of chapter 91, which was less than ten chapters ago. So according to this person's standards, four chapters without seeing a particular character is "too long"? What if it was only three chapters, would that be acceptable? It's not right to push our own personal standards of a series' pacing as the "correct" way: some people want to see more of character X while someone else wants to see more of subplot Y, so should both complain that the manga-ka isn't doing right whenever they focus on something else? I'm not saying you shouldn't make criticisms of a manga-ka's work, but the criticisms should come from within the narrative itself, not superficial things like chapters focusing on subplots/characters you don't want to see or not having enough "plot-advancing" content when it's not a plot-focused series.

People who have read SxF up to this point should know the general flow of the chapters: mostly slice-of-life episodic, with more plot-heavy, intense arcs once in a while, like the cruise arc and bus arc. It's an ensemble series that spends most of its chapters focused on at least one of the Forgers, but occasionally other characters here and there. That's how the series has been for years and will likely continue to be. So if you keep complaining because you only like the dramatic story arcs and not the "nothing happens" episodic chapters, then maybe the series just isn't for you. It's totally fine if that's the case, but don't act like Endo is doing something wrong because he's not providing the particular thing you want in his story.

To summarize, Endo has no obligation to cater to particular fans' standards, just as we have no obligation to keep reading his work if we don't like it. But being a fan to me means respecting the creator's pace and vision even if it's not always what I personally want. I can find something to enjoy in every chapter because I'm a fan of SxF, not a fan of one particular aspect of it. But I also will not complain every time my tastes aren't being catered to and will simply occupy myself with other things while I wait. What's the big hurry, after all? I'm in no rush for SxF to wrap up its plot and I'm glad Endo isn't rushing either.

And that's all I'm gonna say about this topic, lol. On a happier note, I'm going to finally see Code White on Thursday! 😁 More to come later~

[blueberry-ash]

Accidentally re-read Chapter 400-403 of the TKA novel, and now I'm invested in the idea of Ye Qiu finally getting to just... have his turn at stepping away from Ye family obligations.

(Random segue: this section of Ye Xiu backstory is absolutely one of those areas where I really feel Ye Xiu is an unreliable narrator when it comes to talking about himself. Yes, sure, he definitely saw his brother's Running Away Suitcase and nicked it, taking the chance to run away himself. But the stuff implying that he, in that moment, had a reasonable plan about going pro as a gamer, with a baked-in end date, etc etc, whereas all Ye Qiu wanted was to leave...? I don't really buy that. Nobody was going pro with Glory at that point, okay? And even if he really did leave to go play video games, doesn't that also sound just like a little boy (same as his brother), eager to jettison himself from their family situation? Maybe I have the timelines wrong, but I'm really pretty sure that Glory, and being a pro-gamer, and all that really only came along with Su Muqiu, by which point Ye Xiu is implied to have been basically living in internet cafes. That does not really sound like a kid with a plan significantly crafted beyond Opportunistically Leave and Do Frowned-Upon Hobby, okay?)

But. Uh. That aside. What I now want is the story where Ye Qiu finally does get his chance to just... fuck off for a while. To just leave. Not shoulder his parents' expectations, or even his own, just... go away, and maybe en route figure out what his dream actually is?

Except, I think you'd have to machinate an external excuse to allow him to do that, at this point. He's spent too long being The Good Son, y'know? That's not an easy habit to break. And it probably won't be made any easier even if/when Ye Xiu does actually return to co-shoulder the Ye family business or whatever, because even in a scenario where Ye Xiu does genuinely decide to invest himself in that in a wholehearted way, Ye Xiu is still never going to do it in a Ye Qiu Would Do It This Way kind of way.

Actually, I think watching Ye Xiu very successfully "Ye Xiu"ing his way through the tasks and expectations, which Ye Qiu has been making such a point of doing so dutifully and correctly all this time, would probably be a whole new kind of hell for Ye Qiu, ngl.

All of which somehow leads me to the wacky crack-y suggestion of: Local Pro Players Realise The Existence Of Ye Qiu Is Ultimately The Fundamental Reason God Ye Has Been Able To Be Their Great Goal And/Or Rival All These Years; They Reward The Guy By Kidnapping Him From His Corporate Life Of Responsibilities and Showing Him A Good Time. Which would, of course, lead to chaotic shenanigans all around, surely, since I truly believe he has ZERO interest in video games, and most of them probably aren't all that experienced at a huuuuge amount of stuff outside of them. The hell do they even end up? Dragging him off on a holiday that goes impossibly wrong, but somehow in a fun way--? I Have No Idea!

Of course, that or... Chen Guo just randomly tells him he's doing a direct swap with Ye Xiu, cheers, meaning he's now hired at the Internet Cafe/some administrative part of Team Happy, please and thank you, enjoy your newfound levels of relatively low pressure work, questionable pay, and excellent socialisation opportunities as we plunge you face-first into geek culture, sorry not sorry. Also, btw, this girl(boy)(whoever) from the front desk seems to have taken a fancy to you, have fun.

[mohs-aphmau-hcs]

Stereotypical Emergency Gofundme Title

Hey guys, I hate doing this, especially after being inactive for so long but this is my most popular blog and I need help.

I'm 19, living paycheck to paycheck with some pets and my SDIT, I'm severely mentally disabled and trans, living in the US, and I'm currently in a housing emergency that could leave me homeless in the likely worst-case scenario

Im an incapacitated mentally disabled trans adult living in the USA with my cats and dogs, one of which is an SDIT, I am unable to do basic things alone like grocery shopping or doctor's appointments, I can barely keep myself and my animals going.

the people taking care of me had to drop everything and leave because a dangerous family member wouldn't stop harassing them. They're currently trying to help me find a cheap place, and then get me a DLS worker/Daily carer, but its a hard long process

In the process of getting out safely, they kind of left me here in a hazardous situation because their emergency place didn't have enough room for me. So, now I'm being harassed by this family member, and I have nowhere to live and no one to help me.

This family member is threatening to come in and gut the house before I'm gone so our dad can move in. An offer we did make to my dad, but this person is under the impression it was going to happen overnight. And is threatening to do so in 2 weeks whether I like it or not, on top of threatening to get rid of my animals. This person is for one dangerous and violent, and going against him could hurt me. At this point, him and this situation are a threat to my life and he has been directly threatening my life more than once. A fight between me and this person would also put more strain than there already is on my dad and mine relationship. I want to move out by next month to avoid this situation.

I need to find a house or lenient apartment for rent, that accepts animals and isn't discriminatory against low income, disability, government support, and LGBT+, but I can barely afford rent here let alone a down payment on top of rent and a moving truck by next month. On top of finding a place that accepts Section 8 or low income, and then even having to wait to see if I can get a Section 8 voucher, and feeling unsafe in my current home, it's been hard. This is my first time doing any of this.

If I could make maybe 1k USD or more that'd help so much with getting at least a basic place to stay in when I find one

No one is obligated to help, but every little bit helps at the moment, I wouldn't be making this post if I wasn't desperate. I don't need food, or necessities except maybe cat food, I have enough for right now I just need a roof over my head

If you're able to, anything helps, thank you for reading my little sob story, here's a link to my gofundme page to help me get a house. Thank you all again just for reading even if you don't donate anything, <3

Fundraiser by Sam Tamayo : Help me raise money for a home for me and dog (gofundme.com)

[natlovesls2]

What Was I Made For?

Bob Floyd x Reader

Note: This is based on my recent break up so it's a little personal. This is for all the girls who can’t accept the fact that they can (and deserve) to be loved. We all deserve to be loved and we deserve to be told that we're worth it. I'm so proud of everyone reading this because you're wonderful. Also, no use of y/n. I also didn't proofread this, so it might not make sense. I hope it's alright, but I might edit it another day. This is my first post, so this is scary.

Summary: You don't think you deserve Bob, which leads to your breakup. A look at your relationship and its downfall, as well as the struggle to be happy: and accept love.

Word count: 1.9k

Warnings: angst, bad writing, and grammar mistakes

I used to float, now I just fall down I used to know but I'm not sure now What I was made for What was I made for?

The memories of warm hugs and stolen kisses were just that, memories. Everything had felt so concrete and long-lasting. It's funny how a few bad days could take your whole away. The late-night talks of a shared house, kids, and dogs slowly lose their meaning. You'd lost all of yourself; nothing could stop your downward spiral. You had once wanted to have kids with him. There's no reason to deny that that thought had once made you feel warm and giddy. That was weeks ago, and now you weren't even sure if you wanted to live. The longer you loved him, the more you felt like a burden.

"We should get married," you laughed at Bob's sudden statement. "Not right now, but sometime in the future. We'll get a house together and have kids." He turned on his side to look at you, grabbing your hands and kissing them. 

  "We would have the most beautiful babies, all because of you, my love," he whispered, pulling you into a kiss. 

You had been so sure that your life would be one of domestic bliss. Two kids (a boy and a girl), a dog, and maybe a cat (if you could convince your future husband). Now that the plans meant nothing, you felt so lost. The fear of the future slowly drags you down to the bottom of a deep ravine. The weight of your guilt keeps you there, slowly drowning you with false promises that things will be fine. 

Takin' a drive, I was an ideal Looked so alive, turns out, I'm not real Just something you paid for What was I made for? 

The late-night drives back home after a date were always so magical. Something straight out of a movie with Taylor Swift's: Our Song blasting through the speakers of his truck. You both sang (more like screamed) the lyrics, occasionally turning to one another. At red lights, he would steal a few kisses as you pushed him away, urging him to pay attention to the road. You would always promise more kisses once you made it to your destination. 

  Bob had planned a book date to celebrate your love of reading. You had made your way to the children's section to look for an old childhood book. Now you both stood in the children's book section of Barnes and Noble, occasionally pulling out a book to flip through. "We should get this for our future baby," you said, pulling out a Winnie the Pooh book set to show to Bob. 

"That would be perfect," he responded, wrapping his arms around your waist, hugging you from behind, and resting his head on your shoulder. You spent the next hour browsing the bookshelves and picking books for your future children.

The bi-weekly dates turned into a once-a-week meeting. You found excuses to turn those into monthly dates. Slowly distancing yourself from your sweet and caring boyfriend. It was killing him. Knowing that you would rather lie to him about important family matters than see him for at least an hour. Kissing and holding him began to feel like an obligation. Your disgust with yourself plaguing you as he held you close. Your thoughts remind you that his words meant nothing compared to yours. Who cares if he thinks you're beautiful or worth something? No one else does. Your family surely doesn't think you're worth it. They had given up on you a long time ago. Sure, they hadn't said it to your face; but you felt it. You had wasted your life pursuing their dreams, and they still weren't proud of you. You tried so hard to please everyone in your life, and now you didn't even know yourself.

'Cause I, I I don't know how to feel But I wanna try I don't know how to feel But someday I might Someday I might

“I love you so much,” he whispered between kisses. You couldn't stop the tears that rolled down your cheeks, pulling away to look out the window of his truck. The warm air was suffocating: opening the truck door, you quickly got out. You paced along the truck before sitting on the curb next to it. You silently cried, feeling him sit next to you and reach to hold you in his arms. “I don't deserve you,” you cried into his chest, wishing you could accept being loved. 

“You deserve everything in the world and so much more, my love,” he said, kissing the top of your head. The both of you sat there silently, crying on the curb of an empty park. Neither of you know what to say. You desperately wanted to save the relationship; you wanted to be selfish for once. You wanted to be able to call him any time of day and ask him to spend time with you. The urge to stay up past midnight talking on the phone without feeling guilty about dragging him down was killing you. You wanted to meet his friends and family. You wanted to make him proud; you desperately needed to make him proud. You knew he needed you to be there, but the fear of rejection kept you away. You had one foot out the door.

There was a part of you that knew you could do it. Put on your big girl pants and face your fears, do it just for him. You just needed more time. That's what you kept telling yourself, but he had already been the most patient and kind boyfriend in the whole world. He deserved better than this; he deserved better than you. “You deserve better,” you said, breaking the silence. 

“There is no one better than you. Why can't you see that? I don't want someone else. I want you. I want to grow old with you. I want to be there for you. I want you to be there for me. I want YOU to be the person that motivates me to come home every day.”

When did it end? All the enjoyment I'm sad again, don't tell my boyfriendIt's not what he's made forWhat was I made for?

You sat at the edge of your bed, scrolling through a year's worth of pictures, tears falling down your cheeks. You'd been avoiding your boyfriend for the past month. The relationship had been slowly declining, the two of you choosing to ignore every problem. The most trivial disagreements turn into big nasty fights. Mostly one-sided fights that you started. You loved him so much, and it scared you. You wanted him to see that you weren't good enough for him, so you disagreed with everything he said. 

"I don't want kids," you blurted out one night as you both lay on the tailgate of his truck. He stood up quickly, looking at you, deciding how to respond to your sudden confession. "That's fine," he said, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. It wasn't fine; you knew he wanted to start a family. He only said this to comfort you. You knew Bob would always agree with you, even if it meant hurting himself. 

"I don't want to marry you," you whispered, sitting up. Bob grabbed your hand, kissing them softly, letting a tear roll down his cheek. "We don't have to get married. I'm happy being your boyfriend, my love."

You had typed and deleted your message about 15 times. You were struggling and needed someone to talk to. You knew Bob would be happy to help. 'He's your boyfriend, not your therapist,' you thought before throwing your phone on your bed. How ironic would it be to tell your boyfriend you felt shitty about yourself because you felt like a burden. You couldn't text him. No, that wouldn't make you a chill, not burdensome girlfriend. You started at the Valentine's Day gift he had gotten you, hugging the bear before throwing it across the room. Everything he had ever gotten you served as a reminder that you didn't deserve him. 

"Happy Valentine's Day," he said eagerly, holding out the roses and gift bag. You awkwardly accepted the gifts, setting the roses on the table. They sat there for a week, forgotten and neglected. Bob had gone out of his way to get you pretty pink flowers and left them out to die.

'Cause I, 'cause I I don't know how to feel But I wanna try I don't know how to feel But someday I might Someday I might

Bob sat in front of you, crying into his hands. He couldn't bring himself to do it. Everyone told him that the relationship wasn't worth it if Bob was the only one that cared. He loved you so much, but you had finally broken him. After countless worthless arguments, you had finally broken, Bob. "I can't do this anymore, love," he finally said, his voice shaking as he looked up at you. You nodded, understanding and agreeing that this was too much for him. 

"It hurts so much knowing that I'll never be enough, that this wasn't enough. I just wanted to love you, but you never let me do that. Throwing away our future hurts, but I can't do it anymore. I'm sorry," Bob stood up quickly, removing his glasses to wipe away the tears. "I hope 

you learn to love yourself and to let others love you. I hope you have the best life ever. I'll still be rooting for you," he walked toward the door, turning to look at you one last time before walking out.

You sank to the floor, crying for what felt like hours. You finally got what you wanted. Bob was finally going to get the perfect life he deserved. A perfect life without you to mess it up. Why weren't you happy for him? 

'I'm sorry for everything. I loved you so much' you hit send before turning off your phone. You sighed, wiping your tear-stained face before standing. You had no right to mourn the relationship you destroyed. The only thing left to do was find your purpose.

Think I forgot how to be happy Something I'm not, but something I can be Something I wait for Something I'm made for Something I'm made for

It had been four months since your relationship with Bob ended. You slowly got over your self-worth issues. The situation taught you some valuable lessons. It had been too late to save your relationship, but it wasn't too late to save your future. You focused all your time and energy on bettering yourself and your career goals. You often saw Bob out with his friends; you caught yourself smiling a few times. The smile on his face brings you massive joy. Though you would be lying if you said seeing him didn't bring you sadness as well. All the what-ifs running rampant in your brain. It was too late for that. You had to move on and accept that you had ruined something good. You were fine. You have goals and a purpose in life. You finally know what you're made for; that is the most important thing. You're thankful for Bob and the lessons he brought you.

[lalalian]

how do you make your script templates? cuz idk how you made it have that layout and i wanna know

my script templates

date: march 18, 2024 (okay well technically march 19... it's almost 1 AM atm)

hihi! I hope you don’t mind me using your question to talk about my scripts 😭😭Don't feel obligated to read everything!

The section with the ⭐️ is how I make my layout🫶

There’s 4 features that make my scripts unique— the layout, the buttons, informational pages, and the option of filled or empty scripts.

As mentioned earlier, I do filled and empty script templates! My filled script templates are already prefilled with information besides things regarding your DRself. These scripts tend to be extremely long, but a lot of people seem to like them (ty ty).

layout ⭐️

I’m gonna be honest, I really put off answering this question way back when I started getting comments on tiktok about it (oops).

It’s honestly really simple, just make a gallery!

It’s best to use a laptop when making scripts with galleries because you won’t be able to use certain features on a phone!

Read from right to left

buttons

I use buttons to automatically generate a page or format for those who want to script in more people, write more scenarios, or need more diary entries. With this, you don’t have to constantly make new pages.

a little demonstration:

script template: Laurier Academy Dr/idol school DR (made by me)

To make a simple button, follow these steps:

Reading order below:

1,2,3

4,5,6

informational pages

informational pages are full of as much information as I could find that would be helpful or relevant to your script. Sometimes it's really long, other times it's a bit shorter.

this is one of the informational pages for my magical girl script template!

filled vs empty script templates

filled script templates vary in how 'filled' they are, sometimes I only script the world, but other times I may script almost everything besides for your DRself.

As of the time I'm posting this, these are the scripts that have filled versions:

NOTE: None are from pre-existing media

Elite School DR

(Dragon Rider Academy) Aethergarde Academy DR

Futuristic K-Pop Contestant Show DR (there's no empty version... oops, but there is a filled version)

(Shifting Library DR) Realmwalker Library DR

K-Pop Contestant Show DR (2.0)

(Idol Academy DR) Laurier Academy DR

oki I think that's all you need to know. I've just realized that I haven't linked my scripts to this account yet, whoops.. it should be up on my master list by the time anyone's reading this!

P.S. my older scripts are ugly as fuck and poorly formatted, ex: my harry potter, elite school dr (just use my regular school dr script, it looks 10x better and the formatting is up to date)

[nepofm]

hi there! please don't feel obligated to post this and I hope you don't want any offense to what I'm about to say. I've always enjoyed the diversity in this group and its efforts to encourage that. and while I totally respect individual preferences, I've noticed an increased preference towards korean industry fcs (and I want to make it clear that it's not solely just idol fcs but the preference towards fcs in the korean entertainment industry). ik there are other fcoc as well and I understand that as an admin, you can't help who applies. however, as an asian person, it's starting to make me a little uncomfortable. and don't get me wrong! I love these fcs and have nothing against them. but I can't help but point out the disparity in the taken fcs list and it's starting to concern me a little. the last thing I want to do is leave this group because I'm feeling frustrated by the inherent bias towards interacting and applying for new characters with these fcs because I really do enjoy writing here and I'd hate for any new members to join and feel excluded because of it.

I'm so sorry for how long this got and again, please don't take this the wrong way and please don't feel obligated to post this! I wanted to raise a concern that I suspect others might share as well.

hey  !  let  me  start  off  by  saying  thank  you  for  bringing  this  up  .  i  appreciate  the  open  and  honest  feedback  .  in  truth  ,  i  can  see  where  you're  coming  from  and  i've  also  noticed  the  bias  .  as  an  admin  ,  i  agree  that  i  can't  help  who  applies  .  however  ,  i  do  think  it's  important  to  bring  this  up  to  our  members  .  i'd  like  to  take  the  time  to  draw  attention  to  the  DIVERSITY  UMBRELLA  section  located  in  our  guidelines  and  to  please  READ  THIS  POST  regarding  a  similar  issue  we  faced  last  year  .  since  then  i've  ammended  our  diversity  umbrella  section  in  efforts  to  encourage  members  to  be  diverse  in  their  fc  choices  .  

i  understand  that  sometimes  the  fc  makes  the  character  and  muse  heavily  fluctuates  .  the  intent  isn't  to  single  anyone  out  or  target  anyone  specifically  ,  however  ,  if  you  find  yourself  leaning  more  towards  korean  industry  fcs  in  particular  ,  please  be  mindful  of  this  .  it's  also  worth  reminding  everyone  that  strikes  will  be  handed  out  to  any  players  who  seek  to  exploit  loopholes  in  our  diversity  umbrella  . 

and  as  a  final  reminder  ,  please  do  your  best  to  interact  with  everyone  !  i  can  understand  having  your  favorite  fcs  ,  writing  with  your  friends  ,  prioritizing  plot-centric  threads  ,  etc.  ,  but  bubble  rping  will  not  be  tolerated  .  we  want  to  avoid  the  formation  of  cliques  .  and  as  mentioned  in  the  previous  post  re:  fc  diversity  ,  we  want  to  avoid  becoming  a  krp  .

and  finally  ,  please  be  sure  to  give  this  post  a  like  to  acknowledge  that  you've  read  this  .  and  again  ,  thank  you  for  the  open  and  honest  feedback  anon  .  it's  much  appreciated  .  we're  actively  taking  steps  to  do  better  !

[athenaholmesartistsguild]

Back to the Major Arcana featuring Haruka!

This was an interesting card to work on! I'd watched a video going a bit more in depth on color theory so I tried to work some of the things I learned into this piece!

I didn't want this post to be too long so I have some more design notes on this card's Patreon post. You can read those and download a High res version of this card for free! It was also available 2 days early for Patrons just a quick mention

Interpretations are below the cut:

In the pursuit of understanding the self, the Hermit has elected to remove themselves from their outside world. At this point in the Hermit's life, others' opinions and thoughts are too overpowering and make it difficult to decide what they truly want.

Whether this be metaphorical or literal, the occasional period of self-isolation can be very beneficial, especially if you've felt like you've been doing certain actions that aren't aligned with who you truly are. It's important to note that this isolation period should not last forever. The Hermit is aware that their solitude is not permanent and chooses to make the most of their time.

While alone, the Hermit can focus inward: their thoughts, their desires, and what they believe is right or wrong. Away from the public, the Hermit aims to define who they are. Their values, the direction they wish to take their life, things that only they can decide for themselves.

When the Hermit appears in a reading, they're urging you to consider your recent actions and whether they were what you truly wish you'd done. What pressures are causing you to act a certain way? Do you wish you'd done something differently?

Perhaps a period of withdrawal would be beneficial to finding the answers to these questions.

Reversed, we see a Hermit that's isolating for more harmful reasons. When faced with the outside world, it can sometimes be tempting to disappear into oneself. The unknown is scary and it's human nature to try and avoid it at all costs.

While there may be times when you simply aren't ready to step out of your comfort zone (as doing so can do more harm than good), a reversed Hermit in a reading suggests that maybe it's time to begin the transition back to the outside world. This can be done as gradually as you like, but try to make those decisions based on what feels most aligned to your inner self. Simply asking that part of you for guidance will oftentimes give you the answer you need.

The main theme of the reversed Hermit is someone who's acting in ways that just don't feel right. Whether due to fear or outside pressure or any other myriad of reasons, a reversed Hermit feels like they're not being authentically themselves. Even if they're not conscious of it, there's a nagging feeling in the back of their mind telling them something needs to change.

What actions can you take to feel more like yourself? How do you define yourself in the first place? Are there any voices around you (or within) that are leading you astray?

Haruka's arc in Yakuza 5 is such an interesting one and it's been stuck in my brain ever since I first played it.

For almost her entire section, Haruka's living her life for other people.

She feels pressured to become an idol in the first place because Kiryu informs her that the orphanage is struggling financially. She allows herself to be completely isolated from her family in the hope that she can create a better life for her siblings.

She becomes closer to Mirei and then feels obligated to help her surrogate mother figure relive the glory that was stolen from her. Even after Mirei dies, Haruka feels obligated to join an idol group with the girls that made her life hell during the Princess League.

Through the whole game, there's this theme of following your dreams and doing what you feel is necessary to achieve them, and then you have Haruka.

She insists being an idol is what she really wants, but the whole time it really doesn't seem that way at all. It seems like she's just being shuffled around any way the adults in her life see fit.

Until...

At the very end of the game, she sees Kiryu, the man that raised her for almost a decade of her life, her father, and she can't keep pretending.

She never wanted to be an idol. She never wanted to be so thoroughly separated from her family. She wants to go home.

And here we see the Hermit turn from a reversal to upright. Haruka's isolation from her home taught her that pushing away her desires to live for others is painful and depressing and the exact opposite of how she wants to live her life. She refuses to be a pawn in the Idol industry and in Mirei's own agenda (even if Haruka cared about her).

It's Haruka's turn to figure out what she dreams of and how she'll achieve those dreams.

[melis-writes]

Fanfic Disclaimer: If you don't like it, please don't read it.

After writing and working fanfics continuously now on a daily basis for almost two years now, unfortunately it seems like making this post now is sadly unavoidable. 🫤 I feel the need to finally mention the disclaimer I'm putting on all my fics/work now due to a constant pattern of anon hate, insults, de*th threats and unwanted "constructive" criticism on my work.

I can't stress enough: if you don't like a fanfic for any reason whatsoever, you don't have to read it! You really don't. Nobody's making you read anything you don't want to and you're not a bad guy if you put it down the first paragraph in or five chapters in. Another thing you don't need to do at all whatsoever is send hate comments/asks, or tell fic authors they're writing is shit and their fic is too. Unwarranted, rude and hateful comments only make you look like the awful person, not someone with a "different opinion". 😕

This exact kind of disgusting behavior is a huge cause of why many fanfic authors delete all of their works, stop posting, and stop writing. I ignored it for some time myself but seeing that it's clearly going to continue periodically and not stop, I'm addressing it all in this post.

From the past almost 2 years since I've been writing Moth to Flame, I've been repeatedly a target of this behavior/bullying up to the point where it's evolved to anon hate/blogs that I've blocked changing locations to send me asks, sending me and my fics hate while making new blogs to interact with me, actively reading my fics and writing hate comments on them, and interacting with my blog while continuing to send me hate over a fanfic. 😶 What it's evolved to is downright ridiculous and insane and I am no longer entertaining it in any way, shape or form whether it comes on AO3 comment sections or here.

I'm not going anywhere. I'm never going to stop writing fics or my original work. Writing is my hobby, my passion, one of my favourite things to do and this hasn't changed for 16 years and it never will. I'm not going to delete my fics/works for anyone or anything and that includes anon hate and every nasty message inbetween. I'm here to stay, and nobody is obligated to read my fics or even interact with my blog so please, if you don't like me, my writing and anything regarding it from the style to the characters' personalities and down to the plot, unfollow me. Block me. Please don't interact with me in any way if you don't like me/my writing for whatever reason.

My welcome onto Tumblr after beginning to post the first few chapters of Moth to Flame was anon hate and nasty messages. Because of a fanfic, I've been told to "stop writing it because it discourages other fanfic authors" due to Moth to Flame's soaring popularity, that I have "ego problems" from accepting and being grateful for feedback and compliments, that I "think I'm better than every other fanfic writer" because I'm confident and comfortable with my writing style and skill and refuse to insult myself or downplay my own talent in some way, that I have a monopoly on Michael Corleone x Reader fics and that I supposedly think "nobody else can write good Michael Corleone x Reader fics". ??? None of these are remotely true at all. ☹️

Since then, I've had growing suspicions this kind of bullying and behaviour was coming exclusively from The Godfather fandom and unfortunately, I was right. 🫤 Being in many fandoms for long periods of time on and on for years, The Godfather fandom is the first fandom I've ever been in where I've seen blogs group up and gang up on other blogs to send anon hate/make nasty posts about them, have someone tell me to k*ll myself over a fanfic, encourage other blogs/users to individually send hate (over anything, ships, headcanons, etc.), make new blogs to send hate and to follow/stalk from and so much more disgusting, awful behavior.

It got all the more concerning when I had friends and mutuals telling me they're distancing themselves from The Godfather fandom and choosing to have nothing to do with it or follow anyone from it. I've had beloved mutuals and friends deactivate their blogs over witnessing this behaviour in the fandom. 💔

Over a fanfic, I've had anon hate telling me I'm a misogynist/hate women because Moth to Flame is based in the late 1940s/1950s, that Victoria has "too many children", that there's "too much smut" in a SMUT fic, that Victoria "isn't shy enough" (just to name a few) and users telling me how I should write my own fanfic and my portray my own characters differently because they don't like how the plot went or how the character acted. These are no longer bits of "constructive" criticism, but condescending insults coming from individuals who clearly don't like my fics or my writing, but refuse to stop reading them, refuse to stop interacting with me and continue to send more anon asks and anon AO3 comments.

I believe that one of the many great things about second person perspectives in writing/fanfics is that you get to step into a new world and experience the plot with or as the character. This doesn't mean the character is going to be 100% like you and it's not my intention or wish to do that or change my characters entirely so someone likes them better either.

I'm all for difference of opinion and love the unique ways my readers enjoy my works and react to them. 🥰 I've received many intriguing comments/feedback on my fics where readers were shocked by a plot twist or didn't expect a character to behave a certain way, even that to them the characters weren't good people, etc, or have asked questions about why something happened the way it did or why a character is the way they are. I've always been happy to answer and been more than okay with welcoming all opinions and comments on my fic so as long as they are kind.

I'm not accepting any type of comments/submissions/asks of the sort received containing "constructive criticism" of any kind over a fanfic, telling me how to write/portray my characters, telling me to alter/change the plot, etc.

I'm very happy to block, report, rinse and repeat whether it be here or on AO3. I've met some amazing people from The Godfather fandom on here and made the best of friends with many, but to ignore the toxicity here is to ignore the obvious. This isn't okay. Please for the love of God, read fanfiction you enjoy and interact with blogs you enjoy, not the opposite.

I will always love and welcome thoughtful and kind comments/feedback on my fics but I'm not going to stop writing my fics, I'm not going to change my characters or alter the plots because someone doesn't like them.

To my beloved readers, followers and mutuals who love and support my writing and fics: thank you. ❤️ I'm forever and always grateful for every bit of your appreciation and feedback. Thank you so much for everything. I can't wait to write more fics and share my writing with you guys!

If you don't like it, please don't read it and please don't send hate over it to any fanfic writers and to their fics.

[kimikoyukiart]

Hey! Idk if you remember, I'd talked to you about making your aymeric x estinien housing art into ffxiv housing. Ever since then, I have really fallen in love with your art style! I am also a noob artist and opened comms recently, but I haven't gotten any yet haha do you have any advice and tips for me to help gain an audience and commissioners? Thank you and goodluck with your shop!

Hello again! Yes, I remember gosh thank you so much for enjoying my art! Also I'm always super happy to answer art stuff since I'm in love with it, but I will open with a disclaimer specifically for the growing audience bit cause for a long time I've primarily been an OC / original art artist and it wasn't till I became cripplingly obsessed with estimeric that I grew some semblance of a following so I'm a pretty small artist by most standards ;;; With that said, here are my tips and advice which I'll separate into 2 parts

Putting this under a read more cause it's LONG

Commissions (mostly about expectations, best practices, and organisation to make it easy on clients)

Have some kind of commission page (here's mine for example) to make it easy for your clients to be able to reference something and for you to direct new inquiries to. This can be anything from a website/carrd to even just a google doc/tumblr pg. Will there be clients who never read this? Absolutely. BUT it's also great for clients who are shy and/or who like coming prepared

Have a Terms of Service section!! In our current day and age of tech bros and assholes trying to exploit and scam creatives I cannot express enough how just having a TOS will deter these ppl! It shows you're serious and that you know what you're about, making you less of a target!

MOST IMPORTANT! Be kind to yourself!!! Opening commissions is exciting due to the prospect of making money from something you love and it can be very disappointing and demoralising when you don't get any! It's also a very "feast or famine" type of roller coaster, so don't feel bad if you don't get any, even super large artists struggle!

Building a following (from someone who's doesn't actually prioritise this so take it as you will!)

You've probably heard this before but fanart is definitely better at drawing a crowd than original art so I feel obligated to mention it. (I'm a pretty classic case study of this imo lol) And the reason for this is that there's already an established audience out there that loves the content you're making unlike original art where you're starting from ground zero. Does that mean you should give up making original art if you want followers? ABSOLUTELY NOT! And honestly most of my advise will be from the perspective of growing an audience via original art because you can apply the same principles to fanart so here we go!

Consistency is key. Being a constant presence on your existing followers' feed means having consistent chances for them to share/engage with a piece of your artwork, which means more chances for new eyes to see them which means more chances for followers etc etc. But what's the pace? Well that depends on how brutal you're interested in being with yourself unfortunately....if you die hard want to grow as fast as possible then once a day (i've seen some artist do more;;;) but it's something I would NOT recommend for all sorts of risks. (you can mitigate the risk ofc but that's like a whole thing in itself) I'd advice you to figure out a pace that works for you so that you maintain a healthy relationship with your art

Join events/zines/bandwagons. Whether it's things like drawtober, ffxiv art parties, or zines, engaging with community/communal activities (especially those with hashtags/promos) can help you engage with people who might not have found you otherwise. If you're a social person it's a great chance for you to make friends who have similar interests too! Making art related to a piece of media that just came out is also great way of engagement since people are probably looking for it (for example spidersonas or dressing OCs in outfits to watch the barbie movie)

Make it easy to find your art when someone visits your page. It doesn't necessarily have to be a full portfolio, but giving viewers a place to see only your art posts is crucial imo. Tumblr is great since it's tagging system is fantastic making this part easy but places like Twitter for example only have a single media tab; so making a thread for art post or keeping your media tab clean is ideal. (you've no idea have many artists i've chosen not to follow cause their media tab is 1 awesome piece of art then just 500 cursed memes/reaction images lol)

HARDEST BUT MOST IMPORTANT POINT! Make compelling art. I follow artists who post a piece of art maybe once every....I dunno 3 months if even that, but when they do they get thousands of notes, why? Because it is a compelling piece of art. Something that touches the heart or makes you gasp in awe or swoon from it's vision or die laughing. And this is the hardest point because what that looks like is completely unique to you. Basically it is your answer to the question of "Why do I make art?" which artists everywhere all around the world, regardless of genre or industry, are trying to answer themselves. The one thing you MUST REMEMBER while you try to figure this point out is that it must involve Love. That means loving the journey; the grueling failures, steep learning curves, and all, because if even you don't love what you're trying to create other won't either. And that's not to say you have to be happy about a piece of art not turning out right (I still cry from frustration myself all the time) but it does mean be kind to yourself when you fall so you can pick yourself up easier when you stand again

THAT WAS SUPER LONG WOW! With all that said tho those 1st 2 points for growing an audience is what I would recommend focusing on! The internet is all about engagement and you can't have that if there's nothing to engage with! Also because it just bears mentioning that sometimes it is just a skill thing and you just have to get better at drawing BUT that is not to say skillful=complex! Nonono take a look at webtoons like "My Giant Nerd Boyfriend" by fishball or "Sarah's Scribbles" by Sarah Andersen. Or illustrator's like loonpflug or mmeiccaa. It's not complex but it's some FKIN GOOD ART!

Ok I will stop my ranting here GOOD LUCK AND DON'T FORGET TO BE KIND TO YOURSELF!! You are more than how many numbers you make on the internet and I hope that you always remember that 💖

[longeyelashedtragedy]

granit and uhhhhhhhhh šime 😭

i was legit just thinking about šime earlier today 😭

@colorsofmyseason also asked me granit so i will answer š's here and then tag u in that one!

favorite thing about them: man, of everyone who's made an appearance on my favs list, he is absolutely the most mysterious, both because he is mysterious but also because he would rarely do an interview in a language i can understand (tyoma is monolingual but somehow very understandable anyway 😂). šime speaks spanish and english but would only really do interviews in croatian or italian i feel like. so i feel like i know so little about him! but of course: he has the absolute most beautiful footballer tattoos (that BUTTERFLY!!!), fantastic taste in music, and his sense of style--a little more alternative/edgy than other footballers. he's clearly a guy who did his own thing without seeking a lot of external validation, and it was fascinating how he comes across as very mysterious but very steady at once. he's also very uniquely beautiful--there is that "you can tell a lot about a person based on whether they think šime or dejan is hotter" concept 😂 and the whole tungelr knows where i stand on this, but, damn if šime's slutty pirate/širen self isn't captivating to stare at. i miss him SO much and think constantly about how he essentially gave his whole career to the 2018 world cup without realizing.

something else is how humble and normal he always came across. of course you can only know about these people what they put on social media, but back when he was active on there, he was never vacationing to dubai or ibiza or on some yacht--he'd go home to Zadar and repair old cars with a grungy tshirt tied around his head.

least favorite thing about them: that he knocked up some Instagram Hot Lady and got together with her! and disappeared off social media and is made of literal glass! promise i'm not showing favoritism--i don't think šejan had a dramatic and bad breakup, but i think science kind of proves that the breakup was driven by šime bc dej is persistent as fuck and clearly a very devoted long distance boyfriend 😂

favorite line: omg i can't remember the exact translation of it, but it was during the wc when he was like "you film me doing everything, you'd probably film me taking a piss" and dej was like "THAT'S RIGHT!!!" i mean, the šejan lajvs had a ton of classics that i could go back and find, but i'm contractually obligated to say that one

brOTP: ŠLUKA! i loved their drunk asses together at the Slutty Pirate Party in zadar after the wc

there's a lotta good photos but obviously this one has širtless content so... I also feel like šime and domo would make a great brotp.

notp (switching these next two around): probs will piss off some section of gen z tumblr saying this kind of thing but...his girlfriend/fiancee/wife/whoever. just...Not feelin the vibe

otp: i mean...

to see šejan, two grown ass men, in hysterical giggles in their own private world, is something else entirely. those 2 really had something going on. they kind of had "read each other's minds and finish each other's sentences" vibes, except they were usually laughing too hard to even finish a sentence. at the same time, šime's calm, even energy was obviously so healthy for dejan's uh, in the words of Mo, stormy head. it breaks my heart that it is over.

(PLUS. when deki said šime should get his name tattooed on him on šime's pornographic workout livestream...)

(i think all my other photos are on insta somewhere)

random headcanon: i don't think i have one? in mare liberum, i want to figure out the headcanon about how he uh...got Cursed to become...what he is (NO SPOILERS even though i think mare liberum only has one reader lol).

unpopular opinion: idk what would be unpopular? i think that like, his playing when he wasn't injured was super underrated.

song i associate with them: so these are songs i associate with him because i've seen him listening to them:

badr hari by grše | california love by dr dre/2pac | i'm still standing by elton john (LOL) | klinka by jala brat (the song in the background of the Pissing Video).

jgb edit of deixa a gira girar by os tincoãs because i listened to this on repeat while writing 5.VII lol. i think i wrote the entire bathroom porn scene in 1 sitting and i needed something awesome to power me through

and then also... song for the siren by this mortal coil | o meu amor marinheiro performed by carminho (this song makes me cRYYYYyyY...i think it played a big part in inspiring mare liberum)

favorite picture:

ok i know this seems like a copout because it doesn't have his face, but...there's something about it

[thedickgraysonrp]

I have some new followers recently, so to y'all out there, both new and old: Hey there and Welcome (back)!

Below the line are some questions answered to get you started:

How do I interact with your muse?

You can send me an IM if you have any plot or idea you had in mind and we can discuss something out. You can also send an IM just to say you're interested and we'll work something out.

You can send any meme or ask you'd like that I reblogged here, they will be under #rp memes or the 'memes' section in my blog.

You can also send headcanon requests, questions or dash games if you want to get to know the muse better.

If you're shy or unsure, you can also send me anons.

I will be working on updated open starters soon, so you can keep an eye out for that as well.

Please make sure to read the rules before you interact.

You are not following me back, does that mean you don't want to interact?

No, that's not the case. I usually follow blogs who I've already had interacted with for some time, or blogs I had interest in and followed first. If we've never interacted before, I don't follow back. I also unfollow blogs who I am no longer interacting with to clean up my dash. This blog is semi-selective, but it's not mutual exclusive. We can talk and RP together even if we're not mutuals. Neither you or I have any obligation to follow each other for the sake of being mutuals if either of us don't feel like it. That being said, if we already have some interaction and we wrote a little together and had something good going, I'll likely follow you back. Please pay attention that I do not interact with muns who are under 21 and their age (or age range) is not stated in the blog.

We roleplayed in the past but our thread died/you didn't reply/I didn't reply/etc., do you still want to roleplay?

First and foremost, if we had a thread going and I didn't reply for a while, please do let me know. I might have forgotten, given that I both study and work at the same time and my head isn't always here. That being said, sometimes I do prefer replying to some threads first than others, but I eventually get to everything. You can always send me an IM about picking up an old thread, trying something new, etc. I no longer use a RP thread tracker because I keep forgetting to add or remove threads from there. If you haven't replied for a long time, I'm not going to pester you. I just assume you are very busy, prefer to reply to other threads first or just no longer interested. In either case, there's no judgements or grudges held, and I don't keep anyone here by force.

Everything else should be written in my carrd and rules, which you can find in the pinned post. If you still have any questions, feel free to ask me in the comments or an IM.

Thank you for following and I hope we can make some amazing roleplays together!

[justpoliteconversations]

Uh hi :3 sorry I haven't been reading your fics life can be well ya know 😭

Also I didn't think you'd noticed me lol (I saw your comment on that Wars x Reader fic)

Hello to you too! I'm glad to hear from you, and you actually hit upon something I've been meaning to write for everyone. So, forgive me for the long-winded rant but I especially feel I should write this for those who have been with me the longest. Including you and your adorable Malon avatar.

Don't ever feel bad about prioritizing your life and interests above a bit of light reading. Anything I write is for the community to use at their leisure, and in truth I'm writing for myself at the end of the day.

Of course, I absolutely love reading yours and everyone else's comments, and the likes leave a flattered smile on my face. However, (and this goes double for anyone who ever felt obligated to step forward when they didn't want to) no one is ever obligated to interact with my works for any reason. So never feel you are doing me a disservice by casually lurking or just watching passively from the back of the room.

I will never withhold my ideas or works for the sake of recognition or praise. And I hold no ill will against anyone who decides not to give me as such. I enjoy the entertainment and amusement my works can bring to others for the simple fact that I enjoy the works of others much the same. I understand how freeing it can be to find quiet companionship amongst like-minded people.

That being said, every content creator is different and some thrive with outward support from their community. So please continue to support them with everything you're willing to give. The quickest way to kill a community is to stop advocating for and supporting it.

Overall rant done.

But to Miss Buttercup affectionately,

I always strive to notice those who put in the work to make others feel appreciated. You are certainly one of those people, and I'm always happy when I see your avatar. Whether or not its in my own works, or in the comment sections of works I'm also enjoying.

I hope you continue to be a bright spot in the community and hope you (and others like you, some of whom I know of but politely won't call out) are given the appreciation and love you deserve as a pillar of the greater community.

It's people like you who make small communities like ours possible. So, thank you for always supporting me and others, Miss Buttercup. ❤️

-Polite

[thecreativeforge-a]

I have some new followers recently, so to y'all out there, both new and old: Hey there and Welcome (back)!

Below the line are some questions answered to get you started:

How do I interact with your muses?

You can send me an IM if you have any plot or idea you had in mind and we can discuss something out. You can also send an IM just to say you're interested and we'll work something out.

You can send any meme or ask you'd like that I reblogged here, they will be under #//memes or the 'memes' section in my blog.

You can also send headcanon stuff, general questions or dash games if you want to get to know a muse better.

If you're shy or unsure, you can also send me anons.

I will be working on more open starters soon, so you can keep an eye out for that as well.

Please make sure to read the rules before you interact.

You are not following me back, does that mean you don't want to interact?

No, that's not the case. I usually follow blogs who I've already had interacted with for some time, or blogs I had interest in and followed first. If we've never interacted before, I don't follow back. I also unfollow blogs who I am no longer interacting with to clean up my dash. This blog is semi-selective, but it's not mutual exclusive. We can talk and RP together even if we're not mutuals. Neither you or I have any obligation to follow each other for the sake of being mutuals if either of us don't feel like it. That being said, if we already have some interaction and we wrote a little together and had something good going, I'll likely follow you back. Please pay attention that I do not interact with muns who are under 21 and their age (or age range) is not stated in the blog.

We roleplayed in the past but our thread died/you didn't reply/I didn't reply/etc., do you still want to roleplay?

First and foremost, if we had a thread going and I didn't reply for a while, please do let me know. I might have forgotten, given that I both study and work at the same time and my head isn't always here. That being said, sometimes I do prefer replying to some threads first than others, but I eventually get to everything. You can always send me an IM about picking up an old thread, trying something new, etc. I no longer use a RP thread tracker because I keep forgetting to add or remove threads from there. If you haven't replied for a long time, I'm not going to pester you. I just assume you are very busy, prefer to reply to other threads first or just no longer interested. In either case, there's no judgements or grudges held, and I don't keep anyone here by force.

Everything else should be written in my carrd and rules, which you can find in the pinned post. If you still have any questions, feel free to ask me in the comments or an IM.

Thank you for following and I hope we can make some amazing roleplays together!

[quoththemaiden]

I saw your tags in the poll comments and I had to jump into your ask box. If you want to reply to comments, don't be afraid to do it! People love nothing more than to interact with the author. People comment to express their love for your work, and I can promise nothing make them more happy than to have a reply from the author!!! It's a "my comment had been seen and made them happy, yeah!" feeling.

My tags, for context:

This poll is wild to me. Tumblr's interpretation of fanfic etiquette seems completely backwards from my internet upbringing.

Back on ff.net, where the number of reviews wasn't even a sortable field, it was still uncool for authors to respond to the reviews. Every fic would end with "Please R&R!!!" but actually interacting with reviewers was the kind of thing you were supposed to grow out of as you went from a socially clueless young teen to a socially competent older teen. Saying "That's exactly what I was going for!" or "Oooh just wait, you'll love it!" or "I'm so glad you liked it!" was really just patting yourself on the back for being awesome, and saying "No, you don't get it--" was too defensive. (Putting "I've been blown away by the response to this fic" in an A/N is sufficiently self-effacing if used sparingly, though.)

On AO3, looking at the comment section of a fic and seeing that an author has responded to every comment with "Thanks!!" or "❤️" feels similarly desperate to me--

--and not just cringey, but also vaguely unethical because it's artificially doubling the number of comments on a site that does allow sorting by comments. Like, let your fic stand on its own merits instead of trying to game the system with fake reviews.

But on Tumblr, there's those AO3 etiquette posts going around saying "kudos are for if you finish reading a fic; comments are for if you enjoyed it." And that just feels backwards. Shouldn't kudos be for if you enjoyed the fic enough that you think it should be boosted in the rankings so more people read it? Comments, on the other hand, are mandatory on every fic you read unless you can't find even a single good thing to say about it. (And you're still obligated to rack your brain a bit to see if you can at least pull out a "Wow, that was an interesting premise!" or "I really love this trope so thanks for writing this!" or "This was such a fun line!" and just try not to be too obvious about damning with faint praise.)

I've had authors respond to say, "Hey, sorry I haven't responded to your comments yet, but I've been reading them" and I'm always like... my dude, that's not how this economy works. You write fics and I leave comments. You don't have to write fics and respond to comments. Take a load off.

Obviously if I say something particularly insightful it's nice to hear the author's thoughts back, and I've had some cool conversations about their inspirations... and the friend I talk to literally every single day is someone where we both loved each other's fics 20 years ago and we got started talking because of it... so it's not like I think it's never okay to respond to a reviewer.

(And, frankly, a lot of my comments are a couple paragraphs long or I'm leaving a dozen comments in a short timespan, so it hasn't usually felt weird when authors do respond to me to comment on some highlights.)

It's just absolutely baffling to look at that poll and see that 88% of authors do or think they should respond to comments, so I'm clearly in the vast, vast minority.

It's absolutely, mind-bogglingly wild. And since it's purely a cultural thing, being in the minority means I'm wrong, and I need to come to grips with that. Like, I'm going to need to actively, consciously work on flipping my judgement-o-meter from "responding to comments is inappropriately clingy and must be actively avoided" to "responding to comments is good and expected" because the former is a social norm I internalized decades ago and now I need to go through the active work of completely flipping what's rude and what's polite -- which is a thing that happens all the time as we get older, of course, but it was a shock to encounter it here.

[keptin-indy]

When the Angels Left the Old Country review

Full disclosure: I won this book in a giveaway, so I feel like I'm morally obligated to write a public review instead of just talking to people in real life about it.  You are free to view me as an unpaid shill, or a shill who has been paid with one (1) book.

A little background on my perspective: I am Jewish, but not very good at it and I have extremely strong feelings on Good Omens going back more than 20 years.  I have cosplayed Aziraphale more than once like 10 years ago.  I looked up a whole lot of Yiddish words before I realized there's a glossary in the back, so learn from my mistakes.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and was sad when it started wrapping up! If the idea of a Good Omens / Fievel: An American Tail crossover sounds like a good time to you, you will probably enjoy this book.

It's a very quick and engaging read, but I happened to start reading it right before the latest round of internet discourse on antisemitism, which made for a fairly distressing combination and a solid day of Jewish navel-gazing in the middle.

It starts a little slow, both plot-wise and genre-wise, but picks up in the second half.  By genre-wise, I mean that there were long sections of the book where I could practically forget that two-thirds of the main cast were supernatural creatures.  Yes, they talked about it, but after a short burst in the beginning, they basically don't do anything with it until the second half of the book.  Even with more going on in the latter half, this is a very low magic book, so don't expect a Good Omens level of miracles and major supernatural characters outside of the main pair.  Yes, they do exist, but this is a much smaller scale story.  This isn't a bad thing, it's just different and I want to set the correct expectations.

Also speaking of expectations, this is much more a Jewish story than it is a queer one.  Yes, there are baby lesbians and what is technically a non-binary character (though I feel that a being that doesn't have a sex to begin with is a very different, less queer thing than someone who is born into the presumption of having a sex and gender).  Now I am wholeheartedly in favor of stories where the focus is not being queer, the characters just happen to be queer people and the plot does not revolve around their identities, so this was fine.  But if you're expecting a romance focus, this doesn't really have one beyond the bog standard "at the end of the narrative, the people who seem compatible get together".  Yes, the angel and demon are devoted to each other and the story treats that as very important, but I've seen a thousand stories where the same level of devotion could be played completely platonically as well.

To quibble, there are some inconsistences, where the author forgot something they'd said earlier or else made changes during writing and didn't go back and bring some other things in line, as well as some things that aren't adequately explained in my opinion, but they didn't detract much beyond occasionally breaking me out of immersion to scratch my head and go right back to reading.  It could perhaps have used another editing pass, but it's far from a major problem.

Very mild spoilers with my opinions on the main characters below:

Little Ash: I'm going to be frank here and say I didn't hugely like Little Ash because he's the kind of character that seems designed to appeal to a certain demographic of YA reader, e.g. the nonthreatening Bad Boy, who is a Rebel with a reputation for Doing Bad Things but who never actually does any of those bad things except when they're morally justified.  If you like Loki in the Thor movies and complain about him being too mean in the Avengers, or TV show!Crowley, or any of the various YA novel love interests of the leather-pants-Draco variety, you'll probably like him much more than I did.  Of the two divine beings, he's the more fleshed out and the one who feels more like a POV character the reader is supposed to identify with, which I of course was a little irritated by.

The angel: The angel's relationship with identity is the most compelling thing in the book to me, but it is unlikely to be a popular character with people who don't view strong senses of Duty, Purpose and general lawfulness as positive, which is frankly most of tumblr.  I would have liked more emotional responses to the changes in its identity, but I guess it was also learning emotions so maybe I shouldn't expect that of it yet.  While becoming more yourself is a good thing, not all parts of the experience are positive at the time, and when it encounters some of these parts, the angel mostly shrugs about it and moves on instead of mourning the loss of what it used to be.  It's a very sanitized transition.

Rose: I like her, as the sort of too-sensible girl you find in middle grade fiction, which I have utmost respect for.  She felt realistically like a young person who did not know what she was about but was convinced she definitely knew what she was about, which is just how being a teenager is.

I wanted there to be more Grandmother Rivke.  This is my biggest complaint.  She was great.

[scribefindegil]

Writing thoughts below the cut for organizing/externalizing purposes:

The Broccoli Small Gods Fic:

Pros: closest to being complete; I am allowed to be as earnest as I want; Important emotionally so unlikely to lose motivation

Cons: Important emotionally so I want it to be Good; need to decide what tense the dang thing is in; stressed about successfully getting The Point across

To Do: get all the bits into one document. Figure out which scenes you need that aren't written yet. Figure out the tense thing. Trace the big three Thematic Words and see if there are any gaps. Cry probably.

IT IS OKAY IF: it still takes a while; not everyone gets it; the prose is a little wobbly or overwrought.

THE POINT IS: holding the catharsis in my hands like a ball of light and feeling like I explained what it meant to me

The Post-Mogami Fic:

Pros: genuinely have a draft of Most Of This; Important emotionally; I am allowed to be as earnest as I want; not being able to finish before the show ended means I have better characterization since I know the ends of everyone's arcs

Cons: Important emotionally so I want it to be Good; feel like it might be controversial (so I have to work harder to make my point clear)

To Do: organize the draft I do have, write the Dimple section, figure out the middle (bullet-point outline with Themes is okay!!); remember that the themes of gentleness apply to you too

IT IS OKAY IF: the prose doesn't feel the way it does in your head; it still takes a while; not everyone gets it

THE POINT IS: HOLDING THE CATHARSIS IN MY HANDS LIKE A BALL OF LIGHT. THE TRANSCENDENCE OF THE RETURN. THE LOVE THE LOVE THE LOVE. the gentleness of being loved when you're recovering. the narrative that's already there

The Emergency Contact Fic:

Pros: aiming for more show-accurate style so it gets to be fun and silly! The prologue works as a standalone so you can focus on that! You love your plot ideas and your weird ensemble!

Cons: aiming for more show-accurate style which is SCARY! Even the prologue is long which is also scary! Lots to keep in your head! (Scary)

To Do: TRUST YOUR BETA WHO LOVES YOU AND KNOWS YOU ARE CURSED. Send a thing even if it's rough. Cover it in annotations about the parts you don't know how to write. Let it ramble instead of choking yourself trying to keep things compact. Also do a Real Outline in Excel with scene breakdowns. You know it will help.

IT IS OKAY IF: it takes a long time. (There will still be people who want to read it and you will be happy to have written it.) The writing is not as funny as you would like it to be or some of the characterization isn't perfect. (Snadge is funnier than you and will help. Also you will get better as you practice)

THE POINT IS: having fun! Literally that is the only point of this one!

A Secret Fourth Thing (various other ideas):

IT IS OKAY IF: most or all of these are just daydreams. you have no moral obligation to finish a fic, even if you really like the idea. It is also okay to be wildly self-indulgent. this is fanfiction for crying out loud. work on the ekurei disability fic with an audience of You; it is literally fine.

THE POINT IS: to have a good time with these characters that you love! To give your sad cursed brain something to play with even if you are just lying in bed thinking about it very slowly. escapism is a powerful force.