#i know its all for fun but i also know how my brain is

[comicaurora]

A bit of a strange question, but if there were any of your videos you were to "remake" today for any reason (ex: you feel like you misrepresented the original text or spread misinformation), which would it be and why? None of them is a perfectly valid answer

Again: bit of a strange question, but I've been thinking about my own creations and how I could have done so much better with some of them, but I also know that is a sign of my growth and constantly chasing "what if I did this instead" isn't always healthy for nurturing a creative mindset, and I was wondering what your opinion might be as a Creator of Things with a bit more experience than I

There's been a few trope talks where I've thought later of other angles I could've explored that might warrant sequels or part 2s, but I don't dislike any of the summaries enough to justify a rework.

I always find "I could've done this better if I made it now" to be a bit of a fallacy. I'm only better at making things now because I made all those earlier things. If I knew everything I'd learn from making a project before I started the project, it wouldn't come out the same.

I think when it comes to the "rework remake perfect" instinct, it helps to zero in on what the impulse is really grounded in. In my experience, more often than not, it's not actually about making the art better, except incidentally. It's usually about showing that you are better. It's demonstrating your competence and your higher standards and your skills, and more importantly it's overwriting the proof that you were once less than perfect. If people look at your old work and think that's all you're capable of, they'll be judging you poorly!

If that's the motivator, it's a very unhelpful one. You can't control for being harshly or incorrectly judged. It's a fruitless effort to stave off potentially upsetting outdated criticism, and it's not even going to work. Fear of critique is an unreliable and untrustworthy motivator.

If it really is about making the art itself better, perfecting your magnum opus with your newly leveled-up skills, that's a little more solid. But from where I'm standing, it's always better to use those skills to make something new instead of polishing something old. The older, unpolished work has already acquired its audience that finds it appealing for reasons that might never occur to you. Trying to bury or overwrite it just deprives that audience of the thing they like, and maybe makes them feel bad for having liked it in the first place. Also, usually when you look back on the older work, you'll conclude that the problem is everything and it'll need to be torn down and started from scratch. I know when I revisited the first three chapters of the comic, when I let my critic brain spin up, it wasn't shading or lineart I wanted to fix - it was panel composition, overall pacing, the entire structure of the chapters as a whole. I would've had to make them all over again to be happy with them, and they wouldn't be the same story by the end.

I've been thinking a lot about the Discworld through this lens lately. It ended up over 40 books long, but everyone agrees that the first two are not what you should start with, because they're the worst ones. They're entirely parodic, purely referential of at-the-time major fantasy series, and borderline mean-spirited in places. If you haven't read Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser and Dragonriders of Pern, you're not gonna understand like a full 50% of The Colour Of Magic.

It's clear that when he started in on them, Pratchett was entirely focused on taking the piss out of a genre he found mostly shallow and unimpressive. But the Discworld wouldn't leave his head, and everything he made fun of he clearly eventually found himself overthinking. He'd make little one-off jokes in the early books about Dwarves having no women and a hundred words for gold, and then twenty books later he'd have a Dwarf gender revolution make waves across the Disc, and then he'd write Thud!, a book that delves deeper into the nuances of Dwarf societal structure than Tolkien ever did.

If you look for them, there are continuity errors everywhere in Discworld. In his introductory book, Carrot defused a dwarf bar full of rowdy brawlers by guilting them all into writing to their poor lonely mothers back home. Shortly thereafter, Carrot will be outraged at the mere concept of an openly female dwarf. Pratchett even eventually wrote Thief of Time, a book that loosely explains that the Disc makes no sense because history has been broken and put back together incorrectly twice, and therefore any continuity errors are because of that.

He's the writer. He could've gone back and fixed it, edited the reprints to be less disruptively discontinuous with the later books. Instead he continuously moved forward and allowed the world he made to grow without cutting it off from its roots. And because he didn't bury his older, far worse work, we have the privilege of following the Disc's evolution from the very start, and seeing how this shallow, stock fantasy world parody became something incredibly rich and complex without ever pretending like its early installments never happened.

Anyway, that's why I think it's better to move forward. You make more good stuff that way.

[xinganhao]

is this something i should've included in my 2024 wrapped? probably. but i'm still doing it to close off the year! (´◡`)

incredibly grateful to have gotten so much love in the past three months. i'm not able to respond to everything, but trust that i see every comment— whether in the replies, reblogs, or in my inbox.

if anything, let this be a reminder to support your favorite writers/creators. in an algorithm that thrives on likes, reblogs with comments in the tags/replies/asks make a world of difference. if you liked someone's work, let them know.

here are some of your words that have stuck with me. 🫶

"#i heart tumblr user xinganhao #no one is doing it like them #the amount of depth in their work #THE EFFORT IS ALMOST TANGIBLE #not to participate in idol worship but …. #a role model for the fic writing community #hashtag proud to be born in the same timeline as tumblr user xinganhao" — g4minelvr re: fake dating!seungkwan

"i always look forward to vernon's slides because I CAN HEAR HIM!!!! its wild like all the replies???? his voice is in my head. but i also realized i can imagine/hear hoshi's so easily too!!! and a lot of his are so funny and witty. anyway ive been so entertained the past few days cos of kae's writing" — maplegyu re: svt reacts to 'i used to have a little bit of a crush on you'

"#so cute !! #“to love is to be burdened; but to not think of it that way.” #HELLOOO #thats such a fire line to drop ???? #sigh these alignments are all accurate but i really need hao to take caee of me :((" — planetkiimchi-rbs re: svt reacts to your drunk texts

"I bet your uni entry essay kicked ass. Youre so creative its mind blowing😭" — bambispostsblog re: sociology major!junhui x reader

"#welcome back dramateen😭😭😭" — dcrlingyou re: svt when idol!reader releases a breakup song

"#i think someone's already said this but #the writing under the texts is like a little treat that i somehow always forget about #its so fun #i read the texts and im like “aww thats so cute i love this blog so muchhhh” #and then i scroll #AND THERES MORE #its like the best thing ever" — forever-atiny re: svt reacts to your drunk texts

"This is DEVASTATING 😭😭😭😭😭 your writing is beautiful but DAMN did it rip my heart and throw it into the ocean" — sasalalista re: svt (taylor's version), heartbreak edition

"#okay maybe I'll allow myself to be this delusional only for this smau bc it's adorable 🥹" — stay-in-district9 re: chan x fansite!reader

"#kae did u know i have a whole maladaptive dream world abt this pairing #it’s like u looked directly into my brain #but like it’s just so perfect for wonwoo #and i just love how pathetic u made him" — pochaccoups re: wonwoo x streamer!reader

"#did i ever mention i am literally your biggest fan #ALL your works i am eating them up 🙏 #and this one was just oh my god #the way you narrate is always too good #with your little details abt the screenplay and all #i aspire to write like you- it's like mixed media but in writing #i loved loved loved this exes to lovers suits gyu so muchhhh" — simpxxstan re: film major!mingyu x reader

"#user xinganhao the way you EAT EVERY SINGLE TIME #COOKED WITH GAS AND FIRE AND DEVOURED #permanently sat for ur posts i fear #can’t get up won’t get up" — ahuiahoe re: seungcheol x fanbase!reader

"the fact that you do complete research into each and every one of the topics and write them well is just pure dedication and hats off to you!!" — choco-scoups re: biology major!vernon x reader

"i'm so in love with the way you design your extra content/headcanons under the photos!! the soccer team and notes app got me down bad, but i really adore the text visually fitting the concept in all of your works!! always excited to get a notification from you. thank you for sharing your creativity with the world!!" — purple-eustoma

"I hope you know your works always hit the spot just right. not even kidding I was in class for two hours and then I see this in my notifications the way i INSTANTLY SMILED?! how do you manage to make my day better😔🫶" — cxffecoupx re: operation dispatch (chan x idol!reader)

"Honestly I know most of your svt burner account fics are meant to be open end, and I really love that. It is just that your writing makes me keep wanting to know more of the story, it is soo well written. I want to dive into the world a little more every time🌸" — anon

"#THIS IS SO CREATIVE WTF #the genius interview and the whole song… kae ur BRAINNNNNN #this is so good omfg im rooting for them so hard #living vicariously thru simp cheol tweets pretending i am the fanbase 😔 he wants me guys trust #i love love love all the little bonus stuff you do for these literally most creative and fun smau writer ur changing the game" — junhui-recs re: seungcheol x fanbase!reader

"these keep coming up on my dash and i will never skip an smau made by the greatest smau creator on this silly little tumby app" — hachireads re: dead poets society!hhu x reader

"im so srs rn. pls never stop writing" — wonuloves re: vernon dates rockstar!reader (4)

"woozi loves silently, consistently, and sincerely. these are not the adjectives anyone would typically match with the concept of love. and yet, it fits. i first felt the depth of his love with vocal unit songs. and i never looked back. thank you for writing this. thank you for understanding seventeen so well. you deserve everything good in life." — chugging-antiseptic-dye re: jihoon x poetry account!reader

how lucky am i to get to say that this is a mere fraction of all the kindness i've been afforded. again: i see all the nice words directed my way, and it motivates me to stay on this godforsaken site (lol) for at least one more day. thank you, thank you, thank you.

if i can love well, it's because i've been loved well. please let me repay all your kindness in 2025 and for however much longer that i can (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧ if you got this far: happy new year! i wish you clarity, courage, and compassion at every turn. xo

— kae

[anika-ann]

For ask game:

Steve Rogers x reader ; Champagne Problems

HELLO SWEET 😍

Sorry to take a while longer, I wanted to time this story right 😇 Thank you for participating in this ask game! 

Alright, I’m going to be honest, I coooompletely flipped this prompt around and ignored that’s a Taylor song. I was in a need of a cheery fic. Also, my mind instantly went to @stellar-solar-flare’s Worthy, an exquisite delivery on a prompt with this song, so I needed to do something different. My apologies if this is entirely misses its mark.

Champagne Problems

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader WC: 1450 (five sentences, what five sentences) Type: fluff and humour, New Year's Eve blurb Warnings: dares and alcohol, language, tooth-rotting fluff

The room is full of Holiday cheer and expectations, excited murmur and an odour of pricy alcohol of greatest variety; whiskey, gin, wine, fancy beer, champagne and more; vodka and absinth for the adventurous ones.

You are not adventurous – not quite. In a room filled with literal superheroes and their peers, important CEOs and the fun kind of scientists, as Tony likes to put it, it feels like you stick out like a sore thumb, no matter how at home your people, your friends, try to make you feel.

Hence you taking advantage of the open bar with champagne flowing freely, expensive and sparkly like liquid gold. 

The gold does not solidify in your veins as any reasonable chemist would expect; instead, it warms you up, making you a bit giggly, much to the delight of your lab friends, who, you suspect, decided to make you into their personal lab rat, set to observe the effects of alcohol on your balance, boundaries and behaviour. You can’t quite hold it against them; such is the danger of leaving you unsupervised. You have voiced your concerns, but a sweet smile was the only response you got, along with encouragement to have fun.

And now, here you are. Accepting a stupid dare.

Such is the problem of champagne; it makes you agree to silly things.

The midnight is nearing, only minutes away; and you are to find and kiss the most handsome man in the room, unless – to quote your friends – you wanted to be called a pussy. Maybe you should find new friends, you muse, as your gaze, still sharp despite the two glasses of champagne you downed, travels around the room. Two glasses – how much is that in BAC? Considering your weight and—

Your brain comes to a screeching halt, your heart skipping a startled beat, breath catching so violently in your chest it actually hurts for a brief moment.

You found him; the most handsome, downright stunning man in the room.

Whether you’ll have the courage to simply walk to him and ask for a midnight kiss, now that is a wholly different question; but as you take in the deliciously tall man, the slacks hugging his muscular thighs and ass so nicely, your gaze trailing up his blue button-down, you wish it was your hands mapping out his torso instead. Feeling him up all the way up to his gorgeous face, sharply cut jaw, soft pink lips, elegant nose and sparkly eyes the colour of the sky, his with golden hair like the sun to perfect that metaphor---

Your friends wolf-whistle lowly and giggle, patting your shoulder, knowing all-too-well that you have acquired the target, so to speak.

“I think it’s time to live up to your last name, our dear Mercury. You wouldn’t want to hear it in the same sentence as coward, would you?” Gen teases you, causing you to shoot her an offended and very much determined glare, because no. No one would speak your last name and liked it to a coward; only over your dead body.

“Watch me,” you hiss, setting your third glass – untouched – on the high table, straightening and setting direct course for the absolutely breathtaking man ordering a glass of whiskey at the bar.

You hear snickers behind you and even a groan, but you ignore it; you have a clear goal. Your heart is beating insanely fast – you are so sure it is not healthy with combination of alcohol, but you cannot exactly prevent it – so you keep walking, your legs slightly shaky not because of nerves, but because you are several feet from the man when he takes notice of you.

And he smiles.

Not just a soft curl of lips – a full brilliant smile, warm, a glow in his eyes as if someone had spared just a drop of luminol for him.

You could trip over your feet at the sight; hell, you do.

He reaches out, catching you easily, a flicker of concern over his face until he sees you watching him with mute awe, your hands landing on his firm chest as he steadies you and unsteadies your heart completely in the process.

God gracious-

“Hi,” you choke out, earning a chuckle and a greeting in return.

He’s still holding you; you notice, because you are bright like that. Normally. Your brain function might be slightly impaired by the products of ethanol metabolization.

“Can I help you, doll?” he asks, deep voice slightly amused, causing your fingers to twitch on his chest, flexing in his shirt, because holy damn, if the champagne was liquid gold, his voice is liquid spiced honey, sultry enough to have you shiver at the heat coiling in your belly.

His gaze is hypnotizing you, coaxing you to tell him everything, starting with why you’re here, ending with your deepest desires. If he wasn’t looking like an angel, you’d swear he had to be the devil.

“Yeah… I need you to kiss me at midnight.”

His eyebrow arches, one corner of his lips rising in a lopsided smile that sends your brain into frenzy; by the time his hands release you, only to have one arm wrap around your waist to pull you closer, your thoughts are a static noise.

“Is that so, sweetheart?”

You nod, your tongue feeling heavy as his gaze flickers down to your lips; you painted them red, as if you could be a seductress, as if you knew your friends would dare you to do exactly what you were doing now.

“I think I can do that… but will you tell me why?”

“They said that unless I find the prettiest guy in the room and kiss him at midnight, they’ll put my last name and coward in one sentence!” you blab them out, a note of accusation in your voice.

Time freezes for a second; a long enough second for you to regret saying it, regret having drunk, regret your choice of friends-

And then the man laughs, a warm sound of undiluted joy, his body shaking against yours but his free hand moves to cradle your cheek and angle your head up, his eyes glimmering like the night sky on a clear December night, the heat of his palm – and his arm pulling you even closer to him – poured all over your skin.

“And you couldn’t have that, could you?”

“No,” you chip, your own lips slowly curling up in a grin as his thumb caresses your cheek softly.

“And you didn’t even hesitate and chose me right away now that I’m finally here, did you?”

“Mmmm, I mean-“

His grip on your chin grows a little firmer, sending delight through your veins, your breathing picking up as his lips, so tempting, near yours.

“Hush, Mrs. Rogers… say you didn’t hesitate and I’ll kiss you right now,” he coaxed, his lips so close to yours you can almost taste how delicious the kiss will be, the thrill of being called Mrs. Rogers, even as you’ve been called it over and over for months now, sending a pleasant shiver through your body.

“That wasn’t the dare… but no. I didn’t hesitate, love. It’s always you,” you whisper, brushing your lips to his only to retreat, to repay his teasing just a bit, even as you know what a thrilling thought of being your first and only choice does to him, the soundless purr in his chest oh so sweet against your palm. “And you can kiss me whenever… in fact, please do.”

The deafening wolf-whistles from your friends become but a background noise, your whole world shrinking to a six foot four man, a wall of warm muscle holding you gently but suddenly kissing you with vigour, hand firmly planted on the back of your neck as he devours your mouth, because goddamn did he miss you just as you missed him and neither of you could care less for fireworks going off in a few minutes, because the real spark is right here, between you, within you, shared by steady, slow and downright criminally indulgent press of lips to lips.

The kiss is probably indecent to watch; but you don’t care.

Such is the problem of champagne; it makes you care zilch about what other people think, unless maybe your husband’s name – your last name – is threatened. 

Your friends, those you contemplated changing for another, probably knew all along what they were doing, noticing Steve’s arrival before you did; but you’ll realize that later on, after your brain reboots.

Until then, there’s your husband, handsome all hell and solid and warm and safe and perfect and yours, and that’s all that matters.

“Happy New Year’s Eve, love.”

“Happy New Year’s Eve indeed. Welcome home, Steve.”

Many thanks for sending this request and enabling me to write a proper end-of-year fic ✨ HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL 💕

And thank you for reading and potential feedback!

You can find my other works on my masterlist, should you be interested 😇

Divider by @firefly-graphics

[bluinary]

Silly vents about recent events

[tomatoart]

the raw guy

[iwoulddieforienzo]

Something really great about the persona 2 cast is that they all individually fucking SUCK to talk to casually. Every single one of them. They are all infuriating. We have:

Tatsuya, who will stare at you blankly if you try to initiate conversation (IS) and will dip without saying a word afterward (EP)

Batsuya, who will scoff and brush you off/otherwise act dismissive

Eikichi, who might honestly be the best to talk to in the IS crew and that is not saying much, who WILL talk extremely loudly over you (probably not on purpose?) and will not be paying particularly close attention to the conversation beyond whatever he wants to say (gets points for talking about his gf. gets points taken away for constantly talking about his gf)

Lisa, who will automatically assume bad faith and will be rude to you the entire conversation unless you manage to defuse her temper (good luck)

Jun, who is uncommunicative at BEST and requires an encyclopedic knowledge of flowers, metaphor and body language just to get a HINT on what he’s thinking, and who will be extremely polite but completely unhelpful. If you tried asking him what he wants for dinner I guarantee it will be the longest 30 minutes of your life as he goes “oh I have no opinion :) whatever you want. :))” EXCEPT HE DOES HAVE OPINIONS. He has SO MANY OPINIONS. He is Expecting you to be able to pick up on his “obvious” clues. He will be passive aggressive if you don’t. (Jun babygirl you suck so bad I love u)

Maya, who is a delight but will very quickly become grating if you try to talk to her about anything serious as she hits you with the white suburban mom's "how to live a happy, healthy life" lifecoach slogans. You can’t even mention, like, stepping in a puddle or something without her hitting you with the positivity beam.

Yukino is great actually. 10/10. She’s fabulous we love her. Incredible conversationalist, chill and fun and easy to get along with. But she’s from Persona One, she doesn’t Count.

Ulala, who WILL bring up her relationship problems in every conversation within 10 minutes at least once. Any longer and she will start talking about Maya.

Do I even need to explain Baofu. Have you seen him.

And finally, Katsuya, who is a cop and a kiss ass and Very Obvious about these things. Also he can't talk to women. He can barely talk to men. Help Him.

And yet they all work wonderfully as a group. They are so annoying I love them

[puppyeared]

its so hard to watch time pass when things like careers and assignments exist. what do you mean im supposed to take that seriously

[gosteon]

TWO! OF! THEM!

[lichilly]

“I had all and then most of you

Some and now none of you.

Take me back to the night we met.”

— The Night We Met by Lord Huron

cw implied death, angst, OWWW OWWWIE OWWW

The day starts as usual.

The sun rises, birds chirping as you push open the balcony door to let the morning air in. Joseph steps out, a cigarette already between his fingers. You join him, two mugs of coffee in your hands. He takes one from you with a grateful smile, you both settle into the routine.

The day is beautiful. The suns warm embrace on your skin makes you want to linger there forever, soaking in her rays.

“What d’ya want for breakfast?” he asks, smoke curling lazily from his lips.

You ponder for a moment, imagining the taste of different dishes. “How about…pancakes?” you suggest, feeling your mouth water at the thought.

Joseph chuckles, stubbing out his cigarette and taking a final gulp of his coffee. “Pancakes it is then.”

You eat breakfast together at the table. Joseph flips through his script between bites, humming under his breath and glancing at the clock occasionally. A quiet sigh escapes him as he polishes off his plate.

He rises, placing his dirtied plate on the sink, setting his empty mug on top. He walks over to you, gently pushing your hair back and kissing your forehead.

“I gotta go. I’ll see you later, okay?”

You hum, cheeks warming from the kiss. “I’ll pick up stuff to make your favorite for dinner tonight. I know we haven’t had it in a while.”

His eyes light up, “Sounds like a plan.”

He heads towards the entryway, grabbing his jacket. He looks back at you, a smile still lingering on his lips.

“Don’t worry, filming shouldn’t take long today. I’ll be home before you know it.”

The butterflies in your stomach flutter with his words.

“Okay, I’ll see you later,” you reply, eyes droopy with morning grogginess and love.

The door clicks shut behind him, you watch a moment longer. Your eyes trace over the knob, down the mysterious crack in the wood, and watch his shadowy steps fade away. A sudden uneasiness creeps in, filling your gut with a syrupy ache. The butterflies no longer flutter, their wings cut, leaving you with a heavy feeling in their place.

You try to shake it off, but the feeling lingers, the knot in your stomach tightening with each tick of the clock. Hour after hour, minute after minute, you try to distract yourself with meaningless chores. You go grab things for dinner, the hustle and bustle of the store creating a dull hum over the pit in your stomach. A weak balm that doesn’t last the second you step through the apartment door again.

Night falls, groceries left forgotten on the counter. Seconds tick by painfully slow, each one a reminder of his absence. You can’t shake the feeling that something is terribly wrong.

Joseph doesn’t return that night, or any night after that.

[floorpancakes]

ok but im rly into the idea of till having a new era that brings the light back to his eyes and drives him forward if he gets to escape the arena. idk where he'd go from there but i want to see ivans sacrifice both haunt him and drive him to actually live his damn life after being the captured bird refusing freedom cause of mizi. once he knows she's alive with the resistance he might be able to actually experience other things and widen his world and if that happens and he puts his personal sense of rebellion towards the human cause OR settles into finding some other way to feel fulfilment that isn't a single person that could be deeply fascinating to me i think

[synth-spinner]

Just had an awesome naming moment the stars aligned and my neurons fired <- girl who sucks bad at naming ocs

[toytulini]

me, stupidly and weirdly resistant to listening to audio books vs reading a physical book for no real reason: man i wish there was a way to like, read a book while i crochet like i do with tv shows and movies and podcasts

[rainingincale]

.

[arolesbianism]

I am once again being haunted by "a paradox" holy fuck Olivia what the fuck is going on here what did you get yourself involved with and what did you do after it speak to me Olivia I can't keep living like this

[itsalwaysdark]

i like overthink everything now it makes me feel so dumb. i used 2 be able to just talk 2 ppl but nowadays every single thing im like Is that actually going to make them hate me. Yes probably. and then i just dont respond which makes ppl hate me. this is how it is

[13eyond13]

actually stunned by how gay The Beatles has been all this time and I just never knew