#eh i'll add it to the same post i think

[factual-fantasy]

28 Asks! Thank you! :}} 🧜‍♀️

Nope. That's not me. I don't have a tiktok. :/

Remember folks! Like my pinned post says, if you find my artwork anywhere else other than here? Its stolen 100% of the time!

@cat7890

I don't understand what you're asking... <:0

My only opinion is that the eyes are really spooky looking <XDD

@spacewitchgardevoir

Thank you so much!! :DD Unfortunately I haven't thought much of that through yet.. I only have vague ideas so far. Like how the slimes in The Wilds will be hisuian pokemon for example. I plan to work more on the slimes soon! <XDD

@sora-the-air-wubbox (Oh hey! I know of wubboxes! :D )

I have not actually.. are those the roblox guys..? <:0

@an-aspiring-jester

Awe! Thank you!! :DDD I'll have to think of who to pass this to next! :00

AAAA THANK YOU!! :DD I haven't played the slime Rancher 2 demo but I still want to play it when the full game comes out! :))

(PLA inspired comic in question)

AAAA THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Having my artwork compared to the beautiful works of studio Ghibili is such an honor!! 😭😭💞💞💞

And speaking of a continuation.. I actually finished drawing a short comic last night about Ingo and Emmet's reunion. It was all done and ready to post... but then I changed my mind. The quality of the comic was much lower than the PLA comic I just did. No backgrounds, rushed line art.. uninspired house design.. eh. I just wasn't satisfied.

I still plan to post a reunion comic mind you! I just want to put more heart into it and try drawing it again- <XDD

@blbllblblblll

A tempting offer I must say, but I'm still on break from the Octonauts fandom!.. <XD

@neo-metalscottic

Thank you!! :DDD And my favorite slime is the puddle slime.. 🥺💞 and my fave largo has gotta be the Mosaic x phosphor, but specifically the secret style pack version XDD

Now for Boom Boom and Pom Pom.. that's a good question.. I haven't really thought about them :00 I supposed they can be some higher ranking soldiers of some kind! (Also my Koopa Kingdoms has more primitive technology than in cannon <XD. Although they get quite a boost thanks to magikoopas.👀👀)

Also the super ball flower creates some interesting ideas.. maybe it could be a flower that allows Mario and Luigi to turn things into metal? But why would it be a flower.. hmm.. I think I'll have to do a lot of retconning If I wants to add this flower to my AU <XDD

Also thank you for the ask! Always appreciated :)))

@fizzy-stars

XDD Who knows? Maybe they are!

@wolfie-777

XDD Cant say I'll make a comic series for them, but if I did it would totally be like that! Mostly Dink being high energy and annoying the sleepy Doink XDD

So far my intentions are that they don't have a trainer :00

YOU ARE GIVING ME SOOO MANY ANGST IDEAS 👀👀👀

WAAAAAATHANKOTUUUU!!!! 😭💞💞💞💞

@gamesperger

You'd be surprised how often I get told that <XDD

@anikakitty11

AWWW I LOVE LUCAS!!! 😭😭💞💞💞

@samcat2

Draw something for me?.. weeell.... I do love Dusknoir... 🥺🥺👀👀👀

@yourstrulylightstar283

Not sick again, its the same unknown medical problem I've been dealing with for almost a year now.. 😔😔😔Thank you though, I'm doing my best to stay calm and take it easy <:}}}

Hi Timothy! I am afraid :D

His eyes always make me laugh <XDD

I have not.. though it looks good, maybe I should give it a watch! :00

(Furby Grimace)

Oh he's fine. He's just coming to grips with his own mortality that's all <XD

@red1sg0n3

:DD THANK YOUU!! :)))))

@justanintrovertedweirdo

WAAAHHGGGTHTHANK YOUUU SO MUCHH!!!!! 😭😭💞💞💞💞

And I'm so glad you feel the same way about the whole romantic love thing!! Sure they're great an all.. but I feel like the only kinds of relationships I see I fandoms are romantic ships..

Where are all the brotherhood comics? Characters motivated by a deep love for each other but its platonic and not romantic? I have so much more fun experimenting with those kinds of stories!

@cherrycreamfairy

:DDD Thank you! I'm glad to see Jangles getting some love! 🥰🥰

@kirshimadenkisero

XDD Go for it!

I know this was probably a drawing suggestion, but since they're closed now I'll answer it as a question....😅

My favorite legendary is a tough pick.. I love a lot of them.. 🥺💞💞but man, its hard to beat Xerneas. My favorite shiny is also a hard pick.. Its gonna have to be shiny Giratina. With shiny Rayquaza and shiny primal Kyogre as honorable mentions XDD

I know you didn't say this but I'll put it in there anyways XDD My favorite sub-legendary is Suicune. But my favorite shiny out of the sub-legendaries is actually Chi-Yu.. 👀👀

My favorite mythical Pokémon is Celebi , and my favorite shiny mythical is also Celebi. XDD I love that littol onion,,🥺💞💞💞

[creatingblackcharacters]

How I Color!

Okay, so first: I am an amateur, but I'm very sensitive about my shit 🥺. It may not be the best, or the most technical or complex, but I love it, it's my style, and I'm growing just like the rest of you!

Anyway, I figured that if anyone was curious as to one of a million ways to make art, I could throw mine into the pot. I'm going to use one of my favorites, and recent pieces, for an example.

Step One: Sketch

Everyone meet Philomela! She's in her early fifties and she's a bad mama jama. (IGNORE the shitty hand I got lazy!!) I usually draw the head and hair, then body, then face, combine them all and clean up. I sketch using the mechanical pencil tool, just because I like the "roughness". One day I'll try lineart again. I fell in love sketching this. I drew her fat rolls and her thighs and I just... what a beauteous woman 😤. I love her. You should always fall in some kind of love with your work. Bisexuality paused, let's move on.

Step Two: Flat Colors

Pretty self explanatory. Give myself a base. Accidentally drew the music pattern on the wrong layer and said "eh. it works". I create a new layer "underneath" and add hair! If I want to catch texture at the hairline, I go right on the flat.

Step Three: Shading

Now here's where it gets fun- where the life in their bodies happens! I honestly think my favorite part is shading. I just grab the airbrush, click the same color as the flat (usually), and spray! Now here's the thing: for skin, this trick works better (for me) the browner the skin gets. For lighter colors, I will play around to see what works. I also blend where necessary. Notice how I used an orange for her blush and her bottom lip, blending as needed. Now looking back, I missed some spots, but... we live and learn. Funny enough, I started having more fun with shading and lighting when I stopped holding myself to the "perfectly realistic" idea. I just wanted to see a certain "texture", I liked it, and I kept going.

Step Four: Highlights

And then, the lighting! Now, when you have a real well lit picture of brown skin, I've noticed that the edges are going to be darker, while the middle of the surface gets lighter. So that's how I airbrush it! I try to highlight the skin where exposed, and certain parts of the face. Always a lil splash of extra shine for the nose, as an Ice Touch.

And that's it! I hope y'all enjoyed my random art session. I feel a bit vulnerable posting it. 👉🏾👈🏾

[starrayblogs]

Hey hey, first off, very excited to see someone writing for Aphmau characters!! It’s been a while since I watched my street but I will never forget how upset I was when Laurence disappeared (Goodnight sweet Prince)

As for fanfic request stuff, could you do a friends to lovers with a reader who’s super confident in everything except love? Like, knows they’re cool and look good but they’ve never really been confessed to, just something real fluffy. Not necessarily shy just not willing to risk confessing even if they know the other person feels the same (preferably fem reader)

For the character(s), if you take requests for multiple people then Cole Ninjago and Laurence MyStreet (separate) and if not then just Laurence will do :))

Any format works too, headcanons, one shot, go wild

thanks so much for the ask! this is such an interesting scenario and i had a loooooong time writing this ehe TuT

however, since the characters you requested are from different fandoms- i think i'll write the other pairing on a different post (hope u understand TmT) . also i'm soooo sorry in advance if laurence is ooc, i haven't really thought about him in a while...

anyway, likes and reblogs are appreciated! i hope you enjoy ✩

pairing: mystreet laurance x fem!reader

will include: fluff, friends to lovers

"You know what's the craziest part in all this?" Katelyn points out, drawing a circle with her index toward you.

"What?" You raise a brow, placing your hands on top of each other on your crossed leg.

"That I still don't get how you haven't confessed to Laurence." She answers quickly, and you react by immediately uncrossing your legs and throwing your hands in the air.

"It's not that easy!" You exclaim.

"How? You're the most confident person ever!" Aphmau points out from her side of the couch. "Second to Laurence, of course." She adds, which receives a collective 'yeah's and 'that's true's from the other girls.

You sigh as you slump in your chair.

It's another girls night, which means another night for updates on your crush on your close friend, Laurence. Only the girls, who are Aphmau, Katelyn, Kawaii~Chan, and Lucinda, know your crush on him.

"Seriously, you're so confident when it comes to other guys. I never thought I'd see Travis of all guys stutter when you flirted with him for a dare." Lucinda chuckles from the other end of Aphmau's couch, swirling her glass of juice.

"Because, Laurence is different..." You pause for a second before sighing again and combing a hand through your hair. "I've never felt this type of connection with anyone else, and I'm scared that if I do confess, it'll ruin the friendship I have with him." You frown as you intertwine your hands together. "I don't wanna lose him if it ends out like that."

"What happened to "don't be afraid to try new things" because you said being confident is all about being secure with yourself enough that new things don't scare you as much?" Katelyn asks, bending at the waist and propping her elbows on her thighs.

"I agree! You always say that and that's how you helped Kawaii~Chan start her maid cafe!" Kawaii~Chan smiles at you. You spare a smile before looking down to your fiddling hands again.

"Love is an entirely different department of confidence. My past relationships didn't end well, and," You bite your lip for a second, "I'm scared." Your eyes glance up to look around the room, which was filled with surprised faces from your girl friends. "I'm scared that if Laurence and I do become a... thing, that the universe is going to wreck it somehow and he'll cut me out of his life." You confess.

Aphmau gets up from her seat and ushers Lucinda to scooch to the other side before taking her seat. She places her hands on top of yours and your head moves up to meet her eyes. Her lips curl into a smile as her hand squeezes yours, giving your reassurance not only with her gaze.

"You're not going to lose him. I know Laurence is a relatively silly guy, but when it's something serious, he doesn't play around." She says softly. "He's a mature guy when he needs to be, and I can never imagine him actually hurting any woman's feelings on purpose." She adds with a light chuckle before exhaling deeply. "Otherwise, if he did, I'd have his head by now."

You comically blink at her last sentence before breaking into a laugh. The weight of the situation gets lighter, even for just this moment, and you give Aphmau a smile. "Thanks, Aph." You nod in her direction. "Thanks for being so supportive about this, girls." You turn to the other three in the living room.

"Of course, no problem!" "No biggie." "Kawaii~Chan can't wait for her ship to sail!"

Everyone turns to Kawaii~Chan with concerned looks, which she replies with a shrug. "What? Kawaii~Chan thinks they're end game!" She exclaims nonchalantly. Your cheeks flush as you try to change the topic for the night.

It was pouring down heavily today. You were outside early before the sun came up for a quick jog around the town, as you usually did. However, on your way back, you felt droplets of rain fall down on you and dismissed it for a light shower.

Now, you're stuck under a random bus stop. Turns out, you were jogging on a completely different street on the way back home. You guess you absentmindedly took one wrong turn on the way back, too busy listening to your music.

You were pretty soaked in your attire and you were started to get cold. Your phone dinged in your pocket and you brought it out, curling your hand across the top of the screen to stop the rain from straying onto your phone.

It was Laurence. He texted asking you how you were against the rain, and followed it with a picture of a flooded basement. He said his room got flooded and you snickered, typing a reply back on how only he would get stuck in a situation like that.

He replies with a few laughing emojis and you think for a while before opening your camera, taking a selfie of yourself. Your hair was wet and clinging to your skin, your clothes were also wet (even your socks), and you were pretty sure you would get sick after this.

You sent the selfie to Laurence, telling him how you're stuck outside in the rain while you were in the middle of jogging back home. He didn't reply after that and you thought it up to how he had his own problems to handle, which was his flooded basement.

You hugged yourself as you sat inside the bus stop, hoping the rain would stop. You didn't want to risk jogging back home either because you were on a street you didn't know and you were pretty sure you'd get even more lost in such weather.

You don't know how long you waited but it felt like hours.

Then, you heard your name in the distance. You turned to the direction of the voice and saw a figure far away. You squinted your eyes to get a good look on who it was, and you gasped.

It was Laurence. Running in your direction and holding up an umbrella above his head.

You can't explain how relieved you were to see him. You watched as he ran up to you and as he panted for a few minutes to catch his breath. You hoped he thought that your red cheeks were some indication of a starting fever, instead of you blushing because he was here.

"Laurence?" You whisper his name and he inhales deeply, pushing himself up from his knees.

"Are you okay!?" He exclaims, stepping closer inside the bus stop to you. "Oh my Irene, I'm so glad I found you. Come on, let's get you home." He offers his hand out and you slowly reach out for it.

Once your hand was in his, he gripped you tightly and pulled you under the umbrella. "How'd you find me?" You ask softly as you begin to follow Laurence's lead.

"Your selfie showed the bus stop map. I just had to zoom in to see which one you were at, and I came running to find you." Laurence says, like it was no big deal. Yet, you could hear your heart beating loudly in your ears as your cheeks grow redder.

"... Thank you, Laurence." You say softly, smiling towards him. He glances his eyes to you, and he smiles back.

"Don't mention it." He replies, and you almost just notice how he squeezes your hand just a bit tighter.

Laurence led you back to your house in gentleman-like fashion. You were screaming in your head the whole time the way back, but deep down you were happy. Extremely happy.

On the way home, Laurence explained that Zane somehow managed to drain the water from the basement and that's when he immediately left the house to get you.

You felt so cared for. On the way home, you would look down and stare at your intertwined hands. You couldn't believe someone would go out in the windy, strong rain just to fetch you and bring you home- and you couldn't believe it more when you remember it's Laurence who did that.

... You're almost brought to tears when you remind yourself that he's doing all of this as your friend as you come down the stairs.

When you don't notice Laurence in the living room, those thoughts are immediately reinforced. Of course, he did his job in bringing you back to your house, so what other reason would he have to stay?

"You done showering? I made some chicken soup!" A familiar voice yells from the kitchen. You hurriedly make your way there in disbelief, to see Laurence about to carry two hot bowls of soup.

"Laurence," you pause, "you're still here." You sound like you're out of breath.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Laurence comes up to you with a sided smile, nodding his head to your dining table to indicate to take a seat. "Someone's gotta take care of you once you inevitably get a fever after being out in the rain for so long." He subtle scolds you and you pout.

"I thought I could wait it out..." You murmur, taking your seat.

"Yeah, for a day, sure." He sets your bowl down in front of you before taking a seat next to you, while pressing the back of his palm on your forehead.

You quickly pull away to look down to your bowl and immediately pick up the spoon. So, you could hide your blush (obviously). "I don't have a fever, Laurence." You tell him, taking a scoop of the soup and bringing it to your lips.

Only, of course, to burn your tongue and slam the spoon back down on the table. "Hey, hey, slow down!" Laurence gets up from his seat to quickly pour you some water. "Are you okay?" He asks while you basically chug the water.

You nod your head while drinking before setting the glass down. "Uh, thank you... again." You avert your eyes nervously.

"Are you sure you don't have a fever?" He raises a brow as he returns to his chair.

"Y-Yeah! Yeah, I'm sure." You slide a hand behind your neck out of habit.

Laurence's eyes furrow and he leans in towards you. "You're lying."

"What?"

"You're lying?"

"No, I'm not." You chuckle.

"Yes, you are. You put your hand behind your neck when you lie." He states, like a matter of fact.

You blink at him with awe and disbelief. He notices the small stuff about you too.

Your mind passes to the thoughts of your feelings towards the brunette. The fact he ran in the middle of practically a storm today just to get you, the fact he remembered your small habits, and the fact that he's here. He's here and he's taking care of you.

It makes you feel warmer than the soup he made. He's always made you feel like. It's like a cozy fireplace whenever you're next to him, like you're rocking on a chair with a knitted wool blanket while holding your favorite drink.

You're at the height of your emotions and it overtakes your rationality. You inhale and blurt,

"Laurence, I like you." He blinks at your words. You clear your throat and look down, intertwining your hands to keep them busy. "I've liked you for a while, actually. A few months after we met, I developed feelings for you. I... I never told you because I was scared of losing you." You close your eyes when you feel the tears begin to well in your eyes. "I know how dumb it sounds especially because of how confident I am, but when it comes to you, I am so scared because the bond we have is so special to me a-"

You were cut off by a kiss. You open your tear-filled eyes and see Laurence's face. His eyes are squeezed shut and his cheeks were slightly tinted if you paid enough attention, and you did. He pulls away.

Apparently, he had lifted your head with his hands on your cheek and pulled you in for a cheek. "I..." He smiles as his thumb wipes the tears away from your cheek. "I like you too. For a while, now." He confesses softly. "You caught my eye the day Aphmau introduced you to us because you were so confident with yourself." He glances down to your lips before looking at you again. "At first, it was because you were beautiful," he pauses, "I still do."

You chuckle and he does too, before pulling your focus back on him.

"Then as we got closer, I thought about how much I wanted to keep seeing you... be confident." He says. "And wanted to be the one that makes you confident too." He adds, nodding his head to the side. "Of course, only if you'd let me."

You sniffle and nod your head frantically. You laugh lightly as you begin to chuckle. "Yes!" You whisper. "Yes, Laurence, I-"

He cuts you off with another kiss. Only this time, you kiss him back.

[findafight]

Not me writing a prologue for a fic I'll maybe never write about Steve being on the Dream Team lmao. I saw a pro basketball player Steve post a while ago and couldn't stop thinking about it. Anyways-

At the end of March Madness in 1989, the scout for the Pacers has lunch with the head coach of a community college basketball team that somehow made it to the first round before being pulverized. They sit across from each other, the coach seemingly a bit overwhelmed but not outright surprised. That's good, it means Jerry, the scout, doesn't have to worry about him freaking out or babbling too much.

The team captain had caught his, and possibly others', eye. Good layups, a few three pointers, solid defence, and a helluva lot of potential add up to someone to keep an eye on, except they can't because the guy plays for a rinky-dink community college and only had one televised game. The only reason Jerry saw the kid is because the Roane County Community College Ospreys had put in a hell of a fight the past three seasons. Jerry wonders why the hell the kid hadn't been offered a scholarship somewhere...not Roane County. Doesn't matter though, because they're here now.

"so. You wanted to talk about Steve?" Says the coach, August Nearaly, a bit weary.

Jerry nods, sipping his coffee. "Yeah. Wanted to get a sense of him before I actually talked to him."

August sighs. "As a player or as a person?"

Raising his eyebrows. "Is he that different off the court?"

"no! No, not like how you probably think. Harrington's a sweet kid, but also incredibly...well, not weird, but. Peculiar? He's got quirks. Bit paranoid, but not in a conspiracy way. In a 'no one should walk home alone in the dark' or 'hey, where'd John go? He was right here and then I did a headcount and he's not?' kinda way. Y'know? Like, they're all adults, but he does headcounts and worries anyways."

"huh. Oookay?"

"it-- I'm not saying this to rag on him, to be clear. It just too a while to get used to. Honestly, it's been good for team building. Makes them think of each other not as individuals, but part of a unit that needs everyone healthy and whole to work."

"that's good. He's a team player."

"oh yeah. It's not surprising, really. He's from Hawkins." August says the name like Jerry should know what that means. It's a town, sure, but other than that... Jerry's at a loss. Maybe something a few years ago about a fire? "He has most assists in Osprey history. Some of the guys joke that he's allergic to the ball."

"He's good on the court?"

"Jerry. I know you're here because you saw the March Madness game. You know he's good. He'd be even better if he could afford those fancy prescription goggles Horace Grant wears."

"seriously? Why not contacts?"

"don't make them for his prescription. You didn't see his interview? Kid's got thick horn rimmed glasses. Too many concussions apparently. God knows how he tells players apart when the jersey colours are similar."

"shit. That's why he was squinting the whole time? I thought he was just stressed."

He shrugged. "eh. Probably a bit of both. He takes it seriously, but not too seriously. Y'know? Half the guys were shitting themselves from nerves and Harrington stands up in the locker room, hands on his hips, and gives a speech worthy of the most melodramatic underdog sports movie."

Jerry laughs. "No shit."

Waving his hands, August nods. "no shit! He says all this stuff like 'we worked hard...we deserve this...we may not win but let's do our damn best. The worst that could happen is we lose, and that isn't the end of the world. So let's go out there and play some basketball!' or something, his was better, and the boys cheer. Then they put in fifty points to one-thirty."

Jerry winces. "Must have hurt, huh?"

August grins. "No way. One of the best games they ever played. You saw it. You wouldn't be here if you hadn't. They played their goddamn hearts out." He leans forward. "My boys don't have the same facilities as the big universities, or the funding to offer scholarships. They're at Roane Community because they want a degree or certificate but have other responsibilities. Parents or siblings to stay close to, jobs to work, people to take care of. They joined my team because they like playing basketball, loved the game and wanted to spend some of their precious time playing it. They put the work in on the court and off it. And we made it to the NCAA tournament because of it. We put in fifty points against the goddamn Michigan Wolverines! The champs! And they knew that. I've never heard of a locker room after an 80 point defeat so happy."

"seriously?"

It's all pride when Coach Nearaly says "yep. They may not be the best basketball players in college, but my god, they're probably the best team."

"because of Harrington?"

"partly. They all contribute, make sure they do things right. It's not a one man show, that's the point. They rally around him, but they all are part of the team, and know it. That's what Steve makes sure. Why I made him captain."

"So, you think he'd be a good pick for the Pacers?" This is, after all, a business meeting.

August nods, picks at his pancakes. "I'll be honest with you Jerry. You're not the first scout to talk to me about Steve."

"really? Who?"

"you know I won't say. But, between me and you, Steve's Indiana born and bred. His wife's planning on getting some lib Arts degree in Chicago or Indy, and your offer might be the deciding factor for them."

Jerry blinks. "He's married? At, what? Twenty-one?"

August nods. "Just turned twenty-two. High school sweethearts or something. Obsessed with each other." He chuckled, a bit ruefully. "I'm a bit jaded but damn. You mention her name? He lights up like the fuckin Fourth of July."

Jerry whistles. "Honeymoon phase gets us all."

"for almost two years? Nah. It's just love." It sounds a little wistful, coming from August. "Anyways. I dunno if the other team is serious about him, and if they are, they'll probably be disappointed. Kid isn't moving out of the Midwest. He's got family here, and is getting a goddamn elementary education degree. He won't uproot his life for a chance at the NBA. But, if you offer. Well. He'd at least seriously consider it."

Humming, Jerry chews his eggs as he thinks. "You think he'd be up for the lifestyle? The road games out numbering home ones?"

There's an air of seriousness when August levels Jerry with a look. "If he doesn't want to, he'll tell you. You gotta give him time to talk to his family though. This offer? It'll come out of left field for him, even if I give him a heads up. You get that, yeah? You want to recruit a kindergarten teacher to the NBA without any build up. He needs time to process that and then see where the people in his life are at with it."

"I guess it is unusual."

"try being the community college basketball coach getting two goddamn calls from NBA scouts. Thought I was hallucinating."

Jerry laughs, counts some bills for the tip. "Thank you. For your time and insights. Let Steve know I'll call tomorrow?"

"will do. He'll still probably drob the phone on you, though."

"as long as he doesn't hang up!"

[turrondeluxe]

Hey ik on that "equally distribute the horrors" post, a lot of people were talking about Mikey needing horrors (tbh he deserves some, they all need equal rights to the horrors.), but I've never seen anyone even talk about the horrors for Raph? Maybe that's just me and my web experience tho. (If you have any examples of Raph dealing with the horrors pls list them, my cousin ((who also says Mikey needs more horrors, at least)) and I are desperate)

ah that's probably because i specified mikey in the tags because im a mikey enjoyer who is followed principally by more mikey enjoyers teeheee

but huh

i guess i understand what you mean

in terms of Raph Horrors™ we have

mmmm i unfortunately won't include every single horror from every single tmnt iteration out there. there's too many for me to remember all the specific raph horrors from each of them rn so i'll just list some random ones off the top of my head 😺

Feel free to add more to the raph horrors list! lol

Mirage

- Raphael gets progressively demutated and basically reverts to a normal turtle for a while

(the panels of when this was happening were actually very emotive and made me cry) he does say this when he's back to normal which i find very funny tho

90's movies

- Raph gets beaten the fuck up and then gets thrown trough a skylight. He's then placed in a bath tub while he heals (Leo is the one who never leaves his side on this iteration)

2003

- Nearly injures Mikey greatly with a metal tube because of anger (He feels really bad about this and i def think this moment never truly left his brain ever)

- Getting kidnapped by footbots, getting interrogated by Hun

- All the fights with shredder or karai/all the injuries gotten in all the fights with shredder or karai

- Same As It Never Was Raph

- Watching his injured older brother get thrown to a window and watch said older brother heal from his wounds

- Seeing himself as the shredder/ thinking himself as the shredder

- Got his home raided countless times

- Getting separated from his younger brothers + dad in one of said times and waiting alone in the surface without knowing if his family even made it out alive

- Witnessed dad get disintegrated

- Brainwashed (actually getting infected with a digital virus but eh). Him and his brothers are foot ninjas for an unspecified amount of time (maybe days). During this, shredder sends the brothers to the most mortal/difficult missions in hopes that they die under his command.

- Getting thrown into the future (Raph is the one brother who hates this event the most lmao)

2007

- Witnesses older brother get kidnapped and blames himself for it

2011 IDW

- Raph gets separated from his family before mutating. Spends years homeless and by himself before his brothers find him again (this forever makes raph feel that even if he's with his family. he somehow doesn't belong)

- Right after getting mutated he spent some time being cared by Buck (blind homeless guy that is the first person ever/parent figure that's nice to Raph). Watches Buck get beaten to death. (Possibly. Buck did survive but i can't remember if he did die because of his injuries. still. traumatizing to raph that was still fairly new to the world)

- Forced to be family warrior/protector (he doesn't want this, he just wants to be a farmer man 😔👊)

- Witnessed shredder stab Casey (Raph's bestie/first ever friend that he relates to)

- Had to fight against brainwashed brother (Foot Leo)

- Witnessed Donnie's corpse (would def fuck u up if you feel like the protection of your family is your responsibility)

- Gets kidnapped and experimented with/tortured

- Dad dies, rip 🕊️

2012

- Losing Spike (he literally stayed 15 years underground with only his family for company. spike meant so much to him)

- Watching mikey get hurt because of his bad leadership literally made him freeze up and not know what to do at all

- The whole scene of splinter letting his brothers insult him. what the hell 💀

- Fighting his (brainwashed/hypnotized?) dad

- Cockroach mutant

- THE FUCKED UP SQUIRRELS

- Watching his older brother get thrown trough a window (the sequel). And watching said older brother be extremely injured.

- Leo 3 month coma

- GETTING TURNED INTO A PLANT?

- Brainwashed via worm that ate all the way through his skull and into his brain

- Dad dies, rip 🕊️ the sequel (this happens quite a bit in the series) and hil being in the front row of how splinter gets mortally wounded and then thrown off the roof

- Fighting his family while brainwashed

- kidnapped and being put into an oven to die (and would have died if leo didn't go ham and destroyed his enclosure)

- Witnessed someone kill himself while he was actively trying to prevent it

- Witnessing the death of both two little brothers

- Witnessing older brother nearly die. Again (Again. this happens quite a bit in the series)

- the whole mutant bomb apocalypse holy shit

theres def more that im forgetting mb

Bayverse

- Home gets raided, the sequel

- All brothers get kidnapped except for him

- BROKEN SHELL BECAUSE OF SHREDDER AND HE JUST KEEPS GOING???? please..............take one second to rest THATS YOUR SPINE

Rise

- Eldest sister syndrome

- The fucking bunny plushie that I've forgotten the name of (his siblings were so mean for no reason at all that ep 😭)

- Rise shredder

- Having to forcefully remove his family from deathly situation even if it meant leaving a beloved family member behind (he prob blames himself about karai ....augh)

- Kidnapped/taken hostage (?)

- Kraang Brainwashed

- Having to fight younger brother while brainwashed

- Apocalyptic Kraang Future

The last ronin

- Died for literally no reason at all . fly high king 🕊️

Mutant mayhem

- Getting kidnapped (quite violently too)

- Milking Machine

- Getting shell cracked from being squished too hard

[thana-topsy]

If you're up for sharing more writing tips, how can I tell if what I've written is actually any good? With writing I get stuck in a cycle of feeling like I'm the next Shakespeare while writing but then I'll look over my work a few days later and absolutely hate everything and think it's the most cringe shit ever, then I'll leave it a bit longer and think eh it's not as bad as I thought but still not great and so on. I feel like being forced to write for a grade during school and having everything be marked and assessed and assigned a particular value has robbed me of the ability to critically analyse my own work in a way that's objective and accurate but also fair and realistic. I can analyse other peoples' stuff till the cows come home but I lose all rational thought when it comes to my own stuff

Adding onto that, how do I get to the point where I can stop looking back at my old work and hating everything and wanting to delete it all? Realistically I know finding fault with my old stuff is good bc it means I've grown and improved from where I once was etc but at the same time I wanna enjoy stuff I've made in the past without cringing every time I read it

Hey there Nony, I wanted to let this one percolate a little bit before answering because I've been where you are. And it's a rough time for sure. But aside from my own experiences, I also wanted to get the opinions of some of my writerly friends in the fandom, too, since everyone is a little font of wisdom in their own right.

So I'm going to share their advice alongside my own, because this is kind of a complicated string of questions you're asking. Long post ahead!

@paraparadigm says to Keep Writing: "Write more. Write so much (and so many different things) that eventually the sheer volume bulldozes over self-devouring ego, comparison twitches, or feeling lost, because you don't yet know your own baseline. Coupled with "read more, read everything, read things you enjoy and things you don't, read for the craft as much as the entertainment." And: "I'd add that when revisiting old writing, it's helpful for me to differentiate between "ew the writing is not as technically solid as it is now" and "ah that's interesting, I guess that's where I was at then, emotionally and psychologically". Old writing is also a sort of archaeological record of your younger self, and that can, in fact, be a bit itchy to revisit, so learning to cherish that without passing judgement can be really helpful. I try to treat it like those little marks one puts on the door jamb to track a kid's height."

@mareenavee says "Part of it is writing more, as Para said and I will always second that. Another part is, honestly, the hardest part. It's to try very hard to get out of the habit of negative self-talk.... There's so much work involved with this but normalizing being proud of your work and having some grace with yourself is part of that answer."

@archangelsunited says "Early on, instead of going “this has to be a masterpiece” I would tell myself my only job was to tell a story. I couldn’t tell a story if I was deleting it. Also, talking about your work helps. The less ashamed I was of my writing, the more people wanted to read it. There is a need to hide your work, and that can lead to a downward spiral all its own. And, 90% of the time, you have to suck at something to learn to be good at something. The work you already wrote shouldn’t be the sum of all your skill, it should be one of those measuring sticks for the moment. Despite previous thought, you won’t be stuck at the same level forever."

@polypolymorph says "In addition to accumulating experience via reading and writing, you also have to be willing to reinvent the wheel. Unfortunately the Process™️ is unique to everyone, and even when you are deliberately mimicking a voice as, say, a ghost writer, you can't expect that 2+2=4 for you. Your process might look more like a Lotka-Volterra equation for the same type of work and that's okay. Trial and error is the best way to figure out what advice actually works for you--and if it doesn't, it doesn't mean you're wrong. Don't get stuck on pop writing advice like a sad roomba does on an upturned rug. Learn when to throw it out."

So there's some advice from some other excellent writers! I hope you've been able to find some value in their advice, because it certainly kicked me in the pants a few times.

As for me, I think, having been where you are, my biggest piece of advice is: Find joy in the craft. Get curious instead of critical. An artist shouldn't down themselves over a rough sketch when they're working out a drawing, so why would a writer do such a thing? Everything you write is practice. Everything you make has value because it builds up to the next thing you make.

At the end of the day, you are the only one who is capable of telling the stories that are in your head. This fact alone gives whatever you put onto paper value, regardless of quality. You are creating magic, in the most literal sense! Creating something out of nothing, conjuring images into someone else's mind from hundreds of thousands of miles away, transcending space and time. It's amazing!

Lastly, my final piece of advice is to just write for fun. Write things nobody else will ever see just because you wanted to get words onto paper. You have to unlearn what was drilled into you in school. You are more than a content creation machine. You are an artist, a wordsmith. And just know that there will never be a day when you look at your own work and say "That's it, I have achieved perfection."

Writing is a life-long journey. Just enjoy the ride!

[oscconfessions]

Sigh... I'm gonna add my two cents about the Balloon arospec drama(I'm AroAce BTW) and by my two cents I mean I'll mention it two times and just talk about something else related. I'll also be providing some knowledge about AroAceness and all that.

For those of you who don't know,

Aro: Aromantic - Little to no romantic attraction.

Ace: Asexual - Little to no sexual attraction.

Aro+Ace are spectrums and aren't just "every Aro person doesn't feel any kind of romantic attraction" or "every Ace person can't feel sexual attraction." I feel as tbough people forget that all the time so I wanted to remind you lot haha.

I'm noticed this kind of drama a few times, where people argue about a character on where they are on the AroAce spectrum. It's difficult for me to put what I think into words here, but if a character(either canon AroAce or not) doesn't have a canon placement on the spectrum then whatever, go wild.

To help with my previous statement, I'll use SakiK from... SaikiK. People generally agree he's AroAce, yet people argue about where he is on that spectrum(mainly the Aromantic part). Since it's not ever stated where he is on that spectrum(or even if he is AroAce but SHHHSHSHHSH 🤫🤫), everyone has their own interpretation of it.

I believe it should be the same for Balloon, unless Balloon comes on screen and says "I am *insert very specific thing here* " as he points to a picture of the Aro spectrum then its to to you. Obviously, don't make him a sex crazed fiend or constantly searching for love, you eejit, but it should be up to interpretation.

A little off-topic here, sorry, but I wanted to bring up umbrella terms in both the Aro and Ace spectrums(I'm included ace because eh why not! This is for my people who HC Balloon as Aro AND Ace 🙏🙏)

Here are some terms under both the aro and ace spectrums. I feel as though you guys and many, MANY others tend to forget that there are umberlla terms for AroAce. I'll define them below:

Ace umbrella:

Aceflux: someone whose sexual orientation fluctuates but generally stays on the asexual spectrum

Greysexual: only experience sexual attraction some of the time, and sometimes not at all.

Demisexual: An individual who does not experience sexual attraction until after a close emotional bond has been formed.

Aro umbrella:

Aroflux: someone whose romantic orientation fluctuates but generally stays on the aromantic spectrum

Greyromantic: Some may feel a strong emotional connection with others but do not desire romantic relationships, while others may feel a weak romantic attraction to some people but not all.

Demiromantic: An individual who does not experience romantic attraction until after a close emotional bond has been formed.

Now, there are MANY more, feel free to add in the replies or the reblogs (o: !

Also, my apologies that this post was very long! Also also, my personal opinion on Balloons arospec thing? Idfk, lmao. TBH, this was kinda an excuse to just talk about stuff I like and am interested in so... 👍I've seen the tweet where one of the people who worked on II said yes, Balloon is meant to be Aro, but I couldn't tell you if they went into specifics about it. Sorry for constantly saying AroAce instead of just aro for Balloon, I felt like it was still important to include all my asexuals out there and educate others about it.

(BTW! Any inaccurate info, PLEASE, PLEASE correct in the replies)

Anyway!

TL;DR:

If a character who is just stated to be AroAce(not demi, grey, flux ETC) and never has their place on the spectrum explained whatsoever, it's okay to have a little fun experimenting with it IYKWIM. As I've stated, we all have our own interpretation of the AroAce character and there's no point arguing about it and getting mad because that's fucking stupid, unless they start actively getting rid of the AroAce rep then burn them to the stakes! /j

I know how wild you mother fuckers can be, so don't shank me please. If you disagree, take a deep breath and remain calm because getting all pissy about this isn't gonna do shit. Try to go about it calmly and reasonably. <3

I'd love to see others' opinions on this, remember to be respectful! 🩵

.

[hotasfahrenheit]

So you wanna get into NCT eh?

Let's do this.

NCT - Neo Culture Technology - is naturally an intimidating group to get into - there's twenty members but there have been members added and people have left and there's another group set to debut and there's subgroups and everything seems all over the place all the time, but if you're willing to jump into it all it's so absolutely incredibly worth it and less complicated than it seems at first! Let me walk you through some basics- I'll do more posts to get deeper into each group later, but this will be a primer for getting you started.

Where to start? NCT officially debuted in April 2016 with fifteen members after promoting for a while as trainees and with other trainees (including future members of Red Velvet) under the SM Rookies banner. Part of the original plan for NCT as announced at their debut was to continuously add members with no end in sight, and to expand into a group with members from all over the world who could promote in different areas at the same time. This... didn't really come to fruition ultimately, tho they do have members from seven(ish) countries. (Taiwan is a free country y'all, that makes seven. Macau is a "special administrative region of China", that's the ish.) There will be one more unit added to NCT soon, the final new set of members, but this post is going to proceed with only the current groups and subunits since The Babies (as I like to call them) aren't officially debuted yet and I don't feel like explaining them here since this is already going to be long enough. Either way, NCT's unlimited expansion has officially ended which hopefully removes that bit of intimidation.

Now on to some music!

The first song and MV that NCT released was under the broad NCT U umbrella, and started with The 7th Sense. (Wait what the heck is NCT U, you ask? I'll get there, trust me, keep reading)

The 7th Sense unit was comprised of Taeyong, Mark, Jaehyun, Doyoung, and Ten, five of the fifteen debut members.

The next day, NCT U released Without You, sung by Doyoung, Taeil, and Jaehyun, so two boys we saw already plus a new one.

The full list of members (that I and no one else expects you to remember at this point) at debut were Taeil, Taeyong, Johnny, Yuta, Ten, Doyoung, Jaehyun, Winwin, Mark, Haechan, Jaemin, Jeno, Renjun, Chenle, and Jisung.

Since debut, members have been added, growing NCT to 23, and then a few left, dropping it back to 20. In 2018, Kun, Jungwoo and Lucas were added; in 2019, Xiaojun, Hendery, and Yangyang were added; in 2020, Shotaro and Sungchan were added. In 2023, Lucas was removed after being on hiatus for almost two years because of a scandal, and then Shotaro and Sungchan were pulled from NCT and re-debuted in SM's new boy group, RIIZE. (No, we're not going to get into my opinions or emotions about any of this right now, yes, I have a lot of opinions about both things and a lot of emotions about SungTaro. Maybe in a different post if people really wanna know.)

So what do I mean when I call NCT U an umbrella? Is that what the U stands for? No, not really, tho it's a handy way to think of things! U stands for United (or Unlimited, depending on who you ask) and is a flexible title that allows them to release songs using any members of the whole group. This lets them pick from a pool of currently 20 different members with different skills to best fit the concept of a song, and has allowed them to do things like release songs with multiple lead vocalists, songs with a collection of rappers, etc. It's super flexible- some U songs have only two members performing, some have nine, etc. (Once you become familiar with all of the members, the U songs become a lot of fun when it comes to seeing who gets mixed and matched for projects!)

Overall, don't worry too much about NCT U yet. Having the basic knowledge that it could be anyone is really enough to get you going and you can come back to all of the NCT U releases later. NCT has released four albums now as a full group (Empathy, Resonance, Universe, and Golden Age) that have both fixed subunit songs and NCT U songs with mixed members so there's a bunch of fun with all that later once you've gotten more of the basics down.

The key to getting into NCT is splitting it into the sub-units, of which there are currently four, including U.

NCT U - flexible subunit of varying combined members

NCT 127 - 9 member fixed unit, concept being that they're focused on Seoul (127 is the longitude of Seoul)

NCT Dream - 7 member fixed unit, original concept involving the fact that they were the seven youngest members at debut

WayV - 6 member fixed unit, releasing music primarily in Mandarin with a focus on promotion in China

The easiest thing to do if you want to take on learning all 20 members (plus the 3 former members which are at least in past MVs and content so you'll come across them either way) is to pick one of the three fixed units (NCT 127, NCT Dream, or WayV) and learn the members of that group before moving on to the next. NCT 127 and NCT Dream also share two members, which gives you a little leg up when you get to going from one to the other!

I'll make posts getting into each group more in depth soon to talk about members and with my fave songs and recommendations etc, so for each of the fixed units, I'll put in here their debut plus a recent song so you can get a grasp of how each group has grown and changed.

NCT 127 was the first of the subunits to debut, releasing Firetruck in July 2016.

127 debuted with Taeil, Taeyong, Yuta, Jaehyun, Winwin, Mark and Haechan. The fashion and hair in this MV is uhhhhhh wild? Yeah we'll go with wild.

127 has gone through some lineup changes over the years as they've changed and grown- they added Johnny, Doyoung, and Jungwoo, and then Winwin went on indefinite 127-hiatus when he joined WayV in 2019.

Their most recent release was in October of this year and is so good that it managed to make it into my top 5 songs of this year on Spotify in slightly over a month so uhhhhh yeah here's Fact Check-

NCT 127 is known for having music that's a little more experimental and sometimes just straight up weird, so you'll see a lot of mixed opinions of them on the internet (I've seen people calling some/all of their songs just noise music) but they're ultimately like most kpop groups and have released stuff in all kinds of styles with different mixed influences, so it's worth listening to at least a few things before forming any kinds of opinions about their music if you don't like the first song or two you hear. I mean. It's worth it EXTRA if you do like thier music obviously. Anyway.

Next up!

NCT Dream debuted not long after NCT 127 in August 2016 as a bunch of ACTUAL BABIES, aged between 14-17 at debut. Yeah that's right, Chenle and Jisung were both 14. They debuted with the now iconic Chewing Gum, that involves some wild hoverboard choreography that isn't shown as much in the MV but was probably more dangerous than a bunch of kids should have been doing on stages all the time (especially one time outdoors in the rain???), but they all survived so I guess it's fine?

WHAT A BUNCH OF ADORABLE BABIES.

NCT Dream debuted with Mark, Haechan, Renjun, Jeno, Jaemin, Chenle, and Jisung. Yes, Mark and Haechan are also in the NCT 127 list! They are workaholics who can't stop won't stop basically. (Yes, we also all worry about their health. It's A Thing.)

The original concept behind Dream was that it would be the youngest members of NCT, and when members grew old enough they would graduate out, and new younger members of NCT would be added in turn as members were added to NCT. The only element of this that was ever put into practice was graduating out Mark in December 2018 as he was the eldest member; no new members were added however, and eventually the whole plan was scrapped and Mark was re-added to Dream in 2020 (back where he BELONGS) and Dream officially became a fixed unit like 127 and WayV.

The boys are now between the ages of 21-24, and their music has grown a lot as they've grown out of their cute concepts and into more mature looks and sounds. Their most recent release was in July of this year, ISTJ.

They're still known for having a more youthful, optimistic vibe, and there's something incredibly uplifting and exuberant about them in general at basically all times. These boys have been together for half of their lives at this point and really grown up together and- yeah I have a lot of emotions about Dream that I'll save for later.

Moving on!

WayV time! WayV officially debuted in 2019 with the Mandarin version of Regular.

(NCT 127 released both Korean and English versions of Regular as well, and they are the last NCT 127 MVs that feature Winwin before he became 127-inactive and became fully active with WayV instead.)

WayV debuted with Winwin, Kun, Ten, Xiaojun, Hendery, Yangyang, and Lucas. Lucas has since been removed from NCT and WayV and the other six members have continued to promote as a six member group.

WayV has hit some snags, especially with things out of their control like the pandemic- they live in Seoul when they're not promoting or touring, and travel into and out of China has been difficult for obvious reasons for the past few years, which has made it harder for them to be pushing into the Chinese music industry when they haven't been able to travel in China as freely as they could have under other circumstances and couldn't do things like concerts or fanmeets. They have started touring and promoting more heavily in Southeast Asia more recently, and some of the members like Winwin and Ten have spent time in China over the past few years working on things like acting in dramas, participating in variety shows, or judging on Chinese dance competition shows as well. Xiaojun is also currently a host on one of the the Korean weekly music shows, SBS's The Show.

WayV's most recent comeback was actually last month but I'm gonna use their comeback from the VERY end of last year (Dec 28) in this post because I'm still obsessed with this song-

WayV mix a lot of different elements into their music and are the most multilingual of the groups- since they're based in Seoul, they've often performed on the weekly Korean music shows with English versions of their songs, and they have the NCT member who speaks the most languages in Ten, who is Thai, and speaks Thai, Mandarin, Korean, English, and Japanese, as well as multiple members who speak four (Hendery and Xiaojun both speak Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, and English; Yangyang speaks Mandarin, English, Korean and German). They also have Kun, who is both a licensed airplane pilot and licensed sky diver (who promoted Phantom by skydiving with a banner for it) as well as being a music producer AND the only member of NCT to have a university degree. Basically WayV is a bunch of overachievers who deserve the whole world.

So..... that's all the subunits! I hope this breakdown gave you a place to start with. Feel free to use this as a base to go look up more information about each subunit, or watch the videos I included here and the ones I linked throughout in the text in various places to get started. I will also make some more posts about each subunit to get into more about the members and more songs by each so you can hang out and wait for those too!

Related things to come from this? More NCT posts, possibly more kpop posts in general like this? I've talked to a few people about how to get into NCT in basics, and this post is dedicated to @catatonicrainbow most specifically as being the most recent internet pal to want to get into NCT and being the one who finally got me to make some kind of thing like this. Meanwhile, @poetry-protest-pornography and I have been discussing starting a kpop podcast where I teach her about different groups as my knowledge is vast and deep and has been accumulating in my brain since around 2008 and she's MUCH newer to kpop than me, and I often infodump at her already about various groups. So like. Now that we're both talking about that publicly I guess we really gotta do it. Maybe I'll make companion posts on here to go with the podcast? Or something. We'll see. But there will be more of this stuff coming! So hopefully if you've read this far and enjoyed this content, you'll be excited for more? Whee!

Also like yes obviously I know other people have probably made these kinds of posts and there's videos and podcasts and etc out about this kind of stuff already, but I figure since everyone processes information differently, having multiple sources for this kind of information and different ways it's presented will probably be helpful to SOMEONE so I'm gonna make the content I feel like making either way. :) Cheers!

[So you wanna get into NCT eh? 1 | 2 | 3]

[pinkyjulien]

🌈 Queerness in CyberPunk 2077

I wanted to make this post earlier this month but got caught up in modding shenanigans, as per usual~

BUT! It's still June, still pride, so here it is :>

▶ DISCLAIMER

All of this is my analyses, headcanons, of different characters, some of them not confirmed at all in anyway or form! I'm a queer man myself, but I do not claim to know everything about queerness and being queer, everyone experience the game and interpret the characters differently 🤲 This is only my opinions, based off canon game events, clues, hints, as well as developpers's tweets, streams, files datamining etc etc Please do not see this thread as an attack, or as something invalidating! I'm more than curious to heard what you think about my personal analyses, if you agree, if you don't, and why! If you think other characters also display hints of queerness I'd love to hear it too! 💙

This picture is an update I did in 2022 of lil collage I did back in 2021~

I posted the first version on Reddit back in 2021 and it created this whole "what do mean JOHNNY is GAY?" (because a rainbow behind a man automatically means he's Gay and nothing else right) and a lot of biphobia over his character in particular (gasp- THE rockerboy?! Biseggsual?? In my viddy game??)

▶ You can look at the thread here and have a lil laugh

SO, NATURALLY, after doing the 2022 collage, I went and uploaded it to reddit once again! Because triggering bigots and seeing them stumble over their own tongues trying to debunk everything is really funny ✨

However, I instantly muted the thread and let it rot in its own sauce for some days, weeks, only coming back to it later and Oh Boy 👀

I did a thread on Twitter last year exploring everything that was said on the thread and explaining why I put certain characters on it

Thought it'd be cool and fun to re-explore that and share my thoughts with y'all here SO LETS GET BACK TO IT 😌🤙

▶▶▶

I'll mainly paste screenshots of what I already said on my twitter thread, but I might add some things there and there!

Damn I was kinda pissed off back then HGHFHGF but yeah, this is also the reason I won't ever make any straight or super straight flags I do not headcanon Delamain as Asexual, as there isn't any confirmation anywhere that he's interest in that kind of interaction or not, but I'll come back to him later!

Goro being canonly Queer is often missed, and this surprises me, considering he's one of the popular character! He is interested (or not) equally in both Fem and Masc V, giving he's replying to them the exact same ways! This isn't something done randomly by the devs :)

As said in the tweet, there isn't any direct and clear evidence of Mitch and Scorpion being a couple! Their relationship is heavily queer coded and queer people are more easily picking up on it than non-queer peoeple (and that's normal) Gay men have called their male partner Friend, Best friend and Brother through history maaaany many time, and that's part of my interpretation of their relationship too, especially giving they're both veterans who fought in the same war. The poem Mitch wrotes during "I'll Fly Away" (heavily implied) is romantic and gay coded, the gay novel in Mitch's tent (confirmed to be on purpose) is what we call environnemental story telling, it's subtle but adds to a character's backstory and lore! As for the datamining, I found a Mitch awkwardly explaining to V that no, Saul doesn't have any say in whatever he's doing with Scorpion stuff "because.... because... eh, that's just family stuff"

Note on Delamain here because I've heard it even caused some drama here on Tumblr that I said that? He uses He/Him to describe himself, the Main Entity, but multiples of his splites entities uses She/Her, meaning he's literally Non-Binary in how his entity is formed (I find it really cool for an AI ngl ngl) However if my headcanon offended anyone, I apologize! and I'd love to hear others interpretation :3

There isn't any open and visible MLM gay couple in Cyberpunk 2077! Bouncing off ElvenBeard's amazing analyses and thoughts on Kerry's sexuality, he can be seen as Bisexual (confirmed by RTAL themselves) and Homosexual (confirmed by the devs before and after the game released) he can be Both and Both are correct depending on how you view his character and how he grew from his past relationship (Bisexual with a masc preference, Bisexual who have to heal from his marriage, Gay man who realized his sexuality later after a wonky marriage, etc)

The whole "Responsability=Wife" Takemura take angers me to no end, taking its roots in heteronormativity- We see Goro care for his job above all else, to me that's what his "responsability" is and always was; his job

Nothing more to add here- Jackie's only relationship we see in game is with Misty, this doesn't confirm nor deny anything! (However with how he react to V pushing him, lip-bitting and all regardless of gender, I can totally see him as being queer)

AND That's about it!

It was interesting to dig into that thread last year and thought I'd share that here, as a refresher that Johnny is Bi, Takemura too, and smaller characters like Mitch and Evelynn still have clear hints of queerness to them ✨

I really like how CP77 touches on queerness, it feels realistic, it doesn't feel forced; which, sadly, create this problem of "UH?? This is pure LIES" if a character's sexuality is not splattered in your face, which then create the "Ugh why does it have to be forced down our throat" complains

Something something, lesson here is that people will always complain about queerness, be it loud, be it subtle, so fuck it! Scream it, go apeshit over small details, over-analyse everything cause chances are: this is intentional!

More Characters

I later noticed that Regina have a naked lady tattooed on her forearm, and since we know nothing is done randomly in CDPR's video games, makes me think that she might be sapphic in some way ✨

Mateo is also one of my fav "potential queer", how he could be a trans man, but there isn't anything really to support that other than that one interaction with V

▶ Link to the updated collage Reddit Thread

▶ Link to my Twitter breakdown

[apollosgiftofprophecy]

From Dusk to Dawn, Light at the End of the Tunnel, Apollo and Aphrodite bonding, and (I can't remember if this was already answered) A Titan's Demise 👀

From Dusk to Dawn

This particular fic takes place during The Titan's Curse!!! Basically, Apollo sneaking around and helping the questers save Artemis behind Zeus's back.

Apollo shenanigans galore lmao

There's Always Light At the End of the Tunnel

okay, I can't/won't say mcuh about this because 👀 i have plans but...i will say it's Apollo dropping by the Hunt post-ToA

....you know what i think i'll also do something with him dropping by the Hunt pre-PJO for poetry's sake :)

Apollo n Aphrodite bond over "not changing much" in the Greek-Roman thing

okay okay, here's the thing.

Aphrodite herself says that she didn't really change all that much when Rome surprise adopted Greece. She casually flicks between Aphrodite and Venus without much trouble because "love is universal" (like chocolate).

And in this fandom, we all will go down with the "Apollo isn't affected by the schism" theory so...bonding! :D

howmever. there is that Reyna business between Venus and Apollo. I don't know what the common consensus is on how Venus basically humiliated Apollo in front of the entire council is, but here's my two cents: She shouldn't have done that. No matter what it was about Reyna's love life that made her sad (probably that she wouldn't find romantic love but who needs that when u have platonic love eh?), she had no right to tear into Apollo like that. Especially in front of the entire Council. Who proceeded to laugh at him.

😳

Apollo may have a reputation with his relationships, but he didn't even say - or think - he was interested in Reyna. He just asked who she was and remarked she was pretty. It was in the same fashion as Hazel describing Percy as a god - sure, in Tyrant's Tomb Apollo clearly offers to be Reyna's boyfriend if she was interested but took it rather well when she laughed it off.

So yeah. whew. there's my two cents on that. don't shoot if i said something controversial. constructive criticism only please.

Anyway, going back to Aphrodite V Venus. I think the one major difference between them is that Venus may be a little more hardcore - remember, the Greek gods were taken and made more "disciplined" and "warlike". So I think Venus, while she isn't all that different from her Greek counterpart, has that little extra spice to her, a little more vindictiveness (which also adds into the topic above)

their relationship is fascinating to me and i wanna put them under a microscope. I imagine they were good friends because people often stereotype them as "dumb" and "mediocre" (probably because of the whole hot person=stupid person stereotype. and the domains they have [i.e. love, beauty, music, poetry, ooo so scary said some very dumb people who likely met their end either by a tiger they somehow found attractive or a deadly, plague-infested arrow]) and that's something they would vent about to each other. Also, shopping trips. Because I say so. Aphrodite says Apollo's the only other Olympian with any sense of style (Dionysus, she also says, also has style, but that leopard print...it's just too much sometimes. RIP)

oh yeah. and this fic immediately proceeds one other fic - but I'm not telling <3

let's just say that Venus ma~y have had an impact on the next person Apollo dated 👀

A Titan's Demise

i am caps, you are italics.

WHO WANT'S MORE APOLLO & HELIOS? ME!

WHO WANT'S ANCIENT ROME? ME!

WHO WANTS ANGST? ME-wait.

hahaha...this is all about how Apollo & Helios's relationship went sour during the Roman Empire, Helios just...disappearing one day, and Apollo inherited the domain and powers of the Sun.

Enjoy their fluff while you can.

Because I plan to go pain pain pain with this one :)

[holo-squad]

Announcing: Holoween 2023

As October progresses and autumn has firmly arrived in these parts of the world, Halloweeen is fast approaching. It is the perfect opportuninty to celebrate La Sirena's intrepid quintet of Emergency Holograms with a wonderful pun -- and a last-minute mini-event to match!

Do you have a spooky tale set on La Sirena that features the holograms somehow? Maybe some meta about their preferred costumes or fanart of the same? A story where the EH's need to dress up to save the day?

Then this is your opportunity! On the 31st of October and the week following (until 6th November), post your story, art, meta, or whatever else you might come up with and tag them as #holoween2023 or tag this blog so I can find them and reblog them here!

If you already made some art in years prior or have a fic you wrote a while ago that would fit the brief, feel free to reblog or repost it and tag this blog! What better time than Holoween to practice some resurrection?

Since we're all probably busy with the various -tobers we're participating in and Halloween is only two weeks away (most of which I will be too busy with school to coordinate an Official Fest™), there are no sign-ups or minimum requirements.

Wrote a spooky hologram drabble? Post it on the 31st! Got a post that simply has a list of the holos and the costumes you imagine they'd wear? Tag it as #holoween2023! 8k fic you wrote three years ago? We'd love to give that a read!

Any work you think would fit and you'd like to share, simply get it ready to post/reblog between the 31st October and 6th November, tag this blog, and I'll reblog them all here!

If you have any questions or you do want to "sign up" so that I can remind you about posting closer to the time, just shoot me a message!

I will create a collection on AO3 and edit this post to share the link as soon as I have it. The AO3 collection can be found here! It's open to new and older works alike, and if you don't want to add your fanwork to the collection but would still like me to reblog it as part of Holoween2023, that's absolutely fine, too! Just tag me in the post so I can find it.

Let's get ready for a Happy (and spooky) Holoween!

[shiroganeryo]

20 Questions For Fic Writers

Thank you for the tag @ofdemonsandangels! Finally got me to babble about writing, eh 😂

As always, I won't be tagging anyone but if you see this on your dash and feel like doing it, feel personally tagged by me!

⭐ How many works do you have on AO3?

Currently twelve. All finished, but there's one in particular that's part of a collection of stand-alone one-shots that I'd like to add more into sometime, hmm.

⭐ What's your total AO3 wordcount?

102,279 words.

⭐ What fandoms do you write for?

At the moment, it's mostly Bungo Stray Dogs (it only took me 7 years to realize I could write fanfic for this one), but I also have some Genshin Impact works and one D.Gray-Man work posted. There's a long, looong doc (38 pages, 16,700 words) in my WIPs for DGM.

⭐ What are your top five fics by kudos?

The Meaning of Sharing Happiness ➡️ To Hold Dear and To Own ➡️ God's play ➡️ Just a Short Break ➡️ A Moment to Cherish

⭐ Do you respond to comments?

I might take a while to get to it, but I always read all the comments I get and am always extremely grateful that people took their time to write something; so I usually worry about giving each reply the proper attention and if my gratitude is translating well into my words whenever I get to reply.

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

Hmm, I haven't one of these. I only wrote mild angst once and even that got resolved within the specific work. I don't see myself writing anything like this but it might depend on your definitions of what's an "angst ending"?

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

Definitely New Pages in Our Very Own Novel - my three-chapter wedding and honeymoon fanfic written for dazatsu week this year. I was pressed by time constraints to make it in time, but I poured a lot of love and care into this one, merely because they deserve to be happy and at peace; so many of the moments in this fic are light or meaningful in some way, but still lovely, all the way to the ending.

⭐ Do you get hate on your fics?

Not that I know, thankfully!

⭐ Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do, have some posted and I'm still rather proud of them! Describing "what kind" is a little hard (no pun intended) because my ideas usually stem from the thought of "I want to see this specific thing happening so I'll make it". I went into kinkier territory once, but in general, I think what drives me to write smut is having the people involved getting down and dirty but in a passionate way, if that makes sense? I like to make their love for each other show in how they handle each other but I also like the couples to be unapologetically into it, show off their sensuality and personality while at it. A good mix of sexy and lovely.

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

My brother in Christ, I already have trouble managing people from one universe in only one work. So, no 😅

⭐ Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Hopefully not?! I'd be very upset.

⭐ Have you ever had a fic translated?

If it's been translated by myself, does it count? I translated one of my fics to my native language (Brazilian Portuguese) via voice call with my little sister once, she's still studying English but she was adamant on reading something from me, so I translated that one for her. It was a very fun experience, actually!

⭐ Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not yet and I don't think I ever will; I have such a demanding pacing for writing that I'd overworry about inconveniencing the other person.

⭐ What's your all-time favorite ship?

No matter if it's in regard to posted fics, or in my general opinion, my answer is the same: Dazatsu (Dazai Osamu x Nakajima Atsushi) means the world to me.

Story with this ship began years ago but like I mentioned in question 3, it took me a lot of time to realize I could write for them as well. Every single fic I write for them has a dedication to my spouse in the notes, but that's the most I'll say because trust me, this story is LONG haha

If we're talking about the amount of rent-free living inside my head, then it's a tie between them, ChuuAki (or ChuuSano, not sure which ship name people use mostly nowadays for Nakahara Chuuya x Yosano Akiko) and ZhongVen (Zhongli x Venti from GI). I definitely plan to write more for chuuaki at some point; they all live happily in a three story building inside my mind 😂

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

There's a rather extensive GI WIP (for Lumine x Noelle) in my folder that I feel doubtful toward purely because I'm so uncertain about it; when I started writing that one, we were only at the start of the story of the game so things looked very different from now. I'll need to rework and scrap many things in that one...

⭐ What are your writing strengths?

One thing that I put a lot of attention and care into, and that has been praised time and time again, much to my happiness, is character portrayal. I've been told on various occasions that my characterization of the characters felt close to the original to the point people were able to easily picture them doing and saying the things described in my works, how I got their "voice" right and how enjoyable it was to read because of it. It never fails to put a smile on my face, and I've replied to comments more than once saying that these are the best kind of praises I could get from anyone.

⭐ What are your writing weaknesses?

Not sure how much of this is a weakness or simply a personality defect, but: obstination and self-imposed pressure. I won't be able to relax until I have finished a work I feel I must finish, because I'm so used to not having free time for my hobbies that I have this - usually extremely self-destructive - mentality that goes "I must do all of it now while I still have the chance since I don't know when I'll have time again"; which means I tend to get no breaks at all, will sacrifice sleep hours to work on it, and destroy my back all for the sake of a condition my head imposed on me.

Probably not the answer you were expecting, but it's what I struggle with the most; this ride or die mentality born from perfectionism and a little (?) pinch of anxiety.

⭐ Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

If it's a language I can speak, then it's not a problem, though I haven't had the chance to do so (yet).

But here's a random language trivia for you: I tend to think a lot in Japanese for all my BSD fics to make their dialogues as accurate as possible even with the work being written in English - for example, there are certain puns/jokes that exist in English but either don't work or don't exist in the Japanese language, so I avoid adding them; things like these. It's small attention to detail no one but me would know about, but it's something I do because it matters a lot to me.

If it's a language I can't speak, or a cultural aspect I'm unsure of, I either ask a friend or delve into those "Ask A (insert nationality here)" subreddits. It's always a riveting learning experience!

⭐ First fandom you wrote for?

Officially published and first ever: that would be D.Gray-Man. Though Jesus Christ, I would not show my 15 yo's crazy DGM fic full of nonsense and OCs. There were even ships in there that I can't bear to listen the name of nowadays. How the times change 😂

⭐ Favorite fic you've written?

I'll cheat my way on this answer, because I can't pick just one.

SFW: New Pages in Our Very Own Novel & Healing Touch These two are undoubtely the ones I've gotten the most praise for as well as very, very long comments that had me giggling and kicking my feet like I was a teenager again; but what I like the most about them is, respectively: New Pages: I did a lot of research for New Pages. I actually used Google Maps to trace their routes during their stay in the Ginza Prefecture for the honeymoon, just so I would know if they'd need to take the train or if they could just walk to their destinations. One thing that I've always loved in BSD are the real-life places references, so I went for that: I referenced real-life places as well, and even the hotel I picked was also inspired by a real-life one, located in the same place. I paid a special amount of attention to landscapes and their descriptions and it was as fun as it was exhausting! haha The contents of the fic are still the most important, but the experience of writing and doing research for it, learning more and viewing so many pictures to describe things, was one of a kind. I'll never forget it. Healing Touch: This fic was born from a wish of mine to do a certain character study, and I'm still proud of how it came out. Dazai as a character is extremely complex and we all know it, but I wanted to, at the very least, scrape at the surface of his humanity hidden underneath all those layers - all the while I worked on Atsushi's perception of things and the way he dealt with his own sense of sadness and grief and used those to try and understand Dazai's. I can't really say much about it because it'll just sound like a lot of babbling out of context, but I feel like I did a good job on those bits (it's not the entire focus of the fic).

NSFW: Baring Stripes and Bandages I'm sorry, I'm just a furry. Jokes aside, this was the one time I went for an approach that explored some kinks that aren't too vanilla and I'm still quite proud of how it came out. We - my spouse and I, this fic was born from a headcanon of his - often joke saying it's my magnum opus, and then it's just a kinky fanfic 😂 But I'm still so proud!

[ohthehypocrisy]

Meowth for Pokemon Unite...?

Since the release of Pokemon Unite, we've seen many new pokemon join the fray, all lovable and favored in their own right. From the awesome and mighty Mewtwo to the cute and cuddly Comfey, fans of pokemon haven't needed to wait long to play as their favorites, what with a steady flow of updates promising to add more pokemon.

Of course, all of these pokemon have 1 simple rule to follow. If it can evolve into its most powerful form, it will. That's because Pokemon Unite makes the playable pokemon feel as powerful as they are mirroring their capabilities and potential from the mainline games they come from. It's why Machamp is decidedly a grappler, or how Dragapult is a shooty-shooty ghost dragon of death. A pokemon's max potential is the main draw for how their gameplan works, and why each playable pokemon is at their most powerful once they're fully evolved...

...unless you're Pikachu.

Now, I understand why Pikachu is in the game over its contemporary evolution Raichu, as it is the main star of the anime and some games. It's objective fact that Pikachu has more fans than Raichu, a privilege it abuses in promotional pieces.

However, this does mean it stands out as the only playable pokemon in Unite that doesn't evolve, even though it could. Though, being the mascot means its allowed to be the exception.

...but what if another pokemon got the same treatment?

Pikachu isn't the only popular pokemon from Gen 1. You've got other familiar faces popping up in media from that generation. From Clefairy to Poliwhirl, Scyther, Lapras, Eevee, there are loads of lovable little creatures that also like to share the spotlight with Pikachu.

Meowth being one of them.

While it can evolve into the much stronger Persian, Meowth is in a similar boat with Pikachu in that it's also more popular than its own evolution. In fact, it's almost in just as many episodes of the anime as Pikachu, if only for the fact that it was the mascot for the villain of the week (which was always Team Rocket's Jesse and James but, eh, details shmetails).

Here's the thing though. Eventually, we'll be seeing the entirety of Gen 1 represented in Pokemon Unite, which means we'll have to wonder what Meowth's License would look like, if it doesn't evolve into Persian. As Persian, it boasts a high speed which it used to foster an insanely high critical hit rate with Slash, all the way back in Gen 1. But as Meowth, it lacks the speed and power to pull off the same trick, but it does have access to tricky moves like Fake Out and Pay Day. It may not be as fast as Persian, but it could confound the enemy with dirty tricks, just like a Supporter would.

And so, I ask the readers the question. Eventually, Persian, OR Meowth will join Pokemon Unite as either a Speedster or a tricky Supporter. The question is, which one would you prefer?

Personally, I would go for Persian since we always need more Speedsters, but now isn't a good time, what with Meowscarada literally releasing tomorrow as of this posting. As for Meowth, I'm not a fan of the idea of a fragile Supporter that can only contribute to the team by distracting them with spare change, but eh, to each their own.

Though, that doesn't mean you can't change my mind. Let me know what you think in the comments, and come back next week for the results.

[manonamora-if]

Weekly check in. Some little stuff, some bigger stuff.

Current word count: 23.323 (Ch.5), >8k (Ch.6)

And we're finally back on track with Harcourt, babyyyy. After a month of eh from both me (with the editing) and MelS (writing the next chapter), we both managed to break through our respective blocks.

As of a few days ago, I sent back the edited Chapter 5 to MelS, so he could answer my comments and check the changes. I finally got to read the missing bits (and they are creepy and yucky)... Can't wait to code all of that when it is ready. We definitely need another round of MelS editing the text and me checking it, before I can add that to the file.

Until I get the file back, I'll focus on other projects.

Like...

Yerup... I ended up finishing it. A little binksi with more vibes than story. Click if you dare :P

Making a binksi (or a bitsy/bipsi) had been something on my bucket list for a while now (almost a year actually), and I finally got to make one for realsies!

Honestly, the hardest part in all of this... was making the tiles/sprites in 8x8 pixels ;-; Anyway, the code is freely available on itch and my GitHub.

Fixed some accessibility issues yesterday:

textbox not getting in focus properly

links/buttons not changing state when in focus but not hovered

added image descriptions to pictures in French/English

Also added the logos of Twine and SugarCube when the game loads. Those are clickable too.

I have worked a tad more on the UI/missing elements. But not as much as I should have.

Next week, the final update should be out.

This is what I'll be fixing this month. Officially reopened the code files, stared at it, and cried. It's so bad. It's such a mess...

Not looking forward to it, but it needs fixing! (I've asked the Forum for help too in the commands...)

ALSO, I've decided there will be a hyperlink version of this game. Instead of the commands, click on words. It will be in the same file, and you get to choose at the start.

I’ve finished reviewing the EctoComp entries (except the Spanish-only ones because I suck at Spanish...) and have started reviewing the Bare-Bones Jam entry. An updated version of the reviews have been queues on the IFDB and @manonamora-if-reviews. I will probably go back to the IFComp entries after that (probably after the voting deadline... I've done 40 already...).

-_-

I've made a completely new intro post with all of the place I'm at (if you'd rather not be on Tumblr). It was a long time coming, and now I have clear channels of where I'm posting about stuff. Just need to be consistent...

I've also started migrating old dev logs and posts to my blog, especially the longer ones where I have a lot to say. Since the search function and archive on Tumblr is eh, I get to keep the important ones (not all of them are) in a more organised place. They are still on Tumblr, btw. It's not gone, just copied. It's been nice to revisit old dev logs, and see how far I've come (it's been a long way). It's pretty humbling (especially the typos, omg... I fixed so many of those).

-_-

The IFComp and EctoComp, are always looking for players/voters. If you want to play a few short-ish games, take advantage of that! There is only a few days left for the IFComp and a few weeks for the EctoComp.

The @seedcomp-if is always looking for inspiration (text, images, code, etc…) in this current first round. If you have half-baked ideas or anything, really, come submit something!

Over @neointeractives, ShuffleComp! is looking for playlists and participats :)

-_-

And that's it I think...

[madlad-sadgal]

Intro Post

Did I just now realized I haven't made one? Yes. But here it is now!

My Blog/About Me

My blog is a safe place for practically everyone (except for TERFs, get off my page). I don't care if you're here just to look around, or if it's because you're interested in one of the things I talk about, you're welcomed here and I'll gladly talk with you about whatever it is you might want to! <3 I'm active in a few fandoms on here, mostly Nimona, though I also like RWRB, LOTR, and a bunch of other stuff.

About me, I'm bigender and mostly use he/him and she/her, though I'm comfortable with pretty much anything. I also think I'm pan, but I've kinda been doubting that recently? Eh, I'll get through it. I live in Quebec so you might catch some works written in French (I'll probably add the translations under cuts though).

Writeblr

I've been meaning to get more into Writeblr and share more about some of my writing, fanfiction and original works alike. The things I like to write most about is fantasy and also LGBTQ+ stuff. So here are two original works you might catch me talking about:

Life after Life (Undefined Title) Tag: Life After Life(:OC/Plot/Etc) This is a story of two soulmates, reincarnation, immortality and betrayal. One is immortal, while the other one is mortal. The immortal one has to watch as their lover dies, but they always get reincarnated and always manage to find each other, usually when the mortal one is around 20 years old. Except this time, it takes until the mortal is 27 years old for them to find each other, and the immortal doesn't think much of it at first, but they can't help but notice that their lover is acting differently than they did in their past lives, which isn't inherently bad, but they can't remember a single time when their personality wasn't the same at the base. But it as time keeps passing, it becomes clearer and clearer that their lover is not the same, and someone seems to know of their immortality. Someone they may have met in the past. Now they have to try and protect themselves and their lover from this person, but what can this mortal be hiding from their own soulmate? What shall they do when war and love collide? Will they forgive each other for these hidden secrets? More importantly, will they manage to stay with each other this time, or will they be forced to wait until the next life once more? (Also ending line idea: Mortal, dying: I'll see you in the next one, yeah? Immortal, crying, and holding them: And every single one that follows.)

Love is a Fantasy (Been working on this one for over a year now, the one I'll be talking about the most because this is one I am very passionate about. Also don't get fooled by the title, this isn't just filled with unrequited love.) Tag: Love is a Fantasy(: OC name/Plot/Etc) LGBTQ+ story exploring how teens go through questioning their gender and sexuality and how people may pride themselves differently on this stuff.

Alex is a gay teenager who isn't ashamed of his sexuality, but keeps it to himself mostly. He is lucky enough to have accepting parents and friends, but the crush he has on one of his best friends may complicate their friendship, which terrifies him. He uses he/him pronouns.

Ava is a non-binary lesbian teenager who uses they/them pronouns. They are proud of their sexuality and gender and never hesitate to correct people who misgender them. They've been friends with Alex since the two were young. Their parents aren't exactly weirded out by them, but more so confused by all this, but Ava gladly answers all their questions and doesn't let that stuff get to them.

Ethan is a bisexual teenager who turned Ava and Alex's duo into a trio, but lately, he's been wondering if maybe he's not as attracted to women as he originally thought. This terrifies him because his parents aren't the most accepting people, and he also has a girlfriend whom he doesn't want to break the heart of. But of course Alex just has to complicate everything, doesn't he? ;)

Avery is Ethan's girlfriend, but she's dealing with a lot at home, and now on top of that she doesn't know where her feelings stand. She thought she was pan her whole life, not feeling a difference in romantic attraction towards gender, but all of this comes to a half when she meets one of the new kids who explains she doesn't feel any romantic or sexual attraction, and now she doesn't know where anything stands anymore.

Evelyn and Chelsey have been friends since they were young, often helping each other hide their sexuality and genders from their Christian parents. Evelyn is pansexual and bigender, often stepping way off of the gender binary and just having fun with her looks, though a certain Ava catches her eye once she meets them. Chelsey is aro-ace and is open to pretty much any pronoun, and they have a pretty feminine style.

All these kids meet in an LGBTQ+ club (created and hosted by Ava), and are now helping each other figure out their sexualities, helping each other hide certain things from Christian parents, and just trying to get through the horrors of the teenage years.

Other Socials

Just my AO3 for now:

[ellen-shame]

Ten Opening Lines

thanks for the tag, @yabagofmilfs and sorry it's taken me soooo long to do!

Rules: list the first line of the last ten (10) stories you published. Look to see any patterns you notice yourself, and see if anyone else notices any.

I have not yet published ten stories so I'll do some WIPs too!

(you and me) supersede - 'Sid can’t stop pacing around the covering bed.'

2. (begging for a piece of that) bubble - 'Sid tosses his robe on the ottoman at the foot of the bed and stands gloriously naked as he pokes around trying to find his sleep shirt.'

3. Gentle Violence

'r/penguins

4/3/2010 u/UserMcLoser Rumours that Malkin is scent marking Crosby on the reg?? Apparently it’s an open secret in the league that Malkin’s courting Crosby… View full post ⬆️90'

4. Reverenced Helplessness - '“Hot in here, eh?” Sid says.'

5. (this is how you make yourself) vanish into nothing - 'Maybe it starts like this:'

6. (wow wow wow wow) that's low brow - 'Six weeks after they start - dating? hooking up? having sex every night and sleeping next to each other every night and saying things like God, you’re really beautiful in bed, not like every night but not infrequently either -

(- which is like six and a half weeks after Jamie says with incredible, gorgeous, amazing casualness that he’s into men as well as women -)

(- and like six weeks and two days after Jamie becomes the first person Trevor ever comes out to on purpose, as in like, for the sake of being open and honest as opposed to for the sake of I think we’re about to jerk each other off but I don’t want you to punch me if I’ve misjudged the vibe -)

(- well like, not that Trevor totally wasn’t thinking that coming out to Jamie on purpose might increase the chances of them jerking each other off, because that’s also six weeks and a half weeks after Trevor realises with all the abruptness of an elevator wooshing down and leaving your stomach in your chest that he finds Jamie incredibly attractive -)

(- so anyway, six weeks and two days after Trevor says to him, I think I might be gay, and then really hates that might and decides it doesn’t count unless you do the thing properly and adds, I mean. I think I probably am, and Jamie says, Okay -)

(- which is to say, six weeks after Trevor spends two days dancing around Jamie, getting wound tighter and tighter, chest pounding, lowkey feeling like he’s about to puke, wondering if it’s all in his head or if he’s right to think Jamie’s also dancing around him, and then they go up to their roof to watch the sunset and both turn to each other at the same time and kiss like they’d planned it and Trevor’s head explodes -)

- anyway, six weeks after that, Jamie calls from the bathroom one morning that he’s thinking about growing a moustache.'

7. (WIP) steelheart - 'Geno was supposed to be back at 8, but at 8.06 he texts Sid sorry late.'

8. (WIP) (don't look at me, you've got a) girl at home - 'Nolan is sleeping less nowadays.'

9. (WIP) (i'm gonna pop your) bubblegum heart - 'Auston has been put on baby-sitting duty.'

10. (WIP) Encyclopaedia - 'There's a new guy in Auston's adult literacy class.'

Comments: Hmm, I think I have a tendency to start with short little sentences that sound fairly everyday and unremarkable, but which quickly lead into the main issue of the fic. However, I definitely played around with different forms outside my comfort zone in these fics - the most obvious examples being vanish into nothing and that's low brow. My favourite might be vanish into nothing because I really enjoy writing that self-consciously plays with the fact that it is writing. I also remember really wrestling with the opening of that's low brow, very aware that I was doing something very much outside my usual style, but trying to capture the maelstrom of feelings and experiences Trevor had just gone through.

Let me know if you spot any other habits of mine! I love talking about writing.