#edited to add the question oops lol

[nanabansama]

Here is what the official vol 13 translation notes say regarding your last post!: Pages 49-50, This is another counting song like the one in Volume 12 (Four is represented by the last three bubbles on page 49 all having four syllables in Japanese). The song becomes even more ominous when the numbers are used to make homophonous words, translating roughly as "O mortal, open the box at the bottom of the sea. How long will we be trapped, together in this web...?" Adds more to the mystery of it all.

Oh! I feel silly for never reading that, haha. Thanks!

I like these lyrics a lot! They're somewhat similar to mine, and I like how they connected it to the other verses.

The biggest difference is I translated it as "it's starting" instead of "open the box", and I think I like their interpretation more! Opening a box is a way to say something is starting in Japanese, but given the way it connects to the next lyrics, it feels a bit more meaningful.

That said, it's actually a "lid" not a box. And I think that's where the rest of their translated lyrics come in.

At the end, it says they're trapped in a web. And I think the "web" is supposed to be a box made of weaved bamboo, like so:

Which is a box... with a lid... practically begging to be opened...

Hm...

Oh, and they specified "sea" for some reason. To my knowledge it's referring to any body of water in Japanese. Hence me saying "waterbed". Which is my own neutral take on a term like lakebed, but more commonly means a bed filled with water. Oops.

Regardless, this is a very clever translation! The only issues I have are that they specified the sea for some reason and didn't go into details on the box, but for the sake of eloquency it gets the job done. And I can't really complain anyway since I love to ramble, lol.

Thanks for sharing! And perhaps this bamboo box will come back someday...

EDIT: I couldn't stop thinking about this and came up with another idea lol.

While "open the box" could be a command, it could also imply the box is being opened by someone else. So what if it's supposed to be something like, "Go human, the lid is open, go with everyone else"? This interpretation definitely connects back to the idea of kannagi sacrifice, and maybe the box is a metaphor for the reservoir beneath the red house where the kannagi live...? (They are trapped there for eternity after all.)

Could it also be that this "lid" is the cover of a well? Or maybe the maw of a monster (like the Pit God)?

I guess the big question is if this box is metaphorical or not... anyway, just some food for thought.

[desire-mona]

Opinions on jacksfilms v sssniperwolf?

Penny for ur thoughts plz 🪙 (<- pretend that is a penny shhhhh)

this ask is an equivalent to asking for my hand in marriage just btw.

so in case anyone doesnt know anything abt this old ass drama (i dont know as much as i could either, this is a retelling from the bits and pieces i remember):

so basically sssniperwolf used to be this gaming youtuber but she eventually turned into a half baked "reaction" channel where she just watches tiktoks, makes low effort surface level commentary, and then doesnt credit the creator of said tiktoks. jacksfilms is a comedy youtuber who does a bunch of stuff (sketches, streaming, something called YIAY where he gives ppl prompts / questions to answer n reads em out(with credit!(also hes been doing stuff with ai recently but mostly to show how mid it is which like. eh idk how i feel abt it but its not a dealbreaker))) and he at one point in 2023 called out sniper for her content stealking and lazy content.

he started doing this thing where he reacted to her videos the way she reacts to the videos she steals? i think? and then he gives credit to the creators that sniper reacts to i hope ur following. sniper eventually got mad and was like "uhhhmmm ur stealing from me....." which is rly funny considering she steals from SO many ppl. they had lowkey beef for a while (and obv jack was in the right the entire time) and on uhhhhhh lemme look this up hold on. october 13th of last year sniper posted an instagram story poll like "jacksfilms is close to this place im shooting at should i go see him" i guess to like? talk things out?

(src)

and then some amnt of time later while jack was playing jackbox on stream with his editors and stuff (dubbed the council) sniper showed up at his house, stood outside, and posted a video OF HIS HOME ON HER STORY. ON HER INSTAGRAM WITH OVER 5 MILLION FOLLOWERS. also to add even more context that i found out from youtube comments, sniper has been arrested for armed robbery before, so! some council member alerted jack and erin (jack's wife) was like "erm im gonna go outside" and everyone was like NO DONT OMG. eventually she deleted the story but by that point it was like wayyyy too late. and photos of his house were alr on twitter and stuff. the most ridiculous part is that when jack was rightfully like WHAG GHE HELL she was like this guy is creepy and hes been harassing me! i just wanna talk!!!

jacksfilms made a video being like heyyyyy youtube can u do smthn abt this???? youtube, of course, did nothing in response. i honestly dont know how it ended but snipers still doing her thing and so is jack so ultimately nothing substantial came of it, i guess. i wasnt on stream when it happened but i was GLUED to twitter as it was unfolding since ive been a big jacksfilms fan since i was 12ish. crazy times

WAIT EDIT I FORGOT TO ADD MY OPINION OOPS LOL: FUCK SNIPERWOLF

also fun fact! ive had a couple convos with a council member (marshaldoesstuff u will always be famous) and i was in his discord FOREVER ago. like 2018 forever ago. got groomed in that server it was kinda goofy (NOT marshal's fault - nor the mods of said server, im still friends with a few of those mods and they were always so protective of me and were there to put a stop to everything, i love them dearly.) so yeah im kinda etched into jacksfilms lore in a way that VERY few remember. which is the case for a few different fandoms tbh.

second fun fact: jack and erin r house md fans (erin has a crush on house and jack has a crush on cuddy which is sooo based of them)

thank u for asking and thank u for reading :3 i luv jacksfilms

[elizmanderson]

I know how much pre-orders help authors, are there any ways to show interest towards a book that the publisher will see besides pre-ordering? I’ll likely need to wait until my birthday or Christmas and receive Remarkable Retirement as a gift, but I wanna make sure my interest is counted, if possible.

thank you so much for this question! yes, there are several things you can do to help authors, aside from preorders.

spread the word

the number one thing you can do to help new authors in particular is to spread the word about their books! while publishing increasingly tries to push authors to market their books/be on tiktok/whatever, in general, there's very little an author can do themself to move the needle on book sales.

particularly because I'm being published by a very small, fairly new press, visibility is one of my greatest worries and biggest issues!

(thank you, tumblr, for all the added visibility, like literally I cannot tell you how much y'all absolutely running with my sister's post about the book was a game-changer for me. I've been able to take a breather, my goodreads adds and preorder sales are going up anyway, like it's literally so amazing to watch and I am so beyond grateful)

so the more that readers who are excited for the book spread the word to other readers, the more likely it is that people will discover the book. if you follow any book bloggers/booktokers or other book reviewers, suggesting the book for their next read/their next list/whatever helps as well, but honestly just telling any random person you think might be interested about the book is such a great help.

if you do your own lists of anticipated books, including the book on any lists is also helpful!

request the book at your local library

if you have a local library, ask that they order the book! again this is good for visibility, plus...I'm not clear on how it works, but even though a library may only buy a single copy of a book, it's really good for the author and sales somehow?? so unclear about how it works (if any librarians or more experienced pub folks are around, feel free to hop in and let us know), but I'm perennially a fan of libraries, so regardless I encourage people to ask their library to order the book!

the only potential snafu here is that the print edition is currently only available direct from Hansen House (although they do distribute through Ingram, so it should be more widely available later). BUT Hansen House is set up to invoice libraries and bookstores, so it should really be fine - and if your local library (if you have one) has any concerns, they can reach out to Hansen House with any questions (and they will not be the first!)

review the book ahead of time

okay. so this one probably sounds weird, because how do you review a book you haven't read?

but first of all, for marginalized authors, bigots are 100% doing that. some of my fellow debut authors have had the absolute worst transphobic or racist reviews, PILES OF THEM, on books that were not out yet, not even available as ARCs, nothing, because there are always folks ready to jump on books by marginalized authors and 1-star them just because the characters are queer or Black or autistic or whatever. it's very terrible.

to be clear, I've been very lucky so far! I think because my book is a little more...under-the-radar queer (the book I just signed with an agent is much more like. A Queer BookTM), and also because I'm lowkey flying under the radar in general due to being with a smaller press, the bigots haven't found me lol. but for some of my friends, they need as many 5-stars as they can get JUST to offset the 1-star reviews from people who hate that they're daring to tell stories about people like them.

you do not have to star the book! I do not personally star books I haven't read because I'm like "well it sure would be awkward if I 5-starred it and then actually read it and...hated it, oops" (and as an author, I only rate my 5-star reads anymore). and actually, for reasons I do not understand, many goodreads users use the rating system as a...shelving system???

(if this is you: america explain!!! there is a built-in want-to-read shelf right there??? you can literally create as many personalized shelves as you want??? is this not super confusing when you then actually go to rate a book you've actually read??? I do not understand.)

BUT. if you're excited about a book that's not out yet, it's totally fine to write a "review" explaining why you're excited, or just saying that you are! that lets other readers using goodreads or storygraph know that this book is something to look forward to, plus it's something nice for the author.

(if you do HAVE to rate the book to leave such a review...I guess just rate it whatever you want, or don't do this at all if you're uncomfortable with it. but I think you can leave a "review" without a rating?)

sing hymns to the moon goddess in their praise

...okay, this one is a joke that Angry Robot tweeted yesterday.

but only sort of a joke.

anyway, this is getting very long despite it being actually such a short list, but I hope this helps! thank you so much for your support <3

[literaryoblivion]

20 questions for fic writers

Tagged by @wellhalesbells like forever ago oops! I'm bored sooooo...

How many works do you have on ao3? 305

What's your total ao3 word count? 820,385

What fandoms do you write for?

I feel like I don't write much anymore, but currently it's been BTS (not a lot but a couple things). But Teen Wolf, Supernatural, Hockey RPF/Check Please were like the mains, but I've done a handful of others (sometimes one-offs) for other fandoms.

Top five fics by kudos:

El Tango de Amor, DeanCas, Supernatural. (3,412 kudos)

One Night Pancakes, Sterek, Teen Wolf. (3,407 kudos)

Green Means Go (and Sex), Sterek, Teen Wolf. (2,588 kudos)

For My Flesh Had Turned to Fur, and My Thoughts Had Turned to You, Sterek, Teen Wolf. (2,540 kudos)

I Need a Hug, Sterek, Teen Wolf. (2,154 kudos)

Do you respond to comments?

Yes. I always respond though sometimes it takes me A WHILE. I get the comments in my email but sometimes it takes me a bit to actually go into AO3 to respond, especially if I haven't written anything recently. But I do try to respond to everyone (though sometimes it's tough when it's just like an emoji? Like what do you reply to that? lmao).

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I always try to have happy endings tbh or at the very least hopeful/open endings? So I can't really think of any?

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

Again most of my fics I try to have a happy ending so I'm not sure what would be the "happiest"?

Do you get hate on fics?

Not really which I'm very grateful for. I have gotten some rude comments a handful of times but they are VERY rare. I think I'm not popular enough to get hate which I'm very OK with LOL.

Do you write smut?

Yes though it's tough for me so I don't write it a ton.

Craziest crossover:

I've done a couple Supernatural/Teen Wolf crossovers but that's about it and I feel like they're in the same genre so it's not too crazy?

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of?

Have you ever had a fic translated?

A few yes!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Haha nothing published. I think I've attempted to co-write one a couple times with a few different people but it always stalled out and never got finished.

All time favorite ship?

Oh man. I mean Dean/Cas and Derek/Stiles will always have a special place in my heart forever.

What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Bahah just check out my abandoned WIPs those are all the ones I've accepted I will never finish. The others... I still haven't given up hope so I won't say never. (One that still haunts me that I have mostly plotted out the last chapter is Just Part of the Game and I still haven't given up on it.)

What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm pretty good at dialogue. It's my favorite thing to write especially if it's kind of characters bantering.

What are your writing weaknesses?

I am terrible at descriptions of like setting/surroundings. I often have to go back and add them in while editing because I realized I haven't really shown what the scene is because I've forgotten to describe it.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

Meh. I've done it a few times but I do appreciate having a translation of it handy either in a kind of linked footnote or something? Otherwise I'm clueless haha.

First fandom you wrote in?

Supernatural

Favorite fic you've written?

I feel like I have a lot of favorite short fics but I think my most recent ones would have to be Paradise in an Endless Maze (Jungkook/Jimin, BTS) mostly bc it's now my longest posted fic ever and I wrote it in a month, and Our Cat (Kang Yohan/Kim Gaon, The Devil Judge) bc it's what I would've wanted for the ending of that show.

[flyingcookierambles]

oh yeah some silly gpose i guess

under the cut

i have to learn how to screen record tomorrow when the game is back up bc static pictures cannot do the nirvana zeta (replica) justice. the thing changes colors! the gems are rainbow!!! its so pretty. my pride and my joy and my source of pain and suffering for about 1 year lol.

the above were in my Off gshade setting. that is to say, my own setting. which is why it sucks and is so so crunchy. like. i really am envious of Pint (former WoW player, now a ffxiv lalafell streamer and machinima/animator/comedy guy/femboy kinda lol) and his gshade settings are so so pretty and cinematic and the DoF auto setting is good i really have to find the vod or something where he sets it up or answers a question abt it so i can copy. he’s only adjusted it a few times in his vods and i think the names of the settings were just like “Pint ____” so its custom i guess and everything uuugh will he release his settings publicly i need to knowwwwwwww ugh

anyways BLUE TONGUE AAAAAAAA RAEN ARE SO CUTE i can never fantasia to be a xaela or non-au ra race now im sorry the blue tongue is just so so cute and such a dumb little detail i love it lolgruhago

on a shadowbringers train last night (im in a hunt linkshell for Jenova called Hunt VIOLENCE II but is 128/128/full so idk if the ppl running it will make a VIOLENCE III or what lol). someone sniped the grassman :( monke gone

bonus silly adventurer plates

played the piano for francel at the firmament and unlocked charlemend’s custom deliveries finally. loved this scene. on one hand i get that they’re just reusing npcs bc it probably costs money to make new ones or whatever the push of the randomization button is, on the other hand i love that they reuse npcs bc i can name ppl and ishgard feels lived in with your familiar neighbors :)

tbh pre-hw, i accidentally spoiled myself via the subreddit and twt, not on the plot stuff for hw, but the ishgardian restoration. and also a bit of dark knight. so. my impression was the gross communal salt rocks, the squishy beds of mysterious substance, the murder of the innocent orl tribe. so. my first impression, pre-hw, was...not great.....but now that it really seems like they’re trying to make it a better more inclusive place and moving more towards living with the dragons like letting ehll tol and her dragon friends live in the city, plus the machinist questline of the great equalizer power of gun uhhh i mean hilda and her hounds providing the brume and common folk safety in the streets instead of just the corrupt temple knights - ishgard just feels like home now. :) there’s also the crystarium on the first.

anyways, visited another world after seeing a shb hunt ad on the centurio hunts discord.

also, my crappy apartment in-game in the empyreum / the ishgardian housing apartments. im finally decorating it.

saw a concert in gridania aetheryte plaza and there was a portgas d ace cosplayer lol.

anyways i loved my co-healer cajun lettice here lol we all had brain fog. thankfully no full raid wipes, just...our team. lol

slightly outdated, but heres my suffering inventory and relic grind. im on the stupid atma books rn, so kinda disregard the atma shown here rn.

edit: realized i forgor to add the pics of the artemis atma oops. the colorful one is the gshade neneko x eorzea collection natural vanilla settings. the drab boring one is just the vanilla base game. literally. so. drab. even on my regular ps4 and whenever i borrow my sister’s ps5 to play, our tvs have built-in shader/color adjusting settings to make it look not. dirt. ugh. gshade really helps this game i swear idk how vanilla ppl do it anymore lol. its not even like cheating modding fluid aura type game mods like in world of warcraft, its literally just a built in instagram filter lol.

just putting these here bc. uh. i was thinking of helping out that tracking site that’s been helping me not go absolutely bonkers doing these dang relics. they need a picture of it or something i guess. idk. its this website, it saves me so much time and hassle. > https://ffxivrelictracker.com/

ok and maybe the zodiac buddy dalamund add-on*winks*

[griba]

16 for the hermitcraft ask game?

16: Have you ever laughed so hard at a Hermitcraft moment that it hurt?

after getting this ask i realized that i've already reblogged that ask game before, oops :'D i answered the same question here, but here's a summary anyway!!

"well haven’t laughed at any clips to the point of it hurting, but ive definitely had some come up in my mind every now and then that send me into tears /lh some are:

- bdubs doing a bit where doc cheated on him for ren after they killed the ender dragon together

- grian and scar scaring bdubs with the proximity mod

- xisuma accidentally blowing up the paintings of bdubs’ shop

- xisuma taking .5 seconds to make fun of iskall"

sooo i was a bit unsure if i should just add some new ones, but i just went with it anyway!! :]

there's already a ton of clips out there of bdubs being Average Height™ which are always hilarious, but here's one of my own lol

actually all the s7 decked out stuff was always super fun to watch, and definitely had some pretty funny momence :] honestly it's a shame that tango couldn't really participate, considering he has a habit of making Those Weird Noises™ when he's surprised lmao

so many of my other favorite clips are just Hermits but not Hermitcraft :sobsobsob:

in s8 e1 zedaph called chickens "slightly older eggs" and that knocked me out

seriously i keep finding links and realize they're all from 3rd life or among us streams :'] maybe i'll post them later lmao

[noids-funky-critters]

I have an extremely important question for you... On Jan 26th of 2020 (almost exactly two years ago!), you posted a balloon animal dog Spore creation... do you happen to still have the files for that Spore creation on hand and would it be possible to add it to my game? Would I need mods for it to work properly? The balloon dog has become a really important part of a server I moderate (we love it) and has a lot of sentimental value.

Yes, i recently had to fix it due to some mods i use breaking via updates, but it should be up and ready to go! Here it is:

Mods you ned for this:

Unshackled

Skynkraft

Pandora's Toolbox

MAYBE dark injection. (i dont remember honestly but i dont think so.)

Let me know if there are issues. Modded spore PNG's dont always transfer properly :')

EDIT: forgot a mod, oops lol

[angst-in-space]

may ‘22 writing progress

words written: 15.1k

most words written in a day: 2500

least words written in a day: 35

current yearly total: 105.4k

projects worked on:

- finished editing & posted ch 7 of sylvix dreamscape fic - started editing ch 8, continued writing ch 9 - writing new ending of my ya sci-fi book - editing renga fic - started outlining a twiyor fic

works published in may:

"you’re a dream (i’m never waking up)” - chapter 7 (sylvix)

may goals:

- finish editing and post ch 7 of sylvix dreamscape fic - start editing ch 8 - finish draft of ch 9 and start writing ch 10 - finish writing new end of my book - work on reverse outline if i have time? - continue cutting down my book word count if i have time? - edit first two chapters of renga fic and hand it off to betas - apply to dvmentor - maybe apply to queeryfest

june goals:

- finish editing ch 8 of sylvix dreamscape fic and hand off to betas - finish writing a draft of ch 9 and start writing ch 10 - maybe start editing ch 9 if i have time? - finish writing the new end of my book - cut down my book word count enough so that i can actually add the new ending to it lol - edit renga fic if i have time? - apply to queerkidlit mentorship - maybe keep outlining twiyor fic if i have time

notes:

may was kind of... a rollercoaster for me, although tbh i got a bit more done than i thought so that’s good ig lol.

i had hoped to finish writing the new ending of my book but that has still not happened, oops. i am very close to the end though, so i’m hoping i’ll finally be able to finish it in june. i also cut a good chunk of words out of my existing draft and have plans to cut a bunch more parts... so hopefully once i do that, i’ll be able to add in the new ending (which okay... is more like a new “last act” at this point) without the word count being horrendously high. 

this past month i got a full manuscript request from one of the mentorships i’d applied to which was exciting. however, i did not ultimately get picked and the feedback i received was uh... well, it did not leave me feeling very good and kinda left me questioning my writing on a basic level. :’) so that put me in a deep depression + terrible writing funk for the last week of the month. buuuut i am trying to just take the bits of helpful feedback from that and move on, plus i applied to a couple more mentorships sooo maybe one of those will work out?? crosses my fingers and weeps

on the fic side of things: FINALLY finished editing and posted ch 7 of sylvix dreamscape fic!! so i’m very happy about that! i kinda fell behind on actually Writing it so i have still not finished a draft of ch 9 yet but i am getting there... aaand i have barely started editing chapter 8 but i hope to get on that soon as well. 

i also did a tiny bit of editing on the renga fic but man that is really slow-going lolll i feel bad that i still have not posted that one yet. but uhhh might delve into editing that one more this month if i have any time to do so. 

oh and i’ve been really into spy x family recently soooo i may have outlined a whole twiyor fic that i may or may not write at some point... i’m kinda stuck bc there’s like a huge plot hole in the middle of it aaaand i doubt i’ll have time to start writing it this month but i hope i can maybe at least keep outlining/planning it at the very least.

aaaand that’s about it i think so yeahhh june should be uhhh interesting! wooo!!! 

[kuiinncedes]

PROMPT LIST? cheerio!tina & skank!quinn, angst #37, quinntina ofc

yes prompt list!! sorry this took so long, thanks sm for prompting sim <33

some pre-notes: first that wow this got long again 😂 2398 words (before probably some edits in the tumblr post editor) *oops i did it again*

1 2 3 these are my other three (very short) “installments” for this “verse” i guess 🤪 i wouldn’t say it’s required to read them tho i think everything is pretty understandable 🥰

this also got a little anti rachel lol 🥴 and anti schue but like yeah and i think that’s it 😗

Angst 37: “Lie to me. I don’t care what you say, just lie to me. Make me feel okay again.”

--

Glee club has been going well… all things considered.

Including the fact that Quinn’s crush on Tina only grows, that Rachel Berry still doesn’t seem to warm up to her and Kurt’s presence in the choir room, that the teacher really kind of sucks and apparently only Kurt and Quinn see it, that most of the other members are still wary around them - around Quinn.

But not Tina. Tina, who’s one of the most popular girls in school, not actually head of the Cheerios but probably the most well-liked, and there’s a reason. Tina is the first to welcome her and Kurt to the glee club after their audition, the first to make an effort to befriend them. She talks to Kurt about fashion, and Kurt is hesitant to bring down his facade but Quinn can tell how much he loves it, how much he’s missed talking about something that brings him so much joy. Even with his temporary and purposely limited wardrobe situation, he’s talked Quinn’s ear off about the things he wants to do and wear in New York City; she doesn’t understand much of it so she’s glad Tina does.

And she talks to Quinn. Tina actually talks to Quinn like… like she’s a person, just another student at this school, not Quinn Fabray, half of the most cold and closed-off duo that walks the halls, ex-most popular girl in school, Quinn Fabray with an unspeakable history, unspeakable in that Quinn will have consequences for those who speak about it. 

It’s dramatic, she knows. But it’s part of her untouchable image at this piece of shit school with its horrible students. 

Not Tina. Tina’s not horrible.

(Get a grip, Fabray.)

It feels like she and Kurt are on the edge of a precipice with glee club. Tina likes them, Blaine is nice enough to them (Kurt seems to like him, too), Rachel isn’t very welcoming, everyone else mostly ignores them. (Which is fine - preferable, really.)

They sway in the back, they sing, they do their part. And Quinn has missed singing, so it’s not all bad, she supposes.

But Quinn can feel the tension, the others’ hesitation whenever she and Kurt walk in to sit in the back, their unspoken thoughts, loud in their silence, their barely hidden glances.

She feels like she’ll tumble from the edge with one push.

One day, Tina sits beside Quinn and she can’t stop her jump of surprise. Tina just shoots her a small smile and moves her chair a bit further away, but Quinn finds herself wishing she would scoot the other way instead.

Tina keeps sitting by Quinn, and Quinn has no idea why.

She ignores the way her heart speeds up a little every time she makes eye contact with Tina, the way Kurt smirks knowingly at her but then returns to staring at the back of Blaine Anderson’s head, the way she can’t stop letting her eyes wander over to Tina every time Mr. Schuester starts talking about something she has no interest in (which she admits is very often).

Kurt had said glee would give her the chance to talk to Tina. And he was right - she’s made conversation with Tina multiple times (mostly initiated by Tina, though), and she would say they’re friends. Tina has said they’re friends and she definitely didn’t freak out to Kurt about it.

Kurt she called me her friend holy shit -

Inside voice, honey. Your gay is showing.

Shut - we’re literally outside. Let’s talk about you and Blaine.

Nope, fuck you, walking away now.

Kurt - wait! She - but she called me her friend - Kurt -

Besides Kurt, Tina is probably the person she’s closest with. Which still doesn’t say much - she’s not close to anyone besides Kurt…

But she wants to be, she thinks as she watches Tina perform an upbeat solo, a song she doesn’t recognize, but she watches her - how alive she looks, how good she sounds. It’s not like Quinn hasn’t heard her sing in the months since she’s joined, but if she had it her way, Tina would be the only one singing in this entire group. (She would insist on highlighting others, though, so Quinn adds herself and Kurt to that list. Not that they would ever get a solo.)

“All right, guys,” Mr. Schuester says. Kurt nudges Quinn with his elbow to get her to pay attention, and she shoots him a half-hearted glare. 

“So that was everyone who signed up to audition for a solo at regionals,” he continues. “I’ll let you know who we’re featuring by tomorrow. So I’ll see you then!”

“Who do you think is gonna get it?” Kurt asks as they leave, walking out to the parking lot. 

“Um…” 

“Right, I forgot, you’re too busy staring at Tina to know what’s going on in glee.”

Quinn scoffs. “I know what’s going on in glee.”

Kurt gives her a questioning look.

“I do! Sure, I didn’t know about the auditions, but I know Rachel’s probably getting the solo, even though it should go to Tina.”

“Anyone could tell you that.”

Quinn shoves Kurt lightly, a smile spreading across her face as they get into his car. Quinn’s been spending more time at Kurt’s lately - Quinn’s parents don’t give a fuck about her - they did the bare minimum allowing her to stay when she was pregnant and they’ve used up all their good parenting cards, it seems. She’s infinitely grateful for Burt Hummel, because if the kids and some of the teachers at school are going to treat her and Kurt like shit, at least there’s someone in their corner.

-

Completely unsurprisingly, Mr. Schuester announces Rachel as the soloist for regionals the next day, after years of the same thing, from what Quinn has heard.

Surprisingly, Tina isn’t in the room. Although, Quinn thinks, she wouldn’t be either if she knew what the outcome was going to be. And everyone knew what the outcome was going to be.

But Mercedes pushes back against his decision anyway, Santana complains, Blaine and Brittany try to placate, Kurt watches Blaine, Rachel jabbers about her destiny as the New Directions soloist or something, Quinn sits and wonders about the empty chair next to her. (She also wonders what would be the easiest way to get Rachel to shut the fuck up.)

She’s not paying attention, letting everyone’s arguing fade into the background. She barely registers Rachel saying shrilly, “We’re supposed to be a family!”

“Not much of a family when you’re the only one who can have anything good!” Mercedes snaps.

“I bet you wouldn’t react like this if Kurt or Quinn got the solo! Like they would even deserve it! At least I belong here, they don’t even - ”

“Would you shut - ” Mercedes starts at the same time Santana yells back, “Quinn doesn’t need a family, she’s a mother!”

And she knows - Quinn knows - that Santana just does this, she says shit and hurts people and this is just that and it’s whatever but -

Suddenly Quinn is in sophomore year again, hearing the taunts of her classmates behind her back and to her face. Suddenly she’s in sophomore year again, somehow invisible in the halls but also the only person anyone was looking at, pointing at, laughing at. She’s in sophomore year again and teachers do nothing to help her, no one but Kurt bothers to notice anything but the fact that she’s pregnant. And they laugh, and they taunt, and they stare.

She’s a mother. 

There it is. There’s the edge of the cliff that she has been fighting for balance on in this stupid club for months. 

Like they would even deserve it.

They don’t belong here.

And Quinn’s falling.

“I need to go, meet you at your car,” she says roughly to Kurt, who it seems hasn’t been paying attention at all, more focused on committing to memory the details of Blaine Anderson from halfway across the room. Quinn storms out and the arguing continues behind her.

Quinn slams the door to the bathroom as she barges in and all at once, sees that Tina is here (Tina is here?), realizes that she herself is crying, trying not to make noise and she just throws her bag on the floor and sinks down against a wall, hands around her knees and head leaned back. It’s too fucking much.

“Quinn?” Tina asks gently, so gently and Quinn watches as Tina kneels down in front of her. “Are you okay?”

Quinn wipes at her face, laughing harshly. “Yeah. Fine.”

Tina looks at her, not moving but just watching her. Quinn thinks it must be uncomfortable for her to kneel on the bathroom floor in her Cheerios outfit. Quinn thinks that Tina shouldn’t care about her, she should just leave, save her knees from the cold tile.

She doesn’t leave. 

After a moment, Tina says, “Hey, so, you don’t have to tell me anything… but I’m here if you need to.”

Quinn’s not actively crying anymore, grey smudges on her fingers where her makeup was wiped off. Her face probably looks like a nightmare, but she’s too exhausted to care. She leans her head back again and fixes her gaze just above Tina’s head, at the ceiling, the harsh bathroom lights piercing her vision through the tears in her eyes.

“I just - ” I guess I’m talking, she thinks, “Santana said something dumb about me being a mother and that’s what I heard sneered at me every day for months and even now still… and I’m not…”

Quinn trails off, looking at Tina again who nods, encouraging her to continue. She swallows and averts her gaze again.

“…and Rachel said something dumb about Kurt and I not belonging and not deserving it but she’s Rachel and I don’t care about the shit she says - I usually don’t. But her saying that - ” she scoffs. “Newsflash, Rachel, we don’t fucking belong anywhere.”

That was painfully made obvious sophomore year, with Quinn’s exit from the Cheerios, from popularity. It was obvious when no matter what, she couldn’t get it back, any of it. It was obvious when she and Kurt were the only ones to really notice each other and help each other. It was obvious when the only choice they had, the one they took, was becoming this and isolating themselves. It was obvious when the only chance they had was each other.

As if she needs someone else to tell her that, to rub it in.

It’s been building up, she realizes, this feeling, the hatred, the estrangement and isolation. She wonders if Kurt feels the same, how close he is to the edge, or if he’s even on a precipice like she is at all.

Quinn’s falling, she doesn’t know when or how it will end and she just wants -

“Lie to me,” she says to Tina, teeth clenched and voice tired. “I don’t care what you say, just lie to me. Make me feel okay again.”

Falling, falling, falling - 

Quinn thinks bitterly that she should be used to it after her falls from popularity.

Tina takes her hands gently and squeezes them in reassurance. “I know this might just seem like words, and I’m not lying - you do belong. Both of you. You belong in glee club. You belong here.”

Quinn just swallows again, letting the words wash over her, and in the back of her mind, the part that’s not thinking about - everything, she marvels at the fact that Tina is holding her hands, and Tina’s skin is soft, and Tina’s words and actions feel genuine.

Falling… slowing.

Lie to me.

“We don’t belong. Everyone hates us,” Quinn mutters.

“I don’t,” Tina says, smiling a little. “I know we can be pretty difficult, the glee club, but we really don’t think that. Rachel might - if I’m being honest, I think she’s the one who doesn’t belong in glee club, for a multitude of reasons - but it really is supposed to be a safe, welcoming space. I’m really sorry we haven’t been able to do that for you.”

Quinn shrugs. “You have,” she admits softly. 

Tina looks like she doesn’t know what to say to that. Quinn pushes herself up against the wall, a little awkwardly, hands still intertwined with Tina’s, who squeezes again. “I’ll talk to her,” Tina says. “Rachel. I’ve been getting fed up with her shit, anyway. I’ve been needing to talk to her.”

“Okay,” is all Quinn can think to say, quietly uttered, her voice a little choked. “You don’t have to - ”

“No, I do,” Tina says. “And I want to. Mr. Schue lets her get away with way too much.”

Quinn huffs a laugh and Tina grins slightly, then withdraws her hands and pulls them through her ponytail, suddenly looking almost nervous. Quinn drops her hands in her lap and plays with her rings. Now that Quinn’s calmed down, her proximity-to-Tina-Cohen-Chang-induced nerves are back in full force. 

And maybe she isn’t falling anymore.

“Why weren’t you there today?” she asks after a moment.

Tina’s lips clench into a line. “Knew Rachel was getting the solo. I don’t know, I didn’t want to deal with that today, you know? Three years of the same shit, I’m just tired of it.”

Quinn hums in understanding. She can imagine.

“Are you okay? What do you say we… get out of here? Go somewhere?” Tina asks a little awkwardly, wincing slightly as she stands up and extends a hand for Quinn. She takes it and lets Tina pull her up.

“I’m actually… going home with Kurt, ” - but going somewhere with Tina - Kurt will understand - “actually, yeah, sure. I’ll let him know,” Quinn answers, not letting herself doubt the decision, pulling her phone from her pocket and quickly typing out a text and sending it to Kurt, who immediately responds.

omg did u actually talk and get a date with tina cohen chang

Quinn replies, fuck you, i’m leaving bye

are you okay?

yeah, fine i’ll talk to you later

ok have fun on your date ;)

yeah 🖕

Tina bounces a little and shoots her a smile when she puts her phone away. “Awesome. There’s this coffee shop that I think you’ll love - ”

“It’s not the Lima Bean, is it?”

Tina laughs. “Of course not. Barely anyone knows about this place, at least from school, so I really love it there.”

Tina grabs Quinn’s hand again and they head out of the school, Quinn ignoring how she can feel her pounding heartbeat against Tina’s skin. Hopefully Tina doesn’t notice.

*****

some notes for after 🤪

ok so i don’t really know why i used the “she’s a mother” line and idk if i’m just overthinking it but i’m not saying that scene was bad or anything ?? idk lol it was just on my mind i guess so i put it in slkdgfj (basically,, not related to the canon scene lol i just like adding canon lines 😗)

i think the point i was trying to make if any was that quinn doesn’t really have any family (in this au) so yeah it’s kind of a sensitive point

i did say this was very similar to my previous werewolf!quinn and vampire!tina fic but i’m okay with it now tbh,,, you know like it’s an alternate universe and they just help each other in all universes :’) yeah

i would love to continue this but i don’t have the best track record with that lol so we’ll see 😂

[yourdailykitsch]

Not to get anyone’s hopes up but I saw on Derek Philips’ IMDb (Billy Riggins) that he is in The Terminal List!?!? But I haven’t seen any sources confirme it, we could have a Riggins Brothers reunion

Thanks for the heads up on this! I hadn't looked at 'The Terminal List' IMDb page recently. I know that they don't have the cast list up for all the episodes yet, as of now and Taylor's still only listed in one episode, but IMDb is very accurate. Someone either with the show or Derek's team would have to add him on there so I would think it's legitimate. Hopefully we will see them together for a scene or two, looks like Derek is in episode 4 and 7.

Ask #2: Hello, Appreciate all your updates while respecting Taylor's privacy - always a great job! 1)Do you think they were filming flashbacks recently since the finger tats were not in place? 2)Any chance you could start an online campaign to get Taylor on Hot Ones interview? The host does a great job asking random questions from thorough research. I think it would be a great relaxed interview scenario for him, though the swear bleep button may need to be replaced afterwards

Answer: Thanks for the love!

1) That's a good catch with the finger tattoos being non-existent in the recent pictures on set. I don't know! I would say with that scene in particular is probably not a flashback. But I can't say for sure. Toward the end of the book they're in a wooded area/mountain home and I think that's what they're currently filming. Might just be a continuity "oops"

2) I'm not familiar with Hot Ones but I'd be happy to support getting an interview out of Taylor. I feel like we haven't actually heard from him in years.

Ask #3: With “The Defeated” (feels so weird not calling it Shadowplay lol) finally getting a global do you think that Taylor’s finally gonna do some press for this?? Interviews, photoshoots, even a talk show kinda like how he did for Waco? I really hope so, that way maybe he’ll talk about some upcoming things and I’m not opposed to more Taylor content

Answer: This is a toss up. I will say that I doubt he'll be doing the usual press rounds that he'd do if he had a movie coming out or a new TV show. He might do some phone interviews. I don't think we'll see any TV interviews/late night, but you never know. I think we can hope for a few random press interviews and that's probably it. A series that was technically released last fall and doesn't have much support from the creator because he's not happy with the version being released...unless the studio specifically reaches out to him to promote it. Most of the actors haven't even mentioned the series coming to Netflix, perhaps in support of Mans Marlind, who is not happy about the edit.

[woogyu]

Funny Drabble Game

Drabble Prompts; fluff | angst | funny (when requesting PLEASE add which prompt list it is from)

Can have up to 3 prompts per request + can send multiple requests.

They will all be written for fem reader. I’m very sorry about this, it is just because of what I know/have experience in writing.

Please format requests as follows; funny member prompt # or #s.

ex. funny member #12 + #15

ex. funny florist!member x student!reader #14

Send your requests/asks: here

~ prompts under the cut ~

crossed out = don’t request, usually for when I’ve gotten tired of a specific prompt coming up too often or I don’t like it

Drabble Prompts [credit; https://justforshitsandcackles.tumblr.com ]

“You’re such a fun drunk.”

“Since my dog likes you then i guess i like you.”

“Tell them to fuck off.”

“It’s six o’clock in the morning, you’re not having vodka.”

“I want to strangle you 99% of the time.”

“Could you not suck for five minutes?”

“The ladies love a guy who’s good with kids.”

“You can’t banish me! This is my bed/bedroom too!”

“You’re seriously like a man-child.”

“Well thats tragic.”

“I’m too sober for this.”

“You are actually insane!”

“I think you’re actually satan.”

“It’s like -50 degrees in here.”

“Laugh at my jokes! They’re funny and you know it!”

“Sorry isn’t going to help when i kick your ass!”

“Don’t let one of them electrocute themselves or something.”

“Welcome back. Now fucking help me.”

“Do you find this amusing, fuck face?”

“Holy shit! That thing is huge!”

“Don’t kink shame me.”

“I hope i’m never stuck with you on a deserted island.”

“I just cleaned that!”

“Don’t get sassy with me!”

“What do you have behind your back?”

“If you interrupt me one more time, so help me god.”

“Not to toot my own horn or anything, but the dog loves me more.”

“I’m going to put on some clothes before you say anything else.”

“Bite me.” “If you insist.”

“Im not going to stop poking you until you give me some attention.”

“I need you to be my fake girlfriend/boyfriend.”

“Can you stop playing connect the dots with my freckles?”

“You snuck into my room, at 4am..to cuddle?”

“If we get caught i’m blaming you.”

“What? No! I wasn’t staring..i-i was looking at something behind you!”

“I locked the keys in the car.”

“This is why we can’t have nice things.”

“Wait a minute. Are you jealous?”

“Define normal.”

“Do i get bonus points if i act like i care?”

“Just remember if we get caught, you’re deaf and i don’t speak english.”

“Don’t look for any redeeming qualities. I don’t have any.”

“And you wonder why you’re single.”

“Remind me to kill you. Please.”

“I’m listening to you. I’m just not paying attention.”

“She’s crazy. and just when you think you’ve reached the bottom of her craziness, theres a crazy underground garage.”

“Sorry. I don’t speak skank.”

“My middle finger salutes you.”

“I don’t think i could ever stab someone. I mean, lets be honest, i can barely get the straw in the capri sun.”

“I don’t have enough middle fingers to let you know how i feel.”

“Somebodys cranky.” “Somebody needs to shut up.”

“All due respect but thats a bunch of crap.”

“I am one of the few people in the world who can murder you and leave no forensic evidence behind.”

“Excuse me. I have to go make a scene.”

“What did i tell you about calling him/her the devil?” “That it’s offensive to the devil?”

“I heard that!” “You were supposed to!”

“I’m not weird. I’m limited edition.”

“If history repeats itself, i am so getting a dinosaur.”

“You seem somewhat familiar. have i threatened you before?”

“Even when we were kids, i always kicked your ass!”

“Sarcasm is the body’s natural reaction to stupidity.”

“Don’t look in her eyes, she might steal your soul.”

“She’s hot, but she’s evil.”

“Do i regret it? Yes. Would i do it again? Probably.”

“You’re going to burn in a very special level in hell. A level they reserve for child molesters, animal abusers, and people who talk at the theater.”

“I’m not a damsel in distress. i’m a damsel doing damage.”

“Sometimes i question my sanity. Occasionally it replies.”

“Why should we date?” “Because we’re attracted to each other.” “I am attracted to pie, but i do not feel the need to date pie.”

“Why does everyone assume the worst of me.” “It saves time.”

“You’ve successfully cured him/her of anything interesting about his/her personality.”

“Neither one of us is drunk enough for this conversation.”

“Wow somebody needs a happy meal.”

“I didn’t do it!” “Then why are you laughing?” “Because whoever did it is a freaking genius.”

“Idiots. I’m surrounded by idiots.”

“You couldn’t handle me even if i came with instructions.”

“Obviously you have mistaken me for somebody who gives a shit.”

“I’m so glad you could come.” “Cut the crap. give me a drink.”

“Where have you been all my life?” “Hiding from you.”

“I can tell that you think what you’re saying is funny, but…no.”

“If you pull out my earphones, i will pull out your lungs.”

“Ah, he’s playing hard-to-get. thats cute.”

“I feel like a freakin’ soccer mom.”

“My ex? Yeah id still hit that. Except this time it would be with a car or a baseball bat.”

“Such big evil in such a little thing.”

“For the love of fuck.” “Yep, thats me. i love to fuck.”

“Are you ready to go?” “Yeah. let me grab my machete.” “We’re going to sephora. no machetes needed.”

Clears throat seriously, “Yas bitch.”

“No road trip is complete without the snacks. So go in there and buy everything you can fit in a tiny cart.”

“I’m all for making you miserable by being insufferable, but unfortunately i have things to do today.”

“Come on, you can help me make conspiracy theories. If you make an especially good one, ill pay for dinner.”

“You know what? Why not? I haven’t ruined my life yet this week. Lets go.”

“Do these dark circles under my eyes say nothing to you about how i am doing?”

“If i didn’t know you better, id say you were trying to flirt by giving me books.”

“What are you talking about? Im hilarious!”

“Duct tape? Duct tape is not going to fix this!”

“What did you think? That you were going to fight him?”

“You’re blocking the view.” “I am the view.”

“Why are you on the floor?” “Tying my shoe.” “You’re wearing rain-boots.”

“Cant stop me from slaying!”

“Close your eyes and imagine it, all the dogs in the world.”

“Be careful, he’s so sweet you might get diabetes.”

“Would you reconsider if i was sober?”

“Stop running i’m wearing flip flops!”

“Why are you holding your boobs?”

“I wouldn’t call it stalking, more like far distance admiring.”

“You need to stop making her laugh! you’re ruining her makeup!”

“I’m sure i can get some kind of sexual gratification from just staring at him if i try hard enough.”

“I’m not sure if its a sexual thing or not.”

“I’m either in the mood for french fries or to rip someone’s head off. Hmmm. decisions, decisions.”

“If you’re not out of the shower in the next five minutes, i’m going to cut your fucking hair off to make your life quicker.”

“No, i will not dress up as a chicken.”

“I never told my extended family that we broke up, and now they want to know when you’re coming over for dinner again.”

“I need a date to my relatives wedding, and i’ve already asked literally everyone else i know, so i know you probably hate me, but please say yes. Otherwise they’ll try to set me up with someone, and they have awful taste.”

“One more sound and i swear to-”

“Sometimes when (name) texts me, i just pretend they didn’t so i don’t have to respond.”

“You gave our pigeon boyfriend the wrong beans!”

“If i’m like 50 and still single, ill marry you because tax benefits.”

“Please, never have children.”

“I know its like 11pm, but i’m on my way to your house with nacho fries.”

“Sometimes i wish i was gay so i wouldn’t have to deal with all these dumbass boys.

“You know, would’ve been nice if you told me your whole ass family was coming to this dinner! I look like a troll.”

“Im going to the party to pet the dog, no thanks drugs.”

“I hope in college i get some excuse to deck him. Maybe with a bottle or something, ill wing it and be like “oops, sorry shithead, my hand slipped.”

“What is this shit…i’m just trying to graduate.”

“Ooo, i sense attitude in your tone.”

“Guess who only got two hours of sleep? Me, lol, i’m gonna die.“

“I’m gonna strangle you.” “Is that a threat or a promise?”

“Superheroes aren’t allowed in my house, especially after they’ve destroyed my living room. go away.”

“oh you’re coming. even if i have to drag you through the snow in your pajamas.”

“i swear you’re gonna end up getting like botox in your tits or something.” “well i mean-” “whAT DO YOU MEAN?!”

[daeyeolss]

how I make my gifs: a tutorial

Hi everyone! Just in case someone asks in the future + for those curious, I'm here with a tutorial on how I make gifs! If you have any questions whatsoever, please do send me an ask! I’ll be glad to help! The gif I made with this tutorial is the one right here! 

So... let’s start this tutorial with the programs I use.

Adobe Photoshop 2020 - To make the gifs, majority of the work is done in this program.

TopazLabs (Topaz DeNoise 6 and Topaz Clean 3) - To "denoise" and "clean" the gifs, as the names would suggest. Links for download: Topaz DeNoise 6 & Topaz Clean 3

KMPlayer (an alternative would be PotPlayer, or any other video playing program that allows you to capture the frames) - To capture the frames. - I use an older version of KMPlayer, though I don't know which exact version that is.

Now let’s continue onto how I use these programs to create gifs!

Step 1: After you’ve downloaded the necessary programs, download your video. The way to get the best gifs? Quality videos. That’s the first step. For K-pop performances, I recommend this website (the hq files are in .ts form, KMPlayer should be able to open these). Bookmark it! It’s really handy :) Get the video you want to make a gif from and open it in KMPlayer (or PotPlayer or any other program, but for this tutorial I’ll use KMPlayer). Open your video in said program and look for the part you want to make a gif of. Then press CTRL+G (I apologize because I cannot for the life of me remember if this was a standard shortcut or not)

Step 2: After pressing CTRL+G, you’ll be met with this screen:

I’ll briefly explain the numbered parts, but before that, these are my standard settings and just make sure you have them all the same and it should be good!

1: This is where your captured frames will be extracted to. I have them extracted to the standard folder, but you can change this if you want to. You’ll need this folder later when opening the frames!

2: Like it says, this is the image format. I use PNG in the highest quality, as the name would suggest, for the quality.

3: These are the amount of frames the program captures. Say you put in every 2 or 4 frames, you’ll get more choppy gifs. To get the smoothest gifs, put “every frame” (this in turn will increase the gif size as the amount of frames will obviously be bigger).

Once you’ve put in the correct settings and you’ve put the slider where you want the capturing process to start, press “start” (now, before you do this I recommend putting the video on mute as the audio will start to get kinda demon-y the longer you record lol save your ears pls). Then, when you’ve captured all the frames you need, pause the video, press CTRL+G again and click “stop” and close the pop-up/program.

Step 3: It’s time to open up Photoshop! Then go to File > Scripts > Load Files into Stack... (for older versions/another version I used in the past this one didn’t work and I had to use the “Load Multiple DICOM Files...” instead. It should work similarly though, if I remember correctly).

You then get a little pop-up that looks like this:

All you have to do here is click “browse” and navigate to the folder where your captured frames have been saved in. Select all the frames you need, wait for them to load in and then click “OK”!

Step 4: Depending on the amount of frames you’ve selected to load in, as well as the beefiness of your PC/laptop, the frames loading part might take a little while. Photoshop is importing every frame as a separate layer into one file, so just... grab a drink or something and wait a bit! When you’re done waiting, if you haven’t already, go to Window > Timeline. This will show you the animation timeline. For older Photoshop versions this is slightly different (I believe it’s called animation). Then click “Create Video Timeline” and click the 3 squares on the left bottom side (in older versions it’s on the right bottom side, not sure). 

Step 5: After you’ve done all that, you’ll want to select all your layers. You can do this by pressing ALT+CTRL+A or going to Select > All Layers. With all the layers selected, you have to go to Layer > Arrange > Reverse. You only have to do this if you used the “Load Files into Stack” option!

Step 6: After reversing all your layers, you’ll want to go to the three lines you see in the following screenshot, and click “Make Frames From Layers”.

As the name suggests, this turns all the layers into frames. I don’t know why but the first frame will always be 5 seconds long, so to make it easy on yourself when you want to check your gif while editing, just put that on 0 for now. You can do that by clicking the seconds under the frame and clicking “No delay”. After this, check to see if you have the right frames and if you need to delete some (you can do this at any point in the process but I didn’t know where to put it in the tutorial oops).

Step 7: Time to crop the gif to the correct size! For this gif I’m using as an example, I’m making it specifically for Twitter, so the sizes aren’t that obvious (for Twitter I usually use a width of 850 px to keep it sharp, for long size gifs (more height than width for example), I add a background so that it eventually still becomes 850x850 pixels). There’s many posts on Tumblr about the correct sizes for gif/photosets, but a brief rundown of my most used sizes: one gif spanning the entire width of the post has to be 540 px in width. Two gifs next to one another need to have a width of 268 px. I use these dimensions the most! For others, you can Google! 

Step 8: After you’ve cropped the gif, you can do either of two things: either you first add the coloring of your choice and then sharpen the gif OR you do it the other way around. I usually switch these two around depending on how sharp the gif already looks before sharpening because I can’t stand looking at 2 pixels while coloring (lmao). For this one I’ll do the sharpening first.

The whole sharpening process is actually quite simple but you need to make sure that you do the following little steps in the right order or else it won’t work! Select all the layers (CTRL+ALT+A or Select > All Layers) and then click this little thingy:

Then you’re going to Filter > Convert for Smart Filters

If you don’t do it in this order, your gif will end up... well, not being a gif and not moving. If that happens, track back in your history to see if you did it in the correct order! :)

Step 9: The actual sharpening process! After clicking the “Convert for Smart Filters”, you’ll want to go to Filter again and find the Topaz Labs tabs. Personally, I usually do it in the order of DeNoise first and then Clean, but this is a personal thing, really.

I recommend playing around with the settings to see what fits the gif but here are my go-to DeNoise settings (tip: save these as a preset so you only have to click that for faster giffing!):

And my Clean settings:

Press OK when you’re done with these and then go to Filter > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen. These are my SS settings (just copy these, and again, save as a preset!):

Depending on how sharp you want the gif to be, you can input the same settings or go to this in the layers and change the percentage.

Now that we’re done with these... it’s time to flatten it! Just follow these little steps:

And then you wait. Again. I know.

Step 10: After playing the waiting game, you’ll click the three little squares again and do the same thing you did earlier: “Make Frames Into Layers”. Delete the first frame. Add a coloring of your choice (can be a PSD, can be your own coloring, etc. this is honestly just... playing around with things and see what it can do). After you’ve done coloring, select all your frames (same lines as previous screenshot except now you’ll see a “Select All Frames” option, click it!) and change the time to whatever you like (I usually go for 0.05, 0.06, or 0.07. Again, just play around with this!! Try different things!) 

Step 11: Final step! Saving :) I use shortcuts a lot to make things faster so either press ALT+SHIFT+CTRL+S or go to File > Export > Save For Web. Not much to do here, just copy the following settings and save the file!

!!! NOTE: After making a new gif today I realized there’s a weird dotted border on the top of my gifs, it’s a bit difficult to explain but I had no idea what it was. Turns out that the reason why this showed up was because, as shown in the screenshot below, I had “Transparency” selected. If you’re experiencing this too, UNSELECT the transparency and it should be all good!

Also make sure that the “Looping Options” is set to Forever, or else your gif will play only once and then stop!

Tip: While making gifs for Twitter I at one point noticed that if I added in a white background, no matter what I’d do, it’d show up as yellow-y in the preview box. After googling I found that going to the options (1 in the screenshot) and then clicking “Sort by Luminance”, then double-clicking the lightest color (not the transparent one, 2 in the screenshot) and selecting white (or FFF) will get rid of this! This likely won’t be that useful for Tumblr gifs but just in case you ever want to have a white background...!

Then just... save, and upload to Tumblr! :)

Final note: Tumblr has a mix gif size of 3MB. If you have a gifset of 4 gifs you want to upload, all 4 gifs can be max 3MB each. Keep this in mind! If you’re over 3MB, delete a few frames and try again, or resize/crop your gif!

As it turns out, Tumblr has increased their gif size to 8MB, however, the quality tends to get compressed with larger gifs like that so per recommendation: keep them below 5MB! (thank you @yeoli​ for letting me know!)

I hope this helped! If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message and I’ll try my best to answer them.

[gerrydelano]

disability ask dump!

so, after my post about needing more disability representation, i received a lot of really great asks! headcanons, general input, some questions. answering them individually would kill me, so i’m putting them all here! i started this hours ago and was almost done when the page crashed, so take two :’-)

TW for ED discussion at one point!

@tiinykaiju: your disability meta!!! your brain is huge. may I add to the pile, I hc Martin as having adhd and arthritis (or similarly fucked-up joints) bc I love to project! and also holding a warm mug of tea is nice for days when your hands are especially grouchy

(another sent later): oop also don’t feel obligated to answer this (I know you got a bunch of disability asks so literally don’t stress abt this one) but I also wanted to add that I fucking love how you & ren write Tim’s bpd? I don’t know if I have that (was self dx’d for a while & my shrink agreed it was a maybe but nothing solid) but he is a Whole Entire Mood, which is hugely ironic bc my ex (also named Tim, hilariously) was a dick specifically about the concept of me having bpd

I HC HIM WITH ADHD TOO. autism, ADHD, c-PTSD, (also BPD hoohoo), and disordered eating due to that nifty lifetime of poverty, neglect, and abuse. the arthritis is a good touch! somebody hold he hand!

also HEH. thank you!!!! i’m really glad that people vibe with a portrayal of this disorder that quite frankly has been making my life a living hell for Quite Some Time, like. i want to dismantle and write around the stigma and just write a character who reads this way without demonizing him for g-d’s sake. if you ever want to chat BPD things, my DMs are always open for you! and that NotTim motherfucker WILL die by my blade personality disorder bet your ass!!!!

@feral-piano-rat: Tma disability headcanons are my comfort food at this point! Somewhere around S4 of my listen (during the pre S5 break in real time) was when my chronic pain and joint issues got worse and I started to use a cane as a stabilizer... LITERALLY at the same time I started to see cane-user Jon headcanons and various fibro headcanons. It ended up being something I really took to heart and helped me vibe shame-free. I'm glad to see other people take something similar emotionally from it!

ME TOO it makes me so happy to see them!!!! oh gosh wow the timing, that’s lovely! i’m so glad that something was able to help you feel more comfortable and skip some of the shame stage. there’s no shame in a cane! my mom sort of took mine because she started needing it more often than me but my legs are very 8) unhappy with that so i might need a new one LOL. ahhhh though like! exactly! this is WHY we need to see more of this!

anon: Projecting on tma characters be like; Sasha doesn’t have the correct prescription on her glasses and constantly has a low grade eye strain headache. Georgie has asthma and has to spend so long editing the sound of her breath / wheezing out of WTG. Jon had burning shoulder pain as a kid and the physio he went to told him he was faking so it took him years to actually go to the doctor for his joint pain. Tim has a lazy eye that’s super noticeable when he’s tired.

FUCK yeah, anon. CHASE your BLISS. i don’t have too much to add to some of these but BIG high five on the jon one in particular, i write his Health Backstory as being that he had a rough time getting his EDS diagnosis because doctors are Useless and no one EVER wants to fucking diagnose that, and it’s even harder for an Autistic Kid Of Colour to be taken seriously which 8)))) BOY! get him to a doctor who will help him! give him some useful PT!

anon: Duude your recent post made me realize me going "jon probably isn't schizo spec that's just me projecting" was rlly bullshit like. The man had delusions most of season 2 my delusional ass just didn't connect that there could be a. Reason for those outside canon stressors

oh my g-d no WAY he’s got canon paranoid delusions, you’re TOTALLY fine to be HCing that! he’s so loudly sz-spec!!!! the canon stressors obviously exacerbated it like hell but the speed at which he got swept up in it definitely implies predisposition. i think we’ve been leaning schizoaffective for him? that mania, man. the cross there with bipolar symptoms resonates big jdshfkghds.

anon: So much of what you said was just like Oh Shit Yeah!!! really made me think about a Lot of things. the timing is a little funny because recently i've been thinking a lot about mike crew and abt how if he got struck by lightning bad enough to Burn His Skin he'd probably have nerve damage of some form, esp. with the quote "the doctors told me there would be no long-term damage from the accident. they were wrong of course, but the damage wasn't something they could see, so how could they know?"

DING DING DING there it is! that’s the ticket! you would not BELIEVE how much i’ve been talking about this angle on mike for the past week or so with seraf, he’d have a HELL OF A LOT MORE GOING ON THAN JUST NERVE DAMAGE. especially being directly struck, at that age, and like???? it’d damage his hearing, his skin, his muscles, he’d have neurological symptoms, i’m honestly forgetting a lot of what we’ve discussed but like.

mike crew is disabled, my dudes. there’s such a slim chance that it would Actually be No Damage like yeah some people get by with minimal shit but most people aren’t directly struck like that and so young and extra vulnerable, like. lightning does devastating damage. just write disabled mike! 

@pollylittlehigher-littlelower: Please consider autistic Melanie because the way she tends to feel everything so intensely is A Mood

I AM CONSIDERING! I AM HEAVILY CONSIDERING IT!!!! i don’t have any thoughts on it specifically right now because i am brain soup and been going through some Shit to get this post done but know that i am cheering loudly!

anon: sometimes a bitch projects very hard onto martin with eating disorders and how wrationing out food because of a lack of it lead to weight loss which lead to more confidence and more starvation. until he either got an intervention or (more likely) hospitalized and the pendulum swung back so hard he had significant weight gain, leading to insecurity despite being/looking healthier than he has in a very long time? m a y h a p s

look. sometimes a bitch is just vibing with a guy who is very easy to project disregulation of eating on. and it happens.

i actually have a fucking Lot of thoughts about martin re: food in connection to his poverty and his abuse. i was originally going to put this ask into that 3 parter that brought up those things first, but i think it’s slightly better separated because even as someone with all those issues myself, i don’t feel super confident portraying it through this angle as much as i absolutely support you exploring it because you know what it’s like.

let martin gain weight and be healthier and have support and resources and love himself! i love the idea of martin being confidently fat and everything but there’s no way that he didn’t struggle with it growing up at the very least, because kids are cruel and society is cruel and fatphobia is so deeply ingrained into our culture that it’s Going to impact your formative years even if you unlearn a lot of it later. 

i’m just. g-d, he’d probably feel guilty gaining weight while he’s struggling to make ends meet money wise because society just tells you “oh, you must eat So Much if you’re this big” and he’s like Am I Eating Too Much? Am I Wasting Money? Am I Being Selfish And Gross? and it’s like. no that’s just how your body retains things and it’s okay please martin i’m begging you i promise it’s okay to be fat and also to eat because you need to eat to live please

anwyay i havve . feelings. and am going to stop now so i don’t get swallowed up in them because i could go ON jgvhbknm HOO

anon: It's really neat to see another system into magnus archives!

putting this one with these, too, just to keep it contained. multiple high five!!!! i know at least six other systems in this fandom, it’s really great to not be alone (not that we’re ever alone ;D haha zing ;D) 

EDIT: another came in!

@bisexual-evanhansen​: you just did a tma disability hc ask dump but. sasha dyslexic and you CANNOT change my mind because I have had her calliope discussion almost verbatim on four different occasions. martin also dyslexic and I have no backup I'm just right. 

adding this because it’s a good HC that people should see!!!! i fully support you!!!!!!!! she’s also wrong about how to pronounce it and i die!!!!!!!!

both of them handshake on this it’s so good. also someone needs dyscalculia who the hell here is the worst at math

and there we have it. that took me. so long. i’m so sorry. but, yes, the only one i have left from that night now is a 3 part martin one about his poverty experience and i’m gonna make a meta from it some other time, i Really need to recover spoons now HAHA. thank you everybody, and i hope the anons who sent these get to see this!

[vroomian]

(headdesk slam) Yes, that was 2/2 percent didn’t even realize I forgot to add it in the message until after I sent it and spent like 5 mins internally screaming at myself. I’m a mess of a human being tbh. Really? I’m surprised because it feels like Xi fits perfectly in this AU. Xi as accidental cryptid is the best thing, in both worlds. That’s a relief to hear. My anxiety and I don’t get along so I tend to go to worst possible scenario. You’ll probably regret that soon enough. 1/2

I’m like a magpie if something catches my interest and I’ll fuss over it and go all crazy. Especially now, seeing that you did that hob oneshot and mdzs that is two of the main three bl web novels that I now of. Like, of the three I’ve only fully read svsss and my mind immediately went to wonder where Xi would fit in that verse and at this point he’d totally be where the biggest amount of knowledge is and that my mind went ‘what if Xi was head disciple of Qing Jing Peak?’ 2/?

But that’s pretty unlikely given Xi’s desperate avoidance of feelings, plot, and responsibility. Though I could totally see him as a reluctant head disciple and desperately trying to avoid plot. Plus, definitely the first to notice that something would be off with this new Qingqiu. That said, bullying in his peak would not fly with him so I could see Binghe crushing on this unknown elder disciple.

3/3 I’m sorry I don’t want to make it seem like I want to push you to write another AU when you’ve got enough on your hands. My mind just just went ‘ooh what if this happened?’ And I wanted to share my thoughts with you because I think it’s interesting. So yeah, again feel free to ignore this. I’m like that guy from the meme with the pictures on the wall and red thread when my brain goes nuts lol.

long ask so this goes under the cut

okay there are a million different ways this question could go, because like. is yrz female in this universe? is he male? is he older than the main characters? is he younger? which sect is he living near? is his family nice or assholes? which version of the story is he in? the sssvs version or the actual original demon path novel (or whatever it’s been a while since i read the novel)??? does yrz get a system??? 

because the answers to those questions change the story drastically 

okay so lets do two versions 

one: it’s sssvs. yrz has a ‘background character system’ or something.  he’s gotta have a system otherwise he wouldn't get without a thousand li of cang qiang sect. so this systems chooses him (lets say he’s a guy in this universe) because its low key and yrz is low key and it was like hey lets be low key together!

lol system. 

lol. 

but the system and yrz get along pretty well, and they get into the peak they want -- which is Wan Jian peak, because if yrz can’t join the library peak because of Plot reasons, he’s going with hsi second love. Swords! plus i don’t think there are literally any named characters from the story, except the peak lord. 

so. timeline wise, i think that none of the peak-lords have ascended yet, so yrz does his natural thing --- he over performs and becomes the head disciple for wan jian peak  as consequence and it’s literally just in time for the former peak lords to ascend, so yrz is like. stuck. as a peak lord. 

both the system and yrz are horrified and confused as to how this happened. or, no, by then the system understands the Mistake it made in choosing yrz. on paper yrz is very unassuming! but in reality yrz has no chill. he’s never even heard of the concept of chill. he does everything at 110%.

I think that the bulk of this story takes place waaaay before the sssvs cannon, and lbh is sir not appearing in this fic. instead its -- liu qingge! and mu qingfang! both??? both is good! i think he meets lqg first, when he challenges yrz to a spar in the middle of a high stakes missing because lqg is a meathead jock at that age, and yrz is like. no? do your job? dumbass. (yrz has no idea who this shouty brat is, because the system is taking a nap. it wakes up and kicks itself for leaving yrz alone to do stuff.) yrz is older than lqg and kicks his ass because... well. because it’s hilarious really. so he gains a lqg shaped stalker. 

yrz has a lot of interest in both sparring and healing, and with lqg following him around, yrz spends a lot of time at the healing peak and meets mqf there. mqf gets a huge crush almost immediately but never said anything. it’s not surprising that yrz quickly bonds with these totally cool new disciples -- and then learns that both of the are the succeeding disciples for their peaks. oops. 

system gives up. 

version two: bing-ge edition! 

no system this time around and yrz stays far far away from the cang qiong. he joins a small sect to learn than fucks off to have adventures by himself as a rouge cultivator. so, male version again BUT yrz gets cursed or something and gets the ability to change gender at will because that’s funny and useful. also you know. porn world written by a “straight” guy. there are reasons for that kind of curse imma just gloss over. 

then the plot happens. all of immortal demon path’s many, many chapters are playing around in the background of yrz’s life, but she manages to stay out of it -- until one night yrz gets accidentally recruited by a cult dedicated to bringing down the evil demon lord lbh, because this cult has a book yrz is after. she ends up being used as bait for lbh (because he eats virgins now according to rumors. he’s up to wife number 249 by now so it’s not wrong !) 

yrz gets ‘saved’ by lbh, who’s kind of smirking and going ‘oh, no need to thank me, it was what anyone would have done,’ while totally expecting sex. yrz is like ‘oh, cool. bye then.’ and just. takes the book and leaves. 

lbh: *surprised pikachu face*

and by the time he registers no sex is going to be happening, yrz is long gone and enjoying her brand new book. 

after that, lbh and yrz end up seeing each other (mostly because lbh is trying to impress this woman and nothing is working) and yrz is like stop being a creep, i’m not interested in you. lbh needs to drink his respect woman juice and downsize on his harem a bit. yrz wouldn’t touch that with a twenty foot pool. 

anyway i think it comes to a head when they both get doused in pa pa pa juice and lbh is like oh this is more familiar, shall we? and yrz is like bitch. and goes to a brothel in the city instead. at this point yrz and lbh are more like antagonistic buddies than anything else. lbh has too many wives and zero friends. 

lbh starts developing some squishy feelings and is like what the fuck is this?? gross?? but he says nothing because he doesn’t get it. 

then the cross over happens, bing-ge vs bing-mei!!! and after than happens, yrz is just chilling at home and lbh shows up at her place like really fucked up and subdued. he’s like ‘why him? why did he get the good teacher? what did he do right?’ 

yrz is like... hm. emotions. ew. she trys anyway because she’s finally ready to admit that she does like this trash goblin at least a little. so she takes care of him while he’s being depressed. lbh cooks for her and she’s like. this is so fucking good. thank you. 

and lbh is just in love now. it’s nothing like he feels for his wives, but yrz makes lbh feels safe and accepted. it’s a comforting and comfortable love. yrz’s stupid little house is more of a home than lbh’s stupid palaces. 

look. i stand by the head cannon that all lbh wants is to be a househusband, no matter what version im talking about. 

lbh vanishes for a whole night. yrz is like hm, my house feels empty now. weird! and then lbh comes back and announces that he just divorced all his wives. he doesn’t want to be powerful anymore so can i stay herer with you. 

yrz is like... sure. 

and then there’s a long, long courtship and lbh marries yrz and archives his dream of just being fucking happy. the end!

[shhh-no-ones-home]

lion tamer izzy stradlin x reader

+++++++++

a little break from motionless and def leppard lol. i havent written for izzy in a while but he baby so here you go, have something cute. i have two more lepp fics coming out in the next couple days though so enjoy 

she unedited lol sorry if there are mistakes

song: caffeine cold by fall out boy

Edit cause I forgot to add:

Tag list: @cynic-spirit

+++++++++

"come on iz, youre last."

i sighed, grabbing his arm and pulling him out of the backseat of my car. i swung his arm over my shoulder and tried to distribute the weight but it wasnt really working. he was basically dead at this point, stumbling around as i walked us to the door. we had all gone out to celebrate the new album release and they had all drank a little too much. i of course was left as the designated driver per usual since i didnt really drink, nor did i usually mind. tonight however was a task, like herding kittens, each member getting side tracked at something new as i tried desperately to get them into their houses or hotel rooms and into their beds. Izzy of course was last, letting me stay with him while i was in town for the release party and start of the press tour.

"youre really good at this."

izzy complimented, a long string of words pouring out of his mouth as i unlocked the door and shoved his keys back in his jacket pocket.

"thanks iz, someones got to be or else you would be on the floor more often."

just as i was closing the door he moved forward without me and tripped, dropping straight to the ground. i sighed as he rolled over and laughed.

"like that."

i pointed out. he kept laughing as he sat up, taking the hand i offered to him. instead of getting up though he just pulled me down with him, me dropping to my knees with a loud thud. he giggled some more at the exasperated look on my face.

"now youre on the floor too."

he laughed out, poking his finger at me. i rolled my eyes and stood back up, walking around him, pushing my arms under his and lifting him to his feet.

"woah."

he said a little stunned that i had just dead lifted him off the floor.

"have you been working out?"

he questioned as i turned him and put his arm around my shoulders again.

"yeah, its called moving five drunk toddlers around."

he sent me a sleepy smile as we finally made it down the hall.

"that sounds like a lot of work."

he said matter of factly, dropping the bottle i didnt know he had onto the soft carpet of his bedroom floor.

"you have no idea."

i grumbled as i leaned into him and pushed him to the bed with my shoulder, watching him roll onto his side and his hand drop to his stomach.

"oop, nope, hold on."

he said standing quickly and dropping in front of the trash can by his nightstand. i looked to the ceiling as he threw up, cringing at it. i looked back down when he inhaled deeply and he was already on his way back to standing.

"okay sir, time to brush your teeth now."

he whined as i helped usher him to the bathroom.

"do i have to?"

he protsested as i squirted the toothpaste onto the brush and wet it, handing it to him.

"yes, if you dont i will."

he dropped his shoulder and stuck the brush in his mouth, moving it around and leaning in to look at himself in the mirror. as he pushed it around his gums he grinned widely at himself, the bubbles around his mouth making him look like a clown. i shook my head at him.

"dont forget your tongue."

i reminded and he turned to me to stick it out, closing his eyes and brushing down it.

"thank you."

i said, crossing my arms over my chest and he bent down and spit into the sink, holding his head under the faucet so he could rinse his mouth out. when he stood back up he sent me another sleepy smile, dropping the toothbrush onto the counter.

"now what?"

he asked like a giddy child. i placed my hand firmly at his back and pushed him back out into the room.

"now you go to bed."

i said a little hopeful. he pouted at me in return.

"aww but y/n i dont want to go to bed. the night is still young and so are we."

he said, plopping down on the side of the mattress.

"we'll still be young in the morning when you get up. in a pain and possibly hungover but young none the less."

he frowned at me as i moved to take the denim jacket off his arms.

"do i get to take your clothes off?"

he asked, wiggling his eye brows at me.

"no, now take your shirt off, i dont even want to know what it is you have down the front of you."

he looked down at it confused before shrugging and doing as told.

"anything else you want me to remove?"

he said reaching out for my hand and holding it, looking up at me intently.

"shoes, off."

i demanded and he smiled widely at me, kicking them off.

"pants too?"

he said seductively. i rolled my eyes.

"only if you dont want to wear jeans to bed but you had better have underwear of some kind on this time izzy stradlin or i swear to god."

he laughed before standing up and undoing his pants, and there it was, of course he wasnt wearing any. i groaned and turned around.

"oh come on y/n its not like you havent seen it before, you practically lived here for three months."

i shook my head and went to his dresser.

"i know that izzy but that doesnt mean you have to just have it out all the time."

i shook my head and grabbed him some underwear and pajama bottoms, tossing them his way. i didnt want to look but it was kind of hard to miss, he was standing fully nude now in the middle of his bedroom, hands on his hips in fully glory.

"get dressed."

i demanded, making him laugh again before doing as told. i crossed my arms over my chest as he fumbled around to get dressed, plopping back down onto the bed when he was done.

"better?"

i asked a little annoyed, walking to him and trying to tuck him in. getting him under the covers was more of a task than i thought it would be.

"wanna join?"

he asked, raising a brow and smirking at me.

"no thank you, i have my own bed in this house."

he grabbed my hand and pulled me forward. i caught myself before i could fall into him and was face to face now. he smelled like vodka and mint.

"please? itll help me sleep better knowing youre here."

he said, pouting. i sighed.

"fine, but im only doing this to make sure you dont vomit in your sleep and kill yourself."

he smiled widely before scooting over and letting me in, me kicking my shoes off first and readjusting the dress i had on. before i knew what was happening he was snuggled into my side, face pushing into my neck and arm around my waist. my eyes got wide as he got comfortable.

"iz?"

he hummed in response.

"what are you doing?"

he just shushed me. a minute later he was snoring softly and i was left there in the dimly lit room defeated.

°°°°°°°°°

when i woke up i could smell something burning, making me jolt upright. izzy wasnt in the bed next to me like he was last night and it was only ten thirty. i found that odd given that we didnt even go to bed till almost four. i stood quickly, flattening my dress down and making my way down the hall to the kitchen. i stood in the doorway dumbfounded at the sight in front of me. there was izzy, smoking a cigarette and cooking breakfast. bacon and pancakes by the smell of it.

"morning sunshine."

he said fairly chipper, taking a sip from his mug. i raised a brow, pushing my bra strap back up onto my shoulder.

"morning."

i said confused. i stood and watched him flip the pancakes.

"you just gonna stand there all morning or are you gonna come eat?"

he half laughed at me, looking up with light eyes.

"uh yeah, sure."

i said slowly, trudging to him and taking the plate he offered up.

"drink?"

he asked, picking up the second mug that was on the counter. i took it without think and went to the bar. as soon as i took a sip i cringe.

"what the hell is this izzy?!"

i asked setting the plate down.

"orange juice and vodka."

he said matter of factly and i just sighed in defeat. no wonder he was so happy. that asshole still had alcohol in his system and was just adding more.

"you are gonna feel like shit later."

i noted, walking to the sink and pouring it down the drain. he sent me a wicked smile and cheersed me before taking a drink.

"i promise its nothing but coffee for me after this."

i sent him a disapproving look.

"sure it is."

he finished stacking pancakes onto his plate and joined me at the counter, sitting in the bar stool beside me.

"so, how did you sleep?"

he asked, resting his leg against mine comfortably.

"fine."

i said shrugging. he sent me a weird.

"you were in bed with me and just slept fine?"

i laughed at him and shook my head, pouring syrup on top of my food.

"well it wasnt exactly fun. you were so drunk it was a task to even get you into pajamas, much like last time you werent wearing anything under your jeans which i dont appreciate."

i said sternly and he smiled to himself, nodding like he'd accomplished something.

"yeah i forgot about that."

he said proudly. i rolled my eyes, taking a bite.

"well youre wearing some now and thats what really matters."

i said and he laughed.

"no im not."

i looked up at him with wide eyes.

"when i got up to pee earlier i realized i was wearing them and took them off, fuck that."

i sighed deeply but didnt respond. i just shook my head and kept eating.

"do you like it?"

he asked and i raised a brow.

"breakfast i mean."

i nodded.

"yes its very good."

he smiled widely at me.

"great cause its my apology for last night."

i looked at him confused.

"i know im a handful when drunk, hell i know we all are. you always take care us though, so i guess its a thank you too."

i smiled at him.

"thanks izzy."

he leaned over and nudged me with his elbow.

"dont mention it."

[voidcat]

— Fresh Start

Fandom: Haikyuu!!

Genre: fluff

Word Count: 1.6k oops

Characters: Hinata Shoyo, you (others briefly mentioned)

Summary: Moving away was hard; making friends, even harder. But maybe in your second year of high school, the universe finally decides to surprise you, with a familiar face from your past.

A/N: my first story on here woo hoo! also miss wordswithinmoments if you see this, this is Dei, writing about what we discussed in the server, hi!

        i’ll probably add a mini p2 to this lol

       edit: now there’s part a part two, not as short as i planned ahhaa

Moving away was not a thing you were a fan of. 

Having to move away at the age of 12, having to leave your childhood friends behind and start your whole life over again was hard. You had to enter a new territory and befriend people all over again, as if you hadn’t just gotten the hang of it. All these years spent on making friends, genuine friends, all gone to waste now... You were upset with your mother the day she announced the news and  you wouldn’t talk to her for a week straight. 

Sure, it was all hard on you, but not impossible.. All it took was about two years or so, right? But when your mother came into your room one day, claiming she had big news, only to let you know that you were moving back to Miyagi... Saying you were pissed off would be an understatement.

And so here you are, transferring high schools at the beginning of your second year, missing your few trusted friends back in Tokyo; there’s nothing you can do about it. As you sit in silence, you fear the teacher will start the school year by announcing the newest addition to students, and she proves you right in record time. You get up from your seat at an awkwardly fast pace, blurt out your name and your old school, gaze fixed on the board, not meeting a single student’s eyes. As the chants of “Welcome!” die out, you hear a voice, awfully familiar, speaking out your name. From where you’re sitting, you can see the back of their head, whoever it is. Messy orange-ish hair, shining a bit too brightly when the sun ray hits it just right. You try not to dwell on the person and focus on your class. And so goes the time until lunch break.

So far everything is going smoothly, people sitting nearby make small talk with you out of courtesy, until the said familiar voice yells out your first name. “Is that really you?!!!” It’s more of a exclamation than a question and when you meet the person’s gaze, you can see why.

He hasn’t changed at all, is what first comes to mind. His hair is wilder and fluffier for sure and his face seems to be beaming with life and energy, as always. He has grown, as expected, but not any taller than you. This gives you a short moment of pride. “Hinata? Is that really you or am I dreaming?” Maybe worrying too much about making friends was unnecessary because the universe decides to give you your closest childhood friend back in the form of your classmate. And with that, you two start to catch up. He tells you all his volleyball adventures he has experienced last year, from the tournaments to the players they’ve faced. His speech is as fast as always and he can’t seem to sit still. Always making a gesture here and there or jumping around, making impressions of some of his team mates. His eyes beam with so much life and passion and his smile is so bright, it’s hard to keep your eyes open as you listen to him. You can clearly see how much volleyball means to him. “Oh and there was this Tokyo team, our school’s -Karasuno’s- fated rivals! You should’ve seen them! At first impression, there may be nothing eye catching about the way they play but Kuroo-san has this Coolest speech about being the blood stream and delivering the oxy-“ You interrupt him without realizing. “Kuroo as in Nekoma’s former volleyball captain, THE Kuroo Tetsurō? The emo with the dumbest hair style ever?” To your words, Hinata tilts his head in confusion. “Yes, do you know him too?”

Okay, maybe such things as fate and destiny do exist after all, you think to yourself. “Well, you see in Tokyo I was attending Nekoma High as well and knew him a little-“ “Then you must know Kenma too!” “Ah yes, I wasn’t very close to them. I guess, Kenma and I bonded when I scolded Lev few times and called Kuroo out on one of his embarrasing speeches.” “Oooh, were you their manager then? But no, I would’ve seen you at the matches. Oh! Maybe you were in the girl’s volleyball team?” The latter question leaves a sour taste in your mouth. “No, I met Kuroo first. I was taking advance biology classes, was close with the chemistry teacher and I would spend my time in the labs to study. You could say we met in the labs one day, through lame science puns and all that. We would study or look things up together from time to time. I went to their training sessions once in a while to drop a text book or notes, and some days I just stayed there to watch them.” Hinata seems content with your answer but from the way his eyes shine you can tell a few more questions are forming in his head. Before he can open his mouth, the bell rings, signaling the break is over and you both go back to your desks. You let out your breath in relief. From then on, you two spend more time together and meet some of his friends from the team. Yamaguchi and Yachi are easy to befriend and you hit it off with them so easily. Though cold, you and Tsukki are civil with each other but he always acts like he knows things about you that no one does, and it makes you a little nervous. Kageyama seems like the polar opposite of Hinata at first yet after seeing their exchanges with each other, it’s easy to tell how alike the two are. Their upperclassmen are easy to converse with but you avoid the gym like the plague so you don’t see them much.

And then comes the day Hinata, as Tsukki likes to say “uses his brain” and, asks the dreaded question. “How come you always leave the gym at first chance when P.E. class is over? You never come to my practice matches either! Something always comes up, as you like to claim.  And when I talk about the matches and what happened during them, you never seem to listen to me. It’s like your attention suddenly goes... Fuaaah!!” He raises both arms frantically as he says the last bit.

The Sour expression on your face tells it all but he is eager to hear you say it, or maybe he can’t exactly read your expression. It must be the latter, you assume. “Bad memories.” You just murmur. 

“How come? You said you haven’t been to Karasuno until this year?”

“Bad memories regarding volleyball.” He furrows his brows at this. He has this determined look on his face again and you give in, decide to tell him what happened before he can pester you.

“It’s just... So you see, in Tokyo I started playing volleyball.” You can see the gleam in his eyes at the mention of the sport. “It wasn’t connected to school or anything. More like an independent club. It was fun too... at first. One day, I got bad at the beginning of the practice and left in a hurry.” The concern forming in your friend’s face is visible.

 “I switched clubs after that. This one felt warmer but I could never play with confidence. I was always one step too late or not strong enough. I thought there was someone better near me to receive a ball or hit it. I felt weird practicing for spikes, it’s like, I was looking laughable and out of place while some of the girls looked... so strong while spiking. So two weeks before the final exams of my first year at Nekoma, I left that club too. These girls were practicing hard and with such great passion. It was a hobby for me, one I wasn’t even that good at. I felt like disrespecting them and their hard work, in a way. That’s why I sometimes get distracted when you talk about your matches too, Hinata, I am sorry.” You look up to Hinata after your last words, not knowing what to expect. He just stares at you, not radiating his typical sun shine, his expression unreadable. 

“Of course you Should be sorry!” He practically yells. You’re taken aback by this and take a step back on reflex. 

“I mean sure, maybe you don’t love volleyball as much as I do or the spikers you mentioned but didn’t playing give you joy?” Still shocked by his sudden outburst,  you silently nod your head. “Then this is enough of a reason for you to keep playing! You should’ve met our third years of last year. Not a single one of them are pursing a career in volleyball but this didn’t stop them from playing hard, putting their heart in the game and doing their very best! You belong as long as it gives you joy! You should’ve seen Stingyshima last year, all he did was talk about how this is just a club ‘is it worth doing all this for a club?’ Then he became the key player in our match against Shiratorizawa!” 

Hearing Hinata say all these things about the boy who is always reserved to himself is weird. Though watching him make a poor impression of him as he supposedly quotes him was funny. 

Before you can process his words further and think of a reply, he grabs your hand and pulls you with him. “Hinata, Wait! Where are we going?” you ask in wonder. He turns back to look at you and gives you one of his patented big smiles. Blinding you on spot, shining like the sun itself. No, even brighter than that. “To get a volleyball and have some fun!” 

All you can do is nod and let him guide you to the gym; fully trusting your best friend, eager to play for the first time in months.