#but when i scrapped that i had no idea what to do with yam so

[weirdthoughtsandideas]

You have a lot of fics! What methods do you use to improve your writing the more you write? And how do you do characterization and make sure you have written the character's voices all distinctly and to what the characters would say?

I think it all depends on what fic it is. For multichapter fics I often have a plan in the beginning what I exactly want to do - but that plan often changes the more I write. For example, I had a whole other idea for my Violetta rewrite that I at this point have literally forgotten about, because there's been so many times when I've just gone "you know what? This should happen instead!" - this is often why the beginning chapters may take another kind of approach than the later chapters, because you yourself learn how to navigate it better and you end up maybe scrapping some ideas to replace them with something you think might work better.

I don't know if I have any "methods" for being better - I think what I do is maybe keep writing themes I like and then I'll just end up more comfortable with them and become better at writing those specific themes. For example, back when I primarily wrote asoue fics, I had a lot of childhood flashbacks - this was both because in the books, they randomly recalled events of their childhood so it fit when writing a fic, and because I thought it was fun to explore what might've happened to them as kids. And now, when I primarily write dcla fics, I also use a lot of childhood flashbacks, because I've become so used to it that it's fun to start exploring yet another character's childhood and see what they might've gone through to make them end up like they are today. That, or in the case of my Angie-Vilu oneshots, I just want Angie to be an aunt and guide little Vilu through her life. Or I want Violetta to end up causing trouble that she does not remember due to being a baby, and Angie having to clean up the mess x) Also, I am in general a sucker for wlw besties to lovers, it's... definitely a theme I've had with a lot of ships. And something wlw besties to lovers have a lot is... sleepovers. So, I wrote a lot of sleepovers, and then I just kinda... became a pro at writing sleepovers?? Idk? And that makes it easier and more fun every time I write a new dynamic having a sleepover, because then I can explore how they would handle it - "if this pairing reacted like this, how would this pairing react?"

And that leads me to characterization. I try to think how different characters would react to different scenarios, and to different people. Let's take Ramtteo for example, since I recently discussed them. When kissing each other, I think it would make perfect sense for Ramiro to start dancing and jump around as a reaction of the kiss. This is because the dude in canon literally does the worm in the middle of a crowded café, raps at every situation given and just has this supreme confidence that he does not acknowledge that he would do anything cringe ever. Matteo would not react to a kiss that way. He would more "play cool" and maybe laugh. But it also has to do with my interpretation and perception of the characters. For example, I am not really a fan of Matteo in general. That's why in fics I can often write him more obnoxious, or I'll tease him or simply don't have him get much screentime. However, when he is with Ramiro, I can give him more of a pass. Idk Matteo is tolerable when he is with other men but not as much with women.

Then it's also characters that barely interact in canon that I explore interacting in my fics. Two of my favorite SL characters are Ámbar and Yam. They barely interact in canon, but because I am such a big fan of both and love writing them, I've also let them interact more in my fics. This has lead to me both exploring a dynamic I wouldn't really see unless I thought about it, and learning how they would potentially interact if they were alone in the same space. And the way they interact are all based on how I see the characters - someone else with different perceptions than me would probably not write their interactions like that.

It's very easy to write the same thing over and over cause it's what you're used to, and it's not bad at all! But it's always fun and good to try to explore new things. You don't have to just completely write something new - for example, you can still write your favorite dynamic, but they are now doing something you have not seen them do before. Or maybe write your favorite trope or theme, but this time with characters you don't write as much for, to see how they would act in this scenario.

I don't know how to give a good answer to this question, and I don't know if I even answered it correctly. But I guess it's that I just both try to write what I know, but are not too afraid to try something new, whether it's a new dynamic or a new theme. And with characterization, well, we all interpret and percieve characters differently, so it's not really easy to say what is a correct characterization. I bet some other people think what I make characters say and do in my fics are stuff they don't agree the characters would ever say or do.

[taeyamayang]

Hey hey hey! Sorry for the late reply but I FINALLY WROTE SOMETHING!! literally when you @‘d me the Ray Bradbury quote I was like “welp that’ll do it” and finished the kuroo Drabble. It’s def not my fav but it’s a start! After I wrote that I wrote a Yams story that was originally gonna be a part of a different series that I scrapped. But I really like the idea so I made it a one-shot. I really like it and am proud of it!! I just hope by the time you read this someone else besides me has read it 😅. I don’t Necessarily want it to blow up or anything but starting out as a fanfic writer is hard. How did you do it?

About the books thing growing up I lived with my grandparents and wasn’t really connected to the internet like kids my age were until like 8 (which is still v young but I grew up kinda fast so 8 was like 13 to me I guess) so I just read a lot cause we didn’t have much to do (and talking to people was hard- so books it was) besides watch the same old movies on VHS and play with Polly pockets. A lot of my toys were my aunts who was like a decade older than me as well. All of that was some of the reasons I identified a lot with the gen before me and I remember talking with my (other) aunt whose like nine years older and her friend reminiscing about when they were kids and I was like “ahh I remember those” and she’s like gIRL HOW U WERE LIKE TWO😭 fanfic has ruined actual books for me. Not saying fanfic is way better, and I still like to read actual books, but why get invested in all these new characters when you can read about the ones you already know and love? And plus it’s more convenient then actually carrying a book around.

OOH REMEMBER WHEN I TOLD YOU HOW I ALWAYS GET HIT WITH BALLS AND YOU WERE LIKE HEY THAT SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD FANFIC IDEA? well that’s not exactly how it happened but guess what! I’m writting it! I have 630 words down so far so I know it’s at least gonna hit the 1000 mark at the rate I’m going. I’m so excited for you to read it!! Also I may take you up on the editing or what’s it called Beta reading? Where people read it over and give the ok to post? I was gonna do that with the Yams one shot but I was too excited! I will absolutely keep u in mind tho, thank you!!!

And for the thing about the schools and the pillows…I CANT BELIEVE I WAS RIGHT WHAT THE FUCK??? that is so wild to me omg. Also American tv is fucking weird when it comes to sex. Like when I was in high school only a few people had sex and it wasn’t a big deal? I mean I was very introverted and wasn’t popular so I might not be the best resource but still. Maybe it’s a newer thing not to care as much about sex with a more body positive gen or wherever but I don’t really think peer pressure or anything was a big deal. Honestly? Peer pressure in general barely exists anymore. Adults were always like “say no to peer pressure” when it was just one guy offering weed or whatever and a person saying nah and that was IT. I think there was more pressure in feeling left out if anything. The media is so weird portraying teens but we gotta remember- these are old people writting and producing these shows. They also get paid to make it dramatic and not realistic.

I hope everything worked out with your ex boyfriend/boyfriend! And I totally don’t think you are ranting and if you are, shot just call me a therapist LMAO. dating is so fucking messy. Everyone expects it to be certain kind of way and they get anxious when it’s not. People gotta learn that relationship differ for everyone and it’s ok to break up and move on when you feel like things aren’t working out! There doesn’t have to be hard feelings or anything either idk why society has to make breaking up so messy- I know it can be and things don’t always end well but they can end normally and you don’t need to feel bad about doing what’s best for both of y’all. Staying in a relationship that doesn’t feel right Is just bad for both parties. Then again, I’ve never really been in a relationship and I’m still a virgin because I’m demisexual and that strong connection is vital and I’m too fucking busy with my own shit to get that. But I think what I said still stands. Bruh I’ve been reading so much fanfic and while reading I’m like “wow this shit would never happen to me and my shy ass” bUT I STILL WANT A MEET CUTE!!! but I have to remember that I’m reading about anime men who are too good to be real LMAO. I have high standards ig. Finding a partner is gonna be fun. Also I know what you mean when you said being Intimate is hard because girls are taught to always say no to sex for multiple reasons. A. Religion and purity for being a female and slut shaming and B. R*pe and sexual assault. Like I listen to too many true crime stories! I know the statistics! And people just hook up with others??? Wtf??? Idk this might just be my demisexual ass but no thank youuuu

BRO I WISH I HAD SMALL FEET! THEY DONT MAKE CUTE SHOES FOR BIG ASS FEET LIKE MINEEEE. When I was a freshman I learned about how having small feet was attractive in china and how they would bind the feet of women to have small cute feet but I never heard of small feet being lucky. I did hear about big feet meaning big- uh I assume you know where I’m going with that.

I don’t read my journal that much cuz ig makes me wanna cry but I do read it when I feel particularly down. I still have contact with Kylie (I think I called her that- since i used fake names for them both) but we don’t talk much. Sadly I don’t have Daias number which makes me so sad cuz I miss her dearly.

Ok so the murder in my town was kinda on brand for it??? OK LEMME EXPLAIN. I live in an upper middle class town with good schools and such so a lot of wealthy families move here. Some areas of this town are more fancy than others (the farther away from downtown you are- i happen to live pretty close to downtown but ANYWAYS) even some big celebrities mentioned wanting to move here. my town has a pretty uppity spoiled reputation because of that. Like most of the crimes around here are from spoiled brats that get bored and do drugs or rob people. The culprit of this case was spoiled by his mother in every degree as a child and refused to be independent and when his mom cut him off he killed both of his parents and his one sister and her husband (bc the sister kept telling him and Their mom that he needs to get a life.) the sister and her husband live in the town over so technically it didn’t just happen in the town i live in (but!!! My old residental school was IN THAT TOWN! not the same area since they lived in the nice mansion part but still.) I also got lunch with my old teacher (the one with the books) and told her about the case and she original thought I was talking aBOUT A DIFFERENT MURDER! THAT HAPPENED EVEN CLOSER TO ME IN MY TOWN. she’s like “oh is it the case where the lady drowned her kids in the bathtub?” LIKE IM SORRY- WHAT??? she like “oh yeah it happened a lil while ago tho. The college bought the house and now they use it for administration or something since no one wanted to move there.” THIS IS THE SAME COLLEGE RIGHT DOWNTOWN!!! I PROBABLY WALKED PAST IT BEFORE WHEN I GOT LOST GETTING CUPCAKES. ok quick side note- my high school was downtown and we had free lunch where we can go off campus for food and I decided I wanted a cupcake from this cupcake place not that far from the school. Since I didn’t wanna be late I pulled up my old friend google maps to take me back the quickest way- THAT WAS A BAD IDEA!!!!! I ended up wayyyyy out of downtown and into this weird residental housing street soooo far away. I ended up calling my mom like “moooommmm…. I think I’m lost.” And she was like ???? “Aren’t u at school???” THEN I HAD TO SEND MY ADRESS AND SHE PICKED ME UP. I WAS SITTING ON THE SIDEWALK ALL ALONE AND SAD. I WAS LIKE 16!!! my mom wasn’t even mad LMAO. She just sighed and told me to get in. It was a good cupcake tho. ANYWAY BACK TO MURDER- apparently one of her students parents got murdered too or something like a decade ago… LET ME JUST RESTATE THAT I LIVE IN THE MOST PICKET FENCE UPPITY TOWN EVER. I know what I’m saying makes it look all shady but the town i live in is one of the safest towns in the country- let alone my state. It just goes to show a lot of shady things happen when you aren’t looking for them. A quick google search goes a looooong way if you know what I mean- hopefully that doesn’t scare you if it did I’m so sorryyyy lol.

I’ve heard a lot about some famous cases from Japan, like the one about the little girl that killed her classmate (THAT SOUNDS SO BAD OUT OF CONTEXT WTF) or the Kyoto Anime massacre and the Junko Furuta case. The last two are very interesting to me in different ways. The first because I’ve never heard of anything like that happening before and the outcome is very unique? If that is the right word and just different from other arson cases when it comes to the motive and even the aftermath is different, like the perpetrator being the first person to receive a full body artificial skin graft. And because Kyoto Animations is a very big anime company which produced movies and shows that I- a person so far away- has watched before. And the Junko Furuta case was one of the few cases that ever made me cry and stuck with me for a while (that makes me seem so cold blooded I just don’t cry often because when I do EVERYTHING comes out) - but it was some of the most gruesome shit I have ever heard. I feel like the way I’m mentioning them is kinda disrespectful but I don’t want to go into detail about them because A. It’s really depressing for a tumblr ask and B. I wouldn’t do the stories justice. You also probably know about them anyway since you also like true crime and live closer geographically but if not I heard both of these cases from the YouTuber I mentioned a few times before Elenor Neale. Junkos case is kind of similar to one that happened here about a girl named Sylvia Likens, just in terms of sheer brutality.

OK THATS ENOUGH MURDER! but I wish I lived closer to Japan, since my mom told me she’d take me there after I graduated at some point- but she needs to get on a smaller plane first since she’s never been on one and the first one she’s going on will not be the 14 hour flight to Japan. So now I’m kinda just waiting and saving up lol.

I believe you did tell me about hearing voices in your house! Very spooky indeed. One time in a different house, a doll appeared on my bed out of nowhere (apparently it was my aunts who gave me to Polly pockets so that part wasn’t that weird) but the doll had a gold necklace with a smiley face pendant with a big round nose. Everyone says they never seen it before and honestly? I believe them. I have no idea where it came from and I held it close to me (bc spooky things are cool) until my little sister got jealous and broke it smh.

OOOH IM SO EXCITED ABOUT YOUR STICKER BUSINESS!!! IT SOUNDS SO COOL! I don’t play Genshin myself but my best friend does so I know some things about it. Her fav character is childe so I know zhongli and how he’s a god of some sort that childe buys everything for. I know there is a best friend duo and one of them hunts ghosts (bc my bestie said they remind her of us) and i know that childe calls everyone comrade and he’s a fatui harbringer with a little brother who thinks he is a toy maker. Oh and pimon (I think is her name) is annoying and Klee is cute and makes bombs. Oh there’s also Ito who’s like an Oni that’s a himbo and Thoma (I like him a lot. He’s cute) with the lil doggo! Your Zhongli sticker is so cute!!!

I’m also glad you take time to chat with me!! It makes me so happy whenever I get these messages. I hope you like my writting! By the time you get this my bokuto fic should be out!!!

And here! Take some cat pics as a treat!

i'm back with a communicable brain. dude, would you believe that i am building a sleigh.. a freaking life sized santa sleigh for christmas?? it's for community competition and i was tasked to build a sleigh and 9 reindeers. ugh, it's fun but very tiring i might be able to show you the sleigh the next time i write to you.

i read feline antics and kuroo in your fic is canon!! omg lol and when you mentioned about yams fic i was like "wait...why is the fic not on my dash (considering that i have few mutuals/following)." then it turns out I DIDN'T FOLLOW YOU?? WHAT THE HECK i swear i thought i did last time i read feline antics but my pea brain forgot or thought i did (i'm very forgetful if you hadn't catch on yet. might as well name myself dori ffs) anyway, so i followed you and saw your yams fic and holy shit??? 6k?? DUDE 6K?? woah, i am so so proud of you because i remember you mentioned to me before that you couldn't write anything/one shots because you always tend to drop them off or left them unfinishes bUT 6K?? DAAAMN. i really like the way you portrayed yamaguchi's anxiety because it's raw, heartfelt in a way that i could feel his worries through your writing. i'm sorry if this entire paragraph is a commentary about your recent works gsmsbsns lol and about beta reading... ARE YOU SURE?? ME?? WHAT AM I?? kidding but i'm always down maybe we can talk over it on discord if you have one (i rarely open my dms here bc opening dms means opening notifications and if im not in the right mood to check notifs i tend to forget to reply to comments, ask games, etc. aghh you know that gsnsbs)

how i started out as a fic writer is not actually a plan lmao after watching haikyuu i reopened my dying tumblr blog bc i know that great artists thrive here so i wanted to check out artworks of haikyuu. then, i saw that a number of blogs writes for haikyuu and i was like "wow fics are still a thing here on tumblr, huh." then i tried writing my own and took my tendency to daydream about my fixations to my advantage. i love thinking about how these set of characters react to a situation (this prolly the reason why i took up psychology as a major lol i love observing people and their personality and behavior) then out of whim i posted. not really thinking of numbers or feedbacks, i posted bc i know that only a few people will get to see it so there are less judgments on me since i'm a beginner writer on this platform. then, as i kept posting more and more people came to my blog. and although now, i still am not a huge blog, it's always good to keep a mindset that you're writing for yourself (tho numbers are rewarding, we get that) and that the people who read your works doesn't know you. you can't be judged based on your writing bc that's just one side of who you are and it also comforts me to think that there people who genuinely enjoy my work. i'll be lying if i say that there are no times where my priorities lean towards writing for my audience. i did at one point but ended on a writer's block lol. if you keep it that way you'll end up burntout (this happened to me too before heh). so, in short, i started writing just because i can and i didn't really thought about the negative things people will think of me, i just did bc i enjoyed it. also, i think consistency plays a huge role in thisㅡnot only to keep people engaged but also to keep writing as a habit. if you make it a habit, your writing gets better and better. that's just based on my experience lol. alsooo tho one year of writing here is still a short-time, i have never encountered anyone calling me a shitty writer and to stop writing because my words are useless and childish LOL what i'm trying to say is worries about people judging you and your work doesn't happen often and if that ever happens, they're the problem, never yours. so yeah i keep that in mind too. AND if that ever happens to you, i'll be on the frontline defending you. leave the roasting to me lol.

about the tv shows and sex (i feel like i have to at least give a topic beforeni start a paragraph bc i reply SO LATE that i feel like you might have forgotten what we were talking about) i agree! it's more of the pressure of being left out. one is pressured to hangout after school because of the fear of not being included in a group. tho i was peer pressure to kiss someone in class for fun but i was like "uhm, nope!" so i made a petty (i think wise *wink*) excuse of going to the comfort room first before doing it but what i did was i went straight home without telling anyone. i am not doing that for their entertainment lol 💀and that's cool kids for you 💀

OH! ex boyfriend... uh.. it's a girlfriend 🤣 everything worked well so thanks! we broke up lmaooooo welp it's for the best. im onto finding a better match i guess lol bruuhh i get the strong connection but besides that i also want someone to balance me out. i'm literally just a speck of dust sometimes, you know floating and minding my own business aka my fixations and hobbies in life. kudos to you tho! you give spot on advice. i mean having zero experience is okay when you give out relationship advices bc to me i think that's a fresh perspective.

yeah, small feet are lucky. small faces are pretty. button noses are pretty. small curvy lips are pretty. everything has to be small to be lucky or pretty but eyes... IT HAS TO HUGE AND DOE-LIKE i swear to fucking god the beauty standard here is ridiculous tho people my age dont usuallu give a fuck about it lol but the older generations OH THEY DO but that doesnt matter we were taught to respect elders and their opinions (as part of our culture) but that doesn't mean we will up to their unrealistic expectations. oh just to mention to you! when i was a kid i was pretty active. i play outside a lot and i love ride my bicycle and do races with my friends. one time my aunt (my father's sister) warned me of not "playing too much" bc my calves will develop man like muscles and it's not a good for a girl to have calf muscles because if i wear a dress and heeled shoes it will show. i was i think 8 or 9 and i was like... sOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT so i went to my mom and told her about it and she was like "what?! she told you that?! that's an exaggeration! just keep cycling or running, don't mind her." (my mom doesnt really care about physical looks whereas my aunts-dad side CARE A LOT) they don't even like women wearing clothes that are too revealing so what i did was i wore a tube on a relative's birthday party. they cant call me out bc they know my dad doesnt care (he even buys me cropped tops) and my mom too. anyway, so yes small ankles and calves are a thing too. IT'S RIDICULOUS I SWEAR.

oh god the murders in your town?? THAT SOUNDS LIKE FROM AMERICAN HORROR STORY OR SMTH. is it not weird that the college bought where the murder took place? like if i were to study there i'll be thinking about it a lot... actually... that sounds a bit like my uni... not exactly my uni but the place where my uni sits. so my country was under a colony before (war times and all that) and the city where my uni is the main city where the locals and foreigners interacted during 1800s and since the woke locals are against the colonization, a lot of them were shot, killed, and thrown to the nearby river. and if you take a few strides from my uni there's like an underground tunnel recently discovered that turned into a tourist spot. it's downright creepy because the way down to the tunnel and the tunnel itself is sketchy tight, the way/tunnel leads to a huge boxed underground like a deadend. my friends and i went afterclass and when we reached the dead end we looked up and see like a railing(?) idk how to describe it but other tourists were shock that people are piling underground and they can see us. apparently, that hole used to be a prison for locals who fought for our freedom (and other criminals too) they were kept and stuck undergound, left them there to die (die of starvation and stuff). it was creepy bc i was literally standing where almost hundreds of people died and i didn't know. we only knew of it when we reached the dead end. as it turns out, there are many other tunnels with the same structure near the place. sooo yeah.

omg speaking of the two japanese murders you mentioned i dont know about them so ill check it out!! and about your cupcake incident OMG THATS SO CUTE WTH IM SORRY FOR LAUGHIN but i just think its adorable that you ended up lost for a good cupcake. cant blame you tho i loveee a good cupcake. where you able to get back in class without an earful?

ahhhh i live near japan but i can't fly there yet bc of school (but since i graduated who knows heh). you know how crazy asian schools are? yes, they're crazy. so my family and i barely have time to travel outside of the country without taking a week off from school. we traveled once before to two countries it was hongkong and vietnam but i had to file a one week leave (it was tedious with all the papers i have to submit and all that ugh) and thank god that one week is just school festival week so i didnt miss anything besides the fun. that was in elementary but came middle school and high school.. heckkk after class study sessions is real like the one in anime especially if you're a senior. i remember my mom's friend being a math teacher so every summer i go to their place to train my skills in math and i'm begging my mom not to drop me off to their place 💀 imagine spending summer solving math problems HA! still, i'm never the best in math lol

thanks for the wishes i hope to launch my sticker shop soon apparently i hae forgotten my skills on photoshop HA HA HA and i'm trying to recall my lessons on it BUT FUCKKK anyway you a lot for someone who doesnt play genshin if you ever plan on playing it soon let me know!! i would love to know (its funny how you mentioned almost all daddies of genshin bc saaaame ughh childe supreme sugardaddy and a meme)

here are some haikyuu stickers i made recently it isnt final yet butttt here have a look!

WHY ARE YOUR CATS SO PHOTOGENIC?? THEYRE ALL SO BEAUTIFUL AND SOOO CALMING TO LOOK AT!! THATS UNFAIR bc momo knows when a cam is pointed at her and she just runs away. and the huge pikachu too!! I WANT THAT AAAHHH

here have momo sitting on the sleigh im working on hehe

sorry for the long wait but i lovee writing to you whenever i receive a message from you i get all excited! you're a good communicator and thanks for waiting for my replies since i take eons to do so. i hope you keep writing!! i'll always be here to support a friend and a fellow writer. cheers!

[forabeatofadrum]

aap noot mies (3/14)

Notes: In case it wasn’t very clear, the chapter titles are the words that I made from the scramble letters and I even wrote down how many points I got for each word. I really liked this new challenge!

AO3 | S&C

–

YEAR - 7 points

“So, it all started last year. My dad got ill and it looked like he wasn’t going to make it – no worries, he’s fine now. But yeah, it got scary and my dad asked me and my stepmother to go through his belongings and stuff. After my brother died unexpectedly, we know what it’s like to be left behind with nothing arranged.”

That is a lot of information to take in.

Kurt says it with ease, but Blaine can hear a slight tension. It must’ve been really bad and stressful to have his brother die and then have his father almost die.

“While we went through his stuff, we found out we had some long lost family! My dad has two sisters! That is huge!”

“Let me guess, they’re from the Netherlands,” Blaine fills in.

Kurt nods.

“Yeah, there’s a lot of mystery surrounding my dad’s family. I never knew my grandparents either. Anyway, we contacted them and they were happy to hear from us. Turns out they didn’t really know of my dad either.”

Blaine nods in understanding. Contacting long-lost family feels like the dream. He hasn’t heard much from his family after he moved to this planet.

“People in the Netherlands speak English,” Kurt continues, “But, I don’t know, maybe it’s my ambitious side, but I’d love to learn the language. I originally considered asking them to teach me, but I want to surprise them.”

“Are you planning on visiting?” Blaine asks.

Kurt nods eagerly.

“Yes, we’re currently saving up. Hopefully next summer we’ll go there. We haven’t seen them in person yet.”

Blaine files that away for later. This means he’ll have one year to teach Kurt as much as possible. Of course, if Kurt lets him.

It’s a nice reason to learn a language. Yes, sometimes Blaine laments about how his superpower isn’t super useful, but it has also made Blaine appreciate language. Languages are a form of connection. It’s culture: history, art and community in one. Language, in all of its forms, be it written, spoken, signed (or other, Blaine knows that there are some other forms of language on some planets) is shared by everyone in the whole universe.

Sure, Blaine would love to have a superpower that makes it easier to find things he’s lost, but when he hears Kurt talk about how he’s excited about this prospect of connection, Blaine feels incredibly content.

“Sorry, am I boring you?” Kurt asks after a while. He’s realized that Blaine’s in his own world.

“No, of course not! On the contrary, I was thinking about how lovely this plan is.”

“You think?”

“Yeah, absolutely!” Blaine says excitedly, “I’ve heard several reasons why people learn a language and they’re all completely fine-” Well, apart from this one guy who wanted to speak Italian because he dreamt of joining the mafia “-but this one is definitely one of my favourites. It’s driven by love.”

Those are indeed Blaine’s favourites: people learning a language to welcome a new person, people learning a language to talk to their spouse’s family, people learning a language to impress someone they have a crush on.

Blaine just loves love!

[misssophiachase]

For @klarolinefallbingo - “I am thankful for...”

Thankful (terms and conditions apply)

There’s no love lost between famous models Klaus Mikaelson and Caroline Forbes publicly but when they decide on a mutually beneficial arrangement and subsequently spend Thanksgiving together to sell their fake relationship will things between them move past all the pretence?

Mariott Hotel Downtown, Syracuse, NY - Thursday AM

“Reports have surfaced over night that models Caroline Forbes and Klaus Mikaelson were spotted together in Upstate New York.” 

The sound was blaring from the television. Half asleep still, Klaus groaned placing the nearest pillow over his head hoping he could try and block it out. 

“We know Caroline grew up in Syracuse but, given it’s Thanksgiving, all signs point to a new, celebrity couple alert.”

“He wishes,” she muttered, shaking the bed for extra effect. Klaus was suddenly aware of her close presence, wondering how she came to be there.  

“How are you suddenly in my bed? You know if you wanted me that badly all you needed to do was ask, love.”

“Calm down, Romeo,” she drawled. “You got the room with the TV and I was bored.”

“Is this the part where I admit I don’t watch much television? Especially the ridiculous, gossipy kind.” Klaus admitted, discarding the useless pillow and finally opening his eyes. The invading sunlight was streaming in through the blinds but it didn’t stop his gaze from lingering on his bed mate.  

Caroline Forbes was gorgeous in front of a camera, that much he knew, but fresh-faced, first thing in the morning dressed in tartan flannel she was absolutely stunning.  

“How do you think I feel? My family is going to see this,” she hissed, throwing the pillow back so it hit him squarely on the jaw.  

“Ouch, Forbes.”

“That did not hurt you big baby.” She poked her tongue out at him for extra effect. It was clearly juvenile but Klaus would be lying if he thought it wasn’t kind of adorable. 

“I thought this was the whole point of playing pretend? You want people to think we’re together because you can’t keep your hands off me.” 

That wasn’t the case obviously, they’d both decided it was the best way to keep the press off their backs and constantly speculating about their love lives. Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time but now it was probably too late to change course.  

“If only that pillow could stifle that ego,” she growled, rolling her eyes. 

“Is there a reason for this unwanted wake-up call, love?”

“I told you we need to prep before lunch with my family and don’t call me that,” she muttered, pulling on the quilt so he was completely uncovered. Klaus couldn’t miss how her blue eyes lingered on his bare chest.

“I get it,” he smirked knowingly. “You’re upset I’m wearing boxers because you really wanted to see me naked.”

“Tell yourself that if it makes you feel like a man,” she drawled. “And stop changing the subject.”

“Look, I’m all for being prepared.” She gave him a look which plainly said she didn’t believe him. “But I know everything about you so it’s not necessary.”

“Oh really?” She asked, arching her left eyebrow curiously.

“Dad is Jeff, mum is Kate, dog is Lassie...”

“Yeah just like the dog in the movies,” she scoffed. “Clearly you haven’t been listening at all. I really should have known, Mikaelson.” Now, she was on her feet pacing up and down like a caged animal. 

“And here I was conscientiously memorising your brother Elijah’s penchant for suits, Rebekah’s love for fruit salad as long as the melons don’t touch and Kol’s need to carry a baseball bat around with him for no apparent reason.”

He felt an unfamiliar shortness of breath, almost like her words had affected him more than expected.  She remembered all those unusual things about his siblings? Klaus was up in an instant, his hands finding hers and stopping her pacing. He felt immediately warm from her touch but decided to blame it on the heating system and nothing else. 

“I was joking but clearly need to read the room better,” he offered sincerely. “Trust me, love, I remember everything you’ve told me. Your dad Bill loves to tell everyone childhood stories about you no matter how embarrassing and he likes to spoil the ending of every movie you watch but for some reason that only endears him to you. Your mum, Liz, is your role model not to mention the sheriff and if I forgot that it would be a mistake given she carries a weapon. Your dog Lucy is a golden retriever who likes to chase her tail but I’m sure she could rival Lassie in the rescuing stakes. Oh, and there’s a cousin who I need to stay away from because she gets a little touchy feely after a few glasses of wine.”

What he wasn’t expecting was for her to hit him in the chest quite so forcefully. “You ass.” 

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he teased. 

“Her name is Hayley and I expect you to keep at least a few seats between you.”

“Sounds like someone is jealous.” The slight pink tinge on her cheeks was telling Klaus she was. And for some reason it made him the happiest guy in the world. 

“Just checking you’re familiar with all the traditions.”

“Like eating a lot?”

“Well, of course, and we say what we’re thankful for before we eat.” Klaus had heard about that tradition but figured given he was a bit of a foreigner when it came to the festivities he didn’t have to partake. 

Although he was doing well career wise, Klaus had never really experienced much family bonding from a young age. His mother had died and his estranged father was a tyrant. He loved his siblings for all their quirks but they weren’t exactly close either. 

“Maybe I can take a pass on that?”

5 hours later...    

“Klaus, since you’re our guest, how about you tell us what you’re thankful for first?” Liz had that sweet smile but underneath her interrogation skills clearly knew no bounds. 

Klaus had done the perfect boyfriend routine up to this point, even eating those weird, candied yams, but the increasing tightness in his chest and dry mouth was a sign his act was close to derailing. 

All because of one tradition. 

Caroline placed her hand in his under the table, something unexpected but at the same time comforting in the best possible way. 

“Mom, leave Klaus alone, I’ll go,” she insisted, squeezing his hand affectionately. “I’m thankful for...”

“No, let me,” Klaus interrupted, squeezing her hand back. Nothing felt as right as it did now. “I’m thankful for your amazing daughter. For a kid who didn’t know much about affection growing up I’m so thankful to have someone who is so kind and caring and loves me for me.”

Caroline was quiet, almost like she was trying to collect her thoughts. Had he gone too far? They were supposed to be pretending after all. 

“Now he’s a keeper and if you don’t want him...” drunk cousin Hayley offered breaking the silence. Caroline clearly wanted to kill her given the look crossing her features. 

“Thank you, Hayley,” she replied through gritted teeth. “But I, uh, do want him and, have another wine.”

Lucy barked at that moment, she was sitting underneath the table clearly waiting for scraps but Klaus figured she was most probably an ally. 

“So, do i go next?” Hayley asked, clearly perplexed.

“No, it’s my turn,” she said hurriedly. “I’m thankful for you, Klaus. You challenge me, inspire me and remind me that every day is another adventure. I’m thankful that you love me and am so excited for our future.”

The table seemed to go quiet, even Hayley. Klaus felt like he’d probably overstepped the mark but hearing Caroline he realised maybe they were on the same page.

Given it was Thanksgiving, Klaus didn’t think it was a bad time to share their unrequited feelings. So much so that he proposed on the same day a year later and at the same table and she agreed to make him the happiest guy in the world. 

The fact the tabloids cared didn’t even factor into their decision.

[sunderlorn]

Got tagged in this big long Describe Yr OC Meme by @chameleonspell because they love to make me suffer as they have suffered, toil as they have toiled. I am more merciful, which is why I am tagging no-one. (Also cos chameleonspell tagged most of everyone I’d’ve tagged anyway.)

GENERAL

Name: Simra Hishkari. Alias(es): Sim. Harmless. Flintfingers. “Hey, greyling…” Lonya, to his mum, but not for a while thank fuck. Gender: Cis male. Age: That depends where you’re reading, doesn’t it? Uhhh. He’s 11 in chapter one of part one, poking his nose around Senvalis’ shop and bothering the poor mer for paper. And now in part three, he’s recently endured his twenty-fourth birthday. Place of birth: Chiming Row, The Rigs, The Grey Quarter of Windhelm, Eastmarch, Skyrim. Spoken languages: Native Level Grey Quarter Dunmeri Patois. Fluent Marchspeak. A flexible range of Tamrielics, from the sort of versatile trade-tonguey Imperial Tamrielic you’ll hear at the docks of any major city, to something like the closest thing Skyrim has to a unifying language: an archaic version of Tamrielic with enough in common with all Skyrim’s dialects that it’s at least mutually intelligible for most people. Fluent House Dunmeris, with a few dialectic oddities picked up and understood. Relatively fluent Velothis. Some Riftspeak. Can curse a bit in Jel. Sexual orientation: Insert a withering stare and a question as to why it’s your fucking business. Practically speaking, bisexual. As in, he’s been attracted to men, women, and in the words of the warrior-poet Fred Durst, people who just don’t give a fuck. He doesn’t really have the terminology to parse that out in his own words though. Probably thinks of sexuality more in terms of activity than identity. Occupation: Murderhobo. Uhhh. I mean…freelancer. Currently, anyway. That is to say, sellsword, bounty-hunter, scavenger. Formerly? Semi-pro urchin. Carrier of heavy things on the Windhelm docks. Soldier-of-fortune. Prayer-scriv. Storyteller and sort-of-kind-of-sheriff at one point. Basically like a literal  accountant at another point too. Moral support to more qualified goatherds. Fireman — like, literally, a man who makes fires happen. Quartermaster’s assistant. Caravan guard. Itinerant herder and spokesperson of certain itinerant wisewomen. Bootleg performer of certain Temple rites and duties.

(This is long, so more under the cut.)

APPEARANCE

Eye colour: A reddish shade of amber or an ambery shade of red. Hair colour: Cinder-white. Height: About 5’10” (178 cm or s0). Scars: Oh god I literally have a fucking like reference sheet to keep track of all these. His Velothi harrowmarks: a hornlike curl out from the corner of his left eye, and a tapering line underscored for half its length with a series of dots, curving from the right edge of his mouth up towards his ear. A deep stiff scar through the left side of his lips, diagonal, from near his nostril to the beginning of his chin. A shallow horizontal scar across the side of his throat. A ragged starburst of scar tissue, in the muscle between neck and shoulder, just above his right collarbone and again at the back of his neck, from taking an arrow and having it pushed out. A flat diagonal stab-wound, on the left side of his ribs. A torn right earlobe. A straight raised scar up the back of his ribcage, on the left. A series of silver lines on the outermost three fingers of his right hand, where the joints meet the knuckles, and lightning-scar-looking traces following from those fingers over the front and back of his hand. And a plethora of tiny nicks and burns, mostly concentrated on his forearms and hands. Does a twice-broken nose count? Overweight: Nope. Underweight: At several points in his life, yeah.

FAVOURITE

Colour: Sea colours and shades of bronze. In clothes? Leather tones, slate greys, off-whites, neutral gloomy blues, details and decals in reds, silvers, copper, brass. Doesn’t tend to wear pure blacks or whites, or any particularly saturated colour — they spoil too easy. Hair colour: Statistics suggest red, though he’d be quick to insist it’s just coincidence, not, like, a fucking Thing or anything. Eye colour: Not red. Light-coloured eyes are weird and novel. Music genre: Weirdly he doesn’t enjoy music with lyrics all that much. (In canon, anyway — he’d feel differently in a modern AU or whatever.) Finds it distracting. They can be interesting, of course, but it’s not something that makes him happy hearing it. He likes stringed instruments with an emphasis on drones or echoes and silence. Things like the Tamrielic equivalent of qanun, koto, morin khuur, etc. Side note, but in modern AUs he’s definitely the sort of person who’s physically incapable of doing anything as mundane as laundry or tidying without putting a podcast on first. Movie genre: This is AU stuff, but yeah, he might talk a big game about being into Deep Penetrating Drama and so on, but he’d most often find himself watching the feature length equivalent of all you can eat hi-octane junk food buffets. Fighty action movies, particularly with an emphasis on melee combat. Finds revenge narratives particularly rewarding. Only genres he really considers himself a buff on though are samurai cinema and westerns. He’ll yammer at length about Anti-Westerns too if you get him started. (Don’t.) TV show: Hates the idea of having to watch anything live at a particular time. Fuck letting something as petty as TV schedule and section his life. Will gladly on-demand binge on historical drama, gritty travel documentaries, and twisty-turny political and intriguey thrillers. Doesn’t like cooking shows. Doesn’t want personality with his foodporn. He’d rather wait for the book to come out. Food: The Platonic ideal of Simra food is basically like soft starchy silky carbs with something sharp and heavily spiced on top. Rice porridge and preshta-jan, maybe with a raw egg stirred in while it’s hot. Fresh soft panbreads used to mop up redspiced mutton. Meat still feels like too much of a luxury to have often though, and he has a lot of feelings about vegetables. Pickled carrots, cucumbers, turnips, greens, green tomatoes, soft or crisp, spiced or just salty. Yams roasted in embers, smashed open, drizzled with spiced honey. Dried fruit is a particular pleasure as well, with a special place in his heart for persimmons and figs. Drink: Black tea of any sort – Nordic pine-smoked, Dunmeri fermented, light or dark, toasted or not – taken with sugar or honey. Alcohol of any sort felt like a luxury to be taken whenever luck offers it, back when he was a little younger. He’s got preferences these days, though whether he sticks to them is debatable and down to circumstance. He likes red and dark beers, biscuity flavours in the former, bittersweet in the latter. Hasn’t had either in a good few years though, and mazte compares oddly, to him — too starchy and sour. He once drank some Colovian grape brandy before he realised it was expensive enough that he really should have just sold it, and liked that well enough. He’s had actual grape wine once or twice and liked the idea of being the sort of person who liked it. He doesn’t especially like sujamma except in some freak cases – almondy and subtle vanilla-y wood flavours in that one bottle that one time – but he’ll drink it anyway because at least of all the quietly awful things Morrowind might offer you to drink, you have to drink less of it to know you’ve drunk it. He can’t remember if he liked mezga better or whether he was just less fussy back then. Book: Ideally he would have a larger foundation for reference than he does, but he doesn’t. Still, his basis for comparison has grown a little since he first learnt to read and first got covetous of books, so he does at least have some preferences. He’ll still hoard up and devour literally any book he can, good or bad, because books are expensive and serious business – even the cheap ones – but there are some where he’ll fall into impressed absorbed silence and others where he’ll complain the entire time. He has a thing for treatises on use of one sort of blade or another, not because he really enjoys reading them, or really because they’re very useful. Mostly they’re awfully written and opaque to the point of being very unhelpful. But that puts a sense of the arcane around them, doesn’t it? If something’s hard to read, it must be hiding something worth knowing. Simra reads, trawls, lives in hope that one day that assumption will prove right, but really the issue is that if you never check you’ll never know. Back in Suran he read a lot of pre-Red Year devotional poetry from back during the time of the Tribunal. That and poetry the old Temple couldn’t or didn’t censor and so decided was devotional even if it wasn’t. A lot of that was just wankery – tongue twisters for the brain, either thematically or in terms of its showy prosody – but you’d occasionally get the odd scrap of lyric that was just effortlessly well-turned. There was a third era Dunmeri poetess called Anthiss for instance, the printing of whose work the Temple officially banned which only stoked its popularity. It was only after she died – mysteriously, it’s worth noting – that the Temple lifted the ban and claimed all her work had been religious allegory all along, revealing a conflicted but truly faithful sole. Simra’s pretty sure that, no, she was just writing about her girlfriend the entire god damn time. Between that and tracts on philosophy, interpretation of scripture, hagiography…he enjoyed reading it all but in retrospect couldn’t say he liked all of it. At the heart of what he really enjoys unreservedly in books is escapism. Travel narratives – little holidays for the brain – they’re what put a glint in his eyes and a lightness in his heart without really having to try much.

HAVE THEY

Passed university: Nope, nor has he had any formal education of any kind, yet. Given my headcanons about the state of the Mage’s Guild, for instance, in the 4th Era, and other Imperial institutes of higher learning there aren’t quite as many opportunities for that sort of thing as there used to be. Not in the parts of the world Simra’s kept to so far, anyway. Had sex: Currently, not in a while.   Had sex in public: Define public… The tonghouse of the Dyer’s End Few wasn’t a premises as rich in privacy as it could’ve been, but I’m inclined to say no. Gotten pregnant: Please no. Kissed a boy: Yes. Kissed a girl: Yes. Gotten tattoos: Do scarifications count? If so, yes, facial ones. Gotten piercings: Six in his left ear. Mer have more cartilage than humans. One through the lobe of his right ear too, but that doesn’t really count as a piercing anymore — just a tear. Had a broken heart: Don’t ask. Been in love: Something like that. Stayed up for more than 24 hours: Here’s where he laughs in your face and says “twenty-four?” and kisses his teeth for two minutes.

ARE THEY

A virgin: Covered this. A cuddler: There’ve been times. Sometimes being close to someone’s all you want to fill your head with, your time with, your world with, and all you can do is do that. Not many times though. They’re more anomalies than anything else. Prolonged touching, or lengthy physical intimacy — he’s pretty averse. A kisser: Mouth-on-mouthy kissing makes him nervous. Half his lips don’t really work right and he gets very conscious of it. Makes him feel ugly, clumsy, exposed. Scared easily: Terrified, yes. He doesn’t exactly keep a level head on him all that easily. Jealous easily: Statistics would suggest yes. Worth noting thought that this is less in terms of seeing everyone as someone his lover might leave him for and so being possessive and shitty and more like he feels left out easily, left behind easily, and if he sees someone he cares about sharing some sort of positive experience with someone else, he’ll feel a sense of abandonment and sadness about it. It’s not an angry or suspicious feeling so much as a melancholy self-effacing one. Trustworthy: In what sense, exactly? Depends who you are, what you’ve done to deserve Simra’s trust or respect, what the circumstances in both your lives and their mutual conjunctions are, what there is to be gained from breaking your trust, or what there is to be lost by keeping it or sticking with you. Depends how strong Simra is at this point in his life. Uhhhh…this number of variables probably suggest that, Simra is not inherently a trustworthy person by nature. But that doesn’t mean he’s never loyal, or faithful, or worth putting your trust in. Dominant: Uhhhhh. Submissive: Fuckin uhhhhhh. In love: Right now? Fuck off. Single: And ready to mingle. (God can you even imagine.)

RANDOM QUESTIONS

Have they harmed themselves: Not with anything sharp. Thought of suicide: Yes. Attempted suicide: Comments on my fic suggest that a lot of what he does, accidentally or by choose, basically constitute attempts to die. Thing is though, Simra’s pretty much more terrified of dying than of anything else. Any attempts at straightforward suicide would be impulsive cries for help or lashings-out against feeling particularly helpless. The goal wouldn’t be dying. Wanted to kill someone: Wanting to sounds way more personal than he really wants to have to deal with. Appreciating the reasons for having had to do so? Fine. (Yes, yes, yes, but funny how the people he’s really wanted to kill are for the most part still alive.) Ride a horse: He regrets to inform you that, yes, he has ride a horse. Have/had a job: We’ve covered this. Have any fears: Ghosts and bones, yes. Death, or more accurately, ceasing to be alive and existent. Being maimed; no longer being whole. Blindness, deafness, muteness. He has a pretty primal flight-or-fight response to the idea of being caught out in any sort of lie. Oh, and he’s not fond of dogs.

FAMILY

Sibling(s): Yes, Soraya. Does she still count? Parents: Sambidal Dunsamsi Hishkari nas Mabudani nas Zainab, his babu, Windhelm dockworker and former adventurer. Ishar Dunsamsi Hishkari nas Nem nas Zainab, his ammu, Grey Quarter spellwright, seller of medicines, and former adventurer. Children: No. Pets: No. A cat might be good, but he’d get terrified of it deciding to abandon him, and would take it very personally if it was ever gone for very long.

[mustardyellowsunshine]

I’ve been going through a bunch of my stuff for You Are My Shelter—outlines and notes and little scraps of scenes—and I came across a scene that, at this point, is never going to see the light of day. I wrote it ages ago, and my plan for YAMS has changed so much that this scene won’t work for the story anymore. But I actually kind of like it, and I hate to think of it just sitting uselessly on my computer. So: anyone up for a totally gratuitous InuKag first kiss scene (with no context to speak of)? Then head under the cut. 

Their first kiss began awkwardly. As well as she knew him, she hadn’t thought closeness would be a problem. Yet something about the proximity of his face to hers felt supremely odd—how close his eyes were to hers, the way his nose brushed hers, the humidity of his breath against her chin and lips. No one had ever been this close to her face before, and she had to tamp down the natural urge to pull back. Her stomach twisted itself in nervous knots, her heart beat rapidly in her chest, and the idea of running—far, far away—was becoming more appealing by the moment. His hand, the deadliest of weapons that she couldn’t bring herself to fear, rose to cup her cheek, his fingers curling along her cheekbone, encouraging her into him. Such a strange warmth in those hands, lulling her into immobility.  

Then his lips touched hers, a barely-there pressure accentuated with a long sigh, the gust of breath through his nostrils. He held this position for a moment, unsure of how to proceed, and all she could do was stand there, hyperaware of her own breath and the tingling in her lips, trying to memorize the feel of his mouth, the pervading strength of his hand. Then he shifted, tilted his head, fit his mouth more firmly to hers. His kiss went from a steady pressure of lips to a series of gentle brushes, supple pulls, and occasional, hesitant nips that numbed her brain entirely.

 With every brush of his lips, a warmth ignited and grew in her stomach, melting away her awkwardness. And she found, with no small surprise, that she didn’t have to cast around in the muddle of her mind for a way to respond. She didn’t have to think much at all, and the urge to pull away was being replaced with an intense desire to be as close to him as physically possible. She rose onto her toes, anchoring herself with hands on his shoulders, and met his mouth more forcefully than before. The rumble in his chest sent a trill through her body, all the way down to her fingertips. The hand on her cheek slid into her hair, his fingers fisting at the nape of her neck to angle her head to his liking. She wholeheartedly approved of this new position, and let him know it by pulling his bottom lip between hers. The rumble grew fiercer, the grip on her hair stronger. She would’ve followed him anywhere in that moment.

The need to be even closer to him forced a tiny whimper from her throat. Then, before she knew exactly what was happening, he had pulled his mouth away from her, and after a last, lingering brush of lips, he stepped back entirely. Her brain was still processing what had just happened when he said, “It’s almost dark. You should head back to the village.”

 Her brain must still have been struggling, because now it was having trouble figuring out if it should be grateful or pissed. He must have sensed as much, because he grinned a little (was that a blush on his cheeks?) and put his hands in his sleeves. “I don’t want to rush you, Kagome." He paused. "‘Sides, if you’re not back before sundown, your whole village will be coming out to hunt some hanyou.”  

 She snorted. “Like they could even catch you.”

 “’Course they couldn’t. Don’t mean I feel like babysitting a pack of humans until they wise up and get behind doors for the night.”

 “Inuyasha… are you sure you don’t—”

 “Keh. I’ll follow behind to make sure you get back okay.”

 She sighed and shook her head, though she was smiling too. “You’re impossible.”

  “So you’ve said, wench.”

[teekoyang]

It’s October the 24th, one week and four days since I’ve left America for Great Britain. The fast-paced lives of Londoners can be compared to that of New Yorkers; everyone here hustles and they hustle quickly. Minnesotans move a bit slower, and this makes me miss home. As odd as it has been since it came as a surprise that I’d be homesick, I appreciate the quickness in movement London has offered.

Again, I’ve been homesick the past few days; finally today, I withdrew from that overwhelming feeling. I know you’re thinking, Teeko its only been a week-ish, but I MISS MY FAMILY okay!

My first few days were spent at a conference by the Centre for London, focusing on Open Spaces and the Public Realm. It was a lovely conference with amazing people. It definitely provided more knowledge on the local politics of England and the role of placemaking in London.

I’ve only been here for eleven days but I have already learned so much.

Here’s a list of eleven things I’ve learned about London, and myself.

Buy an Oyster Card once you get out of the airport to take the tubes (that’s what they call their trains or subways) if you’re planning to take public transportation. I’m staying in Zone 1 (Or is it 2?) and sometimes venture out to other zones. Buy an Oyster card because every other option on the ticket screen will be confusing.

Exchange USD for pounds before you leave for England. Yes, I should have known better but I thought I could get by with credit cards on my first day. I landed at midnight and needed cash for a taxi ride since it was dark and I had two suitcases. A nice British couple offer to share their taxi with me, so I naively rode with them. I can hear my mother screaming at me for riding in a car with strangers, but I survived it!

Download the app City Mapper. Google maps is good too. I used both simultaneously.

Eat at Xi’an Impression for hand-pulled noodles and simple Chinese food. I went and had dinner there by myself. I ordered two entrees, and the waiter looked at me and said, “The plate is very big, you sure you want two?”... YAS!

Do not wear heels while exploring London. However, I’ve been able to explore with one-inch wedges! Okay, I lied, they were two-inches!

Many flats do not have dryers for your laundry. I was incredibly ignorant when I first moved into my flat and asked my flatmate why dryers aren’t a thing here. The washer is generally tiny and located in the kitchen, and you dry your clothes on drying racks (or clothes horse?). It's kind of a pain to wait for clothes to dry because it takes a day or two. What happens when you have to wash a large blanket?

Apparently, philanthropy in placemaking isn’t a thing? For folks who don’t understand what placemaking is, it is a sexy term as defined by Wiki, Placemaking is a multi-faceted approach to the planning, design and management of public spaces. Placemaking capitalizes on a local community's assets, inspiration, and potential, with the intention of creating public spaces that promote people's health, happiness, and well being. During the Centre for London conference, a woman posed a question about philanthropy in the UK and their responsibility in investing in places and people. A contentious subject here as Brexit continues to move onwards. I need to do more research on this topic of giving in the UK if I want to provide better context before I make any elaborate assumptions! However, I did find this article that counters this bullet point: The Placemaking Factor in Philanthropy and Funding. For more information on placemaking, here’s a great article I received the other day from a colleague: Five Steps toward Implementing Creative Placemaking. This is from the perspective of an engaged urban developer.

Tier 2 Visa Restrictions. My 20 yr old brother was in London last week as he had trial shift interviews for two 1-star Michelin restaurants in Mayfair. He was offered a position for both places but visa issues hindered the process. After hours of research, it turns out that on April 6, 2016, Theresa May introduced tighter restrictions for a new £35,000 salary threshold to be able to apply for UK Tier 2 Visa. As someone beginning his career in the culinary world, my brother will not be making that amount. Whatever...

Making friends. I am fortunate enough that I have great flatmates! And as an extrovert, its been easy to talk with people. I’m attending conferences, workshops, networking events, etc. There’s also Meet Up, and apps like Hey! Vina and Bumble BFF. I also have a few friends in London prior to coming here, so I haven’t been too lonely. From what I’ve observed thus far, people are cold to one another. I may be wrong, as I spoke about this issue with my British friend, he thinks that it may be because people here are always on the move and no one has time to speak or connect with one another. This is interesting as I’m curious how placemaking would operate in populated urban spaces with the lack of human connection (sorry, this is a tangent). Anyway....

Check out Opium. Its a speakeasy in Chinatown next to Dumplings Legend. The bartender made the best Old Fashion. Ask for a Yam Sling Shot, this shot is off the menu. You choose your liquor base and they finish it off with the bar scraps. This shot is for the brave.

And lastly, the MEN! What better way to explore options than in the city of London! First, I’d like to start off by saying that I’m in no position for a long-term commitment or actively seeking a significant other. However, men in London do not know that (ha). I’ve been courted a few times and met a sweet Swiss man the other day. At the end of our walk, instead of a hug, I fist bumped him (yes, I’m awkward but it was hilarious!). He had no idea what a fist bump was (must be an American thing?). Needless to say, there was a second meeting. One thing I’ve noticed is that I have not been cat-called once while walking the streets in London. But I’d like to add that haven't taken advantage of the nightlife here yet. I don’t care for it too much... OMG, AM I GETTING OLD? Before I came to London, I was in NYC with my best friend. During my commute, I would get cat-called at least once for every two blocks or so. The difference has been nice.

This is not a list off of thorough investigation but of observations from my first eleven days in London. I’m off to Amsterdam this weekend and will be celebrating Halloween in the beautiful city. Can’t wait!

[creativedogtrainingonline]

Dog Food Recipes – Organic Healthy Dog Food Can Decrease The Threat Of Illness And Extend Life-span

What kind of food are you feeding to your pet? Do you remember the olden days when we fed our canines table scraps? Nowadays many people believe it is a bad thing to feed your pet food from the table. Many now believe that this idea was originally encouraged by the makers of business pet food, as a way to offer more of their canned and dried animal food.Lately, specifically after the animal food scare of early 2008, when numerous cats and canines passed away after eating pet food polluted with toxin, a growing number of people have returned to feeding their canines more foods eaten by humans.If your canine has unique dietary requirements, such as being diabetic or overweight, the business pet dog foods simply do not offer good choices that are healthy and nutritious and fulfill the needs of your pet. They have the tendency to be filled with ingredients that are not healthy at all, and likewise have numerous preservatives to extend their life span. We do unknown for sure where the components have originated from due to the fact that the government does not control packaged and canned pet food as it does food for human usage. This alone is a powerful factor to keep away from business pet food.I have actually been feeding my dogs homemade food for four months now. My dachshund is diabetic, so I was looking for a method to give him a diet plan greater in fiber and protein. I have actually now come to the conclusion that it is best to prepare his food myself. I also have 3 other pet dogs, a Maltese and 2 Yorkshire terriers, and they were beginning to put on weight and had become really hyperactive. After consuming my homemade food for the past couple of months their habits has actually changed, their weight has actually supported, and my dachshund has not needed to have a boost in his daily insulin dosage. I am also saving loan at the exact same time.I prepare chicken by boiling or baking it, then integrate yams or sweet potatoes. These vegetables have a low glycemic index and are especially helpful for diabetes.

I also prepare lentil soup each week, and add this to the food also. Legumes, like lentils and other dried beans, are high in plant protein. Finally, I prepare long grain brown rice, and my homemade food is complete. I only do this as soon as a week, so it is not like I have to prepare my dog food every day. I motivate you to find out more about preparing healthy and nutritious food for your dog, to decrease the threat of illness and assistance to extend their life-span.

Connie Ragen Green invites you to get more information by going to Healthy Dog Food Recipes to learn about preparing healthy and healthy pet dog food dishes easily and cheaply

. project

[brudenellgrooveleeds-blog]

Behind the Decks: Luce

First up in our new Behind the Decks series, we spoke to one of our favourite selectors to have burst onto the Leeds scene in the last year, the wonderful Lucy Williams. Set to make her BG debut at HiFi tomorrow, Luce will be bringing sonic splendours to our favourite funk and soul basement as we raise money for SARSVL and Leeds Women’s Aid. Bubbling with excitement, we sent Ed Gordon to find out a bit more about her musical tastes and attempt to uncover a few of her secrets. 

Hi Lucy, thanks for agreeing to sit down with me and talk about yourself ahead of this Friday. Firstly tell us about yourself, perhaps just a quick and basic introduction for those who don’t know you. Well, I’m Lucy. I’m Luce when I play records. I’m 21. I study textiles at Leeds College of Art. I’ve lived in 6 different places, mostly farms in the countryside surrounding across the country then mainly York but I’ve found my home in Leeds. I like weird and strange music. Is that enough?

  ~~  A party starter? liem - If only (Lehult) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82NUfPBHxYs   

That’s a lovely, well rounded introduction. Let’s waste no time and get into the details! What would you say got you into music originally and do you have any early influences from childhood who have shaped your tastes today?

I don’t really know what made me start to purchase records as I didn’t have decks or anything, and I never ever saw myself being any sort of DJ really. But I just started to buy them as little personal tokens maybe, of songs and sounds. I really liked from the first record store I visited - YAM Records in Peckham. After a while I had all these records lying around the house and owning them was still very important and personal thing to me even without the decks. When I was still at that stage, everything I bought was for myself and my shyness stopped me from putting myself and my collection out there. I just didn’t feel the need or want to. It simply didn’t occur to me to take my collection and go to anyone’s house and listen to them as I didn’t see why anyone would want to listen to them. I think the one of those moments for me which defined my attitude and I guess what started me playing was something my old boss did for me. Whilst I’ve always been a little shy about my hobby of collecting music, after a while he was someone with whom I felt somewhat comfortable for the starting to discuss music and the fact I collect records. I think he mentioned early on that he collected himself for a number of years, and DJ’d big parties in sheffield and other cities, and yet the fact he was always so receptive to the things I had to say music-wise made me see myself and music in a new light. Eventually he ended up telling me that he had some turntables just gathering dust in his garage and he offered to lend them to me. I honestly couldn’t accept this gift! Maybe at the time I could see myself having one and I would have been content just listening to a record at at time as I never thought it was possible for me to play on a pair. But he was insistent. He said just to take them and use them, practice and get playing as they weren't getting any use anyway. It’s thanks to his generosity that I’m here playing. I probably would have eventually saved up and bought one, but I think having the pair and mixer really gave me the confidence to just start experimenting.

~~ The record you play the most often? Solange - Mustang ~~

Wow, I guess we all have to thank your old boss! It’s nice that he seemed to recognise your passion and drive and give you the tools to get to where you are so early on. What was coming to uni and starting to play music and getting involved with the scene like?

Yes, I’m very thankful to him and I’m really not sure I’d be playing in the way I do without him doing that for me. When I first came to university I was put into halls at liberty park, there were a bunch of guys that me and my flat mate Heidi met, who were into their music as well. From the start we were wanting to go out and explore the music scene, and we did go out a lot; nearly every weekend there was something on and we went to things during the week as well. The guys in particular all liked to DJ. Within the young DJ scene from the rave/club culture scene I started to notice there was this definite divide between the genders and this is where the male dominancy started to stand out for me from seeing no females playing at any of the nights we were going to. Whilst it was nice to be around all these new tastes, experiences and knowledge which did impact and rub off on me, I still felt like that I just didn’t know what I was talking about and had nothing really to input maybe realising now more than at the time that this was because I was the minority gender wise which was intimidating and just not confident or outspoken enough. Maybe because I didn’t know any different I think I just accepted this is how things were and didn’t even know how to start or to get involved or play music. I kind of felt embarrassed talking about records because I don’t know maybe because of a mix between the lack of confidence and things I was noticing within the scene. My house mate Meg asked me to play at her exhibition and this got me into playing in a different environment other than my room, which was a nice introduction I guess, and I liked doing favours for people and she and the other girls in my house at the time were always really complimentary of my collection! I then got asked to play at the bar for a few more nights by the owners, but they were quite picky on what genre they wanted, which i really didn’t want to adapt to. I never played digital so the option to magic new records out of nowhere obviously wasn’t going to happen. And the idea of scrapping playing my own tunes and not retaining my ~artistic integrity~?! Na, no thanks, I scrapped that and got put off for a bit.

It’s been awhile since then so what happened to change that? Are there any other influences would you say helped you get to where you are in a more positive way?

I couldn’t place my finger on it or work out what was missing from my experience of the music scene, there was always something on and i’d be up for experiencing new DJs as well as most of my favourites leeds had to offer. One day I thought back to my roots of when I first started going to festivals and leaving york to visit other cities to experience a range of music before coming to leeds.  For me it was always about the music first and I think I was just going to nights and places because others were, or I wanted to be social and not alone. I think once I realised this, I had a little head-shift and I started to reassess why I was going out and how to really enjoy myself. Last easter when everyone had gone home I went out on my own this enabled me to focus on the music and not be bothered about getting fucked up. I  just started losing myself in the music and having the best time in the world doing so. Not having anyone around me to judge or distract me made this a totally different experience and I was finally beginning to understand it. I bumped into Raf Bogan who I vaguely knew at the time from going into Outlaws, He introduced me to his house mate George on a night and invited me back to his for an afters. But there was something about him and his friends that I’d never really felt before and I wasn’t sure what it was, but it compelled me to go back to his and listen to some records with him and his friends oh and of course Alex T was in the situation haha! I remember having a really nice time and I think what was conducive to this was simply a combination of the lack of pretentiousness, and that they were so inclusive. We were all just sitting back and chilling and taking it in turn to put some records on. Whilst I didn’t get involved there was no macho ‘fighting’ to play a tune; everyone just seemed to be content to sit there and enjoy each other's music and I felt much more at home in this situation. There was barely even any mixing going on, and I enjoyed that. After this happened a few more times I mentioned that I owned some records the reaction I got was needed when they enthusiastically invited me to bring them over and play them.

~~ Your most interesting/weird tune? Ralph Mcdonald - The Path  ~~

Keep going! You’ve just suddenly exploded over the Leeds scene. Tell me all about getting started with this and why do you think this is? Hahaha I don’t think I’ve exploded but I’m playing a fair few gigs at the moment at least which is kinda crazy really! Quite early on I got invited to play a Leftovers which is this monthly sort-of techno night at Hyde Park Book Club. I think book club are great at putting on all these little dinky, local based and driven events. I’ve had some stuff displayed there from an art collective (Imprint) that me and my course mate Alice set up together . Something that I remember from early on is the guy who invited me to play (Ryan) said I don’t actually have to play techno at all and it can simply be an experimental set, and I think this breaking down of rules and boundaries was liberating in the sense that i could literally be myself and not have to impress anyone and express my music as if it was an art piece. I still haven’t properly learned to beatmatch as that was something that a lot of dudes are obsessed about, and I think my refusal to engage with that so far has just been my way of giving a fat middle finger to the establishment and anyone who says that I have to do things in a certain way and be confined by their rules. I’ve always enjoyed just really fucking around with sound and I think that’s what drew me to playing records so much. Having that ‘touch factor’ is something that can’t be emulated in any other way, even by a CDJ. Ill often touch, slowdown, twist and turn my records to get them to make sounds you’d never normally hear and that’s something that I want to bring with me when I play rather than just hearing a load of songs just beatmatched. I’ll change the mode of the sound and just make things a bit strange, but that’s how I like it.  Anyway, I played this leftovers set in my fashion and people seemed to really enjoy it! It was so nice to have a positive response to something so personal! Since then I’ve been invited to play a number of occasions, all of which I’m enjoying so much. And in addition, I think by playing in my way and being a girl that’s doing strange things, hopefully I’m helping to bring a small change to the Leeds Scene as it were. ~~ Your best random find? Tapan - The City  ~~

I think you could be quite right there. I’ve actually had the pleasure of playing with you for a long b2b the first time we properly met at Love Muscle and I was enamoured with your selections and the way in which you played them. For me personally it was such a refreshing way to think about music and DJing. But what do you think about the current state of the Leeds scene as a female DJ who’s now recognised and playing out? I think there are still so many barriers to overcome similar to the ones I’ve faced, and ones I’m still facing today, but In Leeds in particular I’ve noticed something is stirring and changing all these preconceived notions. Raf and George, Ed Keys crib the broken Mechanics lot, recently Dom (D.Glare) have all been so encouraging of me and my tunes that I can’t help but feel a bit of confidence finally. Joe Gill and Sean down at outlaws have got me down there a few times to play which has been a sweet opportunity as its chilled, lovely environment lets me practice and do what I want really! And I’m also thinking that the way that you guys (Brudenell Groove) and Michael (Love Muscle) are doing parties and breaking down barriers in a really positive way is fundamentally altering the way that people are suddenly thinking about how, when, why they are doing events. There is still so much to go, but I think we could be in the center of something special that’s happening right now. It’s just important to get people playing who might not have the confidence and want to do something that might be weird and different and I think I really encapsulate that demographic at the moment, but there are so many more just like me who also need these opportunities. Some examples off the top of my head are Tami and Zoya, who are recent female DJs within the scene whose mentality and energy of wanting to get involved is commendable and contageous. Zoya and I set up our Bath time sessions LSR show together which is really fun, and it’s been amazing to see her gain so much confidence already as I saw she was feeling a similar way to how I did last year. It’s just amazing to see people's perspective change by taking all seriousness away and fucking shit up!! 

Well let’s hope they come to Springwatch on Friday and find inspiration! Is there any advice you’d like to give to someone, perhaps like a younger you, who is looking to start playing records or just playing out in any manner? Perhaps you could also name a few inspirations of your own? Yes come to Springwatch haha! Hmmmm… I think something I learned which took a long time but was one of the most important things for me is just to learn not to give a fuck. For so long I worried about what others thought of my records and music tastes and lack of technical ability so I never had the courage to put myself out there until I had the backing and encouragement. Now I still obviously care about what my friends think of me, but I have that nonchalance about what others think of my music as I know it’s what I like and I know there will be people who enjoy it, and that’s simply all that matters. For any girls in particular there are some great people who have encouraged me and there are more girls getting involved and my advice to all of you is simply to just go out there and take it. Demand it! There are some really cool groups like Slut Drop who are coming together and making girl gigs a thing that happens Cat Pattersons SWEATSHOP Holly O’brians FEM FEST where I got to meet a some other female DJs and and experience a really fun light hearted opportunity which has also been a great exposure for females! BG and LM are also great for this but lets all try and take whatever we can and make sure those opportunities are there for us as well!  Some inspirations for me have always been strong female DJ’s and musicians who have succeeded in this industry despite the heavy barriers facing them. Beatrice Dillon, Lena Willikens who played at On-Rotation just last friday and her radio work has been a big source of inspiration for me. Others such as Helena Hauff and many of the women who’ve made wicked tracks and been featured on the XLR8R podcasts are all worth listening to.

~~ An emotional tune? Wilson Tanner - Sun Room (the whole album!)  ~~

Fantastic recommendations! Lena in particular was probably one of the best nights I’ve ever been to and I will be following her very closely soon. But for now let’s get back to Luce! As I said earlier I’ve been very lucky to have played with you a few times and I’ve always been blown away by not only the quality of your selections, but also the depth and variation you seem willing to buy. You don’t seem bounded by genre or anything really, so what’s your secret for finding tunes? Is there a specific sound or process you go by to purchase a record? I see music as sound and art. I feel like i've gained my own perspective about what music really is,  There’s something about owning the physicality of a record and it becomes your little thing and you can hold it in your hand and say that it’s yours. Record shops are great if you’re like me and need at least a solid hour or two to dig. I don’t like being under any time pressure when visiting new record stores, simply taking my time going into hunting mode, nice and thorough. I think when I was traveling I’ve always enjoyed going to the record shops in different countries and buying music from that country. Even now when I go to a new place I’ll go to a store there and try and pick out something new. I don’t really have a method really, I just find stuff that I think is interesting, weird, different and had just distinct sound. And sometimes I’ll just go with my gut and buy stuff that I want even though I don’t know why. I’ve occasionally bought records from stores that don’t have a listening station, but I just really liked the art and had to have it there and then. I think having that real lack of self-restriction in my purchasing means I get things from all over the shop. I can start in the techno section and walk out with some folk music from Pakistan.  We have to wrap up this interview now, but thanks so much for talking to us Lucy and we’re very excited to see what wonderful things you have in store for us at HiFi this Friday!