#and other people that are mentioned but I'm too lazy to add their tags

[machinesheart]

(spoilers for ONE, since I know some people that follow me haven't watched ONE, there will be a cut before the spoilers)

plain text: spoilers for one, since i know some people that follow me haven't watch one, there will be a cut before the spoilers

-

something really interesting about ONE is that when people tell you it "subverts the original object show formula" They arent lying. Like, at all.

Its obvious that "hey! this show is kinda messed up actually" as soon as you learn that the first six contestants had actual lives outside of being teleported to The Plane.

They all have or had jobs, they have family, and they have names. Airy assigns them a name that's solely based on their object, which is normal for shows like this, but Scenty and Moldy were definitely Not Happy, and its understandable, basically being reduced to your object is not the best. and for Moldy, being named after a infection she has on her is also pretty shitty too, but we were guessing that Ary was just lazy

I love this show, dont get me wrong! but holy hell dude!!!!! this show is fucked up, and it messed me up but in the best way possible.

this show is downright slightly terrifying at times, this show tackles mature themes you don't see in many object shows, and the only other show that handle stuff like this is LOVE OF THE S*N!

obviously all object shows handle things differently, and they are becoming more mature as time goes on, but its amazing to see.

spoilers below, but know that this is a long post.

In the later episodes, that is it really when it breaks the formula for these shows. Backpack is eliminated and brought back to the real world, and it's shown that he's literally homeless and jobless. He sits in an alleyway as it starts to hail, and he spends weeks riding across the United States to Bridgeport to find Soda Bottle.

Put yourself in Backpack's shoes (or lack thereof, I guess??). He's newly homeless and most likely got fired because of his absence at work.

He has nothing but some notes and maybe some money if he had a wallet in there. He travels in multiple cars across the US, only for Bryce to slam the door in his face! It's understandable for him to panic, he was eliminated so much earlier than Liam, and he never even expected to see Liam again.

When watching the show, I was, at first, confused as to why Soda Bottle slammed the door on Backpack, but then I realized, "Oh my god. Of course, he doesn't want to see Backpack. That's the last person he would expect to see. Soda Bottle would have no idea how Backpack even got his address too."

I don't have much to say about this portion of the show, so lets move onto when Soda Bottle is taken back to The Plane and Backpack is left alone to find out more about ONE.

Backpack, who is very obviously struggling (in more ways than one) is left alone, and Soda Bottle was basically the only person in the real world who was there to witness the show with Backpack, so they could talk about it, but now that he's alone, Backpack, in a way, lost that crutch that Soda Bottle provided. He's got nobody to talk about this with now!

When he gets to see Airy, Backpack has basically "lost it", he's spent so much time and effort looking into the show only for nothing to show up, so when he pushes Airy to the ground, its like all his rage and pent up emotions bubble up and he just attacks Airy.

It's understandable to attack him, to me. Being forced to compete in a show you want no part of, being taken away from your life and, in Charlie (Tomato) 's case, being taken away from his mother.

I'll probably add onto this when I feel like it, but let me know your thoughts!

[lactoseintolerentswag]

Rise Characterizations Pt. 5!!!!!

Okay I promised I'd share my Splinter reference notes, so here I am! Also wanna take a moment to thank everyone reblogging the prev. parts. All the tags/notes are so sweet!!! Anyway, here's our one and only Rat Man,

Splinter Character Notes

Language Habits:

Catchphrase: "HOOOOOT SOUP!!!"

Will yell "whoa/oh nelly!" when in a tight spot or stumbling around

Makes puns/dad jokes, and laughs at said jokes to himself

A poor liar, will skirt around the truth until you drop it

Penchant for interrupting people if he's not interested, devout user of "yada, yada", "ah, bup, bup, bup"

Verbalizes his attacks/moves, something his sons pick up on. Could be a habit picked up from his action star days, such moves include: lights off jitsu, and slow motion jitsu

Uses 2010's slang, (i.e. "totes", "chillaxed"), could see him incorrectly using up to date slang to embarrass his boys

In a group refers to his sons as "boys"

One by one will refer to his sons by their designated colors, but will pull out the full name (not nickname) if the situation is serious

Also refers to Donnie as "the funny one"

Personality:

A performer, well he is an actor after all. He knows how to captivate an audience. Splinter likes attention--something that may be connected to his strict childhood with high expectations--but he also performs for his boys. To keep them happy, but most importantly safe. This also means he keeps his true emotions tucked closely to his chest

Jovial. Despite his dark past and heavy responsibility thrust upon him at a young age, Splinter is always laughing. He finds the fun in everything

Secretive. As mentioned before, Splinter tends to keep things close to his chest. Despite this, he's a terrible liar. He'll just avoid the truth until it comes back to bite him in the ass. This makes him sometimes a little emotionally unavailable

Lazy. He always finds the easiest way to do something, and procrastinate on his responsibilities as long as possible

Vain. He's glory seeking for all the proper attention he lost in his youth. So the Lou Jitsu aspect of his life boosted his ego in irreparable ways. He also uses the identity of Lou Jitsu to escape from the idea of being stuck as a rat. Glorifying the past is way to find comfort for him

Adrenaline junkie. Part of that glory-seeking and glorification of the past manifests into him needing adrenaline to feel alive. (i.e. when he steals the tank)

Attentive and empathetic. He can be a little hare-brained when it comes to remembering the details, but he's always very attentive to his sons needs. In flashbacks he's shown to supply them with items needed for their interests (i.e. little Mikey gets art supplies), and always apologizes when he messes up (i.e. the conversation he had with Donnie). This empathy also extends to other people and animals, as he was sympathetic with Cassandra when she was lamenting about the foot clan and was immediately worried about the turtles Draxum had in his lab

Protective. He would sacrifice everything to save his sons, and he does

Miscellaneous:

His tail is Very expressive, and one of the most active parts of his body, so if you want to subtley show emotion I'd focus on that

Has a Lou Jitsu body pillow

Remembers all his stunt double's names

Snores loudly

Talented singer, can sing opera and lived next to a karaoke bar in Japan

The show he watches the most is called "Soapy Treadmill", a Japanese game show where they throw things like scorpions at people who are soapy on treadmills

Has a "do not touch!" cabinet, full of trophies, mystic artifacts, and mementos of his past

I have a List of all the mentioned Lou Jitsu movie names mentioned in S1, but I'm probably gonna wait till the end of my S2 rewatch and post it separately (it's also long too). Will link here!

I'm also gonna add a recommendation here at the end.

This is for the white and non East Asian folks. I'm not as well-versed in East Asian or Japanese culture, but Splinter is a first generation immigrant! He keeps a distance from his heritage because of the trauma of his youth, and the role Lou Jitsu probably also forced him to westernize his identity to make it more palpable to Hollywood. But it would be a disservice to sever parts of his identity, because one is uncomfortable or not knowledgeable in writing it.

For my white folks intimidated by writing a person of color because they want to get it right, research always helps. Research helps with everything!!! writingwithcolor here on tumblr actually has a lot of useful resources, here's their guideline, and a research chart one of their moderators created, which I personally found to be very helpful. I believe their ask box is closed right now, but if you ask questions in the future be nice!!!!

Anyway I'm gonna do April next :)

[sweaterkittensahoy]

Hello!

Just saw your post about prompts… 👀

If you’re interested, I’ve been dying for a very particular Buck/Bucky fic, where, during the interrogation scene, the officer has Gale brought in to try and get answers out of Buck ✨

Im a sucker for the extreme angsty stuff, but other than that, I’ll leave the prompt broad and up to your interpretation!

Thank you! ♥️

(This went more "two Steve McQueens fight a couple nazis" and less "oh god why must I watch you be hurt" but I hope you enjoy! Personally, I think Buck's likely the shithouse crazy one of them when it comes down to it, and Bucky just tags along when it happens.)

[cw: blood mention]

After several minutes of going back and forth, the interrogator questioning and Bucky replying over and over with his name, rank, and serial number, the interrogator pauses, then says, "Well, let us try something else."

Bucky expects the man to stand up and threaten him. Instead, he pushes a button on his desk. There's a buzzing outside the office.

Bucky expects guards and guns, maybe a fight. He keeps his seat even as the door opens, ready to spring up if needed but trying to hold himself in check.

There's two sets of footsteps, and then Bucky looks to his left where they stop.

It's a guard, all right. And next to him, still in his uniform, is Buck. He's bruised and busted, though not as badly as Bucky. He's standing at ease, like he's not shocked to see Bucky.

But Buck looks not shocked to people who don't know him a lot of the time. Bucky, though, he can read that face like his favorite book. And Buck's face is stoic, but there's mayhem in his eyes.

"John Egan," Buck says, and Bucky leans forward, ready to go, "What took you so long?"

"Well, I had to come back from London, you know," Bucky replies. "Told you you should have come with."

"Maybe next time I will," Buck says. He licks the corner of his mouth where there's a spot of blood. He looks at the interrogator. "I suppose I'm here for a reason."

The interrogator smiles thinly. He rests on his desk and waves at the guard, who takes two steps back.

Stupid, Bucky thinks. Absolutely and fantastically stupid.

"Major Egan is not being forthcoming," the interrogator says. "And you have also not been forthcoming, Major Cleven."

"Attaboy," Bucky says in his most obnoxious drawl. It makes the interrogator glare at him. Perfect.

"If you think showing me Egan's alive is going to be make me cooperate with you, you're wrong," Buck says, cool as you please. He scratches his wrist. The guard behind him doesn't even twitch. Bucky catches the way Buck's hand doesn't fully uncurl when he drops it to his side again.

"What he said," Bucky adds.

"You Americans and your confidence," the interrogator says, looking like he wants to spit. "Always so certain you can't be stopped."

Bucky shrugs and slouches further in his chair. He finishes his cigarette, stares at the interrogator, and flicks the butt to the floor. The man's nostrils flare. "Buck, when we're out of here, I'm taking you dancing."

"You can try," Buck says, and Bucky moves at the same moment Buck does, grabbing the interrogator by the throat and snatching the letter opener off of the desk. He stabs him through the jugular, holding him up as he bleeds all over his pristine uniform.

He lays the interrogator on the floor and glances at Bucky. The guard's down, too. His neck slashed clean across. There's a razor blade with fabric wrapped around the dull side next to him.

"How'd you get a razor blade?" Bucky asks as he takes the interrogator's gun and knife and searches through his pockets. He finds money and a gold watch.

"They made me scrub their bathrooms," Buck says. "I think it was meant to emasculate me. I found it in the wastebasket."

"They didn't search you?" Bucky asks. He walks to the door and presses his ear to it. There's no noise outside.

"They're undisciplined," Buck says. "Not lazy or dumb, but undisciplined."

Bucky reads between the lines. It won't be easy or simple to get out of here, but the men here won't be expecting a fight. "It's quiet out there," he says.

Buck walks up next to Bucky and hands him a box of ammunition. He tucks two folders into his jacket, then tucks another two into Bucky's. They all have a large stamp on the front that seems to imply importance. "Where's your sheepskin?"

"Traded it out," Bucky says. "You hated it."

Buck stares at him for a moment, then pulls him in and kisses him. "You ever fly without it again, I'll shoot you down myself."

Bucky kisses back. "I'm telling Marge you paused my heroic rescue to kiss me like a bad movie."

"I'm telling Marge you were dumb enough to get captured," Buck replies. He pulls Bucky into a quick hug that Bucky happily returns. "Ready?" Buck asks, holding up the knife he's stolen. His gun's tucked into his waistband so he can grab the doorknob.

Bucky stands behind him, the knife in his right, the gun in his left. The box of ammunition in his pocket makes him feel lucky. The sharp concentration and determination in Buck's eyes makes him feel sure. "Let's get the hell out of here."

[silky-silks]

Okay can I talk?

eric belonging to @night-light-artz

Patches @eve-pie

Okay for the image above I was doing a “mock” warrior cat book. I miss the old covers but anyway

I kinda feel my art is…boring. I mean it just feels that way. Sometimes I feel I rush myself to get things done, and to be honest I hate having to rush myself. I look back at my recent post and they just fall FLAT. Flat as in the colors are just boring as heck. Lineart? I don’t really like. Not only that but everything feels so unpolished

My anatomy/details

I hate the fact I miss crucial details of my chat starts or even other people characters. I mean, HAVE YOU SEEN HOW I DONT EVEN ADD SILKY’s ANTLERS 99% of the time? That bothers me. And I see other people add them and I’m just “well damn I’m so lazy I can’t even add antlers on my own fucking character”.

Not to mention the poses. Everything feels so stiff with me. So dang stiff that you may as well call my art wood and use it as a support beam. I hate how I don’t use references for my art. Maybe If I used them more and actually took my time stuff wouldn't look like your average horrific Netflix Original cartoon of some movie.

Backgrounds/minor objects.

Do not get me started. I hate all of them. They look so low effort. I mean, I know I can do better with them! But it seems like I worry about the main characters so much. In fact, I feel the background just falls flat or blends in too much with the characters that it looks. Messy. If I draw a cup, i'll skip over details and it will look awful! Which isnt good, as it shows im lacking severly.

Time

And for time I rush. I feel like I have to literally push things out by day’s end and well…it affects my art. Lately o just been so focus on the hour and time it just makes the art suffer. Even if no one else sees it I do. I love my painted style, but it takes quite some time. And forgive me but I hate just doing sketches to and posting it. I prefer my art to be colored in and all the way. Now im not saying i dont like it when other people sketch. That would be a dick-head move of me.

Some days I fear if I don’t post or read inboxes everyone is going to think I purely abandoned them. I try to focus on my page. but just giving them a sketch at the end well...it makes me feel as if I just dissapointed them. I think to myself and say "I could have done better than that. Why did you even do that in the first place {Name}. "

I have like so much on my agenda and plans and then i realize I can’t do it all in one day. Hell sometimes I just make one day spefically on one subject.

If that day was animation day; I focus on an animatic.

If a certain day is art day and I want to set up my commission page (which is so messy I deleted it) then that’s the settled day. But I feel like I’m going so slow. It's like I am running out of time, and time is just passing by as I look at my clock.

And I'm not blaming anyone it's just my stupid head that makes me feel this way. I know no one is trying to rush me. But head is like "Oh but what if- and why not-". It bothers me. It clouds my vision and i don't realize in reality...no one is saying the things my brain is saying. Sometimes I feel like I'm bothering people when i draw their charcaters so much and tag them. I fear they just say 'Aw great it's this one person again."Sometimes I feel I need to be MORE original. And some days i feel i just need to give up entirely. Some days I think posting everyday will aggervate folks. Sometimes I envy the attention of others, and when I see what they gain or what following I have i look back at myself and say "Well maybe if you did this better than MAYBE you people will be interested in ya". And damn do i slam my head in a wall. Everyone just seems so happy, and yet here I am fretting over if this fucking dog I drew looks remotely interesting. And I just feel it...blends in. Like what is there so special about my art?

MY BLOG

And for this blog, I don't know if I truly have an identity for myself. There's Silky, there is Minty and Syrup, there is Simon and there is Shrimpy. But who do they belong to? What roles do they even serve in this blog? I want them to be my identity. I don't want them being just some sort of character leech. They lack story, they lack purpose, they are thrown in tropes and gag. But what do they relate to? Nothing. Nothing at all. And yeah yeah I know im thinking to DEEP into this. But it's been on my mind so much. And hell call me crazy for talking about them if they are real, but they mean a lot to me. A LOT.

So I tried to make my art interesting here like, i tried referencing images space. I tried adding more anatomy to Snowy since I am tired of doing the usual standing up pose. I even wanted to make the background feel more detailed. I feel a bit better, but I still fear everything is too...eh...bland. Maybe it is just me.

Sorry for the ungodly word of text. I know I shouldn't vent here.

[verdemoun]

So sorry for spamming your inbox 😰😰 but you mentioned the gang kinda infantilizing timewarp Kieran and thinking that he wouldn't know what sex is when in actuality that man FUCKS!!! And especially since I think you've said he has anxiety and autism or atleast autistic traits and it's common for allistics to think that autistic people can't make choices or advocate for themselves does he get a bad bitch moment of telling other gang members to STFU!!! And that he has infact been living in modern times for several years and doesn't need to be coddled through everything. Or am I looking into a single line too hard and I'm actually crazy

I am going to kiss your brain that was a very intentional deliberate line congratulations on picking it up!!!!! Yes that was a very conscious seg-way into the gang tending to infantilize Kieran a little and he will absolutely manipulate it.

Sometimes - sometimes he does appreciate it. Sometimes he needs those borderline childish comforts people wouldn't think to offer an adult. If Lenny is struggling they will offer him a whiskey and a night out at the bar, which if Kieran was already not in a good headspace would be Hell. The fact the gang would sooner bring him his safe snacks and hot chocolate and a plush blanket while he watches cartoons is comforting even if it is coming from a place of not entirely seeing him as an adult. But it gets irritating. Being semi-verbal, even when he expresses said frustration it can get brushed off and it just adds to the irritation . The gang freaking out over room shuffling to make room for a new timewarped person: Kieran he would offer his room knowing it was temporary and is fine sleeping on the couch, hell he'd probably enjoy sleeping on a bedroll in the backyard for a few days/weeks: but they won't even consider asking Kieran for anything.

But most of the time he manipulates it. Hosea never lectures Kieran about a job because poor helpless boy could never survive the real world so he gets to live easy staying at Bessie's house or Annabelle's being absolutely spoiled. All he needs to do is flash his big old sad eyes and the gang will give him cash for whatever he wants. Sometimes it's the latest breyer horse model, sometimes it's alcohol and a few galaxy brownies. No questions, no bills, he's living the millennium dream.

Javier is the first one to see through his pouty playing into the infantilization and is honestly just jealous he can't get away with it himself. Calling Hosea out like 'stop telling me to get a job you never tell Kieran to get a job are you saying my patito is less capable because his brain works different despite being you more than willing not to say anything to protect him from being a whipping boy in the old days???' and Hosea has to walk away he is simultaneously stunned and ashamed. Still doesn't start nagging Kieran to get a job and Kieran playfully whacks Javier for even risking putting the idea in his head. He likes easy street and feels he's bloody earned it after his life experiences.

The number one thing that reminds the gang Kieran is not baby boy is any shooting game. He is first pick in paintball or laser tag or anything similar because the Kieran Duffy 'tendency not to mention how capable I actually am' started long before modern era and he is a terrifyingly good sharp shooter. First time the gang realised he was the last man standing and had taken out everyone in pvp they were almost annoyed why didn't you bring this up in canon era and he brushes it off with a teehee I like horses more. Bordering on being a brat about it sometimes and the gang still don't notice how much they tend to infantilize him. He will abuse the assumption he is incapable of things like it's lumbago, he isn't lazy he just doesn't like being expected to work and for the most part won't go out of the way to correct the infantilized assumption he can't do things by himself.

[addcests]

five favorite characters

rules: make a poll with five of your all time favorite characters and then tag five people to do the same. see which character is everyone's favorite.

tagged by @hoardingator :3c

this was really rough bc my favs from the past (who shape lapin core) vs favs rn are clashing...... and it's Really rough when you have multiple from the same franchise and you have to Pick One (i Could put multiple from the same fandom to fill up the poll but that's Boring!)

as for my choices

obvious add pick, if you've been around on this blog long enough and know me, then i don't need to explain this one

minato from p3! aka p3 protag - if you call him his corn star name i am unfriending you Immediately (that goes for all the other persona protag's """canon names""", i def have many a words about this)

usagi but wow i wanted to do all men (bc i'm misogynistic and hate women !!!!! /s) but who would i be today w.o mentioning The bunny magical girl of all time?

libra -- this was tough bc out of all the fire emblem characters there's a few more i'd thought i'd pick but then i realized how crucial libra is to like... my tastes nowadays (and just of all times/overall) lmfao i am sooo weak for the (long hair) blonde type (bonus if healer or support of some kind; see next option below)

aventurine! i cannot explain how this man has invaded my head and took over my life.... i thought kaveh was bad but this gambler is truly infuriating,,, (affectionate) doctor i sympathize with you

and as for tagging, you the person reading this! free free to do it (and tag me!) i am simply too lazy and idr which of my friends are on here now to be bothered

honorable mentions below the cut! bc i'm in a rambley mood (it's pretty long):

the guy who SHOULD ACTUALLY BE THERE BESIDE AVENTURINE IS KAVEH! (genshin impact) happy bday btw light of my life but sorry you passed the torch to your son; other genshin impact honorable mentions: kaeya and diluc and albedo!

hsr: luocha....... you are literally just libra (do u see the vision in my taste now), this man was the reason why i kept playing hsr at all so he def deserves a medal; argenti could have been there too had there been more space! also sunday :>

rip lio (promare) who i demoted in favor of The guy aka aventurine, raihan (pokemon swsh) almost made it as well; i almost put howl (howl's moving castle) in aventurine's slot too but imo howl and lio are like same tier for me -- if i could do a sixth one of them would be there for sure

persona honorable mentions: akechi (if u hate akechi i absolutely Do Not Trust you) and naoto! < 333 also aigis! yusuke and haru! also shinji (if u hate shinji i also Do Not Trust you)

fire emblem honorable mentions: whoo boy i ALMOST put soren in 3rd or 4th slot! chrom was considered briefly too as well as flannel; when raihan was being considered i almost put claude. claude could have been there if i finished fe3h lmfao (some day!) also ferdie too! :3c

others: n (pokemon), leon (pokemon), kaiba (ygo), chibiusa (sailor moon - she should Really be up there with usagi for Many reasons but i'm not doubling up on the fandom so rip), madoka (pmmm), graha tia (ffxiv), sho minamimoto (twewy), thanatos (hades)

alternatively you could just stare at this: https://anilist.co/user/alittlelapin/favorites (but unfortunately it's Mostly anime chars - and Some video game chars who got anime/manga material and therefore they also luckily got thrown in the database lmfao)

thanks for reading o7 have a cookie!

[hollowsart]

I sorry for the strange question, but how do you understand that this is a bot and not just an inactive person?

A thing to understand about tumblr: even if you're a big popular blog (not a good thing and not something you really wanna become..) you don't get 35 random follows in under 5 minutes if it's real people. Real people also usually will like a few posts or more before and/or after following you. These bots? They don't.

Tumblr is also known for these random influxes of bots from time to time. So the long time users, such as myself, are very vigilant about this sort of thing.

600+ notifications upon me waking up just a while ago, this is a record, and it's 99% ALL JUST BOTS FOLLOWING ME:

Inactive: they wouldn't be following you in the first place. Inactive means there is NO activity. Perhaps there was at one point, but there is no activity anymore.

New and lurking: if you're going to be joining tumblr. PLEASE put some semblance of "PLZ DON'T BLOCK, I'M REAL, I JUST WANNA LIKE AND BROWSE! I'M SHY/LAZY AND TRYING TO GET SOME FEEL FOR THIS PLACE BEFORE I DECIDE IF I WANNA POST OR REBLOG STUFF!" It would honestly help protect you from being blocked and reported as we have far too many instances like this where bots come in swarms at random.

Real: You have posts on your blog that a normal human person would and have customized your blog, too (ie, your pfp and header image, or if you're a desktop user, you also customized your blogs overall theme!)

Bot: bots are not real people and can come in a few different varieties:

1) The s3xy men & women bots: they have links that will steal your info if you click them. Don't do that. Their blogs will have tons of posts of HIGHLY EXCPLICIT nsft content, which are also links. DO NOT CLICK THE LINKS. BLOCK AND REPORT FOR SPAM AND/OR BOT WHEN YOU SEE THEM IN YOUR ACTIVITY OR WITHIN TAG SEARCHES!

2) Fake company: "Divorce Law Firm" or "[name] Beauty Academy" etc etc are all fake. They have changed their icon to a company logo and have a link post on their blog. Don't click the link. Don't even give them the time of day. Block and report. They aren't real, and it's just weird to see some random "company" blog following you when all you post is random fandom related junk or whatever the heck you dedicate your blog to that has no reason to be followed by such a blog.

3) Default: they have the default icon, default blog theme, default header image, default description (usually in Spanish, Cyrillic, etc). Their names will usually either be a keyboard smash, something that looks vaguely real but very much came from a name generator, a select few letters repeated, is someone's name (likely not a real person, or it's identity theft idk).

4) Default, but sus: Similar to the last one, but these guys have mismatched foreign text (Persian, Korean, uhh I can't identify the differences specifically between Middle Eastern/some South Eastern languages, but just know those are also used) and sometimes you'll see some with English or with numbers in the description like "1." Or "101" if you translate the text, you'll get suspicious spam email type sentences.

Once again. Just block and report on sight if you see these bots.

Bots #1 and #3 may interact with your posts as well. As well as a different type of bot, I didn't mention as they aren't nearly as incessant or as prominent, but those bots are the "sugar daddy looking for sugar baby for allowance" types of blogs you'll see leaving replies in the notes of popular posts.

I'm sure other people can add on to this post with further information about how to identify each type of bot and what not to trust about a blog if they seem suspicious at all in a "are you a bot?" way.

[belphegor1982]

Got tagged by @accidentallylita for a 20 questions for writers thing! Thank you 💜 I'm gonna tag... @tameila, @fantasiawandering, @kabbal, @kaantt and @thisstableground - no pressure at all though.

How many works do you have on AO3?

88. But I still have 44 others over on FFnet.

What's your total AO3 word count?

659,354 (holy crap that's a lot!) and I'm way too lazy to add the FFnet numbers. The FFnet counters are a mess anyway.

What fandoms do you write for?

I have written for... Ready? Go! *deep breath* Harry Potter, Great Mouse Detective, The Mummy, Pirates of the Caribbean, Kung Fu Panda, Watchmen, Justice League, Discworld, White Collar, Hogan's Heroes, Zorro (the 1950s Disney series), Kaamelott, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the 2012 cartoon and a TMNT 2003 and 1987 crossover missing scene from Turtles Forever) , the Don Camillo stories/films, Cobra Kai, Karate Kid, The Legend Of Vox Machina, and Critical Role. Whew! And that's not counting unpublished WIPs, because then I would have to add ACD Sherlock Holmes, Jeeves and Wooster, or The Pirates! In an Adventure with Musicians Scientists :D It's mostly Critical Role and Vox Machina at the moment, though.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Let's see:

Villains (Justice League Unlimited, Flash's Rogues watch the finale of season 2's near apocalypse on TV in their bar, 442 kudos)

Reading the Colours (TMNT 2012, kid!Mikey having trouble learning to read and a bit of synaesthesia, and kid!Ralp being a good brother, 225 kudos)

Culture Shock (Turtles Forever (TMNT 2003 and 1987 crossover), 2003!Don and 1987!Leonardo having a conversation about danger and stakes and genre shifts, 215 kudos)

After the Sunset (The Mummy, a getting-to-know-each-other scene set just after 'The End' to tie up loose ends and explore character dynamics, 202 kudos)

Wife (Justice League Unlimited, the writers made Captain Cold (of all people XD) mention a wife so I created a character and explored her relationship with her husband and his nemesis, 168 kudos)

Aww 💜 I was kinda surprised by this list, to tell the truth!

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try (oh my god do I try ♫). Currently there's still a couple in my AO3 inbox I haven't responded to yet because I like to take my time (and also I like having that little number beside my inbox on my page 😭)

What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Oh that's easy. If, a Hogan's Heroes snapshot (<800 words) where I essentially went "hey, what if [character] really had been killed in that scene?" and picture the aftermath.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Oh that is hard! I have comforting endings, I have peaceful/hopeful endings, I have bittersweet endings with a side of sweet... But just plain happy? I mean, Pas de Deux would end on a thoroughly good and happy note if it weren't for that pesky last sentence ("This summer 1914 is going to be the best summer"). I'd say Perfect Picture has the happiest: it's a (few years into the) future JLU fic set at a Christmas do, PoV Jimmy Olsen, that ends on him taking the titular perfect picture in the immediate wake of a very happy announcement. I love it a lot.

Do you get hate on fics?

No, thank goodness. Something of a miracle in 22+ years of writing online! My beta has, though, because some people are idiots.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do, although it's a recent (ish) development! I've written three kinds of smut: loving and sometimes fumbling between two then three young people who don't a ton of (or any, in some cases) experience, quick and ill-advised between two desperate people convinced they'll die in a few hours, and cosy and warm as a means to (re)connect (two different fandoms) between middle-aged people. Love every one of them.

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I have! Like the aforementioned TMNT crossover (within the same franchise, bit still, two different shows and fandoms). And, well, it's not exactly crazy, but I wrote a tavern-as-an-afterlife fic in which Sergeants García and Schultz have a little conversation about their respective supposed-to-be enemies. Would that count as "crazy" if they have approximately a century and a few years between their lifetimes?

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't... think so. Can't be sure. Sometimes I post fic here and I've definitely found my Tumblr accounts on those crappy Tumblr mirroring websites, so yeah, probably.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Someone asked me once if I minded them translating one of my Don Camillo fics into Italian, to which I responded with happy flailing and "not at all, go ahead!" But I never heard back from them. OTOH, I have done the translating :D I translated a Mummy fic into French back in the day (2004) with the author's permission, and I wrote L'éléphant de Carter (Hogan's Heroes) in French then translated it into English.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not really. I participated in group projects and big bangs and stuff, but I've written a fic "with four hands".

What's your all-time favorite ship?

It should be an obvious choice, because I have so few I ship actively - you know, not just "sure, I like the idea of them together". For the purposes of the question I will say Pike Trickfoot/Scanlan Shorthalt, from Campaign 1 of Critical Role/The Legend of Vox Machina (it's a slow burn with minimum pining! They both have personal growth! He pursues her but then apologises and asks if they can be friends! Each is the only one who truly sees and perceives the other on that level!). But also I really really love my one-third-canon-character-two-thirds-OCs OT3 set in 1910s Oxford. So... tie? :3

What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have one of those eternal WIPs (more of an idea, really) of a Discworld/Quantum Leap crossover where Sam Beckett Leaps into Sam Vimes who's in the middle of an investigation, which would mean that 1) Sam B has to wrap his mind around the existence of magic and dwarves and trolls and Nobby Nobbs while Sam V and Al Calavicci stare at each other down (Spider-men-pointing-meme style in the end) going "if my guy/my people get(s) hurt by your shenanigans then so help me I will go SQUARE" (and quickly enough work together).

What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue, apparently? I've been told a few times over the years by readers that they could "hear" the characters speak in their heads, which is the greatest compliment 💜 (especially since English is not my first language, so I'm always worried about things not sounding right!)

What are your writing weaknesses?

Actual plots, especially ones with a bit of complexity in them 😅 I'm the first to admit 80% of my fics are one-shot character exploration (with conflict - internal and external - being resolved via dialogue and/or communication). Also finishing things on time, GOD.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Heh. I'm French and when I write for Hogan's Heroes I often write a French character who canonically (though rarely, gotta respect the ratio) says things in French sometimes. Of course I'll include some! But I always make sure 1) to include a translation/explanation in the notes (AO3 is really great for footnotes) and 2) that it doesn't really require a translation to understand the situation/stakes. I tend to go back and forth on the use of italics for foreign language words.

Now, if I don't know the language as well as I do French (and, more importantly, if the PoV character who hears it speaks that language), I just clarify in the "s/he said", like

"You gotta be kidding me," muttered Bob in [insert language here].

Works in English too, of course, especially if you're having a multi-language environment in your fic.

First fandom you wrote for?

I was gonna say "Harry Potter", because that's the first fandom I wrote for (and published) after discovering fanfiction (the first fics I read were for Starsky & Hutch), BUT. I guess I should answer Titanic?? On account of how I kinda wrote a self-insert in high school (when the film came out) in which an imaginary inventor uncle build a time machine and my sister and I did some time tourism (obviously money wasn't an issue), thinking "oh we'll just go home on April 14th". I was a soppy 16 years old otherwise 0% interested in romance, so I had my stand-in recently lost her boyfriend (very tragically) and Fabrizio (Jack's Italian friend) be her gently manic pixie dream boy (and, of course, die). In retrospect I might have given my 14 year old sister the best part as the snarky no-nonsense little sibling. I tragically lacked self-awareness and poured my entire heart into it. Thank goodness I had no idea you could put out stories on the internet and that my best friend at the time (the only other human being who read this story) was kind and just as obsessed with the movie as I was ^^'

(I should point out that I wrote it with pencil on loose paper gathered in a binder I lost long ago. Such is life.)

Favorite fic you've ever written?

You can't just - I - oh come on! I can't choose between my babies!! No but seriously, I actually can't choose, sorry :D

[gt-jar]

questions 2, 9, 17 and 20 from the ask game pls?

2. Before I start let me just say that I looove that op included this question!

I mentioned this before, but the reasons why someone likes g/t can vary so much, and this question is such a great example.

Like, the g/t tag is full of people talking about how they wish to be tiny or want to be held by a giant etc and an outsider might think that's something every g/t fan dreams of, and yet that's not the case.

Personally, I never imagine myself in g/t scenarios, nor do I want to be tiny (like HELL NO! But I'm not gonna get into that or else this post is gonna be way too long)

For me it's a characters only thing, because I like the possibilities the extreme size difference aspect has to offer :)

9. Mhhh... there was a post about this in the tags not too long ago that I wanted to reblog and add my two cents, but I forgot to like it and I'm too lazy to search for it... anyway!

I don't like it when the tiny is too tiny. A personal pet peeve of mine is the sentence ".... the size of their pinky", every time I read this I look at my hand and think 'yeah no that's too small for my liking'. I'm mean to be fair I don't have the biggest hands, but still-!

Same goes for the giant I guess. I feel like anything over 100 ft is too big, but idk.

At the same time I don't really care about the exact size difference between the characters when it comes to writing (art is obviously a different thing). Maybe that's because I'm soooo fucking bad at imagining different sizes.

Also don't let me start about the different measurement types.

17. Uh... that's something I never really thought about. When I post prompts I use the general terms (giant/tiny) most of the time, and sometimes human and borrower/tiny, when the scenario only makes sense if the tiny character is a borrower. Though, I feel like the terms giant and tiny are too vague sometimes, if that makes sense?

Bean is a term I never use (or maybe I used it once or twice and can't remember?). Don't really have a reason not to use it, I don't mind it when other people use it, I guess it's just not my thing.

But what is my thing is the term little one!

I personally love it, but I can understand why some of you might not like it :)

20. I don't know if I'm gonna go into the g/t community related stuff (mostly because there currently isn't an issue that I'm aware of), but here is a g/t media hot take.

I don't like Arrietty.

Yes, it's a ghibli movie and the art is beautiful.

But I think the movie itself is boring af. I saw it once and I'm not interested in watching it ever again. Unless it's a specific scene(s) for inspo or something.

It's great if you wanna explain g/t to someone who doesn't know what g/t is in a non-awkward way tho, because everyone likes or at least knows ghibli :)

[cryptidclaw]

If you'd be willing to share any advice - How did you get people interested in your rewrite/AU? I'm working on one, too, and it'd just be fun and encouraging to have some people interacting :]

My best advice I can give is this,

post art, art is really big in the wc fandom, and its a big draw for fans! If you dont know how to draw/ dont want to draw tons of designs, I would suggest maybe using bases! having designs also just spices up ur blog too!

Use so many tags, tag different versions of #warrior cats, and #warrior cats au, if ur posting designs tag #warriors designs, tag all the characters mentioned too! I think I used to tag clans and arc names to! These days Im to lazy to do that, but it really helps to get ur stuff out to as many people as possible!

I dont really have much other advice? bec tbh I have no clue how I ended up with ppl following me other than those to things... but if anyone else has any advice feel free to comment or add in reblogs!

[msmargaretmurry]

I just read the next next one and am so in awe of your writing and characterization of Connor. I was wondering if you have any thoughts or major points that you go off of whenever you write him.

ohhh, this is such an interesting question. i haven't written connor as a main character since tnno, which was over three years ago now (wtf @ the passage of time), so i would probably write him slightly differently now than i did then, because he's grown up a lot, and because his team has had more success in the interim than they were having back then, and because i as a writer have hopefully grown since then. but i think my fundamental characterization would remain pretty constant!

this answer got kind of long, so please see under the cut for some things i tend to think about when writing connor mcdavid:

first off, that anecdote from juniors (i think from dylan, but i don't entirely recall) about how he would never buy/bring his own snacks anywhere but then would always ask to have some of someone else's food. idk why but this is the funniest and most endearing mcdavid anecdote to me. after he got drafted, him asking to stay and watch the third pick, too — not just as a mcstrome thing, but as a thing that speaks to how his attachments and loyalties manifest. i think a lot about his growth from a seemingly pretty awkward and earnest but shy/quiet/maybe a little untrusting kid who didn't have the easiest time making friends to the guy he is now who laughs when his teammates make "mcdavid? who's that? overrated" jokes.

honestly i base a lot of my characterization in stuff i remember from when he was in juniors, because the public/private divide felt blurrier there and we got more moments that weren't so honed for the media. the draft year miniseries remains foundational to the way i write him, lol.

there's an article from a few years ago about his relationship with his mom that someone mentioned a few asks ago (i am too lazy to go find it but the excerpt they sent is a few posts back in my tnno tag) that's great on the mom front, but also for conceptualizing how seriously he's taken himself and his goals since he was very young, and that contributes a significant amount to my characterization of him as someone who's kind of self-absorbed, but not in a mean way. that picture of his dad holding him while he cried after losing his last ohl game. and there's that clip from right after he wrecked his knee in 2019 of him and leon encountering each other in the hallway at the arena and having this brief but awfully tender moment of comfort and sympathy, which they almost definitely didn't know was being filmed, that's very important to my conception of his relationship with his team now.

if i were to write him as a main character now, i would fold in him being the one to say the oilers should but the EBUG in for the last few minutes against chicago last month — the understanding of what hockey can mean to people and using the opportunity to quietly give them a dream moment about it. him seeming to get more deliberately private about his personal life (and good for him), and, VERY importantly, him being willing to openly take issue with the edmonton media being shitty to him. rip in pieces to jesse spector. i feel like these are things that all jive with how i characterized him in tnno but definitely add some updated color, if that makes sense.

overall my main approach to connor as a character — and why i find him interesting to write, even as a side character — is his role as this hockey savior figure, the intense media scrutiny and incessant coverage, the expectations, the pressure, the public image, the mess of an organization he's supposed to be saving, the set-apart-ness, even from his own teammates, and the fact that somewhere under all that there's a person with real feelings and relationships.

anyway, thank you so much for reading the fic! i'm so glad you liked it! <3

[quanonthecob]

Hải Phòng Food Tour Personal Review

Needed some place to archive this hell of an essay, and I remember Tumblr is a thing so here we are, reviving my Tumblr account.

Tried to bold the word "Personal" in the title but it doesn't stand out as much on mobile. So just in case, these are just my personal reviews/opinions (though I do include a few others' opinions as well) and consult these at your own risk ig.

1. Bánh mỳ Khánh Nạp @ 192 Hàng Kênh

Visited this place first. Apparently, Cột Đèn is a better-known brand, but this one has been around for longer and their breadsticks are supposedly better. My mom has always bought breadsticks here and brought it home whenever she visits HP.

Anyway, same thing, we only visited and bought the breadsticks to go. Didn't get to have a proper look at the shop but it seems pretty small, doesn't seem like there's any place to sit (though I guess you can stand outside, but still, not much space). The place is near a T-junction so if you go by car (like I did today), you can freely wiggle around without much problem.

I suppose it's also worth mentioning that we went there in the morning (around 9? 10? am), so it's not as crowded, because I heard the shop can get really busy at times and you'll probably have to wait for a bit, especially if you're buying a large amount.

2. Chè dừa dầm - Cà phê cốt dừa cô Hằng @ 124a Lam Sơn

Went to this place next. The street is quite narrow, and it's also a market, so it's a bit hard to move around here, even with motorcycles. Still, you can ask for help with parking and the owners will help you out if you're going by car.

Only tried out 2 drinks (desserts more like?) at this café: Chè dừa dầm and Cà phê cốt dừa (I'm too lazy to find the proper translation for these but one is a sweet soup and one is coffee, both have coconut). To be fair, they are the most recommended ones, and they are indeed really good. Chè dừa dầm is pretty sweet. Some people may dislike the sweetness but I kinda have a sweet tooth, so I love it. I like cà phê cốt dừa. The coffee taste is not too strong (again, some people, like my mom, may not like it as much), so it's quite perfect for me. The amount of jelly and boba is a tad bit unnecessary but eh, I don't mind it that much.

3. Bánh đa cua Bà Cụ @ 51 Lạch Tray

Stopped here for lunch. There was another place nearby that was also recommended, but we didn't try it out because it's a bit more miserable than the one I went to (sounds kinda elitist honestly now that I think of it, but well, it's my mom's decision). So yeah, just for references, you (or I) can try out the place at 48 Lạch Tray next time.

Wide street, plenty of space for parking. The place can be easily recognised as the sign uses pretty vibrant colours (during the daytime at least, not sure if there are lights for nighttime but looks like there are?).

The food itself is... meh. Had Nem cua bể and Miến cua thập cẩm. Nem cua bể is like grinded crab meat with bean sprouts, wrapped in batter then fried. It was alright. It's big, it has a nice smell and taste, tho a bit bland, and also rather expensive. About miến cua thập cẩm (vermicelli noodles with crab meat and also a gazillion extra things), we had it with some absurdly big Quẩy (fried dough). The noodles weren't as soft as I would've expected, and that's a huge minus. The broth and meat were decent. All in all, I'm not very fond of what had for lunch.

~~~

So uh, yeah, that's really it. Really should have visited more place to eat, like at least a seafood restaurant or sth, but we had plans to go elsewhere, so we just went there instead.

Kinda made this so that if I have the chance to go again, I know what to look for and to avoid. Also used some others' advice while on the trip, I'm gonna put them here, especially when I have not tried them all.

also this

and here's a list of addresses of reputable/recommended place to eat

Not gonna add too many tags bc I don't feel like publicising this shitty mess of a post. After all, I just want sth to look back on if I get to visit this city again.

[vailimia]

I was going to make a post about a headcanon people might come up with if I was part of a MCYT SMP (even though I'll probably never be popular enough to join one), but because that headcanon involves my Minecraft character doing something that I definitely don't want to do in real life due to potentially being harmful to myself and others, I've decided to cut the post down to just the part where I get to show off my Minecraft player model and talk about the mod I used to make it.

This turned into a rambling post, click keep reading to keep reading.

This player model is possible thank to a mod called Customizable Player Models (by tom5454, mod is available at https://modrinth.com/plugin/custom-player-models), which lets you add things to your player model (or remove things from it), though it's probably not the easiest mod to jump straight into.

One of my favorite parts about the mod is that it's completely client-side and even lets you use your custom player model on vanilla servers (though it will only be visible to other people who have the mod).

My Minecraft skin (and the additional parts added through CPM) is based on one of my OCs who I don't think I've ever actually spoken of on Tumblr, so I'm going to list the information I've revealed about her on Pixiv by being lazy and screencapping part of the description of the one work she appears in.

I know I'm calling Blake a futa in that screencap, but I'd actually like to stop using that term outside of Pixiv tags.

From now on, I'll try using the term "hermaphrodite" instead of "futanari", at least outside of tagging my Pixiv works (since I tag those in Japanese).

Since this has basically turned into a rambling post at this point (probably closer to one of my Pixiv descriptions, since it's focused on a single character), why not talk about some of Blake's abilities?

If you've seen the Pixiv work that Blake appears in (which you probably haven't), you may notice that she doesn't have antennae over there, this is because she's a shapeshifter who happened to be in her default human form at the time.

Compared to the other two shapeshifting OCs I've mentioned on Tumblr (Haru and Misca), Blake's abilities are severely limited.

Haru and Misca can basically take any shape they want, with as many (or as few) parts as they want.

Blake is limited to "taking on arthropod characteristics", which is only limited by whatever Blake can convince herself is an "arthropod characteristic".

(For reference, arthropods include insects, arachnids (like spiders and scorpions), and crustaceans (like crabs and lobsters).)

Blake can grow bee wings, butterfly wings, or dragonfly wings, but can't grow bird wings or bat wings.

Blake can grow extra limbs, as long as there's an arthropod that naturally has that many limbs (she could theoretically have 100 or 1,000 limbs, but not any numbers in between), other restrictions may also apply.

Blake can also mix-and-match characteristics from different arthropods, like having butterfly wings, crab claws, and a scorpion tail all at the same time.

Hopefully Blake doesn't sound too much like a Mary Sue, the main reason I'm worried about that is because she's basically a representative (not a representation) of my online persona who evolved into her own character, then again I feel like a lot of my OCs are overpowered ability-wise.

[bangtanpromptsfics]

pyxis.

dialogue prompt #9: “Cheer up it's Christmas Eve, sweetheart”

pairing: jimin x reader

genre: christmas au, brother's best friend au, fluff, childhood friends to lovers

word count: 3,412 (oh no)

warnings: reader is a lil sad but nothing angsty tho

summary: christmas was always an eager wait. less for the tree decorations, family dinner and the fuss of toddlers. more for your childhood best friend who you kissed under a mistletoe years back.

a/n: ahhh!!! I'm not completely satisfied with how this turned out to be. the inspiration was from a few christmas themed fics I read here and the movie ‘It's Christmas, Eve’. anyway this was my attempt though it's nowhere near christmas time. one of my personal goals is to celebrate a christmas like the west, the snow, the fuss and the commotion ;-;. Also I lost sense of time and space and this turned out to be 3k ;-;

masterlist

“Cheer up it's christmas eve, sweetheart”, your mother chimes as she pours brown batter into little cupcake moulds.

You simply smile at her, the festive mood not really getting to you because of exhaustion. Uni was tough, and enjoying this Christmas when you know you have tons of essays due in a few days was hammering inside your brain every now and then.

“Is that chocolate?”, you ask, leaning your tired body on the counter where she is at work.

“And orange”, she smiles, turning around to preheat the oven.

“Where's Jin”. Though you hated the routinely flicks against your forehead, the absence of your big brother felt weird.

“He went with Jimin to get the Christmas tree”.

The mention of Jimin brings a smile to your face. His soft features and captivating grin filling your head. If there was one of the few things you enjoyed coming back to your hometown for holidays, it's chocolate cupcakes your mom bakes and Jimin.

His family are friends with yours after all. You, Jin and Jimin attended the same school until college and other priorities in life drift you apart. Though the bond must have rusted a bit, you can't deny the fact that you still have that crush which started somewhere in middle school, on a chritmas eve like this when he kissed your cheeks shyly under the mistletoe. Your friends and family, and even Jimin himself must have seen it nothing more than platonic, but you still find yourself relieving the moment in your head however crazy it may sound.

Standing up straight, you decide to fix your bed hair and complete the skincare routine before the said duo drops.

“Mrs. Y/L/n...”, Jimin softly kicks the back door. He is carrying one end of a huge fir, and your brother on the other end, grunting from the freezing snow outside.

“Oh dear place it right there”, you mother is quick to her feet helping the boys and doing her usual commentary on how well the tree looked.

Jimin looks more handsome than ever, especially with his nose and cheeks dusted in scarlet from the cold. He looks really huggable in his fluffy sweaters and red beanie. Jin is busy commanding around so you choose to sit back, a very typical sibling energy and the size of decoration boxes and the tree itself not really appetizing to your will to find any strength.

“Hey Y/n!”, Jimin stares back at your eyes in a split moment which has your lashes fluttering suddenly. You probably look like you are carrying a disease and right now you become very hyper aware of that.

“You alright? You look tired”, he comments. You feel his eyes carefully studying the black under your eyes and worrying his mind because that's what he is like. He cares about everyone and everything, has a heart so soft it hurts to even think about it.

“Jet lag...”, you say, “I'll be fine”. You shoot a little thumbs up on his way to reassure.

“Why didn't Jin get the tree earlier? It's Christmas in a few hours”, you dodge the focus around you and walk near in an attempt to closely examine the tree for no reason other than feeling Jimin’s eyes a little too long on you.

Your brother gets visibly annoyed seeing you start a very unnecessary talk. So he is completely obliged to shoot back with, “Because you were in charge of Christmas decorations this year but your lazy ass flew down here only yesterday”.

“You know I was busy with Uni!”

“Whatever”, he shrugs, getting back to the box of tree decorations. You feel a little bad seeing yourself not being helpful during a festive season. It felt like you were procrastinating on your responsibilities as always.

“Um...is there any way I can help?”, you ask softly, earning a mischievous grin from Jin and your mom fills in the answer.

“We need more baubles. Also I missed out gifts for Aerum and June, so maybe you can get them”. Now this was already tiring and you were not lying earlier either, the jet lag was still choking you alive. You wonder if the huge pile of stars and glitters beside your foot aren't enough but then maybe it's true because this is the largest fir you ever saw for Christmas in your house. And speaking of the five year old notorious duo, your cousins-- Aerum and June, you have no other option than to step out into the butt numbing cold and get something for the sake of not getting your brains eaten.

While you stand there doing these calculations, Jimin puts a two and two and immediately suggests to tag along with you.

“That'd be great! Thanks sweetie”, your mom chimes, her fine lines of face gathering around her eyes while she does so and you catch her throwing a wink to your side and you pretend you never saw that.

“Thank you Jimin”, you smile in all honesty while he reciprocates the same.

“No problem. I'll get my car. Will you be ready in an hour? I think you just woke up”

“Uh...yeah”, you fake a laugh, “Yes I'll be ready in an hour”

Jimin still lives here in your hometown, attends a community college nearby and his house is just a few steps away from your own. You remember how you had the same analogy in your mind as well. You like living here. You like Jimin’s company. The lake Park and the annual ice skating competition in December and the bookstores and coffee shops at the outskirts of the town. And you can't seem to clearly remember when and where that feeling started to become foreign. Maybe it was a teenage quirk to explore the world that you are now a three hour flight away from all of this. It wasn't a deep regret, but seeing Jimin, it almost felt like it. It felt like you betrayed him. Because he seemed to be keeping his word to this day.

This year, it's a few degrees lower than what it usually is and you find yourself chattering your teeth together as you walk to Jimin’s house.

His footsteps rush to get the door as soon as you ring the doorbell and he greets with the same wide grin as if he hasn't just saw you an hour ago.

“Let's go?”, he asks immediately, getting house keys from his coat pocket and locking the front door before stepping out making you confused.

“There's no one home? Where are your parents?”

“Oh well didn't Mrs. Y/L/n tell you?”, he studies your features and gets his response so he continues “They went to New York this year for Christmas. It's some elder people thing I think...so I'll be spending Christmas this year with your family”

“Really!?”, you chime, and then immediately notice a very childish jump you did with tiny fists and all, feeling a little embarrassed at yourself, “Ah... uh I mean that's great”.

“Yeah”, he giggles, sounding like a twelve year old who is still waiting for his growth spurt, “Get in the car it's freezing in here”.

Since it's been six odd months you've spoken to Jimin, you figured it would would be strange and awkward to be with him, but his demeanor states otherwise. He could effortlessly begin conversations and build momentum with you and by the time you are at a thrift store, he is aware of the little gist of student life and the dramatically exaggerated history research paper still due.

“What are you getting for the twins?”, he asks, seeing you checking out the kids toys section with absolutely no idea and that's exactly what you reply to him.

“How about this puzzle?”, he brings a big jigsaw to your glance and you figure it's a great thing to have their little brains engaged and give yourself time to breathe.

“It's perfect!”, you add, immediately placing it your cart with a few decors you picked up from earlier aisles.

Jimin places an extra pack of Christmas candies in the cart, and you send him a questionable look knowing it's his way of bribing the kids coming this evening. He puts too much effort into people's happiness, something you wish you were capable of as well.

The shopping went smooth. It was therapeutic to get hot chocolate with extra marshmallows afterwards like he insisted followed by that very cliche movie scene where one of them develops a creme moustache and the other notices and dabs it off.

You want this moment to linger a little longer, but your whole family arrives in less than two hours and the decorations were due. If Jin doesn't have you in the next thirty minutes he might as well eat all the cupcakes your mom is baking as revenge.

“I had a great time”, Jimin states as he stops the car in front of your house, stealing the words from your mouth and warmth hugs your cheeks immediately.

“Me too. It's been long since we spent time with each other”

You hear a lone sigh with white fogs coming out of his plump lips while he does so, as if he were suddenly sad when you mentioned that.

“Are you okay?”

His grips tightens around the steering, “I've missed you”, he says, eyes meeting slowly. And as if he was suddenly pulled back to earth he conjures another sentence to not sound so vulnerable.

“I uh... It's just--”

“I've missed you too”

Even with the gear box painstakingly blocking the way, you throw your upper half towards his body anyways and you find him hugging you back. His hugs still feel the same from years back; safe and warm and filled with love.

If it wasn't for the constant reminder that your brother is probably plotting a murder against you, you would've stayed much longer in his embrace. Maybe the hug was a big straightforward for a bond still gradually blooming, but it didn't feel weird at all and when you pull back he is smiling down at you.

“I thought you two lovebirds flew off”, a very annoyed Jin states from above you. He is balancing himself on a chair to attach the mistletoe to the ceiling.

“Sorry hyung”, Jimin says. And somehow now you are getting super aware of the way your family is low key shipping you both. Not that it's an irritating thing of course though you seem to act like it. But you have no idea what's going on with Jimin, what if he said he missed you as your childhood friend? It's a lot difficult to segregate his priority of giving affection. He seems to be giving justice in terms of care for every living being he knows.

“The circus is on its way so I hope you both hurry with putting up everything together”, the voice above states, now lowering himself to ground after putting up the twig.

Three of you giggle at the mention of your family as a circus. Well in a way it definitely was. You have a bunch if uncles who crack awful jokes, a trait Jin himself as picked up from a tender age of ten. Then their wives and kids who share certainly the same braincells in comprehending things. You bet they'll ask you again about your major and your dating history once they walk in through that door amidst clearly stating everytime that you are a history major and yes still very single.

In the hallway there is a half decorated tree. A thread of fairly lights wrapped around the green and very few baubles hanging here and there.

“I'll put up the star and join you”, Jimin says, digging out a golden star from the carton. Though now he doesn't know why it was a good idea for him to announce that when both of you were almost the same height. He is just a few centimeters taller than you and the top of the fir is still very much way above your heads.

So with a chuckle you both figure Jin has to do it.

“This is your final year right?”, Jimin asks stepping closer to you. He seemed nervous about something. Or was it anxious?

“Yeah...you?”

“Yeah...”, his sweet tone was drawn almost like a whisper and you sense you should ask him further about what's wrong. But before you had to deal with a starter he continues,

“Are you planning to work in Chicago as well?”

“Sweetheart help me clean up the kitchen please”, your hear your mom's voice overpowering through the house. Which is good. Because you don't know what you are supposed to answer. It was as if he was almost hopeful that you'll choose your hometown all over again. But you aren't sure. So you take the opportunity to step away from the situation excusing yourself.

And while you are clearing the blobs of batter stuck on the counter, your mind is a haywire. What are you going to do? Though you know your whole family wants you to stay, it's still a foggy place to be in. Four years apart in another city as a college student has not provided much, except caffeine addiction and sleepless nights. Things were not even as fun as everyone told you.

A few steps away Jimin silently prays that you stay, because he had truly missed you. Even though you have outgrown from the eighteen year old shell as he had known, he finds himself actively choosing to be with you. Even when other things in life occupies his mind, there's an element of it which goes back to you.

“They are here!”. You groan silently, while your parents are throwing their hands in air, giggles and chatter fills in as your uncles and aunts and the taunting toddlers welcome themselves in.

“Y/n! You have grown so much!”, the older aunt comments, and you supply a manufactured smile to tag along. Other comments follow by soon, about how tired you are, gasps about not having a partner and future plans, all of which are not completely answerable at the moment but you manage to get through them all and finally excusing yourself back to the garage convincing there are more decor supplies in there.

Families are nice. They make festivals brighter and lives less lonely. But yours was just hard sometimes. Not that you completely loathed the people now fueling themselves off the cup cakes your mom bakes, you were just merely lost, still yet to come up with an answer to what your stance is after graduation.

“Hey...”. Jimin has joined you now which you notice feeling a warmth against your shoulder when he sits, with an extra scraf knowing the garage is still comparatively chilly than the house, “you okay?”.

“Yeah...I was just...thinking”

“Is this about earlier? I'm sorry if I made you anxious”, he quickly adds.

“No!...I mean yeah but, it's high time I find a ground with this. What are your plans?”

“I was thinking about teaching at Jefferson High”, he shifts rather uncomfortably. He is talking of the school in your town, your school, where you have lots of memories with Jimin, “You know...like we said during Junior year in high school?”

“I'm sorry Jimin”, you feel the guilt inside you growing, “I never kept my promises”.

“Hey...that's okay! Everyone changes. I just want you to be happy. I...I hope you are happy Y/n”, he reassures, taking your hand from your side and squeezing it between his soft palms.

“I don't know about that either...”

As much as you hated showcasing vulnerability to another person, you know Jimin is an exception. You had cried to him about everything during school days and he had never invalidated a single thing, even when you were visibly dramatic over a downpour during a family picnic when you were five.

Jimin is frozen on his seat as if he can't find the words. He was never good with words so instead he hugs you, a little longer than the last time till he is sure you have calmed down. Grateful for not ending up crying, you smile up at him and remind yourselves to get back inside to avoid suspicion, especially from the kids who take humiliating people as an important milestone to achieve.

When you enter back inside and get immediately surrounded by a million questions and chores thrown at you, you find your answer. Maybe your heart belongs back to everything your younger self had blabbered about. Not to mention, this fairly good reunion with your crush feels nice, though, he might still see it as platonic. Maybe he makes things less daunting.

By the way Jimin was owning everyone's heart in the house, it felt like he was family. Well in a way he is. But to put more clarity, he bought things together and his actions bought so much peace and love within everyone. Even the notorious twins listen carefully to him and help the uncles and aunts in the kitchen.

He is again by your side, two cupcakes rests on his palms and you take it with a silent ‘thanks’.

Seeing no signs of him beginning a talk now, you think of coming up with something. Maybe a memoir from today? Or about how absolutely handsome he looks right now? Wait.

“They are under the kissing twig!”, Aerum screams like the house caught in fire, her sibling joining by the side to provoke the habit even more.

“It's called a mistletoe Aerum”, your aunt corrects before pasting a smug across her lips.

Nothing changed. They are the same people. Hyping you and Jimin to kiss just like when you were thirteen. If the factor of time is removed, this is the exact night. Both of you cemented to the flooring as if you forgot to exist.

Both of your necks snap together to the mistletoe Jin had attached to the ceiling earlier. And when you lower your gaze back, face gawks at each other eye to eye. It's the same. He has that blush, the shyness from years ago. It's going to be platonic. Yet again. And this moment will only ever be romantic and flowery in your head.

June was the first to squeak, and Aerum shuts her eyes the moment Jimin is leaning his mouth towards your lips. It was difficult to relax under the stares of many, but when he ghosts his mouth over your again and leans in for a second kiss, you are fixated on him. Hands holding each other, the plump of his lips so soft it felt like you were biting into a fluff of cloud.

Maybe he'll have an explanation to your family for this. Not like anyone in the audience was disappointed. Your mother was almost in tears? And Jin looked hardly surprised with any of this. As if it was all swell according to his plans.

“You both are so cute”, one of the aunts awes and your mother is quick by her side, completely agreeing to it.

“Jimin...”, you return your gaze to the equally flustered man who just kissed you and he sounded almost breathless,

“I'm sorry if this was wrong it ju--”

“I like you”, you immediately snap in and his face is a void for an instant. Fully processing the words, his eyes disappear when he grins, “I like you too...a lot”.

“Are you two dating?”, the twins haven't dropped the case yet, running to your feet to help their curious brains.

“Yes...”, Jimin responds, looking up at you for a reassurance, which you quickly supply with a nod, “Yes we are dating”.

When the kids are satisfied they go away snickering to themselves.

“I decided to stay”, you say.

“Really!?”, his disbelief was comical, yet wholesome considering how much he wished for this, “I'm...I'm so happy!”.

Giggling at him, this time you lean forward and peck the corner of his lips.

“You lovebirds better get a room”, Jin announces and thankfully not loud enough to catch everyone else's attention.

Usually Jin expects a punch to his arms from his sister, but he sees how grateful you are for his mistletoe decor. He leaves the couple, satisfied that there won't be any more ranting about how much Jimin likes you.

Thank you so much for reading!! ♡♡

Original Content of ©bangtanpromptsfics

[queerfox-tales]

Okay, I thought I didn't use any of those words but then I remembered what "palm" meant.

Words I'm supposed to search in my written works in progress: overview, palm, coincide, decisive, advice

I'm too lazy to search out the scenes, also my WIPs needs a lot of editing so I won't be showing off typos and other issues.

All my palm mentions have to do with my characters using their powers: fireballs, energy balls. More so fireballs because the character with energy balls prefers throwing blasts at people (when attacked). I may use "palm" for my healing character but I think that work is done and published.

My in-progress works use "advice" too. It's regarding relationship advice; trying to get their sibling back together with an ex (because of things only later mentioned). There's also the sex advice scene I made to add more sex positivity and the communication aspect. It's short. I'm still working up to writing a full-blown sex scene. One day probably.

I don't know who else writes here and I only partially understand the tag so if you read this and write, feel free to tag yourself. Or maybe you draw or something. You can use the words I was given or: volcano, piano, trumpet, camp, sleeping.

Find the word!

tagged by the wonderful @kaiusvnoir & @ahordeofwasps — thank you !!

my words: night, fright, sight, light, bite, flood, answers, nothing, pass

your words: wind, air, breath, wisp, fall

tagging: @kaylinalexanderbooks @mjjune @thewriteflame @author-a-holmes and anyone else who would like to do this !!

all excerpts are from tea cow!

Current tag list for tea cow: @cyanide-latte @ameliedebruyne

Please message/reply/add in the tags if you'd like to be added/removed! Also this is an open invitation to do this tag game if you'd like :)

Night

She spotted her father before he saw her. Wang Kun had driven his old car—the one that had his contracting company’s outdated logo on the side, just as glaringly red as she remembered. He got out of the car to help her put her things in the back. In turn, she slid into the stuffy cabin whose worn leather seats had long since absorbed the smell of old cigarettes and felt as if she was in high school again. Most of the time, she would study late into the night in the library and her dad would swing by to pick her up on his way home from work, handing her a lollipop or a stick of gum that her mother would never know about. In the same vein, Wang Kun would smoke in the car and blow puffs of white out the open window.

Fright

N/A :(

Sight

She opened her mouth to say something, anything to break the silence, but a familiar clacking noise got there first. The door to the garage slammed open, revealing Yaling with two overflowing grocery bags in her hands. She stopped short when she caught sight of what was happening in her kitchen: her daughter and the man she hoped to be her daughter’s suitor standing on opposite sides of the table. Mason was as close to tears as he had ever been, and Ruby was lost at sea. It was probably the last thing on Earth her mother wanted to see.

“Oh,” was what came out of Yaling’s mouth. Then: “Huo guo tonight?”

Light

“Ruqing-ah!” Yaling bellowed over the cacophony of freeway traffic. Even if Ruby was expecting it, she still jumped at the sound of her Mandarin name. Her originally light headache suddenly drove its elbow into her skull at the frenetic string of tones and syllables that followed. “Meimei just told me that you lost your job again. What did you do this time! Did you remember to compliment your manager every day like I told you! And bring them food; people love food! Did you remember?”

A pause, followed by a colorful Mandarin curse at what was most likely a BMW not using its blinker.

Bite

“I’m saving your career,” Ruby retorted. “You’re going to drop those and dent them, and then your clientele will never buy from you again.”

“See that, you do care!”

“Shut up.”

As Adi went back to rifling through the box, though, Ruby stared at a mosquito bite on his back and thought she might have made a mistake. While he still had some odd ideas, Adi Prinslow certainly didn’t seem very vacant at all.

Flood

N/A :(

Answers

It had turned him on his head. She’d seen the look on his face, probably assuming that it was some trivial response to the argument, but it wasn’t just that. It was an upending of everything he knew to be true, which was really only one thing: that Ruby Wang had the answers. She was the only person who had ever really known him, and the one person he thought might be able to fix all of…this.

Nothing

With that ring on his finger, he would have married the most beautiful, kind, gentle woman he’d ever met. The thought should have made him happy. After all, he’d never regretted being with her, even now. Sometimes, when he was alone, he reminisced over their cozy before-work mornings, her in her satin white pajamas, swirling hot cocoa with a peppermint stick while he scrambled his eggs with salsa. They chatted about anything and everything—work, shows, some article one of them had stumbled on the night before. Mason wanted nothing but happiness for her until the end of his days.

Pass

“Well, maybe I didn’t roll, but I did have to walk. And then I had to carry you all the way back up because you said you were too scraped up to use your feet.”

“I was.”

“I know, I know.” He laughed. “You told me.”

“At any rate, it wouldn’t have happened if those idiots hadn’t dared me to do it. I was already fully prepared to go home. I had my bus pass ready. But then Michael Ferrara of all people had to say that my legs were too fucking short to run up those stairs in 10 minutes.”

“He never said you had to kill yourself trying. You hate exercise.”

“I hate being doubted,” Ruby snapped.

[historyhermann]

A blue-skinned wizard and the library on the bowels of a spaceship

The Librarian worrying about his library in episode 11, "Ragnabook: Part One"

In the past, I reviewed the Australian animated series, Prisoner Zero, mentioning an old, frail character, named the librarian (voiced by Gary Martin) has a library buried deep inside of a spaceship called the Rogue, how he has magical powers, and his interactions with the story's protagonists, even though his appearance fulfills usual librarian stereotypes, although he once was younger. I am glad to report that apart from his appearance in the episode "Librarian" (the show's sixth episode) the library first appears as a flashback in the episode "Schism" (episode 8) and there are two other episodes specifically focused on the library: "Ragnabook: Part One" and "Ragnabook: Part Two." Unfortunately, while the Librarian becomes a main character, the library does not appear in episode 9, nor in episodes 12-26, almost half the show! So, that's a damn shame. Anyway, I'd still like to highlight the three episodes I didn't focus on in my last post and talk about the value of libraries, and librarians, which are emphasized in the episodes.

Let's start with the episode "Schism." Tag and Prisoner Zero go through the library on the ship in hopes of changing time back to its usual course. The librarian helps him (Prisoner Zero) regain his memory. There is then a final scene in the library at the end of the episode. This serves as a major part of the episode. I would include the images in this post from that episode, but I don't want to make this post too image-heavy, as I used to do in some of my early posts on this blog, so I'm trying to be mindful of that. Instead, I'll probably add the images to my newsletter. With that, I'd like to focus on the episodes "Ragnabook: Part One" and "Ragnabook: Part Two." The thing that made me so sad about this was the piles of books we see here (and in other episodes in the series). Those books should be properly organized, rather than just be in piles. How can anyone find the books or access them when they are in these piles? That is never answered, of course.

We then get to the episode "Ragnabook: Part One." A monster escapes from the "forbidden section" of the library; they (Zero, Tag, and Jem) all go down to the library and find it in a bad shape, with every room a dangerous place with the monster on the loose; the librarian tells Tag that libraries aren't just for storing books but for retaining information in all its forms (artifacts, public records, images, living creatures). The monster attacks them all and only has one purpose: to rewrite history and to know all knowledge; Tag and Jem travel into the forbidden section to help defeat the monster. Zero fights off books with a book insider the monster which wants to destroy the universe. It turns out that the monster is a living, thinking book from the "dark times" which documented the achievements of victors. The librarian is exhausted by caring for his library for thousands of years, fighting off people/intruders in the process. Later, the books try to attack Tag and Jem and eat them, like cookbooks. The fact that the Librarian is exhausted by his duties (as he says explicitly) is the first time I've seen librarian burnout in a show, whether live-action or animation. As Jade Geary and Brittany Hickey wrote, in the publication In The Library with the Lead Pipe, "librarians need to be able to openly discuss burnout and know that they are not alone in dealing with it" and noted that even with the "overwhelming number of librarians who have experienced burnout, it is not a topic...mentioned in lectures or assigned readings in library school" even though the profession is "rife with burnout."

Jem in the library in the episode "Ragnabook: Part One," worrying about the monster. Tag, Zero, and the Librarian are in the background. This is NOT a way to organize books. Librarians are bound to organize books correctly and in an accessible way, not in literal book piles. Lazy choice by animators here.

In the episode "Ragnabook: Part Two," the Librarian continues to fight the monster with Zero, while Tag and Jem try another way, going through different rooms of the library. The Librarian says there is power in knowledge and that it should not be destroyed. He also tells how he became the librarian, started his life, and wanted to make his "mark on history." He built the library from his mind, apparently. Zero says that the library was even more incredible back in its heyday but the Librarian got old. Zero notes that a library is not redundant with all these stories, plays, and so on. Zero says that he just needs new visitors, noting that members of his crew are patrons who go to the library to explore "endless possibilities" in the books. Zero later pleads with the librarian to remember his past, who recorded the truth in his books; he shared stories of the library across the cosmos, leaving it open to everyone! Jenn says the best thing in libraries is books, although this implies that libraries are only books, which is wrong. Sadly, the whole library is destroyed so the librarian has to start over. That sucks. For some reason, the producers of this show never feature an episode where he rebuilds the library. BOO!

Let's analyze this librarian. He is definitely providing "the highest level of service" to library users, along with  "appropriate and usefully organized resources," as mentioned in the ALA Code of Ethics. He is also providing access to information, supporting people in their information sharing (by making the library open to everyone in the cosmos) per the short version of the IFLA Code of Ethics. This is despite the fact that he considered ownership over the library, which is why I called it a personal library. He, and Zero, make clear what Moya M. Mason pointed out in a 1990s article: "Libraries are repositories for humanity's knowledge; they are our past, our present, and our future. They are much more than storehouses for books, and include many other forms of data." That is something that animation should make more clear in the future. I'm not sure he has to endure any ethical dilemmas, however. Even so, the library is shown as an important institution and its value is emphasized.

In 2017, Sadie Trombetta, a freelance writer and book reviewer, of Bustle listed seven reasons why she believed that libraries are essential:

They offer free educational resources to everyone.

Libraries are safe refuges for the homeless and underserved populations.

They help boost local economies

They play an important role in English language learning.

Libraries make communities healthier.

They preserve history, and more importantly, truth.

Libraries help connect communities.

In this animation, since the library is on I'd say that #1, #6, and #7 are most relevant, but so is, perhaps, #5. I'd like to end this post with one of my favorite parts, from the episode "Ragnabook: Part Two" which shows patrons from the cosmos in the library on the Rogue:

With that, this post comes to a close.

© 2021 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Reprinted from Pop Culture Library Review and Wayback Machine.